Correct chess?

 During the current school holidays, the ACT Junior Chess League is running a number of online events, for the benefit of our local players. One of the (small) outcomes is that some of our less experienced players are starting to play what could be termed 'correct' chess moves. By this I mean moves that look sensible to other chess players, as opposed to hanging pawns, moving h pawns before castling, developing rooks via h3 etc

Then I came across this ...

Carlsen, Magnus - Duda, Jan-Krysztof
Meltwater Champions Final 2021

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Nf3 c5 6. e3 cxd4 7. exd4 Nxc3 8. bxc3 Qc7 9. Rb1 Nd7 10. Bd3 Qxc3+ 11. Kf1 Be7 12. h4 O-O 13. Rh3 Nf6 14. Ne5 Qa5 15. Rg3 Kh8 16. Bg5 h6 17. Bxh6 gxh6 18. Qf3 1-0

The big old passer

 There is a saying about passed pawns, in that they look scarier on the 2nd rank than they do on the 7th. However you do still need to keep an eye on them, as they can still get out of control.

mhummel (2095) - Connor5566 (1836) [C42]
ACTCA Tuesday Rapid - 28 Sep https://lichess.org/5KNMPwu0, 28.09.2021

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. c4 dxc4 5. Bxc4 Nf6 6. Nf3 Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. Nc3 Bg4 9. Be3 Qd7 10. Ne5 Bxd1 11. Nxd7 Nbxd7 12. Rfxd1 Bd6 13. Rac1 Ng4 14. h3 Nxe3 15. fxe3 Nb6 16. Bd3 c6 17. a3 a5 18. Ne4 Be7 19. Nc5 Bxc5 20. Rxc5 Rfe8 21. Kf2 Nd5 22. e4 Nf6 23. Kf3 Rad8 24. Bb1 Rd7 25. Rxa5 Rde7 26. Re1 Rd8 27. Ra4 Red7 28. Rd1 c5 29. d5 Re8 30. Rc4 b6 31. g4 Rde7 32. b4 cxb4 33. Rxb4 Nd7 34. d6 Re5 35. Rc4 R5e6 36. Rc7 Ne5+ 37. Kg3 Ng6 38. d7 Rd8 39. Rc8 1-0

Some new chess authors(?)

 Over the last couple of days I decided to have a look at what chess books were being sold on eBay. Turns out that (a) there are heaps and heaps and (b) there are a number of authors I have kind of heard of/not heard of. By this I mean the following

• Magnus Anand
• Magnus Fisher
• Robert Morphy
• John Carlsen

I suspect if I looked deeper I might even find books by Bobby Botvinnik, Boris Kramnik and even Viswanathan Tal!

Some International Chess

 One area of the world that has fully embraced online ches if the Asian Chess Federation. They are now organising a large number of online events, for both junior and open players. The most recent one was the East Asian Girls Championship, which was organised by the Thailand Chess Federation.

As travel is no longer an impediment to taking part, a number of local players took the opportunity to take part. Shriya and Shakthi Karthik played in the Under 14 and Under 12 sections, while Shivani Sundar played in the Under 8's. For each of the players it turned out to be tough going, as there were plenty of platers from other countries with greater experince.

The best score was achieved by Shriya Karthick who scored 4/9, including a quick win in the 2nd round

Karthik,Shriya (1379) - Prem Kumar,Hanushreeya (1024) [A27]
Eastern Asia Youth Chess Championships - Bangkok, Thailand (2.17), 24.09.2021

1. Nf3 Nc6 2. c4 e5 3. Nc3 Bc5 4. e3 a6 5. d4 exd4 6. exd4 Qe7+ 7. Be2 Bb6 8. O-O Nf6 9. Bf4 d6 10. Re1 O-O 11. a3 a5 12. Bd3 Qd8 13. d5 Ne7 14. Bg5 Ng6 15. Ne4 Bg4 16. h3 Bxf3 17. Qxf3 Ne5 18. Qe2 Re8 19. b3 Bd4 20. Rad1 h6 21. Nxf6+ gxf6 22. Bxh6 f5 23. Bxf5 Qf6 24. Rxd4 Ng6 25. Be3 Qxf5 26. Qd3 Qxd3 27. Rxd3 Nf4 28. Rd4 Nh5 29. Bd2 b6 30. Rde4 Kf8 31. Bh6+ 1-0

Slowly, slowly

 Harry Press mentioned the following game to me, as an example of converting space into a winning advantage. It was played at the Sharjah Masters, which is currently being held in person. What is interesting about this game is that White builds up his advantage move by move, until Black runs out of decent choices. Maybe Black was a little passive in his choices, but it still like White won without too much effort.

Salem,A.R. Saleh (2679) - Niemann,Hans Moke (2609) [E04]
4th Sharjah Masters chess24.com (3.6), 19.09.2021

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 e6 5. g3 dxc4 6. Bg2 b5 7. Ne5 a6 8. O-O Bb7 9. b3 cxb3 10. axb3 Be7 11. Bb2 O-O 12. Ne4 Nd5 13. Nc5 Bxc5 14. dxc5 f6 15. Nd3 Nd7 16. e4 Nc7 17. Bc3 Qe7 18. Ba5 Rac8 19. f4 e5 20. f5 Rfd8 21. Qc2 g6 22. fxg6 hxg6 23. Bh3 Rf8 24. Rad1 Ne6 25. Bxe6+ Qxe6 26. Nf2 Rce8 27. Rd6 Qf7 28. Ng4 Qh7 29. Qd2 Bc8 30. Rxc6 Re7 31. Bd8 1-0

Sigeman Chess Tournament

 If you want to watch some serious (non online) GM level chess, the Sigeman Chess Tournament has just begun. It is being held in Malmo, Sweden and is an 8 player round robin. In the field are a mixture of young talents (Sarin and Keymar) and some more experienced GM's (Gawain Jones and Nigel Short). The first round began around an hour ago, and is being covered live by chess24.com. Each round begins at 10pm (Canberra time), and with the civilized time limit of 40/100m,20/50m,15m+30s inc from move 1, there should be hours of entertainment.

Neville Ledger 1930 - 2021

 Neville Ledger has passed away at the age of 81  91.  For many years he was the backbone of the Tasmanian chess scene, as a player, organiser, administrator and chess retailer. He ran a mail order bookshop from his home for may years, being particularly adept at providing rarer and hard to get titles. A strong supporter of Correspondence Chess, he was a regular advertiser in the Australian Correspondence Chess Quarterly.

As a player he was a Tasmanian State Champion (in 1965) and the Burnie Club Champion on numerous occasions. He held a number of positions with the Tasmanian Chess Association over the years, including being TCA President in 1977-78. Apart from being a bookseller, he also produced the Tasmanian Chess Magazine until 1991, and produced a multi volume history of chess in Tasmania. 

Feeling rusty

 After a few months concentrating on running online events, I recently made the effort to play a bit more. I've never been that great at (fast) online chess, and my most recent efforts have confirmed this. One issue (apart from lousy openings), is that it does take me a while to warm up, meaning I drop a few games early in events. After that it does get better, but we'd all be champions if you could ignore our losses! 

So for the moment I am cruising along at around 50%, but hopefully more practice will lead to more wins.

Attention to detail

 One of the things I thought was great about "The Queens Gambit" was the attention to detail. The equipment looked legitimate, the games and moves looked real, and even some of the casting of extras was spot on. In fact one of the casting choices was the very brief scene where Nona Gaprindashvili was featured (for no more than a couple of seconds). 

However the creators are now being sued over this scene, for the line that "she has never faced men". Gaprindashvili is asking for $5M, although I would be surprised if she will get this (NB I am not a lawyer). When I saw the scene, I (and any serious chess player) knew this was not correct, as she had  played in plenty of events against male players. Indeed the line was so inaccurate, I had assumed that they were implying that she had neve faced men "at this level". And while that is also incorrect, the producers may make this argument, if it ever gets to court.

What I suspect will happen is that a correction is made to the scene (or it just gets removed from future prints), an apology given (noting that the book and series are a work of fiction), and everyone moves on. 

Russia win 2021 Online Olympiad

 After nearly a months play, Russia has emerged victorious in the 2021 Online Olympiad. After finishing as joint champions in 2020 (with India) they went one better this year, beating the USA in the final, winning both legs 3.5-2.5. Despite losing the final, the USA can also be proud of their finish, scoring come from behind wins over both Kazakhstan and India  in the knockout stage. 

The Online Olympiad attracted 155 teams, which is on par with (or better than) most Olympiads. For the lower ranked countries it was an opportunity to play some international chess, while for the stronger teams, it was a chance to make a mark on the world stage. 

While nothing definite has been announced at this stage, there is an expectation that this event will continue, in the non (OTB) Olympiad years.

Kosteniuk,Alexandra (2517) - Krush,Irina (2392) [A00]
2021 FIDE Online Olympiad Chess.com (2.3), 15.09.2021

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 Be7 8. O-O-O a6 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. Bxf6 gxf6 11. Bc4 O-O 12. Rhe1 Kh8 13. Re3 Rg8 14. f4 d5 15. Qe2 Bd6 16. e5 fxe5 17. fxe5 Bc5 18. Rh3 Qg5+ 19. Kb1 dxc4 20. Ne4 Qxe5 21. Rh5 f5 22. Ng5 Qc7 23. Qe5+ Rg7 24. Rd8+ Qxd8 25. Rxh7+ Kg8 26. Qxg7# 1-0

Speaking of mouseslips

 Just to follow up from yesterdays post, here is one game from the Olympiad that did see a mouseslip. Two important points to note (1) White was losing in this position anyway and (2) One reason why the Olympiad finals used match points rather than game points was to reduce the effect such slips had on the overall results. 

Dubov,Daniil (2770) - Erdos,Viktor (2614) [A00]
2021 FIDE Online Olympiad Chess.com (1.1), 13.09.2021

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Rb1 O-O 8. h4 h6 9. d4 c5 10. h5 g5 11. e5 cxd4 12. cxd4 Nc6 13. Be3 Qa5+ 14. Bd2 Qxa2 15. Bd3 Bg4 16. Qe2 Nxd4 17. Qe4 Bf5 18. Qxd4 Rfd8 19. Bxf5 Rxd4 20. Nxd4 Rd8 21. Nb3 e6 22. Be4 Bxe5 23. g4 a5 24. Bxa5 Rd4 25. Nxd4 Qxa5+ 26. Kf1 Bxd4 27. Kg2 Qd2 28. Rhf1 Qf4 29. Bf3 b6 30. Rfe1 Bc5 31. Rbd1 Kg7 32. Rd6 Bxd6 0-1

The limits to sportsmanship

 As is the case with Online Chess, some games are decided by external factors. In the current Online Olympiad players have lost by disconnection, or blundered material through a misclick or mouseslip. On more than one occasion a 'sporting' result has been agreed, which normally leaves everyone involved with a warm and fuzzy feeling inside.

That is, until it gets serious. During the knock out stage of the Olympiad there have been a few games where the players have misclicked. Despite suggestions from spectators, there have been no draw offers or repetitions, and the games have ended with a decisive result. As, in my opinion, they should have. Players should not feel pressured to bail out an opponent's mistake, especially if the game was running in their favour any (as the games I saw were). While it is unfortunate that games might end prematurely, this is preferable to adding another level of gamesmanship to tournaments, where the easiest way to secure a draw in a worse position if to actually blunder badly (not that I am saying this was the case here). Operating the playing equipment correctly is as important in online events as it is in OTB tournament.

School Chess in Lockdown

 The local ABC television station did a quick report in what students were doing to keep busy and engaged during the current Covid lockdown. Chess was one of the activities featured.

Some v Most v All

 A few years ago Stewart Reuben suggested that if more than one person does not understand what a regulations means then it should be rewritten. Personally I think that that requirement is too strict, but the "Rule of Some, Most, All" should apply.

Basically if only some people understand a rule or instruction, then it is the underlying system that needs fixing. An example is having to line up for something, and being faced with confusing signage.  In only some people understand it it, the system of queuing is probably broken. If on the other most people get it right, then the signs need to be made clearer. But if everyone understands it (where the value of everyone is say 1 in 50), then the fault shifts to the customer. 

Why I mention this is that I keep running into this situation when running chess tournaments (IRL and online). Most people get it, but the line between most and all can sometimes be blurred. And how I deal with that, usually then depends on my mood at the time!

A very fine line

Another game where the difference between winning and drawing was decided by a single move. In this case it was 29.Qc2 (which loses) versus 29.Qd8 which would have lead to a draw.

Jumabayev,Rinat (2562) - Ding,Liren (2836) [A00]
2021 FIDE Online Olympiad Chess.com (4.1), 09.09.2021

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 d5 3. e3 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nd2 Bf5 6. Qb3 Qc8 7. Ngf3 c4 8. Qd1 e6 9. Be2 h6 10. b3 b5 11. bxc4 bxc4 12. Ne5 Nxe5 13. Bxe5 Be7 14. g4 Bg6 15. h4 Qc6 16. Rg1 Bd6 17. h5 Bh7 18. g5 hxg5 19. h6 Kf8 20. Nxc4 Be7 21. hxg7+ Kxg7 22. Nd2 Qxc3 23. Rc1 Qa3 24. Rc7 Rac8 25. Rxg5+ Bg6 26. Qc2 Rxc7 27. Qxc7 Rh1+ 28. Bf1 Bb4 29. Qc2 Qa6 30. Rxg6+ fxg6 31. Qc7+ Kh6 32. Kd1 Qd3 33. Bf4+ g5 34. Bxg5+ Kg6 0-1

An instructive King and Pawn ending

 Rapid chess isn't known for deep endgame analysis, but it can still throw up some interesting positions. In tonight's ACT Online Rapid there was a very interesting K+P ending, which both players found some very good moves, and some not so great ones. Given the time control (10m+2s) it is unfair to criticise the missed wins (and draws), but I have highlighted them anyway, to show the turning points in the game.

Of particular interest is the last variation, which shows how K+Q v K+Q isn't always an automatic draw.

RapanasCorner - chesslh [D53]
https://lichess.org/pVb9REtO

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e3 h6 6. Bh4 O-O 7. Qc2 Ne4 8. Bxe7 Qxe7 9. Nxe4 dxe4 10. a3 f5 11. Ne2 e5 12. dxe5 Nc6 13. Nf4 Nxe5 14. Be2 Be6 15. Qc3 Bf7 16. O-O c6 17. Rfd1 Rad8 18. b3 g5 19. Nh5 Bxh5 20. Bxh5 Qg7 21. Kh1 Nd3 22. Qxg7+ Kxg7 23. Kg1 Kf6 24. Be2 Nc5 25. b4 Ne6 26. c5 Rxd1+ 27. Rxd1 Rd8 28. Rxd8 Nxd8 29. Kf1 Ke5 30. Ke1 Ne6 31. Kd2 Nc7 32. Bc4 Nd5 33. Kc2 Nf6 34. h3 Nd5 35. Ba2 Nf6 36. Bf7 Nd5 37. Bxd5 Kxd5 38. Kc3 a6 39. Kb3 a5 40. g3 h5 41. h4 ( 41. Ka4 axb4 42. Kxb4 f4 43. gxf4 gxf4 44. h4 Ke6 ( 44... fxe3 45. fxe3 Ke5 46. Kc4 Kf5 47. Kd4 +- ) ( 44... Ke5 45. Kc4 +- ) 45. Ka5 ( 45. Kc4 Ke5 46. a4 Ke6 47. Kd4 Kf5 48. a5 f3 49. Kc4 Kg4 ) 45... Kd5 ( 45... fxe3 46. fxe3 Kf5 ( 46... Kd7 47. Kb6 Kc8 48. Ka7 Kc7 49. a4 Kc8 50. a5 Kc7 51. a6 bxa6 52. Kxa6 Kd7 53. Kb7 +- ) 47. Kb6 Kg4 48. Kxb7 Kf3 49. Kxc6 Kxe3 = ) ( 45... Kd7 46. exf4 +- ) 46. Kb6 fxe3 47. fxe3 Kc4 48. Kxb7 Kd3 49. Kxc6 Kxe3 50. Kd5 Kf4 51. c6 e3 52. c7 e2 53. c8=Q e1=Q = ) 41...  gxh4 42. gxh4 axb4 43. axb4 Ke6 44. Kc4 Ke5 ( 44... f4! 45. exf4 Kf5 -+ ) 45. b5 cxb5+ 46. Kxb5 Kd5 47. Kb6 ( 47. Kb4 Ke6 48. Kc4 Ke5 49. c6 bxc6 50. Kc5 Ke6 51. Kxc6 Ke5 52. Kd7 f4! 53. Ke7?? ( 53. exf4+ Kxf4 54. Ke6 Kg4 55. Ke5 Kxh4 56. Kxe4 = ) ) 47...  Kc4 48. Kxb7 Kxc5 49. Kc7 Kc4?? ( 49... Kd5 = 50. Kd7 Ke5 51. Ke7 f4 ) 50. Kd6 Kd3 51. Ke5 Ke2 52. Kxf5 Kxf2 53. Kxe4 Kg3 54. Kf5 Kxh4 55. Kf4! Kh3 56. e4 Kg2 57. Kg5? = ( 57. e5! h4 58. e6 h3 59. e7 h2 60. e8=Q h1=Q 61. Qe2+ Kg1 ( 61... Kh3 62. Qg4+ Kh2 63. Qg3# ) 62. Kg3!! ) 57...  Kg3! 58. e5 h4 59. e6 h3 60. e7 h2 61. e8=Q h1=Q 62. Qe3+ Qf3 63. Qxf3+ Kxf3 1/2-1/2

Street Chess - back online

 Street Chess has been out of action for a month, but with the ACT extending the covid lockdown for a few more weeks, I've decided to revive the online version.  It will be run at the same time, and with the same format as regular Street Chess, although it will be hosted at lichess.org this year. Like the other ACT based events, it is open to members of the ACTCA Fast Chess Club on lichess. If you are a Canberra player and want to play, apply to join the team, making sure you include your real name in your application.

Australia fall short

 Going into the final day of the 2021 Online Olympiad, Australia had high hopes of qualifying for the top section, but a couple of unfortunate results put paid to this. Having won in round 7, the slipped up against Kyrgyzstan in round 8, losing 3.5-2.5. This meant they needed to be Shenzen (a second China team, representing the event sponsors), but lost 5-1, to finish in 4th pace for the 2nd year in a row.  Top board Temur Kuybokarov had the best score with 5.5/8, but the rest of the team hovered around the 50% mark for most of the tournament. 

FM Albert Winkelman scored exactly 50% (3.5/7) including winning a nice game in Round 8 against his opponent from Kyrgyzstan

Winkelman,Albert (2257) - Degenbaev,Aziz (1795) [A00]
2021 FIDE Online Olympiad Chess.com (8.3), 04.09.2021

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nc6 4. Ngf3 Nf6 5. e5 Nd7 6. Bb5 f6 7. exf6 Qxf6 8. Nf1 Bd6 9. Ne3 O-O 10. O-O Ne7 11. Bd3 Bf4 12. Ng4 Qf7 13. Qe2 Nc6 14. h3 h5 15. Bxf4 hxg4 16. Ng5 Qxf4 17. Qxe6+ Rf7 18. Bg6 Nde5 19. Bxf7+ Qxf7 20. Nxf7 Bxe6 21. Nxe5 Nxd4 22. hxg4 g5 23. Rae1 Nxc2 24. Rc1 Nb4 25. Rxc7 d4 26. Rd1 Rd8 27. a3 Na6 28. Rxb7 Nc5 29. Rb5 Bb3 30. Rc1 d3 31. Nf3 d2 32. Nxd2 Rxd2 33. Rcxc5 Rxb2 34. Rc3 Rb1+ 35. Kh2 Ba2 36. Rxb1 Bxb1 37. Rc5 Kf7 38. Rxg5 Ke6 39. Ra5 Be4 40. Rxa7 Ke5 41. Re7+ Kf4 42. Rxe4+ Kxe4 43. Kg3 Kd4 44. Kh4 Kc5 45. g5 Kb6 46. Kh5 Ka7 47. g6 Ka6 48. g7 Ka5 49. g8Q Ka4 50. Qc4+ Kxa3 51. Kg4 Kb2 52. Kf3 Kb1 53. Ke3 Kb2 54. Kd3 Kb1 55. Qb4+ Kc1 56. g3 Kd1 57. Qb1# 1-0

The king is not an attacking piece

 Despite Steinitz's arguments to the contrary, the king doesn't usually fare well out in the open. A good example is the following game from the 2021 Online Chess Olympiad

Weng,Yu-Hsin (1000) - Cheng,Chao Xin (1440) [A00]
2021 FIDE Online Olympiad Chess.com (3.1), 02.09.2021

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c4 Bg4 4. cxd5 Bxf3 5. dxc6 Bxc6 6. Nc3 e6 7. Bf4 Nf6 8. e3 a6 9. f3 Nh5 10. Bg3 Nxg3 11. hxg3 Qg5 12. Kf2 Bd6 13. f4 Qf6 14. e4 O-O-O 15. d5 exd5 16. exd5 Bc5+ 17. Kf3 Rhe8 18. Ne4 Rxe4 19. Kxe4 Bxd5+ 20. Qxd5 Rxd5 21. Kf3 Qxb2 22. Be2 f5 23. Rhb1 Rd3+ 24. Bxd3 Qf2# 0-1

Extended lockdowns

 I'm pretty sure that everyone in Canberra is aware that the current lockdown has been extended for another 2 weeks (17th September at the moment). So OTB chess looks unlikely for the near future (noting that I did get a phone call on Saturday asking me where all the Street Chess players were!)

So it is now a steady diet of online events, both to play, and to watch. One event to watch is the 2nd Division of the 2021 Online Olympiad. The Australian team has been seeded into this division, and is in Pool A. This is the first of the pools to start playing tomorrow (2nd September), with their games starting at 6pm. There will be 3 rounds per day, with the top 3 teams going through to the top division.

Last year Australia narrowly missed out, but this year they look at having a better chance of qualifying. There closest rivals will be Indonesia and China 2( Shenzen), while Bangladesh and The Philippines are fielding strong teams as well. Australia will play Bangladesh in the 1st round tomorrow, and of interest to Canberra viewers will be the performance of local lad, FM Albert Winkelman, playing in the Under 20 slot.

Chess sets of the well connected

 The ABC (in Australia) has just finished running a 2 part special on "Fox and the Big Lie", about how Fox News in the USA echoed the false claims that Trump's 2020 election loss was due to fraud. And while I found the whole thing interesting there was one political thing that struck me. In a lot of the interview scenes there seemed to be a lot of chess sets in the background, I assume belonging to the people being interviewed. So I wander, are they sets for use, or just for show?