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.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
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/
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/
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Internet Handles
I have to say, you encounter lots of internet players with ego-trips (you can tell them by the internet handle - click on the image above to see my opponent's handle).
Take for this instance, this player whom I played.... naturally, my opponent took the easy way out instead of resigning (which seems to be the norm these days when these players lose - they simply disconnected on me).
Speaking of which.... if this is false advertising, then ... can I get my money back? ;-)
Monday, September 5, 2011
Chess Blindness
Why are some positions more difficult to see than others?
Take for instance, this position I played a while back online. I am White.
For some odd reason, I totally missed the shot. The Black king attacks my Knight and I played the most "natural" move... 1. exf6??
Looking at it now, I just cannot understand how I could have missed such a simple tactic.
I had totally missed the simple 1. e6+!! forking both Queen and King. The unusual placement of the Knight and the fact that it can control the e6 square (in reverse) made me unaware of the tactical shot.
However, if you think elite Grandmasters and World Champions are above it all, guess again!
1. In the recently concluded Botvinnik Memorial, the World rated #1 Magnus Carlsen missed this against Viswanathan Anand by playing 1. R4e1?? What did Carlsen miss?
2. Even the great endgame specialist and 3rd World Champion Jose Raul Capablanca suffered from this. In this game v Thomas, his opponent incorrectly resigned after Capablanca played 1. Qa8?? What did Capablanca miss?
3. Even one of the greatest players of all time also suffers from chess blindness. In the following game, Viswanathan Anand v Garry Kasparov. Kasparov took the Bishop with 1...Qxe3?? What did Garry Kimovich miss?
Answers can be found by highlighting the brackets
[
Game 1
1...g6 2. Ng3 Bf2 and White must sacrifice an exchange down with Rook for Bishop. Carlsen subsequently lost.
Game 2
1... Rxa2! and White is forced to trade massive material leading to a losing endgame 2 pawns down.
Game 3
2. Qxg4 uncovering the hidden attack on the Black Queen and attacking the Rook on c8.
]
Take for instance, this position I played a while back online. I am White.
For some odd reason, I totally missed the shot. The Black king attacks my Knight and I played the most "natural" move... 1. exf6??
Looking at it now, I just cannot understand how I could have missed such a simple tactic.
I had totally missed the simple 1. e6+!! forking both Queen and King. The unusual placement of the Knight and the fact that it can control the e6 square (in reverse) made me unaware of the tactical shot.However, if you think elite Grandmasters and World Champions are above it all, guess again!
1. In the recently concluded Botvinnik Memorial, the World rated #1 Magnus Carlsen missed this against Viswanathan Anand by playing 1. R4e1?? What did Carlsen miss?
2. Even the great endgame specialist and 3rd World Champion Jose Raul Capablanca suffered from this. In this game v Thomas, his opponent incorrectly resigned after Capablanca played 1. Qa8?? What did Capablanca miss?
3. Even one of the greatest players of all time also suffers from chess blindness. In the following game, Viswanathan Anand v Garry Kasparov. Kasparov took the Bishop with 1...Qxe3?? What did Garry Kimovich miss?
Answers can be found by highlighting the brackets
[
Game 1
1...g6 2. Ng3 Bf2 and White must sacrifice an exchange down with Rook for Bishop. Carlsen subsequently lost.
Game 2
1... Rxa2! and White is forced to trade massive material leading to a losing endgame 2 pawns down.
Game 3
2. Qxg4 uncovering the hidden attack on the Black Queen and attacking the Rook on c8.
]
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Review: Practical Endgames Vol 8 - Practical Rook Endgames
I've finally gotten a chance to sit down and watch Karsten Müller's Endgame Vol 8 - Practical Rook Endgames.
It's taken him a couple of Chessbase DVDs but Müller now is able to smile on camera and is definitely very relaxed. He is in a particularly jovial mood and his presentation on camera is infectious.
There is no denying the endgame aspect of the royal game is definitely in his area of expertise and this time, he gives it in spades.
Mixing a bit of humour (for a German!) in between serious analysis and explanations, Müller is by now extremely comfortable in front of the camera. This is in stark contrast to his earlier DVDs where he can rattle off some complex variations and endgame techniques in a single breath. Here, Müller takes the time to pause and allows the idea to sink in (but not too long). He has definitely become a much better presenter, in fact, in spite of his German accent, his English is easily understandable and he has become one of my two favourite Chessbase authors (the other being Daniel King).
Ironically, one of the best segments was his commentary on an endgame between himself and fellow Chessbase DVD author, Daniel King. It was a team event in the German Bundesliga and Müller's team had by then lost. However, he explains how he wanted to play the endgame through to the end with King much to the consternation of his team-mates who wanted to go out and eat.
"Why go and eat when you can play a Rook ending?" was his reply.
LOL. The game lasted some 75 odd moves so you can imagine how long his team had to wait for him!
This DVD focuses exclusively on Rook endgames. Unlike his earlier DVD 2 (did I review this? I really need to find my old Chessbase DVDs in the closet), he expounds on important techniques such as how to deal with a blockading Rook, how to use the checking distance effectively, how to maximise the full potential of the Rook.
Chessbase has kindly provided a short video of this DVD. In this video, Müller adopts a slightly more serious tone but this video is typical of the rest of his videos, his explanations are always succinct and precise.
It's taken him a couple of Chessbase DVDs but Müller now is able to smile on camera and is definitely very relaxed. He is in a particularly jovial mood and his presentation on camera is infectious.
There is no denying the endgame aspect of the royal game is definitely in his area of expertise and this time, he gives it in spades.
Mixing a bit of humour (for a German!) in between serious analysis and explanations, Müller is by now extremely comfortable in front of the camera. This is in stark contrast to his earlier DVDs where he can rattle off some complex variations and endgame techniques in a single breath. Here, Müller takes the time to pause and allows the idea to sink in (but not too long). He has definitely become a much better presenter, in fact, in spite of his German accent, his English is easily understandable and he has become one of my two favourite Chessbase authors (the other being Daniel King).
Ironically, one of the best segments was his commentary on an endgame between himself and fellow Chessbase DVD author, Daniel King. It was a team event in the German Bundesliga and Müller's team had by then lost. However, he explains how he wanted to play the endgame through to the end with King much to the consternation of his team-mates who wanted to go out and eat.
"Why go and eat when you can play a Rook ending?" was his reply.
LOL. The game lasted some 75 odd moves so you can imagine how long his team had to wait for him!
This DVD focuses exclusively on Rook endgames. Unlike his earlier DVD 2 (did I review this? I really need to find my old Chessbase DVDs in the closet), he expounds on important techniques such as how to deal with a blockading Rook, how to use the checking distance effectively, how to maximise the full potential of the Rook.
Chessbase has kindly provided a short video of this DVD. In this video, Müller adopts a slightly more serious tone but this video is typical of the rest of his videos, his explanations are always succinct and precise.
However, all this is not just fun and games. When you start the video, Müller fully EXPECTS you to pause the video in the beginning and study the position and decide on the best course of action to take.
I feel that this method is the best way to reap maximum benefit from this DVD.
The DVD is broken down into the following chapters:
Chapter 1: Rook v Pawn (5 videos)
Chapter 2: Rook techniques (9 vide0s)
Chapter 3: Protection against a series of checks (10 videos)
Chapter 4: The 4th phase of the game (3 videos)
Chapter 5: Activity counts most (5 videos)
Chapter 6: Defence (12 videos)
Chapter 7: Complicated cases (8 videos)
The majority of each video lasts between 2-4 minutes. However, do not be put off by the short length of the videos. What matters most important is the communication of ideas and how well the audience is able to absorb the lessons imparted by Müller. And it is here that Müller does not fail you.
There is one more thing I need to add. In some positions when Müller says this game is "theoretically drawn", he EXPECTS you to know HOW TO DRAW THIS GAME. If you're having trouble with this, please do get a copy of his book, Fundamental Chess Endings (or Nunn's Chess Endings) and read it. At the very least, get his earlier Chessbase DVDs Endgames Vol 1 and 2. These 2 DVDs will teach you the basic strategies and how to apply them correctly in endgames.
In summary, this is a top class video presentation given by Müller. He has IMHO, overtaken Dvoretsky as my favourite endgame author.
I am definitely looking forward to his next Chessbase DVD on endgames. Incidentally, if you haven't got enough of his endgame lessons, I encourage you to visit the Chesscafe website (where he produces an Endgame column every month).
I feel that this method is the best way to reap maximum benefit from this DVD.
The DVD is broken down into the following chapters:
Chapter 1: Rook v Pawn (5 videos)
Chapter 2: Rook techniques (9 vide0s)
Chapter 3: Protection against a series of checks (10 videos)
Chapter 4: The 4th phase of the game (3 videos)
Chapter 5: Activity counts most (5 videos)
Chapter 6: Defence (12 videos)
Chapter 7: Complicated cases (8 videos)
The majority of each video lasts between 2-4 minutes. However, do not be put off by the short length of the videos. What matters most important is the communication of ideas and how well the audience is able to absorb the lessons imparted by Müller. And it is here that Müller does not fail you.
There is one more thing I need to add. In some positions when Müller says this game is "theoretically drawn", he EXPECTS you to know HOW TO DRAW THIS GAME. If you're having trouble with this, please do get a copy of his book, Fundamental Chess Endings (or Nunn's Chess Endings) and read it. At the very least, get his earlier Chessbase DVDs Endgames Vol 1 and 2. These 2 DVDs will teach you the basic strategies and how to apply them correctly in endgames.
In summary, this is a top class video presentation given by Müller. He has IMHO, overtaken Dvoretsky as my favourite endgame author.
I am definitely looking forward to his next Chessbase DVD on endgames. Incidentally, if you haven't got enough of his endgame lessons, I encourage you to visit the Chesscafe website (where he produces an Endgame column every month).
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