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

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

 

Position of the Week


[FEN "2b2r2/1pn3pk/r7/p3N3/2Q2p1N/7R/Pq4PP/5R1K w - - 0 1"]

White to move and win - Find the Solution
 


New At Chessville

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
By S. Evan Kreider

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:

  1. A defective pawn wall makes for a poor defensive barrier.

  2. A defective pawn wall also makes for an ineffective territorial border.

  3. Poor pawn structure usually equals weak squares.

  4. Some of the pawns themselves are vulnerable since they can't be protected by other pawns.

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
http://bobbyfischer.net/

Disclaimer

This page is a Fischer fan site.
Bobby cannot read any of these emails you may send to me, thinking they are intended to him.

Question: "Where is Bobby now?"
That is the #1 question I find coming to me via email.
Answer: I don't know.

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.    Another great resource offered at this site is "100 Notable Games in Bobby Fischer's Chess Career", which can be either downloaded or played through on the site.  Each game comes with a brief introduction, but no annotation.  Other features worth mentioning include a short Flash-format movie by Felix Jung (ending with "Come home.  Come home.") and a collection of Fischer quotes ("People have been playing against me below their strength for fifteen years.").

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
From Graham Clayton

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!
 

Pablo's Chess News

Chessville
    Recent Chess News  News & Notes, including Chessville
    coverage of:  Pablo Visits Budapest's 1st Saturday Tourneys
                        Chessville coverage of 35th Olympiad (Bled)

Karpov-Kasparov: Online "Match of the Champions" 19-20 Dec 2002

Australian Chess Federation reports:

Smerdon sensation in Victorian Championships

Young 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 News
Jeremy 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

New On The Net

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
     IM John Donaldson: Newsletter #113, Oct. 30, 2002

FIDE Online
     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 Silman
     IM 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
     Mikhail Golubev - Dusan Radovanovic, Bucharest 2002

SmartChess Online - Team USA (Bled Olympiad)

Puzzles & Problems

Chessville - Problem of the Week for Nov. 17th, 2002
Sack the King! - A new tactical puzzle every 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
William Harvey's Chess Puzzles - Solutions
     Holger Norman-Hansen vs Finkelstein, Copenhagen, 1918
     David Janowski vs Oscar Chajes, New York, 1918
     Morrison vs B Isaacs, Chicago, 1918
     Richard Reti vs J Brach, Kaschau, 1918
     Jong vs Jacobson, Netherlands, 1918

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.
B)  1... Rxe6 2. Nhg6+ Kg8 3. Rh8 mate.
C)  1...Nxe6 2. Nf5+ Kg8 3. Ne7 mate.  Or 2. Nhg6+ Kg8 when both 3. Rh8 and 3. Ne7 mate.
 

 

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Opening Advice

From Our Collection of Chess Wisdom


"Your only task in the opening is to reach a playable middlegame."
- Lajos Portisch


In the opening, work to:
1) control the center;
2) develop all your pieces to effective squares; and
3) safeguard your king.
Every move in the opening should contribute to one or more of these three opening objectives. If it doesn't, it is probably weak or an outright mistake.
 

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.


Develop pieces rapidly and safely toward the center, and develop with a threat when possible, to limit your opponent's options.
 

Defend by developing a piece when possible.


Look for ways to develop with threats.
 

Develop rooks to open files, especially central files.


Develop the queen, but not too early, and usually close to home to avoid harassment by opposing minor pieces and pawns.


Avoid time-wasting pawn grabbing of wing pawns, especially with the queen, at the expense of development and position (center pawns are generally worth capturing).
 

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.


The king is best placed on the side where he has the minority of pawns.


Early castling is dubious in a closed game.


When behind in development, don't open up the position.


Once an imbalance is created in the opening, one's further development must address that imbalance in some way.

 

 

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Copyright 2002 Chessville.com unless otherwise noted.