A neat trick to know

Although we learn various ideas in chess as we go along, putting them into practice is often harder. In the given position it is Black to play and draw. Now having told you the result of the game, it shouldn't take you long to work out the only sensible way for Black to draw the game. The challenge is to find the moves that make it happen.

Trap du jour

I have mixed feelings about opening traps. I enjoy playing them, and will try and memorise them when I can, and yet I feel uneasy about teaching them to the players I coach. I'm happy to use them as an example of chess tactics, but less so as a way of collecting points in tournaments. I guess this is as a natural reaction to seeing players who's opening knowledge (and chess careers) didn't extend much beyond Scholars Mate.
But when I do come across an enjoyable trap I am happy to share it with the world. The following game is included in "The Mammoth Book of Chess", which is one of the great single volume books that any improving chess player should have in their library. However, there seems to be two versions of the game. The Chessbase version lasts a little bit longer, and has a slightly less interesting mate than the finish given in the book version. I've included the more spectacular finish in the notes to the game, along with a diagram showing it.

Runau - Schmidt [B00]
3/90-28, 1972

1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.Be2 0-0-0 6.c4 Qh5 7.d5 Bxf3 8.Bxf3 Qe5+ 9.Be3 Qxb2 10.0-0 Qxa1 11.dxc6 Rxd1 12.cxb7+ Kb8 13.Rxd1 c6 14.Bxc6 Kc7 15.Rd7+ Kb8 [15...Kxc6 16.b8N# (D)] 16.Rd8+ Kc7 17.b8Q+ Kxc6 18.Qc8# 1-0

Negi wins Dato Arthur Tan Malaysian Open

Young Indian GM Parimajan Negi has won the 2009 Data Arthur Tan Malaysian Open, on tie break after finishin on 7/9 along with IM Ronald Dableo (PHI). Negi defeated Emmanuel Senador (PHI), who had lead the tournament going into the last round.
Of the Australian players IM Igor Goldenberg and Domagoj Dragicevic were the best finishers on 5/9. A full crosstable can be found at this link.
New WFM Emma Guo was another of the Australian players to make the trip to the tournament, and though she only finished on 3/9, this in part was explained by a tough draw early on, after drawing her first round game with a much higher opponent.

Guo,E (1914) - Ma,Q (2319) [D02]
DATMO, 2009

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.e3 e6 6.Nbd2 Be7 7.Ne5 0-0 8.Bd3 Qb6 9.Rb1 Re8 10.Qf3 Qd8 11.Qh3 g6 12.Ndf3 Nxe5 13.Nxe5 Nh5 14.Bh6 Bf8 15.Qf3 Qe7 16.Bg5 f6 17.g4 Qc7 18.gxh5 fxe5 19.Qg3 Bg7 20.hxg6 h6 21.Bh4 Bd7 22.dxe5 Qxe5 23.Qxe5 Bxe5 24.Bg3 Bxg3 25.hxg3 Kg7 26.g4 ½-½

2009 ACT Chess Championship

The 2009 ACT Chess Championship begins next Friday night (4th September). In a slightly unusual move the event is being played on a non-club night, although it is being played at the venue of a chess club. The venue is the Tuggeranong Vikings Rugby Union Club (home of the Tuggeranong Chess Club), Ricardo St, Wanniassa. It will be a 9 round swiss (1 round a week) and is open to all players. The time limit is G/90+30s with entry fees of $50 for adults, $40 for concessions.
Further details, including online entry facilities, are at this link.

2.Qh5

Given that Hikaru Nakamura has played 1.e4 e5 2.Qh5 on occasion, the tendency is to be a little more respectful of the queen move than we otherwise would have been. Nonetheless, away from the hit and giggle of schools chess (and online chess servers) this move still scores horribly. And yet buried away in the huge databases that we rely on so much, there is one line that has an almost respectable score. After 1.e4 e5 2.Qh5 Nc6 3.Bc4 g6 4.Qf3 Nf6 White doesn't chance it with 5.g4? (5. ... Nd4 being a good reply), but plays a little more solidly with 5.Ne2 This was the line that Nakamura chose in a couple of GM games, although he only ended up with 0.5/2 However it proved more successful for others (albeit with weaker opponents).
Now I'm not cheer leading this opening, having spent the last 3 weeks demonstrating to hordes of juniors how NOT to fall for the 4 move checkmate, but here is a win for White in the line anyway.

Rouleau,J (2269) - Minear,P (2131) [C20]
34th NCC Philadelphia USA (3), 29.11.2003

1.e4 e5 2.Qh5 Nc6 3.Bc4 g6 4.Qf3 Nf6 5.Ne2 d6 6.h3 Be6 7.d3 Bg7 8.Nbc3 Nd4 9.Nxd4 exd4 10.Bxe6 fxe6 11.Ne2 Nd7 12.0-0 Qe7 13.Qg3 0-0 14.Bg5 Bf6 15.Bxf6 Qxf6 16.f4 Rae8 17.Rf3 c5 18.Raf1 Qg7 19.Qf2 Rf6 20.g4 h6 21.Ng3 Rff8 22.Qd2 b6 23.R3f2 Kh7 24.h4 Qf7 25.g5 hxg5 26.hxg5 1-0

Age and Experience vs Youth and Enthusiasm

The annual Rising Stars v Experience match is currently running in Amsterdam and at the halfway point, it is Experience holding a 2 point lead (13.5-11.5). In looking at this lineups I was first surprised to see Peter Svidler on the Experience team (as he isn't that old) but of course these days a lot of the top 40 year old players already have 30+ years of chess experience under their belts. Nonetheless the team does contain two real veterans in the shape of Beliavsky and Ljubojevic.
Full coverage including live audio coverage (by GM Larry Christiansen and Mig Greengard) can be found at www.nhchess.com

Chess and Politics

Last year I wrote about the collision between what I sometimes read in chess (Eric Schiller), and what I always read in politics (Daily Kos. Click here for a refresher). Well the connection between that blog and chess has gone a little further, with the holding of the DKos Chess Tournament 2009. It was played online (over a couple of months) and attracted quite a large field.
As it turned out Eric Schiller won the event, although any one of 4 players were in with a chance going into the final round. Full coverage by Superbowlxx can be found here.
Here is the final decisive game of the tournament.

Makechessnotwar - Sharkmeister [E14]
DKos Tournament, 08.2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.e3 b6 4.Bd3 Bb7 5.0-0 Be7 6.c4 0-0 7.Nc3 d5 8.b3 Nbd7 9.Bb2 Ne4 10.Qc2 Ndf6 11.Ne5 Rc8 12.Ne2 c5 13.f3 Nd6 14.dxc5 Rxc5 15.Bd4 Rc8 16.Qb2 dxc4 17.bxc4 Nf5 18.Bxf5 exf5 19.Rad1 Qc7 20.Nc3 Ba6 21.Nb5 Bxb5 22.cxb5 Qc2 23.Nc6 Qxb2 24.Nxe7+ Kh8 25.Bxb2 Rc2 26.Bxf6 gxf6 27.Nxf5 Rxa2 28.Ra1 Rb2 29.Rfb1 Rc2 30.Rxa7 Rc5 31.e4 h5 32.Rb7 Kh7 33.Rxb6 Kg6 34.Ne7+ Kg7 35.Rc6 Re5 36.Nf5+ Kg6 37.b6 1-0