.

Face to Face with Mental Wellness - Joe

2011-09-08T23:32:00.000-07:00

I first saw this on http://twchesssafari.blogspot.com/2011/08/theres-more-to-life-than-chess.html

with Bindi and Jay while we were prepping in our suite at the Portland Westin Hotel.

Joe not only volunteers with many mental health organizations but also is one of the stronger players at Robson square that frequently plays the old timers there.

He displays good sportsmanship over the board and is a friend and role model I look up to.

Kumon Chess Camp Summer 2011

2011-09-08T21:05:00.000-07:00

Many Thanks to Eliza Lam from Kumon Math and Reading @Burnaby Heights, http://www.kumon.ca/burnaby-burnaby-heights

Joe "Musician Extraordinaire" Roback, International Master elect "scared of ghost movies" Bindi Cheng, Alfred "the brains" Pechisker and chess chump James ran a chess camp during the end of August 2011.

Complimentary pizza,pasta, unlimited pop,juice, fruit snacks were at the kids disposal. Book prizes were rewarded to all those that worked hard doing puzzles and at the end of each day would reap the fruits of their labor by choosing any book they wanted!

Our goal in the camp was to make it as fun as possible. With the Kumon center packed with 30 kids the youngest being 5 years old and the eldest 16 we had to constantly switch modes while conveying our ideas. Ultimately we did our best to ensure that every kid took away something from chess camp. Hopefully all the kids will have warm memories!

Priceless Kodak moments :

Alfred trying to explain exponentials to six years olds.

Bindi losing to 5 year old Trisha and as a result Trisha got to ride his back.

Joe taking attendance with "that tonight is going to be a good night" by black eyed peas.

Kyle Zheng grade 9 accompanying his younger brothers Maven Zheng and Viktor Zheng on the bus to camp. (thanks for the support Mr Zheng!)

Bindi showing all the campers and coaches that it didn't matter whether you were rated 300 or 2300 in blitz,

James asking Bindi for solutions with mate in 2 puzzles.

Kids bringing an aluminum briefcase doing serious business transactions with their Ugioh Cards.

Nikolaos Kyriakides playing "now I know my abcs" on Joe's guitar.

Grace Okamura and Rio Kada playing connect the dots with our mate in 1 puzzles!

Matthew Katz and Alex Yoshino not only best friends but best bughouse players.

(too bad Alex is moving to Hawaii)

There were probably a million things I did not mention but the bottom line was it was a blast for everyone.

After camp it was a nice dinner at the keg and some lessons in texas holdem at Alfred's new condo. The following week we all played in the Langley chess tournament with Alfred coming 1st and Bindi 2nd. This same crew intends to do a little damage in Victoria and Seattle next year =)

Care to join us? =)

worlds longest ziprider

2010-08-23T21:29:00.000-07:00

Having a blast at Icy Strait Point cruising on X Celebrity. I appear at 0:40 howling in the wind.

Thanks to Franklin!

Shichahai

2010-01-08T09:37:00.000-08:00

Last year training in one of the elite centres under intense condtions with table tennis top-10 national coach Zhen from Shichahai. While intense for myself it's a walk in the park for the kids that live there. I've been to Beijing many times even one time for chess as a young teenager. The city has changed dramatically but the people are the same, really down to earth and helpful!

Shichahai has produced many Olympic champions in various sports including Wushu, Volleyball, Taekwondo and SanDa (free style combat). A graduate from Shichahai is Xie Jun ex womens Chess world champion. I got a chance to play chess in the parks while doing 5km runs in the mornings, while hanging around there during the evenings you can experience the famous Red Lotus restaurant from the Tintin comic by Herge and see magic shows that can rival those that you see in Las Vegas from David Copperfield. I realized that Shichahai offered so many other recreations and martial arts that were just as rewarding. What is so remarkable about this place is that on any given day you will have national team members from all over the world Russia,USA,France, Japan, Korea,Indonesia surrounding you at a dinner table and the remarkable thing is it is common to find people conversing in someone elses language fluently! It's a place where you can share ideas and grow together through trials and tribulations.

Kids at a tender age of 12-13 from this centre already have the skill and mindset to spar with professional players from other countries or sometimes even defeat them. But how can this be possible? It's mainly due to the high level of competition and dedication during the physical training sessions. I took notes of the training techniques the coaches used as well as how they interacted with foreign students.

If you are adventerous and you are willing to fall down and face uncertainty, humiliation and defeat,extend yourself beyond limits you could ever have imagined then Shichahai is worth a visit. There is a reason why it has produced so many torch bearers! It is also a haven of hope as it welcomes even Paralympic players with open arms.

Testing replay board

2009-05-20T01:04:00.000-07:00

Alex vs Alex

2008-09-11T22:32:00.000-07:00

Today there was a bit of a surprise with Alex calling me to say he would be at the chess club. Usually Sir Alex is super busy but today he was there non stop playing Alice and little Alex. There is also a very strong junior called Paula who almost beat little Alex.

Here are some pictures I took with the new iphone 3g which aren't that great because it still uses the ancient 2 mega pixels which is disappointing conidering it's really cool in so many other regards. Incidentally I beat Alex and Toni's prep over the board in the Vienna so Toni if you ever read this you can go back to the drawing board in that shady sideline or just get him to play the Frankenstein Dracula otherwise I will =)

Alice who managed to take 1 game away from the champ.

Summer is up =(

2008-09-05T18:46:00.000-07:00

Main form of transportation from island to island somewhere in Italy...

Getting some martial arts tips

You must go to the Egyptian museum Cairo to see the real deal.

Outside temple of Queen Hathshepsut

A 7 stars floating hotel. The cruise of all cruises X Celebrity. This is the life!

No I did not stay on this cruise. I'd need to be a billionaire.

Her sister ship passes by Victoria BC except this was one was at Mykonos Island!

Little Alex Sabaratnam my future chess coach.

He was giving free simuls in August to all the kids at the library chess club.

Luxor Temple again

Next to the oldest monumental sculpture

Yep it's Venice!

Going to Athens

River Thames Hampton Court. London is always another home.

Doing some grocery shopping at

Port Said. These kids do it all they help out on the car washing,dish washing and photo taking!
Some beautiful egyptian ladies studying to become tour guides

Gladiator

Some family time!

Luxor temple home of the Obelisk
but where did they all go?

An original right in the heart of the Vatican

Imagination

2008-03-20T11:37:00.000-07:00

White to play and win!

Chess break on March Thursday 13th

2008-03-10T01:21:00.000-07:00

Ah, there will be no chess club at the library on Thursday 13th but it will resume on the 20th. I've been telling all the parents that have been coming these few weeks and there is a notice at the library as well. I think everyone deserves a bit of a break, the kids, the parents and myself =)

Congratulations goes out to the kids that attended the library club the past 3 months and did well at the BC Chess challenge, many thanks to Jay Zhao for posting the results immediately on his juniorchess.ca website as I was curious about how they were doing while playing table tennis all over vancouver this weekend! With a first class web site like junior chess parents from the lower mainland are well informed of upcoming and future events.

There were 4 kids from the library club that attended the chess challenge and all 4 of them achieved the results I thought they could attain this year. The main ingredient of success starts out with the parents. Those guys invest so much time taking them here there everywhere, I just marvel at how dedicated they are. Finally the main reason is these 4 kids all love playing chess, they simply love the game and it's gratifying to see kids like that succeed.

Grade 1

Edwin came first and this is only his 3rd tournament? His story is really ridiculous because I didn't really show him anything really. He already mated me in a 4 move combo the first time I played him, okay I confess I did give him tactical chances but he found all of them in a millisecond. Yeah he is up there with the most talented kids I have ever seen at his age but right now at his peer group only. In the future he will be a monster. He is already qualified to mate with knight and bishop in under 50 moves.

Grade 3

Jihwan came 3rd! I thought he could have come second, well I fault myself for not having played him last Thursday even though he requested to play me that evening. Why ofcourse he was busy playing Edwin. Jihwan is the most patient kid I have ever met. He can sit there for hours without moving an inch literally! He's not on Janaks level but Jihwan with out a shadow of a doubt will steadily make progress because he's the hardest worker I have seen!

Grade 5

Jack Qian coming 4th really surprised me, he is like a little Louie Jiang in the works. This kid is the chess club class clown. He's not shy and asks all sorts of questions which is great because it makes me search for answers. And when I don't have answers it's me who looks like the clown.

Grade 9

Andy came 4th, Andy might be a little underrated and at this rate he will become a theory hacker since each week he is showing me a new line he has learnt. Andy has the potential to be a "Dale Haukenfrers" junior and I hope he takes my advice to go to the End cafe and challenge some of the sharks there.

New Training Partner

2008-02-19T15:16:00.000-08:00

I'm still feelng the effects of losing this 1st game, although I do so with great admiration. Here I resigned having been grinded out after a tactical mishap my opponent capitalized and I waved the white flag. Great form great shape no excuses, I was beat fair and sqaure. So who is my mystery opponent?

Yes indeed not only did I lose this game but in artistic value as well. There is a large letter V for victory for black in the diagram!

While logging on the chessbase server to checkout the Super Gm tournament in Mexico I stumbled upon seeing somone online sporting a new 2000 rating nearby?
Who could this be? Why ofcourse it was the 7 year old sensation Janak Awatramani!
Right now if somone asked me if I could give Janak a decent game, I would reply "Perhaps so but not in 6 months time"
The time control is 15 mintues each.
In the 2nd diagram Janak without hesitation played Nxe5 against me.

If I recapture with pawn takes then there is a lethal d5 to d4 discovery check! Luckily I still survived with a pawn down.

In the third diagram I am black and I just made the blunder Kh8? Luckily Janak didn't notice he could play Rg5!, after the imminent trade of queens the knight has no where to go. If after rook to g5 and black refuses a queen exchange it becomes trapped with Rg4! If this was the case the score would have been 2-1 in his favour.

The incredible thing about playing my new training partner is I have been unable to make a dent in balanced positions and my only advantage is from past experience and not from imagination. He is an excellent defensive counter attacking player who seldom makes silly mistakes. Wait till he reads a few more books on how to play and it will be all over.
I will then need to play mind games e.g demand to check his birth certificate just to make sure he is really 7 years old! :-)
So far we have had some marathon games going almost to a 100 moves!

Spanish Saturday

2008-02-10T00:29:00.000-08:00

There were two different groups in Saturday active. The A group was dominated by International Master Vincente Lee and the B group had some of BC's finest up and coming juniors in Donovan Zhao, Alex Sabaratnam and finally Janak Awatramani who came sole 1st in his group scoring 4 1/2 out of 5. Don't be fooled by the B group, I easily would be ( or definitely in the near future for certain) a punching bag if I ever had to face them. Thanks to Luc we were split up in 2 groups!

The best lesson I got from todays tournament was from Janak's father. While speaking to him later in the evening I asked him what was the secret to Janaks success? The answer was so simple, "to let your kids love and enjoy the game" No pressure whatsoever in materialistic rewards whatsoever like choclate bar or candy but to just let your kids play and enjoy winning. Obviously there are different schools of thought but I really admire this one.

James,Chan - YiFei,Han [D11]
09.02.2008

1.d4 Sometimes we get lucky during the 1st round when kids have just woken up from bed. Luckily I got one of these brothers in the early rounds as after they warmed up they both beat Vincente and Luc in their final round match ups! 1...d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.g3 I'm being lazy and just going for a Catalan setup which is not the best way to play in slow chess but nevertheless is solid for those who haven't played in a while. I remember Justin Hardy who is probably playing chess in India, the Netherlands or somewhere around the globe use to exclusively play this setup 3...Bg4 4.Bg2 e6 5.0–0 Be7 6.c4 c6 7.Ne5 Bf5 8.Nc3 Nbd7 9.Qb3 Qc7 [9...Qb6 I also suggested Qb6 to Yifei after the game 10.Nxd7 Nxd7 11.e4 dxe4 12.Nxe4 0–0 13.Be3 Nf6 14.d5 Qxb3 15.Nxf6+ Bxf6 16.axb3 cxd5] 10.cxd5 exd5 11.Bf4 Bd6? [11...Nxe5 12.Bxe5 Qd7=] 12.e4! (Diagram)dxe4? 13.Qxf7+ Kd8 14.Qxg7 Rg8? 15.Nf7+ And white went on to win...

Luc - James [C73]
09.02.2008
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 I chose the Deferred Steinitz because there is a lot of room for creativity and less concrete theory =). Shakhriyar Mamedyarov is one of the GMS that employ this line in the Lopez. 5.Bxc6+ bxc6 6.d4 exd4 I knew f6 was the main move but being unacquainted with the f6 setup and the theory behind it I made a practical decision and played a sub line against my stronger opponent [6...f6 7.Be3 Rb8 8.b3 Ne7 9.Nc3 Ng6 10.Qd3 a5 11.0–0–0 Bd7 12.h4 h5 13.dxe5 fxe5 14.Ng5 Be7 15.g3 Qc8] 7.Nxd4 Bd7 8.c4 g6 9.Nc3 Bg7 10.0–0 Nf6 [10...Ne7 11.Bf4 c5 12.Nf3 f6 13.Qd2 0–0 14.Bh6 Bg4 15.Bxg7 Kxg7 16.Ne1 Nc6 17.Nc2 Be6 18.b3] 11.Bg5 Qb8 I don't know what to say about this move; other that I was planning to weaken the a7-g1 diagonal and also remove my queen from the deadly bishop pin, perhaps this is a novelty! During and right after the game I thought it wasn't so good but now now I feel it is satisfactory 12.Qf3 Ng4 13.Nxc6 Nxh2 (diagram) I also saw Qb7 but having two knights enprise I couldn't resist [13...Qb7 14.Na5 Qxb2 15.Nd5 0–0] 14.Kxh2 Bxc6 15.Bf6 0–0 16.Nd5 Bxd5 17.cxd5² Qb4 I felt I have a terrible weakness on c6 but with the open b file and e files black has good chances to draw if he plays actively. [17...Bxf6 18.Qxf6 Qd8 19.Qxd8 Raxd8 20.Rac1 Rb8 21.b3 Rb7 22.Rc6 f5 23.Re1 fxe4 24.Rxe4] 18.a3 Qa4 19.Bxg7 Kxg7 20.Qc3+ Kg8 21.Rac1 Rac8 22.Rfe1 Rfe8 23.Qc4 Qa5 24.f4 I was more concerned with f3 which was still defendable with tactical resources but me having the ability to find them is a totally different story altogether [24.f3 Re5 25.Qd4 c5! 26.dxc6 (26.Qd3 Qb6 27.Re2 Rce8 28.Rce1) 26...Rxc6; 24.Qd4 Re5 25.Re3 Qb5 26.b4 c5 27.dxc6] 24...Qd2 Its another sad draw with the master. Luckily I survived on a day when he was not at his best ½–½

James,Chan - Joe,Solevin [E01]
09.02.2008
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.d4 e6 3.g3 c5 4.Bg2 Nc6 5.0–0 d5 6.c4 cxd4 7.Nxd4 Bc5 8.Nb3 Be7 9.cxd5 Nxd5 10.e4 For the millionth time Catalan is a good choice for those that aren't comfortable with their chess theory. My only trump through these early queen exchanges is I'm banking on whites undeveloped light squared bishop 10...Ndb4 11.Nc3 0–0 12.a3 Nd3 13.Qe2 Nxc1 [13...Nce5 14.Be3] 14.Raxc1 Qb6 15.Qb5 Bf6 16.Qxb6 axb6 17.f4 Nd4 [17...Na5 18.Nd2 (18.Nxa5 Bd4+ 19.Kh1 bxa5 20.Rc2 however by helping black undouble his pawns it seems black has not entirely solved his problems) 18...Bd4+ 19.Kh1 Be3 20.Rc2 Bxd2 21.Rxd2 Nc4 22.Re2 Bd7 23.Rd1 Rfd8= and black has solved his problems. I wanted to tell Joe this after the game but we were looking at the wrong part in which it was just technicalities for white] 18.Nd2 I was happy to make this move because the knight absolutely has no future on d2 but now it has a chance to go to C4 18...e5 It's this or allowing white to have a monster bishop [18...b5 19.e5 Be7 20.Rfd1] 19.Nc4!(Diagram) exf4 20.Nxb6 f3? If I don't make any silly blunders I should be able to cash in the point 21.Nxa8 fxg2 22.Kxg2 Nb3 23.Rce1 Bd8 24.Nd5 h5 25.Nab6 Be6 26.Nc4 h4 27.gxh4 Bxh4 28.Re3 Rc8 29.Rc3 Nd4 30.Nce3 Rd8 31.Rc7 b5 32.Rd1 Ne2 33.Kf3 f5 34.Kxe2 fxe4 35.Rg1 Bf7 [35...Bxd5 36.Nxd5 Rxd5 37.Rgxg7+ Kf8 38.Rh7 Bf6 39.Rhf7++-] 36.Ne7+ Kh7 37.N7f5 Bh5+ 38.Kf1 Bf6 39.Nxg7 Be5 40.Rb7 Bf3 41.Ne6+ 1–0

James - Vincente [D02]
09.02.2008
[,James]
1.d4 A pleasant surprise to play BCs highest rated active player in an active tournament in the penultimate round! 1...d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.g3 c5 4.Bg2 Nc6 5.0–0 cxd4 6.Nxd4 e5 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.c4 e4 9.Qa4 Bd7 10.Nc3 Be7 11.Rd1 0–0! 12.Qc2? I get nervous when I play titled players =( [12.Qa6 Bummer! I missed this opportunity! e.g 12...Qc8 13.Qxc8 Rfxc8 14.cxd5 cxd5 15.Nxd5 Nxd5 16.Rxd5 Bc6; 12.Bg5 Qc8 13.Rac1 Qb7] 12...Qc8= 13.Bf4 Be6 14.Rac1 Qa6 15.Na4 Rac8 16.c5 [16.Be3 Nd7] 16...Rfe8 17.h3 Qb7 18.Kh2 Nh5 19.Be5 [19.Bd6 It crossed my mind to play Bd6. Naturally Knight has an outpost on the C file later 19...Bxd6 20.cxd6 Qb8 21.Nc5 Qxd6] 19...f6 20.Bd4 Qc7 21.e3 f5 22.Nc3 Rf8 23.Ne2 Bf6 24.Qc3 g5 25.Rg1 It's a mystery move which explains why I made my next move 25...Rf7 26.f4!? the problem after this move is the efile is eternally weak [26.Bxf6 Nxf6 27.b4] 26...exf3 27.Bxf3 g4 28.Bh1? again I don't like my bishop here it's like a big pawn, correct was to reroute it on the d3 h7 diagonal. I was already in time pressure 28...Bxd4 29.Qxd4 Re8 30.Nf4 Nf6 31.h4 Bc8 32.Rc3 Ne4 33.Ra3 Qe5! (Diagram)34.Rf1 Qxd4 35.exd4 Nd2 36.Rf2 Nc4 37.Rb3 Black had a very comfortable position with 15 mintues on the clock and I stopped recording having less than 5. Black has the initiative with a monopoly in the E file. Vincente went on to convincingly win the game; I tipped my king with an absolutely lost position after 15 or so moves. Not only is Vincente fast but accurate like a machine. What can I say, it's tough to play against our resident active International Master! It is really motivating to study chess especially after a high quality opponent tightens the screws and leaves you with nada. Luc was sick so maybe he can put up a better fight against Vincente next time. However we didn't have wait till next months active to see a showdown. In the last round the Han brothers both upset Luc and Vincent! The only mistake Luc made in the pairings was he forgot to put the other two brothers in the B group! Adios Amigos..

The Bughouse Bug

2008-02-05T20:23:00.000-08:00

Playing a lot of sports that demand fast reflexes can influence one to be sharper, not just studying a lot of tactics! The same applies for chess while playing different variants it can help us cross train and integrate new skills . In this example of the bug house bug the pawn on f5 coughs its way up the board eventually controlling key squares on f2 and d2. "Catch the flu, Catch the flu this is what this baby f pawn is going to give you!"

20...Qh4! I remember the advice of an extremely strong local player that if one has a chance to activate his pieces and take the intiative then you must never rule out the possibility to do so as later on in the game even in comparable positons 1 tempi changes the fate of the game. This especially holds true when white needs a few tempi to fully activate his pieces in this position I can afford to play loose. 21.g3 21...Qh3 22.fxe5 fxe4 23.Na3 finally the knight is no longer snoozing. However in the meantime black has sacrificed a noble steed for future considerations along the f file
which he dominates with his connected rooks as advertised in the following diagram.

23...Rf2! {Here it is! Had I played the natural 23..e3 move; white has a better game after he trades queens with Qg2. The knock out blow Rf2 is an extremely appeasing move to play in a 3 minute blitz game!
I credit the offer of the black rook from playing bughouse where lone pawns are a very valuable commodity. (edit: I just realized a few hours after posting that white can bail out with an excellent game after sacrificing the queen 24.Qxf2 returning material and planning to double rooks on the f file; it is still a dynamically unbalanced position since black closes the centre with d5 and the other white pieces are still out of the game but such is the beauty of chess that there are sometimes hidden solutions to our problems)}

24.Rxf2 e3! 25.Rf8+ there is little white can do here , despite blacks material deficit blacks pieces are extremely active Rxf8 26.Qg2 Qxg2+ 27.Kxg2 Rf2+ 28.Kh3 28...h5 29.Kh4 Kg7 30.h3

Kh6 with the g5 mating threat 31.hxg4 Rh2#

So remember to take your chances and play the most active forcing moves! It's easier said than done but if you never try you will never know the truth =)

The chess game

2007-10-24T13:29:00.001-07:00

Really well done Chess animation considering it was done 10 years ago!

Chess club @ Central Library

2007-10-24T12:51:00.000-07:00

The Central Library Kids Chess club located on 350 West Georgia V6B6B1 runs on Thursday evenings from 7:00 to 8:30.

The kids chess club is located in a private meeting room to the left of the childrens help desk.
It is a free chess club open to kids of all ages from beginners (wood pushers) up to a chess rating of 2000. Chess equipment is provided.

Thanks again to the hospitality of the Childrens library and the Childrens Librarian Anne! The chess club will run for the month of August 2011 only (4^th, 18^th, 25^th).

Viktar Chuprys-James Chan Canadian Open

2007-10-21T04:52:00.001-07:00

1st variant what Viktar could have played after move 18.

2nd variant was what happened in the game

Bye Viktar

2007-10-20T16:12:00.000-07:00

This is a game I played against the late Viktar Chuprys who recently passed away on October 17th 2007. Although we were only acquainted from the chess board I was shocked to hear about his passing because he looked fairly young and seemed in good health when I played him at the 06 Canadian Open. I still remember him carrying some plastic bags with fruit inside. Usually I find myself the one who is late at the start of a game but this was one of the rare occasions I got there on time! His friend told me he would be late just after the TD had announced the start of the round. I assumed this meant "please don't start"so out of etiquette I didn't press the clock. However when a TD gives you that funny look that math profs do when you don't follow their instructions, I gently pushed the button; then when Viktar finally arrived I remember seeing a determined chess player with a bag of fruit and now while writing I realize subconsciously that neither the TD or the players are at fault but only time itself is the culprit.

Sometimes in Chess it isn't about winning or losing; but what's more important is appreciating the moment while we are playing. Obviously it's a great feeling to win but we can also admire how a person takes his losses, it can be a pride swallowing siege for the loser to openly admit ones mistakes and sometimes our stubbornness blinds us from the truth myself included. I remember in our post mortem Viktar Chuprys was energetically searching for defensive resources even after he had made an unfortunate positional blunder from a more or less equal yet dynamic position. It was his candidness in the analysis, a firm handshake and a genuine "good luck" that stuck out to me even if it was just one game.
There is no loss greater in chess than the loss of a chess player who loved the game.

Chuprys,Viktar - Chan,James [A85]
Canadian Open 06
1.Nf3 f5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.d4 Bg7 5.e3 d6 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.d5 Ne5 8.Nxe5 dxe5 9.e4 f4 10.b4 0–0 11.Bb2 a5 12.a3 Nh5 13.f3 Bf6 14.Ne2 e6 15.Qc2 Bh4+ 16.Kd2 Qg5 17.Qc3 Qxg2 18.dxe6? Qxf3 19.Kc2 Bf6 20.Qd2 Bxe6 21.Raf1 Qh3 22.Nc3 axb4 23.axb4 c6 24.Rhg1 Rfd8 25.Qe2 Rd7 26.Nd1 Rad8 27.Rf3 Qh4 28.Bc3 Bg4 29.Be1 Bxf3 30.Qxf3 Rxd3 31.Qxd3 Qxh2+ 0–1

Promotion

2007-09-26T22:22:00.000-07:00

White to play and win:

Please try to solve the puzzle without moving any pieces first. After you think you have found the solution then then you may continue reading!

I will try an explain things a bit more in detail since it will b more palatable for all different levels of chess players if you come across this post!
I had seen this puzzle in books when I was a kid but every so often kind chess players will volunteer to refresh our memories during coffee house blitz. For new players you can learn two lessons from solving this puzzle!

In the position Black tries to check whites king relentlessly. As white your first assignment is to find the right side stepping sequence. Yep the side stepping sequence to avoid the black checks!

What should white play? Obviously he must move but where; going up doesn't help because then black just plays rook to d7 pins the white pawn and munches the pawn next move, ouch stalemate.

As a result the white king goes on a stroll to avoid the checks but he must not stroll along the c-file just yet otherwise black can just retreat the black rook to d1 and capture the pawn on the next move by skewering; taking advantage of the white king if he were on the c-file behind the white pawn on c7. Therefore we stay on the buffalo wing. As advertised:

1.Kb5 Rd5+ 2.Kb4 Rd4+ 3.Kb3 Rd3+ 4.Kc2

As a 9 year old kid being the lazy bug I was; I stopped my analysis here being very proud thinking I had solved the puzzle since the black rook had run out of checks. I immediately turned to the solutions manual. I was shocked to see that black could still play a last second desperado attempt

4..Rd4!

Although this doesn't save the game, I put an exclamation mark for black because he's doing his very best to stay in the game. Black definitely has a final trick up his sleeve. Can you see why black played 4..Rd4, and if so what white can do to put black away?

Hint: The little ghost on the top right is a spectator at the moment, he's dying to get back into the game! As the general in command who should you promote??

Solution

The brave knights!

2007-09-25T22:12:00.000-07:00

White to play and win material!

This position occurred in a sub variation analysed by current world Champion Kramnik vs the then world Champion Kasparov who unsucessfully tried to infiltrate Kramniks Ruy Lopez Berlin Wall Defense. Although the Berlin maybe a sturdy wall it requires great prescision to make sure you can consolidate its foundation and here Kramnik gives us an example to why counter attacking before covering our own bases is taboo when you are still under developed.

Black has just played h5 trying to tenderize whites king side forthcoming pawn majority. However there is a tactical refutation. If you can't see the tactic, the title will give you a good hint!
Solution is here

Chess Problem

2007-09-19T23:30:00.001-07:00

This is a very neat little problem

It's white to play and win. You probably will find a solution if you look hard enough but I posted this problem because the author Kasparyan had a very trendy finish and maybe as a chess player you will also appreciate his solution.

Drunken Expert

2007-09-12T13:29:00.001-07:00

This is how to beat an expert at chess. Just buy em beers like Albert does at the "End Cafe". Congratulations to Curtis for finally getting his expert rating even though he had been playing well above that level for a long time. Is master coming next? Maybe we will have to feed him something a little heavier than just beer!
The End Cafe is the new hangout for all the chess fanatics at the intersection of commercial drive and grandview, next to the broadway skytrain station. In the background earlier on you can spot two Chess Masters Dan and Mayo kiblitzing although there is no guarantee alcohol will have the same or reverse effects in playing skill. If you so happen to be in town you should check it out, The band that plays on Sunday evenings is not to shabby and the wild salmon burger recommended by Dale is worth trying.

Playing against Bobby Meng Junior!

2007-03-26T14:10:00.000-07:00

Promising junior Li.ChangHe

James,Chan - ChangHe,Li [B84]
Vancouver Chess Center, 25.03.2007
Back in 2002 there was little Bobby Meng who would show up and hone his skills against super players like masters Gary,Mayo, Drago, Luc and last but not least organizer Rex in Sunday actives at Esquires coffee shop. A similar atmosphere arose last Sunday. Slaven only had 3 players show up at 1:05 for a 1:00 scheduled active. I had promised Toni and Slaven I would play in alteast 1 active tournament at the chesscenter since I was unsure when I would have time to play in another event, I called Slaven at 12:20 and off we went together to the Vancouver Chess center. We thought we would have to play a round robin when suddenly at ten past I spotted Drago at the parking lot! Then Brian Mclaren showed up at quarter past. Suddenly mystery junior LiChangHe and another Brazilian expert also dropped in! Too bad we were "Even Stephen" because John Hallam came in a bit late otherwise it would be a small but very strong turnout! In essence the average strength was around 2000+ out of 8 players and for junior players especially this is a good chance to play against masters like Brian and Drago! Not too shabby for a Sunday active that wasn't advertised a great deal! I smiled to Slaven, "we definitely have a tournament" 1.e4 I played like a chump throughout the whole game. The stronger up and coming player in this game was unlucky with time and had numerous opportunities to put this chump away. I really enjoy playing against ChangeHe; extremely good over the board attitude,modest and well mannered, he is like my favourite all time BC junior Bobby Meng who is no longer a junior anymore. Another junior I am a fan of is Janak Awatramani who in my estimation will steadily jump to 1700–1800 in due course. Strong masters observing him at Robson Square came up to me and asked about him when he was only 6 years old "Who is this kid? Is he 1900?" I think they both have the talent but their maturity is what astounds me. Last year ChangHe was rated 1200 now he is almost 1800 so this junior will be no walk in the park. 1...c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be2 Be7 7.0–0 Nf6 8.f4 d6 9.Kh1 0–0

10.f5? I had been looking at a4 in schevinigen games at home a lot in the past but I never knew why No one ever plays f5. There are four different main plans here: 10. a4, Qe1 and Be3 and Bf3 and it is my own fault that I am a book bunny. My only justification for playing f5 is the black knight being not developed on c6 yet so the option of Ne5 is not there. However unlike Sozin Nadjorf postions the Bishop on e2 leaves white without pressure on the a2 g8 diagonal furthermore after black plays e5 the knight does not have the e2-g3-h5 manouever to trade off the defender on f6 so whites set up is really clumsy [10.a4 One of the better plans 10...Nc6 11.Be3 Re8 12.Bf3 Bd7 13.Nb3 Na5 14.Nxa5 Qxa5 15.Qd3 Rad8 16.Rfd1 Bc6 17.b4 Anand-Kasparov PCA] 10...e5 11.Nb3 b5 good move that gains space and takes aim to create problems on the c-file 12.Bg5 Nbd7! bummer I hoped he would have played Nc6. This is a good move; now I no longer can cripple blacks structure with B takes on f6 since he can do a knight recapture 13.Bf3 My opening is a failiure and now I just want to consolidate the d5 square 13...Bb7 14.a3 Rfe8 15.Qe1 Bf8 16.Rd1 Rac8 17.Qh4 h6 18.Be3 [18.Bc1 Nb6 19.g4 Nc4 20.g5] 18...Nb6 19.g4 This is a terrible decision technically. I understand my queenside will collapse but this is all the beginning to crazy wild chess! Here I was thinking if the junior beats me so be it, atleast I can make it a fun game for him [19.Bxh6 I was really in bad form I absolutely missed this tactic as I thought Nd7 to Nb6 was a refutation to my entire setup 19...gxh6 20.Qxf6 Nc4 21.Bh5 Bg7 22.Qh4 white is not in bad shape here at all; 19.Rd3 Nc4 20.Bc1] 19...Nc4 20.Bc1 Nh7 21.Ne2? [21.Rd3 correct move here to stop N takes on a3 and shore up the third rank defense and attack latter on the black king] 21...Be7 [21...Nxb2 loses on the spot. Again I saw this after I played Ne2 and tried to remain calm with my poker face ] 22.Qh5 Bg5! 23.Bxg5 Nxg5 24.Ng3 I have no choice; I lose material here but I have a better chance to create cheap threats around the black king [24.h4 yikes I wanted to play h4 at first but then realized how terrifying it would be after knight takes on f3] 24...Ne3 25.f6 clearing the square for the knight 25...Nxd1 [25...Qxc2 I like Qc2 instead of grabbing material immediately. It further highligts that white has nothing not even crude threats] 26.Nf5 Nxe4 27.fxg7

Nef2+ [27...Re6 28.Nxh6+ Kxg7 29.Nf5+ Kg8 again here I have nothing] 28.Kg1 praying ChangHe would take on f3 28...Re6! [28...Bxf3 29.Nxh6+ Kxg7 30.Nf5+ Kg8] 29.Nxh6+? [29.Bxd1 The only hope for white 29...Nxd1 30.Nbd4!? white would march the knight on fearlessly. The idea is to block the a7 g1 diagonal against checks by sacrificing a whole piece! 30...exd4 (30...Rg6 31.Nxh6+ Kxg7) 31.Nxh6+ Rxh6 32.Qxh6 f6 33.Qh8+ Kf7 34.Rxf6+ Kxf6] 29...Rxh6?? Up till this point ChangHe was crushing.This move was made in time pressure by ChangHe. How many times have I swindled games that I was absolutley lost?? [29...Kxg7 30.Nf5+ Kg8 31.Bxd1 Nxd1 32.Rxd1 Qxc2–+] 30.Qxh6 Nh3+ I could take the knight but major complications still arise without its capture 31.Kg2 [31.Qxh3 Qb6+ 32.Kh1 Kxg7 33.Rxd1 Qe3÷] 31...Nf4+ [31...Bxf3+ 32.Kxh3] 32.Kg3 f6 33.Qh8+ Kf7 34.Bxd1 Somehow white won the time scramble in this crazy position. In chess even when you are lost it holds true that "It is always dangerous when they play on". I felt terrible winning this game on time but I couldn't offer a draw in the final messy position when white was up a bit of material. I have no doubts that Li ChangHe will smash me like a can of sardines in future games (not saying I didn't get smashed in this one!)

BC Master blogs,Sites of Interest. Chess personalities.

2007-03-22T15:09:00.000-07:00

These are sites that I frequent every now and then. These are all master strength players from BC in other words 2200 to 2350+ strength so a lot of their analysis is not for the faint hearted

Stephen Wrights page is really about how chess in BC all started,

who were the people that planted the roots so that the chess scene here could flourish? The current BCCF president;the Man not only behind the scenes but the one that gets things done. Whether it comes to TDing major events from the Canadian Open,Keres Memorial or junior events at BCIT this chess player coach is a gentlemen and leader with great character. It is easy to go a drift jump ship when things are not going smoothly but he has always been running things regardless. Stephen is really all about action and results. Whether it is volunteering in the past at Kingsgate mall every friday night from setting up 50 boards and pieces to writing about chess articles for the BCCF bulletin; Stephen without a shadow of a doubt is the godfather of BC chess. I heard he is not only a fantastic chess player,coach but also a great musician as well!

Nic Beqo's site hasn't been updated for a while but it has great content in the annotated games section. Nic is a great person a winner of the Keres Memorial and preaches
"you must have nerves of steel" to all his students.
I shared a room with Nic at Ballys in the Las Vegas North American Open. When there were good results it was go stuff ourselves at the all you can eat buffet. When we did poorly it was Heineken and hot dogs.

Dan Scoones Chess Blog http://www.dadianchess.blogspot.com/ is probably my favourite chess blog to visit at the moment. On a Sunday morning while sipping a Hawaiian Kona pea berry; I will take out my chess set and seriously study what this BC chess legend has to say. He covers classics from Morphy to Alekhine to current BC master games between Alfred Pechisker and Howard Wu.

The Mr good at everything,Luc Poitras site
http://www.wcjc.blogspot.com/
is my favourite site for chess puzzles because of the diagrams and solutions page.
Whether it is Chess, Squash,table tennis
this master is a friendly formidable foe!

Time to put on your thinking caps!

2007-03-22T10:50:00.000-07:00

Time to put on your thinking caps. Break time from chess puzzles and lets do some real ones!

Ex BC Junior Champion Andrey Kostin is conducting a quiz for his English course related with logic and Chess. Go test your problem solving skills that have been dished out by the Ak47 Russian Bear!

http://members.shaw.ca/alex34/

After you complete his small study please email him your solutions at alex34@shaw.ca

A game against Ian Skulsky

2007-03-11T14:02:00.000-07:00

Chan,James - Skulsky,Ian [B28]
Vancouver vs North,West Vancouver, 12.02.2007
[,James]
1.e4 I annotated this game right after the heart breaking loss for my team a month ago: This was a recent match against NorthWest Vancouver. I like playing for my team but with such short notice it makes it difficult to prep up our opponent. I missed a match against POCO the week before because I was oblivious it took place until checking my email a day later; thus I really didn't want to let my team down again. Incidentally every since the rating boon, about 4 to 5 of my team members that have lower ratings on the list are actually much stronger players than myself so if I sat we could potentially score a lot better. Furthermore I wasn't expecting to play such a strong opponent but the plus side was that I had reviewed some of his games a couple of years ago and I knew he specializes in ths O'kelly variation of the Sicilian Defence; so I knew the potential of this line as if white is not careful there can be a boomerang effect once white has misplace his pieces. 1...e6 2.d4 a6 3.Nf3 b5 4.Bd3 Bb7 5.0–0 c5 6.c3 Nf6 Up to this point at the back of my head I had a feeling that Qe2 was the right move played in a similar position of a Lesiege-Skulsky game. I really didn't know what the reason was so I didn't play it and chose a to develop the rook and preserve my center. 7.Re1 h6 I later checked this move in powerbooks and it scores poor statisically; power books being stats over 2300+ players however stats don't mean much when there are only a limited # of games as reference. Ian told me that this is part of blacks plan to play h6 and g5 in many lines; his home cooked analysis gives black very double edged positions 8.a4 b4 9.Nbd2 Be7 10.Nf1 cxd4 11.cxd4 Nc6 12.Bb1 Na5 This is a good move; now I have to ask myself if I want to commit my pawn on b3. The drawback is that the c3 square is extremely weak after playing b3. 13.b3 The b4 pawn is now deeply inplanted in whites camp and it could potentially be a strength in the endgame. Now white faces new problems with c3 13...d5 14.e5 Ne4 15.N3d2 When I played this move I was remembering what Luc Poitras once told me when I was around a 1700 player. "Sometimes you have to give a little to your opponent to get something back in return" or perhaps I was just trying to give myself some hope. The matter of the fact is I was already playing"hope chess" 15...Nc3 16.Qg4 I use to play the french as black. Maybe I am over optimistic but I am not too worried for white from a french perspective because black has no real breaks despite his major trumps on b4 and c3. As a result Ian looks for activity on the other side of the board. I never took into account that he could simply play 16...g5!? At first I thought this was good for white e.g positional suicide because new weaknes' on f5 and h5; but it was too late when I realized blacks true intentions [16...g6] 17.Ng3 Qb6 18.Bd3? Here Ian burnt about 20 minutes on the clock. I knew what he was thinking and I was also checking this line. I think blacks postion is better after this pawn sac [18.Nh5 Nxb1 19.Rxb1 Rc8 20.Bb2 I thought this position would ensue 20...Rc2 21.Qd1] 18...h5! the whole point of g5 earlier on pawns are sacrificed to open new attacking lanes on the white king side, from now I have to play extremely careful and am now in damage control mode 19.Nxh5 Kd7! whoops I missed two consecutive moves for black so far [19...Rxh5! 20.Qxh5 Qxd4 21.Qf3 (21.Qh8+ Kd7 22.Qh7 Ne2+ 23.Bxe2 Qxa1 24.Qxf7 Rf8 25.Qg7 Qc3 26.Rd1 Qc2 27.Rf1 Nc6÷) 21...Ne2+ 22.Qxe2 Qxa1 this line I calculated during the game which I thought I would be bust] 20.Bc2 I parked the bishop back so that I could activate my knight to f3 20...Rac8 21.Bd1 My pieces are clumsy; Ian is waiting for the opportunity to trade the Bishop for knight but I am not afraid of this exchange because although it is a good bishop in terms of pawn structure the scope is limited as it has no range to roam 21...Rh6 22.Nf3 I have to jettison the b3 pawn now. I think we both thought that black was better; the computer says white is alright 22...Nxd1 Here Ian offered a draw because their team was up oon the scoreboard. I looked for an answer from Alfred who signaled "play on" there would be no peace settlement for the remaining chessmen 23.Rxd1 Nxb3 24.Bxg5 Maybe this move changes the assessment and now despite losing the b3 pawn there is a lot of venom in this crazy postion 24...Bxg5 [24...Rg6] 25.Qxg5 Nxa1? Rook takes knight first 26.Qxh6 b3 27.Rxa1 [27.Nf6+ Kc7 28.Rxa1 b2 29.Rb1 Bc6 30.Qd2 Rb8 31.Qc2 Qb4] 27...b2 28.Rb1 Rc1+ 29.Qxc1? I played this move based on intution whereby my hippo pawn has no equal [29.Rxc1 Toni immediately told me after the game I should have played this sequence 29...bxc1Q+ (29...b1Q this is the line that worried me 30.Nf6+ Ke7 31.Qg5 but after Qg5 black is hooped but psychologically I couln't get myself to play this letting your opponent have a queen, I simply wasn't looking far ahead enough) 30.Qxc1] 29...bxc1Q+ 30.Rxc1 Ke7 31.Nf6 Bc6 32.h4 Bxa4 33.h5 Bc2 Here white had 25 as opposed to blacks 7 minutes. I was thinking of sacing the rook for the B for 10 minutes but for the entirely wrong reasons 34.Kh2 This was the last game at the club we were now down 3 1/2- 2 1/2 and needed a point to draw the match [34.Rxc2 Qb1+ 35.Kh2 (line I missed 35.Ne1 Qxe1+ 36.Kh2 Kd8 37.h6 Qd1 (37...Qb4 38.h7 Qf8 39.g4 Qh8 (39...Qh6+ 40.Kg3 a5 41.Rc5 a4 42.Ra5 Kc7) ) ) 35...Qxc2] 34...Qb2 35.Rh1 a5 36.Kg3 black eventually won the time scramble here. My flag fell in a worse postion. I think if I had played a little faster the outcome could have been different. Everything about this game to me was fun except for the losing and letting the team down. I realize I need to develop more of a killer instinct, be far more accurate in my calculation. There are really no excuses missing 3-4 chances during a game with time up. I have to incoporate those Jack Welch theories into chess which is the "execution phase"

Corus 2007: Press conference Aronian (after round 13) Part I

2007-03-01T13:22:00.001-08:00

This video is from chessvibes.com It is a great site and has many videos with Grandmasters analysing their games. Here we get to to see what a Super GM is thinking during the course of a game.

Corus 2007: Press conference Aronian (after round13) Part II

2007-03-01T13:15:00.001-08:00

Puzzle #3

2007-03-01T12:27:00.000-08:00

This puzzle is sort of hard. Well you really have to think very hardly here because with so many pieces hanging (the knight and rook) you need to be brave and very creative to launch an assault on the black king.

The plan here is to surround the black king even though the knight and rook are under fire!

38.Qd8+! Kg7 39.f6+ Kh6

The idea with this sequence is to push the king to h6 and weave a mating net.

So the question here is I have knight and rook hanging however there is a very beautiful move that white can play here to win!

It take practice to be able to visualize this position in your head. You need to ask which piece can prevent the king from escaping to g5 or h5 in the event of Qf8+ so that you can deliver a crushing blow!

40.Kh4!

If you saw this move then you have a very creative mind. Even Morozevich a present day creative genius either missed this move or was in time pressure and played the safer alternative. Judging by the post mortems on chessvibes.com I tend to think the later.

The threat of checkmate on f8 still looms! Black can try Queen takes knight on d4 check+ but then white simply renews the checkmate threat by playing pawn to g4 blocking the check and black has run out of checks. He has nothing better than to sacrifice his queen to g4 and lose more material.

Puzzle #2

2007-03-01T11:46:00.000-08:00

Thursday September 27th, 2007

Solution:

4.. Rd4! This is a good attempt from black to try and stalemate. 5.c8R!! Underpromotion to a rook is the correct move! [5.c8Q? Rc4+ 6.Qxc4 We can see that promoting to a queen is a draw because blacks king cannot move] 5...Ra4 trying to block the mate on the a-file 6.Kb3! the mate threat is renewed on the c-file whilst the white king does a fantastic job gaining time by attacking blacks rook at the same time. As a result black has to give up his rook to avoid checkmate and eventually the game!

_________________________________________________________________

Tuesday September 25th, 2007

Solution:

1.Ndb5 cxb5 2.Nxb5! {with the threat of mate and a fork on c7. Black must move his knight and white wins back the sacrificed material with interest!}

_________________________________________________________________

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Solution:

1. Ne8 Kg6 2. h5+ Rxh5 3. f5+ Rxf5 4. g4 Rf2 5. Bf5+ Rxf5 6. Ng7 {
with mate next move}

________________________________________________________________

Whites goal is to promote a pawn
into a queen. There is only one correct move here that allows white to win. This is a good position to play out with a friend from both sides.
Should white capture the black pawn on g7 or simply blindly march his little pawns forwards? The best idea actually is to use your king to act as a blockade against the enemy black king. The beauty of this puzzle is that even the h2 pawn plays a role in sacrificing itself to allow the h4 pawn to eventually promote.

1.Kf5! This is the right move Kf5
[1(a). Kg5 this is no good apparently because it allows black some foxy manoeuvres to park on the h4 square Kg2 2.h5 Kh3 3.Kg6 Kg4 4.h3+ Kh4!;

1.(b) h5 is no good either Kg4 2.h3+ Kh4=]

1...Kg2 2.h5 Kh3

Now it's very important to play
3.Kg5! in this position. The reason is because it forces black to retreat one rank further down. Notice the white king prevents the black king from coming up to h4 and g4 while even the measily little pawn on h3 is doing a fantastic job of its own by preventing the black king from staying on the 3rd rank as it controls g3. So it is black to move here.
This buys time for your own pawn to have smooth sailing on the h file. [3.Kg6 would be a mistake here because of Kg4 4.h3+ Kh4!= and this is a draw] 3...Kxh2 4.Kg6 1-0

Garry Kasparov x Vishy Anand - G9 (I)

2007-01-11T14:12:00.003-08:00

If you are wondering where I got my position from my previous post, it is from this game 27.Rd5! Very seldom do we get to see Kasparov on pins and needles!

Garry Kasparov x Vishy Anand - G9 (II)

2007-01-11T14:12:00.001-08:00

Adding Images

2007-01-10T20:55:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I am really absent minded. It's great that I can put all my thoughts and ideas here incase I forget. I want to remind myself a simple process of copying images from chessbase or another chessbase related software, pasting them into Windows "paint" and then finally uploading them onto Blogger!

Here is the first step I have
opened chessbase selected
the diagram that I want to
copy by simply clicking
Edit-->Copy-->Copy Position

Now I will need to open windows paint. Just click "Start"-->accessories --> paint. Then in the paint application click edit--> paste
and you should get the chessbase diagram in the window

Woops I've pasted my diagram
but I have one that is enormous.
If you are going to post the diagram on blogger you might want to change
the size of the image. Click on
Image-->Stretch/Skew.
I usually just adjust the stretch at
50/50 horizontally and vertically.
Now click file save as--->
I like using jpeg as the file format especially for photos because it retains a fair amount of quality and in general it won't take someone visiting your website forever to load!

Now this is the easiest part if you have survived my mumble jumble. You should be able to successfully upload your images in blogger! While you are creating a new post simply click on the image sign. The image sign is simply inbetween the spellcheck sign and the eraser which I have gently highlighted. Voila! Now you can paste your chessbase diagrams in blogger by clicking "browse"selecting the location of where you saved your image.

Sometimes you will want the text to show up beside your image. If you don't have a fancy program like dreamweaver it could be a tedious process creating tables. A simple method to make sure the text is right beside your image is to add "br"tags if you click on "edit html" simply add "br"
tags right between where the text ends and the next image. Incidentally while fooling around with "br" even if you put the br inbetween these tags<> in the compose window it will still do the job! The people from blogger are really genius'! This should help tidy things up a bit and help your site cater to more people who use monitors with different resolutions. I hope this helps you chess fanatics out there that like to share your crazy chess positions!

Artful Dodger

2007-01-10T17:33:00.001-08:00

I never listen to music whilst playing classical chess but for blitz chess online I found this French tune "Thé à La Menthe" just right.
A good site to play online chess is "Chess Assistant Club" IMHO it is one of the best servers after ICC and Chessbase which are the creme de la creme but Chess Assistant Club is free!
http://www.chessassistantclub.com

Hail King Harikrishna!

2007-01-03T13:50:00.000-08:00

Pardon me for the corny title :-)
This is not only a position I want to share but also a cool website e3 e5
that till a few hours ago I never knew existed! There is nothing cooler when you get up to date analysis from the best players on the planet. Awesome!!
Photo: from "Chesscenter" capturing
Super Grand Master Pentala Harikrishna from India
Holy cow blistering barnicales thundering typhoons does not give enough justice to the following games combination!!

Pentals opponent is no walk in the park; world #4 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov who in the latest January fide rating update has a rating of 2754!! Yikes!!

Here is the good stuff the caviar, white has just played the amazing move 24.f5!! Obviously Bishop takes on f5 is a nono because of the fork Nh6+

As a result Shakhriyar is forced to take the pawn with Rook f5

Wow this is the punch in the nose Nh6!!
Harikrishna is going to jettison a whole knight to
have a monopoly on the a1-h8 dark square diagonal

This is it ladies and gentlemen white now plays 26.Qd4. Check out those weak dark squares!!

After Qd4 black is forced to play 26..Ne6 to
cover the g7 square and avoid checkmate.

Can you strong tacticians out there calculate the following win for Harikrishna after black plays 26.. Ne6?

For the rest of the fireworks please check out the following analysis of the entire game from the Russian website e3e5. Not only is the combination of caviar quality but also the execution phase is worth mimicking as well!

30 minute chess

2006-12-29T17:04:00.000-08:00

It's never a dull moment when my friend Don Monteith is playing chess. I suspect Don is still feeling the effects after being beat up by junior Foster Tom in the earlier rounds. Thanks to Luc for sending me the picture.

Poitras,Luc - Chan,James [C72]
Active tournament Bridge center 17.12.2006
[,James]
1.e4 One of my New Years resolutions is to play more solidly as black. This is just one of the games which gives me a good reaon why. Although this was a zero is the score column for me; it gives me even more justification to learn from my mistakes! 1...e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.0–0 f5?! I think this is the second active game that I have tried the lopez against Luc, the last time at the Church. Luc played energetically in the opening phase and thats exactly the right way to play against a wobbly steinitz deferred furthermore I didn't even play my opening moves correctly. Black infact doesn't play f5 after white castles and only does so when he plays c3. the sad thing is that even when he plays f5 after c3 the stats are still horrifying but what can I say, I love chaotic positions just not as much when I don't win!
6.Nc3 Nf6 [6...fxe4 7.Nxe4 Nf6²] 7.Re1 Be7 8.d4 0–0? I was so egotistical during the game I simply believed despite my pawn deficit I would have some compensation [8...Nxe4 9.Nxe4 fxe4 10.Rxe4 Bf5²] 9.Bxc6 bxc6 10.dxe5 Nxe4 11.Nxe4 fxe4 12.Rxe4 d5 [12...Bf5 13.Rc4 c5 this is the reason why I rejected Bf5 but how important it is to sometimes think outside the box(13...dxe5 unorthodox but this is a real mess) ]

13.Rf4! I really thought this was a cool move to liquidate my rook on the f file. When I played d5 I was hoping Luc wouldn't play this 13...Rb8 14.Rxf8+ Qxf8 15.Nd4 Rb6 16.Qf3 Qxf3 [16...Qe8] 17.Nxf3 c5 18.c3 Bg4 [18...c4 Luc suggested c4. This never crossed my mind because it vacated the d4 square for the knight in hindsight it does take a few moves for white to wiggle out] 19.b3 Re6 To my surprise I thought this mysterious rook move was common sense. However when I showed Alex he said it was a nono and the rook didn't belong on that square [19...Kf7= Alex's suggestion; 19...Rg6 maybe an alternative with kf7 later on] 20.Bf4 h5?! going for cheapos; influenced in blitz chess by Mr Dale 21.h3 Bf5 [21...Bxf3 22.gxf3 Kf7²] 22.h4 Be4 23.Ng5 Bxg5 24.hxg5 d4? I don't really have anything to play for here and bringing the king closer would be a lot wiser in this position 25.f3 Bc2 26.cxd4 cxd4 27.Kf2 Kf7 28.Rc1 Rc6 29.Rh1 g6 30.Re1 Ke6 31.Rc1 Kd5 32.Re1 Ke6 33.g3 Bf5 34.Rc1? This is probably the only major mistake Luc made that could have changed the outcome of the game :-) 34...Bc2? [34...Rxc1 35.Bxc1 Bb1 36.a3 c5–+](However Luc pointed out this line to me36. f4 c5 37. a4 Bc2 38. Ba3 Kd5 39. e6 and we have a balanced position) 35.Ke1 Kf5 36.Kd2 d3 this is suicidal now the bishop is like a big pawn thus meaning I missed my chance to bail out earlier on. 37.Re1 h4?? this move turns out to be a terrible blunder [37...Ke6] 38.e6 [38.gxh4 Kxf4 39.e6 as advertised on Luc's blog] 38...Rxe6

39.g4+! Kxf4 40.Rxe6 Kxg5 41.Rxa6 h3 42.Ra8 Kf4 43.Rh8 Kxf3 44.Rxh3+ Kxg4 45.Rh7 and black resigned a few moves later. Although I lost this game I was happy to have had the chance to play Dan,Louie and Luc. There was a mystery junior Li ChangHe who arrived at the scene last minute whom I believe is not even 10 years old! He reminds me of a younger Bobby Meng; extremely disciplined serious business. ChangHe Li posesses amazing calculation ability and maturity way beyond many of his peers. There was one point in a post mortem when he was just throwing pieces all over the board to unleash a forced mate. However talent is one thing and hard work is another. Foster Tom also left me a strong impression while we played a couple of blitz games. Foster is talented and is already producing chess puzzles himself with mate in 4! Thanks to Luc for running the active tournament and congratulations for winning it, it's really impressive that he can not only organize but win the tournament that he plays in at the same time, the atmosphere was really relaxed, Foster Tom was spinning around in his chair during a bye but not one adult complained!
I want to also mention that it is great for local players when people like Dan Scoones and Harry Moore take time to play in tournaments in BC. There are times when I myself drop out of tournaments when I am sick, out of shape or lose a hard fought battle but from these two chess giants I really admire how they opt to continue to play all their games, give great post mortems and lots of words of wisdom, to me they are true chess connoisseurs.

Jack Taylor Memorial 2006

2006-11-27T10:43:00.001-08:00

BC Junior Champ Bindi Cheng and Jack Taylor winner Dennis Epple in the post mortem. Bindi conducted a fascinating queen sacrifice on h3 and Dennis found all the right moves to neutralize Bindi's attack and secure the draw for 1st place for the 2006 Jack Taylor Memorial. This is a must see game which you can download from chess.bc.ca soon!

Snowy Sunday

2006-11-27T01:49:00.000-08:00

It was a Snowy Sunday
Perfect for snow ball fights
and chess fights regardless of what the weather is like in Victoria

On Saturday before the rounds started when everything was still peaceful

At Mcdonalds with Charlie and 2006 Canadian Junior Champ Bindi. Not only does Bindi have a huge appetite over the board but also with anything related to food

Co BC Champion Howard giving a lecture to Roger and Harry on how he became BC Champion. Kids: "It's not the strongest player that becomes champ, it's the one with the biggest smile!"

Alas Canadas "first lady in chess" Lynn Stringer with tournament winner Dennis Epple from Germany

Moore,Harry - Chan,James [C68]
Jack Taylor Memorial Victoria
[,James]
Playing in the Jack Taylor Memorial was literally a last minute decision. Charlie Ozkan convinced me to go over and play; thanks to his hospitality and Lynn Stringers playing in Victoria is undisputedly the best place to play chess in BC! I hadn't prepped up on any of my openings for any player. In the 4th round I got to play former BC Champ Harry Moore. I was outclassed; with no time to study theory these days I decided to exchange as much wood as possible resulting to a classic minor piece endgame squeeze stronger bishop vs knight with the black pawns fixed on the wrong squares 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.0–0 Bg4 6.h3 Bxf3 [6...h5 7.d3 Qf6 8.Nbd2 Ne7 9.Re1 Ng6 10.d4 Apparently Harry said the verdict of this main line in the exchange lopez is one of a drawish nature. I vaguely remember the sequence of moves in this line and I didn't want to play something that Harry knew by heart] 7.Qxf3 Qf6 8.Qg3 Harry said that when him and Jeff Reeve were younger they had tried Qb3 as an alternative to not exchanging queens with good results 8...Bd6 9.d4 Qg6 10.Qxg6 hxg6 11.dxe5 Bxe5 12.Nd2 0–0–0 13.Nf3 Bd6 14.Be3 Re8 Intending to play Nf6 after Ne2 and after f3 play Nh5 to control the dark squares on the d6 h2 diagonal

Position after 15.e5!

15.e5! I had absolutely missed this move 15...Bxe5 A decision I made after 20 minutes burnt on the clock [15...Be7 16.Rad1 Nh6 17.g4 Rd8 18.Bg5 Rxd1 19.Rxd1 Rd8 20.Rxd8+ Kxd8 21.Kg2 I calculated something of this sort with my knight passivley placed on Nh6. I wasn't too fond of this position and I felt Harry would smash me like a can of sardines so why not take my chances in a position I am more comfortable with] 16.Nxe5 Rxe5 17.Bd4 Re6 18.Bxg7 Rh7 Harry recommended Rh4 which I totally missed again; with the idea to activate the rook on the 4th rank. The idea with Rh7 is to switch the rook to d7 to block any incoming rook intentions along the d and e files 19.Bc3 f5 20.Rfe1 Rxe1+ 21.Rxe1 Re7 22.Rxe7 Nxe7 Although there is material balance white stands a lot better if he can create a passer. I hate to agree with Bindi while travelling back from the ferry but the way how Harry played the endgame later on was very instructive despite my attempts to soften the hard hitting 23.h4 Kd7 24.f3 Ke6 25.Kf2 f4 A very commital move I played this extremely quickly. Harry said that his Kf2 was a mistake and he should have played g3 first to create the passer slowly. 26.Bd2 Kf5 27.Ke2 Ke5 28.Ba5! tenderizing the pawns intending to fix them on the dark squares 28...b6 29.Bc3+ Kf5 30.Be1 Black's still grovelling here. Harry suggested pushing the queenside pawns so that the pawn on c7 wouldn't be a practice target when the bishop occupies g3 30...Nd5 This move is pointless. I was already down on time and I played this too hastily 31.c4 I was hoping for c4 from a practical standpoint that it denied his own king this entry square but then suddenly realized how strong g4+ would become anyways since he always had e4 at his kings disposal 31...Ne7

Position after 32.g4+!

32.g4+! I dream of playing moves like this. It just shows my lack of vision in subtle positions 32...fxg3 33.Bxg3 b5 34.cxb5 cxb5 35.Bxc7 white wins a clean pawn after a few inaccuracies from black 35...Ke6 36.Bg3 Nf5 37.Bf2 Kd5 38.Kd3 Ne7 39.Ke3 Nc6 40.Kf4 Ke6 41.Kg5 Kf7 42.f4 Ne7 [42...Nb4 Maybe this is a more resilent try but one must be bold and in good chess form to think of bravely putting the knight on h2 later on to harass the king 43.a3 Nd3 44.Bd4 Ne1 45.Bc3 Nf3+ 46.Kg4 Nh2+ 47.Kg3 Nf1+ 48.Kg2 Ne3+ 49.Kf3 Nf5] 43.Bc5 Ng8 44.f5 gxf5 45.Kxf5 Nh6+ 46.Ke5 black resigns it is inevitable the black queen pawns will succumb to the white kings advances 1–0

Fischer-Tal

2006-11-23T15:14:00.001-08:00

Is Bobby Fischer a chess immortal and his over the board play supernatural?
Here, we see him as a young boy facing the famous Tal stare!

How to distract your opponent in chess!

2006-11-22T18:18:00.001-08:00

Last night while having pizza with Albert and Dale for no particular reason Police Academy was a topic of our discussion.
Whilst playing in a chess tournament as a kid against one of my friends Kevin. He was always muttering the words that "Hightower" said(the guy in red inside the van) from Police Academy when it was his opponents turn to move:
"Yamayamayamayama..Yamayamayamayama.."
Oh well don't let the voodoo mumble jumble scare you!!
Just focus on the game!

Do you like Italian food?

2006-11-22T15:31:00.000-08:00

Kids don't try playing 5..Nd5 as black in the Fried Liver Attack! "You will get burned!"

Note: the main game is highlighted in red color

Iksanov,Ilja (2176) - Moiseev,Alexander (2038) [C57]Kimry-ch Kimry (2), 01.2005[,James]Stansfield(Gary Oldman from the movie"Leon the Professional" by famous french director Luc Besson): "Ahh. Food. Let me guess... Is it Chinese? Thai, maybe? Ahh, I've got it. Italian food!" 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6

4.Ng5 GrandMaster Boris Alterman once commented this is a move that beginners play. He is absolutely right. Infact I too myself am a beginner in many of the e4-e5 openings. This happens when you play the same stuff all the time without enough variety as a kid. It is better to be bold and try out different openings but only doing so with calculated risk and theory. 4...d5 5.exd5 Nxd5?! This is a natural move that so many kids play, I played this move so many times against stronger players when I was around 8 and got obliterated by adult players in this line because I simply didn't know what to do! It is much harder for black to find the right sequence;wiggle out and obtain a position you are happy to play with when your king is a sitting duck in the middle of the board! This variation is called the fried liver attack or "fegatello" attack in Italian. [5...b5! please refer back to the post "buffalo soldier" in October if you want to see examples of the counter attacking Ulvestad variation!]

Position after Nxf7!? (The main position in the fried liver)
6.Nxf7 Kxf7 7.Qf3+ Ke6

Position after 8.Nc3 putting more pressure on d5

8.Nc3 Ncb4 [8...Nce7 9.d4 c6 (9...Qd6 10.0–0 c6 11.dxe5 Kxe5 (11...Qxe5 offers a little more resistance but the there is no question white is still on top 12.Bf4 Qf5 13.Rfe1+ Kf6 14.Nxd5+ Nxd5 15.Bxd5 Qxd5 16.Be5+ Kg6 17.Qg3+ Kf7 18.Rad1 Qxa2

Sideline after 19.Rd8

19.Rd8! there is no defence against the idea of taking the bishop on f8 to capture on g7 with he queen; 11...Qc7 12.Bg5) 12.Re1+ Kd4 13.Qd3+ Kc5 14.Na4+ Kb4 15.Qb3+ 1–0 Brown,D (2240)-Troupe,D/Lansing 1993/[,James]) 10.dxe5 (10.Bg5 h6 (10...Kd6 11.dxe5+ Kc7 12.0–0–0 Be6 13.Nxd5+ cxd5 14.Bxe7 Bxe7 15.Bxd5 Qg8 16.Bxb7+-) 11.Bxe7 Bxe7 12.dxe5 Rf8 13.Qe4 Rf5 14.f4 b5 15.g4 Bh4+ 16.Ke2 bxc4 17.gxf5+ Kf7 18.Rad1 Kf8 19.Rhf1 Nxc3+ 20.bxc3 Qe8 21.e6 Rb8 22.Ke3 Rb5 23.Rg1 Be7 24.Rg6 Kg8 25.Rd2 Bf6 26.Rd6 Rd5 27.Rxd5 cxd5 28.Qxd5 Kh7 29.Rxf6 gxf6 30.Qxc4 Qd8 31.Ke2 a6 32.Qc6 Kg8 33.c4 Kf8 34.c3 Ke7 35.Qc5+ Ke8 36.Qg1 Qe7 37.Qg6+ Kd8 38.Qxh6 Bb7 39.Qg6 Be4 40.Qg8+ Qe8 41.e7+ Kxe7 42.Qe6+ Kd8 43.Qxf6+ Qe7 44.Qd4+ Ke8 45.f6 Qe6 46.Qe5 Kf7 47.Ke3 Bh1 48.Qxe6+ Kxe6 49.Kd4 Kxf6 50.Kc5 Bb7 51.Kb6 Bf3 1–0 Grott,P (2083)-Riepe,B (1993)/DESC email 2002) 10...Ng6 11.0–0 Bc5 12.Nxd5 cxd5 13.Rd1 Rf8 14.Rxd5 Rxf3 15.Rxd8+ Ke7 16.Bg5+ Rf6 1–0 Ninaus,M-Kovacs,I (2280)/Gyor 1991] Back to main game now 9.Qe4! this move is new to me and in my humble opinion perhaps the best move. It's not just defending the little pawn on c2 but it also questions the knights brave intentions on b4 later on with an eventual a3 push while it also deters an immediate queen exchange after black tries to consolidate d5 with.. pawn c6 and qf6 [9.d4 c6 10.0–0 Qf6 black in this line has the chance to creat threats to trade of some wood 11.Qe4 Qf5 12.Qe2 Kf7 13.f4 exd4 14.Ne4 b5 15.Bb3 Be7 16.Ng5+ Kf8 17.h3 d3 18.Qf2 Nxc2 19.g4 Qd7 20.Bxc2 Bd8 21.Qh4 Bb6+ 22.Kh1 dxc2 23.f5 Ne3 24.Bxe3 Bxe3 25.Nxh7+ Kg8 26.f6 Qd5+ 27.Kh2 Be6 0–1 Garcia Gonzalvez,J (2270)-Morin,S (2347)/IECC email 2002] 9...c6 10.a3 Na6 11.d4 playing by classical principles taking advantage of the pin on e5 and unleashing the bishop on c1 11...Qf6? black cracks under pressure abandoning the vital d5 defenses while he should have redeployed the sleepy knight on a6 to c7 to shore up the defenses on d5. After Qf6 black is in a tantamount of ruins [11...Nac7 offering black the best chances 12.0–0 Qf6 13.f4

Black putting up tenacious defense
Position after 13..qf5! in this sideline
Qf5! the best policy for black to trade off the most vital attacking piece;queen on e4 14.Qxf5+ Kxf5 15.fxe5+ Ke6 16.Ne4 Be7 this position is about balanced now but look how many moves that you have to memorize instead why not just play 5.. b5! and get a position that you don't have to grind out for the next 10 moves? ]

Position after 16.Qf3+
12.Nxd5 cxd5 13.Qxd5+ Ke7 14.dxe5 Qe6 15.Bg5+ Kf7 16.Qf3+
Now black cannot avoid the loss of material because the mighty bishops have taken away all the escape squares.
Kg6 17.Bxe6 Bxe6 18.h4 Bc5 19.Qxb7 Bc4 20.b3 Rab8 21.Qe4+ 1–0

Is that a free french fry?

2006-11-20T08:29:00.000-08:00

French fry in ketchup, the cornerstone to any nutrious breakfast

Radjabov,Teimour (2663) - Ye Jiangchuan (2649) [B97]
Calvia ol (Men) Mallorca (12.8), 27.10.2004
[,James]
A clash between young chess sensation Teimour Radjabov of Azerbijan and veteran Ye Jiangchuan of China in the 2004 Olympiad. The Poison Pawn variation has been a topical variation in the najdorf sicilian since the Spassky-Fischer match and is still in vogue today. Despite its reputation for dynamic imbalanced games a whopping 30 percent of games are drawn perhaps due this line being analysed extensively. An perhaps even moreso right now as atleast Radjabov has proven that white stands better when black plays 15..Be7. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 Entering the Nadjorf Variation of the Sicilian Defense, the simple a6 move restricts whites pieces from occupying b5 6.Bg5 Bg5 the sharpest line immediately seeking to cripple blacks pawn structure 6...e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Qd2 Qxb2 This is the whole idea of the poison pawn, white gives up his wing pawn in hopes of creating enough imbalances in the position so that black cannot justify taking the free french fry on b2. 9.Rb1 [9.Nb3 Qa3 10.Bxf6 gxf6 11.Be2 h5 12.0–0 Nc6 13.Kh1! This sequence had been played in Spassky Fischer Game 11 in 1972.] 9...Qa3 10.f5 the most direct attempt to defeat the poison pawn. [10.Bxf6 gxf6 11.Be2 This is the other alternative for white immediately crippiling the pawn structure 11...Nc6 12.Nxc6 bxc6 13.0–0 Qa5 14.Kh1 d5 15.exd5 cxd5 16.f5 fixing the f pawn and later on the black bishop 16...Bg7 17.Rf3 0–0 18.Rbf1 Bd7 19.Rg3 This game highlights how king safety is so important 19...Kh8 20.Bh5 Rac8 21.Rff3 h6 22.Rxg7 Kxg7 23.Rg3+ Kh7 24.Bg6+ Kg7 Amazing it is force mate regardless of what black does after the next move 25.Bh7+!! 1–0 Parma Bruno (SLO)-Ramirez Guerrero E/Torremolinos (Spain) 1963; 10.e5 dxe5 11.fxe5 Nfd7 12.Ne4 (12.Bc4 Bb4 13.Rb3 Qa5 14.0–0 0–0 15.Nxe6 fxe6 16.Bxe6+ Kh8 17.Rxf8+ Bxf8 18.Qf4 Nc6 19.Qf7 Qc5+ 20.Kh1 Nf6 21.Bxc8 Nxe5 22.Qe6 Neg4 0–1 Tringov Georgy-Fischer Robert/Havana CAP Rd: 5 1965) 12...h6 13.Bh4 Qxa2 14.Rd1 Qb2 15.Qe3 Bc5 16.Be2 Nc6 17.c3 Qa3 18.0–0 0–0 19.Nf6+ Nxf6 20.Bxf6 Nxd4 21.Rxd4 Bxd4 22.Qxd4 gxf6 23.exf6 Qa5 24.h4 Kh7 25.Bd3+ Qf5 26.Re1 so the rook is going to e5 26...Rg8 27.Kh2 a5 28.g4 Qxd3 29.Qxd3+ Kh8 30.Re5 Rxg4 31.Rh5 Rg6 32.Qd8+ Kh7 33.Qe7 1–0 T Radjabov (2729)-Sergey Karjakin (2672)/Cap d'Agde FRA 2006] 10...Nc6 11.fxe6 fxe6 12.Nxc6 bxc6 13.e5 sharp chess jettisoning a pawn for play along the newly acquired open d file in addition the white bishop has more range to roam on the d1 h5 diagonal typical in richet rauzer sicilians. The Bg5 sicialian in the poison pawn share some similar attacking motifs with the classical sicilian [13.Be2 This is a very good alternative for white Be2 followed by castling] 13...dxe5 [13...Nd5 14.Nxd5 cxd5 15.Be2 whites development is overwhelmng in this position] 14.Bxf6 gxf6 15.Ne4 A key position in the game 15...Be7 [15...Qxa2 theoretically white has a force draw here and this could be the main reason why Kasparov abandoned this line before he quit tournament chess 16.Rd1 best chances for white to mudy the waters 16...Be7 17.Be2 0–0 the black king seeks safety 18.0–0 Ra7 19.Rf3 kasparov vs vallejo pons in this line was a draw and on later date Azarov wisely repeated the same moves in order to split a point with the world strongest player 19...Kh8 20.Rg3 Rd7 21.Qh6 Rxd1+ 22.Bxd1 Rf7 23.Qh5 Qa5 24.Kf1 Qd8 25.Qxf7 Qxd1+ 26.Kf2 Qxc2+ 27.Ke3 Bc5+ 1/2–1/2 Azarov,S (2556)-Kasparov,G (2813)/Izmir 2004/CBM 104 no vc 28.Nxc5 Qxc5+ 29.Kd2 Qf2+ 30.Kc3 Qd4+ 31.Kc2 Qf2+ 32.Kc3 1/2–1/2 Vallejo Pons,F (2666)-Kasparov,G (2817)/Moscow 2004/CBM 102] 16.Be2 h5 This is all theory until Radjabov unleashed.:

Position after 17.Rf1!

17.Rf1! This new move at top level chess puts the whole poison pawn system in question for black if he is searching more than a draw. We reach 17.Rf1 only by means of black playing ..15.Be7 This move is much better than the natural 17. 0–0 for white because it denies black the checks along the c5 g1 diagonal. As funny as it may seem the white king is safer than his counterpart in the center due to better mobility of his pieces in the presentsituation [17.0–0 f5 18.Bf3 Ra7 19.Rb8 Rc7 20.Qf2 Qa5 21.Qg3 fxe4 22.Qg6+ Kd8 23.Qxe6 Qb6+] 17...Qxa2 [17...f5? A common mistake made even today today. Here are 3 recent games in which black with and averages of 2350+ ratings played f5 and were torn into shreds. 18.Rf3 (18.Rb3 Qxa2 getting greedy 19.Qc3 is an extremely promising continuation for white) 18...Qa4 (18...Qxa2 19.Rfb3 Qa4 (19...fxe4 20.Qc3 Bd8 21.Qxc6+ Bd7 22.Qxe4 Kf7 23.Kf1 Rc8 24.Rd1 Bc6 25.Qxe5 Qxc2 26.Rbd3 Rf8 27.Kg1 h4) 20.Nd6+ Bxd6 21.Qxd6 Qa5+ (21...Qe4 22.Rb7 Qh4+ 23.g3 Qd8 24.Qxe5 Rh6 25.Qg7 1–0 Fernandez Siles,L (2289)-Gamundi Salamanca,A (2439)/Albacete 2004/[,James]) 22.Kf1 Kf7 (22...Ra7) 23.Rb7+! I really loved this move here, white gets a flying pig on the 7th regardless. Pigs are greedy and very hungry. 23...Kg6 (23...Bxb7 24.Rxb7+ Kg6 25.Qxe6+ Kg5 26.g3 Qa1+ 27.Kg2+-) 24.Rc7 e4 (24...Re8 25.Bf3! Qa2 26.Rb3! Preventing the black queen from centralizing at the expense of another pawn! 26...Qxc2 27.Qxe5! Rg8) 25.Qg3+ Kf6 26.Qg7# 1–0 Moranda,W (2458)-Carstensen,J (2311)/Krakow 2004/) 19.Nd6+ Bxd6 20.Qxd6 Qa5+ 21.Kf1 Ra7 22.Rb8 Qc7 (22...Kf7 23.Rxc8! Rxc8 24.Bc4 The black pawns around the king act as a punching bag for whites superior army 24...Re8 25.Bxe6+ Rxe6 26.Rxf5+ Kg7 27.Qxe6 Qb5+ 28.Kf2 Qc5+ 29.Kg3 Qe7 30.Qxe5+ Qxe5+ 31.Rxe5 1–0 Kedyk,D (2289)-Chiong,L (2381)/Parsippany 2005) 23.Qxe6+ 1–0 Tayar,J (2214)-Livshits,R (2355)/Toronto 2006] 18.Rd1! Both of whites rooks are mobilised on optimum files for an aggressive campaign against theblackking 18...Qd5 seeking the white queen for a trade to alleviate the amounting pressure 19.Qe3 hiding from the black queen 19...Qa5+ 20.c3 calmly blocks the check, with threats of Nxf6 check 20...f5 21.Qg3! a devestati ng move continuing to grab more territory around the exposed black king 21...Kf8 there are no alternatives [21...Kf7? 22.Rxf5+! This move was suppoed to be a sideline but it became reality 22...exf5 23.Bc4+ Kf8 (23...Be6 24.Bxe6+ Kxe6 25.Qg6+ Bf6 26.Qxf6#) 24.Qg6 Bh4+ 25.g3 Ra7 26.gxh4 1–0 Orlov,A (2433)-Balcerak,J (2429)/Germany 2005 (27); 21...fxe4 22.Qg6# thats checkmate if pawn takes knight] 22.Qg6 black is busted here, the white pieces have infiltrated blacks defenses and a brilliant rook lift seals the outcome of the game 22...Qa4 what does white to play here? 23.Rf3!! threatening Rg3 to deliver mate on g7 23...Ra7 it is too late to cover up the exposed 7th rank 24.Rg3 Bh4 25.Ng5 all of whites pieces are harmoniously participating in the assault and one tempi in these sharp positions is like eternity for the defending side. Ng5 cuts off the black bishop from f6 and d8 to highlight two weak color complexes around the 25...Bxg3+ 26.hxg3 Qa5 27.Qf6+ Kg8 28.Rd8+ Qxd8 Recuperating the lost material with an overwhelming advantage because of the sleepy heads on c8 and h8 29.Qxd8+ Kg7 30.Qd6 This whole variation puts a question mark on 15. .Be7 and 15..Qxa2 as advertised in the Kasparov games is a forced draw for white 1–0

"Hey are you the guy that lost to the 4 move checkmate?"

2006-11-17T14:32:00.000-08:00

Homer:
"Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is, never try."

(Homer is right, never just "try" but we must "do" our very best!)

Taking the Star ferry from Hong Kong Island to Kowloon is always a blast. It's the best way to see the Hong Kong skyline whether you are a tourist or a local. When I played in my first tournament I took the ferry everyday!

My first ever tournament was
in the mall next to Ocean Terminal in Hong Kong. I have fond memories of playing there but not so fond memories of my games. What can I say? I must have been day dreaming!
The game was costly but moreso I got the nickname of "4 move checkmate" for many years to come.

Even when I won the team championship for my elementary school it didn't matter! I was always known in chess circles as the dude that lost to the 4 move checkmate!! Thanks to the kids from our main rival German Swiss School; especially a kid called Brian Lui who pushed me to work harder. Eventually from rivals we became friends and we were lucky to have the opportunity to play chess and work as a team when we visited Beijing and Kula Lumpar(Genting Highlands)

Ocean Terminal at night. The
ferries from the Terminal go to SEZ (special economic zones) zones in southern China which have factories ranging from high tech Japanese,Korean establishments
to local silk worm factories.

Now back to the 4 move checkmate and other subvariations!

1.e4 e5 2.Qh5 g6 3.Qxe5++-
I remember when I was 7 I was beating up kids in my chess club at school until I was ranked 5th out of 30 kids. I then needed to play a kid ranked #4. I still remember the name Paul Hilling. He played Qh5 on move 2, I played g6 next and guess what I lost my rook on move 4! This may sound silly but one of the other reasons why I fell for this trick was because he played it very quickly but above all I played carelessly.

The most popular move order but perhaps not the best!
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Qf3 The cornerstone of the 4 move checkmate. I prefer playing Qh5 as we will later on see that if black plays 3..Nf6 after Qh5, Qxf7 is checkmate!
The Queen to f3 move order is far
more common but that doesn't mean it is the best. With 3.Qf3 you can block with 3..Nf6 or 3..Qf6. 3..Nf6 is the best because you develop a knight preparing to castle.

Position after 3..Nh6

Nh6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxh6!
This is a common theme to eliminate
the defender on h6. Yesterday at the club there was a really bright Kid called Joshua that said he knew how to defend against the 4 move checkmate. I later told him that he was right, it did defend against the mate with Nh6 but wasn't the most sturdy of 4 move checkmate defenses. Atleast he didn't commit the same mistake in a tournament when I was around his age!

Position after 3..Nf6??
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Qh5 Nf6 4.Qxf7#

I remember playing this game
in my first tournament at the mall adjacent ocean terminal center.When I touched my knight on g8 my opponent immediately called "Touch move!" I hadn't been that well acquainted with this rule, I stumbled and played 3..Nf6?? and I was mated next move. I still remember walking around the Mcdonalds in agony after this game realizing what a careless mistake I had made!

A recent game that caught my eye!

2006-11-15T13:28:00.000-08:00

Chess fans around the world are being spoilt with games from the Tal Memorial this November. The main event is a Category XX round robin which includes heavy weight players: Levon Aronian, Peter Svidler, Peter Leko, Alexei Shirov, Boris Gelfand, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Magnus Carlsen, Alexander Morozevich, Alexander Grischuk and Ruslan Ponomariov.

Levon Aronian from Armenia.
One of my favourite players who plays uncompromising aggressive chess.
In this photo we can see his dress
style is classic with a taint of pimp.

Shirov,A (2720) - Aronian,L (2741) [C89]
Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (4), 10.11.2006
[,James]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0–0 8.c3 Shirov bravely walks into the Marshall attack 8...d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.d4 Bd6 13.Re1 Qh4 14.g3 Qh3 15.Re4 g5 This move in the Marshall attack gained popularity when Peter Leko used it with astounding success against present World Champion Vladmir Kramink.The simple reason is a) allows the black queen shelter from a rook lift to h4 and b)White can't take the pawn on g5 because Qf5 would fork both pieces on g5 and e4. 16.Qf1 I noticed this move has been in vogue very recently. Apparently Qf3 is the book move 16...Qh5 17.Nd2 Bf5 18.f3 Nf6 19.a4 Nxe4 20.Nxe4 Qg6 21.Nxd6 Qxd6 22.Bxg5 Qg6 23.Qc1 Bd3 24.axb5 axb5 25.Rxa8 Rxa8 26.Kf2 Bc4 27.Bxc4 [27.Bc2 Qe6 28.Be3] 27...bxc4 28.g4 Re8 29.Bf4 Qd3 30.Kg3 Qe2 31.Qb1 Qe1+ 32.Qxe1 Rxe1 33.Bd6 Rg1+ 34.Kf2 Rb1 35.Ba3 Kg7 36.Kg3 Kg6 37.h3 h5 38.Kh4 Rg1 39.Bc5 Rg2 40.Ba3 f6 41.gxh5+ Kf5 42.f4 Rg8 43.Bd6 Ke6

Position after 44.h6
44.h6 Shirov jettisons the bishop with hopes of promoting his h pawn while the black king secures key squares to ensure the hippo has safe passage. Question now: Is this is a trap and can Aronian take the billy bishop?(or coca cola bottle like some kids like to say) This endgame sequence is very instructive, Karpov commented on the russian sites live analysis that Aronian had unleashed a diamond in the rough and that this game would go down in the problem solving books. The beauty of this game is that taking the h8 rook is taboo. It reminds me of an army blindly looting the enemy supply crates(in this case rook on h8 is a clever decoy) in a narrow valley when suddenly they are cornered by the opposing armys general despite having a lesser army(pawn deficit) they have the advantage because he has the high ground(restricting the white king). 44...Kxd6 45.Kh5 f5 46.h7 Rh8 47.Kg6 Ke7 48.Kg7

Position after 48..Ke8!!

48..Ke8!! Absolutely remarkable!! Did Shirov miss this move? If 49.Kxh8 then black plays 49..Kf8 and ever so cunningly dances around f7 and f8. Notice the pawn on c4 and c6 although they are pawn islands are fixing the white pawns on d4,c3 and b2. 49.Kg6 Kf8 50.h4 white is slowly running out of moves! [50.Kh6 If the king hides behind the hippo pawn black happily gains possession of the f7 square whereby it will share the same fate if it were on h8. 50...Kf7] 50...Ke7 51.Kg7 Ke8!! yet again! 52.Kg6 Kf8 53.h5 I am sure that Shirov has seen the outcome by now but is just playing out the moves for aesthetic purposes 53...Ke7 54.Kg7 Ke8!! and again! the black rook simply can'tbe captured 55.Kg6 Kf8

Position after 56.h6

56.h6 Ke8 57.Kf6 [57.Kg7 Now black will be in zugzwang after: 57...Ke7 58.Kg6 Kf8!] 57...Rxh7 58.Kg6

Position after 58..Rf7!!

58..Rf7!! and again we have reached the same comical position where the rook will return to its rightful spot on h8,ultimately white will run out of moves and have to allow a black pawn to promote[58...Rh8 is also good 59.h7 Rf8 60.Kg7 Rh8 61.Kg6 Kf8 62.Kxf5 Rxh7–+] 0–1
Without a shadow of a doubt this endgame is a diamond in the rough that will go down in endgame study books just like Karpov said!

Castle in the Sky

2006-11-15T00:15:00.001-08:00

When I was around 7 I moved from Riyadh to Hong Kong having just been acquainted with chess. This was the first movie I saw in Hong Kong "Castle in the Sky" by anime genius Hayao Miyazaki. For a while after seeing this movie I really thought castles (rooks) toured around the airy clouds in the sky :-)

Castle in the Sky (2)

2006-11-15T00:08:00.001-08:00

More amazing scenes from Castle in the Sky!

Moscow 1925

2006-11-14T23:27:00.001-08:00

Contains a brief video clip of Capablanca arriving and leaving from his car. There is a brief moment where we can see Torre play against Marshall!

José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera

2006-11-14T21:43:00.000-08:00

Cuba Havana:Grand Theatre
de La Habana Garcia Lorca

It is rumoured that Capablanca learnt how to play chess at the tender age of 4 while watching his father play!

The Charismatic Capablanca posing on the front cover for the perhaps the worlds most famous magazine: TIME
Capablanca,Jose Raul - Marshall,Frank James
[C62]USA m New York (6), 1909[,James]1.e4 Bobby Fischer recently gave an interview in Iceland and speaking of the greatest worldchampions ever he spoke fondly of Capablanca:

"Morphy and Capablanca had enormous talent, Steinitz was very great too. Alekhine was great, but I am not a big fan of his. Maybe it's just my taste. I've studied his games a lot, but I much prefer Capablanca and Morphy. Alekhine had a rather heavy style, Capablanca was much more brilliant and talented, he had a real light touch. Everyone I've spoken to who saw Capablanca play still speak of him with awe. If you showed him any position he would instantly tell you the right move. When I used to go to the Manhattan Chess Club back in the fifties, I met a lot of old-timers there who knew Capablanca, because he used to come around to the Manhattan club in the forties - before he died in the early forties. They spoke about Capablanca with awe. I have never seen people speak about any chess player like that, before or since."

In this game the Mozart of Chess Capablanca disects blacks army(Frank Marshall then US champion) in a Ruy Lopez like a butcher at a slaughter house. As a kid his play left a huge impression on me because it almost seemed as if Capablanca's moves were majestic. The story behind the Charismatic Capablanca being a Cuban celebrity with diplomatic status was one that few chess players ever achieved. Once his plans were unveiled his technique of deploying his army on the most influential squares became crystal clear and almost methodical. Throughout this game Capablanca dominated Frank Marshall. Capablanca was indeed a man with a plan! 1...e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 4.c3 Bg4!? An unconventional way of playing the steinitz Ruy Lopez the black bishop gets kicked out of g4 eventually with the knight manouevre d2-f1 and ultimately e3 [4...Bd7 this move is more common although the steinitz hasn't been very popular in top level chess anymore 5.0–0 Nge7 6.d4 Ng6 7.Re1 Be7 8.Nbd2 0–0 9.Nf1 Bf6] 5.d3 Be7 6.Nbd2 Nf6 7.0–0 0–0 8.Re1 h6 9.Nf1 Nh7 10.Ne3 The knight goes to greener pastures controlling the crucial squares d5,f5 and which are the main sources of blacks pawn breaks. 10...Bh5 11.g4 white gains space by marching the gorilla pawn and plans to expand on the kingside 11...Bg6 12.Nf5 h5? Lasker later admitted that this was a mistake as later on we will see Capablanca infiltrate his rooks along the h file 13.h3 supporting the gorilla pawn 13...hxg4 14.hxg4 Bg5 Marshall using classical princples to exchange his bad pieces but this doesn't alleviate the oncoming pressure 15.Nxg5 Nxg5 16.Kg2!

Position after 16.Kg2!

the rooks will soon be free to roam along the back rank 16...d5 [16...Ne6 simply no time and the suficent resources for his own knight manoeuvers 17.Rh1 Nf4+ 18.Bxf4 exf4 19.Qf3] 17.Qe2 Re8 18.Rh1 Re6 19.Qe3 This is a powerful queen regrouping from e3-g3 to h4 19...f6 20.Ba4 The white bishop planning to go to snowier plains where it can highlight the weakness along the b3 g8 diagonal against the rook on e6 and king on g8 20...Ne7 21.Bb3 c6 22.Qg3 a5 23.a4 calmly repelling the threat of pushing the bishop off b3 23...Nf7 24.Be3 b6 notice this does prevent the bishop from occupying c5 however the the drawback is that it also needs to be protected by the black queen! 25.Rh4 Kf8 26.Rah1 Ng8

27.Qf3! centralizing the queen and forcing a series of exhcanges in the center. A deceptively quiet but logical idea to focus on d5 27...Bxf5 true this eliminate s the knight on f5 but this is only temporary as now the squares on g6 and h7 are eternally weak for black 28.gxf5 Rd6 29.Qh5 Ra7 30.Qg6 occupying g6 as advertised 30...Nfh6

Position after 30..Nhf6?
31.Rxh6! there is no preventing white from storming the barricades!31...gxh6 32.Bxh6+ Ke7 [32...Nxh6 33.Rxh6 Rf7; 32...Nxh6 33.Rxh6 Rf7 34.Rh8+ Ke7 35.Rxd8+-] 33.Qh7+ Ke8 34.Qxg8+ Kd7 there are a few ways to finish black off but Capablanca finds the most stylish move order 35.Qh7+ [35.Bf8 Kc8 36.Rh8 Rdd7 37.exd5 cxd5 38.Be7 Qxg8+ 39.Rxg8+ Kc7] 35...Qe7 36.Bf8! a very appeasing move to play for Capablanca; the dormant rook on h1 now plays a role in supporting the queen on the 7th while bishop on f8 simultaneously pins the queen and rook! 36...Qxh7 37.Rxh7+ Kc8 38.Rxa7 simply the work of a genius. a grandmaster once said that rooks on the seventh rank are like flying pigs!

To replay this game in a window please click here

Windmill Scenes by Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc.

2006-11-14T17:03:00.001-08:00

Whenever I hear the song "Feel good inc" by Gorillaz it reminds me of Moscow 1925 Carlos Torre-Emanuel Lasker Windmill theme!

Wacky Windmill

2006-11-14T15:08:00.000-08:00

A scene from "feel good inc"with a windmill in the sky emerging from the clouds.:-)

Famous tourist attractions in Moscow!

St Basil's Cathedral simply a masterpiece!

During the early 90's I was fortunate to have visited Moscow and St.Petersburg in Russia. It was really an eye opening experience, the amount of culture, art and architecture in those cities is probably unrivaled with in Europe and maybe only Paris,Milan,Prague and Budapest can be compared to them. Even the (tube) or subway was glorified with art and sculptures! I remember I was losing my patience as a kid trying to pull my mom out of the art galleries to go shopping for Russian air force watches, so beware if you have little patience and are touring those cities with an art connoisseur you have been warned! Boy do I regret doing that, if I go to Russia again I will spend weeks touring those museums again!

The famous Friendship fountain!

Carlos Torre 21 years old in 1925

Mexico's most legendary player had brilliant results competing in major tournaments against the world's elite players. In those tournaments, the 21-year-old Torre finished just behind the heavy weights like Capablanca, Lasker, Nimzowitsch, and Bogoljubow, while placing ahead of giants Reti, Spielmann, Yates, Marshall, Grunfeld, and Tartakower and others great ones from the world elite. Then all of a sudden Carlos Torre mysteriously disappeared from the world chess circuit. One of his greatest games that left a deep impression on me was his game against World Champion Emanuel Lasker in Moscow 1925 known as the "windmill" and in many chess publications this game was supposedly played on Carlos Torre's birthday; what a birthday present to beat the champ! Incidentally whenever I hear a song from the band gorillaz from the album "feel good inc" it reminds me of this famous game that's why I have included the video above this post :-)

Torre Repetto,Carlos - Lasker,Emanuel [A46]Moscow,1925 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bg5 c5 4.e3 cxd4 5.exd4 Be7 6.Nbd2 d6 7.c3 Nbd7 8.Bd3 b6 9.Nc4 Bb7 10.Qe2 Qc7 11.0–0 0–0 12.Rfe1 Rfe8 13.Rad1 Nf8 14.Bc1 Nd5 15.Ng5 b5 16.Na3 b4 17.cxb4 Nxb4 18.Qh5 Bxg5 19.Bxg5 Nxd3 20.Rxd3 Qa5 21.b4 Qf5 22.Rg3 h6 23.Nc4 Qd5 24.Ne3 Qb5

What does white play here?

25.Bf6!! Offering the queen to expose the rook to g7. The position is now ripe for the famous windmill to take place! Qxh5 26.Rxg7+ Kh8 27.Rxf7+ Kg8 28.Rg7+ the rook moving back and forth obliterating everything in its path Kh8 29.Rxb7+ Kg8 30.Rg7+ Kh8

Precision in the following position after 31.Rg5+!! This is the correct move as it would be silly to be greedy and munch the pawn on a7 because that activates the sleepy rook along the a file.

31.Rg5+! now white has reaped what he sewed with the windmill Kh7 32.Rxh5 Kg6 33.Rh3 Kxf6 34.Rxh6+
and Carlos Torre soon won the game with three pawns up!
Kg5 35.Rh3 Reb8 36.Rg3+ Kf6 37.Rf3+ Kg6 38.a3 a5 39.bxa5 Rxa5 40.Nc4 Rd5 41.Rf4 Nd7 42.Rxe6+ Kg5 43.g3 1-0

To replay this game on a board please click here

My Chess Coach

2006-11-14T10:53:00.000-08:00

My chess coach is Alex Pipa. The gentleman on the left was who he studied under the legendary former world champion Iron Tigran Petrosian like Botvinnik is recognized as one of the patriarchs of chess in the past Soviet Union. When Alex was a kid he drew a game against Iron Tigran with a better position!

Finally here is a picture of my chess coach and good friend Alex Pipa International Master from Ukraine Kiev boasting a FIDE rating of 2443. Not only is he a great coach but he is also a wonderful person to hang around with. If you are a serious student of the game and want to have lessons with Alex please contact him at chesscoach@shaw.ca for more information on his areas of chess teaching. Amongst those junior players in BC that have benefited from Alex's tutelage are experts Andrey Kostin, Valentina Goutor and rising junior star Arie Milner. Languages that Alex can communicate in are Ukranian, Russian and English.

Kasparov on pins and needles!

2006-10-30T00:03:00.001-08:00

As a kid I always dreamt about going against the Michael Jordan of Chess Garry Kasparov. The internet has revoultionized the methods and techniques of chess study and many things that we dream can now become a realization in the age of the internet explosion. In this advertisement by search engine AltaVista a kid has Kasparov on Pins and needles possibly because he searched for "How can I beat Kasparov in an evans gambit?"
Why we are producing so many Super GM's at a tender age.
With the right guidance,discipline,good attitude and hard work, anything is possible that is if you believe in yourself
:-)

Michael Jordan

2006-10-29T23:57:00.001-08:00

Okidoki now I know this is not chess related but if you are a basketball fan I am sure you will appreciate it. This is one of the reasons why there are still legions of Jordan fans even today. This dunk from Jordan is like poetry in motion!

Buffalo Soldier

2006-10-19T06:00:00.000-07:00

A Japanese lady posing at Robson Square chess corner. Great for tourists and chess players to hang out during the summer!

Last year while passing by the chess corner at Robson Square, I bumped into Mayo Fuentebella who was playing through some games and he asked me, "What do you think is good after white plays 5.Ng5 in a two knights defense?" while shuffling the pieces on the board. I knew there were a few replies but I told him b5 "marching the buffalo soldier!" because I thought that would lead to entertaining chess. To my surprise he exclaimed "yes you know this move too?" I actually didn't know the theory and he proceeded to demonstrate why taking the pawn on b5 immediately was a poor decision so here I will attempt to expand on my two knights repitoire.

Estrin,Yakov - Berkiner,Hans [C57]
World Correspondence Championship New York, 1965-1968
[,James]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 critical move Immediately trying to soften f7 4...d5 We are now entering the two knights defense [4...Bc5 traxler gambit] 5.exd5 b5!

Marching the buffalo pawn bravely forwards! We call this the Ulvestad variation introduced by American master Olav Ulvestad in 1941 in an article of Chess Review. If black were to play 5.. Nxd5 6.Nf7!? is a common reply in correspondence chess named the Fegatello Attack or more common in chess books as the fried liver attack because fegatello in Italian means "piece of liver" [5...Nxd5 6.d4 Lolli variation known to give white a small but sustainable edge 6...Bb4+ 7.c3 Be7 8.dxe5 Bxg5 9.Bxd5 Nxe5 10.f4 Bh4+ 11.g3 Ng4 12.Bf3 Qxd1+ 13.Bxd1 Be7 14.h3 Nf6 15.Bf3 Bc5; 5...Na5 another one of the standard responses] 6.Bf1! the best move for white, the idea here is if 6..Qxd5 white can play 7.Nc3 with gain of tempi because the bishop serves a purpose of protecting the pawn on g2 [6.Bxb5 obvious response but a mistake 6...Qxd5 7.Bxc6+ (7.Nc3 Qxg2 8.Qf3 Qxf3 9.Nxf3 Bd7 breaking the pin,balanced position according to Christiansen) 7...Qxc6 8.Qf3 e4 9.Qc3 Qb5; 6.dxc6 bxc4 c6 pawn is weak black has greater control on the center and good prospects of seizing the initiative] 6...Nd4 the critical move getting ready for offensive operations 7.c3 trying to kick the knight and make him declare his intentions 7...Nxd5 8.Ne4 key move [8.Nxf7?! Kxf7 9.cxd4 exd4 10.Qf3+ Nf6! I've come across this postion in tournament practice and failed to find the beautiful move over the board 10..Nf6. jettisoning a whole rook! Blacks active piece play is more than enough compensation for whites lack of development. Incidentally when I watched VanRiemsdijk analyse in post mortems during Keres Memorial 2003 I found his endgame analysis very enlightening. It was then that I began to realize that serious study in this part of the game can actually improve ones feel for the mobility of his pieces in the middle game. 11.Qxa8 Bc5 12.Be2 d3!! 13.Nc3 Re8 14.b4 Bd4 15.Bb2 dxe2 16.f3 Bf2+! 17.Kxf2 Qxd2 There is no defense with the threat of double check on f2 white has to dig his own grave 18.Rae1 Qd4+ 0–1 Langier,D (2240)-Van Riemsdijk,H (2450)/Mar del Plata 1991/EXT 99; 8.Nf3 Nxf3+ 9.Qxf3 c6 black has a good game] 8...Qh4 in the spirit of the two knights defense counter attack is the best policy [8...Ne6 9.Bxb5+ is a nono for black] 9.Ng3 Bg4! aggressive move attacking the queen.

Van Riemsdijk knows what to do when they play 8.Nf7!?

Interesting sideline in blitz. Position after 12..Qh3!!

[9...Bb7 This maybe an interesting try in blitz chess. Black gives up a piece which is typical in these variations but this line is less analysed compared to the standard 9..Bg4 10.cxd4 0–0–0 11.Bxb5 Nf4 12.0–0 (12.Qb3 Nxg2+ 13.Kd1 exd4 14.Qxf7 Nf4 15.Qf5+ Kb8 16.Rf1 Bd6) 12...Qh3!! 0–1 Lvov-L Radchenko/URS 1957]

Back to the main game now:

Another amazing position with two pieces en prise!
10.f3 e4! putting new pressure on the important focal point e4 and there are new threats along the d6 g3 diagonal 11.cxd4 Bd6 the Bf8 itching to help black with his aggressive campaign 12.Bxb5+ going back and forth the diagonal finally pounces on the white pawn 12...Kd8 perhaps black has ideas of bringing the rook to e8 13.0–0 the best move for white a castled king is usually safer than sitting in the center [13.fxg4 Bxg3+ 14.hxg3 Qxh1+ 15.Bf1 Nb4 16.Nc3 Nd3+ 17.Ke2 Qg1 18.Nxe4 Qxd4 19.Kf3 Ne5+ 20.Kf4 g5+ 21.Kxg5 Qxe4 22.d4 h5 23.Qe2–+ mate in 7(23.dxe5+ Ke7) ; 13.Kf2 exf3 14.gxf3 Bh3 unmasking an attack on d4 15.Qe2 Be6! with the threat of bg3+] 13...exf3 14.Rxf3 maybe the best move [14.Qb3! the move that the big boys are playing, getting out of the pin and harrassing the knight 14...Nf4 Christiansen believes white holds comfortably after Nf4(14...Nb4! Nb4 has many good points here: a)supports the idea of c6 b)and another important point is that it gives black the option of bringing the rook to e8 c)might have future coniderations of occupying the c2 square 15.Rxf3 Rb8 16.Na3 not an ideal square but c3 cuts the communication 16...c6 17.Bf1) ] 14...Rb8 superior development! 15.Be2 [15.Nc3 Nxc3 16.dxc3 Rxb5 17.Qd3 Rh5; 15.Bc4 Bxf3 16.Qxf3 Qxd4+ loses material] 15...Bxf3 16.Bxf3 Qxd4+ 17.Kh1 Bxg3

18.hxg3 Rb6! rook lift along the sixth rank 19.d3 Ne3 20.Bxe3 Qxe3 21.Bg4 [21.Nc3 Rh6+ 22.Bh5 g6 23.g4 gxh5 24.g5 Qxg5] 21...h5 22.Bh3 g5 23.Nd2 g4 shutting off the bishop and converting to a won rook and pawn endgame 24.Nc4 Qxg3 25.Nxb6 gxh3 26.Qf3 hxg2+ 27.Qxg2 Qxg2+

What's the correct pawn recapture here?
28.Kxg2 cxb6! taking this way retains winning chances, by common sense this is a better alternative than giving white a passed a pawn with axb6, 29.Rf1 Ke7 30.Re1+ Kd6 31.Rf1 Rc8 32.Rxf7 Rc7 33.Rf2 Ke5 34.a4 This is a mistake because it creates new weakness' in blacks camp on squares b3 and b4 which hastens blacks demise 34...Kd4 35.a5 Kxd3 36.Rf3+ Kc2 37.b4 b5 38.a6 Rc4 39.Rf7 Rxb4 40.Rg7 Rg4+ 41.Kf3 b4 42.Rxa7 b3 0–1

The Wizard from Riga

2006-10-17T23:27:00.000-07:00

1962 Olympiad in Varna, Bulgaria next to the Black Sea

Still a Chess Wizard
but a little wiser!

Tal,Mihail - Hecht,Hans Joachim [E13]

Varna ol (Men) fin-A Varna (9), 1962[,James]

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to play Hans Joachim this year. He tightened the screws in a french defense. It wasn't pretty. As a result I was curious what it took to beat a grandmaster? That's right it takes a Super grand master or in this case a Wizard! The Wizard from Riga(Latvia):Mikhail Tal. Botvinnik once commented that if he managed to program himself correctly (taking better care of his lifestyle)he would be unstopable!

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 Bb7 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 Bxc3+ A Queens Indian Defense. The topical 7..g5 is still in vogue in top level games. 8.bxc3 d6 9.Nd2 Planning to grab space in the center with f3 and e4 while neutralizing the light square Bishop on b7 9...e5 10.f3 Qe7 11.e4 Nbd7 12.Bd3 Nf8 13.c5! A classic pawn sac to storm the barricades while the black monarch is still in the center. 13...dxc5 [13...g5 14.Bb5+ c6 15.cxd6 Qxd6 16.Nc4] 14.dxe5 Qxe5 15.Qa4+ c6 [15...N8d7 16.Rc1 0–0 17.Bg3! with the idea of advancing the pawns from f3 f4 and e4 e5!] 16.0–0 Ng6 17.Nc4 Qe6 18.e5! uncompromising chess to rip open the e file 18...b5! Hect fearless and unafraid to go into complications.

19.exf6!! bxa4 With fritz(comupter analysis) this position is about equal but imagine facing such complications over the board it is an arduous task against an opponent going for the kill 20.fxg7 Rg8 Can you predict Tals next move?
It involves deflecting the black queen
so that the rooks can take advantage
of the open files int he center with
the exposed black king!

21.Bf5!! Very stylish chess. Offering the light squared bishop to activate the white rooks 21...Nxh4 [21...Qxc4 22.Rfe1+ Qe6 23.Rxe6+ fxe6 24.Bxg6+ Kd7 25.Rd1+ Kc7 26.Bg3+ Kb6 27.Rb1+ Ka6 28.Bd3+ Ka5 29.Bc7#; 21...Qxf5 This variant offers black the best chances and in soltis best games he quotes this as a minimum edge for white 22.Nd6+ Kd7 23.Nxf5 Nxh4 24.Rad1+ Kc7 25.Nxh4 Bc8] 22.Bxe6 Ba6 23.Nd6+

Ke7 24.Bc4 Rxg7 25.g3 Kxd6 26.Bxa6 Nf5 27.Rab1 f628.Rfd1+Ke7

(diagram)Despite whites pawn deficit he has a significant advantage because of the weak black pawn islands and the more active pieces. Remember rooks belong on the open files? When you rook is still a sleepy head on a8 at this stage of the game something must be going wrong! 29.Re1+ Kd6 30.Kf2 Tal having reached a

favorable position with his attack is now playing "karpov style" active prophylaxis to reach a won rook and pawn end game 30...c4 Soltis recommended ..h5 as an alternative to jettisoning the c pawn to vacate c5 for the black king. ..h5 does momentarily prevent g4 31.g4! restricting the black knight 31...Ne7 [31...Nh4 32.Kg3] 32.Rb7 Rag8 33.Bxc4 Nd5 34.Bxd5 cxd5 35.Rb4 Rc8 36.Rxa4 Rxc3 37.Ra6+ Kc5 38.Rxf6 h5 39.h3 hxg4 40.hxg4 Rh7 41.g5 Rh5 42.Rf5 Rc2+ 43.Kg3 Kc4 44.Ree5 d4 45.g6 Rh1 46.Rc5+ Kd3 47.Rxc2 Kxc2 48.Kf4 Rg1 49.Rg5 Rooks belong behind passed pawns![49.Rg5 Rxg5 50.Kxg5 d3 51.g7 d2 52.g8Q d1Q 53.Qb3+ and the f pawn promotes] 1–0.

Rook Endgames!

2006-10-08T15:40:00.000-07:00

Rook and pawn endgames are the most common of endgame positions.
Whether being having the extra pawn or being the defender with a pawn down knowing these positions can save you lots of time instead of trying to figure it out over the board. Credit goes to Stephen Wright here as he taught me these basic positions.

Basic Philidor's Position

Philidor's position - 3rd rank defense
1...Rb6! Philidor's position: AKA: 3rd rank defense Black draws in this position after playing 1..Rb6. Black's defensive technique is to camp until white pushed the pawn to e6. Now the rook will fall back to b1. Now with the pawn advanced there is no shelter for the white king ½–½

Back rank defense that works with gorilla,hippo pawns or g and h pawns!

This is the bank rank defense! What's a bank rank defense? It's when you just sit and shuffle your rook along your defending back rank. However this back rank defense only works if the attacking side is using its knight and rook pawns 1.Kg5 [1.g7 Rb6+; 1.Rg7+ Kh8] 1...Rc8 2.Kh6 Rb8 3.Rg7+ Kh8! [3...Kf8? 4.Kh7 Rb1 5.Rf7+ Ke8 6.Rf4 After this inaccuracy of moving the king to the center in the bank rank defense white can now aim for the "bridge building position"or"Lucena"] 4.Rh7+ Kg8 5.Ra7 Rc8 ½–½

Back rank defense fails here with a (flamingo) f pawn

Now we can take a look and see that the back rank defense does not work if the atacker has a pawn that didn't orignate from the a,b,g or h files 1...Kg8 2.Rg7+ Kf8 [2...Kh8 the f pawn can still check the king and dislodge it from the g8 square so we get the same position as in the game 3.Rh7+ Kg8 4.f7+] 3.Rh7 Kg8 4.f7+ Kf8 5.Rh8+ That's why it is so critical to go for the Philidor's position and play the rook on the other side of the board whenever the attacker pushes the pawn on your third rank. However what happens when the king is one file next to the pawn and already on the third rank? 1–0

What should white do here if he wants to play on for a win?
1.Kf6! This is white's best winning chance because now if black tries to check on b6 the white pawn will ultimately advance and queen [1.Ke6 If white plays Ke6 black can just check with on b6 and they will repeat the poistion]

The correct defensive technique for black!
Putting the rook behind the pawn
...Re1! Thus this is the most accurate move in this position and it is also called the "short side defense" because the only way black can draw this position is if the black king marches to the short side when the white rook harrasses the black king! 2.Ke6 [2.Ra8+ Kd7 Now we can see why it is so crucial for the black rook to move behind the white pawn. The combination of rook and king prevent the pawn from promoting] 2...Kf8 When I first saw this position is was from Stephen Wright. IMHO his endgame knowledge is much stronger than many othermasters 3.Ra8+ Kg7 4.Re8 White's best try [4.Kd6 The white king tries to advance the pawn 4...Kf7! This halts the pawn in it's tracks as a result white's best try is the aforementioned 4.Re8]

Whites most creative attempt with 4.Re8 is met with nerve wrecking defense in 4..Ra1! A flexible switch in strategy to check the black king from the sidelines
4...Ra1! It's funny although this is called the short side defense the black rook goes as far as possible, I remember Stephen telling me to check the white king from the side! 5.Rd8 Trying to block the checks from the black rook then black just shuffles the rook behind the pawn to stop it from promoting 5...Re1 6.Rd7+ Kf8 7.Ra7 Re2!! 8.Ra8+ Kg7 9.Re8 Ra2 10.Rd8 Re2 11.Rd7+ Kf8 12.Ra7 Re1!! ½–½

Magic in Monte Carlo

2006-10-08T00:04:00.000-07:00

5th October Thursday session:
Botvinnik legendary coach and chess champion!

Avro Holland 1938
White to play in this position!
Botvinnik-Capablanca
The solution is a remarkable use of deflection!

What is even more remarkable is the continuation after 30.Ba3!! 30..Qxa3
31.Nh5! even more impressive is Botvinnik's farsightedness that allows him to parry the checks in the end.

Botvinnik,Mikhail - Capablanca,Jose Raul [E49]
AVRO Holland, 1938
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 d5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5 7.cxd5 exd5 8.Bd3 0–0 9.Ne2 b6 10.0–0 Ba6 11.Bxa6 Nxa6 12.Bb2 Qd7 13.a4 Rfe8 14.Qd3 c4 15.Qc2 Nb8 16.Rae1 Nc6 17.Ng3 Na5 18.f3 Nb3 19.e4 Qxa4 20.e5 Nd7 21.Qf2 g6 22.f4 f5 23.exf6 Nxf6 24.f5 Rxe1 25.Rxe1 Re8 26.Re6 Rxe6 27.fxe6 Kg7 28.Qf4 Qe8 29.Qe5 Qe7 30.Ba3 Qxa3 31.Nh5+ gxh5 32.Qg5+ Kf8 33.Qxf6+ Kg8 34.e7 Qc1+ 35.Kf2 Qc2+ 36.Kg3 Qd3+ 37.Kh4 Qe4+ 38.Kxh5 Qe2+ 39.Kh4 Qe4+ 40.g4 Qe1+ 41.Kh5 1–0

As a result we looked at his famous game against Portisch 30 years later!

The extravagant entrance of Casino Monte Carlo

Botvinnik,Mikhail - Portisch,Lajos [A29]
Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (7), 1968
[,James] Demo Game on 5th October
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Bg2 Entering the realm of the popular English four knights variation 5...Be6 [5...Nb6 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.0–0 Be7 Now a'days this move order is much more popular.] 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.0–0 Nb6 [7...Be7
I remember seeing this move order being emphasized in a game published in the Bccf bulletein with Jack Yoos mentioning the importance of playing 7..Nb6. Incidentally the elite chess players of Vancouver, Gary Basanta and Jack Yoos both play the four knights! 8.d4 exd4 9.Nxd4 Nxd4 10.Qxd4 Nxc3 11.Qxc3 0–0 12.Bxb7 Rb8 13.Bg2 Bf6 14.Qc2 Qc8 15.a4 c5 16.Ra3 c4 17.e4 Rd8 18.f4 Bd4+ 19.Kh1 f6 20.Re1] 8.d3 Be7 9.a3 a5 10.Be3 0–0 11.Na4 Nxa4 [11...Nd5 12.Bc5 b6 13.Bxe7 Ndxe7 Another possible alternative] 12.Qxa4 Bd5 13.Rfc1 Re8 14.Rc2 Bf8 Smyslov suggested 14..Bd6, 15..Ne7 as another defensive formation 15.Rac1 Nb8? Black is preparing c6, however trapping the rook turns out to be a miscalculation 16.Rxc7 Bc6

17.R1xc6!
17.R1xc6! bxc6
This is a typical Russian exchange sacrifice.
We don't need to have Botvinnik's brute force calculation to know that once the bishop on c6 is eliminated the white Bg2 will be more than enough compensation for the rook sacrificed.

18.Rxf7!!

18.Rxf7!! Indeed this move deserves another diagram, the rook is shattering the black defenses
on the light squares! 18...h6 [18...Kxf7 19.Qc4+ Kg6 (19...Qd5 20.Ng5+) 20.Qe4+ Kf7 21.Ng5+ Ke7 22.Qxe5++-] 19.Rb7 Qc8 20.Qc4+ Kh8

21.Nh4!

21.Nh4! Another offer of the white rook. The threat of Qf7 in addition to Ng6+ combined with Be4+ prompts black to take it. 21...Qxb7 22.Ng6+ Kh7 23.Be4 Bd6+- [23...Nd7 threat 24.Ne7+ Kh8 25.Qg8#] 24.Nxe5+ g6 [24...Kh8 25.Nf7+ Kg8 26.Nxd6+ wins the queen] 25.Bxg6+ Kg7 26.Bxh6+!! [26.Bxh6+ Kxh6 27.Qh4+ Kg7 28.Qh7+ Kf6 29.Ng4+ Ke6 30.Qxb7] 1–0

Rook power with Tartakower!

2006-10-07T23:06:00.000-07:00

The beautiful town of Teplice in the northwest of the czech republic. This game shows a masterful display of attack with the superior mobility of black's pieces!

Maroczy,Geza - Tartakower,Saviely [A85]
Teplitz-Schoenau Teplitz-Schoenau (4), 1922
[,James] Game demo on 28th Spetember

Teplice a beautiful city in the north west of the Czech Republic. Maracozy an engineer,mathematician,vagabond chess player. Tartakower a lieutenant in the french army spoke fluently in three languages, russian,german and french was also a distinguished journalist and frequented the roulette table too often. 1.d4 e6 2.c4 f5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.a3 Be7 5.e3 0–0 6.Bd3 white's mdest treatment of the opening encourages seeking e3-e4 instead of the Nf3/g2-g3/Bg2 encourages Black to adopt a stonewall pawn structure. 6...d5 7.Nf3 c6 8.0–0 Ne4 9.Qc2 Bd6 10.b3 Nd7 11.Bb2 Rf6 Black's plan seems to be naive but it is straightforward aiming for the weaks pawns on g2 and h2 12.Rfe1 Rh6 13.g3 Qf6 14.Bf1 [14.Nd2? Nxf2 15.Kxf2 Rxh2+ 16.Kg1 (16.Kf3 Qg5) 16...Bxg3] 14...g5 15.Rad1 g4 16.Nxe4 [16.Nh4 Rxh4; 16.Nd2 Nxf2 17.Kxf2 Rxh2+ 18.Bg2 Bxg3+ 19.Kxg3 (19.Kf1 f4) 19...Qh4+ 20.Kf4 g3+] 16...fxe4 17.Nd2

17..Rxh2!

Rxh2! What makes this sacrfifice so sensational is how black manages to sustain the attack even while half of his army is still asleep on the queenside 18.Kxh2 Qxf2+ 19.Kh1 Nf6 Black must take his time until the knight arrives on h5(not 19..Q*g3 then 20.Nb1) 20.Re2 Qxg3 21.Nb1 Nh5 If Qh4 instead here white returns the exchange with Rh2 to subdue tartakower's attack. 22.Qd2 [22.Rg2 Qxe3 23.Rxg4+ Kh8 24.Qg2 Ng3+ 25.Rxg3 Bxg3 26.Nc3 Bd7 27.Qd2 Qf3+ 28.Qg2 Rf8] 22...Bd7 23.Rf2 Qh4+ 24.Kg1 Bg3 25.Bc3 Bxf2+ 26.Qxf2 g3 27.Qg2 Rf8 28.Be1

28..Rxf1!

Rxf1+! The idea here is that now the Bishop on d7 suddenly becomes a monster as black now has a monopoly on the white squares surrounding the white king 29.Kxf1 e5! 30.Kg1 Bg4 31.Bxg3 Nxg3 32.Re1 Nf5 33.Qf2 Qg5 34.dxe5 [34.Qg2 Nxe3 35.Qg3 Nf5 36.Qg2 Nxd4 37.cxd5 Nf3+ 38.Kf1 Bh3 39.Qxh3] 34...Bf3+ 35.Kf1 Ng3+ 0–1

Kids Chess Tournaments

2006-10-07T16:13:00.000-07:00

Chess Tournament for Kids from K to Gr:8

How do you mate with Knight and Bishop?

2006-10-07T15:29:00.000-07:00

This demo was shown on September 7th upon request from a parent.
At first I thought perhaps there was little chance five,six year olds would be able to grasp the concept however Capablanca at a tender age was a huge fan of the endgame so I thought "hey maybe this can help wire their chess neural circuits properly". The idea was not to memorize the moves but rather I was hoping this demo could convey three impotant points:
a)to drive the opposing king in the corner of the same color complex as your bishop.
b)combining knight and bishop skilfully cage the enemy king
c)how to use ones own king to eventually help assist corner the enemy king
1.Nf7+ Kg8 2.Be4 Kf8 3.Bh7 Ke8 4.Ne5 Kd8 [4...Kf8 makes White's task easier: 5.Nd7+ Ke8 6.Ke6 Kd8 7.Kd6 Ke8 8.Bg6+ Kd8 9.Nc5 Kc8 10.Be8 Kd8 11.Bb5 Kc8 12.Bd7+ Kb8 13.Kc6 etc.] 5.Ke6 Kc7 Now the knight has to make a nifty manouevre to prevent the black king from breaking out the cage! 6.Nd7! Kc6 7.Bd3! Kc7 8.Bb5 Kb7 [8...Kd8 9.Nf6 Kc7 10.Nd5+] 9.Kd6 Kc8 10.Nf6 [10.Nc5!? Kd8 11.Nb7+ Kc8 12.Kc6] 10...Kd8 11.Nd5

This is the type of position you should aim for, In the next diagram it will show you how to corner the king.

Notice that White's pieces have built a fortress that holds the black king in the corner. The technique here to use your own king to push the black king in the corner. 1.Ke5 Kc8 2.Ke6 Kd8 3.Kd6‡ Kc8 4.Ke7 Kb7 5.Kd7 Kb8 6.Ba6! Ka7 7.Bc8 Kb8 8.Kd8 Ka7 9.Kc7 Ka8 10.Ne7 Ka7 11.Nc6+ Ka8 12.Bb7 checkmate!

Try doing the same thing this time
with the white bishop on the black square to familarise the technique needed to mate on both corners
1.Nc7+ Kb8 2.Bd4 Kc8 3.Ba7 Kd8 4.Nd5 Ke8 [4...Kc8 5.Ne7+ Kd8 6.Kd6 Ke8 7.Ke6 Kd8 8.Bb6+ Ke8 9.Nf5 Kf8 10.Bd8 Ke8 11.Bg5 Kf8 12.Be7+ Kg8 13.Kf6 Kh7 14.Kf7 Kh8 15.Kg6 Kg8] 5.Kd6 Kf7 6.Ne7 Kf6 7.Be3 Kf7 8.Bg5 Kg7 9.Ke6 Kf8 10.Nc6 Ke8 11.Ne5

1.Kd5 Kf8 2.Kd6 Ke8 3.Ke6 Kf8 4.Kd7 Kg7 5.Ke7 Kg8 6.Bh6 Kh7 7.Bf8 Kg8 8.Ke8 Kh7 9.Kf7 Kh8 10.Nd7 Kh7 11.Nf6+ Kh8 12.Bg7 checkmate!

Pictures from the Rod Planas Memorial

2006-08-21T17:43:00.000-07:00

I spent last week in Kelowna,Lake Okanagan (A river, about 483 km (300 mi) long, flowing southward from Lake Okanagan in southern British Columbia, Canada, to the Columbia River in north-central Washington)

Thanks to Pavel for sending me the photos! I learnt how to say in Russian:
"Dos Viydannia" = Goodbye
"Spass iba"= Thank you!
"Paja lista"=You're welcome
"Caro va"= Cow
The spelling is obviously not right but that's how it sounds like when you pronounce it in English.

Chicken farm at the Orchard where kids love chasing the chickens.

Feeding goats leaves from the trees. Leaves are like a delicacy to them.

This is the view from on top of the hill at the Vineyard. They are famous for ice wine.

This is the same spot with Nina throwing a "Carova" at her dad

Playing cards in the evening with Pavel's family Ruslan,Nina and Anna. I showed them play big 2 and they taught me how to play the Russian card game "fool" Does that mean you have to be foolish to get good at that?

Canadian Open 2006!

2006-08-04T02:30:00.000-07:00

Photo: Playing against German Grand Master Hans Hect in the earlier rounds. Who said Germans don't have fashion
sense?

(65) Chan,James - Zubac,Marius [B31]
[,James]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Here is another James annotation. This is my first time trying the Rossilimo Sicilian in tournament practice (3.Bb5). Please send me any feedback at chan_james17@hotmail.com Many Thanks! 3...g6 4.c3 [4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.h3 Bg7 6.d3 Nf6 7.Nc3 Nd7 8.Be3 e5 9.Nd2 Oratovsky's idea quoted in Tyomkn's annotations. I was considering to play this line since Marius likes to push e5. The idea here is that now black doesn't have time to complete the Nf8-e6-d4 manoeuvre because white's next move f4!] 4...Bg7 5.0–0 e5 We have reached the same position as Tyomkin-Zubac Kapuskasing 2004. Tyomkin played d3 a more positional approach. Tyomkin gave Zubac very high praise on his handling of open sicilian sveshnikov positions and running through games in my database this is indeed true. If even Tyomkin can't make a dent what are my expectations? 6.d4 This is a sharper alternative and statistically is as favourable as 6.d3 6...cxd4 7.cxd4 Nxd4 8.Nxd4 exd4 9.Bf4 a6 First new move here for black. usually Ne7 is played first. I was happy to have my Bishop pushed to c4 but this could be a double blessing because now my knight doesn't have this square. 10.Bc4 Qf6 [10...b5] 11.Qd2 The drawback here is that my knight takes forever to come into the game. I didn't want to waste a tempo going back to g3. [11.Qc1 Ne7 (11...b5 12.Bd5) 12.Bg5 Qe5 (12...Qd6) 13.f4 Qxe4] 11...Ne7 12.Bg5 Qd6 13.Na3 I'm suspicious about this move but oh well when I played Qd2 I also thought it gave me the option to put a rook behind the queen. Now my dream is to get my Knight to c4 so I guess black playing a6 has its merits 13...0–0 14.f4 Nc6 At this stage I was quite happy with my opening. I have a misplaced knight on the rim and I'm a pawn down but my flamingo pawn is very fierce [14...b5 Marius thought b5 but e5 is just good here 15.e5 Qc6] 15.f5 Be5 16.Kh1 Getting my king off the g1 diagonal in case black returns the pawn with d3 and plays Qd4+ 16...b5 17.Bd5 Bb7 18.Bh6 Rae8 black is sacrificing the exchange and perhaps this is the best decision in this position. I still have sleepy heads on a3 and a1 [18...Bxh2 19.fxg6 hxg6 20.Rf3] 19.Rf3 I'm in no hurry to take on f8 My rook on a1 is still a sleepy head 19...Nd8 20.Bxf8 Qxf8 21.fxg6 hxg6 22.Nc2 Bxd5 23.exd5 Qd6 24.a4? ya ya a4 tenderizing the pawn structure but could be pointless here simply a waste of time as I have no time to utilize the a file [24.Nxd4 Bxh2? 25.Qg5 Be5 26.Nf5 Qf8 27.Re1; 24.Nxd4 Qxd5 25.Nb3 (25.Rd3!) 25...Qxd2 26.Nxd2 Bxb2 This is what I was thinking during the game, I didn't see the intermezzo move with 25.Rd3! in this line! Ofcourse with 25.Nb3 I thought I would lose this endgame but damn how could I miss Rd3,] 24...Qxd5 25.axb5 axb5 26.Raf1 Qd6 27.Qf2 Re7 28.Ne1 f5 29.Nd3 Rh7? This is a mistake but during the game I didn't find the refutation 30.Nxe5 Qxe5 31.Rg3 [31.g4 a missed opportunity, we both missed the fritz move g4 in the post mortem 31...d5 (31...fxg4?? 32.Rf8+ Kg7 33.Rg8+ Kh6 34.Qh4+) 32.gxf5 gxf5 33.Qg2+ Rg7 34.Rxf5] 31...Kf7 32.Re1 Qd6 33.h3 Ne6 34.Rd3 Qd5 35.Kg1 g5 36.Rxe6 I thought this was a mistake but in Marius' opinion it was a good practical decision. However I regret playing this. I should have had more faith in my position [36.Qf3 Qxf3 37.Rxf3 Nf4 38.Re5 Kf6 39.Rxb5; 36.Rd2 g4 37.hxg4 f4 I was worried with this line that he would sac a pawn and get his queen to g5 or infiltrate on the h file. Maybe just hallucinations. It turns out that what I did drew the curtains a lot faster 38.Rd3 Qg5] 36...dxe6 37.Rxd4 Qc6 38.Qd2 Kf6 39.Rd6 Qc5+ 40.Kh2 Qe5+ 41.Kg1 Rc7 42.Rd8 Rc4 43.Rg8?? oops 43...Qc5+ 0-1

I learnt a lot in the post mortems especially the entertaining ones.
Frank Puskedra(colorful character)out played Marius in their game.
For some silly reason I really liked one of Franks quotes whenever he refuted a line in Marius sveshnikov.
"In comic books Super man flies but in real life he dies!" :-)

Notes:

Instead of 9.Bf4, 9.e5! is worth investigating.