Who needs another opening book ?

Fellow Chessbookaholics , I ask you Who needs another chessbook on openings ?

I can't justify it at this point but heavily recommended by my virtual playchess buddy Scottcat, Watson's new book on Chess Openings is a good one. (if you see him on playchess invite him to a game)


http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Chess-Openings-Unraveling-Mysteries/dp/1904600603/sr=8-1/qid=1170158690/ref=sr_1_1/102-4248112-1308943?ie=UTF8&s=books

I saw it at Borders and I liked it. This volume has open and semiopen games. There is a large section that talks about Structure. This is followed by discussions of each opening with annotated games and diagrams . There appears to be alot of ideas behind the openings discussed. I have asked my local library to purchase it for their collection.

Monday 35 minutes treadmill
Tuesday 40 + tactics -312 CTFB
Tuesday Lunch 1-64 CTart
Wed 30+ tactics CTFB -345
Wed 30+ CTART
Thus Morng 15 + -362 CTFB

A win against a Playchess 1900 player

Friday 0 Tactics
Saturday 40+ Chess Tactics for beginners -192
& looking at my Traxler Games

Sunday 8 200-8 of the Alburt book

some Seriwan Strategy book

50 minutes treadmill

Monday-40 plus 241

Cut and Paste game into here

(2651) SAA1983 (1922) - Takchess (1551) [C55]
Rated game, 20m + 6s Main Playing Hall, 27.01.2007
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Qe2 Bc5 5.0–0 d6 6.Nc3 Bg4 7.h3 h5 8.hxg4 hxg4 9.Nh2 g3 10.Ng4 Nd5 11.Bxd5 Qh4 12.Bxf7+ Kd7 13.Nxe5+ Nxe5 SAA1983 ñäàåòñÿ (Lag: Av=0.98s, max=5.2s) 0–1

I have played this very same type of game a number of times . The bishop pins the pawn to the king. I delay castling hoping to get rooks on an open file. My pawn capture opens up h file to my major pieces as well as chases the defending knight away. Allowing a pawn push to g6 compressing his g7 pawn.

All I have to do is keep the pressure on and keep my king in a place where he can't gain any tempos. This is a combination I can see miles away. As Reuben Fine said " A combination occurs as naturally as a baby smile.

Moves like 10.....Nd4 are making me feel rather Morphy-ish 8)

a theme I got from studies of classic games

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1018939

I also talked about this game on my May 6 2006 blog entry

http://takchess.blogspot.com/2006_05_01_takchess_archive.html

blogger's update: Immediately after posting this I played some simply horrible games against players rated far below me. That's karma for you. I should not put too much stock in rapid played 20 + 6 games played on the internet.

That being said I was very happy, as I am sure you can tell, with this game. Fritz gave 10.... Nd4

a double exclamation point . It didn't like my 7..... h5 and prefered Nd4 which is more forcing.

Thursday January 25th 0 tactics

It is said the very act of measuring, drives self improvement. So Thursday January 25th I did 0 tactical problems.

A Wandering Tour through the Traxler Counter-Attack

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chesscollection?cid=1008357


I don't go looking for trouble, it finds me............. another Traxler.

Paste game in this link

(1699) - Takchess (1514)
Rated game, 20m + 6s Main Playing Hall, 23.01.2007
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5 5.Nxf7 Bxf2+ 6.Kxf2 Nxe4+ 7.Ke3 Qh4 8.g3 Qh3 9.Nxh8 d5 10.Bxd5 Qh6+ 11.Kxe4 Bf5+ 12.Kf3 0–0–0 13.d4 Nxd4+ 14.Qxd4 Qh5+ 15.g4 Qh3+ White resigns (Lag: Av=0.32s, max=0.6s) 0–1

I think 7..Qe2 is book and a better move here.

What the cool kids play

Here is the recent game played in Moscow. A Russian and British Wunderkid faced each other on the giant outdoor ice chess set and played the Traxler.

In celebration, I played the Traxler Game this am . Paste Game into this link.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5 5.Nxf7 Bxf2+ 6.Kf1 Qe7 7.Nxh8 d5 8.exd5 Nd4 9.d3 Ng4 10.c3 Be3 11.Qa4+ Bd7 12.Qd1 Qf6+ 13.Qf3 Nxf3 14.Bxe3 Nfxh2+ 15.Ke2 0–0–0 0–1

Also as for my MDLM related news, I finished part one of Chess tactics for Beginners, on to part two.

Silicide Post 2

This post lists more representative games with Black other second moves.If you like this sort of thing,I recommend that you buy the tape which goes into detail with a lot of variation and ideas.

past games into this link


1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Nc3 e6 4.d4 white opens the center with d4 push

(6) Benjamin,Joel - Suba,Mihai [B50]
Reykjavik Summit Reykjavik, 03.1990
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Nc3 e6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Qxd4 a6 6.Qd3 Be7 7.Bf4 e5 8.Be3 Nf6 9.Nd2 Be6 10.Nc4 Bxc4 11.Qxc4 Nbd7 12.Be2 0–0 13.0–0 b5 14.Qc6 Qb8 15.Nd5 Nxd5 16.Qxd5 Nf6 17.Qd3 Qb7 18.Bg5 Rfd8 19.Bxf6 Bxf6 20.Rfd1 Rac8 21.c3 Rc6 22.g3 g6 23.Qf3 Kg7 24.Rd3 Rc4 25.Rd5 Rc5 26.Rad1 Be7 27.R1d2 h5 28.h4 Rxd5 29.Rxd5 Rc8 30.Bd1 b4 31.Bb3 bxc3 32.bxc3 f6 33.Qd3 Qb6 34.Kg2 Rf8 35.Qc4 g5 36.Rd3 Qb7 37.Qe6 Qxe4+ 38.Rf3 Qb7 39.Bd5 Qc7 40.hxg5 Qd8 41.Rf5 Kg6 42.Be4 Kg7 43.gxf6+ Bxf6 44.Rg5+ 1–0


(7) Tseitlin,Mark D - Pieniazek,Artur [B53]
Dreszer op Gdynia (5), 1989
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.Nc3 d6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Qxd4 a6 6.Bg5 Nc6 7.Qd2 Nf6 8.0–0–0 b5 9.e5 dxe5 10.Qxd8+ Nxd8 11.Nxb5 axb5 12.Bxb5+ Bd7 13.Rxd7 Nxd7 14.Rd1 Be7 15.Bxe7 Kxe7 16.Rxd7+ Kf6 17.a4 Rb8 18.Nd2 Nb7 19.Ne4+ Kg6 20.b4 Rhd8 21.Rxd8 Nxd8 22.Nc5 f6 23.c4 Kf7 24.Nd7 Rc8 25.a5 Nc6 26.Nb6 Rc7 27.Bxc6 Rxc6 28.c5 Ke7 29.a6 Rc7 30.a7 1–0

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Black's 2 Knights out equal a e5 push

(8) Pribyl,Josef - Praszak,Michal [B50]
Prague T10 Prague (5), 1990
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 dxe5 5.Nxe5 Nbd7 6.Nc4 g6 7.Qe2 Nb6 8.Ne3 Bd7 9.Qf3 Qc8 10.a4 Qc6 11.Qxc6 Bxc6 12.Bb5 Kd7 13.a5 Bxb5 14.Nxb5 Nbd5 15.a6 b6 16.Nc4 Ke6 17.0–0 Nd7 18.Ne3 Rd8 19.Nxd5 Kxd5 20.d3 e5 21.Nxa7 Bd6 22.c4+ Ke6 23.Nb5 Nb8 24.a7 Nd7 25.f4 f6 26.fxe5 fxe5 27.Bh6 Ra8 28.Rf3 Rhc8 29.Raf1 Be7 30.Rf7 Nf6 31.Rg7 Ne8 32.Rg8 Bf6 33.Rf8 Rd8 34.R8xf6+ Nxf6 35.Nc7+ 1–0

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 a6 3.Nc3 d6 (a6 & d6 met with a fienchetto )

(9) Tolnai,Tibor - Bilek,Istvan [B50]
Kecskemet Kecskemet (13), 06.1990
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 a6 3.Nc3 d6 4.g3 g6 5.Bg2 Nc6 6.d4 cxd4 7.Nxd4 Bd7 8.Nd5 e6 9.Ne3 Qc7 10.0–0 Bg7 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Nc4 d5 13.exd5 cxd5 14.Bxd5 exd5 15.Qxd5 Bc6 16.Re1+ Kf8 17.Qc5+ Ne7 18.Bf4 Qb7 19.Rxe7 1–0

2 g6 met with an immediate h4!

(10) Rodriguez,Andres - Larsen,Bent [B27]
San Martin San Martin (11), 04.1994
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.h4 h5 4.d4 cxd4 5.Bc4 Nc6 6.c3 dxc3 7.Nxc3 Nf6 8.Bf4 d6 9.Ng5 e6 10.Nb5 a6 11.Nxd6+ Bxd6 12.Bxd6 Qa5+ 13.b4 Qd8 14.Rh3 Ng4 15.Bb3 a5 16.Qd2 a4 17.Bc4 Qb6 18.Rd1 f6 19.Bc5 Qc7 20.Nxe6 Bxe6 21.Bxe6 Rd8 22.Rd3 Rxd3 23.Qxd3 Nge5 24.Qb5 Rh7 25.Bd6 Qg7 26.Qxa4 1–0

Silicide 1 e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 (part 1)

Nigel Davies has a VCR tape called Silicide which is a series of opening ideas against the Sicilian mostly based on the White's following moves.

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 * 3. Nc3 .

The idea is that White avoids d4 or postpones d4 while Black tends to develop into his favorite version of the Sicilian. This mechanical play of favorite lines is good against 3 d4 but does not hold up as well against white prepared responses.


the tape is divided into the following sections based on * Black's second move in response to Nf3.

Part One: 2....Nc6

Part Two: 2...e6

Part Three: 2...d6

Part Four 2.... Nf6 /2...g6/2....a6




Part One 2... Nc6 3. Nf3 where Black responds 3... Nf6 . This is by far the largest section and some lines are reached by transposition of blacks 2nd and 3rd move. More info to come in next post.


Some representative games he uses to illustrate these lines are below . (place games into this
Link for viewing)

(1) Ioseliani,Nana - Arakhamia Grant,Ketevan [B29]
Belgrade Belgrade (4), 1992
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Ng4 5.Qe2 d6 6.exd6 Qxd6 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nb5 Qd8 9.Bf4 e5 10.0–0–0 Bc5 11.h3 0–0 12.hxg4 exf4 13.Qe4 h6 14.g5 Bg4 15.Bd3 Re8 16.Qh7+ Kf8 17.gxh6 Qf6 18.Nc7 Bxf3 19.gxf3 g6 20.Nd5 Qe5 21.Rhe1 1–0


(2) Georgiev,Kiril - Spasov,Vasil [B29]
BUL-ch Bulgaria, 08.1988
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Ng4 5.Qe2 Qc7 6.Nd5 Qb8 7.d4 cxd4 8.Bf4 e6 9.h3 Nh6 10.Bxh6 exd5 11.Bf4 Bb4+ 12.Bd2 Be7 13.0–0–0 0–0 14.Bf4 d6 15.exd6 Bxd6 16.Bxd6 Qxd6 17.Nxd4 Be6 18.Kb1 Rfe8 19.Qd2 Rac8 20.Bb5 a6 21.Ba4 Nxd4 22.Bxe8 Nxc2 23.Ba4 Nb4 24.Rc1 Nc6 25.Rhd1 h6 26.g4 b5 27.Bb3 Rd8 28.Qc3 Rc8 29.Qc5 Qe5 30.Qe3 Qd6 31.Qc5 Qe5 32.Re1 Qf6 33.Qb6 Ne7 34.Rxc8+ Nxc8 35.Qc5 Nb6 36.f4 Nc4 37.Bxc4 dxc4 38.f5 Bd7 39.a3 Bc6 40.Ka2 a5 41.Rd1 Be8 42.Qc7 1–0

after 3 ..g6 then 4 h4

(3) Gutman,Lev - Scho,Christian [B30]
Kassel op Kassel (3), 1994
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 g6 4.h4 Bg7 5.h5 d6 6.Bc4 e6 7.d3 a6 8.a4 Nge7 9.hxg6 hxg6 10.Rxh8+ Bxh8 11.Ng5 Nd4 12.Be3 Nec6 13.Kd2 Bd7 14.Qh1 Qf6 15.Qh7 Qg7 16.Rh1 Ke7 17.f4 Nb4 18.Qh4 f6 19.Nh7 Kf7 20.e5 dxe5 21.fxe5 fxe5 22.Bxd4 cxd4 23.Ne4 Nd5 24.Rf1+ Kg8 25.Nef6+ 1–0

if black d6 & Nc6 or e6 & Nc6 pin the knight to the king


(4) Movsesian,Sergei - Banas,Jan [B53]
SVK-ch Trencin (9), 1995
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.Bb5 Bd7 5.Bxc6 Bxc6 6.d4 cxd4 7.Qxd4 Nf6 8.Bg5 e6 9.0–0–0 Be7 10.Qd3 Qa5 11.Kb1 0–0 12.h4 Rac8 13.Nd4 Rfd8 14.f4 a6 15.f5 e5 16.Bxf6 Bxf6 17.Nde2 b5 18.g4 b4 19.Nd5 Bxd5 20.Qxd5 Rc5 21.Qb3 Qb5 22.Nc1 a5 23.g5 a4 24.Qf3 Be7 25.f6 Bf8 26.h5 Qc4 27.Rh2 Qe6 28.Rf2 Rd7 29.Qg3 g6 30.Nd3 Rb5 31.Rfd2 Rc7 32.Nc1 Rbc5 33.Qf3 Qc8 34.Nd3 Rb5 35.Nf2 b3 36.cxb3 axb3 37.a3 Rc2 38.hxg6 hxg6 39.Nd3 Qc4 40.Rc1 d5 41.Rdxc2 bxc2+ 42.Rxc2 dxe4 43.Rxc4 exf3 44.a4 Rd5 45.Kc2 Bc5 46.Kd2 f2 47.Ke2 Rxd3 48.Rxc5 Rd2+ 49.Kf1 Rxb2 50.Rxe5 Kf8 51.Rb5 1–0



(5) Yudasin,Leonid - Filippov,Valerij [B30]
Petrov mem St Petersburg (8), 02.1996
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.Bb5 Nd4 5.0–0 Nxb5 6.Nxb5 a6 7.Nc3 b5 8.d4 cxd4 9.Qxd4 Bb7 10.Bg5 f6 11.Bh4 Rc8 12.a3 Bc5 13.Qd3 Ne7 14.Rad1 Qc7 15.e5 f5 16.Bxe7 Kxe7 17.Nd4 Rhd8 18.Rfe1 Kf7 19.Qg3 Re8 20.Rd3 Rcd8 21.Red1 Kg8 22.h4 Bf8 23.Nde2 Bc6 24.Qf4 g6 25.h5 Bg7 26.Rd6 Kf7 27.R1d3 g5 28.Qe3 h6 29.Nd4 Bb7 30.Qd2 Qc5 31.Nb3 Qxe5 32.Re3 Qf4 33.g3 Bxc3 34.Rxd7+ Re7 35.Rxe7+ Kxe7 36.Qxd8+ Kxd8 37.gxf4 Bxb2 38.Rxe6 gxf4 39.Nc5 Bf3 40.Rxh6 Bxa3 41.Nxa6 Kd7 42.Rh7+ Kc8 43.h6 1–0

Poor Execution Leading to a Loss

Let's call a spade a spade. The picture shows me playing in my third match (I'm the larger fellow in red) at the Herb Healy. I played a two knights defense which is an opening I play often and enjoy. I miscalculated what I thought was a mating net and overlooked a forced mating net. This error was played in this position with Black on Move. I made the poor move Rxg2 instead of the winning move Q-h3.




To view paste the game here
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 Nd4 7. Nxd4 Bxd4 8. O-O Be6 9. Nd5 Bxd5 10. exd5 Qd7 11. c3 Bb6 12. Qf3 O-O-O 13. Bxf6 gxf6 14. Qxf6 Rhg8 15. b4 Rxg2+ 16. Kxg2 Qg4+
17. Kh1 *

The overlooked proper play would of been this.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6
4. d3 Bc5 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 Nd4 7. Nxd4 Bxd4 8. O-O Be6 9. Nd5 Bxd5 10. exd5 Qd7
11. c3 Bb6 12. Qf3 O-O-O 13. Bxf6 gxf6 14. Qxf6 Rhg8 15. b4 Qh3 {1} 16. g3 {5}
Rxg3+ {0} 17. hxg3 {0} Qxg3+ {0} 18. Kh1 {0} Qh3+ {0} 19. Kg1 {0} Rg8+ {0} 20.
Qg5 {0} Rxg5# {0} 0-1

While playing I wanted him to open my g file by his Bishop X knight then control the g file with my rook. I had miscalculated it a few times think my rook sac was unstoppable but did not see it. Clearly I should of spent more time and looked for better alternatives.

I spent the rest of the game a rook down. He built a strong attack with a pawn on the 7th file rook on a open file but had trouble finishing me off. It ended with me
winning back my rook, taking the pawn on the 7th rank,trading queens evening up the game. He then beat me in a rook and pawn endgame.

This is my thoughts to ensure better play:

1)Spend more time in key points of the game and calculate fully.
2)Solve more problems consistantly instead of alot in short spurts to improve vision. (toward that end I am solving a minimum of 5 a day with many days having more)
3)If I expect to play better in tournaments I need to play in more tournaments or play longer games in tournament like conditions. (unlikely I can commit to more tournaments)

Another HH game and the Alapin Gambit

[White "BCC opponent "]
[Black "takchess"]

Cut and paste games in here
1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nxe4 4. Qh5 g6 5.Qxe5+ *

In the interest of full disclosure I played this ugly game in the Herb Healy tournment in the first round against a 1900 player with the Bishop Gambit. Thinking why not the fork trick. of course I played the wrong fourth move which lost the Knight. The game continued from there will little opportunity for counterplay and I eventually resigned.

No excuses just didn't think it through .


I have become quite fond of the alapin gambit aka alapin french aka alapin diemer gambit. I am just learning my way with it. Here is a game I played tonight. I don't think my bishop move was right. This opening leads to some interesting play.

[WhiteElo "1572"]
[BlackElo "1482"]

1. e4 {3} e6 {2} 2. d4 {6} d5 {2} 3. Be3 {11} dxe4 {4} 4. Nd2 {5} f5 {6} 5. f3
{5} exf3 {16} 6. Ngxf3 {4} Bb4 {8} 7. Ne5 {33} f4 {38} 8. Qh5+ {18} g6 {8} 9.
Nxg6 {3} fxe3 {14} 10. Bb5+ {55} c6 {10} 11. Ne5+ {10} Ke7 {51} 12. Qf7+ {18}
Kd6 {3} 13. Nec4+ {13} Kd5 {23} 14. Qh5+ {15} Kxd4 {46} 15. Qe5# {
(Lag: Av=2.23s, max=6.7s) 11} 1-0

Disclaimer:This game is offered for educational and instructional value only. Takchess offers no warranties either written, expressed or implied of the soundness of this gambit or the lines played within by either side. We are not responsible for the euphoric state derived from playing sharp tactical lines or the temporary loss of self esteem caused by your opponents accurate defense and counterplay. Your results may vary. 8)

Herb Healy Update

I have decided not to whine, complain or being overly self critical about my recent Duke of Brunswick-like performance at the Herb Healy one day tournament.

Statistically I did what I was supposed to do . Lose to a 1900,a 1600 and a 1400 rated player. Winning only one match.

An overview.

My first match was against a 1900 player who played the bishop gambit as white. I don't mind losing but not by losing a piece in the first handfull of moves.....


My second match was a Smith Morra against a 1600 was perhaps my best game but my attack was uninspired. Not at all like it's portrayed in my Smith-Mora Book. 8)

My third match was I played a 2 knights against a 1400 player playing a guicco pianoisamo like opening. I miscalculated what I thought was a forced mate and ended down a rook. Later against a strong attack which should of led to an easy win, I equalized and won back a rook, a passed pawn and traded queens. I ended losing in the endgame against a more active king. This is the one that was in my grasp.

The fourth game I won a king gambit which I played fairly poorly at.

Perhaps my most interesting game was against a warmup game where I played a sharp Alapin Gambit against the French. I am learning to enjoy this gambit. Anyway more specifics later.


All in All a rather fun day.

Here is part of my game with Robert Oresick it continued on for a little while longer.

Paste game here
[Event "Herb Healy 40+5"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2007.01.04"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Takchess, Jim"]
[Black "Oresick, Robert "]

{431MB, Fritz10.ctg, D3YSNJ81} 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Nxc3 Nc6 5.
Bc4 e6 6. Nf3 d6 7. O-O Bd7 8. Qe2 Be7 9. Rd1 Nf6 10. e5 dxe5 11. Nxe5 Nxe5 12.
Qxe5 O-O 13. Rd3 Qb6 14. Bh6 Qxf2+ 15. Kxf2 Ng4+ 16. Kg1 Nxe5 17. Rg3 Ng6 18.
Bd2 Rac8 19. Bd3 Rfd8 20. Rd1 Bc6 21. Bxg6 hxg6 22. Bf4 Rxd1+ 23. Nxd1 Bc5+ 24.
Ne3 Rd8 25. h3 Rd1+ 26. Kh2 Rd2 *