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Posted by davewv uskidscompute.com 6/17/2005 18:51:23 Play online chess	Subject: The Brothers Message: We are a new team and will use this forum for members to share information.
Posted by rageb uskidscompute.com 6/17/2005 19:04:15 Play online chess	Experiment! Message: Good wishes to all! Thanks to dave for creating this forum... I don't have anything to discuss right now :) :) :) So will be back when I find something to discuss or share. :) :) :) Thank you. Rageb.
Posted by alfredjwood uskidscompute.com 6/17/2005 19:15:54 Play online chess	Organization Message: Let's start with some general concepts or ideas. One of mine is that we can best use this type of play to assure that we don't blunder. The concept is simple: When I decide upon a move I do not make it immediately. I first ask myself four questions: 1. What squares will this piece ATTACK once it is moved? (EASY TO SEE) 2. What squares that it now attacks will be RELEASED upon the move? 3. What lines will be OPENED when this piece moves? What lines will be CLOSED when this piece moves? These four simple checks are possible because I am not under time pressure. I win most of my games because my opponent has missed one of these checks. Al ——— Robotic "Monster Chess" set uses 100000 LEGO pieces — The idea is simple — a chess game where you can play against the computer. But the implementation here is what's truly monster about it. Each chess piece is its own autonomous robot, and there are actually a couple of 'spares' (as well as NXT blocks built into the King & Queen), so that ends up with 38 separate NXTs that must be controlled, commanded, and communicated with. Ron McRae did the bulk of the software work on the PC end for this, and it really works well. The chess board has squares based on the large LEGO baseplates, making the entire assembly roughly 12' on a side. On top of that is a way to input the humans moves, and a laptop running chess software and helping ...
Posted by davewv uskidscompute.com 6/17/2005 19:27:15 Play online chess	Elaborate Message: Al, can you elaborate on number 2. It seems like that would be quite involved. ——— The Catalan Chess Opening part 4: how should white tackle a strong centre? — Continuing our brief survey of the fashionable Catalan Chess Opening: instead of capturing on c4, Black holds firm in the centre. How should White develop? RB Staring reproachfully at me from my desk is a newly bought but unopened copy of Play the Catalan by Nigel Davies (Everyman Chess). I haven't had the time to make even a start and am still as innocent of the theory as I was when we began this series of columns. I've resisted the temptation to cheat by looking to see what Davies recommends and am going to go on general principles: what looks like the most useful developing move? Two possibilities suggest themselves: Qc2 and Nc3. So which one? Over the chess board I'd probably ...
Posted by rageb uskidscompute.com 6/17/2005 20:13:39 Play online chess	Good Advice! Message: So we'll call it Al's rule, and will try to remember it in the acronym form of AROC, in regards to the capitalised key words Al attracted our attention to -- Attack, Release, Open and Close. Good one Al, I personally will try to remember it, though I know it'll take some time for me to get habituated... Incidentally can I quote Emanuel Lasker on Al's second sentence about making sure not to blunder? He said, "When you see a good move wait -- look for a better one." Take care y'all. ——— Former Chess Champions Find Success Beyond the Board — They took the road more traveled, and each is happy that he did. Patrick Wolff, Michael Wilder and Stuart Rachels are former United States chess champions who walked away from the game years ago to lead more traditional lives. Wilder, 47, a chess grandmaster, won the title in 1988. By the following fall, he was in law school at the University of Michigan, and done with chess. â€œI just didnâ€™t have the energy or the motivation to keep my skills fresh,â€ he said in an interview this month. Now a partner at McDermott Will & Emery in Washington, he specializes in corporate tax issues. He said he had not played a tournament game in more than 15 years. â€œI never gave serious consideration to being a professional chess player,â€ Wilder ...
Posted by monitache uskidscompute.com 6/17/2005 20:24:03 Play online chess	The team forum Message: I'm new, and will start listening more than participating for now. Al's ideas very on hand to consider while playing. ——— Carlsen Back in Action — After a break of several months (during which he went to New York to do some fundraising for the presidential campaign of Anatoly Karpov), Magnus Carlsen, the 19-year-old Norwegian who is ranked No. 1 in the world, returns to action beginning Monday in the Kings Tournament. This will be the fourth edition of the chess competition, which is in Bazna, Romania, in the heart of Transylvania. The town is best known as a spa, resort, so presumably the chess competitors will be well treated. In addition to Carlsen, the other competitors are Wang Yue of China, Boris Gelfand of Israel, Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan, Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu of Romania, and Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine. Ponomariov ...
Posted by hakimoerton uskidscompute.com 6/18/2005 01:27:13 Play online chess	On Board Message: Hi Team, Above messages noted. Mostly writing to say I am on board here and to ask a question regarding openings. Advice I have received in the past is to learn one opening well and, initially at least, stick to it as white, and to learn well two openings as black that respond to either a king or queen pawn opening. How does this sit with you guys? Any suggestions as to the most useful to know well? I am about to start homework in a serious (and fun!) way. Best wishes, Hakim ——— Jakovenko Leads Tournament Named for Karpov — Entering the final stretch, Dmitry Jakovenko of Russia and Sergey Karjakin, who also plays for Russia but is originally from Ukraine, are in the best position to win the 11th Poikovsky Karpov chess tournament. Jakovenko leads with 5.5 points after eight rounds and Karjakin is a half point back with 5 points. Alexander Riazantsev, another Russian, is alone in third place with 4.5 points, while a pack of four other players have 4. The chess tournament, a round-robin with 12 players (each competitor plays each of the other competitors once), is name after Anatoly Karpov, the 12th world chess champion, who is running for the presidency of the World Chess Federation. Poikovsky is ...
Posted by alfredjwood uskidscompute.com 6/18/2005 02:33:56 Play online chess	Squares released. Message: Square release is easiest to check with a pawn move. The pawn always attacks two squares, except when it is on the edge of the board. Pieces are denied these squares. When the pawn moves, pieces may occupy the released squares. It is also easy to check with knights and kings, the other square-movers; but is more difficult with the line movers. Look at any of your games and see where you were able to occupy a square that the opponent should have denied you. Look at the Morra with black's pawn at d6: when the e pawn moves it releases d5 and that square becomes a target for white. Checking for squares released takes only seconds, but requires focus. Play the board, not the piece. Al
Posted by bradny uskidscompute.com 6/18/2005 03:25:42 Play online chess	Al et. al. Message: I can quickly see that our forum is going to be very valuable to us. Al, I have done 3 out of the 4 rules for a long time. Never stopped to consider "release" No wonder I could not beat you. Hak, learning one opening well is sound. Consider that you don't need to know openings if you develop your pieces early. Most games are lost in the first 10 moves because the player doesn't make sound opening moves. Brad
Posted by alfredjwood uskidscompute.com 6/18/2005 03:54:47 Play online chess	Expectation Message: Hak, First, pay attention to Brad, he's a first class coach. Second, I typically open with e4. When my opponent responds, I develop an expectation. Examples: 1. e4 e6, I EXPECT the French and expect to attack my opponent on the kingside. I develop my pieces toward that end. Were I a defensive player, I would EXPECT to be attacked by black on the queenside, and develop my pieces toward that end. Again, if my e4 is met with c6, I expect the Caro which leaves black holes in my opponents pawn structure. I develop my pieces to take advantage of that weakness, EXPECTING to use one of those holes as a pivot point or outpost. Chess problems arise when there is a deviation from expectation; that's what makes the game interesting and enjoyable. Third, if you want to learn a lot about a particular opening, play with Alex (Straussian), he is a veritable opening book, likes to share, and enjoys running comments as he plays. Al
Posted by hakimoerton uskidscompute.com 6/18/2005 04:28:54 Play online chess	Expectation and openings. Message: Brad and Al, thank you both. My last 'study' of anything chess-like was going through Bobby Fisher's "60 Memorable Games". That was many decades ago. I want to learn some openings because of what I see as the relationship between structure and intuition, intuition having more scope if it functions within a structure, e.g. the 'art' of music comes after the mechanics have been mastered. I think it is the same in chess. What I have so far is choose an opening, probably Ruy Lopez or King's Gambit, as white, and learn it well. Be guided by how the opponent responds, the 'expectation' aspect. As black, respond to e4 with the Sicilian, French or Caro Kan; to d4 with the Nimzo Indian if Nc3 is developed first, Queen's Indian if Nf3 is developed first. Alex will receive a challenge soon! And my play will improve. And our team score too. Thanks team, Hakim
Posted by davewv uskidscompute.com 6/18/2005 04:46:36 Play online chess	Play the Board not the Pieces Message: This phrase by Al has stuck with me. He mentioned it when we played an earlier game, and I am trying to be cognizant of it. In that regard I am studying a new book which seems to speak to that type strategy. "How to Reassess Your Chess" by Jeremy Silman. I am finding it very fascinating, and it seems to speak to the very point of playing the board. Silman advises studying the imbalances between the opposing positions and developing a strategy to gain advantage from them...kind of hard to explain?! I have been using the NOTE feature (visible only to you) to actually list imbalances of each side. It has been very helpful in a couple of my recent games. My biggest problem still remains outright blunders. I'll try Al's 4 part plan. Dave
Posted by straussian uskidscompute.com 6/18/2005 05:44:32 Play online chess	Opening Message: Hakim, You've already read some valuable stuff on openings from Al & Brad, but allow me to add some; You need to know one opening system as White, either 1.e4 or 1.d4 or 1.c4 -- but not two or all three. And whether with White or Black you need to know the basic goals of each opening you play. 1º For starters, you need to know how to play at least one good defense to 1.e4 and one to 1.d4. You might want to have two: a solid defense to use against stronger players and when you don't mind a draw, and a sharper one, when winning is a high priority. (in the IYT ladder case). Isn't it always? you might say. No, not always. I'm sure you've seen GM's who meet 1.d4 with 1...Nf6 when they need a full point. But they use 1...d5 -- to play a Slav or some other QGD line -- when they're just trying to equalize in the opening. Or they play the Sicilian when going for a kill but 1...e5 when they can afford to draw. 2º What about junk like 1.g3? For all the closed systems -- 1.Nf3, 1.c4, 1.g3, 1.b3, and so on -- you can get away with one answer to each. Maybe less. How can it be less? you might say. Because of that magical word transposition. For example, you can use a system based on ...d5 and an early ...Bf5/ ...c6/ against 1.Nf3 as well as against 1.g3 and 1.c4. You can even use it against 1.b3 and 1.f4. 3º To win with the Black pieces passive defenses usually won't do. So aggression is required. But don’t jump the gun in playing for attack with the Black pieces. Remember what Bobby Fischer said: "You've got to equalize first with Black before looking for something." And then of course, there are the issues of style, repertoire development & talent. Well talk some more as soon as we get to play, OK? Alex.
Posted by hakimoerton uskidscompute.com 6/18/2005 06:04:05 Play online chess	Opening Message: Thanks Alex. My cup runneth over tonight. Have been taking notes and am at -> www.eudesign.com for my homework. Look forward to our meeting. Hakim
Posted by bradny uskidscompute.com 6/18/2005 06:07:08 Play online chess	Al & Alex Message: All I can say is WOW! You two are going to make better players of all of us. My teaching was never this precise. This is going to be enjoyable!!!! Brad
Posted by esmet uskidscompute.com 6/18/2005 13:39:50 Play online chess	1bit Message: Congrats 1bit. You did a great job there. Looks likeni'm in a good team. My specialties are, for white Kings gambit or Ruy Lopez, for black Ruy Lopez, Italian of Sicilian (dragon). I look forward to play a friendly game... Eric
Posted by davewv uskidscompute.com 6/19/2005 06:59:09 Play online chess	AROC Message: Thinking about Al's rule a little more. I also must check thoroughly to see what pieces (and how many) directly attack my moved-piece in its new location. I have been known to move a piece in direct line of fire of some far-off bishop. Maybe we can call it S for SAFE. I realize this is a pretty simple mistake....Brad and I used to call it a "kid's move" when we were young. I still make them much too often! dave
Posted by straussian uskidscompute.com 6/20/2005 02:50:11 Play online chess	Dear Team mates..... Message: Hi there Team! Have been thinking about optimizing the cultivational use of our forum. We've all got our chess-experiences, we've al learned certain lessons. Why not share exactly that what we understand best. I believe that Brad, for example, could tell us a lot 'bout the endgame, believe Al is well-versed in about any part of this noble game. For me, I've always been interested in the opening. I'm an electoral campaign consultant and know how important the fundamentals are upon which one builds a successful campaign. Also, I sincerely believe there's a link between opening & endgame. Perhaps some of you guys remember that splendid novel of fantasy "Monday begins on Saturday?" Its title contains a valid thought: our preoccupations of tomorrow originate today (if not yesterday!) Thus it is in chess: the endgame sometimes begins in the very opening! When studying an opening, it's not enough to 'swot up' on variations. You need a deep understanding of the events taking place on the board; for this, you have to master the ideas of the coming middlegame and sometimes even the endgame. I should add that with the ceaseless stream of info by which today’s chessplayers are engulfed, it's sometimes not until well into the endgame that an opening variation terminates. I've studied many, many openings ever since the late 90's, trying to identify the most successful and most vulnerable ones, and I'd like to share with you, my team-mates, some of my impressions of the way the opening conflict is conducted. And please, feel free to respond, add, or flat-out disagree with me. At the same time, I'd like to see my team-mates telling us their experiences, on whatever aspect of the game. Alex (Straussian) To be cont'd.....
Posted by davewv uskidscompute.com 6/20/2005 04:55:46 Play online chess	Stonewall Message: Alex's recent comment (share your experiences) precipitates this note: One of my favorite openings is the Stonewall. Why? It is an unusual opening that sometimes catches opponents (even better ones) off guard. Many people have not seen it. It is pretty simple to learn. Even many higher rated players are probably not accustomed to playing it. To begin with 1.d4 narrows the field from the many variations required to learn and use the e4 openings. Many of the better players know long variations and traps of e4 openings that I can not compete with. It is a very closed opening that gives white a lot of mobility (while stifling black) and attacking possibilities on the kingside. It does suffer from closing off the white Q bishop until late in the game, thus opponents probably cringe when they see 2.e3. Here is a recent example I just finished on IYT where all the elements fell into place. Hope you enjoy. Also hope Alex, as our openings expert, will give us his comments. 1. d4 e6 2. e3 d5 3. Bd3 Nf6 4. Nd2 Be7 5. f4 c5 6. c3 c4 7. Bc2 O-O 8. Ngf3 Nc6 9. O-O b5 10. Ne5 Bb7 11. Rf3 a5 12. Rh3 b4 13. Qf3 Nd7 14. Qh5 h6 15. Rg3 Qb6 16. Qxh6 g6 17. Nxg6 Go Team!! davewv
Posted by straussian uskidscompute.com 6/20/2005 07:16:27 Play online chess	Stonewall Message: But of course, Dave. Like I already mentioned in a private message, I’ve experimented briefly with the Stonewall in ’98 or ’99 on clublevel. Many players who employ the Dutch Defense (Stonewall Variation) via 1.d4 f5 think that the perfect way to cut down on their study time as White is to reverse that opening with 1.d4 d5 (or 1…Nf6) 2.f4. There are two problems with this logic. 1º After 1.d4 Nf6 2.f4 Black can play for a quick …e7-e5: 2…g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 d6 6.O-O Nc6 7.c3. This is the formation that White envisioned with 2.f4. Unfortunately, Black can now play 7…e5! and get a great position since 8.fxe5 dxe5 9.dxe5 Ng4 regains the Pawn with advantage. Therefore I’d say that the Stonewall Attack isn’t sound if Black can play for a quick …e7-e5 advance. 2º After 1.d4 d5 2.f4 Black can try 2…Nf6 3.e3 Bf5 clamping down on the weak e4-square. 4.Nf3 e6 when the second player already enjoys a comfortable game. Therefore, to me, it’s clear that the early creation of a hole on e4 makes the Stonewall Attack a rather nebulous proposition. Alex (Straussian)
Posted by bradny uskidscompute.com 6/20/2005 14:44:46 Play online chess	End games Message: Alex, you were right on when you mentioned understanding the board and that the events in the middle game determine the shape of the endgame. As Alex knows I used Capablanca's book when teaching chess and he starts the book with the end game. His philosophy was that if you understood how to win efficiently with each piece or combination of pieces, you could then have a better understanding of what to work for in the middle game so that you'd have the advantage in the end game. He did have some basic principles that I imagine everyone on the team is already aware of but I guess it won't hurt to repeat them as a general review. As with all chess principles they are not written in stone and may be violated when the case warrants it: 1. Once you have a winning advantage do not take any of your opponents pieces or pawns unless it leads directly to the win. Many stalemates have occurred because a player took all his opponents pieces with no reason to do so. 2. When the game consists of your opponents king and you have a rook, queen, or two bishops, etc. Do not check your opponent until the final move. (with 2 bishops it is the final two moves) Checking to just check at almost any point in a game is usually a useless move. 3. Be sure you fully understand distant and near opposition with your king. The king is an offensive weapon in the end game. 4. In a king, pawn ending vs king it is imperative to keep your king ahead of your pawn. Only move your pawn when it is necessary in order for your king to protect it. 5. If you both are going to end up with a king and a pawn and your opponent will queen one move ahead of you, try to make sure your pawn is a bishop's pawn or a rook's pawn because then the game will be a draw. It has been a long long time since I've given any formal thought to any of this and as some of you know the medication I'm on has done a job on my memory. I'll add more next time. Hope some of this will be of help to some of you. Brad
Posted by alfredjwood uskidscompute.com 6/20/2005 16:12:57 Play online chess	Expectation Message: If I can give only one suggestion to a player it is this: Always expect to win. No matter who your opponent is, expect to win. If he is Karpov or Anand, expect to win. If you are down a piece, expect to win. In one of my games on this site recently I blundered away my queen early in the game. My opponent had an Italian name, I forget it - something like Pizzuzzi. I expected to win. He only had one extra queen, not two or three! I won the game, I believe that he expected me to win. Never underestimate the power of expectation. When you do not expect to win your game goes sour. You try to prolong the inevitable defeat. I remember the immortal words of Marechal Foch: "Je attaque". I remember what Patton said when reminded that he was not protecting his flanks: "Let the Germans worry about the flanks, we attack." In 1969 my mentor gave me this advice: "No one ever won a game of chess by resigning." Remember Bastogne? The 'Nuts" speech got the media, but what didn't get the media was General McAuliffes briefing. He said " Gentlemen, we have an ideal military position. We can attack in any direction we choose". Players resign psychologically. What did Winston Churchill say to the boys of Eton? "Never, never, never, never, never, never, never quit." One of the great speeches of history. Remember what the mice and birds sang to Cinderella: "You can do it, you can do it, you can do it Cinderella. Go up and clean the attic, go down and clean the cellar; you can do them both together, Cinderella." When my opponent has two rooks and knight to my one rook and bishop pair, I know I will win on an open board, the piece count isn't important. It's attitude, not aptitude, that gets you altitude. Go for the brass ring.... every time. You'll lose a game now and then, it's God's way of keeping you humble; He acts in mysterious ways his wonders to perform, but be sure it's an act of God when you lose, not a loss of faith. Al
Posted by davewv uskidscompute.com 6/20/2005 17:31:51 Play online chess	Teamwork Message: I am very pleased with the information sharing that we have in this forum. It is exactly what Brad and I hoped we could have when we decided to have a team. Back in my working days as a Research and Development Manager for a large chemical company one of our priorities was team-building.....among a lot of very bright and outstanding men/women. It has always been a wonder to me how a team can outperform the sum of its parts. I think it is called synergy. In a sports analogy... the New England Patriots seem to exemplify this. I see this chess team has the potential to help all the individual players improve their game. Eric hit a good point....he is trying harder in team games. Me too. I liked Al's positive attitude pep talk!! Go Team!!! davewv
Posted by hakimoerton uskidscompute.com 6/20/2005 19:17:41 Play online chess	Endgame exchanges Message: One of the 'rules' I have been in the habit of breaking is to take pieces when I have a material advantage. Not for the sake of the capture but to increase the significance of my advantage. Will rethink this. A win is always better than a piece! Hakim
Posted by straussian uskidscompute.com 6/21/2005 05:18:04 Play online chess	More on the opening... Message: OK, class continues… My thoughts on how to think in the opening, and the value of comparisons and common sense -- and that memory does matter. Let’s start by realizing that you have to think differently in the opening. Y'all might say, "I have to think differently from the way other players think?" No, just different from the way you think in the middlegame or in the endgame. Opening-think is a different animal. I've learned that there are 3 basic elements of opening-think: Nº1 Memory, Nº2 Logic/Common Sense, Nº3 Analogy. Many players think you don't need to memorize at all, that it's much better to understand everything. But to my opinion that wasn't even true in Morphy's day; he was one of the most booked up players of his century. Nowadays memory plays a much greater role than it ever did. Two of the worst defeats Kasparov suffered as world champion were pure memory lapses. In one of them Kaspy blundered even though he had compiled the biggest fault of prepared openings ever. He reached a Sicilian position he had analyzed extensively and sacced a Bishop. "It's all written down in my notebook," he said afterwards. So what happened? Instead of the move in his notebook, 16.e5?, he played something else and lost. The former world champion must be human, too, I guess. And he proved it again a few years later with another memory meltdown. My closing argument for today; we often hear about chessbooks which emphasize ideas as opposed to variations. I would suggest that, strictly speaking, the idea in chess, is the move. Alex (Straussian) More thoughts on the opening to follow.....
Posted by davewv uskidscompute.com 6/21/2005 05:28:12 Play online chess	Memory---Openings Message: Alex, Do you have any particular tricks/techniques for remembering opening variations? Dave
Posted by straussian uskidscompute.com 6/21/2005 06:10:17 Play online chess	Memory---Openings Message: Dave, All I can say is once you've found an opening you're comfy with, buy 2 or 3 books on it with the most successful variations, and keep goin' over it and over it, and over it. Having lost a game is also extremely motivational to me. The next time I want, or better said, I need, to do better. Take for example my three losses against Al Wood on IYT, with me playing the Caro Kann, in the past one of my most favored defensive systems. I am now practicing & studying the Caro and Al's play, till I think I can take on Al once again, hoping for a better result. And to think that I once had a win and a draw with the Caro against a GM. What I'm saying is, it all comes down to hard work. Doesn't come easy. Alex.
Posted by alfredjwood uskidscompute.com 6/21/2005 11:25:33 Play online chess	Hunker down defenses Message: Alex let the cat out of the bag! I'll confess: I don't play defense. I play offense. With white or black I play offense. I like the Morra offense, the two knights offense, the Berlin offense, etc. I relish playing against hunkered down defenses like the Caro and the Stonewall. It's like assaulting a position where I know where all of the defenders are located. They are dug into foxholes. I can see the holes in the perimeter and know, with a reasonable certainty, where I can set up outposts and pivot points. Some white openings are like that, as well. Many of my opponents are chocked to death in their fortresses, or chewed up by outposts or pivots. I agree that you need to specialize in openings, I suggest that they be openings over which you can have more control than your opponent. The opening is the weakest part of my game, ask Alex or Brad, so I need to get into the middle game in an equal or superior position, I chose my opening variations with this in mind. White may often be able to determine the opening, but I make it difficult; and know that I can usually control the variation. There was a great book written by Chernev in the 1930's or 40's about chess traps. It influenced my decisions on openings more than any other book, because it showed me the ambushes while I learned just three openings in reasonable depth. Agreeing with the others, I think three should be your goal. One with white, with all bases covered (that's why I like to open with e5), one with black against d4, and one with black against e4. Pick the ones that fit your personality, it will be easier for you to play and easier for you to learn. By the way, over the past sixty years many openings disappeared from the books due to disuse by the masters. It is taken for granted, I guess, that they are no longer useful because they are flawed. It's not the case in this type of play. I find them useful. I still play the wing gambit. The King's gambit was determined to be a loss for white some years ago. I routinely play it with white, thinking that my opponent has not studied it sufficiently because he "knows it's a win for black"! For those peers, like Alex, who improve their play against it quickly, I switch to a Ruy on the second or third game, but in this type of team play I may not meet an opponent more than once. Check my games and see how often I've played this "known loss" on this site, and how many times it resulted in a loss. My grandson called me from Arizona this morning, we are a few moves into a game on iyt. He asked me how I got such an advantage so early in the game. I told him that I noticed that he looks at the pieces, he looks at the move of the piece. He needs to look at the board. He needs to see the levers, the holes, the avenues, the critical squares. When he knows the adjustment needed to the board, he will know the pieces that are ready to make that adjustment. I agreed, on each of his moves, to comment on the board so he can see what I see. Chess notation is of the board, not of the piece. As you use the four-step move check method, you will find that you are seeing more of the board and less of the piece. When my knight moves, I see the square it stood on, the avenues that square intersected, and the eight cornered net that knight was about to pick up; then I see the square that knight is going to, the avenues that square intersects, and the new net that has been thrown as the old net was picked up and recast. Try it. When I was a boy I used a clam rake under the boardwalk after the tide went out, to uncover coins dropped thru the cracks. A few of us made as much money in an hour as we could in a day in another line of work. We had an inside joke: When someone told us something with which we had a differing viewpoint, we would look upward and say "This is the way I see it". Most of my opponents do not see the board as I see it (from my view under the boardwalk). Most do not play chess, they play with the chess pieces. Play the board: 64 squares, 42 lines. Al
Posted by esmet uskidscompute.com 6/21/2005 12:49:47 Play online chess	well well Message: Finally a (long) statement i can fully agree with. I'm from Belgium and do not master the English language as our friend Al, but i agree fully with his statement. I almost always open with e4, and on e5 i always play the Kings Gambit. Not that this is good, but because i am sure that 90 % dont know how to play it correctly. Do you know that Queens gambit accepted makes them puzzeld too. d2-d4, c2-dxc4 .. not strong, but surprising and ... unknown ... Good analysis Al .... nice feeling Eric
Posted by davewv uskidscompute.com 6/21/2005 14:06:56 Play online chess	Endgame practice Message: Here is one I saw in an endgame book I am studying. W: Kg3,Ne6 B: Kg1,Pf2 It is white's move Is there any way to stop the inevitable white win here?
Posted by davewv uskidscompute.com 6/21/2005 15:51:51 Play online chess	For Brad Message: I had a pretty good endgame against sonof88fingers. Check the game. Is there any way I could win it playing the endgame differently? dave
Posted by esmet uskidscompute.com 6/22/2005 00:25:38 Play online chess	Inevitable Message: After Ng5 u have a perpetual check going from Nh3 to Nf2
Posted by straussian uskidscompute.com 6/22/2005 01:10:34 Play online chess	Latest on memorizing... Message: Some final words on memorizing variations of openings from your own repertoire; You might think that there’s no way you’re gonna memorize half that much book. You don’t have to, Dave, guys... But you do need to memorize a fair amount to compete successfully. It’s a simple fact of chess/tournament life. The real problem with memorization is that it can become a crutch; a substitute for thinking. And that crutch ends up costing you when you remember enough to get yourself into a crucial position, but you don’t remember how to get out of it! Now you might ask “Isn’t remembering a little better than remembering nothing?” No, it’s often worse. You react the wrong way because of what you think you’re supposed to do. Well, OK. I’m sure you always suspected memory was a biggie, despite what others might say. Now you’ll ask “But what’s the deal with Nº 2, logic & common sense?” Come back tomorrow to this forum and I’ll show you what I mean. Okay? Alex (Straussian)
Posted by straussian uskidscompute.com 6/22/2005 01:31:16 Play online chess	Finding the right opponents... Message: Hi there Dave, One suggestion concerning oppo research; When scouting potential opponents or in accepting challenges, it might not be a bad idea to check out the average playing time of each of their players first. That’s one way of preventing having to play someone who only moves once each 2 or 3 days. Alex (Straussian)
Posted by davewv uskidscompute.com 6/22/2005 14:01:29 Play online chess	Eric Wins Message: Eric got the endgame problem correct. Good job.
Posted by straussian uskidscompute.com 6/22/2005 22:51:32 Play online chess	Logic & Common Sense Message: Hi there Team! For those still interested, let me continue with what I've learned on openings since the late 90's. Today Nº2 is up, logic. Logic is indispensible in the opening, especially because it acts as a counterbalance to memory. Every player relies to some extent on memory of moves played previously. But often those moves are just ludicrous. And it's logic -- or just common sense -- that should tell you when they're ludicrous. Is there a more practical use of logic? I’d say there is. Logic should always kick in when you get an unfamiliar position. Why logic matters... The strongest openings are the ones that can’t be handled by common sense. For example: The Queen’s Gambit (1.d4 d5 2.c4) is strong cuz the most logical defense, 2...Bf5 and 3...e6 or 3...c6, allows White to seek favorable complications with 3.cxd5! The Ruy Lopez (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5) is strong cuz the natural defenses, 3...d6 or 3...Nf6, have tactical problems. For example, 3...Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 And now 5...exd4? 6.Re1 d5 7.Nxd4 loses for Black cuz both 8.Nxc6 and 8.f3 are threatened. So Black must try lines that have to fight for equality, such as 5...Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5. The most logical defense to 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 is 2...Nf6, responding to an attack with an attack. But after 3.Nxe5 Black cannot safely reply 3...Nxe4 because of 4.Qe2! So he has to accept a slight inferiority in the center with 3...d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5. The Italian Game, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4, was the strongest opening for more than a century, largely cuz the logical defense: 3...Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 ...kept losing to 6.Nxf7! Kxf7 7.Qf3+ (or 6.d4!), the Fried Liver Attack. Only the introduction of 5...Na5! -- a weird-looking move -- saved the Two Knights Defense. Well, this should do it for today, I’ll try to continue tomorrow. Alex.
Posted by bradny uskidscompute.com 6/23/2005 02:00:13 Play online chess	Dave: end game Message: I played the game through to move 36 and then analyzed from there. It was a lost game at that point, so playing the end game differently would have had the same outcome. 1. He had 4 connected pawns against 3 and even though you could have ended up with a free pawn in the h file, you couldn't queen it because of his bishop. He also had your knight nicely tucked away. Had you been able to get him into the game it might have helped. I didn't understand your move # 36. I would have pushed the king forward instead of backwards, but it wouldn't have mattered.
Posted by esmet uskidscompute.com 6/23/2005 03:31:54 Play online chess	Two Knights defence Message: Hi Friends, Further to the comments of Alex i would like to report that i'm actually playing this line (Two knights defence) in my team game against Glad8tor. My position, although early to tell, looks prosperous. Eric
Posted by alfredjwood uskidscompute.com 6/23/2005 03:49:56 Play online chess	Two Knights Message: Esmet: I play the two knights attack with black! The two knights gives black the opportunity to carry the fight to white. I am playing it in a couple of my current games. If you are on the white side of a two knights, you may want to look at games I have completed using the black pieces. Al
Posted by davewv uskidscompute.com 6/23/2005 11:44:35 Play online chess	Welcome Alexander Message: I would like to extend a warm welcome to Alexander Kotov, our newest team member. Alexander is from Russia and will give us even more diversity. We are all glad to have you for a teammate Alexander!! davewv on behalf of The Brothers Team!! Go Team!!
Posted by bradny uskidscompute.com 6/23/2005 14:38:37 Play online chess	Alex vs Brad Message: Alex and I still use IYT for practice games. We've been working on the Ruy Exchange Variation lately. He has been playing white and I've been black. I think I'm beginning to understand both sides of it much better. It would be possible to use the "unrated game" here on GK to do the same thing. I don't know if you have the time or patience, Al to work with some of us on the team by providing comments and instruction during an unrated game. Alex, it would be helpful if you could play through the opening and instructing and commenting as the game progresses. I believe it would help to have comments about possible blunder moves or poor moves before we make them. I've done some of this with players on IYT but I play chess like I play golf - which is to say I'm a feel player. I play what feels good. I'm trying to incorporate Al's and Alex's lessons into my play now & would very much like to play any team member a practice game with comments and suggestions as we go along. Brad
Posted by bradny uskidscompute.com 6/23/2005 14:43:43 Play online chess	Dave Message: Congratulations!! Dave. I meant to mention that I have Chernev's "Winning Chess Traps", Al and I use it a lot. It was published in 1946.
Posted by hakimoerton uskidscompute.com 6/24/2005 00:18:09 Play online chess	Chernev's books Message: Borrowed a copy of Irving Chernev's Logical Chess Move by Move (1957) from the library today.
Posted by straussian uskidscompute.com 6/24/2005 02:25:23 Play online chess	Alex vs Brad Message: Brad, that sounds like a good idea to me. Guess I already did so in my last move. As I’ve already told you guys before, I’m an electoral campaign consultant, and one of my activities is speech/platform-writing. As Al knows, I’m also an essay/speech collecter to learn from others. Same story with my chessbook collection, now ‘bout 90 of them. I read/study them at night, after I turn off my laptop, and those parts that impress me come floating by whenever something provokes the memory. What I’m saying, I’m happy to share what I’ve learned/picked up so far with my team-mates. Alex (Straussian)
Posted by straussian uskidscompute.com 6/24/2005 02:28:53 Play online chess	Part III Message: OK Team, today I just want to add that logic & common sense can work hand in hand with the third basic component of "opening-think." Team: "Remind me…" OK, Nº3 "reasoning by analogy." Now y'all say: "If you’re gonna start using SAT words on me…" Relax, "analogy" just means comparison. Thinking by analogy means comparing your position with others you recall that resemble it. When there's no memory to rely on, you're essentially left with logic & analogy. Team: "If I’m supposed to think that way, how do I start?" You start by recognizing when there’s a similarity between the position on the board and some other opening you’re more familiar with. What often happens, even in GM games, is that one player sees the similarity but the other doesn't. Also, recognizing the similarities between positions with colors reversed is an invaluable asset when thinking by analogy. Team: "Why is reasoning by analogy supposed to work?" It works cuz there are certain Pawn-structures, piece-developments and plans that occur over & over. And if you don’t understand how the position on the board resembles others, it can cost you dearly. Failing to reason by analogy can be pretty embarrassing, but we'll talk about that the next day. Alex (Straussian)
Posted by alfredjwood uskidscompute.com 6/24/2005 03:51:48 Play online chess	combinations... Message: "A thorough understanding of the typical mating combinations makes the most complicated sacrificial combination leading up to them not only NOT difficult, but almost a matter of course." Tarrasch.
Posted by alfredjwood uskidscompute.com 6/24/2005 08:32:06 Play online chess	Today's thought Message: Bishops are generally more valuable in attack. Knights are generally more valuable in defense. A knight at f3/f6, in front of the castled position is stronger in that defense than any other piece. It blocks two lines, a task the queen or rook cannot accomplish, it's net includes h2 as well as two center squares. It is expendable for exchange with any other piece as necessary. If you play offense, value your bishops; if you play defense, value your knights.
Posted by bradny uskidscompute.com 6/24/2005 11:34:26 Play online chess	Pawns Message: Pay close attention to maintaining a solid pawn structure during the middle game, as this is essential in the end game. If possible keep viable pawns on both sides of the board as this makes it impossible for a lone king to defend. One of the books I have is "Pawn Power in Chess by Kmoch. He has his own vocabulary, which sometimes makes it confusing but I have gotten many useful tips from it.
Posted by alfredjwood uskidscompute.com 6/25/2005 04:17:04 Play online chess	Alexander Message: I believe that we should take aboard new members in a more systematic way. First, I don't think they should simply choose us; I think we need to act mutually and choose them, as well. We are becoming a closer group every day and we are friendly, sociable and sharing. We should organize an interview for prospective team members and assure that they fit the mold. People who just want to play chess have no need for a team, unless they feel it is a way for them to get games that they could not get on their own. A team should be for those who want to share chess. Not just the game, but the thinking and comraderie. A new member should have something to add to the team and we should be doing a mutual evaluation to determine fit. I fear that Alexander did not fit. Al
Posted by straussian uskidscompute.com 6/25/2005 04:42:00 Play online chess	In reaction to Al on Alexander... Message: Just briefly, couldn't agree more on what Al just mentioned. We don't wanna end up like Eisenhower, when asked what were his biggest mistakes made when still in office? "Two of them are sitting on the Supreme Court!" ...he answered. We should be just as careful in choosing/admitting new members. Alex.
Posted by straussian uskidscompute.com 6/25/2005 05:45:12 Play online chess	Part IV Message: Team, still haven't read any objections to my using of a Socratic-student approach to "opening-think," so I'll continue for another day. Finishing the topic of analogy, I'd like to show how important reasoning by analogy is, particularly when you're out of book. Comparisons help take the mystery out of many openings when you find yourself in a new position around move ten or so. Team: "Make that move five for me." Actually move five isn't a bad time to start thinking analogously. Think by analogy and you improve your chances bigtime. But bear in mind that analogy plays a much greater role in 1.d4 openings than 1.e4. Team: "Why’s that?" Cuz the various members of the 1.d4 family are more closely related to one another, in Pawn-structure especially, than the 1.e4 openings. Team: "Do you ever have to reason by some far out analogy -- like deciding to play a Scheveningen Sicilian position like, oh I don't know, like a King’s Gambit?" If the Pawn-structures are similar you can make some pretty distant jumps from one opening to another. In the end, analogy is just another weapon, like logic. So, that's enough analogy. But, there's one other important area we need to touch on the next day and it's more 'bout feeling than thinking. Brad already mentioned it before (Alex vs Brad 6/23/’05 -- 14:38) Team: "Feeling?" Yes, a feeling for how much you should be able to get out of a position. It's like a sense of how much you deserve. Team: "I’m not getting this..." Come back tomorrow and I'll explain. Alex (straussian)
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