tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30537605874430512902024-02-19T07:42:14.371-08:00On The Road To Chess EnjoymentAn account of my chess and life's travails.Kubiyakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13366910396431193094noreply@blogger.comBlogger70125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053760587443051290.post-90401007582553486682014-07-28T17:48:00.001-07:002014-07-28T18:52:33.709-07:00Manhattan Open 2014I scored 2/5 at the Manhattan Open 2014 edition at the Wyndham New Yorker Hotel. The highlight of the tournament was my miracle draw vs IM Jay Bonin in the first round. My score vs Jay is nothing to write home about to say the least. My only other memorable game was a gift draw vs the IM when I was about a 1500 player. ( He offered that draw to claim clear first. ) After the game, Jay was kind enough to sign my score sheet:
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The game itself was quite interesting as I more or less gambitted the opening and was almost checkmated before move 20. The rest of the game was mostly about holding on for dear life and hoping for some defensive chances.
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The tournament of course would not be complete without some opportunities for further study and improvement. Plenty of that was provided by my last round game vs Janak Awatramani. Thanks for the lesson kid. Now I gotta make heads or tails of it.
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Kubiyakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13366910396431193094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053760587443051290.post-71286958026858603942014-03-20T19:00:00.000-07:002014-03-20T19:05:25.303-07:00My Take on Malaysian Airlines Flight 370I have been riveted to CNN for the past two weeks trying to get every scrap of news on the missing Malaysian Airlines flight. This type of thing brings out the Sherlock Holmes in me and I've been developing my own theory of what may have happened.
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As search after search for the missing flight turns up fruitless, I'm won over to the idea more and more that Malaysian Airlines flight 370 did not crash. Given that planes don't crash very often and that there's no shred of evidence that the plane crashed at all, I believe I'm justified in suggesting that the aircraft landed somewhere absent evidence to the contrary.
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If the above is the case, then where did the plane land? It is unlikely to have landed very far from Malaysia. A Boeing 777 in Malaysian Airlines livery would be quite conspicuous outside Malaysia, but would not be out of place at all at any of Malaysia's larger airports. There's no better place to hide a Boeing 777 in Malaysian Airlines colors than in Kuala Lumpur's airport, or in one of Malaysia's other larger airports which regularly receives larger Malaysian Airlines aircraft.
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How could the plane get there undetected? One possibility is that after MH370 dodged out of radar range, the pilot(s) switch the transponder to the transponder code of some special non-scheduled flight and then landed back at one of Malaysia's airports.
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Why? Possibly to discredit the current government of Malaysia.
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Where are the passengers? Ok, I admit this is the hard part. I don't have a good scenario other than that the passengers are in some way complicit in this plan. Finding the plane itself is the key to the mystery and some effort must be expended to verify that the plane in question is not in fact sitting on the tarmac or in a hangar somewhere in a Malaysian airport.
Kubiyakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13366910396431193094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053760587443051290.post-15036072777157145592014-02-22T19:38:00.000-08:002014-02-22T23:05:35.330-08:00Rook EndgamesToday I'm the proud owner of a loss from a "dead drawn" Rook+3 vs Rook+2 with all pawns on one side endgame. As I don't want to be such an owner again, I have decided to investigate the details of drawing this endgame all the way down to the possible Rook+1 vs Rook positions. Actually I think I played the position correctly for quite a while but that's clearly not good enough. So here's the theory:
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Quite amazingly I lost as White in this position.
<img src = "http://www.chessvideos.tv/bimg/vyxas8cvuzq.png">
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This just goes to show that chess is not easy. It's hard to get a sense of how to continue this type of position for 20 moves or more from grandmaster games because ( except for Carlsen! ) GMs generally take a draw here.
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I'm going to play this out vs a computer until I can convincingly hold the draw here as practice. I will post the result when I have it.
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Now here's how I should have played that:
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While I'm on the topic I'm going to investigate some of the key drawing ( and winning ) ideas in the Rook+1 vs Rook ending as well. As GM Melik Khatchiyan points out in his excellent rook endgame video set on chess.com, it's not enough to know the theory in these positions. It is important to actually play out the positions to get practice vs a computer or a training partner.
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This position happened during the game. I don't have all the moves to the ending but I found myself in this marginal situation after trying to play too actively. This is clearly the wrong strategy in an inferior rook ending of this type. As it turns out, this position is still a draw with correct play. I almost worked out the key idea but not quite and I lost.
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Here are some interesting theoretical rook and pawn positions with some typical lines
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<iframe height='673' width='426' frameborder='0' scrolling='no' marginheight='0' marginwidth='0' src='http://pgn4web-board.casaschi.net/?am=l&d=3000&ss=26&ps=d&pf=d&lcs=XItn&dcs=NpQK&bbcs=NpQK&hm=s&hcs=MWVi&bd=c&cbcs=__iz&ctcs=NpQK&hd=c&md=f&tm=13&fhcs=k03b&fhs=14&fmcs=k03b&fccs=DRYC&hmcs=__X$&fms=14&fcs=m&cd=i&bcs=____&fp=13&hl=f&fh=673&fw=426&pe=875$zutHh02LXe2L0Tt$e2LEG8s7_mUlvgBN2MBN0ilhOEnp0dcHm52ycHmBcC5OyoMHZ9qbWx5Deftwh21BHA_e0G3vmuKvWXnjQzvHKj2D4SWTd4cnHaZ2XX5uL5uLzZZ6Ptw_ouHKfPmDOOTbCXZ23avg6XX5HhaufeKxTz2XbF_ycATpM7uwwXSNaP2XcoVdEB_fZ8VyLokdae3yeAY19ZwKX_2l2u9L5kyP836X2WTJ7_03fuP5$$6u4uDaZ$HKj2DIY$ZZaxf5uMUG7zlZwWWarlt85SSw_5QU7IY4CxfN3vRg7uzqZutH5ZkwDAwZfxHlt82WWTdyNJTHXheUTcnzc_2Yj36Y1$sRk6u5vW1$$0SS0TtvKTeOLo_5mOXyZeeT_CvQxf5uLKkXQzhauggTA$Ve2_MtxOM7_CvQxf60AjTYpeggXKD5YA$ZZ6M4qgIthaugVbKj2DZhyno_qNI1fzZZ6Plt86XX5Hh$TbFB12Zy_fsw$$$WUN5$WINdZ9_gv4RZfsy$dW9yKC7_P6nL1Tyzm8rvKTeOM72x4V$RNtvb_waUY$lmF0PlZxCNICSRjlt86IASAp3w_BN_OTzu8goTzc_2Yl0Z5HY2mQCDHXh6SSLs6AsL60AjT6WM4ni24M4nHXh9etkDf36Y6Zy$$$WWCV_Vc$J8FdZQZyvdWQ6udfmXoE0_g_Dn1TyCVazJgv01DJ8N_Vc$JhryFgKP4_0ulvb_xOLo_46xj2DHYVP0CXaQu4SvRmBHxf5hxOM7_CvQxfZZZ2DtYJ5x3kwKATK3S4KDYNeAn6SMrh3$v_DT1TyzsXp1_yc7eV4BuX0'>your web browser and/or your host do not support iframes as required to display the chessboard</iframe>
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Kubiyakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13366910396431193094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053760587443051290.post-29425387449491696222014-02-13T18:14:00.001-08:002014-02-13T18:26:51.634-08:00Botvinnik Semi-Slav: The Real McCoy<a href="http://youtu.be/NcsviIYxZvg">Claus Jensen covers Nakamura-Smeets Wijk Aan Zee 2011</a>
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<a href="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1140686">Kasparov-Tal 1983. Absolute tactical madness. Excellent historical context in the comments</a>Kubiyakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13366910396431193094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053760587443051290.post-85298463997145240002014-02-11T05:12:00.000-08:002014-02-14T02:41:32.438-08:00Central Pawns as Compensation for MaterialSometimes pawn(s) are not needed as additional compensation for the positional justification of an exchange sacrifice apparently.
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/KkMuvsZYDvA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>Anand-Hao Wijk Aan Zee 2011</iframe>Kubiyakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13366910396431193094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053760587443051290.post-56773695145593068272014-02-08T09:48:00.001-08:002014-02-09T06:11:12.175-08:00English Opening Mikenas LineI don't usually play into this line preferring to transpose to QGD lines. My main interest is in the pawn sacrifice that White often employs in these lines. Obtaining, maintaining and then extending compensation for a pawn is one of my joys within the joy that chess is to me.
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<a href="http://youtu.be/azEIDf1YhiQ">Aronian-Kramnik 2011</a>
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<a href="http://new.livestream.com/chesslivestream/events/2742260">GM Li Chao Analysis</a>Kubiyakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13366910396431193094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053760587443051290.post-24923418773242648552014-01-28T21:01:00.002-08:002014-01-28T21:04:27.941-08:00Grandmaster vs MasterRound 1 of the Gibraltar tournament 2014 produced a few semi-miniatures when world class 2700+ GMs faced off vs some masters who would probably give me a tough game any day. I was particularly drawn to the King's Indian line played out between Tomashevsky and his opponent.
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Note to self: Don't push ...f5 unless the resulting open g file is to my own advantage.
Kubiyakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13366910396431193094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053760587443051290.post-14910061828343215842014-01-27T22:05:00.003-08:002014-01-27T22:09:20.757-08:00Slav Defense w/ Qc2I watched 2 computers battle it out in a slav on ICC.
About as perfect as play can get:
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<iframe height='673' width='426' frameborder='0' scrolling='no' marginheight='0' marginwidth='0' src='http://pgn4web-board.casaschi.net/?am=l&d=3000&ss=26&ps=d&pf=d&lcs=XItn&dcs=NpQK&bbcs=NpQK&hm=s&hcs=MWVi&bd=c&cbcs=__iz&ctcs=NpQK&hd=c&md=f&tm=13&fhcs=k03b&fhs=14&fmcs=k03b&fccs=DRYC&hmcs=__X$&fms=14&fcs=m&cd=i&bcs=____&fp=13&hl=f&fh=673&fw=426&pe=1222$zlax9RvgumQY0IfD9pNln5Hh04XGnyUjADKCxeSXmRhYDjQzyWQxf81wH$jb02vEG8sZmFWvgTjQzKUTcnz1OKM2OSwXexewilh1NYfdvlrk7_HXgZ5X9pNmheQZkD3oHvXoHvjQzxZEgXgZKNI$HYTu3yqWL_kwDKfZ7S8ncncXF9pNmXX5HfIAY$zd2J1BHz4AVvrlNZvh0N51BHzJqzk29EL8Se6PoBmxT_V5$5hn9pNgpZmf7ZbnjQzwvQ74BoX0fLEG86Tbexf8gf_UB2_Hn4co7_0wXhZZkHZZNvfUgiXD9pNlsa2f8XFQBLrPFZqcRWsJSqIRWoMHTRrqdcGQVYtKmGQUIPn8RT7qH2ZaCfWcDefE0wila2$SxcVw$9nxC7n$o8z28ry$6p7vC7P$8ejqGi3r$WlB7EF1vqGij2cq9wL4dfQlC76$5pRxdIdfof2I3fVQN25$ci30cn_fo$$IDwRBDbL05f4Wz5L2O71GI6V2p$bAmp7m6AP5T$7x71pQ0xvayNV6jIfoL6jF5wRI3fnr2Ip7wez7j0rzpazNDfn$SIgij7f0UztU15$po6jFdfy$dZDpdP9w5v8byGk67gL$RVnyGiz790rzx0IVw2v0IXwaj76$io$kh7wxvaFzg4Nizbb$B75PAN570rgz8k8x5b$AjB7iQ2b$Wgzm39wBv2qEx3XfOv6HgQ8N54$WIz2epwyvdEByI9dfLr1Tx75thU54$s7N0BC7Ln$McgQcNb70SoD5hRk55$58i3sihry5$sRx6IgyfdzRNdEry6$sRpdE8dgvD4M2gQaznr0W3shhry$T4M3gQazpj0PRPgQ88Nc50Su7WfFc70SoDVzNcb0SBRgRJRgG$aFWo6pdgGfdE5vpC7QL$Qpr_gRIdgDD4Q5gRyzpr$ijsRU5wLdE7yKC7TD1Wq7VPU62$JDxdWryx$shc6lC7TL6IgSOzrL2Fl7VPU6c$JDNdKdgOvdE5yGizr90Q83sXU66$mc7yGizr6$JXxdWrvEf4Oh7VPU0gvmjo6udfjv$Om7WIN1B$5ExdZrvKTOSwXhcKK2Yl5xXHu3qzH5H5Zkv_Dl5q7e5q7$0'>your web browser and/or your host do not support iframes as required to display the chessboard</iframe>
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I have to say watching 2 computers play each other gets dull really fast. I saved this game mostly for the opening. On the other hand, this is a good lesson in how to make moves that keep the character of the position unchanged The last 10 moves or so is a case in point. This is definitely an area I need to improve at if I'm going to beat stronger opposition in fast time control games.Kubiyakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13366910396431193094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053760587443051290.post-71977725318549767302014-01-20T19:35:00.002-08:002014-01-20T19:36:24.556-08:00Areas for Improvement Revealed at the Liberty Bell OpenI played some sub-par chess at the Liberty Bell Open 2014. Plenty of learning experiences vs stronger opposition. I had a near miss vs. Sameer Mujumudar in the first round and it was all downhill from there. On the plus side I had a generally nice weekend with my girlfriend in Philly and I met more chess players and had the chance to say hello to some old friends I don't see too often.
Also on the plus side, while the overall result was nothing to write about, I did obtain some interesting positions and insights into how I can improve my thought process at the board.
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My round 1 near miss:
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Truth be told, things didn't get better from there. I played into an interesting position for analysis in round 2. I feel I got a very playable game out of the opening with Juan Tica. I believe there's significant room for improvement in the middle game. I look forward to working on this game over the next few weeks.
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I believe those two games are the foundation of many future successes for me even though I got no points out of the two games. There are many positives in those games and a few weaknesses to work on were revealed. Sameer and Juan, nice to meet you guys. Don't count on me being such a pushover next time! :)
Kubiyakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13366910396431193094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053760587443051290.post-14482112578277025912014-01-14T21:01:00.001-08:002014-01-14T21:10:07.104-08:00Slav Defense Dutch VariationFirst a little joke between Kasparov and Anand:
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<a href="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1018304">Bishops move backwards too</a>
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Karpov's handling:
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Reversed Sicilan position. Knights over bishops. Exchange Sacrifice. Checkmate
<a href="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1112022">Polugaevsky-Gheorghiu 1972</a>
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The opening sequence:
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Reversed Rossolimo. No Fianchetto.
<a href="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1038837">Karpov-Illescas 1994</a>
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<a href="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1067245">Kasparov-Karpov 1987. Karpov won on the Black side of the English too! A double agent</a>
<iframe height='673' width='426' frameborder='0' scrolling='no' marginheight='0' marginwidth='0' src='http://pgn4web-board.casaschi.net/?am=l&d=3000&ss=26&ps=d&pf=d&lcs=XItn&dcs=NpQK&bbcs=NpQK&hm=s&hcs=MWVi&bd=c&cbcs=__iz&ctcs=NpQK&hd=c&md=f&tm=13&fhcs=k03b&fhs=14&fmcs=k03b&fccs=DRYC&hmcs=__X$&fms=14&fcs=m&cd=i&bcs=____&fp=13&hl=f&fh=673&fw=426&pe=484$zutHh056d4$6wT$Xe1BHAPyYuAp096y1BHAChLP1u9IoH6c9KBOsJSqIRWsJRrqdcC5OypYtKmGQVYtqs51sJ15W$_xUPdOp2P9fnjQzKUTcnz1JX_qZuu4LEG80otD6f9WOUKXm1BHzlax9RvmYumPmWQFe1BHAB0G3vlnfJ2oo34cnHb1B78F3$5DN0zJfL$Ni75ENb$io$il7P$8c3ayNVd$m6AP3M0f0zYf4ly7r$Qly7VgN0L3Bfgz5j0IA_PqQ0y$spouY$SIfo$6ubxC7bL49WQ49WQ0H$hM$QdfqfdI5wRwj5T$8E308TvKTOA9ueIwAjTIY4SCOuTJ2PmtuI_eKxV6KeTqUtaMcLeNoofKqRZwTyTv7vqTuM_e0G3wZYXKNS4eAq0AkU2_DeV24$VzfP4_$_2ltweWWrjtXGfyZaugXQqLole9MWosUlSzN$v_Dl96y$0'>your web browser and/or your host do not support iframes as required to display the chessboard</iframe>
<BR>
<a href="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1745850">Rapport Wins With Tempo Moves</a>
<iframe height='673' width='426' frameborder='0' scrolling='no' marginheight='0' marginwidth='0' src='http://pgn4web-board.casaschi.net/?am=l&d=3000&ss=26&ps=d&pf=d&lcs=XItn&dcs=NpQK&bbcs=NpQK&hm=s&hcs=MWVi&bd=c&cbcs=__iz&ctcs=NpQK&hd=c&md=f&tm=13&fhcs=k03b&fhs=14&fmcs=k03b&fccs=DRYC&hmcs=__X$&fms=14&fcs=m&cd=i&bcs=____&fp=13&hl=f&fh=673&fw=426&pe=815$zutHh07jcv$Xe$6wTjQzJzuGXGf7MUfjQzHVl5vi6MCLroHSLSqIRMBVEBW5OyoMHQt1ctctbRKb1K5KcJTWrp0_0V2P9fnjQzKUTcnz1V5DYUYJdZqI_CQwilh1NYfdvmXfc$uTb9pNln5Hh0oTbPZYAqOTjQxLKTeOLo_04sEZ6M7h8VNYXg_6DkmyUDyVezDHfuc_DiX5k29ELeKxTyZeAnHXh$HKj2D2AfNqQDXGJefBgjyWRjcXK9MXA4eAqt29yTxIDZhxOM71NYfdvd29EMUmr0NDocVPc4VeUTcnz2XcoV6U1TyWRjc_2Yl6_FevNfpw6X0AnXG04sEZ6M$g0ufAXKkS6HHDHX5uMqV5xfm3u4V$NGZOUuhLnJ712ZvLdZpc$Ol7f$8E30kpg2$sFPxdPry$dWc6jIJgD6pWr_gRJS7T2O75SF1vsDxazC7r$i328rvr08zm39vNvazzfbgN25$3QFdWc0z$J7xdI5vO$cnyGMDcv6pdfcKz5P2I1KPm8rvS$0qo6pK7_fnD4M5fCF2d$WHF0xdfnr0a3sto14$3QZxUbF350rzx3VEnw1$8QhM4Niz7n0ajtQ1b$pQ09Epw5v0jM6pZo1d$Wk7GY4Nqz790QaCVazNDfT2IlJgRy7fd0QDGY4OS7nD$87FdPrwwvs7k$Q1Dnv2m75YN5b0SMj2cnwB$3U$RRuDoD4M5fbijbT0DFdIdfLD01D5Fzk26$sXU1LMUf0'>your web browser and/or your host do not support iframes as required to display the chessboard</iframe>
<BR>
An example of what a queenside pawn advance is designed to achieve. Here White invades on weak squares on the Black queenside.
<a href="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1643961">Queenside pawn advance strategy</a>Kubiyakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13366910396431193094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053760587443051290.post-42154763376144032092014-01-12T20:24:00.000-08:002014-02-13T17:44:01.485-08:00The Botvinnik Semi-Slav ( Deferred )My chess study for 2014 includes a heavy dose of opening theory and to prove to myself I can handle the theory I'm paddling right into the rough salty waters of the Botvinnik Semi-Slav. To ease myself into the rougher currents of the opening theory 30 moves deep I'm starting off in the calmer eddies of more rational queen pawn games.
I would be pleased to start this journey back at the games of Alekhine and Capablanca except their opening theory has long since been surpassed. To be more current and yet to experience some of the history of this opening, I am starting my investigation of queen pawn games with game 6 of the Fischer Spassky match:
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<a href="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1044366">Fischer-Spassky WC Match(6) 1972</a>
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Analysis:
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The first critical position just outside the opening is:
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<img src = "http://www.chessvideos.tv/bimg/v929ar0d8h5.png">
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<BR>
One year later in 1973 Geller won this attacking game with an improvement over Spassky's 14th move:
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<a href="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1049648">Timman-Geller 1973</a>
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So much for 14. Bb5. Well not quite. Certainly 14...Qb7 is a good response in reply defending the rook on a8 and preparing an advance of the queenside pawns with tempo. I tried this position with the Stockfish engine on ICC and the computer considers the position after 14...Qb7 to be equal. I'm encouraged by that prospect and I plan to spend some time understanding the nuances of this position. I can easily remember the opening sequence to this point because I can remember a few key waypoints. I also understand some of the subtleties of 2 of Black's possible replies to 14. Bb5 which of course is not a great move except perhaps for equality and a position I may understand better than my opponent.
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<BR>
Moving on to the Karpov era:
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<a href="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1067813">Karpov figures Spassky learned from the above games and dutifully deviates (and wins)</a>
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<a href="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1069153">Karpov - Georgiev 1994</a>
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In both the games there's a critical decision by White to exchange bishop for knight on move 9 followed by clarifying the center leading to this position:
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<img src = "http://www.chessvideos.tv/bimg/4di0udrmwdq0.png">
I tend to favor Black with the bishop pair here. Black also has some simple concepts such as ...Nd7 and ...c5. White on the other hand needs specific calculation to make anything work as careless opening of the position will favor Black. Getting the feel for this position will take more time and games.
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The latest high level game with a win for White I can find is this game from 2009: <a href="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1543334">Grischuk-Gelfand 2009</a>
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From this handful of games some patterns are emerging.
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<ul>
<li>
White seems to delay castling until play on the queenside becomes clear. To that end, White often plays b4 and the game revolves around whether Black can use the queenside majority or whether White can stymie play in that sector and begin play in the center and on the kingside.</li>
<li> White often ends up with an isolated pawn on d4 which can become a spearhead for a central advance or kingside attack.</li>
<li> White sometimes maneuvers Rfe1, Bf1</li>
</ul>
<BR>
The other main Botvinnik deferred line is the Cambridge Springs variation of the QGD. This is quite tricky to face without some theoretical foundations. In may games on ICC i'm inadvertently landing in the pawn sacrifice lines without adequate preparation. The odd looking lines with Qd2 which hold on to the material just don't appeal to me. Here are some games I like in this line.
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<a href="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1070111">Kasparov-Smyslov 1984. A nice strategic win by Kasparov in a Qd2 line of the Cambridge Springs</a>
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All that being said, memorizing openings is quite difficult for me. I have the distinct displeasure to report that I have faced incredibly strong opening play at tournaments from fairly low rated players who just moves later played much weaker moves. I attribute that to those players taking moves from something like Chessbase running on their phones or prompting from another much stronger player. While that's certainly one approach to playing better in the opening, I take no pleasure in such measures. My chess progress is something I value deeply and I will never cheapen that progress by such sportless tricks. Anyone engaging in such practices is just robbing himself or herself of any meaningful achievement.
So the challenge is to find effective techniques to help me learn openings better. I'm trying some ideas and will have more to report on in a future post.
Kubiyakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13366910396431193094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053760587443051290.post-6692261601599456482013-12-29T18:56:00.002-08:002013-12-31T09:03:02.103-08:00Empire City Open 2013I played in the open section at this year's event. I gained about 9 rating points. As usual I played memorable wins losses and draws. I like to focus on the losses because this is where I think I learn the most by analysis.
This one is definitely tops in the loss column:
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<br>
This is a battling draw I played. I'm especially proud of how I surrendered material to create chances in the game.
<iframe height='673' width='426' frameborder='0' scrolling='no' marginheight='0' marginwidth='0' src='http://pgn4web-board.casaschi.net/?am=l&d=3000&ss=26&ps=d&pf=d&lcs=XItn&dcs=NpQK&bbcs=NpQK&hm=s&hcs=MWVi&bd=c&cbcs=__iz&ctcs=NpQK&hd=c&md=f&tm=13&fhcs=k03b&fhs=14&fmcs=k03b&fccs=DRYC&hmcs=__X$&fms=14&fcs=m&cd=i&bcs=____&fp=13&hl=f&fh=673&fw=426&pe=2007$zutHh07jbL0z$fd4coaE6V_9P1bRftbRf9pNlsa2f8XFQBLrPFZqcRWsJSqIRWoMHTRrqdcGQVYtKmGQUIPn8RT7qH2ZaCfWcDefE0wilh_CvQxfadKK9wPoMZXeAVDEG8uOLpM1RmP1fq0fEG80otD64HKD3wgy0ilh1NYfdvkNYDyWNH2tiXGVOSAgilha4M4qf7HeBToXhaTcnKfJqzk4coaKNYmr1T9pMnn0bfCN3$Sx$zNDn$py7SNb$1iQ0uLuCvOZ$OZ4uw_6Dq_cQZmCPo0Ah$v_e3u3eX_w_Xexf_7Gnbex9RvbG4CxgqUtZkXex9RxvoYgt5I4CKlxOLo_$o_2_Tu3HX5kiyU9efZ7zKIVLqUlezDHXh0YYHyUlczh7F_717aT_LZxCLZhZulXQzh0ZRvaaQ$V6xexfPKI0ufZ8Wa7KgXKitI4KD29AM6YDu_2Tzl22Tz0Anh29W29EMUJSuucSLqQxfSNXF_waUY$lmF0Pq7S7GHbFC6NHuOLpM2_eTqUtaL7x2Zy$$$YNc$Yx5JgL2JPf3Pk0f$Fnvoazd$ho5Y2Q_P4_$SQD6_OVOPexcNtH5ki036UTzeWtkSUYJ5ZmAnZhxCCYHxeTXGJ$$0ijuaPSGgqV5xgoX58H3fmPc3N23axg_e0G3eX_wKX_2l2u9L5uLGYpbRmwG3yaWUZh19_aPSDaMafAXZxOLo_2_Q6Lo7cfzlZwJZZavRNfzKNNxCLZqzkuZH5Zk00_fd$4kaz0khU0R0L$$8kavYuY0uL5uLe_COXz4Y4CvNDr17aV4h3S4KDhZuj86XX5HhaufeNt2x9MoTzc_2Yl9et29MqV5xgUG7zlZwbADXFmGe0AjTEAX_84KDEXeBU4m_G0KAffuPuV29$5GKj0kSF25$hJYfJeaDbv$M3gij5n2sprvpIdfq$9bwRwj5P0Sq7pQ0J$1SFdZRU0xv0kEN6pPU0C$tFQFekpQ0wL6hnwRwj7j$Ax5HfvL4MUs2kpbw1$ckDN6pnw2$shpc6lC7gv6pIdgRGiz7P2KC7WmOz7T0RKCePm8AfvD4Nh7tQ16$8HvC7fd0rgzdIbwxv6hnwSoDnn4bfVPOY23$sRN6lxDnL2EbfVPOY2b$sRN6lxDoD4cf4IN5r$Wg3dEDwwf6Hf4Wjbr$WfP8VvKTaV9tkkZI2XcpeeKAVJTXGJ0_Tcp3KCPlt8$ojwr5IUG7ztRmtkDhezDHXh9fSXeQfg1UDeM9l24MbxY0ugoTbF6fmM_wY2ZLqa9bKCYDpmRxOLo_1uxTz2TKgXSq_9zkI4CxggWNI1gqV3_D6WWUkb36Y20L3FEVv9wjnj$VfP3Q52$shg09WMZy1$2kSx6sVy2$dEpv7BDMv2JRfWlBDMD4Mbf4fF1_vqTuLmPlt29wP0otD6f5uMXKI6Njlt8$_ZueWgXA4CxgHbzz5DKNH57_03oGXeN4M6Plt7Z7uU_2ZLqa96_LZ84eexfZ8BNXbZ8H3g_e0G3vutaPetaxfZ8U_XGUG7zjtXGfyZezD6TokjbFC4Cxfc0r_v919W29EMU_$pPeWtkR_yRkCKAVqP0otD6feK4V6YvRljc3yOlg7IY5SSw_1nnJ7G4CxfZ8IufBT6SG3u0KogUmrlt81mFlxOSGg_e0G3eX_wKTuFKTXZ86NHlt84eHKCPu8goTz0otD6fP5uKucLfuPnT1U8z0cry0f0zIuDJtrvKTOzc0GfhA19Ru0F$x1ZxOLojdv$$m8Jf5uMX6gW8_X10CJuD2eTkZHX5kixSP2_UXZaPtpZmR00_gwL$M5grBU50L6hnxU8Nc9$sXUZxUbFc5$WTSVazS7Pv2KCePm8AfmX6OWL_yNqTwcvx7eV4wBN2MBN$0'>your web browser and/or your host do not support iframes as required to display the chessboard</iframe>
<BR>
My only actual win from the tournament. (I was given a forfeit win in the first round when my opponent didn't show up):
<iframe height='673' width='426' frameborder='0' scrolling='no' marginheight='0' marginwidth='0' src='http://pgn4web-board.casaschi.net/?am=l&d=3000&ss=26&ps=d&pf=d&lcs=XItn&dcs=NpQK&bbcs=NpQK&hm=s&hcs=MWVi&bd=c&cbcs=__iz&ctcs=NpQK&hd=c&md=f&tm=13&fhcs=k03b&fhs=14&fmcs=k03b&fccs=DRYC&hmcs=__X$&fms=14&fcs=m&cd=i&bcs=____&fp=13&hl=f&fh=673&fw=426&pe=1804$zutHh07jbL0z$fT9pNmheQZkD3Dtb9pNlsa2f8XFQBLrPFZqcRWsJSqIRWoMHTRrqdcGQVYtKmGQUIPn8RT7qH2ZaCfWcDefE0wilh_CvQxfaDpySCRTeNYUX56LEG80otD6f9UtPgYUl0K8ZkYoWNDEG84xTxID3l6OrbZ84X5HmDmcN9xBHASUtGJ074coaZt2l7lNZvh5rP9pNflmF0MqaV07jnLjQxLL0zBfCN3$Ex$zNDn$py7EFb$io$QdgD$hp7SNd$m6AP3Q0febvKTKMtyUJSZk7GpbvLri7KgHcIj_QD2Auw_$pPcaWfmM_wY2TCHHxY4ewXAXZIUG7zu9LQYoV6Tqo6Xu8goTb_wKX_2l2u9vx1ZwWMrhefCYYJ4VJNeCYK9W29EMXA4CxfSNXF_waUY2mQCDuwIzuLXgXhe9WxOSGf_7Zaxqvu3vuzNNvbG4CxfCTu300_fj$$0zN4fT2GgDm6AP2vcnv8aj5j0Izspr6G_DaZaSOYZ5pNaPtkwtFFhw6W_OTKgAX_uMXA4x2UKX17$$2JNDu0zSGgTuZaP2_OZ5WWUGOlgtwDAG3u$v_Dbn$M2fWHF27$cg30ebvO$23o$kjPfq$aFEDwaj5P$nBYfcmtDcL$QsVvnwj59$i38nvOv3BfcmtDbd0hJYfAkcz7j$YkczspDUuY0uLmPtuKNeSXlt2eTq_eLQvSNHtuL_N28KlNaPc3InyV3KCPuOLpM7pmRvaaQ$V$OZ6YvRlj0AnHXh3_2Tv7v_e3vut29LSZuwG0KAuofziQAWTyZeexgoTzcSM6U4p3yU9cZu0PeXRmZu3S2foZYXSuLeLQCDY5mCNo7kmyUDyVezDDglOWRj0otD6fSXeQmXu9MKOTdw_BN_OTyZ2H8taKCSBHxgqVeUTcnzuVe9WxOM7uU0zSGo4VbKKCU7kYotZ86Njlt86XX5HhavNFr6nhXmueKco3xSP0otD6g_vg4ZaP0IzY2M6M72eTIY2sXgZ_mKxgXG4Cxgh3vRg7XGJ14M4nuZDZ280F3yPc_2Yl3KCPcXK4V1U_4CxgAYX_86XX5Hh$TbFB17aV5xo0x4M76MtvcHCD2eTu_aQsvv_Dfn$g5gi37f$9KxDDN_V1_v_e0CX0CXlt84KezNlyU9ae3wKAUl5x8GQn6TpOP$$2Gk6$g0Zt82uL_kyUl9bwXg_oX5Eo_6XX5Hf_OZ5TnA1eLg0ugAYX63S4CvOZ4WteAnHXh9u2UJKHgY6zG3ugoTz8Z6M7XGJae3xCLZqGW3uffJYzKYnyZae3wKX_2l2u9MVP0ZmKWgUGUup1oHKYz17eOM7EXeBVZM6PqZ7_w7bGJ6M6_NYYfyZ3KCPuOLpM7IY2SRlLg$M1TyVOMbxeSX2TKfSNXG$olae3weLZ86BWrCCOZaufPh9ueCM9l00_fwv6lB2P4_0ugoTbF6goTb_vb_xOM7DZmP2tNvu0CYK0M$g2I3gXzzgX_vuuexfZ7_ZmKF3uMVAeCRLNFrlZxOM7EXeBVZM6L7vW0ufKuzxOM7uRXGKOWrtkYzmCTo_04jLNE7ZkvKGVZ06Zv_DfL$$dIpw5$03o2IsHw5vsh7pdQho1d$JFzN$CJfvD4Np71Fgz7r0rXx$zzfvr2FoD1FBqY24$sFBp6sD_fLLaCBgg34_6AsL4AVvs$_ZkvbG6Dh7eT6SMrg_0_fHje5la$0'>your web browser and/or your host do not support iframes as required to display the chessboard</iframe>
<BR>
I caused a bit of a sensation when I was leading the open section of the tournament after 2 rounds with 1 win and 1 forfeit win. The next game brought me back to earth. This is what I'm playing in the open section for. Strong opposition to uncover my positional oversights. My old time friend Rob Garcia took this picture so I can show my kids and grand kids:
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUnJf078hqyqrbs7_Ytd_aNzc71tqEm6_yktm_Yp1y-4-ajZQRnfGBVFP5gF7xds1yWufg8om1qIF_CbFf7QC5zwCB8G3g3pdReFYe1EEtkFt3KqCd0_q42ps8r1BbekjtV_tJ5bxDysY/s1600/round2standings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUnJf078hqyqrbs7_Ytd_aNzc71tqEm6_yktm_Yp1y-4-ajZQRnfGBVFP5gF7xds1yWufg8om1qIF_CbFf7QC5zwCB8G3g3pdReFYe1EEtkFt3KqCd0_q42ps8r1BbekjtV_tJ5bxDysY/s320/round2standings.jpg" /></a></div>
<iframe height='673' width='426' frameborder='0' scrolling='no' marginheight='0' marginwidth='0' src='http://pgn4web-board.casaschi.net/?am=l&d=3000&ss=26&ps=d&pf=d&lcs=XItn&dcs=NpQK&bbcs=NpQK&hm=s&hcs=MWVi&bd=c&cbcs=__iz&ctcs=NpQK&hd=c&md=f&tm=13&fhcs=k03b&fhs=14&fmcs=k03b&fccs=DRYC&hmcs=__X$&fms=14&fcs=m&cd=i&bcs=____&fp=13&hl=f&fh=673&fw=426&pe=1498$zutHh07jbL0z$fT9pNmheQZkD3Dtb9pNlsa2f8XFQBLrPFZqcRWsJSqIRWoMHTRrqdcGQVYtKmGQUIPn8RT7qH2ZaCfWcDefE0wilh_CvQxf9UtPgYUl0K8ZkYoWNDEG80otD6f9ZZNZ6OmAn_TcqUul2EumW_1BHA_e0G3aouf85dp4co7aaQ$TIAY$z9bn9pNmuAVJT3LjQxLKTeOLo_$o_4CxfCTu3vKDHX5k2DaV9tky7CCNHlt8$ZZuRw8YXeD29MoTb_xSNYXGTu3kH17K3uetqKTaV0Z5NNwKATKf5kxOM7NZki7Zw_gTBQZg729MUl4WtCLZ29EMqUtZkXex9RvbG4CxfYXS7_yU93NlH5kiyP80COZPeKAVJTiXexfmeTXG0umVeCPoV_gXSq_9zkI$olef_NZ6U6Pl22TzjZkHZZN00_fn4bfQN3$5DN$BxDn$B7EFb$io1u7P$8c308AgL$No3fciz4$RN0zJfT$qtwV_V2Hd$m6AP4_$o_2gal7Zv_D_Pd$$0rtmfd$JeaD8N29$5FAOY2IjJfnL0Fb6G_DdLnLdI5y_fnL$$s7k0z$hM1lDbL6h56G_DdLov1khQ6ZvO$$$cK35L$7y7SN2p$WI3dW9vS$23fem_gSM67bj$pJX2P6nbj$py7_P59$$49WM0C$087vBDbd$VQvt6DaZbTeKoJ5kiNaPlt2eT2eTHXhbKCTokd0YXm303uOLpM7k7iqZauf_8p4WtegHxg4mTnJ82YTBlj2XcoV5BgUmr0ZmKWfe_0G$x2XXheUTcnzoHK7gl$OZ4uGgXKI6NjcXK4T36Y0wL$$hFi37j$4jB71Fi37b2IhnvAjHfw$dZ7ntvKTOzc3InyVczh7F_24M7HZaP0CXlZxOTKgUmr3GgWNFo7YAA2WWTduL56LZ8HcVMbxY6AsMHxg4sMV5_wZG5_wZG$olae3wReP0fgmnokb3fuCxfQAVvs2uL_kyUlcTvb_yPjuaV0KofAVAKCP0AnHXhczh7F_2c0HvQxY6Njlt82uUZ5H5ZkwaUY6XX5Hf3g0_fw$$$houY15$iM0uLJkNaP2WTJ84KDXmu0IMUl$LZ6McwKl8$ZYnv7eV3b$$$gcfy$aCy2P6ngv4NgD_P7L$$$zHfyfdQ7U6pzrvW1c$$0RFta_DaZ$OZ9eAWYTbFC0_g_DgL6pzr_fWjyz79$VQF6h7vKTOjyTz2TKgUmRgtuwCX3ki29zw_qUJ_yNKHxYBTokde8l7ZxCSRlgtyNFKNYlvokd$Qy_eT6SG3vbG0z$x7eV3d$sSGY4Noj76$1GK6VaCJfmXtkS0ugoUXfuL5kxOM7IXeNofXgXheeTaV6U1fmPetaxfGY1uSRT6_xY4KDuRZqMgTA$TutHheoogXm3ugoTzcutuq00_fHje5$0'>your web browser and/or your host do not support iframes as required to display the chessboard</iframe>
<BR>
The game I felt I understood the position the least in. I never got a good plan together although I managed to play without a significant error for 21 moves and stood to take an initiative with correct play:
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The next step is to do deep positional analysis with a write up of the critical moments and places where I went wrong. More on that in a future post. The main take-away from this tournament is that I am justified in playing in the open section of a big tournament. I'm looking forward to my next event which will likely be in about 6 months or so.Kubiyakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13366910396431193094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053760587443051290.post-25201301333495235082013-12-23T20:42:00.003-08:002013-12-23T20:45:17.554-08:00Back to the BoardAfter about 9 months off from competitive chess, I'm just about ready to get back into tournament play. Here's a brief summary of my chess career to now:
<ul>
<li>
1. Started playing chess at the University at Albany around 1996 or so. The champion of the college chess club of sorts at the time was Andrew Koenigsberg. Jorge Soto who I recently met up with again at a tournament in Long Island was also a respectable and able player. I must not forget to mention our resident veteran Bill who never gave us his last name. Bill, Andrew if you are reading this, hope you guys are well and hope you guys still enjoy chess. I'm very interested in meeting up with all of you. Jorge, it's good to be in touch again.
</li>
<li>
2. I took up competitive chess around 2000 when I started playing at the Manhattan Chess Club. After many trials and tribulations I got my rating to around 1900+ but I struggled to get over 2000.
</li>
<li>
3. I quit playing for a number of years.
</li>
<li>
4. Around 2011 or so I got the itch to play again and through dogged determination and hard work I managed to get my rating to 2033. When I say dogged determination I mean that I studied chess about 20 hours a week for about a year. I gave up tournament chess in 2013 in order to be able to travel to London and Paris with my girlfriend. That was great I must say.
</li>
</ul>
My next logical goal of course is to try and obtain a master rating. While I was confident I would manage to make it to 2000+, I am not so certain about getting to a 2200 rating. I'm going to have fun trying though and I will have the play by play here.
Kubiyakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13366910396431193094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053760587443051290.post-60708257633970140342013-03-13T03:50:00.000-07:002014-02-13T13:02:41.246-08:00Rook Superior to 2 Minor PiecesMy experience and chess education predispose me to favor 2 minor pieces vs a rook + 2 pawns even though materially a rook + 2 pawns is material ahead. I have some bad memories of struggling just to make a draw vs James West in a Philidor Counter Gambit where White's ( my ) rook and two pawns were going nowhere vs Black's minor pieces. I believe I favor the minor pieces because using the rook effectively is harder than using the minor pieces effectively. I do mean to master this trade off and I was lucky to find this nice example of using the rook + pawns to win.
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<a href="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1067809">Karpov - Spassky Candidates Semifinal 1974</a>
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The rooks were better here because there were no supports for White's pieces in the center, Black was ahead in development and at some key moments White's back rank weaknesses required loss of tempi. Even so the position remained unclear for much of the middle game and perhaps Karpov missed some chances to keep the position unclear for longer.
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<a href="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1578346">Kramnik-Smeets</a>
Some really nice technique from Kramnik.
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The next example is very clear cut but it required an understanding of how the endgame would play out to trade 2 pieces for the rook and 2 pawns from a somewhat unclear middlegame.
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<a href="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1723633">Deshun-Lenderman</a>
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<iframe height='673' width='426' frameborder='0' scrolling='no' marginheight='0' marginwidth='0' src='http://pgn4web-board.casaschi.net/?am=l&d=3000&ss=26&ps=d&pf=d&lcs=XItn&dcs=NpQK&bbcs=NpQK&hm=s&hcs=MWVi&bd=c&cbcs=__iz&ctcs=NpQK&hd=c&md=f&tm=13&fhcs=k03b&fhs=14&fmcs=k03b&fccs=DRYC&hmcs=__X$&fms=14&fcs=m&cd=i&bcs=____&fp=13&hl=f&fh=673&fw=426&pe=1351$zlax9RvkXX5kXt2WbOzmOM6WZbMtewX5H9pNln5Hh020AjRKDKHQ54co7ZYnz1fDov41v7j4co7Hm3kIKQxf81wB$j9$nr9pNmuAVJT3v50ilhVgZKNI$A2Mwilh_CvQxfaeTbKvZ7_tmFxBHz4AVvs$HUzfduZkRZyex9W7Z6SAgilhamNV06O60ilh_CvQx4HKD3ylJ1BHz4AVvrlNZvhcnr4co9YzmFuaQqf7N60ila2$Sx0zJfv4bfizb$bzNcVy$0Fbv8G3p$3CF6JgL$kjJfWkaz4$7N4MUs2vdPc5VPM$T$kpnxBDbD0rtmghJXfnL1kSx0FrvN$0cpv9I5fov5FPo$lNDcv2E3gQaqz5P0PB7WVyz5T$aq7iU0xvdzo4Noj5r$cI3dz9vLT1l7sSN39$5Ex6p4fvL0xpvnwj7f$oe32qQ15$sio2JZfy$$Byf3QF3p$bij2kDN3r0RI5gRI5fvD2Ipbv9FgDfT1VFgDsGK376$sGK3sGK3bj$cIz4_$lmF0P8zH_xOM72vNFqXcHz2WLuKCLpMtvuu4Lokb3fuCvOZ0YXm3yRi_VbKKCU4mXlt82YtSq_eGfAXZxOM7_CvQxf69wzSGgXG0cczY$v_DnD$$3YfLL3RfCka3bf0dFl7WKj4_4TyUWOs_5LOTAa3S4Kw_UYI_2sXfJ7GnbFC6DH56MbxY1lDpaPuOLpM76WLpyP2WMtwJZZaxgTuwL_XZS1mOV$HKj2vfuPbn$9x7pQ2b$to6IfmX0otD6fSu3qZu3uLAXZwKUZ_8J5_wZG6NHlt85qaN3kuwIzyRi_T36Y2c$Jhg2l7oL4M5gQWjb9$bzxdPQ26$0cbyI5uDnd$cIzm8Xy1vaxnxUaznb0W3m39y1$mqM4Nm7LL4MbgRyznL0WjsDNbp0sK3m8py6$23Q4QjHgvD$QjxDWiznr$4W33QZy$T4RYgQazpj$cKzshrygv0jg6udgE$aFpyJS7PL4QdgW3pL$9KHfi34_$lmF0PaSUcMoTzltu3YJauggXiQxgV5_CWXBTqZ6VHu9MoTzoHK7gkZ5RhaufAXZDhae3vzc_2Yl3KCL_XZR12ZylvmjQ05gGv$BIgSOzp9$ci33g5C$2c7yIu7yfT$RRuDJ7Nd9$JFQxdZc62$JEFdK5yx$28nvwHPsyy$28D_grzxdn$cjwDaZ2XXh3vNKHDh29zuKN$x2ZyB$$0RGRKPa42Mv0'>your web browser and/or your host do not support iframes as required to display the chessboard</iframe>
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A game in a topical line of the Botvinnik Semi-Slav where White surrenders two minor pieces for a rook and pawn. Theory considers White to be better as Black has difficulty coordinating.
<iframe height='673' width='426' frameborder='0' scrolling='no' marginheight='0' marginwidth='0' src='http://pgn4web-board.casaschi.net/?am=l&d=3000&ss=26&ps=d&pf=d&lcs=XItn&dcs=NpQK&bbcs=NpQK&hm=s&hcs=MWVi&bd=c&cbcs=__iz&ctcs=NpQK&hd=c&md=f&tm=13&fhcs=k03b&fhs=14&fmcs=k03b&fccs=DRYC&hmcs=__X$&fms=14&fcs=m&cd=i&bcs=____&fp=13&hl=f&fh=673&fw=426&pe=643$zlax9RvkXXgZ_wszmwXS2tR9pNln5Hh04X_IUkEuA0Z2WDEG86SG3vh427$Dd$DLjQzxMrglMYVM73wfN$9d$fT9pNmuAVJT4L10ilhVgZKNI$y6A0ilh_CvQxf7_322WUtZyKIwZXQXm1BHz4AVvs$xZaK9MBtu0F1BHzlKAP1eHn4coaZt2l7lNZvh1C60ilh1NYfdaouf865d1BHAtNaQYXKkI$J41BHl505XgKj704bgizb0$Q5fbANb$vo8z3U5vf3CFcQExd$vB7pPH900cfYN6$f3Yx3Yfd0$QjYfYkej5j0$kjYfbQHF2501q7VBTHbv3enyIjYfov7tFCF0IVvR$fCN3FEXvRvfVCx6h4fqv71ig$Mim4wxvfWkeCV6jxDbT1$xnvnwj56$wQe3dEAfwf3dEbvoGtDfn3st9wQcMnw$7J7x0zIfwv7stQZxWqz7L10FWQ49WQ1c$v9FlD8kaj7T16mHuAAM67fj16mIuDJRU16$gQUN6jNDfd06myfAx59$yGR7hFBN5506jHa$IAfM$7VYk8OY4Q1DnL3sGUN3PfO$7WmMmV26A$0'>your web browser and/or your host do not support iframes as required to display the chessboard</iframe>
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Another game on the same theme with a much more complex feel
<a href="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1253269">Bacrot-Fressinet French Championship 2002</a>
I will use this post to collect more examples of rook + pawns being winning vs 2 minor piecesKubiyakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13366910396431193094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053760587443051290.post-58665969487618162202013-02-24T20:17:00.000-08:002013-02-24T20:17:43.730-08:00Marshall U2300 TournamentI scored a respectable 3/4 at the Marshall CC U2300 event held February 23 and 24th at the Marshall CC. I gained 20 rating points. I drew with FM Boris Privman and FM Erez Klein. My game with Boris Privman was a roller coaster ride. I will analyze that game in a separate post.
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<div><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" width="100%" height="500"><param name="movie" value="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" /><param name="flashvars" value='orientation=V&tabmode=true&dark=669922&mtbackground=ffffff&pgndata=[Date "2013.02.24"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"] [White "Kuberan Naganathan"] [Black "FM Erez Klein"] [Event "MCC U2300"] [Site "New York"] [WhiteElo "2032"] [BlackElo "2279"] [Round "4"] 1.c4 e6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.Nf3 c6 5.Qa4 Nbd7 6.cxd5 Nc5 7.Qc2 cxd5 8.d4 Nce4 9.O-O Bd6 10.Nc3?! Nxc3 11.bxc3 Qc7 12.Nd2 Bd7 13.e4 dxe4 14.Nxe4 Nxe4 15.Bxe4 Bc6 16.Bd2 Bxe4 17.Qxe4 O-O { Black is slightly better due to the weakness of c3. White should be able to hold with correct play. } 18.Rab1?! ( 18.Rfb1! { Is much better with an improvement for White over the game } ) 18...b6 19.Qd3 { Or else Black plays Qc4 with a bind } 19...Rfc8 20.a4! { A very important move connected with the upcoming pawn sacrifice } 20...Qc4?! { The queen trade is in White’s favor here } 21.Qxc4 Rxc4 22.Ra1 e5?! { A bit too soon. Black can play ...Kf8 instead with this move in reserve. } 23.Rfb1! exd4 24.cxd4 Rxd4 25.Be3 Rb4 26.Rxb4 Bxb4 27.Rd1 Bc5?! { The position I believe is now drawn anyway but this allows White to liquidate instantly to a drawn ending } 28.Rd7!? ( 28.Bxc5! bxc5 29.Rd7 Rc8 30.Kf1 c4 31.Ke2 c3 32.Kd1 c2%2B 33.Kc1 { And if anything White is better! } ) 28...Bxe3 29.fxe3 g6 30.Kf2 Kg7 31.e4 Kf6 32.Ke3 Ke6 33.Rc7 h5 34.Kf4 f6 35.h4 { Draw agreed } *'/></object></div>
Kubiyakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13366910396431193094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053760587443051290.post-11611683825250924062013-02-16T22:28:00.000-08:002013-02-16T22:28:13.166-08:00Marshall CC Saturday Game 60I scored 2.5/4 at the Marshall Saturday G/60 on 2/16/2013. I drew the following game with Nasyr Akylbekov.
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<div><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" width="100%" height="500"><param name="movie" value="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" /><param name="flashvars" value='orientation=V&tabmode=true&dark=669922&mtbackground=ffffff&pgndata=[Date "2013.02.16"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"] [White "Kuberan Naganathan"] [WhiteElo "2025"] [Black "Nasyr Akylbekov"] [BlackElo "2356"] [Event "MCC Saturday Game/60"] [Site "Marshall CC New York"] [Round "4"] 1.c4 Nf6 2.g3 e6 3.Bg2 c5 4.Nf3 d5 5.cxd5 exd5 6.d4 Nc6 7.O-O Be7 8.dxc5 Bxc5 9.Nbd2 O-O 10.Nb3 Bb6 11.Nbd4 Re8 12.e3?! Bg4 13.Qa4 Rc8 14.h3 Bd7 15.Qd1 Ne4 16.Nxc6 bxc6 17.Nd2 Bf5 18.Nxe4 Bxe4 19.Bd2 Bxg2 20.Kxg2 c5 21.Qg4 Qf6 22.Rac1 Rcd8 23.Bc3!? { White was considerably lower on time. Black can probably gain an advantage here but the game continuation is just equal } 23...d4 24.Bd2! dxe3?! ( 24...Qc6%2B 25.Qf3 Qa4 { With chances for an advantage for Black but White is by no means lost. } ) 25.Bxe3 Qxb2 26.Bxc5 Bxc5 27.Rxc5 Qxa2 28.Rc7 a5 29.Rfc1 g6 30.h4 a4 31.Qc4! { Draw agreed because... } 31...Re2 32.Qxa2 Rxa2 33.R1c4 Rdd2 34.Rf4 f5 35.g4 Rdc2 36.Ra7 a3 37.gxf5 { and White has enough counterplay to draw } 1/2-1/2'/></object></div>Kubiyakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13366910396431193094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053760587443051290.post-14549639475427066082013-02-15T18:56:00.001-08:002013-02-15T18:57:43.430-08:00Exchange Sac GameAs I mentioned in an earlier post I'm starting to get a sense of when an exchange sacrifice could be appropriate. I believe my opponent could have played better in the later stages of this game. However, I believe my exchange sacrifice idea is correct given the situation on the board. White should be able to hold the position atleast.
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<div><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" width="100%" height="500"><param name="movie" value="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" /><param name="flashvars" value='orientation=V&tabmode=true&dark=669922&mtbackground=ffffff&pgndata=[Event "ICC 15 0"] [Site "Internet Chess Club"] [Date "2013.02.15"] [Round "-"] [White "kubiyak"] [Black "files"] [Result "1-0"] [ICCResult "Black resigns"] [WhiteElo "1905"] [BlackElo "2030"] [Opening "Neo-Grünfeld, 6.cd Nxd5, 7.O-O Nb6"] [ECO "D76"] [NIC "EO.64"] [Time "21:26:08"] [TimeControl "900%2B0"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. g3 d5 3. cxd5 Nxd5 4. Bg2 g6 5. Nf3 Bg7 6. O-O O-O 7. d4 Nb6 8. Nc3 Nc6 9. e3 a5 10. Bd2 h6 11. Rc1 Be6 12. b3 Nb4 13. Qe2 a4 14. Nxa4 Nxa4 15. Bxb4 Nb6 16. Qc2 c6 17. Ra1 Nd5 18. Bd2 Qb6 19. Rfc1 Nb4 20. Bxb4 Qxb4 21. Nd2 Ra7 22. Nc4 c5 23. d5 Bf5 24. e4 Bxa1 25. exf5 Bd4 26. fxg6 Ra6 27. d6 exd6 28. Bd5 b5 29. gxf7%2B Kh8 30. Qg6 Bg7 31. Ne3 Rxa2 32. Nf5 {Black resigns} 1-0'/></object></div>
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I will post more examples of my games featuring a successful exchange sacrifice as they occur.Kubiyakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13366910396431193094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053760587443051290.post-87510940025202030382013-02-03T09:46:00.001-08:002013-02-03T09:46:46.252-08:00Kramnik - McShane London Chess Classic 2012If you have not seen it yet, this is fully worth the 20 minutes of time to view:
<iframe width="500" height="400" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/vlqODva2wHo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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Themes of interest to me in the game are compensation for a pawn, active pieces vs. theoretical quality ( exchange sacrifice etc. ) and pawn structure. In this game White played to damage Black's structure around the Black king and the resulting weaknesses permitted White to follow with a nice exchange sacrifice.Kubiyakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13366910396431193094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053760587443051290.post-53869293550260175952013-02-02T20:32:00.000-08:002013-02-02T21:00:03.475-08:00Alekhine - Yates Hastings 1925/1926I recently dusted off my copy of Pawn Power in Chess by Hans Kmoch. This is one of the older volumes in my collection of chess books. I never got through reading it completely I suspect because I lacked sufficient chess understanding earlier on to digest the ideas in the book. I now find this book to be valuable not just for the ideas about how pawns should be used but also as an index to an excellent collection of master games for study.
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Alekhine apparently did not consider his win vs Yates at Hastings 1925-1926 worthy enough to include in his own best games collection. ( This is not the great game Alekhine - Yates 1922 which ends with a White king march to win an exchange. ) In fact Alekhine's collection contains no games from Hastings 1925/1926. Hans Kmoch references the game as an example of how a knight is superior to a bishop when pawns are on the same color squares as the bishop.
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<a href="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1012445">Alekhine - Yates Hastings 1925/1926</a>
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<div><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" width="100%" height="450"><param name="movie" value="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" /><param name="flashvars" value='orientation=V&tabmode=true&dark=669922&mtbackground=ffffff&pgndata=[Date "1926.??.??"] [Result "1-0"] [FEN "4r1k1/pp1b1ppn/2p4p/3pP3/5P2/2NB4/PPP2KPP/R7 b - - 0 1"] [White "Alekhine"] [Black "Yates"] [Site "Hastings"] 1...Nf8? ( { And this is exactly the move I was considering when I looked at this position. } 1...f6 { Hans Kmoch considered this an improvement. } 2.Bxh7%2B Kxh7 3.exf6 gxf6 { And this position favors Black according to Kmoch. The details are mired in the specifics of the pawn chains etc. and the splitting of the Black pawns not being detrimental in this specific situation. Read the book itself for more on that. } ) 2.b4! { Stopping Black from establishing a duo. Kmoch places great emphasis on the notion that the goal of pawn play with majorities is to establish a duo of pawns on the 4th rank and then proceed to further advancement of the duo towards creating weaknesses to play against or to promote a pawn. } 2...Ne6 3.g3 Kf8?! ( 3...Nc7! { Offers better chance for resistance as White’s attempt to weaken the Black pawns on the queenside with b5 is now not effective as Black can just play ...c5 } ) 4.Re1 { White is playing to establish his own duo of pawns on e5 and f5. The immediate 4. f5? is an error as Black wins a pawn with 4...Nd4 } 4...g6? { Black plays another pawn to a light square further limiting his bishop’s range. } ( 4...Nc7 { still preferrable preventing a White attempt to weaken Black’s queen side pawns. } ) 5.b5! Nc5 6.bxc6 bxc6? { Gives White the only open file } ( 6...Bxc6 { is better. No open files. Each side has a half open file to play on later on. Hard to say White is significantly better here. } ) 7.Rb1 Ke7 8.Rb4! { Black has been playing to move his king over to the queen side to defend the pawn weaknesses there. This move tactically forestalls this. } 8...h5? { Black puts more pawns on light squares. Kmoch also refers to Black abandoning his only pawn duo a being an incorrect way to play. This is something to keep in mind. If I ever have no clue what to do in a position throwing away a pawn duo is probably the wrong move unless I have a specific idea in mind. } ( 8...Kd8? 9.Na4! Nxa4 ( 9...Ne6 10.Rb7 { wins a pawn } ) ( 9...Nxd3%2B 10.cxd3 Kc7 11.Nc5 { %2B/- } ) 10.Rxa4 { wins a pawn } ) 9.Ne2 { Alekhine now considers this the right time to exchange rooks and thus positions his other pieces for this exchange. } 9...Kd8 10.Rb8%2B Ke7? { Black should avoid the exchange of rooks as the minor piece ending is quite passive for Black. } ( 10...Bc8 11.Nd4 Kc7 { driving out the White rook is best. Some other tactical attempts by White to exploit the position of the rook are also listed in the book. None work out on White’s favor. } ) 11.Rxe8%2B Bxe8 12.Ke3 { To exchange the Black queen pawn for the White queen bishop pawn to deprive Black of the chance to establish a duo on c5 and d5. } 12...Nxd3 13.cxd3! c5 { Black established the duo but cannot maintain it or a favorable chain thus White now takes the advantage. } 14.d4! c4 { I find Alekhine’s conversion instructive. He probably considered this type of play too routine to qualify as best game of his. } 15.f5! g5 ( 15...gxf5 16.Nf4 Bc6 17.Nxh5 { %2B- } ) 16.h4! f6 17.hxg5!! { Amazing! The winning line lets Black have a protected passed pawn on one wing and the chance to create an outside passer on the other wing. This is my take away from this game. Generalizations are only a guide. Calculation and specifics trump generalizations. I am going to train myself to look for exceptions to the generalizations. } 17...fxg5 18.Ng1!! Bd7 19.f6%2B ( 19.e6?? Bxe6!! 20.fxe6 Kxe6 { -%2B And White throws away all the quality play upto here. The knight will be stretched by the passed h pawn soon to be and the White king will be unable to prevent Black from making in-roads on the queen side. This is probably how I have in the past lost great positions. That last bit of technique is critical. } ) 19...Ke8 20.Nf3 g4 21.Nh4 Be6 22.Ng6 Bf7 23.Nf4 { %2B- } 23...Kd7 24.Kd2 a5 25.Ke3 Bg8 26.Nxh5 { etc. } 1-0'/></object></div>
Kubiyakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13366910396431193094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053760587443051290.post-80203572136674564532013-01-31T04:39:00.000-08:002013-01-31T04:43:33.776-08:00Active King Moves w/ Heavy PiecesA win by GM Iturrizaga at the Gibraltar Masters 2013 featured active king moves with queens and rooks on the board. A really wild game. Black probably resigned at the end because the queen ending may be hopeless but possibly worth a try.
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<a href="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1705378">Iturrizaga - Sachedev</a>
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Iturrizaga plays the modern defense atleast on occasion. This is a win by him with the modern at the same tournament. I no longer play this line myself but this is a nice win with an exchange sacrifice that is not accepted to no avail. I think Black would be just fine were the sac to be accepted.
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<a href="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1705829">Kanep - Iturrizaga</a>
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Kubiyakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13366910396431193094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053760587443051290.post-60940984367376188802013-01-28T17:50:00.001-08:002013-01-28T18:02:38.266-08:00Recent High Level Games Of InterestSome games I recently looked at of interest to me:
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<a href="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1705674">Vitiugov - Swiercz Gibraltar 2013</a>
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A clear case of bishop pair domination in the ending. Earlier in the game I liked the idea of the pseudo pawn sacrifice and tactical rook exchange which left White in control.
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<a href="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1705120">Giri - Yifan Wijk Aan Zee 2013</a>
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A great exchange sacrifice by Yifan followed up by a complicated technical win. I'm still working out the details of the exchange sacrifice. How to continue for Black on 22. bxa4. Perhaps 22... Nc4!? or the more routine 22...Ra5
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<a href="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1705956">Adams - Tkachiev Gibraltar 2013</a>
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Of course anyone that plays the pirc/modern in a high level event gets my immediate and undivided attention! My only qualm with this game is the players seem to have agreed a draw with much to be decided. Certainly Magnus Carlsen would not take a draw here with either color.
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<a href="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1707227">Salgado - Navara Gibraltar 2013</a>
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The exchange down position I was sure would be drawn but I didn't know it would go down quite the way it did. I wonder if Black had an easier draw at the end without playing ...b6 which loosened the position a bit.
Kubiyakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13366910396431193094noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053760587443051290.post-57904665528265170162013-01-23T20:39:00.002-08:002013-01-23T20:56:38.225-08:00Tata Steel 2013Hello all. Besides trying to stay warm, I've been following Tata Steel 2013 very closely. Lots of interesting games and excellent coverage on ICC. I dare say Tata Steel 2013 is turning into a modern day Zurich 1953.
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I liked Aronian's win in round 10 especially because there are some overtones to openings I play. According to Larry Christiansen, the English Opening is one of Aronian's favorites. I need to look up some games of his.
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<a href="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1705359">Aronian - Hao Round 10</a>
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What I like about this game is the plan Ra1-c1-c2. I play the Botvinnik structure quite a bit with White and tend to play Rb1 mostly. Now I know to look out for this other possibility.
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As for my own play I've been experimenting with exchange sacrifices. What I find is that almost any tangible positional advantage can compensate for the exchange in many types of positions. An incomplete list would be:
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- Bishop pair + pawn(s) or even just an advanced passed pawn not necessarily an extra pawn
- Well posted knight ( on the 6th. On the 5th with other compensation )
- A generally closed position
- Piece activity.
All this is probably covered in many books but it's quite different to actually try out the ideas for oneself. I may be getting away with some questionable play but the best way to get a feeling for this is to lose a few games. So far I'm doing ok. I will post some examples from my ICC games when I get a chance.
Overall I'm starting to become comfortable with my handling of exchange sacrifices. I now want to start understanding other material compensation. 1. Compensation for a pawn, 2. Compensation for a piece. 3. Compensation for the queen. I'm less interested in compensation for a rook for the moment.
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Kubiyakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13366910396431193094noreply@blogger.com1