Play Like Botvinnik Is Free

ChessOk has released "Play Like Botvinnik" (using the new Peshka interface) for free (for about a month now and I finally managed to get around to playing it).

So head on to their website and download it! :)

Play Like Botvinnik Download

For those of you who are unaccustomed the new Peshka interface, it is definitely very much improved from the old Convekta (users of the old CT-ART versions will know what I mean).

This is a 38 MB download but you'll get so much more in return.

Once you've installed and run it, you'll be greeted by the following screen.


Note that there is a notation window frame at the bottom right corner. In it, you will see notes, tournament tables, notations depending on what you click on the screen on the right above you.

The software contains a lot of test positions where you can give your hand at trying on how to play like the 6th World Chess Champion. These test positions range from tactical combinations to increasing your positional advantage.


To play them, simply click on the "Practice" button as shown above.



Besides the Practise sessions, you can also choose to test yourself by selecting the "Test" button on the button bar at the top and choose how many test positions you want to play at one given session. The Peshka interface also tracks your progress on how many you've gotten right or wrong.



By clicking on the "Theory" button, you will be presented with a tree list of games by Botvinnik. They include games from the early part of his career, to World Championship tournaments (shown above - completed with table and results). If you really want to improve your game (especially your middlegame), I suggest going through these annotated games. They are definitely worth the time and effort.

There is also one small caveat I find annoying. When playing through the games, there is no way to tell who is White and who is Black at first glance.

Nevertheless, this software is fantastic and I highly recommend it. After all, you can't beat free software, can you? :)

Feeling Of Dread

I don't know why but the thought of playing in a competition fills me with dread sometimes.

I like the royal game but quite often, the competitive side of things weighs on my mind. I've seen chess players practically "lose" it in the heat of competition and I wonder to myself,"Do I want to behave like that?"

Chess also brings out a side of me that is not always pleasant. I find that in competition, I tend to be extremely harsh and hard on myself and that sometimes translates to the exhibition of anger, which is very unlike me, when I am not playing.

Chess sometimes, seems to me like a sadist game. When you get beaten, you want to keep coming back for more. And even if you do win, you hunger for more success.

This is most true in any other competitive sport. But for me chess is also something to pass time, something that I feel is frivolous beyond the 64 squares. A hobby.

So how does one reconcile to having fun to one where you put an intense amount of energy and effort to win?

My opponent tonight is Ian Dickson and I am playing Black. Part of me wants to defeat my opponent, the other part says,"Hold on, it's only a game."

Do I really want to treat it with the seriousness and intensity it requires to play at an optimum level? Decisions, decisions.

Ryde Eastwood Rapids Final Result

Last night was the third and concluding night for the Ryde-Eastwood Rapids (we play 3 rounds each at 25 min controls). My brother-in-law Steven participated as well.

I'll give a quick recap of the previous 2 nights.

The first night (2 weeks ago) went:

Valenzuela (1184) 0-1 Me
My game against Valenzuela was a Ruy Lopez - Breyer Variation. Valenzuela in time trouble, was most unlucky to have gotten lost in the complications that followed.

Me 1-0 Gletsos (1817)
Bill Gletsos is a very strong opponent and having been on the receiving end of Bill before, I knew this was always going to be tough. We started in an English but in the complications that followed, Bill unfortunately, misjudged the resulting position, allowing my Knights to dominate the board. He lost a Rook for a Knight and we simply traded everything off the board to reach a winning endgame. Bill, to his credit, put up a very good fight.

Kuru (1603) 1-0 Me
My game against Kuru was inexplicable. I had started to calculate some very deep lines in an Open Sicilian and after checking and rechecking, I made a move only to discover a split second later, to my horror, that I played it in the wrong move order and left my Knight en-prise! It was pretty much game over.

The night had started well for me. But the last game was an absolute disaster and one I should have been more careful. Little did I know that the next week's game would turn into a horror show.

Result: +2-1=0

In the 2nd night of the Rapids (last week's games), I went badly astray.

Me 0-1 Hill
Of particular note were 2 very bad games. In my first game against Hill (an Exchange French), I was crushed and wiped off the board in 20 moves! It had a profound effect on me because I was playing stupid moves throughout the entire game.

Muller (1453) 0.5-0.5 Me
The defeat by Hill had an effect on me. And my poor play crept into my 2nd game of the night against Muller which was a Queen's Gambit Declined. I had inadvertently (again!) left a piece en-prise but managed to claw back a draw in a frantic time-scramble. I had the better position but Muller was able to give me perpetual check. I definitely got left off the hook.

Me 1-0 Williams (1411)
My final game against Williams on that night brought some semblance of order back into my game and .... I got lucky. I positionally squeezed out Williams in an R+5P v R+5P endgame (arising from a Ruy Lopez Classical Steinitz - I think ) but had a more active Rook and King and it proved decisive. After having to defend for quite some time, Williams sadly miscalculated and lost a vital central pawn that was holding his position together. He resigned on the next move.

Overall Result: +3-2=1

So before the start of last night, I was languishing at the halfway line of the pack with a somewhat lacklustre 3.5/6 peformance. I knew I could play better and was determined to try to turn last week's disappointing performance around.

Cardenas (1437) 0-1 Me
My first game was against Egon Cardenas. Egon had deservedly beaten me in a classical game in last year's Grade Matches. This time round, playing as Black, we got into a Nimzo-Indian and I exchanged the c3-Knight with my Black bishop causing a doubling of his pawns on the c-file. A slip by Egon was to be proven most unfortunate. I quickly gained the initiative and overpowered the center with a huge pawn majority. Egon to his credit, fought back bravely but there was no stopping the central pawn march. We traded off pieces into a N+R+5P v R+P endgame. Egon's active Rook was constantly harassing my pieces but in time trouble, he miscalculated and I managed to trade off his Rook. He resigned.

Me 1-0 Calixto
Calixto is a relatively new player to the club. He is from the Phillippines. The Filipinos in Australia (especially in Sydney) are extremely strong chess players (class A and above usually). In fact, our very own, the Closet Grandmaster, Amiel is one of them. Calixto soundly beat my brother-in-law last week (I've seldom see Steven getting crushed like this) so I knew it would be a very tough fight. There was also added pressure. At that stage, Calixto was tied with my brother-in-law Steven at 6 points each. So I knew Calixto would also be trying his best to beat me. We got into a very odd version of the Caro-Kann Opening which resembled more of a Pirc in the end. It was indeed quite a hairy game. If you give Calixo a sniff of opportunity, he will spot it. So I was very very careful to play solidly and playing for tactics. I had manage to confine his Rook to the 8th rank and behind a closed file while he was trying hard to coordinate his pieces. In time trouble, Calixo unfortunately, in his eagerness to win a Rook, walked into mate.

Liu (1817) 0.5-0.5 Me
My final game was against my brother-in-law Steven(!). We got into a Symmetrical 4 Knights Opening, and after many pieces were exchanged, the resulting position looked very sterile (Black may have a slight edge but it's very very slight). He offered a draw and there was no reason for me not to take it. After the game, he commented that he will never play such an opening again because it totally didn't suit his playing style at all. Hehe.

Overall Result: +5-2=2

So I finally stopped my poor run of form and finished with a slightly more respectable 6/9 score in the end. My brother-in-law Steven finished clear first with a fantastic 7.5/9 performance.

Finally, my many thanks must go to Bill Gletsos for helping to arrange the games and for maintaining semblance of order during our games and for helping out with arbitration (in spite of him having to play as well).

The complete final results table is as follows:

7.5 pts
Liu, Steven

6.5 pts
Watson, Robert

6 pts
Calixto, Reyanante
Christensen, Joshua
Aspin, Mark
Me! :)

5 pts
Hill, Martin
Patterson, Donald
Cardenas, Egon
Gletsos, Bill
Burgess, Shane

4.5 pts
Mitrovic, Ivan
Grbin, Tereza

4 pts
Muller, John
Kuru, Argo
Marton, Alan
Gluvchinsky, Paul
Edwards, Greig
Bredin Wayne

3.5 pts
Wlliams, Bruce
Valenzuela, Manuel

3 pts
Kirillov, Karl
Chiara, Vince

2.5 pts
Irmler, Feodore

2 pts
Parkinson, Sean

1 pt
Mere, Uno

Another Chess Tournament Dies

The last few years have seen a recent revival of chess. With the Nanjing and London Chess classic, in addition to the Bilbao Masters, we thought a new era of chess has arrived.

However, the new year of 2011 has delivered a very hard blow to chess.

Next year Amber will be gone from the calendar. This was quickly followed by the cancellation of the NH Chess tournament.

Probably the hardest blow was the loss of Linares (although the organisers are still trying to have one ready before the end of the year) - once considered the Wimbledon of chess. And today, news reports that the latest axe to fall is on Mainz.

As it is, I'm currently suffering from a withdrawal of non-chess tournament period and the only major tournament in the calendar at the moment is the Aeroflot Open (which may not live to see another year). I remember a time when the beginning of the year was filled with major chess tournaments.

Pity.

North Sydney Club Reserves A Rd 2

In another 2.5 hours, I will be playing against John Pepping (Rated: 1522).

Last week, my board was next to his and from time to time, I glanced at the position. John carried out a pretty nice attack against Rex Simmonds but unfortunately, Rex managed to counter his attack with a tactical combo, winning Rex the game.


There is no doubt that John will be doubly motivated to go for a win and kick my butt tonight. I definitely have to play much much better.