…no don’t think GN’R think the Vienna. One commendable facet of what will in retrospect be referred to as our digital revolution is that those who possess both understanding and the means to communicate are easy to come by. I’ve hunted high and low -no don’t think A-ha- keep focused on the Vienna for something that ticks both boxes, and here be a fine young cannibal example of that.
Archive for the ‘Chess’ Category
…on what you whet the appetite with…
Posted in Chess on November 23, 2020| Leave a Comment »
Winning with under promotion
Posted in Chess on November 21, 2020| Leave a Comment »
White begins with 1. c7+
Embracing the counter-intuitive
Posted in Chess on November 8, 2020| Leave a Comment »
A well chosen example methinks
Posted in Chess on November 7, 2020| Leave a Comment »
The lie of the land?
Posted in Chess, On-line journal on November 2, 2020| Leave a Comment »
I think we can safely say that with the vast majority reverting to the internet for chess instruction it has, invariably, become something of a free for all. Youtube has many channels, and is in all probability the best place to go, but how much of what is on offer is worth watching? Not much, I can assure you.
But in recent months I have noticed that the Americans are getting some things not just right but spot on…for what it’s worth, the following two channels are thoroughly recommended.
https://www.youtube.com/c/STLChessClub/featured
https://www.youtube.com/c/ChessClubandScholasticCenterofAtlanta/featured
Olcmarcus
Bridging the gap
Posted in Chess on November 2, 2020| Leave a Comment »
Before chess became the obsession that took centre stage back in 1987, I loved board games of all kinds. But there was one I liked especially because its similarity to chess. This held true particularly in the early teen years, and here it is.
The more you live the more you…?
Posted in Chess, My own endeavours, On-line journal, Personal Interest & Experience, Selected on-line games, Tournament Chess on November 1, 2020| Leave a Comment »
For the first time last night I represented England. A match against Finland was held. Of the 81 participants, around 30 were titled, of course there were Grandmasters playing. The time frame was 1h 20m, games were set at 3m, 2s increment. I won almost every game I played, held firm in joint 11th for the most part then slipped up in my final game to someone rated 2227. I finished 16th out of 81 even though those finishing both above and below me were on average 300-500 points above me. I punched well above my weight and feel proud of myself for stepping up to the mark against very strong opposition. England gave Finland a sound beating and I did my country proud by sticking in earbuds and bopping away with my favourite 80’s band (A Flock of Seagulls) as I blitzed my way up the leaderboard. All music video images in the screenshots below are of A Flock of Seagulls, the first one being from the song ‘The More you Live The More you Love’. I don’t know about you but the more I live the more I love playing chess.
The match was commentated upon. Rather amusingly it begins with comments of mine where I boast about drinking beer when I studied The Philosophy of Science in Finland as an undergrad back in Autumn 96; when I once beat a Finnish FM with 1.f4 down the pub named The Three Beers in Turun Yliopisto.
There’s two videos from me and now two videos I will bop away to quite happily if given the chance.
Olcmarcus
Carlsen plays the man and wins -now there’s a surprise!
Posted in Chess on October 16, 2020| Leave a Comment »
Carlsen plays a number two and wins in the endgame. I have to admit, the losing move is an absolute shocker for someone with such a high rating -even I could see straight away it was wrong, as well as what he should have played. To what extent this victory exemplifies the fear factor in play when endgames arise in his games I don’t know but he clearly was aware that he was much stronger in the endgame than his opponent (and just about everyone else!). Maintaining the distant opposition in king and pawn endgames is a basic principle we all know but it just goes to show we are all fallible when under pressure. In the thumbnail below white has just played Kd3, allowing black to win with Kd6. Kd2 was the move that would have drawn the game.
The magic of Karpov
Posted in Chess, On-line journal on October 3, 2020| Leave a Comment »
Nine years ago today, I posted the image below on my fb account.
‘The magic of Karpov who is white to play against Uhlmann. He plays g4 here, the rationale being to cut of retreat squares for the black bishop, and help give the better ending.’
Mark
The pig who lost his voice
Posted in Chess, My own endeavours on September 6, 2020| Leave a Comment »
I’m in a state of sworn silent swinehood, being well and truly disgruntled! Why? Because I am learning the hard way that starting competitive chess at 0030, six hours ahead of your opponent is massively disadvantageous. Maintaining your highest level of concentration at 2-3 am -the wee hours as they are known colloquially -is a very big ask even for those saddle sore with hyper mania. Don’t get me wrong, the normative aspects of daily life are…are fatigue-free but to raise the bar at that time -no way! And for the second time consecutively, I could neither raise my game nor play as directly as I normally do. Common sense dictates to play at your peak, play during the afternoon or early evening. Don’t leave it until past midnight, that’s time for hours of sleep not hours of competitive chess. From last night I learnt that tiredness over-simplifies your decision making process. If your thought process becomes less robust, errors creep in because you become less diligent and aren’t checking as much as you should be. In sum, that’s the principle reason why I lost: whilst sleepy I became sloppy. Ah well, I tried at the end of a long day but it just wasn’t quite enough. At least after I realized I had made a mistake, I went on the front foot. Credit to my opponent for making my kingside attack look rather flimsy. I lost but learnt from it -a pyrrhic victory of sorts you could say… .
https://englishchessonline.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/N-v-S-Final-Scores.pdf
Olcmarcus
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A side note on how to read old Tom Sweby's columns
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Not perhaps, but quintessentially, Old Tom Sweby is best thought of as a passionate devotee to the newspapers he wrote for. He was well read and knowledgeable of the Bedfordshire chess scene and well beyond, given that he was the president of the S.C.C.U. once upon a time. He was generally well-respected and rubbed shoulders with many, if not all, of those eminent within British chess circles. It would, however, be a critical mistake to see his column is primary source material entirely. That it is not. You will also find secondary source material quoted too, and the reliability of that is not quite as Tom hoped. Given that he wrote for decades, this is to some degree inevitable, and after all we are all prone to error whether we realize it or not. Thankfully, with regards to old Tom Sweby, they are infrequent and for the most part old Tom continued to document events and developments in the Bedfordshire league from the get go as best he could but, of course, everything lies open to interpretation. Despite this, and generally speaking. this does indeed make him informative and thus worth reading. Dare I say his columns constitute a narrative describing the latest developments, match reports and changing nature of the Beds league...he knew his audience and wrote according. This manifested itself over decades but brevity was always in play courtesy of the restictions imposed by writing a column. Should you wish to read a in instrumental figure of the Beds' league post WW2, you are quite welcome to peruse what has been posted here... . :-) I should, however, point out that as the decades wore on he gradually moved on away from narratives concerning the Bedfordshire league towards affairs both historical and international. The reasons for this are multifarous, old age was a predominante factor presumably, however, the bottom line is with regards to how the Bedfordshire chess scene developed post WW2: old Tom Sweby is your go to guy. He wrote more about chess in Bedforshire than anyone else did but given he was a Lutonian and writing for a Luton newspaper there is both bias and greater coverage of his hometown than the rest of the county.
Gallery
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- I’m either 10 or 11 here
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- 1982, myself versus Brian from Sunderland.
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- At the Thai Junior chess championships. My daughter of course.
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- Pattaya 2011
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- 2011
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- Thai Junior Championships
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- 2008
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- 2011
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- Around 2011
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- 2011
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- Pattaya 2009
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- 2011
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- Kuwait 2008
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- 2012
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- 2012
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- 2011 BKK Chess club
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- 2011
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- 2011 Thai Open
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- 2011 Thai Open
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- 2013 approx
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- Around 2014
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- 2010
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- 2012
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- Around 2011
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- 2011
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- 2011
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- 2013
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- Around 2011
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- Around 2011
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- 2020
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- 2011
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- 2008
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- 2011
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- 2013 or thereabouts
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- 2010
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- 2017
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- 2014?
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- 2010
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- 2024
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