Chess thread

[Tal]

The World Youth Championships are underway. Here is a report of the action so far:

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=8636

Some games and videos for you, as well as such fabulous pics as these:





And the obligatory crying child...

[Tal]

Alekhine constructed a brilliant two volume collection of his best games, which he annotated and explained. One of the games was one he played against Marshall in 1927 and for which he won a spot prize in the tournament in which it featured (it is customary for a Game of the Day prize, a Game of the Tournament prize or what was then a Brilliancy Prize).

I have found a website which plays through games in detail, explaining why each move was played. I hope this will be helpful, as it is a neat game (albeit with a funny opening - I wouldn't worry too much about it, although you might come up against someone making suboptimal moves in the openings against you when you play online, I suppose). It is always instructive to see how a player builds an attack and hits weaknesses.

Black got into a bit of a muddle with his pieces and didn't develop quickly enough. This enabled White to "get his bits out and castle" way ahead and was ready to attack. When Black opened up the centre to try to relieve the pressure, he found himself vulnerable and White executed his plan beautifully.

http://www.mark-weeks.com/aboutcom/aa07j20.htm

In the final position, just for completeness, I should explain that, if Black swaps his queen for the rook, although he will stop the checkmate, he will still be too far behind to save the game: the queen is parading around the board and the e-pawn will take some stopping.

By all means, let me know if this sort of thing is instructive.   

[Tal]

A quick one today.

Some photographs of the 1936 Nottingham tournament taken from Edward Winter's Chess Notes website:

http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/nottingham.html



Lasker playing golf



The familiar smokey gaze of Alekhine



Incredible how close the kibiters are. Compare and contrast the glass cube we saw a few weeks ago.

[Tal]

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=8643

While the Kings tournament was going on, there was a schools tournament running alongside, with the aim of inspiring the new generation.

Some wonderful pictures for you. The actions look the same in any language.

They include:



And

[Tal]

Some more Master Moves for you this morning:

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=7103

Solutions are at the bottom of the linked page, so have fun.

BTW I should explain that these were all moves played in the 2011 Melody Amber Blindfold Tournament, so neither White nor Black can see the board.

You're looking for material wins on the whole (so if you win a bishop or a couple of pawns, that would be enough).

Number 8 is a ripsnorter

[TightEnd]

Hello sir

I am 1250 rated on an online chess site when I started at 1100 a few weeks ago by trying to play those ranked higher than myself. Does this correspond to a global chess ranking system?


If I find myself material up, say a pawn or more, my default is to try to swap material off so that my advantage cannot be nullified by oppo's material giving him flexibility, and the value of my material gain is larger....

Does this sound logical, and would it have any basis in chess theory?

(I am just on the slippery slope whereby I am about to buy chess books. Watch out Professionals)

[Tal]

The ratings do correlate with the international rating system although if you are playing 15 minute games, it is a different skill set (think limited overs cricket).

As for your strategy, you're bob on. If you have extra material, in general, swaps suit you. The player who is behind should try to keep at least one rook on the board for some counterplay but if he doesn't you find yourself with an extra pawn at the end.

It is very important then to know what to do in a King + Pawn v King endgame. There are some basic rules to follow and some positions to look for/avoid.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_and_pawn_versus_king_endgame

The authority Wiki quotes is - and I got a wonderfully pleasant surprise when I just saw this - my old coach and good friend, Peter Griffiths.

There are also some instructive YouTube videos about foe those who like having these things played out in front of them.

[Ant040689]

Not sure if mentioned on the thread already, but I watched Kasparov in the documentary Game Over this morning. Was an interesting watch.

[Tal]

Not sure if mentioned on the thread already, but I watched Kasparov in the documentary Game Over this morning. Was an interesting watch.

Not aware of it at all, Ant, to be honest.

Will be sure to have a look for it.

[Ant040689]

Not sure if mentioned on the thread already, but I watched Kasparov in the documentary Game Over this morning. Was an interesting watch.

Not aware of it at all, Ant, to be honest.

Will be sure to have a look for it.

It is a documentary on his loss to the 'Deep Blue' IBM machine in 1997. Kasparov claims as well as the computer element there was also human interaction, so he claimed they were cheating. I have watched the American prodigy player back in the day as well, forget his name and enjoyed that as well.

Such a complicated game and think it is too late for me to go ahead and enjoy it as I don't think I will ever get to a standard I would like.

[Tal]

Really is never too late to enjoy the game, but, like poker, you have to be prepared to accept that there might be limitations to your game. You can enjoy it at whatever level you find, as you can play people of your level.

Kasparov said that he set a trap for Deep Blue, in that a computer would not "see" a particular move. It did and Kasparov his declared that it must have been a human.

The American prodigy is possibly Josh Waitskin, who was the subject of a film called Innocent Moves (later In Search of Bobby Fischer). He didn't live up to the potential the film slathered upon him but he did become an International Master (one below a Grandmaster)

[Ant040689]

It was actually Bobby Fischer. The doc was pretty great. I do enjoy a good doc and after watching two chess ones now I know I can really watch anything in the documentary format and find it interesting. I say that about Chess because I have basically never played a game in my life, but both docs transcended the game and was talking a lot more about the occasion.

Really disappointed I wasn't brought up on chess as it must aid in expanding your horizons intellectually as a child and that must help in other areas of academia. Grow in confidence with chess and bookwork can seem more like a doddle when faced with tough decisions.

Think I might introduce my two little nieces to the game and just beat them up at it until the students become the master.

[Tal]

It was actually Bobby Fischer. The doc was pretty great. I do enjoy a good doc and after watching two chess ones now I know I can really watch anything in the documentary format and find it interesting. I say that about Chess because I have basically never played a game in my life, but both docs transcended the game and was talking a lot more about the occasion.

Really disappointed I wasn't brought up on chess as it must aid in expanding your horizons intellectually as a child and that must help in other areas of academia. Grow in confidence with chess and bookwork can seem more like a doddle when faced with tough decisions.

Think I might introduce my two little nieces to the game and just beat them up at it until the students become the master.

I've said this a hundred times: there is no better way to learn than to teach.

Your nieces will ask questions you don't know the answer to and, rather than bluff, you'll likely feel obliged to find out the answer with them. When you get it, it is just about the best feeling in chess.

[Ant040689]

You must have mentioned this before, but is there a great beginners book to buy to get started in the game. There must be loads but is there 'the one'. The super system equivalent?

[Tal]

Super System isn't a beginners book really as you have to have a fair amount of basic knowledge before the chapters really make sense. The equivalent of that is My System by Aron Nimzowitsch. Again, not a beginners book but I'd pitch it at about the same level.

Ant, I should just say my support of this book has drawn criticism - perhaps meritoriously - on this thread from some who believe some of the concepts are a little too advanced for developing players.

If you are learning the very basics, there are plenty of perfectly decent books about that will explain the essentials (equivalents of say Cloutier and McAvoy's books). There is a Chess for Dummies book that is much the same as any other in the series.

No one book I would recommend over another, other than to suggest you have a look in Waterstone's or at reviews online and see whether any take your fancy.

The London Chess Centre (the shop is called Chess and Bridge) is one of the best vendors around and, if you give them a call, they will talk you through what they think might be most helpful. They only recruit (at least this was the policy a few years back and not aware of it having changed) who have a certain level of chess knowledge and that is rather useful.