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The Search For Normal Games

 Annotated Games, Basic (Rating below 1000), Children's Chess, Improver (950-1400), Intermediate (1350-1750), Strong/County (1700-2000), V.Strong/Master (1950 plus)  Comments Off
Jan 272012
 

A couple of weeks back my son asked me if we could go through some normal games rather than those with sacrifices. I thought this was interesting, he’d realized that queen sacrifices and the like don’t often happen and was doubting their relevance.

Thinking about it I find that I agree with him. I’ve come across many players, especially young ones, who are forever looking for some wild sacrificial idea because of an early diet of ‘brilliancies’. So they sacrifice when they should be capturing, attack when they should be defending and keep the queens on when they should exchange into a favorable endgame. But aren’t ‘brilliancies’ vital for our all important tactical vision?

This is certainly the story line, but actually I’m unconvinced that they develop chess vision any faster than a well played game together with some astute questions. Vision plays a vital part in every moment of any game, even if the tactics stay below the surface.

Here’s a fairly normal game played by one of my favorite model players, Paul Keres. Nothing spectacular, but excellent play and clean finishing.

 

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 Posted by Nigel at 7:00 am

Post Mortems

 Improver (950-1400), Intermediate (1350-1750), Strong/County (1700-2000), V.Strong/Master (1950 plus), Videos  Comments Off
Jan 262012
 

Post game analysis sessions (aka ‘post mortems’) are an interesting area. Most of them are not very worthwhile unless you want to get to know your opponent a bit better, though observing them can offer some deep psychological insights.

What happens during the average post mortem? Well they are usually highly political affairs with one (or both) of the players attempting to dominate the other (regardless of the result), the winner trying to make the loser feel better or the loser attempting to exact revenge.

Very strong players, on the other hand, tend to focus on a search for truth in order to deepen their understanding of the game. There may be a political element, but this will just be seen as silly if attempted against a knowledgeable adversary.

So should we go through a game afterwards or not? My take is that a post mortem is worthwhile against a MUCH stronger opponent or to have a social element to tournaments. But as a learning tool these sessions are deeply flawed and can lead to tiredness if there’s another game to play on the same day.

The following post mortem video was sent in by one of my Italian readers and has a look of great objectivity and mutual respect:

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 Posted by Nigel at 7:00 am

Open Sealed Moves And Resigning During The Adjournment

 Basic (Rating below 1000), Improver (950-1400), Intermediate (1350-1750), Strong/County (1700-2000), V.Strong/Master (1950 plus), Videos  Comments Off
Jan 252012
 

These quaint traditions are among those consigned to history by the disappearance of adjournments. Once upon a time we used to seal a move after reaching the first time control and then continue the game after dinner or on a separate adjournment day. And this led to all sorts of interesting factors, such as who you could get to help you analyze and how one might cope with too many helpers. There’s a wonderful chapter on adjournment analysis in The Art of the Middle Game by Paul Keres and Alexander Kotov.

Here’s a clip featuring these tactics from games 19 and 20 of the 1985 World Championship match between Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov:

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 Posted by Nigel at 7:00 am

An Old Fashioned King Hunt

 Annotated Games, Basic (Rating below 1000), Improver (950-1400), Intermediate (1350-1750), Strong/County (1700-2000), V.Strong/Master (1950 plus)  Comments Off
Jan 242012
 

The kind of king hunt that was often seen in the 19th century rarely occurs in the modern era, but there have been some cases. The following one is a beauty that features one of my own favourite opening moves, 1.g3.

The loser sportingly commented on it at the Chess Games Online Database and revealed that Raymond Keene awarded it the best game prize and that David Anderton, the former England team Captain, apologized for not having any gold coins to shower on the board.

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 Posted by Nigel at 7:00 am

Another View On Fischer

 Basic (Rating below 1000), Improver (950-1400), Intermediate (1350-1750), Strong/County (1700-2000), V.Strong/Master (1950 plus), Videos  Comments Off
Jan 232012
 

Here’s another view on Bobby Fischer, that of Roman Dzindzichashvili, with some more interesting personal insights.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

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 Posted by Nigel at 7:00 am

Karpov on Fischer

 Improver (950-1400), Intermediate (1350-1750), Strong/County (1700-2000), V.Strong/Master (1950 plus), Videos  Comments Off
Jan 222012
 

These two videos are really good, both from the point of view of chess analysis and Anatoly Karpov’s insights into Boris Spassky’s training camp prior to the match in 1972.

Here’s the second part:

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 Posted by Nigel at 7:00 am

An Englishman’s Win Over Kasparov

 Basic (Rating below 1000), Improver (950-1400), Intermediate (1350-1750), Strong/County (1700-2000), V.Strong/Master (1950 plus), Videos  Comments Off
Jan 212012
 

Here’s some nice coverage of a Nigel Short win over Garry Kasparov from the Speed Chess Challenge final in London 1987. Kasparov won the match 4-2 but lost a couple of games en route.

Short’s opening is totally offbeat of course, but perhaps not such a silly choice against his supremely well prepared opponent.

 

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 Posted by Nigel at 7:00 am

Why Kids’ Chess Teachers Need Patience

 Children's Chess  Comments Off
Jan 202012
 

A major problem faced by those who teach chess to children can be the apparent slow progress of their students. Why do they get better so slowly?

Well this is the nature of any art form whether it be music, painting or chess. Yet these days we are very used to things happening quickly, instant gratification. Why bother with a mere game that requires a lifetime to master? What’s the point?

Sadly these questions are impossible for someone to answer unless their audience appreciates the value of self cultivation. As someone develops their chess they also develop themselves, intellectually, physically and even spiritually. It’s not what you get out of it, it’s what you become.

Parents who don’t understand this will be looking for quick ‘results’, and this in turn will put conscious or subconscious pressure on the teacher to provide them. Many teachers who specialize in ‘children’s chess’ might even advertise their services based on ‘results’ and promptly teach them some short cuts such as the Fried Liver Attack (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.Nxf7).

It has shocked me to learn that this opening is in the repertoire of junior players the length and breadth of the UK. And then counter measures are also being taught, such as 4…Nxe4 hoping for 5.Nxe4 d5 which recovers the piece. I once got shown this at a seminar and after 2 seconds thought pointed out that 5.Bxf7+ Ke7 6.d3 (or maybe 6.d4) is just horrible for Black. Some people in the Nottingham area will hate me for pointing this out.

Unfortunately none of this nonsense helps develop chess skill, in fact the message that one must ape particular moves for ‘success’ is even destructive to the thinking process by suggesting the use of memory over mind. Accordingly I would urge people to abandon the teaching of these silly tricks and instead focus on universal qualities such as sight of the board, principles and ideas. Your students may fall for a few tricks in the short term but they will cultivate themselves far more effectively. And they will be more likely to form a lasting relationship with this beautiful game of ours.

 

 

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 Posted by Nigel at 7:00 am

Psychological Tricks

 Basic (Rating below 1000), Children's Chess, Improver (950-1400), Intermediate (1350-1750), Strong/County (1700-2000), V.Strong/Master (1950 plus), Videos  Comments Off
Jan 192012
 

There are a lot of psychological tricks in chess that fall within the letter of the law. Deliberately getting into time trouble can raise an opponent’s blood pressure as can turning up late for the game. And then there’s the universe of draw offers, playing offensive openings (such as Tony Miles’s 1…a6 against Anatoly Karpov) etc.

What’s the best way to deal with this kind of thing? By keeping calm! And then these tricks tend to rebound against the perpetrator as their attempts to distract the opponent can take their own focus away from what matters most; the moves.

It’s impossible to know whether Garry Kasparov turned up late for the following game deliberately, there might have been another reason. Magnus Carlsen certainly found it nerve wracking but he kept his cool.

 

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 Posted by Nigel at 7:00 am

Sitting On Philidorian Activity

 Annotated Games, Improver (950-1400), Intermediate (1350-1750), Strong/County (1700-2000), V.Strong/Master (1950 plus)  Comments Off
Jan 182012
 

Strange how lines come in and out of fashion, the variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Be7 having been used by the likes of Joseph Henry Blackburn, Aaron Nimzovitsch and then George Koltanowski. But it was only when Vladimir Antoshin championed it that it gained a measure of respectability.

How should White play against it? I don’t know, but I still like the 6.g3 that I used in the following game as it attempts to inhibit Black’s …d6-d5. I think it got published in some book, though I remember being entirely unconvinced with how I was playing it at the time:

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 Posted by Nigel at 7:00 am
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