Names in Lights

Sometimes a little notoriety warms the heart! See "Stripes Tops Xmas Chaos".

James Stripes won the Xmas Chaos g/60 tourney held December 3 & 10 with a perfect 4.0 score. and Ryan Ackerman was second with a 3.0 score. Loyd Willaford (2.5) topped the U/1600 section. A link to the USCF cross-table will be posted on our Recent Results page (link at left) when the event is rated. There were 15 players at club on the 10th.
www.spokanechess.org

The event pushed me to new peak ratings: 1857 standard, 1773 quick. See the crosstable.

Since I posted "Class A" marking my success in reaching a goal I had announced in this blog, I've maintained my A class rating through six events. After my fifteen minutes of fame in 2008, I pushed past the 1750 milestone. That felt good. Now, seventeen months later, I'm one hundred points higher. One hundred points gain is normal improvement for youth players, but takes some effort after gray hairs begin to appear.

It's time to get serious about some new goals, such as crossing into expert class before old age dementia sets in.

French Defense!

I might have gone home, taking a bye in the final round to win the event. But, the TD told me I had to stay because Nikolay was counting on a battle. Staying meant playing Black against a youth that spends lots of time studying chess and is rapidly becoming one of the strongest Spokane area players. He scored 4/5 in our recent club championship, losing only to me.

After my grueling and lucky win against Ryan's French Defense in round three, I reset my clock, turned my board around, and put my mind into gear for the Black side of the French. Nikolay Bulakh's rating is provisional, based on nineteen games. He was 1479 (P11) going into the Fall Championship, and came out 1729 (P16). He swept Quad B in the Turkey Quads (I was second in Quad A), increasing his provisional rating to 1782. He had ambitious plans going into Christmas Chaos, a game/60 dual rated event, but lost in an early round. Even so, a win in this game would put him and I in a tie for first, likely with others.

When I arrived at club, he was ready, and confident that we would play in round four. We played some skittles to warm up and argue opening theory.


Bulakh,N (1782) - Stripes,J (1820) [C01]
Christmas Chaos, Spokane 2009

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5

3.Nc3 remains the most popular, and according to my selected database of master games since 2000, results in the highest performance rating. Slightly lower in performance, but higher in winning percentage is the Tarrasch, 3.Nd2.

A lot of French players dread the Exchange Variation because they like to win and it seems drawish on first glance. John Watson disputes this assessment. He shows that Black easily creates imbalances that can lead to victory for the second player, and dispense a little venom for aficionados of the White side.

It is not a particularly imaginative line. ... Although the Exchange Variation appeals to players who are trying to draw against stronger players, allowing equality on the third move as White may not be the way to go about that. Be aware that it's a strategy that has failed miserably throughout the years.
John Watson, Play the French, 3rd ed., 70

3... exd5 4.Bd3 Bd6

Watson recommends 4...Nc6 to break the symmetry immediately.

5.Nf3 Ne7 6.0–0 Nbc6 7.c3 Bg4

We have transposed into the line favored by Watson.



8.Nbd2

8.Re1 is more accurate.

8...Qd7 9.h3!?

Watson refers readers to analysis by Lev Psakhis, who calls this move inaccurate.

9...Bh5 10.Re1 0–0–0 11.Qa4

I thought during the game that Nf1 was part of the purpose behind Re1, and that's the move in the line from Psakhis given by Watson.

11.b4 seems warranted. Indeed, my worst experiences with the French have been losses to this queenside pawn storm backed by White's heavy pieces.



11...g5! 12.g4?

My opponent burned eight minutes off the clock to find this error. Counterplay is a better plan: 12.b4!

12... Bxg4

12...Bg6 is accurate, safe, and gives Black the upper hand. But, attacking is fun while defending accurately often takes time. In a game/60, time is critical.

13.hxg4 Qxg4+ 14.Kf1

Nikolay had offered a draw at move nine, and now while thinking muttered draw, draw, draw, ...



14...Rde8

Did I consider 14...Ng6--a better move? No, I wanted to keep the king on his wing. Later in the game I would change strategies and try to steer him away.

15.Ke2 Nf5+

My engine tells me that carbon lifeforms fail to comprehend this game of ours, and that 15...Bf4 presents White with more difficulties. Nikolay's clock has thirty-one minutes remaining to my forty-three.

16.Kd1 Rxe1+ 17.Kxe1 Qh3

For some reason, I failed to correctly assess my advantage after 17...Nh4! 18.Be2 Re8. Perhaps I thought the rook should remain on the h-file to support my future queen.



18.Bxf5+ Qxf5 19.Kd1 g4 20.Ne5 Bxe5 21.dxe5



21...Qxf2?

Up until this point, I have had the advantage, thanks in no small part to my opponent's lack of vigor in attacking on the queenside. Now I let his queen create problems, and the advantage shifts to his side.

22.Qxg4+ Kb8 23.Qe2 Qg1+ 24.Qf1 Qg4+

I could offer a draw. However, my opponent has twelve minutes left to my twenty-eight. Moreover, I think that I can stitch my pawns back together before they start their promotion run.

25.Qf3 h5 26.Kc2 Qg6+ 27.Qd3 Nxe5



28.Qxg6

"Box," Yasser Seiriwan would say, referring to Informant code for the only move. Alas, White has restored equality. Black has compensation for the material, but no real advantage. On the other hand, White has five minutes; Black has twenty-five. Forget tactics training; learn to tell time.

28... fxg6 29.Nb3 h4 30.Bf4 Nf7 31.Rh1

White completes his development!



31...g5 32.Be3 g4 33.Nd2 Nd6 34.Bd4 Rh7 35.Nf1 Nf5 36.Ne3



36...Nxd4+

The knight is a more useful piece according to the massive calculating capabilities of the chess engine. But, reasoning that bishops are more useful when pawns exist on both wings, and that the cleric likes working with the rook, I opted to remove the long-range piece from my opponent's arsenal. He has two minutes left on the clock; I have nineteen. I should have mentioned earlier that we are using my analog clock--no time delay.

37.cxd4 g3 38.Rh3 c6 39.Ng2

39.Kd3 activates White's second most powerful piece.

39...Rf7 40.Kd3 Rf3+ 41.Ne3



41...Rf2

41...g2! and the queen should take care of things nicely. I reasoned, incorrectly, that White might set up a fortress with the knight and rook that a queen would have trouble breaking down as all the action would take place on one half of the board. However, my queen would have been waiting--and picking the last pawns from her teeth--when the knight and rook arrived. Sometimes concrete analysis is necessary, especially when I have fifteen minutes to my opponent's one.

42.Rxh4 Rxb2 43.Rh8+ Kc7 44.Rg8 Rxa2 45.Rxg3 a5 46.Kc3 b5 47.Kb3 Rf2 48.Rg7+ Kb6

Black has a real advantage. Although it is not overwhelming, a little technique should carry the day. Decisive, however, is Black's fourteen minutes to seconds remaining for White. The blunders during the finale can be attributed to the time White expended early on attempting to prove the righteousness of an inferior opening line.



49.Rg3 b4 50.Ka4 Rd2 51.Rg4 Rd3 52.Nc2 b3 53.Rg6 bxc2 54.Rxc6+ 0–1

Position of the Week

From private lessons in homes to school clubs, I present each chess student or group with the same problem sets, the same curriculum. I leave plenty of time for individualized work tailored to specific needs, too. But, one new lesson that I must prepare each week is my "position of the week". This position goes on the demonstration board at the start of an after school chess club, and I put it on chessboards wherever I happen to be offering chess instruction from day to day. The position may come from a recent tournament game that I watched online, or from a weekend tournament (see "Vulnerability"), or from a classic game (and a position that is in all the books), or from some of my online play.

The past several have been from my own games on Chess.com. Some are three days per move; others three minutes per game.

In the first, White made several weak moves in the opening: senseless pawn moves, and his light-squared bishop moved six times in the first thirteen moves. Black (me) sensed an opportunity.

Black to move


The second features an elementary tactic that reveals how badly the Black side of the a Closed Catalan can become with one or two subpar moves that look sensible on the surface.

White to move


Pressing the attack against a vulnerable king emerges as the theme in the next.

Black to move


If I wake before my alarm sounds, I might play some blitz online. Seven 3 0 games against one opponent ended at 6:00 am with this gem.

Black to move


Surprisingly, although a rook ahead, Black's position is critical. One move maintains the advantage. The second best move, according to my trusty helper--Hiarcs 12--leads to a forcing continuation in which White emerges a pawn ahead.

My opponent played a terrible move--mere seconds remained in the game.

25...exf3??

I missed the opportunity presented by this blunder (forced checkmate in four).

26. Bxf3??

Black again has a winning position, and the best move is much easier to find than a moment ago. He erred.

26...Bf5??

Finally, I found my way, and the conclusion of the game was simple. Even so, Black's most stubborn defense, had he found it, might have called for more than my pre-coffee capabilities can muster in the early morning.

Director's Woes

Yesterday, I ran a small scholastic chess tournament--the fourth annual Black Knights' Joust--with seventy-nine players in three sections (K-3, 4-6, 7-12).

As I was starting to pair the first round, a message popped up in SwissSys 8 telling me that I was running an unregistered copy. I had purchased version eight last May. The license covers one copy on my desktop computer, and one on my notebook. I received the codes from Thad Suits, developer of the software. This message at the start of the tournament revealed my oversight: I had installed SwissSys 8 on both computers, but only entered the codes in my desktop. I ran several test tournaments to familiarize myself with the changes in version 8, including several nifty new features, but failed to run these tests on the machine I use during events.

I've run more than a dozen scholastic tournaments with 70-142 players, one large state championship with over one thousand participants, and I've helped at many others. I've learned from some of the best in my state--Jon Licht, Elliott Neff, Rick Jorgensen. Even so, I always make errors. Most errors are small, insignificant, and easily concealed. I might have hid yesterday's error because I resolved it quickly. But, I answered the phone at a critical moment.


Cascading Errors

A few years ago, I plugged my computer into the wall, turned it on, and then left the TD room to set up tables, chess sets, other aspects of the venue. When I returned to my computer, it was off. The outlet was switch controlled, and dead. On battery power, my notebook was set to shut off after a certain period of idleness. That event had ninety players preregistered, and enough late entries to bring the total to one hundred forty-two. I transferred my computer to a live outlet (per my wife's command), got my assistant TD (who runs most of the area's adult tournaments) to enter the late registrants, and after some delay we were ready to pair round one. Already, we were running late when the pairings were sent to the printer.

The computer failed to find the default printer. The usual printer was connected, but ordinarily was part of a home network, and so the computer was looking for the printer in all the wrong places. It took a few minutes to cancel the print job, and switch to the printer as configured at the tournament site. However, a spooling process continued to run until--panic behind--we deciphered the problem and shut it off (thanks to Dr. John, who has more experience with SwissSys than the rest of us--he and my tremendously experienced "assistant TD" ran the pairings at last year's state tournament). Printing was slow through three rounds, and the tournament ran further behind.

We managed to finish about the time that would be normal if elementary age children used all of their available thirty minutes per game. However, kids play too fast. These scholastic events tend to run ahead of schedule, so "on-time" is considered late. My tournament announcements list start times that once seemed realistic:

Schedule: First round begins at 10:00 a.m. Check in 8:30 to 9:30. Late arrivals will forfeit first round. Rounds 2-5 at 11:15, 12:30, 2:00, 3:30, or ASAP
Winterfest Scholastic Tournament Announcement 2004

ASAP is the key. In Spokane, the children usually finish play before 3:00 pm.

We ran close to the published schedule near the end of the day, and trophies were distributed near 5:00pm. Parents were frustrated. Since that event, I've asked for 100% preregistration (and get 90-98%). I always test my printer on Friday night. I do not repeat the same errors from prior events.

Yesterday, the K-6 awards ceremony ended close to 3:00 pm. The high school/middle school players finished play just before 4:00 pm, and after clean-up I was in my vehicle ready to head home at 4:40 pm.


Courting Disaster

I find new errors to commit with each new event, and seem to be growing more inventive in how I can sabotage myself. Friday evening, my spouse and I ran through the checklist. She no longer attends these events, as she did for my first few. She did help significantly with the state tournament last spring, and complied a list of lessons learned. Our Friday night checklist did not include: "Is the pairing software registered?" It should have.

When the message of doom appeared on my screen yesterday morning, I felt a sense of terror that may have lasted fifteen seconds or three minutes. Of course, I had options: pair by hand (not in a scholastic tournament of this size if that can be avoided), recreate the tournament set-up in an older version of SwissSys (five to ten minutes delay), get the codes before round three.

I called my wife. I told her where to find the email from Thad Suits and the information in it that I would need. She set to work, so I knew two things: I would have the codes in time, and I would be buying flowers on the way home. At 10:11 am, players were seated for round one. I was beginning the meeting for players and parents only a few minutes later than normal, and my phone rang. It was my wife, so I answered.

Don Lester captured the moment and posted the photo to Facebook.



As I talked on the phone in front of more than one hundred players, parents, and coaches, my wife told me she had sent a text message with the necessary codes.

Please add mobile phone to the list of essential tournament director's equipment.

Pawn Wars

In Breaking Through: How the Polgar Sisters Changed the Game of Chess (2005), Susan Polgar mentions a game she played with her father when she was starting to learn chess.

After introducing the chess board and the pieces, for some time we only played "pawn wars". That means games where only the pawns participate without the rest of the army. The goal of the game was whoever queens a pawn first wins. Then later we added the kings and playing all the way to checkmate.
Polgar, 6-7

I had found that young children enjoy what we had been calling the pawn game a few years before this book came out. After reading that passage a few years ago, I've increased my investment in pawn wars as a teaching tool. It is a central element in my private lessons with young students. In classrooms full of seven year old children, I start with pawns.

The game can be modified easily. Last spring, a kindergarten student that had been playing chess one month with his grandfather showed some promise, and his father made arrangements for me to offer some instruction. We played pawn wars with the kings. He started with eight pawns to my six--my rook pawns were missing. It took him perhaps two or three games to learn that he could lure my king to one side of the board by creating a passed pawn there, then create one on the other side that was outside my reach. After several victories, we played eight against seven.

One need not use all the pawns.

The classic Szén Position is a challenge even to strong players that still need work on the endgame. The player to move has a theoretical win, but precision is necessary to keep the win in hand.



According to David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld, The Oxford Companion to Chess (1996), the three pawn problem--a king against three connected passed pawns--had been studied for over two hundred years without success until Jószef Szén solved it in 1836.

Another variation of pawn wars that I've been using the past few weeks appears to be a theoretical draw. Remove the kings, and the player on move should win.