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< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 2 OF 10 ·
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| Feb-21-07 | | Benzol: <Jonathan> Meant to ask earlier, what ever happened to Wellington player Pat Kelly? See
P Kelly |
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Feb-21-07
 | | Jonathan Sarfati: <Benzol> Pat Kelly was before my time. He must have been strong though, because he tied for the North Island Champs in the early 80s after long inactivity IIRC. He had a lot of respect for Fenny. |
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Feb-25-07
| | Jonathan Sarfati: The Queensland Teams Champs started today. This is the brainchild of John Surridge, who thought of this tourney to revive the somewhat lax club scene here. This will go for 6 months, one Sunday round per month. I managed to beat the new star Moulthun Ly after being worse for most of the game. |
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Feb-26-07
| | Jonathan Sarfati: Sarfati,J - Ly,M [E45]
QLd Teams (1),
[J. Sarfati]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 b6 5.Nge2 Ba6 6.Ng3 Bb7 [6...Bxc3+ Portisch vs Fischer, 1966 7.a3 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 c5 9.f3 Qc7 10.e4 d6 11.Bd3 Nc6 12.Be3 0-0-0 Not a bad idea, taking some sting out of White's planned push of the d-f pawns. 13.0-0 h5 14.Rf2 Na5 15.Rc2 Rhg8 16.Bg5? Not only does this lose a pawn for nothing, it has no redeeming value. It doesn't stop ...h4, and Black would welcome Bxf6 opening the g-file. 16...cxd4 17.cxd4 Nb3 18.Rb1 Nxd4 19.Rcb2 h4 20.Nf1 [20.Bxh4? g5] 20...Rh8 21.h3 Rh5 22.Be3 Nc6 23.Nd2 Nd7 24.a4 Nc5 25.Bf1 Na5 26.Bd4 Bc6 27.Ra1 Qd7 28.Rba2 f5 [28...e5 29.Bc3 f5  Black is a pawn up, has more active pieces, and White will be unable to avoid an explosion on f3 or g2.] 29.exf5 Rxf5 30.Bc3 Rdf8 Nothing wrong with this. The doubled pawns are not in any danger, and White faces defeat in any endgame where his pawns on light squares are a target for Black's B. 31.Bxa5 bxa5 32.Nb3 Nxb3 33.Qxb3 Qb7 34.Qc3 Qb6+ 35.Kh2 Qc7 [35...Rg5 36.Rb2 Qc5 threatening a middlegame kill with ...Rxf3 and an easy endgame with Qe5+] 36.Rb2 Rg5 37.Rab1 Kd7?! Even this slightly fearful move should not have spoiled anything. 38.Qd4 d5+?! Here Black starts to go wrong, voluntarily loosening the protection around his K. 39.Kh1 Rf4 40.Qc5 Rgf5 [40...Qd6? 41.Rb7+  ] 41.cxd5 Rxd5 42.Qc3 Rdd4? [42...Rfd4 would still be OK, because White must watch his back rank. After the game move, the tide decisively turns in White's favour.] 43.Rc1 Now Black is in trouble, because his K lacks pawn cover. After all the shuffling on the a and b files, the Rs make use of the c file. 43...Qd6 44.Bb5! Removes the last small piece defender. An open king usually can't survive the fury of massed heavy pieces. Compare Schlechter vs Lasker, 1910 (another turnaround). 44...Bxb5 45.Rxb5 Rd1+ 46.Rxd1 Qxd1+ 47.Kh2 Qd6 48.Kg1! Up till a few moves ago, White would have accepted a draw offer with both hands. But now he spurns repetition with Kh1. [48.Qxg7+ Rf7+ 49.Qe5 with a winning endgame was also good, but I was unduly concerned with the discovered check.] 48...Rxa4 [48...Qd1+ 49.Kf2 Qd4+ 50.Qxd4+ Rxd4 51.Rxa5 then Rxa7 with a won R endgame.] 49.Qxg7+ Kd8 [49...Qe7 50.Rb7+;
49...Ke8 50.Rb8+ Qxb8 51.Qg8+]
50.Qg8+ Kc7 [50...Ke7 51.Rb7+ Kf6 52.Qg7+ Kf5 53.Rf7#] 51.Qb8+ Kd7 52.Rb7+ Kc6 53.Qc8+ ...Kd5 54.Rd7 wins the Q. 1-0 |
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| Mar-09-07 | | Caissanist: Let me add a few notes on the Fischer list. It was published not in Chess Life but in a short-lived magazine called Chess World. He had some interesting comments on each of the players, and the list with the comments can be found in several places on the net, here's one link: http://snow.prohosting.com/~batgrrl.... I have seen claims that he also did a revised list in 1970, but I've never seen that one. Fischer, especially when he was younger, tended to evaluate players purely on the quality of their play, and in particular on the quality relative to their opponents of the day. That would explain why Lasker wasn't on his list; Lasker was quite happy to play junk openings, so long as it was junk that his current opponent couldn't respond to effectively. When Fischer called Lasker as a "coffee house player" it was no doubt because, to him, playing this way meant you weren't being serious. |
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| Mar-12-07 | | Archives: <I have seen claims that he also did a revised list in 1970, but I've never seen that one.> Yes he made a revised list in the 70s sometime. It is not as well known but here it is... 1. Petrosian
2. Capablanca
3. Morphy
4. Reshevsky
5. Spassky
6. Botvinnik
7. Steinitz
8. Tal
9. Larsen
10. Gligoric |
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Mar-13-07
| | Jonathan Sarfati: Another interesting question is Karpov v Fischer 1975. When Kasparov was Karpov's bitter rival, he denounced him for never having won the title in a match. At the time, Spassky said that Kasparov was being silly, because although Spassky said he disliked Karpov as a person, he respected his chess "very much". Hardly surprising with Karpov's overwhelming plus score against Spassky. But now in Kasparov's set on his "great predecessors", he thinks Karpov would have been very tough for Fischer. Karpov had great talent, positional intuition and strong preparation. Fischer had been out of it for 3 years, and a number of his opening variations had holes. |
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Mar-23-07
| | Jonathan Sarfati: The following club game shows that declining the Marshall can sometimes be more dangerous than accepting Hisug,A - Sarfati,J [C89]
Logan Club Championship (4), 23.03.2007
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.d4 exd4 11.Nxd4 Nxd4 12.Qxd4 Bb7 13.Nd2 c5 [In an Asian Teams (New Delhi 1983) against IM Mahmood Lodhi of Pakistan, for some reason I played 13...Bf6 but this allows a subsequent Ne4 with tempo, and I got into trouble quickly. This was not one of my better tournaments, but in the last round I held GM Torre to a draw on Board 1, after he had blitzed 8/8.] 14.Qe5? [Qg4  ] Bd6 15.Qh5? Nf4 16.Qg4 Nxg2 17.Ne4 Nxe1 18.Bg5 Nf3+! 19.Qxf3 Bxe4! 0-1 because Black remains a R up. |
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Mar-26-07
| | Jonathan Sarfati: I had a tough endgame win in the QLD Teams Champs in the weekend http://members.optusnet.com.au/loga..., where a good knight overcame a bad bishop. |
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Apr-04-07
| | Jonathan Sarfati: Sarfati,J - Cashman,M [E87]
QLD Teams, 25.03.2007
[J. Sarfati]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 0-0 6.Be3 e5 7.d5 Nh5 8.Qd2 f5 9.0-0-0 f4 This seems to give White an easier game. It is unusual in that both players should try to attack on the side on which they are castled. See Kotov vs Szabo, 1953. 10.Bf2 Bf6 11.Nge2 a6 A bit time-wasting if Black doesn't attack there. 12.Kb1 Nd7 13.Nc1 Bh4 14.Bg1 b6 15.Bd3 Nc5 16.Bc2 Qe7 17.Nd3 [IM Solomon recommended 17.b4 as more in the spirit of this line, and meeting ...a5 with a3. I think he is right, but I was worried about missing the Rh1 if the Q-side was opened too quickly.] 17...Nxd3 18.Qxd3 Bd7 19.Ba4 Bxa4 20.Nxa4 Rfb8 quite good strategy, discouraging White from opening lines here. 21.Nc3 Nf6 22.Rc1 Nd7 23.Qe2 Qe8 24.Nd1 Nc5 25.Bxc5 bxc5 26.Rc3 Not only neutralizing Black's pressure on the half-open b-file, but hoping to swap into a good N v bad B endgame. 26...Rb4 27.Rb3 Rab8 28.Rxb4 Rxb4 29.Nc3 Kg7 30.Rc1 h6 31.Nd1 Qa4 32.Rc3 Qa5 33.a3 Rb6 34.Ka2 Qa4 35.Qc2 as per the favorable endgame 35...Qxc2 36.Rxc2 Kf7 37.Rc3 Ke7 38.Rb3 Kd7 [Despite what I was hoping for with the N v B, Black could have made his B as good as the N with 38...Be1 stopping White's next, and the game should be drawn] 39.Nc3 Be1 40.Na4 Now the Rs are swapped on favorable terms for White, because Black's pawn structure has separate islands. 40...Rxb3 41.Kxb3 Kc8 42.Kc2 Bf2 Eventually White could force b4 with b3, Nb2-d3. 43.b4 cxb4 44.axb4 Bg1 45.h3 Kb7 46.Kb3 Bd4 47.c5 Be3 48.cxd6 cxd6 49.Nb2 Bb6 50.Nc4 Bc7 51.Ka4 Bb8 Apparently Black touched this B by mistake allowing the N in. But in analysing with Solomon afterwards, it seems that Black is in a bad way anyway. But any errors in the following analysis are mine alone. [51...g5 52.b5 h5 (52...axb5+ 53.Kxb5 h5 54.Nb2 Bb6 55.Nd3 Bd4 56.Nb4! Bb6 57.Nc6 Bc7 58.Ne7 Bd8 59.Nf5 Bc7 60.Ng7 h4 61.Ne6) 53.b6! Bxb6 (53...Bb8 54.Ka5 and Black will soon be out of pawn moves) 54.Nxd6+ Kc7 55.Nf7 Bd4 56.Nxg5 Kd6 57.Ne6 Bb6 58.Kb4 Ke7 59.Nc5] 52.Na5+ Kb6 53.Nc6 Bc7 54.Ne7 g5 55.Nf5 h5 56.Ng7 g4 57.Nxh5 gxh3 58.gxh3 a5 59.Ng7 Good enough, although taking the pawn was quicker. White need not fear a run by the black K to the f-pawn, since his B could not prevent the coronations of both the a and h pawns. 59...axb4 60.Kxb4 Bd8 61.Nf5 Kc7 62.Kb5 Kd7 63.h4 Bf6 64.Kb6 Bd8+ 65.Kb7 Bf6 66.h5 If Black stands firm, White just plays his pawn to h7 then Nh4! - g6 winning the B. If Black's K rides to the rescue, the d-pawn would fall. 1-0 |
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Apr-10-07
 | | Sneaky: The thing about Darwin's writings that I could never figure out is this: WHY are there species at all? I can understand the idea of the infinite mutations making creatures change over time, but I don't see why there should be "dogs" and "wolves" and not 10,000 other instances of animals with various features of each? Ironically "Origin of the Species" fails to answer the question implicit in its title! (If you prefer to stick to chess on this site and not discuss evolution then I understand 100% and just ignore/delete my comment. Thanks.) |
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| Apr-10-07 | | dehanne: <The thing about Darwin's writings that I could never figure out is this: WHY are there species at all?>
Science can never answer questions starting with WHY, only questions starting with HOW. |
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Apr-11-07
| | Jonathan Sarfati: <sneaky>, speciation is reasonable, crossing kind boundaries is another. My book explains it (online http://www.creationontheweb.com/con...). Thanx for your courtesy. It would be better if this forum was mainly chess related. |
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Apr-11-07
| | Jonathan Sarfati: A couple of my recent QGD Exchange lines, illustrating its flexibility. Sarfati,J - Bennet,P [D35]
Logan Club Champs,
[J. Sarfati]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 0-0 8.Qc2 c6 9.Bd3 Re8 10.Nf3 Ne4 11.Bxe7 Qxe7 12.0-0 Nd7 13.Rab1 Ndf6 14.b4 a6 15.Na4 Ng4 16.Bxe4 Otherwise ...Nexf2 16...Qxe4?! Queens should be maintained. Without them, Black's K-side attacking chances are much less, while White's minority attack works just as well. 17.Qxe4 dxe4 18.Nd2 f5 19.Nc5 Nf6 20.Nc4 Rb8 21.Nb6 g5 22.Rfe1 Kf7 23.a4 Ke7 24.b5 axb5 25.axb5 Bd7 26.Rec1 cxb5 27.Ncxd7 Nxd7 28.Rc7 Red8 29.Rxb5 As is often true, the breakthrough on the Q-side threatens other parts of the board. 29...Ke6 30.Nxd7 Rxd7 31.Rcc5 f4 32.Re5+ Kf6 33.Rb6+ Kg7 34.Rxe4 Rc7 35.h3 Rc1+ 36.Kh2 Re1 37.Re7+ Kf8 38.Rh7 Kg8 39.Rhxh6 fxe3 40.fxe3 1-0 |
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Apr-11-07
| | Jonathan Sarfati: Sarfati,J - Sleight,A [D36]
March Madness, QLD (2), 17.03.2007
[J. Sarfati]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3 c6 7.Qc2 Nbd7 8.Bd3 0-0 9.Nf3 Re8 10.0-0 Nf8 11.h3 Karpov and Yermolinsky like this move. It restricts annoying moves like ...Bg4, and in some lines White may be able to hide his B on h2. 11...Nh5 12.Bxe7 Qxe7 13.Rfe1 A R opposite the Q should cramp Black's style a bit, hindering his own ...f5-f4 plan. 13...g6 Oh yeah, and open the centre if the time is right. 14.e4 dxe4 15.Bxe4 Ne6 [15...Be6 would still be met by 16.d5 with advantage, but not as big as the game. Black was worried about 16...cxd5 17.Nxd5 Qd8 but that would walk into the pin 18.Nc7 Rc8] 16.d5 cxd5 17.Nxd5 Qd8 18.Rad1 Bd7 19.Ne5 Nd4 A clever idea, except that unlike in draughts, White doesn't have to capture. 20.Qd2! Rxe5 21.Qxd4 Rxd5 desperation 22.Bxd5 Be6 23.Bxe6 easily winning, but Moulthun Ly pointed out the even easier [23.Rxe6 fxe6 24.Bxe6+] 23...Qxd4 24.Rxd4 fxe6 25.Rd7 Ng7 26.Rc1 Ne8 27.Rxb7 Rd8 28.Rxa7 1-0 |
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| Jun-14-07 | | Benzol: <Jonathan> Left a question for at the
Ortvin Sarapu thread. BTW Did you ever cross paths with either Graham Waldren or Grant Sidnam who were both NZ Junior Champions? |
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Jun-14-07
 | | Open Defence: I see you like the QGD exchange variation... I found that the pressure on the d pawn was not easily parried by most players i tried it on.. though my playing level is most certainly the patzer level.. most of my opponents ended up a pawn down at around move 14-15 sorry about chiming in like this .. but most of whom know me on this site know that i chime in with a post or two... |
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Jun-21-07
| | Jonathan Sarfati: <Open Defence> Yes, I do. I started a thread on the QGD exchange on the Australian Chess Chat http://chesschat.org/showthread.php... |
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Jun-21-07
| | Jonathan Sarfati: <Benzol> I definitely knew Grant Sidnam, and we played in some of the same tourneus. I don't think we played each other in a tournament game though, although we certainly played blitz. Good guy. Graham Waldren rings a bell, but only the name. I can't remember much about him. |
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| Jul-27-07 | | Benzol: <Jonathan>
Finally!
J Sarfati vs A McIntosh, 1985
T van Dijk vs J Sarfati, 1985
B Martin vs J Sarfati, 1985
J Sarfati vs A J Love, 1985
The game against Robert Wansink doesn't appear to have uploaded correctly. I'll see what we can do about that later. |
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Jul-28-07
| | Jonathan Sarfati: Thanx <Benzol>! |
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| Jul-30-07 | | Benzol: <Jonathan> Thanks to <nescio> and <chessgames> we now have R Wansink vs J Sarfati, 1985 |
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Aug-01-07
| | Jonathan Sarfati: Thanx <Benzol>, you've done a very good job of finding these. |
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| Oct-31-07 | | Benzol: <Jonathan> I wonder if you could shed some light on the withdrawls of Lembit Oll from the Netway Masters Tt in 1992 and Robert Huebner from the Plaza Int Tt in 1988 as you participated in both events. Huebner only played in one round and Oll after coming all the way to NZ didn't play at all. If I remember correctly Ian Rogers had to cut short his annual holiday to fill the void left by Oll's departure. What actually happened in these events?
Thanks in advance. |
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| Nov-01-07 | | whiteshark: <Benzol>
Murray Chandler wrote laconically on the edge of the bulletin: <Hubner withdrew ill after the first round.>
Some more details:
I Rogers vs Huebner, 1988 |
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