Another Traxler Win + pushing the envelope

Here is another Traxler Win against a higher player. I love this line however 5 Bxf7 by white would be difficult. Also I seem to have broken the 1600 level which I had seen since last year. Another cup of coffee in the big leagues.

[White "Blazon"]
[Black "takchess"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C57"]
[WhiteElo "1793"]
[BlackElo "1576"]
[PlyCount "22"]
[EventDate "2006.06.30"]
[TimeControl "960"]
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1. e4 {3} e5 {3} 2. Nf3 {6} Nc6 {4} 3. Bc4 {23} Nf6 {4} 4. Ng5 {5} Bc5 {4} 5.
Nxf7 {7} Bxf2+ {14} 6. Kf1 {1} Qe7 {33} 7. Nxh8 {3} d5 {41} 8. Bxd5 {9} Bg4 {14
} 9. Kxf2 {15} Bxd1 {88} 10. Rxd1 {2} Ng4+ {8} 11. Kg1 {1} Qc5+ {
Blazon resigns (Lag: Av=0.38s, max=0.9s) 20} 0-1

Chess for Zebras

Upon my request, my local library bought Chess for Zebras :Thinking differently about Black and White by Jonathan Rowson. I have been thumbing through it and reading portions of it that interest me. There is alot of chess philosphy here and original thought along with concrete analysis of positions to support his points. I am finding it to be a heavy book but interesting. I am just scratching the surface and will

Each chapter revolves around a different premise mostly around the chess improvement. He refers to a study that the higher rated a chess player when asked to analyse a position was less emphatic that his analysis was right than lower rated players. That GM's had a higher level of appreciation of the complexity of chess and a inquiring mind to explore the ambiguity of a position.

He also had a premise that most knights would agree with is that improvement comes mainly from activity not studying. Actively working with chess positions, solving problems, playing against Fritz from a won position, looking at a position for 20 + minutes to come up with a plan. Improvement comes from ones ability to know what to do when faced with a position one most likely had never seen before. So the emphasis is the ability to solve problems.

Can you find what I missed ??????

This is my last game of the NH Open,a Trompowsky Attack by my opponent which flows all over the board. Despite my unintentional exchange sacrifice,it was a fairly even game. At the end point of this file I made an error which resulted in a king walk and loss. I cannot reconstruct the end from my notes.


I had attacking chances throughout including a missed opportunity to pull ahead. Fellow Knights can you find what I missed in play ????????

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[White "C, Daniel"]
[Black "takchess, Jim"]


{300MB, Fritz9.ctg, D3YSNJ81} 1. d4 {0} Nf6 {0} 2. Bg5 {94} Ne4 3. Bh4 g5 4.
Bg3 d5 5. Nd2 Nxg3 6. hxg3 h5 7. e3 g4 8. f3 Be6 9. fxg4 Bxg4 10. Be2 f5 11.
Ndf3 Nc6 12. Nh2 Qd7 13. Nxg4 fxg4 14. Bxg4 Qd6 15. Bxh5+ Rxh5 16. Qxh5+ Kd7
17. Qf5+ e6 18. Qf4 Qb4+ 19. c3 Qxb2 20. Rd1 Qxc3+ 21. Ke2 Qc4+ 22. Kf3 Be7 23.
Rh7 Re8 24. Rb1 b6 25. Ne2 Kd8 26. Rc1 Qa4 27. Nc3 *

NH Open results

Played in the NH Open on Saturday and Sunday and ended 2-2. Saturday, my morning game I lost to a teenager who beat me as white by playing the Guico. Not a well played game, I played the 2 Knights defense and lost a pawn early. I moved a rook without seeing it was enprise and promptly lost it. The afternoon I recieved a bye.

Sunday, I played the father of 3 of the kids in the tournament. We are both tournament novices and earlier this year we faced off in our first game ever for both of us in tournament play in which he won. I did get to play a King Gambit Declined (Falkbeer CounterGambit). It is the game posted below.

The afternoon, I played a Trompowski as black against Daniel a junior high student. earlier in the year, I beat him however this tournament he beat me. this was a very interesting game and will post it in a future post once I analyse it more.

All in all, a fun time. George,I did meet Art a nice guy and good friends with Walt from the club where I play on Friday nights. Did get a chance to pick up some chess books that was funded by a small cash prize (tied for second in under 1200)



Comments on the King Gambit game.

I was happy to get a chance to play a King's Gambit. The Falkbeer as far as the KGD defenses is the one which I best understand. I was pleased that I saw a simplification to a winning endgame and played it. This game is not complete as it continued for a few more moves once I got my Queen. I was also pleased with active King play in the middle game which made the endgame possible.

As you look at the game, you will see my bishop poised to take the pawn at a7 which I came closed to doing. I recalculated and realized it was a poisoned pawn. bXa7 b6 and the bishop is stuck forced to take the b6 pawn before the king takes him.I was bound up in early play which just ended up in a series of even trades. I think this was misplayed by him. I saw he had the opportunity to play 13 ...Qg3+ which forces a King move and boxes in my rook for a few moves. Fritz shows him ahead a pawn if he did this.

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[White "jim "]
[Black "greg"]

1. e4 e5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5 Qxd5 4. Nc3 Qe6 5. d3 Bc5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Qe2 Bd4 8. Bd2 h6 9. Nxe5 Bxe5 10. fxe5 Nd4 11. Qd1 Qxe5+ 12.Be2 Bg4 13. h3 Bxe2 14. Nxe2 Qxe2+ 15. Qxe2+ Nxe2 16. Kxe2 O-O-O 17. Be3 g5 18. c3 Nf6 19. Rae1 Rhe8 20. d4 Nd5 21. Kf3 Re6 22. Bc1 Rdd6 23. Rxe6 Rxe6 24. c4 Nf6 25. b3 c6 26. Bb2 h5 27. g4 h4 28. Bc3 Ne4 29. Bb4 Ng3 30. Re1 Rxe1 31.
Bxe1 Kd7 32. Bxg3 hxg3 33. Kxg3 Ke6 34. Kf3 f5 35. Ke3 f4+ 36. Ke4 b6 37. b4 a6
38. c5 b5 39. a3 f3 40. Kxf3 Kd5 41. Ke3 Kc4 42. Ke4 Kb3 43. d5 cxd5+ 44. Kxd5
Kxa3 45. c6 Kxb4 46. c7 a5 47. c8=Q *

Perenyl Attack

I am intrigued by this attack against the Sicilian. Do any of you play this? this is the first I heard of it.

Perenyi Attack

Viva Manch Vegas

Tournament tomorrow in Manchester or as it is lovingly refered to locally as Manch Vegas.

1. e4

I agree !

There is not a single true chess player to the world whose heart does not beat faster at the sounds of the words "gambit play. Our delight is for the Kings Gambit. Why so much delight? No other opening offers such wide possibilities for creative initative; in no other opeing are so many difficult problems created in the very first moves; no other opening allow the players to confront each other straight away in open fighting and to unfold the battle over the whole of the board. In many branches of the King's Gambit both players feel the desire to try and win not by collecting material but by using the strength of their own imagination.

It is no secret that any talented player must be in his soul an artist and what could be dearer to his heart and soul than the victory of the subtle forces of reason over crude material strength! My love for the King's Gambit can be seen in precisely those terms.

David Bronstein

(But it's a damn hard opening to play as white or against as black 8))

lets get this show on the road!

Saturday and Sunday I play in the under 1400 group in the New Hampshire Open tournament. Its 4 games Swiss 40 moves in 2 hours. I better practice time management not to move too quickly when the position requires serious calculation.

I am very curious as to what openings/defenses I will face. Hopefully I can improve my under 900 rating!

also studying King Gambit games here is one which required extensive calculation by white.

nice game against local phenom

Below is a nice game I played at our chess club as white against our local 17 year old phenom rated about 1700ish. I make a sac of my knight on f7 which proved to be sound (at least in this game). For Compensation for the knight I recieved the initiative, one pawn, and black losing the right to castle. So by the book I gave up
3 points for about 1-3/4. As the game progressed,I drew even and then i believed had a slight advantage. I should of walked away with a draw possibly a win but lost by misplay soon where my posted moves ended. I like playing against the Modern and Pirc defenses

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1. e4 g6 2. d4 d6 3. f4 Bg7 4. Nf3 Nd7 5. Bc4 c5 6. Ng5 e6 7. d5 e5 8. O-O h6 9. Nxf7 Kxf7 10. fxe5+ Ke8 11. exd6 Ne5 12. Bb5+ Bd7 13. Bxd7+ Qxd7 14. Nc3 Qxd6 15. Nb5 Qd7 16. Nc3 Nf6 17. Bf4 Nc4 18. e5 Nxd5 19. Nxd5 Rd8 20. Nf6+ Bxf6 21. Qxd7+ Rxd7 22. exf6 Kf7 23. b3 Nd6 24. Be5 Nf5 *


in late breaking news, played a nice game against j'adoube on playchess last night where well...er....um... he won.

I look forward to playing in the tournament next week. Hopefully I can get someone to respond e5 to my e4.

1. e4 e5 ! or 1.e4 e5?

When I play black, I like to respond e5 to e4. I do this because I like the variety of playing against different open games. White is driving and I am along for the ride. I could be facing a scotch game, bishop opening, king indian attack, vienna game, italian game, elephant gambit, four knights, ruy lopez or a king gambit . Openings I have played at one time or another. I like the variety.

I suppose I could become a specialist in one defense :the sicilian, scandanavian, petroff, french, caro-kahn,modern or pirc but I would miss the variety. With my current attitude do I lose more games? most likely yes but I feel I am learning more.

I am a little nervous about my selection of Kings gambit as white for my tournament opening. It requires accurate play and I am not sure I am there yet. I am going to play it and see what happens. We will see next week. Below is an interesting Chigorin King Gambit where the threats build and shift for a beautiful combination.


Chigorin king gambit game

He sure didn't play like a 1974 rated player in the traxler

This game struck me as odd for a higher rated player.


[Event "Friendly Game, 25m + 15s"]
[Site "Main Playing Hall"]
[Date "2006.06.11"]
[Round "?"]
[White Name withheld]
[Black "Takchess"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C57"]
[WhiteElo "1974"]
[BlackElo "1429"]
[PlyCount "20"]
[EventDate "2006.06.11"]
[TimeControl "1500+15"]


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1. e4 {6} e5 {3} 2. Nf3 {3} Nc6 {3} 3. Bc4 {13} Nf6 {7} 4. Ng5 {57} Bc5 {13} 5.
Nxf7 {11} Bxf2+ {7} 6. Kxf2 {58} Nxe4+ {21} 7. Ke3 {19} Qh4 {14} 8. Nxh8 {230}
Qf4+ {66} 9. Ke2 {47} Nd4+ {9} 10. Ke1 {10} Qf2# {(Lag: Av=0.38s, max=0.6s) 10}
0-1

Are there Rules in Chess?

In the art of chess, there is no unalterable laws governing the struggle which are appropriate to every position: otherwise chess would lose its attractiveness and eternal character--

Vassily Smyslov

Fritz and Playchess

I play a few games on playchess.com everyday with the time controls of 20 minutes + 6 seconds per move. Fritz automatically saves this game in a my internet game file. Overnight, I analyze the games and check the box for opening analysis. My analyzed game now has 3 or 4 representative games that followed that line to a point and show where it diverged. The net result is that sometimes I am playing book moves 9-10 moves deep without alot of formal study. Last night I played a QGD Ragozin defence and one of the games was Capablanca Marshall draw which mirrored my game for 7 moves.
I am uncertain how it sellects games but on occasion it will match my game with some 1200 rated 10 year old. That must be a sign I am playing somewhat poorly............

Also reading the Euwe Biography by Munninghoff. Thank you interlibrary loan department!. I am enjoying it as I greatly admire the accomplishment of being world champion as an amatuer and learned a great deal from Chess Master vs Chess Amateur book.

I am also playing through some of the king gambit games from Bronstein 200 open game book. An interesting thing about the King gambit is there are so many variations on how to defend against it whether you accept it or decline it. Initially I found myself in trouble playing the black against it but am now having some success playing a variety of defenses while declining or accepting it. This is something I can see learning far deeper in the next year.

Giving up material for an attack where it the dividing line. Here is a game where I pushed the envelope a little



paste game into this viewer[[Black "Takchess"]
1. e4 {7} e5 {4} 2. Nc3 {6} Nc6 {15} 3. Bc4 {8} Nf6 {12} 4. d3 {3} Bc5 {13} 5.
Nge2 {3} d6 {7} 6. O-O {7} Bg4 {14} 7. Kh1 {5} Qd7 {7} 8. Qe1 {2} h5 {13} 9.
Bg5 {11} O-O-O {14} 10. Nd5 {4} Rde8 {11} 11. Bxf6 {8} Reg8 {39} 12. Bg5 {26}
f6 {4} 13. Be3 {9} f5 {10} 14. Bxc5 {10} g5 {6} 15. Nf6 {5} Qg7 {20} 16. Nxg8 {
7} f4 {21} 17. h3 {25} Bf3 {10} 18. gxf3 {4} g4 {2} 19. Rg1 {1} dxc5 {41} 20.
fxg4 {10} hxg4 {7} 21. Rxg4 {1} Qxg4 {17} 22. Ng1 {30} f3 {15} 23. Qe3 {13}
Qg2# {(Lag: Av=0.29s, max=0.6s) 4} 0-1

Of course white misplayed 23 should be queen Qf1 and white most likely wins. Fritz likes 21...RXh3 and a series of trades equalizes the game.

More tactics

I completed another round of the tactics in Bain completing the book. It may be helping in that I beat a 1850 rated player on Playchess. also did 40 ct-art level 20
problems with some success. Some of the problems I saw the answer quickly sac sac mate! others less so. we shall see

Stress Test

Did an hour on the treadmill while solving 120+ problems in the Bain book. I want to be a tactical bada** in the tourney but uncertain if I have enough time........

Bain book circle

Did about 140 problem in Bain book which is simple tactics while walking one hour on the treadmill. I had done 7 + circles on this a year ago so patterns are some what familar but not instananeous. Need to get crisper if I expect to hold my own in the tournament.

Traps and chess club

I am playing through all the King Gambit traps in Pandolfini traps and zaps book.

Here is a trap in the Falkbeer Countergambit.

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1. e4 e5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5 e4 4. Bb5+ c6 5. dxc6 bxc6 6. Ba4 Qd4 7. c3 Qd6 8. Ne2 Bg4 9. O-O Qd3 10. Re1 Bc5+ 11. Kh1 Bf3 12.Bc2 Bxg2+ 13. Kxg2 Qf3# 0-1


White could of done a couple of things to help himself. 10 Bc2 and 12 h3, this reminded me of this game where white wastes time trading off his advanced pawn
Rosannes vs Anderssen

I played this two games last night at chessclub both against Bob. A Ruy as black
which developed along Marshall attack lines but white diverged by playing d4. I was
ahead in this but made some tactical errors to lose this.

I played a Halloween Gambit as white and at one point hung my queen and black missed it we both saw it on the next move. a little sloppy play on my end.

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[Event "chess club 6/2/2006"]


1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O
Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3 d5 9. d4 Bg4 10. h3 Bxf3 11. Qxf3 dxe4 12. Qg3
Nh5 13. Qg4 Nf6 14. Qg3 Nh5 15. Qg4 Nf6 16. Qe2 exd4 17. Bg5 Re8 18. Nd2 dxc3
19. bxc3 b4 20. Nxe4 Nxe4 21. Bxe7 Rxe7 22. Qf3 Ng5 23. Qxc6 Rxe1+ 24. Rxe1 h6
25. cxb4 Ne6 26. Rd1 Nd4 27. Rxd4 Qxd4 28. Qxa8+ Kh7 29. Qxa6 Qxb4 30. Qd3+ 1-0

[Event "6/2/2006 chess club"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nxe5 Nxe5 5. d4
Bb4 6. dxe5 Nxe4 7. Bd2 Bxc3 8. Bxc3 Nxc3 9. bxc3 d5 10. Qf3 Be6 11. Rd1 Qe7
12. Bd3 O-O 13. O-O c6 14. Qh3 g6 15. Qf3 f5 16. Rb1 b6 17. Rfe1 Rad8 18. Re3
d4 19. cxd4 Rxd4 20. c3 Bd5 21. Qe2 Rg4 22. Rg3 Rxg3 23. fxg3 0-1