My Road to Chess Improvement!

Tactics training

2009-08-28T10:08:00.003Z

Here is a video I did a while back for LeChess club on the Internet Chess Club. It utilises their trainingbot computer. The method I suggest might seem rather long-winded, but tactics is all about improving your store of known positions. This requires constant exposure to simple patterns until the answer becomes automatic to you. The Russian school of chess have known this for some time. It is a very useful tool, and I went from 1700-1900 by doing these exercises.

Enjoy!

Swindling an IM!

2009-08-22T16:51:00.004Z

Here is a small game from a recent LeChess club activity on ICC, 'Play the Master', where a LeChess member gets to play a one-on-one game Vs. an International Master. I played Polydamas the other day as Black, and after some opening problems was in severe trouble. However, looking for swindles in a lost position (see 'Chess for Tigers', by Simon Webb), I managed to find a neat combo that complicated matters somewhat [29)...Nf3+!?].

The resulting position was still objectively better for White, but the imbalance meant I had hopes for further complications. In the end, I managed a win due to a blunder by the IM. However, the position before blundering the rook was probably drawn.

A good result! Enjoy the game.

"Solution"

2009-08-20T12:00:00.014Z

OK, well it's not exactly a solution to the position I posted a few days ago, but this is how the game continued. I think Black could have played better in some places, but the plan I executed seemed logical to me.
My reasoning for the plan was to gain more space and put miy light Bishop on a better diagonal. Black's Bb7 is his best piece at the moment, so wanted to neutralise it so as to exaggerate my advantage. I am not sure if this plan was too slow, but it worked out.

1)f4!? Nef6 2)Bf3 Nc5

So it was clear that Black's counterplay was going to revolve around the e4 pawn, and he has redeemed the poor positioning of his Knights in just 2 moves. Herein lies the interest in the starting position: His pieces are only temporarily misplaced, and as such White it seems must act energetically to make anything of this. Therefore I am not sure sure f4 and Bf3 were the best. However, the placement of the Black knights is not permanent, and white is ready to push in the centre.

3)e5! Nfe4 4)Nxe4 Bxe4!?

Trying to exhange more minor pieces off on e4, which eases Black's cramp and neutralises Whites active pieces. I wasn't in the mood to co-operate, and so pressed on with 5)exd6 Bxf3 The main justification of exd6 comes from 5)...Qxd6 6)b4! which attacks the knight defending the Bishop on e4. Therefore, 6)...Bxf3 is forced, and after 7)bxc5! Qxc5 8)Nxf3 White has a very comfortable position. 6)dxe7! Qxe7 7)Rxf3 Ne4?!

I am not sure about this move, and I was certainly expecting 7)...Nxa4 regaining material. I was planning to play on trying to take advantage of the out of play Knight with 8)b4!?. From this position, although a pawn down, Black certainly seems to have solved his positional problems from the initial position, and perhaps a pawn is fair compensation for this. However, White is more centralised and can continue with more dynamic action to press Black. Note the Rooks on a8 and f8 have nothing to say at all.

8)Nc6! Qe8 9)Qd7! Bxb2??

This is the losing move. It was unattractive but obviously better to play 9)...Qxd7 10)Rxd7 where white dominates the 7th rank, but at least Black is dropping more material. White to play and win from the diagram....

10)Ne7+! Kg7 [10)...Kh8 11)Bd4+ Bxd4 12)Qxd4 and Ne4 falls. 11)Bd4+ Bxd4 12)Qxd4+ Nf6

Again, first impression are that Black has his house in order. However, it is white to play and mate, which is forced. Can you find the win? (The solution is in the comments to this post).

An interesting initial position, from which it seems many positional plans are possible.

White to play...

2009-08-17T23:47:00.004Z

What is your plan for white in the following position?

This is a position I reached as white in an OTB friendly game this evening. It arose from a variant of the Pirc defence (I opened 1)d4 Nf6 2)Nc3!? d6 3)e4 etc...). White seems to have a slight advantage due to a slight lead in development and better centralisation. However, despite the positional plusses, I found it hard to come up with a decent plan.

How would you handle this position as white? Use the comment function to give me your positional plan (I don't necessarily mean exact moves, but what is your ideal piece placement and general plan).

I will post how I handled the position later.

Draws = Death (of your improvement)

2009-08-15T16:38:00.003Z

I have recently been drawn to the surprising number of draws that occur in club players games, both over the board (OTB) and on the Internet. It is surprising because many of the final positions are far from sterile, and could be played out. I have made it my goal not to accept draws in my games (I make an exception for King Vs. King!), and to play on in level positions. My purpose for this is five-fold:

As someone wishing to improve as a player, I play chess games mainly to increase my knowledge. Accepting a draw prematurely robs me of learning something that might appear in subsequent play. True, I may go on to lose, but learning is the name of my game.
Playing on in level positions creates a sense of determination and grit in your play. It lets your opponent know (but more importantly YOU come to know) that you are a determined player who will fight all the way.
If you know you will not accept a draw, it is less likely that you will relax when the position becomes level. It is typical in the games of club players that when the game enters a level endgame, for example, one or both of the players relax thinking the draw is inevitable, and hence blunders start appearing as the levels of concentration have dipped. Knowing that a draw is never on the table induces a heightened level of vigilance.
It is often un-commented on that draw offers often betray the players opinion of a position. This knowledge can be extremely useful! For example, if you are 1800 playing a 2000 and they offer a draw in what appears to be a level position, what do you take from this? I smell fear - shouldn't they be able to crush you from a level position? The corrolary of this is that I don't want to betray my opinion of the position to my opponent! I don't want to give them confidence if I offer them a draw and they are lower rated than me. I want them to know I am determined to play on and to win. Conversely, if they are higher rated than me, I would not want to be so insulting as to offer them a draw - they can crush you from a level position if their skill is that much greater. Offering a draw out of fear is not conducive to producitve improvement.
Level positions are actually often far from level! The pawn structure may be symetrical, the minor pieces may be equivalent, but it is often the case that there is some position imbalance between the opposing forces. Maybe one of the kings is slightly more exposed, maybe ones bishop is posted slightly more actively. Find those positional imbalances and squeeze them. Doing this has given me greater insight into the role of small advantages and learning how to culture them.

I think that this increasing number of draws is to some degree explained by players wanting to imitate GMs. Draw-death is a concern at the GM level, and many interventions have been suggested and implemented in order to reduce the number of draws.

But for the improving player, what is the motivation for accepting draws? The number one factor is quite possibly FEAR - fear of not offering the draw and going on to lose the game. It is unfotunate that many players wish to improve their rating, without realising their fixation on rating is what is holding them back. Sure, you might go on to lose the position and drop a few (meaningless) rating points, but if you learn something important from your loss, surely that is worth so much more than your temporary loss of points.

In my opinion, one of the best things a player can do to improve their rating is to forget about their rating! If you shed the fear of dropping points you will be exposed to a host of lessons and positional insights that you otherwise would have missed out on by taking an early shower.

So go on...lose your fear of losing and play out every position until the kings remain. Caissa will be proud!

North Wales Championship (Round 1)

2009-04-14T16:53:00.009Z

John Shakespeare Vs. Jim Grange
Gwynedd Champs, Rd. 1

This game was the first round of the local county championships. The year before I crashed out after a painful first round defeat. It was even more painful as the year before I had finished 2nd, so I had high hopes. This year I was feeling confident, but I was paired with J. Shakespare in the first round, who is also a member of Bangor Chess Club. We had played quite a few serious games before this one, and he had one every one. We trained together over the summer of 2008, and this was our first serious game since. I learned a lot about his play during that summer, and I went into this game feeling quite confident.

1)e4 e5 2)f4 Bc5 3)Nf3 d6 4)Bc4 Nf6 5)d3 Nc6 6)Nc3 Bg4 7)Na5 0-0!?

This is quite an interesting move, and one my opponent told me he was not expecting. He had prepared for 7)...Bb6, which is quite tepid in comparison. The idea of the text is to try and capitalise on a slight lead in development, which should compensate for the loss of the Bishop pair. The resulting pawn structure for Black is actually quite dynamic, with a few tactical possibilities hidden within it. I have had this position a few times, with a very healthy score. 8)Nc5 bc5 9)Bd2?!N 9)0-0 is better, after which Black continues in similar lines as to the game, but whites king is safe. ...Qd6! 10)0-0 Bf3!? of course, not a bad move, but 10)...Ne4! would have won a pawn on the spot. Now the disadvantages of whites 9th are manifest. 11)Qf3 b5!

This move is a great example of the dynamism in Blacks structure. Of course, white can't capture on b5 due to ...Nd4! winning the bishop. Additionally, white can't play 12)Bb3 really, as he then faces ...c4 13)dc4 bc4 and now must decentralise his Bishop with 14)Ba4 [14)Bc4? Qd4+ winning the Bishop]. Therefore, white has to relinquish his Bishop pair, possibly his only positional advantage. Black has the initiative, and is slightly better. 12)Bd5 Nd5 13)ed5 Nd4! 14)Qf2 Nc2 Black is a clear pawn up for no compensation. 15)Rc1 Nd4 16)fe5 Qd5! This is the better pawn to capture, retaining the black pawn at c5. White still has the e5 weakness, so it won't be going far. 17)Be3 Qe5 There it goes! 18)Kh1 I am not sure now why he played this move. At the time of the game I was actually expecting it as there were some lines where a king on g1 was problematic. I can't at this time notice what the problem was. That is probably a good indication we were both seeing things! ...Rae8 19)Bf4 Qd5 20)Be3 c6 This felt like an important move at the time. If white exchanges on d4 as things stood, the c7 pawn was hanging and white would get some nice activity. 21)b3 I really think 21)b4 is whites only chance to fight for some complications here, trying to loosen blacks knight on d4.

This move is critical, and blacks only way to retain the advantage is with 21)...Re3!! which I felt was easy to spot, and was planning it as I was convinced white would play b4. 22)Qe3 cb4! again, the only move. Now black has two pawns for the exchange, a dominating knight & Queen, and a queenside majority ready to roll. Black is winning in that position. 21)...Re6 with the obvious plan of harassing the Kingside. 22)Rc5?? Qc5 23)Bd4 Qd5 White resigned. There are no tricks. White was planning 24)Bc5 which appears to give back the exchange thus winning back a pawn. The resulting heavy piece ending is likely drawn. However, white had overlooked 24)...Rf6! winning.

A good start to the championship. At the end of this game the pairing for round 2 was drawn, and I was paired with a FIDE 2100 player. I will post that game in a few days time.

I'm Baaaaaaaaack!

2009-04-11T10:55:00.002Z

Crikey! Has it really been over a year since I updated this site? Oh dear...irony is added by the title of my last post too! Well, this time, I am back and mean it. I have been putting chess on the back-burner for a while now. The PhD has been SO busy (but great, check out my website!) but now the academic year will be slowing down somewhat and I plan to put more effort into chess.

I have been keeping my hand in with some 5-minute chess, which has been hit & miss. my training has stopped, so I am very rusty and dropping pieces to simple tactics. Over-the-board play has also been minimal, but I played a couple of interesting games in my local county championships. I will post these in the very near future (yes, I know I said this last time but I mean it!). One was against a very strong player (2100 FIDE) and I was OK for most of the game, but in the end I blundered moving towards time trouble. Another game was a good win against a chap in my club who I have never won against in a regular time control game, and with Black!

So, please forgive my lack of presence, but I am back!

Chess is back on the agenda!

2007-11-16T22:42:00.000Z

Well, after a dip in activity due to my thesis I am back to chess! I have played 3 games so far in the online league (www.team4545league.org) but they were uneventful draws. I have started my training again, following the guidelines of Blackwood on ICC who rightly recommends studying the pawn structures that arise out of my openings, and the plans associated with them. This has started to show some gain, and is also very fun! I am also playing gambits in friendly games to get a feel for dynamism, which has been somewhat lacking in my play up to now - but this will change! So, i will post some analysis soon of a game, my local county championship starts next week, so this 1st round game may be ideal!

Calm before the storm!

2007-09-15T17:17:00.000Z

Well, I haven't updated here in a while, and this is due to the fact I am currently writing up my M.Sc Thesis. Also, my chess has taken a bit of a nose dive due to my relative inactivity. However, I am determined to make this the calm before the storm, and will return to a full training program and playing schedule once I have started my PhD late September. In the mean time, in between writing my thesis and sleeping, I am trying to relax, and take it as easy as I can - a good way to clear the cobwebs before the hard work begins!

So here I am in North Wales during a walk with my girlfriend. If the scenery doesn't inspire me to greater things, nothing will!

See you soon!

Game 6

2007-07-17T07:54:00.001Z

The match has ended in a draw after a well fought final game. In response to Salty's Exchange Spanish, I prepared an interesting novelty suggested by Craig Evans, A.K.A LeSacAttack on ICC. It is an improvement over a Morozevich game, and is the move 12)...Qf4!?, aiming to provoke weaknesses on White's Kingside and keeping the Queens on maintaining an active middlegame. The novelty worked well, and equality was soon reached. There were many interesting moments throughout the game, many of which in the post-mortem were suggested to be winning for one of us. However, having briefly reviewed the game with Fritz, the computer maintains the belief the suggested continuations lead only to slight edges. Analysis will hopefully prove or disprove this belief in the near future when I work on it.

Many thanks to SaltofLife for playing me in this match, it was a very exciting fight, and I have gained a lot from it. Now I am open for a new match, so if anyone is interested please send me an ICC message! :)

Game 5

2007-07-11T21:18:00.001Z

JimGrange Vs SaltofLife
5th Match Game

What a strange game! After mutual blunders in another materially imbalanced open Catalan, I was let off the hook to score my second win with the white pieces to even up the scores going into the final game! I'm not even fit to comment on the game as it was a mess from beginning to end, and I'm glad its over! The final round is scheduled for Monday 15th July at 2pm server time. See you there!

Game 4

2007-07-10T13:54:00.001Z

SaltofLife Vs JimGrange
4th Match Game

Salt showed his Grandmasterly technique in this game grinding out a win in another Exchange Ruy Lopez. The game followed Fressinet - Adams (Bordeaux, 2000) until Salt's novelty 16)g4. By move 19 I believe black had equalised, and had a good grip on the d-file. Salty blundered with 20)Kf2? allowing 20)...Rd2+ winning a pawn, but I overlooked this simple check and played to exchange all the major pieces. This left white with a slight pull into the endgame, which was executed with lethal precision. A very strong game from Salt, leaving the match in a very exciting position. 2 games left, with Salt needing only not to drop a point to clinch the match. A win for him in game 5 will be immediately decisive.

Game 3

2007-06-26T10:10:00.001Z

The 3rd game turned out to be a highly imbalanced game, right from the opening. An exciting open Catalan produced a materially imbalanced position, with White having a Queen for a Rook, Bishop and pawn. 12)...Rd8 was a move I have not seen before, and seems an improvement over the more 'usual' 12)...Be7 or 12)...h5. The game continued with great complexity, I honestly didn't have a clue who stood better until the ending. Sometimes I felt Black's minor pieces were going to finish me off, then in the next flash i felt "yes, but I have the Queen!" and felt I stood better. This see-saw of positional evaluation continued until the clearer ending of Queen and Knight Vs 2 Rooks and one Bishop, with my pawn on h7 I knew I was on top. This was the most difficult, energy consuming, complex and amazing game of chess I have played to this date, I just hope it holds up to the mighty Fritz's critical eye later in the week!

The next game is scheduled for Monday 2nd July at 19:30 UK time, 14:30 ICC time.

Game 2

2007-06-15T13:45:00.001Z

SaltofLife Vs. JimGrange
2nd Match Game.

The second game ended in disappointment for me as Salt took the lead in the match on the White side of an Exchange Spanish. Play was evenly balanced until Black lashed out with the rash 15)...h5?!, the intention being to inhibit the expansion of White's pawn majority. But the weakness created on the g6 square and the h5 pawn itself was too high a price to pay. Salt played energetically, making full use of my weaknesses, but play I was able to fight back with 21)...g5!, after which play was becoming more even. At move 24 I came up with the xorrect defensive idea, bringing the Bishop to f7, although this plan was one tempo too slow. Fritz was delighted to point out to me that the non-human move 24)...Be6!! drew immediately, as the Bishop gets to f7 with the tempo (and the game!) spared. If anyone is playing for a win in the resulting positions, it is black. Following a miscalulation of a series of exchnages, Black could only watch idley as White pushed his f-pawn to the Queening square, and Black capitulated.

A few positives to take from this game, and the match is starting to heat up! I am getting confidence from these games, even though they haven't gone my way yet! The 3rd game is set for Monday 25th June at 19:30 UK time (14:30 server time).

Game 1

2007-06-10T17:07:00.001Z

JimGrange Vs. Saltoflife
1st match game

The first game of the match was a very interesting game, with a Petrosian system to the King's Indian being played out. I feel that White was doing well, but let the position slip and I had to force a perpetual after finding myself worse. I haven't included any analysis of the game, as obviously the match is still ongoing and I don't want to give away anything for our future games. Please feel free to leave comments!

Game 2 is scheduled for Monday 11th June at 19:30 UK time (14:30 ICC time). See you there!

6 game match Vs. Saltoflife

2007-06-05T11:21:00.001Z

David Vs. Goliath!! I will be playing a 6 game match Vs. Saltoflife on the Internet Chess Club! The 1st game starts on the 5th June, at 19:30 UK time. The time controls are set at 90 minutes, with a 30 second increment on each move.

Salty is a very strong player, as well as a true gent. He is always willing to help out people on the ICC, and Salty is one of LeChessClubs top mentors. With a FIDE rating of 2076, this is going to be one tough match! We have played 2 standard games against eachother previously, with the score being 0.5-1.5 in Salty's favour. Although I'm by far the underdog, this is a position I like, as I have nothing to lose, and everything to gain :) I hope I can give Salt a good series of games, and put up tough resistance against his fine play!

Analysis of the games will be posted in due course. In the mean time, good luck to Salt in this encounter! You never know.... you just may need it :)

Round 5

2007-05-27T16:11:00.001Z

Brendan Shields Vs. Jim Grange
Gwynedd Championships, Round 5, Final Round

This was a must win game for me, as John Blore had won his last round game going on to 4.5/5. I was on 3.5/4 going in to my last round game, and was the only other person in the championship who could catch John. Nothing other than a win would satisfy me, and it was this that influenced my agresive (and unsound) opening choice! I soon had the upper hand and had won a pawn, but went into an endgame (which was winning) but played the obsurd 25)...e5?? which made my extra pawn morribund. I was furious with myself for this move, and a draw soon ensued. Again, I haven't included any analysis as there is so much to cover in this game. I will post some once I have got something to show.

Overall, not a bad tournament. I finished second, undefeated. Not bad for one of the lowest rated players in the field! The title will be mine next year....

Round 4

2007-05-27T15:59:00.001Z

Jim Grange Vs. John Blore
Gwynedd Championships, Round 4

Both of us were doing well on 3/3, and this game could well have turned out to be the decider of the tournament. John is a great player with a career best OTB of over 2100, so I knew this was David Vs. Goliath! I havent included any analysis here, as I really haven't got to the bottom of this gane yet, and as such didn't want to include second-rate analysis.

The game started off with Black playing an offbeat line, and although my knight on a3 looked hideous it served a purpose. In no way was I worse off in the opening, and after I got e4 in I was definitely better. We fought into a complex middlegame, where I soon sacrificed a pawn to go into an ending with numerous Black weaknesses. White was the one pushing in the endgame, but after a couple of inaccuracies from me, Black secured the draw. All to do going into the final round for both of us!

Round 3

2007-05-27T14:45:00.001Z

Ted Thonger Vs Jim Grange
Gwynedd Championships, Round 3

In round 3 I was paired with a chap I have only played once before, 2 years ago when he beat me quite convoncingly. This year he had already knocked out the second highest rated player in the tournament, so it was a tough fight ahead!

1) d4 Nf6 2)Nf3 d5 3)b3!? Bf5 4)e3 e6 5)Nbd2 c5 I always like to try and play as actively as I can against tepid White openings such as this. 6)Be2 cd4 7)ed4 Be7 8)O-O Nc6 9)a3 O-O 10)Bb2 Qc7 [slightly more active is Qa5!?]11)Rc1 Rac8 12)c4
Black is very happy in this position, and is slightly better thanks to his more active pieces, most noticably the Bf5 and Nc6 (compared to e2 and d2). I decided to resolve the tension in the centre which may have been premature as it gives White definite pland, whereas the tension may have kept him contorted trying to guess the direction of the play. 12)...dc4!? 13)Rc4 But this can be considered dubious, as the isolani can only be considered a weakness as his minor pieces are not well positioned to take advantage of the dynamic plusses an isolani can bring. For example, the knight on d2 should be on c3 (controlling the blockade square d5) and the Bishop on b2 would be more active on the c1-h6 diagonal. Much better would have been creating hanging pawns with 13)bc4!, which can be strong. But again, its whites minor pieces that are letting him down, as the same pieces are misplaced for a hanging pawn situation also. Black now takes the iniative basing play on restraining the d4 pawn and breaking in on the Queenside. 13)...b5! 14)Rc1 Qb6 15)b4 a5! Maintaining the initiative with forcing play. White is no longer dealing with his own plans (as he didnt have any) but is on the defensive. 16)ba5 Na5 17)Nb3 Nc4
Blacks advantage is clear. Whites Queenside is shattered. 18)Rb1?? A horrible blunder, which after the game my opponent told me was a "sacrifice" (yeh right!). Bb1 19)Qb1 Nb2 simple chess, exchanges bring a winning endgame closer to black. 20)Qb2 Ra8 21)Ra1 Ra7 I think it is important to note that a material advantage is just a positional imbalance. It in itself will not win the game until an endgame has been reached. Therefore, it is imperative that Black fights for other positional advantages, so that White never has time to gain compensation for the lost material. Here Black is fighting for yet more material (the a3 pawn), but also the passed pawn that will come with this material gain. Note White is completely on the defensive, and the initiative is firmly with Black. 22)Nbd2 Rfa8 23)Nb1 Nd5 24)Ne5 Ra4 25)Bb5? Another blunder. R8a5 26)Nc3 Nc3 27)Qc3 Rb5 28)Rc1 Ra8 29)Qf3 Rf8 30)Nd7
It appears that White is fighting back and winning an exchange back, but all dreams were shattered when I instantly bashed out the move... Rb1! I was very pleased with this move, and miy opponent looked resigned. The Queen is immune due to a defficiency on Whites back rank. 31)Qc3 Rc1 32)Qc1 Qd4 33)Nf8 Bf8 34)g3 Qa4 35)Qc8 Qa3 36)Kg2 Qd6 37)Kg1 g6 38)h4 Kg7 39)Qc3 e5 40)Qa1 Qd4 41)Qa2 Bc5 42)Qe2 h5 43)Kg2 Qf2! The simplest way. 44)Qf2 Bf2 45)Kf2 Kf6 46)Kf3 Kf5 47)Ke3 Kg4 White resigns. Satisfying revenge for beating me two years ago!

Round 2

2007-05-18T13:28:00.002Z

Jim Grange Vs Deio Parri
Gwynedd Championships, Round 2

After my great start, I was paired with board 1 from Caernarfon, so a tough encounter ahead! I played well, got a good middlegame position, and then my opponent fought back with some amazing tactics that I completely had overlooked. I was soon in trouble, and if I had something better to do I would have resigned. But I trundled on, trying to make my moves look "complicated" so as to scare him (he was short of time), and in the end it paid off with a blunder of the year! The rest was childsplay.

1) d5 d5 2)c4 c6 3)Nf3 Nf6 4)Nc3 e6 5)e3 Be7 6)Be2 b6 7)b3 Novelty ...O-O 8)Bb2 Bb7 9)O-O Nbd7 10)Rc1 Re8

So its time to start thinking of plans.Black is obviously aiming for the logical break ...e5 freeing his game, and White wants the break e4. However, I didnt want to place my Queen on c2, as I felt it would be exposed to attack from the rook on c8 at some point. So I placed it on d2, which was just very poor. White is still OK, but would have the edge after Qc2. 11)Qd2?! Bd6 aiming for ...e5, but losing time. This showed my opponents lack of understanding of the position (he normally plays the traditional QGD, but wanted to suprise me with the Slav). 12)Rfd1 Qe7 13)Rc2!? A flexible move, aiming to double either on the d- or e-file. ...Rad8 14)Qe1 e5?!
I was happy to see this, as I felt it was premature. But what else can Black do? This leads to the isolation of blacks d-pawn, and I felt that Black would not get sufficient activity to compensate for this. 15)de5 Ne5 16)cd5!? Nf3 17)Bf3 cd5 18) Nb5! heading for the blockade square on d4 18)...Bb4?!

This move is a mistake. I sank into thought for about 15 minutes, looking at the complications after 19)Bf6 Be1 20)Be7 Bf2 without realising black is just losing a piece. Therefore, after 19)Bf6!, blacks pawn structure is shattered, as gf6 is forced. What a waste of 15 mins! 19)Bf6! gf6 20)Qf1 Bc5 21)Nd4 Qe5 The dust has settled, and White is just better. Plain and simple. I went all "Karpov" here, trying to be fancy by eliminating the "threat" of Bd6 with g3. This "prophylaxis" just weakens the light squares. 22)g3?! Bc8!? Now this is interesting: I felt he was desparate, and was just saccing the exchange out of frustration, but there is a nice tactic hidden that I didnt uncover. So I went for the exchnage. It turned out to be a little greedy. 23)Nc6!? Qf5!
This is the move I overlooked. My rook on c2 and Bf3 are loose. But I thought, whats the big deal after Nd8 Qc2 Nc6 ? I didn't understand the danger. 24)Nd8?? Qf3! WHAT?!?!? I had merely ASSUMED in my analysis that he would go for the Rook on c2. But now, white is losing; BADLY! Now g3 shows itself to be a mistake, and that prophylaxis gone wrong actually can increase your opponents options! Now I go into desparate mode, he was short of time so I was after some cheapos. 25)Rd4 Qf5 25)...Bd4 26)Rc8 = 26)Qc1 Rd8 -+ 27)Rf4 Qe6 28)b4 Bd6 29)Rh4 Qf5 30)Rh6 My moves may "look" agressive, but there is nothing. 30)...Bb7 31)Rh4 Re8 32)Qd1 Re4 33)Rh5 Qg4 34)Rd5!? Bd5 35)Qd5 Bb4 36)Rc7 Re6 37)Qd7 Qg6 38)Ra7
I was starting to feel good about my chances of holding the position (unrealistic or what eh!). But now, my psuedo-aggression pays off as his time trouble leads to a terrible blunder, handing the game to White. Any move here will keep the win for Black, except: 38)...Kg7?? 39)Qe6! Bc5 40)Qd5 Qb1 41)Kg2 Qg6 42)Rc7 Bf8 43)Rb7 Bc5 44)a4 Kg8 45)h4! I finally hit upon the correct plan. There is a mate to be had if the Queen can be moved away from defending f7. 45)...Kg7 46)h5! Qh6 47)Qf7. Black resigned.

2007 Gwynedd Championships

2007-05-18T12:59:00.001Z

Well, I have not updated here in a while, so let me return with 5 games from the recent Gwynedd (North Wales) Championship, which I came second in. It was a Swiss tournament, with only about 22 players in, but the competition was quite strong. I finished on 4/5, unbeaten, which I was quite pleased with. However, I of course felt that I could (and should) have won. This was the first game of the championship, against a chap from Llandudno, just down the road. I had black, and had prepared a novelty against a move I knew he would play. I was very pleased with this game, but unfortunately I have since lost the game sheet, so the following is not the whole game, just what I can remember.

Gary Fox Vs Jim Grange. Gwynedd Championship, Round 1.

1) e4 e5 2)Nf3 Nc6 3)d4 ed4 4)Nd4 Bc5 5)Be3 Qf6 6)c3 Nge7 7)Bc4 Ne5 8)Bb3?!

This is the move I was counting on Gary playing, and I'm not sure why I was convinced he would play it. The correct move is 8)Be2. I had the afternoon to prepare for this game, and spent the whole time looking at the consequences after this Bb3. I could not find anything useful in my database, so searched the position with Fritz. I found a nice pawn sacrifice, with all variations leading to a small plus to black, and MANY pitfalls leading to a quick loss for White. This was a very pleaseant position to be in, knowing full well I just had to remember my analysis. I did. 8)...Qg6! 9)O-O d5!! Novelty.

This is the sac, which is just crushing. If you are expecting me to reprint all my analysis here, you are sadly mistaken :) I have used my analysis for quick wins twice since this game, and I plan to continue to do so, so no secrets going to be shared here! 10)Nb5?? OK, I will share one secret with you: this move is not best :) 10)...Bh3! 11)g3 Qe4! 12)Nc7 Kd7! Please excuse all the exclamation marks, but they are all great moves! Black is totally winning, but White finds a nice way to bring an ending. The moves are also quite forced! 13)Bd5! Nd5 14)Qd5 Qd5 15)Nd5

It seems that White is fighting back, but the realisation sets in with the next move: 15)...Nf3! 16)Kh1 Bf1 17)Bc5 Kc6! 18)Ne3 Kc5 19)Nf1

White resigned a few moves later. What is amazing is that I had this exact position (and variations arising from it) on my board in my office earlier that day whilst analysing the novelty 9)...d5!! Therefore, all I had to do was to remember my analysis. A great start to the tournament! I won game of the week for this effort.

Back to Chess!

2007-02-17T17:08:00.001Z

BANGOR UNIVERSITY Vs Colwyn Bay

Well, I have to apologise for not updating my blog in quite some time. I have been off chess for a couple of weeks due to a busy schedle at work and poor performance in an online league. I have suffered a couple of bad defeats which are still undergoing analysis (they will be posted here eventually!). But I am back! My university team played their first game of the season last week, and we were playing the leagues strongest side. Nevertheless, we won 3-1!! Here is my game:

Jim Grange Vs Mike Lee
1)d4 d5 2)c4 e6 3)Nc3 Nf6 4)cd5 arguably my favourite opening. I have a 75%+ score with it. ...ed5 5)Bg5 c6 6)Qc2 this move prevents the Black Bishop developing effectively to f5. The exchange variation of the Queens Gambit used to be frowned upon due to fact it allows Blacks traditionally "bad" light square Bishop to be developed (compared to if the pawn were still on e6). However, the "free" Bishop soon runs out of decent squares to develop to. ...Nbd7 7)e3 g6?! I had never seen this move before, and indeed it has only ever been played once (Black lost that one too!). The black bishop will be biting on granite at g7, and if Black is intending to develop his Bc8-f5, then he has another think coming in the shape of Bd3 from white. Black should play the main line 7)...Be7 8)Nf3 0-0 9)Bd3 Re8 followed by Nf8 and h6. In the game, white soon gets a good position. 8)Nf3 Qc7 9)Bd3 Bg7 10)O-O O-O 11)b4! White gets his minority attack underway immediately. The general idea of the minority attack is to advance the pawn to b5 and exchange it at c6 leaving a weakened backward pawn for black to worry himself about. In return Black usually gets a piece attack on the kingside, another reason why the black bishop can be considered misplaced on g7. 11)...Re8 12)Rab1 Qd6 13)Rfc1 b6 White seems well placed, and black has lost a little time with his Queen. Here I thought about pushing e4, trying to make something of my temporary lead in development. In a friendly game I would have chosen e4 without much thought, but here I thought for 14 minutes and decided not to play it. This is one of my weaknesses: I find it hard to see past the "weakness" of an isolated Q-pawn and concentrate on the dynamic plusses it brings to the position. Instead I decided to increase pressure on the c-file by removing my Queen from the frontal position, and move my knight to a4 to prevent a ...c5 break from black. In retrospect this attempt at a positional squeeze is objectively weaker than e4, but it is still playable. 14)Qd1?! Bb7 15)Na4 Ne4 16)Bf4 Qe7
c5 has been prevented (thanks to loose Bishop on b7) and White can start to think actively. First call of duty is to remove the strong knight from e4. 17)Nd2 Qh4? Not a bad move in itself but he (and I!) overlooked 17)...Nf2! 18)Kf2 g5! when Whites position hangs by a thread. For example 19)Qf3 [this appears to be the best move; white must give the piece back otherwise e3 is going to fall with devastating consequences] ...gf4 20)Qf4 Nf6 and it seems that Black is in control. Back to the game.
18)Ne4 de4 19)Bf1 the safest place for the Bishop, keeping faithful to the King. ...Rad8 20)Qb3 Bd4?? A terrible blunder, just when Balck was beginning to equalise. 20)...Nf6 bringing another piece to the k-side was the best. Now the game is effectively over. 21)Bg3! g3 would also win. ...Qf6 22)ed4 Qe6?! Neglecting the rule to keep Queens on if material down. Note that 22)...Qd4 was dubious due to 23)Rd1 Qf6 24)Bc7! winning an exchange. I thought for 10 minutes here ensuring the win was there. Its always a good idea to try and get up and have a walk around (time permitting!) when you get a winning position, as all too often a won position is lost 4-5 moves after it arises. This may be due to droppping ones guard; I was determined not to let this happen to me so after a quick walk round to look at the other games I hunkered down to see the win was there in an endgame also. It was. 23)Qe6 Re6 24)Bc4 Ree8 25)b5! and this was the move that convinced me it was there.
This move prevents any pawn forks and sets up a pin on the knight if he captures. If he doesnt I have the move cb5 Bb5 Bf7+! winning a pawn. If he plays 25)...c5 then 26)dc5 bc5 27)Nc5! Nc5 28)Bf7+ wins in a similar vein. 25)...cb5 26)Bb5 e3 27)Bc7 e2? just sheer desperation, but with both of my rooks on the back rank there are no tricks to be had. 28)Bd8 Re4 29)Be2! The simplest way to end it. ...Re2 30)Rc7 Black resigned. A great start to the new season, and another success for the Exchange Variation of the QGD!

Analyse Your Won Games!

2007-01-02T21:39:00.001Z

The best advice for improving you play is to analyse your games. This makes a lot of sense, but how many of us actually do it consistently? Personally speaking, I do not. But that is changing this year! The best way to analyse your games has 4 stages:

Post-mortem with opponent
Analyse yourself, investigating alternative plans, missed tactics (for BOTH sides!)
Go over your analysis with a stronger player (grab that mentor from LeChess Club!!)
Only THEN do you turn on the engine to see what you all missed tactically

This is a must for all long games. But you can even benefit from scanning your 5-min games through Fritz just to check any major blunders (or missed opportunities!). Many people make the mistake of not analysing their won games, thinking they played perfectly otehrwise they wouldn't have won. THIS IS AN ERROR!! There will be plenty to learn in ALL of your games, which I found out today. In a side variation Fritz found one of the most beautiful moves I have seen in one of my games....

JimGrange (1897) Vs joegal (1915)

1) d4 d5 2)c4 c6 3)Nf3 Nf6 4)Nc3 g6!? The Slav/Grünfeld: Schlechter variation. An interesting alternative, one which I have never faced. I just continued with normal development. 5)e3 Bg7 6)Be2 O-O 7)O-O Nbd7 Like in most Slav/Caro formations Black tries to free his game with ...e5 or ...c5 8)Qc2 Re8
Black is aiming for ...e5. White needs to decide where to place his dark Bishop. It is quite OK to play Bd2 and go for Queenside play with a Rook to the c-file, b4, a4 etc. However, with the position opening up with ...e5, Blacks Bishop would be unopposed down the long diagonal. Therefore I came up with a common plan in a new position to oppose the Bishop and make ....e5 harder to achieve. 9)b3!? Novelty. 9)Rd1 is common here. ...e5 10)dxe5 Nxe5 11)Nxe5 I wanted the Black Rook on e5 to expose it to a timely Bg2 with tempo ...Rxe5 12)Bb2 dxc4 13)Bxc4 Rg5
I felt I had much the better position here; I have a lead in development in an open position with two very active Bishops and a Rook coming to the open d-file with tempo. Although at first I felt my lead in development was negligable due to Balck being able to play Bh3 connecting rooks with tempo, I managed to see that this plan was dubious due to f4! Therefore I tried to make my temporary imbalance (lead in development) into a more permanent one (control of open d-file). 14)Rfd1 Qc7 15)Rd2 Bh3?! 16)f4! Bf5 += 17)e4! Nxe4 18)Nxe4 Qxf4? It would have been a lesser evil to trade on e4 then on b2 admitting that Black just loses a piece. The text loses immediately.
19)Bxf7+! Kxf7 The only move. 19)...Kf8? gets mated in 8 by Qc5!, but what about moving the King to h8?
If the move Fritz found doesn't convince you it is worth going through every one of your games, WIN or LOSE, then nothing will! Can you find it? (Answer at the end of this post). Back to the game after 19)...Kxf7. 20)Nxg5+ Qxg5? Another example of it being better to lose material (here with Kg8) than to get mated!
21)Qc4+! Be6 22)Rd7!+ Kf8 23)Bxg7+ and Black resigned due to mate next move.
An eye opener for me that it is important to look at all of your games; some beautiful moves can be found in side variations that weren't played, and these would be lost forever unless you take the time to mine the gold in your games!

Solution to puzzle: If you spotted the amazing, heart-stopping 20)Qc3!! then you have earned my deepest respect! Qc3 mates in all variations, or Black loses his Queen.

A Positional Problem

2007-01-02T18:33:00.002Z

Below is a position from one of my recent games (I was White and was on move). During my analysis I missed a very instructive positional plan, which Fritz was screaming for when I later reviwed t with the engine. What I find most pleasing about the solution is that tactical threats create a positional advantage. Its very easy to think that strategy and tactics are distinct, but this is wrong: they go hand-in-hand! The solution will be posted in a few days.

Sweep & Seal!

2006-11-29T17:54:00.001Z

My university OTB season has started with a win in the first "semi-serious" game. It was played to decide who would get board 2. My opponent was ex-Welsh Champion Briant Bourne. I found this game quite tough, until my opponent allowed me to execute a pawn sacrifice known to Kotov fans as the "sealer-sweeper" manouevre

Bourne, B Vs Grange, J

1)c4 e5 2)Nc3 Bb4!? The Kramnik-Shirov counter-attack! An interesting defence to the English which I have had good results with. Sometimes Black will chop on c3 and get a position akin to the nimzo. Either way I find Black gets good activity compared to some other lines. 3)g3 d6 4)Bg2 Nc6 5)e4 this is theory, but I am always happy to see this as the d4 square becomes very sensitive. 5)...Nf6 6)Nge2 Bg4!?
My plan here was to try and reduce whites control over d4, aiming for ...Nd4 myself exchanging some pieces off. Any attempt to eject the Bishop weakens the King slightly or entombs the Bishop. 7)f3 Be6 The Bishop on g2 is temporarily entombed: a theme we shall return to! 8)d3 Nd4? Novelty
Not all novelties are worthy of an appearance in Infomator! This is a bad blunder. I was transfixed by the weakness of d4 and the inability for White to take my knight on d4 [as 9)Nxd4 exd4 wins the pinned piece - or so I though, see next note] 9)Bc5!? was much better taking more control of the important d4 sqaure. 9)O-O? It was only after white made this move that I saw he could have won a pawn with 9)Nxd4! exd4 10)Qa4+! Nd7 11)Qxb4 dxc3 12)Qxc3 +- where White has a won game. This shows an important rule I all too often forget: "When decided on a move, look at all your opponents possible checks, captures and threats". I feel I could be playing 50pts above what I am [if not more!] if I applied this logic. 9)...Nxe2+ 10)Qxe2 Bc5+ This move removes another defender of d4, as allowing the Black bishop to stay on the a7-g1 diagonal would have caused White too much of a headache! 11)Be3 Bxe3 12)Qxe3 Qd7 keeping my options open as I had not yet decided which side would be safer to castle to 13)b4!? White is obviously determined for me to go Kingside, and who am I to disagree? 13)...O-O 14)Nd5?
To me though this move was a big mistake. Any fans of Jeremy Silman out there? If there are, you may notice that I am now able to create a favourable minor-piece imbalance, namely superior knight over poor Bishop. I sat and thought this over for about 15 minutes, trying to work out which would be the better piece. Initially it seems obvious that the Black knight will be superior due to the closed nature of the position. But can white open the position? Also Black does not have a permanent home for his knight as d4 is unreachable after a capture on d5. After deep [well, as deep as I can go] contemplation, I decided that the Black Knight would indeed be the better piece. 14)...Bxd5! 15)cxd5 I felth that exd5 would leave more chance of opening up the position, but looking at it now it doesnt seem to make much difference. 15)...c6! At first it seems that black should not be opening up ANY of the position, but I am desparately trying to find a permanent home for my knight. By creating a string centre, I felt I would be able to play a quick ...d5 followed by d4 completely closing the position. 16)dxc6 bxc6 17)f4white is trying to open up the position for his Boshop, and will have the better game if I allow this. I have created a favourable imbalance - knight vs bishop, and therefore wanted to keep the position as closed as possible. I recalled a game in Kotov's "Think like a Grandmaster" involving a pawn sacrifice to bottle-up enemy pieces and to create room for his own. Here is the position:Kptpv was black and played the amazing 1)...e4!! 2)fxef f4! - this last move being the point. He sacrificed a pawn to bottle in the light bishop, and to create room for his own pieces [note the increased activity of the Bg7 and possible use of thr e5 square].
Back to my game - I played in similar vain 17)...d5! 18)fxe5 d4! White must react as his Queen is threatened.The move has bottled up the Bishop on g2, closed the centre [permanently!] and created a great home on c3 or e3 [also permanent!] for my knight. Not bad for just a pawn! 19)Qg5 Qg4?! trying to trade Queens off, but White doesnt have to play 20)Qc1 Much better than 20)Qxg4? Nxg4 when the knight is going to e3 for good, although the position remains unclear. 20)...Nd7 21)Qxc6 Nxe5This diagram demonstrates what Black has achieved. Although a clear pawn down with no definite way to reclaim it, I still nonetheless like Blacks position. If black can reach e3 it will be just winning. 22)Qb5 Qe6 23)Rf5 Ng4! here we go!! 24)Bh3 Ne3! There is no useful discovery against the Black Queen 25)Rh5 Qf6
Black enjoys the fruits of his labour - the knight reaches its dream square. Blacks plan is now complete, almost 10 moves later! Once you have an imbalance, you must do EVERYTHING to make it favourable to you. Now black just needs his Rooks to join the party and he will have a very comfortable game. 26)Rc1 Rab8 with tempo! 27)Qc5 a6 28)a3?? Rb5! winning the Rook. White resigned.

Crossing 1900 in Style!

2006-11-24T14:26:00.001Z

It has been my goal for 2006 to cross the 1900 barrier, and it has now been achieved! What makes it even sweeter is the way in which it was done. The following game marks my cross over into A1900 play - who cares that my sacrifice was unsound? Not me!

Hydrapulse (1921) Vs jimgrange (1886) - ICC Nov, 2006

1)d4 Nf6 2)Nf3 e6 3)g3 b5!? an interesting move inspired by an old member of Cambridge club, now IM Andrew Greet. The idea is to challenge the long diagonal and to grab Queenside space. 4)a4 b4 5)c4 bxc3 6)bxc3?! I was expecting 6)Nxc3 which aids development, but also leaves b4 rather weak. I was hoping to exploit this with moves such as Bb4 and Na6. 6)...d5 7)Bg3 Nbd7 8)c4 Novelty 8)0-0 Ba6 9) Na3 c6 10)c4 Bd6 was Barbero (2505) Vs Bednarski (2375). 8)...c6 9)O-O Be7 10)Re1 Ne4 11)Qc2 Bb4 12)Nfd2
This was an interesting position for me, and I would have to choose the lazy option of saying its unclear. My knight is very strong on e4, but my King is in the centre and am a little un-coordinated. But white has little to boast about - he is very bottled up and under a little pressure. I felt I had a slight initiative, and could continue with such moves as O-O, Rb8 or even a5. But, the loose Rook on a1 and the preponderance of White pieces huddled on the Queenside made me look at a tactic. Fritz hates it, but who cares? I wasn't playing Fritz!! 12)...Nxf2!? 13)Kxf2 Qf6 now white must choose carefully
14)Nf3! the only move that doesn't lose the Rook hanging on a1. Every other move loses to Qxd4+ and Qxa1. 14)...e5?! At the time I felt it was a winning move, but my opponent commented "you are pushing your luck a little bit!" and I must now agree, however neither he nor I found what Fritz found! 15)Rf1? 15)Bd2! Bxd2 16)Nxd2 e4 17)cxd5 exf3 18)exf3+ leaves Black very dangerously placed. 15)...e4 16)Kg1 exf3 17)e3 the Rook was still losse on a1!
O-O 18)Bxf3 Qd6 19)Nc3 Ba6 20)c5 Nxc5!
21)Na2?! Taking on c5 would have been better, leaving Black only slightly up in material - this would have been compensated with a nice bishop pair. 21)dxc5 Qxc5 22)Bd2 [22)Bb2? loses to Qxd4+] Bxf1 23)Rxf1 Rae8 -/+ 21)...Bxf1 22)Nxb4 Bc4 23)dxc5 Qf6! That Rook is still loose! 24)Nxc6 Qxa1 the game is lost now for white, but there is a nice finish to come. 25)h4 Qf6 26)Nd4 Rfe8 27)Kf2 Rab8 28)Bd2 Re4 29)Kg2 Re7 30)Nf5 Reb7 31)Bc3?
31)...Rb2! 32)Ne7 Kf8 33)Bxf6 Rxc2!+ this zwieschenzug is the whole point behind Rb2 - he must loose a piece. 34)Kh3 gxf6 White Resigns. An unsound sac that forced the initiative in great complications. 2000 here I come!!!

5)...Qf6!? in the Exchange Spanish

2006-11-22T18:31:00.001Z

Globetrotter (1929) Vs jimgrange (1870) - ICC Nov. 2006

I have recently taken up e5 against 1)e4 with reasonable success. The ever-popular exchange Spanish has less sting thanks to a suggestion by GM Nigel Davies in his excellent book "Play 1)e4 e5!"

1)e4 e5 )Nf3 Nc6 3)Bb5 a6 4)Bxc6 dxc6 5)0-0 Qf6!?

This is the move suggested by Davies, as played by Beliavsky and Michael Adams. Although the move looks rather primitive, the Queen is often well placed on f6. 6)d3 A rather quiet variation, but not without a sting. 6)...Ne7!? 7)Be3 Ng6 8)Nbd2 Bd6 9)Nc4 Novelty 9)h3 preventing Bg4 was preferred by Rozentalis against Magnus Carlsen (2006) 9)...Bg4! 10)h3 Bxf3 11)Qxf3 Qxf3 12)gxf3 Nh4 Black has completely equalised, and I prefer his position. The weakness of f4 plays an important role in the remainder of the game. 13)Nd2 f5 If White takes the extra pawn, he will not be able to hold on to it 14)Bg5 Be7 15)Bxh4 Bxh4 16)exf5?!
As already mentioned, White will not be able to hold onto this pawn, and just weakens his Kingside irreprably. Better would have been 16)Nc4!? fxe4 17)fxe4 Bf6 would have left him with an equal game. 16)...0-0 17)Rae1 Rxf5 18)Kg2 Raf8 =+ 19)Re4 Bg5 20)Nc4 Bf4! I really liked this move. It highlights the weakness of f4 and the White Kingside as a whole. 21)Na5 R8f6! The b-pawn is immune as 22)Nxb7?? Rg5+! 23)Kh1 Rh6 leads to mate. 22)Bd2? White Resigns. An interesting game highlighting the efficacy of 5)...Qf6!? in the Spanish.