Seirawan on the Maroczy Bind

I lost against the Maroczy Bind setup as Black earlier on this season, so I was after some advice! I found this 'youtube' lecture.

Double Rook Sac: Tactical Motif

I have recently been playing some pre-season warm-up games. I came across a nice little tactical situation in one of my games yesterday whereby I can sacrifice both my rooks and achieve a checkmate with my Queen ... This is a common tactical motif when studying the concept of 'breaking down the enemy walls and stripping the King if its defenses'. I seem to remember attempting a similar exercise on C.T.Art3, which incidentally is an excellent bit of software if you want to practice tactics.

For those not yet acquainted, tactical breakthroughs are all about giving up material in the short-term (only temporarily) and making a profit after the final exchange (or even better, winning the game with checkmate)!

As usual, any comments welcome ...

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

He didn't allow that - did he??

My opponent played the Colle System (I think?) but got next to no advantage out of the opening.

I capitalised by going on a sortee behind enemy lines with 'Her Royal Highness!' and got the gas cooking. My opponent did not find the right defense and I won a piece!! This sealed the win ...

As usual, any comments welcome ...

Colle System ...

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

"I missed a pin and lost the win!"

Here I got into a Closed Sicilian and managed to squeeze my opponent. I got an early e5 in and deprived my opponent's Knight of d5, which should have proved decisive.

Unfortunately I missed a crucial pin during the same coloured Bishop ending, which allowed my opponent to hold onto to the draw ... ANNOYING

As usual, any comments welcome ...

Closed Sicilian ...

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

He misplaces pieces and I win!

My second English of the season and I managed a decisive win as Black ... I think that I managed to encourage my opponent to misplace his pieces which led to the victory.
As usual, any comments welcome ...

English ...

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

Trap in the Scandinavian ...

Here is a Knight Fork Queen Trap.

Center Counter: 3.Nc3

Here is a Nc3 line for the Scandinavian ...

Center Counter: Line (1) - from a GM

Here is a solid way to treat the center counter ...

As usual, any comments welcome ...

3.d4 avoiding 3.Nc3 ...

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

Weak Pawn Structures Proves Fatal!!

Yes - another Center Counter ... and a win for Black, but this time I was punished for my 4.b4 pawn sac. My opponent declined the pawn :( and left me with an inferior pawn structure including a boxed-in Bishop imitating a big, fat clumsy pawn !!! My opponent got great Bishop activity and I got absolutely none ... My next post will outline a different approach to the Center Counter. Some recommendations from a Grand Master that I ought to follow if I want to avoid this latest catastrophe ...

As usual, any comments welcome ...

Center Counter with Bishop Pairs ...

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

Amateur Chess Goes Up-Market ...

If you want a taste of the high life and would like to take your chess to a new level, then you may be interested in entering the ACO World Amateur Chess Championship this year in Rhodes.  From what I can gather from looking at the website, the championship will be held in a very plush 4-star Hotel with a pool overlooking the beach!


http://www.amateurchess.com/world-amateur-chess-championship-rhodes-2014/

Center Counter - I tried to be innovative!?

It seems that everyone is trying to play the Center Counter against me this year :) In this particular game I tried to gain some space in the center by making an early pawn thrust on move 5 ... I'm not sure that this was particularly sound though? I need to put this through Fritz I think ...

As usual, any comments welcome ...

Center Counter with Boxed-In Bishops ...

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

The 'psychology' of moving rook to b5 on move 6!

I had one of my first games in the Berkshire League back in October 2013. This was a Center Counter - my opponent had probably never faced 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.b4 Qxb4 5.Rb1 Qa5 6.Rb5!? (Note: if Black holds on to the pawn in the endgame then he's probably won). Unfortunately for my opponent, he spent something like 15-20 minutes trying to decipher moves 5 and 6 which was simple scare tactics - a psychological ploy, nothing hidden and no more complicated than that! This is pretty much how the game continued ... I would play a move and my opponent would grace me by taking excessive chunks of valuable clock time (no doubt in this game his indecisiveness cost him).

Poor time-management is not uncommon, but it is one of those foibles that has to be stamped out to be in for a shout at club-level. Blitz is a useful exercise in training the brain to think quickly, especially in an endgame melee. This game boiled down to a simple tactic that allowed me to win a pinned Knight and take advantage of my opponent's poor time-keeping!

As usual, any comments welcome ...

Center Counter

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

Hanging piece leads to a simple win ...

My first game of the 2013-2014 season saw me up against someone with very little match experience, so not too much to write about here. I am recording the game because it was my first gift of the season in the Berkshire league and will be instructive for juniors!

As usual, any comments welcome ...

Sicilian

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