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| Posted by roblear goclub.org 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 goclub.org 8/09/2008 13:15:45 Play online chess | Message: | ||||||||
| Posted by ionadowman goclub.org 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 ——— U.S. chess championship felt like a tornado — I wasn’t at the airport last month, but I still feel like I got hit by a tornado. For some players, the 2011 U.S. Chess Championship concluded April 29, but unfortunately April 21 was my last game. On the bright side, I had a ringside seat for the remainder of the chess matches, including the heart-pounding women’s finals, which went into an Armageddon round (that’s triple overtime)! The chess tournament featured an interesting format – the top two players from two eight-player round-robin groups qualified for the semi-final matches. The two semi-finalists from the “A” group were no surprise. Reigning Chess Champion and Grandmaster (GM) Gata Kamsky and last year’s runner-up, GM Yury Shulman, easily ... Posted by savage4731 | goclub.org 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. ——— Chess notes — China is steadily gaining the respect of the world chess community as some of its players have emerged to become substantially dangerous competitors in the West. So the Chinese chess championships have been watched with interest this year. In the 2011 championship, a dark horse has once again emerged to take first place: Ding Liren. The 18-year-old won the title in 2009 (in part because of a defaulted game), despite being one of the lower-rated chess players in the field. His score this year was a startling 9-2 against such well-known chess grandmasters as Yue Wang and Xiangzhi Bu. Ding has only occasionally played in the West. World Women’s chess champion Hou Yifan scored an impressive ... Posted by roblear | goclub.org 8/10/2008 03:36:25 Play online chess am i right?Message: thanks again rob ——— Chess: A pawn endgame dilemma — Should White force a pawn endgame? It's a tricky decision... RB: My first reaction is: no, White should definitely not exchange. After 1 Nf4 Bxf4 2 Kxf4 Kd5 it seems to me as though Black is definitely better. But what else does White have? I don't want to drop the king back and allow the black king to invade. I could try 1 a4, but after 1…b6 I'm back to my original dilemma. It makes me nervous, but let's see what happens after 1 Nf4. Black takes, obviously, 1…Bxf4 2 Kxf4 Kd5. Now what? As long as ... Posted by savage4731 | goclub.org 8/14/2008 13:53:29 Play online chess roblearMessage: ——— For Want of a Draw, a Player Loses the U.S. Chess Title — Yury Shulman forgot the old saying that a tie is better than a loss during his quest to win the United States Chess Championship last week. And that opened the door for Gata Kamsky to capture his second straight title. Kamsky and Shulman met in the tournament final, as they did last year, when four competitors competed in round robin play. Kamsky and Shulman emerged as the top scorers of that round and met in an Armageddon game, in which White has more time but Black only has to draw to be declared the winner. No Armageddon was needed at this year’s final, which ended Wednesday in St. Louis, because Kamsky won the first game and the second was drawn. The first game would ... Posted by roblear | goclub.org 8/23/2008 03:36:00 Play online chess to savage4731Message: rob ——— Yang-Fan Zhou breaks English international master drought — England used to produce one or two teenage international masters a year in the 1970s and 1980s, the golden era when the Olympiad team advanced to world No2 behind the Soviet Union. Now Russia and India lead in junior chess while, since David Howell became a grandmaster in 2007, the only new English GMs and IMs have been adults. Yang-Fan Zhou, 16, broke the drought last week when he scored his final IM norm at Coulsdon. It followed Zhou's eye-catching 9/9 at Brighton in February and the International Chess Federation (Fide) should formally award him his IM title in a few weeks' time. The sixth-former from Whitgift School in Croydon has made an 80-point surge up the world chess ratings, reflecting ... |