Rook Hooks and Queen Treks By Jeff Coakley Artist appreciation month continues with more "brain rackers" from British puzzle master Henry Dudeney (1857-1930). As a prelude to the Dudeney conception that follows, here is a basic example of a series-mate. 1 Series-mate in seven White plays seven moves in a row to mate Black Only the last move may give check. Captures are allowed. White may not place their own king in check. Black does not get a turn. The next puzzle is a version of a Dudeney work called "An Amazing Dilemma" from Amusements in Mathematics (1917). 2 Place the black king on the board so that White does not have a series-mate in any number of … [Read more...]
Rules for Blind and Visually Disabled Players
Rules for Blind and Visually Disabled Players By Geurt Gijssen Question: I recently served as deputy arbiter in the Central American Chess Team Championship for blind and disabled players; and I have some doubts about the special rules for blind people and their relationship with the Laws of Chess. I searched on the Internet, but I did not find any related topics, so I would appreciate your opinion about the issues in the questions below. FA Carolina Muñoz (Costa Rica) Answer and Two Preliminary Remarks: 1. For twenty years I was chairman of the Rules Committee/Commission. Every time that we had the possibility to revise the Laws of Chess, and, of course, the Appendices as well, … [Read more...]
Improving Visualization
Improving Visualization by Dan Heisman Quote of the Month: “You can’t play what you don’t see.” The quote of the month has been one of my more popular ones. GM Soltis used it in his book The Wisest Things Ever Said About Chess. A big attribute of this principle is that it has several helpful meanings: If you don’t consider a move as a potential candidate, it can never be played, If you do consider a move, but don’t notice its potential, you won’t consider it seriously, If you don’t search for better candidate moves, you won’t find them, and If you are analyzing and can’t visualize the board clearly, you can’t analyze well. It’s this final interpretation that we want to add … [Read more...]
Fortresses and Shadows
Fortresses and Shadows by Karsten Müller Theoretical rook endings are often difficult to defend. 162.01 Heinemann,Thies (2467) - Zelbel,Patrick (2419) BL 1415 Hamburger SK - Hansa Dortmund (6.8), 07.12.2014 The position is drawn, but Black must act actively. 39...g6?! 39...h5! 40.Kg2 Kh7 41.Kf3 f6 42.Ke3 g5= is much easier. 40.g4! White marks the f- and h-pawn as weaknesses in typical style. 40...Kg7 41.Kg2 Ra1 42.a4 Ra3 43.g5 h5 44.Ra7 Kg8 45.a5 Ra4 46.Kg3 Rg4+ 47.Kh3 Ra4 48.a6 Kg7 49.f4 Ra3+ 50.Kg2 Now only a miracle can save Black. 50...Ra2+? Black will end up on the wrong side of the reciprocal zugzwang due to this check. [After 50...Ra4 51.Kf3 Kf8 I … [Read more...]
Knowing the King’s Indian is a Must!
Knowing the King's Indian is a Must! Review by Davide Nastasio Winning Against King's Indian with the Main Line, by Mihail Marin, ChessBase, 4 hours 11 min, $39.95 (ChessCafe Price $29.96) I don't play the King's Indian, and I'm not sure if I will play it in the future. So why did I get this DVD? Because in the last fifty years or so the greatest battles of the greatest chess players have been fought around this opening. Thus, the road to mastery is clear: knowing the King's Indian is a must! Just as it is important to read the classics of chess literature, it is equally essential to become familiar with classical structures. And the King's Indian teaches a player about all aspects … [Read more...]
The Five Coin Dudeney
The Five Coin Dudeney by Jeff Coakley Get out your lucky pennies. It's Friday the 13th! And time for round two of artist appreciation month, featuring four more puzzles by the great Henry Dudeney. Plus a couple Cafe originals. "It is extraordinary what fascination a good puzzle has for a great many people. We know the thing to be of trivial importance, yet we are impelled to master it, and when we have succeeded there is a pleasure and a sense of satisfaction that are a quite sufficient reward for our trouble, even when there is no prize to be won. What is this mysterious charm that many find irresistible? Why do we like to be puzzled? The curious thing is that directly the enigma … [Read more...]
Lessons with a Grandmaster II
Lessons with a Grandmaster II by Boris Gulko and Dr. Joel R. Sneed Boris: So we meet again to continue our study of the mystical teachings of chess. Joel: Yes! Working with you on the first book had a major impact on my playing. I added several hundred points to my rating. Immediately after completing the book I scored 4 out of 5 with 2 draws and 3 wins at the Marshall Chess Club under-2000 tournament in New York. I tied for first and had a performance rating of 2100! My increased playing strength is a direct reflection of the work we did studying your games, solving exercises, and, in general, listening to you talk about chess. I will never forget the experience of going over your … [Read more...]
Chinese Heading for World Domination
Chinese Heading for World Domination by Tim Harding As most readers will recall, the People's Republic of China won the chess Olympiad for the first time in Tromsø last August. The question began to be asked, how long before a Chinese player challenges for the world championship. China, it will be recalled, has already had three women's world champions, including the current holder. Several young players performed excellently and the whole team had only one lost game in the 44 played. Ding Liren, on board two, was particularly impressive. Then in December Yu Yangyi, who was also on that team, won the very strong open in Qatar, confidently crushing early leader Anish Giri in the … [Read more...]
Further Investigations of a Standard Structure
Further Investigations of a Standard Structure There are some openings where this structure (with doubled pawns on Black's f-file) appears from the very first moves. Rauzer's Attack in the Sicilian is too complex and wide-ranging a topic for us even to touch on here. And as for the French Defense variation 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 de5.Nxe4 Be7 6.Bxf6 gf, or the Caro-Kann variation 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 de4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Nxf6+ gf - they have long since gone out of style, so there's no point in delving into them. I shall only present one example each of the above-cited openings. Sigurjonsson - Dvoretsky Wijk aan Zee 1975 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Bb4 5.ed (this was a popular … [Read more...]
Chess Mazes #381
Chess Mazes #381 There are two types of chess mazes: checking and mating. For bishop, rook, and knight mazes the play is to check the black king. For queen, pawn, and king mazes the object is to checkmate the enemy king; here checks are not allowed. The rules in common for each type of maze are as follows: Black never moves. Only the maze piece (in the case of pawns – the maze units) may move. A maze piece may never move to a square where it can be captured by enemy forces. A maze piece may capture undefended enemy forces. Plus we look for the shortest solution. Helpers in queen and king mazes are frozen to the diagram position, unable to move or be removed. In pawn mazes p … [Read more...]
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