In this game someone got thwacked and it wasn’t Tiviakov. But much to his credit, his opponent did manage to soldier on for another 33 moves after the devasting move revealed below.
Even if I had 430985723409853659867230498750239457 minutes left on the clock, I couldn’t find that! The game can be found here: https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1369212
Again, with regards to this game, I refer to the publication I bought in 2012, just before my daughter was born.
MJM Latin America
Posted in Moves I could never play | Leave a Comment »
Here’s another move I couldn’t play. Saccing a rook for a strong attack is above me. I would want to be certain it initiates a winning attack, otherwise I wouldn’t do it. But that is what the move below prefaces impressively indeed.
I would not feel threatened by that if it were played against me. However, black’s position soon becomes unenviable, then lost completely thereafter. All way above my level -I’m not good enough to think that if something looks like an innocuous check then it isn’t that – as it wouldn’t be played if that’s all it were.
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1458883
For in depth analysis of this game, may I suggest the following purchase?
MJM South America
Posted in Moves I could never play | Leave a Comment »
This game I recently discover via research conducted a month or so back. The game is from a simul, where the play is often more gung-ho. That still, you have to admire Fox for threatening mate in 1 given his king position against former Russian champion, and soon to be world champion Alekhine.
I neither have the bravery nor the calculation skills to play such a move.
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1012317
MJM Colombia
Posted in Moves I could never play | Leave a Comment »
Lautier was right up there in his day and beat everyone. The manner in which he beat Kasparov in the game below shows just how strong he was. In the diagram below, he plays a move I most certainly couldn’t.
You need to play through the game to appreciate its finesse. It does need to be asked if anyone ever had two queens on the board against Kasparov faster than Lautier did. I doubt it very much.
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1070708
MJM, Colombia
Posted in Moves I could never play | Leave a Comment »
I can’t link this game, you may find it on Chessbase however.
That is not a move I could play. Where is the win coming from? What’s so wrong with 10. Bf3?
This game is analyzed extensively in the following publication. Well worth purchasing.
MJM, Colombia
Posted in Moves I could never play | Leave a Comment »
A pamphlet was written about this game due to the attention it attracted. If you look at the position below, how well could you calculate the win ahead from the move played? Assuming of course, the sacrifice is accepted, which it doesn’t have to be.
I could never play such a move in classical chess. In blitz as a hit and hope maybe but I doubt it. I am not tactically strong enough to calculate correctly why it works, like almost everyone else.
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1011478
For instructive analysis on this game, you may wish to consider purchasing the following publication.
MJM, Colombia
Posted in Moves I could never play | Leave a Comment »
I’ve decided to collate all moves I have been impressed by over the years in the many, many books I have bought; and all the many, many games I have watched or flashed through. In this position Ivanchuk played a move I could never make. Why? Unable to calculate why it is winning. Doesn’t seem to put black under enough pressure. Well that’s my take anyway.
You can find the game here, and if a member of the site, you can see the engine rating of the move above.
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1060750
MJM, Colombia
Posted in Moves I could never play | Leave a Comment »
On Saturday, December 12th 2009, I decided to go along to the first London Chess Classic and watch Round 4 unfold. Even with the temperature barely above zero, it was a pleasant journey to Kensington Olympia Conference centre, being my first time there since I competed at Othello in the 1999 Mind Sports Olympiad (details of which can be found here: https://www.studiogiochi.com/files/studiogiochi.com/2018/07/MSO-1999-Brochure.pdf. Although I played alongside the current world champion (Murakami Takeshi) back then, who was of course Japanese, it was in fact Dennis Hassabis who won that event as I recalled, alongside many contiguous positive memories which carried me there.
Upon entering the event, I had to buy a ticket in the lobby, a huge spectacle itself and full of children and parents playing in the lobby on giant sized chess sets: it was a hub of activity with children of all ages running around and having fun. Inside the playing hall it was, of course a much quieter affair, and amongst the games being played, the one I took interest in the most, being a French Defence player for so long, was this one: https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1565727.
Things that stood out which are worth recording:
1. I had already been working overseas for a decade and was only back in England to undertake a Masters Degree. I was not yet used to being back in blighty and snowed under with academia. But the whole thing; being in England, taking the train to London, going to watch some chess, fond memories of the location, felt like a trip down memory line if anything.
2. Whilst in the auditorium where the Masters played I saw GM Magnus Carlsen for the one and only time, well before play begun as I had arrived rather early. I then spent time reminiscing about my time there ten years previously and how a close friend and former playing partner Nick McBride bumped into me and introduced himself with a big smile on his face, telling me his name and who he used to play chess for, assuming I must have forgotten who he was. Nick and I both played chess for Luton in the 80s and 90s and draughts for England once down in Weymouth. Info provided by Draughts IM Dennis Pawlek, author of the following site. https://startcheckers.com/
In the chess section I remembered seeing a young David Howell defeat GM John Nunn, who stormed out upon defeat and pushed past many in the process, myself included. In the Cribbage section, I saw Bedford’s Ledger brothers (Dave & Andy) playing together in the doubles section. In the draughts section, Nick showed me who the big stars were, the main one being Ron King. I always remember lots of players from Bahrain participating. I saw GM Nick Pert there too, who I once played against in Hitchin and drew with when he was younger.
3. When not reminiscing, I felt heavily encumbered by the research I had to conduct that month, finding theories of vision and perception proposed in the 70’s tough to eschew and even tougher to digest. This set the tone for most of the day, and if truth be told, it wasn’t the greatest of days, as put – I was snowed under.
4. I found the Masters section rather boring and decided to wander around at some point. In doing so, I also saw GM Korchnoi for the first and only time. Being 78 then, he had quite some dificulty walking and had to use a cane to do so. I saw him expect someone to open a door for him…let’s just say his lack of manners was less than impressive and leave it there.
5. A major section was played also, and I spend quite some time there as much more chess going on. One player caught me by surprise, I thought something was wrong as she couldn’t possibly be a chess player even though she was playing on quite a high board. I went up to her table out of curiosity and some disbelief too. She picked up on this and got up out of her chair. It was WFM Arianne Caoli. I did not know who she was back then and thought she must be a model who just wanted to take part or something, and not a chess player, which the card by the table confirmed she was. As you may know, she went on to marry GM Lev Aronian before tragically losing her life in a car accident in his home nation Armenia. Never in my life have I seen someone so beautiful play chess. But not wanting to disturb her or anyone else for that matter, I continued to circulate.
Not too long after, and long before play finished, I wandered off towards the tube and back home I went. Upon reflection, I liked the nostalgic feel the day had but was so under the kosh from the Master’s Degree I was taking, it wasn’t possible to enjoy the spectacle I beheld. It was a short break from studies and not too much else really. I must have told many about it all though as Andy Perkins from Luton chess club came up to me months later and wanted to know more about it.
MJM, Latin America
Posted in Reflections | Leave a Comment »
‘When we discipline our conscience, it kisses us while it bites’ Nietzsche, Epigrams and entr’actes 99, BGE
Did you know that the first person ever to receive a brilliancy prize was an Englishman or so it is argued? None other than H. E. Bird, he who is more commonly associated with openings and defences considered to be more so quaint than modern. I am not a trained historian and so cannot document the precise reasons why brilliancy prizes emerged when they did, however, I can show a position from the game in question and link it too, as it is rather impressive I must say.
The game itself can be found here, https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1027995&kpage=2. One would naturally assume that should you want to understand why H. E. Bird won the prize given, you should at least look at the game. Further understanding can be found in Hooper & Whylde’s Oxford Companion to Chess, pg. 49
I do believe this has been documented further in: CN 1062 Edward Winter, “Chess Explorations”, Cadogan 1996. The chat below the game linked also cites the following:
Obviously I am not the first to post about this and nor will I be the last, a more comprehensive, if less motivated by patriotism, post can be found here: https://www.chess.com/article/view/first-brilliancy-prizes
More on patriotism, I visited this tournament but not this round where GM Mc Shane won the first brilliancy prize of The London Chess Classic.
Regarding prizes per se, a more comprehensive historical account can be found here: https://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/prizes.html
Explore further as you so wish. If I find further relevant research, I shall post it below.
MJM, South America
Posted in Quaint Chess History | Leave a Comment »
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 | |||||
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.
To add comments, please see the bell at the top of the page.
McCreadyandChess 