Staggeringly I managed to see off a player graded 2034 today with a Budapest Gambit !! After doing all of the hard work, I just had to remember not to leave by queen and King connected on the dark squares - otherwise there may have been some tricks ... !
Today I wanted to practice my chess. I like 'attacking chess', so the Grand Prix Attack for me is perfect! The time control was 10 mins each. Here is the first game with me playing as White on http://new.chess24.com
My latest ckub game against Newbury saw me squeeze a draw. To start with, we struggled to find the Chursh Hall - which was in the middle of nowhere in a tiny village situated at least 10miles from Newbury! I elected to play the Sniper where effectively it doesn't matter what White plays - as Black you just play Nf6, c5, g6, and Bg7 and you have the setup complete. Charlie Storey has written a book about it. To be honest, the game was a stodgy one, but Sandhurst won on the evening, so I am not complaining ...
I was secretly hoping for a Budapest in my game against Woking a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately I had to reply to Nf3 as White's first move and I was somewhat flummoxed!
I had an 'OK' game I guess, but could not draw the game a pawn down, and a win was certainly out of the question ... !
I got ground down in the middle game and never recovered from the loss of the pawn. My Bishop performed an admirable job of blocking any pawn advances for quite some time, but I could not hold the position once White's King came marching into an advanced and superior position. Unfortunately I was not able to write down all the moves due to time constraints (I had 5 mins left on my clock, thereforen it was unnecessary to record the moves). As you can see from the last move I recorded, the enemy King has started his journey around the board ... (Also it looks like I could have won White's f-pawn on move 40 .. but I may well have written the moves down incorrectly !!!
In my latest club game against Basingstoke this evening, my opponent made an oversight with 5.Bg4? I had this position before in a game, or very similar and failed to capitalise! In this game though, Black ekected not to capture the Bishop on f7, with a potential plan to 'self-castle' and instead decided to position the King on d7? This led to the 'Royals - his and her majesty' getting pinned thoughout the entire game. There was really no escape for the King in the final resignable position ...
Here in my latest club game against Bourne End, my opponent chose to play the Pirc again 1.e4. I seem to remember seeing some games against the Kings Indian recently where White can have their pawns placed aggresively on d4, e4 and f4. I think that this setup is known as the 'Austrian Attack'? I elected to play this setup, given that I think that the f pawn should not in any way be obsrtucted by the Knight on f3. I have used the 'Saemisch' variation in the past (for White) with limited success, learning it because my old chess mentor, Adam Sobey used to thrash me with the Kings Indian as Black every week! I guess I learned from my mistakes, but I was expecting much more of a Queenside attack from Black in this game! After the King moves on move 20, fxg6 is coming, with the possibility of Knight jumping to h5 for backup ...
Unlike the previous post featuring the Carlsen game, my Grand Prix Attack as White was not contested by a Grand Master thankfully :) However, I remebered the basic pattern that Carlsen used -> I.e. the triangle of Queen, Bishop and Knight ... ! In fact, I even sacrificed my Knight without realising it, but given that this was a bullet game I think that I can be forgiven ... In this game Black probably made the mistake of closing the position after 10. ..d4.
Recently, I was hunting for some advice on how to play the Grand Prix Attack as White. Thankfully I found a scintillating Carlsen Bullet Game to feast on!!
Here the game would simply have concluded - 17. ..g5 18.Qxg5# or 17. ..Ke5 18.Qf4# .... What a corker!!
This year Sandhurst Chess Club's B Team got off to a flying start with a 4 - 0 win over Camberley ... I've been away from Club chess for at least a couple of years now, primarily due to the pandemic, so I was very much looking forward to getting back to a game over the board at last - and to face my opponent in the flesh ... Albeit with a mask ... :)
This game proves that although it seems like there ought to be loads of tactical chances, on closer inspection after move 14. ..Qc6 it is difficult for White to actually gain any advantage! In fact, I think after move 18. ..dxe5, White potentially had this game lost! The idea in chess (for the unacquainted) is to think 'Checks' 'Captures', 'Threats' in any given position. You must of course put yourself in your opponent's shoes and look for their opportunities as if you were playing for them ... i.e. What would you do if you had the opposing colour? This technique became a habit for me over the years, having played many club games and thrown them away by missing my opponent's threats! Fortunately, in this particular club game, my opponent was not thinking of what I could do tactically and succumbed to playing '* routine moves', hoping to play the game out with a one pawn advantage. The tactic employed after 20. ..Bbd7 is glaringly obvious to those that study tactics ... White gives up the exchange temporarily to gain a piece, namely the Black Bishop.
* routine moves are normally played without really thinking! (but we are all occasionally guilty of this 'chess sin')
"Chess is a form of intellectual productiveness; therein lies its peculiar charm, and intellectual productiveness is one of the greatest joys of human existence".
Dr Siegbert Tarrasch (1862-1934), The Game of Chess, 1936, translated by G.E. SMITH and T.G. BONE.
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