27 October, 2009
New Name, Same Game: The Professor's Opening Revisions
1) Ruy Lopez --- "No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!"
2) The Sicialian --- "Some Italian Guy" or "My Name is Tony. How you doin'?"
3) Blackmar-Diemer Gambit --- "The Black Cat Ding Bat"
4) Caro-Kann Defense --- "The Ricardo"
5) Latvian Gambit --- "The Iron Curtain Coming Down"
6) Queen's Gambit --- "The Queen's Sac"
7) King's Gambit --- "The DeVries"
8) The Spike or Grob Opening --- "The Vince"
9) The English Open --- "Wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more say no more."
10) The Fried Liver Attack or the Fegatello Attack --- Hmmmm....I don't think I really need to rename this one.
2) The Sicialian --- "Some Italian Guy" or "My Name is Tony. How you doin'?"
3) Blackmar-Diemer Gambit --- "The Black Cat Ding Bat"
4) Caro-Kann Defense --- "The Ricardo"
5) Latvian Gambit --- "The Iron Curtain Coming Down"
6) Queen's Gambit --- "The Queen's Sac"
7) King's Gambit --- "The DeVries"
8) The Spike or Grob Opening --- "The Vince"
9) The English Open --- "Wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more say no more."
10) The Fried Liver Attack or the Fegatello Attack --- Hmmmm....I don't think I really need to rename this one.
Player Profile: Ricardo
In the first of our Player Profile series, we hear from CCGC member Ricardo about his first steps in chess, his favorite players, and more. Check back frequently for more player profiles!
RICARDO
Age: 34
Nickname: the Fist
When did you learn how to play chess? I learned the moves at nine, but I didn't really learn anything else about the game until I purchased Chessmaster 3000 when I was seventeen. In that software I was exposed to all sorts of amazing facets to the game of chess: its rich history, the great players who shaped that history, the brilliant games they played, the thousands of different lines of opening play. It was like The Matrix when Neo swallowed the red pill. Or the blue pill, hell, I don't know. Whatever the color was, Neo learned that there was far more to existence than he ever dreamed - my experience with chess through Chessmaster 3000 was the same.
Favorite openings: 1 e4 and 1 c4. I suppose I'd rather play against Sicilians or Ruy Lopezes more than other 1 e4 openings. The Caro-Kann and French can be frustrating, and the Pirc tends to get a little dry. I don't care much for facing the Alekhine, and I've always had trouble with the Scandanavian. As for 1 c4, I like all types of English positions, though it's often slower than several 1 e4 lines.
As black I prefer the Caro-Kann and occasionally the Sicilian against 1 e4. Against 1 d4 or 1 c4, I have yet to find a defense I really like - I've been recently experimenting with the Slav and related defenses.
Favorite players: Yasser Seirawan is probably my favorite favorite, though I have a default fondness for all American players. (USA! USA!) Outside of our shores, I like David Bronstein, Mikhail Tal, Viktor Korchnoi, Viswanathan Anand, and of course Garry Kasparov. I actually admire a lot of Grandmasters, too many to name here. This is just the short list.
Favorite games: (I'll try to keep this short) Morphy-Duke & Count, 1858; Ed. Lasker-Thomas, 1912; Eliskases-Grunfeld, 1933; R. Byrne-Fischer, 1963; Benko-Suttles, 1964; Fischer-Petrosian, 1971; Bronstein-Ljubojevic, 1973; Spassky-Tal, 1973; Karpov-Korchnoi, 1974; Ljubojevic-Andersson, 1976; Kasparov-Portisch, 1983; Alburt-Weinstein, 1984; Seirawan-Kasparov, 1989; Seirawan-Timman, 1990; Hodgson-Oll, 1993; Kasparov-Shirov, 1994; Anand-Lautier, 1997; Kasparov-Topalov, 1999; An obscure but beautiful game is Kupferstich-Andreassen, 1953
Favorite chess books: Seirawan's Winning Chess series, Garry Kasparov's Fighting Chess, The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal, The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Bronstein and Furstenburg, The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played by Chernev, Chess: The Art of Logical Thinking by McDonald, Profile of a Prodigy (Bobby Fischer) by Brady, Learn From The Grandmasters edited by Keene, Five Crowns by Seirawan and Tisdall, Persona Non Grata by Korchnoi, The Inner Game of Chess, Soviet Chess, and Los Voraces 2019 by Soltis, The Seven Deadly Chess Sins by Rowson. I'm probably forgetting a title or two.
What do you do away from the chessboard? I'm a college student and longtime guitarist. I also like to do some writing here and there, hence my involvement with the blog.
What's so cool about chess? There's so very much! The players, their games, the books, the history...getting invested in this game will yield great rewards. The unique combination of entertainment and mental stimulation this game provides is unlike any other. Don't limit yourself to casual games of chess! Play over the great games played by the masters! Study tactics! Try solving composed problems and studies! You'll be amazed with what you learn and how much fun it is.
RICARDO
Age: 34
Nickname: the Fist
When did you learn how to play chess? I learned the moves at nine, but I didn't really learn anything else about the game until I purchased Chessmaster 3000 when I was seventeen. In that software I was exposed to all sorts of amazing facets to the game of chess: its rich history, the great players who shaped that history, the brilliant games they played, the thousands of different lines of opening play. It was like The Matrix when Neo swallowed the red pill. Or the blue pill, hell, I don't know. Whatever the color was, Neo learned that there was far more to existence than he ever dreamed - my experience with chess through Chessmaster 3000 was the same.
Favorite openings: 1 e4 and 1 c4. I suppose I'd rather play against Sicilians or Ruy Lopezes more than other 1 e4 openings. The Caro-Kann and French can be frustrating, and the Pirc tends to get a little dry. I don't care much for facing the Alekhine, and I've always had trouble with the Scandanavian. As for 1 c4, I like all types of English positions, though it's often slower than several 1 e4 lines.
As black I prefer the Caro-Kann and occasionally the Sicilian against 1 e4. Against 1 d4 or 1 c4, I have yet to find a defense I really like - I've been recently experimenting with the Slav and related defenses.
Favorite players: Yasser Seirawan is probably my favorite favorite, though I have a default fondness for all American players. (USA! USA!) Outside of our shores, I like David Bronstein, Mikhail Tal, Viktor Korchnoi, Viswanathan Anand, and of course Garry Kasparov. I actually admire a lot of Grandmasters, too many to name here. This is just the short list.
Favorite games: (I'll try to keep this short) Morphy-Duke & Count, 1858; Ed. Lasker-Thomas, 1912; Eliskases-Grunfeld, 1933; R. Byrne-Fischer, 1963; Benko-Suttles, 1964; Fischer-Petrosian, 1971; Bronstein-Ljubojevic, 1973; Spassky-Tal, 1973; Karpov-Korchnoi, 1974; Ljubojevic-Andersson, 1976; Kasparov-Portisch, 1983; Alburt-Weinstein, 1984; Seirawan-Kasparov, 1989; Seirawan-Timman, 1990; Hodgson-Oll, 1993; Kasparov-Shirov, 1994; Anand-Lautier, 1997; Kasparov-Topalov, 1999; An obscure but beautiful game is Kupferstich-Andreassen, 1953
Favorite chess books: Seirawan's Winning Chess series, Garry Kasparov's Fighting Chess, The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal, The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Bronstein and Furstenburg, The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played by Chernev, Chess: The Art of Logical Thinking by McDonald, Profile of a Prodigy (Bobby Fischer) by Brady, Learn From The Grandmasters edited by Keene, Five Crowns by Seirawan and Tisdall, Persona Non Grata by Korchnoi, The Inner Game of Chess, Soviet Chess, and Los Voraces 2019 by Soltis, The Seven Deadly Chess Sins by Rowson. I'm probably forgetting a title or two.
What do you do away from the chessboard? I'm a college student and longtime guitarist. I also like to do some writing here and there, hence my involvement with the blog.
What's so cool about chess? There's so very much! The players, their games, the books, the history...getting invested in this game will yield great rewards. The unique combination of entertainment and mental stimulation this game provides is unlike any other. Don't limit yourself to casual games of chess! Play over the great games played by the masters! Study tactics! Try solving composed problems and studies! You'll be amazed with what you learn and how much fun it is.
24 October, 2009
About That Game I Posted Before
Ricardo again. A regular post is coming sometime next week, but I found a new online tool with which I can share games with you in a more effective way. (Thank you, Caissa.com! Your link now joins our other great chess links there on the right). Click below for a viewable version of my queen sacrifice game:
NN-Ricardo, 2008
NN-Ricardo, 2008
20 October, 2009
What To Do When You Don't Know What To Do
Hi again. I'd like to take a moment to discuss the opening. I've been praised for my opening knowledge here and there, but to be honest I don't consider my opening knowledge to be anything significant. I suppose I am fairly well acquainted with several openings on a superficial level, but beyond that I am only well-versed in my favorite opening lines, like most experienced players. Below are some time-tested tips that have served me well over the years. Unfortunately, I've found in my recent conversations that many people have never been exposed to these tips. What follows is nothing specific about any one opening. These are just common sense guidelines to keep in mind, especially when you're in an opening you have no experience with.
- There are five "perfect" first moves for white: 1. c4, 1. d4, 1. e4, 1. g3, and 1 Nf3. That's not my advice, that's the late GM Edmar Mednis talking. And by "perfect", he means that they are both safe and relevant to the greater goal of controlling the center. 1. h4 might be a safe move, but it does nothing to address the center. 1. f4 might take control of the e5 square, but it uncovers a dangerous diagonal (1 f4 e6 2 g4?? Qh4, mate). If you play 1. e4 all the time and you want to surprise an opponent who knows you, consider another "perfect" move - 1. c4 is my fallback when I get a little bored with 1. e4.
- Don't make too many pawn moves in the opening. OK, so how many is too many? Generally, two or three should be it. There are numerous exceptions to this, though: take for example white in the Alekhine defense (1 e4 Nf6 2 e5 Nd5 3 d4 d6 4 c4 Nb6 - nothing but pawns in the first four moves, and two alternatives for move five are either 5 exd6 or 5 f4 (!)) or black in the Morphy Ruy Lopez (1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 b5 - three pawn moves in the first five moves). The best way I can clarify this otherwise vague, exception-plagued guideline is like this: In the opening, move only those pawns which open lines for your bishops and/or contest the center and/or chase enemy pieces off of good squares. Avoid moving pawns which weaken your king's position and/or loosen your grip on the center and/or restrict your piece's freedom of movement and/or actually prod your opponent's pieces onto better squares. Whew! Pawns are tricky, aren't they? This guideline makes clear the idea that one should become at least somewhat acquainted with opening systems. Because those considerations are so numerous and circumstantial, it's best just to plan on developing pieces after you've moved a couple of pawns already.
- Develop knights before bishops. This guideline is so strongly confirmed by centuries of grandmaster practice I'm tempted to call it a rule:
- The English opening: 1 c4 c5 2 Nc3 or 1 c4 e5 2 Nc3 or 1 c4 Nf6 2 d4 e6 3 Nc3. Knights before bishops.
- The Queen's gambit declined: 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3. Knights before bishops.
- The Nimzo-indian defense: 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4. Knights before bishops.
- The Queen's indian defense: 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 b6 4 a3 Bb7 (Ba6). Knights before bishops.
- The King's indian defense: 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 e4 d6. Knights before bishops.
- The Benoni defense: 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 c5 3 d5 e6 4 Nc3 exd5 5 cxd5 g6. Knights before bishops.
- The Caro-Kann defense: 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 dxe4 4 Nxe4 Bf5 - Aha! An exception. However, 4...Bf5 is very popular, but 4...Nd7 is almost as popular and has been played by no less than former World Champion Anatoly Karpov, amongst many other all-time greats. So let's just say the Caro-Kann is a sort of exception.
- The Sicilian defense: 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 - Knights before bishops. Rather play a different 2nd move with black? OK: 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 (2...Nc6 proves the near-rule) 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6. Knights before bishops.
- The Pirc defense: 1 e4 d6 2 d4 Nf6 3 Nc3 - Knights before bishops.
- The Scandanavian defense: 1 e4 d5 2 exd5 Qxd5 (the most mainstream opening around to feature early queen moves) 3 Nc3 Qa4 4 Nf3 Nc6 - Knights before bishops.
- The Ruy Lopez, which I already covered
- The French defense: 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 Bb4 - undoubtedly the best of the exceptions to the rule. Most French defense experts consider this to be black's best 3rd move. (Although, 3...Nf6 is a popular alternative...)
- The Alekhine defense, which is another exception worth mentioning. White usually plays a lot of pawn moves and opens slowly against it, so frankly I must recommend another approach against the Alekhine - more on that in a later post.
I hope that list confirms the idea - if you don't know what to do in the opening, move knights before bishops. After that too-long digression, let's get back to our list of opening guidelines.
- Avoid moving a piece more than once. To that I have to add the phrase, "without a very good reason". If the opponent is threatening imminent checkmate, by all means move that knight again. If your bishop is being threatened by a pawn, of course, move it out of the way. If you can win queen for rook, go for it. Move the rook again. If none of those stipulations are in play, then look for around for another piece to develop.
- Castle early. Castle early. Castle early, castle early, and castle early. Oh and before I forget, castle early.
- "Patzer sees a check, patzer gives a check!" This quote is attributed to Bobby Fischer. Don't check just because a check exists. Take some time and try to see if it's worth playing the checking move (it usually isn't). Similarly...
- If your "attack" is a one-move threat, with no follow-up of any kind, it'll probably cost you in the long run. So you play c4-c5, attacking his queen on d6. The opponent simply moves his queen out of the way and you have given up control of the d5 square. The black knight on f6 is much happier, as is the black bishop on b7. In retrospect, attacking the queen wasn't such a good idea. Keep that sort of thing in mind.
- Your first reaction to your opponent's threat should not be "How do I deal with this?" - it should be "Can I safely ignore this?" Nothing I can add to that.
- When you are ahead in material, trade pieces. (This is more of a middlegame guideline than an opening guideline, but it's such an important concept I include it here) Think of it this way. Let's say you are Bill Gates and you are in a contest with Warren Buffet to see who has more cash. You (Gates) have 50,020,000 dollars. Buffet's got 50,000,000 dollars. Technically, you've got more money than he does - .04% more money. .04% is something close to nothing. Now, let's say you and Buffet had an agreement to each give away 49,999,999 dollars a piece. Now you've got 20,000% more cash than he does! Chess is the same. If you're a pawn ahead, it's worth so much more when you trade away everything else.
- "It is better to sacrifice your opponent's pieces" - GM Savielly Tartakower. We all want to sacrifice material and brilliantly checkmate our opponent. Try to put those thoughts aside and just play as simply as possible.
- "Centrum, centrum, ooh la la!" That phrase actually appears, verbatim, in a book (Grandmaster Meets Chess Amateur, Steve Davis & GM David Norwood) and was attributed to a Soviet chess coach. His point? Play in the center. The most important squares on the board are a square from c3 to c6, c6 to f6, f6 to f3, and f3 to c3. Always fight to control those squares.
- Do not develop the queen too early. There are exceptions, as in the Scandanavian defense; otherwise, get your minor pieces and rooks developed before the queen.
In my next post - how well did I follow these guidelines?
(Sorry about the numbers - I couldn't crack the HTML code. There are twelve total guidelines listed here.)
16 October, 2009
Golden Crescent Chess Forum!
Ladies and gentleman, the CCGC now has its own forum. (Applause!) We will post a front page link soon, but here it is for a quick reference: goldencrescentchess.freeforums.org
Have fun!
Have fun!
13 October, 2009
"Let's Blog it Out" - The Professor's Favorite Chess Quotes
Greetings my Fellow Crescenteers! Enjoy these gems of wisdom, helpful anecdotes, and silly, smile-cracking, ego-stretching tidbits.
"Checkers is for tramps." -- MORPHY
"Most gods throw dice, but Fate plays chess, and you don't find out until it's too late that he's been playing with two queens all along.” -- TERRY PRATCHETT
"Chess is mental torture." -- KASPAROV
"When in doubt -- play chess." -- TEVIS
"Life is too short for chess." -- LORD BYRON
“When the Chess game is over, the Pawn and the King go back to the same box.” --Irish saying
“Every Chess master was once a beginner.” -- CHERNEV
“Chess is a beautiful mistress." -- BENT LARSEN
"Chess is a curse upon a man." -- H.G.WELLS
"I hate anyone who beats me." -- LISA LANE
"One bad move nullifies forty good ones." -- HOROWITZ
"The older I grow, the more I value Pawns." -- KERES
“When you see a good move, look for a better one.” -- EMANUEL LASKER
“The Pin is mightier than the sword.” -- FRED REINFELD
“The winner of the game is the player who makes the next-to-last mistake.” --TARTAKOWER
“You cannot play at Chess if you are kind-hearted.” -- French Proverb
“Without error there can be no brilliancy.” -- EMANUEL LASKER
“Play the opening like a book, the middle game like a magician, and the endgame like a machine.” -- Spielmann
“Excellence at Chess is one mark of a scheming mind.” -- SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
“Chess is as much a mystery as women.” -- PURDY
“Only sissies Castle." -- ROB SILLARS
“There just isn't enough televised Chess.“ -- DAVID LETTERMAN
“When you are lonely, when you feel yourself an alien in the world, play Chess. This will raise your spirits and be your counselor in war.” -- ARISTOTLE
“I played Chess with him and would have beaten him sometimes only he always took back his last move, and ran the game out differently.” -- MARK TWAIN
“A man that will take back a move at Chess will pick a pocket." -- RICHARD FENTON
“Chess is a sea in which a gnat may drink and an elephant may bathe.” -- Hindu proverb
“When I have White, I win because I am white; When I have Black, I win because I am Bogolyubov.” -- BOGOLYUBOV
“Every Pawn is a potential Queen.” -- JAMES MASON
“We must make sure that Chess will not be like a dead language, very interesting, but for a very small group.” -- SYTZE FABER
“When you play Bobby, it is not a question if you win or lose. It is a question if you survive.” -- SPASSKY
“There is no remorse like the remorse of Chess." -- H. G. WELLS
“The stomach is an essential part of the Chess master.” -- BENT LARSEN
“These are not pieces, they are men! For any man to walk into the line of fire will be one less man in your army to fight for you. Value every troop and use him wisely, throw him not to the dogs as he is there to serve his King.” -- JAMIE WALTER ADAMS
"All I want to do, ever, is to play chess." -- FISCHER
"It is always better to sacrifice your opponent's men." -- TARTAKOWER
"A computer beat me in chess, but it was no match when it came to kickboxing." -- EMO PHILIPS
“For surely of all the drugs in the world, Chess must be the most permanently pleasurable." -- ASSIAC
"Checkers is for tramps." -- MORPHY
"Most gods throw dice, but Fate plays chess, and you don't find out until it's too late that he's been playing with two queens all along.” -- TERRY PRATCHETT
"Chess is mental torture." -- KASPAROV
"When in doubt -- play chess." -- TEVIS
"Life is too short for chess." -- LORD BYRON
“When the Chess game is over, the Pawn and the King go back to the same box.” --Irish saying
“Every Chess master was once a beginner.” -- CHERNEV
“Chess is a beautiful mistress." -- BENT LARSEN
"Chess is a curse upon a man." -- H.G.WELLS
"I hate anyone who beats me." -- LISA LANE
"One bad move nullifies forty good ones." -- HOROWITZ
"The older I grow, the more I value Pawns." -- KERES
“When you see a good move, look for a better one.” -- EMANUEL LASKER
“The Pin is mightier than the sword.” -- FRED REINFELD
“The winner of the game is the player who makes the next-to-last mistake.” --TARTAKOWER
“You cannot play at Chess if you are kind-hearted.” -- French Proverb
“Without error there can be no brilliancy.” -- EMANUEL LASKER
“Play the opening like a book, the middle game like a magician, and the endgame like a machine.” -- Spielmann
“Excellence at Chess is one mark of a scheming mind.” -- SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
“Chess is as much a mystery as women.” -- PURDY
“Only sissies Castle." -- ROB SILLARS
“There just isn't enough televised Chess.“ -- DAVID LETTERMAN
“When you are lonely, when you feel yourself an alien in the world, play Chess. This will raise your spirits and be your counselor in war.” -- ARISTOTLE
“I played Chess with him and would have beaten him sometimes only he always took back his last move, and ran the game out differently.” -- MARK TWAIN
“A man that will take back a move at Chess will pick a pocket." -- RICHARD FENTON
“Chess is a sea in which a gnat may drink and an elephant may bathe.” -- Hindu proverb
“When I have White, I win because I am white; When I have Black, I win because I am Bogolyubov.” -- BOGOLYUBOV
“Every Pawn is a potential Queen.” -- JAMES MASON
“We must make sure that Chess will not be like a dead language, very interesting, but for a very small group.” -- SYTZE FABER
“When you play Bobby, it is not a question if you win or lose. It is a question if you survive.” -- SPASSKY
“There is no remorse like the remorse of Chess." -- H. G. WELLS
“The stomach is an essential part of the Chess master.” -- BENT LARSEN
“These are not pieces, they are men! For any man to walk into the line of fire will be one less man in your army to fight for you. Value every troop and use him wisely, throw him not to the dogs as he is there to serve his King.” -- JAMIE WALTER ADAMS
"All I want to do, ever, is to play chess." -- FISCHER
"It is always better to sacrifice your opponent's men." -- TARTAKOWER
"A computer beat me in chess, but it was no match when it came to kickboxing." -- EMO PHILIPS
“For surely of all the drugs in the world, Chess must be the most permanently pleasurable." -- ASSIAC
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