Posted on August 13th, 2010 by Richard
How good is your end game play? Have a look at this game. This is a part of a round 11 game from the recent British Championships.
White to play and white needs to win the game to get second place in the Championship:
[pgn height=400 initialhalfMove=16 autoplaymode=none]
[Event “97th ch-GBR”]
[Site “Canterbury ENG”]
[Date “2010.08.06”]
[Round “11”]
[White “Pert, N.”]
[Black “Gordon, S.”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “A05”]
[WhiteElo “2551”]
[BlackElo “2534”]
[PlyCount “171”]
[EventDate “2010.07.26”]
[FEN “4k3/4B3/4KP2/4N3/8/8/5r2/8 w – – 0 80”]
80. Bb4 Rf1 81. Bd2 Kf8 82. Bh6+ Ke8 83. Be3 Kf8 84. Bf4 Kg8
85. f7+ Kg7 86. Ng6 1-0[/pgn]
Nice play by White to allow the potential to Queen the pawn (and also avoid the dreaded stalemate!)
so securing an overwhelming winning position and black cannot do anything now to stop White winning.
Now two important Rook and Pawn endgames-Philidor & Lucena positions
introduced by Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philidor_position:
The Philidor position (or Philidor’s position) usually refers to an important chess endgame which illustrates a drawing technique when the defender has a king and rook versus a king, rook, and pawn. It is also known as the third rank defense, because of the importance of the rook on the third rank cutting off the opposing king. It was analyzed by François-André Danican Philidor in 1777. Most rook and pawn versus rook endgames reach either the Philidor Position or the Lucena Position if played accurately
The Lucena position is one of the most famous and important positions in chess endgame theory, where one side has a rook and a pawn and the defender has a rook. It is fundamental in the rook and pawn versus rook endgame. If the side with the pawn can reach this type of position, he can forcibly win the game. Most rook and pawn versus rook endgames reach either the Lucena Position or the Philidor Position if played accurately.
So here is JRobi on youtube on the Philidor endgame:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OUb-nCJ4mI[/youtube]
and here is JRobi on the Lucena position on youtube video:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXtT0StMqKQ&feature=channel_page[/youtube]
Well this all seems clear except that I have known about these positions since I started playing chess but I still do not know them fully enough to be totally confident with the correct moves. I do not know why I cannot get this to be automatic for me but I will try & study it and get it done!
These are common endgames and if you want to improve your rating you need to know how to play these positions….
Tags: Chess game
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Written by: Richard
Posted on August 13th, 2010 by Richard
Congratulations to GM Michael Adams on his win in the British Chess Championship.
Also congratulations to IM Jovanka Houska who won the womens title.
Mickey Adams won with a score of 9½/11 and a 2757 performance. Nick Pert finished second on 8 with a 2612 performance whilst Stuart Conquest, Andrew Greet, Jonathan Hawkins, Adam Hunt, Richard Pert & Alexei Slavin all finished equal third on 7½. Congratulations to Adam Hunt who secured his 2nd GM norm with a 2624 performance over eleven rounds
Here is the round 9 game between Adams and Hunt that ended in a draw:
[pgn height=500 initialhalfMove=16 autoplaymode=none]
[Event “97th ch-GBR”]
[Site “Canterbury ENG”]
[Date “2010.08.04”]
[Round “9.1”]
[White “Hunt, Adam C”]
[Black “Adams, Michael”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[ECO “C65”]
[WhiteElo “2408”]
[BlackElo “2706”]
[PlyCount “64”]
[EventDate “2010.??.??”]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. O-O O-O 6. d4 Bb6 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4
d6 9. Qd3 g5 10. Bg3 Nh5 11. Bxc6 bxc6 12. Nbd2 a5 13. dxe5 dxe5 14. Qe2 Ba6
15. c4 f6 16. Rfd1 Qe7 17. Ne1 Ng7 18. Nc2 Ne6 19. Nf1 Qh7 20. b3 Rad8 21. Kh1
h5 22. h4 g4 23. f3 gxf3 24. gxf3 Kh8 25. Nfe3 Nd4 26. Nxd4 Bxd4 27. Rac1 Rg8
28. Bf2 c5 29. Rg1 Bc8 30. Rxg8+ Rxg8 31. Rg1 Be6 32. Rxg8+ Kxg8 1/2-1/2[/pgn]
Tags: Chess Tournaments
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Written by: Richard
Posted on August 1st, 2010 by Richard
The British Chess Championships are in play at the moment at the University of Kent, Canterbury.
British GM Michael Adams is in the lead after round 6 with 5/6.
Local Woodbridge School teacher International Master Adam Hunt is on 4/6. Both Richard and Nick Pert are playing there.
Here is a round 6 match between GM S Williams vs IM T Rendle :
[pgn parameter=value height=500 autoplayMode=none]
[Event “British Championship”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “2010.07.31”]
[Round “6.6”]
[White “Williams, Simon K”]
[Black “Rendle, Thomas E”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “A04”]
[WhiteElo “2511”]
[BlackElo “2391”]
[PlyCount “119”]
[EventDate “2010.??.??”]
1. Nf3 f5 2. e4 fxe4 3. Ng5 Nc6 4. d3 e3 5. Bxe3 e5 6. c4 Nf6 7. Nc3 Bb4 8.
Nge4 O-O 9. Be2 Nd4 10. O-O Bxc3 11. bxc3 Nxe2+ 12. Qxe2 Nxe4 13. dxe4 Qh4 14.
f3 b6 15. c5 Bb7 16. cxb6 cxb6 17. Rfd1 Bc6 18. a4 Qe7 19. a5 Rab8 20. axb6
axb6 21. Qf2 Qe6 22. Qd2 b5 23. Bc5 Rf6 24. Bd6 Re8 25. Qe3 h6 26. Rd2 Kh7 27.
Rad1 Qc4 28. Bb4 Ra8 29. Bd6 Re6 30. Qc5 Qxc5+ 31. Bxc5 Ra4 32. Rd6 Re8 33. h4
h5 34. R6d2 Rea8 35. Bd6 Re8 36. Kf2 Kg6 37. Ke3 Kf6 38. Bb4 Ra7 39. Rg1 Kf7
40. g4 hxg4 41. Rxg4 d5 42. exd5 Bd7 43. Rg5 Kf6 44. d6 g6 45. Rdg2 Bf5 46. h5
e4 47. f4 Rh7 48. hxg6 Rh3+ 49. R5g3 Rxg3+ 50. Rxg3 Rg8 51. Kd4 Rxg6 52. Re3
Rg8 53. Ba5 Rg1 54. Kc5 Rd1 55. Bb4 Ke6 56. Kxb5 Kd5 57. c4+ Ke6 58. c5 Rd3 59.
Rxd3 exd3 60. Kc6 1-0[/pgn]
Here is a link to the webpage for the championships:
BritishChess2010
Tags: Chess game
Posted in chess games • Comment on this post »
Written by: Richard
Posted on June 3rd, 2010 by Richard
1. e4 {RPD-This game is famous and known as ‘The Immortal Chess Game’
-Opening is C33: King’s Gambit Accepted: 3 Nc3 and 3 Bc4} 1… e5 2. f4 {White offers a pawn
to gain better development and control of the center.} 2… exf4 3. Bc4 Qh4+ 4. Kf1 b5?!
{Bryan’s Counter Gambit. A dubious gambit in modern times, but typical of the attacking style
of that time. Here black lures the Bishop from it attacking diagonal against the sensitive
f7-pawn, and provides a diagonal for development of his own Bishop to b7 where it will bear
down on white’s King side. All this value for the price of a pawn.} 5. Bxb5 Nf6 6. Nf3 Qh6 7.
d3 Nh5 {The immediate, cheap, and shallow threat of … Ng3+ is easily defended.} 8. Nh4 {The
position is sharp and getting sharper.} 8… Qg5 {Again, playing for cheap threats. In this
case, black attacks two pieces at once.} 9. Nf5 c6 {9… g6 10. h4 Qf6 is another complicated
position for another day.} 10. g4 {A brilliant move made with a steady hand. Note that white
cares little for defensive moves, and is always alert for attack. Now black plays to win the
g4-pawn.} 10… Nf6 {Black should have played 10… cxb5 11. gxh5 with a better game.} 11.
Rg1 {Now Anderssen sacrifices his Bishop, the first of many sacrifices in this game. White
cares little for defensive moves, and plays always for the initiative.} 11… cxb5 12. h4 Qg6
13. h5 {White gets more space.} 13… Qg5 14. Qf3 {White now has the ghastly threat of Bxf4
winning black’s Queen next.} 14… Ng8 {Black is forces to clear a path of retreat for his
Queen by also retreating one of his only developed pieces.} 15. Bxf4 Qf6 {Black should
quickly develop his pieces.} 16. Nc3 Bc5 17. Nd5 {Inviting black to indulge his greed. Also
good is 17. d4 Bf8 (17… Bxd4? 18. Nd5 when the Knights savage the board.) 18. Be5.} 17…
Qxb2 18. Bd6 Qxa1+ {And why not capture with check!} 19. Ke2 {Now who can resist the tender
morsel on g1, but resist he must.} 19… Bxg1 {Black is just too greedy. He has too few
pieces developed, and what is developed is sent to the far corners of the board. Now it is
white’s turn to play. Black may have won after 19… Qb2 (to guard against Nxg7+) 20. Rc1 g6
21. Bxc5 gxf5 (not 21… Qxc1 22. Nd6+ Kd8 23. Nxf7+ Ke8 24. Nc7#).} 20. e5 {Slipping the
noose around the neck of the black King.} 20… Na6 {Perhaps 20… Ba6 would have put up more
resistance by giving black’s King more room to run.} 21. Nxg7+ Kd8 22. Qf6+! {A final pretty
sacrifice that ends the game.} 22… Nxf6 {A deflection.} 23. Be7# 1-0 [/pgn]
I came across another WordPress chess plugin called ‘chess-by-blog’ and thought I would try it out! It doesn’t want to work for some reason on any of my other blog pages on site here but it does have tags in the admin posts editor on this home page. I am trying to contact the author, Julian Fong to see if I can fix this.
Meanwhile I am going to try it with a great chess game- ‘The Immortal Game’
between Anderrsen & Kieritsky.
The game was a King’s Gambit opening and features some interesting sacrifices leading to a minor piece mate. Amazing play really! Enjoy…
{EDIT: I could not get chess by blog plugin to handle this. Probably my fault but I think this plugin is more for playing chess between blogs and I need to test that out. Meanwhile I have put the above game back in ‘Embed Chessboard’ game viewer}
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Written by: Richard
Posted on June 1st, 2010 by Richard
As I usually open with 1.e4 as white I quite often face the Philidor defence. I do not mind this at all! It seems quite a passive defence for Black and does not seem to trouble me too much. Of course some people who play the defence as Black really know it inside out and in their hands it can be a dangerous opening against White. Thankfully most people who play the Philidor opening against me do not know it in much depth!
I prefer playing the 4.Qxd4 line. Here is a recent game of mine showing a win with Qxh7#:
The Philidor defence:
[pgn height=500 initialhalfMove=16 autoplaymode=none]
[Event “rated blitz match”]
[Site “Free Internet Chess Server”]
[Date “2010.06.01”]
[Round “?”]
[White “me”]
[Black “AN”]
[Result “1-0”]
[WhiteElo “1045”]
[BlackElo “1115”]
[ECO “C41”]
[TimeControl “300”]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4. Qxd4 Nc6 5. Bb5 Bd7 6. Bxc6 Bxc6 7. Nc3 Be7
8. Bf4 Nf6 9. O-O-O O-O 10. e5 Nh5 11. Be3 Bxf3 12. gxf3 dxe5 13. Qxe5 Qc8
14. Qxh5 Bb4 15. Nd5 Bd6 16. Rhg1 g6 17. Nf6+ Kh8 18. Qxh7# {AN
checkmated} 1-0
[/pgn]
Tags: my chess games
Posted in chess games, Chess Openings, My Chess • Comment on this post »
Written by: Richard
Posted on May 29th, 2010 by Richard
I am on my own this weekend (family away!) and am playing my customary internet weekend blitz games. I am also trying to load a chessboard.bmp into some c gui code for a chess gui I want to build. So far I am having mixed results both chess playing & chess coding!
Here are one or two games:
1. Opening French Steinitz variation:
[pgn height=500 initialhalfMove=16 autoplaymode=none]
[Event “rated blitz match”]
[Site “Free Internet Chess Server”]
[Date “2010.05.29”]
[Round “?”]
[White “me”]
[Black “AN”]
[Result “1-0”]
[WhiteElo “1046”]
[BlackElo “1311”]
[ECO “C00”]
[TimeControl “300”]
1. e4 e6 2. e5 c5 3. f4 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. d4 Ne7 6. d5 exd5 7. Nc3 d4 8. Ne4
O-O 9. Nxc5 Nbc6 10. Nd3 Nf5 11. Be2 Ne3 12. Bxe3 dxe3 13. O-O d6 14. Ng5
dxe5 15. Nxe5 Qxd1 16. Raxd1 Nxe5 17. fxe5 Bxe5 18. c3 Bf5 19. Nf3 Bc7 20.
Nd4 Be4 21. Rfe1 Rad8 22. Nb5 Bb6 23. Rxd8 Rxd8 24. Rd1 Rxd1+ 25. Bxd1 Bc6
26. Nd4 Be4 27. g3 Bb1 28. a3 Bd3 29. Kg2 Be4+ 30. Kf1 Bd3+ 31. Kg2 Be4+ 32.
Kf1 Bxd4 33. cxd4 Kf8 34. Ke2 Bc6 35. Kxe3 Ke7 36. Bf3 Bxf3 37. Kxf3 Kd6 38.
Ke4 f6 39. g4 a6 40. h4 b6 41. b4 a5 42. bxa5 bxa5 43. a4 h6 44. Ke3 Kd5 45.
Kd3 f5 46. gxf5 gxf5 47. Ke3 h5 48. Kf4 Kxd4 49. Kxf5 Kc4 50. Kg5 Kb4 51.
Kxh5 Kxa4 52. Kg5 Kb3 53. h5 a4 54. h6 a3 55. h7 a2 56. h8=Q Ka3 57. Qa1 Kb3
58. Kg4 Ka3 59. Kf3 Kb3 60. Ke2 Ka3 61. Kd1 Kb3 62. Kc1 Ka3 63. Qb2+
{AN resigns} 1-0[/pgn]
Game 2:
Opening Modern defence
[pgn height=500 initialhalfMove=16 autoplaymode=none]
[Event “rated blitz match”]
[Site “Free Internet Chess Server”]
[Date “2010.05.29”]
[Round “?”]
[White “me”]
[Black “NN”]
[Result “1-0”]
[WhiteElo “1034”]
[BlackElo “1131”]
[ECO “B06”]
[TimeControl “300”]
1. e4 g6 2. d4 b6 3. Nf3 Bb7 4. Nc3 Bg7 5. Be3 c5 6. d5 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 e6 8.
c4 Nf6 9. Bd3 O-O 10. O-O exd5 11. cxd5 d6 12. Qd2 Nbd7 13. Bg5 Qe8 14. Bxf6
Nxf6 15. Rae1 Nd7 16. Qh6 Ne5 17. Ng5 f5 18. Qxh7# {NN checkmated} 1-0[/pgn]
Tags: my chess games
Posted in chess games, Chess Openings, My Chess • Comment on this post »
Written by: Richard
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