Game 6

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 :)