107 Great Chess Battles 1939-1945 by Alexander Alekhine

i've been working on this book on and off for years...and i finished it today. been a very monumental week...finished another book, wrote my 4000th post on chessgames.com, bought a house (!) and having bachelor party this weekend. very interesting annotations by alekhine, including writeups on capablanca and reshevsky...and in algebraic. i really enjoyed it

new high at ICC

Blitz 1833 2505 2689 513 5707 1833 (24-Apr-2007)

i told myself i wasn't going to play any CFC-rated chess until I got to a new high...showing that I am improving, even if only at moving the little pieces quickly ;)

one more notch...

;)

The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal is complete

i almost forgot...

my/janowski's defense to the queen's gambit

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 a6!? (or 3. ...Nf6 4.Nf3 a6)

the idea is to get an improved Slav where Black can play ...c5 in one move. It's very interesting I think. I was going through my old blitz database this morning and found a couple of games from 2006 from me in this line (+1, =2, -0)

Match With Chris

My buddy Chris accepted a challenge for a 4-game match with me. We haven't worked out the details yet, I proposed 2 games here, 2 where he lives.

here are the ratings based on the score

Match

Chris		Craig
1515	4-0	1484
1492	3½-½	1496
1468	3-1	1509
1445	2½-1½	1521
1421	2-2	1533
1398	1½-2½	1545
1374	1-3	1557
1351	½-3½	1571
1327	0-4	1586

so basically i have to score 3/4 in order to keep my rating which is approximately where we stand if you were to ask me how strong we were. should be interesting...i've got a couple of opening ideas i want to try out :)

game 4 on the bike

C - K
Sadler_C - Sadler_K
G20 On The Bike Owen Sound (4), 12.03.2007
D35 - Queen's Gambit Declined : Exchange Variation

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 c6 5.Bg5 Unlike last game I had decided I was going to give a crack at the Botvinnik 5...Nbd7 [5...dxc4] 6.cxd5 exd5 7.e3 Bb4 [The opening books say that the text is too loose and 7...Be7 is better here] 8.Qc2 [I was going to try 8.a3 here and see if I could get a bad Nimzo (he has played ...c6) but decided against it 8...Bxc3+ 9.bxc3] 8...Qa5 This probably transposes into what he wanted (Cambridge Springs) 9.Bd3 0-0 10.0-0 c5? [10...Re8 has been played here;
I don't see a good move for him to free his light squared bishop 10...h6 but i can just play 11.Bh4 Re8 12.a3 etc.] 11.Nxd5 i'm just happy i saw this...normally i don't see anything 11...Nxd5 12.Bxh7+ Kh8 13.a3 g6 14.axb4 Qxb4 15.Bxg6 [My original idea was to play somethign like 15.Be7 and then 16.Ng5 but of course with the knight on d5 that is no good] 15...fxg6 16.Qxg6 N5f6 17.Ne5 Qxb2 [17...Ng8 stopping mate is best] 18.Nf7+ [18.Bh6! was best forcing immeditate resignation. I should have been sharper] 18...Rxf7 19.Qxf7 cxd4 [19...Ng8 was a little better, but it's still all white] 20.Bxf6+ Nxf6 21.Qxf6+ Kg8 22.exd4 [I could've tried 22.Ra5 but the text was good enough] 22...Bg4 1-0

game 3

K - C
G20 On The Bike Owen Sound, 09.03.2007
B40 - Sicilian Defense

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Bg5? wins a pawn [I had the pin variation in mind 5.Nc3 Bb4] 5...Qa5+ 6.Bd2 Qe5 [6...Qb6 7.Nb3 Nxe4] 0-1

"I don't love endgames"

C - K

C - K
G20 On The Bike Owen Sound (2), 06.03.2007
D36 - Queen's Gambit Declined : Exchange Variation

Game two 1.d4 e6 2.c4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 c6 [4...c6 Last night when I was thinking about this game I was pretty sure I would get this variation. He doesn't play the Botwinnik any more so really there were only a couple of choices 5.Bg5 (5.e3 Bd6 6.Qc2 Nbd7 7.g4 Shabalov-Shirov) 5...Nbd7 6.Qc2 Qa5 Cambridge Springs, and a third option.] 5.cxd5 For a while I've been looking at some minority attack games. This should transpose into the main line of the QGD Exchange. If he plays ...cxd5 it's a horrid Slav Exchange (...e6 without freeing the bishop) 5...exd5 6.Bg5 Be7 7.Qc2 0-0 [The "main line" is 7...g6 After 8.e3 Bf5 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Nbd7 11.0-0 0-0 I was looking at this yesterday and apparently Black wins more according to chessgames, but this looks like a "Grandmaster opening" to me, e.g. I have no idea what's going on and how the dark squares aren't weak around the king. I assume he will move his rook to e8 and reroute his bishop on the long diagonal] 8.e3 Be6 [Theory is 8...Nbd7 but Kirk had a plan in mind. He wanted to advance his c-pawn.] 9.Bd3 Nbd7 10.0-0 Rc8 11.Rab1?! Probably not the most accurate move, but again I wanted to do the minority attack 11...c5?! Giving himself the isolated pawn. Sure it opens up my queen for attack, but ends up hurting himself long term with the isolated pawn. 12.dxc5 Nxc5 13.Bf5? [Better was giving up the bishop pair with 13.Bxf6 Bxf6 14.Bxh7+ Kh8 15.Bf5 I had looked at something like that on the bike, but I was worried about ideas like 15...Bxf5 16.Qxf5 Bxc3 17.bxc3 and now I have an easily attackable isolated pawn as well. Not necessarily in this position, maybe later, but I didn't necesssarily want to have the isolated c-pawn. I guess the difference is that the king wasn't exposed because I never grabbed the h-pawn] 13...Nfe4 [13...Nce4 may have been better, now I'm pinned] 14.Bxe7 Qxe7 15.Nd4? [I totally missed a chance to sharpen it up 15.Nxd5! Bxd5 16.Bxc8 Bxa2 (16...Rxc8 17.b4 Ng5 18.Nxg5 Qxg5 19.f4 Qe7 20.bxc5 Be4) ] 15...Nxc3 16.Qxc3 [Again not wanting the isolated c-pawn 16.bxc3 ] 16...Qf6 17.Bxe6 [Again 17.Nxe6 Qxc3 but I didn't look hard enough 18.Bxh7+ Kh8 (18...Kxh7 19.Nxf8+ Rxf8 20.bxc3) 19.bxc3 fxe6 20.Bc2 and I have a pawn] 17...Nxe6 18.Qd3 [18.Qd2 was probably better although my move allowed him to tempo me] 18...Nc5 [18...Nxd4 19.exd4 Rc4 looked good] 19.Qe2 [Should've went for the queen trade 19.Qf5 ] 19...Ne6 20.Rfd1 Rfe8 21.Qf3 Nxd4 22.Rxd4 [I thought this was forced but of course 22.Qxf6 Ne2+ 23.Kf1 and I'm good 23...gxf6 24.Kxe2 Rc2+ 25.Rd2] 22...Qxf3 23.gxf3 Red8 [I thought 23...Rcd8 24.Rbd1 Re5 25.f4 Rf5 was better] 24.Rbd1 f6? [24...Rc2 was better] 25.Rxd5 Rxd5 26.Rxd5 Rc7 27.b4 Kf7 At this point we were both down to around 7 minutes and played with almost blitz speed 28.b5 b6 29.a4 Ke6 30.Rd4 g5 31.Kg2 h5 32.h4 Ke5 33.Kg3 Kf5 34.hxg5 fxg5 35.e4+ Ke5 36.Rd5+ Kf6 37.f4 gxf4+ 38.Kxf4 Rc4 39.Rxh5 Rxa4 40.Rh6+ Kg7 41.Rc6 Ra2 42.f3 Rb2 43.Rc7+ Kf6 44.Rxa7 Rxb5= He offered a draw around here somewhere but I have connected passed pawns and my rook behind his passer 45.Rb7 Ke6 46.Kg4 Kf6 47.f4 Ke6 48.e5 [48.f5+ Kf6 49.Kf4 Rb4 50.Rc7] 48...Rb4 49.Kg5 Rb5 50.Kg6 Rb1 [50...Rb4 51.f5+ Kxe5 52.f6 Rg4+ 53.Kf7] 51.f5+ Kxe5 52.f6 Rg1+ 53.Kf7 Rb1 54.Ke7 Rh1 55.f7 Rh7 56.Rxb6 Rxf7+ 57.Kxf7 1-0

After the game Kirk said he wasn't ready for tournament chess becuase he didn't "love endgames". I don't particularly ever but since that's the brunt of my study i should probably aim for them periodically ;) we'll see what happens tomorrow

20 minutes on the bike

K - C
G20 On The Bike Owen Sound (1), 05.03.2007
D85 - Grünfeld

I'm getting married :)

So as a training program me and Kirk decided to ride the bike for a G/20 in the morning. We used the Chessmaster program from Playstation. The problem I'm going to have is that it's always from White's POV. I could use that as an excuse but really I didn't look very hard this game at all. 1.d4 First surprise. 1...Nf6 2.Nf3 Second surprise. I go for a Grünfeld, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do in the future if he keeps this up 2...g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 c5 8.Bc4?! Spassky line isn't as strong with Nf3 as I can play Bg4 and put pressure on the d-pawn [8.Rb1] 8...Nc6 [8...0-0] 9.Be3 Bg4!? [9...0-0] 10.e5? [10.Bxf7+! Kxf7 11.Ng5+] 10...cxd4 [Maybe something like 10...Qc7 would have been better] 11.cxd4 0-0 12.0-0 Bxf3 13.Qxf3 Nxd4 14.Qxb7 Bxe5 15.Rfd1 Qb6?? [15...Qd6 16.f4 Bg7 17.Rac1 Rfd8 18.Rd2 Qa3 and I'm okay] 16.Qxe7? [16.Qxb6 axb6 17.Bxd4 just grabs a piece] 16...Bf6 17.Qe4 Rfe8 18.Qf4 Qc6?? [18...Rad8 was much better] 19.Bxd4 Not particularly well played by either. Better chess to come (I promise) 1-0

woot

i have finished another book Analysing the Endgame by Jonathon Speelman



i think i'm tackling Tal : My LIfe and Games next :) going through these speelman books i can honestly say that i've learned something, which is nice for a change :)

quick draw

here's a quick draw for people who don't like playing against the queen's gambit accepted

[Event "5th Gibraltar Chess Festival"]
[Site "Gibraltar Gibraltar"]
[Date "2007.01.29"]
[EventDate "2007.01.23"]
[Round "6.1"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[White "Yuriy Kuzubov"]
[Black "Ivan Sokolov"]
[ECO "?"]
[WhiteElo "2554"]
[BlackElo "2632"]
[PlyCount "20"]
1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Be6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Ng5 Bg4 7. Bxc4 Bxd1 8.
Bxf7+ Kd7 9. Be6+ Ke8 10. Bf7+ 1/2-1/2


not that 4. ...Be6 is that common, but I can recall some computers playing it against me. if you're ever looking for a 10 move draw v. one of your buddies in a tournament where you don't want to be paired, here's an easy option ;)

Christmas book - done

Today I finished Timman's "Curacao 1962 : Battle of Minds that shook the Chess world"



about half the games were annotated and there were lots of pictures. interesting games though. i prefer tournament books to game collections as you get to see the good the bad, and the ugly, so to speak, of the top players. Curacao 1962 was famous for Fischer's allegations of cheating in Sports Illustrated. Every game between Keres, Petrosian and Geller was a short draw, but the one that really got Fischer's goat was this one.

Black is winning in the final position and Timman does some analysis on it. Also I learned that openings are almost pointless, as Benko opened 1.g3 in all of his games and scored +4-2=6, which is as good as anyone and also Filip played 1. Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.O-O O-O 5.d4 c5 6.c3 v. Tal, one year removed from facing Botwinnik for the world championship and was doing well up to move 33. 33.Rxe5 instead of the blunder 33.Nxe5? and he had Tal beat with a passive terrible system.

i don't think i'm gonna play in kitchener. with who knows what's happening in the future (house? marriage?) i'm gonna make work a priority. with all the overtime i'm working my energy levels are low, so i'm gonna keep working on chess, tactics, and working out a little bit and then see what happens. i'm exhausted so i need to relax on the weekends and i don't find going and playing 5 rounds in 2 days relaxing anymore. if i take an (extended) break, maybe the love will come back, or maybe i'll just realize that i like going through games and playing blitz. sadly, i don't think i'll be playing in Canadian Open either (sorry Neil). Chrystelle at work is going for training the week of the Canadian open so i can't go.

I've got on a good system with this past book...history has shown that i like going through annotated games and I hate doing tactics, so I did the logical thing and combined them. 10 tactics for every game I go through. It's not a lot, but I've done about 1522 tactics since I started doing this book which is pretty damn good as far as I'm concerned.

Candidates Tournament 1959

Here's a cool video from a game between Tal and Fischer from the Candidates Tournament 1959

Last Book in 2006 - Chess For Tigers

my buddy Chuck dropped that off a week ago and i hadn't read it for years, so i went and annotated all the games. Merry Christmas Chuck!

Not sure what my next book will be, my goal was to get this done by Christmas (we're leaving for xmas breakfast in about 20 minutes) in case a got a book for christmas i could start with no guilt ;)

My first book...done

i have finsihed going through my original Caro-Kann bible

I can't find a picture of it, i was going to scan it but K seems to be at school, so here's the game from the cover

Hort-Seirawan

Now the problem is selecting which book to work on now? I assume I will get one for Christmas...

Free Rating Points at the CFC

I gained 51 rating points for doing absolutely nothing! Well not quite nothing, i did play 51 games from the period between July 1, 2004 and September 6, 2006. According to one of the Governor's Letters

"There is news on the Ratings front as well. The Ratings committee has made a decision on an interim measure to combat recent deflation while a more permanent solution is worked on.

Based on tournament reports for all events which ended between July 1, 2004 and September 6, 2006, all players will receive points for games played as follows:

<2200 : 1 point per game played
2200-2400 : ½ point per game played
2400+ : ¼ point per game played

Ratings used will be as of the September 6, 2006. If a player crosses a threshold in the process, points will be applied above that threshold at the new rate"

some people ended up gaining as many as 200 points. i will have to go to kitchener in february and try and scoop some points now ;)

one more book done...

maybe i should follow my coach's advice and do nothing but tactics for the next four months...the books don't seem to help me from dropping material ;)

November London Open

EH - CS
November Open London, ON (1), 25.11.2006
B03 - Alekhine : Four Pawns Attack

Not the greatest game for me. My excuse is that I was tired from the "long drive" but realistically I spent too much time going through books and not enough time doing tactics 1.e4 Nf6 [I had played the Caro against this guy at a previous tournament but I noticed in a later round he had the Caro and played 1...c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Bd3?! I tried the Alekhine for a few reasons. One, it always gives an interesting game. Two, Kirk wasn't there and he's the arch-duke of the Alekhine. Three, Hans said that I needed a couple of "must-win" lines so I decided that the Alekhine would be that. Ironically, Kirk pointed out that when I really needed a win in the third round I played the Caro] 2.e5 Nd5 3.c4 Nb6 4.d4 d6 5.f4 dxe5 6.fxe5 Bf5 [A line that me and Kirk (and others on chessgames.com) had looked at previously was 6...c5 7.d5 g6 I wasn't too sure, and the mainline gives Black good play;
6...Nc6 is the main line so if 7.Nf3 , 7...Bg4 can be played in one move] 7.Nc3 Nc6 [I ended up transposing back to the mainline but 7...e6 was playable as well] 8.Nf3 [8.Be3 is the normal move] 8...e6 [I was worried about getting developed, so I didn't even look at the strong 8...Nb4! This puts him in a tough spot, but I wonder if it's worth it without any development 9.Kf2 Nc2 10.Rb1 Nb4 11.Ra1 e6 and I always have the perpetual if I want it] 9.Be3 Be7 10.Bd3!? [10.Be2 is the mainline] 10...Bg4 [I had 10...Nb4 again 11.Bxf5 Nxc4! with the same idea as Hans' below] 11.Qe2? Qd7 [11...Nxd4! wins a pawn. My excuse is that I didn't want to go pawn grabbing and wanted to castle, but really I missed it;
11...Bxf3 12.Qxf3 Nxe5 13.dxe5 Qxd3 14.Bxb6 Qxf3 15.gxf3 axb6 was also good for me] 12.h3 Bh4+! I was happy with this after all the junk, so I decided to (finally) grab a pawn 13.Bf2 Nxd4 14.Qe3



14. ... Bxf2+?! [I'm so better here. I need to take a closer look at this position here 14...Bxf3 15.gxf3 Nxc4 16.Qe4 (16.Bxc4 Nc2+) 16...Nxe5 17.Qxe5 (17.Rd1 0-0-0) 17...Nxf3+] 15.Qxf2 Bxf3 Very strong line by Hans. I think that I overestimated the strength of the knight on d4 - ["In the first game I would have rubbed him out with 15...Nxf3+ 16.gxf3 Qxd3 17.hxg4 Nxc4 but even so what you probably missed is the effects of Ne4 and you got confused." (HJ)] 16.gxf3 c5? [Why not 16...0-0-0 first? Now I'm just a pawn up.] 17.0-0-0 0-0-0 18.Ne4 Nf5 ["But even so 18...Qa4! and the queen and two knights should do well against the white king position. " (HJ);
18...Kb8 19.Nxc5 Qc7 20.Ne4 Qxe5 and I'm fine. My opponent did a nice finish] 19.Nxc5 Qc6?? [19...Qc7 20.Be4 Qxe5 21.Bxb7+ Kb8] 20.Be4 Qc7 21.Bxb7+ Not a strong performance practically, but I did have a great position. Maybe I won't bury the Alekhine 1-0

CS - KG
November Open London, ON (2), 25.11.2006
A22 - English Opening

I wanted to try the English before the game because I wanted to avoid the QGD for some reason. Plus I wanted to try something different 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3?! [3.Nf3 is the strongest move, which I wanted to avoid because of 3...e4 but afterwards I took a look and 4.Ng5! seems okay to me because he can't protect the pawn with 4...d5 (I was flipping through Simon Webb's "Chess for Tigers" at the World's Biggest Bookstore in Toronto this weekend and noticed the gambit 4...b5 as played by Polugayevsky-Esteves-Morales as an example of mixing up the position v. a stronger player ) ] 3...Bc5 [3.g3 isn't that strong because of 3...c6! ] 4.Bg2 0-0 5.d3 [5.e3;
5.Nf3 were also options] 5...Ng4? 6.Ne4 Bb6 7.c5 f5 8.cxb6 fxe4 9.Nh3 [9.bxc7 was better 9...Qxc7 10.Nh3 and so forth] 9...axb6 10.0-0 [10.Qb3+] 10...exd3 11.Qxd3 Nf6 12.Bg5 d6 13.f4 Nc6 14.Bxf6 Rxf6 15.Ng5 i have threats too ;) 15...Bf5? [15...g6 16.Qc4+ Kg7 17.Bxc6 bxc6 18.Qxc6] 16.Qc4+ Kh8 [16...Kf8 17.Bxc6 bxc6 18.fxe5+-] 17.Nf7+ Rxf7 18.Qxf7 Nd4 19.e3 [19.fxe5 Be6] 19...Nc2? [19...Bg6! and i have to fight for equality as all his things he had previously are still there] 20.Qxf5 Nxe3 21.Qe4 [21.Qf7 Nxf1 22.Rxf1] 21...Nxf1 22.Bxf1 exf4 23.Qxf4 d5 24.a3 [to try and free up my rook but I probably should have took immediate action 24.Re1 ] 24...d4 25.Bd3 c5 26.Qe4 g6 [26...Qg8 27.Qxb7 Rb8 28.Qc7] 27.Qxb7? [I missed a mate 27.Qe5+ Kg8 28.Bc4+ Kf8 29.Rf1+] 27...Rb8 28.Qe4 b5 29.Qe5+ Kg8 30.Qxc5 [The idea is to get his king to the f-file...I missed this idea again with 30.Be4! ] 30...Qb6 31.Qxb6 Rxb6 32.b4 Kf7 33.Re1 Ra6 34.Bxb5 Rxa3 35.Rd1 Ke6 36.Rxd4 Ke5 37.Rd3 Ra1+ 38.Kg2 Rb1 I missed this actually 39.Be8 Rxb4 40.Rd7 Rb8 41.Rd1 Kf6 42.Rf1+ Kg5 43.h4+ Kh6 44.Bc6 Rb2+ 45.Kh3 Rb3 46.Kg4 Rb4+ 47.Rf4 Rxf4+ 48.Kxf4 [48.gxf4] 48...Kh5 49.g4+?! Kh6 [49...Kxh4 50.g5 and i just go get him] 50.Bf3 Kg7 51.Ke5 Kh6? 52.Kf6! g5 53.hxg5# Again not a great game, but I took what he gave me. Before the tournament I wanted to take things slow, but I think I took things *too* slow this game 1-0

CL - CS
November Open London, ON (3), 25.11.2006
B10 - Caro-Kann : Breyer Variation

An interesting game, probably the best one I played at this tournament. I had a little extra incentive here, me and Chris both drove down together and he was rated lower than me. My tournament was going not so great because of the first round, so in order to get a tough matchup the last round I had to win. I mentioned to the TD that we were from the same club could he change the pairings (there were many people there) and he said something along the lines of "it works for the computer". I just assumed he was a moron and went from there 1.e4 c6 [THe night before the game I was going through some of his books and he had the Voronezh line highlighted v. the Alekhine which is strong 1...Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.exd6 cxd6 6.Nc3 g6 7.Be3 Bg7 8.Rc1 etc. I couldn't remember what he played against the Caro-Kann, so I figured I'd trot out the old reliable] 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 e5 4.Ngf3 Bg4 5.g3 [McClelland-C.Sadler 2005 went 5.c3 Nf6 6.Qb3 Qc7 but Christian wanted to play it closer to a King's Indian Attack than a Colle] 5...Nd7 6.Bg2 Ngf6 7.0-0 Bd6 [7...dxe4 8.Nxe4 Nxe4 9.dxe4] 8.b3?! [8.h3 trying me to get away from the pin instead of trying to move the bishop on the other diagonal] 8...0-0 9.Bb2 Re8 [I could've played 9...d4 but I didn't want to encourage him to play c3] 10.Qe1 a5 I wanted to play d4 and keep him from trying to outflank me with a b-pawn push if i tried something like ...d4, ...c5 11.a4 d4 12.c3 c5 13.c4 [I wasn't so sure about my move after I made it becae of 13.Nc4 but he avoided that 13...Nb6 14.Nfd2 (14.Nxd6 Qxd6 and his bishop is not the strongest) ] 13...Nb8 Aiming for b4 14.Nh4 Qd7 15.f4 [15.f3] 15...Nc6 16.Ba3 Prophylactic as he will be happy to trade off his crappy bishop for my strong knight on b4 (if i put it there) 16...b6?! [I had to play 16...exf4 here] 17.f5! I didn't see how strong this was until he played it 17...Be7 18.h3 Bh5 [18...Bxh3 19.Bxh3 g5! 20.Nhf3 (20.fxg6 Qxh3) 20...g4] 19.Bf3? [This move lets me out 19.g4 Bxg4 20.hxg4 Nxg4 would have been stronger for him] 19...Bxf3 20.Ndxf3 Bd8 I can't remember what the idea was here. Probably to let the rook cover the e-pawn. 21.g4 h6 22.Qg3 Nh7 23.Ng6? Not a good sacrifice. Just drops material in my opinion 23...fxg6 24.fxg6 Ng5 [24...Nf8 just grabbed the pawn. I don't know why I just didn't play that. I guess i missed that the h4 was guarded by the bishop 25.Nh4 Bxh4] 25.Nh4 Ne6 26.Rf7? [He missed the tactic. The line he played traded material. Probably something like 26.Bc1 would have been better] 26...Bxh4 27.Qxh4 [27.Rxd7?? Bxg3] 27...Re7 28.Raf1 Rf8 [The computer liked 28...Nf4! disconnecting the rooks, attacking g6 and d3] 29.R7f5 Nf4 Better late than never ;) 30.Rxf8+ Kxf8 31.Bc1 Kg8 [31...Qd6 32.Qh5 Kg8] 32.Bxf4 exf4 33.Rxf4= he offered a draw. I couldn't in good conscience take it, even though we're friends and he gave me a ride down. His pawns are weak and I'm up material. He is going to drop the g-pawn and likely the d-pawn as well. Once his d-pawn falls the game is over 33...Nb4 34.Rf3 Qe8 35.Qh5 Re6 [35...Re5 36.Qh4 Qxg6 But i wanted to tie up all loose ends and defend the b-pawn] 36.Qh4 Qxg6 37.Qg3 Rf6! 38.Qb8+ Kh7 39.Rf5 Nxd3 It's tough now 40.Rd5 Qxe4 41.Qg3 Qe1+ [41...Rf3 42.Qxf3 or mate] 42.Qxe1 Nxe1 43.Rf5?! Funny decision trading off rooks 43...Nf3+ 44.Kf2 Rxf5 45.gxf5 Nd2 46.Ke2 Nxb3 47.h4 Kg8 48.h5 Kf7 49.Kd3 Kf6 50.Kc2 at this point i don't care about the knight 50...Kxf5 51.Kxb3 Kg5 52.Kc2 Kxh5 The most interesting game I played all tournament 0-1

CS - HO
November Open London, ON (4), 25.11.2006
D15 - Slav Defense

And now for my worst game of the tournament. I can give the usual excuses, but once again, I just missed something obvious. Tactical training is what I need 1.c4 c6 2.d4 [For about two seconds I thought about going for the Panov after 2.e4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.d4 but really if I wanted to play 1.e4 i should've played it on the first move] 2...d5 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 b6?! NEver seen this before. It doesn't make much sense with the pawn on c6 unless he goes to a6. Was he worried about me playing cxd? 5.Bg5 e6 [5...dxc4 6.e4 b5] 6.e3 Be7 [6...Ba6 was interesting here] 7.Bd3 dxc4 8.Bxc4 Ba6 9.Bxa6 Nxa6 I'm very happy with my position here. I could always tempo the knight, but there was no need to make him move to a better square. There was always the threat of a double attack as well 10.0-0 0-0 11.Rc1 Rc8? 12.a3? Missing a free pawn. [12.Qa4 Nb8 13.Qxa7;
12.Bxf6 Bxf6 13.Qa4 Nc7 14.Qxc6] 12...c5 13.Qe2 [13.Qa4 may have been more to the point] 13...Nb8 14.dxc5 Rxc5 15.Rfd1 Qc7 16.Nb5 [16.Bf4] 16...Qb7 17.Rxc5 Bxc5 18.Bxf6 gxf6 Now again I have a better position. Notice that the only thing I have to worry about it mate on g2 19.Nbd4 ["Interestingly in the last game you also had the queen and two knights and your opponents weakened king position. Instead of 19.Nbd4 quite quickly I came up with 19.Qc4 with the idea of first swinging the queen over to the h or g file and then after b4 the rook to d4 and h4. It makes me wonder if you are still doing problems (this is what problems do for you - help you zero in on the target - in this position the BC5 and the weakened black kingside are targets;
A positional player would concentrate on owning the c-file with perhaps 19.Rc1 first, and then pawn to b4 to kick the bishop but the queen is much more active on c4" (HJ);
I wasthinking about maybe 19.Nd6 Bxd6 20.Rxd6 and again his knight is not the best piece on the board] 19...Kh8 20.b4 Be7 21.Qb2 Rg8 The threat now is ...e5. White to play and lose



22.Ne2?? [Probably even 22.Kh1 would have been sufficient] 22...Qxf3 A poor ending to an indifferent tournament 0-1

i did relearn a lesson this tournament - if they go out of theory, normally it's not theory for a tactical reason. i need to look harder all the way through, but just as much once they go out of theory as any. also i need to look at the board (see games 1 and 4)

wilt v. bobby

i read this on Uschess.org

Wilt & Bobby: Not a Random Encounter

NBAE Getty Images.by David Friedman

Chess is a matter of delicate judgment, knowing when to punch and how to duck."—Bobby Fischer
“Not unlike Mike Tyson, a later world champion from Brooklyn, Bobby Fischer loved to intimidate.”—Dick Schaap

“Where there’s a Wilt, there’s a way.”—Wilt Chamberlain


In his memoir Flashing Before My Eyes, Dick Schaap recounts having dinner with Wilt Chamberlain at the Hall of Fame center’s palatial Bel Air home. Schaap, the only person ever to serve as a voter for both the Heisman Trophy and the Tony Awards, loved to bring together eminent people from different fields and watch the sparks fly. He became acquainted with Bobby Fischer in the late 1950s and knew that the World Chess Champion was in the area, so he asked Chamberlain to invite him over. Schaap writes that Fischer expressed a great interest in seeing Chamberlain’s house but ultimately declined the invitation. Of course, much of Fischer’s post-1972 activities are shrouded in secrecy. At least one account suggests that he did in fact join Chamberlain that evening, just after Schaap had left…


Wilt Chamberlain was known to the general public as “Wilt the Stilt,” a nickname that only an unimaginative hack could love (or write). His friends called him “Big Dipper,” or “Dipper,” or even “Dippy” in reference to how the 7-foot, 300 pound basketball playing legend had to dip his head to go through doorways that were only designed to accommodate mere mortals.


Like the Greek gods who lived atop Mt. Olympus, Chamberlain resided in a sprawling pleasure palace with a majestic view. While the Olympians took their name from the mountain where they dwelled, Chamberlain named his house after himself: Ursa Major, the constellation containing the group of stars called the Big Dipper.


Ursa Major sat on a hilltop overlooking Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley. The house’s most famous feature was the 10-foot long, triangular section of the roof that was retractable, providing an impressive view of the sparkling California sky. Bobby Fischer once dreamed of living in a house shaped like a rook and containing spiral staircases, so how could he resist an invitation to Chamberlain’s house, with its chrome spiral staircase, 20-foot high ceiling and one of a kind furnishings?


Chamberlain, who favored comfort over formality—particularly when he was at home—was barefoot and wearing only shorts and a tank top when he greeted Fischer. The World Chess Champion, clad in a tailor made suit from Argentina that had seen better days, gripped Chamberlain’s huge, outstretched hand a bit tentatively, his eyes guardedly taking in the mammoth basketball legend and the elegantly decorated home. They walked inside. Fischer looked around the house in silent appreciation.


"Hey, my man,” Chamberlain said enthusiastically. “Check this out.” Chamberlain directed Fischer’s attention to a one of a kind chess set: handcrafted pieces made out of real ivory sitting atop a gorgeous wooden board. Fischer picked up one of the pieces, delicately held it with his long, pianist-like fingers and nodded approvingly: “This is really first class.”


Chamberlain—an avid chess and backgammon player—challenged Fischer to a game. Fischer was reluctant but Chamberlain, whose eagerness to master new challenges was only exceeded by his boastfulness about his prowess, persisted: “I’m undefeated here. I never lose at cards or backgammon and I’ve yet to find a good challenge in chess.”


Fischer agreed to play, but said that to make things fair he would turn his back and announce his moves without sight of the board. He took white and played his customary e4. Chamberlain responded with d5, employing the Center Counter, his favorite defense.


The game unfolded rhythmically, a dance of the minds punctuated by each player calling out his move. Fischer declared his moves quickly and with great self assurance. Chamberlain was equally self assured, but deliberated over each move like a gourmand reading a restaurant menu*.

White: Fischer, Bobby
Black: Chamberlain, Wilt


1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd8 4.d4 g6 5.Bf4 Bg7 6.Qd2 Nf6 7.O-O-O c6 8.Bh6 O-O 9.h4 Qa5 10.h5 Nxh5 11.Be2 Nf6 12.Bxg7 Kxg7 13.Qh6+ Kg8 14.g4 Rd8 15.g5 Nh5 16.Bxh5 gxh5 17.Rxh5 Bf5 18.g6 fxg6 19.Re1 e6 20.Qxh7+ Kf8 21.Qh8+ Ke7 22.Rh7+ Kd6 23.Nb5+ cxb5 24.Qe5+ Kc6 25.Qc5# 1-0


Chamberlain shook his head. “I’ve never lost so quickly at anything.”


“You didn’t have a chance against me with that line,” Fischer replied. “I refuted that whole variation more than 10 years ago. One guy tried 10…gxh5 against me, but he didn’t last any longer than you did.”


Chamberlain, never one to either easily accept defeat or avoid a debate, considered this for a moment and said, “You just played this whole game from memory. You didn’t really outthink me. If we set the pieces up at random, I’ll bet I could beat you because you couldn’t use any of your pet lines.” Granted, that might not sound logical to an outside observer, but if you spent your whole life doing outsized things that nobody else could come close to doing then you might be able to convince yourself that beating Bobby Fischer can be accomplished by changing the starting position of the pieces.


Chamberlain set up the board to start another game, but after putting the pawns on their usual squares he put the rooks where the knights should go, put the bishops on the rooks’ home squares, placed each knight on bishop one and transposed the king and queen. “Let’s play again.” Fischer looked at the new formation for about 10 seconds, then turned his back and announced his first move. Within minutes Chamberlain’s position looked more bedraggled than the New York Knicks did when he scored 100 points against them. Chamberlain looked at the board silently. Chamberlain knew what Schaap would say: “Maybe you should play blindfolded. Then at least you won’t have to see the carnage.”


Undaunted, Chamberlain set up the board with yet another different starting alignment and the two men resumed combat. What happens when two stubborn insomniacs are determined to prove that they are right? In this case, an all night session of a variant form of chess. Chamberlain was right that shifting the starting formation rendered Fischer’s knowledge of book openings useless—but that actually increased Fischer’s advantage, because he could fully utilize his well honed creativity and positional understanding. Chamberlain, on the other hand, could neither play the opening lines that he knew nor could he devise suitable alternatives.


Chamberlain grew more and more frustrated but Fischer saw the light—and it wasn’t just the rays of the early morning sun shining through the retractable roof: this type of “shuffle chess” had real possibilities. Chamberlain never did win a game, so he shifted the contest to a different level: what the new game should be called. Chamberlain favored “Dipper Chess” or “Ursa Major Chess.” Fischer retorted, “Who is going to play something called ‘Dipper Chess’? Besides, I’m the World Champion and I won every game, so it should be named after me.”


When Fischer left Chamberlain’s house, no one knew that—other than an unscheduled engagement in a Pasadena jailhouse—he would not be seen in public for nearly two decades. When he came back, he was heavier, had more facial hair and was a little more (ahem) eccentric and he also spoke of a new version of chess that would stump computers, eliminate pre-arranged draws and revitalize the sport: Fischer Random Chess.


So how come Chamberlain’s autobiography didn’t mention his role in creating Fischer Random Chess? The answer is simple: he did mention it in the first draft but one all-nighter of chess versus Bobby Fischer inexplicably did not make the cut over 20,000 other “nights” that Chamberlain enjoyed. Oh, one more thing--that digital clock that Fischer patented and has become standard fare at chess tournaments—there is a great story about its creation, but that will have to wait for later…

one win, one loss

C - CL
October G30 Owen Sound (3), 18.10.2006
D45 - Semi-Slav

This was just at the end of the Kramnik-Topalov match so I wanted to try the move order that they did 1.c4 c6 2.d4 [I did think about turning it into a Panov, but next time maybe 2.e4 ] 2...d5 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 a la Kramnik-Topalov 4...e6 5.Nc3 Bb4?! This is just a bad Nimzo I would think (...c5 in two moves instead of one). Grob, Szabo, Ratmir Kholmov and Hubner have all played it. 6.Qc2 [Apparently 6.Bd3 is the closest to a "book" move but I was playing my nimzo line. I guess I would get e4 in two moves instead of one here though)] 6...dxc4 [6...Nbd7 is the "book" move as well] 7.Bxc4 0-0 8.0-0 Bxc3 I'm very happy here. Not only did he let me develop my light squared bishop. He voluntarily gave up the bishop pair as well 9.Qxc3 b6 10.Rd1 c5 11.Bd3 Nc6 12.dxc5 Ne4 13.Qc2 Nb4 14.Bxe4 [14.Qc4! is stronger 14...Nxd3 (14...bxc5 15.Qxe4 Nxd3 16.Rxd3) 15.Rxd3] 14...Nxc2 15.Rxd8 Rxd8 16.Bxc2 Bb7 17.cxb6 axb6 18.e4? Not the greatest, but it just drops a pawn [18.Kf1 was better ;
18.Ne1 Rac8 19.f3 Rd6 20.Kf2] 18...Bxe4 [18...Bxe4 and I resign ??? 19.Bb3 was not great, but I still have two pieces for the rook. Not fabulous by me] 0-1

second game of the night...

CL - C
October G30 Owen Sound (4), 18.10.2006
A07 - King's Indian Attack

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 [I half expected 2.b3 after advising him on ways to stop 1. ...e5 last week. We played this line up to move 7 in our "match"] 2...g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.0-0 c6 5.d3 d5 6.Nbd2 0-0 7.e4 Bg4 [In the previous game I played 7...dxe4 and this was good enough] 8.Qe1 Nbd7 9.e5 Bxf3?? [9...Ne8 was better] 10.Nxf3?? [10.exf6 Bxg2 11.fxg7 Bxf1 doesn't work be because 12.gxf8Q+ is check so he's up a piece] 10...Ng4 11.d4 e6 Now I'm just playing a funky Caro-Kann Advanced 12.h3 Nh6 13.Nh2 Qb6 [I wanted to stop him from developing quite so easily but maybe reentering my knight into the game with 13...Nf5 was better] 14.c3 c5 15.Be3 Nf5 16.dxc5? [16.Nf3] 16...Nxc5 [16...Qxb2 and lots is gonna fall 17.Ng4 Nxe3] 17.b4? [This was weak, making the c-pawn a backwards pawn and a big target for me 17.f4 protecting the hanging e-pawn may have been better 17...Nxe3 18.Qxe3 Rac8] 17...Nxe3 18.Qxe3 Na4 19.Qxb6 Nxb6 20.f4 Rac8 21.Rac1 Na4?! [21...f6 to try and activate the bishop;
or 21...Rc4 to try and double up on the c-pawn and then eventually win it] 22.c4! dxc4 [22...Rxc4 23.Rxc4 dxc4 24.Bxb7 f6 (24...Rb8!? 25.Bc6 Rxb4 26.a3 Rb3 27.Bxa4 Rxg3+ 28.Kf2 Rxa3) ] 23.Bxb7 Rc7 [23...Rb8 24.Bc6 Rxb4 25.a3 Rb3 26.Bxa4 Rxg3+ 27.Kf2 Rxa3 28.Rxc4 Rxh3 is similar to the line above] 24.Ba6 Nb2 [The simple 24...c3 as White can't easily get at my knight. If he tries something like 25.Bb5 Nb6 26.Nf3 Rfc8 27.a3 Nd5 and I'm set] 25.Ng4 Nd3 [25...Rb8 26.b5 h5 27.Ne3 c3 28.Nd1 Nxd1 29.Rfxd1 f6 and my dark square bishop is better than his terrible light squared bishop, which does nothing except keep a rook out of c3] 26.Rxc4 Rxc4 27.Bxc4 Nxb4 It's pretty equal here without my c-pawn 28.a4 Rc8 29.Ne3 a5 [I could've tried my 29...Bf8 move here.] 30.g4 [30.Kf2] 30...Bf8 31.Rc1 Bc5 32.Kf2 Nd3+

Aagaard says you should record three things you learn from each game...instead of each game I'm going to do for each session

1) Aagard has said in his books to focus on improving your worst piece. For the longest time, my worst piece was my dark squared bishop and (funnilly enough) once I got it activated I won the game. So I need to consciously involved improving my worst piece versus forcing play like what I was doing with my knight in the second game

2) I need to work harder over the board and calculate. In the first game I just kinda closed my eyes, instead of sitting there for 5 minutes. Also I resigned when it wasn't even lost. I need to make myself calculate. General principles can only do so much for you

3) If I'm going to do this, I need to take it more seriously. Yes I have a lot of stress at work but neither one of us took more than 15 minutes per and I even wanted to skip the whole session and play blitz. These games are the only serious games i get per week, so I should take them seriously. 0-1