Finally a traxler

Finally, someone plays Ng5.

Link the game below into this viewer



1. e4 {3} e5 {4} 2. Nf3 {3} Nc6 {4} 3. Bc4 {4} Nf6 {4} 4. Ng5 {9} Bc5 {5} 5.
Bxf7+ {7} Kf8 {79} 6. Bc4 {4} h6 {16} 7. Nf7 {13} Bxf2+ {6} 8. Kxf2 {7} Nxe4+ {
3} 9. Ke1 {30} Qh4+ {12} 10. g3 {16} Nxg3 {3} 11. Qf3 {22} Nd4 {14} 12. Qxg3 {
20} Qe4+ {45} 13. Qe3 {61} Nxc2+ {4} 14. Ke2 {57} Nxe3 {13} 15. dxe3 {50} Qxc4+
{Hardofstone gibt auf (Lag: Av=0.30s, max=0.5s) 19} 0-1

Richard Reti's Masters of the Chessboard

I'm enjoying Richard Reti's Masters of the Chessboard which was written in the twenties long before the chess information/chess computer analysis explosion. I find it refreshing compared to some of the later books such as Kasparovs which contain endless Fritz lines.

Here are some examples of his writing


From the Forward:

Such are the reasons which have led me to believe that this textbook might best take the form of a collection of games. Complicated mathematical calculations are a result of the synthesis of simple theories. The opposite is true of chess, where the theories are an abstraction, a generalization of experiences gained in the playing of actual games . The primary element is the living game, which is the foundation of all chess theory.

on page 11 talking about analysis of the King Gambit.

In the first place, almost every analysis based only on variations has proved erroneous in the course of years because a knowledge of variations,is after all, only a sham.

The book is a historical collection and starts with a chapter on Anderssen an concludes with a game of Torres. I like that in the chapters which contain multiple games of a player ie: Anderssen and Morphy the games often share the same openings.
Anderssen: 2 King Gambit games : Morphy has 2 Scotch Gambit Games. So there is interesting commentary regarding the ideas behind the openings.

My Dover edition is in standard notations so as I write notes in the book I am converting it to Algebraic Notation.

I created a collection of games at chessgames.com from this book. You will find it here .
Perhaps you may enjoy looking at it ,like I do, while I wait for Fritz to finish analysing my games. 8)

Jim Takchess -chess professional

Much to my surprise, the tournament where I won my first two games and conceded the last two (due to not returning in a snowstorm),has just sent me a check for 50 dollars as tieing the best under 1000 player... I believe I should be an over 1000 player but some unfortunate tournament experience did not bear that out.
$50 to now spend on chess. 8) Hmmm. Bookup? a cheapo chess clock? Hunt around for Jude Acer's book on the Italian game? Perhaps a less intense CT-art like program? Suggestions?

Dan Heisman Games

Chessville just posted a group of Dan Heisman's games where some are anotated and
FRITZnotated. I found the Fritz Notation of the position listed below to be interesting. It's a minature where White Sacs his f7 bishop.This deep position notation takes quite a while to run so it's nice to have it done for you. If you have Fritz you should be able to cut and paste the game below into your game window.
I also included the link to the games and a screenshot of the position.

[Event "Central PA Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1971.08.14"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Heisman, Dan"]
[Black "Chiu, Herman"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C55"]
[WhiteElo "2060"]
[BlackElo "1900"]
[Annotator "Dan Heisman"]
[PlyCount "9"]
[EventDate "1971.??.??"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 Nxd4 $6 5. Bxf7+ {
Black resigned out of disgust, but he is not losing!} (5. Bxf7+ Kxf7 6. Nxe5+
Ke6 7. Qxd4 {Fritz 6:} c5 $8 8. Qc3 ({Fritz 6:} 8. Qc4+ Kxe5 9. Nc3 (9. f4+ Kd6
10. e5+ Kc6 11. exf6 d5 12. Qa4+ (12. fxg7 Bxg7 13. Qa4+ b5 14. Qa3 Qe7+ 15.
Kd2 Qe4 16. Qf3 Qd4+ 17. Ke2 Re8+ 18. Kf1 Bf5 $19)) 9... d5 10. exd5 Kd6 11.
Bf4+ Kd7 12. Qb5+ Ke7 {0.09/12}) ({Fritz 6:} 8. Qd3 Kxe5 9. Nc3 Ke6 10. Be3 b6
11. Qc4+ d5 12. exd5+ Kf7 {-0.87/12}) 8... Nxe4 9. Qf3 Qf6 10. Bf4 {Fritz 6:}
d6 (10... g5 11. Nd3 d5 12. c4 Qf5 {0.38/12}) (10... d6) 11. Nd3 ({Fritz 6:}
11. Qxe4 dxe5 12. Qc4+ Kf5 13. g4+ Kg6 14. Qe4+ Kf7 15. Bxe5 Qe6 {0.59/10}) ({
Fritz 6:} 11. g3 dxe5 12. Qxe4 Qf5 13. Qe2 Kf6 14. Be3 Bd6 {-0.28/10}) 11...
Qf5 12. Na3 b6 13. O-O-O Bb7 14. Rhe1 Kf7 15. g4 Qg6 {0.59/10}) (5. Nxd4 $1
exd4 6. Qxd4 Bd6 $1 7. Bg5 (7. O-O Qe7 8. Nc3 (8. Bg5 Be5 $19) 8... Be5 9. Qd3
O-O $11 10. f4 Bxc3) (7. f4 Qe7 8. e5 (8. Nc3 {Fritz 6:} Bb4 9. Bd2 ({Fritz 6:
} 9. e5 Bc5 10. Qd3 d6 11. Qe2 dxe5 12. Qxe5 Bf5 13. Qxe7+ Kxe7 {0.00/10}) ({
Fritz 6:} 9. Kf1 c5 10. Qd3 Bxc3 11. Qxc3 Qxe4 12. Qe5+ Qxe5 13. fxe5 Ne4 {
-0.41/10}) 9... O-O 10. O-O-O Bxc3 11. Bxc3 Qxe4 12. Rhe1 Qc6 13. Qd3 Re8 {
-0.06/10}) 8... Bc5 $15) 7... Qe7 8. Bxf6 (8. Nc3 Be5 $15) 8... gxf6 9. Nc3 Be5
{Fritz 6:} 10. Qe3 Bxc3+ ({Fritz 6:} 10... Qb4 11. Bb3 Bxc3+ 12. bxc3 Qb5 13.
Rb1 Qg5 14. Qf3 Rg8 15. O-O {0.41/12}) ({Fritz 6:} 10... b5 11. Bb3 c6 12. O-O
a5 13. a3 Rg8 14. Rfe1 a4 15. Ba2 {0.37/12}) 11. Qxc3 Qxe4+ 12. Kd1 Qf5 13.
Re1+ Kd8 14. Qe3 Qe5 15. Qxe5 {0.25/12}) 1-0


http://www.chessville.com/downloads/downloads_games_player.htm

find the tactics

Here is a tactic problems for everyone. I played this game before work . I had to run around,put away dishes,get ready while this was going on and didn't get a chance to think about each move deeply. I am sure there are missed opportunities, let see if you can find them. perhaps there is a message I should be returning to ct-art.........

[Event "Rated game, 25m + 0s"]
[Site "Main Playing Hall"]
[Date "2006.02.15"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Takchess"]
[Black "Fishkopfbrhv"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "1485"]
[BlackElo "1630"]
[PlyCount "62"]
[EventDate "2006.02.15"]
[TimeControl "1500"]

1. e4 {1} e5 {8} 2. Nf3 {3} Nc6 {2} 3. Bc4 {3} h6 {6} 4. d4 {3} exd4 {2} 5.
Nxd4 {2} Nxd4 {1} 6. Qxd4 {2} d6 {11} 7. Nc3 {18} c5 {2} 8. Qd5 {4} Be6 {8} 9.
Qxb7 {12} Bxc4 {21} 10. Qc6+ {5} Ke7 {6} 11. Qb7+ {12} Ke6 {15} 12. Nd5 {26}
Nf6 {76} 13. Nf4+ {6} Ke5 {11} 14. Nd3+ {9} Bxd3 {7} 15. cxd3 {20} Be7 {2} 16.
f4+ {13} Kd4 {24} 17. Qa6 {35} d5 {36} 18. Qa4+ {62} c4 {3} 19. dxc4 {18} Qd7 {
33} 20. Be3+ {23} Kxe3 {14} 21. Qd1 {10} Kxf4 {55} 22. O-O+ {43} Ke5 {7} 23.
exd5 {25} Bc5+ {5} 24. Kh1 {5} Kd6 {7} 25. Qd2 {22} g5 {20} 26. b4 {4} Ne4 {48}
27. Qd3 {41} Rhe8 {28} 28. bxc5+ {10} Nxc5 {1} 29. Rf6+ {5} Kc7 {10} 30. Rc6+ {
11} Kd8 {23} 31. Rxh6 {33} Nxd3 {Takchess resigns (Lag: Av=0.44s, max=5.7s) 2}
0-1

paste into this viewer

Tournament Experiences-First Day

I played my first day in the two day 4 game swiss tournament under 1250 with time controls of 40 moves 2 hours and 1 hour Sudden Death. I found these time controls and my forcing myself to spend time analyzing each position closer lead to better play. I found it helpful,when I came to an unclear position, to physically turn my scoresheet over and put my pencil behind my ear. This helped me slow down the game. Overall I was able to follow the thread of the games well and was only surprised by one of my opponents moves. I missed some tactical opportunities but none that changed the direction of the game.

I won both games I played. The first was against a High School Student who played the Ruy Lopez as White. I played the classical system. He played like many lower rated people on the internet play against it. He took my Knight before I put the question to the bishop and then greedily took my e5 pawn. Traditionally I see higher rated players castling first before these moves against the classical.

Paste this game segment into this pgn viewer
1. e4 {0} e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. Nxe5 Qd4 6. Nd3 Qxe4+ 7. Kf1

At 7 White choices are Kf1 and Queen e2 then we trade queens and he castles by hand.See below for the opening position. I think Queen e2 was the better choice.
Fritz shows blacks position up by a pawn. Not an overwhelming advantage but now I have equalized and play with some inititive. This is an opening I want to study more as I like to play e5 to e4 and I need a solid Ruy defense. The game ended with an king side pawn push by white, I eventually got my queen free to harrass check and take some pawns on the queenside. Eventually forking the queen and king and forcing a queen trade. Then it was a simple endgame (even for me 8))with passed pawns on the queenside.

Second game was against a younger player who played the 2 knights defense aggressively and well. See the position in my screenshot. White to move.
After some initial trouble misplaying the opening, I grabbed the initiative in a mating attack and captured his queen. I'll try to post the games if I can figure them out from my game record.

Also here is how Koltanowski dealt with a simalar game position as white.

[Event "corr"]
[Site "corr"]
[Date "1940.??.??"]
[Round "0"]
[White "Koltanowski,George"]
[Black "Zeitlin,S"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Eco "C55"]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bb5 exd4 7.Nxd4 Bd7 8.Bxc6 bxc6
9.c4 Be7 10.Nc3 Nf6 11.Bg5 c5 12.Bxf6 Bxf6 13.Re1+ Kf8 14.Nf3 d4 15.Nd5 Bc6 16.Nxf6 Qxf6
17.Ne5 Qd6 18.Qh5 g6 19.Qh6+ Kg8 20.Nxc6 Qxc6 21.Re7 Re8 22.Rae1 Rxe7 23.Rxe7 Qf6 24.Re8+
1-0

[Event "San Francisco sim blind"]
[Site "San Francisco"]
[Date "1960.??.??"]
[Round "0"]
[White "Koltanowski,George"]
[Black "Richardson,Keith B"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Eco "C55"]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bb5 Bd7 7.Bxc6 bxc6 8.Nxe5 f6
9.Qh5+ Ke7 10.Qf7+ Kd6 11.Bf4 g5 12.Nc4+ 1-0



In a few hours the 2nd day of the tournament starts. I am not going to attend due to a heavy nor'easter >This is New England Slang for a snow storm with cold air out of the northeast normally accompanied by high winds and heavy accumulation<. I can't convince my wife it is a good idea for me to go.

Traxler trouble

paste into pgn viewer on sidebar. Played this game as black and if not for the overlooked mate might have lost. I recieved my Dan Heisman Traxler CD which is of interest and quality. I'm getting ready for the tourney


[Event "Rated game, 25m + 10s"]
[Site "Main Playing Hall"]
[Date "2006.02.10"]
[Round "?"]
[White "MIQELE"]
[Black "Takchess"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C57"]
[BlackElo "1492"]
[PlyCount "46"]
[EventDate "2006.02.10"]
[TimeControl "1500+10"]

1. e4 {2} e5 {3} 2. Nf3 {1} Nc6 {8} 3. Bc4 {3} Nf6 {5} 4. Ng5 {2} Bc5 {5} 5.
Nxf7 {4} Bxf2+ {16} 6. Kf1 {17} Qe7 {14} 7. d3 {26} Rf8 {9} 8. Kxf2 {6} Rxf7 {
13} 9. Bxf7+ {3} Qxf7 {4} 10. Rf1 {4} Nd4 {13} 11. Kg1 {9} d6 {17} 12. c3 {15}
Nc6 {56} 13. Bg5 {6} Bd7 {39} 14. Qf3 {14} O-O-O {24} 15. Bxf6 {3} gxf6 {4} 16.
Qxf6 {4} Qe8 {34} 17. Qh6 {14} Qg8 {37} 18. Nd2 {13} b6 {35} 19. b4 {32} Kb7 {
64} 20. a4 {13} Ne7 {154} 21. b5 {6} Ng6 {52} 22. c4 {62} Nf4 {5} 23. Rf3 {23}
Qxg2# {(Lag: Av=1.98s, max=6.7s) 10} 0-1

Dropping a queen

Here is a brutal austrian attack game against the Pirc where I dropped a queen and still was able to finish it off. I saw that the rook was lined up to attack my queen but did not calculate correctly that I could be put in check by the Knight. The big question is whether black trading a rook and a knight for a queen and a pawn in this position was a good thing. I imagine it was but not sure. With proper play on his part, I think I would of lost.



I wrote down the moves as I played for practice. Hopefully I will have better vision in the tourney this weekend.

[Event "Rated game, 25m + 0s"]
[Site "Main Playing Hall"]
[Date "2006.02.08"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Takchess"]
[Black "Hans58"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B09"]
[WhiteElo "1482"]
[BlackElo "1505"]
[PlyCount "49"]
[EventDate "2006.02.08"]
[TimeControl "1500"]

1. e4 {12} d6 {1} 2. d4 {39} Nf6 {2} 3. Nc3 {30} g6 {8} 4. f4 {61} Bg7 {24} 5.
Nf3 {195} Bg4 {99} 6. Qd3 {49} Bxf3 {43} 7. Qxf3 {42} Nc6 {42} 8. a3 {77} O-O {
2} 9. Bc4 {21} Nxd4 {5} 10. Qd3 {68} e5 {23} 11. fxe5 {58} dxe5 {5} 12. Bg5 {55
} c6 {32} 13. O-O-O {41} Qc7 {54} 14. Rdf1 {99} Rad8 {29} 15. Bxf6 {75} Nb3+ {
22} 16. Bxb3 {36} Rxd3 {2} 17. cxd3 {15} Bh6+ {14} 18. Kc2 {48} Qd6 {13} 19. g4
{23} Bf4 {20} 20. g5 {29} c5 {34} 21. h4 {18} Rc8 {39} 22. Bc4 {18} a6 {16} 23.
h5 {8} b5 {3} 24. hxg6 {71} bxc4 {9} 25. gxh7+ {
Hans58 Opgeven? (Lag: Av=0.23s, max=0.4s) 33} 1-0

Paste game in the pgn viewer in the taskbar

Tournament this weekend

I have decided to play in a tournament this weekend a 2 day Swiss for a total of 4 games. It is a 40/2 + Sd/1 whatever that means....40 move 2 hours maybe? I intend to do 2 things to train 1) chess vision drills every day 2) play some games where I record the moves over the internet this week.

Update to post:

Day 1 training: did a few problems from Sharpen your tactics. Named the squares that pieces were on. did chess vision drill

Day2:did checkmate problems and knight vision drills. recorded moves in internet game

Day3 played games and recorded moves

Now this is a Fried Liver Game !

[Event "Rated game, 25m + 0s"]
[Site "Main Playing Hall"]
[Date "2006.02.04"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Takchess"]
[Black "Etxena"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C57"]
[WhiteElo "1485"]
[BlackElo "1723"]
[PlyCount "48"]
[EventDate "2006.02.04"]
[TimeControl "1500"]

1. e4 {3} e5 {4} 2. Nf3 {2} Nc6 {4} 3. Bc4 {3} Nf6 {8} 4. Ng5 {5} d5 {17} 5.
exd5 {11} Nxd5 {1} 6. Nxf7 {10} Kxf7 {16} 7. Qf3+ {4} Ke6 {16} 8. Nc3 {12} Nce7
{48} 9. d4 {19} b5 {16} 10. Qg4+ {22} Nf5 {6} 11. Bxd5+ {17} Kd6 {44} 12. Bxa8
{20} Nxd4 {10} 13. Ne4+ {17} Ke7 {36} 14. Qg5+ {21} Ke8 {28} 15. Qxe5+ {35} Be6
{10} 16. Bc6+ {82} Kf7 {82} 17. Ng5+ {74} Kg8 {99} 18. Nxe6 {27} Nxc2+ {10} 19.
Ke2 {25} Qh4 {67} 20. Bd5 {42} Qg4+ {71} 21. f3 {20} Qxg2+ {8} 22. Kd3 {27}
Nb4+ {17} 23. Ke4 {66} Nxd5 {93} 24. Kf5 {110} Qg6#

Paste into the view link