Chess Improvement

Here’s a game by #1 ICC webcast host, old Harvard Square buddy IM Bill Paschall, ICC handle MrSerious. Let’s see some analysis of how he did and where he went wrong back in 2006.

[Event "World Open"]
[Site "Philadelphia, USA"]
[Date "2006.07.03"]
[Round "?"]
[White "IM_Paschall"]
[Black "GM_Antic"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Opening "King's Indian: fianchetto, Kavalek (Bronstein) variation"]
[ECO "E62"]
[NIC "KI.74"]
[Time "18:30:18"]

2006 World Open
Philadelphia, former capitol of the USA
July 3, 2006

Opening – King’s Indian, Kavalek Variation
White – IM Bill Paschall
Black – GM Dejan Antic

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O
5. Bg2 d6 6. d4 c6 7. O-O Qa5

Kavalek Variation. One of GM Roman Dzindzichashvili’s favorites, who taught Bill a thing or two in Boston.

8. h3 e5 9. e4 exd4 10. Nxd4 Nbd7 11. Re1 Re8
12. Nb3 Qc7 13. Bf4 Ne5 14. Qe2!!! TN
Theoretical Novelty by Paschall and the best move -
#2 move 14 c5!! and
#3 move 14 Bf1!
have been tried once each

14 … Nh5
Antic has a comfortable position – a big part of Black’s strategy is to
lure White’s pawns forward to their own doom. This game is a perfect example. The pieces are barely touching which means Black has a 25 move comfort zone – top 3 moves – 14 … Be6!!, … b6!, … Nh5!

15. Be3! Be6!! 16. Nd2!
close call between this and 16 c5!

16 … f5!!
Provocative!? Bill tries to fight fire with fire here but it backfires big time. I have been screaming for 5 years that a bodyguard (pawn near a King) is worth a piece but only the GMs listen to me.

I don’t know if computers are designed for positions like this – 16 … Nd7, … f5, … Nf6, … c5 and … Bc8 is what Fritz 8 recommends – Humans loathe retreating or creating giant holes in their pawn structures. If we do retreat we cover our shame by calling it “regrouping”.

17. f4??
Fighting fire with fire but this seems to be the move that Black is forever trying to provoke in the g3-King’s Indian.

17 … Nxg3!!
Say it with me, class. “A bodyguard is worth a piece”.
Thank you, be seated. 17 … B:c4!, … Nd7! and … Nf7 work OK too but 17 … N:g3 is an explosion.

18. Qf2! (Only move) Nxe4!! (Only move)
19. Bxe4!
Only move because N:e4 is met by … Nd3

19 … Nxc4!!
Only move. Antic’s antic have resolved themselves into 3 pawns for a piece, solid pawn structure, safer King, e-file pressure, bishop-pressure, possible central pawn wave

20. Nxc4
Bill finally has a choice again between this and 20 Bc2, a close call, better for Dejan either way.

20 … fxe4! 21. Nd2!
Knights need outposts – without them they get pushed back to irrelevant squares.

21 … d5!!!
The black pawns are rolling down the center. It’s a bad sign when your GM opponent has good choices every move – notice Bill was fine until he got overaggressive with 17 f4?? – Dejan has 21 … Bf5!!, … B:c3, … b5, … B:h3, … Qd7, … Rf8 and others

22. Rac1 Qf7
Among 30 good moves, 22 .. Qd7!!!, … Rf8!!, … Qd8!!, … Qf7!! and … Qd6!! are best.

23. Ne2 Bxb2!! 24. Rc2! Bg7! 25. Bxa7 Bxh3
Bill has drawn a line in the sand from a7 to e3 to prevent the pawn wave so Grandmaster Antic uses the open space in front of IM Paschall’s King to distract the diagonal defenders, the tin cans on a7 and f2 with a string between them.

26. Bd4 e3
There it is already, snipping the white string with a red kid’s scissors. The tin cans on d4 and f2 made a pleasing metallic sound as they hit and rolled.

27. Bxe3! Qf5!
slapping the rook on c2 plus setting up … R:e3+ shots combined with Qf5-g4+-g2checkmate 26 … e3 overloaded Bill’s pieces on
d4, c2, f2 and g1. It’s getting serious for Mr. Serious.

28. Rcc1 Qg4+!!
Paschall resigns due to 29 Ng3 d4 30 B:d4 B:d4 31 Q:d4 Q:g3+ 32 Kh1 Qg2 checkmate 29 Kh2 R:e3 29 Kh1 R:e3
29 Qg3 R:e3
{Black wins} 0-1

Paschall-Antic.pgn
————————————————————————
[Event "World Open"]
[Site "Philadelphia, USA"]
[Date "2006.07.03"]
[Round "?"]
[White "IM_Paschall"]
[Black "GM_Antic"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Opening "King's Indian: fianchetto, Kavalek (Bronstein) variation"]
[ECO "E62"]
[NIC "KI.74"]
[Time "18:30:18"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. d4 c6 7. O-O Qa5 8. h3
e5 9. e4 exd4 10. Nxd4 Nbd7 11. Re1 Re8 12. Nb3 Qc7 13. Bf4 Ne5 14. Qe2 Nh5
15. Be3 Be6 16. Nd2 f5 17. f4 Nxg3 18. Qf2 Nxe4 19. Bxe4 Nxc4 20. Nxc4 fxe4
21. Nd2 d5 22. Rac1 Qf7 23. Ne2 Bxb2 24. Rc2 Bg7 25. Bxa7 Bxh3 26. Bd4 e3
27. Bxe3 Qf5 28. Rcc1 Qg4+ {Black wins} 0-1
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Antic Chess games

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1304640
———————————————————————–

Paschall games

http://www.chessgames.com/player/bill_paschall.html
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Paschall videos

http://www.chesslecture.com/mtm.php
————————————————————————-

Brian Wall Chess games

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=50458
———————————————————————
[Event "Sas van Gent op U20"]
[Site "Sas van Gent"]
[Date "1996.??.??"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Meyer,Harvey"]
[Black "Martin,David"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Eco "E69"]

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0-0 5.0-0 d6 6.d4 Nbd7 7.Nc3 e5 8.e4 c6
9.h3 Qa5 10.Re1 exd4 11.Nxd4 Re8 12.Nb3 Qc7 13.Bf4 Ne5 14.c5 dxc5 15.Nxc5 Nh5
16.Bg5 h6 17.Be3 b6 18.Nb3 Ba6 19.Bf1 Rad8 20.Nd2 Bxf1 21.Rxf1 Nc4 22.Qe2 Nxe3
23.Qxe3 Bd4 24.Qxh6 Qxg3+ 25.Kh1 Qxh3+ 26.Kg1 Be5

0-1
——————————————————————–

[Event "MK Cafe op-A"]
[Site "Koszalin"]
[Date "1997.08.03"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Janocha,Wieslaw"]
[Black "Flis,Jacek"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Eco "E69"]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 Nbd7 4.g3 g6 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.Nf3 0-0 7.0-0 e5 8.e4 c6
9.h3 Qa5 10.Re1 exd4 11.Nxd4 Re8 12.Nb3 Qc7 13.Bf4 Ne5 14.Bf1 Be6 15.Nd2 Nfd7
16.Rc1 f5 17.exf5 gxf5 18.Nf3 Nxf3+ 19.Qxf3 Ne5 20.Qd1 Qf7 21.b3 Rad8
22.Bg2 Qf8 23.Ne2 Ng6 24.Bg5 Bf6 25.Bxf6 Qxf6 26.Qd4 Qxd4 27.Nxd4 Kf7
28.f4 Bc8 29.Kf2 Rxe1 30.Rxe1 Re8 31.Rd1 Rd8 32.Nf3 h6 33.Nd4 Kf6 34.Bf3 Ne7
35.Ne2 Be6 36.Ke3 Rd7 37.Nc3 a6 38.Kd4 b5 39.c5 b4 40.Na4 d5 41.Nb2 Ng6
42.Nd3 a5 43.Bh5 Nf8 44.Ne5 Rc7 45.Ke3 Bd7 46.Nf3 Ne6 47.Rc1 Ng7 48.g4 Nxh5
49.gxh5 Be8 50.Rg1 Bxh5 51.Ne5 Bf7 52.Kd4 Rc8 53.Nd7+ Ke6 54.Ne5 Kf6
55.Nd7+ Ke6 56.Rg7 Rc7 57.Ne5 Kf6 58.Rh7 h5 59.h4 Re7 60.Rh6+ Kg7 61.Rxc6 Ra7
62.Rb6 Ra8
1-0
—————————————————————————-

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This is my other favorite game of the April Colorado Informant, Volume 36, #2. David Meliti won clear first in the 2008 December Winter Springs Open with 3.5/4, cracking 1900. It was the endgame that caught my eye. So many people trade bishops for knights without a second thought.

In a very reduced ending with just Bishop and two pawns versus Knight and two pawns David fashioned a win against Markus Petters. Let this ending be a warning to all who disrespect the mighty bishops.

[Event "2008 Winter Springs Open"]
[Site "Manitou Springs, CO"]
[Date "2009.12.06"]
[Round "2"]
[White "David Meliti"]
[Black "Markus Petters"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ICCResult "Black resigns"]
[WhiteElo "1935"]
[BlackElo "2025"]
[Opening "French: Tarrasch"]
[ECO "C03"]
[NIC "FR.14"]
[Time "02:42:12"]
[TimeControl "40/2 G/1"]

2008 Winter Springs Open
December 6, 2008
Weather – cool
Round 2
40/2, G/1
French Defense, Tarrasch Variation
White – David Meliti, tournament winner 1935
Black – Markus Petters, 2025

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Be7 4. Ngf3 Nf6 5. Bd3 c5 6. exd5 Nxd5 7. O-O O-O
8. Ne4 Nd7 9. dxc5 Nxc5 10. Nxc5 Bxc5 11. Bc4 Nb6 12. Qe2 Qc7 13. Bd3 Nd5
14. Qe4 f5 15. Qc4 Bd7 16. Nd4 Rae8 17. Nb3 Bb6 18. Qxc7 Nxc7 19. c4 Na6
20. Be3 Nb4 21. Bxb6 axb6 22. Rfd1 e5 23. Be2 Ba4 24. Rd6 Bxb3 25. axb3 Nc6
26. b4 Rd8 27. Rad1 Rxd6 28. Rxd6 Rd8 29. Rxd8+ Nxd8 30. c5 Kf7 31. g4 g6
32. Bc4+ Kf6 33. gxf5 Kxf5 34. f3 e4 35. Kf2 Kf4 36. fxe4 Kxe4 37. Bg8 h6
38. Bh7 bxc5 39. bxc5 Kd4 40. Bxg6 Kxc5 41. Kg3 Ne6 42. Kg4 Ng7

43. Kf4 The game has been remarkably unremarkable, staying pretty close to even the whole way. There is almost nothing left, symmetrical h-pawns, symmetrical b-pawns, one bishop, one knight. I felt sure this was a dead draw playing over it. Knights like outposts but they are hard to come by with just two pawns to provide them. If Markus had activated his sidelined knight with 43 … Ne6+ 44 Ke5 Nd4 that would have been OK. Petters can also join forces with his King, Knight and h6 pawn to create a barrier covering almost the entire 5th rank with 43 … Kd6!. Instead Markus moved his King to his designated Knight Square.

43 … Kd4???? 44. Bf7!!!!
Bam! Just like that it’s over. The Knight can’t move and David’s plan is to move his King in and remove the knight from the freezer. Meliti doesn’t care if Markus runs around and wins his b-pawn, after winning the knight David will Queen his h-pawn while his long-range bishop will stop the black b-pawn from Queening. David just taps his feet until Petters moves his King and then swoops into Ke5-f6:g7. David moves his pawns one square at a time even though they can legally move two sqaures. After a while Markus has to give way with his horrified King. Very simple and elegant after you see David’s Master plan but until then, it looks like magic.

44 … b5 45. h3!!

45 b4!! wins just fine, the idea is to stop Petters’ pawns any way you can and not worry about losing your b-pawn. On principle, David avoids wasting any pawn tempi until Markus gives up and moves his King.

45 … b4 46. b3!!
b-pawn stopped, what about the h-pawn? 46 h4!! also works

46 … h5 47. h4!!
Both pawns stopped. Move your King, Markus! 47 Kg5 Ke5 48 B:h5?? N:h5 49 K:h5 Kd4 is an immediate draw. 47 Kg5 Ke5 48 B:h5?? Ne6+! 49 Kg4 Kf6!! is another easy draw. The Black King heads for h8 to stop the wrong-colored rookpawn from Queening and the Black Knight sacs itself for the b-pawn with Ne6-d4:b3 dead draw. Meliti could continue the torture by not grabbing the h5-pawn – 47 Kg5 Ke5 48 h4!! would keep the game going. David’s move is much simpler than all this. No Black pawn moves = a Black King move = dead Black Knight = free White h-pawn = new White Queen = 1-0

47 … Kd3 48. Ke5! Ke3 49. Kf6! Kf4 50. Kxg7! Kg4 51. Kh6!!
I’m the kind of jerk that would play 51 B:h5+!! for one last chance to sacrifice.

51 … Kxh4 52. Bxh5! Kg3 53. Kg5! Kf2 54. Kf4
1-0 Markus moves away.
I’m sorry but the rest of the game didn’t do anything for me.

Meliti-Petters2009.pgn
———————————————————-

[Event "2008 Winter Springs Open"]
[Site "Manitou Springs, CO"]
[Date "2009.12.06"]
[Round "2"]
[White "David Meliti"]
[Black "Markus Petters"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ICCResult "Black resigns"]
[WhiteElo "1935"]
[BlackElo "2025"]
[Opening "French: Tarrasch"]
[ECO "C03"]
[NIC "FR.14"]
[Time "02:42:12"]
[TimeControl "40/2 G/1"]
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Be7 4. Ngf3 Nf6 5. Bd3 c5 6. exd5 Nxd5 7. O-O O-O
8. Ne4 Nd7 9. dxc5 Nxc5 10. Nxc5 Bxc5 11. Bc4 Nb6 12. Qe2 Qc7 13. Bd3 Nd5
14. Qe4 f5 15. Qc4 Bd7 16. Nd4 Rae8 17. Nb3 Bb6 18. Qxc7 Nxc7 19. c4 Na6 20.
Be3 Nb4 21. Bxb6 axb6 22. Rfd1 e5 23. Be2 Ba4 24. Rd6 Bxb3 25. axb3 Nc6 26.
b4 Rd8 27. Rad1 Rxd6 28. Rxd6 Rd8 29. Rxd8+ Nxd8 30. c5 Kf7 31. g4 g6 32.
Bc4+ Kf6 33. gxf5 Kxf5 34. f3 e4 35. Kf2 Kf4 36. fxe4 Kxe4 37. Bg8 h6 38.
Bh7 bxc5 39. bxc5 Kd4 40. Bxg6 Kxc5 41. Kg3 Ne6 42. Kg4 Ng7 43. Kf4 Kd4 44.
Bf7 b5 45. h3 b4 46. b3 h5 47. h4 Kd3 48. Ke5 Ke3 49. Kf6 Kf4 50. Kxg7 Kg4
51. Kh6 Kxh4 52. Bxh5 Kg3 53. Kg5 Kf2 54. Kf4
1-0 Petters pushes off
———————————————————-

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http://www.brianwallchess.x10hosting.com/games/gameshome/gameshome.htm

40 freshly annotated games added today, Chessbase style
We provide the Chessboard.

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A while back someone asked about chess courses to improve their game and we had several good examples including websites where you could get a free trial for lessons. Well to add on to that here is another viewpoint on using different software for different parts of the classic game.

CT-ART 3.0 is just one program from the large series of products
devoted to all stages of chess game: opening, middlegame and endgame.

CT-ART is an excellent program on chess tactics, but for other stages
the best are the following programs:

Opening Instructor for opening
Chess Strategy for middlegame
Theory and Practice of Chess Endings for endgame

You can see this software and many other training programs at the
site ChessOK.com

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Here is an old game of Brian Walls defeating an IM from Columbia.

1: Jose Alejandro Acosta Amaya
2: Maestro Internacional de la FIDE
3: Lugar de nacimiento : Bogotá, Colombia
4: My name is Alejandro Acosta
5: I am an International Master
6: I am from Colombia

————————————————-
1: Brian Wall
2: FIDE 2250
3: born New York, New York
4: I live in Colorado, USA
5: My name is Brian Wall
6: I am a Life Master
7: I play the Fishing Pole
8: I eat IMs for breakfast
Name : Brian Wall
Groups : Colorado
—————————————————————-
[Event "ICC 3 1"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2006.06.07"]
[Round "-"]
[White "jacosta"]
[Black "brianwall"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ICCResult "White resigns"]
[WhiteElo "2463"]
[BlackElo "2261"]
[Opening "Ruy Lopez: Berlin defense, 4.O-O"]
[ECO "C65"]
[NIC "RL.07"]
[Time "12:14:27"]
[TimeControl "180+1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Ng4!!
Fishing Pole, invented by LM Jack Young

5. c3 a6!! 6. Ba4 Bc5 7. d4 Ba7
Hyper Pole, so that d5 can be met by … b5 -
for this my bishop must be on … a7, not … b6.

8. h3 h5!! 9. Bg5 f6!!
Very typical – they think this blocks out my Queen but that
fatal attraction bitch always finds a new way to kill the rabbit.

10. Bc1 d6 11. hxg4
gulping the worm

11 … hxg4!
hooking the fish

12. Nfd2 exd4
Even better is 12 … f5!!!, one of my favorite Fishing Pole moves,
as you will see later. The idea is … Qh4!!.
12 … b5!! is another plan.

13. cxd4 Bxd4
even better is 13 … b5!! followed by 14 … N:d4!

14. Bxc6+
The usual desperate attempt to eliminate my attackers

14 … bxc6 15. Nb3 Bb6 16. Bf4 f5!! 17. g3 g5!!
The Hyper-Pole is a little dicy but the game is turning in my favor now.

18. Be3 Qf6
18 … Qe7!!! is better than 18 … Qf6!!

19. Kg2 f4!
Crushing

20. Rh1 fxe3!
Devastating

{White resigns} 0-1

Jacosta complimented me on a nice game.

jacosta-brianwall.pgn
——————————————————————-
[Event "ICC 3 1"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2006.06.07"]
[Round "-"]
[White "jacosta"]
[Black "brianwall"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ICCResult "White resigns"]
[WhiteElo "2463"]
[BlackElo "2261"]
[Opening "Ruy Lopez: Berlin defense, 4.O-O"]
[ECO "C65"]
[NIC "RL.07"]
[Time "12:14:27"]
[TimeControl "180+1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Ng4 5. c3 a6 6. Ba4 Bc5 7. d4 Ba7 8.
h3 h5 9. Bg5 f6 10. Bc1 d6 11. hxg4 hxg4 12. Nfd2 exd4 13. cxd4 Bxd4 14.
Bxc6+ bxc6 15. Nb3 Bb6 16. Bf4 f5 17. g3 g5 18. Be3 Qf6 19. Kg2 f4 20. Rh1
fxe3 {White resigns} 0-1

VISIT BRIAN’S EXCELLENT WEBSITE BY CLICKING HERE

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A Reader wrote in:

I am an intermediate player. I have read a lot and studied games by going through the moves described in the game log. My problem is that I have no one to play chess with. How do I practice alone?

Some options:

* You can play online chess: frechess.org, buho21, icc, playchess, …

* You can solve chess positions:

http://www.ajedrezvasco.com/daily_chess_puzzle.php,

http://www.shredderchess.com/daily-chess-puzzle.html,

http://chess.emrald.net/

* You can do ‘Solitaire chess’ or just try to find out the next move of a game instead of going through them.

If by practice you mean play game, then you have multiple choices. You can play correspondence chess (Chess Maniacs – http://www.chessmaniac.com or Chess.com …) or you can play live game (chess.com, FICS – http://www.freechess.org/, ICC – http://www.chessclub.com/ …)

————————————————————–
If you like to study more chess, then chess.com mentor system seems nice, or get programs such as CTArt or use one of the sites Gerardo suggested for tactics trainer. (Chess.com and FICS also have tactics trainer, but for chess.com you have to become a member – which is not a bad thing as they offer a lot, and FICS is a bit harder to use if you’re not familiar with their commands.

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