More and more videos

I have made a whole slew of new videos, mostly on the youtube site. http://www.youtube.com/waparker4

I achieved my highest blitz rating on FICS last night of 1234. I think making live videos will improve my ability to make plans quickly and avoid indecision. I have actually been winning some five minute games instead of losing on time!

Here is a game from the book Logical Chess: Move by Move by Irving Chernev. Try to go through the moves in your head without looking at a board. It's not a long game so it should be possible.

A highly recommended book.

von Schieve - Teichmann Berlin 1907 - Guioco Piano

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4
This game comes from the "kingside attack" chapter of this book. A good development of the bishop, it is aggressively pointed at f7. It also contests the d5 square.

3 ... Bc5 4. c3
White aims to establish the central pawn duo of e4 and d4. This c-pawn thrust also makes Qb3 an option to attack f7. It does, however, deprive the queenside knight of his best square. The threat is 5. d4 attacking the bishop and forcing 5 ... exd4 6. cxd4.

4 ... Qe7
Black counters the threat by counterattacking on the e-pawn. If 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 then 6 ... Qxe4+ wins the pawn.

5. O-O d6 6. d4
White delayed the d4 thrust to castle his king. The move indirectly protects the e-pawn, because 6 ... exd4 7. cxd4 Qxe4 8. Re1! and the queen is pinned and will be lost.

6 ... Bb6
Black's move d6 allows him to retreat his bishop after 6. d4 and not lose his central pawn.

7. a4 a6 8. a5
White is losing time on a fruitless attempt to trap the bishop or fool black. If 8 ... Bxa5 then 9. d5! Nd8 10. Rxa5 wins a bishop. But black does not fall for it.

8 ... Ba7 9. h3
A weak move that I have been seeing alot in blitz games on FICS. White wants to prevent Bg4 pinning the knight, but it is unnecessary. Chernev writes, "It is better to submit to the pin -- a temporary inconvenience -- than to prevent it by a move that looses the position of the pawns defending the king." Now Bxh3 is a constant option for black to trigger a kingside mating attack.

9 ... Nf6 10. dxe5
Black is poorly developed, so opening up lines in the center will favor black. White has just increased the scope of black's a7 bishop, which now pins the f2-pawn to the white king.

10 ... Nxe5 11. Nxe5 Qxe5
Black is right to replace his e-pawn with pieces. Now white's knight on f3 -- the best defender of the white kingside -- has disappeared, replaced by a powerfully placed queen on e5.

12. Nd2
Although the white e-pawn is attacked twice and defended once, taking it would cost the game: 12 ... Nxe4 13. Nxe4 Qxe4 14. Rc1 pinning the queen.

12 ... Bxh3!
Black has no interest in the e-pawn; he is more interested in the white king.

13. gxh3 Qg3+!
A powerful move; black is utilizing the pin on the f-pawn thanks to the bishop on a7.

14. Kh1 Qxh3+ 15. Kg1 Ng4
Threatening mate on h7. One try that fails immediately is 16. Re1 to give room for the king, which is met by 16 ... Bxf2#.

16. Nf3 Qg3+
Removes one of the defenders, the king, from protection of the f-pawn as well as attacking it a third time with the queen.

17. Kh1 Bxf2! 0 - 1
White resigns. The bishop is taking away the g1 square for the king to escape to, so that black is threatening 18 ... Qh3+ 19. Nh2 Qxh2#. Unfortunately for white, the bishop cannot be taken, because of 18. Rxf2 Nxf2#.

More videos

I'm having fun making the videos- it gives a new sense of life to the game of chess for me because it allows a different angle from which one can look at the game.

1. A serious production, a presentation of the game Leko vs. Gelfand from yesterday's Grand Prix Tournament in Nalchik. It was an exciting middlegame! Link

2. A non-serious production. A humorous, poorly played, clownish game on my part which started well and went terribly wrong. But spotting one tactic is enough to turn a loss into a win. Click at your own risk

Suggested link: The Nalchik tournament website

Second; third; fourth chess videos I ever produced

I've been on a tear. I even started a Youtube channel!

A fun live blitz game with a very winning rook and pawn ending,
here.

A couple of fun live blitz games, on my new youtube channel!
Go!

I have another video ready, which is a 20 minute analysis of a classic game from 1905, Janowski vs. Alapin. I haven't uploaded it yet because I'm not sure about a copyright issue, because it's a game from a book I am reading. So I will hopefully post that soon! It utilizes ChessBase and the colored squares and arrows! Fun!

First chess video I ever produced

I'm not so sure everything was in right place in my head while recording, but anyways: here it is.

An aggressive opening.

Today I tried out the King's gambit in one game, and I tried two games in the Vienna game, 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3. It looks quiet and passive, but can lead to very aggressive and tactical play for white if he plays an early f4 ala the King's Gambit. In fact, Wikipedia cites, "Weaver W. Adams, whom Grandmaster Larry Evans described as having an 'all or nothing' mentality, famously claimed that the Vienna Game led to a forced win for White."

I wouldn't go that far, but it can lead to some quick development and powerful attacking chances. I will relay some basic guidelines to the opening from Wikipedia's article. After 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 black has two options. If 2 ... Nf6 white can play 3. f4, the Vienna Gambit, which can lead to open lines against the black king if black does not defend properly. In the few games of blitz I have played I have seen most often 3 ... exf4, but 3 ... d5, a counterstrike in the center, is indicated for black to keep it equal. After 3 ... d5, "4. fxe5 Nxe4, either 5.Nf3, 5.Qf3 or 5.d3 usually follows." After 3 ... exf4 I have been playing 4. Nf3 like the King's Gambit but 4. e5 Qe7 5. Qe2 is another good line, as black's knight must retreat. 3 ... d5 does not seem like a move likely to be found in blitz games, unless the black player knows a little bit about the opening.

I felt like spicing up my blog posting with a picture of Vienna.

Other options after 2 ... Nf6 include 3. Nc4 which can transpose into countless different openings, such as the Four Knights Game, Bishop's Opening, or King's Gambit Declined, and though there are some "wild" lines discussed in the Wikipedia article, this move is not really my main focus at this time. Another popular idea is 3. g3 which prepares the kingside fianchetto and a quieter more positional game, which may be a useful idea if playing a slow game against someone who knows his stuff. The move has been played by Vasily Smyslov, "most notably in a win over Lev Polugaevsky in the 1961 USSR Championship. That game continued 3...d5 4.exd5 Nxd5 5.Bg2 Be6 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.O-O Be7 8.Re1 Bf6 9.Ne4 O-O 10.d3 Be7 11.a3 Nb6 12.b4, resulting in a position which the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings assesses as slightly better for White. The main line today, however, is considered to be 5...Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bd6 7.Nf3 O-O 8.O-O."

After 2 ... Nc6 there are still the 3. f4 or 3. g3 ideas, and in either case, "3...d5? would be a weak response losing a pawn, unlike after 2...Nf6." A good sharp line for blitz games might be the Hamppe-Muzio gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 exf4 4.Nf3 g5 5.Bc4 g4 6.0-0 gxf3 7.Qxf3, where white is down a piece but has a significant advantage in central space and development, and has the f-file and the weakened a1-h8 diagonal to generate a powerful attack with.

Now I will recount a game just played on the FICS server in the Vienna/ King's Gambit.

[Event "rated blitz match"]
[Site "Free Internet Chess Server"]
[Date "2009.04.17"]
[Round "?"]
[White "waparker"]
[Black "ayi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "1145"]
[BlackElo "1254"]
[ECO "C25"]
[TimeControl "600"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bc4
Unsure of whether I want to go in for the 3. f4 lines, as I have heard that 3. f4 is not as good against 2. Nc3.

3 ... Nf6 4. f4 exf4 5. Nf3 h6 6. d4 g5 7. h4 g4
Gives white the advantage. Better for black would have been 7. ... Bb4 8. d5 g4 9. dxc6 gxf3 10. gxf3 bxc6 11. Bxf4 d5 12. exd5 cxd5 13. Be2 and black has better central control but white has a small advantage. Note in this hypothetical position black cannot attack the pinned knight because if 13 ... d4 14. Be5 dxc3 15. Qxd8+ Kxd8 16. Bxf6+ Ke8, and here 17. Bxh8 would be a weak move leading to material equality as opposed to 17. O-O-O which threatens checkmate and the hanging rook on h8 simulataneously, which will win material.

8. Ne5 Nxe5 9. dxe5 Nxe4
Not good. My opponent spent much time on this move so I could predict that he was thinking of sacking his knight instead of humbly retreating it. It only took a few moments to decide that 10. Nxe4 would not be very strong because of 10 ... d5 forking knight and bishop, and 10. Qxg5 would lose a piece to 10 ... d5 discovering an attack on the queen. Rybka suggets for black 9. ... d5 10. exd5 Nh5 as the immediate 9. ... Nh5 loses a pawn to 10. Qxg4 d5 11. Bb5+ c6 12. Qxh5 cxb5 13. Nxd5 White is a pawn up with an aggressively placed Queen and knight.

10. Bxf7+
Not the strongest continuation, but it displaces the king and regains material equality. (10. Qd5 Qe7 11. Nxe4 Rb8 12. Bxf4 b5 13. Nf6+ Kd8 )

10 ... Kxf7 11. Qd5+ Kg7 12. Qxe4 f3 13. h5
Not the strongest continuation. I thought it was clever to threaten mate in one with a pawn push, because I didn't see anything concrete after 13. Qxg4+, but Rybka is better at looking 9 moves deep than I am: 13. Qxg4+ Kh7 14. Qe4+ Kg8 15. gxf3 Rh7 16. Nd5 Be7 17. Be3 c6 18. Rg1+ Rg7 19. Rxg7+ Kxg7 20. Nxe7 Qxe7 21. O-O-O {Black can do nothing to stop the threat along the g-file} d5 22. Rg1+

13 ... Kf7??
Leads to a mate in two; black missed a continuation leading to equality by 13. ... Rg8 14. Qxg4+ Kh8 15. Qxf3 d5 16. Be3 d4 17. O-O-O

14. Qg6+ Ke7 15. Nd5# {ayi checkmated} 1-0

Note: I have found another great youtube chess commentator, SeanGGodley. He has a great series of Grandmaster miniatures which all feature great tactics in sharp positions and a number of subvariations, with good explanations of what moves are strong and what are not.

waparker_ayi_2009_4_18_00_22.pgn

A moral victory

I am back from an extended hiatus from online chess. Here is a game in which I was quite happy with my position out of the opening. I think this is the primary benefit of blitz chess. It really is not enough time to calculate a winning combination to convert a positional advantage into a win. But it is a good venue to practice opening ideas and hone one's skills at evaluating the static and dynamic characteristics of positions and moves. Thus, I am trying to work on being happy if I am 24 moves into a blitz game and I have control over a central square that I can use as a home for a knight, or I have a strong pair of rooks blasting down an open file. I am sad if I am 24 moves into a blitz game and I am passively defending a backward pawn or have just hung my knight.

Position after 24. Rxa5

In this game at move 24 I have just won the a5 pawn, I have control over some dark squares in the center, my opponent's dark square bishop is hiding passively in the corner and "biting on granite" on my strong central pawn chain. My pawns are defending the c4 and e4 squares, limiting the activity of my opponent's pieces.

Position after 30. c4

After a few moves, everything has fizzled out. I must have missed something because my dream of establishing a knight on the powerful c5 square has not come to fruition. I must have missed something else, because my dream of establishing my rook on my opponent's 7th rank by Ra7 did not turn out to be possible by 29. Rxa8. Although I have a considerable static positional advantage, I am not able to take the initiative and win the game because of the passive placing of my queen and knight. That is, I do not have a dynamic positional advantage.

Position at which I was flagged on time

The most heartbreaking part of this game is where I am in a position with a very simple mate-in-two, but run out of time. But it's okay, because it's the first 7 minutes of a blitz game that really matter, right? At least, after losing in this manner, it helps me establish some peace of mind to think in this way.

The game. A pirc defense that had some ideas cross over from the King's Indian Defense and Philidor's defense.

waparker_koufaxrules_2009_4_13_23_35.pgn