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Volume 1 Issue 24
November 17th, 2002 In This Issue Position of the Week New At Chessville Strategic Elements: Pawn Structure The Bobby Fischer Home Page The Mad Aussie's Chess Trivia Pablo's Chess News New On The Net [FEN "2b2r2/1pn3pk/r7/p3N3/2Q2p1N/7R/Pq4PP/5R1K w - - 0 1"] White to move and win - Find the
Solution Problem of the Week: (N.B.: This is not the same series of problems which appears in The Chessville Weekly.) First Saturday Tournament Report: by Pablo Sierra. Pictures and prose from Budapest. If the pages are slow to load, believe me - it's worth the wait! Book Review: Learn from your Chess Mistakes, by IM Chris Baker, reviewed by S. Evan Kreider.
Basic Middlegame Strategy: S. Evan Kreider completes his series for
beginners with a brief look at the role of pawn structure.
Strategic Elements: Pawn Structure During our lesson on space, we saw how a line of pawns can function as a wall along the border of one's territory. The wall analogy is apt in another sense as well; viz., that walls are typically more useful when they are structurally sound. Poor pawn structure can be disadvantageous for a whole variety of reasons:
Read all of Evan's article, with clear explanations of these points, here. Editor's note: This, for the foreseeable future, will be
Evan's last contribution to Chessville. He has been an invaluable
asset, and Chessville will be poorer for his departure. If you've
enjoyed Evan's efforts, please
wish
him well in his future endeavors.
The Bobby Fischer Home Page Disclaimer
Question: "Where is Bobby now?"
I had to chuckle when I read these words, posted prominently near the top of this site's home page. For many, Fischer is like a rock star, whose mere rumored appearance can prompt mass hysteria, while others deplore Fischer's strange verbalizations over the years and especially during the past several years. Love him or loathe him though, he's still chessdom's greatest attraction. This is a Fischer Fan site, and it is plain to see the dedication of the site's publisher. Different sections highlight Fischer's tournament & match record, his opening & endgame play, and his opponents. While these lists merely sort & categorize the data from the 690 games the site attributes to Fischer, the analysis of his opening repertoire shows more effort. Here's an example of his responses to the French in each era of his career: Early Years: "When faced with the French Defense, Fischer almost invariably invited the Winawer with 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3. After the further moves 3...Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bc3 6.bc3, we arrive at the theoretically crucial position. [112, 171, 257, 284, 291, 298, 353, 383, 399]" Middle years: "During this period, Fischer had uneven results against the French defense. He maintained his allegiance to 3.Nc3 inviting the Winawer variation, but many of his opponents chose less critical variations like the MacCutcheon and Burn variations. [414, 445, 464, 497, 504, 542]" And the latter period: "Bobby stayed with 3.Nc3, still inviting the Winawer. He successfully experimented with 4.a3 vs. Uhlmann at Zagreb, 1970, but lost against Kovacevic with this move later in the same tournament. [584, 586, 599, 616, 655, 663, 669]"
One of the best features of this site is the incredible
collection of photographs. Over 200 thumbnails show Bobby in all
phases of his career, from awkward teen to World Champion to aging recluse.
This is truly a fascinating visual record, which also includes magazine covers
and even a Fischer autograph. Although the site is easy to navigate (at the bottom of each page are links to the major sections) I was misled by the upper border provided to each page, which contains what look like links to different sections, but which in fact do not function. The site lists 20 updates so far in 2002, which includes such things as Fischer's radio interviews, and reprints of 35 different articles about Bobby, including authors such as Reuben Fine, Frank Brady, Ralph Ginzburg, Brad Darrach, William Lombardy, Garry Kasparov, even Bobby's own account of his arrest and incarceration in Pasadena. A curious omission (unless I just flat missed it) is the total lack of mention of Fischer Random Chess. For Fischer fans as well as those who are just curious about
the former (or still?) World Champion,
this site is a must see.
The Mad Aussie's Chess Trivia Last week I showed you Alekhine's famous 'Five Queen's Game', and attributed an improvement to a young Jan Timman. Tim Krabbé is the correct attribution. His account of the game is very detailed and comprehensive, and well worth reading through. Biased Opinion Perhaps? The 16th-Century Spanish player Bishop Ruy Lopez stated that no player of any skill would ever use the English Opening (1.c4) to start a game. Double Rook Sacrifice: The first recorded game to feature a double Rook sacrifice was played between Bowdler and Conway at London in 1788: 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5 3. d3 c6 4. Qe2 d6 5. f4 exf4 6. Bxf4 Qb6 7. Qf3 Qxb2 8. Bxf7+ Kd7 9. Ne2 Qxa1 10. Kd2 Bb4+ 11. Nbc3 Bxc3+ 12. Nxc3 Qxh1 13. Qg4+ Kc7 14. Qxg7 Nd7 15. Qg3 b6 16. Nb5+ cxb5 17. Bxd6+ Kb7 18. Bd5+ Ka6 19. d4 b4 20. Bxb4 Kb5 21. c4+ Kxb4 22. Qb3+ Ka5 23. Qb5# 1-0 Submit your trivia to the
Mad Aussie!
Chessville Karpov-Kasparov: Online "Match of the Champions" 19-20 Dec 2002 Australian Chess Federation reports: Smerdon sensation in Victorian ChampionshipsYoung IM David Smerdon has scored another remarkable result, winning the very powerful Victorian Championship ahead of GM Johansen and several other IMs. Earlier this year Smerdon won the Doeberl Cup. other online chess news resources The Week In Chess (TWIC) The most complete Tournament NewsJeremy Silman - John Watson: 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 The Chess Drum Annotated Game: Dafi Ibrahim Almannai- Robert Gwaze Profile: IM Pedro Adérito Puzzles: Chess Crackers 35th Olympiad (Bled): Photo Gallery It is almost time for the 5th Annual Junior Orange Bowl International Scholastic Chess Championship as well as the USCF Pan American Intercollegiate Team Championship. as a part of the developing Miami Winter Chess Festival in Miami, Florida, (December 27 – 29). Contact Arden W. Dilley at adilley@gate.net for more info. Tim Krabbé's Open Chess Diary#194 Congested Attacks & a PS To #193 Youngest and Oldest Steve Lopez's T-Notes - Odds and Ends About.com Chess Improve Your Middle Game Part III Can You Spot the Drawing Combination? Don Schultz Home Page Don Schultz Reports On His Trip To The 35th Olympiad in Bled Chessbase "Miss Cool" and a Photo Report from Bled Kasparov-Deep Junior Rescheduled Again! Flame Warrors - A Full Taxonomy Chess Siberia Study of the Oct. 2002 FIDE Rating List What Country Has More FIDE-Rated Chessplayers? a) Russia b) USA c) Spain d) Germany e) India f) France Pakistan Chess Player CHESS BITS - The Journal of the International Email Chess Club Chess Sector - Ukrainian Chess Online Interview: Rene Olthof, the Supervisor of New In Chess Yearbook Chandler Cornered - Geoff Chandler Pentland Hills Away. A Weary Trek
Mechanics'
Institute Chess Room October 2002 FIDE Rating List 73rd FIDE Congress 2-11 November 2002 Bled, Slovenia Seagaard Chess Reviews - The Steinitz Papers (Landsberger) World Chess Network John Henderson's The Scotsman Larry Evans On Chess - Behind Deep Blue RusBase Part Two - More of 1979 Added Jeremy SilmanIM John Donaldson reviews two books by Gligoric: I PLAY AGAINST PIECES and KING'S INDIAN DEFENCE: MAR DEL PLATA VARIATION QUEEN'S INDIAN DEFENSE by Aagaard UNUSUAL QUEEN'S GAMBIT DECLINED by Ward THE STEINITZ PAPERS by Landsberger THE SICILIAN KAN by Emms IM Jeremy Silman reviews: KING'S INDIAN DEFENCE: MAR DEL PLATA VARIATION STARTING OUT: THE CARO-KANN and THE NIMZO-INDIAN: 4.e3 Annotated Games Robert Byrne (NY Times): Kasparov-Mchedlishvili, Bled 2002 Lubomir Kavalek (Washington Post): Polgar-Mamedyarov, Bled 2002 Jack Peters (LA Times): Svidler-Ruck, Bled 2002 Australian Chess Columns - Ian Rogers: Polgar-Mamedyarov, Bled '02
Chess
Sector - Ukrainian Chess Online Puzzles & Problems
Chessville -
Problem of the Week
for Nov. 17th, 2002 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 This week's position, #604 from Reinfeld's 1001 Brilliant Chess Sacrifices and Combinations, demonstrates the theme of interference. Reinfeld explains: "Interference, as the term indicates, occurs where the defender is forced to block himself. He has a choice of moving two pieces to a critical square. Whichever piece he moves, he blocks the operations of the other piece and is thus left helpless against his opponent's threats." The fastest way to win is:
1. Qe6 and now Black can capture three ways: A) 1...Bxe6 2. Nf5+ Kg8 3. Ne7 mate. |
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Opening Advice From Our Collection of Chess Wisdom
The best way to avoid falling into a trap is to develop your
pieces to useful squares where they will not be in any immediate danger. Proper development does not concern itself merely with
placing the pieces where they are effective for attack. It is equally
important to interfere with the range of influence of the opponent's pieces. The purpose of pawn moves in the opening are to control the
center, release pieces, defend your piece and pawn formation, and restrain
opposing pawns and pieces. Play to gain control of the center. Attack central squares
(d4, d5, e4, and e5) with pawns and pieces. Defend by developing a piece when possible. Develop rooks to open files, especially central files. It’s the possibility of a breakthrough that confers the
initiative in the opening, not the breakthrough itself, which should be
preceded by development. In general, when a concession must be made in the opening,
prefer one for which the enemy must concede the initiative.
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