Thursday, May 18, 2006

Step 1: Analyse. Step 2: A Wrong Move. Step 3: Lose

I played a game on ChessWorld recently, part of a King's Gambit knockout tournament. It was a really great game, and I spent more time than usual analysing the position, but ended up with a loss.

The game went as follows up until the image shown:

1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 Bc5 4.d4 Bb6 5.Bc4 Nf6 6.Nc3 O-O 7.Bxf4 Re8 8.e5 d6 9.Qd2 Ba5 10.O-O-O Ne4 11.Qe3 Nxc3 12.bxc3 d5 13.Bb3 Nd7 14.h4 Nb6 15.h5 Bg4 16.h6 g6 17.Bg3 Qd7 18.Rdf1 Be6 19.Bh4 Nc4 20.Qg5 f5 21.exf6 Bxc3 22.Bxc4 dxc4 23.Ne5 Qxd4 24.f7+ Bxf7 25.Qf6


Previous to playing 25. Qf6, I spent almost an hour looking at the possibilities, and I came to the conclusion that my King could survive any attack long enough to escape, and I'd get the mate.

Also, I wasn't afraid of 25. ... Qxe5 because 26. Qxf7+ Kh8 27. Bf6+ wins the Queen. 25. ...Rxe5 leads to a quick mate.

However, there was one move which I didn't think about until too late, but there was really nothing I could do about it. It simplified the game down, which isn't what I wanted.

25. ... Qe3+ 26.Kb1 Qb6+ 27.Qxb6 axb6

So, the Queens trade, and black has a rook on the open 'a' file. Thinking I had a free piece and not considering my peril, I took the material and fell quickly.

28.Nxf7 Rxa2 0-1

Monday, May 15, 2006

Giant Chess

One thing I've seen a number of times but never had a chance to play is Giant Chess. They show up in malls every now and then, so you can watch people play from the second (or maybe third) floors. Would be interesting to play on a board of that size.


More pictures I found at Flickr

They're available for sale, but it might be a bit too big for casual or home use. How about a Mini Giant Chess set for your next company picnic?

Thursday, May 11, 2006

Mind or Matter?

I'm often curious about how a person's perception of their opponent can affect their own game. Even in my own experience, it can be intimidating to sit across a board with someone you know is really good. Sometimes I play worse, maybe just from being nervous.

Why, though, does the person themselves create these feelings? When you play online, it doesn't seem to be there, at least not as much. You can still be intimidated by their big rating, but somehow it's just not the same.

The thing is, the person themself, physically, has no direct effect on the game. There's a battle going on on the Chess board, but your opponent is unlikely to attack you, so there should be no intimidation. It's a mind battle. Could it be that because people think they can't win, that they cave in from the start and never really have a chance? Like a small kid on a playground who doesn't put up much of a fight against the big bully. And how much does a physical presence (especially an agressive one) affect the simple fear of playing a better player?

I have even found this with beginner players who play against me now and then. One of them told me they always lose confidence when playing me, expecting that I'll win no matter what.

I really think this is a problem, and it's something I'm working to overcome as well. A Chess player should play to the best of his or her ability regardless of who they're playing against. Maybe it's true that your opponent is a stronger player and will likely win, but play your best, learn a thing or two, and you'll be a better player for it (not to mention the game will be more interesting). And there's even a chance you can pull something off. Everyone makes mistakes, from time to time.

Saturday, May 06, 2006

Cell Phone Chess

Rogers has all kinds of games and programs to download, and since I got a new cell phone recently, I figured I'd try it out. $5 seemed like a good deal, so I downloaded the Chess program they have... "Medieval Knights".


For a five dollar program downloaded to a phone, it's not bad, but it poses little challenge to anyone but a beginner. Nonetheless, it's a good distraction on the way to work if I have nothing else to do.

If you're someone who's trying to learn Chess, it would be worth it just to get the experience of a few extra games here and there. It will definitely teach you when you make mistakes, because it takes advantage of them quickly, so there's some benefit there for sure.

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Three Lessons To Learn

Here is a game I played recently as White. There are three things in the game that are worth noting. Below is the move list with my annotation:

1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. h4 g4 5. Ng5

This is the King's Gambit Accepted: Allgaier gambit (C39). I've only tried this a few times so far but am really impressed with it and will likely continue to use it in the future. Lesson 1, be aggressive, and the King's Gambit is one way to do it.


5. ... f3 6. gxf3 h6 7. Nxf7 Kxf7

The Knight is basically trapped, and why not take the pawn and remove the King's ability to castle? Black is behind in development and the King won't be able to hide easily.


8. Bc4+ d5

At first I thought this was a blunder. After looking more closely, I see it is so the Bishop will protect the g4 pawn.

9. Bxd5+ Ke8


10. d4 g3

White takes control of the center, and black moves the pawn to a surprisingly secure (considering how over-extended it is) g3.

11. Qe2 Nc6 12. Be3 Bg7 13. Nd2 Nxd4 14. Qd3 Qf6 15. c3

We now reach the high point of the middle game where the next few steps lead to a quick end.


15. ... Nxf3

This wins a pawn... but...

16. Nxf3 Qxf3

It brings the Queen far into White's kingside. Just like my article a few days ago, this can seem aggressive, but it's dangerous and can backfire. Lesson 2 is to watch out for this kind of thing!

17. Rf1 Qg4


This is Lesson 3... Don't miss the Checkmate possibility!! At this point, Black has left a wide open opportunity for checkmate with Bf7+ (... Kf8, Qd8# or ... Ke7, Bc5#). I missed it and got it later anyway, but Black could have escaped.

18. Rf4 Qg3

Black really wanted to attack with the Queen, but she's a little weak on her own and it tends to leave the rest of the board open for attack.

19. Bf7+ 1-0

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Running A Chess Tournament At Work

I recently managed a Chess tournament at work, the first one I've done, and it was an interesting experience. I put out the word, and got a fairly decent response. The players were of all skill levels from fairly new to people who have played for years.

We set up a round robin, and the top four played elimination rounds of four games each. Overall, I think everyone had a good time, and those who really put a good effort into it showed a lot of improvement. I saw some players go from very weak to a level that I enjoy playing against.

There's a few problems when running a tournament though. The biggest one I found was to keep people committed to the tournament all the way through. Some people realized they had no chance of winning, and wanted to drop out. Other people thought it would be fun but lost interest quickly.

That being the case, I think it's important to do a few things:
  1. Have prizes, and an entry fee, even if small. Our first one was intended to be for fun and to gather interest in Chess, but having no reward may have contributed to the lack of interest. I'm thinking about doing a multi-level prize structure next time, where beginner players can have a lower entry fee, but only qualify for smaller prizes.
  2. Have a fair system in place so that if someone drops out, it doesn't vastly affect certain players. My suggestion for this is to have one big all-play-all round robin, or groups of at least 8 to 10. That way, if someone drops out, it doesn't affect 1/3 of someone else's games.
  3. Don't have elimination rounds. Stick with a round robin or swiss style tournament. When you start having to play four game matches, it can stretch things out for a long time.
I'd like to hear about workplace (or other similar setting) tournaments and how your experience was, and if you have any suggestions, so feel free to post a comment...
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