Chessology

Test Your Blitz Skills - Solution

2006-09-17T14:58:00.000-07:00

In this post, we presented a Grischuk game position. Here is the full game. Why is 10. Nd5 best? Analysis in a few days.

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 e5 4. Nge2 Be7 5. g3 exd4 6. Nxd4 d5 7. e5 Ng4 8. Bf4 c5 9. Ndb5 d4 10. Nd5 O-O 11. Bg2 Qa5+ 12. Qd2 Bd8 13. Nd6 Qxd2+ 14. Bxd2 Nxe5 15. Nxc8 Re8 16. Nd6 Re6 17. Nf4 Nd3+ 18. Kf1 Nxf4 19. Bxf4 Nd7 20. Nxb7 g5 21. Nxd8 Rxd8 22. Bxg5 Rde8 23. Bd2 Nf6 24. Re1 1-0

The Excitement of Blitz

2006-09-17T14:56:00.000-07:00

See this SF Gate article on the World Blitz Championship to learn about the "rock star swagger" of blitz players!

GM Kavalek Needs Fish

2006-09-11T13:01:00.000-07:00

GM Lubomir Kavalek publicly pleads to receive salmon in his latest column. He reviews GM Yasser Seirawan's latest book and gives it the thumb up. GM Seirawan is one of the very best at explaining top-level chess to non-master players. He is also a very nice person, and can often be found on Playchess.com winning blitz games against the rank and file players that many GMs just ignore. We should all send fish to GM Kavalek because his column in the Washington Post is an excellent chess column.

Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess

2006-09-10T16:17:00.000-07:00

Probably the best-selling chess book of all time, Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess, is now available free on Bobby Fischer's web site. If you go there, be forewarned... Bobby says many things that may offend you.

The Immortal Game

2006-09-09T12:51:00.000-07:00

The Immortal Game: A History of Chess by David Shenk is reviewed by the Star Tribune and by the New York Times.

Test Your Blitz Skills

2006-09-09T11:15:00.000-07:00

In honor of Alexander Grischuk's blitz championship win this past week, let's look at a position from a blitz (5 minute) game he played in 2004. The opening moves were

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 e5 4. Nge2 Be7 5. g3 exd4 6. Nxd4 d5 7. e5 Ng4 8. Bf4 c5 9. Ndb5 d4

We have the position above. Grischuk played the best move. What did he play?

The Quest

2006-09-08T18:58:00.000-07:00

Chess will be featured on CNN's The Quest.

World Blitz Championship

2006-09-08T06:55:00.000-07:00

The tournament to determine the blitz chess world champion has been completed. Grischuk beat Svidler in the tie-break game. Rounding our the top half of the final standings were Radjabov, Anand, Polgar, Gelfand, Bacrot, and Carlsen. Of the top 8, 4 are from the old guard and 4 are relatively young and still improving. I have high hopes for the future of top level chess.

Swiss System - Good or Bad?

2006-09-06T04:55:00.000-07:00

Most professional sports tournaments use elimination (knock-out) tournaments, but chess uses the Swiss system where everyone keeps playing all the rounds, with winners playing winners and losers playing losers. Is this a good system? Not everyone thinks so.

"[The Swiss System] is flawed, dangerous, and demeaning to our stature as grandmasters," said GMs Torre, Antonio, and Paragua when explaining why they didn't enter a tournament to earn spots on their national team.

More College Chess

2006-09-05T19:04:00.000-07:00

GM Gilberto Hernandez of Mexico has accepted a chess coaching position at the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College.

World University Chess Championship

2006-09-05T19:00:00.000-07:00

The World University Chess Championship has just been completed in Nigeria. China wins; Iran places; Netherlands shows. Top player was China's GM Bu Xiangzhi.

Test Your Tactics! -- Solution

2006-09-05T18:49:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I presented a tactics problem. Now we reveal the solution to you. 1...Rh1 is the only winning move. If Black goes back to stop the b-pawn then White has drawing lines. But now look at 2. b7 Rxd1 3. Kxd1 Kd3 4. b8=Q c2# Beautiful! It is always nice to mate with pawn, but right after opponent gets a queen is even more special. If 3. b8=Q then after 3...Rc1+ the White King moves to the b-file and Black wins easily here also.

Exercise Your Creativity

2006-09-02T06:55:00.000-07:00

Top-level chess is very demanding. Karpov lost over 20 pounds during his aborted 1984 marathon match with Kasparov. Many top level players today have physical fitness as a part of their training program. Peter Leko, for example, takes this very seriously. Kasparov also was a "gym rat" according to an article in the Kansas City Star on how exercise can help unlock your creativity. Give it a read. Or better yet, don't read it and go for a bike ride instead!

Celebrity Chess

2006-09-01T06:38:00.000-07:00

Chess is featured in the Madonna video The Power of Goodbye. Can you see anything wrong with the game? But I see no problem in General Principles from DJ Muggs and GZA. Do you recognize the voice speaking the chess moves?

Chess from Pixar

2006-08-30T19:20:00.000-07:00

We all know the Pixar movies like Toy Story and Finding Nemo. Did you know Pixar made a short movie about chess? It is true! You can watch Geri's Game and then learn about it at Wikipedia. Enjoy!

Karpov's Rapid Wizardry - Solution

2006-08-30T19:14:00.000-07:00

Portisch-Karpov, 2006

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 b6 4. e3 d5 5. Bd3 Bb7 6. b3 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8. Bb2 Nbd7 9. Nc3 a6 10. Rc1 Qe7 11. Na4 dxc4 12. bxc4 c5 13. Ne5 Rfd8 14. Qc2 h6 15. h3 Rac8 16. Qe2 Bc7 17. Rfd1 cxd4 18. exd4 Nxe5 19. dxe5 Nd7 20. f4 Bc6 21. Nc3 Nc5 22. Bb1 Rxd1+ 23. Rxd1 Rd8 24. Ba3 Rxd1+ 25. Qxd1 Qh4 26. Qd2 Qg3 27. Bxc5 bxc5 28. Ne4 Bxe4 29. Bxe4 g5 30. fxg5 hxg5 31. Qf2 Qxe5 32. Qe2 Qd4+ 33. Kf1 Bg3 34. Qc2

This brings us to our test position. What is the best move? 34... Qe3

Mate is forced because White cannot protect c1, e1, and e2 all at once from occupation by the Black Queen. Portisch resigned after this move.

Karpov's Rapid Wizardry

2006-08-30T19:06:00.000-07:00

Anatoly Karpov has been one of the greatest chess players of all time, but sadly is mostly remembered for winning the world championship by default when Bobby Fischer refused to defend and then losing his matches with Kasparov. Even today Karpov is still worth watching. He is not very active on the chess scene, but still plays at a very high level in rapid chess. Right now he is playing a match with Peter Leko. Here is a position from earlier this year in a rapid tournament against another old great, Lajos Portisch. Karpov is Black and has the move. What is the best move here?

Test Your Tactics!

2006-08-30T17:20:00.000-07:00

Here is analysis position from a recent game I played. Black is to move and win. What is the move?

Chess without Sight of the Board

2006-08-29T13:40:00.000-07:00

As much as we chess players enjoy our wonderful game, every once in a while we must step back and think about what a special game it is. India is just completing a national chess championship for blind kids! Chess transcends handicaps. All you need is a mind. This is also a good training reminder for improving players -- practice your blindfold chess! When you read a chess book (or newspaper column) try as hard as you can to follow without having to move the pieces on the board (or computer screen). Your visualization skills will improve!

Chess and Politics

2006-08-28T16:11:00.000-07:00

Writers love to use chess as a metaphor, especially for politics. I do not closely follow American politics, and don't want to endorse any agenda, but this Boston Herald article did something I have not been seeing before this. The writer used suicide chess as a metaphor! Now I just wait to see Fischerandom/Chess960 in an article!

Endgame Study Solution

2006-08-26T09:30:00.000-07:00

If you haven't been following, check out the previous post to see the endgame study we are examining. I previously showed you that I followed one of the recommended lines 1. c7 Qg8 2. Ra1+ Kb5 3. Rb1+ Kc5 4. Rb8 Qc4+ 5. Kd2 Qd4+ 6. Ke2 Qc4+ 7. Kf2 Qd4+ 8. Kg3 Qg1+ 9. Kh4 Qh2+ 10. Kg5 Qg3+ 11. Kf6 Qh4+ 12. Kg6 and found a new variation at this point. Here is my deviation from the move suggested in ChessCafe Endgame Study 500: 11... Kd6! [attacking the pawn] 12. c8=Q [forced] Qf6+!! [diagram] so if White takes the Black Queen then it is stalemate! Otherwise, it appears that White has no escape from perpetual checking by Black. Is it so? Have I made error? Let me know!

Endgame Study Diagram

2006-08-25T22:51:00.000-07:00

ChessCafe has updated their Endgame Study to #501, so I'll add a picture here of the starting position for endgame 500, which we are studying. White to move and Win, but I think Black may have a drawing variation. Good luck!

Endgame Study Hint

2006-08-25T18:23:00.000-07:00

In an earlier post today I promise you a hint for drawing Endgame Study 500 from ChessCafe. Black seems to have very clever resource for draw. Follow this line given in ChessCafe solution

1. c7 Qg8 2. Ra1+ Kb5 3. Rb1+ Kc5 4. Rb8 Qc4+ 5. Kd2 Qd4+ 6. Ke2 Qc4+ 7. Kf2 Qd4+ 8. Kg3 Qg1+ 9. Kh4 Qh2+ 10. Kg5 Qg3+ 11. Kf6 Qh4+ 12. Kg6

Now look for better move for Black than one given in their solution! My answer tomorrow. Of course, maybe you can find something wrong with my move and then ChessCafe has it right that the position is a win for White! Let's see!

Endgame Studies

2006-08-25T15:25:00.000-07:00

ChessCaf e is a very good place to help you improve your chess. I do not like some of their columns, but most are excellent. Every week you should to try and solve their endgame studies. In Study #500 I think I have found way to draw for Black, even though study is claimed win for White. Look for yourself and see if you can find. Later I will publish a hint for you. Then later again I will publish my line and you can leave comment if you think I am right.

Is it All about Calculation?

2006-08-25T14:51:00.000-07:00

An article by GM Rashid Ziatdinov has been brought to my attention. In his writing, he points out that generalities (like "pressure in the center") are completely useless in assessing a chess position and that only concrete variations matter. GM Ziatdinov is wrong.

Perhaps he is using hyperbole to make a point, because many amateurs immediately assess positions by their general features, and you must use concrete analysis to see the underlying potentials of a position. But at the end of your calculated variations, you have a variety of positions that you must evaluate and compare.

Does GM Ziatdinov carry out all calculations to checkmates or forced draws? Even from opening positions? Maybe he is much better player than am I, but I doubt he is doing this. At the end of all calculated variations lie positions that must be evaluated based on our chess principles.