Visit Chessville

 

 

Hot Topics From The Chessville Forum  

FICS Cyborg Tourney 1140.1

Best FICS Interface
1164.1

Best World Championship Match Ever
1158.1

Russion Language Chess Books 1163.1

Chess Puzzle
1146.1

Curry System for Beginners
1167.1

Starting In the Pirc  1142.1

Repertoire Books  852.11

How To Look At A Position
780.27

Improvement Plan  1172.1

Working On Weaknesses
1124.34

Using Chess Software For Improvement
1153.1

Top 10 Players of All Time
1081.19

 

 

 

GAMES

Pablo's Picks

Hastings 2003
Rd 4 12/31/02

 Nielsen  vs
           Flear

1.d4 d5
2.c4 c6
3.Nf3 Nf6
4.Nc3 a6
5.e3 b5
6.b3 Bg4
7.h3 Bxf3
8.gxf3 Nbd7
9.f4 e6
10.c5 g6
11.Bd3 Bg7
12.Qc2 Ng8
13.Bb2 Ne7
14.0-0-0 Nf5
15.Ne2 Qh4
16.Ng1 Qe7
17.Nf3 Nh4
18.Qe2 0-0
19.Rdg1 Bf6
20.Ng5 h6
21.Nf3 Nxf3
22.Qxf3 Kh8
23.h4 Rg8
24.Kb1 Rg7
25.e4 Bxh4
26.Qg4 Bf6
27.e5 Rh7
28.exf6 Qxf6
29.Bc1 a5
30.f5 exf5
31.Qf4 h5
32.Qc7 Nf8
33.Bf4 Kg8
34.Qe5 Qxe5
35.Bxe5 Ne6
36.Bxf5 Re8
37.f4 Kf8
38.Bc2 Rh6
39.f5 gxf5
40.Bd6+ 1-0
 

Hastings 2003
Rd 5 1/1/03

 McShane  v
           Nielsen

1.e4 e5
2.Nf3 Nc6
3.Bb5 Nf6
4.0-0 Nxe4
5.Re1 Nd6
6.Nxe5 Be7
7.Bd3 0-0
8.Nc3 Nxe5
9.Rxe5 Bf6
10.Re3 Re8
11.Nd5 Bg5
12.f4 Bh6
13.Rh3 c6
14.Ne3 Ne4
15.Bxe4 Rxe4
16.Nf5 Qb6+
17.d4 Bxf4
18.Qh5 h6
19.Bxf4 Rxf4
20.Re1 1-0
 

 

 

Past issues of The Chessville Weekly can be viewed at our archives.

Volume 2 Issue 1                                                         January 5th, 2003
In This Issue
Position of the Week

New At Chessville
Basic Openings - Légall's Mate
World Chess Network
The Mad Aussie's Chess Trivia
Poll: Which Young Star Is A Future World Champ?
Pablo's Chess News
New On The Net

 

From the Editor...

Last call for all Fantasy Chess entries.  The Corus Super-Tourney starts this week, on the 10th.  Deadline for entries is midnight (EST) on January 9th.  Join chess players from more then two dozen countries on six continents and Play Fantasy Chess today!

This is also the last week to register for the Online Chess League's Winter 2003 Tourney. Team camaraderie and slow time controls - the OCL is a great way to have fun and improve your game. Join as an individual or form your own team with a few of your friends; play in the Open, Under-1800, or Under-1500 sections.  Registration closes January 12th, so hurry.  Register Now!
 

Position of the Week

[FEN "r4rk1/1bp3pp/p3Pp2/1pb2P1Q/5B1N/1Pq1p1PK/P6P/R2R4 w - - 0 1"]

White to move and win - Find the Solution
(As always, look for the quickest win)
 

New At Chessville

Opening Strategy: Légall's Mate!  Learn how to recognize this famous mating pattern that occurs right in the opening.

Opening Preparation: Smith Morra Gambit by Albert Hoogendoorn, Creator and Webmaster of MyChessSite.  Read the third installment in his series on this fascinating way to respond to the Sicilian Defense.

Chess Today:  With the kind permission of GM Alexander Baburin we bring you another issue of his fantastic daily chess newspaper, Chess Today.  This new issue, #785 dated January 1st 2003, contains a month-by-month account of the significant chess events of 2002, along with a selection of games which as he puts it, "show you some truly beautiful and simply bizarre and weird positions."

International Chess Calendar: We'll track all of the major chess events of the year, inspired by GM Baburin's own accounting of 2002's events.  Did you know that on January 5th international chess events are taking place in Ramat-Aviv, Israel; Tel Aviv, Israel; Stockholm, Sweden; Budva, Montenegro; Hastings, England; Reggio Emilia, Italy; Basle, Switzerland; Penrith, Australia; and Budapest, Hungary?

International Country Codes - ever wonder what countries abbreviations like ANT, MYN, or SAF stand for?  Wonder no more.

Problem of the Week: Test Your Tactical Prowess
 

Légall's Mate
Basic Opening Instruction by David Surratt

This well-known opening trap is credited to the French player M. de Kermar, Sire de Légall (1702-1792).  It also is sometimes called the Blackburne Trap, since the English player Joseph Blackburne (1859-1951) used to catch so many players in it!  It can arise in a number of different move orders in a number of different openings, and it's one of the traps you need to know so you don't fall victim to your own greed, and maybe you can even take advantage of your opponent's greed!

Learn to recognize the famous Légall pattern in this instructive article.
 

World Chess Network
http://worldchessnetwork.com/


The World Chess Network (WCN) had 784 players logged on when I tuned in to start this review.  However not all of those were actually playing, as WCN is more then just a place to play chess.

Since September 26th 2002 WCN has been home to John Henderson's "The Scotsman".  Each week John provides commentary on a current chess event, and an unannotated master game.   Larry Evans also writes a weekly column for WCN - "Larry Evans On Chess".  Evans features a variety of interesting items, from current events, to historical reminiscences, to editorial rants.

When I first started following WCN I noticed another column, "The Chess Beat" by Larry Parr.  The first Chess Beat I saw was dated December 1st, 2001 and provided an in-depth look at "The Uneasy Art of Resigning a Lost Position".  Unfortunately, there were no more of Parr's interesting columns until September 1st of 2002, and there haven't been any more posted since.

A Chess History section, also by Parr, includes biographies and a selection of games by 21 "World Champions", from Andre Philidor to Alexander Khalifman; results of world championship matches and tournaments from Andre Philidor vs. Phillip Stamma to Vladimir Kramnik vs. Garry Kasparov.

Despite the content, the World Chess Network is, first and foremost, a place to play chess, an ICS.  To play, you must download their 2 Mb proprietary interface.  WCN does offer a free ten-day trial membership, but after that you either pony up for a membership ($49.95 annually for unlimited access) or you can continue to play for free, but only as an unrated, and you can not attend their events:  Master Challenges - Pit your abilities versus a titled player head-to-head; Community Challenges - Join up with the other members of the WCN community and combine your chess knowledge to take on a titled player; Attend thier Lecture Series - WCN lectures are geared to all levels of player; Watch Banter Games - WCN takes two titled players and puts them in a head-to-head match where they explain each move to the audience; Play Predict-A-Move - Guess the moves of the masters and earn points for your chess knowledge; and Visit the Chat Room - talk to chess players from all over the world.

Finding a game seems a bit awkward to me - there is no seek graph, a la Blitzen, or many of the FICS interfaces.  In fact, you can not make an open challenge - you can only seek a game by challenging a specific player.  When I was logged on for this review, the list of players present showed only 88 of 430 players, and only two of those were available for a game.  Yet I was there only a few minutes before a challenge window popped up, and I was challenged to a 5-0 blitz game.  Many of the features you might expect to find at a premium-based ICS are present, including chat, observing other games, and analyzing online.  Check out the World Chess Network for yourself.
 

Poll: Which Young Star
 Is A Future World Champ?

Last week's poll asked Who Had the Best Overall Performance in 2002?  The Best Performance of 2002 was put up by Peter Leko, who edged Garry Kasparov 27% to 25%.  Forum Host Kelly Atkins explains his vote: "I voted for Leko because with the release of Leko 2.0, we finally saw him start playing for wins and climb into the top handful of players, plus he's earned a shot at the world championship."

This week's poll:  Which young player is most likely a future World Champion?  We offer sixteen of the brightest young stars in the chess firmament from whom to choose.  Ponomariov, Kosteniuk, Bacrot, Radjabov, McShane, Koneru, ...make your choice now!
 

The Mad Aussie's Chess Trivia
From Graham Clayton

Unsung But Not Forgotten:  Isidor Gunsberg is the only player who played in a World Championship match prior to World War 2 who has never had an anthology of their best games published. Gunsberg lost his match to Wilhelm Steinitz in 1890/91.

Drawn By Sleep:  During the 1937 Chess Olympiad Dutch player Salo Landua fell asleep at the board after making his 11th move against Belgian player Arthur Dunkelblum.  Dunkelblum sportingly shook Landau by the arm to wake him up, and suggested a draw, which Landau immediately accepted.

Submit your trivia to the Mad Aussie!
 

Pablo's Chess News

Chessville
    Recent Chess News  News & Notes, including coverage of:
Hastings International Chess Congress * Chessville Coverage
Corus Wijk aan Zee 2003  * Chessville coverage
1st Saturday Tourneys (Budapest) * Chessville Coverage

20th Bermuda International Chess Festival January 25th to February 9th

More online chess news resources:
The Week In Chess (TWIC) The most complete Tournament News
John Watson (at Jeremy Silman's site): Latest Chess News
The Chess Oracle Monthly International Chess News
The Chess Report Another great chess news site
The Campbell Report Correspondence Chess News
Net Chess News - News and More
 

New On The Net

The Chess Drum
     Chess Crackers - Positions by Ashley & Muhammed
     Annotated Game: Amon Simutowe - Lim Yee Weng
     Daaim Shabazz: Metaphysics of the Chess Mind

The Chess Cafe
     Review: The American Chess Journal, March 1878 – July 1879
     Susan Polgar: Year-End Summary and Wish for the New Year
     Carsten Hansen: Play Like a World Champion
     Gary Lane: New Year Innovations

Fred Waitzkin (New York Times): When Chess Was King

Chessbase
     GMs and Muggles Decide: what are the best time controls?
    
The Man Behind the Fischer-Spassky Show
     Christmas Puzzle Week - The new puzzles are here
     Mig on Chess #183

Jeremy Silman
     Silman's Basic Tactics
     Chess Anagrams, Word Search, and Consonant Search
     Silman reviews The Sicilian Sozin, I Play Against Pieces, Secrets of Chess Intuition, King's Indian Defence: Mar del Plata Variation, Starting Out: The Caro-Kann,and The Nimzo-Indian: 4.e3

Scholastic Chess Update Newsletter December, 30 2002 -- Issue 13

FIDE Online
     January Ratings Lists

1  Kasparov, Garry  g  RUS  2847  
 2  Kramnik, Vladimir  g  RUS  2807  
 3  Anand, Viswanathan  g  IND  2753  
 4  Topalov, Veselin  g  BUL  2743  
 5  Leko, Peter  g  HUN  2736  

About.com Chess - The Year 2002 in Review

Don Schultz Home Page
     Cramer Awards Letter toChess-in-the-Schools

New Haven Register: After-School Program A Brain-Twisting Success

Chess Siberia
     5 of the newspaper "64" for November, 1936
     Vote for the Player, Game of the Month for December
     Player of the Month for November: Garry Kasparov
     Aleksandrov, A - Adams, M, Bled 2002, Best Game of November:

Chesshaven - Master Tips

The PawnPusher - Lazy Players Guide to the Scotch Gambit

Mechanics' Institute Chess Room
     IM John Donaldson: Newsletter #120, 1-1-03

Tim Krabbé's Open Chess Diary - 198: More Ridiculous Wins On ICC

Seagaard Chess Reviews
     Batsford Chess Puzzles (Leonard Barden)
     Chess Brilliancy (Iakov Damsky)

RusBase Part Two - Added More From 1951, 1980

Annotated Games

Nick Beqo: Sevillano-Beqo, Las Vegas 2002
Yasser Seirawan (ChessCafe): Anand-Ivanchuk Dortmund 1997
Chess Siberia
 - Nielsen, Peter Heine - Karjakin, Sergey, Premier, Hastings
Robert Byrne (NY Times): Shulman-Andrianov, Los Angeles 2002
Lubomir Kavalek (Washington Post): Naiditsch - Zeller, Ger Ch, 2002
Jack Peters (LA Times): Aronian-Jakovenko, Goa 2002

Puzzles & Problems

Chessville - Problem of the Week
William Harvey's Chess Puzzles - Solutions
     L Szwarcman vs Akiba Rubenstein, Warsaw, 1919
     Max Blumich vs Goebl, Berlin, 1920
     J Nuttman vs C Will, Corr., 1919
     Victor Wahltuch vs Winter, Hastings, 1919
     Efim Bogoljubov vs Akiba Rubenstein, Stockholm, 1920
Endgame Study (ChessCafe): A. Troitzky 1924
Sack the King! - A new tactical puzzle every day!
MagnateGames - A problem each day
Bruno's Chess Problem of the Day
Mastermove - Endgame Compositions
National Scholastic Chess Foundation - Problem of the Week
Chesshaven - Tactical Exercise of the Day
The London Times - Winning Move & Column, Both Daily

Tell us about your favorite site that you would like us to keep an eye on for you.  Write: Newsletter@Chessville.com
 

Position of the Week: Solution

Nothing like a double-rook sacrifice to start things off: 1. Rd7 Qxa1 2. Rxg7+ Kxg7 3. Bh6+ Kh8  if 3... Kg8 then 4. Qg4+ 4. Ng6+ hxg6  no better is 4...Kg8 5. Qg4 Qf1+ 6. Kh4 Qh3+ 7. Kxh3 Bg2+ and it's mate-in-three 5. fxg6 Kg8 6. Bxe3  and there's no defense to the threat of Qh7.  Also losing is 5... Qf1+ 6. Kh4 Qh3+ 7. Kxh3 Bg2+ 8. Kh4 (8. Kxg2 also works, of course) and now it's mate-in-three; nor does 5... Bg2+ work after 6. Kh4 Kg8 7. Bxe3 Qd4+ 8. Bxd4 Rf7 9. exf7+ and mate-in-two.
 

 

Please forward The Chessville Weekly to your friends!

 

Subscribe
Today

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Place Your Ad In Chessville, or In The Chessville Weekly.

 

 

 

Kelly's
Quotes

But the enemy has the move, and he is about to open his full game. And pawns are as likely to see as much of it as any. Sharpen your blade! – J. R. R. Tolkien

Have I ever mentioned you play an irritating game of chess, Mr. Spock? – Captain Kirk (after Spock had announced a forced mate)

Thank you for a very enjoyable game. – HAL 9000 (from 2001: A Space Odyssey)

I played chess with him and would have beaten him sometimes; only he always took back his last move, and ran the game out differently. – Mark Twain (from Life on Mississippi)

It was night. I went home and put my old house clothes on and set the chessmen out and mixed a drink and played over another Capablanca. It went fifty-nine moves. Beautiful, cold, remorseless chess, almost creepy in its silent implacability.
 – Raymond Chandler (The High Window)

No chess player sleeps well.
 – H. G. Wells

If a ruler does not understand chess, how can he rule over a kingdom? – King Khusros II

Excellence at chess is one mark of a scheming mind. – Sherlock Holmes (by A. Conan Doyle)

 

 

Check out all the links to free game collection downloads at Lars Balzar's site

 

 

 

Comments, suggestions, ideas, praise, and so forth, please write to us!

Copyright 2002 Chessville.com unless otherwise noted.