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Jul-20-08
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| Phony Benoni: <playgrulnd player> I doubt anyone was ingoring your question because of your political beliefs. There is so much traffic on this site in so many areas that individual postings quickly get buried. I'd say that 95% of my posts are totally ignored. I like to think this is because they are so deep and witty that they end all discussion since nobody can think of an appropriate response. That is probably not correct. As for the French--if you learn anything good, let me know. In the past, I've even taken the desperate step of not playing 1.e4. But I think I'd mistrust Steinitz's 2.e5. The resulting pawn position resembles those of the Burn/Rubinstein lines with an early ...dxe4, but Black has gained in development. The bishop looks good on d6, where it controls e5. Compare 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d3 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4 5.Nxe4. Black would not want to play 5...Bd6 here, both because of the pin and the possibility of 6.Nxd6+. Thing is, White would have trouble reaching such a position with the Steinitz move order: 1.e4 e6 2.e5 d5 3.exd6 Bxd6 4.d4 Nf6 5.Bg5 0-0 6.Nc3 Nbd7 7.Ne4 would do it, but Black would be three developing moves ahead of the usual line. He could even waste a move with 7...Be7 and still be two moves ahead. But go ahead and try it if you want. I could be wrong. After all, I did vote for Nixon in 1972, and have kept quiet about politics ever since. |
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Jul-20-08
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| Open Defence: < playground player > greetings, I would go for 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3
and if 3...Nf6 4.e5
if 3...Bb4 you could go with <Micartouse's> suggestion though very few seem to play the Winawer these days (I am proud to be among them though) there are times I play the exchange variation 3.exd5 as White, though Black equalizes fairly easily it can lead to a nice game for both sides and is not to be taken lightly at all, and much more solid than 2.e5 depending on your opponent in the exchange variation you could get opposite side castling which can lead to a lively game and if you do get a symmetrical position you can still test your opponents end game technique the advantage of 3.exd5 ? unless Black varies on move 2-3 you force the variation of play |
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Jul-20-08
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| Open Defence: a sample line
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bd3 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Bg5 Bg4 8. Re1 Nbd7 9. Nbd2 Re8 10. c3 h6 11. Bh4 Nh5 12. Bxe7 Rxe7 13. Qb3 Nf4 14. Rxe7 Qxe7 15. Re1 Qd8 and White has some advantage that is just a sample line of course and both sides have many options, Black usually will equalize but that does not mean either side does not have winning chances, it is all down to the enthusiasm and fighting spirit of the two players involved, hope this helps good luck with the games! |
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Jul-21-08
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| playground player: <Open Defense>, <Phony Benoni>--Thank you for your thoughts on playing against the French Defense. I'll print the page and play out those lines tonight, and see what they look like on the board. (I still have trouble thinking chess in two dimensions! Must be getting old.) I did get two decent games out of the Steinitz, but that's not much of a sample, is it? |
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Aug-12-08
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| ganstaman: If you're still looking to defeat the French, I have 2 suggestions. First, Nimzo was a genius with the opening with black or white. And he even annotated some of those games. I'd look them up and play through them as they give you some great ideas for what's important in typical French positions (such as his love for overprotecting e5 -- seriously, this works!). Second, I think the Advance variation is good. It immediately cuts down on a lot of the theory as you are the one choosing the variation played (after 3. Nc3, for example, black still has several choices). The idea isn't necessarily to hold onto the pawn there, but instead to prepare to take over that important e5-square. Oh, fine, I have a third thing to suggest. Play the French as black. Then you'll know what white keeps doing to annoy black. |
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Aug-31-08
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| playground player: I find that in doing the daily puzzles, and participating in CG's consultation games, I just can't see half a dozen moves ahead--or more!--like so many others can. How does one acquire that skill? |
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Aug-31-08
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| Red October: might I suggest the following ?
start with short combinations 2-3 moves
maybe set up the position on a board (live board not an on screen one) and actually move the pieces so that the moves are present before you visually |
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Aug-31-08
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| Red October: of course when I began to play there were no computers, (maybe only in the US and at banks and NASA) so I'm used to the wooden board and pieces, still find it difficult to use an on screen board, when I set up the position in front of me it becomes much easier for me to analyse |
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Sep-09-08
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| micartouse: This well known game by Alekhine uses something like an Orangutan: Alekhine vs J Drewitt, 1923
It seems like an easy way to develop. Everything is like a classic Queen's Gambit except the pawns are on a3 and b4 instead of a2 and b3. He then uses this to get queenside space along with standard Queen's Gambit kingside attacking potential. This would only work if your opponent played 1. b4 d5. However, you could try 1. Nf3 and follow it with 2. b4 and just toy around with it; I've used this before for casual play. One thing I don't understand about Orangutanish openings is how to handle an early ... a5 thrust. That seems problematic. |
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Sep-11-08
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| playground player: <micartouse> According to the book I bought, Black's early a5 thrust (often as early as the first move) is best answered by 2.b5. I'll try to find a game in the database illustrating this. |
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| Oct-01-08 |
| klangenfarben: <<playground player>: I find that in doing the daily puzzles, and participating in CG's consultation games, I just can't see half a dozen moves ahead--or more!--like so many others can. How does one acquire that skill?>
The gold standard is Alexander Kotov's Think Like A Grandmaster, Chapter 1 - Analysis of Variations. The rest of the book is topflight as well. |
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Feb-10-09
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| percyblakeney: <Any other Polish Opening players out there in the CG community?> Not me, but I noticed that a 14-year-old Mongolian girl plays the Polish with good results. 2300 performance in the Olympiad isn't bad for a below 2000 player, and she has played the opening against 500 points higher rated opposition (missing a win against Pogonina): http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... |
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Mar-20-09
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| hms123: <playground player> The best way to type the game is without commas and question marks. They make it hard to paste it into a PGN reader or computer engine. Here it is for your convenience: [Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2009.03.20"]
[Round "?"]
[White "playground player"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A00"]
[Annotator "?"]
[PlyCount "105"]
[TimeControl "?"]
1. b4 e5 2. Bb2 e4 3. e3 Nf6 4. a3 c5 5.bxc5 Bxc5 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. Nc3 Qf5 8. Bc4 O-O 9. Nge2 Nc6 10. Ng3 Qe5 11. Bd5 Ne7 12. Bxe4 f5 13. d4 Qe6 14. dxc5 fxe4 15. Ncxe4 b6 16. O-O h6 17. cxb6 axb6 18. Qd6 Bb7 19. Qxe6+ dxe6 20. Nd6 Bc6 21. e4 Ng6 22. f3 Ba4 23. Nc4 Rab8 24.Rfb1 b5 25. Na5 Bxc2 26. Rc1 Ba4 27. Nc6 Rb6 28. Nb4 Ne5 29. Rc5 Nc4 30. Rc6 Rd8 31. Rxb6 Nxb6 32. Ne2 e5 33. Nc3 Nc4 34. Nxa4 bxa4 35. Nd5 Rb8 36. Nc3 Ra8
37. Nb5 Rb8 38. Rb1 g5 39. Rb4 Rb6 40. Rxc4 Rxb5 41. Rxa4 h5 42. Rb4 Ra5 43. a4 g4 44. Kf2 Kg7 45. fxg4 hxg4 46. Kg3 Ra6 47. Kxg4 Rg6+ 48. Kf3 Kh6 49. a5 Kh5 50. Ra4 Kh4 51. a6 Rg8 52. a7 Ra8 53. Ra5 1-0 I will be back soon with some thoughts. Congratulations on the win. |
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Mar-20-09
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| hms123: <playground player> Some quick thoughts:
1. <38.Rc1> is better than <38.Rb1> (rooks should be active) 2. <39.Rb4> was a mistake. Again <39.Rc1> is better. 3. After <39.Rb4> Black should have played <39...Nxa3> and you lose the knight.
click for larger view4. I think he should have resigned after <47.Kxg4> if not earlier. 5. The opening was off-beat so I will need to look at that part more closely before commenting. |
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Jul-17-09
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| playground player: As part of my campaign for the Polish Opening, I offer this game I played on the Internet last year. My opponent had twice as many wins as I did, a higher winning percentage, and a much higher (Pogo) rating. I made a few errors in this game, but I think the outcome shows that you can survive a few mistakes while playing 1.b4. So,here it is: 1.b4 Nf6 2.Bb2 e6 3.b5 b6 4.e3 d5 5.Be5 Nd7 6.Nf3 Bb7 7.d4 c5 8.c3 c4 9.Be2 Nfe4 10.O-O Ndf6 11.Nbd2 Nexc3 12.Qe1 Ncxb5 13.a4 Nbc7 14.Ndb1 Be7 15.Nbc3 a6 16.Qb1 b5 17.Bxc7 Qxc7 18.axb5 axb5 19.Qxb5+ Qc6 20.Rxa8+ Bxa8 21.Qb8+ Bd8 22.Nfe5 Qb7 23.Rb1 Qxb8 24.Rxb8 O-O 25.Rxa8 Be7 26.Rxf8+ Bxf8 27.h3 Bb4 28.Nb5 c3 29.Bd3 g6 30.Nc6 Bf8 31.Nxc3 1-0 He had me going, moves 11-13, but somehow he lost his momentum and I gained the initiative. A piece down, once he lost his lone passed pawn, he resigned. Comments, analysis? I'd appreciate some. |
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Jul-17-09
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| Phony Benoni: Most chess moves have both good news and bad news. The bad news was that you lost two pawns. The good news was that you got an open b-file. You used your advantage better than he did his. I don't like 4...d5, especially after Black has annoounced a queenside fianchetto. 4...d6, holding the e5 square, seems a better answer to White's set-up. I don't know about 5.Be5. I assume you didn't want to block your bishop after playing d4. But Black is going to have to play ...c5 or ...e5 anyway to free his game, which will clear the pawn out of the way. So maybe e5 should have been saved for a knight, as usual, though the bishop move worked out in the game. Losing the pawns can be passed over in silence. These things happen. Black's troubles really begin with 15...a6. His plan should have been to castle, get his pieces behind the a+b pawns, and start pushing you off the board. I suppose he was afraid of 16.Nb5, but after 15...0-0 16.Nb5 Nxb5 17.axb5 a6, Black takes care of that weakness and his worst piece is off the board. Beisdes being timid, 15...a6 lost a pawn and increased White's Cheapo Potential. (That's a term from my old days; it means the ability to make trouble.) Again, Black should have just castled, but he kept sinking. 19...Nd7 was probably a better interposition, and either 22...Qa6 or 23...Qa6 might enable Black to consolidate. After that Black was evidently demoralized. He never should have pushed the c-pawn. Even in the final position resistance is justified, as White still has to come up with a plan. As for your question of when to resign: well, I don't get won positions enough to complain about having them. I'm just as happy to enjoy them as long as possible. Personally, I resign when the fun goes out of the game for me, and often earlier than most people would. But I don't mind an opponent who is still fighting and trying their best, even against hopeless odds. The ones who gall me are the ones who have obviously given up, but are playing out the string "on principle". Especially when they take a long time doing it. |
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Jul-20-09
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| hms123: <playground player> First, I agree with <PB's> comments on the game. Second, I don't know anything about this opening, but <5.Be5> has to be wrong in principle. Why move the Bishop twice so as to get to a square where Black can exchange a Knight for it? Fortunately, your opponent didn't see any reason to do so, but still... I think I would have tried <5.f4> instead. Third, <8.c3> seems wrong as well. You are moving too many pawns and not enough pieces. Having said that I think that <8.bxc6 e.p., Bxc6 9.Bd3> is better. It develops the Bishop and gets you ready to castle. Fourth, <11.Qc2> would have kept you from getting so tangled up. Fifth, <20. Ra8+> was very good. It set up your next few moves. Nonetheless, you should think about different move orders; e.g., in this case, exchanging the queens before playing <Rb1> would have worked better. Your opponent did you a favor by exchanging queens and allowing you to get your rook to <b8>, but you could have played <23.Qxb7 Bxb7 24.Rb1 and 25.Rb8>. Instead you gave him a chance to play <23....Qa6> and keep his queen on the board. You finished strong though. Overall, It seems to me that you have improved since the last time I looked at one of your games. You can play off-beat openings all you want, but you still need to think about getting your pieces out and getting castled before opening up the center. I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions about any of it. Thanks for letting me see your game. |
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Jul-27-09
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| LIFE Master AJ: Hi. Just thought I would pop over and say "hello." How are you? I also wanted to (publicly) thank you for your kind posts after the death of my wife. It was nice to hear good/positive words. I appreciate it it greatly. - aj |
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Jul-30-09
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| LIFE Master AJ: I answered your e-mail. Please be sure to let me know when your book comes out. I still hope to publish a chess book one day.
About 12 years ago, I was working on a book, we already had an agreement to have it published. Then a (former) student posted the whole document online as a download (on several different servers) and the publisher lost interest in the document. (Reason: It was already available - FOR FREE - online, and had lost its commercial value.) |
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Aug-19-09
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| playground player: Hey, everybody--I've been asked to tell you about a Chess960 tournament now being offered on Chessfordollars.com. There is no entrance fee, and proceeds from the tournament go to charity. You can check it out on their website, chessfordollars.com . It's their first Chess 960 tournament, and they're looking for players. |
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Sep-09-09
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| playground player: Here's a little fun I had in a correspondence game on chessfordollars.com, just concluded the other day. I'm White: 1.e4, e5 2.Nf3, Nc5 3.Bc4, Nf6 4.Ng5,d5 5.exd5, Nxd5 6.Nxf7,Kxf7 7.Qf3+, Ke6 8.Nc3, Nd4 9.Bxd5+, Kd6 10.Qf7,Nxc2+ 11.Kd1, Nxa1 12.Ne4# The old Fried Liver Attack! I wonder why more people don't just play 5...Na5 and stop it in its tracks. I was especially proud of 10.Qf7, although, to speak frankly, 8...Nd4 and 10...Nxc2+ were gifts. Black never saw it coming. |
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Sep-09-09
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| Phony Benoni: 5...Na5 requires a certain level of sophistication to be aware of, let alone play correctly. NNs of my acquaintance tend to avoid the whole mess with 3...h6, which I have dubbed the <Chicken Liver>. May I gloat with you? This game was played in the 1986 US Open soon after I had lost to GM Larry Christiansen and IM VVictor Frias. Not much, but it felt good to have a serving of Fried Elephant: David Moody (1958) - N.N. (1736)
<1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nxe5 dxe4 4.d4 Nf6 5.Bc4 Nd5>>
click for larger view
At the time, there was a cheap pamphlet on the Elephant Gambit floating around that actually reommended 5...Nd5. White quickly cooks up trouble. <6.Nxf7 Kxf7 7.Qh5+ Ke6 8.Qe5+ Kf7 9.Bxd5+ Kg6 10.Bxe4+ Kf7 11.Bd5+ Kg6 12.Qg3+> 1-0 THere may be a mate in two there. I can't remember. |
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| Sep-15-09 |
| Riverbeast: <playground player> Sorry it took me so long to respond....I just saw your post of last December from the game Fleissig-Schlechter (the Polish opening), asking if I could share some games with 1.b4 If you liblist 'Rbeast' on ICC, you'll see quite a few! |
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Sep-20-09
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| playground player: My chess dream is to see one of my games--just one!--entered into the CG.com database. Rather difficult to do, since I only play on the Internet and have no street cred in formal chess. So I dream on. Here's one I finished yesterday. My opponent was on a 12-game winning streak and he threw the Scotch Game at me. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Be3 Qf6 6.c3 d6 7.Bb5 Bd7 8.Nxc6 Bxe3 9.fxe3 Qh4+ 10.g3 Qxe4 11.Rf1 bxc6 12.Qb3 Nf6 13.Be2 Qxe3 14.Nd2 O-O 15.Rf3 Qg1+ 16.Nf1 Rfe8 17.Qc2 Bg4 18.Rf2 Bxe2 19.Rxe2 Rxe2+ 20.Kxe2 Re8+ 21.Kd3 Qc5 22.b4 Qd5# True, White walked into that checkmate; but I would've had him pretty soon, anyhow. His King was on the run, and his surviving pieces were in no position to defend him. |
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Sep-20-09
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| tpstar: <playground player> The surest way to enter the database is to play any GM in a simul, then upload that game for posterity. Note that you will be Black, and you will likely lose. :-) Another method is to play a quality tournament game or an Internet correspondence game against someone with a decent rating (say >1800) and ask the Administrators to accept it under their "interesting game" clause, which they usually do. Otherwise there will be a Sandbox here someday to store any of our personal games for our own personal use. The drawback to publishing your games is that you must reveal your identity, which is no big deal for the core group. I could have sworn I made a post about off-topic political and religious discussion in your chessforum before. Perhaps it was removed for being off-topic. =) |
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