*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+ IECC CHESS BITS & PIECES *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+ Published by the International Email Chess Club Devoted solely to E-Mail Correspondence Chess *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+ Volume 1, Issue 3 April 1995 Published SemiMonthly *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+ Editor: Sherman Klausner - klaus@interaccess.com *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+ THE FOUNDER'S CORNER By Lisa Powell *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+ A minor writer by the name of Gerald White Johnson was the author of a couple of lovely quotations in the 14th edition of Bartlett's quotations. "A man who has tried to play Mozart, and failed, through that vain effort comes into the position better to understand the man who tried to paint the Sistine Madonna, and did." [A Little Night Music, 1937] And: "Heroes are created by popular demand, sometimes out of the scantiest materials ... such as the apple that William Tell never shot, the ride that Paul Revere never finished, the flag that Barbara Frietchie never waved." [American Heroes and Hero Worship.] Those of us who have ventured into the wonderful world of chess, have certainly experienced what it is to try to play chess like Capablanca, Botvinnik, Fischer, Karpov, Kamsky, Anand etc etc etc -- and failed. Unlike the heroes Johnson mentions, we lesser chess mortals have our genuine chess heroes and heroines, although we have little to do to create our chess idols, except perhaps travel to prestigious tournaments and pay the fees that make top prize money possible, and buy the books they write so that we can hopefully improve our ability to play better chess. In all chess organizations -- understandably -- the stronger they are, the more lesser mortals marvel and the louder they applaud. Well, maybe not all chess organizations. Many of the earlier chess groups that I founded and/or co-managed -- like the chess group founded by USCF Senior Master Chuck Schulien -- were friendly places for all. And many kinds of events were created so that all could, in one way or nother, enjoy THE game. One of the most popular activities for lower-rated players has been the Chess Academy -- popular for the students, but alas hard work for the instructor. Face-to-face classroom teaching is obviously easier for both the teacher and the student. Questions can asked and answered more quickly, with more hands-on show-and-tell. Right now IECC is working on a project to bring this classroom to chess-via-Internet. This involves a seminar with six students and one teacher. In future issues of the IECC Newsletter, you will hear much more about this noble experiment -- from the students themselves. *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+ IECC MEMBER OF THE MONTH Each month we will introduce to our readers a different member. *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+ Doug Attig Born 7/16/49 BA, University of Iowa (pre-med/computer sciences) MD, University of Iowa Chess Titles: None Like many others, I've played chess since I was small, but not seriously until about 6 years ago. Started playing OTB and quickly found I needed to study! So I started playing postal chess. I found that this DID make me study, and in fact, that I loved it -- much more than OTB. I have not played OTB in some time. I played for years on USAT, which recently closed, and am active in APCT postal, the Fred Miller Chess Group (my favorite), and occasionally play a USCF postal event. I have run a BBS here in Tacoma since the mid-1980's. Converted from Apple to MS-DOS about 3 years ago, and made chess the theme of the BBS. This led to expansion of the board, including Internet EMail and newgroups; which led to my meeting Lisa one night, and the rest is history. How so? I was trying to organize a 10-board email match between 10 masters from the Pacific Northwest to play a like number of strong players from, well, the rest-of-the-world of Fidonet -- just for the sheer fun of it. Problem was: when I announced the challenge in the Fidonet chess conference, I was shocked that person then moderating that conference assumed that I was not-for-real, and that my team was a bunch of imposters, and nothing I could say was regarded as believable! Amazing! My team then consisted of eight masters: Georgi Orlov, John Donaldson, Elena Donaldson, Ralph Dubisch, Mike Oshiro, Neil Salmon, John Graves and Corey Russell. Imagine my indignation of being told to prove that eight such talented masters were imposters. Then a close friend of mine mentioned the name of Lisa Powell and what was then her fast-growing chess organization: IECG. The International Email Chess Group. To tell the truth, I didn't believe my idea had a chance. But my friend wrote to Lisa Powell, and she immediately went to work to field a team of eight masters: Chuck Schulien, Bruce Leverett, Steve Greanias, Imtiaz Husain, Mark Vermeer, Armel-David Wolff, Maher Saleh and Jeremy Martin -- many of whom were recruited by Lisa to join IECG for this match. Unfortunately, it is not always easy to prevent masters from taking prolonged vacations from the world of chess-via-Internet for what they regard as the real world of prestigious tournaments. But for me, the fruition of that match had the glamour of a Christmas morning when I was very young -- and, well, as most you well know, many of us chess players are often a tiny bit like J. M. Barries's immortal Peter Pan who ran away to the Never-Never-Land to escape growing up. Bottom line: most of my chess now is played over networks (Fido and Internet), but I still play quite a bit by snail mail. Lately, after several years of scrounging for chess database data and files around the country, I decided that there is no easy way to distribute chess files to the chess community. A few depositories for files exist in various places, but none are easily accessible to the average BBS'er unless he/she is fairly sophisticated. So, a few months ago I started a Chess File Distribution Network on the Fido Filebone. The files are sent about twice a week (6 or 7 at a time) to the Planet Connect satellite and to the Filebone landline feeds. They are also sent to the new international FileGate system, which distributed them to all continents. They are temporarily stored at an ftp site (ftp.fidonet.org), and I am working on a more permanent ftp site as well as a Web home page to hold them. The main idea is that everyone should be able to access the multitude of chess files that are out there. Hopefully, Bulletin Board Systems will start to pick up the Filebone/FileGate feeds and store the files for download by their BBS callers. There is indication that this is in fact starting to happen, and that is encouraging. If some of you want further information about this, please write to me. Doug Attig at: doug.attig@rook.wa.com *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+ IECC GAME OF THE MONTH Analysis By Major William D. Wall *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+ DUTCH TREAT by Bill Wall Bill Martin - Nicholas Threloff, IECC 1995, Dutch Defense 1.d4 f5 [The Dutch Defense] 2.c4 [2.e4, the Staunton Gambit, leads to wild play] 2...Nf6 3.g3 e6 [Another possibility is 3...g6, leading to the Leningrad Dutch] 4.Bg2 Bb4+ [The Dutch Indian, since it resembles the Nimzo-Indian and Queen's Indian Defense. Also playable for Black are Be7, c5, c6, and d5] 5.Bd2 [5.Nc3 is also good. Less common is 5.Nd2, but favored by former world champion Botvinnik] 5...Bxd2+ [Other ideas are Be7, Qe7 and a5] 6.Qxd2 [Or 6.Nxd2 O-O 7.Nh3 Nc6 8.Nf3 d6 9.Qb3 Qe7 10.O-O e5 11.c5+ Kh8 12.cxd6 cxd6 13.d5 Na5 with a slight advantage for Black as in Vukovic-Tartakower, Kecskemet 1927] 6...O-O [6...Nc6 and 6...d6 have also been played] 7.Nf3 [White can also play the more common 7.Nc3] 7...d5 [Setting up sort of a Stonewall formation if he can get in ...c6. More accurate may be 7...Ne4 8.Qc2 Qe7 9.O-O d6] 8.cxd5 exd5 [Or 8...Nxd5 9.O-O Nc6] 9.O-O Nh5 [Trying to support f4. 9...Ne4 seems more natural] 10.Qe3 [White is trying to provoke Black in playing 10...Re8 11.Qb3 Rxe2? 12.Ne5 and 13.Nc3, trapping the Rook. Perhaps more solid is 10.Nc3 c6 11.e3. White could also play 10.Qg5 Qxg5 11.Nxg5 and 12.Nc3] 10...f4 11.Qe5? [Perhaps expecting Black to play 11...g6 12.Qg5 Qxg5 13.Nxg5. Safer is 11.Qb3 fxg3 (11...c6 12.Nc3) 12.hxg3 and 13.Nc3] 11...Rf5 [White's Queen is trapped] 12.g4 [Another idea is 12.gxf4 Rxe5 13.fxe5 and 14.Nc3, but not enough compensation for the Queen] 12...Rxe5 13.dxe5? [Better is 13.Nxe5 Nf6 14.h3] 13...Bxg4 [Black has given up his Rook to win the White Queen and Pawn. White needs a swindle to win this.] 14.h3 [Other ideas may be 14.Nc3 c6 15.Rfe1 or 14.Nbd2 and 15.Nd4] 14...Be6?! [When you are up in material, exchange pieces to prevent counterplay, and hold on to your pawns which may become a Queen in the endgame. Best is 14...Bxf3 15.Bxf3 Qg5+ and 16...Qxe5, winning more material] 15.Na3 [Or 15.Nc3 and 16.Rac1, or 15.Nd4] 15...Nc6 [Better may be 15...c6, preventing White from penetrating with Nb5 later on and allowing the Black Queen to get in the game with ...Qb6] 16.Rad1 [Or 16.Nc2, preventing ...d4. Another idea is 16.Rac1 and 17.Rfd1] 16...Qd7 [Aiming for 17...Bxh3. Black may also try 16...Qe7, preventing White from playing Ng5] 17.Ng5 [Threatening 18.Nxe6 Qxe6?? 19.Bxd5] 17...Rd8 [Best is 17...Nxe5 18.Nxe6 f3! (18...Qxe6? 19.Bxd5) 19.Nc5 (19.exf3 Qxe6; 19.Bxf3 Nxf3+ 20.exf3 Qxe6 wins) 19...Qe7 20.exf3 Qxc5 wins] 18.Nb5 [Threatening 19.Nxc7 Qxc7 20.Nxe6, forking Queen and Rook] 18...Rc8? [Interesting is 18...f3!? 19.Bxf3 Nf4 20.Nxe6 Qxe6 21.Nxc7 Qxe5, threatening 22...Qxc7, 22...Nxe2+, and 22...Qxb2. Another idea for Black is to play 18...Qe7 19.Nxe6 Qxe6 20.Nxc7 Qxe5 21.Bxd5+ Kh8 with a won game for Black] 19.e3? [Best is 19.Nxe6! since 19...Qxe6? is met by 20.Bxd5, pinning Queen and King] 19...a6? [Black should play 19...Nxe5 and if 20.Nxe6 f3! wins for Black. Black can also play 19...fxe3 and if 20.Nxe6 e2 wins for Black] 20.Nc3 [If 20.Nxe6 axb5 21.Bxd5 Kh8 22.exf4 Re8 23.Bb3 Qc8 and Black is better] 20...Kh8 [Black should defend the center with 20...Ne7. Also playable is 20...fxe3 21.Nxe6 Nb4 with advantage] 21.Nxd5 [If 21.Bxd5 Bxd5 22.e6 (22.Rxd5 Qe8) 22...Qe8 23.Rxd5 Qg6 looks good for Black] 21...Qxd5?? [Black panics at the thought of 22.Nxf4 and 23.Nxh5. Simply 21...fxe3 22.fxe3 (22.Nxe3 Qe7) 22...Qe8] 22.Bxd5 Bxd5 23.Rxd5 [Now White is up the exchange and winning] 23...Ne7?! [When you are down in material, trade off pawns. Best is 23...fxe3 24.fxe3 Kg8] 24.Rd7 [Rooks belong on the 7th rank in endgames. A mistake would be 24.Nf7+ Kg8 and White has two pieces hanging] 24...Nf5? [Better may be 24...Nc6, with a target on e5] 25.Nf7+ [Or 25.e4 and 26.Rfd1, winning. If White wants to trade off more pieces, then 25.Rd8+ Rxd8 26.Nf7+ Kg8 27.Nxd8 and 28.Ne6] 25...Kg8 26.Rd8+ [Or 26.e4 Nd4 (26...Nh4 27.Rc1) 27.Nh6+ gxh6 28.Rxd4 wins for White] 26...Rxd8 27.Nxd8 fxe3 [Black may be better off keeping his Queen-side pawn majority intact and play 27...b6 or 27...b5] 28.fxe3 [Bad is 28.Nxb7? e2 29.Re1 Nd4, threatening 30...Nf3+] 28...Nxe3 [The doubled pawns aren't as much of a threat as White's active Rook. A better defense is 28...Nhg3 29.Rf3 g6 30.Nxb7 Ne4, aiming for 31...Ng5 and 32...Nxh3] 29.Rf7 [Or 29.Re1] Black resigns. 1-0 The last resistance for Black would be 29...g5 (29...Nd5 30.e6) 30.Rxc7 Nf4 31.Kh2 Nf1+ 32.Kh1 Ng3+ 33.Kg1 and if 33...Nxh3+ 34.Kg2 wins for White. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Special feature by Senior Master Ray Stone How to deal with those pesky computers! crafty {2405} - CapedCrusader {mere flesh and blood} ICC blitz game, March 24, 1995 [I think that it is best to avoid complexity against computers. Play quickly, solidly and DON'T CALCULATE (unless you absolutely have to). The Computer calculates faster and better than you do. Just play positionally, and wait for the horizon effect to kick in! Note the solid choice of opening, conceding nothing in the center. Computers seem to be particularly inept at evaluating positional sacrifices, although I do not try to exploit that particular weakness in this game.] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Be7 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bf4 c6 6.e3 Nf6 7.Bd3 0-0 8.Nge2 Nbd7 9.0-0 [9.Ng3 Re8 10.Nf5 Nb6 11.Nxe7+ Qxe7 12.0-0 Bg4 13.f3 Bh5 14.Qc2 Bg6 Squares, squares, squares!] 9...Re8 10.Ng3 Nf8 11.Nf5 Bxf5 12.Bxf5 Ng6 13.Be5 Bf8 14.f4 [In retrospect, this is overambitious. Computer chess programs have no subtlety.] 14...Nd7 15.Qg4 Nb6 16.Bxg6 hxg6 17.Rfe1? [Horizon effect? Perhaps the program overvalued the immobile lump of central pawns. Better was 17.f5 Nc4 18.fxg6 fxg6 19.Qxg6 Nxe5 20.dxe5 Qd7 21.Rf5 Bc5 with complications or 17.f5 Qd7! threatening 18...f6 again with complications. White will have to sacrifice a piece for an attack. Computers are not very good at finding such sacrifices for themselves. They are better at refuting speculative sacrifices made by sentient opponents.] 17...f6 18.Qxg6 fxe5 19.dxe5 Bc5 20.Re2 Nc4 21.Nd1 d4 22.Qd3 Nxe3 23.Nxe3 dxe3 24.Qb3+ Qd5 25.Qxb7 Rab8 26.Qa6 Rxb2 27.h3 [27.Rxb2 e2+ 28.Kh1 Qd1+] 27...Rd2 28.Rb1 Rf8 29.g3 Qf3 30.Qc4+ Kh7 [30...Kh8 31.Qxc5 Qxg3+ 32.Kh1 Qxh3+ 33.Kg1 Qg3+ 34.Kh1 Rxf4 Looks like it might be mate...] 31.Rxd2 exd2+ 32.Qxc5 Qxg3+ 33.Kf1 Rxf4+ 34.Ke2 Qg2+ 35.Kd3 Qe4+ 36.Kxd2 Qxb1 37.Qe3 Qb4+ 38.Kc2 Rc4+ 39.Kd1 Qb1+ 40.Ke2 Re4 41.a4 a5 42.Kf3 Qh1+ 0-1 [Computer resigns. His clock had run out some time earlier so the digital display showed a negative number. I wanted to see how long crafty would play on -- down a Queen -- with his time expired, especially since his status lines warned that he used autoflag.] *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+ PROBLEM CORNER +*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+* Last issue's problem. Black to move. Can he win? a b c d e f g h +-----------------+ 8 | - - - - - - - - | 7 | - - - - - a - a | 6 | a - - k - - a - | 5 | - - - - - - A - | 4 | A A - + K + - + | 3 | - - - - - - - - | 2 | - - - - - - - - | 1 | - - - - - - - - | +-----------------+ For those who found the mistake in last issue's diagram, you get another chance to solve this problem. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This issue's problem. Black to move and win, +-----------------+ 8 | - - - - - - - r | 7 | - - - q b k - r | 6 | - - - a - n - - | 5 | a - a A a - a - | 4 | A a - n A a A - | 3 | - A - Q - A - B | 2 | - N A - - - K - | 1 | R - - - B - - R | +-----------------+ +*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+* THE NEWBIE CORNER +*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+* A new player writes: "I've read bits of a few library books on chess that were too hard for me to follow, and what's worse is I've got a friend, sort of, who wipes me off the board, and then lectures me about how I should study, except I know he'd rather play chess than eat. But I got a life to live. So what I'm getting at is, how do I improve my game without becoming a hermit? I hate it those times when he opens a game with b4 or g4, so I figure he's about to let me win one with a dumb-looking move like that. But I always lose to him. For a bit I gave up playing, but something in me don't like quitting without giving it one more try. So how do I get to play casual chess with knowing just enough to keep me from looking and feeling stupid -- and without having to do tons of homework like I was back in grade school?" ----------------------------------- Comment from Lisa: The writer mentioned he was using his wife's account at her place of employment, and he'd rather not have have a flood a replies addressed there. "Her boss is a fusspot. Anyway, I'd rather read them in your newspaper, if that's possible." ------------------------------------------------------------------- For those of you who love fireworks, here's the game [courtesy of my friend Steve Kelly in rgc] that won the brilliancy prize at the Zurich Candidate's Tournament of 1953. Averbakh,Y - Kotov,A SWZ ct, 1953 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nf3 Nbd7 4.Nc3 e5 5.e4 Be7 6.Be2 0-0 7.0-0 c6 8.Qc2 Re8 9.Rd1 Bf8 10.Rb1 a5 11.d5 Nc5 12.Be3 Qc7 13.h3 Bd7 14.Rbc1 g6 15.Nd2 Rab8 16.Nb3 Nxb3 17.Qxb3 c5 18.Kh2 Kh8 19.Qc2 Ng8 20.Bg4 Nh6 21.Bxd7 Qxd7 22.Qd2 Ng8 23.g4 f5 24.f3 Be7 25.Rg1 Rf8 26.Rcf1 Rf7 27.gxf5 gxf5 28.Rg2 f4 29.Bf2 Rf6 30.Ne2 a b c d e f g h +-----------------+ 8 | - r - + - + n k | 7 | + a + q b - + a | 6 | - + - a - r - + | 5 | a - a A a - + - | 4 | - + A + A a - + | 3 | + - + - + A + A | 2 | A A - Q N B R K | 1 | + - + - + R + - | +-----------------+ 30...Qxh3+!! 31.Kxh3 Rh6+ 32.Kg4 Nf6+ 33.Kf5 Nd7 34.Rg5 Rf8+ 35.Kg4 Nf6+ 36.Kf5 Ng8+ 37.Kg4 Nf6+ 38.Kf5 Nxd5+ 39.Kg4 Nf6+ 40.Kf5 Ng8+ 41.Kg4 Nf6+ 42.Kf5 Ng8+ 43.Kg4 Bxg5 44.Kxg5 Rf7 45.Bh4 Rg6+ 46.Kh5 Rfg7 47.Bg5 Rxg5+ 48.Kh4 Nf6 49.Ng3 Rxg3 50.Qxd6 R3g6 51.Qb8+ Rg8 0-1 *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+* IECC ..... The Friendly Chess Club! *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*