Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Norths John Purdy Memorial

Last night, I popped into the North Sydney RSL club where they were having the Norths CS Purdy Memorial competition (which runs for over 2 months).

I was there helping David Webster to setup the boards etc. It was with great pity that I did not bring my camera last week as Purdy's wife was there with his son to signal the start of the inaugural John Purdy Memorial.

To people unfamiliar with John Purdy, the wikipedia link below will cover the impact and influence that John Purdy has here in Sydney. He is of course, the son of CJS Purdy, the world correspondence chess champion.

Out of all the games, one game caught my particular attention. It was the game on Board 15.

Nagel, Anne (1600 approx)  v Cooper, Nicholas  (1801)

It was extremely pity that I had to rush off at 8.15pm and I could not see how the game progressed or even who won.

Before I left, the position on the board look like this (Black to move).

This is of course one of the main lines of the Semi-Slav: Noteboom variation (via the Catalan move order).

Whatever happens in this position, we are bound for an interesting fight. White must prove that there is compensation for the lost pawn. Black at the expense of tempi, must quickly organise the forces as it is severely behind in development.

Play continued with 1....Nf6. A slight inaccuracy. The problem herein is that White intends to liberate the bishop on g2 by playing Ne5. As a result, Black must counteract this with 1...Nd7 followed by 2... Qc8. Another piece development on the queenside (lagging even further in development). In the event of 2. Ne5. Black must be wary of a tactical trick to regain the lost pawn with 3. Nxb5 (cxb5 results in the immediate 3. Bxb7 - Black would then be in more trouble strategically because the light squared bishop has no equal on the board).

In fairness, the position is extremely unbalanced. Black must tread water (as a result of playing so sharply) and middlegame play is typically complex with chances for both sides. White therefore must start to attack and press on with the initiative because once Black regroups, a deadly queenside pawnstorm is usually decisive.

In case anyone is wondering, I had look at this line before my long layoff from chess and it was part of my repertoire (yes, I play the Semi-Slav as Black) and hence my familiarity with it.

For enthused readers who want to know more about this variation, I encourage you to pick up the book The Triangle System by Ruslan Scherbakov from Everyman. Be warned, it is not for the faint-hearted. :)

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Still Alive I Guess

I've just come to the horrible realisation that I have way too many chess books and online chess materials that I can possibly finish.

Despite my best efforts, I've not been able to devote as much time as I had to chess as I used to.

This is in spite of my TV having gone kaput. The TV is rarely on these days too. So where does my time go to?

Mucking around. Mostly.  As a result of the long layoff from chess, my chess has inadvertently suffered. I am even having problems beating players at the chess club that I use to win. For some reason, I am not bothered at all.



Thursday, March 8, 2012

So Busy

Chess has unfortunately taken a huge backseat in the last couple of months.

I've also started playing in the Ryde Eastwood Club Championship as is my brother-in-law Steven (We got paired in the same group too). My friend Weng is also playing.

Signs of all rustiness? In my first game, I went down in 30 moves against (I was practically lost out of the opening) Persey. Last night, I was supposed to play Kerdic but he didn't turn up and forfeited by default.

Bummer. Wasted an hour waiting for him too.

Grrr.... not a great start to the competition for sure.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Still Life In This Bag Of Old Bones

Just a short blurb.

Didn't expect much for the competition as I've not been actively playing for nearly 1 year but ended up at least with a trophy/prize, having tied with a few others in Ryde Eastwood Rapids. Final standings:


1st - Arthur Huynh
2nd - Donatao Mallari, Stephen Liu, Shane Burgess, Chee Tan, Frank Pacey

Results of each round can be seen at:
http://rydeeastwoodchessclub.blogspot.com.au/