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GAMES
Lost Boys 2002, Amsterdam
Round 7

De_Vreugt - van_Wely

1. e4 c5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. d4 cxd4
4. Nxd4 Nf6
5. Nc3 e5
6. Ndb5 d6
7. Bg5 a6
8.Na3 b5
9. Nd5 Be7
10. Bxf6 Bxf6
11. c3 Ne7
12. Nxf6+ gxf6
13. Nc2 Bb7
14.Bd3 d5
15. exd5 Qxd5
16. Ne3 Qe6
17. Qh5 .....
      ..... O-O-O
18. Bc2 Kb8
19. Bb3 Qc6
20.Qxf7 Ng6
21. Rd1 Nf4
22. Qg7 Rxd1+
23. Kxd1 Rd8+
24. Kc1 b4
25. c4 Nd3+
26.Kb1 Nxf2
27. Re1 Qb6
28. Bc2 Nd3
29. Bxd3 Rxd3
30. Nd5 Qd4
31. Qc7+ Ka7
32. Nxb4 Rd1+
33. Kc2 Rd2+
34. Kb3 Rxb2+
35. Ka4 Rxb4+
36. Kxb4 Qb2+
37. Ka4 Qxa2+
38. Kb4 Qd2+
39. Kc5 Qf2+
40. Kd6 Qxe1
41. Qc5+ Kb8
42. Ke6 Qd2
        0-1

Nijboer - Solleveld

1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bb5 a6
4. Ba4 Nf6
5. O-O Be7
6. Re1 b5
7. Bb3 d6
8. c3 O-O
9. h3 Bb7
10. d4 Re8
11. Nbd2 Bf8
12. a4 h6
13. Bc2 exd4
14. cxd4 Nb4
15. Bb1 c5
16. d5 Nd7
17. Ra3 f5
18. Nh2 Nf6
19. Rf3 Re5
20. Rxf5 Rxf5
21. exf5 Bxd5
22. Ng4 Bf7
23. Ne4 Nxg4
24. Qxg4 d5
25. f6 h5
26. Qf5 Qc8
27. Qg5 dxe4
28. fxg7 Bxg7
29. Bxe4 Nc6
30. Bf4 bxa4
31. Re3 Nd4
32. Be5 Ne6
33. Qf5 Nf8
34. Rg3 Bg6
35. Rxg6 Nxg6
36. Qxg6 Ra7
37. Bd5+  1-0

Timman -          
    van Haastert

1. e4 e6
2. d4 d5
3. Nc3 Bb4
4. e5 c5
5. a3 Bxc3+
6. bxc3 Ne7
7. Qg4 Qa5
8. Bd2 O-O
9. Bd3 Nbc6
10. Nf3 f5
11. exf6 Rxf6
12. Qh5 Nf5
13. g4 c4
14. gxf5 cxd3
15. Rg1 Bd7
16. c4 Qd8
17. Bh6 Rf7
18. Ng5 Qa5+
19. Kf1 Raf8
20. Nxf7 Rxf7
21. Bxg7 Rxg7
22. f6  1-0

Sutovsky -Nijboer

1. e4 c5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Nc3 d6
4. d4 cxd4
5. Nxd4 Nf6
6. Bg5 e6
7. Qd2 a6
8. O-O-O Bd7
9. f3 b5
10. Nxc6 Bxc6
11. Ne2 Be7
12. Bxf6 Bxf6
13. Qxd6 Qb6
14. Qf4 Qc5
15. Kb1 O-O
16. Nc1 e5
17. Qd2 a5
18. Nd3 Qe7
19. g4 Rfd8
20. h4 Bxh4
21. Qh2 g5
22. Be2 f6
23. Qg1 Be8
24. Qc5 Qa7
25. Qxa7 Rxa7
26. Nc1 Raa8
27. Nb3 h5
28. Rxd8 Rxd8
29. Nxa5 Rd2
30. Rh2 Kg7
31. Nb3 Rd6
32. gxh5 Bxh5
33. Nc5 Kg6
34. b4 Rd2
35. a4 Bxf3
36. Bxf3 Rxh2
37. axb5 Be1
38. Na6 f5
39. b6 g4
40. b7 Rh8
41. exf5+ Kxf5
42. Bc6 e4
43. Nc5 Kf4
44. Nxe4 Bxb4
45. Nf2 Bd6
46. Kb2 g3
47. Nd3+ Ke3
48. Kc3 Bb8
49. Nc5 Ba7
50. Nd7 Rd8
         0-1

 

Back issues of The Chessville Weekly can be viewed at the archives.

August 4th, 2002
 

In This Issue
Position of the Week

The "Hidden Side" of Chess - Correspondence Play
New At Chessville
Introduction to the French Defense
Pablo's Chess News
New On The Net
Position of the Week Solution
 

Position of the Week

White to move and win -  Find the Solution
 

The "Hidden" Side of Chess - Correspondence Play
 By Steve Ryan

If, as a complete chess addict, you bemoan the relatively low profile chess has as a sport/science/hobby, it may cheer you to learn that the OTB (over-the-board) crowd of chess players has, relatively speaking, a much higher profile than Correspondence players. OTB has a certain "cachet" or "mystique", if you will, whereas Correspondence Chess, by its very nature, exits in obscurity.

CC usually takes place as a solitary activity on top of someone's dining room table or (increasingly) in front of a computer terminal. No amazing sacrifices to dazzle the onlooking crowd of patzers (though amazing sacrifices do take place if you examine some games), just a patient unhurried search for the best move. You need a special type of mentality to play CC, best described as a cross between a hired assassin and Mahatma Gandhi; a person willing to plunge the knife slowly but deeply while smiling and apologizing for doing so.  Read the full article here.  See the right hand column for links to a number of CC websites.
 

New At Chessville

 

Introduction to the French Defense
By David Surratt

In this series of articles I'll try to give the ideas and analysis of all of the main lines in the French, as well as quick looks at less popular variations.  I'll also provide some downloads of game collections with the French, all from top-flight International competition, and links to other online resources on the French.  My goal is to provide enough of an overview that the reader will fall in love with the French as I have, and seek more detailed instruction and information.  Quoting Lev Psakhis, "The French is like a proud woman who does not give her heart away easily.  In order to master this difficult opening, it is not enough to know a few variations.  You have to put your 'heart and soul' into it, you have to love it, and only in this way will you understand its mysteries."  Amen.

The French Defense derives it's name from a correspondence game played between London and Paris (1834-1836), won by the Parisians of course.  Thanks to John Saunders (www.bcmchess.co.uk) for providing the score of this game:

CITY London - CITY Paris [C01]  corr, 1834  1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 exd5 exd5 4 Nf3 Nf6 5 Bd3 c5 6 Qe2+ Be7 7 dxc5 0-0 8 Be3 Re8 9 Bb5 Nc6 10 Nd4 Bxc5 11 Bxc6 bxc6 12 c3 Bxd4 13 cxd4 c5 14 Qd3 Qb6 15 0-0 Ba6 16 Qb3 Qxb3 17 axb3 Bxf1 18 Kxf1 Ng4 19 dxc5 Nxe3+ 20 fxe3 Rxe3 21Nd2 Rae8 22 b4 Rd3 23 Rxa7 Rxd2 24 b5 Rxb2 25 b6 d4 26 b7 d3 27 Ra8 Kf8 0-1   Although he reports there is another version of this game which continues 28 c6 d2 29 Rxe8+ Kxe8 30 Ke2 Kd8 0-1  Read the full article here.
 

Pablo's Chess News

Chessville
    Recent Chess News  News & Notes, including coverage of
          Biel Chess Festival 2002

The Week In Chess (TWIC) The most complete Tournament News

Chessbase
     Republica Chess Master Tourney Report from Argentina

ChessMate
     2nd Adyar Times FIDE Rated Tournament

USCF
     Coverage of the 2002 US Open Championships

Lost Boys Tournament 2002, Amsterdam

GM Timman 2623--IM Van Hastert 2427  Peter Connor annotates:  This very entertaining game was played August 1 in the Amsterdam Lost Boys tournament. 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 Black plays a Winawer French defense, a courageous choice against a leading theoretician like Timman. 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bc3 Ne7 7.Qg4 Qa5 Black declines to play a regular poison pawn variation in which White would take on g7 and h7.   8.Bd2 0-0 9.Bd3 Nbc6 10.Nf3 f5 11.ef6 Rxf6 12.Qh5 Nf5 13.g4 c4 14.gf5 cd3 15.Rg1 Bd7 Timman has a strong attack.16.c4 Qd8 17.Bh6 Rf7 Other defenses also don't work; for example, Qe8 18.Rxg7+ Kh8 19.Qg5 Rxf5 20.Rxh7+ Kxh7 Qg7mate.  18.Ng5 Qa5+ 19.Kf1Raf8 20.Nxf7 Rxf7 21.Bxg7 Rxg7 Now Timman shows off, since Rxg7+ wins easily but 22.f6 1-0 It's mate after Qd2 23.Qg4+ Kf8 24.Qg7+Ke8 25.Qg8.
 

New On The Net

The Chess Cafe
     Review: The Turk by Tom Standage
     Giuoco Fortissimo: The Rousseau Gambit Part II
     Endgame Study: V.Vinichenko 1998

William Harvey's Chess Puzzles  -  Solutions
     Richard Teichmann vs NN, Berlin, 1914
     Jean Taubenhaus vs A Smorodsky, St Petersburg, 1914
     Efim Bogoljubov vs S Wainstein, Triberg, 1914
     Rudolf Spielmann vs Alexander Flamberg, Mannheim, 1914
     Alexander Alekhine vs Nikolai Zubarev, Moscow, 1915

Chess City
     New Table of Contents
     Updated Opening Maps
     Roza Eynullaeva - Rising Woman Chess Star
     Rare Pillsbury Games

KasparovChess
     Khalifman Interview - "I’ll look for a new job."

Chessbase
     Latest SSDF Computer Ratings List
- Fritz Still #1
     Shredder vs Swiss Team - Games

Chess Siberia
     Kasparov Best Player of June, Bacrot-Kramnik was Best Game

Lubomir Kavalek in The Washington Post
     Zhu Chen - Krush

Jack Peters in the LA Times
     Shirov-Leko, Dortmund 2002

Australian Chess Columns
     August 4th Columns

Chessopolis
     Bauer Reviews: Starting Out: The King's Indian by Joe Gallagher

Chess Sector - Ukrainian Chess Online
     Chess Classic Mainz Preview

Mechanics' Institute Chess Room
     Newsletter #98, 7-31-2002

New In Chess
     Download Games From NIC Yearbook 63

National Scholastic Chess Foundation
    
Problem of the Week

The Chess Drum
     Chess Protest in Chicago - Chess Benches Removed
     Preview of Jamaican National Championship
     Chess Crackers: Four Puzzles To Solve
     Chess and the Art of Business Strategy

Tim Krabbé's Open Chess Diary
     #182 August 1st, The latest in ultimate blunders

Seagaard Chess Reviews
     Opening For White According To Kramnik
     New In Chess (NIC) Yearbook 63

World Chess Network
     Evans On Chess: Cheaters

RusBase Part Two - More of 1976 Added

Jeremy Silman
     The Study of Master Games
     Stylistic Progression
     Review: Starting Out: The King's Indian by Joe Gallagher

Chess Beast
     Thematic Chess Sets

BBC News: Ancient Chess History Unearthed

In response to the recent article about ancient chess pieces being discovered in Albania, leading to the speculation that chess may have been played in Europe 500 years earlier than is commonly believed, and upsetting the accepted version of its invention, Chessville friend Eddie Herring wrote the following reply:

I don't believe this for a minute. I'm 99.9% sure Chess was invented by a Cherokee Indian named Running Bubba Fishing Too Slow from North Alabama in the U.S. (before it became the U.S. of course). He invented the game because he couldn't keep up with the warriors out running through the woods killing game in violation of the local ordinances banning hunting without permits and so he became a fisherman. He played it against some Choctaws who said the nut hadn't fallen far from the tree and what the heck kind of game was this and since he was sitting under a Chess tree at the time he just naturally told them the name of the game was Chess. That's why the pawns are somewhat round because he used chess nuts for them. Anyway, he later traveled with some drunk Viking warriors back to Norway and taught the game to European captives before they knew they were European captives.

Then one of his descendants helped a guy named Sequoyah (another Indian) invent a written language so that they could keep a record of the moves rather than using outdated calligraphic type hieroglyphics looking something like KBP4 or some such like that didn't show up real good on the walls of their grass huts. This later got called algebraic notation after Albert Einstein started using it but not till then. So, the next time someone tells you Chess was invented in India you'll know the story has just gotten distorted down through the years and you'll know they weren't talking about India but Bubba the Cherokee Indian. Oh, by the way, Running Bubba Fishing Too Slow shortened his name to Bubba Fisher and Bobby Fischer was his ggggggggggggggggggggggggrandson. This is the truth so help me! I could be mistaken but I doubt it. - Eddie

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Position of the Week: Solution

Endgame Experts will recognize this as the famous Lucena Position.  Luis Lucena was a 16th-century Spanish chess player, and author of the oldest existing printed book on chess.  He also analyzed this now well-known technique in rook & pawn endings, sometimes called "building a bridge".

This position is won for White, regardless of who is on move, and regardless of which file the pawn is on, except for the a & h files.  Best play is as follows: 1.Rf4 Rh1  2.Re4+ Kd7  3.Kf7 Rf1+  4.Kg6 Rg1+  5.Kf6 Rf1+  6.Kg5 Rg1+  7.Rg4 and the pawn cannot be stopped from queening.
 

 

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Chess Annotation Symbols

When studying annotated chess games, you'll often encounter a myriad of symbols and abbreviations which are there to convey information, e.g.

 +, !?, +-, OTB, and so on.  Confused? See what it all means HERE.

 

ECO

The venerable Encyclopedia of Chess Openings system of opening classification has become the international standard.  Find your code HERE.

 

Classic Annotations
(From
 Kelly's Quotes

This is throwing the soup overboard altogether, and Black dispatches himself happily.

There is a strong taste of Prussic acid about this move.

And now Hope says she has an appointment elsewhere.

Just the kind of blunder with which this very wretched specimen of a game ought to finish.

Up to this point White has been following well-known analysis. But now he makes a fatal error: he begins to use his own head.

My opponent should have considered that a player of my experience and strength could never allow such a move if it were good.

And his six pawns were scattered like the ships of the Armada that should have conquered England; the Lord blew, and they were all isolated.

Backing up for a running jump, the initiative has passed to Black.

Black is now in desperate need of a good idea. Or, to put it in standard chess notation, +-.

Games like this always remind me of the teachings of the Puritans in pre-Revolutionary America. Remember how they'd preach that sinners hung by a slender thread over perdition's boiling cauldron of eternal damnation? Sort of describes my position to a "T", I think.

 

Check out the links collection.

 

Correspondence Chess Sites

Canadian CC Assosiation

Casual CC Server

Chess In Friendship

Chessmail.com

Correspondence Chess

CC Club of America

CC News

The CC Place

ICCF

IECC

IECG

Ralph Marconi's Chess Page

UECC

The World of CC

 

"If these well-intentioned but unimaginative people would unclench their buttocks for a moment, they might find that chess offers something else to its devotees other than the quasi-religious fervor that they grasp so desperately - these "extra benefits" are relaxation, fun, and a chance to laugh at one's own stupidity."
 – Jeremy Silman (on readers who complain when he adds a little humor to his writing)

 

"We don't really know how the game was invented, though there are suspicions. As soon as we discover the culprits, we'll let you know."
 – Bruce Pandolfini

 

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