Takchess Chess Improvement

A Novice chessplayer works to get better at chess using an improvement program based upon the methods of Michael de la Maza and the teachings of Dan Heisman

Thursday, June 28, 2007

King's Indian D

I am starting to learning a little theory about some of the deeper openings: the Ruy Exchange Variation and the Kings Indian Defense. I revisiting a book from a few years ago Chess:the art of Logical thinking by Neil Mcdonald. This is a book like Chernov Logical Chess Move by Move but with modern games with modern openings. There are 2 King Indian Defense games deeply annotated for the improving player.

Game 21 &22


http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chesscollection?cid=1003229

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Take My Rooks

Just got the books from Minev and Seirawan Take my Rooks ;136 annotated games involving double rook sacrifices (passively surrender on the back rank) and Mastering Tactical Ideas by Minev.

Playing a little poorly at the moment hopefully studying of some artistic games will help.

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1242849

Here is a sample game from the Take My Rooks book.

Blogger Update: I am enjoying the Minev Mastering Tactical Ideas book which is a collection of his columns from the magazine: inside Chess . I once created this collection and the titles give you an idea of the chapters of the book. Each chapter has 6 plus games illustrating each theme.

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chesscollection?cid=1005796

also just arrived in the mail Gellers book - positional chess handbook


http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chesscollection?cid=1006353

Monday, June 25, 2007

An Unsettling Thought





Now in the world there are millions of people who play chess. So how many are better than I am ? 100 of thousands ? millions ? Here I am reading a little on chess everyday, doing chess problems and there are masses of people who can kick my butt. hmmm, perhaps it time to take out my watercolors..........

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Takchess- The New Petrosian

Of course, it is laughable to compare myself to Petrosian the positional pioneer. However I was feeling somewhat Petrosianesque as I played this game. Shifting my pieces behind the wall of pawns waiting for the attack.



(3317) P (1612) - Takchess (1570) [E90]
Rated game, 20m + 6s Main Playing Hall, 21.06.2007
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.Nf3 d6 5.e4 Bg4 6.Be2 Bxf3 7.Bxf3 e5 8.d5 0–0 9.Bg5 h6 10.Bh4 Nbd7 11.h3 Nb6 12.b3 a6 13.0–0 c6 14.Qd2 c5 15.Qe3 Nbd7 16.Ne2 b5 17.Nc1 b4 18.Nd3 a5 19.Qd2 Qe7 20.Rfe1 Kh7 21.Kh1 Qd8 22.g4 Qe8 23.Re3 Ng8 24.Rg1 Ndf6 25.Bg2 g5 26.Bg3 Nd7 27.Bf3 f6 28.Rg2 Ne7 29.h4 Rf7 30.Rh2 Qf8 31.Bd1 Ng6 32.Rf3 Re8 33.hxg5 fxg5 34.Rxf7 Qxf7 35.Qxg5 Qf6 36.Qxf6 Nxf6 37.f3 Kg8 38.Bh4 Nd7 39.Kg1 Nxh4 40.Rxh4 Nf6 41.Kg2 Kf7 42.Kf2 Rh8 43.Ke3 h5 44.gxh5 Nxh5 45.f4 exf4+ 46.Nxf4 Nxf4 47.Rxf4+ Ke7 48.Kd3 Rh3+ 49.Rf3 Rxf3+ 50.Bxf3 Bd4 51.Bg4 Kf6 52.Bf5 Kg5 53.Kc2 Kf4 54.Kb1 Ke3 55.a3 Kd2 56.axb4 axb4 57.Be6 Takchess offers a draw 57...Ke3 58.Bf5 Kd2 59.Bh3 Kc3 60.Ka2 Kc2 61.Bg2 Kc1 62.Bf3 Kc2 63.Be2 Kc1 64.Bd3 Kd2 65.Bb1 Kc1 66.Bd3 Kd2 67.Bf1 Kc1 68.Bh3 Kd2 69.Be6 Kc1 70.Bd7 Kd2 71.Bf5 Kc1 Takchess offers a draw 72.Bg6 Kd2 73.Bh5 Ke3 74.Bg6 Kf4 75.Bf5 Ke5 76.Kb1 Kf4 77.Kc2 Ke3 78.Bg6 Bc3 79.Bh7 Ke2 80.Bf5 Ke3 81.Bg6 Ke2 82.Bh5+ Ke3 83.Bg6 Ke2 84.Bf5 Ke3 85.Bh7 Ke2 86.Kc1 Takchess offers a draw 86...Ke3 87.Kc2 (Lag: Av=0.28s, max=0.8s) ½–½

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Return of my Dell and the Traxler

My system is working after a replacement of a usb connection that was shorting my system.

(3303) Traxler knight guy - takchess [C57]
10'/40+10'/40+10'/40, 19.06.2007

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5 5.Nxf7 Bxf2+ 6.Kxf2 Nxe4+ 7.Kg1 Qh4 8.Qf3 Nd4 9.Qf1 Rf8 10.g3 Nxg3 11.hxg3 Qxg3+ 12.Qg2 Nf3+ 13.Kf1 Qe1# 0–1

Also tempo please put me down for a new playchess high. 1657

Been working throught the first chapter of Gallaghers Starting Out with the Kings Indian and I am digging it. It's a good sign for me that two of my favorite GM authors Bronstein and he both played it and wrote in details about the attacking ideas behind it.

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chesscollection?cid=1010228


also hello to HazyDavy

Friday, June 15, 2007

bits and pieces

I played Saturday in a 60 minute 4 game Swiss played put on by the Capital City Chess Club in Bow NH. I enjoy these events in that they are small, friendly,inexpensive with a good level of play. Bow is a small town outside of our Capital City: Concord and the tournaments are held in a small church basement. The end results was I went 1 of 4. I did beat the only fellow who beat me last time a 1400 player. Played 2 2 knights as black but didn't get it done, no king gambits . All In all a fun day.I sold a bunch of my chess books at the tournament and bought Starting out with the King Indian by Joe Gallagher. (of Winning with the King Gambit fame)

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?pid=31026&playercomp=black&opening=E60-E99&title=Joseph%20G%20Gallagher%20playing%20the%20King's%20Indian%20as%20Black

Still working with the Silicide lines and found this game interesting. I love the Combo on move 14.

(282045) Salai,Ladislav (2365) - Bazant,Petr Sr [B29]CSR-chT Czechoslovakia, 19921.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.e5 Ng4 5.Qe2 Qc7 6.d4 cxd4 7.Nb5 Qb8 8.Bf4 f6 9.0–0–0 fxe5 10.h3 exf4 11.hxg4 a6 12.Nbxd4 g6 13.Qe4 Bg7 14.Rxh7 Rxh7 15.Qxg6+ Kf8 16.Ng5 1–0

My Desktop broke and Dell may have to replace a bunch of gear. I have some of my playchess analysed games backed up but not all. we will see what remains after the fix.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

One of the better King Gambit Games I've played

I haven't reviewed it fully yet to see the holes but felt like a very strong game. Tempo put me down for a new playchess rating high of 1638.


(3290) Takchess (1614) - L (1735) [C30]
Rated game, 20m + 6s Main Playing Hall, 13.06.2007


Cut and paste this game into this viewer

1.e4 e5 2.f4 Bc5 3.Nf3 d6 4.c3 Bg4 5.Bc4 Nf6 6.fxe5 dxe5 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Nxe5+ Kg8 9.Nxg4 Nxg4 10.Qxg4 Nd7 11.Qe6+ Kf8 12.Rf1+ Nf6 13.e5 Qe7 14.Qf5 Kg8 15.d4 Bb6 16.Bg5 h6 17.Bxf6 gxf6 18.Qg4+ Kh7 19.Rxf6 Rhg8 20.Qf5+ Kg7 21.Qg6+ Kh8 22.Qxh6+ Qh7 23.Qf4 Rg6 24.Nd2 Rag8 25.0–0–0 c6 26.Rf5 Rxg2 27.Rf8 Rxh2 28.Rxg8+ Kxg8 29.Rg1+

Thursday, June 07, 2007

A proper kings gambit attack


Yesterday, I posted a rather lame King Gambit Game I played. Today, to properly honor Blue Devil Knight who has become a baying-at-the-moon-head-banging-frothing-at-the-mouth 2 knights counterattacker , I'll post a proper King Gambit game which I played this morning. I was pleased with the killer bishop pair and the build up of the attack on the castled king . BDK welcome to the club 8)
cut and paste game into the Pgn view on side bar. Note :position is with white to move.

(3267) Takchess (1525) - d> (1736) [C30]
Rated game, 40m + 0s Main Playing Hall, 07.06.2007
1.e4 e5 2.f4 d6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Bc4 h6 5.0–0 Bg4 6.c3 b6 7.Qb3 Qe7 8.d4 Bxf3 douma claims win on disconnect 9.Rxf3 exd4 10.Bd3 Nf6 11.Bb5 Qd7 12.cxd4 Nxe4 13.d5 0–0–0 14.Bxc6 Qe7 15.Qb5 Nc5 16.Be3 a6 douma claims win on disconnect 17.Qc4 b5 18.Qb4 Nb7 19.a4 g5 20.axb5 a5 21.Rxa5 Kb8 22.Ra8+ Kxa8 23.Qa4+ Kb8 24.Qa7+ d. resigns (Lag: Av=2.76s, max=20.1s) 1–0

also Bloggers update: another King Gambit

(3269) Takchess (1574) - C. (1637) [C34]
Rated game, 25m + 9s Main Playing Hall, 07.06.2007
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 Bc5 4.d4 Bb6 5.Bxf4 d6 6.Bc4 h6 7.0–0 Bg4 8.e5 d5 9.Bb5+ c6 10.Ba4 Nd7 11.c3 Qe7 12.Re1 0–0–0 13.Na3 Qe6 14.Bb3 Bf5 15.c4 Be4 16.Rxe4 dxe4 17.c5 Qg4 18.cxb6 Qxf4 19.bxa7 Kc7 20.Nb5+ cxb5 21.Bd5 Qe3+ 22.Kh1 Ne7 23.Qc2+ Nc6 24.Bxc6 bxc6 25.Rc1 Qxc1+ 26.Qxc1 Kb6 27.d5 cxd5 28.Qe3+ Kb7 29.Nd4 Kxa7 30.Nc6+ Kb7 31.Nxd8+ Rxd8 32.Qb3 Kb6 33.Qxd5 Kc7 34.Qd6+ Kc8 35.Qc6+ Kb8 36.Qxb5+ Kc8 37.Qc6+ Kb8 38.h3 e3 39.Qb5+ Kc8 40.Qc4+ Kb7 41.Qb3+ Nb6 42.Qxe3 Rd5 43.e6 fxe6 44.Qxe6 Ra5 45.Qf7+ Ka6 46.a3 Rg5 47.b4 Rg3 48.Qe7 Rxa3 49.b5+ C. rinde (Lag: Av=0.45s, max=1.7s) 1–0

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

King Gambit Stinker


In honor of Blue Devil Knight who is planning to play the King Gambit as white, I'm posting this stinker that I played on playchess this morning. I knew that there was going to be a effort to trap my queen. At one point, I could of avoided the queen loss by giving back material a Knight for the h7 pawn but was unwilling to do it.

Gone two week with reduced tactical study. I need to do a tactical infusion before tournament play on Saturday in Bow NH . Hope to gain a few points in my ratings again.

To view cut and paste into PGN viewer on sidebar

(3263) Takchess (1540) - Mike S (1484) [C30]
Rated game, 15m + 3s Main Playing Hall, 06.06.2007
1.e4 e5 2.f4 f6 3.fxe5 fxe5 4.Qh5+ g6 5.Qxe5+ Qe7 6.Qxh8 Nf6 7.Nc3 c6 8.Nf3 d6 9.Bc4 Be6 10.Bb3 Nbd7 11.Bxe6 Qxe6 12.Ng5 Qe7 13.0–0 0–0–0 14.Rxf6 Nxf6 15.e5 Qxe5 16.Nf7 Qe1# (Lag: Av=0.57s, max=3.1s) 0–1

Saturday, June 02, 2007

Gambiteer 1 by Nigel Davis

Just saw Gambiteer 1 by Nigel Davies which is a white e4 repertoire with all gambit openings.

Sounds like a pre 2007 Tempo repertoire

If you are interested in the types of lines being played check out this.


http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chesscollection?cid=1010142

Friday, June 01, 2007

David Bronstein Tournament book

Given my recent facination with all things David Bronstein, I have been delving into his tournament book: Zurich International Chess Tournament 1953. I will guarantee you this I will not finish this book anytime soon. It might be one of those books I will visit from time to time.
It covers the scientific period of chess and the vast majority of games are 1 D4 which meant that due to the trends of the time that more than 40% of the games are King Indians and NimzoIndians. Bronstein 2 years earlier lost his world championship match with Botvininnik and in this tournament tied for seconnd with Keres, Reshevsky and Petrosian . Smyslov the next world champion won the tournament.
The only e4-e5 turn into Ruys while there are a few Sicilians.Frenches,Caro-kahns. I like this style of annotations in it talks of ideas and his variations. The tournament info is base on his ideas and conversation with the players not a running it on Fritz.
For example this is what he writes about this King Indian gamehttp://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1241627

Characteristically, the King's Indian Defense features a tense battle waged on all fronts simultaneosly. The system used here secures White considerable territory, not only in the center, but on the kingside as well.
I do not wish to leave the reader the false impression that White's further task, which is to transform his sizeable spatial plus into a material advantage, will be an easy one. The secret of the King's Indian's hardihood is that, while conceding space, Black builds a few small but weighty details into his configuration. Foremost among these are his long-range bishops at g7 and c8, his firmly entrenched knight at c5 and the rook at e8, which maintain constant watch on the e-pawn. Nor ought we to forget his pawns. The "weak" pawn on d6 is just waiting for the chance to push to d5, so White must continually keep an eye on that. The pawn on a4 also has an important role; the threat to advance it to a3 can upset his opponent's plans for that sector at any time, so White must take extra precautions regarding the defense of c3 and c4. If 12. Qc2 was White's latest theoretical discovery, then the same might justifiably be said of Black's 14...Nfd7. 14...Qa5 was the old move, but after 15. Bf4, either the bishop at g7 or the rook at e8 had to move to an inferior position, whereas now the pawn can be covered with 15...Ne5.










pretty deep stuff. A rich meal that I will only be able to digest occasionally a little at a time.