Chess Forum
sleepingdogsliethemovie.com << online chess - < chess - chess > - chess online >>
| From | Message | ||||||||
| Posted by roblear sleepingdogsliethemovie.com 8/09/2008 10:55:49 Play online chess |  Subject: am i right?Message: i've noticed that higher rated players don't seem to play pawn moves such as a3 to prevent Nb4 or Bb4, or conversely h3 to attack the g4 square. i've often used these kinds of moves in the past, but i don't see them much from better players. maybe it's a reflection on my poor development? | ||||||||
| Posted by tim_b sleepingdogsliethemovie.com 8/09/2008 13:15:45 Play online chess | Message: | ||||||||
| Posted by ionadowman sleepingdogsliethemovie.com 8/09/2008 16:13:49 Play online chess | Possibly... Message: When making the piece move, the mover ought already to have planned a response to an attack by a flank pawn: an exchange on the c-file (if it's a bishop); a sac on f7 (if you've just played Ng5); a retreat - and where to? Sometimes it's not a bad idea fort White, say, to develop a bishop at d2 via g5, losing a tempo, but inducing a small but exploitable weakness in Black's K-side. I've done that myself. On the Black side of a Sicilian Defence, ...a6 is often useful even if it doesn't hit a bishop, partly as apreparation for a central thrust, but also because Q-side expansion is on Black's agenda anyway. So 1.e4 c5. 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxc4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6, the Najdorf Variation, is a very popular line. That little move hides a good deal of aggression. The Sicilian Kan System also involves an early ...a6. Conversely, the Two Knights' Defence often features an early advance of a White Knight to g5: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5!? ... I think the debate whether this is sttronger than 4.0-0, 4.d4 or 4.d3 is still ongoing. Of course it's pointless hitting the knight now. Black will usually play 4...d5 5.exd5 and now 5...Nxd5 is very risky owing to the enormous attack White whips up: the Fegatello, a.k.a. the Fried Liver: 6.Nxf7 Kxf7 7.Qf3+ Ke6 (forced if Black wants to keep the material); 8.Nc3 Ncb4 (the irony of it!) 9.a3! (biffing the knight , hoping to dislodge it fronm its defence of d5. The fork on c2 looks tempting, at that!) 9...Nxc2+ 10.Kc1 Nxa1 11.Nxd5 etc. All this is theory, which continues for several moves more yet. Black has better alternatives at move 5, 5,,,Na4, the "Main" line turning out rather well for Black, despite the pawn deficit. But even at move 4, Black can seriously consider ignoring the attack on f7 by playing 4...Bc5!? Now, if 5.Nxf7 Black has the astonishing 5...Bxf2+!! 6.Kxf2!? (6.Kf1 may be better) ...Nxe4+ 7.Kg1 (I had someone play 7.Ke1?? against me once on GK 7...Qh4+ 8.g3 Nxg3 9.Rg1 Ne5+ 10.Rg3 Nxg3 0-1) 7...Qh4 with an attack probably strong enough at least to balance White's. The alternate capture at f7, 5.Bxf7+, less ambitious is perhaps the harder for Black to meet: 5...Ke2 whereupon White usually retires the bishop to b3 or d5. In the following OTB game, the presence and absence of the flank pawn moves under discussion prove to have further impact: White: N.N. Black: IAD 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ Ke2 6.Bb3 Rf8 7.0-0 h6 The first of the flank pawn moves, played to drive back the knight, and relieve some of the pressure on the light squares - in other words, to prepare to advance the d-pawn. 8.Nf3 d6 w 9.d3?! ... Now this is one point where White might have been better advised to prevent Black's next move by 9.h3! 9...Bg4! Threatening, among other things, to bring a knight in to d4 thence to break up White's K-side pawns. 10.Be3 ... (10.c3 came into consideration) 10... Nd4 11.Bxd4 Bxd4 12.c3 Bb6 13.Nbd2 Qd7 14.Qc2 Rae8 15.h3? ... b A real bad-luck pawn. Correct at move 9, here it is merely weakening: 15...Bxh3! Something you sometimes have to watch for if you want to biff bishops! 16.gxh3 Qxh3 17.Nh2 ... Played to protect g4, but maybe a strike at the centre by 17.d4 offered more hope? 17...Ng4! 18.Nxg4 Qxg4+ 19.Kh1 Qh3+ 20.Kg1 Rf4 21.Qd1 Qg3+ 22.Kh1 Rh4#. I guess in the end you have to think beyond the flank pawn move, and indeed beyond the piece moves against which the flank pawn move is directed, whether as an attack or a deterrent. If the move is part of a longer term plan, or if allowing a piece to land on the "Knight-5" square will really cause you trouble (as indeed it can, quite often) then probably it's OK, but if it's "off the cuff" or "can't think of anything better to do right now", then it's probably un-OK. Cheers, Ion ——— When Elite Chess Tournaments Were Rare and Noteworthy — Tournaments that bring together the best chess players at the same place at the same time became possible only in the jet age. There are now so many elite chess tournaments that few of them are actually memorable. But in an age when steam- and coal-powered ships and trains were the only ways to travel long distances, it was a rare event that pit the world’s best against one another — so rare that such chess events are remembered still. Baden-Baden, Germany, a spa town near the French border, played host to three such tournaments, in 1870, 1914 and 1925. The 1870 tournament’s roster included most of the top chess players of the day, including Adolf Anderssen of Germany, who won, and Wilhelm Steinitz, an Austrian who would ... Posted by savage4731 | sleepingdogsliethemovie.com 8/09/2008 19:55:57 Play online chess Message: 1) It wastes a move that could be used to develop a piece. 2) You can always play it after the pin without a loss of time. 3) It weakens the kingside pawns. 4) Pins arent always bad. For example, the Bxf7+ then Ng5+ then Qxg4 sac. Or the Bg4, Be2, Nd4, Nxd4 trick. Also, using the g-file to attack after Bxf3, gxf3. Also, Legall's mate. 5) The h3 pawn can become a target esp for bishop sacs. 6) After h3, g3 can become weak. Esp. If black is pinning the f2 pawn with a bishop. 7) If your opponent captures the knight with the bishop that gives you the two bishops. 8) Its a bad habit to get into: i.e. making mechanical moves and not paying attention. 9) Its passive. Which not only hurts your chances in the game but passive play will slow down your development as a player. 10) You shouldnt automatically assume things like doubled pawns are bad. 11) You should be careful with pawn moves because you cant move them back. 12) You should be playing to control the center in the opening not making pointless flank pawn moves. 13) When I see those kinds of moves against me I know its usually an easy win. 14) A lot of times beginners will think they can easily win a pawn. For example: 1.e4, e5 2. Nf3, Nc6 3. Bb5, a6 4. Bxc6, dxc6 5. Nxe5. But they miss 5...Qd4!. Chess isnt that simple otherwise no one would play it. If you find yourself losing pawns like that its because you're making mistakes and/or not seeing the whole position not because you didnt prevent the pin in the first place. Usually beginners make that kind of move because they're afraid of missing something. Its better not to play out of fear but to play your best and if you make a mistake to learn from it. ——— Magnus Carlsen and Vishy Anand both named Sportsman of the Year 2012 — Norway's world No1, Magnus Carlsen, 22, and India's official world chess champion, Vishy Anand, 43, have both won Sportsman of the Year 2012 awards, an unprecedented double for top chess players. Carlsen has become a cult hero in his homeland and readers of Dagbladet, Norway's second largest tabloid, gave him more votes than the next three in the poll combined. Anand triumphed in the Indian vote ahead of the cricketer Virat Kohli at an award ceremony televised nationwide. Voters liked his match win against Boris Gelfand, his third successful world crown defence since 2007, and also his Mind Champions Academy which claims 17 million students. The Carlsen v Anand rivalry has sparked new elite chess tournaments as ... Posted by roblear | sleepingdogsliethemovie.com 8/10/2008 03:36:25 Play online chess am i right?Message: thanks again rob ——— The 'Queen' Wants to Turn Chess Into a Spectator Sport — Julian Schuster first heard the rumor a year and a half ago. Susan Polgar, the legendary chess grand master known to journalists as “the Queen,” was unhappy in her current position as Texas Tech’s chess coach. She was feeling unappreciated. She had made this known to certain people in the tight-knit world of chess, and the news had traveled from one of these confidants, a foreign grand master living in Texas, to the ears of Schuster, a passionate fan of the game, in St. Louis. He knew her story, of course; it had achieved the status of legend. Her father raised her and her two sisters to be chess prodigies. In the 1980s, the three Polgar sisters began showing up at chess tournaments and crushing all comers, men and women alike. At .. Posted by savage4731 | sleepingdogsliethemovie.com 8/14/2008 13:53:29 Play online chess roblearMessage: ——— The World’s No.1 Chess Player Breaks His Own Record — Magnus Carlsen produced another dominating performance last month at the Tata Steel chess tournament in the Netherlands. Carlsen, the world’s top-ranked chess player, did not lose a single game. He finished 1 ½ points ahead of Levon Aronian, who is ranked No. 3 in the world, and 2 points ahead of Viswanathan Anand, the world chess champion, and Sergey Karjakin, who is No. 5. Perhaps just as impressive, Carlsen raised his chess rating, which is the system used to rank players, by 11 points — to 2,872 — eclipsing his own record. Carlsen tournament victories have become almost routine. In his last 11 tournaments, going back two years, he has won or tied for first eight times. During that period, he has won 42 games, drawn ... Posted by roblear | sleepingdogsliethemovie.com 8/23/2008 03:36:00 Play online chess to savage4731Message: rob ——— Following the Money Trail for the World's Best Chess Players — There is a simple way to determine the No. 1 chess player in the world: the World Chess Federation rates and ranks the competitors. It is not so easy trying to figure out the game’s best-paid player. Peter Zhdanov recently tried to get a definitive answer. Zhdanov, a proficient player who manages the chess career of his wife, Natalia Pogonina (No. 25 among women), recently outlined the problems in an article. Tournament prize money is easy to figure out, he said. But chess players have other sources of income that they do not publicly disclose, including how much they are paid for participating in professional leagues or what they earn in appearance fees just for showing up at a chess tournament. According to Zhdanov’s research, ... |