Archive for July 18th, 2022

Echo Beach

Posted in My daughter on July 18, 2022| Leave a Comment »

What do I do when I am not at work and not online? Well, ‘I know its out of fashion and a trifle uncool’

Relax on the beach with my child and a banana shake. + ‘It’s a habit of mine to watch the sun go down’
‘On echo beach there’s not a soul around’

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Read Rowson Right

Posted in Humour on July 18, 2022| Leave a Comment »

‘myth buster’It’s uncommon for a Grand master to also be well educated, having a Ph.D. Rowson does though and he writes well too. He’s well worth a read but you do need to read him ‘lento’ as the content is often dense and requires reflection.

Apologies for sliding into ‘myth busting’ mode but one of the attributes given to chess players is that we have a good memory (courtesy of opening theory) but it just isn’t true. Do you know which game does require a good memory, one if fact so vastly superior to chess they are incomparable, well do you? If not then I shall tell you -it’s Scrabble!

Final ‘myth buster‘, it’s not true that all chess players are like myself, incredibly handsome with a stunning physique, tanned with a six-pack and wearing sunglasses, full of charm and charisma too…(oh Mark really!! Maybe you should go to bed! That’s not remotely funny and working out why you think it is…erm no thanks, just drop the attempts at humour before you embarrass yourself further and get to bed pronto…of all the deplorable things to come out with! Really you should be quite ashamed of yourself because you really aren’t funny -ya know!)

Rowson’s most recent publication. He rewrote it 10 times and it’s a little uneven in tone but worth a read nonetheless. Rather inspirational too it must be said.

Mark. J. M

1.35 am, a dark room somewhere…

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Rook in coming

Posted in Chess on July 18, 2022| Leave a Comment »

https://9gag.com/gag/aXrOWyg

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‘en passant’ (disco version)

Posted in Chess on July 18, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Some people have too much time on their hands.

https://9gag.com/gag/a81Oy0Z

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You can keep on winning, it’s just the parameters change.

Posted in Chess on July 18, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Throughout the 80s, 90s, England was a hotly-tipped nation at national events like the Olympiad. It’s not that way now for main events, unless you change the parameters. The same players who were strong 30-40 years ago are now doing very well in the over 50 and over 65 sections. Details are provided here.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/jul/01/chess-england-win-three-world-titles-while-ian-nepomniachtchi-nears-victory

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Some do’s and don’ts’s of ‘The St. George’s Defence’.

Posted in Chess, My own endeavours, Personal Interest & Experience, tagged , , on July 18, 2022| Leave a Comment »

The draft save is Feb 12th 2021 and this is about as far as I got. What it doesn’t say in the don’ts’s is don’t play it against people who are much better than you! I say this because you concede a lot of space, and if that’s used well you are in a difficult situation to put it mildly. Since this draft save I have adopted the Sicilian with 2. …e6 as it is more solid and gives you more chances. I really ought to point out here that I did play the St. George’s solidly for at least 6 months at a very busy time (300-500 games) but I am by no means a professional player. The book written by Basman I found to be rather poor but he did seem to know that if the centre is closed, you have to play on the flanks or you will get squashed basically. It’s a fun/novelty opening that can really throw your opponent but I certainly wouldn’t try to build a repertoire around it as its only a matter of time before you’ll be shot down in flames. What is written below is entirely from my own experience, and it became very rare that I was troubled in the opening.

The Do’s which provide playable middlegames.

-understand you are conceding the centre therefore you must play on the flanks.

-understand you gain space on the queenside and so that is where you should play. Attacks on the kingside come later, once your opponent is stretched somewhat or at least attending to your play on the queenside.

-minor piece development order is usually queen’s bishop, king’s knight, king’s bishop, and lastly, queen’s knight.

-you have less space than white and so one or two minor pieces should be exchanged so that you have more room for manoeuvre. White will find it easy to attack if this does not happen.

-because you will develop the queen onto a dark square -most likely b6- you should wait for your opponent to commit his light-squared bishop first unless it can be challenged immediately.

-do try to exchange the c-pawn whenever the opportunity arises because it makes it easier to use the b-file, and if the position stays closed you can’t generate counter play.

-given that it is unorthodox either your opponent won’t set his pieces up correctly, will sit and do nothing or will over-extend, if your play is harmonious he will find it hard.

-try to prevent the queen from gaining access to the kingside if possible. It’s the only option has but it can be deadly. In general you are too committed to the queenside to cope with sacrifices or exchanges which open lines.

-do try to understand its an unconventional opening rarely played, which means your opponent probably won’t know what to do and will go for a passive set up.

-if an early a4 is played, push on with b4. It is played to try and gain the c4 square, which you should not allow for that is a concession which will prevent you from opening the game up.

The Don’ts’ which get you out of the opening with a playable position

-don’t think in terms of transposition to The French or The Sicilian are not quite possible and likely to weaken your position quite a bit.

-don’t allow your opponent to gain a three pawn central majority because you won’t be able to undermine it.

‘the king’s knight shouldn’t stay pinned. h6 seems to work well, Be7 is less risky than Qb6, in general the queen isn’t needed on the queenside until mid to late middlegame. Remember, if the centre closes, the King can stay there.

-don’t come out of the opening with no minor pieces exchanged. Aim for two if possible as your position is rather cramped. Almost certainly the king’s bishop and quite often the queens knight.

…push the b-pawn early as its often a useful moves that alters the set up of the white queenside…

…it could be argued that because The St.Georges Defence is passive there is a greater necessy for black to free himself up and for the opening and early middle game that involves generating counter-play on the queeside and utilizing that, often to attack the white centre.

The black queen is a piece that has to be deployed carefully, sometimes it is best to wait because it may not be needed on the queenside, and is often targetted when placed there. It’s best square is seeingly b6, transfering pressure from e4 to d4 but care must be taken so that a bishop doesn’t come to b3 and a knight doesn’t hop into d5 or c4. Queen placement is probably the move which requires the most care.

…if white play is typically playing standard developing moves its because he doesn’t know what to do.

…* the e4 square is what white can win easily with. If the knight on f6 is removed, and you haven’t castled, then wait because the bishop and queen battery on the c1-h6 diagonal is hard to meet.

…when an early c4 comes, re-route the knight to b6 after the exchange on c4. Don’t allow white to capture the knight and double the d-pawns because they are too difficult to defend and your light squared bishop becomes hemmed in.

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Some things are not easily understood.

Posted in Life beyond the chess board on July 18, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Click on the following link and see if you can make sense of it. I couldn’t.

https://preview.redd.it/kscltrgucac91.gif?format=mp4&s=2de605d0e2d2294de23c571d2cd39cf5c5a56f48

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Painting by Richard Rapport

Posted in On-line journal on July 18, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Painting by Richard Rapport
byu/Rod_Rigov inchess

I have great respect for him and have for many years. Check out this classic from yesteryear.

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Have you Reddit?

Posted in On-line journal, Sources of inspiration on July 18, 2022| Leave a Comment »

I’ve started linking media from the website Reddit and will continue to do so because the community of chess enthusiasts and sub-categories is broader than most media platforms, meaning that it’s easy to find content that you can’t find elsewhere. Moreover, I do suggest you have a look at the site itself, as it has come on leaps and bounds from its early days…

https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/ (this is the main one for chess but there are very many others).

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Updates…

Posted in On-line journal on July 18, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Where most posts are written this summer, with more to follow soon.

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