Monthly Archives: October 2012

Wednesday tactics and other potpourri

October 31, 2012 By in Uncategorized

SPRAGGETT ON CHESS

1.
gm  GODENA
gm  BRUNELLO
 
From today’s round in the Italian Championship.  Here White played the imprecise 35.Qd3 (which never the less still maintains a certain advantage).  INSTEAD, White has a relatively straightforward path to winning
 
WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN!
—————————————————————-

DID  YOU  KNOW….




2.

BAUDEL

AMIL MEILAN

From the Marcel DuChamp Memorial taking place right now in Buenos Aires.  Position after White’s 19th move.  Castling on opposite sides is quite common in the Scandanavian Defence.  Here Black has succeeded in opening the g-file.  Now if only there is a way to take advantage of it…
 
BLACK TO PLAY AND WIN!
———————————————————–

DID  YOU  KNOW….

 

 

 
3.
 
A nice positional massage.
 
The following game was played in today’s round of the Tchigorin Memorial in St.Petersburg.  It features White giving up his Queen for R,B and Pawn and then proceeding to outplay his opponent.  It would be to the reader’s benefit to carefully study how White did it…
 
gm  MAKAROV
gm ARESHCHENKO
In an off-beat line of the Philidor Defence, Black varied on his last move (13…Pxe6) from the previously known 13…Nxe6.  This whole opening line is tricky and White must be careful: the position of the Queen on b6 combined with the open f-file can lead to sharp tactical themes. .
 
Here Areshchenko decided to test Black’s concept:

14.Bxd6!  Rad8
 
 
Now White gets very little if he plays the natural 15.e5 BxB  16.PxB  Nd5!: Black will  soon recover his pawn with a solid game. 17.Bxd5  exd5  18.Qd4!?  Nd7!  To me the position looks very drawish.
ARESHCHENKO WANTED MORE:
 
15.Bxe7!?  RxQ  16.Raxd1 Re8 17.Bd6
 
 
 
I actually like White!  He has a very solid position and the Bishop pair.  Combined with a lack of weaknesses, this bodes well for a long-term battle.  Whenever a player has a Queen vs R,B,P, it is important for the Queen to find activity.  Otherwise she will easily be dominated and forced from the central squares.
 
In the next few moves White starts to improve his position:
 
17…h6  18.Kh2  Ncd7  19.e5  Nd5  20.Ne4

Is Black lost?  His position is definitely becoming depressing,but I doubt he is lost in the position above.  Above all, he must quickly find counterplay. 
 
IN THE GAME continuation, Black  lost faith in his chances and quickly went downhill.  After 27 moves the position was desperate:
 
 
 
 
WHAT IS THE FASTEST WAY FOR WHITE TO WIN?

 

document.getElementById(“cwvpd_1351718273”).value=document.getElementById(“cwvpg_1351718273”).innerHTML;document.getElementById(“cwvfm_1351718273”).submit();

DID  YOU  KNOW…

…but I would be VERY prudent and not tell your grandmother!

Record month!

October 31, 2012 By in Uncategorized

SPRAGGETT ON CHESS

 
 
I am pleased to inform my regular readers that October has been a key month with respect to the popularization of this BLOG.  We now have an average of 250,000 readers each month in 156 countries (the USA is number 1, followed by Canada and then France).  PLUS the BONUS: we have been blocked from our CHINESE viewers, by special order of  the Chinese government authorities!  Apparently, we are a bit too liberal…

 

THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES!

 

Tuesday’s tactics!

October 30, 2012 By in Uncategorized

SPRAGGETT ON CHESS

Everyone loves a good chess tactic!  Not just for reasons of aesthetic appreciation of its inherent beauty, but also for how often  we find ourselves  surprised by the power and energy with which a tactic can immediatly decide the outcome of the struggle.
 
One of the most popular features of this blog are the daily tactics that I demonstrate (or ask the reader to find for himself).  Immediately below is a really cute sacrificial attack that I came across just yesterday.  Below this example are another 10 tactics taken from games played recently.  ENJOY!  Solutions will follow shortly.

POSITION AFTER 12 MOVES:
GM Marjanovic
GM  Perunovic
 
There is always danger in a position when one of the players does not (or refuses to) castle early and then proceeds to ignore the gathering clouds…Here White has amassed considerable fire-power bearing down on Black’s position.  He strikes with great energy:
 

13.Nf5!  PxN  14.RxB!!

This strong move will put the Queen in an awkward position after White opens the e-file!
 
14…QxR  15.Pxf5  Nc6  16.Qxd6!

Black is busted!  It is a credit to his skill that he was able to resist as long as he did….

document.getElementById(“cwvpd_1351575465”).value=document.getElementById(“cwvpg_1351575465”).innerHTML;document.getElementById(“cwvfm_1351575465”).submit();

1.
 

IM  Saric,S
FM  Rogac,S
 

From a recent (September,2012)  Serbian Team League competition.  White is a pawn up but is facing tough resistance , especially due to the presence of opposite-colour Bishops. Finally, an opportunity has presented itself to quickly finish the game…

 

WHITE TO  PLAY AND WIN!

Degree of difficulty:  EASY
——————————-
 
 
2.
Mack,W
GM  Hebden
 
From the recently finished Guersney International.  Mack has been slowly outplayed and pushed back by the relentless English grandmaster…now the opportunity makes itself present to finish off the Black player.
 
WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN!
 
Degree of difficulty:  EASY
 
———————————————————
 

3.

FM  Martic,I
IM  Velickovic,S
 
 
Also from the Serbian Team League…a theoretically popular line of the Spanish has lead to a critical position.  Black has just played the imprecise 17…Qd7.  Now White has an opportunity to display his tactical skills and secure a clear advantage.
 
WHAT IS WHITE’S BEST CONTINUATION?
 
 
Degree of difficulty:  VERY TOUGH
 
——————————————————–
4.
GM Moiseenko
GM Negi
 
From the Tchigorin Memorial in St.Petersburg today.  It has been a tough fight but the Indian star has kept up the pressure and has reached a winning position, despite Moiseenko’s best efforts. 
 
 
WHAT IS WHITE’S BEST CONTINUATION?
 
Degree of difficulty:  EASY
 
————————————————–

5.

GM  Bogosavljevic
 GM  Mastrovasilis,A
 
Once more from Serbia.  Black has an obvious advantage and can now take the b-Pawn with impunity.  HOWEVER,  he has a much stronger continuation.
 
BLACK TO PLAY AND WIN IMMEDIATELY!
Degree of difficulty:  EASY
 
——————————————————–

6.

GM  Golovin
GM  Khismatullin
Also from the Tchigorin Memorial…a wide open game but White’s pieces are more active and it is his move. 
 
WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN!
 
Degree of difficulty:  EASY
 
————————————————-

7.

THE CAN-OPENER ATTACK!

POSITION AFTER 19 MOVES:
 
GM  Sargissian
GM  Pavlovic, Milos
 
 
Also from Serbia!  Opposite-side castling has lead to a very critical position.  Black is attacking the White Knight and should it retreat to d1 then 20…g5! will give Black the upper hand.  THEREFORE, Pavlovic courageously pushed forward with his attack:
 
20.Nd5!!
In combination with his next move, White gets a VERY strong attack!
 
 
20…PxN  21.d4!!
Beautiful play!  The entry of the White Queen into the attack should soon end the game in White’s favour…

 
21…dxe4  22.Qxb5  Nb8
Now the simplest way to win is 23.Qb7-ch followed by 24.Ba5 when Black is dead lost and can resign, as the reader can verify for himself.  INSTEAD, White threw away almost all of his advantage with the careless 23.c6-ch, and his misfortune did not end there:  he even lost the game!

 
9.
IM  Velickovic
IM Nestorovic
 
Also from Serbia.  A sharp position has resulted from the Sicilian Defence.  In this kind of position everything depends  on the ability to quickly create threats.  It is White’s move…
 
HOW DID WHITE GET A CLEAR ADVANTAGE?
 
Degree of difficulty: TOUGH
 
—————————————————

10.
IM  Novoselski
IM  Govedarica

From Serbia.  Once again a very sharp position, with Black’s last move attacking the White Queen.  But this time White’s pieces are definitely more active than his counterpart and he has a surprisingly strong continuation…

HOW DID WHITE GET A DECISIVE ADVANTAGE?

Degree of difficulty:  EASY
 
———————————————
 
SPRAGGETT   ON   CHESS

The problem with some chess federations…

October 29, 2012 By in Uncategorized

SPRAGGETT ON CHESS

 
The ”What is in it for me?” syndrome

My blog readers are by now quite aware  of the recurring episodes of rampant corruption and blatant  constitutional-infidelities amongst many of Canada’s top chess officials and organizers in recent times.  There has been a huge price to pay for such behaviour, and the  fact that the CFC membership has declined by close to 33%  in as many years is only one of the condemning reactions by our little community.   Canadian chess players are voting with their feet.  But that is not all: the Government has recently stripped the CFC of its charity status.  Today chess in Canada is at a all-time low and neither sponsors nor the media want to hear about it…

 

 

But Canada is not the only country that is in the dog-house!  Numerous national federations have ALSO attracted the wrong type of people and are suffering as a result.  Case in point is the Argentine Chess Federation (FADA) which was constantly in the news during the last FIDE elections.  I believe that even the Argentine government intervened in the affairs of FADA, trying to settle some outstanding problems with the federation’s controvertial president….
 
ChessBase today carried an interesting bit on Uruguay’s GM Andres Rodriguez, who helped organize the recently held Continental in Mar Del Plata (Argentina).  He had this to say of FADA:
 
 
 
”…it is impossible. Though it is not the only Latin American federation in this situation, the Argentine Chess Federation has more or less become embodied by a single person, whose goal is to get something from chess, as opposed to giving something to it.
 It is pretty much all negatives and no positives. If you request help for something that might improve a tournament you never get anything, however they are always pressuring you to pay them something. It needn’t be like this though.
The Uruguayan Chess Federation used to be like this, but in the last 3-4 years since IM Roselli took over the presidency, the difference is night and day. Now, the federation fulfills its purpose and obligations. If you present a chess project to the federation, the first reply is always a yes, what can we do to help? If I present the same project to the Argentine Federation the first reply will be, “What’s in it for us?”, and this isn’t the way we want to work.”
If pricks could fly, then the CFC would have been airborne years ago!

Early morning tactic!

October 29, 2012 By in Uncategorized

SPRAGGETT ON CHESS

POSITION AFTER WHITE’S 21st MOVE (21.Nd5)

Gieben,S
Vroombout,H
 
 
A game between two amateurs in the recently completed Hoogeveen Tournament (Open Section).  Black has allowed White to gobble his centre, hoping that his Kingside tricks will be enough compensation (or more!).  Black was very confident after White’s last move since he now played the spectacular
 
21…Qxf3!?!
 
 
…thinking that White had overlooked it!   If now 22.PxQ Rg6-ch! gives Black atleast a perpetual check.
 
WHAT DID BLACK OVERLOOK THAT FORCED HIM TO RESIGN IMMEDIATELY?