Another funny from Troll Chess.
The young Chinese superstar Wei Ju has played an ‘immortal game’ apparently. Immortal, in chess terms means unforgettable. In retrospect such terms carry weight but for any game to be described as such within days of being played deserves the annotation (?!) pehaps that says more about the media culture that exists at present rather than the game itself methinks…um…well…erm…the good news is that it is a fantastically interesting game and may well never be forgotten. I shall say no more, here is Kingcrusher’s emotionally charged account of the game, you can decide for yourself what status it should have or go onto to have. Enjoy.
Posted in Life beyond the chess board | Leave a Comment »
Those of you outside of Bedfordshire perhaps know Leighton Buzzard from its connection with the great train robbery of 63. That caper aside, the quiet Bedfordshire town has been known to become chess champions of Bedfordshire on more than one occasion. Below can be found evidence that in Victorian times, it had a thriving chess club too, drawing with Luton on one occasion. Note that the term ‘Arbiter’ is not used by the reporter in Fig. 4, ‘Umpire’ (a cricketing term) is used instead.
Fig. 1
Fig. 2 (Don’t go damaging any chestnut trees now!)
Here, the match is described in more detail locally.
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Posted in History of Bedfordshire Chess in the 19th century | Tagged Leighton Buzzard Chess | Leave a Comment »
A sign of a great book is that you can find something new in it upon each return and so once again Cafferty & Taimanov have caught your author’s attention with a curious tale concerning the 38th Soviet Chess Championship held in Riga from Nov. 25th to Dec. 28th 1970
The note of interest concerns the game between Vladamir Tukmanov and Doroshkevich who repeated a blunder for the third time in his career during the game below. Here is the game:
1. c4 e5
2. Nc3 Nc6
3. Nf3 f5
After 3. …f5 (I take black here)
4. d4 e4
5.Bg5 Nf6
6. d5? exf3
After 6. d5? exf3
7. dxc6 fxg2
8. cxd7+
What should black play here?
8. …Nxd7! Not obvious but after which white has two hanging bishops and a rook and black is obviously threatening to queen!
RESIGNS
You had to be super-strong to play in the Soviet Championships at the time, it makes you wonder how one of its participants could lose in 8 moves with white three times in his career in the same line! Very odd indeed. Doroschkevich went on to finish 13th out of 22.
38th USSR Championship, Riga 1970 November 25 - December 28 Riga, Soviet Union (Latvia), 25 November - 28 December 1970
1st Korchnoi 16 /21 * 0 ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1
2nd Tukmakov 14½/21 1 * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1
3rd Stein 14 /21 ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 0 ½ 1
4th Balashov 12½/21 0 ½ ½ * 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 0
=5th Gipslis 12 /21 0 ½ ½ 1 * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 1
=5th Karpov 12 /21 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½
=5th Savon 12 /21 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 ½
=8th Averbakh 11 /21 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½
=8th Podgaets 11 /21 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ 0 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1
=10th Bagirov 10½/21 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ * 1 ½ 0 1 ½ 1 0 0 0 1 1 ½
=10th Dementiev 10½/21 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 ½ 0 * ½ ½ 1 0 0 ½ 0 1 1 ½ ½
=10th Liberzon 10½/21 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ * 0 ½ 1 0 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½
=13th Doroshkevich 10 /21 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 1 ½ 1 * ½ 1 1 ½ 0 1 1 1 1
=13th Kholmov 10 /21 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 0 0 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1
=15th Antoshin 9½/21 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 0 ½ * 0 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½
=15th Zaitsev 9½/21 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 1 0 ½ 1 * ½ 0 1 1 ½ 1
=17th Vaganian 9 /21 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ * 1 0 ½ ½ 1
=17th Mikenas 9 /21 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 0 * 1 0 0 1
19th Karasev 8½/21 ½ ½ 0 0 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 1 0 * ½ 1 1
20th Platanov 7½/21 0 0 1 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ * 1 1
21st Tseitlin 6 /21 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 0 1 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 0 * 0
22nd Moiseev 5½/21 0 0 0 1 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 1 *
The tournament itself was famous for Karpov’s first appearance. His very first win in the Soviet Championships was against Bagairov from Baku, who unfortunately died from a heart attack at the chessboard. On a more positive note, it is a truly beautiful game by Karpov, one of my favourite Karpov games. It should be noted that he had one loss and ten draws prior to the game.
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1022951
White (Karpov) now plays 37 Nc7
Posted in Quaint Chess History | Leave a Comment »
Some rather blasé journalism can be found in ‘A Chess Move’, which I feel gives an unfair account of the state of chess in Bedford at the time. If you’ve read ‘Chess in Bedfordshire’ (1933), you will most likely suspect that the author of ‘A Chess Move’ is following the book without performing adequate research. Please click on the images for a better view.
The aforementioned Stevenson Cup and the match played that season can be found here:
The player on board 2 Ivanoff is mentioned by G.H. Diggle in Newsflash in Feb. 83. Edward Winter, has added it to his wonderful site on the following page, http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/winter85.html, scroll down to 7223.
Bedford weren’t as weak as was suggested in ‘A Chess Move’, is made out as is shown below.
Posted in History of Bedfordshire Chess from 1920-1940 | Tagged Bedford Chess | 1 Comment »
A funny one from Troll Chess (facebook)
Posted in My own warped humour | Leave a Comment »
After having a break of over ten years from chess it is easy to convince yourself that you are something of a reformed character over the board, so I was disappointed with myself to see an old habit return, that of throwing in the towel before it’s necessary. I’ve been playing with the Lucas Program (http://www-lucaschess.rhcloud.com/) a lot recently and decided to see how far up the ladder I could go regarding the numerous engines it has. I’ve made it to Chispa 4.0.3, which has a rating of 2227 but I can’t quite beat it. After a long game which I was only slightly worse, I reached the following position (I am black so black pawns go up the board) and resigned thinking that I couldn’t stop the f-pawn. However, I missed something, can you see what it is?
What should black play here after 53 f6?
53. …Kd7 doesn’t work as 54. c6+ and a pawn will queen. I looked at most but not all knight moves available, overlooking that if black plays 53. … Na4 he can, at least, draw the game. The point is that if 54. f7 Nxc5 55 f8=Q Ne6+ (and winning), white must play 55. f8=N
I assume that after 55. …a5 black is not losing.
After such a long game where I was slightly worse for most of it, thinking I was now lost, I stopped analyzing short of seeing the counter-intuitive 53. … Na4. Tsk, tsk, tsk.
Posted in Life beyond the chess board | 2 Comments »
Here’s a snippet from The Beds Advertiser and Luton Times April 29th, 1910
Those of us local, with an interest in our history know just how important author F.Dickens was. Did the man who trounced Lasker (albeit in a simul) and had Jacques Meises scrambling for a draw really learn how to play chess as an adult from a local farmer? I wonder if the comments reported above really are true? There is no word on who the reporter is and how he acquired such ‘information’.
Chess in Bedfordshire (F.Dickens & G.L. White, Leeds 1933), pg.3
It should be noted that the Luton/Dunstable chess scene was exceptionally strong at that time, drawing in the world’s greatest players for simuls with ease on a regular basis, such as Blackburne the great simul master who was unable to beat F.Dickens. To go from a non-playing adult to top board in a blisteringly strong Luton side is possible but improbable unless you are exceptionally talented.
Note the mis-reportage in the final paragraph (above the game)
Here’s another snippet, this time from The Bedfordshire Advertiser Dec 9th, 1904.
Advice from F.Dickens on how to play the game of chess.
Posted in History of Bedfordshire Chess from 1900-1920 | Leave a Comment »
Peter Frost, an Australian friend from Bangkok recently entered the Teplice tournament in the Czech Republic and bumped into Bedfordshire’s finest, the Ledger brothers. If that wasn’t enough of a coincidence, Peter was paired with white against Steve Ledger in the second round. Here is their game.
1 d4 Nf6
2 c4 c5
3 d5 b5
4 Nf3
This is Yermolinsky’s recommendation.
4…e6
5 dxe6 fxe6
6 Nc3 b4
7 Nb5!? d6
8 a3
It seems as if the Knight has a death wish, but opening up the “a” file fully protects him against being netted by …a6.
8…Nc6
9 axb4 Nxb4
10 g3 Bb7
11 Bh3!
Taking aim at the e6 pawn.
11…a6
12 Nc3 Qd7
13 0-0 Nc6?
I think Stephen must have overlooked that he was allowing my next move, which is very strong.
14 Nd5! Nxd5
15 cxd5 Nd8
16 dxe6 Qc6
It is too dangerous to play 16…Nxe6 due to various pins.
17 Bg5 Be7
18 Bxe7 Kxe7
White has a strong (indeed winning) attack but needs to execute well. The best way to proceed was to introduce another piece into the attack by the creative Rook lift 19 Ra3!, which unfortunately I didn’t notice at all.
19 Qd2? Nxe6
20 Qe3 Qe4
21 Qxe4?
Once again, 21 Ra3! was better. Now my once substantial advantage has quickly disappeared.
21…Bxe4
22 Bxe6 Bxf3
23 Bc4 Bb7
24 Rfd1 Rhd8
25 Bd5?!
Seems natural enough, to stop …d5, but this move allows Black to take the initiative on the “b” file.
25…Bxd5
26 Rxd5 Rdb8!
27 Rad1 Rxb2
28 Rxd6 Rxe2
29 Rd7+ Kf6
30 R(1)d6+ Re6
31 Rxe6+?
Miscalculating the resulting endgame. It was necessary to keep both Rooks with 31 Rd3!, seeking counterplay against Black’s King.
31…Kxe6
32 Rxg7 c4?
Stephen misses his chance to win fairly simply by advancing his “a” pawn to a2, forcing Ra1, and then after …Kd5, White is one move too slow with own King to prevent Black’s from penetrating to b2.
33 Kf1 Kd5
34 Ke2 a5
35 Rxh7?
It turns out that White doesn’t have time for this, but it was quite difficult to see the problem, a “star” 43rd move for Black. I calculated a long variation at this point, and thought everything was going to be ok, because I missed the “star” move in my counting (so did Stephen). I think it was Larsen who said “long variation-wrong variation”.
35…a4
36 Rb7 Kd4
37 Kd2 a3
38 Rb1
All as calculated on move 35 so far…
38…Rf8?
After 38…a2 39 Ra1 c3+ 40 Kc2 Kc4 41 h4 Rd8 we both assumed that after 42 Rxa2 Rd2+ 43 Kb1 defending the Rook is fine for White. But we both missed the “star” move 43…Kb3! winning immediately. This line continues to be available to White for the next two moves as well.
39 f4 Rh8
40 h4 Rg8
41 Rb7 a2
42 Rd7+ Kc5
43 Ra7 Rxg3
44 Kc2 Rf3
45 Rxa2 Kd4
46 Ra8 Rf2+
47 Kb1 Rxf4
48 Rg8
Proceeding directly to Philidor’s position, as I knew that to be drawn.
48…Rxh4
49 Rg3
Philidor’s position. The Rook cuts the King off from the sixth rank, and just waits for the pawn to advance to that rank, after which the Rook goes to the 8th rank and checks forever. Black’s only try is to force White to demonstrate long side defence.
49…Rh2
50 Rf3 Rd2
51 Rh3 Rd3
52 Rh8 Kc3
53 Kc1 Rg3
54 Kb1!
The key move. The King must go to the short side, so as not to get in the way of the Rook’s lateral checks.
54…Rg1+
55 Ka2 Rd1
56 Rh3+ Kc2
57 Rh2 Rd2
58 Rh1 c3
59 Rg1 Rd1
60 Rg2+ Rd2
61 Rg1 Rf2
62 Rh1 Rg2
63 Rf1 Re2
64 Rh1 Rg2
65 Rf1 Rh2
66 Rg1 Rd2
67 Rh1 Rd7
68 Rh2+ Rd2
69 Rh1 Rd8
70 Rh2+ Kd1
71 Rh1+ Kd2
72 Rh2+ Kd3
73 Rh3+ Kc4
74 Rh4+ Rd4
75 Rh8 Kd3
76 Rh3+ Kc2
77 Rh2+ Rd2
78 Rh1
Not the best shirt even seen at the chess board Steve.
From left to right, Dave Ledger, Peter Frost, Steve Ledger and Andrew Ledger.
Posted in Bedfordshire Chess | Tagged ledger brothers | Leave a Comment »
Bedfordshire’s very first county matches have been documented in the book Chess in Bedfordshire, F.Dickens and G.L.White (Leeds 1933) see below:
For detail, I have added newspaper reports detailing some of the matches described.
1908 return match Beds Advertiser and Luton Times Fri Mar, 20
The Bedfordshire Advertiser Friday March 11th, 1904
The Beds Advertiser and Luton Times Feb 22nd. 1907
Old Bedford Road, Luton
Posted in History of Bedfordshire Chess from 1900-1920 | Leave a Comment »
-
Recent Posts
Archives
…on what this site initially became…on what this site is now becoming…on what this site cannot become…
Categories
- Academia
- Bedfordshire Chess
- Chess
- Chess in Thailand
- Dear Ken
- Documentaries
- FIDE
- History of Bedfordshire Chess from 1900-1920
- History of Bedfordshire Chess from 1920-1940
- History of Bedfordshire Chess from 1940-1960
- History of Bedfordshire Chess from 1960-1980
- History of Bedfordshire Chess from 1980-2000
- History of Bedfordshire Chess in the 19th century
- History of Bedfordshire Chess in the 21st century
- Humour
- Kasparyan
- Life beyond the chess board
- Luton Chess Club
- Meme
- Moves I could never play
- My daughter
- My own endeavours
- My Own Games
- My own warped humour
- On-line journal
- Personal Interest & Experience
- Postmodern History
- Quaint Chess History
- Reflections
- Reviews
- Selected on-line games
- Sources of inspiration
- Tournament Chess
- Trivia
- Viz inspired material
- Who wants to be a millionaire chess special
- World Championships Analytics
Posts which McCready is mighty pleased with
Luton & The University of Bedfordshire Chess Club
Tuesdays from 7.30 pm, The Library, Ground Floor
Please go to:
https://www.lutonchessclub.com/Blog Stats
- 33,248 hits
-
Join 39 other subscribers
-
A side note on how to read old Tom Sweby's columns
-
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
-
- I’m either 10 or 11 here
-
- 1982, myself versus Brian from Sunderland.
-
- At the Thai Junior chess championships. My daughter of course.
-
- Pattaya 2011
-
- 2011
-
- Thai Junior Championships
-
- 2008
-
- 2011
-
- Around 2011
-
- 2011
-
- Pattaya 2009
-
- 2011
-
- Kuwait 2008
-
- 2012
-
- 2012
-
- 2011 BKK Chess club
-
- 2011
-
- 2011 Thai Open
-
- 2011 Thai Open
-
- 2013 approx
-
- Around 2014
-
- 2010
-
- 2012
-
- Around 2011
-
- 2011
-
- 2011
-
- 2013
-
- Around 2011
-
- Around 2011
-
- 2020
-
- 2011
-
- 2008
-
- 2011
-
- 2013 or thereabouts
-
- 2010
-
- 2017
-
- 2014?
-
- 2010
-
- 2024
-
- 2024
-
- 2024
-
-
To add comments, please see the bell at the top of the page.
McCreadyandChess 