A blog about Chess: September 2010

Thursday, September 30, 2010

When Opportunity Knocks...

Solution

Vallejo Pons - Kozul, Chess Olympiad 2010, Round 9

Francisco Vallejo Pons - Zdenko Kozul, Chess Olympiad 2010, Round 9.

Analysis by chess engine Stockfish at ChessBomb

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nge2 d6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nf6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 a6 8.O-O-O Bd7 9.f4 b5 10.Bxf6 gxf6 11.Kb1 Qb6 12.Nce2 Be7

Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings, Volume B (fourth edition), believes more in 12...Rc8 and 12...h5.

13.f5 Nxd4 14.Nxd4 e5

14...h5 15.fxe6 fxe6 16.Be2 (16.g3! Sergey Shipov) 16...e5 17.Nf5 Bxf5 18.exf5 Qc6 19.Qd3 Rc8 20.Bf3 Qc4 21.Bb7, Stockfish.

15.Ne2 Bc6

15....b4 stops 16.Nc3.

16.Nc3 Rc8 17.g4 Qc5 18.Qe2 b4

Stockfish prefer 18...0-0 and gives the line 19.Nd5 Bxd5 20.Rxd5 Qb4 21.a3 Qa4 22. h4 Rc7 23.c3 Rfc8 24.Qc2 Qxc2+ 25.Kxc2 Kg7.

19.Nd5 a5 20.g5 Bxd5

Stockfish prefer that black plays 20...fxg5 21.f6 Bd8, with the continuation 22.Bh3 Bb5 23.Qg2 Rc6 24.Rc1 h6 25.Qg4 Ra6 26.c4 bxc3 e.p. 27.Rxc3 Qf2 28.Rc2 Qh4 29.Qxh4 gxh4 30.Bf1 Bxf1 31.Rxf1.

21.Rxd5 Qc7 22.Qf2

Stockfish prefer 22.gxf6 Bxf6 23.Qd2.

22...Rg8

22...0-0 23.Ba6 Ra8 24.gxf6 Bxf6 25.Bb5 Kh8 26.Qd2 Be7 27.Rd1 Rg8 28.f6 Bxf6 29.Rxd6, Stockfish.

23.h4 fxg5

Stockfish prefer both 23...Rg7 and 23...Kf8.

24.f6 Bf8 25.Bb5+ Kd8 26.Rhd1 gxh4 27.Rxe5 Qb8

27...Qb7 28.Ba4, Stockfish.

28.Qf5 Kc7

28...Qb7 29.Qxh7 Rg2 30.Re8+ Kc7 31.Qxf7+ Kb6 32.Qxf8 Rxe8 33.Bxe8 Qc7 34.Ba4, Stockfish.

29.Qd7+ Kb6 30.Re8 1-0

30...Rxe8 31.Qc6+ Ka7 32.Qa6 mate.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Ivanchuk - Jobava: The game of the Chess Olympiad 2010

Vassily Ivanchuk played a fantastic game in round 7 of the Chess Olympiad 2010 in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.

Ivanchuk was white against Baadur Jobava:

Game comments from the Chess Olympiad website:

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.f3 Qb6

A rare move. The main continuation is 3...e6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bf4.

4.a3

Novelty.

4...e5

Chances are equal.

5.exd5 Nf6

Not the best continuation. Stronger is 5...cxd5.

6.dxe5 Bc5

Not the best continuation. Preferable is 6...Nxd5 7.Nd2 Qe3+ 8.Qe2 Qxe2+ 9.Kxe2 Nd7.

7.exf6 Bf2+ 8.Ke2 O-O 9.Qd2 Re8+ 10.Kd1 Re1+

Not the best continuation. More promising is 10...Bxg1 11.fxg7 Bf5 12.g4 Bg6 13.h4 h5.

11.Qxe1 Bxe1 12.Kxe1 Bf5 13.Be2 Nd7

An interesting alternative is 13...Bxc2 14.Nc3 Nd7.

14.dxc6 bxc6 15.Bd1 Re8+ 16.Ne2 Nxf6 17.Nc3 Bc8

An interesting alternative is 17...Nd5 18.Nxd5 cxd5.

18.a4 a5 19.Rf1

An interesting alternative is 19.Ra3.

19...Ba6 20.Rf2 h5 21.Ra3 h4 22.g3 h3 23.g4 Rd8

Worth attention is 23...Bc4 24.g5 Nd5 25.Nxd5 cxd5.

24.Nf4 Nd7 25.Rb3

An interesting alternative is 25.Nxh3.

25...Qd4 26.Nfe2 Re8 27.Ne4 Qxa4 28.Bd2

White is winning.

28...Qa1 29.Bc3 Ne5 30.Ra3 Qb1 31.Nd2 Qc1 32.Rxa5 Ng6 33.Rxa6 Nf4 34.Ra8 1-0

(34...Ng2+ 35.Rxg2 Rxa8 36.Nxc1 hxg2 37.Kf2 Ra1 38.Ndb3 Ra8 39.Kxg2 Rd8 40. Nd3 Rc8 41.Nbc5 Kf8 42.Ne4 Rc7 43.Bb4+ Kg8 44.Be2 Rc8 45.Kg3 f6 46.Bc5 White has a decisive advantage.)

Chess Problem Video

White move and do not checkmate.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Games Chess Olympiad 2010

Games from Chess Olympiad 2010 in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.

Annotated games at ChessBase News:

Samhouri - Polgar, McShane - Mok
Gonzalez Garcia - Stanojoski

Carlsen - Galego, Aronian - Zhao, Mamedov - Nguyen
Kamsky - Morovic Fernandez, Leon Hoyos - Jobava

Jobava - Carlsen, Polgar - Bu, Aronian - Jakovenko
Carlsen - Vallejo Pons, Short - Fressinet, N. Kosintseva - Ju

Short - Fressinet
Adams - Carlsen
Ivanchuk - Leko

Ivanchuk - Jobava, Bluvshtein - Topalov
Karjakin - Eljanov, Flores - Carlsen

Mamedyarov - Ivanchuk, Kamsky - Cheparinov, Leitao - Caruana
Ivanchuk - Vachier-Lagrave, Shirov - Jobava, Sutovsky - Kamsky

Kramnik - Shirov, Svidler - Salgado Lopez
Efimenko - Stojanovic

16 positions from the Chess Olympiad to test your skills

Games at Chessgames.com:

Le - Jobava
Karjakin - Heidenfeld
Shulman - O. Berg
Marcos - Ghaem
Granda-Zuniga - Adly
B. Socko - Wiedenkeller
Pitterson - Elsness
Kamsky - Battulga
Sokolov - Adams
Genba - Giri
Sjugirov - De La Riva Aguado
Meijers - Yarmonov
Navara - Leko
Grischuk - Vocaturo
Wang - Bologan
Van Wely - Shirov
Jankovic - Grandelius
Topalov - Lodhi
Torre - Burns-Mannion
Leko - Grischuk
Beliavsky - Gundavaa
Vachier-Lagrave - Gelfand
Kramnik - Sedlak
Gelfand - Van Wely
Mamedyarov - Sasikiran
Radjabov - Almasi
Shirov - E. Berg
Erikson - Agbor Ebot
Zhu - E. Sveshnikov
Cmilyte - Steel
Vachier-Lagrave - Aronian
Wang - Caruana
Laznicka - Short
Hammer - Georgiev
Almasi - Macieja
Bezgodov - Ftacnik
Bologan - Morovic-Fernandez

Zhao - Kosteniuk
Hou - Terao
T. Kosintseva - Repkova
Sebag - Sukandar
T. Kosintseva - Lahno
Stefanova - Harika
Mkrtchian - Krivec
Galliamova - Khotenashvili
Baklanova - Cordero
Bodnaruk - Abrahamyan
M. Socko - Dzagnidze
Dzagnidze - Krush
Lahno - Heinatz
Gunina - Kashlinskaya
Stefanova - Muminova
N. Kosintseva - Sachdev
M. Muzychuk - Galliamova
Voiska - N. Kosintseva
Fomina - Krush
Danielian - Pogonina
T. Kosintseva - Hoang
Lahno - Harika
Zawadzka - Madl
T. Kosintseva - Stefanova

Saturday, September 25, 2010

BBC's The Master Game 1981: Short - Byrne

Nigel Short - Robert Byrne, London 1981
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7 4.d4 Ngf6 5.O-O cxd4 6.Qxd4 e6
7.c4 Be7 8.Bxd7+ Bxd7 9.Nc3 O-O 10.Bg5 Qc7 11.Rfd1 Rfd8
12.Rac1 Be8 13.b3 a6 14.a4 b6 15.Qd3 h6 16.Bh4 Rac8 17.h3
17...Qc5 18.Nd4 Qh5 19.Bg3 Nd7 20.Nde2 Qa5 21.Qb1 Qc5
22.Rc2 Ne5 23.Kf1 Ng6 24.Rcd2 Bh4 25.Bxh4 Nxh4 26.Qd3
26...Ng6 27.f4 Ne7 28.g4 Nc6 29.Qg3 Na5 30.Rb1 Qb4 31.g5
31...hxg5 32.Qxg5 Qc5 33.Qg3 Qh5 34.Nd4 Qh6 35.Rg2 Qf6
36.Nf5 g6 37.Nxd6 Rxd6 38.e5 Qf5 39.exd6 b5 40.Rd1 Bc6
41.Re2 Nxb3 42.axb5 axb5 43.Nxb5 Bxb5 44.cxb5 Qxb5 45.Kf2
45...Nc5 46.h4 Rd8 47.Qe3 Qb6 48.Rc2 Ne4+ 49.Kf3 Qxe3+
50.Kxe3 Rxd6 51.Rxd6 Nxd6 52.Kd4 Nf5+ 53.Ke5 Kg7 54.Rh2
54...Ne3 55.Rh3 Ng4+ 56.Kd4 1/2-1/2

A Complaint Free World

Link to website A Complaint Free World.

David Bronstein Quote

I like to play computers. They don't make all kinds of excuses when they lose.

David Bronstein

Artur Yusupov Interview

Artur Yusupov interview from 2001.
Link to article (pdf document).

Mark Dvoretsky Interview

Mark Dvoretsky interview from 1999.
Link to article (pdf document).

Chess lecture with Mark Dvoretsky

Josh Turner - Would You Go With Me

Jill Johnson - Angel of the Morning

Caro Emerald - That Man

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Enthusiasm and Need to Work for Success

Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

The only place where success comes before work is in a dictionary.
Vidal Sassoon