2007 saw the beginning of a Chess Manitoba blog and then, in November, the beginning of this blog. I hope we can continue with this success. So far, I think it's fair to say that Jordan and I are having fun with this blog.
For myself, I played in 3 tournaments and gained 80 rating points in 2007. That's better than the 1 tournament I played in 2006. Given my break of almost 4 years from competitive chess between 2002 and 2006, I have to be happy with the results. Perhaps other observers or competitors in Manitoba chess circles would share some of their observations of Manitoba chess this year. Do you have a favourite game? What did 2007 mean for your chess? What was good? What was not so good?
Early in 2008, at the same time as the Kent Oliver Memorial tournament, the Manitoba Chess Association will hold its Annual General Meeting. At the AGM, a new Executive is elected and CFC Governors are chosen. I urge everyone to attend this important meeting if they are able.
Season's Greetings from Jordan and I and have a Happy New Year.
Nigel Hanrahan
Monday, December 24, 2007
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Jordan's Attacking Game Of The Week *Holiday Edition*
Ho Ho Ho and Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukuh, Festive Qwanzaa, and for the rest Joyous New Year!!!
This is my Christmas Edition of the segment and boy do I have a treat for all you guys!
I decided that I would include 3 of my personal favorite attacking games as it is the holidays and I am in a giving mood.
Firstly one of my all time favorite Tal games:
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1044107
Vintage Tal.
Next my favorite Radjabov attacking gem against no less than World Champion Vishy Anand in my favorite Sicilian crowned with a QUEEN SAC MATING ATTACK!!!(I love those 4 words!)
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1266078
And finally,
A more recent game of the talented young American grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura, who recently won the very strong Casino de Barcelona tourny, in Spain Oct 18-26 2007. Hikaru was obviously in a "giving" mood as he unloaded a beautiful combination that the great Polish GM Krasenkow must have never seen coming!
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1477101
Enjoy all and have a safe and happy, and FUN holiday, ssee you in the new year when I will be feelin' GREAT in 2008!!!
Jordan Kwiatek
This is my Christmas Edition of the segment and boy do I have a treat for all you guys!
I decided that I would include 3 of my personal favorite attacking games as it is the holidays and I am in a giving mood.
Firstly one of my all time favorite Tal games:
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1044107
Vintage Tal.
Next my favorite Radjabov attacking gem against no less than World Champion Vishy Anand in my favorite Sicilian crowned with a QUEEN SAC MATING ATTACK!!!(I love those 4 words!)
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1266078
And finally,
A more recent game of the talented young American grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura, who recently won the very strong Casino de Barcelona tourny, in Spain Oct 18-26 2007. Hikaru was obviously in a "giving" mood as he unloaded a beautiful combination that the great Polish GM Krasenkow must have never seen coming!
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1477101
Enjoy all and have a safe and happy, and FUN holiday, ssee you in the new year when I will be feelin' GREAT in 2008!!!
Jordan Kwiatek
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Jordan's Attacking Game Of The Week
Hello Manitoba Chess and welcome to another great installment of my favorite attacking game of the week. In light of what The Nige posted earlier regarding the great David Ionovich Bronstein of Bila Tserkva, U.S.S.R (now Central Ukraine), I have decided that this week's game will be a sweet Bronstein attacking gem. David Bronstein is one of my top five favorite players of all time because of his genius and his creativity.
He was certainly strong enough to become World Champion, but never did; link to Botvinnik vs Bronstein Moscow 1951~~~> (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=54195) where he drew the match 12-12, but FIDE rules kept the title with the current Champion in case of the drawn result.
David Bronstein did however win many great tournaments abroad and at home in the F.S.U. including 2 U.S.S.R Championships as well as the unforgettable Zurich 1953. *FLASHBACK* 1973 Petropolis, Brazil (as far as I can tell), our hero is playing White against none other than the also very brilliant Ljubomir Ljubojevic in a game that has become a classic for chess connoisseurs world wide. The guys come at each other full speed, both playng sharply for the win, and also very creatively. What results is a rich tacical/strategical opus with a powerful attack on Ljubo's king that is in my eyes strongly supported by the other front Bronstein was working on, the central pawn advance, supported in full- out middlegame by White's King!
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1034661
From Jonathan Speelman's "Best Chess Games 1970-80":
Y Gruenfeld vs Ljubojevic, 1979
~Apart from its theoretical interest and the sheer joy of the tactics, this game has historical interest in that following it Ljubojevic dropped right out of the running and ended half way down the tournament. If he had beaten Bronstein, or at least drawn with him, then Ljubojevic might well have stayed in serious contention for one of the qualifying places to the Candidates Tournament~
A highly interesting and entertaining game. Enjoy.
I had the pleasure of hanging out with the president of the famous Reykjavik chessclub "Hrokurinn" Hravn Jokkulson for a few days last year, and being an author and journalist he actually had the opportunity of interviewing David Bronstein in Iceland once. I asked many interesting questions about Dave, but what stands out in my mind was when Hravn recalled:
"I soon realized that I was talking to one of the world's great geniuses. He was a kind gentleman with a razor sharp wit and an equally sharp memory. He had an incredible mind."
By the way Lorne Gibbons has announced some sort of last kick at '07 tourney with weird prizes scheduled for this coming Tuesday (Dec.18th) with regestration being at 6:30. A Christmas tournament, how totally cool. Wish I could be there but am too busy, so good luck guys hope to see all that holiday cheer translated into attacking fury and good camaraderie.And Merry Christmas. :)
Jordan
He was certainly strong enough to become World Champion, but never did; link to Botvinnik vs Bronstein Moscow 1951~~~> (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=54195) where he drew the match 12-12, but FIDE rules kept the title with the current Champion in case of the drawn result.
David Bronstein did however win many great tournaments abroad and at home in the F.S.U. including 2 U.S.S.R Championships as well as the unforgettable Zurich 1953. *FLASHBACK* 1973 Petropolis, Brazil (as far as I can tell), our hero is playing White against none other than the also very brilliant Ljubomir Ljubojevic in a game that has become a classic for chess connoisseurs world wide. The guys come at each other full speed, both playng sharply for the win, and also very creatively. What results is a rich tacical/strategical opus with a powerful attack on Ljubo's king that is in my eyes strongly supported by the other front Bronstein was working on, the central pawn advance, supported in full- out middlegame by White's King!
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1034661
From Jonathan Speelman's "Best Chess Games 1970-80":
Y Gruenfeld vs Ljubojevic, 1979
~Apart from its theoretical interest and the sheer joy of the tactics, this game has historical interest in that following it Ljubojevic dropped right out of the running and ended half way down the tournament. If he had beaten Bronstein, or at least drawn with him, then Ljubojevic might well have stayed in serious contention for one of the qualifying places to the Candidates Tournament~
A highly interesting and entertaining game. Enjoy.
I had the pleasure of hanging out with the president of the famous Reykjavik chessclub "Hrokurinn" Hravn Jokkulson for a few days last year, and being an author and journalist he actually had the opportunity of interviewing David Bronstein in Iceland once. I asked many interesting questions about Dave, but what stands out in my mind was when Hravn recalled:
"I soon realized that I was talking to one of the world's great geniuses. He was a kind gentleman with a razor sharp wit and an equally sharp memory. He had an incredible mind."
By the way Lorne Gibbons has announced some sort of last kick at '07 tourney with weird prizes scheduled for this coming Tuesday (Dec.18th) with regestration being at 6:30. A Christmas tournament, how totally cool. Wish I could be there but am too busy, so good luck guys hope to see all that holiday cheer translated into attacking fury and good camaraderie.
Jordan
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Some changes to this blog
A few changes have been made to this blog.
1. To make things easier, anonymous posting has been allowed. I've done this to assist blog readers that may not be very internet savvy but whose remarks would nevertheless be interesting. If this becomes a problem, then I will switch settings back to requiring a google account to post on this blog.
2. Posts can now be emailed to a friend if blog readers wish to take advantage of this feature. Just click on the envelope with the small arrow on it at the bottom of the post you wish to e mail to a friend. You will need to provide your friend's e mail address, your own e mail address, and your name. Google/blogspot will do the rest.
3. If you scroll to the very end of this page then you will find a very interesting quote by the late David Bronstein. Bronstein was a one-time challenger for the World Championship and was one of the greatest players NOT to be world champion (along with the likes of Paul Keres and others). He edited one of the greatest tournament books in the history of chess; I mean the book Zurich International Chess Tournament 1953. I may add other quotes to this one or replace it by other famous quotes from the history of chess. Enjoy!
4. I am planning to make use of Nikolai Pilafov's Chess Viewer Deluxe on this blog if it is possible. This will take some time, however. In the meantime, "Game Replayer" from ChessVideos.tv works well enough, although a game viewer with annotations as well would be even better.
1. To make things easier, anonymous posting has been allowed. I've done this to assist blog readers that may not be very internet savvy but whose remarks would nevertheless be interesting. If this becomes a problem, then I will switch settings back to requiring a google account to post on this blog.
2. Posts can now be emailed to a friend if blog readers wish to take advantage of this feature. Just click on the envelope with the small arrow on it at the bottom of the post you wish to e mail to a friend. You will need to provide your friend's e mail address, your own e mail address, and your name. Google/blogspot will do the rest.
3. If you scroll to the very end of this page then you will find a very interesting quote by the late David Bronstein. Bronstein was a one-time challenger for the World Championship and was one of the greatest players NOT to be world champion (along with the likes of Paul Keres and others). He edited one of the greatest tournament books in the history of chess; I mean the book Zurich International Chess Tournament 1953. I may add other quotes to this one or replace it by other famous quotes from the history of chess. Enjoy!
4. I am planning to make use of Nikolai Pilafov's Chess Viewer Deluxe on this blog if it is possible. This will take some time, however. In the meantime, "Game Replayer" from ChessVideos.tv works well enough, although a game viewer with annotations as well would be even better.
The Mike Shpan Memorial TNT wraps up for another year.
Here's my game against Daniel Oberton (1978) in the final round of the Shpan Memorial TNT. I lost the game but the news wasn't all bad. (See my comments.)
1. c4 c5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. Nc3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Rb8 6. a3 a6 7. Rb1 b5 8. cxb5
axb5 9. b4 c4 10. Nd5?
In hindsight, I should have just played 10. a4 immediately.
10... e6 11. Nc3 d5
Black has just gained two tempi for FREE. D'oh!
12. a4 bxa4 13. Qxa4 Bd7 14. b5 Ra8
15. bxc6 ?! I was very unhappy with my play to this point and decided to give up the queen for two minors and the exchange. I figured, without full calculation, that I would have much more activity than Black and be able to get a pawn or two back ... or maybe even a whole piece.
However, better is 15. Qc2 (as Daniel pointed out after the game). White may even have a slight plus.
15... Rxa4 16. cxd7+ Qxd7 17. Rb8+ Ke7 18. Nxa4 Qxa4 19. Rb7+ Kd6 20. Ng5
Better may be 20. Rxf7 Nh6 21. Rb7 and Black has the upper hand but isn't outright winning.
20... Nh6 Now that he is getting his king side pieces into play, Black has a decisive advantage.
21. Nxf7+ Nxf7 22. Rxf7 c3 23. O-O
My engine prefers 23. d3 although Black still has the upper hand. However, during the game, I didn't like the idea of leaving the passed pawn alone.
23... cxd2 24. Bxd2 Be5 25. Rc1 Rb8 26. Rfc7
Better is 26. Bg5 ! Re8 27. Rxh7 Bb2 28. Re1 and Black stands only slightly better.
26... Rb1 27. Rxb1 Kxc7 28. Rc1+ Kd7 29. Bh6 Qa2 30. Bf3 Bf6 31. h4 Qb2 32. Rd1 Ke7 33. Bc1 Qc3 34. Be3 d4 35. Rc1 Qa3 36. Bh6 and Black still has the upper hand.
36... g5 ? 37. Rc7+ Kd8 38. Rxh7
Better is 38. Rf7 ! Be7 39. hxg5 The position is level and White should be able to draw in this line. However, I was already in serious time trouble.
38... gxh4 39. gxh4 Bxh4 40. Rh8+ Kd7 41. Rh7+ Ke8
42. Bc6+ I missed what looked like my last chance for a draw with 42. Rh8+ Kf7
The Black king has to come forward to avoid the draw by repetition. Running the other way faces the possibility of a check from the h6 bishop along the h2-b8 diagonal and a discovered attack on Black's h4 bishop - which would be winning for White. The Queen cannot win against the 2 bishops and a rook.
If ever Black plays 42... Ke7 ?? then it is instant death with 43. Bf8+ and White dines on the free queen. Black also had to avoid playing the king to d6 while the possibility of Bf8+ was available as this would lose the bishop
at least.
If Black tries 42... Kd7 then we have 43. Rh7+ and with 43... Be7 there follows 44. Bg5 and a win for White. In this line, 44. Bf8 also wins with 44... Qc1+ 45. Kg2 Qg5+ 46. Kf1 Qg8 47. Rxe7+ Kd8 48. Ra7 and Black cannot capture the bishop with 48... Qxf8 ?? since 49. Ra8+ follows, winning for White again.
Following the drawing line with 42... Kf7 we have 43. Rh7+ Kg8
43... Kf6 ?? 44. Bg7+ Kg6 45. Be4+ Kg5 46. Bxd4 loses for Black. At the very least White gets the draw quite easily.
43... Kg6 ?? 44. Be4+ Kf6 45. Bg7+ Kg5 46. Bxd4 also loses for Black.
So, now we have 44. Rg7+ Kh8 45. Be4 ... with the threat of the perpetual (or winning the Black queen). 45... Bf6 46. Rf7 Be7 and White has a forced draw. 47. Rh7+ Kg8 48. Rg7+ Kh8 [48... Kf8 ?? 49. Rg3+ just wins outright for White.] 49. Rh7+ and so on.
So I missed the draw. Those aren't easy against a 1978 rated player.
42... Kd8 43. Rd7+
43. Bf4 exposes the Black bishop to attack and is probably a better move.
43... Kc8 44. Rh7 Qb4
Much better for Black is 44... Qa1+ 45. Kg2 Qe1 46. Rf7 Qxe2 which looks winning.
45. Kg2 Qb1 46. Bb7+ Kd8 47. Rh8+ Ke7 48. Bf8+ Kf7 49. Bf3 Be7 50. Bh5+ Kf6
51. Bxe7+
51. Rh6+ Kg5 52. Bg7 keeps all 3 pieces on the board and so is probably a better line.
51... Kxe7 52. Re8+ Kd7 53. Rh8 Qe4+ 54. Bf3 Qg6+ 55. Kf1 e5 56. Bh5 Qg7 57. Ra8 Qh6 58. Bf3 Qf4 59. Ra7+ Kd6 60. Ra6+ Kc5 61. Ra5+
White flags. I had zero seconds showing on the clock for the last few moves so I made the move ... and resigned.
Even though I gave up the queen, the exchange gave me some play. A more careful examination of the position after 41 moves would have given me the half point. The success of James Atem in my rating group, however, bumped him up to a tie for first overall and netted me a few unexpected dollars in prize money despite the loss. 0-1
1. c4 c5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. Nc3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Rb8 6. a3 a6 7. Rb1 b5 8. cxb5
axb5 9. b4 c4 10. Nd5?
In hindsight, I should have just played 10. a4 immediately.
10... e6 11. Nc3 d5
Black has just gained two tempi for FREE. D'oh!
12. a4 bxa4 13. Qxa4 Bd7 14. b5 Ra8
15. bxc6 ?! I was very unhappy with my play to this point and decided to give up the queen for two minors and the exchange. I figured, without full calculation, that I would have much more activity than Black and be able to get a pawn or two back ... or maybe even a whole piece.
However, better is 15. Qc2 (as Daniel pointed out after the game). White may even have a slight plus.
15... Rxa4 16. cxd7+ Qxd7 17. Rb8+ Ke7 18. Nxa4 Qxa4 19. Rb7+ Kd6 20. Ng5
Better may be 20. Rxf7 Nh6 21. Rb7 and Black has the upper hand but isn't outright winning.
20... Nh6 Now that he is getting his king side pieces into play, Black has a decisive advantage.
21. Nxf7+ Nxf7 22. Rxf7 c3 23. O-O
My engine prefers 23. d3 although Black still has the upper hand. However, during the game, I didn't like the idea of leaving the passed pawn alone.
23... cxd2 24. Bxd2 Be5 25. Rc1 Rb8 26. Rfc7
Better is 26. Bg5 ! Re8 27. Rxh7 Bb2 28. Re1 and Black stands only slightly better.
26... Rb1 27. Rxb1 Kxc7 28. Rc1+ Kd7 29. Bh6 Qa2 30. Bf3 Bf6 31. h4 Qb2 32. Rd1 Ke7 33. Bc1 Qc3 34. Be3 d4 35. Rc1 Qa3 36. Bh6 and Black still has the upper hand.
36... g5 ? 37. Rc7+ Kd8 38. Rxh7
Better is 38. Rf7 ! Be7 39. hxg5 The position is level and White should be able to draw in this line. However, I was already in serious time trouble.
38... gxh4 39. gxh4 Bxh4 40. Rh8+ Kd7 41. Rh7+ Ke8
42. Bc6+ I missed what looked like my last chance for a draw with 42. Rh8+ Kf7
The Black king has to come forward to avoid the draw by repetition. Running the other way faces the possibility of a check from the h6 bishop along the h2-b8 diagonal and a discovered attack on Black's h4 bishop - which would be winning for White. The Queen cannot win against the 2 bishops and a rook.
If ever Black plays 42... Ke7 ?? then it is instant death with 43. Bf8+ and White dines on the free queen. Black also had to avoid playing the king to d6 while the possibility of Bf8+ was available as this would lose the bishop
at least.
If Black tries 42... Kd7 then we have 43. Rh7+ and with 43... Be7 there follows 44. Bg5 and a win for White. In this line, 44. Bf8 also wins with 44... Qc1+ 45. Kg2 Qg5+ 46. Kf1 Qg8 47. Rxe7+ Kd8 48. Ra7 and Black cannot capture the bishop with 48... Qxf8 ?? since 49. Ra8+ follows, winning for White again.
Following the drawing line with 42... Kf7 we have 43. Rh7+ Kg8
43... Kf6 ?? 44. Bg7+ Kg6 45. Be4+ Kg5 46. Bxd4 loses for Black. At the very least White gets the draw quite easily.
43... Kg6 ?? 44. Be4+ Kf6 45. Bg7+ Kg5 46. Bxd4 also loses for Black.
So, now we have 44. Rg7+ Kh8 45. Be4 ... with the threat of the perpetual (or winning the Black queen). 45... Bf6 46. Rf7 Be7 and White has a forced draw. 47. Rh7+ Kg8 48. Rg7+ Kh8 [48... Kf8 ?? 49. Rg3+ just wins outright for White.] 49. Rh7+ and so on.
So I missed the draw. Those aren't easy against a 1978 rated player.
42... Kd8 43. Rd7+
43. Bf4 exposes the Black bishop to attack and is probably a better move.
43... Kc8 44. Rh7 Qb4
Much better for Black is 44... Qa1+ 45. Kg2 Qe1 46. Rf7 Qxe2 which looks winning.
45. Kg2 Qb1 46. Bb7+ Kd8 47. Rh8+ Ke7 48. Bf8+ Kf7 49. Bf3 Be7 50. Bh5+ Kf6
51. Bxe7+
51. Rh6+ Kg5 52. Bg7 keeps all 3 pieces on the board and so is probably a better line.
51... Kxe7 52. Re8+ Kd7 53. Rh8 Qe4+ 54. Bf3 Qg6+ 55. Kf1 e5 56. Bh5 Qg7 57. Ra8 Qh6 58. Bf3 Qf4 59. Ra7+ Kd6 60. Ra6+ Kc5 61. Ra5+
White flags. I had zero seconds showing on the clock for the last few moves so I made the move ... and resigned.
Even though I gave up the queen, the exchange gave me some play. A more careful examination of the position after 41 moves would have given me the half point. The success of James Atem in my rating group, however, bumped him up to a tie for first overall and netted me a few unexpected dollars in prize money despite the loss. 0-1
Sunday, December 9, 2007
The origin and history of Exclam!
J. Ken MacDonald has put together a complete collection of back issues of Exclam! (the Manitoba chess publication that inspired the title of this weblog) and made the following remarks over at ChessTalk:
Ken's remarks can be found over at ChessTalk until they scroll off into oblivion:
J. Ken MacDonald
Please feel free to share any remarks you may have about Ken's comments or this publication in general. It's as simple as getting a google account.
EXCLAM! started as "Manitoba Chess Association Newsletter" in December/1987 with volume 1, # 1. January/1988 began again with volume 1, # 1. This format seems to have been an "offset type printing" of 3-10 pages per issue. It ran this format (I think, as these earliest issues are photocopies) until volume 2, # 2, February/1989. (15 issues had been published up to that point.) Then, I have originals which begin with volume 2, issue # 1 again, dated April/1989. The format at this point is a large size thin magazine with a paper cover and approximately 20pp. Thereafter, it ran approximately 6 issues per year with varying dates during the year. Less and less issues were published as the magazine matured. Volume 7 (1994) had two issues. 1995 had had a single small format issue. 1996 had two and then a final issue in 1999.
Ken's remarks can be found over at ChessTalk until they scroll off into oblivion:
J. Ken MacDonald
Please feel free to share any remarks you may have about Ken's comments or this publication in general. It's as simple as getting a google account.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
"H" is for Harry Houdini
Here's my game against Nathan Wood from Round 5 of the Shpan Memorial last night.
Wood, Nathan (1603) - Hanrahan, Nigel (1723)
[ECO = B19] Caro-Kann: Classical/Capablanca Variation
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.Nf3
7.h5 Nathan noted after the game that this move might have been a great help later on.
7...Nd7 8.Bd3 Bxd3 9.Qxd3 Ngf6 10.Bd2 e6 11.0-0-0 Bd6 12.Ne2 Qc7 13.c4 b6 14.Nc3
14...0-0 Alternately, 14...Bf4 15.Bxf4 Qxf4+ 16.Qe3 Qxe3+ 17.fxe3 a6 The position is equal here.
15.g3 Rfb8 16.Kb1 Qb7 17.Rde1 Ng4 18.Ne4 Bc7 19.Qe2 b5 20.c5 b4 21.Nfg5 Ngf6 22.Nxf6+ Nxf6 23.Nxf7 Kxf7 24.Qxe6+
24...Kg6 This is a "box" or only move. (The term comes from a ChessBase symbol.) White simply missed this possibility. If you play the Caro-Kann then you'll sometimes need a mobile and intelligent king who can remain calm while under heavy attack.
Much worse for Black is 24...Kf8 25.Bxh6 Bd8 26.Bf4 ... which looks winning for White.
25.g4 (Edited to add: Tony Boron points out in the comments that 25. h5+ is very good for White.) Qc8 26.h5+
Much better for White is 26.Qxc6 A change of strategy from a mating net to the creation of a couple of united passed pawns would have given White the upper hand and created further problems for Black.
26...Kh7 27.Qf7 Ba5 28.Re7
Good for White is 28.Bxh6 Qf8 29.Qg6+ Kg8 30.Re6 The c6 pawn should drop and White has the upper hand.
28...Qf8 I found another box move. If 28...Qg8 then 29. Qxf6, White gets his piece back, and the attack continues. 29.Qg6+
29...Kh8?? An awful move made in time trouble.
29...Kg8 is another box move for Black here. White cannot take with 30. Bxh6 since the e7 rook is floating. I just plain missed this ... and so did my opponent who followed my blunder with one of his own. It's a remarkable thing how often this happens in chess. After 29...Kg8 30.Re6 Qf7 and Black can hold.
30.Bxh6?? Seeing this move, I thought that Caissa, goddess of Chess, was smiling upon me.
Much better, and winning for White, is 30.Rf7! Qxf7 ( 30...Qg8?? 31.Bxh6 wins as well) 31.Qxf7 Rf8.
30...Qxe7 31.Bxg7+? The bishop yells "Banzai!" in a final Kamikaze attack. 31...Qxg7 32.Qxg7+ Kxg7 0-1
"Another Hanrahan swindle," I said to Jim Green, following the game. Actually, it was more of an escape than an act of thievery. "H" is for Harry Houdini. It must have been a double disappointment for Nathan who mustered a fine attack against me and just failed to close despite having plenty of time to find the win (with an hour on the clock to my few minutes).
I think I've got a game viewer working at last. Thanks to ChessVideos.tv I still want to use Nikolai Pilafov's viewer but that will take a little longer. Here is the game:
Wood, Nathan (1603) - Hanrahan, Nigel (1723)
[ECO = B19] Caro-Kann: Classical/Capablanca Variation
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.Nf3
7.h5 Nathan noted after the game that this move might have been a great help later on.
7...Nd7 8.Bd3 Bxd3 9.Qxd3 Ngf6 10.Bd2 e6 11.0-0-0 Bd6 12.Ne2 Qc7 13.c4 b6 14.Nc3
14...0-0 Alternately, 14...Bf4 15.Bxf4 Qxf4+ 16.Qe3 Qxe3+ 17.fxe3 a6 The position is equal here.
15.g3 Rfb8 16.Kb1 Qb7 17.Rde1 Ng4 18.Ne4 Bc7 19.Qe2 b5 20.c5 b4 21.Nfg5 Ngf6 22.Nxf6+ Nxf6 23.Nxf7 Kxf7 24.Qxe6+
24...Kg6 This is a "box" or only move. (The term comes from a ChessBase symbol.) White simply missed this possibility. If you play the Caro-Kann then you'll sometimes need a mobile and intelligent king who can remain calm while under heavy attack.
Much worse for Black is 24...Kf8 25.Bxh6 Bd8 26.Bf4 ... which looks winning for White.
25.g4 (Edited to add: Tony Boron points out in the comments that 25. h5+ is very good for White.) Qc8 26.h5+
Much better for White is 26.Qxc6 A change of strategy from a mating net to the creation of a couple of united passed pawns would have given White the upper hand and created further problems for Black.
26...Kh7 27.Qf7 Ba5 28.Re7
Good for White is 28.Bxh6 Qf8 29.Qg6+ Kg8 30.Re6 The c6 pawn should drop and White has the upper hand.
28...Qf8 I found another box move. If 28...Qg8 then 29. Qxf6, White gets his piece back, and the attack continues. 29.Qg6+
29...Kh8?? An awful move made in time trouble.
29...Kg8 is another box move for Black here. White cannot take with 30. Bxh6 since the e7 rook is floating. I just plain missed this ... and so did my opponent who followed my blunder with one of his own. It's a remarkable thing how often this happens in chess. After 29...Kg8 30.Re6 Qf7 and Black can hold.
30.Bxh6?? Seeing this move, I thought that Caissa, goddess of Chess, was smiling upon me.
Much better, and winning for White, is 30.Rf7! Qxf7 ( 30...Qg8?? 31.Bxh6 wins as well) 31.Qxf7 Rf8.
30...Qxe7 31.Bxg7+? The bishop yells "Banzai!" in a final Kamikaze attack. 31...Qxg7 32.Qxg7+ Kxg7 0-1
"Another Hanrahan swindle," I said to Jim Green, following the game. Actually, it was more of an escape than an act of thievery. "H" is for Harry Houdini. It must have been a double disappointment for Nathan who mustered a fine attack against me and just failed to close despite having plenty of time to find the win (with an hour on the clock to my few minutes).
I think I've got a game viewer working at last. Thanks to ChessVideos.tv I still want to use Nikolai Pilafov's viewer but that will take a little longer. Here is the game:
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
The One That Got Away.
Chess players, like fishers, sometimes like to talk about the beautiful game that never happened. They like to talk about the one that got away. Here is one such example.
22. Ng6!! White offers the knight. 22...Rd8. Black declines with thanks. If 22...hxg6 then there follows 23. fxg6 and White has either a mating net or wins the Black queen.
The game continued 23. Re7 Rf8 This is the only way to stop 24. Qxf7+ followed by 25. Qxg7 mate. 24. Nxf8 Rb1+ 25. Kg2 Qxf8 Again, to stop mate after 26. Qxf7+ etc. 26. Re8 That's gotta hurt! Rb6 27. Rxf8+ and Black resigned. However, a most beautiful ending that never happened was as follows...
23. Qxf7+!! Sacking the queen while the knight is still hanging! 23...Kxf7 24. Re7+ Kg8 25. Re8+! White sacs the house: a queen, a rook, and leaves a knight hanging. Rxe8 26. Bd5+ It is over. Black only has a rook to throw away before the inevitable mate. 26. ... Re6 27. Bxe6 mate. The ending is a rare minor piece mating net. A thing of beauty ... that never happened. It's the one that got away.
26. Bd5+ Mating at once! The actual game (ending with 27. Rxf8+) was played in the 4th round of the Mike Shpan Memorial TNT between Jordan Kwiatek and Dezheng Kong. Chess in Manitoba should have the game up in the next day or so. In the meantime, if you are really keen to see the whole game, have a look at Susan Polgar's Chess Discussion Forum. Thanks to Nikolai Pilafov!
Tell us about the beauty that never happened and we'll be happy to publish it. Show us the one that got away.
22. Ng6!! White offers the knight. 22...Rd8. Black declines with thanks. If 22...hxg6 then there follows 23. fxg6 and White has either a mating net or wins the Black queen.
The game continued 23. Re7 Rf8 This is the only way to stop 24. Qxf7+ followed by 25. Qxg7 mate. 24. Nxf8 Rb1+ 25. Kg2 Qxf8 Again, to stop mate after 26. Qxf7+ etc. 26. Re8 That's gotta hurt! Rb6 27. Rxf8+ and Black resigned. However, a most beautiful ending that never happened was as follows...
23. Qxf7+!! Sacking the queen while the knight is still hanging! 23...Kxf7 24. Re7+ Kg8 25. Re8+! White sacs the house: a queen, a rook, and leaves a knight hanging. Rxe8 26. Bd5+ It is over. Black only has a rook to throw away before the inevitable mate. 26. ... Re6 27. Bxe6 mate. The ending is a rare minor piece mating net. A thing of beauty ... that never happened. It's the one that got away.
26. Bd5+ Mating at once! The actual game (ending with 27. Rxf8+) was played in the 4th round of the Mike Shpan Memorial TNT between Jordan Kwiatek and Dezheng Kong. Chess in Manitoba should have the game up in the next day or so. In the meantime, if you are really keen to see the whole game, have a look at Susan Polgar's Chess Discussion Forum. Thanks to Nikolai Pilafov!
Tell us about the beauty that never happened and we'll be happy to publish it. Show us the one that got away.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Jordan's Favorite Attacking Gem of the Week
I WILL figure out how to get an online java PGN player for Exclaim! online, so you can replay games automatically on the site, but Nige and I have so far been unsuccessful. Should have it figured out in a few days. For now here is a well played game in the Chigorin Ruy Lopez, with a startling novelty on move 10 from black, a blistering attack on the white Kingside, and to crown it all off, you bet, a Queen sac! Overall a wonderful game I would be proud of. Enjoy!
Here is the game with annotations by GM Tony Kosten.
Here is the game with annotations by GM Tony Kosten.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Scoresheets from hell...
ChessBase has a recent article about the World Youth Chess Championship, taking place from the 17th to 29th of this month. There's a brief history of the WYCC and a good photo essay that includes some snaps of the "cuddly 11-year-old uber-prodigy" Ilya Nyzhnyk. Here's a link if you are interested in reading the story:
World Youth Chess Championship
Anyway, what I wanted to draw attention to was the unusual problems that organizers sometimes have when trying to document the moves of the games.
The following quotation refers to WFM Emine Yanik who used to play in the German League.
"Emine, who speaks German like a native, showed us how time-consuming, laborious and frustrating it can sometimes be to try to decipher moves written down in different languages by very young children. Often it takes Sherlockian skills to deduce the intention of a notation. And sometimes, in the games of the smallest of the small, the moves may not be completely legal. In one game we followed the players moving in and out of checkmate. Here the wits of the bulletin editor, and of the ChessBase program they are using, were at an end."
"...[M]oving in and out of checkmate" goes beyond the ability of the ChessBase program to handle. Now that would make you want to pull your hair out. Argg. And orthodox chess players tell me that fairy chess, and the software used to handle such heterodox versions of chess, are of no practical use. au contraire!
There is a rich variety of high level events in the world of chess right now. The Tal Memorial was just completed. The World Blitz Championship, having perhaps the strongest field in the history of such an event, was recently won by Ukrainian Vassily Ivanchuk over the likes of Anand, Kramnik, Leko, Morozevich and over a dozen other GMs and Super-GMs. Starting this weekend is the World Chess Cup 2007 in Khanty-Mansiysk in which 128 top players will compete in a knock-out event. In the first round, Canadian Igor Zugic will be up against Michael Adams, the strongest player in the history of chess in the British Isles. Good luck Igor! The other thing of note in the world of chess is the easily accessible videos available to anyone with an ordinary computer and an internet connection. The video of Ivanchuk's win against Anand in the World Blitz Championship is already available. Amazing. The internet has transformed and changed many aspects of chess forever ... and that includes the accessibility of chess journalism of the highest calibre. Do we live in a golden age of chess today?
World Youth Chess Championship
Anyway, what I wanted to draw attention to was the unusual problems that organizers sometimes have when trying to document the moves of the games.
The following quotation refers to WFM Emine Yanik who used to play in the German League.
"Emine, who speaks German like a native, showed us how time-consuming, laborious and frustrating it can sometimes be to try to decipher moves written down in different languages by very young children. Often it takes Sherlockian skills to deduce the intention of a notation. And sometimes, in the games of the smallest of the small, the moves may not be completely legal. In one game we followed the players moving in and out of checkmate. Here the wits of the bulletin editor, and of the ChessBase program they are using, were at an end."
"...[M]oving in and out of checkmate" goes beyond the ability of the ChessBase program to handle. Now that would make you want to pull your hair out. Argg. And orthodox chess players tell me that fairy chess, and the software used to handle such heterodox versions of chess, are of no practical use. au contraire!
There is a rich variety of high level events in the world of chess right now. The Tal Memorial was just completed. The World Blitz Championship, having perhaps the strongest field in the history of such an event, was recently won by Ukrainian Vassily Ivanchuk over the likes of Anand, Kramnik, Leko, Morozevich and over a dozen other GMs and Super-GMs. Starting this weekend is the World Chess Cup 2007 in Khanty-Mansiysk in which 128 top players will compete in a knock-out event. In the first round, Canadian Igor Zugic will be up against Michael Adams, the strongest player in the history of chess in the British Isles. Good luck Igor! The other thing of note in the world of chess is the easily accessible videos available to anyone with an ordinary computer and an internet connection. The video of Ivanchuk's win against Anand in the World Blitz Championship is already available. Amazing. The internet has transformed and changed many aspects of chess forever ... and that includes the accessibility of chess journalism of the highest calibre. Do we live in a golden age of chess today?
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Mike Shpan Memorial TNT - Round 3
I'm very reluctant to step on the toes or duplicate the efforts of Alex, Tony and others who do such a fine job with the MCA webpage and the Chess in Manitoba blog. However, a few remarks about last night's results for those who weren't there might be interesting and useful.
Jordan and I both won our games. Mine was an English (as usual) that transposed into a kind of Slav Defence line with both e-pawns removed. I wound up with an isolated queen pawn (IQP) and a timely 16. d5! bust up Gary Crawford's position. However, I very nearly got into extreme time trouble later on as Gary fought like a tiger to defend his position even though he was down a rook. Eventually, I was able to bring the win home by forcing a trade of Gary's last rook and he tipped his king over as I was down to my last 15 minutes on the clock.
I have yet to figure out how to make a game viewer work on this blog but I am trying. In the meantime, all I can do is post remarks and static positions from various games. Here is the position from my game as noted above:
White played 16. d5! and Black is in trouble. There then followed 16...c5 17. Nb5 Qb8 and then 18. Bf4 is just a red hot poker in the eye. As I noted above, Gary fought like a tiger in the endgame and make me work hard for the victory.
Jordan played a Kalashnikov Variation in the Sicilian against Daniel Oberton who grabbed an h-pawn with his king bishop and found himself facing a ferocious king-side attack. Jordan played 29...fxg3 (e.p.) and White resigned as the attack on the bishop and on h2 is too much to defend against. It looked like an uncommon finish for a Sicilian Defence with a king-side attack for Black. However, it is difficult to see where White went wrong. Jordan will have some analysis to follow.
Black played 29... fxg3 (e.p.) and White resigns.
In other games, newcomer Simon Fromme held Waldemar Schulz to a draw in an exciting battle. Dezheng "King" Kong flagged against Les Mundwiler. Les is now leading the MSM tournament with 3 points in 3 rounds followed by Simon, Waldemar and Harley Greenberg, who drew with Jim Green, at 2.5 points. Myron Kernetsky chalked up his first win in competitive chess after a 17 year absence by defeating John Wierda. Congratulations, Myron!
Myron Kernetsky was the host, for 13 years, of a public access TV show called The World of Chess. Myron tells us that as far as he knows the shows have not been preserved. Here is a question for readers of Exclam! online; are there any surviving copies of Myron's show out there? Contributions on this matter are welcome.
The results of all the games from the Shpan Memorial are now up on the MCA website. The games should be posted in the next day or so. I am in the habit of e mailing my games to Alex Nikouline to make the task of volunteers like Alex and Tony Boron easier. Other players do this as well and all this activity of recording and preserving the results and games enriches the loamy soil of Manitoba chess and keeps alive the spirit of that magazine whose first editor was Manfred Schulz.
Jordan and I both won our games. Mine was an English (as usual) that transposed into a kind of Slav Defence line with both e-pawns removed. I wound up with an isolated queen pawn (IQP) and a timely 16. d5! bust up Gary Crawford's position. However, I very nearly got into extreme time trouble later on as Gary fought like a tiger to defend his position even though he was down a rook. Eventually, I was able to bring the win home by forcing a trade of Gary's last rook and he tipped his king over as I was down to my last 15 minutes on the clock.
I have yet to figure out how to make a game viewer work on this blog but I am trying. In the meantime, all I can do is post remarks and static positions from various games. Here is the position from my game as noted above:
White played 16. d5! and Black is in trouble. There then followed 16...c5 17. Nb5 Qb8 and then 18. Bf4 is just a red hot poker in the eye. As I noted above, Gary fought like a tiger in the endgame and make me work hard for the victory.
Jordan played a Kalashnikov Variation in the Sicilian against Daniel Oberton who grabbed an h-pawn with his king bishop and found himself facing a ferocious king-side attack. Jordan played 29...fxg3 (e.p.) and White resigned as the attack on the bishop and on h2 is too much to defend against. It looked like an uncommon finish for a Sicilian Defence with a king-side attack for Black. However, it is difficult to see where White went wrong. Jordan will have some analysis to follow.
Black played 29... fxg3 (e.p.) and White resigns.
In other games, newcomer Simon Fromme held Waldemar Schulz to a draw in an exciting battle. Dezheng "King" Kong flagged against Les Mundwiler. Les is now leading the MSM tournament with 3 points in 3 rounds followed by Simon, Waldemar and Harley Greenberg, who drew with Jim Green, at 2.5 points. Myron Kernetsky chalked up his first win in competitive chess after a 17 year absence by defeating John Wierda. Congratulations, Myron!
Myron Kernetsky was the host, for 13 years, of a public access TV show called The World of Chess. Myron tells us that as far as he knows the shows have not been preserved. Here is a question for readers of Exclam! online; are there any surviving copies of Myron's show out there? Contributions on this matter are welcome.
The results of all the games from the Shpan Memorial are now up on the MCA website. The games should be posted in the next day or so. I am in the habit of e mailing my games to Alex Nikouline to make the task of volunteers like Alex and Tony Boron easier. Other players do this as well and all this activity of recording and preserving the results and games enriches the loamy soil of Manitoba chess and keeps alive the spirit of that magazine whose first editor was Manfred Schulz.
Monday, November 12, 2007
The furious queen
Many players are familiar with the furious rook. To review:
Furious Rook: A maneuver designed to force a draw. If a player has no moves other than the moves of his rook, then if that rook can repeatedly check the opponents king, the game will often be a draw; either by stalemate if the king captures the rook, or by repetition caused by continuous checks.
We have a number of examples of the furious rook in Manitoba chess. But this is the first instance of the furious queen that I'm aware of.
Lipic, Stephen - Khedkar, Jay S. , September TNT 2007
54...d1Q? Now the White king is stalemated. If he can just get rid of those pawns ...
55. g7+ Kxg7 56. h8Q+ Kg6 Black sees the stalemate. Can it be prevented?
57. Qg7+ Kf5 58. Qg6+ Kf4 59. Qg3+ (59. Qg4+ ?? Qxg4 -+) Ke4 60. Qf4+ Kd5 61. Qe4+ Kc5 62. Qc6+
And now Black is forced to capture the queen, since 62. ...Kd4?? loses to 63. Qd7+ and White wins Black's queen and the game. The furious queen prevails!
62...Kxc6. stalemate. 1/2:1/2. Of course, 54...d1R or 54...d1B or even 54...Na5 wins for Black.
Furious Rook: A maneuver designed to force a draw. If a player has no moves other than the moves of his rook, then if that rook can repeatedly check the opponents king, the game will often be a draw; either by stalemate if the king captures the rook, or by repetition caused by continuous checks.
We have a number of examples of the furious rook in Manitoba chess. But this is the first instance of the furious queen that I'm aware of.
Lipic, Stephen - Khedkar, Jay S. , September TNT 2007
54...d1Q? Now the White king is stalemated. If he can just get rid of those pawns ...
55. g7+ Kxg7 56. h8Q+ Kg6 Black sees the stalemate. Can it be prevented?
57. Qg7+ Kf5 58. Qg6+ Kf4 59. Qg3+ (59. Qg4+ ?? Qxg4 -+) Ke4 60. Qf4+ Kd5 61. Qe4+ Kc5 62. Qc6+
And now Black is forced to capture the queen, since 62. ...Kd4?? loses to 63. Qd7+ and White wins Black's queen and the game. The furious queen prevails!
62...Kxc6. stalemate. 1/2:1/2. Of course, 54...d1R or 54...d1B or even 54...Na5 wins for Black.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
hdp 6.0 solution for Problem 2
The above is the final position to the solution. Note that the final position (as well as the initial position!) is in the shape of an exclamation mark. Thanks for the creative and interesting problem Zoltan!
Let RH indicate a rookhopper. By convention, Black goes first in such problems. Here is the solution:
1... Kxb3 2. RHb4 Kxb4 3.b8=RH Kc5 4. b7 Kd6 5. RHb6 Kc7 6. RHb4 Kb8 7. b6
Problem 2: help double stalemate with rookhoppers!
The following is a "fairy chess" problem. The term was coined by T.R. Dawson around the time of World War One. It describes a chess problem with one or more unorthodox features. Such features might include unusual pieces or an unusual board. As Michael McDowell of the British Chess Problem Society puts it, "Fairy chess is very popular with composers because of the unlimited scope offered for achieving originality."
Our problem composer, Zoltan Bodnar, has specialized over the years in a number of unorthodox chess problems. One such speciality is the help double stalemate, identified in German as hdp, in which the two sides cooperate to reach a final position in which both are stalemated. Black typically moves first in such problems.
The unorthodox features of this particular problem do not end there, however. White has no king and so it is the remaining White pieces and pawns which must be stalemated in the final position. Finally, there is also an unusual piece called a rookhopper (RH), indicated on the board by an ordinary rook rotated 90 degrees clockwise. The rookhopper moves like an ordinary rook but it is a hopper and, therefore, can only move by hopping over another piece to land on the adjacent square. The adjacent square can be empty or occupied by an opposing piece or pawn.
By identifying the problem as "hdp 6.0", the composer indicates that the problem has a unique solution with 6 moves by both sides (starting with Black by default) and it is a help double stalemate.
There is another creative aspect to this problem. What does the start position of the pieces remind you of? Zoltan has produced a most creative and interesting problem to honour this weblog that Jordan and I have begun.
Can you solve the problem?
White: 3 pawns on b5, b6, & b7. 2 rookhoppers on b1 & b3.
Black: king on b4.
hdp 6.0
ZKBodnar
My thanks to Otto Janko of The Retrograde Analysis Corner for assistance with generating the unusual diagram. His kind service is available to all at The Chess Diagrammer
Our problem composer, Zoltan Bodnar, has specialized over the years in a number of unorthodox chess problems. One such speciality is the help double stalemate, identified in German as hdp, in which the two sides cooperate to reach a final position in which both are stalemated. Black typically moves first in such problems.
The unorthodox features of this particular problem do not end there, however. White has no king and so it is the remaining White pieces and pawns which must be stalemated in the final position. Finally, there is also an unusual piece called a rookhopper (RH), indicated on the board by an ordinary rook rotated 90 degrees clockwise. The rookhopper moves like an ordinary rook but it is a hopper and, therefore, can only move by hopping over another piece to land on the adjacent square. The adjacent square can be empty or occupied by an opposing piece or pawn.
By identifying the problem as "hdp 6.0", the composer indicates that the problem has a unique solution with 6 moves by both sides (starting with Black by default) and it is a help double stalemate.
There is another creative aspect to this problem. What does the start position of the pieces remind you of? Zoltan has produced a most creative and interesting problem to honour this weblog that Jordan and I have begun.
Can you solve the problem?
White: 3 pawns on b5, b6, & b7. 2 rookhoppers on b1 & b3.
Black: king on b4.
hdp 6.0
ZKBodnar
My thanks to Otto Janko of The Retrograde Analysis Corner for assistance with generating the unusual diagram. His kind service is available to all at The Chess Diagrammer
Tal Memorial coverage: get it while it's hot!
The second annual Tal Memorial Tournament is being held in Moscow from November 9th to 23rd. It is an immensely strong Category 20 tourney with an average player rating of 2742 and is a double round robin format. The World Blitz Championship will also be taking place along side an exhibition "advanced chess" match between Vishy Anand and Vlad Kramnik. So promising is this tournament that I decided to post a link for all to watch the games live.
The link to a database of tournament games is http://www.russiachess.org/online2/
The link to Live games is http://www.russiachess.org/online/
Good luck to all in the Shpan btw. Lets see a great fighting finish to a fun year of chess!
Jordan
The link to a database of tournament games is http://www.russiachess.org/online2/
The link to Live games is http://www.russiachess.org/online/
Good luck to all in the Shpan btw. Lets see a great fighting finish to a fun year of chess!
Jordan
Friday, November 9, 2007
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Hanrahan - Fromme
Here's my game against Simon Fromme in the first round of the Mike Shpan Memorial TNT. Simon is from the eastern part of Germany and is here in Winnipeg to do his volunteer service. Germans can do such service as an alternative to military service which is, I think, otherwise compulsory.
Hanrahan, Nigel (1723 CAN) - Fromme, Simon (1891 GER)
1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Nc3
This knight would have been fine on d2 once I'd made some space for it. However, I blitzed through the opening half a dozen moves or so to see if my "unrated" opponent could keep up. "That was your first mistake," said Joseph Van Wyk after the game. I still managed to get into time trouble anyway. D'oh!
5. Nf3 Nc6 6. O-O Nb6 (6... Be7 7. d4) 7. d3 Be7 8. Nbd2 !? Tony Kosten.
5... Nb6 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. O-O Be7 8. b3 O-O 9. Bb2 Be6 10. h3 Qd7 11. Kh2 f5 12. d3 Rad8 13. Rc1 a6 14. Nb1 ?! Bf6 15. Nfd2 Nd5 16. Nc3 ...proving the pointlessness of 14. Nb1. 16... e4 17. Na4
17. dxe4 ?? Nxc3 18. Bxc3 Bxc3 19. Rxc3 Qxd2 -+
17... Bxb2 18. Nxb2 Ndb4
Interesting, but perhaps not as strong is 18... e3 19. Bxd5 Bxd5 20. fxe3
19. Ndc4... giving up the pawn. 19... Nxa2 20. Ra1 Nc3 21. Qd2 Qd4 22. e3 Qf6 23. d4 Nb5 24. Na4 ??
A terrible blunder. The two knights never found good homes and now they're done for. This is what happens when you don't have a plan, boys and girls.
24... Nbxd4 Black is simply winning now.
25. exd4 b5 26. Nc5 bxc4 27. Nxe6 27. Rxa6 I looked at this and decided against it.
27... Qxe6 28. bxc4 (28. Rxa6 could have been played here, however.) 28... Rxd4 29. Qa2 Nb4 30. Qb3 Qxc4 31. Qxc4+ Rxc4 32. Ra4 c5 33. Rd1 Rc2 34. Kg1 Nd3 35. Rxa6 Nxf2
36. Rd7 If I can get "pigs on the 7th" and somehow get the bishop in play, then I may manage a swindle yet. Certainly, the old swindler himself, Albert Boxer, would have approved of such an effort.
36... Kh8 37. Raa7 Rg8 38. h4 My last hope. 38... Ng4 39. Bh3 Ne3 40. h5 h6 41. Rf7 Rd8 42. Rad7 Rxd7 43. Rxd7 c4 44. Rd8+ Better to have checked and lost than never to have checked at all. Ha ha. 44... Kh7 45. g4 $4 fxg4 46. Bxg4 Rg2+ 47. Kh1 Why am I playing on? Shpan would, that's why.
47... Rxg4 48. Rd4 ?? My last mistake and now there is no hope for a furious rook to force a draw. 48... c3 49. Kh2 c2 0-1
Nigel Hanrahan
Hanrahan, Nigel (1723 CAN) - Fromme, Simon (1891 GER)
1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Nc3
This knight would have been fine on d2 once I'd made some space for it. However, I blitzed through the opening half a dozen moves or so to see if my "unrated" opponent could keep up. "That was your first mistake," said Joseph Van Wyk after the game. I still managed to get into time trouble anyway. D'oh!
5. Nf3 Nc6 6. O-O Nb6 (6... Be7 7. d4) 7. d3 Be7 8. Nbd2 !? Tony Kosten.
5... Nb6 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. O-O Be7 8. b3 O-O 9. Bb2 Be6 10. h3 Qd7 11. Kh2 f5 12. d3 Rad8 13. Rc1 a6 14. Nb1 ?! Bf6 15. Nfd2 Nd5 16. Nc3 ...proving the pointlessness of 14. Nb1. 16... e4 17. Na4
17. dxe4 ?? Nxc3 18. Bxc3 Bxc3 19. Rxc3 Qxd2 -+
17... Bxb2 18. Nxb2 Ndb4
Interesting, but perhaps not as strong is 18... e3 19. Bxd5 Bxd5 20. fxe3
19. Ndc4... giving up the pawn. 19... Nxa2 20. Ra1 Nc3 21. Qd2 Qd4 22. e3 Qf6 23. d4 Nb5 24. Na4 ??
A terrible blunder. The two knights never found good homes and now they're done for. This is what happens when you don't have a plan, boys and girls.
24... Nbxd4 Black is simply winning now.
25. exd4 b5 26. Nc5 bxc4 27. Nxe6 27. Rxa6 I looked at this and decided against it.
27... Qxe6 28. bxc4 (28. Rxa6 could have been played here, however.) 28... Rxd4 29. Qa2 Nb4 30. Qb3 Qxc4 31. Qxc4+ Rxc4 32. Ra4 c5 33. Rd1 Rc2 34. Kg1 Nd3 35. Rxa6 Nxf2
36. Rd7 If I can get "pigs on the 7th" and somehow get the bishop in play, then I may manage a swindle yet. Certainly, the old swindler himself, Albert Boxer, would have approved of such an effort.
36... Kh8 37. Raa7 Rg8 38. h4 My last hope. 38... Ng4 39. Bh3 Ne3 40. h5 h6 41. Rf7 Rd8 42. Rad7 Rxd7 43. Rxd7 c4 44. Rd8+ Better to have checked and lost than never to have checked at all. Ha ha. 44... Kh7 45. g4 $4 fxg4 46. Bxg4 Rg2+ 47. Kh1 Why am I playing on? Shpan would, that's why.
47... Rxg4 48. Rd4 ?? My last mistake and now there is no hope for a furious rook to force a draw. 48... c3 49. Kh2 c2 0-1
Nigel Hanrahan
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Competitive chess in November
Competitive chess players take note! The Grand Prix begins today, Tuesday November the 6th, and is a double round-robin event. Each player plays every other player in their group twice - once as White and once as Black. Did you know that there is a TNT at the same time?
In the past this TNT, which will be a 6 week event this year, had been called the Mike Shpan Memorial in honour of the late MCA member who hosted the Wednesday Night Chess at the Cornish Library for many years. Last year's winners in the 20-player field were Jeff Clark and T. Romeo Silva with 5/6. Waldemar Schulz won in 2005 with a perfect 6/6 score.
By the way: in order for you, who may be reading these words, to post comments here, it is necessary to get a google account. This is not difficult, however, and comments are welcome.
In the past this TNT, which will be a 6 week event this year, had been called the Mike Shpan Memorial in honour of the late MCA member who hosted the Wednesday Night Chess at the Cornish Library for many years. Last year's winners in the 20-player field were Jeff Clark and T. Romeo Silva with 5/6. Waldemar Schulz won in 2005 with a perfect 6/6 score.
By the way: in order for you, who may be reading these words, to post comments here, it is necessary to get a google account. This is not difficult, however, and comments are welcome.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Jordan's first post ... THE FIRE
Greetings all , your friendly neighbourhood Jordan here. I wanted to take this opportunity to inform the Winnipeg chess community that I recently have had a large fire @ my parents house amounting up to $300,000 in damages. I have been away from chess for a while and if anyone was wondering where I was this is what has dominated my life of late. Everyone in my family is safe and okay. We are insured. These are the positives. The fire happened as a result of me having a halogen desk lamp on my floor, reading into the early hours, I decided to go upstairs for a bite to eat. I may have only been upstairs cooking for 15-20 minutes, but that was unfortunately enough time to allow a fire to cumbust from the halogen lamp on top of my books. My 300+ book library also helped fuel the fire and in 10-15 minutes, my family lost most of our possessions. I have been staying at CanadInns Club Regent for over 2 weeks now, and the experience is becoming overwhelming . I feel of sound mind nonetheless, but it is a big struggle for me. Tragic events happen in everyones lives, and getting past them makes one a stronger person. I would appreciate talking to all my friends and buddies in Manitoba chess, I'd be happy to clairify any rumours you may have heard. Also I would appreciate the dialogue in this crazy time for me.
My email is ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
fast_chess AT hotmail DOT com.
honestly,
Jordan Kwiatek
My email is ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
fast_chess AT hotmail DOT com.
honestly,
Jordan Kwiatek
First post for Exclam! online
Welcome to Exclam! online. The name comes from the past magazine of the Manitoba Chess Association. The idea came from a discussion between Jordan Kwiatek and onetime Exclam! editor Nigel Hanrahan as the first snow began to fly in Winnipeg in November 2007. The purpose of this blog is to provide Manitoba chess players with a friendly place to discuss chess in Manitoba, to post annotated games, to provide analysis, and to allow for the important cultural aspects of a chess community to be properly represented online.
Well, that's a start anyway. We're open to suggestions, of course, and welcome contributions.
Nigel Hanrahan
Jordan Kwiatek
Well, that's a start anyway. We're open to suggestions, of course, and welcome contributions.
Nigel Hanrahan
Jordan Kwiatek
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