How to beat Dad at chess !!!

Here is a quick post for the Junior followers of this Blog - If you still haven't seen all the checkmates and you really want to beat your Dad at chess in the near future, why not invest in this great little guide:

How to Beat Your Dad At Chess

Two Rooks on the 7th - should never had been allowed!

My latest club match was a bit of a disaster frankly speaking ... I committed a cardinal sin and allowed my opponent to place both his rooks on his 7th rank :(. My concentration was completely lost - halfway through the game we had to change rooms which really didn't help me ...

Of course the story would have been different I think, had I

a) not lost concentration!
b) prevented the seventh rank incursion and perhaps sacrificed a pawn instead.

In a sharp position such as the one reached in the game Black should always be looking for aggressive counter play instead of passive play - a lesson I will take away with me ...

As usual, any comments welcome ...

Sicilian Maroczy-Bind

PGN Viewer courtesy of http://chesstempo.com/

Skewer tactic wins exchange and game ...

I was due to play a club match last week, however my opponent turned out to be a 'no show' for whatever reason - the same deal for my colleague Jonathan, therefore we settled for a friendly against each other ...

Here is the game, a c3 sicilian. I got lucky and was gifted with a simple skewer, that allowed me to clean up ... (No, its not an April Fools joke, this really did happen, LOL)

As usual, any comments welcome ...

c3 Sicilian

PGN Viewer courtesy of http://chesstempo.com/

Draw accepted against the clock ...

In my next club game I had the opportunity to play a colleague I met up with at the recent Portsmouth Chess Congress - Ivor!

He had seen my first game in the congress (a 'Budapest') and probably wanted to avoid it, so he played 1. Nf3 ... For those that are unsure why White plays 1.Nf3 here is the basic theory;  http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Chess_Opening_Theory/1._Nf3

As usual, any comments welcome ...

1.Nf3 Opening

PGN Viewer courtesy of http://chesstempo.com/