Archive for the ‘Life beyond the chess board’ Category
How they do it in Spain
Posted in Life beyond the chess board on September 5, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Please Sir, can I go to the toilet?
Posted in Life beyond the chess board, tagged wee wee chess on September 4, 2016| 2 Comments »
The anti-transparency organization FIDE, who just happen to be the governing body of chess also, have once more confirmed how out of touch they are with reality at the current Baku Olympiad with yet another draconian ruling which is ‘absurd, humiliating, unworkable’, so it has been claimed. Some of the world’s leading players have signed a petition to have it removed, the ruling in question is as follows:
Players of every match MUST inform their Match Arbiter when they leave the playing area in order to go to the toilet, to the bar or to the smoking area. They are not allowed to leave the playing venue while their game is still in progress. The Captains are not allowed to leave the playing venue either while their Match is still in progress. If they want to be replaced by another person, they have to inform the Match Arbiter in writing. The replacement will be allowed only once per round.
Further background info can be found here, I have to say all this reminds me of when I was at school and had to ask for permission to do a wee-wee or poo-poo:
https://chess24.com/en/read/news/olympiad-protest-at-anti-cheating-toilet-rule
Whether or not any player or group of players can influence this particular FIDE policy is yet to be seen but a twitterstorm is brewing:
If you mess with the best…
Posted in Life beyond the chess board on September 3, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Poor old Enamul Hossain from beleaguered Bangladesh, forced to play for his country and defend its honour against world champion Magnus Carlsen. It is the second round of the 2016 olympiad, and after 16 moves the following position has been reached.
Both commentators pointed out that even though black is not material down the position is completely lost! Black has given world champion Carlsen a free hand on the kingside, thus resignation is not far off. The game is here below.
https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tournaments/42nd-chess-olympiad-baku-2016-open/2/39/1
The World’s wildest Grand masters Part 2
Posted in Life beyond the chess board on August 26, 2016| Leave a Comment »
As you may know “Texas hold em” Poker is currently the world’s most poplar game by quite some distance. I’ve often thought the expression ‘putting a player on tilt’, heard so often in Poker coverage is applicable to chess also. In the following game at the Abu Dhabi Open, a tournament which has come a long way since I last entered it, GM V. Fedoseev (2670) begun with the black pieces in the most provocative fashion against England’s D. Eggleston (2384).
The position after 1.e4 Nf6 2. e5 Ng8?!
I think black’s plan is to unsettle his lower rated opponent with dubious moves. A risky strategy but the great tragedy here is that black succeeds with his initial plan and then goes on to win in less than 30 moves!
You can find the game here below. I am informed that the variation at hand (2. … Ng8) is called The Brooklyn Variation. You may note that white’s idea of Qb5 is not correct – I suspect he was ‘on tilt’ at the time.
https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tournaments/abu-dhabi-2016/1/1/4
What do you think?
Posted in Life beyond the chess board on August 25, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Are you not entertained?
Posted in Life beyond the chess board, tagged chess baku olympiad on August 23, 2016| Leave a Comment »
See below for how not to make a promo video:
Having spent nearly two years in Baku, I strongly suspect those participating in the vid know little about the place (the locals excluded of course!). No comments on the multitudinous rumours abound that the vid was scripted, that many of the GMs were coerced, were held at gunpoint during the filming, that the budget of 10 pence was not exceeded. (that’s £ 0.10 to non-Brits).
Ponder…scratch head…smile…click
Posted in Life beyond the chess board on August 22, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Who is better and why? Hot Tip: the white pieces are handled by a certain endgame expert named Mr. J. Capablanca
“well-played” -he’s told, then leaves the ICCF
Posted in Life beyond the chess board on August 15, 2016| Leave a Comment »
I decided last year to stop playing at the ICCF for the simple reason that far too many players use computers either to find their moves or as a blunder checker. If you go to their site you will see that there is nothing in the rules to prevent this as controlling it is practically impossible. I really don’t see the point in paying to enter a tournament only to use computers but whatever…. . Some players, who don’t use computers, also show bad etiquette with slow-play when they lose interest in the game from falling behind in it.
It took almost one year to defeat a certain cheeky Scottish chappie who sent the message “well-played” upon his resignation in our game. With the tournament waiting an eternity for our game to finish, I no longer have any games to play and have cancelled my account with them, having found their on-line ‘support’ not very supportive also. Anyway, my opponent steadily fell behind in the game only commit a mistake which would put him into an endgame which he could not save. Let’s pick up the game late on.
35. Qa7 Rf8 have just been played. What should white play next?
Scroll down slowly for the answer.
Keep scrolling.
Nothing to see just yet.
Okay, the cheeky Scottish chappie I had the pleasure of beating played the mistaken 35. … Rf8. White can simply play 36 Rxf7 with a winning endgame to come.
47. f6 Resigns.
My moment of freedom from the ICCF -hurrah!
Showing us how its made in style
Posted in Life beyond the chess board on August 9, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Ever wanted to make your own set? Just follow the 20 million or so simple steps in this video. The knight was particularly fascinating I thought.
Ever wanted to make your own board? Great viewing once again, such skill and craftsmanship on show. A few million less simple steps to follow here I think.
Something from the world’s No. 2 from the 70s?
Posted in Life beyond the chess board on August 9, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Have a look at the position below. The players were two of the strongest from the 70s, Korchnoi and former world champion Petrosian. I think we can agree that black has gone wrong already, see if you can decide who plays which colour and how the game proceeded, it is white to play. I have linked the game below. The sense it left me with was how the world’s No. 2 could play like that. Unconvincing stuff indeed considering the status of the players.
After 21. …Qc7. What does white play and how should he proceed?
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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.
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