0 One Game

The past few weeks I have been trying to avoid long strings of online blitz games. It's not always easy. Instead, I try to play a single 15 minute game with a ten second increment. Yesterday's sole game was short, but easily could have lasted longer.

Stripes,J (1999) -- Internet Opponent (2036) [B41]
A Website, 13.03.2015

1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.Nf3 

I've been playing around with this move order because I've been studying the games of Paul Morphy.

3.c3 The Smith-Morra Gambit is the usual reason White plays 2.d4.

3...e6

3...e5 4.c3 (4.Nxe5?? Qa5+–+)

4.Nxd4 a6 5.c4

I play a move that has given me trouble when I've been on the Black side in this position.

5.Nc3 is the most popular choice.

5.Bd3 does well statistically, and was the recommendation of something I read when I started playing the Kan several years ago.

5...Nf6 6.Nc3 Bb4

White to play

7.f3

7.Qd3 is probably best. See Carlsen -- Anand, Game 6.

7.Qf3 is good.

7...Qc7 8.Nc2

8.Qb3 also scores well.

8...Be7 9.Be3

9.Be2

9...0–0 10.Be2 Nc6 11.0–0 Ne5 

11...Rd8 offers White more difficulties.

12.b3 d5!?

White to move

At first, this move looked dangerous, then I saw that my vulnerable knight would be the second White piece to capture on d5.

13.exd5

13.cxd5?? Qxc3-+.

13.f4 was also good.

13...exd5 14.Nxd5 Nxd5 15.Qxd5

Perhaps Black has compensation for the pawn.

15...Be6 16.Qe4 f5 17.Qd4 Bf6 

17...Rfd8 18.Qb6

18.Qb6 Qxb6 19.Bxb6

Black to move

19...Rac8 20.Rad1

I had been thinking about the vulnerability of this rook on a1

20...Nd7 21.Bd4 1-0

White is a pawn ahead, but there's plenty of play left in the game. Black's resignation seems premature. I was not really tested in this game, but it's always nice to win.

Detail: One Game

0 Playing all Night

Sometimes I play online blitz or bullet all night long. Sometimes this reckless behavior stems from trying to swing my way through a slump.* After I lose several games that I should have won, I keep playing until my performance improves. Other times I play all night because I am angry and cannot sleep, or I cannot sleep because there is trouble in the neighborhood. Maybe sleeplessness stems from my dogs being agitated and noisy, or due to travel or stress.

Last night I had a three hour blitz session relating to care some family responsibilities.

These all night sessions generally produce more losses than wins. My errors are often elementary. These games fill my database with intructive errors that can be used teaching beginners.

On my previous move prior to this position, I could have snatched the pawn.

Black to move

Instead of moving my king, forcing my opponent's king to b5, I played Qb8 and stalemated my adversary.

This position is less elementary.

Black to move

One move gives me an advantage, all others lose. My opponent drew the game with repetitive checks after my Kf7.

In this position from an Exchange French, Nxe5 is simple and correct.

Black to move

I played Nxd4 and quickly found my position hopelessly lost.

Here I had an advantage against a player rated more than 400 Elo above me.

White to move

I considered 42.Kxg5, but played the inferior 42.Kh3. After 42...Re3 43.Kg4  Rxb3 44.Rxa5 Rb2, I stillcoul have taken the g-pawn and been better.

White to move

Instead, things remained balanced with 45.Kf5 Rxh2 46.Ra7+ Ke8 47.d6 Re2 48.Kf6 h3 49.Rh7 h2

White to move

Here 50.a5 is the only move that maintains equality. Alas, the last few moves have been sheer panic after blowing a nice position. I played 50.Kxg5 and resigned a few moves later.

Happily, I won six of the next seven games. The one blemish in that series in the stalemate above.


*A baseball metaphor. See "You just swing through it."

Detail: Playing all Night

0 Losing Time

Time, that is, efficiency, is a central strategic and tactical element in the game of chess. A player who wastes time quickly finds him- or herself in a worse position even without material loss. Moving one piece repeatedly in the opening usually wastes time.

Two games illustrate this problem. The first was played against some version of Crafty embedded in the Chessimo training app for iPad more than a year ago. The second was played on the Game of King's iPad app and finished yesterday. In both cases, Black was much worse a few moves into the game as a consequence of moving a bishop several times.

Stripes,James -- Crafty (Chessimo) [A46]
Rating Estimation, 01.02.2013

1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 Bb4+

A silly check.

4.c3 Bd6?

4...Be7 was sensible.

5.Bd3 0–0 6.0–0 Be7 7.Nbd2 d5 8.Re1 Nc6 9.Qc2 Bd6?!

Another time wasting move that makes White's plan even better than it would have been. The bishop is now vulnerable to attack.

10.e4 dxe4 11.Nxe4 Nxe4 12.Bxe4

Black to move

12...Kh8?

I suspect that Crafty fell prey to a limited search horizon, believing that it could trap the bishop if White played as he did.

13.Bxh7 g6

White's bishop is trapped.

14.Bg5?

White should have played 14...Ng5.

14...Qe8??

Black recovers from early errors with another bishop move: 14...Be7. Instead, Black has moved into a forced checkmate.

15.Bf6+ Kxh7 16.Qe4 Bf4 17.Qxf4 Qd7 18.Qh4+ Kg8 19.Qh8# 1–0


Stripes,J (1974) -- Nomen Nescio (1929) [D24]
Rated Match Game of Kings - Online Chess, 16.09.2014

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Bf5

Not a terrible move, but not best either. 2...e6, 2...c6, 2...Nf6 are all better.

3.c4 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.e3 Be6?

Black moves the bishop a second time.

6.e4 Bg4?

And a third.

7.Bxc4 Bxf3 8.gxf3 e6

White to move

White already has a clear advantage. The rest of the game demonstrates White getting an easy win despite playing less than optimal moves.

9.d5 e5 10.Qb3 b6 11.d6 Qd7 12.dxc7 Qxc7 13.Bg5 Nc6 14.Rd1 Nd4 15.Nb5 Nxf3+ 16.Ke2 Qb7 17.Qxf3 a6 18.Nc3 b5 19.Bd5 Nxd5 20.Rxd5 f6 21.Bxf6 gxf6 22.Qxf6 Bg7 23.Rxe5+ Kd7 24.Re7+ Kc8 25.Qe6+ Kb8 26.Rxb7+ Kxb7 27.Qd7+ Kb6 28.Nd5+ Kc5 29.Qxg7 Rhe8 30.Qc7+ Kd4 31.f3 Rac8 32.Rd1# 1–0

Detail: Losing Time

0 Blitz Woes

Over the last few weeks, I have blown many wins and draws in online blitz. I also have had a few games handed to me by similar errors by my opponents.

Black to move

Black should hold with 43...Ke7, but I played 43...Nc7 and after 44.Kd6 Nb5+ 45.Bxb5 axb5 we reached a pawn ending that was hopeless for me.

White to move

Black has nothing if the bishop remains on the c1-h6 diagonal and avoids exchange for the knight. Nor can White make progress. But, after my opponent's 33.Be1, I gained an advantage. 33...Nc4 and White's king had to move.

White to move

I played the obvious 19.Rxd4, but my opponent would have been no worse after 19...cxd4 20.Qxe7 Rxc1+ 21.Kf2 Rc2+. Instead, he played 19...f6. After 20.Qb3+ Kh8 21.Rd6 fxe5 22.Re6 Qc7 23.Rxe5 I had a one-pawn advantage and went on to win.

Detail: Blitz Woes

0 Tragicomedies

Every blitz game seems to be a blunderfest. Maybe that's not true for masters, but at my level, blunders rule the day.

Black to move

I had Black and an excellent attack. I faltered with 25...a2+, forcing 26.Ka1 Qxd4.

My opponent then missed a clear win and played 27.gxh7+. After 27...Kh8, I was again winning.

Detail: Tragicomedies

0 Pawn Wars

Two days ago, I found myself in this position in a correspondence game after my opponent entered a series of conditional moves. I had been playing for a draw through much of the game. Nonetheless, when a simple forced draw was in front of me, I determined that it was time to think about pawn wars. Is the repetition that I can force in my best interest?

I had Black. This game was played on ChessWorld (see link in sidebar).

Black to move

Detail: Pawn Wars

0 Second Best

From this position, I played 17.Qh5+, missing the best move. My opponent found the second best move. Then, my reply was second best, too. A sequence of second best moves by both players resulted in an overwhelming advantage for White.

White to move

Would you have found a better move than 17.Qh5+ in a three minute blitz game?

Detail: Second Best

0 Pawn Promotion

In a blitz game last night, I was handed a gift by my opponent. I was no better in this game. Alas, my opponent was certain that he had a clear win and missed the critical move here. Twelve moves later, I checkmated him with two queens.

White to move

Had my opponent found the correct move here, I almost certainly would have missed my only chance to stay in the game.

Detail: Pawn Promotion

0 Philidor Position: Practice

Demonstrating fundamental understanding of the Philidor position in rook endings is one of the tests for the Rook Award in my series of scholastic chess awards. Naturally, when I have a student working through that stage, I spend additional time looking through my own games both to find evidence of correct play and to extract study positions where failure occurred.

Tragicomedies abound in my database of online games, which includes thousands of turn-based (correspondence) games, nearly as many "standard" (fifteen minute and longer) live online games, and fifty thousand blitz games. There are dozens of games where the last several moves clearly indicate both players trying to run the other out of time in a dead drawn ending, or even in endings where one player has a decisive advantage but the other manages to win. There are also far too many games where moves played demonstrate intuitive failure or lack of understanding of correct technique.

Using the classification keys in ChessBase 11, I am able to quickly locate hundreds of rook endings and skim through the positions rapidly. With an eye for thematic positions, I seek those with results at odds with the truth of the position. I play out the position from before the error to practice correct technique. This practice also tests my understanding of which positions are drawn and which won or lost.

As White, I threw away a draw from this position, but then won on time a few moves later. The game was played on the Internet Chess Club in August 2000.

White to move

54.Ra6?? loses to 54...Rf6+. My opponent returned the position to drawn status with 54...f4, allowing my rook to maneuver to f1 where it awaited help from its king.

My ICC opponent in 2000 could have held the next position easily by shuffling the rook across to a3, b3, ... Even 78.Rh5, the move played, could have held if not for the blunder several moves later.

White to move

78.Rh5 Kg4 79.Rh3 Re7 80.Rg3+ Kf4 81.Rg2 Rh7+ 82.Kg1 Ke3 83.Rf2?? and I won with a rook swap that took us into an elementary pawn ending. Playing my opponent's position against Stockfish DD earlier this week, I reached a draw in a few seconds of play keeping the rook on the third rank until Black advancd the pawn to f4, then keeping up a barrage of side checks.

My own errors were glaring in the next game.

Black to move

In a three minute game on ICC in 2001, I played 55...Re5?? in this position. My opponent exploited the error to win.

In this game from 2001, I maintained the draw for several moves. Even so, my moves call into question my intuitive sense. Keeping my king in front of Black's pawn should not require conscious thought.

White to move

70.Ke3 (I played 70.Kf3 against Stockfish) 70...Ra3+ 71.Kd4 Ra4+ 72.Kc3?? and I lost the game.

Improvement?

Moving forward in the database to 2006, I should find better play. By then, I had spent at least a little time learning some principles of rook endings, although serious work began in 2007. It was then that I bought Jeremy Silman's new book, Silman's Complete Endgame Course (2007) and quickly went through everything up through the chapter for C Class. In the fall of 2006, I also broke through to B Class with my USCF rating.

After studying the section on the Lucena and Philidor positions in Silman's text, I changed the requirements for my Rook Award. The Lucena and Philidor positions replaced checkmate with a bishop and a knight. Silman's arguments concerning the relative value of each influenced my decision, as did one of my pupils requiring 51 moves to checkmate my king with a bishop and knight after many attempts over several weeks.

In this game on Free Internet Chess Server (FICS), I started well.

White to move

52.Rh3+ Ke4 53.Rb3 f4 54.Kf1 f3

I have occupied the third rank. Black has advanced his pawn.

55.Rb4+ Ke3 56.Rb3+ Kf4 57.Rb4+??

I threw it away. It was time to check from the rear.

In another game on FICS in 2006, I threw away a win.

Black to move

56...f2?? leaves my king unprotected from White's checks. Against Stockfish this week, I won quickly after 56...Re1+.

Several years later, rear checks allowed my to transition into a drawn pawn ending in this game from Chess.com that was played in 2013.

Black to move

70...Rxg3+ 71.Kf4 Rg1 72.Ke5 Re1+ 73.Kd6 Rxe6+ 74.fxe6 Ke8

My opponent tested my time management skills for seven moves before we reached stalemate.

Nonetheless, failures continued to manifest themselves in 2013.

I blew a draw in this game on Chess.com.

White to move

70.Rf3+?? leads to passive first rank defense that is lost (and straight out of the textbooks).

Against the engine, I held the draw after 70.Rb6+ Kc3 71.Kb1.

As recently as January of this year, I demonstrated a continuing need for improvement.

White to move

52.Kh1

Choosing the short side is as effective here as 52.Kf1.

52...f3 53.Rc4+ Kh3 54.Rc1??

54.Rc8 would have been simple and effective. Passive defense leads to checkmate.

The work continues.

Detail: Philidor Position: Practice

0 One Strong Move

But, is it the strongest?

In the game of chess, players seek to create problems for their opponents to solve. When the opponent falters, and advantage is gained. Often this advantage may be converted into victory.

This position arose from a line in the Smith-Morra Gambit in which White offers an additional pawn in the manner of the Danish Gambit. The first time that I remember playing it was during some chess in the bowling alley. We were bowling and making our moves on the chessboard while the other was knocking down pins. This gambit line never worked against Kevin Baker a second time and it has failed against many internet opponents. Sometimes it succeeds, though.

White to move

After 19...Rfd8

I played 20.Bxg7!

Clearly, my opponent's 20...Kxg7 represents a failure to solve the problem that I set. 20...f5 is the obvious effort to refute White's plans. Then, one of the minor pieces is lost. After 20...f5, does White have compensation for the minor piece and two pawns?

Was 20.Nxh6 the correct move for White? Did White have some other way of applying pressure to Black's position?

There is no time to waste.

Detail: One Strong Move

0 A Typical and Uncommon Position

Although this position contains several common elements that arise in the French, it appears in only thirteen games in the ChessBase online database. It also cropped up in my second blitz game this morning.

The position arises in the Tarrasch after 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.c3 Nc6 7.Ndf3 cxd4 8.cxd4 f6 9.Ne2 Bb4+ 10.Kf2 fxe5 11.fxe5 O-O*

White to move

My opponent played 12.Kg1 and I won the game in 47 moves. He lost a pawn on move 33 and lost a piece to a knight fork on move 44.

Black's immediate target is e5. If it were Black's move, the pawn could be taken as one of the defending knights is pinned. The locked center with targets on d4 and e6 is typical of the French Defense. White's king on f2 is a common maneuver. White's bishops have more scope even though neither has moved.

My opponent stepped out of the pin.

A) 12.Kg3 was played in three games. That was the end of one game--a draw was agreed. It was the only game between masters. 12...Ne7 and 12...Nb6 were played in the other two games.

12...Ndxe5+ has not been tried. 12.Kg3 might be regarded as an error.

B) 12.Be3 was played in three games. All continued 12...Ndxe5 13.dxe5 Nxe5

White to move

Skripchenko -- Maric, New Delhi 2000 continued 14.Qb3 b6 15.Rd1 Qe7 16.Kg1 and was drawn in 42 moves.

14.Bd4 was played in the other two games.

Black won a long battle in Matsura -- Cordova, Sao Paulo 2006 that continued 14...Nc6 15.a3 Bd6.

A draw was reached after a few moves in the more recent Kumaran -- Ram, Chennai 2013: 14...Qh4+ 15.Ng3 Nxf3 16.gxf3 e5 and drawn three moves later. 16...e5 may be inaccurate.

Black certainly has the better game after 12.Be3, which may be regarded as dubious at best.

C) 12.a3 was played in three games.

A correspondence game continued 12...Qh4+ 13.Kg1 Rxf3 14.gxf3 Ndxe5

White to move

White should have been happy to escape this correspondence game with a draw.

12...Ndxe5 was played in the other two games.

Black seems to have found frustration in Popov -- Danin, Smolensk 2005, which continued 13.dxe5 Bc5+ 14.Ke1! Nxe5 15.Nxe5 Bf2+ 16.Kd2 Qg5+ 17.Kc2 Qxe5 18.Kb1

Black to move

After his long journey, the White king appears less vulnerable and White went on to win.

White also survived Black's early attack in Polgar,J -- Hernandez, Merida 2000. That game continued 13.axb4 Qh4+ 14.Kg1 Nxf3+ 15.gxf3 Rxf3 16.Ng3 Nxd4 17.Bg2

Black to move

White went on to win.

Black should have the better game after 12.a3, but in practice has failed to prove it.

D) My opponent's 12.Kg1 may be an error.

However, I missed the thematic 12...Ndxe5. Instead, I tried 12...Qb6. My opponent played 13.Be3

Black to move

13...Ndxe5 remains the correct move. Instead, move-by-move, I squandered my advantage and won only due to tactical errors by my opponent in the ending.

Searching the database for the position in the first diagram produces games where it appears that White should be okay. With optimal play by both sides, however, Black should have a clear advantage. White's pawn center is weak in part due to the vulnerability of the White king.


*Notation leading to the diagram position was added per a request in the comments below.

Detail: A Typical and Uncommon Position

0 Power of Knights

Even after too much online blitz, I sometimes review a batch of my games. Sometimes I look at the openings and make efforts to refine my repertoire. If I improve the quality of moves I make in the beginning of the game before I start thinking, I may reach better positions. Sometimes I review the tactics that I missed.

My database software, ChessBase 11, easily guides me to master games that shared the opening that I fell into (or played deliberately). One of these games (Kallio -- Anastasian, Batumi 2002) caught my eye with its spectacular finish.

Black to move

32...h1Q 33.Rxg7+ Qxg7 34.Rxh1 Nb3+ 35.Kb1 Nbd2+ 36.Kc2+ (36.Kc1 appears to save the game) 36...Nc4 37.Qc6 (hastening the end) 37...Qg2 38.Kb3 Na5+ 0-1

After looking through these moves several times, then going back through the game as a whole, I returned to the diagram position and began to ponder.

I liked 32...Nb3+ and wondered why it was not as good as the move played in the game.

White has two choices.

1) If 33.Kb1, then 33...Ned2+ 34.Kb2 Nf3+ (here I first considered 34...Nf1 to aid the pawn's promotion) 35.Kxb3 Nxe1 36.Rxg7+ Qxg7 37.Qxh2. White has exterminated the promotion threat, but leaves Black a rook ahead.

2) If 33. Kd1, the position seems complex.

Black to move

Checking my ideas with an engine, I learned two things. First, my 32...Nb3 is superior to the move played in the game. Second, I failed to find the correct continuation from the second diagram. Perhaps you can do better.

Detail: Power of Knights

0 Living Dangerously

The Alekhine-Chatard Attack against the French Defense can lead to wild play. In an online blitz game this morning, I had the Black side of a terribly uncomfortable position due to a gross error on move nine. I survived as my opponent and I managed to answer error with error. He made the last significant error and I won.

Nomen Nescio -- Stripes,J [C14]
blitz Some Random Chess Site, 29.03.2014

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e5 Nfd7 6.h4 a6

I opted for the Maroczy variation.

White to move

7.Qg4 Bxg5 8.hxg5 c5 9.g6 h6??

9...f5 was the correct move.

10.gxf7+ Kxf7 11.Bd3 Nf8 12.dxc5

Black to move

Black has a very unpleasant position.

12...Nc6 13.Nf3 Bd7 14.0–0–0

14.Nh4 is easily refuted by 14...Nxe5.

14...Qa5 15.Ng5+ Kg8

The only move, although White's advantage is still very nearly decisive. In a master's hands, it would be so.

White to move

16.Qh5

16.Nxd5! exd5 17.Qf3 hxg5 (17...Nd8 18.Qxd5+ Nde6 19.Qxb7) 18.Rxh8+ Kxh8 19.Qf7 and White has a clear advantage.

16...Nxe5 17.f4 Nxd3+?

17...Qxc5 18.Kb1 Be8 19.Qh3 Nxd3 with a slight advantage for White.

18.Rxd3 Be8 19.Qh3 Bg6

White to move

20.Rg3?

An error that nevertheless contains a threat which both players managed to overlook.

20.Nxe6 Bxd3 21.cxd3±.

20...Bf5?? 21.Qh5

21.Nxe6 Bxe6 (21...Bxh3 22.Rxg7#) 22.f5+-.

21...Bg6 22.Qh4

22.Nxe6 was still possible, and the queen still immune.

22...Bf5 23.Nf3

Black to move

23...Qd8

23...Qxc5 was better with a slight advantage to Black.

24.Qh5 Qf6 25.Ne5 Rc8 

Black appears close to solving his problems.

26.Ne2 Rxc5

White to move

Both sides seem to have even chances. The Black king is finally as secure as White's.

27.Nd4??

27.c3 or 27.Nd3 was necessary to mitigate the vulnerability of the White king. Having been attacking most of the game, however, White may have found the shift to defensive moves difficult.

27...Bxc2 28.Nxc2 Qxf4+–+ 29.Kb1 Qxg3 30.Qf7+ Kh7 31.Nf3 Qg6 

White to move

32.Qxb7

32.Qxg6+ Nxg6–+

32...Qxc2+ White resigns 0–1

Detail: Living Dangerously

0 Beware Stalemate

If a player has no legal moves and is not in check, the game is drawn by stalemate. The side with greater force is robbed of victory. Players under time pressure and beginners are particularly prone to this fate. The positions below are all from recent online play.

White to move

White played 65.g6 and was subjected to a series of checks that ended in stalemate.

White to move

Nearly every move wins except 55.Kf6, which was played in the game.

White to move

64.Qg3# ends Black's charade, but instead White played 64.Bxf3.

White to move

Here also, White played Qc3 instead of the simple Qa1#.

White to move

That White played 41.Rxg2 justifies Black's decision to play on in a hopeless position.

White to move

White's king needs to head towards d7 to free Black's king from a trap. Instead, White played 56.Kh7 and gave Black a choice of drawing moves.

Sometimes the weaker side can trap the stronger.

Black to move

53...Kf6 kept the White king stuck in front of its pawn.

Detail: Beware Stalemate