Smorgasbord VI: Winter Games Another year behind us. The future just around the bend. Like a downhill racer, time keeps speeding by. And along the way, a few idle moments at the Chess Cafe. This smorgasbord features our usual fare: a varied selection of puzzles for your amusement and solving pleasure. Plus some random facts about my favourite "winter game". 1. Triple Loyd 41 Place the black king on the board so that: A. Black is in checkmate. B. Black is in stalemate. C. White has mate in one. Bobsleds originated in Switzerland during the 1860s. They were constructed by connecting two sleds and adding a steering mechanism. 2. Proof Game 41 (4.0 moves) This … [Read more...]
Carlsen: Move by Move
Carlsen: Move by Move by Cyrus Lakdawala Each world champion brings forth new wonders of his mind. When we examine the games of a great player, what we really desire is to share in the flow of genius, from his mind to ours. We crave the paradisiacal taste of beauty, which most of us try and produce, and so rarely do in our games. When we arrive in critical situations in our games we come close to being Rembrandts and da Vincis, close to producing a masterpiece, if only we achieve that rapturous final touch of colour, but we just can't seem to get it right. We all have our favourites, and seek to play like replica Morphys, Laskers, Alekhines, Capablancas, Tals, Fischers, Kasparovs or … [Read more...]
One More Thing
One More Thing by Gary Lane Can the Closed Sicilian be an attacking opening? This is the question posed by the Australian Jonathan Adams who helpfully e-mails a great game where he wins in style. The potentially aggressive line (1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 Nc6 5.d3 e6 6.Be3) adopted by Adams has been tested by some famous names such as Michael Adams (no relation), Nigel Short, Boris Spassky, and Alexander Stripunsky. I noticed that their high level opponents tended to put up firm resistance but when the position was played at a lower level the defence was more flimsy. I should add that World Champion Magnus Carlsen also gave his seal of approval to the opening by employing it … [Read more...]
ChessBase and the Mega Database
ChessBase and the Mega Database by Jim Rizzitano Reviewed this Month ChessBase 13 by ChessBase Mega Database 2015 by ChessBase This month I will review two software titles from ChessBase: ChessBase 13 and Mega Database 2015. This software is useful for both master level and club players. Chess software has become an essential tool for efficient chess study. The majority of chess players utilize software to record games and prepare openings – chess software is also indispensable for writing chess books and publishing to the web. The ChessBase software program is the industry-standard tool utilized by both professional and club players to record and study their own games. A r … [Read more...]
Chess Mazes #379
Chess Mazes #379 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...]
The Nimzovich Defense [B00]
The Nimzovich Defense [B00] by Abby Marshall The Nimzovich Defense, 1.e4 Nc6, is the subject of this month's column. It bears a strong resemblance to the themes of the Chigorin Defense 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nc6 even though the former is a king-pawn opening. Besides the obvious early ...Nc6, the two openings also have cramped space, pawn pushes like ...e5 in the center, and concede the bishop-pair to take advantage of a lead in development in common. 1.e4 Nc6 In April 2013 I covered a similar offbeat system, 1...b6, from White's perspective. 2.d4 This is the most natural, but actually gives Black a couple of interesting choices. To cut down on Black's options, it might be better to … [Read more...]
Excellent Intuition
This month we present a lightly edited excerpt from Chess Evolution Newsletter #147. CEWN is released every Friday of the week, the newsletter contains twenty-plus pages of great chess material written by top grandmasters Arkadij Naiditsch and Csaba Balogh. Excellent Intuition by Csaba Balogh Jarmula,Lukasz (2307) - Sibashvili,Giorgi (2387) World Youth U16 Olympiad Gyor HUN (8.1), 19.12.2014 Blumenfeld Gambit [E10] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.d5 b5 Once again the Blumenfeld Gambit! It looks like it is a very popular weapon in youth tournaments. I must admit that I also employed this variation when I was younger. 5.e4!? A shocking move, but it looks extremely strong! … [Read more...]
A Few Cheerful Days on the Normal Side
A Few Cheerful Days on the Normal Side After another year of fun and puzzles, it's time again for our holiday break to "the normal side of chess". Like the ghosts of columns past, we have an assortment of direct mates, endgame studies, and game positions. Let's hear it for 2015. Cheers, everyone! 1 White to mate in two Nothing is more enticing for potential solvers than a spacious two-move mate. Merediths (8-12 pieces) and miniatures (7 or less) are natural-born crowd-pleasers. 2 White to mate in two Next up is a basic winning rook endgame. Unfortunately, you are playing blitz and you only have time for three more moves. Can you score the point? 3 White to mate in … [Read more...]
A Secure Opening for White
A Secure Opening for White by Bo Bredenhof Last month I recommended the Leningrad Dutch as a secure choice against the queen pawn openings. This time I will have a look at the white side. Most players select 1.e4 or 1.d4. It is understandable but probably not optimal if one wants an opening in CC primarily to avoid losses. Both lead to very large opening complexes depending on black's answer. It is then impossible to avoid entering an opening or variation where your opponent is much more experienced. Instead I am looking for a relatively small opening where it is possible to become my own expert, and where I decide what type of position we will play. If you already play the … [Read more...]
A Forgotten Kaufmann Game
A Forgotten Kaufmann Game by Olimpiu G. Urcan One of the chief difficulties of researching lesser lights in the field of chess biography is finding an adequate number of representative game scores. This proved a particularly challenging task when working together with the Vienna-based Dr. Peter Michael Braunwarth on Arthur Kaufmann: A Chess Biography (McFarland, 2012). Despite assiduous searches in Viennese archives, our volume recovered only 71 games played by Kaufmann throughout his chess career between the 1890s and 1930s. Considering Kaufmann's enigmatic life and his highly intermittent chess play in Vienna, that's a reasonably satisfactory number. However, disregarding many such … [Read more...]
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