checkersisfortramps

Ruy Lopez- the Marshall Attack

2007-03-12T11:27:00.000-07:00

the marshall attack is a variation that arises out of the ruy lopez when the bishop backs off after a6.

it goes as follows.
1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 6. Re1 b5 7Bb3

supposedly, Mark Orleans knows a nice pawn push that white can interject into this position that haults the attack. For the benefit of myself and everyone out there who reads this blog (all one of you) we would love to see it. So mark...this is your chance to add something to the repertoire of checkers is for tramps...

check!, uncheck-check

2007-03-11T17:20:00.000-07:00

and so...after a nice long morning of interesting games, the first few being blunderful but the vast majority being complex endgames, I ended the day with this brilliant move, checking mark, and leaving myself open to the check, uncheck-check...

honestly, why do I only blog about the humiliating games?

2007-03-06T16:53:00.000-08:00

where did everybody go???

This tuesday at matchless wasn't the bustle of chess activity that it normally is. Usually, there are grandmasters milling around in the shadows, plastered on singapor slings and other queer drinks...but not this tuesday.

This tuesday, rather than enjoying the company of signor wayne or GM Orleans, jeff and myself sat around playing with our pieces in the dark like a couple of homos...

seriously guys...there's chess night for a reason. it's tuesday....it's matchless at six p.m. two for one happy hour...be there or be down in material in a five minute game with thirty seconds left on the clock and a looming passed pawn hanging over your head....that is to say...gay.

KING'S INDIAN ATTACK!

2007-02-16T16:31:00.000-08:00

A welcome visit from the international grandmaster Mark to eat records on a slow friday afternoon turned into an exploration of the King's Indian Attack. Jordan tried his hand at the opening and had a few sparkling games with it before retiring to the kitchen to bake cookies. I then settled in to a fierce match with mark bringing my anti-King's Indian Attack Counter-Attack that turned into some complex games with equal opportunities...

the showdown contines over the fianchettoed king's bishop..the lines are ripe for discovery and I'm not giving up on my anti-indian variation.

Alex pops her check cherry!

2007-02-16T16:25:00.000-08:00

Only a few days after Valentines day Alex popped her Check Cherry in an instructive match with the highly respected international grandmaster Wayne-

A rising star falls

2007-01-21T10:43:00.000-08:00

After his rousing debut just a few days ago, International GM Colon was the victim of several tactically effervescent king's gambit games.

While he chose the correct refutation for move three, no doubt gleaned from Bobby fischer's article on the opening (available on this very blog), from there the young master was the victim of an unforseeable foible, leading time and time again to an unavoidable mate.

As for Jeff...He was able to pull himself out of a slump (honestly, I thought he had forgotten how to play the game) with a few wins last night. Although, I had a sparkling victory in which I sacrificed a rook for an attack on the king side.

a-rousing debut!

2007-01-18T18:03:00.000-08:00

Jordan Colon, the young master from pennsylvania has been on sebatical from the chess world for the last month and a half. Last night he crashed onto the chess scene with a sparkling victory against me in which I fell for a knight fork that I had avoided but eventually found myself entangled in once more. The young star also played some stalwart games against Ralph, the international GM, and at one point had him thinking for a long time as the clock ticked away.

-kudos Jordan- good luck in your upcomming interzonal battle at matchless next tuesday.

This should never happen

2007-01-18T17:57:00.000-08:00

Honestly, I never thought I would let this happen. Two queens on the board at once...speechless.

I would give credit to the GM who was able to pull this on me, but when we agreed to play he said he would prefer for me to not mention his name to the press in connection with our match play. So unfortunately, I cannot give credit where credit is do...sadly, the only post I can offer is one of sorrowful self-abasement.

alright...fine...it wasn't a GM....it was jeff.

Damnit I promised myself I wouldn't cry.

An illustrative queen sacrifice

2007-01-14T07:43:00.000-08:00

on of paul morphy's most famous games is the following one in which he sacrifices his queen for a combination leading to mate. It's...pretty dazzling.

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1242884

the "Opera game" - a casual game against unexperienced opponents, but at the same time one of the clearest and most beautiful attacking games ever is often used by chess teachers to demonstrate how to use time, develop pieces and generate threats. I couldn't find a link to a pgn file of this game, although I'm sure one exists. You can find a link to the moves from the wikipedia page on paul morphy though.

chess by candle light

2007-01-14T07:18:00.000-08:00

Last night at matchless, Jake, Chris, Seth and myself played some romantic games of chess with one another by candel light. The bar was filled with cute honeys dieing for attention, but luckily, we had our priorities in order-plus chris is gay, not that there is anything wrong with that, chris, honestly.
So other than a game in which seth made me pay for being too aggressive with the king's gambit, I didn't lose a game, and even scored a spakling victory with the gambit against some passerby who decided to challenge us to a match. There wasn't, however, any cash on the game.

2007-01-10T19:40:00.000-08:00

While it may be true that few moves are valued more than the queen sacrifice, a checkmate executed with a pawn push may be just as rare and for that reason equally as prized. I'm not sure if it's a product of the king's and latvian gambit games that we've been playing recently, or simply the evidence of my sparkling style (although jeff certainly has a "glittering" style all his own....hence the glitter all over his clothing and person), but I have scored three such mates against him this week! Here is a photo from today's refulgent play.

Feast your eyes on this beauty of a mate.

the pawns are the soul of the game- Philidor.

who's attacking now?

2007-01-09T19:34:00.000-08:00

So Jeff, I know you're thinking chess is easy, right? You just push the e-pawn, get some development, and then storm the king. But what do you say to the proposition of 2.f5? The Latvian Gambit is more than just cat and mouse, it's instantaneous counterplay that explodes into tactical problems demanding quick resolution. After looking over the possibilities of this opening, I found the move three that I knew was correct but somehow was overlooking all afternoon yesterday. Needless to say, after a week or two with this opening, I think that I will have found a viable answer to the e4 headache...

God Save the Queen!

2007-01-09T08:29:00.000-08:00

There are perhaps few moves more respected or prized in chess than the brilliance of a queen sacrifice that leads to a forced mate. Logically, the contra-positive of that statement is that there is no greater blunder in the game of philosophers and kings than the needless loss of a queen. Last night, while out at matchless for some innocuous play with the usual crowd, Jeff and I were put into an uncomfortable position, when someone wanted a high stakes money game. Jeff opened with e4, and quickly found himself with promising attacks, that forced his opponent into a blunder, hanging a knight on the edge(h5). Rather than immediately swiping his prize, Jeff looked ahead to tactical possibilities of attacks against the king. With his opponent’s king’s bishop in the center, Jeff decided to swipe the g7 pawn??? A sparkling queen sacrifice?- no. simply the worst move in chess—in a money game no less.
After Jeff resigned and stepped out for a smoke, I took to the table and equalized the score to 1-1 with a Sicilian defense that this high roller didn’t know how to handle. He toppled his king after about twenty moves when he was forced into going a minor piece down and opening a line to his king.
He wouldn’t win another game that night.
Of the king toppling that followed, by far the most pyrotechnic was the final game in which I had the white pieces. After four moves into the king’s gambit, I recognized that my opponent had left himself open to the classic bishop sac trap. I excused myself from the table to go get Jeff, who was, as per usual, outside smoking, so that he could learn a little about the game. Two moves later my opponent toppled his king, and having won four out of five games (the last one in seven moves), Jeff and I collected our debt. I felt like singing “we are the champions” by that band….wait, who sang that? Oh right, Queen, just like the piece Jeff threw away to an old man in a money game.

Sean's immaculate Maroczy bind blunder

2007-01-08T14:30:00.000-08:00

In the following game, Sean had the white pieces and answered the Sicilian dragon with a bind. By move 13, the game was equal though white had a slight positional advantage. Sean, however, threw a piece away and risked getting pawn forked with moves 14-16, and the game quickly became black's as counter play in the center cleared space for a counter attack.

1. e4 c5
2. c4 g6
3. Nc3 Nf6
4. Be2 Bg6
5. Nf7 d6
6. 0-0 0-0
7. Ng5 Nd7
8. d3 b6
9. Bg4 Nxg4
10. Qxg4 Ne5
11. Qh4 h5
12. Rd1 e6
13. Nb5 d5
14. Bf4 f6
15. Ne6?? Bxe6 (this was the free piece that set in motion the counter attack!)
16. Bxe5 f6xe5
17. Qg3 h4
18. Qe3 d4
19. Qe2 h3
20. g3 Rf6
21. Qf1 Qe7
22. Rb1 Rf8
23. b4 Qf7
24. Nd6 Qe7
25 b4xc5 b6xc5
26. Nb5 a6
27. Na3 Qf7
28. Rd2 Bh6
29. Rb2 Be3
30. Rb7 Bd7
31. Rb8 Be8
32. Rb7 Bd7
33. Rb8 Rxb8+
34. Rxb8 Be8
35. Qxh3 Bxf2+
36.Kh1 Be3
37. Nc2 Rf1+ and white resigns
0-1

Fischer Article on the death of the King's Gambit

2007-01-07T12:28:00.001-08:00

In the summer of 1961, a new chess magazine, the "American
Chess Quarterly," began publication. Edited by Grandmaster
Larry Evans, it was "dedicated to the interests of the
professional chess player." The first issue contained an
article which not only put the magazine on the map, but which
became one of the most famous opening articles ever written.
Eighteen-year old U.S. Champion Bobby Fischer was smarting at
the recent defeat handed him by Boris Spassky at Mar Del Plata.
Bobby had played the Black side of the King's Gambit.

Spassky-Fischer
Mar del Plata
March 30, 1960
King's Gambit Accepted
1 e4 e5 2 f4 ef4 3 Nf3 g5 4 h4 g4 5 Ne5 Nf6 6 d4 d6 7 Nd3 Ne4 8
Bf4 Bg7 9 Nc3 Nc3 10 bc3 c5 11 Be2 cd4 12 O-O Nc6 13 Bg4 O-O 14
Bc8 Rc8 15 Qg4 f5 16 Qg3 dc3 17 Rae1 Kh8 18 Kh1 Rg8 19 Bd6 Bf8
20 Be5 Ne5 21 Qe5 Rg7 22 Rf5 Qh4 23 Kg1 Qg4 24 Rf2 Be7 25 Re4
Qg5 26 Qd4 Rf8 27 Re5 ("Incredibly, Black must lose a piece.
While trying to figure out what was going on in Spassky's head,
I blundered and lost the game!" - Fischer) 27...Rd8 28 Qe4 Qh4
29 Rf4 1-0 [This game is fully annotated by Fischer in "My 60
Memorable Games."]

Perhaps motivated by this loss, Fischer attacked the very
essence of the theory of the King's Gambit.

As a result of this article, the King's Gambit initially
virtually disappeared from grandmaster play. Eventually,
resources were found that rehabilitated the opening and it made
a gradual re-emergence. Nevertheless, the Fischer Defense to
the King's Gambit (as it is now called) still plays a vital
role in Black's treatment of this ancient opening.

We are pleased to present the entire article just as it
appeared thirty years ago (descriptive notation and all). It is
reprinted with the permission of GM Larry Evans.

A BUST TO THE KING'S GAMBIT
by U.S. Champion Bobby Fischer
International Grandmaster

Biographical Sketch of Bobby Fischer

In the winter of 1957 a bombshell burst upon the horizon of the
chess world when 15-year-old Bobby Fischer wrested the United
States National Title from defending Champion Arthur Bisguierg
and Grandmaster Samuel Reshevsky. True, he had previously shown
tremendous talent. He had tied with Bisguier and nosed him out
on a tie-break for the "Open" Title at Cleveland, but many
considered this a "fluke." No flash-in-the-pan, Bobby roundly
consolidated his position as the world's youngest Grandmaster
by winning the United States Title AGAIN in 1958 and AGAIN in
1959-60.

Bobby's international achievements are equally spectacular.
They include a solid second (to World Champion Tal) at the
powerful Zurich Tournament, 1959, and some notable victories
over Keres, Smyslov, Gligorich, Euwe and Unzicker, to name but
a few outstanding European Grandmasters. At Mar Del Plata,
1960, Bobby tied for first with Russia's Boris Spassky - again
ahead of a strong field. At this time of writing [Summer 1961]
Bobby has set off to lead the United States Team in the
Olympics at Leipzig, Germany, and he has recaptured the U.S.
title for the 4th time!

"Bobby Fischer's Best Games of Chess," published by Simon &
Schuster, contains a collection of some fine chess gems by the
youthful author.

A Bust to the King's Gambit

The King's Gambit has lost popularity, but not sympathy.
Analysts treat it with kid gloves and seem reluctant to
demonstrate an outright refuatation. "The Chessplayers Manual"
by Gossip and Lipschutz, published in 1874, devotes 237 pages
to this gambit without arriving at a conclusion. To this day
the opening has been analyzed romantically - not
scientifically. Moderns seem to share the same unconscious
attitude that caused the old-timers to curse stubborn Steinitz:
"He took the beauty out of chess."

To the public, the player of the King's Gambit exhibits courage
and derring-do. The gambit has been making a comeback with the
younger Soviet masters, notably Spassky (who defeated
Bronstein, Averbach and myself with it). His victories rarely
reflected the merits of the opening since his opponents went
wrong in the mid-game. It is often the case, also, as with
Santasiere and Bronstein, that the King's Gambit is played with
a view to a favorable endgame. Spassky told me himself the
gambit doesn't give White much, but he plays it because neither
does the Ruy Lopez nor the Giuoco Piano.

The refuatation of any gambit begins with accepting it. In my
opinion the King's Gambit is busted. It loses by force.

1 P-K4 P-K4 2 P-KB4 PxP 3 N-KB3 P-Q3!

This is the key to a troublesome position, a high-class
"waiting move." At Mar Del Plata, 1959, I played 3...P-KN4
against Spassky, but this is inexact because it gives White
drawing chances in the ensuing ending: e.g., 4 P-KR4 P-N5 5
N-K5 N-KB3 6 P-Q4 P-Q3 7 N-Q3 NxP 8 BxP B-N2 and now 9 P-B3!
(replacing Spassky's 9 N-B3) 9...Q-K2 10 Q-K2 B-B4 11 N-Q2
leads to an ending where Black's extra Pawn is neutralized by
White's stranglehold on the dark squares, especially KB4.

Another good try, but also inexact, is the Berlin Defense:
3...P-KR3 4 P-Q4 P-KN4 5 P-KR4 B-N2 6 P-KN3 P-N5 (also playable
is 6...P-Q3 7 PxBP P-N5) 7 N-R2 PxP 8 NxP (8 QxP loses to
8...PxN 9 QxB QxP+ 10 K-Q1 Q-B3) 8...P-Q4 9 P-K5 B-B4 10 B-KB4,
where Black cannot demonstrate any advantage.

Of course 3...P-Q4 equalizes easily, but that's all.

4 B-B4

4 P-Q4 transposes, the only difference if White tries to force
matters after 4...P-KN4 5 P-KR4 P-N5 6 N-N5 (White also gets no
compensation after 6 BxP PxN 7 QxP N-QB3 or 6 N-N1 B-R3)
6...P-KB3! 7 N-KR3 PxN 8 Q-R5+ K-Q2 9 BxP Q-K1! 10 Q-B3 K-Q1
and with his King and Queen reversed, Black wins easily.

4...P-KR3!

This in conjunction with Black's previous move I would like to
call the Berlin Defense Deferred. By this subtle transposition
Black knocks out the possibility open to White in the last note
(to move 3).

5 P-Q4 P-KN4 6 0-0 B-N2 7 P-B3

Necessary to protect the QP. 7 P-KN3 is always met by P-N5.

7...N-QB3

Here there is disagreement as to Black's best move. Puc and
Rabar, Euwe, Keres, and most analysts give the text as the main
line and mention 7...N-K2(!) in passing. I think 7...N-K2 is
best because there is no reason why Black should not strive to
castle K-side: e.g., 8 P-KN3 P-Q4! 9 PxQP PxNP 10 PxP (if 10
N-K5 PxP+! 11 K-R1 0-0 12 P-Q6 QxP wins) 10...0-0 11 Q-N3 Q-Q3
12 K-N2 N-B4 wins. There is little practical experience with
this sub-variation.

8 Q-N3

If 8 P-KN3 P-N5 9 N-R4 P-B6 10 N-Q2, Euwe and other analysts
betray their soft-mindedness toward this opening by giving the
inferior 10...B-B3(?) 11 N(2)xP PxN 12 QxP - "unclear"!! This
is yet another example of sentimental evaluation - after
12...Q-K2 followed by B-R6 and 0-0-0 Black wins easily. The
Pawn on KB6 is a bone in White's throat so why force him to
sacrifice when he must anyway? 10...Q-K2 is the strongest move.

In this last variation (instead of 10 N-Q2) White can vary with
10 Q-N3 but then comes Nimzovitch's beautiful winning line:
10...Q-K2 11 N-B5 BxN 12 PxB (if 12 QxP R-N1 13 QxN+ Q-Q2 14
QxQ+ BxQ and Black has a winning endgame) 12...0-0-0 13 BxP
Q-K7 14 Q-K6+ (if 14 R-B2 NxQP! 15 RxQ PxR wins) 14...R-Q2! 15
R-B2 Q-Q8+ 16 R-B1 Q-B7 17 N-Q2 N-B3 (threatening N-Q1) 18 B-N6
(if 18 Q-N3 QxQ 19 BxQ P-Q4 with a winning endgame) 18...P-Q4
followed by N-K2 with a winning game for Black.

8...Q-K2 9 P-KR4 N-B3

Again theoretical disagreement. Perfectly good is 9...P-N5! 10
BxP (forced, not 10 KN-Q2 NxQP! 11 PxN BxP+ etc.) 10...PxN 11
RxP - given by analysts again as "unclear," but after N-B3
followed by 0-0, White has nothing for the piece.

10 PxP PxP 11 NxP NxKP

A wild position, but Black is still master.

12 BxP+

The game is rife with possibilities. If 12 NxN QxN 13 RxP Q-K8+
14 R-B1 Q-R5 15 BxP+ K-Q1 16 Q-Q5 N-K4! 17 PxN BxP (threatening
B-R7 and mate) 18 R-Q1 Q-N6 wins, owing to the threat of R-R8+.

12...K-Q1 13 NxN

Not 13 N-K6+ BxN 14 QxB QxQ 15 BxQ NxQP!

13...QxN 14 BxP

14 RxP also loses to 14...Q-K8+ 15 R-B1 R-R8+ 16 KxR QxR+ 17
K-R2 QxQB etc.

14...NxP

And Black wins...

Of course White can always play differently, in which case he
merely loses differently. (Thank you, Weaver Adams!)

the most brilliant Kings Gambit game ever!

2007-01-07T12:24:00.000-08:00

This was a king's Gambit game played by fischer. The tactical creativity in this match is mind-blowing, but what's crazy is this game was played after his famous article that he wrote at the age of 18 after loosing to Boris Spassky (who played the kings gambit) forever condemning the gambit and pointing out it's unsound positional weaknesses. While the article had an effect on grandmasters and for a while the opening disappeared from tournament play, it was fischer who brought it back and scored some sparkling victories- such as this one!

1. e4 e5
2. f4 exf4
3. Bc4 d5
4. Bxd5 Nf6
5. Nc3 Bb4
6. Nf3 0-0
7. 0-0 Nxd5
8. Nxd5 Bd6
9. d4 g5
10. Nxg5 Qxg5
11. e5 Bh3
12. Rf2 Bxe5
13. dxe5 c6
14. Bxf4 qg7
15. Nf6+ Kh8
16. Qh5 Rd8
17. Qxh3 Na6
18. Rf3 Qg6
19. Rc1 Kg7
20. Rg3 Rh8
21. Qh8#

le geant

2007-01-06T19:40:00.000-08:00

chess is art

2007-01-06T19:23:00.000-08:00

Not all artists are chess players, but all chess players are artists.- Marcel Duchamp.