Black to move.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Chess Tactic of the Day Answers #56 to #62
Tactic #56:
1. Qd5+ Kxa7 2. Qb7#
Tactic #57:
White's pieces are very close to the Black King, but White's King is the one in more danger. Note that on move 22...Rf2 would have been better, as the Rook on the f file makes the defense Rag1 less good. Maybe best play would be 22...Rf2 23. Bg7+ Kg8 (this blocks the g file which gives White's King some breathing room) 24. Ne4 Rxg2 25. Kxg2 Kxg7. Black is two pieces up.
Tactic #58:
The position after 32...Ne4 is screaming for a positional exchange sacrifice. Here, though, White has pawn pushing bishop pinning tactics he can follow the exchange sacrifice up with to get two far advanced center passed pawns.
Tactic #59:
Here I missed
Tactic #60:
And here I missed
Tactic #61:
In the same game, this theme reappeared.
Well, it is kind of a funny thing to look back at games you won and point out all the tactics you missed. It is much less funny to go back at games you lost and point out all the tactics you missed!
Tactic #62:
Krush actually won her next and last game to become the US Womens Champion but that game wasnt good for a tactic of the day, so here is Krush's penultimate win on her way to becoming the 2010 US Womens Championship! Unfortunately, I seemed to have bungled this tactic anyway, as I have White to move. Well, I will edit it now, and hopefully no one spent too much time trying to find a win for White. I will say I did this for pedagogical purposes, so that you do not always assume there is an answer!
The tactic is supposed to be that Krush can ignore the attack on her Knight and push her center pawns with devastating effect.
Well aside from that last little foible, I hope you enjoyed these!
1. Qd5+ Kxa7 2. Qb7#
Tactic #57:
White's pieces are very close to the Black King, but White's King is the one in more danger. Note that on move 22...Rf2 would have been better, as the Rook on the f file makes the defense Rag1 less good. Maybe best play would be 22...Rf2 23. Bg7+ Kg8 (this blocks the g file which gives White's King some breathing room) 24. Ne4 Rxg2 25. Kxg2 Kxg7. Black is two pieces up.
Tactic #58:
The position after 32...Ne4 is screaming for a positional exchange sacrifice. Here, though, White has pawn pushing bishop pinning tactics he can follow the exchange sacrifice up with to get two far advanced center passed pawns.
Tactic #59:
Here I missed
Tactic #60:
And here I missed
Tactic #61:
In the same game, this theme reappeared.
Well, it is kind of a funny thing to look back at games you won and point out all the tactics you missed. It is much less funny to go back at games you lost and point out all the tactics you missed!
Tactic #62:
Krush actually won her next and last game to become the US Womens Champion but that game wasnt good for a tactic of the day, so here is Krush's penultimate win on her way to becoming the 2010 US Womens Championship! Unfortunately, I seemed to have bungled this tactic anyway, as I have White to move. Well, I will edit it now, and hopefully no one spent too much time trying to find a win for White. I will say I did this for pedagogical purposes, so that you do not always assume there is an answer!
The tactic is supposed to be that Krush can ignore the attack on her Knight and push her center pawns with devastating effect.
Well aside from that last little foible, I hope you enjoyed these!
Larry Christiansen vs. Magesh Panchanathan
hey everyone, Magesh Pancahanthan has annotated his game on chess.com!
EDIT: Magesh Panchanathan has actually been making posts for Chess.com for a while now. Oddly, and unfortunately, these posts dont come up very high on a Google search of "Magesh Panchanathan". Chess.com, you should really figure out some way to get these posts higher on his Google search!
EDIT: Magesh Panchanathan has actually been making posts for Chess.com for a while now. Oddly, and unfortunately, these posts dont come up very high on a Google search of "Magesh Panchanathan". Chess.com, you should really figure out some way to get these posts higher on his Google search!
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Philadelphia Inventors vs. Boston Blitz Week 2 Recap
Well, they lost. They didnt get 4-0ed though! My prediction of 2.5 in favor of Philly wasnt all that off, as in the end Boston beat Philly 2.5 to 1.5.
Considering Panchanathan had Black against an opponent rated about 100 points higher than him, this is actually a good result.
Smith played hard and well, but in the end his structural problems proved to be too much. As expected, though, and happily, it was certainly an exciting game!
If the Inventors were only going to get one win in a match, you would want it to look something like this. An excellent use of position and tactics by Bartell. It will be interesting to analyze what other possibilities Shmelov had other than returning the exchange sacrifice. Also interesting to note that all 3 games so far have come down to some form of Knight vs Bishop in the ending.
Well, to be honest I dont understand the pawn sacrifice on move 24. It will be interesting to analyze that a bit. Like Smith, Sivakamur fought hard for the draw, but he couldnt hold back the Queen side pawns.
All in all, it is disappointing that the Inventors lost, but there is a lot of good stuff in this match to look at as well. Both the Inventor's losses were close to draws, and if just one of them had been able to hold the match would be drawn as well. Magesh Panchanathan looked good, and Bartell got another win. This match perhaps solidifies what may have been initially thought about the Inventors: they would be a tough team that could give any other team troubles.
I want to do some more in depth stuff with something from this match, but as the vagueness of the previous part of this sentence may indicate, I have no idea yet what that will be! Maybe endgames? Anyway, next week the Inventors are going to be playing a very good New York Knights team. Good luck to the Inventors!
Considering Panchanathan had Black against an opponent rated about 100 points higher than him, this is actually a good result.
Smith played hard and well, but in the end his structural problems proved to be too much. As expected, though, and happily, it was certainly an exciting game!
If the Inventors were only going to get one win in a match, you would want it to look something like this. An excellent use of position and tactics by Bartell. It will be interesting to analyze what other possibilities Shmelov had other than returning the exchange sacrifice. Also interesting to note that all 3 games so far have come down to some form of Knight vs Bishop in the ending.
Well, to be honest I dont understand the pawn sacrifice on move 24. It will be interesting to analyze that a bit. Like Smith, Sivakamur fought hard for the draw, but he couldnt hold back the Queen side pawns.
All in all, it is disappointing that the Inventors lost, but there is a lot of good stuff in this match to look at as well. Both the Inventor's losses were close to draws, and if just one of them had been able to hold the match would be drawn as well. Magesh Panchanathan looked good, and Bartell got another win. This match perhaps solidifies what may have been initially thought about the Inventors: they would be a tough team that could give any other team troubles.
I want to do some more in depth stuff with something from this match, but as the vagueness of the previous part of this sentence may indicate, I have no idea yet what that will be! Maybe endgames? Anyway, next week the Inventors are going to be playing a very good New York Knights team. Good luck to the Inventors!
Schwog's Blog
Hey everyone, just wanted to direct Philadelphia Inventor fans to Schwog's Blog. Its a pretty cool looking blog so check it out!
Philadelphia Inventors vs. Boston Blitz Week 2 Preview
Well, the Philadelphia Inventors take on the Boston Blitz tomorrow. It is going to be a tough match for both sides. Lets check out each of the match ups.
Board 1
Larry Christiansen vs. Magesh Panchanathan
As far as I can tell, this will be the first time these two Grandmasters play. [Edit: I found a nice write up here, thanks to the Boylston Chess Club. Apparently, Panchanathan will be looking for revenge tonight!] Christiansen has about a 100 point rating edge on Panchanathan. At my level, which is Class A, 100 points honestly doesnt mean a whole lot. At the Grandmaster level, and perhaps at any high level it may mean more. The idea is that it is much harder to gain rating points at the highest levels, so the ratings are more accurate. Also, Grandmasters will be more wary of giving up rating points, whereas players at my level can show up to tournaments, play terribly and lose in 20 moves. Well, at least I do that sometimes!
The main point is that Panchanathan has his work cut out for him. However, I would in no way be surprised if he was able to come away with the win. A draw would also be an excellent result, considering the circumstances.
Board 2
Bryan Smith vs. Eugene Perelshteyn
Perhaps this is the most interesting match up to preview because these two players have met twice before in the US Chess League and both have been mainstays with their respective teams for years now. The first game, Perelshteyn was able to get the better of Smith.
However, Smith has had the last laugh.
One common factor between both these games is that they were exciting. Hopefully tonight's game swings this mini rivalry to Smith's favor!
Board 3
Denys Shmelov vs. Thomas Bartell
Well, again if there are games between these two I cant find them. These two are basically the same rating, though Shmelov has a 50 point edge on Bartell. As Bartell proved last week, though, he is not averse to upsetting his opponent.
Board 4
Grant Xu vs. Kavinayan Sivakumar
This is Philly's best match up of the night. Sivakumar has about a 50 rating point edge over Xu. As noted in the other Boards, I dont think that is so much of an advantage, but I think Sivakumar has a great chance of coming away with the win here. This will also be Sivakumar's 2010 debut.
Well, that pretty much wraps it up. I am not really a predicting kind of guy for this kind of thing, but I saw that Boston foolishly predicted they will 4-0 the Inventors. I think 2.5 in favor of Philly is much more likely.
Well, the match is about to begin, sorry this preview is so late. Hopefully it holds you over for hour or so before the match begins. Good luck to the Inventors!
Board 1
Larry Christiansen vs. Magesh Panchanathan
As far as I can tell, this will be the first time these two Grandmasters play. [Edit: I found a nice write up here, thanks to the Boylston Chess Club. Apparently, Panchanathan will be looking for revenge tonight!] Christiansen has about a 100 point rating edge on Panchanathan. At my level, which is Class A, 100 points honestly doesnt mean a whole lot. At the Grandmaster level, and perhaps at any high level it may mean more. The idea is that it is much harder to gain rating points at the highest levels, so the ratings are more accurate. Also, Grandmasters will be more wary of giving up rating points, whereas players at my level can show up to tournaments, play terribly and lose in 20 moves. Well, at least I do that sometimes!
The main point is that Panchanathan has his work cut out for him. However, I would in no way be surprised if he was able to come away with the win. A draw would also be an excellent result, considering the circumstances.
Board 2
Bryan Smith vs. Eugene Perelshteyn
Perhaps this is the most interesting match up to preview because these two players have met twice before in the US Chess League and both have been mainstays with their respective teams for years now. The first game, Perelshteyn was able to get the better of Smith.
However, Smith has had the last laugh.
One common factor between both these games is that they were exciting. Hopefully tonight's game swings this mini rivalry to Smith's favor!
Board 3
Denys Shmelov vs. Thomas Bartell
Well, again if there are games between these two I cant find them. These two are basically the same rating, though Shmelov has a 50 point edge on Bartell. As Bartell proved last week, though, he is not averse to upsetting his opponent.
Board 4
Grant Xu vs. Kavinayan Sivakumar
This is Philly's best match up of the night. Sivakumar has about a 50 rating point edge over Xu. As noted in the other Boards, I dont think that is so much of an advantage, but I think Sivakumar has a great chance of coming away with the win here. This will also be Sivakumar's 2010 debut.
Well, that pretty much wraps it up. I am not really a predicting kind of guy for this kind of thing, but I saw that Boston foolishly predicted they will 4-0 the Inventors. I think 2.5 in favor of Philly is much more likely.
Well, the match is about to begin, sorry this preview is so late. Hopefully it holds you over for hour or so before the match begins. Good luck to the Inventors!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
Thomas Bartell's Analysis of his Gulko Game and other Links
Hey everybody, just wanted to add a few links about the Philadelphia Inventors. First off, congratulations to Tom Bartell for winning the the 1st Week Upset Prize. Here is his analysis of the game.
As a reminder, the Philadelphia Inventors play this Wednesday against the Boston Blitz.
It is going to be a very interesting match. Neither side has much of an edge rating wise, though the Blitz have about a 40 rating point advantage total. For the Inventors, Magesh Panchanathan and Kavinayan Sivakumar will be making their 2010 debuts. Bryan Smith will be playing this week on Board two, and Tom Bartell will be playing on Board three.
I will post a more in depth preview of this match tomorrow.
Also thanks to PK Sivakumar for a nice write up of my blog. It should be an exciting season for the Inventors and I am glad to be covering it! Hopefully I will learn a thing or two as well ;)
EDIT: Bartell won 3rd Place for the Game of the Week!
As a reminder, the Philadelphia Inventors play this Wednesday against the Boston Blitz.
It is going to be a very interesting match. Neither side has much of an edge rating wise, though the Blitz have about a 40 rating point advantage total. For the Inventors, Magesh Panchanathan and Kavinayan Sivakumar will be making their 2010 debuts. Bryan Smith will be playing this week on Board two, and Tom Bartell will be playing on Board three.
I will post a more in depth preview of this match tomorrow.
Also thanks to PK Sivakumar for a nice write up of my blog. It should be an exciting season for the Inventors and I am glad to be covering it! Hopefully I will learn a thing or two as well ;)
EDIT: Bartell won 3rd Place for the Game of the Week!
Sunday, August 29, 2010
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