29 September 2009

Elastic Maneuvering IV

As I mentioned in Elastic Maneuvering III, finding examples of this technique by Karpov isn't easy. I've spent several hours on the search and have a half-dozen games. Here's one from Kasparov. In Predecessors V (p.404), he noted after Black's 39th move, 'With the exchange of Queens, the tension of the struggle diminishes sharply and a stage of unhurried maneuvering begins. Karpov is very skillful in such positions.'

Kasparov's remark refers to game 6 of the Karpov - Sokolov candidates final match, Linares 1987. Black's 39th move gives the first position shown in the following diagram. I played through the moves several times and I simply don't understand what happened. I thought that seeing the game as a sequence of positions might help.


It doesn't help. Here are the moves covered by the diagram:-

40.Bd7 Rd8 41.Bb5 Ne6 42.Bb2 a6 43.Bf1 Rc8 44.Rd2 d4 45.Bg2 Nf4 46.Bf3 d3 47.Nc4 Rh6 48.Kg3 Ne2+ 49.Bxe2 dxe2 50.Rxe2 b5 51.Ne3 Re6 52.Rd2 h5 53.Kf4 Rc7 54.Rd5 f6 55.Ba3 g6 56.Bc5 Kf7 57.b4 Ke8 58.Rd1 Rd7 59.Ra1 Rd2 60.Kf3 Kf7 61.a4 bxa4 62.Rxa4 g5 63.Ra3 Kg6 64.Kg2 gxh4 65.Nf1 Rc2 66.Nh2 Rc4 67.Nf3 Kf7 68.Kh2 Rf4 69.Kg2 Ree4 70.Nd2 Re6 71.Nf1 Rg4+ 72.Kh3 Rf4 73.Ra2 Rf3+ 74.Kg2 Rb3 75.Ne3 Kg6 76.Ra1 f5 77.Kh2 f4 78.Rg1+ Kf7 79.Ng2 Rc6 80.Nxf4 Rf3 81.Nh3 ('The remainder can now be considered a matter of technique: Black does not gain any counterplay, and his weak h-Pawns are doomed.' - Kasparov) 81...Kf6 82.Re1 Rf5 83.Re4 a5 84.Be3 axb4 85.Rxb4 Ra6 86.Rxh4 Raa5 87.Rc4 Rfb5 88.Kg3 Ra8 89.Kh4 Rg8 90.Bg5+ 1-0

And here is the game at Chessgames.com:-

Anatoli Karpov vs Andrei Sokolov; Linares cf 1987
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1068573

What are the similarities between 'maneuvering' and 'technique'? What are the differences? Maybe something will click.

25 September 2009

Giant Chess in Trafalgar Square

There are so many Flickr photos of this gorgeous set that it's a pity to choose just one.


Giant Chess in Trafalgar Square, by night - London Design Festival 2009 © Flickr user chrisjohnbeckett under Creative Commons.

Here are more: chess trafalgar on Flickr.com.

24 September 2009

A Note to Armchair Computer Analysts

Yesterday, in A Grainy Day Photo, I used an image from Purdy's 'Extreme Chess'. Today I'll use a quote from the same source (p.92). I've removed a few references to correspondence chess that do not change Purdy's message.

Chess is played under artificial restrictions, the purpose of the restrictions being to measure the comparative abilities of two players under similar conditions. All the conditions are inimical to the production of accurate chess. Consequently, we should treat error as part and parcel of over-the-board play, however august the players engaged.

We should not be too smugly carping and captious, but should view the game first and foremost as a struggle -- a clash of two minds under conditions which are, as far as practicable, equal for both. If a player produces a flawless game under the handicaps mentioned, he should receive all the greater praise; but we should not regard a game as unworthy of our attention just because it contains several errors by both players. We must remember that some games contain more difficult problems than others. (From 'Ideals of Annotation'; the emphasis is Purdy's)

I thought the sentiment was even more apt in the 21st century, where chess players of all abilities use software to analyze the games of the greatest players of all time. To study the games is good; to criticize 'smugly carping and captious', especially when it is based on the numerical evaluation of an emotionless machine, is not good.

22 September 2009

Two Types of Losses

I stepped through the 20 lost games in Learn from Your Losses? and discovered that they fell naturally into two categories:-

  • Games where I thought I had reasonable chances, and
  • Games where I was never really in the game.

Some games fell on the borderline between the two categories, but after a little reflection I determined that I was never really in those games either. It just took a little longer for my opponent to secure a definite advantage.

A little more reflection convinced me that the games in the first category were lost somewhere in the middle game. As for games in the second category, I had an inferior game already in the opening. The 20 games split evenly with 10 games in each category. Of the 10 games where I was worse in the opening, I had White in three of them, which is definitely cause for concern.

I haven't looked at my draws yet, but they could also be categorized three ways:-

  • Games where I squandered a definite advantage,
  • Games which were even from start to finish, and
  • Games where I overcame a definite disadvantage.

The critical moments in most of the drawn games would have occurred in the endgame. I also suspect that the frequency of each category would be in the order I've given them. In other words, my most common type of draw is where I squander an advantage.

Looks like I have some work to do if I want to eliminate some of my chronic weaknesses.

18 September 2009

The Lord of the King(s)

This clip probably makes more sense if you've read 'Lord of the Rings' (which I have, long ago), or seen the movie (which I haven't, maybe one of these days). When I first saw it, the count said '0 views', but it definitely deserves better than that.


The Lord of the King (3:16) • 'A video made for my friend who runs the Burley Junior High School Chess Club!'

'This Thursday. In Mr. Hank's room from 3:30 to 4:45. The battle for the chess board begins.'

17 September 2009

Learn from Your Losses?

Here are all of my losses in ICCF and IECG events since I started playing correspondence chess in 2001. The players were all rated between 2000 and 2500. There were also many draws where I thought I had a good chance to win.

Now how do I learn from them?

[Event "EM/J50/P198"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2001.09.01"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Morozov, Dmitry Viktorovich"]
[Black "Weeks, Mark"]
[Result "1-0"]

1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.Be2 e6 6.h3 Bh5 7.O-O Be7 8.c4 Nb6 9.Nc3 O-O 10.Be3 d5 11.c5 Bxf3 12.gxf3 N6d7 13.f4 f5 14.b4 b6 15.Qb3 Kh8 16.Kh2 a5 17.a3 Rg8 18.Na4 axb4 19.axb4 h6 20.Qc3 c6 21.cxb6 Nxb6 22. Nc5 Bxc5 23.bxc5 Rxa1 24.Rxa1 N6d7 25.Bd2 g6 26.Ra8 Kh7 27.Qb3 Qh4 28.Qg3 Qe7 29.Ra7 Rg7 30.Ba5 Qe8 31.Bc7 g5 32.fxg5 Rxg5 33.Qf3 Kh8 34.Qf4 1-0

[Event "CM-2002-0-00205"]
[Site "IECG"]
[Date "2002.12.27"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Massimini Gerbino, Massimiliano"]
[Black "Weeks, Mark"]
[Result "1-0"]

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 c5 3.d5 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.e4 d6 6.Nf3 h6 7.Be3 O-O 8.Be2 Nbd7 9.O-O a6 10.Qc1 Kh7 11.a4 b6 12.Re1 Rb8 13.Bf4 Nh5 14.Bd2 e5 15.Qd1 Nhf6 16.Bd3 Ne8 17.Ne2 b5 18.axb5 axb5 19.Ba5 Qe7 20.Nc3 b4 21.Ne2 Nb6 22.Ng3 Kg8 23.c3 bxc3 24.bxc3 f5 25.Qc2 f4 26.Nf1 g5 27.Reb1 Nd7 28.Rxb8 Nxb8 29.Bb5 Nd7 30.N3d2 h5 31.Nc4 g4 32.Nfd2 f3 33.Ne3 Qg5 34.Ndc4 fxg2 35.Nf5 Qf6 36.Qe2 Kh7 37.Kxg2 Bh6 38.Kh1 Bf4 39.f3 Rg8 40.fxg4 hxg4 41. Rg1 Qg5 42.Rg2 Ndf6 43.Ne7 g3 44.Nxc8 Ng4 45.Bd7 Nf2+ 46.Rxf2 gxf2 47. Qxf2 Nf6 48.Bf5+ Kh8 49.Ne7 Rg7 50.Bd8 Ng4 51.Qg2 Qh5 52.Ng6+ Rxg6 53. Bxg6 Qxg6 54.Kg1 Bxh2+ 55.Kf1 Bf4 56.Ke2 Qh5 57.Kd3 Kh7 58.Qf3 Qg6 59.Be7 Nf6 60.Qh3+ Bh6 61.Bxf6 Qxf6 62.Qd7+ Kg8 63.Nxd6 Qf1+ 64.Kc2 Qe2+ 65.Kb3 Be3 66.Qc8+ Kh7 67.Ka4 1-0

[Event "CM-2002-0-00205"]
[Site "IECG"]
[Date "2002.12.27"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Koch, Christian"]
[Black "Weeks, Mark"]
[Result "1-0"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Bb3 a6 8.Be3 Qc7 9.f4 Be7 10.O-O Na5 11.f5 Nc4 12.Bxc4 Qxc4 13.Qf3 O-O 14.Rad1 Bd7 15. g4 h6 16.h4 d5 17.g5 dxe4 18.Qh3 exf5 19.gxf6 Bxf6 20.Qg3 Rae8 21.Nxf5 Bxf5 22.Rxf5 Bxc3 23.bxc3 Re6 24.h5 Qxc3 25.Rc5 Qa3 26.Kh1 Re7 27.Rg1 f6 28.c3 Ref7 29.Rg2 Rd8 30.Kh2 b6 31.Rc4 Qa5 32.Rxe4 Qxc3 33.Qg6 f5 34. Qxb6 fxe4 35.Qxd8+ Kh7 36.Qd5 Qc7+ 37.Kg1 Qb7 38.Qxb7 Rxb7 39.Bd4 Rd7 40. Bc3 Rc7 41.Rg3 e3 42.Bd4 Re7 43.Kf1 e2+ 44.Ke1 Kg8 45.a4 Rd7 46.Bc3 Rd5 47.Rxg7+ Kf8 48.Ra7 Rxh5 49.Rxa6 Ke7 50.Kxe2 Kd7 51.Kd3 Rd5+ 52.Kc4 Rd1 53.Rxh6 Rd6 54.Rh7+ Kc6 55.a5 Rd7 56.Rh8 Rd6 57.Be5 1-0

[Event "CM-2002-0-00205"]
[Site "IECG"]
[Date "2002.12.27"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Weeks, Mark"]
[Black "La Candia, Juan Miguel"]
[Result "0-1"]

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.Rb1 a5 6.a3 f5 7.d3 Nf6 8.e3 O-O 9.Nge2 Ne7 10.O-O c6 11.f4 d6 12.b4 axb4 13.Rxb4 Re8 14.fxe5 dxe5 15.e4 Qd6 16.Na4 fxe4 17.dxe4 Qxd1 18.Rxd1 Bg4 19.Re1 Bf8 20.Nec3 Reb8 21.h3 Be6 22.Nc5 Bf7 23.Nxb7 Nc8 24.c5 Ra7 25.Rf1 Raxb7 26.Rxb7 Rxb7 27.Rxf6 Rb3 28.Na4 Rb1 29.Rf1 Bc4 30.Re1 Bb3 31.Nb2 Bxc5+ 32.Kh2 Bd4 33.Nd3 c5 34.Bh6 Rxe1 35.Nxe1 c4 36.h4 Nd6 37.Bc1 c3 38.g4 Nc4 39.Nd3 Nb2 40.Nb4 Bf2 41.Bg5 Be1 42.Bf6 Nc4 43.Bf1 Ne3 44.Be2 c2 45.Nxc2 Nxc2 46.Bxe5 Bxh4 47.Bb2 Kf7 48.Kh3 Bf6 49.Bc1 Be7 0-1

[Event "EM/J50/Q21"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2003.10.20"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Weeks, Mark"]
[Black "Hyldkrog, Lars"]
[Result "0-1"]

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.Ngf3 cxd4 5.exd5 Qxd5 6.Bc4 Qd6 7.O-O Nf6 8. Nb3 Nc6 9.Nbxd4 Nxd4 10.Nxd4 a6 11.Bb3 Qc7 12.Qf3 Bd6 13.h3 O-O 14.Bg5 Nd7 15.c3 b5 16.Rad1 Nc5 17.Bc2 Bb7 18.Qh5 Be4 19.Bxe4 Nxe4 20.Bh4 Rae8 21.Rd3 f5 22.Rfd1 Nc5 23.R3d2 Bh2+ 24.Kh1 Bf4 25.Rc2 e5 26.Ne2 Ne6 27. Nxf4 Nxf4 28.Qf3 e4 29.Qg3 Rf7 30.Rd4 h6 31.Rcd2 g5 32.Rd6 Ne6 33.Rxa6 Qc4 34.Rad6 Qxa2 35.Qe5 gxh4 36.Qxb5 Ree7 37.Qe2 Qa7 38.Qh5 Kh7 39.Rd1 f4 40.Qxh4 Qb7 41.b4 Rg7 42.Qf6 e3 43.Qf5+ Rg6 44.f3 Rf7 45.Qc2 Nf8 46.Rd8 Qe7 47.Ra8 Kg7 0-1

[Event "EM/J50/Q21"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2003.10.20"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Noack, Mario"]
[Black "Weeks, Mark"]
[Result "1-0"]

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.d4 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 O-O 5.e4 d6 6.Be2 e5 7.O-O Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.b4 Nd7 10.Nd2 f5 11.c5 Nf6 12.f3 f4 13.Nc4 g5 14.g4 fxg3 15.hxg3 h6 16.Be3 Ng6 17.Kg2 Qd7 18.Rh1 g4 19.a4 dxc5 20.bxc5 gxf3+ 21.Bxf3 Kh7 22.Qe2 Ng8 23.Bh5 Nh8 24.Raf1 Rxf1 25.Qxf1 Qd8 26.Qf3 Bd7 27.g4 Qf6 28. g5 Qxf3+ 29.Kxf3 Rf8+ 30.Ke2 Ng6 31.Bxg6+ Kxg6 32.gxh6 Bf6 33.Rb1 b6 34. c6 Bc8 35.Nb5 Ba6 36.Kd3 Rf7 37.Rh1 Ne7 38.h7 1-0

[Event "1st Webchess Open Tournament - Group 16"]
[Site "ICCF-webchess.com"]
[Date "2005.02.01"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Mantovanelli, Marco"]
[Black "Weeks, Mark A"]
[Result "1-0"]

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.d4 Bg7 4.g3 O-O 5.Bg2 d6 6.O-O Nc6 7.Nc3 a6 8.Re1 Rb8 9.Rb1 e5 10.d5 Ne7 11.e4 b5 12.cxb5 axb5 13.b4 Nh5 14.Bd2 f5 15.Ng5 h6 16.Ne6 Bxe6 17.dxe6 f4 18.a4 bxa4 19.Qxa4 Bf6 20.b5 Bg5 21.Qc2 Ng7 22. Bh3 Kh7 23.Nd5 Nxd5 24.exd5 Ra8 25.Rb3 Ra7 26.gxf4 Bxf4 27.Bxf4 Rxf4 28. Rg3 Qf6 29.Bg2 Nf5 30.Be4 Ne7 31.Rc1 Rb7 32.Ra1 Rxe4 33.Qxe4 Rxb5 34.Rf3 Nf5 35.Kf1 Rb7 36.Ra8 1-0

[Event "WCCC 29 SF 14 (WS)"]
[Site "ICCF-webchess.com"]
[Date "2005.12.10"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Muneret, Maurice"]
[Black "Weeks, Mark A"]
[Result "1-0"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.O-O Be7 8.c4 Nb4 9.Be2 O-O 10.Nc3 Be6 11.Ne5 f6 12.Nf3 Kh8 13.a3 Nc6 14.cxd5 Nxc3 15. bxc3 Bxd5 16.Bd3 Qd7 17.Rb1 b6 18.Nd2 f5 19.Re1 Bf6 20.Nf1 Ne7 21.Ng3 Bb7 22.Nh5 Qc6 23.Bf1 Rae8 24.c4 Ng8 25.Nxf6 Nxf6 26.Bf4 Rxe1 27.Qxe1 Re8 28. Qd2 Ba6 29.Qc2 Qd7 30.Rd1 c6 31.Be5 Rf8 32.h3 h6 33.Bd3 Bc8 34.Re1 Re8 35.Re3 Rf8 36.a4 Ng8 37.a5 bxa5 38.Qc3 Rf7 39.Qxa5 Ne7 40.Qc5 Ng6 41.g4 Nh4 42.Kh1 fxg4 43.hxg4 Qd8 44.Qd6 Qxd6 45.Bxd6 Bd7 46.f4 g6 47.Be2 Kh7 48.c5 Kg7 49.Rh3 g5 50.Be5+ Kf8 51.f5 h5 52.Rb3 1-0

[Event "WCCC 29 SF 14 (WS)"]
[Site "ICCF-webchess.com"]
[Date "2005.12.10"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Weeks, Mark A"]
[Black "Hauser, Siegfried"]
[Result "0-1"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.O-O d6 6.c3 O-O 7.Nbd2 Bg4 8.h3 Bh5 9.Re1 Ne7 10.d4 exd4 11.cxd4 Bb6 12.Nb3 d5 13.e5 Ne4 14.Qc2 f6 15. exf6 Rxf6 16.Be2 Qf8 17.Bg5 Rg6 18.Bxe7 Bxf3 19.g4 Qf4 20.Bxf3 Qxf3 21. Re3 Qf4 22.Rae1 Re6 23.Bb4 Rae8 24.Nc5 Bxc5 25.dxc5 h5 26.f3 Nxc5 27.Bxc5 Rxe3 28.Rxe3 Rxe3 29.Bxe3 Qxe3+ 30.Kg2 Qe5 31.h4 b6 32.Kh3 c5 33.Qa4 hxg4+ 34.fxg4 Qe3+ 35.Kg2 Qe6 36.Kg3 d4 37.Qxa7 Kh7 38.Qc7 Qe3+ 39.Kg2 Qe4+ 40.Kg3 d3 41.Qd7 c4 42.h5 Qe5+ 0-1

[Event "WCCC 29 SF 14 (WS)"]
[Site "ICCF-webchess.com"]
[Date "2005.12.10"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Weeks, Mark A"]
[Black "Pereverzev, Aleksey Rosti"]
[Result "0-1"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.O-O Bg7 6.Re1 Nh6 7.c3 O-O 8. d4 cxd4 9.cxd4 d6 10.Nc3 f6 11.b3 Nf7 12.Bb2 e5 13.Rc1 Bg4 14.d5 c5 15. h3 Bd7 16.Nd2 f5 17.Nc4 f4 18.a3 Rb8 19.f3 h5 20.b4 cxb4 21.Na2 bxa3 22. Bxa3 Bb5 23.Nb4 Rb7 24.Nc6 Qd7 25.N4a5 Rb6 26.Rc3 g5 27.Kh2 Bf6 28.Bb4 g4 29.fxg4 Bh4 30.gxh5 Ng5 31.Nc4 Bxc4 32.Rxc4 Bg3+ 33.Kg1 f3 34.Rf1 Nxh3+ 0-1

[Event "CP-2004-Q-00009"]
[Site "IECG"]
[Date "2006.01.20"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Safaryan, Armen"]
[Black "Weeks, Mark"]
[Result "1-0"]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 d5 6.Nf3 c5 7.O-O Nc6 8.a3 Bxc3 9.bxc3 Qc7 10.cxd5 exd5 11.Nh4 Ne7 12.dxc5 Qxc5 13.Qc2 Be6 14.Rb1 Nc8 15.Nf3 Nd6 16.Rb4 Rac8 17.Bb2 Rc7 18.Nd4 Rfc8 19.Rd1 Bg4 20.Re1 Nc4 21.Bxc4 dxc4 22.e4 Bd7 23.Bc1 a5 24.Rb2 b5 25.f3 Rb7 26.Be3 Qxa3 27.Ra2 Qe7 28.Rxa5 b4 29.e5 Ne8 30.Qe4 Rbb8 31.Bf4 Rb6 32.Ra7 Rc7 33.Qa8 Rxa7 34.Qxa7 Qd8 35.Bg5 Qc7 36.Qxc7 Nxc7 37.Bd8 Rb7 38.Bxc7 Rxc7 39.cxb4 c3 40.Rd1 Kf8 41.b5 Rc5 42.b6 Rxe5 43.Rc1 Re8 44.Rxc3 Rb8 45.Rb3 Ke7 46.Kf2 Kd6 47.Ke3 Kc5 48.b7 Kd6 49.Kf4 Kc7 50.Ke5 1-0

[Event "SH-2007-0-00120"]
[Site "IECG"]
[Date "2007.06.02"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Weeks, Mark"]
[Black "Hartl, Hermann"]
[Result "0-1"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 O-O 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.Bc4 Bd7 10.O-O-O Rc8 11.Bb3 Ne5 12.Kb1 Re8 13.h4 h5 14.Bh6 Nc4 15. Bxc4 Rxc4 16.Bxg7 Kxg7 17.g4 hxg4 18.h5 Rh8 19.hxg6 fxg6 20.f4 e5 21.Rxh8 Qxh8 22.Nde2 Rc6 23.fxe5 dxe5 24.Qg5 Qh2 25.Rxd7+ Nxd7 26.Qe7+ Kh6 27. Qxd7 g3 28.Qd8 Kh5 29.Nc1 Qh4 30.Qd1+ Kh6 31.Qd2+ Qf4 32.Qd3 Qg4 33.Qd8 Rc8 34.Qd2+ Kh7 35.Qg2 Rf8 36.N3e2 Rf3 37.a3 Kg7 38.Nd3 Re3 39.Ng1 Qxe4 40.Qxe4 Rxe4 41.Ka2 Kf6 42.Kb3 g2 43.c3 Kg5 44.Kc2 Kh4 0-1

[Event "SH-2007-0-00120"]
[Site "IECG"]
[Date "2007.06.02"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Simmelink, Joop"]
[Black "Weeks, Mark"]
[Result "1-0"]

1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Ng8 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.h3 Bxf3 6.Qxf3 c6 7.Qb3 Qb6 8.Nd2 Nd7 9.exd6 exd6 10.Bd3 O-O-O 11.Nf3 Re8+ 12.Be3 Ngf6 13.O-O Qxb3 14.axb3 a6 15.c4 d5 16.Bf4 Bb4 17.Ra4 Be7 18.Rc1 g6 19.Bh2 Nb6 20.Raa1 Nfd7 21. c5 Na8 22.Bxa6 bxa6 23.Rxa6 Nc7 24.Rxc6 Bd8 25.b4 Re2 26.Bxc7 Bxc7 27.b5 Kb8 28.g3 Rxb2 29.b6 Nxb6 30.cxb6 Bxb6 31.Rf6 Rf8 32.Rcc6 Ka7 33.Rcd6 Bd8 34.Rd7+ Rb7 35.Rfd6 Rxd7 36.Rxd7+ Kb6 37.Rxd5 Kc6 38.Rc5+ Kd6 39.Ne5 f6 40.Nc4+ Kd7 41.Rd5+ Kc6 42.Rd6+ Kb5 43.Na3+ Kb4 44.Nc2+ Kb5 45.Kf1 Re8 46.Ne3 Bc7 47.Rxf6 Bxg3 48.Rf7 h5 49.Ke2 Bh4 50.f4 Bg3 51.Kf3 Be1 52.f5 g5 53.Rb7+ Kc6 54.Rg7 Bc3 55.Rg6+ Kb5 56.Nd5 Kc4 57.Nxc3 Kxc3 58.Rxg5 Kxd4 59.Rg1 1-0

[Event "SH-2007-0-00120"]
[Site "IECG"]
[Date "2007.06.02"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Herzog, Klaus"]
[Black "Weeks, Mark"]
[Result "1-0"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Be3 Be7 7.f3 Nc6 8.Qd2 O-O 9.g4 a6 10.O-O-O Nd7 11.Kb1 Nde5 12.Qg2 b5 13.Nxc6 Nxc6 14.g5 Qa5 15. h4 b4 16.Ne2 Rd8 17.h5 d5 18.Nc1 Ne5 19.f4 Nc4 20.Bd4 Qc7 21.g6 fxg6 22. hxg6 h6 23.Bxg7 Ne3 24.Qh2 Ng4 25.Qg3 Kxg7 26.Qxg4 dxe4 27.Rxd8 Bxd8 28. Ne2 Bf6 29.Ng3 Kg8 30.Rxh6 Bg7 31.Rh7 Ra7 32.Nh5 Qc5 33.Qh4 1-0

[Event "SH-2007-0-00153"]
[Site "IECG"]
[Date "2007.11.04"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Vidalina, Franjo"]
[Black "Weeks, Mark"]
[Result "1-0"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.f3 Be7 7.Be3 O-O 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.O-O-O d5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Nxd5 Qxd5 12.c4 Qe5 13.Nxc6 bxc6 14.Bf4 Qc5 15.Kb1 e5 16.Be3 Bf5+ 17.Kc1 Qb4 18.Qxb4 Bxb4 19.c5 Rab8 20.Bc4 Rfd8 21.a3 Ba5 22.Rd6 Rxd6 23.cxd6 Bb6 24.Re1 Re8 25.Bg5 Bd4 26.Be7 Rb8 27.b3 Rb7 28.Kd2 h5 29.h3 Bb2 30.a4 Bd4 31.g4 Bg6 32.h4 Rd7 33.b4 Rb7 34.Rd1 a5 35.bxa5 e4 36.a6 Rd7 37.fxe4 hxg4 38.Ke2 Bc5 39.e5 Ra7 40.Rf1 Kh7 41. Bd8 Bh5 42.Rf5 1-0

[Event "SH-2007-0-00153"]
[Site "IECG"]
[Date "2007.11.04"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Weeks, Mark"]
[Black "Pintonello, Gilberto"]
[Result "0-1"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Bc5 5.c3 O-O 6.d4 Bb6 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4 d6 9.Qd3 Bd7 10.Nbd2 a6 11.Bc4 exd4 12.cxd4 g5 13.Nxg5 hxg5 14.Bxg5 Kg7 15.Nf3 Ne7 16.e5 Nh7 17.Bh4 Bf5 18.Qe3 dxe5 19.Nxe5 Qd6 20.Rad1 Ng6 21. Bg3 Qf6 22.Qf3 Bc2 23.Qxb7 Bxd1 24.Rxd1 Rad8 25.Nc6 Rd7 26.h3 Re8 27.Kh2 Ng5 28.Ne5 Rxd4 29.Rxd4 Bxd4 30.Nxg6 Kxg6 31.Qxa6 Qxa6 32.Bxa6 c6 33.b3 f5 34.Bb7 c5 35.f3 Re2 36.a4 Re3 37.Bd5 Rd3 38.Bc4 Rd2 39.Bf4 Be5 40.Kg3 Bxf4+ 41.Kxf4 Kf6 0-1

[Event "CP-2006-Q-00007"]
[Site "IECG"]
[Date "2008.01.15"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Salzmann, Stefan"]
[Black "Weeks, Mark"]
[Result "1-0"]

1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Ng8 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Bb5 a6 6.Bxc6+ bxc6 7.O-O e6 8. Nbd2 Nh6 9.Nc4 Nf5 10.Na5 Bd7 11.Qd3 Rb8 12.Bg5 Be7 13.Bxe7 Nxe7 14.a3 O-O 15.b4 Nf5 16.Rfe1 Rb6 17.h3 Qb8 18.c4 f6 19.Rab1 Qc8 20.c5 Rb8 21. exd6 cxd6 22.g4 Ne7 23.cxd6 Ng6 24.Nd2 f5 25.Qg3 Rb5 26.Nac4 Qd8 27.Nf3 Rd5 28.Rbd1 Bc8 29.Nfe5 Nxe5 30.dxe5 fxg4 31.hxg4 Kh8 32.Na5 Qg5 33.Nxc6 Rxd1 34.Rxd1 Bd7 35.Nd4 Rf4 36.Nf3 Qxg4 37.Qxg4 Rxg4+ 38.Kh2 Rc4 39.Rd3 Kg8 40.Nd2 Rc8 41.Nb3 1-0

[Event "CP-2006-Q-00007"]
[Site "IECG"]
[Date "2008.01.15"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Weeks, Mark"]
[Black "Miettinen, Kristo"]
[Result "0-1"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Qe2 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 O-O 9.Rd1 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 Qc7 12.d5 Bd7 13.b3 Nb7 14.Nbd2 Rfb8 15. Nf1 c4 16.bxc4 Nc5 17.N3d2 Qa5 18.Bb2 Na4 19.Bxa4 Qxa4 20.c5 dxc5 21.c4 Bd6 22.Rdc1 Bg4 23.f3 Bd7 24.Qf2 Nh5 25.g3 f6 26.Ne3 g6 27.Rc3 Qa5 28. Nb3 Qc7 29.Nc1 b4 30.Rc2 a5 31.Nd3 a4 32.Rf1 Rb6 33.Qe1 b3 34.axb3 axb3 35.Rc1 Ra2 36.Rb1 36...Rb7 {d} 37.Rf2 Bf8 38.Bc3 Ra3 39.Rfb2 Ng7 40.Nf1 Ne8 41.Qe3 Ba4 42.Be1 Nd6 43.Nd2 Qb6 44.Bf2 Rc7 45.f4 Nf7 46.Nc1 Qb8 47. Qc3 Qc8 48.Ncxb3 exf4 49.gxf4 Rb7 50.Bh4 g5 51.Bg3 Qg4 52.Kh1 Bxb3 53. Nxb3 Bd6 54.Rf1 Qh3 55.Rf3 Rbxb3 0-1

[Event "CP-2006-Q-00007"]
[Site "IECG"]
[Date "2008.01.15"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Weeks, Mark"]
[Black "Baum, Hansjuergen"]
[Result "0-1"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e6 7.O-O Be7 8.f4 O-O 9.Kh1 Qc7 10.a4 Rd8 11.Be3 Nbd7 12.Qe1 b6 13.Bf3 Bb7 14.Bf2 Rac8 15. Bg3 Qc4 16.Qe3 d5 17.e5 Ne4 18.Nce2 Qc7 19.Be1 Ndc5 20.Bg4 g6 21.Qh3 Kh8 22.Bh4 Rg8 23.Bxe7 Qxe7 24.Qe3 Rgd8 25.Bf3 a5 26.b3 Na6 27.c3 Nac5 28. Rfb1 g5 29.Nb5 Ba6 30.Bxe4 Bxb5 31.Bc2 Bxe2 32.Qxe2 gxf4 33.Rf1 Qg5 34. Rae1 d4 35.Rf3 dxc3 36.Rxc3 Nd7 37.Rc4 Rxc4 38.bxc4 Nc5 0-1

[Event "CP-2006-Q-00007"]
[Site "IECG"]
[Date "2008.01.15"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Soreghy, Janos"]
[Black "Weeks, Mark"]
[Result "1-0"]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.d5 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.Nc3 g6 7.e4 Bg7 8.h3 O-O 9.Bd3 b5 10.O-O a6 11.Re1 Re8 12.a3 Nbd7 13.Bf4 Qb6 14.Qd2 Bb7 15. Rad1 c4 16.Bc2 Rad8 17.Bh6 Bh8 18.Be3 Nc5 19.Bd4 Nfd7 20.Bxh8 Kxh8 21.Qh6 Re7 22.Re3 Rg8 23.Qh4 f6 24.Nd4 Ree8 25.Nce2 Qd8 26.b4 cxb3 27.Nxb3 Nxb3 28.Rxb3 Qe7 29.Nd4 Rb8 30.Rb4 Rgc8 31.a4 bxa4 32.Bxa4 Nc5 33.Bc6 Ba8 34. Rc4 Rb6 35.f4 Bxc6 36.Nxc6 Qf8 37.e5 Re8 38.e6 Qg7 39.Qf2 Rb5 40.f5 g5 41.Qg3 Qc7 42.Qf3 Qg7 43.Qh5 Qf8 44.h4 gxh4 45.Qxh4 Rb2 46.Rg4 Re2 47. Rb1 1-0

15 September 2009

Kings Indian Reversed/Attack

While thumbing through Wade & O'Connell's 'Bobby Fischer's Chess Games', I noticed that the Index of Openings had entries for both 'Kings Indian Reversed' and 'Kings Indian Attack'. Since I had always assumed these terms were synonymous, I looked at a few of the games, and, as I suspected, couldn't see any way of differentiating the two classifications.

For example, the last game in each of the two classifications arrived at the following position, although by different move orders.


1.e4 c6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 g6 4.g3 Bg7 5.Bg2 e5 6.Ngf3 Ne7 7.O-O O-O 8.Re1

Here are the games...

Robert James Fischer vs Vlastimil Hort, Siegen ol final 1970 [KIR]
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1044305

Robert James Fischer vs Robert Huebner, Palma de Mallorca iz 1970 [KIA]
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1044306

...As usual, one thing led to another, and I ended up taking a closer look at all 30 KIR/KIA games. It turned out that the bulk of the games were from 1956-57 and had Fischer playing 1.Nf3 as White. During the same period he also played 1.e4 as White, along with the Kings Indian in response to 1.d4 as Black. It seems he decided on his opening repertoire very early in his career.

NB: A web search showed that the preferred term (by a wide margin) is 'Kings Indian Attack'. Only seven games in Wade & O'Connell used the term KIA, the others used KIR. • The ECO codes assigned to the KIR/KIA games by my reference database were all over the map: 5 each of A04, A05, and A07; 7 of A08; 2 of B10 (the two games linked above), and 1 each of six other codes scattered across Bxx, Dxx, and Exx.

13 September 2009

Post-WWII Soviet Chess

Continuing with my post on D.J. Richards, 'Soviet Chess', Richards covered post-WWII Soviet chess in his third chapter.

III. The Golden Age of Soviet Chess
01 - The First Post-War Years, 1945 and 1946
02 - Chess in Eastern Europe, China, and Cuba
03 - Soviet Championships, 1947-51
04 - Triumph: The World Championship, 1946-51
05 - The Role of Chess in the Early Post-War Years
06 - The Organization of Soviet Chess in the Fifties
07 - Soviet Championships, 1952-60
08 - The World Championship, 1952-59 (Men's, Junior, Women's)
09 - International Encounters, 1952-59 (Matches, Team Tournaments, Individual Tournaments)
10 - 1960: the End of an Era
11 - The Organization of Soviet Chess in the Sixties
12 - Soviet Championships, 1961-63
13 - The World Championship, 1961-63
14 - The Challenge of Fischer
15 - Other International Encounters of the Early Sixties
16 - Chess and Soviet Cultural Diplomacy

Most of the section headings are self-explanatory. They include three sections each on the Soviet Championship and on the World Championship. Richards explained the title of section 10, 'End of an Era', as Botvinnik's defeat by Tal ('the break-through of the post-war generation of Soviet chess players') and 'the rising challenge of the U.S. to Soviet supremacy' (i.e. Fischer).

The most important post-WWII news was the budding Soviet involvement in international chess politics. In 1947, they joined FIDE (see my article Birth of the FIDE World Chess Championship), and, in 1952, participated in their first Olympiad (see Olimpbase.org's Soviet Union; Men's Olympiads). It was the beginning of Soviet domination of the international chess scene, a unique sporting phenomenon that would last until the breakup of the USSR in 1990.

***

I've come a long way on this subject since researching an introductory piece in 2005: Rise of the Soviet Chess Hegemony. I'm going to give it a rest now, but I have a feeling I'll come back to it again some day in the not so distant future. It's a fascinating subject.

11 September 2009

Chess on Your Mind?

Flickr gave me a warning about this image being outside of 'safe search', even though I had the option turned off. It's creepier than most chess images, but I don't see anything otherwise objectionable about it.


Chess king by `adnrey © Flickr user cuirjean under Creative Commons.

The watermark points to DeviantArt.com ('deviously serving the art and skin community'). More weirdness here: Popular deviations submitted in all of time for chess.

10 September 2009

Soviet Propaganda Chess Set

I'm not sure why, but this chess set -- Russian Soviet Propaganda Porcelain Chess (eBay.com) -- works for me on several levels.


The eBay description said,

Extremely high quality copy of a very rare Russian Soviet Propaganda Chess Set. Originally the set was created on Lomonosov Porcelain Factory in 1920’s by a very famous and important artist - Natalia Danko. It’s 100% impossible to find the original set for sale. This copy was made from an original set which is located in Lomonosov Porcelain Factory Museum. This copy is hand made, hand painted and is a very limited edition. The name of the set is: RED AND WHITE. Which is commemorating Red Army and White Army which fought during the Soviet Communist Civil War in former Russian Empire.

It's a good example of chess sets as miniature works of art, taking the pieces together or taking them separately. See the eBay auction for high quality photos showing the details.

08 September 2009

One Fortress Leads to Another

When I started the category on Posts with label Fortress, the goal was to create an article on the subject. I expected to find more examples than I have. The next position is from an early FIDE World Championship match.

1954 World Championship Match (game 3)
Botvinnik, Mikhail

Smyslov, Vasily
(After 41.Bd2-e3)
[FEN "3b4/p7/Pp2k1p1/1P1p1pp1/3P2p1/4B3/6KP/3B4 b - - 0 41"]

Botvinnik wrote,

The sealed move. The players agreed a draw without resuming play. Black does not have any problems. After the exchange of Bishops (for example, on the square e5), he only needs to exchange his five Pawns in the center and on the Kingside for the two Pawns on d4 and h2, in order to establish another fortress. The King will occupy an impregnable position on b8.

For the complete game, see...

Vasily Smyslov vs Mikhail Botvinnik
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1032342

...on Chessgames.com. Wikipedia also has a page on the subject -- Fortress (chess) -- with many examples from theoretical endgames. The page says, 'Fortresses pose a problem for computer chess: computers are unable to reason about fortress-type positions except to the extent that their endgame tablebase allows.' This was true once, but Monte Carlo methods now allow chess software to detect fortress positions.

06 September 2009

A Few New References

I updated my first post in this series -- The Soviet School -- to add the references I've collected since that post was written in 2007. The two most useful new references are 'Soviet Chess 1917-1991' by Andrew Soltis and 'Soviet Chess' by R.G.Wade.

If you're curious about the content of Soltis's book, you can find the table of contents at Andrew Soltis, Soviet Chess 1917 - 1991 (Schachversand.de). Unlike most history books, the chapter titles aren't particularly descriptive, but if you already have a grasp of the subject, they should be clear. If you're curious about Wade's book, here's a snapshot of its table of contents.


The Wade book suffers from several structural problems, which are exacerbated by the lack of an index. For example, the section titled 'Post-Tchigorin' [Chigorin, p.28] has brief entries on Janowsky, Rubinstein, Bernstein, Znosko-Borowsky, Tartakower, Nimzowitsch, and Bogoljubow. With the exception of Bogoljubow, who won the 3rd and 4th Soviet Championships, none of these players are generally discussed in literature on Soviet chess, and you would not know they are present in Wade's book unless you read the small section mentioning them.

Like the majority of chess history books, the Soltis book and the Wade book both feature annotated games in addition to the historical narrative you expect. Both do this using a technique which I have come to dislike; the games and narrative are mixed together throughout the book. When I spend time on a chess history book, I am interested either in reading the narrative or in playing through the games, never in both at the same time. Having to skip over a number of annotated games makes the narrative harder to follow, especially when it continues with a short paragraph or two between the games. Kasparov's 'Predecessor' series also uses this not-so-friendly structure.

I find a book like Grekov's 'Soviet Chess', where the narrative is split into chapters and the chapters are separated by the relevant games, easier to read. This is more a peeve than it is a problem, since I'm always happy to have the information found in books of any format.

04 September 2009

Cutting the Chess Pieces

'Simultaneous 5-axis milling'


SolidCAM chess video (6:41) • 'Cutting the chess pieces on 5 axis CNC machine Hermle C20U in Technology Training Center of company SolidVision, Brno, Czech Republic '

How long does it take you to recognize which piece is being cut? The second piece starts around 3:40 into the clip.

03 September 2009

Chess Ads - Givenchy Ysatis

When I went downtown this morning, there seemed to be the same poster on every corner advertising 'Givenchy, Ange ou Demon'. It reminded me of a Givenchy chess ad from the early 1990s, of which I've seen two versions.


Here's a YouTube video for Givenchy - Ange ou Demon Le Secret, featuring Uma Thurman. Who's the model on the Ysatis ad?

01 September 2009

Wrapup on the 2009 USCF EB Election

Three weeks after my previous post on the USCF's Executive Board (EB) election (see My Four EB Votes), the USCF issued the results.

The winners were the same four candidates for whom I voted -- Jim Berry, Bill Goichberg, Ruth Haring, and Michael Atkins -- listed here in descending order of the number of votes each received. The last of those four received more than three times the number of votes the fifth vote-getter received. Relative to the total number of USCF members, the number of votes is low, confirming my frequent observation on the general apathy that chess players have for organizational issues. U.S. chess players who care about these things solidly backed current USCF management and completely repudiated the negative, divisive campaigning of the Polgar/Truong faction.

After the vote I expected to see a USCF announcement on the new officers, but it appears to have slipped through the cracks. The USCF page Board Members lists 'Jim Berry - President; Ruth Haring - Vice President; ...' (although dated 'February 7, 2009'). Two weeks after the election results were published, the USCF announced that Polgar and Truong were no longer members of the organization.

It has been only two years since Polgar and Truong were elected to the EB, in which time their considerable political capital was wasted on lawsuits where they played leading roles. The lawsuits continue, the story is far from over, and the next chapter in this sad saga remains to be written. Once there was so much promise; now there is so little to show for it.

***

Here is a summary of my posts to date in 2009.

I don't intend to be obsessed with subsequent events, but I will follow the evolution of the lawsuits. As a USCF Life Member, I have an interest in the long term viability of the organization.