Monthly Archives: December 2011

Shakespearean-like criticism of a move

December 7, 2011 By in Uncategorized

SPRAGGETT ON CHESS

Annotators of the chess world beware!  You have all been outdone, and long ago.  Witness Lasker’s elegant criticism of a move of GM  Richard Teichmann. 
Speijer
 Teichmann
This position arose after 6 moves in the game Teichmann vs Speijer, St. Petersburg 1909.  White now played 7.Ne2, today a typical manoeuvre in this kind of position; White plans to shore up the centre with c3 and/or to re-locate the Knight to g3.
7.Ne2
But World Champion Em. Lasker wrote in the official tournament book (page 196, The International Chess Congress, St.Petersburg 1909; Dover) :
 ”This move appears to me sickled by the paleness of thought”

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sick•ly (s k l ) :  Link

adj. sick•li•er, sick•li•est


1. Prone to sickness.
2. Of, caused by, or associated with sickness: a sickly pallor.
3. Conducive to sickness: a sickly climate.
4. Causing nausea; nauseating.
5. Lacking vigor or strength; feeble or weak: a sickly handshake.


tr.v. sick•lied, sick•ly•ing, sick•lies
To make sickly: “Timidity .

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The use of sickly as a verb is a Shakespearian invention.
“Thus Conscience does make cowards of us all: And thus the native hue of resolution is Sickled o’er with the pale cast of thought and enterprises of great pith and moment with this regard their currents turn awry, and lose the name of action.”
Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1
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Ofcourse, a natural question arises: did Lasker really write that ?  Or did he even imply it?    After all, even if a bit elegant in the ‘artsy-fartsy’ sense, it is rather clumsy!  To answer this question, we must remember that Lasker wrote the book in German and had the book translated by none other than….(you guess it!)…Teichmann himself!
In the preface to the Dover edition Lasker writes ”The work has been translated from German, all but the early part, by Mr. R. Teichmann, and some valuable advice has been given to me by Mr. Teichmann, for which I beg to thank him here.”
Richard Teichmann was born on exactly the same date as Lasker (24 December 1868), and was a very strong grandmaster in his own right.  But is this really the face of a man you can trust?  Is it completely far fetched to imagine that Lasker simply dismissed Teichmann’s 7th move as ‘‘tedious” , but Teichmann took advantage of Lasker’s (at the time) poor english to mis-translate and embellish one of his own games with some pithy Shakespeare?   And let us remember that Teichmann was not  nick-named ”Richard the fifth” for nothing…
We will never really know…one more mystery for Winter to fathom!
SPRAGGETT  ON  CHESS

Wednesday’s insight into the meaning of it all

December 7, 2011 By in Uncategorized

SPRAGGETT ON CHESS

” I worked hard all my life for this. Those who say I don’t deserve anything, that it all came easy, can kiss my arse. ”    -Diego Maradona

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”The only way a kid is going to practice is if it’s total fun for him… and it was for me.”-Wayne Gretzky
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”You just wait. I’m going to be the biggest Chinese Star in the world.” -Bruce Lee

SPRAGGETT ON CHESS

Tuesday’s chess puzzle

December 6, 2011 By in Uncategorized
Good morning, Tuesday! Do we have a cute problem for you today? Absolutely! Black seems to be doing ok, his King is near the menacing pawns and he has an extra Bishop to compensate. But, fortunately for white, he can be a hero today! White to play and win. Find it! Good luck!

Leonid Kubbel

SPRAGGETT ON CHESS

Carlsen wins again in London

December 6, 2011 By in Uncategorized

SPRAGGETT ON CHESS

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The 3rd round saw, surprisingly, more low-quality chess.  World champion Anand–with the White pieces– was fighting for a draw almost right out of the opening: Nigel Short put all of his pieces on the wrong squares; and Mickey Adams seemed to have  overlooked that the speculative piece sacrifice he declined had eaten one of his pawns!  Only the Carlsen vs Nakamura game did not feature any major blunders, but  Nakamura’s 5 or 6 inaccuracies in time-trouble will exclude the game from being included in any anthology of great chess.
Am I being too harsh? Perhaps…but for a tournament promoted as perhaps the greatest ever on English soil, I think the organizers forgot to tell the players that  merely showing up is not enough to earn their caches (!): they also have to play well! 

The flip side of  all this is–of course– that the spectators were treated to an exciting round: with such play the outcome is always in doubt!  Following yesterday’s equally exciting round, the London tournament is a big hit with fans and must be registering a record number of hits on the homepage.  Certainly the sponsors must be thrilled….

POSITION AFTER 18 MOVES:

McShane
Adams
Black has just hacked off White’s h-Pawn.  Here Adams must take the piece;  this would result in a very complex position where White can not possibly be worse, though objectively a draw by perpetual check (somewhere) would seem a likely result.  After 19.pxh3  Qxh3  White has a pleasant choice between 20.Qe2, 20.Pxc5 or 20.Bb5.  The problem is to decide which one to choose…my computer can find little wrong with any of them!
HOWEVER,  Adams played the unexpected 19.Nh2? and after 19…Bd7 McShane was not just a pawn up, but had the better position to boot!   Kramnik (who was commenting on the games this round) opinioned that Adams’ poor play today was  just an ‘age’-thing  (link), while Adams merely shrugged it off: “I just missed everything simply. I had to play something practical.”
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POSITION AFTER 25 MOVES:
Short
Aronian

Kramnik described the White position as ‘‘winning”;  Aronian called the Black position ”terrible”

What say you, Nosher?

Another uncharacteristic performance by the English superstar!  I can not remember the last time he had such a passive looking position: normally Short plays very actively with Black. Here however, with the Knight stuck on b8 and White about to barrel down the c-file, Short no doubt was unhappy.  Simply 26.b5! would be strong, if then 26…a6 then 27.Nd2!? is no picnick for Black.  (The game went another route….Aronian played less incisively but still scored the point.)

Mark Crowther (of TWIC fame) saw a silver-lining for Nigel Short: ”I guess a disappointed Short will at least be feeling better about his play than after round 2…”  (Short was nuked the day before by Kramnik)

Somehow, I doubt it…

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”To exchange, or not to exchange…”–Bobby Shakespeare

 
NO DOUBT the game of the day was Carlsen’s win over Nakamura…
Carlsen summed up today’s effort on his blog:
”Having struggled for nearly seven hours against McShane yesterday I opted for a quiet line today. The Giucco Piano 3.Bc4 with d3 and c3 does not offer any great advantage, but I gradually got a position that is easier to play with white. He spent more than half an hour after 12.Be3 and decided not to exchange the black squared bishops. In the late middle game I anyhow played f4 and enjoyed an open f-file. He controlled the b-file and had enough defending pieces around his king. With correct play a draw would be the likely outcome, but when he allowed the exchange sacrifice Rxf6! the position got extremely unpleasant for black. Short on time he made a few more inaccuracies and resigned after 40 moves.”
Nakamura
Carlsen
The Italian Opening appears to be something new to Carlsen’s White repetoire.  I have not seen him employ this  before this game…perhaps (no doubt!) in blitz games, but never in a serious game.  I suppose the idea was to avoid Nakamura’s Spanish Opening preparation…Carlsen usually plays 3.Bb5.
This Bishop move is becoming very popular today in all levels of tournaments, especially given the amount of theoretical work that has been done on the Marshall Gambit, not to mention an assortment of alternative lines such as the Schliemann (3…f5!?) or the …Bc5 lines that Shirov has popularized.  It is just so damn difficult to avoid playing 40 moves of theory in those lines…often the Black player doesn’t make a single move of his own!
In anycase, the Italian Opening (or its sister, the Two Knights Opening) does not presume to cause Black any great difficulties in the opening either.  But it does have the advantage that Black can only play 12 moves of ‘theory’ and the resulting position still has a lot of play in it…
The first critical moment in the game appeared around move 12 and lasted for several moves:
I have played on a number of occasions the Italian Opening ( specifically the d3,c3 variation) and I have noticed that an important question that raises itself is whether it is good to exchange Bishops (and for whom) and if so, which Bishop should be exchanged?  And should White exchange or Black?  Theory gives no concrete answer , and of the games that I have seen thus far the jury seems to be out on this matter.
In anycase, this issue is important because it is around here that Nakamura began to consume large amounts of time–a factor that became decisive towards the end of the first playing session.  Curiously, Nakamura refused to exchange either Bishop, even though both are very playable…after the game Nakamura is quoted to have said ”I used too much time …”
PLAY CONTINUED:

12… Ne7 13. Nh4!?
A typical manoeuvre in this type of position to control f5, and here specifically  provoking a sacrifice on h3 (in this game White calculated very carefully!).  If now 13… Bxh3?! 14. Bxa7! Rxa7 15. gh Qxh3 16. Ng2 Ng4  17. Re1 Qh2 18. Kf1 Qh3 19. f3 and Black has very little to show for his material deficit.   Even worse is 13… Bxe3 14. fe Bxh3? 15. gh (15. Rxf6 is also a clear edge for White) 15… Qxh3 16. Nhf5 etc.
The game continued:  13… Ng6!?   sensible  14. Nhf5   (perhaps 14.Be6 is more precise)   14… Ne7!? 
Nakamura was having difficulty to decide whether to exchange or not, and which piece, and was now running short of time.  Korchnoi once remarked that Carlsen was a very gifted psychologist in chess, and I think that Korchnoi had in mind the type of position that appears on the board at move 15:  could he be that the Norwegian star sensed the indecision in Nakamura during the game and deliberately played to gain time on the clock?
In anycase, exchanges are now unavoidable:
15. Nxe7 Qxe7 16. Bxa7!  Rxa7 17. f4
It is entirely possible that 17. Bxe6 fe 18. d4 is more precise:  after 18… Nd7 19. de Nxe5 20. f4 seems to have a slight pull.
So Carlsen has managed to get in f4, but he has no claim to having an advantage.  Black has a very reasonable position and in the next few moves he tries to develop a counter attack on the Q-side.
17… c5! 18. Bc2!?  b5! 19. Qd2 Rb7 20. a3 a5 21. Rf2 b4

White’s play on the King-side is held at bay by the counterplay on the Queen-side.  The position is balanced…but the clock is not!  The game proceeded logically for the next moves and the next critical position was after White’s 29th move:
White had just played 29.Bd1, trying to angle for h4 without giving away the g4 square.
Black is perfectly fine here.  White does not even have a threat.  For example, Kramnik proposed the logical looking 29…Rb1!?, which is reasonable, and now if 30.h4 Black has 30…Rxd1!  31.Qxd1  Ng4-ch! which obliges White to return the exchange, when not much would be happening.
Another suggestion was 29…Ra8, a much more complicated line , envisioning 30.h4 Qa5! 31.Qf2  Qd8!  taking the sting out of any possible exchange sacrifices on f6.  The position is messy, but not better for Carlsen.
INSTEAD, SHORT OF TIME, NAKAMURA BLUNDERED:
29…Rfb8? 30.h4!  Qg6 (forced) 31.Rxf6!
”I just miscalculated the exchange sac. I guess it’s losing now…” —Nakamura
This positional sacrifice of the exchange is particularly effective because the Black Queen gets in the way of the defence (she can be attacked by Bh5 at any moment; and yet the Queen must not retreat because Nh5 will be quite nasty).
That being said, with best play Black can hold out for a long time.  However, short of time, Nakamura’s next moves were all second rate and he resigned soon after he made time control.  I leave it to the readers to see how Carlsen mopped up in the pgn-viewer below.
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King’s gambit

December 5, 2011 By in Uncategorized

SPRAGGETT ON CHESS

I was scanning thru  Nigel Davies’ great website The Chess Improver earlier today when the entry entitled ”The King’s Gambit” caught my interest.

Included at the end of this article was the original BBC video of a game between former world champion   Boris Spassky and the (then) world champion Anatoly Karpov, which featured a King’s Gambit!  The game was part of the 1982 FIDE World Cup, which was an elimination event where the games were 1 hour each for mate.  In those days there were no 30 second increments.
Spassky had lost his first game against Karpov (with Black)  and now (with White) he needed to win at all costs, and the King’s Gambit was , as Spassky said in the video, ”psychologically” the correct choice.
Spassky (left) lighting a cigarette just moments before the game was to begin.  In those days, players were allowed to smoke at the board!
The entire video series of the 1982 FIDE World Cup was really a wonderfully produced effort by BBC, featuring audio of both players explaining their thought processes at critical junctions of the game.  I , unfortunately, have only seen a couple of these videos, but it is hard for me to imagine a better video than this one!
I recommend the reader to take a look at this video and to carefully study the thought processes of both players.  IN PARTICULAR, the practiced discipline , at each turn, of both players considering a handfull of candidate moves BEFORE actually making his move. And, even though the position is extremely unusual and complex, how neither player ever showed confusion or doubt or panic.
Both Spassky and Karpov marked several generations of up and coming players and have had an incredible influence on the game, its history and especially on the opening theory of their day.  When this game was played , Spassky was already way past his peak (age 45), but he was still an incredibly strong grandmaster.  World champions don’t grow on trees, and  a Spassky at 45 would  still be a big favourite against many of  today’s younger superstars , such as Nakamura or Karjakin.  Spassky was just that good!
An old photo of Spassky and Karpov from the early 1970’s when Karpov was first coming up.  They played a match in 1974 in the Candidates, and this was a truly great match!  Spassky went in as the favourite (and even won the first game with the Black pieces) but Karpov held tenaciously and ultimately ended up crushing his opponent–to the surprise of the entire chess establishment!  This marked the change of guard of generations.  Karpov was to rule world chess for the following decade, until Kasparov took his place.
Returing to the 1982 FIDE World Cup:
POSITION AFTER WHITE’S 15th MOVE (15.d5)
Karpov
Spassky

Here Karpov went into deep thought , using close to 20 minutes of his time, leaving him with just minutes for the rest of the game.  However, this was the critical position of the game and it was necessary to play the objectively best move.
 In the audio embedded within the video Karpov explains ,brilliantly if I may say so, his entire  thought processes and the candidate moves that he considered.  Especially, his first choice was for the unexpected 15…h5!?, giving up a piece.  After 16.dxc6 QxQ 17.BxQ bxc6  Black would have 3 pawns and the Bishop pair for the White Knight that is stuck over on h4 (and which has no good moves!).
Without finding anything wrong with this idea, Karpov soon enough rejected this sacrifice on practical grounds: he did not need to win this game (since he won the first game, a draw was sufficient to win).  Karpov then went on to consider both 15…Ne5 and 15…Ne7, before settling on the latter.  The game soon went into a roughly even endgame….where Spassky made some very silly moves.  Karpov soon found himself completely winning:
POSITION AFTER 34 MOVES:
Spassky had played a very interesting game up to around move 25 and then lost the thread and Karpov took full advantage of it, winning an exchange.  In the position above, the fight is all over.  The passed d-pawn poses no threat at all and soon Black should be able to  sacrifice his Rook for the White Knight to enter a winning King and Pawn ending.
As I was watching this video (I had no idea of who won the game) I expected Spassky to resign at any moment!  But he did not , playing on … he had nothing to lose I suppose…. and then a MIRACLE took place with Karpov having just a minute (or less!) on the clock:
POSITION AFTER WHITE’S 41st MOVE:
The White d-pawn is safely blockaded and does not pose an immediate risk at all.  Simply 41…g5 does the trick. Spassky will not be able to stop the Queenside from advancing.  INSTEAD, Karpov rushed his Queenside immediately and lost his Rook for nothing!
41…b5??  42.Nc5-ch!
Amazing!  This is why Spassky did not resign earlier!  The position seems like a study!  Black must lose his Rook for nothing.  Even more amazing, Black is probably still able to make a draw!!  The game continued for a while, White Queening his g-Pawn while Black Queened his a-Pawn….eventually producing a Queen and Knight versus Queen ending.
Spassky , with 5 minutes on his clock, tries to beat Karpov ( with less than half a minute) in a drawn Q and N vs Q ending.  The remarkable footage in this video shows just how calm both players were while this was taking place…
POSITION AFTER WHITE’S 87th MOVE (87.Qa7-ch):
Here, according to the tablebases, Black should draw with 87…Kd6.  INSTEAD, Karpov (with just seconds left) blundered with 87…Kd8?? and after 88.Qb8-ch! he resigned since after 88…Kd7 89.Nc5-ch wins the Queen.
Karpov resigning the game.

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Carlsen draws first blood

December 4, 2011 By in Uncategorized

SPRAGGETT ON CHESS

The 3rd edition of the London Classic kicked off yesterday.  Eleven of the top players in the world, including World Champion Anand and wunderkid Carlsen.  A single round all play all tournament , the tournament ends on the 12th. The prize fund is 160,000 euros, before tax. (That is, IF the euro does not collapse before then!) 

The time control is 40 moves in 2 hours; followed by 20 moves in 1 hour; followed by 30 minutes to finish  the game, though I have seen it written on some sites that it is 15 minutes plus 30 seconds per move to finish. The Bilbao scoring system is used: that is, 3 pts for a win and 1 pt for a draw.
Only one game was decisive in today’s first round: Carlsen defeating a demoralized Howell.  Hardly the great game that some commentators tried to label it, Carlsen made a stock pawn sacrifice –the timeless  ”sweeper-sealer”–on the Kingside, gaining e4 for his Knight,  and brought about a position where the English grandmaster could hardly find anything constructive to do.  Certainly, Carlsen was risking nothing with his sacrifice.

POSITION AFTER 14 MOVES:
 
GM  HOWELL
GM  CARLSEN
15.Bxf6!?  Bxf6  16.e5! (the idea)… pxp  17.Ne4! Qxb2!? (what else?) 18.f5!
The idea is as old as chess itself. Games between Capablanca, Lasker and Alekhine readily spring to mind.  The sweeper-sealer is more often seen today in openings such as the Benoni; the basic idea is to gain a square for a minor piece (most often a Knight) and to use the other pawn to paralyze the opposing pieces.
There is some doubt as to whether White’s last move (18.f5) is as effective as 18.Qh5!?, but I leave it to others to answer that.  It seems to me that White has achieved the kind of position where he could go to sleep and never have to worry about Black making any serious threats.  White always has the Nxf6-ch move tearing open the Black King position; and should the Bishop get a chance to retreat from f6, then White will be able to push forward his juggernaut pawn on f5.
In anycase, certainly not an easy position to play with the Black pieces!  Carlsen later commented:  “Decent enough game, disappointed I couldn’t calculate properly at the end.”   For his part, a dejected Howell  squeaked:   “Lack of confidence, bad form…”   Link
The rest of the game was interesting , but not very convincing.  Howell quickly found himself in a lost position, overlooking some elementary tactics.  He then appeared to make his sole objective to make move 40 before throwing in the towel.  The curious thing is that Carlsen also sensed this and he started to let slip his advantage.
The final insult was just when Howell had reached the best position he had for the previous 20 moves, he resigned with only 3 seconds left on the clock!  Both players thought that it was going to be a quick mate, but analysis showed that infact Carlsen would have had his work cut out for him grinding down his opponent in an ending with an exchange to the good!!
THE FINAL POSITION:  HOWELL RESIGNED PREMATURELY!!
Black can play on with 40…Qxf5!

IN ANY CASE, I leave all this for the reader to discover for himself!  If you need some hints, then try this link for an analysis of the final position.

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