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1.e4
e5 |
Volume 1 Issue 23
November 10th, 2002 In This Issue Position of the Week New At Chessville ICS Interface Review: Thief The Chess Variant Pages The Mad Aussie's Chess Trivia Pablo's Chess News New On The Net [r3r1k1/pp3pbp/1qp3p1/2B5/2BP2b1/Q1n2N2/P4PPP/3R1K1R b - - 0] Black 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.) Interface Review: J. Varsoke continues his series with a look at Thief. Chess Poem: by C. A. Escoffery.
World Junior Champions: a handy reference chart.
ICS Interface Review: Thief Since version 1.0 FICS pundits put their hopes in Thief to steal the throne from Blitzen as the best ICS interface, but the author didn't have such populist goals in mind. Instead, he continued to develop an interface tailored for the so-called veteran users. Still, what started as a niche interface for BugHouse players has matured into a staple interface among the on-line chess playing community. It's the second most used interface on FICS (WinBoard holding the pole-position) and even has a substantial following on ICC. To give you an idea why, here's a set of quotes from my recent OCL opponent, whom I recommended Thief to.
Read Jason's complete review
here.
The Chess Variant Pages "In January 1995, Hans Bodlaender started a small website on chess variants. First, this was not much more than an html-interface upon a number of files he had saved from the electronic news in the previous years. After that, he wrote descriptions of a number of variants that he found most interesting (e.g., those of several historic chess variants.) After a while, interest began to grow; people began to send additional materials, and he started to make pictures with the starting setup, etc." The Chess Variant Pages (CVP) have continued to grow, and in October 2002 received over two million "hits". CVP chronicles more types of variants then I could count. There are variants on the traditional game (e.g. loser's chess), historic variants, Oriental variants (e.g. Shogi, Xiangqi), 3-D variants (think Star-Trek), multi-player variants, small and large variants, variants with unusual or invisible pieces, even variants on unusual shaped boards - including round, cylindrical, and hexagonal boards. The variants are presented with text written by practitioners of that variant, so you know you're getting the best possible descriptions. Graphics are clear and colorful, making the pages both easy and interesting to follow. Navigation is easy too, with plenty of links to other pages at CVP as well as related external sites. A review function allows viewers to rate or review the page or variant. CVP lists six updates for the week ending 11-6-02 (I am writing this on 11-4-02) and 15 updates for the previous week. Clearly this is a continuously evolving site. CVP has a Forum, but this appears not to receive much use, with the most recent post dated 5-12-2002. For those hardy souls actually wanting to play one of these variants, links to other variant sites are provided, as well as both Chess Variant Yahoo Clubs & Chess Variant Yahoo Groups. CVP grows primarily through contributions from viewers, who are offered guidelines and tips. Personally, I have enough of a challenge trying to figure
out the classical form of chess. Once I get
that game mastered, then maybe I'll look into some of the variants.
OK, OK, so I've dabbled a little; playing the odd game of FischerRandom, loser's chess,
even Bughouse or Siamese Chess. I still come back to the classical
game. They say variety is the spice of life though, so if your gaming
needs a little spicing up, or if you're just curious, The Chess
Variant Pages are worth checking out!
The Mad Aussie's Chess Trivia Three Queens Too Many: Here is the score of the alleged "Five Queens" game that Alexander Alekhine played: Alekhine-Grigoriev Moscow 1915 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5 h6 6. exf6 hxg5 7. fxg7 Rg8 8. h4 gxh4 9. Qg4 Be7 10. g3 c5 11. gxh4 cxd4 12. h5 dxc3 13. h6 cxb2 14. Rb1 Qa5+ 15. Ke2 Qxa2 16. h7 Qxb1 17. hxg8=Q+ Kd7 18. Qxf7 Qxc2+ 19. Kf3 Nc6 20. Qgxe6+ Kc7 21. Qf4+ Kb6 22. Qee3+ Bc5 23. g8=Q b1=Q 24. Rh6. Alekhine says that the game finished with 24... Qxf1 25. Qb4+ Qb5 26. Qd8+ Ka6 27. Qea3+ with unavoidable mate. However, in the mid 1970's a young Jan Timman found that Black could draw with 24... Bg4+ 25. Qgxg4 Bxe3 26. Qb4+ Qxb4 27. Qxb4+ Kc7 28. Qd6+ Kb6 =. The fabrication was discovered when the notes to the game were found in a 1916 Russian chess magazine. Alekhine was BLACK, not White, and Grigoriev had varied at move 11 with 11. O-O-O Nc6 12. dxc5 Qa5 13. Kb1 which ended in a hard-fought draw. Alekhine's note to 11. 0-0-0 was "I was determined to reply to 11 gh4 with 11..Bf6 because 11....cd4 would have led to complications which were very difficult to figure out and which would have hardly have been of advantage to Black." Submit your trivia to the
Mad Aussie!
Chessville TWIC417 of Nov. 4th 2002 & TWIC418 of Nov. 11th 2002 The Chess Oracle Monthly International Chess News ChessbaseAnna Dergatscheva's Photo Report from Bled Anand Over Karpov: Corsica Masters Rapids The Chess Report Another great chess news site The Campbell Report Correspondence Chess News Jeremy SilmanBenko's Brain Twisters Review: The Steinitz Papers by Kurt Landsberger Review: The Sicilian Kan by John Emms Review: Starting Out: The Caro-Kann by Joe Gallagher Review: The Nimzo-Indian: 4.e3 by Carsten Hansen
The Chess Cafe Boris Schipkov's Dutch Defense: A90-A99 Russian Chess Interview With 16-Year Old GM Evgeny Alekseev
Chess City Randy Bauer Reviews: Play the 2.c3 Sicilian by Rozentalis & Harley Chess Beast: November '02, Beating the Chess Habit Seagaard Chess ReviewsMastering Chess Tactics (Neil McDonald) The Scheming Scandinavian with 2...Qxd5 (Andrew Martin) World Chess Network - Evans On Chess: East Meets West Annotated Games Chess SiberiaVan Wely, Loek (2681) - Acs, Peter (2591) Essent 2002
Yasser Seirawan
Annotoates (Chess
Cafe): Lubomir Kavalek (Washington Post): Marshall - Capablanca, 1909 Australian Chess ColumnsIan Rogers: Kupreichik-Speck & Tilbury-Johansen, Bled 2002 Puzzles & Problems Chessville - Problem of the Week Sack the King! - A new tactical puzzle every day! Bruno's Chess Problem of the Day - Endgame Compositions National Scholastic Chess Foundation - Problem of the WeekChesshaven - Tactical Exercise of the Day 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 Bobby Fischer's "Game of the Century"
This game was played when Bobby was
just 13 years old: New York 1956, D. Byrne - Fischer, 1. Nf3
Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. d4 O-O 5. Bf4 d5 6. Qb3 dxc4 7. Qxc4 c6 8. e4
Nbd7 9. Rd1 Nb6 10. Qc5 Bg4 11. Bg5 Na4 12. Qa3 Nxc3 13. bxc3 Nxe4 14. Bxe7
Qb6 15. Bc4 Nxc3 16. Bc5 Rfe8+ 17. Kf1 and now we've reached the
diagrammed position. Play continued with 17...Be6!! 18. Bxb6 Bxc4+
19. Kg1 Ne2+ 20. Kf1 Nxd4+ 21. Kg1 Ne2+ 22. Kf1 Nc3+ 23. Kg1 axb6 24. Qb4
Ra4 25. Qxb6 Nxd1 26. h3 Rxa2 27. Kh2 Nxf2 28. Re1 Rxe1 29. Qd8+ Bf8 30.
Nxe1 Bd5 31. Nf3 Ne4 32. Qb8 b5 33. h4 h5 34. Ne5 Kg7 35. Kg1 Bc5+ 36. Kf1
Ng3+ 37. Ke1 Bb4+ 38. Kd1 Bb3+ 39. Kc1 Ne2+ 40. Kb1 Nc3+ 41. Kc1 Rc2# 0-1 |
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Bad Bishop
Chessville's Collection of Chess Wisdom Attack! In a direct attack on the king, what matters is not the overall material count, but how many pieces are in the actual battle area. Successful attacks are based on weaknesses in the opponent's position. Identify and target specific weaknesses to attack. The usual sequence to attack a king is: open lines, penetrate with pieces, restrict the opposing king, eliminate key defenders, and then deliver winning checks. Attack with several pieces, rather than only one or two. Bring every piece you can into your attack. Invite everyone to the party! Positional superiority is almost always a necessary prerequisite to decisive tactics. Defend! King safety is always paramount. Avoid exposing him to attack. Protect your king at all times. Active counterplay is better than passive defense. Don't automatically capture a sacrificed piece. Look first for a zwischenzug that can be played, or another strong move. When meeting a threat with an in-between move, make certain that your threat equals or exceeds your opponent's. When under attack, always try to find the most active, constructive defensive moves. An attack on a wing is usually best met by a counterattack in the center. Close the center before embarking on a wing attack. If your opponent has sacrificed material for an attack, it may be possible to blunt his attack by returning the extra material. When defending, developing your pieces is usually more important than grabbing material.
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