----------------------------------------------------------------------- (11/15/1996, rev. 01/06/1998) Chess Basics, Letter 5 ########################## Games from CB Swiss Tournament ============================== Jan Theofel - Tommy Brookshire, Two Knight's Play [C57] [Event "CH-40"] [Site "IECC"] [Date "1996.10.28"] [Round "1"] [White "Theofel, Jan"] [Black "Brookshire, Tommy"] [Result "1-0"] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Na5 5.Bxf7+ Ke7 6.Bb3 Nxb3 7.axb3 d6 8.d4 Bg4 9.f3 Bh5 10.Be3 h6 11.dxe5 dxe5 12.Qxd8 Kxd8 13.Ne6+ Kc8 14.Nc3 Bb4 15.Nxg7 Bf7 16.Nf5 h5 17.Kf2 c6 18.Rxa7 1-0 HT: The opening until 4.Ng5 is as in our game HT-CBP. We've seen there, that 4.- d5 is necessary. Here after 5.Bxf7 a first pawn is lost, at last Black was 3 pawns down - not too early to resign. -------------------------- Ted Broadhurst - Stephanie Mesler-Evans, Unusual Replies to 1.d4 [A40] [Event "CH-40"] [Site "IECC"] [Date "1996.11.13"] [Round "1"] [White "Broadhurst, Ted"] [Black "Mesler-Evans, Stephanie"] [Result "1-0"] 1.d4 Nc6 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 d5 4.c4 dxc4 5.Bxc4 Bf5 6.Nc3 e6 7.O-O Bd6 8.Bd2 Qd7 9.Qe2 O-O-O 10.e4 Nxe4 11.Nxe4 Bxe4 12.Qxe4 f5 13.Qxe6 Rhe8 14.Qxd7+ Rxd7 15.Rfe1 Ne7 16.Be6 Nd5 17.Bxf5 Nf4 18.Rxe8++ 1-0 HT: It's recommended for beginners in chess, to push 1 or 2 pawns forward in the center, to get some influence there. Short after Black's N-moves White had free hand in the center, could enlarge his room here at will. After 10.e4 the bishop f5 had to move away; giving a light piece for the well protected pawn instead, with 10.- Nxe4, was giving away the game. At the end we see a nice mate pattern, backrank mate with a pinned rook on d7. OPENING: ======================================================================= 1) Should we *study* openings here? About this question I've copied some postings from newsgroups, see *attachment* below. The quintessence is, that we should have an idea of the opening, we play. And that it's more important in the beginning, to study tactics and endings. We should try, to play same/similar openings (opening repertoire) in our games, not in every game a new and other opening. About 'our' openings (different for each player - what you like) we should know the main ideas, the main threats. 2) Gambits useful for beginners? Up to now we mostly had game scores here in CBasics with 'balanced' openings (regarding *material, *time, *room). In a *GAMBIT* one player gives material - one or sometimes 2 pawns - to get an advantage in time (for developping the pieces). A good example is the following game from Bobby Fischer. While replaying the game have a look at the main problem for Black: he never had the possibility to remove the king from the middle by castelling. On the other side for White *every* move had to be a strong/surprising move! Fischer - Fine, New York 1963 - Evans Gambit [C51] e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 6.d4 exd4 7.O-O dxc3 8.Qb3 Qe7 9.Nxc3 Nf6 10.Nd5 Nxd5 11.exd5 Ne5 12.Nxe5 Qxe5 13.Bb2 Qg5 14.h4 Qxh4 15.Bxg7 Rg8 16.Rfe1+ Kd8 17.Qg3 1-0 To our opening repertoire also gambits can belong, why not. But it's difficult especially against stronger players, to always find a way, to continue the attack. One weak move, and the opponent can have his plus-pawn(s) safe. In any case: trying gambits, the games will be interesting! Solutions for tasks 11-14 from letter 4 ================================================================== Task 11 [*]: W.: Kh1,Qc7,Re3,Rg1,Nb5,Pa4,b2,c3,d5,f2,g2,h2 (12) ------- B.: Kg8,Qf4,Ra8,Re5,Nf5,Pa7,b7,f7,g6,h7 (10) Game Judasin - Kramnik, Wijk a.Z., 1994, In this position Kramnik played 24.- Qxe3! . Can you see, what would have happened after 25.fxe3? Answer: 25.fxe3? Ng3+ (to discover the king behind his pawnwall) 26.hxg3 Rh5++ (king on the open line, no escape square). This was a variation, in the real game on 24.- Qxe3 followed: 25.Nd6 Re7 26.Nxf5 gxf5 27.Qd6 Qe5 28.Qb4 Rae8 29.Qh4 f6 30.h3 Qxd5 0-1 --------------------------------- Task 12 [**]: W.: Kh1,Qa3,Rd1,Nf5,Pa2,b2,h3 (7) ------- B.: Kg8,Qf4,Rc2,Pa5,b6,f7,g5,h6 (8) Game Vidmar - Euwe, 1929, White to move. Black's threat is Qh2++. However, White can win! Answer: 1.Qf8 Kxf8 (and the king is catched in the back rank ..) 2.Rd8++ ..or 1.- Kh7 2.Qg7++ --------------------------------- Task 13 [**]: W.: Ka3,Rd8 (2) ------- B.: Kc2,Bc4,Pa2 (3) White to move. As in task 9, we have again a black pawn one step to promotion. Any rescue for White here? Answer: 1.Rd2+ (1.Rd1 is also possible, but this is the direct way) a) 1.- Kxd2 2.Kb2, draw (White can now move between b2 and a1, Black has the *wrong bishop*) b) 1.- else 2.Rxa2, draw In 1971 Bobby Fischer won 6:0 against Taimanow in a candidate match. In this position Taimanow missed to win a half point (it is said, that Botwinnik 'saw' it blindfold, when the game score was submitted to him by telephone!): Fischer (white): Kf6, Bg4, Ph3; Taimanow (black): Kd5, Ne5; Black to move. After 1.- Ke4 T. lost 8 moves later, but .. 1.- Nd3! 2.h4 Nf4 3.Kf5 Kd6!! , and if 4.Kxf4 the black king can occupy the corner h8, White has the wrong bishop (also draw after 4.Kf6 Nd5+ 5.Kg5 Nf4!, W. can't go forward with his pawn [6.h5 Nxh5, draw]). --------------------------------- Task 14 [***]: W.: Kg1,Qh4,Rf1,Bd5,Nc3,Pa2,b3,c4,f4,h2 (10) ------- B.: Kh8,Qc7,Rh6,Bb7,Nc6,Pa7,b6,c5,f5,g7,h7 (11) Game Wettstein - Pak, 1981. White's next move here was 1.Qg5. Is this a mistake? Answer: No, it's not a mistake, it's a trap! 1.- Rg6? is the mistake here, similar as in task 11(!) the king will be discovered: 2.Qxg6 hxg6 3.Rf3, followed by 4.Rh3++. But Black could have done better: after 1.- Ne7 he would have had good chances. --------------------------------- Solutions for interim tasks 15 & 16 will be given in the next letter --------------------------------- E) NEW TASKS ======================================================================= +-----------------+ 8 | - + r + - + k + | 7 | a b + - + - a - | Black to move 6 | - a - a a + q a | 5 | + - a - + a + - | 4 | - + - A A A r + | 3 | + - A - + - A - | 2 | A A B + Q R - A | 1 | + - + - R - K - | +-----------------+ a b c d e f g h Task 17 [*]: W.: Kg1,Qe2,Re1,Rf2,Bc2,Pa2,b2,c3,d4,e4,f4,g3,h2 (13) B.: Kg8,Qg6,Rc8,Rg4,Bb7,Pa7,b6,c4,d6,e6,f5,g7,h6 (13) Game Hummel - Theofel, OTB active chess (both players with 3 minutes remaining time), 11/09/1996. Speculative chess: in this position Black played 27.- Qh5 and White answered with the expected 28.exf5? (to open the line e2-e6). Blacks next move was ... Answer: 28.- ... --------------------------------- +-----------------+ 8 | - + - + - K b k | 7 | + - + - + - a a | 6 | - + - + - + A + | 5 | + - + - + - + R | 4 | - + - + - + - + | 3 | + - + - + - + - | 2 | - + - + - + - + | 1 | + - + - + - + - | +-----------------+ a b c d e f g h Task 18 [**]: W.: Kf8, Rh5, Pg6 (3) B.: Kh8, Bg8, Pg7,h7 (4) Chess Problem: White to move. Mate in 2 moves. Answer: 1. ... --------------------------------- +-----------------+ 8 | - + - + - + - + | 7 | a a a - + - + - | 6 | - + - + - + - + | 5 | A A A - + - + - | 4 | - + - + - + - + | 3 | + - + - + - + k | 2 | - + - + - + - + | 1 | + - + - + - + K | +-----------------+ a b c d e f g h Task 19 [**]: W.: Kh1, Pa5, b5, c5 (4) B.: Kh3, Pa7, b7, c7 (4) The endgame task: White to move, and to win. How? Answer: 1. ... --------------------------------- +-----------------+ 8 | - + - + - + - + | 7 | + - + r + - + - | 6 | - + - + a a k a | 5 | + - + r + - + - | 4 | - + R a - A A + | 3 | A - + R + K + - | 2 | - + - + - + - + | 1 | + - + - + - + - | White to move +-----------------+ a b c d e f g h Task 20 [***]: W.: Kf3, Rd3, Rc4, Pa3, f4, g4 (6) B.: Kg6, Rd5, Rd7, Pd4, e6, f6, h6 (7) Game Theofel-Freymann, OTB-game, 1995. With a pawn down since 30 moves I still hoped for the one or other swindle, or to get back the pawn. From the above position followed: 41.Ke4 e5 42.fxe5 fxe5 (now e5 can be attacked) 43.Rc6+ Kg5 44.Re6 Kxg4? (White's goal reached, capsuring the pawn? 45.Rxe5 Rxe5 46.Kxe5 h5 47.Rxe4 Rxe4 48.Kxe4 h3 would have been better for Black.) +-----------------+ 8 | - + - + - + - + | 7 | + - + r + - + - | 6 | - + - + R + - a | 5 | + - + r a - + - | 4 | - + - a K + k + | 3 | A - + R + - + - | 2 | - + - + - + - + | 1 | + - + - + - + - | White to move +-----------------+ a b c d e f g h Changing the plan at the right time is important. What was White's next move? Answer: 45. ... --------------------------------- CASTELLING ======================================================================= Query and answers about castelling: ----------------------------------- I) W.: Ke1,Qb2,Ra1,Rh1,Pa2,c2,f2,g2,h2 B.: Ke8,Qh6,Ra8,Rh8,Bf8,Pa7,c7,d7,f7,h7 Kings, all rooks in original position. a) White to move, possible moves are: O-O [yes] O-O-O [no, square c1 is under Black's control] b) Black to move, possible moves are: O-O [no - (without B on f8: yes!, although the rook is threatened)] O-O-O [yes, it doesn't matter that W. has b8 under control here] -------------------------------------- II) W.: Kg1,Rf1,Bc6,Nf3,Pf2,g2,h2 B.: Ke8,Rh8,Nd8,Nf6,Pf7,g7,h7 bK is in check, the following moves are possible for black: O-O [no] Nxc6 [yes] Nd7 [yes] Ke7 [yes] Kf8 [yes] -------------------------------------- ######################################################################### Attachment: 3 postimgs about Chess openings: Subject: Re: Question about Openings Study (newbie) From: Stan <######@cei.net> HAMPTG wrote: ......... > My question is this: Since I'm just learning openings, should > my emphasis be just to memorize the names of the openings and > the first few identifying moves of that opening or should I just > play through the examples to get a feel for general opening > strategy and worry about the memorizing later? This is a subject on which Grandmasters are virtually unanimous, and on which patzers (like me, and including me) continue to ignore them. Memorizing detailed variations is almost a complete waste of time. The time should be spent studying endings and tactics. The important thing is to understand the strategy and ideas of the openings. But that doesn't stop many of us from sinking an obscene number of dollars into opening books, hoping that our next opponent's reference library will stop one move short of where ours stops. (As if that would guarantee us a win, anyway!) Perhaps if Dr. Fine were still living he could do a psychological study on why chessplayers insist on acting in this counter-productive way. Do we really not believe the Grandmasters when they tell us to concentrate on endings and tactics? Or do we find that memorization of opening variations requires less mental effort than calculation and strategic understanding? Or are we emotionally persuaded by the sellers of those hundreds of opening books out there? Why are there ten opening books for every book on tactics, and fifty for every book on endings? There is a small number of chess personalities who recommend detailed study of opening variations. But I believe you will find that almost none of them are Grandmasters, and that most of them have a financial interest in selling or writing opening books. Once again, I reiterate that I am as susceptible to the opening-book syndrome as anybody else. I just don't understand why. Stan #### +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Subject: Re: An Opening Rule? From: ######@lerc.nasa.gov (######) #### <####@discover-net.net> wrote: > I have just learned how to move the pieces, > and I realize there is SO much to learn about chess. > > I have been following the advice on openings for beginners with great > interest. > > What baffles me is this: > > I am told to study this opening and that opening ect. > But how can I play MY opening, > if my opponent can play whatever HE wants? > This is why, IMHO, beginners should not study openings. Concentrate on developing your pieces, castling early, controlling the center, and watching out for tactical maneuvers from your opponent. If you can get that far, come back to opening books. They will make much more sense then. > I only want to learn 1 opening, at least for now, > But do I have to know 50 million openings to play this game? You only need to know one opening, and I have described it above. > Is there a special rule in chess that forces the players to > specify an opening i.e Ruy Luperz, and then once they have agreed, > then they must only play this opening? > This is a specific move sequence which shows one example of good play by both sides. Until you understand why you should be following my general advise, these moves (or those of another opening) will not make much sense to you. > Does white get to make the moves for black up to move 10? > White would only need to make two moves for Black and (s)he would win by checkmate. > Please post the details of this rule so that I can pick my opening - > Thanks. For example, if you play 1. e4, your opponent has several good replies each of which is a separate opening. This list includes e5, e6, d6, d5, c6, c5, Nf6, Nc6, g6, b6. Each of these moves opens lines for piece development, develops a piece, aims at the center (b6, g6 by later developing the bishop to g7 or b7). You will be well served by not memorizing what comes next, but by continuing to develop your pieces toward the center, castling, and watching out for tactical shots. Specific moves and move orders add polish to your game once you understand the basics. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Subject: Re: An Opening Rule? From: #####@IDEA.UML.Edu (####) In a previous article, ### says: >I have just learned how to move the pieces, >and I realize there is SO much to learn about chess. > >I have been following the advice on openings for beginners with great >interest. As a real beginner, forget about particular openings & follow the advice given in the thread about learning opening PRINCIPLES, many of which have been suggested, but are given in any elementary text. IMHO, learning particular openings is not important until one reaches a level of about 1300 (USCF). Thereafter, principles of the openings are more important than memorizing lines. It is important to know WHY certain moves are made. There are books on this, but my favorite it the old classic, The Ideas Behind the Chess Openings, by Reuben Fine. (####) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | __o Heiner Theofel | | _`\<,_ IECC TD Swiss Tournaments ---> results under: | | (_)/ (_) http://kerouac.pharm.uky.edu/rgbIECC/IECC.html | + ~~~~~~~~~~~ --------------------------------------------------+