You Don't Have Much Skill

"You Don't Have Much Skill" - came the comment from my opponent on freechess.org after I beat him rather soundly.

Normally I don't really bother with post-match comments but this comment struck me, not because it was a snide remark but more because it struck me how true it was.

While not all of us can be a Kasparov and make good moves on a consistent basis, an average chess patzer like myself should know how to put the pieces properly. Most of the time, I find that my failure lies in middlegame play and finding the right square for my pieces so as to mobilise my pieces for maximum effectiveness.

The most frustrating thing was that I just do not know how to do it in an optimal fashion and on a regular basis. There have been enough books on middlegame play but it seems that the art of positional play is still beyond my grasp.

I shudder whenever I do a post-mortem in my games because it seems that I make moves perfunctorily. In chess, this is tantamount to suicide. All those rules like "Mobilise your worst piece", "Make active moves", "Create weaknesses" seem to go out the window when I am at the chess board.

Take a look at the following position from one of my own games:

Note that there is no "correct" answer here. What should I do in this position?

The correct idea is to play Nd8 with the idea of Nc6->Nd8->Ne6, putting the Knight on a more active square.

In the actual game, my Knight stood at c6 for a *very long* time and in the end got traded into a losing endgame position. Pathetic.

I can spot tactical shots fairly quickly but it seems that positional play is my main weakness and until I eradicate this weakness from my play, it will continue to dog me.

I've lined up a couple of chess materials and am planning on reading Nunn's Understand Chess Move By Move all over again just to understand and grasp the basics of chess playing.

My Year In Review: Part 1

Has it ever happen to you? You wake up one morning, and you realised the world has passed you by.

It happened to me this morning. As I realised to my horror, I'm starting to fall pretty badly behind my peers at the chess club. Joshua, Arthur and Ted are making marked progress and are now in the 2000 stratosphere while I am still languishing in the sub 1500s.

I formulated a plan a few months back of consistent studying and playing but have since abandoned it because my work plus studies took its eventual toll and I could no longer keep up with the strict regime without my studies suffering.

I hate making resolutions for the new year because in the end, inertia sets in and I'll fall back to my old ways. As a result, I have to put my foot down now and that is to start playing more OTB chess consistently and regularly. I am thinking of joining the chess club at North Sydney Leagues club every Tuesday night once the new year starts and commit myself there.

I play online games a lot more these days now that my studies won't start till mid-February 2008. In between now and then is probably my last hope of taking my chess skill to the next level ie. the 1500-1800 level.

I am still making improvements albeit in small steps but I need to be at the point where I have to make big strides instead.

And that means, on the top of my list in order of importance:

Master endgames and I don't mean just learn it. But MASTER it. I've got a few books lined up:

Sherevesky's Endgame Strategy (which I am currently reading),
Muller's Endgame DVDs set (1-4),
Muller's ChessCafe articles,
Smyslov's Endgame Virtuoso,
and finally, Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual.

and I've got Total Chess Training software to work through.

I will still continue to work on combinations and tactics in the meantime.

Today, I was reviewing one of my online games, adding annotations and letting Fritz do its handy work when I noticed 2 particular variations and I thought it was very instructive so I'm going to post them here.

Have a look at the first diagram on the left, this 1st test position was the result of a rather long variation given by Fritz.

I was White. Black decided to take the pawn on e4 with:

1. .... Nxe4

Here's the question:

Problem #1. Can you see how White can win here?

The answer can be found within the brackets

[ Yes! White goes for a mating attack starting with...
2. Nc6+
Black has 2 possible continuations and both of them lead to mate.
2.... Qxc6 3. Rxe8#
2... Ke6 3. Qd5#]

The second one here is tougher. See the 2nd diagram on right.

The position has somewhat changed. Black played

1.... Nxe4

The question is this:

Problem #2. Can you find the best move for White?

Answer can be found within the brackets

[ If you chose
2. Qg4+ Kf7 3. Qxe4. You didn't see a stronger move.

The correct answer is:
2. Qg4+ Kf7
3. Rg8!! (Now comes the point of this move. Black is forced to capture the Rook with the Queen) Qxg8
4. Qxd7+! and now 4... Kf8 leads to Qe7# and 4... Kg6 leads to 5. Ne7+ forking King and Queen]

To tie things up, I jumped onto FICS and played a few Blitzes for fun. I lost the first game (making a horrible endgame blunder when I should be winning..... grrrrr.) and won the next one which I've highlighted here (*insert chest-beating Tarzan yell*). The following game itself is not great at all. But I do notice that I am processing faster with my tactical vision (my opponent making things easy for me didn't help matters). I guess all this self-study is showing its results. In all, I took 3 minutes for the whole game. I am going to go cold turkey on Blitz games for a while.... at least until I get my endgame technique down to a pat.

A French Exchange

Jumped onto FICS this morning, and started playing a relatively innocuous game. And yes, folks, it's another French Exchange variation! :)



In all fairness, it appears my opponent didn't know what to do after the pawn exchange. He wasted far too many moves and didn't develop his pieces properly while I slowly build up and went for his throat.

I am also happy to report that I've beaten my brother-in-law Steven on Monday night (woohoo! this event is so rarely seen that it is akin to ... errrm... errrm... having Harrison Ford star in an Indiana Jones movie - see pix on right)

He played a 1.d4 opening and we quickly moved into King's Indian Defence territory and he tried a Minority Attack ala Bayonet Attack on the Queenside which amounted to nothing (I actually have no knowledge of how to effectively handle the Bayonet Attack in the KID well - I definitely need to reinvestigate this line).

Despite his best attempts to break my kingside, with 2 bishops, a Knight, a Rook, a Queen and a White pawn on h6 (My king was tucked away safely on h7 hiding behind his h-pawn in all irony), his attack floundered when I managed to force him to trade all of his attacking pieces.

It was only after the smoke had cleared that he realised he had a slight problem. In the ensuing B v B endgame, we had light-squared bishops and all his pawns were stuck on light squares and all of mine were on dark squares. He resigned a few moves later.

Failing In Tactics

Over FICS, I played against a 1500 rated player and promptly lost despite having an advantage. Bummer!

Here's the position with Black to play.

This position arose from a Reti opening (yes, I do play the Reti Opening). Black has a positional advantage and White's pieces are currently tied up in knots. The White Knights have no good squares to relocate to, the Rooks are passive, the Queen is passive.

And being the absolute idiot that I am, I played 26... Bxb2?? An error of humongous proportions. Do you know why the b2 pawn is taboo?

....... You've probably seen it by now. Because of 27. Ne1 and it's goodbye Bishop! From that point on, it was pretty much downhill all the way.

In this position, I should have played a far stronger move.

Can you see what should Black do to press home the advantage?

Please stop reading now if you do not wish to know the answer.

The correct response is 27...f4!! White has a couple of responses. None are good.

a)
28.exf4 Bxf4! (see 2nd diagram on left) threatening Bxc1 and Bxg3+ forking King and Queen. The Bishop cannot be recaptured because of Re2 winning the Queen



b)
28. Qf1 fxe3
29. Qxd3 Rxd3
30. Ne1 Rd2+!!
31. Nxd2 exd2
32. Rb1 Bxg3+! (see 3rd diagram on left) and Black wins (Rxe1 is coming and no force on earth can stop the d-pawn from Queening)

c)
28. Kg2 fxe3
29. Qf3 e2
30. Ne1 Qd1
31. Rc2 Bd4
32. Nxd4 cxd4 (see 4th diagram on left) and Black wins as the next move is d3->d2 and White is powerless to stop one of the pawns from Queening.

Oh well, back to the drawing board!

Interesting Tactic

I was on FICS again this morning and played a 1300++ rated player.

We arrived at the position shown.

I am Black. White had just played
28. Rd1
placing my Queen under direct fire.

I knew that if we trade pieces, I have an advantage all the way to the endgame.

So after much thinking, I played the move.

28.... Qf4!

A very surprising move. I loaded this into Fritz and Fritz didn't even consider this move. But tactically it works.

White cannot play Bxd5. The Knight on d5 is forbidden fruit.

The reason I can play this and not worry about the Knight is because White has a back rank problem and is weak on the dark squares.

Let's say White plays
29. Bxd5 Rxc1 (2nd diagram)

Now the situation's very clear.

White now must play

30. Rf1 (Rxc1 leads to mate after Qxc1 while Qxf4 is also impossible because of Rxd1 leading to mate) Rxf1+
31. Kxf1 Qxe4
32. Bxe4 Rb1 (and Black has a decisive material advantage going into a R v B endgame with a passed a-pawn)

My opponent didn't play this series of moves btw.

Finishing Your Opponent Simply

This game was played against a 1200++ player on FICS.

Black made a tactical blunder and is now a whole Rook down but chooses to play on.

White is completely dominating. It is clear that Black has tried to mobilise the King in an effort to try to defend the key squares d7 and d8 (highlighted in yellow) to stop White from entering the position and hence the move

31. .... Ke8

There's a fatal flaw in this move. Can you spot it?

What is that Black has done wrong and how can White gain entry into Black defence?

Take note that White must be careful not to let Black gain an initiative eg. leaving the e4 pawn en-prise.


Answer :

If you've figured it out by now, the killer move was 32. Qd5.

Why is this move deadly?

1. It stops Black's counterplay and protects e4.
2. More importantly, the White Queen is going to play Qa8+ and Black's Queen is history.

Black now tries to alleviate the position and played the move

33 ... f6??

The question is:

How does White swap the Rook for the Black Queen, thereby finishing off Black in the process?

Highlight between the brackets for the answer:

[White now wins the Queen for a Rook with a simple tactical trick.

34. Qg8+ Qf8
35. Rd8+! Kxd8
36. Qxf8+ ]

Making Horrid Moves

It's times like these that I sometimes want to bury my head in the sand.

On FICS today, I made a strategic blunder.

Take a look at this I just played 12. ....Qh4 (see diagram on right).

I am Black. What is the problem with Black's position?

A couple.

1. Black hasn't castled (is the King that safe in the center - I don't think so, not with the Rook on g7)
2. my h-pawn is going to die real soon (hence my Qh4 move)
3. my Knight on b8 is doing diddly squat
4. my Rook on a8 needs to stay there to protect the a6 pawn

Play continued.
13. Qd2 Qxh2? (this is a blunder)

Why is it? That's because White is clearly preparing to castle longside. So what's wrong with being greedy and grabbing the pawn? The answer will be coming.....

14. O-O-O Bxe2? (another blunder)

Black should maintain the pin and quickly get his other pieces out as Black's position is close to collapsing and in danger of getting crushed.

Now my opponent makes a fatal mistake.

15. Qxe2?? (see diagram on right)
A horrible horrible blunder.... in trying to protect the e2 pawn which White should not have done.. now comes

15... Qh6+ (forking King and Rook and my opponent resigned) 0-1

What did White do wrong?

White has a humongous advantage along the d-file.

So what do you do when you have Q+R on a file? That's correct, you break open the file.

White should have played 14. Bxe2 (see diagram on right) and then played d5 - cracking open the file and threatening all sorts of mating threats on d7,d8.

What Black should have done is counteract this plan with it's own release by playing d6 and closing off the center. Black is by no means okay and has to struggle but it's definitely far better than what I played.

In short, this was a terrible game from me.

Another Day, Another Plan

I just got off FICS and this was a win against 1500 rated player.

We arrive at this position on move 10 as shown. I am Black. White had just played 10. a3 (see diagram on left).

What should Black do in this position? I thought over this for a long while. Black has a terrible weakness at e5, so I must secure it first and take control of the b8-h2 diagonal.

10...Qc7 was the natural move. I could have considered Bd6 as well but I'm not worried about White's response Bf4 or Ne5.



11. b4? (see diagram on right. I thought this move was premature as it allows me now to gain the initiative) b5 (stopping counterplay on the Queenside)
12. Be3? (a weak move but where else can White's Bishop go?) Bd6 (continuing development)
13. Qc1 (doubling on the dark square diagonal to try and take control of the dark squares)

I paused to consider Black's response for a possible dark-square invasion by White but I could none. Bg5 aims at nothing and my Knights are doing a fine job protecting each other.

However, I smell blood and immediately hit on the a-file break with
13.... a5!
14. Ne2 axb4
15. axb4 Bxb4 (winning a pawn)
16. c3 Bd6
17. Rxa8 Rxa8 (it does not look like it but White is now in a very dangerous position. I control the a-file and White tries to break down my kingside)
18. Bf4 Bxf4 (the more minor pieces coming off, the stronger my passed b-pawn becomes)
19. Qxf4? (this was unnecessary) Qxf4 (exchanging all the pieces)
20. Nxf4 (see diagram on left)

This line makes me think the longest. There are 2 possible problems Black has here.

I first consider 21. Ne5. This move simply forces me to recapture with ....Nxe5 22. dxe5 and my response Nd7 (threatening the e5 pawn) is good for Black.

So that leaves White with another likely response and that is to play 21. Nxe6 fxe6 22. Rxe6 winning the e-pawn and threatening my backward c5 pawn. I must find a way to stop this.

I've got a few ways of defending this.

I first looked at the defense of the c5 pawn with my Knight 22... Ndb8. I thought this was a very ugly move. If 23. Re7! My goose is cooked as I've no way of defending with a Rook on the seventh rank and no way to extricate my Knight.

I think to myself, maybe I can play Re8 (defending the Bishop) or Rc6 or even Ra6. However, I was extremely unhappy with the passive nature of the Rook. Surely there must be something better.

What weaknesses does White have? Very easy. The c3 pawn and the Bishop on d3. And to tie up things even more nicely, once my Rook takes on the pawn at c3, it protects the c6 pawn. Nice!

So I played 20... Ra3 (see diagram on left).


White as expected eliminates my Bishop and now, Black is winning.

21. Nxe6 fxe6
22. Bf1 Ne4 (now I just steamroll White's position with my b-pawn and White resigns shortly after).
23. Ne5 Nxe5
24. dxe5 Rxcee 3
25. Ra1 b4 (see diagram on right)

A nice win. IMHO I think White's mistakes were:
a. he was slow to react
b. he started trading off pieces.
c. rather than activating his pieces, his pieces started to withdraw.
d. the b4 pawn move was premature and in the end, it proved costly for White.

Squashed Like A Fly

Wow, I felt I was being swatted like a fly on FICS (freechess.org). I played the first 3 games and lost them all, I was hit left, right and centre. Cruising for a bruising... as they say. These players are easily at least 1700++ rated players and I was mightily impressed with the systematic way my position was torn apart. Wished I could have saved my log (using the Java interface). It would provided me with valuable insight on what is wrong with my position.

I guess I just need to be more careful of the nuances in my position and to pay more attention to my weak squares.

I made a very nice plan in another game today. I'm sure Fritz would suggest something better once I've let it analyse the game but at that point in time, this is what I could have come up with during the game.

This games started with the Bb5 Sicilian. My opponent played 9.... g6 (see diagram). I am White.

I sank into a long thought over this. I had a few alternatives. I had a slight headstart in my development but I need to be careful of the queenside pawns storming up the board. I also knew that I need to quickly develop my pieces. My question was:

What do I play? There are no immediate threats to my pieces yet and Black is still trying to develop his pieces.

So developing a minor piece is the most natural move. But which piece do I move? Do I:

a. do a pawn push e4-e5 or d4-d5? I looked at it and wasn't comfortable wasting another tempo to open up the position as my pieces weren't developed yet.
b. move my Bishop? But where can it go to? Bg5? That move doesn't threaten anything.
c. move my Knight on b1? But where should my Knight go? c3 or d2?
d. move my Queen? The Queen is pretty solid as is, holding up the position and over protecting the d4 pawn - which is always good.

Now I look at my Black's camp. Does it have any weaknesses? Yes. The c-file is open. It would be nice to occupy it straightaway with my Rook but how do I that?

Is there another weakness? Yes. Ironically, it's the b5 and d6 pawns that are weak. So how do I put pressure on either of them and improve my position? I decided to lay a little trap.

10. Nc3 (tempting the b-pawn forward) b4 (my opponent took the bait).
11. Na4 (correct, my Knight is heading now for the b5 square where it guards the squares c7 and attacks d6) Bg7 (my opponent needs to castle quickly and bring his pieces out)
12. a4 bxa3 (I thought this move wasted a tempo)
13. bxa3 O-O
14. a4 (now my Knight has a safe outpost) Nb6? (I thought Rc8 looked more threatening as it occupies the c-file)
15. Ba3 (preparing to attack d6) Nc4 (see 2nd diagram)

I took another pause. With this move, Black gave me a marvelous opportunity to take control of the c-file.

16. Qb3 Nxa3
17. Qxa3 Nd7?
18. Rac1 Nb6
19. Rc7 (I am planning to double my Rooks now with Rec1 and increase Black's suffering) e5?? (I thought this was horrible as it locks in his dark-squared bishop and weakens the d6-pawn)
20. d5 (the d6 pawn is now lost - see 3rd diagram)

I proceed to win this game afterwards. It's surprising that Black allowed me so many opportunities to consolidate my position because of a few bad moves.

But then I'll take each win as they come. I'll let Fritz analyse this game once I get home.

Trap #2007-09-10

On FICS today, I encountered the following position. The position looks roughly even. My opponent just played 23... d3 which I think just simply loses the d-pawn and the ensuing endgame looks to be winning for white. However, I thought over this position for a while then decided to lay a little trap for my unususpecting opponent... guess what did I play?

Highlight the spaces between the brackets for the moves.
[24. Bc4+ (24.. Bd5 was needed but this simply loses the d-pawn for nothing) but my opponent fell into the trap and play continued with 24... Kg7? 25.cxd3 Bxd3?? (25... Bd5 was again necessary) 26. Re7+ 1-0 as Black loses after 26....Rf7 (26... Kh8 27. Rh1#) 27. Rxf7+ Kg8 28. Rd7+ Bxc4 29. Rxd8+]

Tactics #2007-09-07

I was on FICS this morning and yet again, I let a win slip through my fingers.

My tactical vision is indeed poor. Take a look at this. I am Black. White has just played 33. Kf3-g4. My Queen is under attack - that much is obvious. But can you see the continuation?

I blundered and played 33. Qd7 after which I offered a draw which my opponent readily accepted. What did I miss?

Highlight the lines between the brackets to reveal the answer
[The move I missed was 33. Qf7!
Now
34. Nxg5 Qh5#
34. Kxg5 Rf5+! 35. Qxf5 Rh5+ 36. Kf4 Qxf5+ the White Queen is lost and Black will give mate in another few moves eg. 37. Ke3 Qe4+ 38. Kd2 Rh2+ 39. Re2 Rxe2+ 40. Kd1 Qxc2# ]

Combination #2007-09-06

This was played in a 10 minutes blitz game in FICS. I am Black.

White just made the horrendous move of 28. Re1-h1. Do you see the deadly error that White made?

What would you as Black play? Probably not the move I played!

Highlight the text between the brackets for the answer [I played 28... Ne3! Urgh. While not a terrible move, I missed the mating combination. I should have played 28... Qe2+ 29. Kh3 (29. Kg1 Bc5 mates) Ne3 (and White is powerless to stop mates on Qg2 or Qh5)]

Got Away With Another Win

This game was played a few moments ago on FICS. Black has just played 19. Rd7. Clearly Black is intending to double on the d-file and come swinging around entrapping the Queen with Rd2. I wasn't afraid of swapping a Queen for 2 Rooks in this case as the position is fairly open but what I am worried about is that pesky Knight on c6. And Q+N combinations are particularly deadly.

Another problem with my position was that pawn on b5 holding everything up and I desperately wanted that square c4.

I took sometime to consider and played the best response I could think of at that moment. I targeted the b-pawn.

20. a4! Rfd8? (Black's best response is probably....a6 and my counterplay has all but gone but my opponent appeared too focused on his attack)
21. axb5 (now I'm winning I've broken through his weak pawn chain and attacking his Knight) Rd2??
22. Qxc4+ 1-0 (Black loses a piece after Qxc4 23. Bxc4+ Kh8 bxc6)

Another lucky win (not too particularly happy). I'll fire up Fritz on this position when I get home.

An Opening Trap

I played another blitz game (I should really give up blitz games, they're bad for my play) on FICS. This one involved a Ruy Lopez: Deferred Stenitz Var.

I am White and it is Black's turn. Can Black play 1....Bxe4?

Highlight the answer below (within the backets):

[No. 1... Bxe4 runs into the nasty Rook pin with Re1 followed by f3, winning the Bishop. Black might achieve some counterplay because of the open a7-e1 diagonal to the White King but it's still very much in the early stage and it is doubtful Black has sufficient compensation for a lost Bishop.]

Easy Puzzle

This occured in my FICS blitz game today. Black has just played 1.... Qh2. What should White play?

Black has inadvertently left the Bishop on h6 en prise.

Should White play 2. Rxh6?

I pondered over this for a while. I was worried about the following line 2. Rxh6 Rde8+ 3. Re6 Rxe6+! 4. dxe6 Bxf3+ 5. Kxf3 Qxh3+ 6. Ke2 (and Black has a pressing attack at the sacrifice of a Bishop and I didn't want to allow that). The pawn on h3 is en-prise as well. What should I do?

Highlight the text below for the move I played to win:
Rh1 (White wins)