Chesswitch :: My Chess Games

Chesswitch on holidays

2006-08-10T04:19:00.000-07:00

This blog is on holiday until further notice. Summer has been getting at me and work and maths have been priority number one lately. I hope that winter, which will deprive me from many outdoors activities, will bring me into the chess mood again. Untill then, chesswitch is on holidays!

Chess Secret: Winning with the Black

2006-05-31T12:23:00.000-07:00

Statistically black looses more gamess than white. 60% of the games won are for the white, which is a significant percentage but still a subjective one. There are people who play very well as black. Styles vary. But I was let into an interesting secret of playing with black.

Usually I block the center when playing with black and use Nimzowitch ideas:

"First restrain, then blockade, finally destroy!"

Many times this system works. Sometimes it doesn't. The drawback of this system is that it needs to played perfectly by good chess players, otherwise a novice might get trapped into a passive game, not develope all pieces on time and quickly loose. There is more to this system than these lines of course.

My teacher suggested trying to create asymmetrical positions when playing with the black. He said that since black always has the second move, symmetrical positions do not give him the opportunity to attack but to solely defend. Asymmetrical positions create a little more fun on the chessboard and open up more possibilities for the black! That is why the sicilian defence is so popular as black opening!

Mysterious Alekhine :: A genious or a war criminal?

2006-04-29T11:38:00.000-07:00

Alekhine is one of my chess idols. I admired his chess style but mostly I admired the openings he invented. His life seems to have been very controversial though. I have read before that he might have been involved with the "bad guys" of the second world war and I always hoped that this might have been an inaccuracy. I had also read about the mysterious way he died. It is officially claimed that he choked from a piece of food or that he had a heart attack. This article in ChessBase revealed a very important claim or hypothesis. That Alexander Alekhine might have been shot by a a state group of the french government that was created to punish those who had co-operated with the enemy during the second world war. This claim was done by the doctor who apparently had been pressed by the government to write a false death certificate.

If Alekhines association with the enemy was true then it is truly dissapointing that a great chess genious could have taken part, even merely by lending his name, to war crimes. The german wikipedia article states that he might have allowed the germans faschists to use his name in hate-articles so that he can continue his chess career. The english wikipedia article states that this statement has not yet been proved despite the extented investigations. The german wikipedia article goes on to present with even more horrifying rumours I do not even wish to discuss here. Fact is that we do not know the truth. Fact is also that he had been expelled by the chess community after the end of the second world war.

If he had been a criminal then he did not seem to find solace among criminals after the war. He was depressed and lonely, sensitive in a way that a cold-blooded criminal could not have been. In his own words July 1944:

"The best part of my life has passed away between two world wars that have laid Europe waste. Both wars ruined me, with this difference: at the end of the first war I was 26 years of age, with an unbounded enthusiasm I no longer have. If, sometime, I write my memoirs – which is very possible – people will realize that chess has been a minor factor in my life. It gave me the opportunity to further an ambition and at the same time convince me of the futility of the ambition. Today, I continue to play chess because it occupies my mind and keeps me from brooding and remembering."

Regardless what the truth actually is, his chess-achievements and knowledge is what keeps me admiring him. We usually never really know the true characters of famous genious and personalities. But we can use them in the most positive and contructive way, disregarding the negative aspects, for our own personal growth.

Learning Chess Openings is a dull business

2006-04-28T17:51:00.000-07:00

Learning openings is a dull task when it comes to reading whole books about them. I am not afraid to confess that I find this extremely boring. However, since I do like to learn openings I discovered a new and fun way of learning them. I visit chessgames.com browse through my favourite chess players and view their games. Before choosing a game to view I take into consideration the opening played and decide whether I want to learn that. Surprisingly this method does have good results. It is fun and most importantly it is quick! It takes more than the double time to set up a board, fetch a book and try to read through the chess ciphers. At least by viewing games one can concentrate upon learning and not on whether one reads the chess script in a correct way or not.

Today I discovered that the d6 of the black in the sicilian is not limited to the dragons variation. It seems that also the najdorf uses that and who know how many more? Now I am left wondering which move actually differiantates the dragon from the najdorf.... ??

In search for the perfect black opening - Dragon's Sicilian

2006-04-16T06:54:00.000-07:00

I know I should not be studying openings, I know that they are for more advanced chess players but they really do fascinate me. I believe they do teach me ways of understanding the strategy of chess. I am not sure why but it is more difficult to find interesting opening for the black and then once you get to know them, you find that almost all openings have been written to deal with the problems of the black. The fact that black has the second move is a disadvantage and black has to fight a lot to become even. Or maybe I am just bumping into openings that are suitable only for the black.

I have had a repulsion for the sicilian, maybe because my brother used to play it a lot and I never could beat him. I tried playing it when I was younger and too inexperienced and it did not lead to success. Many years passed until I decided to play chess again and now I wanted to get to know the sicilian a bit more, at least how to face it. The first interesting sicilian variant I came across had the e6 at some point. I admired this e6! What an amazing move! I played this variant again and again. Then I got a book called Dragon's Sicilian and started to read it. To my great disappointment the first analysis did not have any e6 .. it had d6! D6??? I could not believe it, nor could I understand its philosophy. What a pity I thought, maybe I should find out what the e6 is called and get a book on it. But the more I read into this book the more I started to find d6 "not that bad'. Now I have just read a few pages and I cant understand what I was thinking when I liked the e6 :))!! Probably both openings are good, but it is going to be the dragon's sicilian for me now and I only play this at yahoo games to get to know it more!

Which leaves me again with no opening for as white... but we cannot have it all, can we?

Chess Motivation

2006-04-14T11:36:00.000-07:00

I have 2 posts in my viruswitch blog about chess. I wrote them last january when I hadn't started this chessblog yet. In fact what I describe in them has been the seed of my chess motivation that grew into my little addiction. I feel as if there is something missing without these 2 posts from this blog, so I am going to republish them here.

Chess at the Speed of Light

Sunday, January 29, 2006 // posted by viruswitch at 01:21

Today was one those rare days that will remain unforgetable to me. It was the first time I saw a grand master of chess (national and european champion, 3rd medal worldwide) in action. Needless to say that I was taken aback with surprize, shock and admiration. I have never seen anything similar in my entire life! The chessmaster was very friendly and funny, doing jokes all the time while playing against us in a speed, comparable almost to that of light.

The clock was set at 5 minutes for the opponent and ONLY 35 seconds for the chessmaster! 35 seconds are normally not even enough to perform all the game-moves of the pieces along the board. But his fingers were moving so fast, still much slower than his mind, which foresaw the next moves and made combinations that beat all of his opponents within seconds. At the end of the evening, he analysed some games and taught us several things.

I am very happy that I had the honour of getting a great interview from him. The interview will be published in one of my sites and and in the local newspaper. Tomorrow is the official simultane game and even though I know I will loose, I am looking forward to it because I remember his words:

"What matters is the knowledge one gains out of a game and not victory or loss. That is why one should not get dissapointed but keep on playing and learning from ones experiences."

Almost a draw with a GM

The draw was right in front of me in move no 39. I saw it, I knew it, but I didnt believe in it. Thats why I lost it. The game was amazing, although I have to say that the grand master gave me 2 extra rounds to think. In the end not many people were left playing and he was returning much quicker to my board. The truth though is that I have much more to learn in chess. By no means would a draw mean that I have the level of the grand master. So maybe I shouldnt even think about it and return to the "earth". Its just frustrating because I saw it but I didnt play the correct move.

Here is the game:

Grand Master - Viruswitch

1. d4 Nf6
2. c4 e6
3. Nf3 Bb4
4. Bd2 B:d2
5. Q:d2 o-o
6. Nc3 Re8
7. e3 b6
8. Be2 Bb7
9. o-o Ne4
10. N:e4 B:e4
11. Ne1 c5
12. f3 Bf5
13. e4 Bg6
14. d5 e5
15. Nc2 d6
16. Ne3 Nd7
17. Bd1 Nb9
18. Ba4 Rf8
19. a3 a5
20. Bb5 Ra7
21. b4 Na6
22. B:a6 R:a6
23. b:c5 b:c5
24. Rb1 a4
25. Rb7 f5
26. e:f5 B:f5
27. N:f5 R:f5
28. Rb1 Ra8
29. Qb2 Rf8
30. Re1 Qh4
31. Re4 Qh6
32. h3 Rf4
33. R:f4 Q:f4
34. Rb8+ R:b8
35. Q:b8+ Qf8
36. Q:f8 K:f8
37. Kf2 g5
38. Ke3 Kg7
39. Ke4 h5 ?????????
40. Kf5 black resigns

The original postings can be found here.

Deep Fritz 8 :: A great and funny chess program

2006-04-14T11:21:00.000-07:00

I installed Deep Fritz 8 today and I must say I am impressed! Chessmaster 9000 didn't make it for me, I got bored trying to find my way around it. Fritz on the other hand is funny! Plus it looks powerful. The settings are there in the form of small buttons just like in dreamweaver :))! And the "coach" warns each time you make a bad move.

The Coach (a funny strickt looking guy with a cigar in his mouth, a hat of the sixties on, holding huge chesspieces...) warns with subtle hints like: "Can't the million move monster simply catch your pawn." Or: "G1-e2? What nerve!" You can reply with:

-Give me a subtle hint.
-Give me a broad hint.
-I dont believe that.
-Ok I take it back.

What fun!

Ponziani Opening - English Opening

2006-04-04T06:21:00.000-07:00

Today I learned a variation of the Ponziani Opening or the English Opening. It is a beautiful opening! I wish I knew that during the times I was playing e4. I grew to hate e4 because the position always ended in a very normal and same way. But the english opening is very nice! I am thrilled. I might consider playing it also as Black. Since I dont know the sicialian yet, and the Alekhine doesn't prove to be very powerful against strong players. I might have some chances with the english one. I will try it tonight. The variation I learned is :

1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. c3 ! f5!

both moves seem almost revolutionary to me! The White's reply is even more astonishing!

4. d4! and the correct way for the Black to capture is fxe4
5. Nxe5 Qf6
6. Ng4 Qg6
7. Bf4 (threatening the pawn at c7) d6
8. Ne3 Nf6
9. Na3 Be7
10. Qb3 a6
11. Nac2 Nd8
12. Bg3 Nf7
13. Bc4 0-0 +=

I would not want to be the black in this position. All variations end in favour of the white. This means I shouldnt play it as Black. Or I ll have to look into the next variations such as 3... d5.

I think I have been reading too much on the hypermodern school of chess and I have not gotten to know the romantic school (english, scotch, three knights, four knights, italian etc.)

e4 is still a problem for me as Black.

Visualization Consequences

2006-04-03T23:12:00.000-07:00

I am starting to think that these visualizations where not such a great idea. Whenever I close my eyes I see endgame positions. Kings moving to the center. Knights making forks. pawns capturing other pawns. Bishops threatening pawns and no solution to support them. !!!

Visualizations for Blind Chess

2006-04-03T15:11:00.000-07:00

It is definetely too early for me to start thinking about playing blind chess but these visualizations I tried do work. I tried last night to visualize the two new subvariations I learned of the king's Indian and even if it was taking a bit long I could see all of them.

The most difficult thing is to be able to locate all positions of the pieces in every single move ie to keep the mental image of the board before my mind's eyes. I am going to keep training these visualizations because I think that they do work. They force the mind to play chess 100% and not the hands. In the end it all comes from the mind but it is easier to use the real chessboard as a starting point for further analysis and calculations.

These subvariants last about 10 moves. I wonder how it would work with 20 moves. That would make things more complicated. Maybe I should learn a game by heart or play chess with my mind! :)) LOL

Another interesting thing is to imagine a chessboard, to locate random squares and try to give them their right name like g7, f4, e2 etc. Firstly from the white's point of view and then from the black's. I think I will start that one with a real chessboard first and then blind.

Dear diary...

2006-04-02T15:55:00.000-07:00

Today I learned two sub-variations of the King's Indian after the move of the white bishop to g5 and black pawn h6. All two are bad for the white and I learned by heart the sequence of the moves. It is not difficult to remember when one sees why these moves are played. One move invites the other one and it is quite easy to remember. I decided to learn the King's Indian and especially this variation because one of my friends plays it all the time and beats me all the time. Next time I am going to be prepared though!

Blind chess inspires much awe within me. I do not understand what kind of hardware and software these chess players have installed in their mind to play blind! Tonight I am going to try and visualize the 2 variations I learned before sleeping with closed eyes. I wonder if I will be able to "draw" them in my mind. And tomorrow I will post the results!

Experimenting with self-made chess openings

2006-04-02T11:06:00.000-07:00

This is a game I played in Yahoo Chess today, which I analysed with my chess teacher as well. I like it very much because I think its a great example of my new experiment. The experiment I am doing is playing the opening in unorthodox ways without having in mind a specific sequence of moves. I just reply the moves of the opponent in the way that looks logical to me. It is amazing how many different ways there are for opening a game. My opponent was not good but I also thought I was seeing threats that were not actually there. I won a piece but he had the opportunity of getting it back with a brilliant exchange of his rook with my knight (he could capture back my rook in move 26)

;Title: Yahoo! Chess Game
;White: x-opponent
;Black: viruswitch
;Date: Sun Apr 02 12:29:52 GMT 2006

1. g3 Nf6

I have no idea what kind of opening this is. I have noticed that it very popular among yahoo games chess players to make fianchetos from both side sometimes. So I thought of replying like in the kings indian.

2. Bg2 d5

But the I thought why not try to get the center since he is letting me do so? So I played d5. I wonder if any such opening exists.

3. d4 g6

I did not like his d4 move so I went on with the way the kings indian would have developed.

4. c3 Bg7
5. Nf3 Nd7

Initially I thought that this was a bad move because it blocks my bishop but I did not want to let the opponent place his knight in e5. My teacher said that it is not a bad move.

6. o-o b6

b6 because I want to get rid of the white pawn at d4. It also lets my bishop breath.

7. Na3 c5

His Na3 did put me into thoughts but I thought that it posed no serious threat and went on with my plan.

8. Bf4 cxd4

Of course the bishop now comes to add to the power of the white knight at a3. If
(9. Nb5 .... 10. Nc7 strikes doubly the king and the rook.) I dont know why I thought that he doesnt have this option and went on with my plan. I often see things on the board that are not really valid. That must be due to wrong visualization and calculation of the moves ahead.

9. Nb5 o-o

Now I saw the double strike and did another mistake in my calculation: I did not see that if the knight will occupy the square at c2 the white bishop cannot reach the square at b2 which gives me a free square for the rook. Well I did not see that and thought that I will have to give the rook for the knight. So I castled in order to avoid at least the double strike.

10. Nxd4 Bb7

Well, he did not see what I was seeing and probably did the right thing to get back his pawn.

11. Nb5 Rc8

The threat which "I thought" that was were is still valid so I played my rook at c8 and he captured my pawn.

12. Nxa7 Rc5

My teacher did not like the idea of the rook out there but another mistake of the opponent gave me my pawn back:

13. b4 Rxc3
14. Nb5 Rc4

He threatens my rook. I move him away and threaten the pawn at b4 at the same time.

15. a3 Re8

Which he supports with a3. Re8 prepares the plan of pushing my pawn at e5.

16. Rc1 e5
17. Nxe5 Rxc1

It is a great mistake to capture the pawn with the knight. Because I would surely not capture it back with my knight. If I did so (17... Nxe5, 18. Rxc4 ) and I cannot capture my rook back because I will loose my queen (18 ... xc4, 19. Qxd8). So the first thing I did it to capture his rook firstly so that his queen is out of my queens range.

18. Qxc1 Nxe5

And now I win one piece. In the end, chess is nothing more than maths??

19. Bxe5 Rxe5
20. f4 Re7
21. f5 gxf5

My teacher said it was not very good to capture his pawn here. Had I let him capture mine firstly I would have a better structure of pawns.

22. Rxf5 Rxe2

This pawn could have been captured since 2 moves I think, but I just saw it.

23. Qg5 Re1+

Qg5 does not threaten anything and even if Kh8 would have been better (to unpin the bishop) I played the rook at e1 with the hope that he will play Bf1 which he did. I dreaded the return of his rook at f1 but he did not see that and I was able to go on with my plan.

24. Bf1 d4

I am going for a new queen! But I also free my bishop.

25. Qd2 Be4?

He threatens my rook and my pawn at the same, so I thought I will threaten his rook as well. If (26. Qxe1 Bxf5) and the pawn is safe. But my teacher discovered that the white had a great opportunity to get a piece back with (26. Rxf3!! Bxf3, 27. Qxe1). I did not see that and so did my opponent :)).

The rest of the game is quite self explanatory. I have plenty opportunities of making checkmate. There are actually 2 checkmates between the moves which I had not discovered but I finally checkmated him without having to promote the pawn to queen. I did something somewhat spectacular like gifting a knight but the opponent did not see it or declined the sacrifice and I checkmated easily. We analysed this sacrifice and saw that black wins. I am not sure I had calculated all that in the game but I followed my instict more.

26. Qxe1 Bxf5
27. Qc1 d3
28. Qd2 Qd5
29. Nc7 Qd4+
30. Kh1 Be4+
31. Bg2 Bxg2+
32. Kxg2 Qe4+
33. Kf1 Ng4
34. h3 Nh2+
35. Kf2 Qf3+
36. Ke1 Qf1++

Chess-club training not enough

2006-04-01T05:19:00.000-08:00

I think I need to invent a system of training myself in chess. We have one class every sunday for one hour and that is surely not enough. Ok, some of us gather in a cafe almost daily and play a few games which is great, but I slowly feel the need of reading books on chess and learning more openings. We always play the same openings and I know the style of my usual opponents. I also want to learn more about the endgame. Since I have much spare time, I think I could dedicate one or two hours of reading daily. Of course things will get more difficult when the university starts but I will think about that later! I am going to invent a chess training system for myself now! (and god knows if I will ever follow it!)

Two Brains

2006-03-31T13:54:00.000-08:00

Today we played "Two Brains". Two brains is a game of non-conventional chess. I know two more games of non-conventional chess but they are not held in much regard by chess players. That is because these games do not train one in chess, they rather untrain one. But "Two Brains" is an interesting chess training. It is as if you have to solve a chess problem in each move.

There is one chessboard, 4 players and two teams. One team (2 players) take the black and the other the white. Each team player has to play every second move of the team without co-operation among them. That means that if your partner plays a weird move you have to figure out why he played it and what plan he has, so that you wont spoil it.

This game is very interesting among players of same strength. The bad thing about playing with the same people all the time (like in our club) is that you slowly learn the openings and the style your friends play and you can face them more easily.

The Chess Style I like

2006-03-30T13:32:00.000-08:00

I like closed positions. I like to hold my pieces back. I always must block the center. I adore the ideas of Nimzowitch and openings such as the Alekhine one are intriguing! I prefer to take the black and play in an almost passive way. I like to slowly prepare my attack which is going to be flawless. I want to control the center with my pieces and not with my pawns.

"Give power to a man and he will destroy himself".

In this manner I give the initiative to the opponent and he uses it until he makes a mistake, thats when I like to strike. I like to have a solid defence that will make my enemy impatient. Have you seen the way a cat attacks its prey? It stands completely stil for a moment, hidden and withdrawn, then it attacks in a most precise and quick way. Thats the chess style I like!

Of course, sometimes it works and other times it doesnt. I have noticed that I play better with strong players. I loose more quickly to people who dont play conventional chess and dont follow the rules. With time I am learning to deal with them too though. One of my chess trainers say that I play very passively, he says I should take my pieces out much quicker and not wait. He also brings me in a very difficult position each time I play the Aliekhine defence against him. I think I have to learn the Sicilian as a reply to e4. I wonder what I am doing wrong, or what he is doing right in the Alekhine.

Men better at chess than women

2006-03-30T13:02:00.000-08:00

Inspired by a link I found in this chess blog http://boylston-chess-club.blogspot.com/ I decided to search google about the female psychology in chess. I know that men are better in chess than women. I see it around me all the time. I often wonder why I go into all this trouble and study chess but the truth is that I really enjoy it. Maybe the very fact that chess is so difficult makes it attractive for me but its also addictive.

Anyway I found this article http://www.psychologytoday.com/rss/pto-20050614-000002.html which is worth reading. It is about the Polgar sisters and the way they were brought up. They were actually conceived to become an experiment in creating geniouses. No wonder they became the first women chess players to reach such great level in the men category.

Summary of the article: The queen is the most powerful piece on the chessboard. Yet in the ultra-elite ranks of chess, a woman who can hold her own is the rarest of creatures. How, then, did one family produce three of the most successful female chess champions ever?

The Chess Camel-Queen

2006-03-30T12:03:00.000-08:00

Today few people from our chess club had a meeting in a cafe and played a swiss blitz tournament. I have played very few blitz games, actually I have just started. I won only one game because my opponent had no more time left, but I also had only 1 second left! In another game I lost although I had one more rook due to time again. And in the last one I did such a horrible mistake. Lost in calculating some movements sequences I placed my queen in the range of the enemy's knight. I did not see it!

Loosing a queen this way, is as if I am looking at a camel and I am unable to tell whether she is a camel or a dog. Or a desert's optical illusion. She is not even there!

Frustrating.

An aeon of chess and chess code of conduct!

2006-03-25T02:57:00.000-08:00

I hate it when people ask for take backs (undo move). It is my principle never to request any and thus I never accept any. This guy was taking almost 10 minutes for each of his moves and asked a take back once. Not resigning when the game is clearly over is also a sign of disrespect, I believe. Shortly before mate he asked the game to be "saved", I mean come on... Thats one of the drawbacks in yahoo chess that one plays with all the different, weird and often disrespectful people. Some of them even swear or start pushing you to play faster. The only way to play is to ignore them. But I meet also nice people VERY rarely. This guy yesterday... we were playing and chating and I hmm lost my rook. He is the first person to tell me thanks for that. :))

Anyway, here is the game, I ll return to comment on it because there were some amazing combinations and I would like to examine where they would have led the white and the black. The game lasted about 2 hours! An aeon!

Title: Yahoo! Chess Game
White: x-opponent
Black: viruswitch
Date: Sat Mar 25 11:21:07 GMT 2006

1. e2-e4 g8-f6
2. b1-c3 d7-d6
3. f1-c4 c8-g4
4. f2-f3 g4-h5
5. d2-d4 b8-d7
6. g1-h3 c7-c6
7. h3-g5 h7-h6
8. g5-h3 e7-e5
9. d4xe5 d7xe5
10. c4-b3 d8-b6
11. h3-f4 e5-d7
12. g2-g4 h5-g6
13. h2-h4 o-o-o
14. f4xg6 f7xg6
15. b3-e6 d8-e8
16. e6xd7+ f6xd7
17. g4-g5 f8-e7
18. g5xh6 g7xh6
19. d1-e2 g6-g5
20. h4xg5 h6xg5
21. h1-f1 d7-e5
22. a1-b1 e8-g8
23. c1-e3 c6-c5
24. c3-d5 b6-a5+
25. b2-b4 a5xa2
26. e2-d1 e7-d8
27. b4xc5 d6xc5
28. e3xc5 a7-a6
29. c5-b6 g8-g7
30. f1-f2 g5-g4
31. b6-d4 h8-h1+
32. f2-f1 d8-h4+
33. d4-f2 e5xf3+
34. e1-e2 a2-c4+
35. d1-d3 c4xd3+
36. e2xd3 h1xf1
37. b1xf1 h4xf2
38. f1xf2 g4-g3
39. f2xf3 g3-g2
40. d5-b6+ c8-b8
41. f3-f8+ b8-c7
42. b6-d5+ c7-d7
43. d5-b6+ d7-e7
44. f8-f2 g2-g1
45. b6-d5+ e7-e6
46. d5-f4+ e6-d7
47. d3-e2 g1-g4+
48. e2-e3 a6-a5
49. f2-d2+ d7-c8
50. d2-g2 g4xg2
51. f4xg2 g7xg2
52. c2-c4 a5-a4
53. e4-e5 a4-a3
54. e5-e6 c8-d8
55. e3-e4 a3-a2
56. e4-f3 g2-c2
57. c4-c5 c2xc5
58. e6-e7+ d8xe7
59. f3-g4 a2-a1
60. g4-h3 a1-a4
61. h3-g2 c5-c3
62. g2-f1 a4-a2 0-1

Is there a "Counter-Check"?

2006-03-25T02:21:00.000-08:00

I have always wondered whether there is such a thing like a counter-check. I guess you all know the typical joke of desperation when you are in check(mate).. "can't I counter check you?"... Unfortunately you can't. And yet I was watching that film the other day "The President's Man". In one scene they were playing chess and immediately after a check the opponent checkmated the other one. I thought that the movie director must have had no idea of chess BUT! There IS counter-check and I just had one in a chess game! With the difference that the king of course, does not remain in check but a single move can cover up the king and check the opponent. I am still in the middle of a very interesting game (the one with the counter check I think!) and I will post it as soon as it ends.

The Middle Game of Chess

2006-03-21T19:02:00.000-08:00

In the middle game of chess tensions start to arise. Most important now is to come up with a good plan and put pressure on the opponent. This can happen in many ways. Either you threat the obvious unprotected pieces and pawns or you start looking for interesting combinations that will expose the opponents weaknesses. Some times one miscalculation of the opponent in many exchanges can gift you with a pawn and a pawn can be precious (a potential queen) in the endgame. So I would say that the goal of the middle game is to win material!

Of course this is not always that easy, especially if your opponent is a strong and better player than you. In that case you might have to focus on building a nice complex defence and "weaving" your pieces in a protected area. He might try too hard to break through your defence and get disappointed. Disappointment will make him angry and impatient. Impatience will make him make small mistakes which you can take slowly advantage of. So patience and cool thinking can also be a way of winning.

Its also good not to let the opponent too much free space. Confining him in his own territory could be the first step towards winning. This will prevent him from attacking your own army and the more you confine him and put pressure on him, the more his psychological state will drop and help you win!

Basic Principles of the Chess Opening for Beginners

2006-03-20T17:40:00.000-08:00

A chess game consists of 3 parts:

1. The opening
2. The middle game
3. The endgame or finale

There are many interesting theories about playing each part of chess but in this posting I will focus on the opening.

As a beginner I was taught that the most important thing in the opening is to place the pieces in better positions. This procedure is called in greek the "development". I am not sure this term is also used in the english chess terminology. One is supposed to bring all pieces out, move them from their initial position in places that they will have better control of the board (for example near the center) and prepare for an attack. When I am saying pieces I generally do not mean the pawns, although some pawn have got to be moved to pave the way for the rest pieces. Usually the knights and bishops come out first and many people advise not to move one piece or one pawn twice during the opening. The opening lasts about 10 moves and then we enter the middle game. You will have to have completed the preparations of your army and secured the king by castling in about 10 moves. Of course this is all relative and if a piece is threatend of course you will move it away again! Common sense is what chess is about and not following rules blindly without apreciating the position. We generally avoid moving the rooks and the queen in the opening. These pieces are far too precious and can be threatend very easily from less important pieces and pawns.

Another important element of the opening is the control of the center. Of course there are different theories about it as well, but not recommended for beginners. Beginners should start learning to control the center with pawns and e4 is an ideal way to begin a game.

Tactics vs Strategy in Chess and Positional Play

2006-03-18T21:00:00.000-08:00

I have often heard people talking about tactics and strategy when analyzing games. These two terms seem to be used in an opposite context even if I am not really sure one can define them in an absolute way. As far as I understand a tactical move is one that serves a spesific purpose in a spesific position and might not express the general principles of chess. On the other hand a strategical move would be one that has no immediate threat coming out of it but is generally considered to be good. For example the positioning of ones pieces in better places during the opening or the capturing of the pawns towards the center. If this definition is correct, then positional play should originate from the combination of strategy and tactics in an almost invisible way. This is so obvious in games of great chess champions. Sometimes they play moves that one cannot comprehend no matter what.

Am I Tal?

2006-03-13T20:24:00.000-08:00

You're Mikhail Tal! 8th World Champion at the age

of 23, your extraordinary, pyrotechnic play

was often intuitive and got you into trouble

as often as not. Yet your genius for

unexpected sacrifices and complicated attacks

made you a tactical master to be feared and

respected. Sadly your lifelong ill-health

eventually robbed the chess world of a great

hero.

Which Chess World Champion Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Email Chess

2006-03-13T19:00:00.000-08:00

Here is a game I played with my friend Indeterminacy via email! I am publishing it here because I promised to let him into some chess secrets he might have not heard before.

1. d4 Nf6

So far so good. The responce of the black is a very popular one and could turn into a number of known openings such as the Nimzoindian, the King's Indian or the Bogo-Indian Defence.

2. c4 Nc6

While c4 is part of the theory, I have not yet studied any opening with 2.. Nc6. I cant really say if its good or not, it might as well be a part of an opening unknown to me. It improves the position of the knight and threatens the pawn at d4, so it cant be bad.

3. e3 d5

I could have played d5 and threaten his knight but this would remind me of the Alekhine Opening which I do not like to play as white. I believe the white would loose the control of the center by further pushing the pawns and its very easy to break through them if the black plays e6.

e3 supports the threated pawn at d4 and at the same time makes room for the white bishop at f1 to come out and support the pawn at c4.

4. Nc3 d:c4

Of course I would not have captured the pawn at d5, I never do it in similar situations because that would weaken my control of the center. On the contrary I wait until the opponent is tempted to capture my pawn at c4 so that I can capture back with my bishop and thus improve its position at the same time. And in this game the opponent indeed captured the pawn.

5. B:c4 Bg4

By playing 5... Bg4 the black threatens the white queen.

6. Qb3! Na5?

But the queen has other plans rather than being threatened. It escapes and threatens the black pawn at b7. 6.... Na5 threatens the queen and supports the pawn at b7 at the same time.

7. Qb5+ Nc6

The check of the queen also threatens the knight but by returning back to c6 he looses control of the b7 square allowing the white to capture it. There is probably no other option for the black but to loose one pawn otherwise he will loose a knight.

8. Q:b7 Nb8??

8... Nb8 obviously blocks the support of the queen to the rook. To save the knight one could have supported it with the bishop at d7.

9. Q:a8 Nd7

With a lost rook the game is as good as over for the black. Most of the times it suffices to loose one pawn to loose a game, imagine what the loss of a rook means. The value of a rook is that of 5 pawns. The value of the knight is 3 pawns (to some 2,75). The bishop is generally worth 3 pawns and the queen 9. The king is priceless!

Unless of course one is a great chess champion and can go around sacrificing pieces by getting as a reward extremely great strategic benefits that might win a game, it is not advisable to sacrifice pieces.

10. Q:a7 Qb8

One more pawn for the white and 10....Qb8 is also an unexpected gift to the white! Why? Because there is a chess principle that says "When we have more material/pieces than our opponent we try to exchange our pieces and win easily at the endgame." When you already have few powers to protect yourself you do not hand them over because the opponent will still have powers to attack you, while you will have none to defend yourself. The less pieces one has, the more difficult it is to set up a decent attack. So whenever we have less pieces than the opponent we do not exchange them.

Of course this is a general rule and rules are there to be broken when the position of a game demands it in a tactical and strategical way. One should use common sense but generally it s safer to go by the basic principles.

11. Q:b8+ N:b8

Here I think I should have played another move and wait until the opponent captured my queen.

12. Nge2 Nc6

Here the white is trying to develope its pieces into better positions. The attack on the black did not allow the white to spend time on developing the pieces into better positions.

13. Bd2 e6

White's play is rather passive, I was hoping to castle but my bishop is not good at that position. Its closed up. e6 wants to pave the way for the black bishop I guess.

14. Bb5 Kd7

The pin on the knight forces the black king to come out and protect it, thus exposing himself more. Unfortunately for the black the pin still is there and can be taken advantage of.

15. Na4 Ne4

The knight to a4 in order to free the c file for the rook. The black knight at e4 aims at my bishop and I do not like the idea of exchanging bishops for knights. Especially not in the endgame. But this should not be a problem since the material advantage compensates for it.

16. Rc1 Bb4?

The white army now has 2 forces attacking the black knight at c6. But the black only supports it with one force (the king). This means that this piece is going to be captured. Actually a good technique to avoid calculating and thinking about whether a piece is going to be captured or not, is to just count how many forces attack it and how many support it. Thats very useful in more complex positions where many pieces are involved and there is no time to visualize in the mind the sequence of possible captures.

Bb4 of course is the bishops suicide since the knight at c6 is pinned and cannot support him.

17. B:b4 Kd8

The game is as good as over now, when the king abandons all his pieces and there is no possibility of an attack for what is left of the black army. Usually we do quit (resign) in such positions but in casual chess one can play until checkmate. ;)

18. B:c6 Re8
19. B:e8 Nf6
20. Bb5 Nd5
21. Ba5 g5
22. f3 Bh5
23. Kd2 Kc8
24. Rc5 Bg6
25. Nb6+ Kb7
26. N:d5 e:d5
27. Rc7+ Kb8
28. Rhc1 Bf5
29. R:f7 Bc8
30. Rf8 Kb7
31. Rc:c8 h5
32. Rce8 g4
33. Rf7 ++

The Winner's Psychology Part 1

2006-03-12T20:13:00.000-08:00

Win and loss are both parts of chess. It is often said that loosing does not matter, chess is a game and one is supposed to have fun while playing, not while boasting over one's victory! Only a fool would run around shouting: "I won!" At least that is how I used to think. The fun of chess after all, is to try and solve complicated problems that arise from certain chess positions. The kick here is mental. It is a game of the mind. But the cruel truth is that when it comes to solving a problem, just like in mathematics, there are only two states:

either

1. you solve the problem ...

or

2. you mess the problem ...

And what fun can you have when you realise that you have failed in your own mental game. This type of disappointment does not arise from competition against the opponent, it arises from the wish to play good chess. You may call it your "personal chess-ambition". Your opponent in the end is yourself.

So winning does matter even it serves only as a proof of dedication or "certificate" of knowledge in this sport.

I recently came to a point asking myself the following questions: "Why can't I play good chess?" or even better "Why can't I play better chess?". "Why, despite of all my training and reading for the past month, do I so often mess things in the endgame?"

What makes one a good chess player after all?

Actually, these questions were not meant so desperate as they might sound here. I am well aware (or not so well aware) of what it takes to be good at this game. It takes a lot of practice and we are talking here about years of intense daily practice. In the end, my chess life does not consist more that four years, and that was when I was in high school. Can you create a mirracle in just a few months? Well maybe, if Kasparov is training you!

So what is beyond practice? Is it reading?

Reading can take you only up to one point. Especially if you are not a strong player. Knowing a few basic openings can save you time and give you a better insight into the way things can but not necessarily have to develope. Reading also trains the mind into learning by heart what the board looks like, which the positions of the pieces on the specific squares are etc. Chess works through mental visualization and whatever trains that faculty of the mind is good. I suppose even doing mathematical calculations without the use of a paper can train this faculty. Learning a hundred variations by hearth though, without really understanding them is quite useless. Reading slowly allows you to "see" more things on the present and future state of the chessboard.

But what about talent?

Thats it. Talent is what makes everything possible. Talent in my opinion is not an inherent easiness in doing something. It is an inherent love of doing something. Love implies dedication, dedication impies hard training. But talent also implies self-confidence. This is the last but not least most important ingredient of a winner.

To be continued ...

Chessmaster 9000

2006-02-25T18:38:00.000-08:00

More than 10 years ago I used to play with the Chessmaster 2000 in my Amiga 500+. Today after all that time I got a copy of Chessmaster 9000 for the PC which seems to have developed into a really good chess program. The games-analysis of a chessmaster that is included in some sound files is incredible and hard to follow. My own analysis compared to his, are a joke, but I ll keep trying for learning purposes.

Endgame Difficulty

2006-02-24T21:32:00.000-08:00

Lately I am discovering how many difficulties I have in playing a good endgame. If I am able to gain points in the middle game by capturing extra pawns or even pieces, I cant manifest this advantage in the finale. A common strategy when we have extra pawns or even pieces in the middle game is to exchange everything and win in the endgame. Provided one knows how to win though! Because try to win an endgame with 2 or 3 extra pawns! 1 extra pawn is tricky, it can very easily end in draw. We learned the other day in the chess-club how to achieve draw if you are left with just the king (say black) and the opponent has his king and one pawn (say white). Black's worry should be to get to the square in front of the pawn and gradually to the promoting square. If white's king is behind the pawn and with blacks correct play, it ends in draw. If the king of the white is in front of the pawn, white wins.

I might need to get some books on the endgame because it is making my life miserable :))!!!

I remember about 8 years ago, we had learned 10 basic rules for the endgame in the chess-club, but I have forgotten them all apart from the first one which was to get the king moving and to the center.

I think we spend too much time in chess trying to learn how to capture more pieces that we forget to learn how to play strategical chess and win.

The Super King

2006-02-24T14:28:00.000-08:00

I mostly play chess in yahoo games. There are also other places to play online but yahoo seems to be the most convinient and less complicated way.

Play chess in yahoo here!

This was a very frustrating game because I should have won without problems. In the middle game I did some nice combinations but the end game was awful. I even gifted to the enemy my best pawn. My opponent offered me a draw 3 times but I didnt accept it because I believed I could find a way to win. In the end I got a draw but I was very close to loosing. Here is the game:

Title: Yahoo! Chess Game
White: x-opponent
Black: me
Date: Thu Feb 23 04:24:31 GMT 2006

1. e2-e4 g8-f6

This is Alekhine's Defence, an opening I discovered recently, which I find a very interesting reply to e4 and better than e5.

2. e4-e5 f6-d5
3. d2-d4 d7-d6
4. f1-c4 (not sure how good this move was since I get to threaten it with my next move) d5-b6
5. c4-d3 b8-c6
6. c2-c3 d6xe5
7. d4xe5 c6xe5 (white just lost a pawn)
8. d3-b5+ c8-d7 (thanks for helping the developement of my pieces)
9. b5xd7+ (I dont think he had another good choice) d8xd7 (I captured the bishop with my queen in the hope to exchange queens and ruing the castling of the opponent)
10. g1-e2 d7xd1+ (and it worked)
11. e1xd1 o-o-o+ (everything seems to develope nice for the black, I think!)
12. b1-d2 e5-d3 (I saw an unprotected square in the heart of the white and seized it. Note that now I have the threat of check at g2 by capturing a pawn with my knight and then getting a rook!)
13. d2-e4 (One would think that the threat no longer exists since the white knight at e4 supports the square g2) d3xf2+ (but the white knight is unable to do anything since the king is still in check from the black rook!)
14. d1-c2 f2xh1 (thank you for the rook :-) )
15. c1-e3 f7-f5 (I am trying to find a way to keep my knight as well, although it should be a fair price for the rook I got.)
16. e4-c5 (I dont like the position of this knight) d8-d5 (maybe I should have tried to sent it away by moving the e7 pawn so that the bishop threatens it, although the bishop at e3 protects the knight)
17. c5-d3 (still the opponent chose to move it) e7-e5
18. a1xh1 (there goes the knight) f8-e7

I wont comment on the rest of the game, simply because I was so devoid of ideas about how to win. The rest of the game is boring, my king saved the day by running after all the pawns and getting a draw, there must have been a way to win this position though.

19. d3-b4 e7xb4
20. c3xb4 h8-d8
21. e2-c3 d5-d3
22. e3-g5 d8-d7
23. h1-f1 h7-h6
24. g5-c1 f5-f4
25. f1-e1 b6-c4
26. c3-e4 b7-b6
27. b2-b3 c4-e3+
28. c1xe3 f4xe3
29. a2-a4 e3-e2
30. e1xe2 d3-d4
31. e4-c3 d7-e7
32. c3-b5 d4xb4
33. b5xa7+ c8-b7
34. a7-b5 b4-f4
35. g2-g3 f4-f3
36. c2-b2 e5-e4
37. e2-c2 e7-f7
38. b5-d4 f3-f2
39. h2-h4 f2xc2+
40. b2xc2 f7-f2+
41. c2-d1 e4-e3
42. d1-e1 c7-c5
43. d4-e6 f2-b2
44. e6xg7 b2xb3
45. g7-f5 c5-c4
46. e1-e2 c4-c3
47. f5xe3 b7-a6
48. g3-g4 b3-b2+
49. e2-d3 a6-a5
50. e3-c4+ a5-b4
51. c4xb2 c3xb2
52. d3-c2 b2-b1+
53. c2xb1 b4-c5
54. g4-g5 h6xg5
55. h4xg5 c5-d6
56. g5-g6 d6-e7
57. g6-g7 e7-f7
58. b1-b2 f7xg7
59. b2-b3 g7-f7
60. b3-b4 f7-e7
61. b4-b5 e7-d7
62. b5xb6 d7-c8
63. a4-a5 c8-b8
64. a5-a6 b8-a8
65. a6-a7 1/2 1/2

How it all started..

2006-02-23T20:52:00.000-08:00

I started learning chess at the age of 14 in the chess-club of my city. It was fun, once a week we had a lesson which I enjoyed much. I had learned the moves of chess because my brother along with my father had taught me at home, but in the club I started learning in a more systemized way. My brother is a very strong player and he used to bring his chess friends at home. I remember how they played countless blitz games at home and how I was not able to comprehend their moves. Unfortunately I had to quit chess at the age of 16. At that time I moved to another country to pursue my dream and study ballet in a academy. I had to give up a lot of things for ballet and chess was one of them.

Now, after 7 years, I started playing chess again in the small local chess club. The visit of a grand master and european champion in our club fascinated me and increased my love for this mental sport.

Chess is a manifold sport. It disciplines the mind and forces it to concentrate. This procedure makes thinking sharper, faster and helps develope an objective way of looking at things. It increases the visualization powers, since a chess player is supposed to "see" all possible ways of continuing a certain position. Imagine that if a single position has 5 possible ways of continuing in the next move, each of these 5 ways might also have other 5 ways of continuing, two moves ahead. This makes a total of 5*5² possible ways which increases the deeper one tries to "see". Apart from the clearly mental aspect of chess, there is also the military one. The game of chess actually has to do with the war of two armies; the object is to capture the king of the opposite army. In order to achieve that one uses soldiers, knights, rooks, bishops and the royal couple of the king and queen. In order to win one needs to coordinate his army in the most intelligent, shortest and thus active way. Thats why chess is also a lesson in self-confidence and strong will.

I am an intermediate chess player, I have never played in official games and I don't train often. But it is fun to play whenever I get the chance and I like to record my games to analyze the mistakes I have done. Since I am loosing my papers all the time, this blog is a nice excuse for me to store the games I play online (mostly in yahoo chess) and to philosophize on the art of chess. My chess idols are Nimzowitch and Alekhine, and my favourite book "My System" (by Nimzowitch).