tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45019553675133400802024-03-13T11:35:46.735-07:00GECKOS CHESSBrisasChessCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791599284550319852noreply@blogger.comBlogger73125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4501955367513340080.post-22865555127720890472011-03-01T12:03:00.001-08:002011-03-01T12:03:59.441-08:00CHESS PUZZLES for my chess students - FROM A RECENT GAME!<div style="text-align: center;"> <div style="text-align: left;">Taken from a USCF QUICK CHESS rated Game played last night! - Chess Coach Sean.<br /></div> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX</span><br /></div><br />Here is a nice two move checkmate puzzle for the less experienced players out there... or a two mover for all lovers of chess! Black to play and win.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">PUZZLE I</span></span><br /><br />COACH SEAN</span><br /></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-VtLBwhUuvhco6Cd24XbHhCwqv-UfS7QVYWhbhBdWB79cMLKWZlt18gZsq9TrXM4Z49RKqL2AqVdWiXJkytu7DIrJ1duPR5S9eDFgILEiutQD06-V1BBr1tDr6nHimZMbCNK01L7RVqk/s1600/ScreenHunter_01+Feb.+28+21.33.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 399px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-VtLBwhUuvhco6Cd24XbHhCwqv-UfS7QVYWhbhBdWB79cMLKWZlt18gZsq9TrXM4Z49RKqL2AqVdWiXJkytu7DIrJ1duPR5S9eDFgILEiutQD06-V1BBr1tDr6nHimZMbCNK01L7RVqk/s400/ScreenHunter_01+Feb.+28+21.33.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5578965651421761298" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 204, 0);">COACH KEN<br /></div><br />So this was move 35 and my previous play had been 34. ...Nh4 setting up a threat. Ken played 35. d3 - d4 and now you have the diagrammed position up above. Black to play and win in two moves.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">PUZZLE II</span></span></span><br /></div><br />Sometimes we have to use tactics to not only change a position to our advantage but to defuse the explosive potential of our opponent's forces. So we now have the position from this game from back on move twenty three when Ken had played 23. Qf3. My move was cute! (I might be biased though...)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">COACH SEAN</span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgflU53Rst9k9vE-DF7Zw4E9AX9UbxBs-TKE0LpMYwt0G-b5ErvwzIOhWjPEZXCHcI7_qX0_w8Zc3ic3nucfxE69whGk4MXCoIF-hnLGJx1_Zr6uic06Zcpb3Z2zAnRdPDeohc7D_LAnmw/s1600/ScreenHunter_02+Feb.+28+21.35.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgflU53Rst9k9vE-DF7Zw4E9AX9UbxBs-TKE0LpMYwt0G-b5ErvwzIOhWjPEZXCHcI7_qX0_w8Zc3ic3nucfxE69whGk4MXCoIF-hnLGJx1_Zr6uic06Zcpb3Z2zAnRdPDeohc7D_LAnmw/s400/ScreenHunter_02+Feb.+28+21.35.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5578965645782872322" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 204, 0);">COACH KEN</span></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">Okay... our hint is puzzle one! Black to play and to gain an advantage... win a pawn and radically change the structure of this game! Enjoy - Chess Coach Sean Tobin.</span>BrisasChessCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791599284550319852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4501955367513340080.post-16164935517201123862011-02-22T22:01:00.001-08:002011-02-22T22:01:25.217-08:00CHESS DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH: Tuesday the 22nd of February, 2011 WATCH OUT FOR KEN!Ken usually gives me a real tough time at the chess board - but this game was a bit more straight forward than our previous encounters. Although I do have to admit - after his first move as black during this game I had to sink into about a five minute think! <br /><br />Enjoy the game - Chess Coach Sean Tobin.<br /><br /><div><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" width="100%" height="600"><param name="movie" value="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" /><param name="flashvars" value='orientation=V&tabmode=true&light=f4f4fF&dark=0072b9&bordertext=494949&headerforeground=ffffff&mtforeground=000000&mtvariations=FF0000&mtmainline=000000&mtbackground=ffffff&dark=000066&background=000066&pgndata=[Event "St. Quick Chess Open"] [Site "Paradise Bakery 54th St AZ"] [Date "2011.02.21"] [Round "3"] [White "Tobin, Sean"] [Black "Gengler, Kenneth"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B23"] [Annotator "Tobin,Sean"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventType "rapid"] 1. e4 {Ken and I always have good games - the last time we played he had me ready to go and had to but deliver the "knock out punch" but faltered and allowed me to rally my forces. Always good games with Ken!} c5 {Time Control G25 w/ 3 seconds Delay. Final time remaining at end : 4:17 vs 4:03. - Sean Tobin.} 2. Nc3 {Played to keep Ken guessing - after his rude 1. ...c5 surprise! Of course I was weary of another "OPEN GAMES" battle with Ken as well. - Chess Coach Sean Tobin.} d6 3. f4 {Time to get the Race car ready! This is the GRAND PRIX variation of the SICILIAN. - ST} Nc6 4. Nf3 Bg4 5. Bb5 { Pin me... pin you!} a6 $2 6. Bxc6%2B bxc6 { Doubling the pawns thus altering the pawn structure.} 7. O-O {"Keep it secret, keep it safe." - Gandalf the Wizard from "LORD OF THE RINGS"!!} Nf6 8. b3 g6 9. d3 Bg7 {This move seeks to utilize the long diagonal - but I had anticipated this and it actually fits in nicely with my opening Scheme. - ST} 10. Qe1 h6 { Ken played it cagey. He isn’t castling just yet...} 11. Bd2 Nd7 12. h3 { Perhaps I could have opted for something else here...} Bxf3 13. Rxf3 Nf6 14. Kh1 Nh5 {"Knights on the rim are dim or grim." - so the rule of thumb goes. Me - I was happy to see Ken go in for Knight fork tricks as I wanted to trap his Mustang!} 15. e5 dxe5 16. fxe5 { It was here that Ken caught on to what I was up to. Dratz!} g5 (16... O-O 17. g4 {Would lose the mustang!}) 17. Qe4 {So my King and Queen are on some sensitive squares here... there were a lot of tactics that I wanted to play but couldn’t because of the Knight fork trick. I wanted to do some damage to the f7-pawn and had all sorts of flights of fantasy but the Knight on h5 kept my feet firmly rooted in this particular chess board reality. - ST} Qd7 { See what I mean... there would be a lot of nice tactics all starting with 18. Rxf7 but for the nasty Knight fork ong3!} 18. Raf1 Qe6 19. g4 { Jig is up - time to get the pawn while I can!} Nf4 20. Bxf4 gxf4 21. Rxf4 O-O ( 21... Bxe5 22. Rxf7 {Would be crunch time.}) 22. Rf5 f6 $4 { Jettisoning a second pawn and going into a lost endgame. - ST} 23. exf6 Qxe4%2B { Exchanging down in this position only accelerated defeat. - ST} 24. Nxe4 Bxf6 25. Nxf6%2B exf6 26. Rxf6 Kg7 $4 {Better to exchange off a Rook and hope for a miracle - but I wouldn’t hold my breath. Not all Rook and pawn endgames are drawn!} 27. Rxf8 Rxf8 28. Rxf8 Kxf8 {Now the win is straight forward - count pawn moves while getting your King to the ideal position on the board. Handle with care and you will win nice and easy - such endgames as these. - ST} 29. Kg2 Kf7 30. Kf3 {"We were dead before the ship sank." - Modest Mouse.} Kf6 31. Kf4 a5 32. h4 Ke6 33. g5 hxg5%2B 34. hxg5 Kf7 35. Kf5 1-0 '/></object></div>BrisasChessCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791599284550319852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4501955367513340080.post-53727559607767802972011-02-15T19:08:00.000-08:002011-02-15T20:46:02.213-08:00One key to "RAPID FIRE CHESS IMPROVEMENT"...One key to "RAPID FIRE CHESS IMPROVEMENT" ... is to play a lot. As a "weak" expert in the low 2000's I am trying to first become a rock solid expert and then a master. Okay - we'll see if it happens or not! But my main point is that if I do not play regularly then I will never achieve those goals.<br /><br />I have to go to tournaments and risk it all in order to learn the lessons that I need to learn to be able to get the experience that I need to progress. Will my rating go up? You bet... but will it also go down as well? You bet! It is all part of the process though - ratings go up and ratings go down. But do I love the game irrespective? You bet I do! Right now I am playing in two to three chess tournaments a week. To gain the glory I have to go and play and what's more I love to play chess. Irrespective of ratings and results.<br /><br />Here is a recent game of mine - not a steady rock solid performance but definitely an interesting battle. Both players could improve upon the plays they made during this game. I am glad to have been able to create such a game with my good friend Dustin.<br /><br />I hope you enjoy this game - or chess art as I like to call it! So feel free to leave any comments that you might have about it up here on the blog. Dustin is a good chess friend and as you can tell he has his own and unique ideas about how to approach the opening. He also likes chess fireworks or as we call them - TACTICS!<br /><br />- Chess Coach Sean Tobin.<br /><br /><div><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" width="100%" height="600"><param name="movie" value="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf"><param name="flashvars" value="orientation=V&tabmode=true&light=f4f4fF&dark=0072b9&bordertext=494949&headerforeground=ffffff&mtforeground=000000&mtvariations=FF0000&mtmainline=000000&mtbackground=ffffff&dark=000066&background=000066&pgndata=[Event "DUSTIN’S I-10 CHESS EXPRESS"] [Site "Paradise Bakery Chandler AZ"] [Date "2011.02.14"] [Round "2"] [White "Kinney, Dustin"] [Black "Tobin, Sean"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A00"] [WhiteElo "1560"] [BlackElo "1936"] [Annotator "Tobin,Sean"] [PlyCount "62"] [EventType "rapid"] {The time control for this game was Game in 25 minutes with a three second delay per move. What this really means is that EACH OF US had 25 minutes and a three second count down before our main body of time - the 25 minutes - would begin to count down. This game was from a Quick Chess Tournament held this past Monday - February 14th, 2011 - held in Chandler. The ratings used for this event were "QUICK CHESS RATINGS" and are different than "STANDARD RATINGS". My standard rating is 2011 - as of right now! - Chess Coach Sean Tobin.} 1. g3 {Not the first move my Geckos would play!} g6 { I guess I can copy him for a move or two : )} 2. c3 {Not a very central space grabbing move! Dustin has a plan... and some of your opponent’s may end up using this sort of plan against you some day too. Just for the sake of being a tricky trickster!} Bg7 {Having made the "home" for my Bishop I dropped him into it. This is called a "fianchetto".} 3. Bg2 {Ditto for Dustin!} d5 { Unlike Dustin I do want to own the center! When an opponent plays for a tricky "hypermodern" strategy you should still play "solid" moves. The moves will depend upon the position you have to work with of course!} 4. Na3 { "Knights on the rim are dim or grim" - Coach Sean. However Dustin has a plan for his Knight - he wants to play it to the center and his first move was meant to trick me. Did his trick work? You are about to see!} Nf6 {I develop a piece - which protects the pawn and allows me to castle my King to safety. But I am going to wait before castling - I want to know where Dustin’s King is going to be before I tell him where mine is going! "Castle because you should and not just because you can!"} 5. d3 {A waiting move that also allows Dustin’s Bishop to peak out along the c1 to h6 diagonal. He’s hoping I will castle soon so he can start attacking me. This guy is very tactical!} c5 { If he isn’t going to take the center then I am! - Coach Sean.} 6. Nh3 { Again not a move I would recommend to my students! But Dustin is intending to play his Knight to f4 where it will give him a vice like grip upon the d5 square. "When moving your Knight think about where it will land after it’s next move - the next move is only a pit stop!" - Coach Sean.} Nc6 {Remember tha t in the Opening you SHOULD: 1.) Control the center, 2.) Develop your Pieces and 3.) Keep your King Safe. I have done all three but Dustin has abandoned "control of the Center" in favor of playing tactically. Will this tricky trickster trick coach Sean? Play on and see!} 7. Qb3 { An aggressive move! The Queen comes out to help "look" around the board.} O-O { Now it’s time to castle! I do not want to leave my King in the center of the board with the opponent’s pieces running around all over the board! Now that my King is on the Kingside my opponent knows where he lives! Watch what he does to try and attack my King - this Dustin is very tactical and tough as nails!} 8. Nf4 {Dustin now has a treat - to win my d5 pawn. He attacks it three times while I defend it once. I have the following choices - 1.) Lose my pawn - Yuck! 2.) Move my e7 pawn to e6 which will make my Bishop on c8 sleepy for the rest of the game or 3.) Move the pawn and try to grab more space! I liked option three the best!} d4 9. h4 {Dustin is still up to his tricks! Now he hopes to push this h-pawn up the board and to open up lines that lead to my King - like the h-file. I cannot allow that to happen!} h5 { "You shall not pass!" - Gandalf the Wizard! After this move my g6 pawn is a goner - because of the pin powers of the White Queen along the a2 to g8 diagonal. She pins my f7 pawn which means his Knight can capture my g6 pawn for "free". I wanted Dustin to capture it... because I had set a trap for him! Remember - Nothing in life is free! Okay that isn’t true... but it is here!} 10. Bd2 {Notice how my pieces have some good lines - the Bishops - and more space - my Knights! Dustin may castle to either side of the board... I will need to open lines up to him now - but first I wanted to push his pieces back a bit. I saw a bit further than Dustin here and his tactical trickery doesn’t work!} e5 11. Nxg6 {Taking the bait - hook line and sinker. However Dustin got more from the position than even I was able to see - he now turns it into a chaotic free for all chess fight! I will get his Knight but he will gobble a lot of my pawns!} Na5 12. Qb5 fxg6 13. cxd4 Nc6 14. dxe5 {Maybe not the best move - this brings my Knight to the center of the board and allows it to "see" squares close to the White King. "Check" out one of the sub-variations to see why this was a factor in the game. - Coach Sean.} Nxe5 15. Rc1 Re8 16. O-O (16. Qxc5 { Would be blunderful! A blunder for my opponent and wonderful for me!} Nxd3%2B { Love those Pin powers! The pawn on e2 is unable to capture the Knight as it is pinned by the Black Rook on e8. Say good bye to the White Queen as this is also a FORK! A royal fork at that!} 17. Kf1 Nxc5 {Yum.} 18. Rxc5 Qxd2 { But Dustin is too good to fall for such tricks! So I needed to find some other tricks!}) 16... Bd7 17. Qxb7 {Yum!} Rb8 18. Qxa7 {Yum!} Rxb2 { Now I have a Rook on the seventh - that is a very powerful Rook folks!} 19. Ba5 {Any time your opponent makes a move - assume there is a threat! Like right here Dustin wants his Bishop to go eat my Queen!} Qe7 { Hide! But she is also thinking about attacking too!} 20. Rxc5 Rxa2 {Yum!} 21. Bc3 {Once again the tricky trickster named Dustin looks to capture my pieces*! He really wants my Queen! *This is a variation for my students - Coach Sean.} Rxe2 (21... Kh8 22. Rxe5 Qxe5 23. Bxe5 {Hey, where did my Queen go? *Once again this is a variation intended for some of my students - this variation would be refuted by me in a real game.}) 22. d4 Nd3 23. Rc7 {Oink!} Nxf2 24. d5 (24. Rxf2 {This was a fun variation that I had calculated during the game!} Rxf2 25. Kxf2 Qe3%2B 26. Kf1 Ng4 27. d5 Nh2# {A nice smothered checkmate - I love Knights*! While it is true that some of my students refer to this piece as a "Horsey" we have to realize the guy riding that horse might not appreciate such a comment! - Coach Sean.}) 24... N2g4 {Time to ride!} 25. Bf3 ( 25. Bxf6 Nxf6 26. d6 Qd8 27. Bd5%2B Kh8 28. Rxf6 Qxf6 29. Rxd7) 25... Re3 { Now my Rook "Skewers" the Bishop to the g3 pawn. This really isn’t quite a skewer tactic yet - the Bishop is protected. But notice how my Rook can potentially "see" through traffic? I want to eat that g3 pawn! YUM - WITH A CHECK!} 26. d6 Qd8 27. Bd5%2B Kh8 (27... Nxd5 28. Rxd7 Qxd7 29. Qxd7 Nxc3 30. Qf7%2B Kh7 31. d7 Ne2%2B (31... Rxg3%2B 32. Kh1 Rh3%2B 33. Kg2 Rh2%2B 34. Kg1 (34. Kf3 Re3%2B 35. Kf4 Ne2%2B 36. Kg5 Re5%2B 37. Rf5 Rxf5%2B 38. Qxf5 Bh6# { Would have also been a rather artistic checkmate! - Coach Sean.}) 34... Ne2#) 32. Kg2 Rxg3%2B 33. Kh1 Rh3%2B 34. Kg2 Rh2%2B 35. Kf3 Re3#) 28. Bxf6 Nxf6 (28... Bxf6 29. Rxd7 {And Coach Sean falls down and goes boom!}) 29. Rxf6 Qxf6 { I let him have my Bishop - so I can go collect his King!} 30. Rxd7 Rxg3%2B 31. Kh2 Qxh4# {An interesting game - Dustin is an uncompromising player who likes to "go his own way in the opening". I am glad I won this game - otherwise you would not believe me when I tell you to control squares - particularly the ones in the center of the board! I want to thank my opponent in the game - Dustin Kinney - as he made it an exciting fight. As a stronger player he knows when to break certain rules but this time he got punished for breaking some of the rules. But as you could see from just how complicated this game got there were points during it where he could very well have had his say during our "chessic debate". - Coach Sean.} 0-1 "></object></div>BrisasChessCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791599284550319852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4501955367513340080.post-16988101232830262292011-02-08T13:20:00.000-08:002011-02-08T13:21:44.795-08:00ASCF Tournament Schedule Winter Spring 2011Here is the ASCF's tournament schedule for the Winter Spring Semester of Chess - there is quite the line up of Scholastic events as you can see! - Chess Coach Sean Tobin.<br /><br /><table width="600" bgcolor="#ffffff" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td width="100%"><img src="http://www.chessemporium.com/images/banner_tourney.jpg" alt="Tournament Banner" width="600" border="2" height="75" /> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" align="center"> <b><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/results.php">Latest Results.</a></b> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" align="center"> <a name="TOP"><b>Tournaments</b></a> <table> <tbody><tr> <td width="200"><b>Event</b></td> <td width="130"><b>Date</b></td> <td width="160"><b>Location</b></td> <td width="110"><b>More Info</b></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="200">Friday Night Scholastic #6</td> <td width="130">Feb 11 11</td> <td width="160">Chess Emporium</td> <td width="110"><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#203">Click Here</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="200">Mirage</td> <td width="130">Feb 19 11</td> <td width="160">Teleos Preparatory Academy</td> <td width="110"><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#207">Click Here</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="200">The Clash</td> <td width="130">Feb 26 11</td> <td width="160">Mesa High School</td> <td width="110"><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#192">Click Here</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="200"><b><span style="color:red;">Susan Polgar National Open (BOYS)</span></b></td> <td width="130"><b><span style="color:red;">Mar 5 to 6 11</span></b></td> <td width="160"><b><span style="color:red;">Bogle Jr. High School</span></b></td> <td width="110"><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#199"><b><span style="color:red;">Click Here</span></b></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="200"><b><span style="color:red;">Susan Polgar National Open (Girls)</span></b></td> <td width="130"><b><span style="color:red;">Mar 5 to 6 11</span></b></td> <td width="160"><b><span style="color:red;">Bogle Jr. High School</span></b></td> <td width="110"><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#200"><b><span style="color:red;">Click Here</span></b></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="200"><span style="color:red;"><b>Susan P. Bughouse Championship</b></span></td> <td width="130">Mar 5 11</td> <td width="160">Bogle Jr High School</td> <td width="110"><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#210">Click Here</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="200"><span style="color:red;"><b>Susan P. Puzzle Solving Challenge</b></span></td> <td width="130">Mar 5 11</td> <td width="160">Bogle Jr High School</td> <td width="110"><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#213">Click Here</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="200"><span style="color:red;"><b>Susan P. Blitz Championship</b></span></td> <td width="130">Mar 6 11</td> <td width="160">Bogle Jr High School</td> <td width="110"><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#212">Click Here</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="200">Friday Night Scholastic #7</td> <td width="130">Mar 11 11</td> <td width="160">Chess Emporium</td> <td width="110"><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#204">Click Here</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="200">Friday Night Scholastic #8</td> <td width="130">Mar 18 11</td> <td width="160">Chess Emporium</td> <td width="110"><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#205">Click Here</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="200">Kyrene District Qualifier</td> <td width="130">Mar 26 11</td> <td width="160">Kyrene Altadena Middle School</td> <td width="110"><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#194">Click Here</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="200">Scottsdale District Qualifier</td> <td width="130">Apr 2 11</td> <td width="160">Mountainside Middle School</td> <td width="110"><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#195">Click Here</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="200">Chandler District Qualifier</td> <td width="130">Apr 9 11</td> <td width="160">Chandler TBA</td> <td width="110"><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#196">Click Here</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="200">Paradise Valley District Qualifier</td> <td width="130">Apr 16 11</td> <td width="160">Mountain Trail Middle School</td> <td width="110"><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#197">Click Here</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="200">Friday Night Scholastic #9</td> <td width="130">Apr 22 11</td> <td width="160">Chess Emporium</td> <td width="110"><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#206">Click Here</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="200">Governors Cup</td> <td width="130">Apr 30 to May 1 11</td> <td width="160">TBA</td> <td width="110"><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#198">Click Here</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="200">Friday Night Scholastic #10</td> <td width="130">May 6 11</td> <td width="160">Chess Emporium</td> <td width="110"><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#208">Click Here</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="200">Elementary Nationals</td> <td width="130">May 6 to 8 11</td> <td width="160">Dallas, TX</td> <td width="110"><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#209">Click Here</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="200">Twister</td> <td width="130">May 14 11</td> <td width="160">Kyrene Altadena Middle School</td> <td width="110"><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#191">Click Here</a></td> </tr> </tbody></table> <br /> <br /> <br /> <table> <tbody><tr> <th bg="" style="color: rgb(0, 128, 128);" width="100%"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:180%;" ><a name="203">Friday Night Scholastic #6</a></span></th> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" align="left"> <b>Location:</b> Chess Emporium <br /> <b>Address:</b> 10801 North 32nd Street, Suite 6, Phoenix, AZ 85028 <br /> <b>Dates:</b> Feb 11 11 <br /> <b>Schedule:</b> <table><tbody><tr><td>Three Consecutive Games Starting at 6:30pm</td></tr></tbody></table> <b>Type of Tournament: </b>3 round Swiss tournament. There is no elimination in a Swiss tournament. Expect your child to play all the rounds! <br /> <b>Cost: </b> <table><tbody><tr><td>$18.50 if received by Feb 9<br />$21.50 if received by Feb 10<br />$24.50 at the door.</td></tr></tbody></table> <b>**ASCF membership is required. ASCF membership may be obtained or renewed by including an additional $28.85 which includes 4 issues of <u>The Chess Scholar</u> magazine.</b> <br /> <b>Time Control:</b> Game/30 (30 minutes total for each player) <br /> <b>Please pre-register!!! Use Our <a href="https://www.chessemporium.com/tourney_reg.php?TOURNAMENT_ID=203" target="_blank">Secure Website</a> Registration Form</b> <br /> <b><i><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#TOP">TOP</a></i></b> </td> </tr> <tr> <th bg="" style="color: rgb(0, 128, 128);" width="100%"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:180%;" ><a name="207">Mirage</a></span></th> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" align="left"> <b>Location:</b> Teleos Preparatory Academy <br /> <b>Address:</b> 1401 East Jefferson, Phoenix, AZ 85034 <br /> <b>Dates:</b> Feb 19 11 <br /> <b>Schedule:</b> <table><tbody><tr><td>Rd 1 10:00am<br />Rd 2 11:15am<br />Rd 3 1:00pm<br />Rd 4 2:10pm</td></tr></tbody></table> <b>Type of Tournament: </b>4 round Swiss tournament. There is no elimination in a Swiss tournament. Expect your child to play all the rounds! <br /> <b>Cost: </b> <table><tbody><tr><td>$18.50 if received by Feb 16<br />$21.50 if received by Feb 17<br />$24.50 if received by Feb 18<br />$28.50 at the door.</td></tr></tbody></table> <b>**ASCF membership is required. ASCF membership may be obtained or renewed by including an additional $28.85 which includes 4 issues of <u>The Chess Scholar</u> magazine.</b> <br /> <b>Time Control:</b> Game/30 (30 minutes total for each player) <br /> <b>Please pre-register!!! Use Our <a href="https://www.chessemporium.com/tourney_reg.php?TOURNAMENT_ID=207" target="_blank">Secure Website</a> Registration Form</b> <br /> <b><i><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#TOP">TOP</a></i></b> </td> </tr> <tr> <th bg="" style="color: rgb(0, 128, 128);" width="100%"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:180%;" ><a name="192">The Clash</a></span></th> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" align="left"> <b>Location:</b> Mesa High School <br /> <b>Address:</b> 1630 East Southern Avenue, Mesa, AZ 85204 <br /> <b>Dates:</b> Feb 26 11 <br /> <b>Schedule:</b> <table><tbody><tr><td>Rd 1 10:00am<br />Rd 2 11:15am<br />Rd 3 1:00pm<br />Rd 4 2:10pm</td></tr></tbody></table> <b>Type of Tournament: </b>4 round Swiss tournament. There is no elimination in a Swiss tournament. Expect your child to play all the rounds! <br /> <b>Cost: </b> <table><tbody><tr><td>$18.50 if received by Feb 23<br />$21.50 if received by Feb 24<br />$24.50 if received by Feb 25<br />$28.50 at the door.</td></tr></tbody></table> <b>**ASCF membership is required. ASCF membership may be obtained or renewed by including an additional $28.85 which includes 4 issues of <u>The Chess Scholar</u> magazine.</b> <br /> <b>Time Control:</b> Game/30 (30 minutes total for each player) <br /> <b>Please pre-register!!! Use Our <a href="https://www.chessemporium.com/tourney_reg.php?TOURNAMENT_ID=192" target="_blank">Secure Website</a> Registration Form</b> <br /> <b><i><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#TOP">TOP</a></i></b> </td> </tr> <tr> <th bg="" style="color: rgb(0, 128, 128);" width="100%"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:180%;" ><a name="199"><b><span style="color:red;">Susan Polgar National Open (BOYS)</span></b></a></span></th> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" align="left"> <br /><center><b><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/PolgarEvent.pdf" target="_blank">Susan Polgar Schedule of Events</a></b></center> <b>Location:</b> <b><span style="color:red;">Bogle Jr. High School</span></b> <br /> <b>Address:</b> 1600 West Queen Creek Road, Chandler, AZ 85248-3003 <br /> <b>Dates:</b> <b><span style="color:red;">Mar 5 to 6 11</span></b> <br /> <b>Schedule:</b> <table><tbody><tr><td>Sat<br />Rd 1 9:00am<br />Rd 2 11:00am<br />Rd 3 1:00pm<br />Rd 4 3:00pm<br />Sun<br />Rd 5 9:00am<br />Rd 6 11:30am<br />Rd 7 1:30pm<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <b>Type of Tournament: </b>7 round Swiss tournament. There is no elimination in a Swiss tournament. Expect your child to play all the rounds! <br /> <b>Cost: </b> <table><tbody><tr><td>$55.00 if received by 02/19/2010<br />$59.00 if received by 02/27/2010<br />$65.00 if received by 03/03/2010<br />$69.00 After.</td></tr></tbody></table> <b>**ASCF or USCF membership is required. ASCF membership may be obtained or renewed by including an additional $28.85 which includes 6 issues of <u>The Chess Scholar</u> magazine.</b> <br /> <b>Time Control:</b> Game/45 (45 minutes total for each player) <br /> <b>Please pre-register!!! Use Our <a href="https://www.chessemporium.com/tourney_reg.php?TOURNAMENT_ID=199" target="_blank">Secure Website</a> Registration Form</b> <br /> <b><i><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#TOP">TOP</a></i></b> </td> </tr> <tr> <th bg="" style="color: rgb(0, 128, 128);" width="100%"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:180%;" ><a name="200"><b><span style="color:red;">Susan Polgar National Open (Girls)</span></b></a></span></th> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" align="left"> <br /><center><b><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/PolgarEvent.pdf" target="_blank">Susan Polgar Schedule of Events</a></b></center> <b>Location:</b> <b><span style="color:red;">Bogle Jr. High School</span></b> <br /> <b>Address:</b> 1600 West Queen Creek Road, Chandler, AZ 85248-3003 <br /> <b>Dates:</b> <b><span style="color:red;">Mar 5 to 6 11</span></b> <br /> <b>Schedule:</b> <table><tbody><tr><td>Sat<br />Rd 1 9:00am<br />Rd 2 11:00am<br />Rd 3 1:00pm<br />Rd 4 3:00pm<br /><br />Sun<br />Rd 5 9:00am<br />Rd 6 11:30am<br />Rd 7 1:30pm</td></tr></tbody></table> <b>Type of Tournament: </b>7 round Swiss tournament. There is no elimination in a Swiss tournament. Expect your child to play all the rounds! <br /> <b>Cost: </b> <table><tbody><tr><td>$55.00 if received by 02/19/2010<br />$59.00 if received by 02/27/2010<br />$65.00 if received by 03/03/2010<br />$69.00 After.</td></tr></tbody></table> <b>**ASCF or USCF membership is required. ASCF membership may be obtained or renewed by including an additional $28.85 which includes 6 issues of <u>The Chess Scholar</u> magazine.</b> <br /> <b>Time Control:</b> Game/45 (45 minutes total for each player) <br /> <b>Please pre-register!!! Use Our <a href="https://www.chessemporium.com/tourney_reg.php?TOURNAMENT_ID=200" target="_blank">Secure Website</a> Registration Form</b> <br /> <b><i><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#TOP">TOP</a></i></b> </td> </tr> <tr> <th bg="" style="color: rgb(0, 128, 128);" width="100%"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:180%;" ><a name="210"><span style="color:red;"><b>Susan P. Bughouse Championship</b></span></a></span></th> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" align="left"> <b>Location:</b> Bogle Jr High School <br /> <b>Address:</b> 1600 West Queen Creek Road, Chandler, AZ 85248-3003 <br /> <b>Dates:</b> Mar 5 11 <br /> <b>Schedule:</b> <table><tbody><tr><td><br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <b>Type of Tournament: </b>5 round Swiss paired bughouse tournament. There is no elimination in a Swiss tournament. Expect your child to play all the rounds! Registration is per team, not per player.<br /> <b>Cost: </b> <table><tbody><tr><td>$20.00 if received by Feb 26<br />$25.00 at the door.</td></tr></tbody></table> <b>**ASCF or USCF membership is required. ASCF membership may be obtained or renewed by including an additional $28.85 which includes 6 issues of <u>The Chess Scholar</u> magazine.</b> <br /> <b>Time Control:</b> Game/5 (5 minutes total for each player) <br /> <b>Please pre-register!!! Use Our <a href="https://www.chessemporium.com/tourney_reg.php?TOURNAMENT_ID=210" target="_blank">Secure Website</a> Registration Form</b> <br /> <b><i><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#TOP">TOP</a></i></b> </td> </tr> <tr> <th bg="" style="color: rgb(0, 128, 128);" width="100%"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:180%;" ><a name="213"><span style="color:red;"><b>Susan P. Puzzle Solving Challenge</b></span></a></span></th> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" align="left"> <b>Location:</b> Bogle Jr High School <br /> <b>Address:</b> 1600 West Queen Creek Road, Chandler, AZ 85248-3003 <br /> <b>Dates:</b> Mar 5 11 <br /> <b>Schedule:</b> <table><tbody><tr><td><br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <b>Type of Tournament: </b>Have your child test their critical thinking skills in the puzzle solving challenge. Solve puzzles, have fun, all at the same time!<br /> <b>Cost: </b> <table><tbody><tr><td>$15.00 if received by Feb 26<br />$20.00 at the door.</td></tr></tbody></table> <b>**ASCF or USCF membership is required. ASCF membership may be obtained or renewed by including an additional $28.85 which includes 6 issues of <u>The Chess Scholar</u> magazine.</b> <br /> <b>Time Control:</b> There is no time control! <br /> <b>Please pre-register!!! Use Our <a href="https://www.chessemporium.com/tourney_reg.php?TOURNAMENT_ID=213" target="_blank">Secure Website</a> Registration Form</b> <br /> <b><i><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#TOP">TOP</a></i></b> </td> </tr> <tr> <th bg="" style="color: rgb(0, 128, 128);" width="100%"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:180%;" ><a name="212"><span style="color:red;"><b>Susan P. Blitz Championship</b></span></a></span></th> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" align="left"> <b>Location:</b> Bogle Jr High School <br /> <b>Address:</b> 1600 West Queen Creek Road, Chandler, AZ 85248-3003 <br /> <b>Dates:</b> Mar 6 11 <br /> <b>Schedule:</b> <table><tbody><tr><td><br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <b>Type of Tournament: </b>5 round Swiss tournament. There is no elimination in a Swiss tournament. Expect your child to play all the rounds! <br /> <b>Cost: </b> <table><tbody><tr><td>$20.00 if received by Feb 27<br />$25.00 at the door.</td></tr></tbody></table> <b>**ASCF or USCF membership is required. ASCF membership may be obtained or renewed by including an additional $28.85 which includes 6 issues of <u>The Chess Scholar</u> magazine.</b> <br /> <b>Time Control:</b> Game/5 (30 minutes total for each player) <br /> <b>Please pre-register!!! Use Our <a href="https://www.chessemporium.com/tourney_reg.php?TOURNAMENT_ID=212" target="_blank">Secure Website</a> Registration Form</b> <br /> <b><i><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#TOP">TOP</a></i></b> </td> </tr> <tr> <th bg="" style="color: rgb(0, 128, 128);" width="100%"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:180%;" ><a name="204">Friday Night Scholastic #7</a></span></th> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" align="left"> <b>Location:</b> Chess Emporium <br /> <b>Address:</b> 10801 North 32nd Street, Suite 6, Phoenix, AZ 85028 <br /> <b>Dates:</b> Mar 11 11 <br /> <b>Schedule:</b> <table><tbody><tr><td>Three Consecutive Games Starting at 6:30pm</td></tr></tbody></table> <b>Type of Tournament: </b>3 round Swiss tournament. There is no elimination in a Swiss tournament. Expect your child to play all the rounds! <br /> <b>Cost: </b> <table><tbody><tr><td>$18.50 if received by Mar 9<br />$21.50 if received by Mar 10<br />$24.50 at the door.</td></tr></tbody></table> <b>**ASCF or USCF membership is required. ASCF membership may be obtained or renewed by including an additional $28.85 which includes 6 issues of <u>The Chess Scholar</u> magazine.</b> <br /> <b>Time Control:</b> Game/30 (30 minutes total for each player) <br /> <b>Please pre-register!!! Use Our <a href="https://www.chessemporium.com/tourney_reg.php?TOURNAMENT_ID=204" target="_blank">Secure Website</a> Registration Form</b> <br /> <b><i><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#TOP">TOP</a></i></b> </td> </tr> <tr> <th bg="" style="color: rgb(0, 128, 128);" width="100%"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:180%;" ><a name="205">Friday Night Scholastic #8</a></span></th> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" align="left"> <b>Location:</b> Chess Emporium <br /> <b>Address:</b> 10801 North 32nd Street, Suite 6, Phoenix, AZ 85028 <br /> <b>Dates:</b> Mar 18 11 <br /> <b>Schedule:</b> <table><tbody><tr><td>Three Consecutive Games Starting at 6:30pm</td></tr></tbody></table> <b>Type of Tournament: </b>3 round Swiss tournament. There is no elimination in a Swiss tournament. Expect your child to play all the rounds! <br /> <b>Cost: </b> <table><tbody><tr><td>$18.50 if received by Mar 16<br />$21.50 if received by Mar 17<br />$24.50 at the door.</td></tr></tbody></table> <b>**ASCF or USCF membership is required. ASCF membership may be obtained or renewed by including an additional $28.85 which includes 6 issues of <u>The Chess Scholar</u> magazine.</b> <br /> <b>Time Control:</b> Game/30 (30 minutes total for each player) <br /> <b>Please pre-register!!! Use Our <a href="https://www.chessemporium.com/tourney_reg.php?TOURNAMENT_ID=205" target="_blank">Secure Website</a> Registration Form</b> <br /> <b><i><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#TOP">TOP</a></i></b> </td> </tr> <tr> <th bg="" style="color: rgb(0, 128, 128);" width="100%"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:180%;" ><a name="194">Kyrene District Qualifier</a></span></th> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" align="left"> <b>Location:</b> Kyrene Altadena Middle School <br /> <b>Address:</b> 14620 S. Desert Foothills Parkway, Phoenix, AZ 85048 <br /> <b>Dates:</b> Mar 26 11 <br /> <b>Schedule:</b> <table><tbody><tr><td>Rd 1 9:30am<br />Rd 2 10:45am<br />Rd 3 11:55am<br />Rd 4 1:30pm<br />Rd 5 2:40pm<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <b>Type of Tournament: </b>5 round Swiss tournament. There is no elimination in a Swiss tournament. Expect your child to play all the rounds! <br /> <b>Cost: </b> <table><tbody><tr><td>$18.50 if received by Mar 23<br />$21.50 if received by Mar 24<br />$24.50 if received by Mar 25<br />$28.50 at the door.</td></tr></tbody></table> <b>**ASCF or USCF membership is required. ASCF membership may be obtained or renewed by including an additional $28.85 which includes 6 issues of <u>The Chess Scholar</u> magazine.</b> <br /> <b>Time Control:</b> Game/30 (30 minutes total for each player) <br /> <b>Please pre-register!!! Use Our <a href="https://www.chessemporium.com/tourney_reg.php?TOURNAMENT_ID=194" target="_blank">Secure Website</a> Registration Form</b> <br /> <b><i><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#TOP">TOP</a></i></b> </td> </tr> <tr> <th bg="" style="color: rgb(0, 128, 128);" width="100%"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:180%;" ><a name="195">Scottsdale District Qualifier</a></span></th> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" align="left"> <b>Location:</b> Mountainside Middle School <br /> <b>Address:</b> 11256 N. 128th Street Scottsdale, AZ 85259 <br /> <b>Dates:</b> Apr 2 11 <br /> <b>Schedule:</b> <table><tbody><tr><td>Rd 1 9:30am<br />Rd 2 10:45am<br />Rd 3 11:55am<br />Rd 4 1:30pm<br />Rd 5 2:40pm<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <b>Type of Tournament: </b>5 round Swiss tournament. There is no elimination in a Swiss tournament. Expect your child to play all the rounds! <br /> <b>Cost: </b> <table><tbody><tr><td>$18.50 if received by Mar 30<br />$21.50 if received by Mar 31<br />$24.50 if received by Apr 1<br />$28.50 at the door.</td></tr></tbody></table> <b>**ASCF or USCF membership is required. ASCF membership may be obtained or renewed by including an additional $28.85 which includes 6 issues of <u>The Chess Scholar</u> magazine.</b> <br /> <b>Time Control:</b> Game/30 (30 minutes total for each player) <br /> <b>Please pre-register!!! Use Our <a href="https://www.chessemporium.com/tourney_reg.php?TOURNAMENT_ID=195" target="_blank">Secure Website</a> Registration Form</b> <br /> <b><i><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#TOP">TOP</a></i></b> </td> </tr> <tr> <th bg="" style="color: rgb(0, 128, 128);" width="100%"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:180%;" ><a name="196">Chandler District Qualifier</a></span></th> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" align="left"> <b>Location:</b> Chandler TBA <br /> <b>Address:</b> Chandler TBA <br /> <b>Dates:</b> Apr 9 11 <br /> <b>Schedule:</b> <table><tbody><tr><td>Rd 1 9:30am<br />Rd 2 10:45am<br />Rd 3 11:55am<br />Rd 4 1:30pm<br />Rd 5 2:40pm</td></tr></tbody></table> <b>Type of Tournament: </b>5 round Swiss tournament. There is no elimination in a Swiss tournament. Expect your child to play all the rounds! <br /> <b>Cost: </b> <table><tbody><tr><td>$18.50 if received by Apr 6<br />$21.50 if received by Apr 7<br />$24.50 if received by Apr 8<br />$28.50 at the door.</td></tr></tbody></table> <b>**ASCF or USCF membership is required. ASCF membership may be obtained or renewed by including an additional $28.85 which includes 6 issues of <u>The Chess Scholar</u> magazine.</b> <br /> <b>Time Control:</b> Game/30 (30 minutes total for each player) <br /> <b>Please pre-register!!! Use Our <a href="https://www.chessemporium.com/tourney_reg.php?TOURNAMENT_ID=196" target="_blank">Secure Website</a> Registration Form</b> <br /> <b><i><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#TOP">TOP</a></i></b> </td> </tr> <tr> <th bg="" style="color: rgb(0, 128, 128);" width="100%"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:180%;" ><a name="197">Paradise Valley District Qualifier</a></span></th> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" align="left"> <b>Location:</b> Mountain Trail Middle School <br /> <b>Address:</b> 2323 East Mountain Gate Pass, Phoenix, AZ 85024 <br /> <b>Dates:</b> Apr 16 11 <br /> <b>Schedule:</b> <table><tbody><tr><td>Rd 1 9:30am<br />Rd 2 10:45am<br />Rd 3 11:55am<br />Rd 4 1:30pm<br />Rd 5 2:40pm</td></tr></tbody></table> <b>Type of Tournament: </b>5 round Swiss tournament. There is no elimination in a Swiss tournament. Expect your child to play all the rounds! <br /> <b>Cost: </b> <table><tbody><tr><td>$18.50 if received by Apr 13<br />$21.50 if received by Apr 14<br />$24.50 if received by Apr 15<br />$28.50 at the door.</td></tr></tbody></table> <b>**ASCF or USCF membership is required. ASCF membership may be obtained or renewed by including an additional $28.85 which includes 6 issues of <u>The Chess Scholar</u> magazine.</b> <br /> <b>Time Control:</b> Game/30 (30 minutes total for each player) <br /> <b>Please pre-register!!! Use Our <a href="https://www.chessemporium.com/tourney_reg.php?TOURNAMENT_ID=197" target="_blank">Secure Website</a> Registration Form</b> <br /> <b><i><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#TOP">TOP</a></i></b> </td> </tr> <tr> <th bg="" style="color: rgb(0, 128, 128);" width="100%"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:180%;" ><a name="206">Friday Night Scholastic #9</a></span></th> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" align="left"> <b>Location:</b> Chess Emporium <br /> <b>Address:</b> 10801 North 32nd Street, Suite 6, Phoenix, AZ 85028 <br /> <b>Dates:</b> Apr 22 11 <br /> <b>Schedule:</b> <table><tbody><tr><td>Three Consecutive Games Starting at 6:30pm</td></tr></tbody></table> <b>Type of Tournament: </b>3 round Swiss tournament. There is no elimination in a Swiss tournament. Expect your child to play all the rounds! <br /> <b>Cost: </b> <table><tbody><tr><td>$18.50 if received by Apr 20<br />$21.50 if received by Apr 21<br />$24.50 at the door.</td></tr></tbody></table> <b>**ASCF or USCF membership is required. ASCF membership may be obtained or renewed by including an additional $28.85 which includes 6 issues of <u>The Chess Scholar</u> magazine.</b> <br /> <b>Time Control:</b> Game/30 (30 minutes total for each player) <br /> <b>Please pre-register!!! Use Our <a href="https://www.chessemporium.com/tourney_reg.php?TOURNAMENT_ID=206" target="_blank">Secure Website</a> Registration Form</b> <br /> <b><i><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#TOP">TOP</a></i></b> </td> </tr> <tr> <th bg="" style="color: rgb(0, 128, 128);" width="100%"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:180%;" ><a name="198">Governors Cup</a></span></th> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" align="left"> <b>Location:</b> TBA <br /> <b>Address:</b> TBA <br /> <b>Dates:</b> Apr 30 to May 1 11 <br /> <b>Schedule:</b> <table><tbody><tr><td>Sat<br />Rd 1 9:00am<br />Rd 2 11:00am<br />Rd 3 1:00pm<br />Rd 4 3:00pm<br />Rd 5 5:00pm<br />Sun<br />Rd 6 9:00am<br />Rd 7 11:00am<br />Rd 8 1:00pm<br />Rd 9 3:00pm</td></tr></tbody></table> <b>Type of Tournament: </b>9 round Swiss tournament. There is no elimination in a Swiss tournament. Expect your child to play all the rounds! <br /> <b>Cost: </b> <table><tbody><tr><td>$49.00 if received by Apr 27<br />$54.00 if received by Apr 28<br />$59.00 at the door.</td></tr></tbody></table> <b>**ASCF or USCF membership is required. ASCF membership may be obtained or renewed by including an additional $28.85 which includes 6 issues of <u>The Chess Scholar</u> magazine.</b> <br /> <b>Time Control:</b> Game/40 (40 minutes total for each player) <br /> <b>Please pre-register!!! Use Our <a href="https://www.chessemporium.com/tourney_reg.php?TOURNAMENT_ID=198" target="_blank">Secure Website</a> Registration Form</b> <br /> <b><i><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#TOP">TOP</a></i></b> </td> </tr> <tr> <th bg="" style="color: rgb(0, 128, 128);" width="100%"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:180%;" ><a name="208">Friday Night Scholastic #10</a></span></th> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" align="left"> <b>Location:</b> Chess Emporium <br /> <b>Address:</b> 10801 North 32nd Street, Suite 6, Phoenix, AZ 85028 <br /> <b>Dates:</b> May 6 11 <br /> <b>Schedule:</b> <table><tbody><tr><td>Three Consecutive Rounds Starting at 6:30pm</td></tr></tbody></table> <b>Type of Tournament: </b>3 round Swiss tournament. There is no elimination in a Swiss tournament. Expect your child to play all the rounds! <br /> <b>Cost: </b> <table><tbody><tr><td>$18.50 if received by May 4<br />$21.50 if received by May 5<br />$24.50 at the door.</td></tr></tbody></table> <b>**ASCF or USCF membership is required. ASCF membership may be obtained or renewed by including an additional $28.85 which includes 6 issues of <u>The Chess Scholar</u> magazine.</b> <br /> <b>Time Control:</b> Game/30 (30 minutes total for each player) <br /> <b>Please pre-register!!! Use Our <a href="https://www.chessemporium.com/tourney_reg.php?TOURNAMENT_ID=208" target="_blank">Secure Website</a> Registration Form</b> <br /> <b><i><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#TOP">TOP</a></i></b> </td> </tr> <tr> <th bg="" style="color: rgb(0, 128, 128);" width="100%"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:180%;" ><a name="209">Elementary Nationals</a></span></th> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" align="left"> <b>Location:</b> Dallas, TX <br /> <b>Address:</b> <br /> <b>Dates:</b> May 6 to 8 11 <br /> <b>Schedule:</b> <table><tbody><tr><td><br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <b>Type of Tournament: </b>7 round Swiss tournament. There is no elimination in a Swiss tournament. Expect your child to play all the rounds! <br /> <b>Cost: </b> <table><tbody><tr><td>$0.00 at the door.</td></tr></tbody></table> <b>**ASCF or USCF membership is required. ASCF membership may be obtained or renewed by including an additional $28.85 which includes 6 issues of <u>The Chess Scholar</u> magazine.</b> <br /> <b>Time Control:</b> Game/30 (30 minutes total for each player) <br /> <b>Please pre-register!!! Use Our <a href="https://www.chessemporium.com/tourney_reg.php?TOURNAMENT_ID=209" target="_blank">Secure Website</a> Registration Form</b> <br /> <b><i><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#TOP">TOP</a></i></b> </td> </tr> <tr> <th bg="" style="color: rgb(0, 128, 128);" width="100%"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:180%;" ><a name="191">Twister</a></span></th> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" align="left"> <b>Location:</b> Kyrene Altadena Middle School <br /> <b>Address:</b> 14620 S. Desert Foothills Parkway, Phoenix, AZ 85048 <br /> <b>Dates:</b> May 14 11 <br /> <b>Schedule:</b> <table><tbody><tr><td>Rd 1 10:00am<br />Rd 2 11:15am<br />Rd 3 1:00pm<br />Rd 4 2:10pm</td></tr></tbody></table> <b>Type of Tournament: </b>4 round Swiss tournament. There is no elimination in a Swiss tournament. Expect your child to play all the rounds! <br /> <b>Cost: </b> <table><tbody><tr><td>$18.50 if received by May 11<br />$21.50 if received by May 12<br />$24.50 if received by May 13<br />$28.50 at the door.</td></tr></tbody></table> <b>**ASCF or USCF membership is required. ASCF membership may be obtained or renewed by including an additional $28.85 which includes 6 issues of <u>The Chess Scholar</u> magazine.</b> <br /> <b>Time Control:</b> Game/30 (30 minutes total for each player) <br /> <b>Please pre-register!!! Use Our <a href="https://www.chessemporium.com/tourney_reg.php?TOURNAMENT_ID=191" target="_blank">Secure Website</a> Registration Form</b> <br /> <b><i><a href="http://www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php#TOP">TOP</a></i></b></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>BrisasChessCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791599284550319852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4501955367513340080.post-71370746343680645632011-01-03T20:12:00.000-08:002011-01-03T20:17:45.071-08:00CONGRATULATIONS TO PRATEEK!Prateek took 16th place out of 105 players in the U1700 section of the NORTH AMERICAN OPEN! His final score of 5 from 7 even took him into the top finishers circle and his rating is now 1695... so he will not be playing in that section for much longer! Time to move up! Congratulations lad, chess well played all the way!<br /><br />- Chess Coach Sean Tobin.BrisasChessCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791599284550319852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4501955367513340080.post-82166895112850483102011-01-03T20:03:00.000-08:002011-01-03T20:19:43.171-08:00Chess is less painful and a lot more fun than Boxing...<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbu864nltU3cNEzM6sz-97dDYM63fvi3P6Kp4VbPORv3wBgcVmrZ7rj7Sx_iJRINUDY7OHFaAazUx22A606W0v1P2J9tRrdJGFPp44PLEfVZkR5JGXsZ-HENSyWfpFVYG-QXmiEDZxlCc/s1600/Prateek+nocks+out+Coach+Sean%2521.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbu864nltU3cNEzM6sz-97dDYM63fvi3P6Kp4VbPORv3wBgcVmrZ7rj7Sx_iJRINUDY7OHFaAazUx22A606W0v1P2J9tRrdJGFPp44PLEfVZkR5JGXsZ-HENSyWfpFVYG-QXmiEDZxlCc/s400/Prateek+nocks+out+Coach+Sean%2521.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5558176655539985058" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">DEFEATED BY A CHESS STUDENT!</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Sadly this is what happens to all chess coaches someday... just ask Robby Adamson!</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">I did not take very many photos as the NORTH AMERICAN OPEN - but plenty of other folks sure did! Thank you Radhika! A prize photo - I was caught a bit off guard and surprised when Prateek turned our fighting pose into a knockout punch pose! Someday he - as will several of my other students - knock me out OTB! Which is rather less painful than a real knock-out!!! When those days come along - I will gladly tip my King. Being checkmated by former students is just their way of saying "Job well done, Coach!". Of course I will attempt to put that off for as long as possible! : )<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">- Chess Coach Sean Tobin.</span></span><br /></div><br /></div>BrisasChessCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791599284550319852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4501955367513340080.post-45549000870691900512010-12-06T19:00:00.001-08:002010-12-06T19:00:36.779-08:00CHESS HUMOR IN ADVERTISING!CHESS HUMOR IN ADVERTISING!<br /><br /><embed id="VideoPlayback" src="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=8068626534230632720&hl=en&fs=true" style="width: 400px; height: 326px;" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed>BrisasChessCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791599284550319852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4501955367513340080.post-81183440310545639642010-12-02T23:44:00.001-08:002010-12-02T23:44:23.980-08:00CHESS GAME DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH: Thursday, December 2nd, 2010. FAB TIME!Caruana pulls ahead! With a full point lead the question now becomes can he keep it going full steam over the course of the final two rounds?<br /><br /><div><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" width="100%" height="600"><param name="movie" value="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" /><param name="flashvars" value='orientation=V&tabmode=true&light=f4f4fF&dark=0072b9&bordertext=494949&headerforeground=ffffff&mtforeground=000000&mtvariations=FF0000&mtmainline=000000&mtbackground=ffffff&dark=000066&background=000066&pgndata=[Event "70th ch-ITA"] [Site "Siena ITA"] [Date "2010.12.02"] [Round "9"] [White "Garcia Palermo, C."] [Black "Caruana, F."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A46"] [WhiteElo "2465"] [BlackElo "2709"] [PlyCount "48"] [EventDate "2010.11.23"] 1. d4 {Needing a win with the Black pieces, Caruana plays an offbeat system. This strategy worked this time as he pulled a point further ahead of the two players who were tied with him for first place. Now it all comes down to the final two rounds of the Italian Chess Championship! WARNING - Playing such an opening strategy - as was selected in this game - can be hazardous to your chess life! This time it worked for Fabiano...} Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. Bg5 h6 4. Bh4 d6 {Fabiano is basically saying to his opponent - here have the center... AND HAVE FUN TRYING TO HOLD ONTO IT!} 5. Nc3 g5 6. Bg3 Nh5 { Getting ready to "earn" the Bishop pair - a ready made advantage in chess!} 7. e4 Bg7 {This is most certainly NOT mainline stuff... sorry but I will not be teaching my Scholastic players such odd systems so early on in their chess lives!} 8. Bb5%2B c6 9. Ba4 Nxg3 10. hxg3 Nd7 11. Qd3 a6 12. Bb3 b5 13. a4 Bb7 14. O-O O-O {The play in this game has become extremely similar to the KING’S INDIAN DEFENSE... and Black is better in this position because of his greater control of space and his Bishop pair.} 15. Ne2 c5 { Offering up the a and b pawns for the white a and e pawns!} 16. axb5 axb5 17. Qxb5 Bxe4 { Whoops! There it goes - you "usually" prefer center pawns to wing pawns!} 18. Nd2 Rb8 {FORCING MOVE! Move it or lose it me lady!} 19. Qa6 Bg6 {As the board has been opening up Fabiano’s Bishops have become stronger... it is amazing to me when I play over this game to see just how badly misplaced the White pieces became over the course of the game!!} 20. Rfd1 (20. Qxd6 cxd4 21. Nxd4 Be5 22. Qa3 (22. Nc6 Bxd6 23. Nxd8 Rfxd8 {Still winning a piece!}) 22... Bxd4 { Winning a piece!}) 20... d5 {With threats galore!} 21. c4 (21. c3 c4 22. Ba4 Rxb2) (21. dxc5 Bxb2 22. Rab1 Nxc5 (22... Bg7 23. c6 Rb6 24. Qa4 Nc5 25. Qg4 Nxb3 26. Rxb3 Bxc2 27. Rxb6 Qxb6 28. Rc1 Qxc6 29. Qb4 Qa4 {Superior pawn structure, Bishop pair and material advantage for the second player insures a win at this level.}) 23. Qa7 Nxb3 24. Rxb2 Nxd2 25. Rxb8 Qxb8 26. Qxb8 Rxb8 27. Rxd2 {Leaves Black with the better endgame - a pawn up and better structure as well as the better minor piece.}) 21... cxd4 22. cxd5 Nc5 {The fork idea!} 23. Qa3 Nxb3 24. dxe6 $4 (24. Nxb3 Bc2 { And white is in big trouble anyways - going down material!} 25. Nexd4 Bxd1 26. Rxd1 Qxd5 {And only Black can be winning now.}) 24... Qd5 {Keeping his extra piece and keeping the White Queenside under heavy pressure! The first player called it quits here as there is very little hope of holding this position a piece down and facing the huge black attack which will cost further material losses. He or she who has more pieces usually has more fun in chess!} 0-1 '/></object></div>BrisasChessCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791599284550319852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4501955367513340080.post-5863533424090034282010-11-30T11:55:00.001-08:002010-11-30T11:55:25.609-08:00CHESS GAME DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH: Tuesday, November 30th, 2010<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">CHESS GAME DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH: Tuesday, November 30th, 2010 The Fabulous Fabiano Curuana continues to impress all!</span></span><br /><br />It was back during the World Open held in 2001 and I was in the grip of a serious chess fever... I not only played in the main event but I also played in several of the side events as well. It was during the 5th round of the WORLD OPEN TUESDAY ACTION that I got paired with a small boy with big glasses and a teddy bear on "board". I thought to myself - easy win. Well it wasn't! In fact I didn't win at all and was very lucky to draw. Back in 2001 this boy was rated 1788 before this event but post he was 1828 rated. What is his rating nowadays?<br /><br />The fabulous Fabiano Curuana is now FIDE rated 2700 plus - which makes him a Super Grandmaster! While it would be intellectual dishonest of me to claim that I had drawn a Super Grandmaster I can in all honesty say that I played an all time great player way back when he was just starting off and before he later became a top notch chess competitor. Of course this story would sound even better if I had won that game way back when. At least to my ears! <br /><br />For the cross table to this event please visit:<br /><a href="http://main.uschess.org/assets/msa_joomla/XtblMain.php?200107035990-12601265"><br />http://main.uschess.org/assets/msa_joomla/XtblMain.php?200107035990-12601265</a><br /><br />One of my big joys as a chess coach is working with youngsters... but when I look at children now I cannot help but to ask myself the following question "How good will this boy/girl be in a year? In two years? What is their chess potential?" These questions are ever in the back of my mind after having played in an event held on July 3rd, 2001. When I look at some of my students I know that some of them will make master - but it will take time, energy and effort. Will they be able to put forth their best effort? I know several of my students can - with one well on his way there now. (Tony Yim!) <br /><br />I also look at ALL of my kids and know that they can at least become as good or skilled a player as me. But will I get the chance to help them achieve this? Will their Parents understand just how useful an educational tool Scholastic chess is and sign them up for chess tournaments? Do they have the time and inclination? Always such questions are in my mind... two of my star students that I work with right now I will make every effort to help them achieve as much as they can with my help. But once they do so it will be my hope that they continue on with another chess coach who can take them further should I not be up to the task. They both have that much potential. A tier down I have several more students who too will make that jump but first they must cross the 1300 ASCF barrier and that can be stumbling block for some Scholastic players. But not if I am their coach - we'll cross it sooner than later!<br /><br /><div><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" width="100%" height="600"><param name="movie" value="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf"><param name="flashvars" value="orientation=V&tabmode=true&light=f4f4fF&dark=0072b9&bordertext=494949&headerforeground=ffffff&mtforeground=000000&mtvariations=FF0000&mtmainline=000000&mtbackground=ffffff&dark=000066&background=000066&pgndata=[Event "70th ch-ITA"] [Site "Siena ITA"] [Date "2010.11.24"] [Round "2"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Piscopo, P.."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C41"] [WhiteElo "2709"] [BlackElo "2399"] [Annotator "Tobin,Sean"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "2010.11.23"] {A long time ago during a WORLD OPEN side event I got to play a young boy - his name was Fabiano Curuana! I earned a draw in that game - in a Sicilian Dragon - and thought to myself "This kid with his teddy bear is going to be a real good player someday." Little did I realize that he would become one of the top players in the World! At the stratospheric rating level of 2700 Mr. Caruana can now be considered a super GM. That is to say a Super Grandmaster which is a cut above the rest. I look forward to seeing just how far this talented young man - who holds dual American and Italian citizenship - can go in chess. Having chosen to represent Italy America lost a Super Grandmaster... but the world still has gained a player of such artistic chess caliber that we all win in the end - as long as we take a look at his games! So on that note let us take a look at Fabiano’s round two win in the ongoing Italian Chess Championship. This game was played on the 24th of November - Enjoy!} 1. e4 { "Best by test!" - Bobby Fischer.} e5 2. Nf3 {Developing a piece on the King-side which will allow White to castle once he or she plays the Bishop to new square. Once f1 is freed up on the next turn the first player may castle to the "King’s" side of the board. A much safer place to be than in the in center - usually!} d6 {Philidor’s Defense - not the best opening choice by the second player but not a bad one either. But definitely an opening that requires patience and tough defense of the "strong-point" e5.} 3. d4 { Attacking the e5 square and threatening to exchange off Queens once the exchange takes place.} exd4 {By capturing the second player now has time to develop his or her team. This capture does allow the White Knight to become centralized - making the Knight even stronger.} 4. Nxd4 { A recapture that gives the Knight an excellent view of the middle of the board. } Nf6 {A developing move that I would give an A%2B to! This move not only develops a piece but it attacks the e4 pawn as well.} 5. Nc3 {Another A%2B move! A developing move that defends against the second player’s threat to the e4 pawn.} Be7 {Sadly Black’s second move has only left the e7 square open to the second player’s dark squared Bishop. "Move this piece, you must... move this pieces you shall!" - Yoda. Still this move is good in that it protects the Knight on f6 and now allows the Black King to castle. Not too many options for the Black Bishop but the one was enough to get the "opening job" done!} 6. g3 {An interesting choice of variation - a kingside "fianchetto" which will allow the White Bishop to go to g2 both defending the White King and allowing this piece to attack along what could potentially be it’s best diagonal - the long light squared diagonal h1 to a8.} d5 {Mr. Piscopo has chosen to attack the center as a fianchetto does take time - this is switching gears a bit but it not out of character for what this position calls for. I suspect most serious Philidor players would adopt a different strategy though.} 7. e5 { Gaining space and not allowing the center to open up. Oh - this move also threatens the Knight onf6!} Ng4 {An aggressive move that will allow Black to "win" the e5 pawn but only at the expense of losing his d5 pawn after Fabiano’s next move...} 8. Bg2 {Sure! Why not - get this piece developed while also creating a threat against the d5 pawn. Attack it twice and if it is only defended once then it is yours!} O-O {A wise choice - King safety is a must in any opening and 99% of the time this calls for a castling of the King to either the King’s side of the board or to the Queen’s side of the board. If White takes the pawn on d5 his King might come under attack due to still being located in the center of the board. Fabiano would like to castle but his next move would indicate that he had second thoughts about letting his e5 pawn go... though I am not 100% convinced that this move was his best.} 9. f4 c6 {Both sides have protected their weak pawns... but now Fabiano begins to attack the overextended Black Pieces. However he may need to castle soon as his own King could come under attack very soon should the position open up.} 10. h3 {"Move it or lose it bub!"} Nh6 11. g4 { Fabiano now has more space but still he must be careful with his King!} Bc5 $2 {Not the best move... this allows Fabiano to develop a piece while defending the Knight on d4 a second time. Trying to open up lines might have been a better option for Mr. Piscopo.} 12. Be3 $1 {Now the White position is starting to feel a lot more solid and is looking a lot more coordinated.} Re8 { This move was played to put pressure upon the King on e1 - even with a lot of traffic in the way good things can happen when you point your line pieces at your opponent’s King! This move also seeks to set up a pawn break taking advantage of the lose piece on e3 - White’s Bishop.} 13. Qd3 {A move that one of my top star students would approve of and here it isn’t such a bad move at all. This move does three things: 1.) Develops a piece. 2.) Has prepared a Queenside castling for the White King and 3.) The lose piece on e3 is now protected by the White Queen.} Bb6 (13... f6 14. Nxc6 bxc6 15. Bxc5 fxe5 16. O-O-O {Looks very messy but much more testing for Mr. Piscopo. One gets the feeling that perhaps he got a little bit intimidated by his world class opponent. What is happening on the chess board is more important than someone’s rating, their reputation or how they have scored against you in the past. Always look for YOUR best moves!} Ba6 17. Qd2 Nf7 {While the Black position is still under pressure at least here Black has a fighting chance! Big problems for him would be the Knight on b8 - an undeveloped piece - and the White’s better control over the board space and better developed pieces.}) 14. O-O-O {A wonderful move because it achieves the following three things all in one go! - King safety, a centralized chess piece - the Rook, and additional defense of the d4 Knight. In positions that feature opposite sides castling you just know there is going to be a very tactical slugfest with both sides going for the win. The first person to open up lines to their opponent’s King will 99% of the time win the game! However in this position it is only White who can do the attacking! Black’s pieces lack development and harmony.} c5 {Looking to gain space and to win a piece with a pawn fork. However Fabiano has something cooked up in preparation for this now.} 15. Ndb5 d4 16. Nd6 {His intention is to give away a piece but to set up a discovery that will allow him to achieve a better position - and or to win his piece back. Was this sound though? What do the computers have to say about this move?} dxc3 17. Qxc3 Nc6 18. Bxc6 bxc6 19. g5 Nf5 20. Nxf5 {It was perfectly sound and well thought out as far as I can tell! I may be an expert but I could be wrong - however I will not be using a computer to do my thinking for me! As an assistant the computer chess engine is an invaluable aid but as a chess teacher it is just horrible! Not only will it miss assess positions but it give you an answer based upon how it has been designed to analyze a position with such and such an event horizon. People have to look at a board and come up with their own "Chess Test" answers by which they either pass or fail that particular chess test - the game at hand. Working out a solution will always pay more long term dividends for a player irrespective of the result of any one game. Having someone else hand you an answer - that may or may not be correct for you or even relevant to the task at hand for you in your quest for chess improvement - will not help you make gains in terms of your chess development. This is no problem for us chess players for according to Kasparov "We like to think!" is one unifying thread for those who engage in this wonderful mental workout - this gymnasium of the mind.} Bxf5 {The Black position has begun to collapse and so Mr. Piscopo decides to muddy the waters by going in for a materially imbalanced game where tactics will be much more prominent. Of course he still winds up material down - and with perfect play will still be fighting a losing battle!} (20... Qc7 21. Nd6 {Leaves Black absolutely smashed and squashed for space! That Knight on d6 is a real monster now!!}) 21. Rxd8 Raxd8 22. Bxc5 Rd5 23. Bxb6 axb6 24. Qxc6 {Black is no t only down on points - 21 versus 17 - but has to deal with a lot of enemy pawns that will get stronger as they climb up the board. Pawn promotion will most certainly cost Black even more material - later than sooner in this game.} Red8 25. Qxb6 Rd2 26. Qc7 {Played with the hope that Black would exchange down - into a lost Rook and pawn endgame. An elementary win for a player of Mr. Caruana’s caliber.} g6 (26... Rxc2%2B 27. Qxc2 Bxc2 28. Kxc2 Rd4 29. Rf1 { And the two pawns on a2 and b2 will overpower the Black Rook. This would be an utterly hopeless endgame for Black and hence was the reason that Mr. Piscopo ducked out on this particular chess potentiality.}) 27. b3 R2d4 28. Qc3 $6 {Maybe not the best move... but the game has already been decided. With care of course! Blunders can always cost us the game!!} R4d5 29. Rh2 { Without threats and without enough material to make of this game such a fight as to trouble Fabiano Caruana it was Mr. Piscopo who tipped his King in an admission of defeat. An interesting game... with lessons for all of us!} 1-0 "></object></div>BrisasChessCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791599284550319852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4501955367513340080.post-90573264129627637262010-11-24T23:17:00.000-08:002010-11-24T23:18:00.449-08:00CHESS GAME DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH: Wednesday, November 24th, 2010 (Time stand still!)Time stand still!<br /><br /><div><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" width="100%" height="600"><param name="movie" value="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" /><param name="flashvars" value='orientation=V&tabmode=true&light=f4f4fF&dark=0072b9&bordertext=494949&headerforeground=ffffff&mtforeground=000000&mtvariations=FF0000&mtmainline=000000&mtbackground=ffffff&dark=000066&background=000066&pgndata=[Event "Casual Game BLOG POSTED"] [Site "BEND COMMUNITY CNTR, BEND OR"] [Date "2010.07.12"] [Round "?"] [White "Young, Duane"] [Black "Evers, Jason"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B09"] [Annotator "Tobin,Sean"] [PlyCount "45"] [EventDate "2010.??.??"] 1. e4 {I really do enjoy "most" of my competitive chess games against opponents. It is a way to make friends - with someone whom you may very well have to spend hours playing against and will soon get to know well! At least as a chess player.} d6 {It is easy to take it for granted that you will get to meet that opponent again in the future... each game really is precious and deserves our best effort.} 2. d4 Nf6 {This game was played in Bend Oregon by a long time member of the now defunct "Bend Chess Club" as created by a small band of chess enthusiasts in Bend Oregon. Thankfully Paul and Eric are there to get things energized! Keep up the good work guys - keep it going, keep it going, keep it going full steam!} 3. Nc3 {Duane Young had pretty much given up playing competitive chess by the time I arrived in Bend Oregon. But he would still put in an appearance on occasions despite poor health. He was a really gentleman and I wish I had gotten to get in more than just the one game that we ended up playing. It would have been nice to hear his chess and non-chess stories!} g6 4. f4 Bg7 5. Nf3 c5 { The "Austrian Attack variation" of the Pirc. Sharp!} 6. Bb5%2B Bd7 {Of course my good friend Jason Evers falls before the tactical master stroke that Duane made in painting victory upon this chess board. Jason would not prefer it any other way however as tactics are his forte! As anyone who has every played Jason can attest to.} 7. Bxd7%2B Nbxd7 8. d5 {Grabbing more space.} Qa5 { This move is a bit misguided... what is that King still doing in the center of the board? King in the center is not good - castle that King out of danger! I suspect that Jason wanted to play for tactics against Duane in this game but his position does not justify it... he needed to take care of his King’s safety first and to show a little patience.} 9. O-O {Two games in the "BIG DATABASE 2010" for this position - A win and a draw. The draw back in 1994 and the win in 2002. Black’s next move brings up no games - and that is probably because of the rule of thumb "Meet a wing attack with a central attack!". Or something approximating that!} b5 $2 {King in the center will soon result in a King-a-ling! A not so bright King will soon be a sorry sight.} 10. e5 $1 dxe5 11. fxe5 Ng4 12. e6 $1 {A nice shot - the idea is wonderful... this move breaks open the square to either side of the Black King and is going to result in some severely weak White squares that will be easily attacked.} fxe6 13. Ng5 Bd4%2B {Classic Jason Evers - going in for the tactics! Here he will win an exchange but he will end up losing his King!} 14. Kh1 Nf2%2B {Knights are awesome when it comes to forking other pieces - here the King and Queen are "checked" by the Knight and so Duane’s response is really forced. It is a good move though as it removes one of Jason’s most developed pieces.} 15. Rxf2 Bxf2 16. Nxe6 {This Knight is dangerously close to Jason’s King - there is no castling away from this. To even try would be "illegal" as the Knight attacks f8 and d8.} Nf8 {Here Jason appreciates just how much trouble his King is starting to get into. but Duane turns up the heat even further!} 17. Qf3 { This move gains time as it attacks the lose piece on f2 which must move in order to save itself. Now the White Pieces spring into action and begin attacking!} Bd4 {Back again, back again...} 18. Bh6 { The dark squares around Jason’s King are weak too!} Nxe6 19. dxe6 {This recaptu re not only brings the pawn dangerously close to the Black King but it has now allowed to the Queen to "see" the Rook on a8 - which is unguarded! Duane would love to add that piece to his collection!} O-O-O {Too little too late! This gets the Black King into a lot of hot water because there are three attackers that can attack him now. Bishop, Queen and the pawn on e6. There is potentially a fourth - the Knight on c3!} 20. Bf4 { Threatening a checkmate in one!} (20. Bf4 -- 21. Qa8#) 20... Rd6 {BOX! - only move!! But now there is a wonderful checkmate on the board and it is totally "forced"!} 21. Bxd6 $4 {This actually delays the checkmate by a move - see the given variation for how White could have delivered the same checkmate as in the game but one move sooner!} (21. Qa8%2B Kc7 22. Nd5#) 21... exd6 22. Qa8%2B Kc7 23. Nd5# {That’s the ticket! Game over rover! Well played by Duane and Jason - and very instructive. LESSON TO BE LEARNED FROM THIS GAME: 1.) Castle your King out of the center of the board! 2.) The rule of three or more - you need a combination of three or more chess pieces and pawns to be able to deliver a checkmate. 3.) Always try to open lines up to your opponent’s King so your pieces can land on those squares that are close to him. More importantly control those squares with your pieces and pawns and then the checkmate will not be far off. And finally please remember what former World Champion Emanual Lasker had to say about playing moves... "When you find a good move, wait - don’t play it. Look for a better move!" In this game Duane made a capture that won five points for three points but overlooked delivering his checkmate a move sooner. Cobra hand even happens to adult chess players!} 1-0 '/></object></div>BrisasChessCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791599284550319852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4501955367513340080.post-81180563077361271512010-11-24T11:01:00.000-08:002010-11-24T23:23:43.934-08:00PRATEEK AT THE "BEST OF PHOENIX!" - Photo Essay of a successful chess player!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijrDfG5Roxqadwvnyth7mbw4ExfrKyhO2XrDRJjlpVLz2JD0kcRCdi9oCGzZO_C20U8YU-nPLKMKhFmxJtkngr5ReVTItzAOHrI8h0yilnqvgmz5InaCkZddR_O-Q7rwcwdLGcqrjzkRs/s1600/2010_11_20+BOP+day+1+Saturday+BUG+%2526+Rounds+1+thru+5+CAREFREE+189.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijrDfG5Roxqadwvnyth7mbw4ExfrKyhO2XrDRJjlpVLz2JD0kcRCdi9oCGzZO_C20U8YU-nPLKMKhFmxJtkngr5ReVTItzAOHrI8h0yilnqvgmz5InaCkZddR_O-Q7rwcwdLGcqrjzkRs/s400/2010_11_20+BOP+day+1+Saturday+BUG+%2526+Rounds+1+thru+5+CAREFREE+189.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543384643857157122" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDGoKxCNWaF5YkW3XGJPQtdL0Y-jnKFXLs3wEkkhtI20CJPA0jIGpFxSh2ao0ouLVP0a4GfSlN3ml7TaDmQrE0IobHszdMyThyphenhyphensY9gs6PtOoABBcjaiKgPLsarC2sg8OilxFVWssVrdiw/s1600/2010_11_20+BOP+day+1+Saturday+BUG+%2526+Rounds+1+thru+5+CAREFREE+186.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDGoKxCNWaF5YkW3XGJPQtdL0Y-jnKFXLs3wEkkhtI20CJPA0jIGpFxSh2ao0ouLVP0a4GfSlN3ml7TaDmQrE0IobHszdMyThyphenhyphensY9gs6PtOoABBcjaiKgPLsarC2sg8OilxFVWssVrdiw/s400/2010_11_20+BOP+day+1+Saturday+BUG+%2526+Rounds+1+thru+5+CAREFREE+186.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543384638720135378" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmYAUrzM6na7D2uxJDv33p0XlHcWDIz8UGAnNoutNzPmWPYgpIrlASYSUEgAlcvYJjJ-I7SEKn-2uswdWetyyhQ1x6n5pRPThgVd-2RB1ePUHZEEhrut11OiqTqjk-lOIdyYJoeiqfrdM/s1600/2010_11_20+BOP+day+1+Saturday+BUG+%2526+Rounds+1+thru+5+CAREFREE+155.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmYAUrzM6na7D2uxJDv33p0XlHcWDIz8UGAnNoutNzPmWPYgpIrlASYSUEgAlcvYJjJ-I7SEKn-2uswdWetyyhQ1x6n5pRPThgVd-2RB1ePUHZEEhrut11OiqTqjk-lOIdyYJoeiqfrdM/s400/2010_11_20+BOP+day+1+Saturday+BUG+%2526+Rounds+1+thru+5+CAREFREE+155.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543384622633919122" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhakwUlz2e09lT4H13WtjkGfKwBu8UWgX8E0t_8Y4my_ZPt0Q1GEIqHmvfVXKXBgEKhoIurjtKZTiuW04Rf4sdj6CneLW1GdAyhP5a8xfG8lA1K7ZzzTsTa4HF-cIEMqDGT8jK8ivNq9GU/s1600/2010_11_20+BOP+day+1+Saturday+BUG+%2526+Rounds+1+thru+5+CAREFREE+069.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhakwUlz2e09lT4H13WtjkGfKwBu8UWgX8E0t_8Y4my_ZPt0Q1GEIqHmvfVXKXBgEKhoIurjtKZTiuW04Rf4sdj6CneLW1GdAyhP5a8xfG8lA1K7ZzzTsTa4HF-cIEMqDGT8jK8ivNq9GU/s400/2010_11_20+BOP+day+1+Saturday+BUG+%2526+Rounds+1+thru+5+CAREFREE+069.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543384618087158978" /></a>BrisasChessCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791599284550319852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4501955367513340080.post-69828525006253272032010-11-23T12:42:00.001-08:002010-11-23T12:42:51.619-08:00CHESS GAME DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH: Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010Vintage Karpov... the python squeezes again!<br /><br /><div><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" width="100%" height="600"><param name="movie" value="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" /><param name="flashvars" value='orientation=V&tabmode=true&light=f4f4fF&dark=0072b9&bordertext=494949&headerforeground=ffffff&mtforeground=000000&mtvariations=FF0000&mtmainline=000000&mtbackground=ffffff&dark=000066&background=000066&pgndata=[Event "UNAM Selected Simul"] [Site "Mexico City MEX"] [Date "2010.11.18"] [Round "1"] [White "Karpov, Anatoly"] [Black "Garcia Almaguer, Juan Manuel"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A40"] [WhiteElo "2619"] [BlackElo "2108"] [Annotator "Tobin,Sean"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "2010.11.18"] 1. d4 {This is from one of Karpov’s Simul games played along side of the various UNAM events that were held in Mexico City. It is my hope to play in one of these excellent Mexican events some day - thankfully there will be another chance next year!} e6 {I am sure that Juan was thinking to himself "What to play against this all time great of chess? What hasn’t Karpov seen before?" Trying to dodge the all time lead scorer for GM level tournament victories is a daunting task. I would have rather asked myself, "What opening can I play - that I know really well and that I am the best at playing - that might offer me the most chance of victory against Karpov with his attention divided? He might not be able to devote his full attention to our game during this Simultaneous exhibition chess event so I would try to play my best!" Of course you would have to play your best and Karpov would have to be outplayed - after having made a mistake. Not really something that happens too much to former World Champion Anatoly Karpov!} 2. g3 b6 3. Bg2 Nc6 4. Nf3 Bb7 5. O-O Nf6 6. c4 Be7 7. Nc3 {This looks like some sort of none main line Queen’s Indian. This Simultaneous exhibition game was well played - Karpov really schools his opponent in this game!} O-O $2 {In my opinion an opening mistake that is one of the factors that cost Juan this game. "Castle if you must, not if you can" - Coach Sean. This move allows Karpov to dominate the center of the board and to put a series cramp in the style of one Juan Garcia!} 8. d5 {Grabbing the lion’s share of the board space!} exd5 9. cxd5 Nb4 { Now the white d5 pawn is defended twice and attacked three times... how to defend this pawn while improving the white position?} 10. Nh4 {Of course! The "obvious" and obviously correct move in this position! This does break the rule of thumb - Knights on the rim are grim or dim but this is the best move in this position. This does happen from time to time - a rule of thumb being broken so that we can actually achieve a much better position. This move will not be good if this Knight stays stranded on the h-file though.} Rb8 11. Nf5 { With a Knight on f5 it will be hard for the Black King to survive!} d6 { Making both Bishops bad now!} 12. a3 {Kicking the Knight - hard!} Na6 13. b4 { Grabbing even more space - the python is starting to squeeze his opponent already!} Qd7 14. Qd3 {An interesting Queen move - one of which a certain student of mine would most assuredly approve!} Bc8 {Trying to threaten the capture of the f5 Knight - it is attacked twice while only being defended once. } 15. e4 {Make that twice defended now! This move now allows Karpov to hold onto even more squares and consolidates his special spacial advantages. It is true that the g2 Bishop has a lot of traffic in the way now but this piece will find even more gainful employment later on during the game.} Ng4 16. f4 Bf6 17. Bd2 Nh6 $4 {Juan does not have a plan - and it is hard to find one in this position! By playing this move he does get rid of the Knight on f5 but will end up with a severely crippled Kingside. These kinds of advantages - Space, open lines and a weakened King fortress - are too much to concede to a player of Karpov’s caliber. It is no longer a matter of "if" Karpov will win but a matter of when.} 18. Nxh6%2B gxh6 {SHAAZAM! Open lines galore! Watch how quickly Karpov attacks along the dark squared long diagonal a1 to h8.} 19. Rac1 Bb7 20. Nb5 c6 $4 {This only makes things worse! Without space and open lines the Black pieces would have to shuffle back and forth while waiting for the end. Trying to go "active" in a position without options was really no option at all. But what is Juan to do? He cannot take a pass on his moves - he has to play something on each and every one of his turns.} 21. dxc6 {Of course. Now Black has weak pawns and still does not have very good prospects.} Bxc6 $4 {Two pieces for the Rook is a very good deal! Karpov jumps on this in a flash - notice how he puts together how his line pieces look along their individual lines. The master can see through the chaos and find the thread of simplicity that wins it all - hands down!} 22. Rxc6 {"What, a gift?"} Qxc6 23. e5 { No, more like a trick as in "Trick or treat! - smell Karpov’s feet!".} d5 24. exf6 Qxf6 25. Bc3 {"It’s all over but for the shouting now." as my good friend John Duscharme used to say.} Qg6 {"Excuse me, Mr former World Champion Karpov, would you like to exchange down into a winning endgame or would you rather checkmate me?"} 26. f5 { "I’ll take a checkmate - served my way, thank you very much!"} Qg5 {A very instructive example of how to target a Queen. Watch how Karpov kicks this piece around!} 27. h4 Qe7 28. Bxd5 Rfe8 (28... Rfd8 29. Qd4 Rxd5 30. Qh8# { Game over Rover so Rover roll over!}) 29. Re1 (29. Qd4 $2 {Too soon for this move - the idea the Juan had was to try and defend by exchanging the Queens. Why allow this line?} Qe3%2B 30. Qxe3 Rxe3 {Black is still lost - White has the two Bishops now. But why allow Black to scrape by with sloppy play? If you could allow this maybe we could blunder too! Be patient and allows look for your biggest advantage and then go after it! Checkmating your opponent is a lot of fun - so go in for that if you can!}) 29... Qd7 (29... Qxe1%2B 30. Bxe1 Rxe1%2B 31. Kf2 Rbe8 32. Nd6 {And the Black position has completely collapsed.}) 30. Rxe8%2B Qxe8 31. Qd4 Kf8 32. Qg7%2B {This is all forced - like gears inside of a clock this all unfolds with clock like precision. At least German made clock like precision!} Ke7 33. Qf6%2B Kf8 (33... Kd7 34. Qc6%2B Kd8 35. Bf6%2B { PIN POWERS - ACTIVATE!} Qe7 {And Black is totally lost now!}) (33... Kd7 34. Qc6%2B Ke7 35. Qd6# { As in the game continuation - the only difference being a zig and a zag!}) 34. Qxh6%2B Ke7 35. Qd6# {Karpov is an all time great of chess - though he plays very little competitive chess these days he is, most certainly without a doubt, at one with chess artistry!} 1-0 '/></object></div>BrisasChessCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791599284550319852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4501955367513340080.post-16243503515587099462010-11-22T20:12:00.000-08:002010-11-22T20:13:16.485-08:00CHESS GAME DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH: Monday, November 22nd, 2010Some interesting chess has been played while I was focused on the "BEST OF PHOENIX" - got time to look at one of those games, right now? : ) Then in that case CHESS STARTS NOW!<br /><br /><div><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" width="100%" height="600"><param name="movie" value="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" /><param name="flashvars" value='orientation=V&tabmode=true&light=f4f4fF&dark=0072b9&bordertext=494949&headerforeground=ffffff&mtforeground=000000&mtvariations=FF0000&mtmainline=000000&mtbackground=ffffff&dark=000066&background=000066&pgndata=[Event "Ajedrez UNAM KO"] [Site "Mexico City MEX"] [Date "2010.11.21"] [Round "2.2"] [White "Polgar, Judit"] [Black "Topalov, Veselin"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C67"] [WhiteElo "2686"] [BlackElo "2786"] [Annotator "Tobin,Sean"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2010.11.19"] 1. e4 {This game was part of the "Ajedrez UNAM KO" held in Mexico City. The time control was Game in ten minutes with a five seconds delay. This event featured 4 players with Judit triumphant after having to defeat top ten caliber players Vassily Ivanchuk and Veselin Topalov.} e5 {Judit Polgar defeated Vassily Ivanchuk in the qualifying match for this final and this was game two of her match against former World Champion Veselin Topalov. Also one tough customer!} 2. Nf3 Nc6 {Judit was a top 10 or 15 player in the World several years ago - before going into semi-retirement to take up the toughest job in the world - becoming a mother! She started her family several years ago and has put in rare and infrequent appearances on the Grandmaster chess circuit ever since then. For those members of my chess clubs - and their families! - you may have recalled my discussing the famous Polgar sisters before. You definitely got to see my chess simul win against her sister GM Susan Polgar! Who can forget that game - especially when I remind all of my students about it all of the time! : ) Just kidding... hmm, perhaps it IS time to show that game again! LOL!} 3. Bb5 {SPANISH OPENING!} Nf6 4. O-O {BERLIN DEFENSE!} Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8%2B Kxd8 { It is true that the second player has given up the right to castle - when the White Queen captured the Black Queen on d8 - but now Black does not have to worry about being checkmated by a White Queen for quite a while now!} 9. Nc3 h6 {This defense requires absolute patience... and some super defensive technique and an excellent endgame. Not exactly the opening I would recommend to a Scholastic player!} 10. h3 Bd7 11. Ne4 b6 {Denying the White Knight the c5 square... in addition to the Black Bishop on f8 the b6 pawn defends this square and will allow the pawn push c6-c5. While White has more space it is very hard for the first player to break the defenses of the second player.} 12. b3 {This is the modern way of solving the problem of what to do with the dark squared White Bishop.} Kc8 {Castling by hand may be on the card or getting ready for the endgame is the other option!} 13. Bb2 {At this point in the game a quick check of the "BIG DATABASE 2010" reveals 4 games played in this line. Two draws and two wins for the first player! Polgar knows her theory. The set up she adopts - up until this point in the game - is the same strategy as was used by Jorge Mario Clavijo in his round five game versus Yaniet Lopez Marrero, from the 2009 edition of the 44th Capablanca Memorial Open.} c5 { There is the aforementioned pawn push!} 14. c4 {Clamping down on the d5 square. } Kb7 15. Rad1 Be6 16. Nc3 g5 {Now Black plays a very provocative move - grabbing space on the King-side and perhaps preparing an Attack - this move will also allow the second player to attempt winning the e5 pawn by laying siege to it. By this I mean adding up the attackers against it!} 17. Nd5 Ne7 18. Rd3 Ng6 19. Rfd1 Rd8 20. R3d2 Bg7 { Attacking the e5-pawn twice - however the Bishop has stepped into a "self-pin". } 21. Kh2 Kc8 22. g4 Bxd5 23. cxd5 Rhe8 {Looks good, right?} 24. Re1 { Easily defended though.} Nf4 {It is here that Veselin begins to go astray... or to put it another way he is starting to lose the thread of the play from this point on. In my opinion at least!} 25. Red1 Rd7 26. d6 Ng6 $4 ({ Blockading pawns is always a good idea!} 26... Ne6 {Seems much more logical in this position. Of course the time remaining upon the clocks may have begun to play a roll in what now begins to happen henceforth.}) 27. e6 Rxe6 (27... Bxb2 28. exd7%2B {Leads to a lot of heartache!} Kxd7 29. Rxb2 { Would have left Judit Polgar up a whole Rook! Not bad!}) 28. Bxg7 cxd6 29. Bxh6 f6 {Trapping the Bishop - but White can decide how and in what way to give back the material now. I would say White is winning now!} 30. Kg3 Kc7 { With the idea of freeing up the d7 Rook so it can go round up the little doggie on h6!} 31. Rd5 Kc6 32. Nxg5 {Keeping the Bishop and "giving" back some material in the form of the Knight to go up pawns and to go in for the won endgame.} fxg5 33. Bxg5 {The White King side passed pawns will cost Black a lot - like the game! ENDGAME WINNER SPOILER ALERT!} Ne5 34. h4 {IF YOU HAVE PASSED PAWNS then PUSH THEM! (Disclaimer - provided you do not end up losing them for nothing! Make sure you can protect them or they can run in for a touchdown!)} b5 {This dogie is not going anywhere!} 35. f4 { This dogie bites! Whuf!} Nf7 36. f5 {It is always helpful to be able to make "quick" pawn moves - when with each move the pawn attacks and pushes back defenders!} Re4 37. Bf4 {Keeping the Bishop on and tying the Black pieces down to the defense of the d6 pawn.} c4 38. bxc4 bxc4 39. g5 { Black is helpless against the herd of passed white pawns.} c3 {This pawn may be running but it will not run far! It is about to be rounded up!} 40. R5d3 Rc4 (40... c2 $2 41. Rc3%2B Kb5 42. Rxc2 {Wins the little fellow!}) 41. g6 c2 42. Rc1 {This pawn is going NO-WHERE now!} Nd8 {And this Knight is dim - or if you will grim - because it has now been pushed back to the rim! The only place worse for this piece would be one of the corner squares! Notice how the White pawns on f5 and g6 keep the Knight from coming over to help the pawn that really is going to run in for a touchdown - the h-pawn!} 43. Rd2 {And the last bit of counter play for former World Champion Topalov will just disappear with the c2 pawn. Black has no way of holing onto the passed pawn - so it goes lost! And with it the game! 1 - 0} (43. Rd2 Nb7 44. Rdxc2 Rxc2 45. Rxc2%2B Kb6 46. h5 d5 47. h6 d4 48. h7 Rd8 (48... d3 49. Rb2%2B Kc5 50. h8=Q { A nice and easy endgame win now!}) 49. Bc7%2B {Would highlight just how weak the Black Back Rank is! One of those kingside doggies is going to touch down and promote into a Queen!}) 1-0 '/></object></div>BrisasChessCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791599284550319852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4501955367513340080.post-54123471069128801862010-11-18T12:35:00.000-08:002010-11-18T12:39:32.293-08:00CHESS GAME DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH: Thursday, November 18th, 2010I only got to play in a few of John Hillery's events starting this year... as it would turn out I would not get any further opportunities to see him at any future events. He would pass away on September 20th, 2010 - only a short time after I had last seen him at the final tournament that he would direct - The SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA OPEN held on September 6th. <br /><br />Here now is a game I decided to annotate for your enjoyment in honor of John Hillery. A big win against a super strong opponent. A well played game with some imaginative play by John. <br /><br />It is only because of the hard work of people like John that there are any events - at all - for the rest of us to go enjoy our selves at. A real lover of chess - like John was - can do it all. Play, run events and so on. He even waded into the muck of United States Chess Federation (USCF) politics and try to clean things up - that takes a particularly brave person! His hard work on behalf of all of us on various committees also influenced the very way that you can play chess at any USCF event that you attend. Rules are rules! Thank you for all you did in life John Hillery, RIP. <br /><br /><div><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" width="100%" height="600"><param name="movie" value="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" /><param name="flashvars" value='orientation=V&tabmode=true&light=f4f4fF&dark=0072b9&bordertext=494949&headerforeground=ffffff&mtforeground=000000&mtvariations=FF0000&mtmainline=000000&mtbackground=ffffff&dark=0000FF&background=0000FF&pgndata=[Event "American Open"] [Site "?"] [Date "1983.11.27"] [Round "8"] [White "Hillery, John"] [Black "McCambridge, Vince"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E73"] [Annotator "Tobin,Sean"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "1983.??.??"] 1. d4 {I didn’t really get to know John - I had only just started playing in his chess tournaments this past year. I liked his events and found them to be very well attended by players of all grades.} Nf6 { John Hillery wore many hats - chess player, organizer, TD and chess journalist. } 2. c4 {As a player he made master and was one of the first life masters just after they had created this title. Unlike some players with goofy titles John really was a master. The next time someone offers up that they are a "Master", do me and yourself a favor. Ask them what their rating is. If it is below 2200 - THEY ARE NOT A MASTER. No matter what the merits of some now defunct norm program might be. Any one with any self respect would not flaunt credentials that they do not have the ability to back up - Masters are rated over 2200. It’s just that simple!} g6 {John’s standard rating was 2205 by the end of his time as an active player but his postal was 2223. So he was a chess master twice over - with the ratings to back up the claim.} 3. Nc3 { Now back to our game here! John is developing his forces and will look to control the center. Will Vince play a King’s Indian or a Gruenfeld Indian? The next move will give away which option Mr. Vince McCambridge is/was most willing to employ during this game.} Bg7 {King’s Indian it is!} (3... d5 { Grunfeld Indian option here folks!}) 4. e4 {Now the move ...d5 is not going to have good vibes for the second player. Vince will play a dynamic and counter attacking King’s Indian Defense now.} d6 {An event that will be taking place in Southern California this Thanksgiving week (2010) will be the 46th EDITION OF THE AMERICAN OPEN. This event will be capably directed by Randy Hough and will take place from November 25th through the 28th. It will feature 8 rounds of chess at the time control of 40 moves in 2 hours and Sudden Death (SD = all remaining moves!) in one hour. With or without time delay - use the delay is my advice!!!!!!!!!! There will be numerous side events - Scholastic players only as well as Action and rapid open events. For more information please contact Randy Hough at randallhough@yahoo.com. or go online to register at: http://chesspalace.com/americanopen.htm. See you there or have a Happy Thanksgiving - either way make the most of each day! - Chess Coach Sean Tobin.} 5. Be2 {This move is played to avoid any Bishop pins on the Knight should White instead have played the move 5. Nf3. This move would catch an opponent who was totally asleep at the wheel off guard if they were expecting the "usual" move 5. Nf3. Now Bg4 would lose a piece as White looks at that square twice - with both Bishop and Queen. Obvious details!} O-O {Now Vince can check off "King Safety" from his checklist of three opening items. However later on in this game his King will be a lot less safe!} 6. Bg5 {A White system used to discourage the "normal" King’s Indian pawn break... see example variation on why YOU would not want to play 6. ...e5 here!} Nbd7 {This move pre pares the move ...e5 but unfortunately blocks in the light squared Bishop on c8.} (6... e5 7. dxe5 dxe5 8. Qxd8 Rxd8 9. Nd5 Rd6 (9... Nxd5 10. Bxd8 { Gives White a Rook and the much better position.}) 10. Nxc7 {And the Rook in the corner goes lost! NOT something that any chess player wants to allow to happen!}) 7. Qd2 {White wants to exchange off the dark squared Bishop on g7 so as to weaken the dark squares around the Black King. Not a bad idea to use against any fianchetto variation - when it is an appropriate enough idea that is. Sometimes your Queen can be build off sides while Black carries out an active counter attack but such is not yet the case here in this game.} e5 { Now that a Knight is on d7 Vince felt he could play this move. The idea behind this move is to attack the d4 square.} 8. d5 {Grabbing more space.} Nc5 {Black is actively playing against White’s e4-pawn hence John’s next move 9. f3 adding a defender.} 9. f3 a5 {This pawn push plays on the side where White would usually like to play. This was done to prevent the pawn push b2 to b4 kicking the Black Knight out of c5 and gaining space for the White forces.} 10. O-O-O {BRAVE! Positions that feature opposite sides castling usually boil down to one very basic fact of chess - whoever breaks through the opponent’s pawn shield first will win the game. As a rule of thumb goes this is usually spot on.} Qe8 { Breaking the pin - now the Black Knight on f6 is freed up to move.} 11. Kb1 { The King "decides" to get off of the h6 to c1 diagonal and to help protect the a2 pawn. Even the King has to do his part but he is a much better fighting piece in the endgame. This is why the King never leads the attack but instead helps with defense during the opening and middle game. Rare exceptions not being typical for the kinds of use our King sees early on during the game.} Bd7 {Vince is lining up his Pieces and will attempt to blast through John’s defenses over on the Queen’s side of the board. John will attack on the Kingside.} 12. g4 h5 $4 {This cannot be good... now Vince has helped John out by giving him targets. Perhaps Vince had confused two different King’s Indian strategies? This move seems out of place in this position... there is a line where we play such a move but not in this kind of position!} 13. Bxf6 { The best defender of the Black King is removed from the board now... John was thinking very aggressive thoughts in the game!} Bxf6 14. gxh5 {The outer defense s have been breached... now John’s team has various open lines down which to attack and Vince’s King is in BIG trouble.} gxh5 15. h4 Bg7 16. Nh3 f6 17. Rdg1 Kh7 {Notice how the Black King is cut off from the rest of the board now that a White Rook is starring down the g-file.} 18. Qd1 {John repositions his Queen and is looking to either relocate her over to the g-file or to use plan "A". Plan "A" is to rip open the position by playing the move f3 to f4 opening up yet even more lines. John will also win the h5 pawn for free as he has Queen and Bishop looking at it through the traffic.} Bh6 19. f4 exf4 20. Bxh5 { This move not only wins a weak pawn on the h-file but it attacks the Black Queen and will also "own" the g6 square.} Qe5 21. Bg6%2B Kg8 22. Bf5%2B Bg7 23. Rxg7%2B {John keeps Vince on the ropes! This is a nice combination as the Queen fork trick allows John to win two pieces for his Rook as well as further weakening the field around the Black King. So many open lines now!} Kxg7 24. Qg4%2B {SHAZAAM! Now the King is checked (MOST FORCING MOVE ALERT!) and the Bishop on d7 is attacked twice now - a very advanced fork idea.} Kf7 25. Bxd7 { Bye bye Bobby Bufford Bishop!} Rg8 (25... Nxd7 26. Qxd7%2B Qe7 27. Qxe7%2B { Now White will win with the two Knights versus the Black Rook and the because of that extra passed h-pawn! That is a win!} Kxe7 28. Nxf4 Rf7 (28... Rh8 29. Ng6%2B {Walks into a fork-a-roni!}) 29. h5 Kd7 30. Nce2 Rh8 31. Ne6 Rfh7 32. N2f4 {And White’s grip on the position is rock solid.}) 26. Be6%2B Nxe6 27. dxe6%2B Ke7 28. Qxf4 c6 29. Qf5 Rg3 30. Nd5%2B {A wonderful game by John Hillery.} (30. Nd5%2B cxd5 31. Qh7%2B Kxe6 32. cxd5%2B Qxd5 33. Nf4%2B (33. exd5%2B {This would be the kind of line that someone would play if they had settled for an "obvious" advantage. If we look a bit deeper into this position there is a much better continuation for White. ALWAYS CHECK YOUR LINES PIECES AND THE OCTOPUSES!} Kxd5 34. Qxb7%2B) 33... Ke5 34. Qf5%2B Kd4 35. Qxd5%2B Ke3 36. Re1%2B Kxf4 37. Qf5# { Wins by force of course!}) (30. Nd5%2B cxd5 31. Qh7%2B Ke8 32. Qf7%2B Kd8 33. Qd7# { Pawn and Queen versus a King on the edge of the board does the trick!}) (30. Nd5%2B Kd8 31. e7%2B Ke8 32. Nxf6%2B Kxe7 (32... Kf7 33. Ng5%2B Kxe7 (33... Rxg5 34. hxg5 Qxf5 35. exf5 Kxe7 36. Rh7%2B Kd8 37. Rh8%2B { Your Rook or your life, Der Konig!}) 34. Qd7%2B Kxf6 35. Qf7#) 33. Qh7%2B Kf8 34. Nd7%2B {Wins the Black Queen... and more of course!}) 1-0 '/></object></div>BrisasChessCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791599284550319852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4501955367513340080.post-58809199968282509722010-11-17T22:59:00.000-08:002010-11-17T23:00:08.299-08:00CHESS GAME DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH: Wednesday, November 17th, 2010Some nice events going on - right now in Israel the 2010 Israeli Championship is taking place which is producing some nice games. Enjoy today's post - whenever you read it!<br /><br /><br /><div><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" width="100%" height="600"><param name="movie" value="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf"><param name="flashvars" value="orientation=V&tabmode=true&light=f4f4fF&dark=0072b9&bordertext=494949&headerforeground=ffffff&mtforeground=000000&mtvariations=FF0000&mtmainline=000000&mtbackground=ffffff&dark=000033&background=0000033&pgndata=[Event "ch-ISR"] [Site "Haifa ISR"] [Date "2010.11.16"] [Round "7.5"] [White "Gruenfeld, Yehuda"] [Black "Sorin, Michael"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B32"] [WhiteElo "2469"] [BlackElo "2204"] [Annotator "Tobin,Sean"] [PlyCount "125"] [EventDate "2010.11.08"] [EventType "swiss"] 1. e4 {"Best by test!" - Bobby Fischer.} c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 {Sicilian Opening. } cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 {This move gains time on the Knight but leaves a big hole for White’s control - hello d5!} 5. Nb5 d6 {This pawn is backwards and could become extremely weak if Black does not get good and dynamic piece place.} 6. c4 {Maroczy set up - no d5 pawn break now! Black will have to try pawn breaks on b5 or f5 to chip away at White’s center.} Be7 7. N1c3 a6 8. Na3 Be6 9. Be2 Bg5 {Lowenthal Variation.} 10. O-O Bxc1 11. Rxc1 Nf6 {White has the white squares while Black will look to control the Black squares - posting a Knight on d4 would be nice if it could not be traded off.} 12. Nc2 O-O 13. Qd2 Rc8 14. h3 Qb6 15. Rfd1 Rfd8 16. Bf1 Ne7 17. Ne3 Nc6 18. b3 Nd4 19. Nc2 Nxc2 20. Rxc2 { Sly move - a recapture that prepares the potential doubling of Rooks!} h6 21. Qe1 Qc6 22. Rcc1 { Keeping the Rooks linked up - they can "talk" to each other now.} Qc7 23. Qe2 Qa5 24. Qd3 Nh5 25. g3 {Keeps the Knight off of the f4 square.} Qc5 26. Bg2 Nf6 27. Re1 Bd7 28. Rcd1 Qa5 29. a4 (29. Qxd6 $4 Qxc3 {Would lose a Knight!}) 29... b5 {Here comes the pawn break! White wins a "passed" pawn now - which will allow him or her to win the game now.} 30. axb5 axb5 31. Nxb5 Bxb5 32. cxb5 Rc3 33. Qd2 {PIN!} Qb4 34. Re3 Rxb3 35. Rxb3 Qxb3 36. Qd3 { White has wonderful control over the board now... what is Black to do now?} Qxd3 $2 {White has an easy win but this makes it even easier now.} 37. Rxd3 Rb8 38. Rb3 Rb6 39. Rb4 Kf8 40. Bf1 d5 41. exd5 Nxd5 42. Rc4 Ke7 (42... Rxb5 $4 43. Rc8%2B Ke7 44. Bxb5) 43. Rc8 Rb7 44. Rc5 Kd6 45. Rc6%2B Kd7 46. Bc4 Nb4 47. Rc5 f6 48. Kg2 Rc7 49. Rxc7%2B Kxc7 50. Kf3 Kd6 51. Ke4 g6 52. g4 h5 53. gxh5 f5%2B 54. Kf3 gxh5 55. Kg3 Kc5 56. Bf1 f4%2B 57. Kh4 e4 58. Kxh5 Nd3 59. f3 Nf2 (59... exf3 60. Bxd3 {Easy!}) 60. h4 e3 61. Kg5 Nh3%2B 62. Kg4 Ng1 63. h5 {The Knight is trapped now and can only escape by "winning" the Bishop on f1 with the pawn push e3-e2, however this will allow White to promote his h-pawn into a Queen. Game over!} (63. h5 e2 64. Bxe2 Nxe2 65. h6 Nc3 66. h7 Nd5 67. h8=Q {TOUCHDOWN! }) 1-0 "></object></div>BrisasChessCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791599284550319852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4501955367513340080.post-15500128813272143072010-11-16T22:52:00.001-08:002010-11-17T01:57:14.859-08:00CHESS GAME DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH: Tuesday, November 16th, 2010Hello everyone!<br /><br />Here is my most recent TUESDAY NIGHT MONTHLY STANDARD OPEN game - as played every TUESDAY at the CHESS EMPORIUM in PHOENIX ARIZONA. I lost this one - my opponent is the provisionally rated 2700 rated Nam Nguyen. This is obviously a mistake but it will be very high once the USCF - United States Chess Federation - corrects this anomaly - maybe higher than 2400? Who knows! Nam did beat IM Dionisio Aldama in a G30 Friday Night action game down at the Chess Emporium and it is true has has won all of his games but for a single one - a draw with coach Kevin. <br /><br />Today's game with me could have very well been his first loss - but for my mistakes! Both of us had wins in this game at various times throughout the game - he just had the final "won" is all! I enjoyed my game with Nam - except for all of his muttering under his breath during our game! : ) Enjoy this game - for what it is worth!<br /><br /><div><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" width="100%" height="600"><param name="movie" value="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" /><param name="flashvars" value='orientation=V&tabmode=true&dark=669922&mtbackground=ffffff&dark=003300&background=003300&pgndata=[Event "TUESDAY NIGHT OPEN 45/2, SD/1BLOG 2.0"] [Site "CHESS EMPORIUM, Phoenix AZ"] [Date "2010.11.16"] [Round "3"] [White "Tobin, Sean"] [Black "Nguyen, Nam"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A70"] [WhiteElo "2007"] [Annotator "Tobin,Sean"] [PlyCount "188"] [EventDate "2010.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 {The time control for this game was 45 moves in 2 hours and Sudden Death (That is all remaining moves) in 1 hour. This was also with a five second delay on the clock as well. This was not our best game but it definitely helped me to get some rust off - in preparation for future events! Thank you Nam!} 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. e4 g6 { The "MODERN BENONI" opening. This guy plays tough and for keeps!} 7. Nf3 Bg7 { "Space (on the chess board!)... is big. Really big. You just won’t believe how vastly hugely mindbogglingly big it is..." Misappropriated quote from "The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams.} 8. Qa4%2B Bd7 9. Qb3 Qc7 10. Bf4 Nh5 11. Be3 O-O 12. Nd2 f5 13. f3 a6 14. a4 f4 15. Bf2 Bc8 16. a5 Nd7 17. Nc4 Ne5 18. Nb6 Rb8 19. Be2 Qe7 20. Nca4 Kh8 21. O-O Qg5 22. Nxc8 Rfxc8 23. Nb6 Rd8 24. Rfd1 Qf6 25. Rac1 g5 26. Rc2 $2 (26. Qa4 Qg6 27. h3 Nf6 28. b4 h5 29. bxc5 {Would have put me up a valuable "tempo" over the game. But I had hesitated because of the long diagonal weakness and because of all of the sacrificial lines - pawn sacs - that I had to calculate out.}) 26... Qg6 27. h3 Nf6 28. Qa4 h5 {My pieces are not coordinating... they lack harmony.} 29. b4 g4 30. hxg4 hxg4 31. Kf1 gxf3 32. Bxf3 (32. gxf3 Rg8 33. bxc5 Bf8 34. c6 bxc6 35. dxc6 Qg2%2B 36. Ke1 Nxf3%2B 37. Bxf3 Qxf3 38. c7 Nxe4 39. cxb8=Q Nxf2 40. Qd4%2B Kh7 41. Qxf2 Qh1%2B 42. Kd2 {And wins. But this is not "Definitive..." perhaps some post game optimism. I will need to spend a lot of time on this game and so anything you read here may indeed see an updated and "New and improved" version 2.0 at some point in time.}) 32... Nfg4 {My dark squares are weak and my time wasting Rook move has not helped the cause.} 33. Qb3 Nxf2 34. Kxf2 Qg3%2B 35. Ke2 Ng4 {This is actually quite scary on the surface of it because if I do not react correctly then I will just simply be checkmated - brutally! My opponent is also using the pin on my Bishop against my Queen against me too - no capturing that Knight with my Bishop!} 36. Rh1%2B {I spent a long time on this move trying to see if flicking in this move did anything or not. A LOT OF TIME ACTUALLY - as my position is precarious as best.} Kg8 37. Kd2 Ne3 38. bxc5 (38. Rcc1 Qf2%2B 39. Kd3 Nc2 40. Rxc2 (40. Qxc2 Qe3%2B 41. Kc4 Qd4%2B 42. Kb3 Qxb4%2B 43. Ka2 Qxa5%2B 44. Kb3 (44. Kb1 Qa1#) (44. Na4 b5 45. e5 dxe5 46. Qh7%2B Kf8 47. Qf5%2B Ke7 48. Qe6%2B Kf8 49. Qf5%2B {Would be a draw by perpetual check.} Kg8 50. Qh7%2B Kf7 51. Qf5%2B Ke8 52. Qe6%2B Kf8 53. Qf5%2B Kg8 54. Qh7%2B { And so on. His light squares were weak...}) 44... Qxb6%2B 45. Ka2 Qa5%2B 46. Kb3 b5 47. Qa2 c4%2B {And my Queen goes lost.} 48. Kc2 Qxa2%2B 49. Kd1 c3 { With a checkmate soon to follow as well.} 50. Rc2 Qb1%2B 51. Rc1 Qd3%2B 52. Ke1 Qd2%2B 53. Kf1 Bd4 54. Rc2 Qxc2 55. Rh8%2B Kxh8 56. Bd1 Qf2#) 40... Qe3%2B 41. Kc4 Qd4#) 38... Qf2%2B {My idea is to break his attack by giving him material so that my long term trumps will win out - control over the light squares and my passed pawns. We actually now transposed into an endgame that should have been a win for me. But I had 2 minutes and 13 seconds left to make move 45 in order to survive the first time control. 2 minutes is not enough time for 7 moves at this level!} 39. Kc1 Nxc2 40. Qxc2 Qe3%2B 41. Kd1 dxc5 42. Re1 Qd4%2B 43. Ke2 Qc3 { Here with seconds left on my clock I set a trap...} 44. Qxc3 Bxc3 45. Rc1 Bxa5 {And he took the bait! I was better even if he had just retreated along the long diagonal.} (45... Bg7 {For example of the "long" retreat home.}) (45... Bd4 46. Nc4 Kf7 47. Kd3 Kf6 48. Re1 Re8 49. Bg4 Rg8 50. e5%2B Ke7 51. d6%2B Kd8 52. Bf3 Re8 53. e6 {Would be a lazy variation win for me. I wouldn’t expect Nam to fall for this though!}) 46. Nc4 Bc7 47. Rd1 { The real trap now has been sprung and he goes for it hook line and sinker!} b5 $4 48. d6 $1 Bxd6 (48... bxc4 $4 49. dxc7 Rxd1 (49... Rdc8 50. cxb8=Q Rxb8 51. Kd2 Rb4 52. Kc3 Kf7 53. Rd5 {And White wins.}) 50. cxb8=Q%2B { Would be a tragi-comedy in chess!}) 49. Nxd6 b4 {Here two strategies came to mind - go round up the pawns, with care, or go for the checkmate. I went for the latter as I was in aggressive mood. This does get me into trouble sometimes! As it did tonight!} 50. e5 b3 51. Bd5%2B (51. Kd3 b2 52. Rb1 Rb3%2B 53. Kc4 Rdb8 54. Kxc5 {Would be a winner for me. But I didn’t do this!!!!!!!} a5 55. Bd5%2B Kg7 56. Bxb3 Rxb3 57. Nc4 {Game over.} a4 58. Kd4 a3 59. Nxa3 Rxa3 60. Rxb2 Ra4%2B 61. Kd5 Kf7 62. Rb7%2B Ke8 63. Ke6 Ra6%2B 64. Kf5 Ra5 65. Kf6 Ra6%2B 66. e6 Kd8 67. Rd7%2B Ke8 68. Rh7 Kd8 69. Rh8%2B Kc7 70. Kf7 {Wins for White.}) 51... Kf8 52. Kf3 {WRONG WAY! If only there had been a sign. Instead my aggressive option was good for a draw - which I missed several times during a later stage of the game. Such is chess life though!} b2 53. Be4 $2 Ke7 54. Kxf4 a5 (54... Rb4 55. Nf5%2B Ke8 56. Rh1 a5 57. Rh8%2B Kd7 58. e6%2B Kxe6 59. Rxd8 Rxe4%2B 60. Kxe4 b1=Q%2B {Wins for Black.}) 55. g4 a4 56. Rh1 Rh8 57. Nf5%2B Ke6 58. Rd1 Rhd8 59. Rh1 Rb4 60. Rh6%2B Kd7 61. Rh7%2B { This allowed a draw - but by this time I was down to a few minutes on my clock. } Kc8 62. Ne7%2B Kc7 63. Nc6%2B $4 {Throws away the draw that I didn’t deserve!} ( 63. Nd5%2B Kc8 64. Ne7%2B (64. Nxb4 cxb4 65. Ra7 Rd4 {And Black wins.} 66. Rxa4 Rxe4%2B 67. Kxe4 b1=Q%2B) 64... Kb8 (64... Kd7 65. Nf5%2B Ke6 (65... Ke8 { Now this leads to a wild draw...} 66. Ng7%2B Kf8 (66... Kd7 67. Nf5%2B { And then we go back the other way again! : ) Which leads to a draw!}) 67. Ne6%2B Kg8 68. Rg7%2B Kh8 69. Rh7%2B Kg8 70. Rg7%2B Kh8 71. Rh7%2B Kg8 72. Rg7%2B Kh8 { Draw by perpetual check.}) 66. Re7# {Would again be careless!}) 65. Nc6%2B Kc8 ( 65... Ka8 66. Ra7# {Would be careless!}) 66. Na7%2B Kb8 67. Nc6%2B Kc8 68. Na7%2B Kb8 69. Nc6%2B {With a draw by three fold repetition of position. I knew I made a mistake when I went in for the initial Knight check move with 63. Nc6?? As I let go the piece I saw these variations much more clearly. Such is chess.}) 63... Kb6 64. Nxb4 (64. Nxd8 Rxe4%2B 65. Kf3 Rb4 66. Rb7%2B Ka6 { Wins for Black now!}) 64... cxb4 { Now I am toast... but Nam made some bad moves too!} 65. e6 a3 66. Rb7%2B Kc5 67. Rc7%2B Kb5 (67... Kd6 $4 68. Rc6%2B Ke7 69. Ke5 a2 70. Rc7%2B Ke8 71. Bg6%2B Kf8 72. e7%2B Kg7 73. exd8=Q%2B Kxg6 74. Qf6# { Would have been game over - hence why Nam did not play that move! LOL!!}) 68. Rb7%2B Kc4 69. Rc7%2B Kb3 $4 70. Ke3 (70. Bc2%2B Ka2 71. Rb7 Rd4%2B 72. Ke3 Rc4 73. Bh7 b3 74. e7 Rc8 75. g5 Re8 76. Kd2 {Would win for White.} Rxe7 77. Rxe7 b1=Q 78. Bxb1%2B Kxb1 79. g6 a2 80. g7 a1=Q 81. Re1%2B Kb2 82. Rxa1 Kxa1 83. g8=Q b2 84. Qa8%2B Kb1 85. Kc3 Kc1 86. Qh1#) 70... Ka2 71. e7 $4 Re8 72. Kd2 $4 b3 73. Rb7 $4 (73. Bg6 Rg8 74. Bd3 Re8 75. g5 b1=Q 76. Bxb1%2B Kxb1 77. g6 a2) 73... Ka1 74. Rxb3 a2 {I’m just lost now. I played on through shear inertia though. I was down to one second on my clock and a five second delay by move 70 so none of my moves are logical now - logic breaks down when you do not have enough time. As we can see from this game even when you have enough time logic can break down!!} 75. Ra3 Rxe7 76. Bf5 Rd7%2B 77. Ke3 Rg7 78. Kf4 (78. Be6 Re7 79. Rxa2%2B Kb1 80. Ra6 Kc2 81. Rc6%2B Kd1 82. Rb6 Rxe6%2B 83. Rxe6 b1=Q 84. Re5 Qc1%2B 85. Ke4 Qh6 86. Rf5 Qc6%2B 87. Kf4 Ke2 88. Kg5 {And I can only hope that this "Fortress" holds. Fat chance but would have been worth a try!!!!!! : )}) 78... Rf7 79. Kg5 Rxf5%2B {Yes - I know I can resign now. But what if a meteorite hits my opponent in the head? Or he makes a mistake... or... yeah, okay - Not at all likely!} 80. gxf5 b1=Q 81. Rf3 Qg1%2B 82. Kf6 Qb6%2B 83. Kg5 Qb5 84. Kf6 Kb2 85. Rf2%2B Kb3 86. Rf3%2B Kc4 87. Rf1 a1=Q%2B 88. Rxa1 Qb2%2B 89. Kg6 (89. Ke7 Qxa1 90. f6 Qe5%2B 91. Kf7 Kd5 92. Kg6 Ke6 93. f7 Qf5%2B 94. Kg7 Qxf7%2B {The pawn was too far away for the "STALEMATE" by Bishop pawn trick... and his King was too close.}) (89. Kf7 Qxa1 90. f6 Qa7%2B (90... Kd5 {As in the game I am now toast.} 91. Ke7 Qa7%2B 92. Kf8 Ke6 93. Kg8 Kxf6 94. Kh8 Qg7# {Over and out!}) 91. Kg8 Kd5 92. f7 Qg1%2B 93. Kh8 Qh2%2B 94. Kg7 Qg3%2B 95. Kh7 Qh4%2B 96. Kg7 Qg5%2B 97. Kh8 Qf6%2B 98. Kg8 Qg6%2B 99. Kh8 Qxf7 {Is the aforementioned meteorite!}) 89... Qxa1 90. f6 Kd5 91. Kg7 Ke6 92. Kg8 {Only Marvin the robot would play this out! Just for the shear misery of it all! : )} Qxf6 93. Kh7 Qg5 94. Kh8 {By this point I still had one second on my clock. Nam had 2 hours and about 12 minutes still on his. NOT FAIR! : ) "Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so." - Ford Prefect, character from "THE HITCH HIKERS GUIDE TO THE GALAXY!" by Douglas Adams. I have to have a sense of humor in reviewing this game!! : )} Kf7 {Okay - I resign! GOOD GAME of the BLUNDERFUL VARIETY! Oh well - better chess for both of us next time! : ) } 0-1 '/></object></div>BrisasChessCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791599284550319852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4501955367513340080.post-43413580739093481112010-11-15T19:32:00.001-08:002010-11-15T19:35:09.953-08:00BOARD TWO LADDER GAME 11_10_2010<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">RONEN (BLACK PIECES!)</span></span><br /></div><br /><div><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" width="100%" height="500"><param name="movie" value="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf"><param name="flashvars" value="orientation=V&tabmode=true&light=f4f4fF&dark=0072b9&bordertext=494949&headerforeground=ffffff&mtforeground=000000&mtvariations=FF0000&mtmainline=000000&mtbackground=ffffff&dark=660000&background=000066&boardonly=true&autoplay=true&pgndata=[Event "BRISAS GECKOS LADDER Board 2"] [Site "Kyrene de las Brisas"] [Date "2010.11.10"] [Round "?"] [White "Arce, Jared"] [Black "Huang, Ronen"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C68"] [PlyCount "36"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 a6 5. Bc4 Bc5 6. O-O O-O 7. d3 Ng4 8. h3 Bxf2%2B 9. Rxf2 Nxf2 10. Kxf2 b5 11. Bd5 Na5 12. Bxa8 Qe7 13. Ng1 Qc5%2B 14. Ke2 b4 15. Nb1 f5 16. exf5 Rxf5 17. g4 Rf4 18. h4 Qf2# 0-1 "></object></div><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">JARED (WHITE PIECES!)</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">One of many fun and exciting games played at our meeting on Wednesday the 10th of November, 2010. Enjoy! - Chess Coach Sean Tobin.</span></span><br /></div></div>BrisasChessCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791599284550319852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4501955367513340080.post-5710976702265414772010-11-15T18:25:00.001-08:002010-11-15T18:25:29.690-08:00CHESS GAME DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH: Monday, November 15th, 2010.<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-size:130%;" >One of the biggest factors that can decide the outcome of a chess game is just how willing - and of course by extension for just how long you are willing - to sit opposite your opponent with the determination to play the game out for a win. No matter how little material remains on the board. You have true fighting spirit when you try to out maneuver your opponent for the entire game - trying to wear them down by the force of your efforts. This was how Bobby Fischer used to play and I believe this is the very reason why Super Grandmaster Michael Adams won the following game.<br /><br />For the majority of his game - as Black - versus the Grandmaster Alexandre Dgebuadze Michael Adams seemed to not show any hint of aggression. By Alexandre's selection of opening and by the way he conducted the white pieces it would seem to be a safe bet that all he hoped for was a draw against the World famous English GM. He set his sites far too low as to achieve a draw against a GM you must fight them every step of the way. In the opening, in the middlegame and finally in the Endgame. No where is it easier to make a mistake than in the endgame as then the true level of control or mastery over the pieces will come to the fore. And if your game is a serious chess game you will be tired from having grappled with your opponent for the hours leading up to the grand finale. Enjoy this patient and consistent performance by English Grandmaster Michael Adams*.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 204, 204);">* This game can be considered a good guide on the reasoning behind the basic opening moves for my students - or any student of the game that should care to follow along with my commentary while playing the moves over in the Chess Flash player. The big three hold true for players of all skill levers - Control the center, develop your pieces and Keep your King safe!</span><br /><br /><br /><div><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" width="100%" height="600"><param name="movie" value="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf"><param name="flashvars" value="orientation=V&tabmode=true&light=f4f4fF&dark=0072b9&bordertext=494949&headerforeground=ffffff&mtforeground=000000&mtvariations=FF0000&mtmainline=000000&mtbackground=ffffff&dark=000066&background=000066&pgndata=[Event "Schachbundesliga 2010-11"] [Site "Baden-Baden GER"] [Date "2010.10.10"] [Round "2"] [White "Dgebuadze, Alexandre"] [Black "Adams, Michael"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2524"] [BlackElo "2728"] [Annotator "Tobin,Sean"] [PlyCount "90"] [EventDate "2010.10.08"] [EventType "team"] [WhiteTeam "SC Remagen"] [BlackTeam "OSG Baden-Baden"] 1. e4 {"Best by test!" - Bobby Fischer.} e5 {Opens a door for the Black f8 Bishop and the Black Queen on d8 so that both may look out the "door" and "see" out onto the chess board.} 2. Nf3 {Develops a piece. Now there is only one other piece that needs to be moved before the White King can go hide on g1 via the awesome move Castles (0 - 0)!} Nc6 { Develops a piece which also protects the pawn on e5.} 3. Bc4 { Not only develops the Bishop but allows the White King to castle now.} Bc5 { Same idea! Not an exact copy cat but using some of the same ideas to develop his team. Adams knows the big three of the opening: 1.) Develop your pieces. 2.) Control the Center and Keep your King safe. This game is a good safe example of such opening play!} 4. c3 {This pawn move guards the b4 and d4 squares, gives the White Bishop a place to hide (in two moves) and more importantly prepares the pawn push d2-d4 to build the big center.} Nf6 {Giuoco Piano} 5. d3 {Protects the Bishop on c4 and this d3 pawn also protects it’s brother/sister on e4. This move just opened up a path for the Bishop on c1 so that it too may take to the field at a moment’s notice.} d6 { Similar idea here!} 6. O-O {Now you can check off the "safe King" box. That is for now! Later on he may become a little less safe depending upon what your opponent does during the game!} O-O {1. ) Control the center, 2. ) Develop your pieces and 3. ) King safety. Now Adams can check off that box as well!} 7. Bb3 a5 8. a4 Re8 9. Be3 Bxe3 10. fxe3 { Very drawish now... unless White can drum up some business on the f-file.} Ne7 11. Nbd2 Ng6 12. Qe1 Be6 13. Bxe6 Rxe6 14. Ng5 Re7 15. Qg3 h6 16. Ngf3 d5 17. Nh4 Nxh4 18. Qxh4 Ra6 19. exd5 Qxd5 20. Ne4 Ree6 21. Rad1 Rab6 22. Nxf6%2B Rxf6 23. Rxf6 Rxf6 24. Qc4 Qd7 {I cannot see how one or the other player could possibly win or lose this game... unless of course they make some mistakes. To err is human!} 25. Rf1 { Alexandre obviously wants a draw - would Adams go along with it?} Rd6 { Nope! Let’s keep the Rooks on the board!} 26. h3 b6 27. d4 exd4 28. exd4 Re6 29. Kh1 Re7 30. d5 Qd6 31. Qh4 Re5 32. c4 Kf8 33. Qf2 f6 { Adams is alert to the "simple" threat.} (33... Re4 34. Qxf7# { Comedy for one, a tragedy for the other!}) 34. b3 Qe7 35. Rd1 Re3 36. Qc2 Qe5 37. Rb1 $2 Kf7 38. Qd1 $2 {Alexander - hanging on for the draw -begins to lose his sense of danger. That is when we lose a game - when we relax!} Qe4 { Alexandre may have forgotten about the power of centralized pieces - but not Adams!} 39. Kg1 (39. Qg1 Rxh3%2B 40. Qh2 Rxh2%2B {Is also game over!} 41. Kxh2 Qxb1 ) 39... Re2 40. Qf1 $4 Rxg2%2B {The White Queen was overworked! She needed to protect both g2 and the Rook on b1! OVERLOADED!} 41. Qxg2 Qxb1%2B {The White Position has collapsed... time for Black to pick up the lose fruit - a.k.a. the pawns!} 42. Kh2 Qxb3 43. Qe2 Kf8 44. Qe6 Qxa4 45. Qc8%2B (45. Qc8%2B Qe8 46. Qb7 Qd8 47. Qc6 Qd6%2B 48. Qxd6%2B cxd6 49. Kg3 a4 {The White King is WAY OUTSIDE THE BOX ON THIS ONE! Count how many squares are in front of the Black pawn and you will see what I mean - if you count out the same number of squares along the files. If an enemy King can get inside this "box" then he can catch the pawn.} 50. Kf3 a3 51. Ke3 a2 52. Kd2 a1=Q {An easy win now!}) 45... Qe8 { Game over - Alexandre resigned here as the game is now lost. Please see my given variations! - Chess Coach Sean.} (45... Qe8 46. Qxc7 $4 Qe5%2B { Fork - a - roni, the chess board treat!} 47. Qxe5 { The King and pawn endgame is an easy win for Top notch GM Michael Adams!} fxe5 48. Kg3 Ke7 49. Kf3 Kd6 50. Ke4 a4 51. Kd3 g5 52. Kc3 h5 53. Kb4 g4 54. hxg4 hxg4 55. Kxa4 g3 56. Kb5 g2 57. Kxb6 g1=Q%2B 58. Kb7 Qc5 59. Ka8 Kc7 60. d6%2B Kb6 61. d7 Qc6%2B 62. Kb8 Qb7#) 0-1 "></object></div>BrisasChessCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791599284550319852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4501955367513340080.post-92083657989152127032010-11-14T09:24:00.001-08:002010-11-14T09:24:51.135-08:00CHESS GAME DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH: Sunday, November 14th, 2010.Will the real Boris Gelfand step up please!<br /><br />Boris has been a top ten or twenty club member for quite a while now... and in today's game against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov from round 9 of the Tal Memorial you are going to find out why! One of the things that makes the difference between the very top players and the rest of us is just how well they can defend against an opponent's attack. Today Boris had to defend but knew well in advance that his opponent's attack lacked fangs!<br /><br /><div><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" width="100%" height="600"><param name="movie" value="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" /><param name="flashvars" value='orientation=V&tabmode=true&light=f4f4fF&dark=0072b9&bordertext=494949&headerforeground=ffffff&mtforeground=000000&mtvariations=FF0000&mtmainline=000000&mtbackground=ffffff&dark=000066&background=000066&pgndata=[Event "Tal Memorial DIAMOND 2.0"] [Site "Moscow RUS"] [Date "2010.11.14"] [Round "9"] [White "Gelfand, Boris"] [Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D74"] [WhiteElo "2741"] [BlackElo "2763"] [Annotator "Tobin,Sean"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "2010.??.??"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 {Twas the last round before the awards ceremony... who would stagger across the finish line to take the top honor at the 2010 Edition of the Tal Memorial? As of this writing there are still three games in play. Only Sergey Karjakin could have scored more than 5.5 points - a win in today’s final round would have given him 6 points. Though, now as of this moment, it looks like he is losing to Wang Hao. Should he lose that game then there will be a tie for first place...} 2. c4 g6 {One of the reasons for the potential tie is this game! Shakhriyar Mamedyarov was in the lead but this last round loss took fate out of his hands. Now it depends upon what happens on the other boards.} 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. g3 Bg7 {After the initial "negotiations" or "debate" both players have settled for a variation of the English Opening. This one will be a fighting game of chess!} 6. Bg2 {If you play a move like 5. g3 you should fill that space with a Bishop! WHY? Because the Bishop is best placed upon a long diagonal, can attack and defend very well from this square. The downside to the "fianchetto" is that it takes time to build the house with the move g2-g3 and this move may allow a pawn to run down and attack the g3 pawn sooner than if it were on the square g2.} Nxc3 {An attempt to lessen White’s control over the center. This variation of the English - as are most of the Reverse Sicilian lines - is all about White square control from the perspective of the first player.} 7. bxc3 { The logical recapture and the only one that avoids the exchange of Queens.} Nc6 {A developing move - good and a must!} 8. O-O {Now Boris can check off the box next to "KING SAFETY" on his checklist of things to be taken care of during the opening.} O-O {Ditto for Shakhriyar! The King’s will be safer in a corner - away from where the opponent’s fianchetteod Bishops point - than they would be if they were still trapped in the center.} 9. d4 { Grabbing some space! He/she who has space has room to maneuver their army/team! } Be6 {Still trying to fight Boris on the white squares. This move is a little awkward as it does set up a potentially game winning pawn fork. The draw back to that move being played too soon is that the White Rook on a1 is lose and would be hunted down by the Black Bishops should that push be made now. Right now the move is impossible as the pawn could just simply be captured - Shak looks at the d5 square twice while Boris can only back up the pawn once in this position.} 10. e4 {Calling in a reinforcement! This pawn move does the following excellent jobs: 1.) The first reason is strategical in nature as this is after all altering the pawn structure - It grabs even more space. 2.) The second reason has a tactical justification behind it - now Boris really is threatening to fork the Knight on c6 and the Bishop on e6!} Bc4 {A FORCING MOVE : Threat! This Bishop gains "time" - or a move - by forcing Boris to move his 5 point Rook which is now threatened by the 3 point Bishop.} 11. Re1 Qd7 { We can now say that Shak has completed his development in the opening as both Rooks can "see" each other after this Queen move.} 12. Nd2 {Boris wants to "force" his opponent to move his lose piece - the Bishop on c4 - away from the c4 square. He wouldn’t mind capturing it for free though either! This Knight move is a FORCING MOVE - it created a threat. All of our moves should be to set up an attack and to defend - both all at once.} Ba6 { Staying on the diagonal.} 13. e5 {Grabbing even more space and giving the Black g7 Bishop pawns to stare at! No tricks along the a1 to h8 diagonal - as of right now that is!} Rad8 {Doubling up - the Rook gives strength to the Queen when it comes to looking at the center of the board.} 14. h4 {Now Boris b egins to attack down the h-file! He is using the entire board. His pieces - believe it or not - have more space and better lines to grab. The Black Bishop has no retreats from the a6 to f1 diagonal and the Black Knight on c6 does not have many squares to land on - those white pawns again! - and the Black Queen is in the way of her Rook on the d-file and can only stare at the d4 pawn. We already discussed the Bishop on g7 - that one is terrible too!} b6 {A late game fianchetto! This will give the Black a6 Bishop a diagonal along which to retreat and reposition itself. Maybe even trying to have a showdown with the White Bishop on g2.} 15. h5 {This was what I mentioned as being part of the downside to a fianchetto - now this White h-pawn has latched onto the g6 pawn and this will allow Boris to open up the h-file. He will be able to attack down this line with Rooks once he steps his King up... there could be a big attack coming up now!} Na5 {Now it is true that "Knights on the rim are dim or grim" but this Knight needs to get into the game somehow and landing on the c4 square is the next part of that plan.} 16. hxg6 fxg6 {Whenever our opponent makes a capture we should recapture! Notice that Shak keeps the h-file pawn right where it is! This breaks the rule of thumb about "Always recapture towards the center with your pawns" because it will not be easier for Shak to both defend against an attack and for him to attack down the f-file. When a pawn disappears a line opens up!} 17. Nb3 Nc4 18. Qe2 {Stepping into a pin - to give a pin! Should the Black Knight move then the Bishop on a6 will go lost. } Qe6 {Setting up a blockade along the light squares and defending the Knight a second time.} 19. Bf4 {This move over protects the e5-pawn and closes down the f-file for business! However the Bishop may be attacked later on by the Black g-pawn.} Qf7 {Black is playing for double trouble down the f-file!} 20. Nd2 Nxd2 21. Qxa6 {Boris captured the piece that most concerned him - his opponent’s light squared Bishop on the a6 square.} g5 {Trying to open up the f-file now that the Queen is too far away to help her King.} 22. Be3 { Protecting the f2 square and defending against Black’s threat.} (22. Bxd2 Qxf2%2B 23. Kh2 Qxd2 {Would be a blunder for Boris - Black wins a pawn and gets an attack now that his pieces will enjoy even greater space - with lines/roads all leading to the enemy King. Boris’s King would be very worried in this line!}) 22... g4 {Now the Black Knight will be able to land on the f3 square and have the support of the Black g-pawn. Shakhriyar has drummed up a counter attack! The question is can Boris survive it?} 23. Bf4 { "Close for renovations!" is what Boris is trying to say with this move!} Nf3%2B { The attacking Knight move is played anyways. Now Boris must part with his Bishop or he could very well wind up being checkmated. The combination of Queen and Knight are a good team when it comes to delivering a checkmate. The Knight can help out by looking at squares that remain out of the Queen’s sight - just because of the way these two pieces move.} 24. Bxf3 gxf3 {The downside to this exchange is that the Black pawn is attacking the White King now too. If the Black Queen can get to h5 and then the h3 square the game will be all over if White is unable to get his Queen to the f1 square. Of course that pawn on f3 could be weak and if Boris can safely collect it he just might win the endgame. Who has seen further and who will navigate their way through the complications better than the other player now?} 25. Qd3 {Step number one - line up the Queen so she is ready to both land on f1 for defense and so that she may capture the f3 pawn if it is not protected.} Qh5 { Forced - otherwise the pawn is just given away.} 26. Re3 {A Rook lift! Now white threatens to just take the pawn for free - and there would seem to be nothing that Shak can do about it!} c5 27. Rxf3 cxd4 28. cxd4 Bh6 (28... Rxd4 29. Qxd4 Qxf3 {This idea would allow Black to both win a pawn back and to try and create more pressure against the White King’s position.}) (28... Rxd4 29. Qb3%2B {And white is not obligated to make the Rook for Rook exchange now.}) 29. Kg2 Bxf4 {Now the White pawns will be doubled on the f-file. If Shak can get his King out of the way he may generate / create a checkmating attack by placing a Rook on the g-file. That would only happen if Boris got careless though!} 30. gxf4 Qf5 31. Rd1 {Centralizing the Rook - which now protects the White Queen on d3 and the White pawn on d4 as it backs the Queen up in doing that job as well.} Kh8 {An attempt to use the g-file for an attack.} 32. Qxf5 { Exchanging down into a won endgame! Boris has handled the pressure and has seen just a bit further than Shak!} Rxf5 33. d5 { "Passed pawns need to be pushed!"} b5 34. Rd4 a5 {Trying to distract Boris by creating his own passed pawn. Shak could already resign this game as he does not have any good moves left to play!} 35. Rc3 Rdf8 36. Rc7 {"Pig on the seventh!" We must realize that to put our Rook or Rooks on the seventh Rank away from our side of the board is a super powerful tool that we can use to win our chess games. Here Boris will now be able to both force through the d-pawn and promote it into a new Queen or to pick up the lose e7 pawn. An excellent game. Time will tell on the others! - Chess Coach Sean Tobin.} (36. Rc7 Rxf4 37. Rxf4 Rxf4 38. Rxe7 Rd4 39. d6 b4 40. d7 a4 41. Re8%2B Kg7 42. d8=Q Rxd8 43. Rxd8 {Wins easily!}) (36. Rc7 R8f7 37. d6 exd6 38. Rxf7 Rxf7 39. exd6 Rd7 40. Kf3 Kg7 41. Ke4 Kf6 42. Kd5 h6 43. Re4 h5 44. Kc6 h4 (44... Kf5 45. f3 h4 46. Kxd7) 45. Kxd7 {And White has won this game - it only remains for Boris to promote a pawn and then to go checkmate Shak’s King - hence why Mr. Mamedyarov called it the day and tipped his King over!}) 1-0 '/></object></div>BrisasChessCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791599284550319852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4501955367513340080.post-40962578377905914922010-11-12T10:22:00.001-08:002010-11-12T10:22:40.041-08:00CHESS GAME DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH: Friday, November 12th, 2010.<span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">The 2010 TAL MEMORIAL is producing some wonderful chess - despite the high draw percentage. With the end of the event looming close first place is still up for grabs. Fortune favors the bold and attacking chess wins fans - despite the official result!</span></span><br /><br /><div><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" width="100%" height="600"><param name="movie" value="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf"><param name="flashvars" value="orientation=V&tabmode=true&light=f4f4fF&dark=0072b9&bordertext=494949&headerforeground=ffffff&mtforeground=000000&mtvariations=FF0000&mtmainline=000000&mtbackground=ffffff&dark=000066&background=000066&pgndata=[Event "Tal Memorial"] [Site "Moscow RUS"] [Date "2010.11.12"] [Round "7"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E66"] [Annotator "Tobin,Sean"] [PlyCount "120"] [EventDate "2010.??.??"] 1. d4 {1.d4 has been very popular at this particular tournament - as seems to be the case in general with Grandmasters these days.} Nf6 {This usually indicates a desire to play an "INDIAN DEFENSE" but this is not carved in stone. White could play any number of "ANTI-INDIAN" systems while Black could as well transpose into completely different openings.} 2. c4 {Here Black could make like he/she is going to be playing a NIMZO-INDIAN with ...e6 and instead elect to play a QUEEN’S GAMBIT DECLINED. See the sub variation provided. Transpositions are a big part of the opening struggle between experienced and highly skilled chess competitors.} g6 (2... e6 3. Nc3 d5 { Queen’s Gambit Declined.} 4. Nf3 Be7 5. Bg5 Nbd7 {And the many variations that branch off of this particular opening - some "mutating" into completely different openings!}) 3. Nc3 {White still doesn’t know if Black will play a GRUNFELD INDIAN or a KING’S INDIAN. Two completely different openings and both are aggressive! The first player - that is the player of the white pieces - needs to be ready for both of these Defenses as some folks will play one while other folks might choose the other. Of course really flexible players can play both!} Bg7 (3... d5 {GRUNFELD INDIAN DEFENSE.}) 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d6 { KING’S INDIAN DEFENSE - for sure now! Levon Aronian is playing the"FIANCHETTO VARIATION" against Hikaru Nakamura’s KING’S INDIAN DEFENSE.} 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. O-O a6 8. d5 Na5 {"Knights on the rim are dim or grim." - a good rule of thumb to follow. If you must break this rule of thumb - and sometimes you can - then you need to get the Knight back into play As Soon As Possible (ASAP!) or you may lose the game as you would effectively be playing a piece down.} 9. Nd2 { Defending against the threat to capture the c4 pawn - one reason why this Black Knight went to the rim.} c5 {This is the other reason - now that the Black Knight is on a5 Mr Nakamura can push his c-pawn forward. He must do so to avoid losing his Knight on a5 to the pawn attack b2-b4. See the variations given for a complete and full explanation of this idea.} (9... Re8 10. b4 { And the Black Knight will be lost for a pawn. WHENEVER YOU SEE A LOSE PIECE TRY TO IMAGINE HOW YOU CAN TRAP IT OR WIN IT WITH A TACTIC. A very common tactic for winning lose pieces is a Queen check against the enemy King that also forks the King and the lose piece. Obviously this is not an option here. However the pawn push traps the Knight and wins it or forces the piece to be exchanged for only one dollar - that is one point or one pawn. That is three dollars for one - not at all a fair trade in this position.}) 10. Rb1 (10. dxc6 Nxc6 {Brings the Knight back into play and helps to give Black some breathing room for his pieces.}) (10. Rb1 {This move gets the Rook off of the long diagonal - so he does not get into trouble later on. Even though there is a lot of "traffic" between the Black Bishop on g7 and the White Rook on a1 you would be surprised to know how many games have been decided by such "pressure". Everything from the first player just losing a Rook to White losing control over the position. This KING’S INDIAN DEFENSE is a very uncompromising opening - it is sharp and aggressive!}) 10... Rb8 11. b3 {Now you can see how this diagonal can be weakened. Black was getting ready to push b7-b5 and weaken the white pawns. The b2 pawn can be a good friend to the pawn on c4... as long as that White Rook is still not on a1!} b5 12. Bb2 Bh6 13. Ba1 Bf5 14. e4 Bg4 15. f3 Be3%2B { An active move that pushes the White King around a little bit.} 16. Kh1 Bd7 17. cxb5 axb5 18. Ne2 e5 19. dxe6 fxe6 20. e5 dxe5 21. Bxe5 Rc8 22. Bxf6 Qxf6 23. Ne4 Qe7 24. Qd3 Bh6 25. f4 Bc6 26. Rbd1 Nb7 27. Qe3 b4 28. Nc1 Bd5 29. Nd3 c4 30. bxc4 Bxc4 31. Qb6 Rfd8 32. Nxb4 {This kind of move - removing a pinned piece from a pin - is also known as a kind of exchange sacrifice.} Bxf1 { White willingly offers up his Rook for Bishop in an attempt to control certain square and to gain some material compensation in the form of a Bishop and a pawn or two.} 33. Rxf1 Rf8 34. a4 Kh8 35. h4 Bg7 36. a5 Qc7 37. Ng5 {White has a lot of pressure all over the board. That Bishop on g2 is very deadly as it can protect the a-pawn as it attempts to go in for a touchdown on the a8 square.} Nxa5 {Removal of defender - Now the White Queen is a lose piece. Nakamura is really offering the exchange back to Levon because he needed to get rid of the passed a-pawn and to force Levon’s most active and threatening pieces off of the board.} 38. Qxc7 Rxc7 39. Nxe6 { Fork-a-roni... the chess board treat!} Rc3 {Because of how strong this Black Rook is and how even the forces are upon the board both players will try to outplay each other but unless someone makes a big mistake then this game should be a draw. Nothing wrong with a well played draw!} 40. Nd5 Rxg3 41. Nxf8 Bxf8 42. Rc1 Rg4 43. Kh2 Rxh4%2B 44. Kg3 { Now it looks as though the Black Rook is trapped...} g5 $1 {But this move gives the Black Rook an escape route off of the h-file. He can now escape along the 6th Rank!} 45. Rc8 {Playing for the PIN!} Kg7 {Breaking the pin and defending his lose piece - Hikaru does as he should in this position. Defends when he must and attacks whenever he can!} 46. Ra8 Nc6 47. fxg5 Rd4 48. Nf6 Ne7 49. Be4 h6 50. Nh5%2B Kf7 51. Bb1 hxg5 52. Ba2%2B Kg6 53. Ra6%2B Kxh5 54. Bf7%2B { Whenever our King goes to the side of the board we need to be very worried about checkmates. Here Nakamura has found the ONLY way to survive Levon’s attack... he gives back the piece.} Ng6 55. Rxg6 (55. Bxg6%2B Kh6 {And the Black King escapes. Notice that Hikaru Nakamura has very skillfully put all of his pieces and pawns onto dark squares. They are invisible to the White Bishop now! So there are no meaningful "DISCOVERED CHECKS" whereby Levon Aronian could win a pawn or a piece by moving his Bishop - exposing the Black King to check from the White Rook on a6. The Bishop could grab some piece standing upon a white square for free when it unmasks the checking power of the Rook - however in this position that is not an option! All Black pieces now live on dark squares.}) 55... Rd3%2B {Giving the White King a check and thus creating space for the Black King to run to.} 56. Kg2 Kh4 {Still on a dark square!} 57. Be6 Rg3%2B (57... Bd6 58. Rh6# {Would be the only way to win such a position - if the other player stopped paying attention! But that does happen on occasion!!}) 58. Kh2 Rc3 59. Kg2 Rc6 60. Bf5 Rxg6 {And now the draw is obvious - see my given variation on the opposite colored Bishops ending here. A well played and hard fought game between Levon and Hikaru! I would call this an artful game - we got to see some very interesting fireworks - chess style! - Chess Coach Sean Tobin.} (60... Rxg6 61. Bxg6 g4 62. Bf5 g3 63. Bh3 Bc5 64. Bc8 Bf2 65. Bh3 Ba7 66. Bc8 Bf2 67. Bh3 Ba7 68. Bc8 Bf2 {Draw by three-fold repetition of position. This game could also be drawn in the following other ways as well - by 50 move rule and if the Black pawn were to be captured by the White Bishop with a capture of the Bishop by the Black King resulting in the endgame of King and Bishop versus King - this would be a draw by insufficient mating material. Of course the players could agree to call this a draw - as in the game - and just shake hands on it!}) (60... Rxg6 61. Bxg6 Bd6 62. Bf5 g4 63. Bxg4 Kxg4 {Draw by insufficient mating material.}) 1/2-1/2 "></object></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Make it a great weekend everyone! Of course if you have five minutes on Saturday and then again on Sunday you will find that I am going to continue these postings over the weekend as well - so stay tuned! - Chess Coach Sean Tobin.</span></span>BrisasChessCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791599284550319852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4501955367513340080.post-71968702690304448432010-11-11T22:54:00.001-08:002010-11-11T22:54:36.243-08:00CHESS GAME DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH! 11_11_2010<div><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" width="100%" height="600"><param name="movie" value="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" /><param name="flashvars" value='orientation=V&tabmode=true&dark=669922&mtbackground=ffffff&dark=000066&background=000066&pgndata=[Event "Tal Memorial"] [Site "Moscow RUS"] [Date "2010.11.11"] [Round "6"] [White "Mamedyarov, S."] [Black "Eljanov, P."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D23"] [WhiteElo "2763"] [BlackElo "2742"] [Annotator "Tobin,Sean"] [PlyCount "97"] [EventDate "2010.11.05"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 {Slav opening.} 4. Qc2 {This is not the mainline however! Looks like this little surprise was saved just for Mr Eljanov!} dxc4 5. Qxc4 Bf5 6. g3 {Having played such a move White now intends to place the Bishop on g2 and then to castle to that side of the board as well.} e6 { Black has solved the opening problem of where to place his Black white squared Bishop. it is perfectly placed outside the Black pawn chain.} 7. Bg2 Nbd7 8. O-O Be7 9. e3 O-O 10. Rd1 e5 11. Nc3 Qc7 12. h3 Bg6 13. dxe5 Nxe5 14. Nxe5 Qxe5 15. e4 Qe6 { Black tries to relieve the pressure against his forces by seeking exchanges.} ( 15... a5 16. Kh2 Rfe8 17. Qf1 Rad8 18. f4 Qe6 19. f5 { Would be a comical tragedy for the second player!}) 16. Qxe6 fxe6 17. Be3 Rfd8 18. Rxd8%2B Bxd8 19. Rd1 Ba5 20. f3 e5 21. Na4 Bf7 22. Nc5 b6 23. Na6 c5 24. Bf1 Rc8 25. h4 Be6 (25... Bxa2 26. Ra1 Bf7 27. Nxc5 bxc5 28. Rxa5 { And Black will be left with some weaknesses.}) 26. b3 {Now white takes away the option of Black capturing the White a2 pawn. When you put your pawns on the same color as your opponent’s Bishop this can reduce the number of squares their Bishop looks at. However the flip side of all this is that they might be able to attack the pawn chain where it is weakest - at it’s base! For that the enemy Bishop has to get behind the pawns and attack from behind.} Bc3 27. Rd6 Bd7 28. Bg5 Rc6 29. Bc4%2B Kf8 30. Rxc6 Bxc6 31. Nc7 h6 32. Bc1 {A tricky end game in which both players have the Bishop pair. Each side having a Knight now means that both sides will have to be very patient as they try to out maneuver each other.} Ke7 33. Kg2 Bd4 34. a4 a5 35. g4 Kd7 36. Ne6 Ne8 37. h5 Kd6 38. g5 hxg5 39. Nxg7 {Going in for the Endgame win!} Nxg7 40. h6 Nh5 41. h7 Nf4%2B 42. Kg3 (42. Bxf4 exf4 {And now it will be Black that wins! His Bishop on d4 covers the square of promotion for the h7 pawn.} 43. Kh3 Bd7%2B 44. Kg2 Ke7 45. Bg8 Kf8 46. Bd5 Kg7 47. Bg8 Be8 48. Kh3 Bh5 {This kind of position is known as ZUGZWANG in German. It means the "unpleasant obligation to move" - or as Wikipedia has translated it: Zugzwang (German for "compulsion to move", pronounced [’tsu:ktsva] Once you are in "Zugzwang" - any move you make will now lose the game!} 49. Kg2 Kh8 50. Kh3 Bxf3 51. Kh2 Bxe4 52. Kh3 Bf3 53. Kh2 g4 54. b4 g3%2B 55. Kh3 g2 56. Kh4 g1=Q 57. Kh3 Qg3#) 42... Ng6 {Temporarily stopping the pawn promotion. The reason why this combination works is because the dark squared Bishop is locked on the wrong side of the Black pawns and the Black King is too far away to be a direct influence on the fight on that side of the board. With both White Bishops and very soon their King - controlling important squares on the King’s side of the Board it is easy to see why this combination actually works. Instead of being one piece up Black is almost playing three pieces down - because they cannot get over to where they need to be in time to stop White from winning back his piece and from winning Black pawns.} 43. Kg4 Be8 44. Bxg5 {Now the Black King is cut off from delivering any help in the fight over on this side of the board.} Nh8 45. Bf6 Ng6 46. Kf5 Be3 47. h8=Q Nxh8 {Winning the piece back...} 48. Bxe5%2B {... but also grabbing some pawns for good measure too! This was quite a nice endgame win.} Ke7 49. Bf6%2B {An extra check to remind the second player who is in charge of this position before capturing the doomed Knight on h8!} (49. Bf6%2B Kf8 50. Bxh8 Bd7%2B 51. Be6 Be8 52. Kf6 Bd4%2B 53. e5 Bc6 54. f4 Be8 (54... b5 55. Bf7 bxa4 56. Bg7#) 55. Bg7#) 1-0 '/></object></div>BrisasChessCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791599284550319852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4501955367513340080.post-49987296088635691582010-11-10T01:28:00.000-08:002010-11-10T01:29:45.828-08:00CHESS GAME DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH! 11_10_2010*<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-size: 130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">If I may be so bold as to offer up one of my own games for this edition of "CHESS GAME DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH!"... having played this game, having spent time playing this game and the way in which I won it has made me an extremely happy chess player! I hope you enjoy playing over this game even one tenth as much as I enjoyed playing it!! Without further ado - here is my own most recent "Chess Diamond" in the rough!</span></span><br /><br /><br /><div><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" width="100%" height="650"><param name="movie" value="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf"><param name="flashvars" value="orientation=H&tabmode=true&dark=669922&mtbackground=ffffff&dark=003300&background=003300&pgndata=[Event "TUESDAY NIGHT STANDARD OPEN "] [Site "Chess Emporium PHX AZ"] [Date "2010.11.09"] [Round "2"] [White "Tobin, Sean"] [Black "Merrill, Gary"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C11"] [WhiteElo "2007"] [BlackElo "1570"] [Annotator "Tobin,Sean"] [PlyCount "65"] 1. e4 e6 {TIME CONTROL = 45 moves in 2 hours and Sudden Death in 1 hour - both time controls played with 5 seconds delay per move. That is per player folks so this game could have lasted well over 6 hours!} 2. d4 d5 {French Defense} 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 { Classical system of French Defense. Also known as "C11" in ECO speak!} 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 Qb6 8. Qd2 { Offering up what I hope will be a "poisoned pawn" on b2! : )} cxd4 9. Nxd4 Bc5 10. O-O-O {It was here that I was most definitely already calculating the possible middlegame and endgame battle of Good Knight versus Bad Bishop. I had once played over a fantastic GM game in this line that illustrated this "basic" long term winning strategical idea. I had used it in a blitz game against a good friend back pre 2000. I won that game and was really pleased with the effort and the result. Fast forward to the present - here I am playing in round two of this months edition of the TUESDAY NIGHT STANDARD OPEN - at the CHESS EMPORIUM - and I get to play another opponent that allows me to carry out this strategical idea. This day was perfect - my chess club meeting was terrific, I ran for an hour today, I felt positive and really fantastic all day long and then on this fine Tuesday evening (11_09_2010) I got to play this game! It was a perfect chess day - one that I really enjoyed creating. It makes me feel just a little bit like a chess artist! Thus it made me feel quite happy, competent and as complete as I can possibly feel as a chess player at this point in time!} O-O {As all of my players know - King safety is one of our big three right out of the starting gates!} 11. Bb5 {This is my worst piece in a sense - where to place it such that it does not interfere with my other line pieces. I would love to exchange off my Bishop for one of my opponent’s Knights. But that just might be me! I’ve got an idea!!} Nxd4 12. Bxd4 Bxd4 13. Qxd4 Qxd4 14. Rxd4 a6 $4 {I actually feel that this is the losing move of the game! It is strategical in nature though... it all boils down to my good minor piece versus my opponent’s bad minor piece. Good Knight Mr. Bad Bishop!} 15. Bxd7 Bxd7 {This Bishop is "bad" right now because it is on the same color as most of it’s pawns! I had already been thinking about this type of game as we played our opening moves - keep the strategy of your opening at the front of your mind always!} 16. Re1 {I wanted to be ready to meet any pawn breaks on the center with a controlled reaction/action. Oddly enough my Rook was a better blockader on the d4-square than my Knight - he controlled the all important 4th rank. This was rather important when it came time to weather the Minority attack that Gary whipped up later on in the game! Ultimately though I want to exchange into an endgame where my Knight can be posted on the d4 square and where I have a pawn supporting him from c3. It will be a win should I get that position! If I can activate my Rooks too it will be quite the game.} Rac8 {Lining up his pieces against my King.} 17. Ne2 { Rerouting the Knight from c3 - e2 - g1 - d4... at least this is the "ideal" plan for this minor piece.} Rc7 { I have to watch out for "double trouble" down the c-file now!} 18. Ng1 { Sticking to my strategical game plan. My opponent is essentially playing a piece down - that is until he can find a way to activate his light squared Bishop.} Rfc8 19. c3 {With this move I was super alert to the possibility of 1.) A Minority Attack and 2.) Attempts at exchanges along the 4th Rank. I had been working on plans to meet - and beat - both of Gary’s possible strategies. Yet another option is a combination of both!} b5 {Pawns raining down over me!} 20. Nf3 {This gives my Knight time to get ready to occupy the d4 square and or to protect my Rook that lives there presently. Remember - this Knight will be AWESOME once he can logically and safely occupy the d4-square. THIS IS THE IDEA THAT WAS CENTRAL TO THIS ENTIRE GAME - Good Knight versus Bad Bishop. With a lot of chaos in between!} a5 {Theme music from the movies "JAWS" on cue! } 21. a3 {I had to spend a great deal of time trying to calculate out all the potential attacks that my opponent Gary could generate off of his "Minority attack" here... I may have missed something as - believe it or not - my King position becomes a lot less secure and my Rook on d4 stands poorly... my position should still be a win though. I will need to spend some serious time looking at this position as I enter this game into my journal. One thing was for sure - if I react wrongly in this critical stage of the game I will get wiped out by Gary’s marauding Rooks! My King will need to walk a fine line and I will have to watch out for the light squared weaknesses that will result from the eventual b5-b4 pawn push.} Rb7 { Setting up to use the pin against my King...} 22. Kd2 { Breaking the pin before it can win!} Rbc7 23. Ke3 {Committal move by nature. I had a lot of ideas behind this move... and spent a long time working out the complications at the board. Of course once I take a much longer look at this game I may have a different opinion of my strategy and the value of the moves that I put together to try and tell the chess story that I told in this game.} b4 $4 {Gives away a pawn and the game. I was ready for this attempt at a line opening... spent a LONG TIME AGONIZING OVER these lines during the game!} ( 23... Rc4 24. Red1 b4 25. axb4 axb4 26. Rxc4 Rxc4 27. Rd4 bxc3 28. Rxc4 dxc4 29. bxc3 {And now the c4 pawn is a goner!} Bc6 30. g3 Bxf3 (30... Bd5 31. Nd2 Kf8 32. Kd4 {And here too this pawn goes lost.}) 31. Kxf3 Kf8 32. Ke4 Ke7 33. Kd4 Kd7 34. Kxc4 {That would be the game and the day folks!}) (23... a4 24. Red1 Rc4 25. R1d3 Kf8 26. Nd2 Rxd4 27. Rxd4 Ke7 28. Rb4 Be8 29. Nf3 Rc4 30. Rxc4 bxc4 31. Kd4 Kd7 32. Kc5 Kc7 33. Nd4 Kb7 34. f5 Bd7 35. fxe6 fxe6 36. Kd6 {And White wins. I had a lot of ideas during this game. Please bear in mind that you are sharing in immediate "fruits" of my labor from this game. With more time and more reflection time I will look at the many, many possibilities that took place in this game and tease out even more fantastic chess "secrets". We should always study our own games - especially the losses.}) 24. axb4 axb4 ( 24... Ra7 25. Ra1 Rca8 26. bxa5 Rxa5 27. Rxa5 Rxa5 28. Rb4 { Ole, Ole, Ole - I’m on top of the world!}) 25. Rxb4 Rc4 26. Rxc4 Rxc4 (26... dxc4 27. Rd1 Bc6 28. Rd4 Bxf3 29. Kxf3 Rb8 30. Rxc4 Rxb2 31. Rb4 { And wins because of the - once again - weak back rank.}) (26... dxc4 27. Rd1 Bc6 28. Rd4 Bxf3 29. Kxf3 Rb8 30. Rxc4 Kf8 31. b4 {And this is easily won now. Something I was also quite aware of during the game and more than willing to help make it all happen - that is if my opponent was willing to so oblige me!}) 27. Ra1 {Rooks need to be activated in the endgame. This idea works because 1. ) My opponent has misplaced his Rook - in the hopes of winning material and 2.) Gary has a weak back rank that he MUST DEFEND - which means he has lost a tempo in this variation. A valuable one at that!} Re4%2B {Not all forcing moves are created equal - now the Rook is truly misplayed. The other option is no bed of roses either though as Gary is down a pawn and my Knight owns the d4-square.} 28. Kf2 Bc6 (28... Rxf4 29. Ra8%2B Be8 30. Rxe8# { This is no time for gobbling poisoned pawns - not with such a weak back rank!!} ) 29. Nd4 Be8 (29... Rxf4%2B 30. Kg3 {And now I either win an exchange and chase down my opponent’s Bishop and win the endgame or my opponent can choose which piece to save as both are attacked now in this variation. Still got a weak back rank too! Can you say the German word "LUFT!" ? The word "luft" translates into "air" but in a kind of breathing space kind of way!!}) 30. g3 { I have many options now - my opponent’s Rook is trapped and any pawn break will be met by my idea of Ra1 to e1 thus exchanging off my opponent’s most valuable piece. Of course the other idea is to go try and checkmate my opponent and or go win his Bishop one8!} h5 $2 {The wrong pawn move... but the options are all losing at this point. The best thing to do is to try and complicate - even in such a simplified position as this. That is if we are playing "practical" chess in a Swiss style open!} 31. Ra8 { Now it is time to close the show!} Kf8 {He had to part ways with the Bishop but this would lose the game just as surely as the path chosen.} 32. Nb5 $1 { It is curtains now. There are no good moves with which to intelligibly defend the Black position. Of course I feel that this has been the case since move 15 but in a strategical sense!} Rc4 $2 {Attaching a question mark to this move is actually unfair - there are simply no good moves left to be played for Black. All roads lead to strategical ruin - a road that has been prepared and planned out since I had the opportunity to play my 15th move. I have to admit - playing such a strategically winning game makes me feel just as good as a tactical Mike Tyson punch out! No - it feels even better than that!!} (32... Ke7 33. Rxe8%2B Kxe8 34. Nd6%2B Kd7 35. Nxe4 dxe4 36. Ke3 { Is a simple King and pawn endgame win for me.}) 33. Nd6 { Game over! Oh what a Knight!!} (33. Nd6 Rc7 34. Rxe8# {"It’s all over but for the shouting!" - As my good friend JOHN DUSCHARME from Western Massachusetts used to say!!}) (33. Nd6 Ke7 34. Rxe8%2B Kd7 35. Nxc4 { A piece and pawns up the game is merely a matter of "easy" technique.} Kxe8 36. Nd6%2B Kd7 37. b4 { And now only White can "easily" cross the 4th Rank - no prank in that!}) (33. Nd6 g6 34. Rxe8%2B Kg7 35. Nxc4 {With the Rook left on it is even worse for Gary as this piece can aid my King in checkmating Gary’s Black King - even without all of the pawns on the board. Of course the passed pawn decides everything as well - after I round up the black c-file pawn!} dxc4 36. Ke3 Kh7 37. Kd4 Kg7 38. Kxc4) 1-0 "></object></div>BrisasChessCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791599284550319852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4501955367513340080.post-7647105594193455112010-11-09T06:42:00.001-08:002010-11-09T06:42:14.229-08:00Chess Game Diamond in the Rough! 11_09_2010Today's game is from the "SPICE CUP" chess tournament that GM Susan Polgar runs every year. The Grandmaster "A" group featured a number of talented young GMs... one of whom is America's youngest Grandmaster - Ray Robson.<br /><br />In today's game - played on the 6th of November - Ray dusted off the venerable "EVANS GAMBIT" and surprised fellow GM Eugene Perelshteyn. A GM half surprised is sometimes half beaten! <br /><br />Tartakower was a very wise fountain of chess wisdom - two of his quotes that came to my mind while playing over this game were:<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">"Psychologically, the choice of an appropriate opening is of the utmost importance for a player's success in a tournament."</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">"The blunders are all there on the board, waiting to be made."</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Enjoy the game! - Chess Coach Sean Tobin.</span><br /><br /><br /><div><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" width="100%" height="600"><param name="movie" value="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf"><param name="flashvars" value="orientation=V&tabmode=true&light=f4f4fF&dark=0072b9&bordertext=494949&headerforeground=ffffff&mtforeground=000000&mtvariations=FF0000&mtmainline=000000&mtbackground=ffffff&dark=000066&pgndata=[Event "SPICE Cup GMA"] [Site "Lubbock USA"] [Date "2010.11.06"] [Round "9"] [White "Robson, Ray"] [Black "Perelshteyn, Eugene"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C51"] [WhiteElo "2539"] [BlackElo "2528"] [Annotator "Tobin,Sean"] [PlyCount "27"] [EventDate "2010.10.28"] 1. e4 e5 {Open Game...} 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 {Captain Evans Gambit - the captain would be proud! This Welsh sea Captain, William Davies Evans, was the first person to employ this gambit back in 1827. The opening is mostly played for surprise value these days and has gone through various waves of popularity over the years. The most recent popularity spike or whim of fashion was when Garry Kasparov defeated Vishwanathan Anand with this opening back in 1995.} Bxb4 {Gambit accepted!} 5. c3 {This is the idea - White gains back some time by attacking the Black Bishop on b4 and sets up the pawn push d2 - d4. This expansion will allow the first player to control the center and to have plenty of diagonal lines for his / her Bishops to control.} Be7 (5... Ba5 {Is another option... and is the most popular.}) (5... Bc5 {Not the best move - now the Bishop can be hit on the nose by the move White wants to play no matter what - d2 to d4! This is a very commonly played move but once again it is not the best of the various options available to the second player.}) ( 5... Be7 {As played in the game and in other games by top notch Grandmasters.}) (5... Bd6 {Which doesn’t look right to my eyes! This is the "Stone-Ware" defense which is named after Henry Nathan Stone and Preston Ware. This move has been played by a few top notch Grandmasters but probably more for it’s surprise value than anything else.}) 6. d4 {Space - grab it!} Na5 (6... exd4 7. O-O d6 8. cxd4 {Is What White would love to see - total control over the center, fluid pawn duo, a lead in development and plenty of open lines.}) 7. Nxe5 {Regaining the pawn - I can only imagine that Eugene was totally caught off guard by Ray’s opening choice. Ah yes the element of surprise in chess! It is hard to believe that this game will be over in another 7 more moves!} Nxc4 8. Nxc4 d5 9. exd5 Qxd5 10. Ne3 Qa5 11. O-O { White has the safer King and still has those open lines!} Nf6 12. c4 O-O 13. Bd2 Qh5 $4 {A BLUNDER - by a Grandmaster! So it is nice to know that they too can make mistakes. A Grandmaster just doesn’t make as many mistakes as players lower down in the experience and ability hierarchy do.} 14. Nd5 $1 { Tis all over now.. Grandmaster Eugene Perelshteyn can resign as he has now lost a piece to another Grandmaster which is too much material to lose to someone of such caliber. Of course people below 2000 should play their games out - in my opinion!} (14. Nd5 Qxd1 15. Nxe7%2B {And it is this "in between move" that wins a piece! The beauty of FORCING MOVES!!! And check my friends can never be ignored - though some of my students have tried! : )} Kh8 16. Rxd1 Re8 17. Nxc8 Raxc8 18. Nc3 {And white is just totally winning this game! An opening surprise shock for Eugene - the "ancient" Evans Gambit!}) 1-0 "></object></div>BrisasChessCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791599284550319852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4501955367513340080.post-10282687687676310582010-11-08T18:38:00.001-08:002010-11-08T18:38:22.168-08:00Chess Game Diamond in the Rough! 11_08_2010<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">CHESS GAME DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH</span></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">November 8th, 2010.</span><br /></div><br />Draws can be of the boring - "Wish I hadn't seen that game." variety - you know the last round fear factor Grandmaster draw. Short and of the none game variety. Or they can be the logical result of a hard fought game - full of complexity and a full blown struggle. The game I picked for presentation today is one such game - full of fight and unheard melodies that litter the various possible variations that were not played out but remained untested or avoided. Or perhaps even dodged! <br /><br />In the fourth round of the Tal Memorial I found the following game to be a very interesting struggle - one that I am still trying to figure out! It would seem - on the surface and based upon the way the game was played - that Karjakin had the advantage in the middle game and this does seem to be born out by the way the game was played between these two top notch mind warriors. Boy-o-boy were there ever some fireworks right out of the starting gate in this one folks! When you hear the name Shirov could you possibly expect anything else though?<br /><br /><div><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" width="100%" height="600"><param name="movie" value="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf"><param name="flashvars" value="orientation=V&tabmode=true&light=f4f4fF&dark=0072b9&bordertext=494949&headerforeground=ffffff&mtforeground=000000&mtvariations=FF0000&mtmainline=000000&mtbackground=ffffff&dark=000066&pgndata=[Event "Tal Memorial"] [Site "Moscow RUS"] [Date "2010.11.08"] [Round "4"] [White "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Black "Shirov, Alexei"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C78"] [WhiteElo "2760"] [BlackElo "2735"] [Annotator "Tobin,Sean"] [PlyCount "126"] [EventDate "2010.11.05"] 1. e4 e5 {"Open Game"} 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {Spanish Opening.} a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 {A sharp move - as you would expect Shirov to opt all in for! } 7. c3 d6 {Spanish - Moeller Defence. This was quite the tactical slugfest but in the end...} 8. d4 Bb6 9. Be3 O-O (9... Nxe4 {Oops...} 10. Bd5 {Ouch!}) 10. Nbd2 Bg4 {Playing for a Bishop Pin against the f3-Knight.} 11. h3 { Asking the question "Move it or lose it buddy?"} Bh5 12. Bg5 { Yet another Bishop Pin!} exd4 13. Bd5 {Still another!} dxc3 14. Bxc6 cxd2 15. Bxa8 Qxa8 { "Desperado combination" - Of course the question now is who stands better?} 16. Bxf6 gxf6 17. Qxd2 Qxe4 18. Rfe1 Qf5 19. Nh4 Qg5 20. Qxg5%2B fxg5 21. Nf5 { To my eye Black seems to be a bit better here - he has undoubled his pawns, has the Bishop pair and has a Bishop and two pawns for the exchange. A very dynamic game!} Bg6 22. Ne7%2B Kg7 23. Nd5 {I have to admit that the position has changed quite a bit now and it seems to me that White is creating some serious play... the Black pawns have not begun to roll forward now have the Black Bishops chased down an enemy Rook or attacked the White King. Perhaps Karjakin had looked much deeper into the position than me - YOU BET!} Rb8 ( 23... Ba5 24. a3) 24. Rad1 { Centralized Rooks - the ideal placement for these pieces!} Kf8 25. g4 c5 26. h4 (26. Re7 $5 {One idea from the official website... thought I am not sure why this line was not followed just a bit further - it does seem to be an excellent move.}) 26... gxh4 27. f4 f5 28. g5 Bf7 29. Nf6 c4%2B 30. Kg2 Rd8 31. Nxh7%2B Kg7 32. Nf6 b4 (32... d5 {Also an idea listed from the "officially" annotated game on the host website for the TAL MEMORIAL 2010. I wondered about this while playing through the game... the pawns could become quite threatening as they creep closer and closer to the other side of the board. The Bishops can support them very well and the open diagonals leading to the White King could be very good lines for this Bishop pair.}) 33. Re7 c3 34. bxc3 bxc3 35. Nd7 Ba5 36. g6 Kxg6 37. Kh3 {Threatening to win the Bishop as well as giving a mate! A Rook check will decide the issue on the g-file as the Black King will be checked away from protecting the f7 Bishop.} (37. Kh3 c2 38. Rg1%2B Kh6 39. Rxf7 Bd2 40. Nf6 c1=Q (40... Rh8 41. Rfg7 Bxf4 42. R1g6#) 41. Rh7#) ( 37. Kh3 Rc8 38. Rg1%2B Kh6 39. Rxf7 c2 40. Nf6 Rc3%2B 41. Kxh4 c1=Q 42. Rh7#) 37... Rxd7 (37... Bxa2 38. Rxd6%2B Kh5 39. Rh7#) 38. Rxd7 Bb4 39. Kxh4 $6 (39. R1xd6%2B Bxd6 40. Rxd6%2B Kh5 41. Rxa6 $18 {According to the official website.}) 39... Bxa2 40. R1xd6%2B Bxd6 41. Rxd6%2B Kf7 42. Rc6 {Our Rooks belong behind the enemy passed pawns. Of the two - the black c-pawn is the more advanced and thus is the more dangerous of the two - the other being the Black a-pawn.} a5 43. Rxc3 a4 44. Rc6 Ke7 45. Kg3 Kd7 46. Ra6 Bb3 47. Kf2 Kc7 48. Ke1 Kb7 49. Rh6 (49. Ra5 Kb6 50. Re5 Kc6 51. Rxf5 a3 $11 {And this is a theoretically drawn endgame - very technical for Scholastic players!}) 49... Kc7 50. Kd2 a3 51. Kc3 a2 52. Kb2 Kd7 53. Ra6 (53. Kxb3 a1=Q {Would be disastrous for White!}) 53... Bc4 54. Ra5 Be6 55. Ra7%2B Kc6 56. Ra6%2B Kd7 57. Kc3 Kc7 58. Kd4 (58. Rxe6 a1=Q%2B { Again a catastrophe even!}) 58... Kb7 59. Ra3 Kb6 60. Ke5 Bc4 61. Kxf5 Kc5 62. Kg6 Kb4 63. Rxa2 {It’s a draw for certain now!} Bxa2 (63... Bxa2 64. f5 Bb1 65. Kg5 Bxf5 66. Kxf5 {Two Kings : ( = DRAW!}) 1/2-1/2 "></object></div>BrisasChessCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791599284550319852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4501955367513340080.post-12506328285337595592010-11-07T22:09:00.001-08:002010-11-07T22:09:41.833-08:00Best game played today! 11_07_2010 - Coach Sean.<div><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" width="100%" height="700"><param name="movie" value="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" /><param name="flashvars" value='orientation=V&tabmode=true&light=f4f4fF&dark=0072b9&bordertext=494949&headerforeground=ffffff&mtforeground=000000&mtvariations=FF0000&mtmainline=000000&mtbackground=ffffff&dark=000066&pgndata=[Event "Tal Memorial"] [Site "Moscow RUS"] [Date "2010.11.07"] [Round "3"] [White "Aronian, L."] [Black "Gelfand, B."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E01"] [WhiteElo "2801"] [BlackElo "2741"] [Annotator "Tobin,Sean"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2010.11.05"] 1. d4 d5 { Round three of the Tal Memorial... quite a bit of fighting chess so far!} 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 {Semi Slav} 5. Qd3 Nbd7 6. g3 Bd6 7. Bg2 O-O 8. O-O dxc4 9. Qxc4 e5 10. Rd1 { Lining up the Rook on the Queen - with a lot of pieces in the way!} Qe7 11. Bg5 h6 12. Nh4 {Taking advantage of the jumbled nature of the Black pieces.} Nb6 ( 12... hxg5 13. Nf5 Qe6 14. Qxe6 fxe6 15. Nxd6) 13. Bxf6 Qxf6 14. Qb3 Bc7 15. d5 cxd5 16. Bxd5 Kh8 17. Rac1 Qe7 18. Qc2 Rb8 19. a4 Bh3 20. Bg2 Be6 21. a5 Na8 22. Nd5 Bxd5 23. Rxd5 Qe6 24. b4 Bd8 25. Nf5 g6 26. Nd6 Nc7 27. Rdd1 { Levon Aronian’s pieces are wonderful centralized where as Boris Gelfand’s pieces have been held / pushed back against the second players first rank. Space is important in chess - to have it is to have a certain kind of advantage. } b6 28. Nb7 Na6 29. Rd6 Qg4 30. Qb2 Qxb4 31. Qxe5%2B Kh7 32. Rd7 Bg5 33. Rcd1 Nc5 34. Nxc5 Qxc5 35. Qxc5 { A wonderful transition into a won endgame - amazing!} bxc5 36. Rxa7 { So who’s past pawn is stronger?} c4 37. a6 c3 38. Rc7 {When you have a passed pawn - YOUR ROOK belongs behind it. When your opponent has a passed pawn YOUR ROOK belongs behind it!!} Rbc8 39. Rxc8 Rxc8 40. e3 {Levon’s is! This pawn move 40. e3 blocks the dark squared Bishop’s "view" of the c1 square which means that the pawn can be blockaded by the white Rook. The light squared Bishop on g2 rules the long diagonal and so that pawn on a6 is going in for the touchdown folks! - Chess Coach Sean Tobin.} Be7 41. Rc1 (41. Rc1 c2 42. a7 Ba3 43. Rxc2 Rxc2 44. a8=Q) (41. Rc1 Bc5 42. Rxc3 Rc7 43. Bb7 Kg7 44. Rxc5 Rxc5 45. a7 Rc1%2B 46. Kg2 Ra1 47. a8=Q Rxa8 48. Bxa8 {And as long as Levon avoids careless pawn exchanges then this is a dead won endgame for him. Four pawns versus three and a Bishop to boot is easily a win for players at this level. - Chess Coach Sean.}) (41. Rc1 Bc5 42. Rxc3 Rc7 43. Bb7 Bb6 44. Rxc7 Bxc7 45. a7 Bb6 46. a8=Q) 1-0 '/></object></div>BrisasChessCoachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12791599284550319852noreply@blogger.com0