Tactics training

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!

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"

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...

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)

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)

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!

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!