25 October 2022

Unfinished Business

Chess Informant 153 arrived last night, a day earlier than expected. I am trying to ignore it until I complete some business with Informant 152. As noted in "Try, Try, Again", I intend to go through every game in the Games Section of the issue. This morning I finished those classified ECO D.

If I manage to get through all of ECO E in the next few days, I will be less rushed going through the games in Informant 153. There are many things to learn in the 201 games that occupy the second half of the journal, as well as from the articles in the front half. My long-term habit has been to read a few of the articles, play through most of the games in one or two, and occasionally look at the combinations or endgames. When I have intended to play through the games section, I have failed to prioritize the task.

In the ECO D section, there are several positions that I will use with my students, even with beginners.

The instructive pin that ended this game (and the checkmate pattern noted in the annotation) pairs well with a classic that I use in my diagnostic exercises. From Dreev,A. -- Deac,B., chess.com 2022 152/159.

White to move

While playing through this game, I started to think about a sacrifice that was played by Bogdan Deac. It and the subsequent play offers a good example of destroying the pawn shield and keeping pressure on the exposed king. From Deac,B. -- Bok,B., chess.com 2022 152/150.

White to move

The checkmate threat at the end of this game is one for beginners. From Krysa,L. -- Salina Herrera,P., San Salvador 2022 152/152.

White to move

The drawing combination played here works because of a checkmate threat that all chess players need to know. From Mamedyarov,S. -- Vachier Lagrave, M., Beograd 2022 152/145.

Black to move

Take a crack at solving these. I respond to comments, so you can post your solutions if you like.

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