THIEVES MARKET: CHESS INTERVIEWS & FOOTAGE!

Chess Coach Jeremy Dancer and yours truly do their part to promote chess! Enjoy - Coach Sean Tobin.

Chess Quote for Brisas Geckos! 10/17 - 10/23/2010

WEEKLY CHESS QUOTE:

"People who want to improve should take their defeats as lessons, and endeavor to learn what to avoid in the future. You must also have the courage of your convictions. If you think your move is good, make it."

- Jose R. Capablanca, 3rd Chess Champion of the World 1921 - 1927.

MSNBC TODAY SHOW - A segment on Scholastic Chess!

A recent Today Show spot light on Scholastic Chess - well done and very interesting!



- Chess Coach Sean Tobin.

HOW I FINISHED OUT THE 2010 EDITION OF THE LOS ANGELES OPEN

MAKING FRIENDS!

At least I got to meet and mingle with other chess players at this event!

Well day two was not a good day for me - result wise. I drew my round 4 game and then went all in for a win in game 5 but came up short. So a loss and a draw for today... or rather yesterday. My idea looks sound I just did not play the right move order... but I will have to spend some time reviewing this game and then run it through Fritz or Rybka to get even more food for thought about what happened during this game.

I cannot complain about the result from this tournament. I knew I was going into this event without any prep but it was a good warm up for the AMERICAN OPEN being held next month. Now it is time to study... to prepare and to play practice games in local events so that I can play my best this November. Chess is chess, and chess is best when it is played!

- Chess Coach Sean Tobin.

2010 LOS ANGELES OPEN - My score after three rounds stands at 50%

CHESS PUZZLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BLACK TO PLAY AND WIN!!!

PUZZLE FOR MY SCHOLASTIC CHESS PLAYERS!

This is how I dreamed of finishing off my first round opponent... however he played the move 20. Bd3 instead of the move 20. Qd2 as in the above position. How would I have gained the advantage here in this position? Either the decisive win of points or a swift checkmate!

ROUND ONE
2 - Day Schedule.
The "evil" Game in 60 time control!

MY OPPONENT FROM ROUND ONE!
Sam played a great game today I had to take a risk in going for the win against him.
( The only game I won today...)

Ok... so I split the two Game in 60 minutes today... one win and one loss. I lost to an IM who was rated 2344 in round two. That was an enjoyable game though - learned a lot! The "IM" stands for "International Master"and you have to be really good at chess to win that title. Even tougher is the "GM" title... and we have one of those super strong players here at this event! Getting to play really strong players like that is why I come to these events in California.

I played really weak in my third round game this evening - which was using the "real" time control of 40 moves in 2 hours and Sudden Death in one hour. That is potentially a six hour game folks! I was lucky to escape with a draw in that game. So My score after three rounds is 50 percent. Tonight I will be dreaming of winning both of my games tomorrow!

The solution for the puzzle up top begins with the move I was hoping to play... 20. ...Qxb3! Now if 21. axb3 then 21. ... Nxb3 is checkmate! Any other move lets me keep the Knight leaving me up a minor piece.

- Chess Coach Sean Tobin.

ARRIVAL IN LOS ANGELES! Traffic gets in the way of round one - a near catastrophe!

LOS ANGELES OPEN 2010 - The JOHN HILLERY MEMORIAL

VADIM KUDRYAVTSEV (White Pieces) vs my friend NUMAN ABDUL-MUJEEB

INTERNATIONAL MASTER (IM) JACK PETERS
ON BOARD 1
CONDUCTING THE BLACK PIECES

So leaving at noon today was not a wise choice in scheduling as there is such a thing known as "TRAFFIC" that one must contend with. I would have arrived about 45 minutes late - after my game would have been started - which would have been too much time to cede to anyone. My students are very lucky to have their parents bring them to their tournaments! Logistics handled by Mom and Dad are easily appreciated - when they are older! Of course you folks did not have to drive six to seven hours to get to the tournament site... all you have to do is maybe at the most is a 40 minute drive which is easy.

So how to deal with this problem of my late arrival while mid trip? Calling ahead and requesting a switch to the two day schedule was the only logical thing to do and thankfully Tournament Director (TD) Randy Hough obliged. Now I am faced with playing two game 60's for rounds one and two tomorrow and then the two day section will merge with the three day. That will be three rounds of chess for me and round three will be a long game. Why? The third round will be real chess - 40 moves in two hours and then sudden death in one for both players. Potentially a six hour game! Sunday will feature two of those and then this event will be in the history books!

For more information about Randy Hough's "LOS ANGELES OPEN - JOHN HILLERY MEMORIAL" please feel free to visit his website at http://www.randyhough.com/word/

There are many master already playing in this event with potentially even more top notch players registering in the morning. The highest rated players, who have registered so far as of now, are Enrico Sevillano at 2553 and Roman Yankovsky at 2574. Time to get ready with a little light studying and then it will be time to go get some serious sleep... and lots of it as that was one long drive today!

- Chess Coach Sean Tobin.

LOS ANGELES OPEN 2010 - Another Coach Sean Adventure!

CHESS COACH IN ACTION!

Pre drive checklist for LOS ANGELES OPEN:

1.) Car Maintenance... YES.
2.) Snacks in car... YES
3.) Pre trip errands taken care of? YES
4.) Chess set, board and clock in the car? YES!
5.) Did I get to prepare for this event Like I really needed to? NO!

But that is ok - chess is chess and chess is best played! Look for daily reports on my progress - or lack of it - at the LOS ANGELES OPEN 2010! I'm an active chess tournament player too but of course!

5.) AM I THERE YET? NO - Time to get in the car and drive!

- Chess Coach Sean Tobin.

THE MONEY BARS CHECKMATE - HAND OVER HAND, ROOK LEAP FROGGING ROOK!

THE MONKEY BARS CHECKMATE

HOW YOU CAN ALWAYS WIN WHEN YOU ARE UP TWO ROOKS!

This is one of our basic checkmates - and an easy checkmate to score with when you are up two whole Rooks! The reason why this checkmate is so easy is because:

1. Kings are slow runners!
2. Rooks, though big and a little clumsy, are powerful and strong runners.
3. Kings move one square at a time - in any direction. Unless they are able to use the special move "castles" - which is not relevant here.
4. Rooks move along "FILES" and "RANKS" - as far as they can "see".

WHITE HAS A WIN - TIME TO DO THE LEAP FROGGING ROOKS CHECKMATE!

ON YOUR MARKS, GET SET, READY... GO!

1. Ra3 - Ra5 gives a check to the Black King. Why?

PSSST! MY ROOK IS LOOKING AT YOUR KING!

In the position up above you can see the RED ARROW pointing at the Black King - that is to show that the Rook on a5 is looking at him or attacking him. This is because Rooks can look both up and down - along files - and from side to side - along ranks. The red arrow is on the 5th rank which is labeled on the side of the board*.

*Remember that you can always find the name of any square by cross referencing it by file and rank. So when I wrote "a5" this means the square on the a-file and on the 5th rank.

RUN FOREST, RUN!

1. ...Kh5 - g6.

If our or our opponent's King is in check then we have a list of possible options that we should go through to make sure that it is either a check or to see if it is a checkmate.

THE LIST:
1.) Can the piece looking at my King be CAPTURED?
2.) Can I put one of the King's friends - one of my other pieces - in the way so as to BLOCK the check?
3.) Can my King RUN AWAY to one of the surrounding squares around him?

So we can rule out 1 and 2 on our list and so that only leaves option 3. Which is to move the King and is the option that the player of the Black pieces had to take. No taking passes on our turn!

Now the Black King can no longer cross the 5th rank as those square are attacked by the White Rook on the a5 square. Remember the Rook not only looks up and down the a-file but also along this 5th rank. All at once! He must eat a lot of carrots to have such good vision!!

TIME FOR A LEAP FROGGING ROOK MOVE!

Now it is the turn for the Rook on b4 and so here is where we are in this position:

1. Ra3 - a5 + Kh5 - g6
2. Rb4 - b6 +

The "+" means check in chess notation.

"CHECK"!

So each Rook is leaping over the other forcing the Black King to the back rank where he will eventually be checkmated. Notice that in the above position that this King is to far away to run at either of the Rooks. Even if he could the Rooks could then zoom into action and go over to the other side of the board!

RUN FOREST, RUN!

1. Ra3 - a5 + Kh5 - g6
2. Rb4 - b6 + Kg6 - Kf7

And so on until we drive the Black King to the back rank where the final leap frogging Rook will deliver a check and mate - CHECKMATE!

1. Ra3 - a5 + Kh5 - g6
2. Rb4 - b6 + Kg6 - Kf7
3. Ra5 - a7 + _____?


1. Ra3 - a5 + Kh5 - g6
2. Rb4 - b6 + Kg6 - Kf7
3. Ra5 - a7 + Kf7 - Ke8


1. Ra3 - a5 + Kh5 - g6
2. Rb4 - b6 + Kg6 - Kf7
3. Ra5 - a7 + Kf7 - Ke8
4. Rb6 - b8 #

1 - 0 (WHITE WINS - CHECKMATE!)

GAME OVER - BACK RANK CHECKMATE!

The Rook on a7 prevents the Black King from running up onto the 7th Rank.

The Rook that just landed on the square b8 is giving the Black King a check and attacks all along the 8th rank thus giving a check and mate.


The Black King is in check and all of the squares around him are controlled - so he is also mated - which makes this a CHECKMATE! Game over - white won. Time for a new game!

Try to practice this technique with your young scholastic star a few times this week while at home so they can pick up this checkmate - while having fun practicing with you!

YOUR KYRENE DE LAS BRISAS CHESS COACH
Chess Coach Sean Tobin.

PRATEEK LEVEL BRAIN BUSTER CHESS PUZZLE!

BONUS PUZZLE!

Prateek level Brain Buster Chess Puzzle!

BLACK TO PLAY AND WIN

(Your one and only hint, Prateek and Company!)

##############################################

White has just set a trap for the second player by playing the move 12. Nbd2. So let us take a look at why YOU do not want to win that pawn on e4. This is a good puzzle for everyone - Prateek already should know the answer to this one though! Ahem...

CAN'T TOUCH THAT PAWN!

This puzzle is taken from a game featured in a classic chess book - which shall be revealed later on when I credit the author of this fine volume. But for everyone we should now take a look at why we should think twice about grabbing a pawn on the e-file when our King is still in the middle of the board.

WHY IS "WINNING" THIS PAWN BAD FOR BLACK?

Let's take a look!

12. Nbd2 and now ...Nxe4 is ouchyville. And this is why...


White can recapture the Knight, as in the above position, so even though he or she "wins the e-pawn" the black player will find out that something is not right now... IF the player of the Black pieces recaptures with his or her Queen. Of course if the Knight is not recaptured then the second player will be losing on points and should, with proper technique by the first player, lose the game. So in for a penny...


...in for a pounding after the move... DRUM ROLL PLEASE!

14. Re1 pins the Queen to the King.

THE SECOND PLAYER'S QUEEN NOW GOES LOST!

WIN A PAWN - LOSE A GAME!

The power of the PIN is one of our tactics that we have looked at - recently! - during our chess club meetings.

THE QUEEN CANNOT MOVE BECAUSE WE CAN NEVER ALLOW AN ENEMY PIECE TO LOOK AT - THAT IS TO ATTACK - THE SQUARE UPON WHICH OUR KING STANDS.

So the nine point Queen will be lost for a five point Rook. If we consider these pieces to be worth money that would be like if YOU gave me 5 dollars for the 9 dollars that was in my pocket! I just lost 4 bucks - hey no fair! Keeping track of the points will help you to figure out what to do during a game. If you are up material - that is "points" - then exchange down into a won endgame but do so with caution! Please remember that we always play for checkmate and checkmate settles all questions at the chess board. Just because you are up points doesn't mean you cannot lose - so keep your King safe!

REMEMBER WE CAN NEVER EVER PUT OUR OWN KING IN CHECK! THAT IS...

...ILLEGAL!

So this is one reason why we always want to castle early in a game of chess - remember this rule of thumb from the chess club? But the real rule about castling* - for advanced players - is castle when you must and not because you can. Here Black has a huge lead in development and plenty of open lines. Which brings us back to our featured problem, or our ...

"PRATEEK LEVEL BRAIN BUSTER CHESS PUZZLE!"

Which you now may enjoy trying to solve! The gauntlet has been thrown down - which of our Geckos will take up my challenge?

12. Nbd2 ___? 13. ___? ___? 14. ___? ___? 15. ___? ___? 16. ___? ___? 17. ___? ___? (The GAME ACTUALLY STOPPED HERE!) 18. ___? ___++ or # (means CHECKMATE!) OR 18. Qe2 ___? 19. ___? ___#.

So ok, I have given more than one hint here - there were a couple sprinkled throughout this lesson!

Enjoy! - CHESS COACH SEAN TOBIN!

* Castling is one of our 3 SPECIAL MOVES. You can only castle if you :
1.) Have not yet moved our King.
2.) Have not yet moved the Rook with which you want to castle with.
3.) Are not in check.
4.) Your King will not pass through a square that is attacked or looked at by an enemy piece.
5.) Are now on the move - one turn per player please!
6.) We can only castle once per game as well - so no "un" castling and then recastling!
7.) We always pick up the King and move him two squares over to either the right or left hand sides of the board. From White's perspective this would be King's side vs Queen's side of the chess board.
8.) We then put the Rook down - gently! - next to the King but on the other side of him now.
9.) If you castle to the King's side of the board then you have one square between your King and that side of the board.
10.) If you castle to the Queen's side of the board then you have two squares between your King and that side of the chess board.
11.) If we are writing the move "Castles" down while taking score of our game we would write the Kingside castles as "0 - 0". A zero for each square the Rook passes over! For Queenside castles we would write "0-0-0" - again each 0 equals a square that the Rook must travel through.

If you have any questions about how to read and write chess notation I would be more than glad to answer those questions for you. I have also sent out the USCF's PDF guide one how to read and write chess notation. If you need me to send that back out to you then please do contact me and I will do that ASAP! Hey, have you solved that puzzle yet! Get back to work! : P Enjoy!!

PRATEEK AT TWISTER 10/02/2010!

The GECKO LION KING!

Caught hard at work - having fun at an ASCF chess tournament!

A Beginner / Intermediate lesson on the "MONKEY BARS" checkmate will go up later on tonight or tomorrow morning.

... but for now enjoy the three games that I have posted here. You will find two on the left hand side menu bar of options and one as a chess lesson given down below.

- Chess Coach Sean Tobin.

OUR GREEN LIGHT LADDER GAME FOR WEEK 6!

I want to thank both boys - Ronen and Aidan - for having played this very instructive game. Irrespective of the result this game was one of the more interesting games played and most definitely a very instructive game. I am pleased to use this game as a free lesson for both Ronen and Aidan and for all of our Geckos - so that each of them may improve their own play.

I hope you have enjoyed today's lesson - Thank you Ronen and Aidan!
- Chess Coach Sean Tobin.

3 VERY SPECIAL WORDS: CHECK, CHECKMATE & STALEMATE!

AFTER A TOUGH and HARD FOUGHT GAME THE POSITION BELOW WAS REACHED...

... WITH WHITE TO PLAY.

An easy win for White - if we remember our three special words, which are:

CHECK - When a piece looks at the Square the King is on.
CHECKMATE - When an enemy piece or pieces not only looks at the square that the King is on but it/they also control the squares around the King. If the player of the King who is attacked is unable to CAPTURE the checking piece (That is to say the piece looking at our King.), BLOCK it or to RUN AWAY then we have a checkmate.
STALEMATE - When the enemy pieces or an enemy piece controls the squares around the King but not the square that the King actually stands upon. That is to say they do not look at the enemy King. This can only happen as long as the King who cannot move does not have any "friends" upon the board who can move. In other words we either need only pawns on the board who cannot move at all or no pawns and no other pieces remaining upon the board other than the King. There could be pieces upon the board - as long as they are pinned to the King - thus they are unable to move.

BLUE BUBBLES SHOW THE SQUARES THE WHITE KING "LOOKS" AT... or RATHER THE SQUARES THAT HE ATTACKS/CONTROLS!

Each King can only move one square at a time - unless of course it uses the special move castling. See a previous posting for coverage of this special move. Not only can the King step onto any of the one squares around him - as long as an enemy piece does not look at them that is - but he can protect his friends that are in this one square bubble that floats around him.

Notice that the White King looks at or attacks all of the squares around him - going in all directions. Each King has a force field that keeps out the enemy King. Because we can never put our own King in check we are unable to use our King - under any circumstance - to give a check to another King. This would break the number one rule of chess! Because for our King to give a check to an enemy King he must step within the other King's "field" and would thus receive a check as well. The two Kings can never ever stand next to each other!

THE BLACK KING HAS A FORCE FIELD TOO!

THE QUEEN IS THE MOST POWERFUL PIECE ON THE CHESS BOARD!

The Queen is the strongest piece on the chess board as she combines the moves of the Rook and the Bishop. Here she can look along Files, Ranks and Diagonals - the three "lines" on a chess board.

As long as she stays inside the "FORCE FIELD" of the White King the White Queen is immune or safe from being captured by the Black King.

STALEMATE!

One careless or hurried move can ruin a win in a game of chess. Here the move Qc7 was played and now the Black King has no liberties or free squares upon which he can move to... but move he must as it is his turn. Because we can never, ever put our King in check the play is now stale. Hence "STALEMATE". This game has now ended in a draw - that is to say it is even Steven!

Stalemate is a kind of DRAW - one of the three possible results in a game of chess. Win, lose or Draw are the three possible results that we can have in a game. Here White played a careless move and gave a mate... but not a checkmate.

The Queen looks at all of the squares all around the Black King but alas the Black King is not attacked or rather being viewed/looked at by the White Queen. He stands on the one square that is not attacked - so he is not in check.

ANYONE HERE ORDER A CHECKMATE?

CHECKMATE - That is how you win chess games!

Let us say that in the diagram up above that instead of the move 1. Qc7 having been played that the move 1. Qb7 was played instead. This too is a mate as all of the squares around the Black King are controlled by the Queen.

Notice how the Queen ALSO attacks, or looks at, the square that the Black King stands upon. So this is a CHECK and MATE which means CHECKMATE! Game over - White won!

We would write that down on a score sheet as "1 - 0" to show that White had won this game.

ALWAYS CHECK ON THE CHECK!

IS IT REALLY A CHECKMATE OR IS IT ONLY A CHECK?

If instead of playing the move 1. Qb7, let us say that the player of the white pieces had instead played the move 1. Qa7 check!

This is only a check... and not a checkmate. Why?

After the move 1. ...Kxa7! The King has captured the White Queen! So this was only a check and not a checkmate because the Queen could be captured. Now this game is over because it is a draw by TWO KINGS! This is also known as a DRAW by INSUFFICIENT MATERIAL as well.

The reason why the Black King could capture the White Queen was because she was outside the force field of the White King!

So to get the checkmate as the player of the White pieces - in order for you to win the game - you need to keep the Queen inside of the White King's forcefield and she needs to land on the b7 square! There she is safe from capture by the Black King and she controls all the squares around the Black King - hence the "mate" - and she "checks" or attacks/looks at the square the Black King actually stands upon. Checkmate! Game over rover!! Do you have time for another game?

Enjoy the lessons! - Chess Coach Sean Tobin.

CHECKMATE WITH TWO ROOKS (Monkey Bars introduction.)

Here is a checkmate that every one of our Geckos should know!

BLACK TO PLAY AND WIN!

ONE MOVE WINS THE GAME!

In the position given up above White has just moved his King from c1 to the square b1 and now it is Black's turn to play a move. Notice how the White King cannot step up to the second rank?

Notice how the Rook on the second rank controls (or looks at) all of the squares on the second rank? It looks at the squares a2, b2, c2, d2, e2, f2, and at the square h2. All because this Rook sits on the g2 square.

Rooks move along Ranks and Files so our Rook from up above also looks at all of the squares going up along the g-file. That is from the bottom of the board up to the top of the board. If a piece looks at a square then it is attacking that square and any opponent's piece moving onto that square can be captured.

Remember the number one rule of chess - A King can never step onto a square that is attacked. We can never leave our King in check nor can we step onto a square where we - that is our King - will receive a check.

If our King is in check we have a list of possible options that we need to check in order to make sure that we are not in checkmate. This is the list and you should always check it in this order:

1.) Can our King (or another one of our Pieces) capture the piece looking at our King - the piece giving check.

2.) Can we use one of our other pieces to block the check? That is can someone else take the check for the King.*

3.) Can our King run away to a square around him to escape from the check?

*Remember that a Knight giving a King check is the one kind of check that the King cannot block. So when a Knight gives our King a check he must either have some other piece capture the Knight or our King must run away.

If we cannot capture, block or run away - then we have been checkmated.


The move King from g1 to h2 is the winning move for Black in the above diagram! Congratulations to all of our players who found this move.

Kh2 won the game because once the Black King got out of the way of the Black Rook he allowed the Rook on h1 to stare at the White King on b1. Because the Black King went to h2 - as opposed to the square f2 - he did not block the view of the other Rook along the 2nd Rank.

The reason why this is a CHECKMATE is because:

1.) The player of the White pieces is unable to capture the Rook on h1. He only has a King left in the game and the King can only move one square at a time.*

*Unless we use the special moves "CASTLES".

2.) No other piece can land on any of the squares between the White King and the Black Rook on h1 to BLOCK the check.

3.) The White King cannot step up onto the 2nd rank as the other Rook, the one on g2, looks at all of the squares on the second rank.

So this is a checkmate! Game over - we can set up all of the pieces to the start position now and start a new game!

- Chess Coach Sean Tobin.