I'm off on my holidays soon, so this blog will be quiet for a while. I just wanted to let you know what we had coming up at the club over the next few weeks.
22 August 2011 - Chess lecture
We are lucky enough to secure the services of the excellent Norman Stephenson to deliver one of his chess lectures. Norman prepares his lectures carefully and presents them by playing through famous grandmaster games and his own games. An example below from his "Interplay of strategy and tactics".
Norman took the audience through the ideas behind the moves, hidden tactics and overall strategies. Norman has had years of teaching experience and presents these lectures in an enjoyable and informal fashion.
The lecture is free, so if you can make it, kick off is at 19:15.
29 August 2011 - Bank holiday.
The club is open, but is usually quiet.
5 September 2011 - Club's AGM
The club's members meet to discuss the topics on the agenda. There is usually time for a game of chess afterwards.
12 September - Junior club
Yes its the return of the kids! All ages and abilities welcome.
Whet your appetite before the lecture. Be assured Norman's commentary turns these games into front row entertainment, he should be on TV, he really is that good. No he's better...
Thursday, 11 August 2011
Monday, 1 August 2011
Out and about - The British
The annual British chess championship is the highlight of the chess year for many chess fans in the UK. The tournament moves around the different regions and countries of the UK. This year the tournament was held in Sheffield at the Ponds Forge leisure complex.
The Ponds is a short walk from the train station and is a huge complex. The main chess events were held in a giant sports hall, that was well ventilated and nice and light. Lets take a look inside.
Board 3 Gordon V Hunt, no picture.
Board 4 Peter Wells V Jovanka Houska. I was pleased to see Jovanka on the top boards, as she will be a great inspiration to the girls at our club. Below a picture of me watching the games (stripy top), with Peter and Jovanka getting in the way. I suppose they are the stars!
Board 5 Griffiths V Pert no picture.
Board 6 Jonathan "The Hawk" Hawkins V Jack Rudd.
Johnny's game wasn't on a monitor, so I tried to get as close as I could to watch without being intrusive, as there was a clear space between the audience and the top boards. I will have a look at this game later.
Play started at 14:15 and from 15:00 Andy Martin hosted an entertaining analysis sessions, where he discussed the top games as they happened.
Andy attempted to explain the players thinking, possible continuations and provided his assessments of the games. When a game reached an interesting position he would hold a guess the next move competition, where a book could be won. For example can you find Black's next move in the following?
Answers at the end. Andy also required a brief explanation of why, so be prepared if you guess the move without the reason I will dock some points.
Hawkins, J V Rudd,J
Johnny is a hero in the North East. His improvement from young major player to international master is astounding, but a testament to the two pillars of success, hard work and talent.
1.Nf3 Richard Palliser writes in his "beating unusual chess openings", 'For the club player 1.Nf3 usually heralds either a King's Indian Attack (KIA) or a Reti,but things are somewhat different at higher-rated levels. There fiendish White players often employ 1.Nf3 with the aim of transposing to certain d4 openings while avoiding others.'
So far Johnny has opened 1.e4, 1.d4 and here 1.Nf3. At the very highest level the top players need a broad repertoire otherwise players will prepare vigorously for their pet lines.
1...Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 b6 4.Bg2 Bb7 5.d4 As predicted we have a d4 opening, a Queen's Indian.
Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 These type of moves look like a wast of time, but Black would argue that White's bishop is not well placed on d2.
7.Nc3 0-0 8.0-0 c5 9.d5 White plays to open the centre and use tactics on the long diagonal to reposition his pieces. 9...exd5 10.Nh4 Re811.Nf5 now White has a well placed knight eyeing Black's bishop and his bishop on g2 exerts pressure right along the h1-a8 diagonal. Note although a pawn down, I'm sure White is more than able to regain the pawn on d5.
Bf8 12.Bg5 h6 - Things are looking tricky.
13.Nxd5 Bxd5 14.Bxd5 Nc6 Now White heads towards an ending after inflicting some structural damage to Black's pawns.15.Bxc6 dxc6 16.Qxd8 Raxd8 17.Nxh6+ gxh6 18.Bxf6Rd6 19.Bc3 Rxe2 Does White have enough to win here? I would asses this as a small plus for White, but with plenty to do. Johnny shows that to be a top player its not all just opening prep, but excellent endgame skill is also required.
20.Rfe1 Rc2 21.Re8 b5 22.cxb5 cxb5 23.Rc8 Rb6 - Probably a mistake, as the plan Re6-Re2 would see Black having doubled rooks on the second rank, which is often enough to make a draw. 24.Rd1 Black's bishop is in mortal danger. Black stares defeat squarely in the eye. Can you find a move?
24...Rxc3 What else is there? White has numerous ways to win the bishop otherwise. Unfortunately for Black I would say he is dead lost here, but fights on for a few moves to make sure.25.bxc3 Kg7 26.Rc7 a527.Rdd7 Rf6 28.Ra7 b4 29.c4 1-0
Remember Jack Rudd is a strong player himself with an IM title.
I thoroughly enjoyed my day at the British. You can reply, or download all the games at http://britishchess2011.com/pgn_games.htm and also check out Andy Martin's excellent game of the day at http://britishchess2011.com/videos.htm
Guess the move
Did you want to play Nh5? This clever move by Black will be followed by Nf4 establishing a strong knight on f4 and if White doesn't want to swap a bishop for a knight he needs to vacate the e2 and d3 squares. Award yourself 5 points.
The Ponds is a short walk from the train station and is a huge complex. The main chess events were held in a giant sports hall, that was well ventilated and nice and light. Lets take a look inside.
The games are played in normal tournament style i.e. rows of tables with several boards side by side. There was plenty of space between the tables and each player had enough room to record their moves and store drinks etc. At the front of the hall were the 6 top boards. Boards 1-4 also included a wide screen monitor displaying the moves as they were played.
I went down to the event on day five which was Friday 29th July.
Board 1 Was Nigel Short V David Howell. I was a little star struck when Nigel came in. Nigel is such a big name in chess, remember the world championships in the early 90s in London? Nigel chatted to a few people before the round started and posed for a couple of pictures with youngsters. Below Nigel waits for the start of the round.
Board 2 was Michael "Mickey" Adams V Garwain Jones.
Board 4 Peter Wells V Jovanka Houska. I was pleased to see Jovanka on the top boards, as she will be a great inspiration to the girls at our club. Below a picture of me watching the games (stripy top), with Peter and Jovanka getting in the way. I suppose they are the stars!
There I am again!
Board 5 Griffiths V Pert no picture.
Board 6 Jonathan "The Hawk" Hawkins V Jack Rudd.
Johnny's game wasn't on a monitor, so I tried to get as close as I could to watch without being intrusive, as there was a clear space between the audience and the top boards. I will have a look at this game later.
Play started at 14:15 and from 15:00 Andy Martin hosted an entertaining analysis sessions, where he discussed the top games as they happened.
Andy attempted to explain the players thinking, possible continuations and provided his assessments of the games. When a game reached an interesting position he would hold a guess the next move competition, where a book could be won. For example can you find Black's next move in the following?
Hawkins, J V Rudd,J
Johnny is a hero in the North East. His improvement from young major player to international master is astounding, but a testament to the two pillars of success, hard work and talent.
1.Nf3 Richard Palliser writes in his "beating unusual chess openings", 'For the club player 1.Nf3 usually heralds either a King's Indian Attack (KIA) or a Reti,but things are somewhat different at higher-rated levels. There fiendish White players often employ 1.Nf3 with the aim of transposing to certain d4 openings while avoiding others.'
So far Johnny has opened 1.e4, 1.d4 and here 1.Nf3. At the very highest level the top players need a broad repertoire otherwise players will prepare vigorously for their pet lines.
1...Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 b6 4.Bg2 Bb7 5.d4 As predicted we have a d4 opening, a Queen's Indian.
Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 These type of moves look like a wast of time, but Black would argue that White's bishop is not well placed on d2.
7.Nc3 0-0 8.0-0 c5 9.d5 White plays to open the centre and use tactics on the long diagonal to reposition his pieces. 9...exd5 10.Nh4 Re811.Nf5 now White has a well placed knight eyeing Black's bishop and his bishop on g2 exerts pressure right along the h1-a8 diagonal. Note although a pawn down, I'm sure White is more than able to regain the pawn on d5.
Bf8 12.Bg5 h6 - Things are looking tricky.
13.Nxd5 Bxd5 14.Bxd5 Nc6 Now White heads towards an ending after inflicting some structural damage to Black's pawns.15.Bxc6 dxc6 16.Qxd8 Raxd8 17.Nxh6+ gxh6 18.Bxf6Rd6 19.Bc3 Rxe2 Does White have enough to win here? I would asses this as a small plus for White, but with plenty to do. Johnny shows that to be a top player its not all just opening prep, but excellent endgame skill is also required.
20.Rfe1 Rc2 21.Re8 b5 22.cxb5 cxb5 23.Rc8 Rb6 - Probably a mistake, as the plan Re6-Re2 would see Black having doubled rooks on the second rank, which is often enough to make a draw. 24.Rd1 Black's bishop is in mortal danger. Black stares defeat squarely in the eye. Can you find a move?
24...Rxc3 What else is there? White has numerous ways to win the bishop otherwise. Unfortunately for Black I would say he is dead lost here, but fights on for a few moves to make sure.25.bxc3 Kg7 26.Rc7 a527.Rdd7 Rf6 28.Ra7 b4 29.c4 1-0
Remember Jack Rudd is a strong player himself with an IM title.
I thoroughly enjoyed my day at the British. You can reply, or download all the games at http://britishchess2011.com/pgn_games.htm and also check out Andy Martin's excellent game of the day at http://britishchess2011.com/videos.htm
Guess the move
Friday, 29 July 2011
Member Games - Bill Metcalfe
Bill Metcalfe v 120
Bill started player chess as an adult which is not easier. After losing many games at the club he started improving quickly and is now a dangerous player to face. Bill is one of the pillars of the club organising congresses and captaining multiple teams. In this game he was playing a higher graded opponent at the Middlesbrough congress.
Play through the game below with notes, or scroll to the bottom to play through the game using GameKnot's ichess viewer.
1.e4 c5, 2.N3 g6 "If Black is to ensure he reaches a 'pure' Dragon set-up, he must meet 2.Nf3 with d6." Writes Edward Dearing in Play the Sicilian Dragon.
We have already seen a Dragon game in the Jonathan Sams game. Black usually continues with Nc6, 0-0 and Bd7, but if allowed Black will play d5! which is his main break or freeing move. Dearing's issue with move order tricks is that White can choose from different systems and perhaps catch Black out. Perhaps the strongest non-pure set-up system is the Maroczy bind where White moves his c-pawn to c4 with an iron grip on d5, which really makes that d5 break by Black difficult to play.
Move order tricks are common at Grandmaster level (trying to gain an advantage through theory) and weekend tournament players (trying to avoid theory or problem lines).
Bill started player chess as an adult which is not easier. After losing many games at the club he started improving quickly and is now a dangerous player to face. Bill is one of the pillars of the club organising congresses and captaining multiple teams. In this game he was playing a higher graded opponent at the Middlesbrough congress.
Play through the game below with notes, or scroll to the bottom to play through the game using GameKnot's ichess viewer.
1.e4 c5, 2.N3 g6 "If Black is to ensure he reaches a 'pure' Dragon set-up, he must meet 2.Nf3 with d6." Writes Edward Dearing in Play the Sicilian Dragon.
We have already seen a Dragon game in the Jonathan Sams game. Black usually continues with Nc6, 0-0 and Bd7, but if allowed Black will play d5! which is his main break or freeing move. Dearing's issue with move order tricks is that White can choose from different systems and perhaps catch Black out. Perhaps the strongest non-pure set-up system is the Maroczy bind where White moves his c-pawn to c4 with an iron grip on d5, which really makes that d5 break by Black difficult to play.
Move order tricks are common at Grandmaster level (trying to gain an advantage through theory) and weekend tournament players (trying to avoid theory or problem lines).
 |
| The pure Dragon set-up |
After all that though John Shaw notes 2....g6 "This is a perfectly acceptable move order to reach either variety of Dragon", in his section of Experts vs the Sicilian. When John refers to 'either' he is talking about either the pure system or accelerated Dragons (where Bg7 is played earlier than the pure lines). The accelerated line has many die hard fans, the theory is piling up and is a main system in its own right. The accelerated line has one big advantage if Black gets to play that d5 break in one move, as he will have saved a crucial tempo over the pure line.
Back to the game
3.d4 cxd4
John Shaw recommends this move as best, probably transposing.
4.Nxd4 Bill thinks Qxd4 is the most testing move, he has probably faced that over the board and found it difficulty. John Shaw thinks "Black is OK" after 4...Nf6, I personally wouldn't want my queen so exposed early in the game.
4... Bg7, 5.Nc3 This is probably the main line, but I would prefer 5.c4 Nc6, 6.Nc2!? This is recommended by Peter Heine Nielsen in the Accelerated Dragon Section of Experts vs the Sicilian. Peter is an experienced Accelerated Dragon player, the idea of the Experts vs book is that players discuss the lines they find the most difficult to play against.
5...Nc6, 6.Be3 a6 - This is a risky move as it weakens b6 where a White piece may land and cause major disruption to Black's position. Instead 6...Nf6, 7.f3 takes us back to the pure dragon.
7.Bc4 e6 another weakening move, this time its d6 and f6 which are weaker, note how all Black's weak squares are dark squares. Can White exploit these weaknesses? I would play d6, Nf6 and 0-0 as soon as possible if I were playing this position. 8.Qd2 Nf6, 9.f3 A common move in the pure dragon lines, as it stops Ng4 hitting the important dark squared bishop, but f3 also acts as a springboard for a king side pawn storm with h4, h5 and a possible g4.
9...Qc7, 10.Bb3 Its wise to remove the unprotected bishop from the c-file, as there are well known tricks with Nxd5 discovering an attack on the bishop, they wouldn't necessarily work in this position, but safety first. 10...b5 Black gains space on the queen side. In many lines White castles long while Black goes short and pawns are launched at the opposing king. Proper toe to toe John Wayne style!
In this game a game of who will castle fist chicken has developed.
11.0-0-0 Its White. Chicken! Ne5
White has castled in to Black's advancing pawns which could be dangerous. But Black is lagging behind in development and could get caught with his king in the centre. This is a dangerous time for Black. If he can complete his development quickly he will be ok, otherwise White might be able to build a strong attack.
David LeMoir in his book Essential Chess Sacrifices discusses various standard chess sacrifices. His first chapter is "A Knight Clears the Queenside: Nxb5 in the Sicilian", in that he writes "In the Sicilian Defence, Black often plays ...a6 and ...b5. White often gives up a piece to clear the mini pawn-chain, the piece that recaptures on b5 (after axb5) wins a tempo in some way. When its a knight its often a queen on c7" All the ingredients are there, does it work?
12.Ndxb5 axb5, 13.Nxb5 Qc6, 14.Nd6 Kf8 - With an unclear position, but I would imagine Black can survive the pressure and enjoy his extra material.
Back to the game...
12.g4 White's pawns will now charge up the board, this is a standard plan in such positions. White wants to break open Black's king's position. The only problem with that plan is that Black's king is still in the centre! Black could try h5 here, hoping to block the advancing pawns.
12...Nc4 Hitting both queen and bishop. Bill notes that this move is a mistake as White has a trick with
(13.Nexb5 axb5, 14Nxb5 Qc6 (..Nxd2 15.Nxc2+ winning the exchange) 15.Bxc4 See below
note that Qxc4 fails to 16.Nd6+ winning the queen. White would then be two full pawns up. I think that is quite a tough combo to see over the board, I didn't see it (I used some silicon muscle). But in these positions we should always be on the lookout for "Essential" thematic sacrifices.
13.Qe2?
As noted above White has a really good move with knight takes b5, but missing that does not incur the question mark. White needs his dark square bishop to attack the weak dark squares and dislodge the dragon bishop. In analogous positions in the pure dragon Bxc4 is played and a Black rook recaptures with pressure on the c-file.
13...Nxe3! Winning a prize asset. With just one poor choice White has gone from a very promising game to a difficult one. Chess is a cruel game.
14.Qxe3 b4! Black rolls forward. Where does White move his knight to? Na4 (knights on the rim are dim), Nb1(back where it started or 15.Ne2??
Even though Black is not fully developed it is he who drives the play pushing White around. White's last was a serious mistake, as his other knight on d4 now has no flight squares. It is strange to note that although White got all his pieces developed quickly somehow they landed on the wrong squares for the position.
15...e5 Of course Black plays to win a piece.
16.Bd5 White has to decide whether to play on or not a piece down. Most tournament players have an iron will and will fight until the last chance of holding a draw has been erased, for me I think that is right. Black hasn't developed fully yet and his pawns are a bit scruffy, perhaps White can build an attack when the piece might not matter. One thing is for certain Black can not switch off, even though Bill will be starting to chalk the point mentally onto his score sheet.
16...exd4! 17.Nxd4 Rb8 (I think Nxd5 is much better)
18.Bb3 0-0, 19.e5 Re8
Black is playing well. He has just pinned the e-pawn, so White can't take his knight. With Bb7 begging to be played Black looks to be winning easily here.
20.f4? White desperately tries to drum up counter play, but another pawn lost makes a save all but impossible.
20... Nxg4, 21.Qf3 My tactical skewer alarm just went off. "Whah! Whah! Whah!" The a8-h1 diagonal is now so dangerous for White
21...Nh6 22.Rhg1 saving the exchange.
22...Bd7, 23.Qf2 Be4 Black finds a neat way to slow the pawns down and provide extra support for his king.
24.h4 a5, 25.h5 Rec8, 26.hxg6 hxg6 27.f5 White knows he is losing so is throwing everything he has at Black's king. But Black stays calm with 27...Nxf5, 28.Rg6 Qe5
Black has cleverly positioned his pieces so that they both attack and defend, next he will interrupt White's lines of attack and then exchange down to an easily won ending.
29.Rdg1 d5! cuts out the bishop on b3.
30.R6g5? Qxd4, 31.Rxg7 Qxg7, 32.Rxg7 Nxg7 Black has exchanged off quite a few pieces and is now winning by miles.
33.Qd4 Ne6, 34, Qe5 Nc5, 35. Bxd5
And finally the coup-de-grace Nd3 winning the queen with a fork made possible by the pin on the f-pawn, nice!!
David LeMoir in his book Essential Chess Sacrifices discusses various standard chess sacrifices. His first chapter is "A Knight Clears the Queenside: Nxb5 in the Sicilian", in that he writes "In the Sicilian Defence, Black often plays ...a6 and ...b5. White often gives up a piece to clear the mini pawn-chain, the piece that recaptures on b5 (after axb5) wins a tempo in some way. When its a knight its often a queen on c7" All the ingredients are there, does it work?
12.Ndxb5 axb5, 13.Nxb5 Qc6, 14.Nd6 Kf8 - With an unclear position, but I would imagine Black can survive the pressure and enjoy his extra material.
 |
| Analysis |
12.g4 White's pawns will now charge up the board, this is a standard plan in such positions. White wants to break open Black's king's position. The only problem with that plan is that Black's king is still in the centre! Black could try h5 here, hoping to block the advancing pawns.
12...Nc4 Hitting both queen and bishop. Bill notes that this move is a mistake as White has a trick with
(13.Nexb5 axb5, 14Nxb5 Qc6 (..Nxd2 15.Nxc2+ winning the exchange) 15.Bxc4 See below
 |
| Analysis |
13.Qe2?
13...Nxe3! Winning a prize asset. With just one poor choice White has gone from a very promising game to a difficult one. Chess is a cruel game.
14.Qxe3 b4! Black rolls forward. Where does White move his knight to? Na4 (knights on the rim are dim), Nb1(back where it started or 15.Ne2??
15...e5 Of course Black plays to win a piece.
16.Bd5 White has to decide whether to play on or not a piece down. Most tournament players have an iron will and will fight until the last chance of holding a draw has been erased, for me I think that is right. Black hasn't developed fully yet and his pawns are a bit scruffy, perhaps White can build an attack when the piece might not matter. One thing is for certain Black can not switch off, even though Bill will be starting to chalk the point mentally onto his score sheet.
16...exd4! 17.Nxd4 Rb8 (I think Nxd5 is much better)
18.Bb3 0-0, 19.e5 Re8
20.f4? White desperately tries to drum up counter play, but another pawn lost makes a save all but impossible.
20... Nxg4, 21.Qf3 My tactical skewer alarm just went off. "Whah! Whah! Whah!" The a8-h1 diagonal is now so dangerous for White
21...Nh6 22.Rhg1 saving the exchange.
22...Bd7, 23.Qf2 Be4 Black finds a neat way to slow the pawns down and provide extra support for his king.
Black has cleverly positioned his pieces so that they both attack and defend, next he will interrupt White's lines of attack and then exchange down to an easily won ending.
29.Rdg1 d5! cuts out the bishop on b3.
30.R6g5? Qxd4, 31.Rxg7 Qxg7, 32.Rxg7 Nxg7 Black has exchanged off quite a few pieces and is now winning by miles.
33.Qd4 Ne6, 34, Qe5 Nc5, 35. Bxd5
And finally the coup-de-grace Nd3 winning the queen with a fork made possible by the pin on the f-pawn, nice!!
Play chess online
Saturday, 23 July 2011
Colin Walton V Darlington Chess club
On 18/07/11 Colin Walton grade 200 played a simultaneous match against any Darlington player brave enough to face him. Colin graciously allowed his opponents to choose colour, most decided on White! Games were played with clocks, but more as a marker to let Colin know if his opponent was to move or not.
Colin is relaxed before his games:-
In action Colin makes his way around the club. Spending only a few seconds at each board before moving on, Colin used his lightening mind to calculate winning plans and as you can see the club's members were concentrating hard.
AJ was the youngest player there, but gave Colin a good workout.
James Garner seems pleased with himself, perhaps he has a winning move in mind.
Colin won all his games except one he lost against the mighty Niall Garner.
Below is a position from my game against Colin. The game opened as a king's Indian Defence
White has just moved his knight to b5 hoping to win a pawn.
1..fxe4, 2.fxe4 f3!
The pawn can not be captured because the g-pawn is pinned. White therefore has to defend the pawn on g2.
3.Bf1 Be5 here come the backup!
4.Rd2 White is trying to cling on by beefing up his second rank.
4...Bf4! Remember Colin was taking less than a minute for these moves. I was expecting a powerful sacrifice on h2, but like all good players Colin is not in a rush. He takes the time to harass the rook before he finds the decisive breakthrough.
5.Rd3 Bxh2!
White resigns as the position is hopeless. After 6.Kxh2 Qh4+, 7.Kg1 f2+ White has to give up his queen.
Darlington chess club would like to thank Colin for agreeing to play the simultaneous. Darlington chess club tries to organise different summer events while the leagues are not running.
Colin is relaxed before his games:-
In action Colin makes his way around the club. Spending only a few seconds at each board before moving on, Colin used his lightening mind to calculate winning plans and as you can see the club's members were concentrating hard.
AJ was the youngest player there, but gave Colin a good workout.
James Garner seems pleased with himself, perhaps he has a winning move in mind.
Colin won all his games except one he lost against the mighty Niall Garner.
Below is a position from my game against Colin. The game opened as a king's Indian Defence
1..fxe4, 2.fxe4 f3!
3.Bf1 Be5 here come the backup!
4.Rd2 White is trying to cling on by beefing up his second rank.
4...Bf4! Remember Colin was taking less than a minute for these moves. I was expecting a powerful sacrifice on h2, but like all good players Colin is not in a rush. He takes the time to harass the rook before he finds the decisive breakthrough.
5.Rd3 Bxh2!
Darlington chess club would like to thank Colin for agreeing to play the simultaneous. Darlington chess club tries to organise different summer events while the leagues are not running.
Tuesday, 19 July 2011
Junior Club - End of year party
Monday 18th July was the last Junior chess night of the 10/11 season. The kids and coaches are looking forward to their summer break and the club will return 12/09/11.
The kids took a break from serious chess study and played chess variants instead.
They played cross chess a game with two boards played in teams where captured pieces are passed to your partner. Good fun with wild positions like the one below
Even James and Sarah got involved.
I would like to thank both James and Sarah for their help and support throughout the season without them the junior club would have been very difficult to manage.
Time for a group photo.
During the year the kids played several games of serious chess. The clear winner was AJ. Below he collects his shield which he keeps for a year and has his name inscribed on it forever.
All the kids received a small goody bag filled with sweets. Not surprisingly this went down well.
Last but not least
Back to chess variants. Things were a little louder after the sweets!
I hope to see all the kids back September.
The kids took a break from serious chess study and played chess variants instead.
Even James and Sarah got involved.
I would like to thank both James and Sarah for their help and support throughout the season without them the junior club would have been very difficult to manage.
Time for a group photo.
During the year the kids played several games of serious chess. The clear winner was AJ. Below he collects his shield which he keeps for a year and has his name inscribed on it forever.
All the kids received a small goody bag filled with sweets. Not surprisingly this went down well.
Last but not least
Back to chess variants. Things were a little louder after the sweets!
I hope to see all the kids back September.
Thursday, 14 July 2011
Middlesbrough Congress - Darlington on tour
Between the 08 - 10 July 2011 Middlesbrough held its annual chess congress at the magnificent riverside stadium.
The congress was held in the spacious and light legends lounge.
The congress was well attended and even included an international Master Jonathan Hawkins.
If you want to be an IM you better hit the books. Plenty of opportunity to buy them courtesy of Chess Direct Ltd.
Severn Darlington members attended the congress. Below are some interesting posotions and game snippets from a few of the games.
First up is a game from Bill Metcalfe, can you find a good move? We will be seeing more of this game in the coming weeks, as it will be a featured member game. Answer at the end of the blog...
One of the features of the above game is the unbalanced nature of the material. These unbalances can lead to the most interesting positions in chess. Which leads us nicely to the next position.
White (Niall Garner) has just played 21.Rf5! Black is short on time, so tries to swap off his queen for two rooks and ease the pressure he is under, starting with 21...Qxg3, 22.Nxg3 gxf5, 23.Nxf5+
Black may be regretting his idea as a knight and queen near an open king can often lead to a decisive attack. Play continued 23...Kh8, 24.d4. White wants to open the long diagonal where the king stands which is probably a winning attack, but while I was watching the game I couldn't help thinking the simple and obvious Qh6 may be best e.g.
(24.Qh6 with a mate threat Rg8, 25.Qxc6 picking up a pawn and hitting the uncoordinated rook. Rb8, Next White would want to involve the second knight, at home I noticed that 26.Nb5! is decisive, as it threatens another pawn, but also with the threat of Nd6-Nxf7#)
Back to the game
The congress was held in the spacious and light legends lounge.
The congress was well attended and even included an international Master Jonathan Hawkins.
If you want to be an IM you better hit the books. Plenty of opportunity to buy them courtesy of Chess Direct Ltd.
Severn Darlington members attended the congress. Below are some interesting posotions and game snippets from a few of the games.
First up is a game from Bill Metcalfe, can you find a good move? We will be seeing more of this game in the coming weeks, as it will be a featured member game. Answer at the end of the blog...
One of the features of the above game is the unbalanced nature of the material. These unbalances can lead to the most interesting positions in chess. Which leads us nicely to the next position.
White (Niall Garner) has just played 21.Rf5! Black is short on time, so tries to swap off his queen for two rooks and ease the pressure he is under, starting with 21...Qxg3, 22.Nxg3 gxf5, 23.Nxf5+
Black may be regretting his idea as a knight and queen near an open king can often lead to a decisive attack. Play continued 23...Kh8, 24.d4. White wants to open the long diagonal where the king stands which is probably a winning attack, but while I was watching the game I couldn't help thinking the simple and obvious Qh6 may be best e.g.
(24.Qh6 with a mate threat Rg8, 25.Qxc6 picking up a pawn and hitting the uncoordinated rook. Rb8, Next White would want to involve the second knight, at home I noticed that 26.Nb5! is decisive, as it threatens another pawn, but also with the threat of Nd6-Nxf7#)
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| Analysis |
24...cxd4, 25.Qxd4+ f6 and now 26.Qd6 will win a pawn and is similar to the analysis above. Playing a weekend congress is a long and tiring affair and mistakes are common in the later stages of games. Here White plays 26.g4?! with the intention of weakening the blocking pawn on f6, but Black plays a good move 26...Ne5
White has to respond to the fork threat allowing Black Bxf5 when his rooks connect and make a tougher fight. Play continued for another 10 moves before White offered a draw saving his energy for the final round.
The next position is from one of my games and can not match the previous positions, but its the only game I won, so humour me.
White has just played 31.Rac1 attacking the backward c-pawn. But Black ignores that threat and invades White's position with 31...Qf4, the advanced pawns allow the queen access into White's position which should win something. Clearly White hadn't seen this move and the shock value was enough to induce a howler 32.Rhf1??
Which leads to mate in two, although I took 3, 32...Qh4+, 33.Kg1 Qg3, Kh1 Kg2#
Finally we see Richard Harris in action.
Richard decided to exchanges Queens earlier as he was a pawn up with an outside passed pawn. An easy win perhaps? Black responded by playing 1...g5, there followed 2.hxg5 hxg5 and the point went to Richard. Remember the square rule (Passed Pawns and the square rule) White's king can step inside the square and can easily stop the pawn and did.
However what happens if Black pushes past the pawn and refuses to capture? 2...h5!
The Black pawn is now immune from the White king, as the king is too far away. Ok White has his own outside passed pawns, the d-pawn and g-pawn are both in reach of Black's king.
3.a4 h4, 4.a5 h3, 5.a6 h2, 6.a7 h1Q, Black queens first with a very important detail.
Black's new queen covers White's queening square.
Has White just had the luckiest escape of his life? Should Black have won?
No. There is a line that draws. Looking at the last diagram we realise that the long h1-a8 diagonal is key, so White can try 3.d4
Black can try pushing his h-pawn queening first, but then White will have a queen on d8 the next go, and White may be able to use his extra pawns to win. As previously discussed Black's king is in both pawns square so Black should probably try 3..Kg6, 4.d5 Kxg5 and now this detail is important, as White can now push his a-pawn. Black still queens first, but this time the diagonal is closed!!
5.a4 h4, 6.a5 h3, 7.a6 h2, 8.a7 h1Q, 9.a8Q
Black now has the first check and should be able to draw easily with multiple checks. What an interesting position!!!
The next position is from one of my games and can not match the previous positions, but its the only game I won, so humour me.
Finally we see Richard Harris in action.
Richard decided to exchanges Queens earlier as he was a pawn up with an outside passed pawn. An easy win perhaps? Black responded by playing 1...g5, there followed 2.hxg5 hxg5 and the point went to Richard. Remember the square rule (Passed Pawns and the square rule) White's king can step inside the square and can easily stop the pawn and did.
However what happens if Black pushes past the pawn and refuses to capture? 2...h5!
3.a4 h4, 4.a5 h3, 5.a6 h2, 6.a7 h1Q, Black queens first with a very important detail.
Black's new queen covers White's queening square.
Has White just had the luckiest escape of his life? Should Black have won?
No. There is a line that draws. Looking at the last diagram we realise that the long h1-a8 diagonal is key, so White can try 3.d4
5.a4 h4, 6.a5 h3, 7.a6 h2, 8.a7 h1Q, 9.a8Q
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Back to Bill's game
Did you spot Ne6+ winning the queen, note the f-pawn is pinned.
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