Well, Bob Long and IM Andrew Martin can add this chess clinic to the list of successes they have had with these endeavors. I believe there were 21 players at this clinic, a number that has never been reached before. Everyone in attendance received a good set of lessons on "must know" endgames, a game between Kasparov and Ivanchuk from the late 1980's, and some practice analyzing two games where one player is definitely worse/losing and manages to come back and win. Andrew was his usual gregarious and entertaining self, and it was good to see Bob enjoying the fruits of his hard labor. Putting on one of these clinics must take a significant amount of preparation, and I commend Bob for his behind the scenes work.
It's nice to be able to attend a chess-related event, even if it is several hundred miles away. The drive there wasn't at all bad once I got through the driving rain in northern Illinois. I left early enough this morning to witness a marvelous sunrise, and had an uneventful return trip. Having the chess clinic at the hotel where I stayed proved to be very convenient, even though I think they could have given Bob a bigger room for whatever he ends up paying them. There were several attendees who stayed at the hotel, and I brought my dinner business to the hotel restaurant both nights.
The one thing that troubled me about the clinic was a resumption of my tendency to not see enough of the positional and tactical aspects of a position when looking for a plan. During the "guess Kasparov's move" activity, I was unable to get even one of the "critical" moves during the game. I felt myself gradually losing confidence in myself so that by the end I wasn't able to focus well on the position. The last opportunity to guess the move was a debacle, since I had selected the right move, but followed Andrew's "so how would you deal with this?" in response to my idea and didn't look to see that his retort did not rule out my suggested move.
On the other hand, I was able to recall at least one endgame strategy from my studies and correctly answered one of the endgame positions. I got a chance to meet one of those who regularly follow this weblog; a very nice man who had many positives to say about my efforts. Everyone was given a Chessbase or Convekta DVD at the end of the clinic - I selected one of Andrew's - on the Sicilian Dragon (by the time I selected amny were gone), which I may never play but I don't think I should ever rule out anything. I am simply not a strong enough player to do that. Regardless, this was an excellent time and a welcome respite from work (although I did grade papers for several hours on Friday night!).
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
a couple of links of interest
First things first. After getting a rest day in the first round, Yelena was on board one for round two with White against GM Kateryn Lahno. Something went awry in a sharp variation of the Scotch Game, and Lahno scored a point with Black in less than 25 moves. This game will provde both Yelena and me something to examine in this opening. Yesterday, Yelena had Black against England's #1 board, IM Jovanka Houska, and played a sidelight try she has used before against the Fianchetto Variation. I guess we can say that the game is an example of why people play the King's Indian:
I want to thank Yelena for sending me the games each day. The tournament site is displaying the games of only the top few boards in each section (Open and Women's)
And now for the links. I've mentioned David Rudel a number of times on thie weblog. He is the author of two books on the Colle System, "Zuke 'Em" and "The Moment of Zuke," which I was privileged to have a very small role in readying for publication. David has produced his third chess-related work, "Bxh7+," a treatise on the "Greek Gift" bishop sacrifice. While I was going through the manuscript of "The Moment of Zuke," David mentioned to me that he would be authoring a book focused on this sacrifice, and here it is. In a rare display of integrity (these days), David sent out an e-mail to those who have signed up for a discussion forum on the Colle-Zukertort, telling us tp not buy this new book if we already have "The Moment of Zuke" because much of the material is the same. If you'd like to take a look at some of the exercises David has prepared to help the understanding of the sacrifice, click here.
You may recall that I joined a paid membership site on chess improvement developed by Waldemar Moes. I continue to be impressed with the content and the ideas presented at this website, "Better Your Chess." We are up to Lesson #20 (all content remains available for review after I have gone through it), and have begun to examine endgame ideas. I am a charter member at the site, so my annual fee is right now less than one hour of time with a typical IM or GM. The content can be enjoyed from one's home or anywhere one has access to a PC. Waldemar offers an introductory video about the site and its services here.
I want to thank Yelena for sending me the games each day. The tournament site is displaying the games of only the top few boards in each section (Open and Women's)
And now for the links. I've mentioned David Rudel a number of times on thie weblog. He is the author of two books on the Colle System, "Zuke 'Em" and "The Moment of Zuke," which I was privileged to have a very small role in readying for publication. David has produced his third chess-related work, "Bxh7+," a treatise on the "Greek Gift" bishop sacrifice. While I was going through the manuscript of "The Moment of Zuke," David mentioned to me that he would be authoring a book focused on this sacrifice, and here it is. In a rare display of integrity (these days), David sent out an e-mail to those who have signed up for a discussion forum on the Colle-Zukertort, telling us tp not buy this new book if we already have "The Moment of Zuke" because much of the material is the same. If you'd like to take a look at some of the exercises David has prepared to help the understanding of the sacrifice, click here.
You may recall that I joined a paid membership site on chess improvement developed by Waldemar Moes. I continue to be impressed with the content and the ideas presented at this website, "Better Your Chess." We are up to Lesson #20 (all content remains available for review after I have gone through it), and have begun to examine endgame ideas. I am a charter member at the site, so my annual fee is right now less than one hour of time with a typical IM or GM. The content can be enjoyed from one's home or anywhere one has access to a PC. Waldemar offers an introductory video about the site and its services here.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
my second andrew martin chess clinic
It seems like quite a while ago that I attended my first chess clinic in Davenport, Iowa. In truth, it has been. Many things have happened in the interim, and I think I am a very different player than I was back then. I anticipate the next one, October 31, with excitement. Bob Long has arranged for a conference room at a local hotel (at which I am staying) and last I heard 12 participants are committed to attend. I'm not the most passionate of travellers, but I can handle a long car ride. It's about 5 hours there, so I'll leave early Friday morning and get settled in the afternoon. The clinic itself isn't until Saturday, so I'll have some time to poke around.
I have asked my wife to consider this my birthday present for this year (I turn 52 on 11/28) because I really cannot think of something materially that I need. Better to have the experience, I think. Sometimes I wonder if I enjoy this kind of thing more for the opportunity to just hang out with other players in a non-competitive situation. If one has not seen Andrew Martin in person, as I will in about ten days, his DVD's can give a different impression of him. I had figured him to be of average height (whatever that is) from the DVD's, but in truth Andrew is a rather tall individual who looks quite athletic. He likes to swim, and apprarently he fancies cricket as well. Andrew is every bit as personable as he comes across on the DVD's, and I have experienced him as very gracious and willing to converse with anyone. He did a marvelous job at the last clinic I attended, and has told me that this one will be significantly better.
Yelena is playing board 1 for the Greek women's team at this year's European Team Championship in Novi Sad. The actual play begins tomorrow, with top-rated Russia playing Spain, and the team from Greece taking on the lowest rated squad, from Turkey. Yelena's first round opponent will be significantly lower-rated, but undoubtedly she'll play some very strong players as the event goes on.
I have asked my wife to consider this my birthday present for this year (I turn 52 on 11/28) because I really cannot think of something materially that I need. Better to have the experience, I think. Sometimes I wonder if I enjoy this kind of thing more for the opportunity to just hang out with other players in a non-competitive situation. If one has not seen Andrew Martin in person, as I will in about ten days, his DVD's can give a different impression of him. I had figured him to be of average height (whatever that is) from the DVD's, but in truth Andrew is a rather tall individual who looks quite athletic. He likes to swim, and apprarently he fancies cricket as well. Andrew is every bit as personable as he comes across on the DVD's, and I have experienced him as very gracious and willing to converse with anyone. He did a marvelous job at the last clinic I attended, and has told me that this one will be significantly better.
Yelena is playing board 1 for the Greek women's team at this year's European Team Championship in Novi Sad. The actual play begins tomorrow, with top-rated Russia playing Spain, and the team from Greece taking on the lowest rated squad, from Turkey. Yelena's first round opponent will be significantly lower-rated, but undoubtedly she'll play some very strong players as the event goes on.
Friday, October 16, 2009
endgame
Nope, the title of the entry is not a shameless plug for my favorite chess clothing manufacturer. This was the subject of today's lesson with Yelena, held out of necessity at 6:00 am CDT. Of course, the subject matter is vast and hugely fascinating. Study of the endgame was something I have never really done in anything resembling earnest. I don't recall examining this phase of the game in any detail during my high school playing years. I had a slim volume on endgames by Fred Reinfeld (about what didn't he write?) and I tried to get into it a few times but it left me bored and disinterested. Other players told me ineffectually back then that endgame study is crucial to the success of any chessplayer. Yes, and I thought I knew everything about life, too.
There are, it seems, basic endgame positions that one simply must know, and then the more practical endgames we are likely to see in our own games. I am weak at both. I've known this since Igor Khmelnitsky evaluated my responses to his chess training book. He told me that there are endgame positions with which one must be familiar (when a K+P vs. K is a win and when it is a draw, for example) because we are not likely to find the solutions over the board at the end of a game when we are often in time trouble. My question has been "how does one study these positions?" Is it simply a matter of repetition? Yelena reminds me frequently that for a player to get stronger, s/he must study thousands and thousands of chess positions over time. So today she got a look at what I know and do not know as far as this phase of the game is concerned. I have a collection of the study positions used and need to examine them more than once.
How about Anna Zatonskih who won the 2009 US Women's Chess Championship in St. Louis this past weeks? Isn't 8.5/9, two points ahead of the second place finisher a bit "Fischer-like?" Granted, this event was "only" a category 2 tournament with an average rating of 2292, but Zatonskih dominated it. She defeated Irina Krush and conceded only one draw - to C. Baginskaite. Chessbase.com mentions that her performance rating was 2765. That is indeed Fischer-like. I hope that when the USA Women's Olympic team is selected, Anna will be the first board. I have nothing at all against Irina, but results are results.
There are, it seems, basic endgame positions that one simply must know, and then the more practical endgames we are likely to see in our own games. I am weak at both. I've known this since Igor Khmelnitsky evaluated my responses to his chess training book. He told me that there are endgame positions with which one must be familiar (when a K+P vs. K is a win and when it is a draw, for example) because we are not likely to find the solutions over the board at the end of a game when we are often in time trouble. My question has been "how does one study these positions?" Is it simply a matter of repetition? Yelena reminds me frequently that for a player to get stronger, s/he must study thousands and thousands of chess positions over time. So today she got a look at what I know and do not know as far as this phase of the game is concerned. I have a collection of the study positions used and need to examine them more than once.
How about Anna Zatonskih who won the 2009 US Women's Chess Championship in St. Louis this past weeks? Isn't 8.5/9, two points ahead of the second place finisher a bit "Fischer-like?" Granted, this event was "only" a category 2 tournament with an average rating of 2292, but Zatonskih dominated it. She defeated Irina Krush and conceded only one draw - to C. Baginskaite. Chessbase.com mentions that her performance rating was 2765. That is indeed Fischer-like. I hope that when the USA Women's Olympic team is selected, Anna will be the first board. I have nothing at all against Irina, but results are results.
Monday, October 12, 2009
team chess
The 2009 European Team Chess Championships were decided this weekend, with Economist-SGSEU-1 winning the Men's title and Spartak Vidnoe garnering the Women's Championship. Yelena played on the team CS Cotnari-Politehnica Iasi of Rumania, which placed 6th out of nine teams. By scoring +2=4 in six rounds, she did pick up the silver medal for board two. The above picture features board two gold medalist and former Women's Champion Antoaneta Stefanova (+3=3), Yelena, and bronze medalist on board two Viktorija Cmilyte (+3-1=2),
Friday, October 9, 2009
magnus tops 2800...
I have brought up Norway's chess prodigy Magnus Carlsen in previous postings, always with the idea that he will one day be the World's Chess Champion. It seems that his family and his country will accept nothing less than since, since the coaching services of GM Garry Kasparov have been retained for GM Carlsen. They have not been working together for long but apparently it has been an effective partnership. Magnus didn't just win his latest event - he demolished the other competitors. When a player scores an undefeated 8/10 against the likes of Topalov, Leko, Wang, Radjabov, and Jakovenko, the chess world must take notice. Magnus performed at a 3002 rating (!) and went over 2800 Elo for the first time - only the 4th player to do that, and now the youngest. Second place was garnered by GM Topalov, with 5.5/10, and he was the only other player to score 50% or better. I hope Vishy Anand is paying attention.
I confess that I sometimes envy a young person like Magnus. He has athleticism, enormous intelligence, and a nearly faultless memory. His talent for chess is unmistakable, and from what I've read he is a pretty well-grounded 18 year old. I am not naive enough to believe that his skill has come with little work; clearly he applies himself to chess with gusto. But I've come to recognize that I really don't have an innate talent for the game of chess. Maybe my strongest suits are love of the game and some amount of intuition. Yelena is helping me gain some confidence and develop some aggressive tendencies - sometimes I feel bad for her because it cannot be easy to work with me at times.
Last night I got to thinking about my lack of skill and experience with attacking the opponent's king, and I realized that I never did learn that aspect of the game. I set off on my own path, focused on winning material and holding onto it for dear life. I would await blunders by my opponent, but rarely carried the battle to him/her (I have played two female players in rated games). This kind of chess work at the scholastic level, but it is clearly obsolete in these times.
I confess that I sometimes envy a young person like Magnus. He has athleticism, enormous intelligence, and a nearly faultless memory. His talent for chess is unmistakable, and from what I've read he is a pretty well-grounded 18 year old. I am not naive enough to believe that his skill has come with little work; clearly he applies himself to chess with gusto. But I've come to recognize that I really don't have an innate talent for the game of chess. Maybe my strongest suits are love of the game and some amount of intuition. Yelena is helping me gain some confidence and develop some aggressive tendencies - sometimes I feel bad for her because it cannot be easy to work with me at times.
Last night I got to thinking about my lack of skill and experience with attacking the opponent's king, and I realized that I never did learn that aspect of the game. I set off on my own path, focused on winning material and holding onto it for dear life. I would await blunders by my opponent, but rarely carried the battle to him/her (I have played two female players in rated games). This kind of chess work at the scholastic level, but it is clearly obsolete in these times.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
robert james fischer
On Monday, Susan Polgar posted on her weblog a YouTube video featuring a number of photographs of Bobby Fischer during a trip to the Phillipines, Tokyo, and Hong Kong in 1973. The presentation is about 8 minutes long and can be viewed here.
I've written before about my sense of empathy with this man, whom I never met and never even came close to meeting. Without a doubt he is one of the four or five best chess players ever to grace the planet. And anyone who knows about chess has some familiarity with Fischer and the enigma he was as a player and as a human being. The first time I watched this YouTube video I was emotionally moved in a way that I didn't expect. He is seen with a variety of people, including a woman that is believed by some to be his sister Joan. Bobby Fischer is a real human being in these photos. He poses in front of landmarks, snoozes, laughs, plays chess, and seems happy and comfortable.
My sadness is about the suffering this man endured thorughout his life. As a child, being taken advantage of. As a young man, being described in the most unsavory of terms and accused of all manner of problems. In late middle age, being made to roam the world to avoid ridiculous sanctions that no one else connected with the 1992 rematch with Spassky ever had to face. Then he was arrested, imprisoned, and eventually welcomed by the Icelandic people on the island where he was laid to rest. He had no father figure (save for John Collins), a dominating mother who was always doing something away fom her son, and precious little help in growing up.
Perhaps I am far too sentimental about this troubled genius who spouted anti-Semitic remarks and applauded the 9/11 attacks on the United States. But this short video shows Bobby Fischer in a way that many people have never seen. And I think I will always be sad for him.
I've written before about my sense of empathy with this man, whom I never met and never even came close to meeting. Without a doubt he is one of the four or five best chess players ever to grace the planet. And anyone who knows about chess has some familiarity with Fischer and the enigma he was as a player and as a human being. The first time I watched this YouTube video I was emotionally moved in a way that I didn't expect. He is seen with a variety of people, including a woman that is believed by some to be his sister Joan. Bobby Fischer is a real human being in these photos. He poses in front of landmarks, snoozes, laughs, plays chess, and seems happy and comfortable.
My sadness is about the suffering this man endured thorughout his life. As a child, being taken advantage of. As a young man, being described in the most unsavory of terms and accused of all manner of problems. In late middle age, being made to roam the world to avoid ridiculous sanctions that no one else connected with the 1992 rematch with Spassky ever had to face. Then he was arrested, imprisoned, and eventually welcomed by the Icelandic people on the island where he was laid to rest. He had no father figure (save for John Collins), a dominating mother who was always doing something away fom her son, and precious little help in growing up.
Perhaps I am far too sentimental about this troubled genius who spouted anti-Semitic remarks and applauded the 9/11 attacks on the United States. But this short video shows Bobby Fischer in a way that many people have never seen. And I think I will always be sad for him.
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