Less games lost this year

 One of the side effects of 2020 is that I seem to have lost less serious games this year than last. If I can recall as far back as March, I think I have only lost one game (to Paul Dunn), although to be fair, I'm pretty sure I've only played about 6 games in total.

In checking my stats for this year, I did come across this game, which came from one of the few Street Chess events I played in 2020.

Press,Shaun - Sun,Marco [C78]
Street Chess (4), 14.03.2020

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Bc5 6. c3 b5 7. Bc2 O-O 8. d4 exd4 9. cxd4 Bb6 10. e5 Nd5 11. Bxh7+ Kxh7 12. Ng5+ Kg6 13. Qd3+ f5 14. exf6+ Kxf6 15. Nh7+ ( 15. Qf3+ Kg6 16. Qe4+ Kf6 17. Nh7+ Kf7 18. Qxd5+ Kg6 19. Nxf8+ Qxf8 ) 15...  Kf7 16. Nxf8 Kxf8 17. Qf3+ Nf6 18. d5 Nd4 19. Qd3 Bb7 20. Nc3 d6 21. Bg5 Qd7 22. Bxf6 gxf6 23. Rae1 Re8 24. Qg6 Rxe1 25. Rxe1 Qf7 26. Qh6+ Kg8 27. Ne4 Qf8 28. Qg6+ Kh8 29. Nxf6 1-0

Online Cadets and Youth Rapid

 The next in the 2020 series of online championships, the 2020 Online Cadets and Youth Rapid Championship, starts tomorrow. The event will be run in 10 sections, with Under 18 down to Under 10 age groups, in both Open and Girls divisions. The event starts with qualifiers from each continent (Africa, Europe, Americas and Asia) followed by a 16 player KO final series. Each qualifier is a 7 round swiss, with the top 3 finishers from each qualifier going into the final, along with the 4 highest rated players in that age group.

Most of the qualifiers will be played late evening/ middle of the night Canberra time, so following the tournament will be a little tricky. However, if you do wish to watch, or just keep up to date with the event, you can do so through the tournament website.

(** I am a paid arbiter for this event **)

Before Beth

 With "The Queen's Gambit" still going strong on Netflix, there has been a lot of discussion about women's chess, and whether there was a "real" Beth Harmon. While the general consensus is that Beth Harmon was entirely fictional (or a version of Bobby Fischer), at the time of the books publication, there were already a number of female players making their mark on the male dominated scene.

One player who has been seemingly overlooked in this discussion is Pia Cramling, who had already drawn with a future World Champion as far back as 1976. From the outset her style was significantly more aggressive than the her contemporaries, and her willingness to play high level open events was also a little unusual at the time. Unlike the TV series, her climb to the tip was a little more measured, but she earned the GM title in 1992, and even now she is still one of the top female players in the world.

Kasparov,Garry - Cramling,Pia [C42]
Wch U16 (unofficial) Wattignies (6), 07.1976

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Qe2 Qe7 6. d3 Nf6 7. Bg5 Nbd7 8. Nc3 Qxe2+ 9. Bxe2 h6 10. Bh4 g6 11. d4 a6 12. O-O-O Bg7 13. Rhe1 O-O 14. Bc4 b5 15. Bd5 Rb8 16. Bc6 Nb6 17. a3 Bb7 18. Bxb7 Rxb7 19. Bxf6 1/2-1/2

Blunder or trap?

 The following opening exchange raises the question of what is the difference between blundering in the opening, or falling for a trap. In the actual game there was in fact a double blunder (as White failed to play the best move). On the other hand, Black's moves seemed plausible, which is what a good trap should exploit. Nonetheless, having a quick look through my database did not find any previous examples, so until this mistake is repeated, I'm going with "blunder"

Jeff_Memes (2066) - Malikoovic (1724) [B27]
Live Chess Chess.com, 25.11.2020

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 b6 3. Nf3 g6 4. d4 Bg7 5. Bc4 cxd4 6. Nxd4 a6 7. Be3 d6 8. Qf3 e6 9. O-O-O Qc7 10. Bb3? ( 10. Ndb5!! axb5 11. Nxb5 Qe7 ( 11... Qxc4 12. Nxd6+ ) 12. Nxd6+ Kf8 13. Nxc8 Qc7 14. Bxe6 Bxb2+ 8.00/0 ) 10...  Nf6 11. Ndb5 axb5 12. Nxb5 Qc6 13. Nxd6+ Ke7 14. g4 Rf8 15. g5 Nfd7 16. Qh3 Be5 17. Nc4 Ba6 18. Nxe5 Nxe5 19. Bd4 Qxe4 20. Rhe1 Qf4+ 21. Kb1 Nbc6 22. Bxb6 Rfb8 23. Bc5+ Ke8 24. Qxh7 Nd7 25. Qg8+ Jeff_Memes won by resignation ( 25. Qg8+ Nf8 26. Qxf8# ) 1-0

There are no Grandmasters of swimming

 I've been involved in some ongoing discussions concerning the suitability for online events to be rated and award titles with the same status of OTB events. I am in the 'No' camp, although I do know some people who are in the 'Yes' camp. One of my arguments against awarding titles for online events, is that the titles are earned using a different playing format. With online chess it may be possible for a player to score a required win or draw via a mouse slip or an internet disconnection by their opponent, which doesn't occur in face to face chess. As a result, the title may not be earned by skill (for a certain value of skill) but instead by a stroke of luck. And while I recognise that the ability to play the game (in an operational sense) is important, most sports that rely on a difference between the ability to execute (eg swimming, running or even shooting) don't actually award titles. They instead reward participants by medals and prizes, which for online events, seems much more sensible.

Imagine if the World Championship was decided by a move like 38 ... Qb4??

  

Nepomniachtchi,Ian (2784) - Carlsen,Magnus (2862) [C60]
Skilling Open Prelim chess24.com INT (1.8), 22.11.2020

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nge7 4. Nc3 Ng6 5. d4 exd4 6. Nxd4 Bc5 7. Be3 Bxd4 8. Bxd4 Qg5 9. g3 Nxd4 10. Qxd4 Ne5 11. Be2 Nc6 12. Qc4 d6 13. Nd5 Qd8 14. Qc3 O-O 15. O-O-O Re8 16. f3 Be6 17. Bb5 Bd7 18. h4 a6 19. Ba4 b5 20. Bb3 a5 21. a3 b4 22. axb4 axb4 23. Nxb4 Nxb4 24. Qxb4 Be6 25. Bxe6 Rxe6 26. Qc3 h5 27. b3 Rg6 28. f4 Ra6 29. Kb2 Re6 30. Qc4 Qf6+ 31. c3 Ra8 32. Rhe1 Qe7 33. Rd5 c6 34. Rd4 d5 35. Qe2 Qa3+ 36. Kc2 Qa2+ 37. Kd3 Qxb3 38. Qc2 Qb4 1-0

2020 Vikings Weekender - GM Hrant Melkumyan wins

 GM Hrant Melkumyan has won the 2020 Vikings Weekender with 5.5/6. Conceding only half a point to fellow GM Anton Smirnov, he wrapped up first place with a win over Fred Litchfield in the final round. Smirnov, who was tied with Melkumyan going into the final round, could only draw with IM Junta Ikeda, after Ikeda found a nice sacrificial idea in the Leningrad Dutch. The draw allowed Ikeda to finish in a tie for third place with Bazli Karattiyattil, who capped of a strong tournament with a last round win over Dillon Hathiramani.

The Under 1600 event was won by Harry Johnson on 5.5, half a point ahead of Paul Dunn. Johnson was making a return to chess after a break of a number of years, and his comeback tournament was a successful one. James Buckley performed well above his rating to finish in 3rd place, while Minchen Yang picked up the best junior prize after scoring 3.5/6.

The tournament was judged a success by the organisers with the strong field resulting in a number of interesting and competitive games. Almost as importantly, it served as a small test event for next years Doeberl Cup, and based on the behaviour of the players (and the feedback from the venue), it passed with flying colours!

Full results of the tournament can be found at http://tournaments.streetchess.net/vikings2020/ along with a link to replays of games from the top 2 boards.

2020 Vikings Weekender - Day 1

 At the close of Day 1 of the 2020 Vikings Weekender, 4 players share the lead in the Open section, As expected GM Hrant Melkumyan and GM Anton Smirnov are on 3/3, and they have been joined by IM Junta Ikeda and CM Hui Li. In the first round tomorrow (Rd 4), Ikeda will e white against Melkumyan, while Smirnov will be white against Li. 

Although both GM's ended the day on a perfect score, they were made to work for their points. Both Harry Press (against Melkumyan) and Dominic Fox (against Smirnov) put up determined resistance, with the Melkumyan - Press game one of the last to finish. In earlier rounds some other top seeds showed signs of rust, with Tim Pearce upsetting FM Michael Kethro in round 2, while Dominic Fox took a full point from Fred Litchfield in the first round.

In the Minor (Under 1600) tournament, Paul Dunn and James Minogue are the only players on 3/3. Top seed Harry Johnson began with 2 wins, but was held to a draw in round 3 by James Buckley. 

All the scores (and tomorrows pairings) are available at http://tournaments.streetchess.net/vikings2020 There is also a link for live coverage of the top 2 boards in the Open. Round 4 is at 12:30pm Canberra time, with round 5 at 3pm and round 6 at 5:30pm

 

2020 Vikings Weekender - Online coverage

 The 2020 Vikings Weekender begins tomorrow (21 Nov), starting at 12:30pm Canberra time. There will be live coverage of the top 2 boards in the Open, which will be (in the 1st round) games involving GM Hrant Melkumyan and GM Anton Smirnov.  

Links to the DGT coverage, as well as pairings and results for the Open and Minor events can be found at http://tournaments.streetchess.net/vikings2020/ Pairings for the 1st round of each event have been posted, and following the Doeberl Cup system, these will be the 1st round pairings if both players are present.

Another unfortunate resignation

 While skimming through games to feature on my twitch stream I came across another example of "resigning too soon". I won't give away the ending , but the lesson here is "checks and captures"

 

glenno9 (1471) - X3n0morph (1783) [C02]
Live Chess Chess.com, 18.11.2020

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. c3 Qb6 6. Bd3 cxd4 7. cxd4 Bd7 8. O-O Nxd4 9. Nc3 Nxf3+ 10. Qxf3 Ne7 11. Rb1 Rc8 12. Bg5 Ng6 13. Qe2 a6 14. Kh1 Be7 15. Bxe7 Nxe7 16. f4 g6 17. Nd1 Nc6 18. Nf2 Nb4 19. Rfd1 Nxd3 20. Nxd3 Bb5 21. Qf3 O-O 22. Nf2 Rc2 23. Ng4 Be2 24. Nf6+ Kg7 25. Qh3 Rh8 26. Re1 Rxb2 27. Rbc1 h5 28. g4 hxg4 0-1



Chess Coach Andras

 Just a heads up about a new Youtube channel from Canberra's own IM Andras Toth. The emphasis is on coaching and related topics, and one of the earlier videos is a list of books for the 1700 rated player.

You can check it out at https://www.youtube.com/c/ChessCoachAndras  

The joy of chess coaching

 Today I had the somewhat bizarre experience of getting absolutely destroyed by a 6 year old at "chess". I should have realised that game was slipping away from me when he added two robot dragons to the board, and then told me that one of them had "double flame breath" which allowed him to incinerate 2 of my pieces at a time. Even trying to capture his extra pieces did not work, as the other robot (some kind of snake), simply ate my piece on contact. I think the game went for about 8 moves, and I lost by "not having any pieces left". 

Stop wasting your time

 One of my pet hates in chess games is the unnecessary h3/h6 move in the opening. In part this is fuelled by a belief that openings should be played "correctly", and in in part, due to my inability to punish such wasted moves early in my chess career. 

So I am often glad to see a game where such time wasting is dealt with severely, as I did at Street Chess today.

Ingham,Glenn - Marks,Joe [C44]
Street Chess Chess.com, 11.11.2020

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 h6 5. c3 dxc3 6. Nxc3 d6 7. O-O Be7 8. Qb3 Ne5 9. Nxe5 dxe5 10. Bxf7+ 1-0

2020 Vikings 75% full

 Time to get your entry in if you are planning to play in the 2020 Vikings Weekender. There is only room for 15 more entries, as the tournament is hard capped at 60. You will need to both contact the organisers, and pay your entry fee if you want to reserve your place. Details at www.actchess.org.au

More technical difficulties

 Although online play is starting to die down (at least in Canberra), the ACTCA still runs one event a week. The Wednesday Rapid (which is every Wednesday at 7:00pm) is still a thing, and I usually do a summary on twitch on Thursday morning. However some issue with my headphones and microphone led to a very poor quality stream this morning, and I decided to delete it from my archives. But not wishing to waste the analysis, I will instead leave it here for people to go over.

glenno9 - DoctorWho64 [A47]
Wednesday Rapid 11.11.2020

1. d4 c5 2. e3 Nf6 3. c3 ( 3. c4 g6 4. Nc3 Bg7 5. d5 ) 3...  b6 4. Nf3 Bb7 5. Bd3 g6 6. Qb3 Qc7 ( 6... Bxf3 7. gxf3 Nc6 8. Nd2 ( 8. d5 Ne5 9. Be2 c4 10. Qd1 Qc7 = ) 8... e6 =+ ) 7. O-O Bg7 ( 7... Bxf3 8. gxf3 Nc6 =+ ) 8. dxc5 bxc5 ( 8... Qxc5 9. Nbd2 O-O 10. e4 d6 =+ ) 9. Nbd2 d5 10. Bb5+ Nbd7 11. Ne5?? O-O ( 11... Qxe5 12. Bxd7+ Nxd7 13. Qxb7 Rd8 = ) ( 11... c4! 12. Qa4 ( 12. Qb4 a5 13. Qa4 ) ( 12. Nexc4 dxc4 13. Qxc4 -+ ) 12... Qxe5 13. Bxd7+ Nxd7 ) 12. Nxd7 Nxd7 13. Be2 Rab8 14. Qd1 e5 15. h4 Nf6 16. h5 Rfd8 17. hxg6 hxg6 18. Bf3 e4 19. Bg4 ( 19. Be2 d4 20. exd4 cxd4 21. cxd4 Rxd4 22. Qe1 e3! 23. fxe3 Ng4! 24. Bxg4 ( 24. exd4 Qh2# ) 24... Rxg4 -+ ) 19...  Nxg4 ( 19... d4! ) 20. Qxg4 Bc8 21. Qh4 f5 22. g3 ( 22. Qh2 Be5 23. f4 Bf6 ) 22...  Kf7! 23. f4 ( 23. Qh2 Rh8 24. Qg2 Ba6 25. Re1 Rh5 ) 23...  Rh8 24. Qg5 Bf6 25. Nb3 Bxg5 0-1

Vale Ken Holt

 I've just read that Ken Holt has passed away. A regular player on the Melbourne chess scene, he was also a common sight at the Doeberl Cup, as well as playing in a few of the Australian Open's that were held here. He was a solid 1800-2000, capable of taking down higher rated players, and always difficult to beat for lower rated opponents.

He was one of the players who formed the backbone of the Australian weekend scene, where playing was often more about who you meet, rather than who you beat. He was always good to have a chat (or a drink) with, and he will be missed by those that knew him.

Holt,Kenneth P (1953) - Canfell,Gregory (2304) [E81]
Australian op Tuggeranong (11), 09.01.2007

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Be3 c5 7. d5 e6 8. Bd3 exd5 9. cxd5 Nbd7 10. Nge2 a6 11. a4 Ne5 12. O-O Bd7 13. b3 Ne8 14. Rc1 Nc7 15. f4 Ng4 16. Bd2 b5 17. h3 Nh6 18. Be3 f5 19. e5 dxe5 20. fxe5 Bxe5 21. Bxh6 Re8 22. Qd2 Qe7 23. Bg5 Qg7 24. Bf4 Bxf4 25. Qxf4 b4 26. Qxc7 bxc3 27. Qxc5 Rac8 28. Qd4 Qh6 29. Bc4 Re4 30. Qf2 Rce8 31. Nxc3 1-0

The perils of 1 hour chess

 Digging through my archives I cam across the following game from the 1999 Vikings Weekender. My memory of this game is a little hazy, but I do recall I was quite pleased to get a draw against Johnny Bolens (who regularly beat me up until then). However, what I can't remember if the draw was a result of the shortness of time, or simply because I chickened out. While the latter is more likely, the fact that the game was played with 60m followed by a 10 second increment may indicate that time was a factor.

 

Press,Shaun - Bolens,Johnny [A65]
Vikings Weekender (3), 11.12.1999

1. d4 c5 2. d5 d6 3. c4 e6 4. e4 exd5 5. cxd5 Nf6 6. Nc3 Be7 7. Bb5+ Nfd7 8. f4 O-O 9. Nf3 a6 10. Bd3 b5 11. O-O Bf6 12. e5 Be7 13. Ne4 c4 14. Bb1 Re8 15. Nfg5 Nf8 16. Qh5 g6 17. Qh6 Bf5 18. Nxd6 Bxd6 19. Bxf5 Bc5+ 20. Kh1 gxf5 21. Rf3 Qxd5 22. Be3 Re6 23. Nxe6 fxe6 24. Rg3+ Ng6 25. Rxg6+ hxg6 26. Qxg6+ Kf8 27. Bxc5+ Qxc5 28. Rd1 Nc6 29. Qf6+ 1/2-1/2

Would you rather?

 I keep seeing different versions of the "Would you rather ..."* game on youtube. So in the spirit of the times I have a chess related one of my own. Would you rather have a rook that can also move 1 square as a bishop , or a bishop that can move 1 square as a rook ( both as a separate move)? 

* An example question is "Would you rather fight 10 10 year old's, or 100 100 year old's?"

By a narrow margin

 One of the odd things for me about US Presidential elections is that have often been away from Australia when they happen. The main reason is that the Chess Olympiads often happen around the same time of the year, so I am either at the tournament, or passing through another country (usually the UK) on my way there or back.

The first time this happened was in 2000, and if I remember correctly, the result hadn't been determined by the time I left Istanbul. But I did score a good win the day before the election, and I was certainly a lot happier with that, than what was happening in the US.

Minani,Froduald - Press,Shaun [D00]
Istanbul ol (Men) 34th Istanbul (9.2), 06.11.2000

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. g3 e6 4. Bg5 h6 5. Bxf6 Qxf6 6. e4 Bb4 7. e5 Qe7 8. Nf3 c5 9. Bg2 Nc6 10. O-O cxd4 11. Nb5 O-O 12. Nbxd4 Nxd4 13. Nxd4 Bd7 14. c3 Ba5 15. Re1 a6 16. Re3 Rfc8 17. Rf3 Rc7 18. Rf4 Rf8 19. Bf1 f5 20. exf6 Rxf6 21. Rxf6 Qxf6 22. Qf3 Bb6 23. Qxf6 gxf6 24. Nf3 Kf7 25. h4 Rc5 26. Bh3 Rc8 27. Re1 Rg8 28. Kg2 Bc8 29. Rd1 Rd8 30. h5 Ba7 31. a4 Bd7 32. b3 Bc6 33. Nd4 Bxd4 34. cxd4 a5 35. Bg4 Bd7 36. Rc1 Rc8 37. Rxc8 Bxc8 38. f4 Ke7 39. Be2 Bd7 40. Kf3 Kd6 41. Ke3 e5 42. Bd1 Bf5 43. fxe5+ fxe5 44. g4 Bh7 45. Be2 Ke6 46. Bb5 Bc2 47. Be8 Bd1 48. g5 hxg5 49. Bg6 Bxb3 50. h6 exd4+ 51. Kxd4 Kf6 52. h7 Kg7 53. Bf5 b6 54. Ke5 Bxa4 55. Kxd5 Bb3+ 56. Kc6 a4 57. Kxb6 a3 58. Bb1 a2 59. Bxa2 Bxa2 60. Kc5 Kxh7 61. Kd4 Kg6 62. Ke3 Kh5 63. Kf3 Kh4 64. Kg2 Kg4 65. Kh2 Kf3 66. Kh3 g4+ 67. Kh2 Kf2 68. Kh1 Bd5+ 0-1

A very short review

The Queen's Gambit on Netflix. I liked it.

But more importantly, how many famous games were used in the series. I have spotted 3 so far (by Greco, Morphy and Reti) and I have seen a reference to another game that was played by Rashid Nehzmetdinov. My list would be a bit longer as I saw that someone had actually collated all the games and put it on youtube or facebook, but for the life of me, I can no longer find it,  

Opening Up

 It looks like most Australian States and Territories will be opening their borders before Christmas. This is good news for the chess community, as it will hopefully see some of the 2021 events up and running. For some events (such as the Australian Schools teams Championship) it is a little to late, although online versions will be run. For some other events like to 2021 Oceania Zonal (or the delayed Olympiad), the issues regarding international travel are still a problem, and even 2021 might be out of the question for these events.

However I expect that there will be a lot of face to face chess returning next year, which is obviously a good thing. 

2020 Vikings Weekender - Update

 A reminder that the 2020 Vikings Weekender is taking place at the Lanyon Club, Condor, ACT on the weekend of the 21st and 22nd of November. Due to an issue with the club opening times, the tournament format has now been changed to 3 rounds Saturday and 3 rounds Sunday.

The new schedule, plus all other tournament information can be found at actchess.org.au and the current entry list can be found at http://tournaments.streetchess.net/vikings2020/