White to move
2rb4/pb3pkp/4p1p1/4N3/1P1P4/4B2P/1P3PP1/2R3K1 w - - 0 26
17 March 2013
Aronian -- Gelfand Critical Position
Kingscrusher suggested that finding Levon Aronian's move in this position makes for a nice tactical puzzle. This position is from Aronian -- Gelfand in the 2013 Candidates Tournament in London. In the second round, Aronian and Teimour Radjabov scored the first wins and moved into the early lead.
14 March 2013
The Exposed King
A claim that I read in a forgotten text several months ago keeps running through my mind. Some chess master claimed that he had read the Encyclopedia of Chess Openings (ECO) cover to cover. Does this assertion mean the master has read and played through all of the main lines? Did the reading enterprise extend to the footnotes? In either case, the task seems daunting.
I started with volume D and quickly got caught up in the footnotes. The game Hodgson -- Van Wely, Horgen 1995 has occupied my thoughts while sipping my morning coffee.
The game was published as Chess Informant 65/350 with Hodgson's annotations. It is clear that Loek van Wely, who is a much stronger player today, defended well in a difficult position. Indeed, it seems that his game went awry in the first couple of moves, and then he avoided many pitfalls.
Hodgson -- Van Wely
1.d4 d5 2.Bg5
This opening is called the Levitsky Attack, or sometimes the Hodgson Attack. Julian Hodgson had notable success with it in the mid-1990s. Sometimes, it is incorrectly called the Trompowsky Attack (1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5) to which it can transpose. Andrew Soltis, The Trompowsky Attack (1995) includes lines after 1.d5. Michael Jefferys calls it the Trompowsky in his video about some traps in the line. Jeffreys calls 2...c5 a blunder, but this move was played by van Wely. 2...Nf6, transposing to the Trompowsky, is the main line in ECO. The main line after 2...c5 is Hodgson -- Sokolov, Groningen (Informant 68/325), which ends in a slight advantage for White, according to Hodgson. Jeffrey's assertion must be regarded as hyperbole.
2...c5 3.dxc5 f6 4.Bh4 e5 5.e4 dxe4 6.Qxd8+ Kxd8
Here the game starts to become interesting. Black has a five to three pawn majority on the kingside, but his king is stuck in the middle. The e4 pawn cannot be protected, but the majority seems secure. White's bishop does not appear capable of getting at the exposed king, and yet, Hodgson shows that it can, and in doing so creates some serious checkmate threats.
7.Nc3 Bxc5 8.O-O-O Nd7 9.Nxe4 Be7 10.f4
The footnote in ECO ends here with the evaluation that White has a significant advantage.
If I were reading the print version of the Encyclopedia, I might have done no more than glance at the footnote while playing through the moves of the main line on a chess board. In the electronic edition of ECO, however, it is easy to play through all of the lines relegated to footnotes. Moreover, if one has the proper Informants installed, it is easy to right-click in the game score and open the reference game. This ease of access promotes distraction that inhibits reading ECO cover-to-cover.
My first USCF rated tournament game was the Black side of a Trompowsky (I lost). My only win among the small selection of my correspondence games that can be found in the Chessbase online database is the White side of a Trompowsky. A few months after that correspondence game, I played the Levitsky against a player rated nearly 300 Elo above me, and drew. It would seem reasonable to be able to crank through ECO D 00.
Instead, I became caught up in a fascinating game that made the footnotes.
The exposed Black king and sacrificial attacks the exploit his vulnerability have not been my experience in the Levitsky nor Trompowsky. Hodgson's sacrifices faced stubborn defense, and van Wely's king escaped the onslaught. Instead, White ended up with a material advantage and retained the initiative through to the end.
10...exf4 11.Nf3
Hodgson, in his annotations, offers an improvement for White beginning with 11.Ne2.
11...Kc7 12.Nc3 Nb6 13.a4 Bb4 14.a5 Bxa5 15.Nb5+
15...Kb8
15...Kc6 steps into a mating net, where the Black king may get pushed to a2.
16.Rd4 Nd7
16...g5 opens up Black to some combinations along the b8-h2 diagonal.
17.Rxf4 a6
17...g5 is still losing.
18.Bg3 axb5 19.Ra4
19...Bc7
19...Ne5 blocking the check does not gain the rook, but loses the king.
20.Bxc7+ Kxc7 21.Rxa8
White has a decisive advantage, according to Hodgson. He is up the exchange, has the initiative, and a less vulnerable king. The game went on to move 79.
I started with volume D and quickly got caught up in the footnotes. The game Hodgson -- Van Wely, Horgen 1995 has occupied my thoughts while sipping my morning coffee.
The game was published as Chess Informant 65/350 with Hodgson's annotations. It is clear that Loek van Wely, who is a much stronger player today, defended well in a difficult position. Indeed, it seems that his game went awry in the first couple of moves, and then he avoided many pitfalls.
Hodgson -- Van Wely
1.d4 d5 2.Bg5
This opening is called the Levitsky Attack, or sometimes the Hodgson Attack. Julian Hodgson had notable success with it in the mid-1990s. Sometimes, it is incorrectly called the Trompowsky Attack (1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5) to which it can transpose. Andrew Soltis, The Trompowsky Attack (1995) includes lines after 1.d5. Michael Jefferys calls it the Trompowsky in his video about some traps in the line. Jeffreys calls 2...c5 a blunder, but this move was played by van Wely. 2...Nf6, transposing to the Trompowsky, is the main line in ECO. The main line after 2...c5 is Hodgson -- Sokolov, Groningen (Informant 68/325), which ends in a slight advantage for White, according to Hodgson. Jeffrey's assertion must be regarded as hyperbole.
2...c5 3.dxc5 f6 4.Bh4 e5 5.e4 dxe4 6.Qxd8+ Kxd8
White to move
Here the game starts to become interesting. Black has a five to three pawn majority on the kingside, but his king is stuck in the middle. The e4 pawn cannot be protected, but the majority seems secure. White's bishop does not appear capable of getting at the exposed king, and yet, Hodgson shows that it can, and in doing so creates some serious checkmate threats.
7.Nc3 Bxc5 8.O-O-O Nd7 9.Nxe4 Be7 10.f4
The footnote in ECO ends here with the evaluation that White has a significant advantage.
Black to move
If I were reading the print version of the Encyclopedia, I might have done no more than glance at the footnote while playing through the moves of the main line on a chess board. In the electronic edition of ECO, however, it is easy to play through all of the lines relegated to footnotes. Moreover, if one has the proper Informants installed, it is easy to right-click in the game score and open the reference game. This ease of access promotes distraction that inhibits reading ECO cover-to-cover.
My first USCF rated tournament game was the Black side of a Trompowsky (I lost). My only win among the small selection of my correspondence games that can be found in the Chessbase online database is the White side of a Trompowsky. A few months after that correspondence game, I played the Levitsky against a player rated nearly 300 Elo above me, and drew. It would seem reasonable to be able to crank through ECO D 00.
Instead, I became caught up in a fascinating game that made the footnotes.
The exposed Black king and sacrificial attacks the exploit his vulnerability have not been my experience in the Levitsky nor Trompowsky. Hodgson's sacrifices faced stubborn defense, and van Wely's king escaped the onslaught. Instead, White ended up with a material advantage and retained the initiative through to the end.
10...exf4 11.Nf3
Hodgson, in his annotations, offers an improvement for White beginning with 11.Ne2.
11...Kc7 12.Nc3 Nb6 13.a4 Bb4 14.a5 Bxa5 15.Nb5+
Black to move
15...Kb8
15...Kc6 steps into a mating net, where the Black king may get pushed to a2.
16.Rd4 Nd7
16...g5 opens up Black to some combinations along the b8-h2 diagonal.
17.Rxf4 a6
17...g5 is still losing.
18.Bg3 axb5 19.Ra4
Black to move
19...Bc7
19...Ne5 blocking the check does not gain the rook, but loses the king.
20.Bxc7+ Kxc7 21.Rxa8
White has a decisive advantage, according to Hodgson. He is up the exchange, has the initiative, and a less vulnerable king. The game went on to move 79.
13 March 2013
A Twist on Smother Mate
This twist on the smother checkmate idea popped up in Level 3 on Chess Quest, an iPad tactic training resource.
12 March 2013
Lessons from Steinitz
Lesson of the Week
The 2013 Washington State Elementary Chess Championship is less than two months away. This event marks the conclusion of the scholastic chess season, although I will offer a chess camp in June as I have for the past six years.
The weekly club lessons this year have come from the games of Akiba Rubinstein, Paul Morphy, Siegbert Tarrasch, and now for the rest of the season, Wilhelm Steinitz. The position this week cropped up in one of my routine training resources. I solved it, and now pass it on to the youth who look to learn from me.
Steinitz,William - Blackburne,Joseph Henry [C77]
London, 17.02.1876
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.c3 Be7 7.h3 0–0 8.Qe2 Ne8 9.g4 b5 10.Bc2 Bb7 11.Nbd2 Qd7 12.Nf1 Nd8 13.Ne3 Ne6 14.Nf5 g6 15.Nxe7+ Qxe7 16.Be3 N8g7 17.0–0–0 c5 18.d4 exd4 19.cxd4 c4 20.d5 Nc7 21.Qd2 a5 22.Bd4 f6 23.Qh6 b4 24.g5 f5 25.Bf6 Qf7 26.exf5 gxf5 27.g6 Qxg6
28.Bxg7 Qxh6+
28...Qxg7 29.Rhg1 Rf7 30.Rxg7+ Rxg7 31.Bxf5+-
29.Bxh6 Rf6 30.Rhg1+ Rg6 31.Bxf5 Kf7 32.Bxg6+ hxg6 33.Ng5+ Kg8 34.Rge1 Nxd5 35.Re6 1–0
The 2013 Washington State Elementary Chess Championship is less than two months away. This event marks the conclusion of the scholastic chess season, although I will offer a chess camp in June as I have for the past six years.
The weekly club lessons this year have come from the games of Akiba Rubinstein, Paul Morphy, Siegbert Tarrasch, and now for the rest of the season, Wilhelm Steinitz. The position this week cropped up in one of my routine training resources. I solved it, and now pass it on to the youth who look to learn from me.
Steinitz,William - Blackburne,Joseph Henry [C77]
London, 17.02.1876
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.c3 Be7 7.h3 0–0 8.Qe2 Ne8 9.g4 b5 10.Bc2 Bb7 11.Nbd2 Qd7 12.Nf1 Nd8 13.Ne3 Ne6 14.Nf5 g6 15.Nxe7+ Qxe7 16.Be3 N8g7 17.0–0–0 c5 18.d4 exd4 19.cxd4 c4 20.d5 Nc7 21.Qd2 a5 22.Bd4 f6 23.Qh6 b4 24.g5 f5 25.Bf6 Qf7 26.exf5 gxf5 27.g6 Qxg6
White to move
28.Bxg7 Qxh6+
28...Qxg7 29.Rhg1 Rf7 30.Rxg7+ Rxg7 31.Bxf5+-
29.Bxh6 Rf6 30.Rhg1+ Rg6 31.Bxf5 Kf7 32.Bxg6+ hxg6 33.Ng5+ Kg8 34.Rge1 Nxd5 35.Re6 1–0
11 March 2013
Win a Pawn
In the French Defense, Black seeks counterplay by attacking White's backward d-pawn. If White fails to defend this vulnerability, Black might gain an endgame advantage out of the opening. These two games illustrate the game going badly for White when the d-pawn falls. Black does not win with dramatic attacking tactics, but with a simple and comfortable game.
These two games were played at correspondence time controls. The first started two weeks ago and ended this morning. The second was played a bit over six years ago.
Internet Opponent (1734) -- Stripes,James (2020) [C02]
chess.com championships - Round 3 Chess.com, 26.02.2013
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.f4
5.Nf3 is considered best
5...Qb6 6.Nf3 Bd7 7.Be2
One way to protect the d-pawn involves moving more pawns: 7.a3 Nh6 8.b4 cxd4 9.cxd4 Nf5 10.Bb2.
Nh6
7...Nge7 is another route to f5. I have played both. In six games from the position after 7.Be2, I have five wins with Black and one loss. In that loss, I played Ne7-f5 prematurely, permitting the g-pawn to drive the knight back. In the other five, I won the d-pawn easily. Most of these games were online blitz.
8.h3 cxd4 9.cxd4 Nf5 10.a3 Ncxd4 11.Nxd4
11...Qxd4
11...Nxd4 is stronger, but I was playing for an easy endgame.
12.Qxd4 Nxd4 13.Bd1 Rc8 14.Be3 Nc2+ 15.Bxc2 Rxc2 16.0–0 b6 17.b4 Be7 18.Rc1 Rxc1+ 19.Bxc1 0–0 20.Bb2
20...f6
It seemed important to give my bishops some mobility through pawn exchanges.
21.exf6 Bxf6
And then I opted to get more pieces off the board, trusting that my center pawn majority would rule.
22.Bxf6 gxf6 23.Nd2 Kf7 24.Rc1 Rc8 25.Rxc8 Bxc8 26.Kf2
26...Ba6
26...e5 seems better in retrospect.
27.a4 Bd3 28.g4 Kg6 29.Ke3 Bc2 30.a5 h5 31.Nf3 hxg4 32.hxg4 Bd1
33.Kf2
33.Nd4 retains a small chance. The pawn ending is too easy for Black.
33...Bxf3 34.Kxf3 e5 35.fxe5 fxe5 36.axb6 axb6 37.b5 Kg5 38.Kg3 e4 0–1
My opponent on GameKnot made the same opening error, but followed it with more vigorous play.
Internet Opponent (1641) -- Stripes,James (1782) [C02]
Team match http://gameknot.com, 27.09.2006
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.f4 Bd7 6.Nf3 Qb6 7.Be2 Nh6 8.0–0 cxd4 9.cxd4 Nf5 10.Bd3
Moving this bishop a second time does not seem unreasonable.
10...Ncxd4 11.Nxd4 Qxd4+ 12.Kh1 Ne3 13.Bxe3 Qxe3 14.Nc3 Bc6 15.Bb5 Qb6 16.Bxc6+ bxc6 17.Qc2 Rb8 18.b3 Be7 19.Na4 Qb5 20.Rac1 Rc8 21.Nc5 Bxc5 22.Qxc5 Qxc5 23.Rxc5 Kd7
I made several inaccuracies getting to this position, but retain a clear advantage.
24.Rfc1 h5
After the game, my opponent praised my h-pawn thrust.
25.Kg1 h4 26.Kf2 Rh5 27.Ra5 Rc7 28.b4
28...g5 29.g4 hxg3+
The en passant capture.
30.hxg3 gxf4 31.gxf4 Rh2+ 32.Kg3 Rb2 33.a3 Kc8 34.Rac5 Kb7 35.R1c3 Rc8 36.Kf3 Rh2 37.a4
Black still had some work to do before this error.
37...Rh3+ 38.Kg4 Rxc3 39.Rxc3 a5 40.Rb3 Ka6
Following a strong move with a weak move. Sometimes easy endings prove difficult when they invite carelessness.
41.f5
41.b5 gives Black more trouble.
41...axb4 42.Rxb4 c5 43.Rb5 c4 44.fxe6 fxe6
Although still only down one pawn, White's few remaining hopes have disappeared.
45.Rb1 Ka5 46.Kg5 Rf8 47.Rb7 Kxa4 48.Kg6 Rf5 49.Re7 Rxe5 50.Kf6 Re4 51.Rc7 Kb3 52.Rb7+ Kc2 53.Rc7 c3 54.Ke7 Kd2 55.Kd6 c2 0–1
Was 5.f4 the decisive error, or did it come a few moves later? I have faced 5.f4 once in over the board play. That, too, was an easy win for Black.
These two games were played at correspondence time controls. The first started two weeks ago and ended this morning. The second was played a bit over six years ago.
Internet Opponent (1734) -- Stripes,James (2020) [C02]
chess.com championships - Round 3 Chess.com, 26.02.2013
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.f4
5.Nf3 is considered best
5...Qb6 6.Nf3 Bd7 7.Be2
One way to protect the d-pawn involves moving more pawns: 7.a3 Nh6 8.b4 cxd4 9.cxd4 Nf5 10.Bb2.
Nh6
7...Nge7 is another route to f5. I have played both. In six games from the position after 7.Be2, I have five wins with Black and one loss. In that loss, I played Ne7-f5 prematurely, permitting the g-pawn to drive the knight back. In the other five, I won the d-pawn easily. Most of these games were online blitz.
White to move
8.h3 cxd4 9.cxd4 Nf5 10.a3 Ncxd4 11.Nxd4
Black to move
11...Qxd4
11...Nxd4 is stronger, but I was playing for an easy endgame.
12.Qxd4 Nxd4 13.Bd1 Rc8 14.Be3 Nc2+ 15.Bxc2 Rxc2 16.0–0 b6 17.b4 Be7 18.Rc1 Rxc1+ 19.Bxc1 0–0 20.Bb2
Black to move
20...f6
It seemed important to give my bishops some mobility through pawn exchanges.
21.exf6 Bxf6
And then I opted to get more pieces off the board, trusting that my center pawn majority would rule.
22.Bxf6 gxf6 23.Nd2 Kf7 24.Rc1 Rc8 25.Rxc8 Bxc8 26.Kf2
Black to move
26...Ba6
26...e5 seems better in retrospect.
27.a4 Bd3 28.g4 Kg6 29.Ke3 Bc2 30.a5 h5 31.Nf3 hxg4 32.hxg4 Bd1
White to move
33.Kf2
33.Nd4 retains a small chance. The pawn ending is too easy for Black.
33...Bxf3 34.Kxf3 e5 35.fxe5 fxe5 36.axb6 axb6 37.b5 Kg5 38.Kg3 e4 0–1
My opponent on GameKnot made the same opening error, but followed it with more vigorous play.
Internet Opponent (1641) -- Stripes,James (1782) [C02]
Team match http://gameknot.com, 27.09.2006
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.f4 Bd7 6.Nf3 Qb6 7.Be2 Nh6 8.0–0 cxd4 9.cxd4 Nf5 10.Bd3
Moving this bishop a second time does not seem unreasonable.
Black to move
10...Ncxd4 11.Nxd4 Qxd4+ 12.Kh1 Ne3 13.Bxe3 Qxe3 14.Nc3 Bc6 15.Bb5 Qb6 16.Bxc6+ bxc6 17.Qc2 Rb8 18.b3 Be7 19.Na4 Qb5 20.Rac1 Rc8 21.Nc5 Bxc5 22.Qxc5 Qxc5 23.Rxc5 Kd7
I made several inaccuracies getting to this position, but retain a clear advantage.
White to move
24.Rfc1 h5
After the game, my opponent praised my h-pawn thrust.
25.Kg1 h4 26.Kf2 Rh5 27.Ra5 Rc7 28.b4
Black to move
28...g5 29.g4 hxg3+
The en passant capture.
30.hxg3 gxf4 31.gxf4 Rh2+ 32.Kg3 Rb2 33.a3 Kc8 34.Rac5 Kb7 35.R1c3 Rc8 36.Kf3 Rh2 37.a4
Black still had some work to do before this error.
Black to move
37...Rh3+ 38.Kg4 Rxc3 39.Rxc3 a5 40.Rb3 Ka6
Following a strong move with a weak move. Sometimes easy endings prove difficult when they invite carelessness.
41.f5
41.b5 gives Black more trouble.
41...axb4 42.Rxb4 c5 43.Rb5 c4 44.fxe6 fxe6
Although still only down one pawn, White's few remaining hopes have disappeared.
White to move
45.Rb1 Ka5 46.Kg5 Rf8 47.Rb7 Kxa4 48.Kg6 Rf5 49.Re7 Rxe5 50.Kf6 Re4 51.Rc7 Kb3 52.Rb7+ Kc2 53.Rc7 c3 54.Ke7 Kd2 55.Kd6 c2 0–1
Was 5.f4 the decisive error, or did it come a few moves later? I have faced 5.f4 once in over the board play. That, too, was an easy win for Black.
08 March 2013
Lesson of the Week
Tactics, Tactics, Tactics
The sources for this year's lessons--the games of Rubinstein, Morphy, Tarrasch--are grounded in positional considerations. However, my students must learn to recognize simple double attacks: forks, pins, skewers. Seeing a checkmate in one does not come easily to many of them.
The position on the demo board comes from Tarrasch's game against Simon Winawer.
Siegbert Tarrasch - Simon Winawer [C51]
Berlin, 1881
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bb6 5.0–0 d6 6.a4 a5 7.b5 Nce7 8.d4 exd4 9.Nxd4 Nf6 10.Nc3 0–0 11.Bg5 Ng6 12.Nd5 Ne5 13.Bxf6 gxf6 14.Nxb6 cxb6 15.Bd5 Kh8 16.Ra3 Rg8 17.f4 Ng6 18.Nf5 Qc7 19.Rh3 Rg7 20.Nxg7 Bxh3 21.Nh5 Be6 22.Nxf6 Qc3 23.f5 Bxd5 24.fxg6 Qe3+ 25.Kh1 Bxe4 26.Qa1 Bxg2+ 27.Kxg2 Qg5+ 28.Kh1 fxg6
29.Ne8+ Qe5
29...Qf6 30.Qxf6+ Kg8 31.Qg7#
30.Rf8# 1–0
Before discussing this position, students completed a worksheet.
Beginning Tactics 16
Find the correct move for White in each position.
The sources for this year's lessons--the games of Rubinstein, Morphy, Tarrasch--are grounded in positional considerations. However, my students must learn to recognize simple double attacks: forks, pins, skewers. Seeing a checkmate in one does not come easily to many of them.
The position on the demo board comes from Tarrasch's game against Simon Winawer.
Siegbert Tarrasch - Simon Winawer [C51]
Berlin, 1881
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bb6 5.0–0 d6 6.a4 a5 7.b5 Nce7 8.d4 exd4 9.Nxd4 Nf6 10.Nc3 0–0 11.Bg5 Ng6 12.Nd5 Ne5 13.Bxf6 gxf6 14.Nxb6 cxb6 15.Bd5 Kh8 16.Ra3 Rg8 17.f4 Ng6 18.Nf5 Qc7 19.Rh3 Rg7 20.Nxg7 Bxh3 21.Nh5 Be6 22.Nxf6 Qc3 23.f5 Bxd5 24.fxg6 Qe3+ 25.Kh1 Bxe4 26.Qa1 Bxg2+ 27.Kxg2 Qg5+ 28.Kh1 fxg6
White to move
29.Ne8+ Qe5
29...Qf6 30.Qxf6+ Kg8 31.Qg7#
30.Rf8# 1–0
Before discussing this position, students completed a worksheet.
Beginning Tactics 16
Find the correct move for White in each position.
07 March 2013
Exploiting Weaknesses
Lessons from Blitz
After his lecture on the eve of the David Collyer Memorial chess tournament, IM John Donaldson was asked about internet blitz. He admitted to playing thousands of games, but not the tens of thousands to which many blitz addicts must confess. He offered advice (from a fellow IM) to limit games to four at a time, and to do postgame analysis of each one.
I sometimes limit myself to five games per day, and may go weeks or even months with no online blitz at all. But, I am one who has played tens of thousands of games. Sometimes I heed Donaldson's advice and analyze my games afterwards. Last night, after a win that required me to crank out 70 moves on the iPad in under three minutes, I spent some time looking at a critical position from the game. It seemed to me that my opponent missed a clear win.
In the first diagram, Black is in serious trouble.
Internet Opponent (1873) - Stripes.J (1749)
Live Chess Chess.com, 06.03.2013
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Bd3 Bd6 5.f4 Nc6 6.Nf3 Nf6 7.c3 Bg4 8.0–0 0–0 9.Be3 Re8 10.Re1 Nb8 11.Nbd2 c6 12.Qc2 Nbd7 13.Ne5 Nf8 14.h3 Bc8 15.Ndf3 Nh5 16.g4 Nf6 17.Ng5 h6 18.Ngxf7 Qe7 19.Nxd6 Qxd6 20.g5 hxg5 21.fxg5 Nh5 22.Qe2 g6
During the few seconds that I waited for my opponent to move, I anticipated his exploitation of the weaknesses on g6 and h5. I was certain that I would lose my knight and what remained of my pawn shield in front of my king. Some of the moves that flitted through my mind: 23.Bxg6 Nxg6 24.Qxh5 Bf5 25.Rf1 (25.Nxg6?? would be a disaster for White 25...Qg3+–+).
My opponent was looking at my king, and played a better move.
23.Qf3! Qe6
23...Ng7 was better
24.Rf1 Qxh3 25.Qf7+ Kh8
26.Qxf8+??
White missed checkmate 26.Nxg6+ Nxg6 27.Qxe8+ Kh7 28.Qxg6+ Kh8 29.Rf8#
26...Rxf8 27.Nxg6+??
Black's advantage is difficult to cultivate with 27.Rxf8+ Kg7 28.Rf7+ Kg8 29.Rf3 Ng3 30.Rf6 Qh1+ 31.Kf2 Qh2+ 32.Kf3 Bf5
27...Kg7 28.Rxf8
Now Black holds all the trumps.
28...Qxe3+ 29.Rf2 Qxd3 30.Ne5 Qg3+ 31.Rg2 Qe3+ 32.Rf2 Nf4 33.Raf1
33...Nh3+?!
Black missed an easy checkmate
33...Ne2+ 34.Kh1 (34.Kg2 Qh3#) 34...Qh3+ 35.Rh2 Qxf1#
34.Kg2 Nxf2 35.Rxf2 Qxg5+
Easier was 35...Bh3+ 36.Kg1 Qg3+ 37.Kh1 Qxf2 with checkmate on the next move
36.Kf1 Bh3+ 37.Ke1 Qc1+ 38.Ke2
Black finds a plan that is easy to play in time trouble.
38...Qxb2+ 39.Ke3 Qxc3+ 40.Ke2 Qb2+ 41.Ke3 Qa3+ 42.Ke2 Qxa2+ 43.Ke3 Qb3+ 44.Ke2
And now a simplifying combination. What started as a complex and difficult position that both sides handled incorrectly ended as a race against the clock.
44...Bg4+ 45.Nxg4 Re8+ 46.Ne5 Qc4+ 47.Ke3 Rxe5+ 48.dxe5 Qe4+ 49.Kd2 Qd4+ 50.Ke2 Qxf2+ 51.Kxf2
51...Kf7 52.Ke3 Ke6 53.Kf4 b6 54.Ke3 Kxe5 55.Kd3 c5 56.Kc3 Ke4 57.Kd2 d4 58.Kc2 c4 59.Kd2 b5 60.Ke2 c3 61.Kd1 Ke3 62.Kc1 b4 63.Kd1 d3 64.Kc1 c2 65.Kb2 Ke2 66.Kb3 d2 67.Kc4 d1Q 68.Kxb4 c1Q 69.Ka5 Qa3+ 70.Kb5 Qda4# 0–1
After his lecture on the eve of the David Collyer Memorial chess tournament, IM John Donaldson was asked about internet blitz. He admitted to playing thousands of games, but not the tens of thousands to which many blitz addicts must confess. He offered advice (from a fellow IM) to limit games to four at a time, and to do postgame analysis of each one.
I sometimes limit myself to five games per day, and may go weeks or even months with no online blitz at all. But, I am one who has played tens of thousands of games. Sometimes I heed Donaldson's advice and analyze my games afterwards. Last night, after a win that required me to crank out 70 moves on the iPad in under three minutes, I spent some time looking at a critical position from the game. It seemed to me that my opponent missed a clear win.
In the first diagram, Black is in serious trouble.
Internet Opponent (1873) - Stripes.J (1749)
Live Chess Chess.com, 06.03.2013
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Bd3 Bd6 5.f4 Nc6 6.Nf3 Nf6 7.c3 Bg4 8.0–0 0–0 9.Be3 Re8 10.Re1 Nb8 11.Nbd2 c6 12.Qc2 Nbd7 13.Ne5 Nf8 14.h3 Bc8 15.Ndf3 Nh5 16.g4 Nf6 17.Ng5 h6 18.Ngxf7 Qe7 19.Nxd6 Qxd6 20.g5 hxg5 21.fxg5 Nh5 22.Qe2 g6
White to move
During the few seconds that I waited for my opponent to move, I anticipated his exploitation of the weaknesses on g6 and h5. I was certain that I would lose my knight and what remained of my pawn shield in front of my king. Some of the moves that flitted through my mind: 23.Bxg6 Nxg6 24.Qxh5 Bf5 25.Rf1 (25.Nxg6?? would be a disaster for White 25...Qg3+–+).
My opponent was looking at my king, and played a better move.
23.Qf3! Qe6
23...Ng7 was better
24.Rf1 Qxh3 25.Qf7+ Kh8
White to move
26.Qxf8+??
White missed checkmate 26.Nxg6+ Nxg6 27.Qxe8+ Kh7 28.Qxg6+ Kh8 29.Rf8#
26...Rxf8 27.Nxg6+??
Black's advantage is difficult to cultivate with 27.Rxf8+ Kg7 28.Rf7+ Kg8 29.Rf3 Ng3 30.Rf6 Qh1+ 31.Kf2 Qh2+ 32.Kf3 Bf5
27...Kg7 28.Rxf8
Black to move
Now Black holds all the trumps.
28...Qxe3+ 29.Rf2 Qxd3 30.Ne5 Qg3+ 31.Rg2 Qe3+ 32.Rf2 Nf4 33.Raf1
Black to move
33...Nh3+?!
Black missed an easy checkmate
33...Ne2+ 34.Kh1 (34.Kg2 Qh3#) 34...Qh3+ 35.Rh2 Qxf1#
34.Kg2 Nxf2 35.Rxf2 Qxg5+
Easier was 35...Bh3+ 36.Kg1 Qg3+ 37.Kh1 Qxf2 with checkmate on the next move
36.Kf1 Bh3+ 37.Ke1 Qc1+ 38.Ke2
Black to move
Black finds a plan that is easy to play in time trouble.
38...Qxb2+ 39.Ke3 Qxc3+ 40.Ke2 Qb2+ 41.Ke3 Qa3+ 42.Ke2 Qxa2+ 43.Ke3 Qb3+ 44.Ke2
Black to move
And now a simplifying combination. What started as a complex and difficult position that both sides handled incorrectly ended as a race against the clock.
44...Bg4+ 45.Nxg4 Re8+ 46.Ne5 Qc4+ 47.Ke3 Rxe5+ 48.dxe5 Qe4+ 49.Kd2 Qd4+ 50.Ke2 Qxf2+ 51.Kxf2
Black to move
51...Kf7 52.Ke3 Ke6 53.Kf4 b6 54.Ke3 Kxe5 55.Kd3 c5 56.Kc3 Ke4 57.Kd2 d4 58.Kc2 c4 59.Kd2 b5 60.Ke2 c3 61.Kd1 Ke3 62.Kc1 b4 63.Kd1 d3 64.Kc1 c2 65.Kb2 Ke2 66.Kb3 d2 67.Kc4 d1Q 68.Kxb4 c1Q 69.Ka5 Qa3+ 70.Kb5 Qda4# 0–1
05 March 2013
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