Hello MyChessBlog.com readers,
It has been some time since I last posted anything about chess and it has more to do with my server than my love for chess. In 2011 I lost almost 100 old articles that I had posted on the site.
I tried to get backup but I could only get as far as 2009. I will be posting new article ASAP. Please add the site on your favorites and looking forward for a great 2014.
cheers
The game of chess calls for shrewd analytical skills of positions coupled with calculations to gain control over the game. It is essential that good positional play should be entwined with calculations of moves and deployment of effective tactics assessing the overall position in the board. Having good control over the board positionally will not guarantee you any success over the opponent as long as you do not entwine the tactics effectively to gain control over the board. It is in this context that one should strive to be a good allround player instead of concentrating either only on his tactical skills or in positional factors.
In the following example, you will notice that having good positions will not lead to success as one silly error caused without giving importance to the opponent’s pieces, and due to paucity of time, ended up in losing the game from the winning position.
This is the position after 27 moves. It is the turn of the white to move now.
White is a good player in positional chess and now, a cursory look at the board indicates that white has an extra pawn than black. The game proceeded as follows :
28. Rc1 h6
29. Rc8+ Kh7
30. Rc4 Qe5
31. Rf4 Qc4
White, using his skills on positional chess has been making satisfactory progress. The position after 31 moves is given hereunder:
Not only is the white rook at f4 supporting the pawn at f2, the queen in b3 is threatening the black pawns at e6 and f7 and blocking their movement.
32. Kh2 ….. Another good move from White in an attempt to develop his pawns with King’s assistance.
32. ….. Kg7
33. Rg4+ Kh7
34. Rf4 Kg7
35. Qb4 Qc2
36. Kg2 e5
37. Rg4+ ……. This is a […] Continue Reading…
Not next year, when it will be either Anand or Topalov! But how far later?
In one of the 4 myths (depending on what you believe) on the game of chess, I held the view that we have not yet reached the stage where we expect a machine (read computer) to become World Chess Champion, notwithstanding that one win of DeepBlue against Garry Kasparov in 1997. But I left a question mark against that conclusion as I was not sure how long this state of affairs would hold, seeing the speed of progress in computer technology. More powerful processors, larger memory chips, and sophisticated software to utilize the hardware advances are hitting the road every year.
This prompts me to take an inventory of relative strengths and weaknesses between man and his robotic creation and try to understand how they are placed against each other in respect of our area of interest – the game of chess.
To make such a comparison, we must select the parameters on which to base our study. I thought of the following – it will be great if you can suggest some more, with your analysis on those aspects of chess in lines similar to what I tried. Another point – men can make ten identical “Deep Blue” computers but no two human players are alike. So when comparing the relative strengths and weaknesses, I am considering only the best human chess players in the following comparisons.
Chess Strategy:
Simply put, chess strategy is a plan of action. As discussed in What is chess strategy? Isn’t a chess game all chess tactics?, a strategy may be formulated even before the start of a game and may continue well into the end game. Strategy encompasses not just the game but the players as well – we examined this […] Continue Reading…
In Chess Tactics: The King’s role in attack – part 1, you saw how one King, while apparently running away from opponent’s checks, was actually moving towards the enemy camp to assist his own pieces for trapping the opponent’s King. By the time the opponent realized what was happening, it was too late to do anything about it.
The three games we have chosen for this article is slightly different from the aforesaid theme. Here a King deliberately steps out of his castled position and marches towards the enemy King to provide support to his own attacking pieces. Of course this was possible because though opponent’s heavy pieces were still on board, the pawn positions severely restricted their free movement and the attacking King deftly maneuvered through the crowded position.
First game – position after 30 moves:
31
Kh2
Rc8
If Black could guess the intention behind the White King’s move, he could try 31. … Bc8. We would have missed the interesting ending, but White could have still won the game by:31. … Bc8 32. Ng5 Bxd7 33. Rf4. For example: 33. … Bc8 34. Nxf7 (threatening 35. Qxg6#) Rxf7 35. Qxf7+ Kh8 36. Qxg6 Qd7 37. Qxh5+ Qh7 (37. … Kg8 38. Rg4+ Kf8 39. Qh8+ Ke7 40. Qf6#) 38. Qxe8+ and Black has to give up his Queen to avoid checkmate.
32.
Kg3
Rce8
Black is so short of option that he just keeps moving his pieces without much purpose!
33.
Kg4
Bc8
34.
Kg5
Resigns
34. … Bxd7 35. Kh6 any 36. Qg7# 34. … Kh7 35. Rxf7+ Rxf7 36. Qxf7+ Kh8 37. Kh6 with mate in two moves.
Position after 34. Kg5:
Second game – position after 33 moves:
34
f4
Ra2+
1…Rxd4 2. f5 exf5 3 e6 Re4+ 4 Nxe4 fxe4 (4…Bb3 5. Ke3) 5 Rc7, threatening Rxc6
35.
Kf3
Ra3+
36.
Kg4
Rd3
37.
f5
Rxd4
38.
Kg5
exf5
39.
Kf6
Rg4
40.
Rc7
Rh4
41.
Nf7+
Resigns
41. … Ke8 42. Rc8+ Kd7 43. Rd8#
Position after 41. Nf7+:
Third game – position after 28 moves:
29
Kf2
h6
30.
Ke1
Re6
31.
Qg3
Be8
32.
Kd2
g5
33.
Kc3
Kf8
34.
Kb4
Bf7
35.
Ka5
Kg7
36.
Kb6
Kf8
37.
Kc7
Kg7
38.
Kd7
Kf8
39.
Qf2
Rg6
40.
Qf5
h5
41.
g3
Resigns
Black is […] Continue Reading…
