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Showing posts with label Lisa D.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lisa D.. Show all posts

05 November, 2009

In Defense of Latvians and Their Gambits: Dad's Big Night

My father likes to send me his chess games (especially when he wins), and so I thought I would post his most recent victory - a quirky defense of the Latvian Gambit!


John DeVries: I played a casual chess game last night (Halloween night!) with Ken Henkelman, an 1800 USCF rated chess player who does not play any more in rated chess tournaments. I play Ken every week at Waco Chess Club meetings - he beats me at least 3/4 of the time! However, sometimes the stars align just right, and I beat Ken! Last night was just such a time.


The following game is worthy of review. It is a "Latvian Gambit" ( I played Black). "Latvian Gambit" was actually invented 400+ years ago by a great Italian player, Greco. It was called the "Greco Roman Gambit" until the 20th Century. The great 19th Century English Grandmaster, Joseph Blackburne, played the ""Greco Roman/Latvian Gambit", but stopped using it after he was crushed in an important international grandmasters' tournament. The "Greco Roman Gambit" reputation collapsed. No masters played it. Then, in the years before World War II, a group of masters from Latvia (Russia) (Mikail Tal came from Latvia but was not part of this group) began experimenting with it and challenged several chess clubs to Latvian Gambit correspondence games (these chess clubs were filled with master players) and never lost. Okay, a few of the games were draws. Since that time, it has been called the "Latvian Gambit".


Today's grandmasters totally disregard the Latvian Gambit, and the Latvian Gambit is humorously derided by my friends in the Waco Chess Club. I keep playing it, because I don't feel comfortable playing


-2- ....Nc6 when White opens with e4.


Grandmaster Anatoly Lein wrote a book on the Latvian Gambit - a chess master friend in San Antonio gave me the book, and I lost the book ! So most/all of my knowledge regarding the Latvian Gambit comes from my over-the-board experience.


The Latvian Gambit goes as follows. It is a gambit for the player with the Black pieces. -1- e4 e5 -2- Nf3 f5?!


In last night's game, Ken made a couple small, but important errors. Still, I slaughtered him. I'm going to keep the following game in my "DeVries Great Chess Games Database" (the database has a very small number of games!). The game (please see below) is worthy of review. If I ever get to play you with the Black pieces, and you play


-1- e4 and -2- Nf3, I will play the Latvian Gambit. Enjoy!!!


Ken Henkelman vs John DeVries 10-31-2009 (Casual Game)

  • 1.  e4       e5
  • 2.  Nf3     f5
  • 3.  Nxe5  Qf6
  • 4.  d4      d6
  • 5.  Nc4    fxe4
This is all standard - now the battle begins

  • 6.  Nc3   Qg6
  • 7.  f3       Nf6
  • 8.  Qe2   Be7
  • 9.  fxe4   Bg4
One of the key moves in the game for Black --- I don't mind going one pawn down here.

  • 10. Qe3  0-0
White never gets to castle in this game.

  • 11. Bd2  Nc6
  • 12. Nd5  Nxd5
  • 13. exd5 Bf6
Black 13th move is nice!
  • 14. Qg3  Nxd4
  • 15. Bd3  Rae8+
  • 16. Ne3  Nf5
The White Knight at e3 is pinned.
  • 17. Bxf5 Qxf5
  • 18. c3     Bg5
  • 19. h3     Bxe3
  • 20. Bxe3 Bh5  - 20. hxg4 might have saved White
Black's Bishop on h5 will prove decisive.
  • 21. Kd2 Qxd5+
  • 22. Kc1 Qd3
Now it is over for White.

  • 23. Re1 Bg6, 0-1
**EDIT by CCGC Blogger** Please click the link below if you'd care to play through this game.


Ken Henkleman-John DeVries

27 October, 2009

Dost Mine Eyes Deceive Me?: Chess Costumes for Halloween!




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.

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