Horrible Bishop Queen Battery in This Chess Game

 Italian Chess player BlackFlash is a weak player at the Internet Chess Club. I gather he must be a poor man as well based on his finger notes which you can reference below. Italy was the world's first hot spot with respect to the novel Corona Virus. 

Black Flash went for checkmate straight out of the opening which is also indicative of a FISH. The American player punished the unjustified aggression as the below diagram illustrates. Note the extreme impotence of the d6 Queen and c7 Bishop battery attacking its own pawn at e5. There could not be a worse example of piece coordination Dan Heisman. 

The Italian had to resort to desperation by "attacking on the kingside" which further weakened squares around his increasingly exposed Monarch. White played f4 owing to the hanging Rook at e8 All tactical sequences originate from hanging pieces according to tacticians extraordinaire Shabalov, M. Gurevich, D. Gurevich, Yermo, the late Emory Tate,  the curly headed Mexican GM Alejandro Ramirez(UT Dallas), Chuck Charles Diebert, Detroit's Pete Nixon, Shirov, Derek Edmonds, Nathaniel Edmonds, Gary Edmondson,  , Roderick W. Brown(Virginia Rocks!), Rohan Brown(Seminoles of Florida), Garrett Browning(Tarhills!)

1: The search for the truth

 2: better a man of value and knowledge than a man of wealth

 3: learning never ends

 4: genius is eternal patience(Michelangelo)

Declining Second Staunton Gambit Pawn

Couldn't find much information regarding comfortable setups for Black against the Staunton Gambit on the blog of Gambiteer Ian Simpson's authoritative source for aggressive and attacking Gambit Play, so I decided to add this ICC seminal game on declining the  Staunton Gambit.

The move order chosen by Swedish player Johh was 1. d4 f5 2. e4 fxe4 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 c6 5. f3 e3. Johh only sports a 1525 USCF rating, but he has beaten IMs who are foolish enough to play ef allowing a strong initiative with no chances of losing the game!

So Black played 5. ... e3! which slows down the first players development and makes the e3 Bishop a cumbersomely  placed BIG PAWN searching for a role! I will never forget Saved By Bell TV star Samuel "Screech" Powers(Dustin Diamond) who was a benefactor of the Royal Game and a nice guy who spoke at a tournament I played in many years ago. Screech loved the game and appreciated aspects of positional play!

From the diagrammed position, one can readily observe a piece configuration not pleasing to an attacking check mate the King player. Johh moved his f pawn twice to prevent the liberating pawn move e5. Again, note how awful the prelate on the e3 square is placed while White's development lags immensely!! Black played the freeing contest the center move  c5 and won easily in the ending phase of the game.

A well known chess adage espoused by legends like Benjamin, Shirov, D. and M. Gurevich is to accept gambit pawn and then give it back if initiative reaches fever pitch. 

Marco Antonio Tavares,

MatoJelic, Rūdolfs Nukševičs,Lucas Wind,Avery Church,Antonio Innocente love the Dutch defense and don't want to abandon cuz of some inebriated player who is homicidal about his King Pawn!

J. Watson-Rule Independence

Chess player John Watson wrote a book that featured a section or chapter on Rule Independence a long time ago. I mean like how many times have you hear the phrase "If center pawns are locked up, then attack with a pawn storm on flanks or wings" OR open the game up with line opening pawn moves if you possess the bishop pair"  His book showed counterexamples to many of the pedantic overstated rules that have been passed down over the generations mentally handicapping some beginning players.

The following game played at ICC reminded me of something else the IM quoted in his book. A guy named Suba stated that Bad Bishops protect good pawns. One can see in the diagram that Black's Bishop at e6 is enveloped by the pawns on the g6,f5,d5,c6,b7 squares. 

However, imagine that same entombed prelate on f5 threatening mate in one!! The move f4 , clearing the f5 square for the aforementioned threat, appears to  be refuted  by Bd3 where g6 is attacked by the Bishop and and g1 Rook. In the game Black played Rh1 desiring to exchange Rooks with Belgium player Azrael1978. This  is close to a horrible positional/tactical blunder. Rh2 is a better move, but Black must see how to respond to f3 attacking the Black Lady. 

So Black has the initiative after Rook h2 even though his Bishop is manifestly bad patiently awaiting diagonal opening pawn moves. On a side note IM Watson endorsed the interesting view of Sarah Hurst which espouses the assertion that chess intelligence does necessarily positively correlate to IQ, practical intelligence or other forms of mental acumen. I knew of academically retarded guys in Houston who were expert chess players.  Her remarks on the matter sound almost angry to the point I would bet she has very LOUD multiple orgasms.

Tolerating what appears to be a Dangerous Check

Weak pawns frequently control important squares. See the commentary of D. Naroditsky in the seminal game of pawn health versus piece mobility(Carlson/Nakamura) where the 5 time US champion possessed an uncompromised pawn structure and two horses versus the tattered pawns and Bishop Pair of the World Champion. Great article about it in the United States periodical Chess Life.

Also master Quora commentator Tom Wilkins writes about Naroditsky's winning online blitz record against King Magnus.

Ultrarunner, hailing from Denmark, plays boring but winning chess at ICC with his pet line the King's Indian Attack. In the diagrammed position, White "threatens" Queen to d8 check. This is an instance of playing safe or conservatively. OTB players would be inclined to play the safe defensive move Qe7. However White's impotent prelate at f3 would make a postal player scratch his whiskers and consider the greedy Queen captures pawn at b3 not fearing the "meaningless check" since the White light squared  Bishop is poorly placed not being able to aid in attacking what appears to be a vulnerable Black Monarch!!

A dude at ChessFox.com can relate to all this citing Philidor's claim that pawns are the soul of chess. I find it sooo odd that the owner of ChessFox never identifies themselves, but want you to buy chess tutorials from them. Maybe a lower rate player who thinks it would hurt his bottom line or sales?

Widow Making 101

An old master chess buddy of mine from Austin, Texas had a cool rule of thumb for when to sacrifice the exchange which means to give up a Rook for a Horse or a Bishop. Drew said that if you could get an extra pawn out of the deal, then the exchange sacrifice was likely to be sound.

Widowmaker, a tactically aggressive player from the United States of America, had just casually played b4 expecting to casually post his prelate at b2 and positionally punish the French Defense major handicap at d7.

So remembering Sarkisian's sage advice, I ripped off the f3 Knight with the f8 Rook resulting in the e5 pawn getting munched by either of my Horses. This exchange sacrifice did not result in the maiming of White's Kingside pawns, but left Black with a passed d pawn and open lines for his remaining forces.

The player boasting the nickname of the left anterior descending  artery was crushed in this game in a fashion consistent with his ICC label.

I moved from Austin area long, but will be always grateful to the kind chess players from that region. Thanks for the memories guys!!

Stonewall Dutch Defense Refuted in this Game

It requires King sized balls to declare that a well established chess opening has been refuted. I recall Alex Yermolinsky berating Dmitry Gurevich for playing the Dutch Defense because of the way the first move f5 irreversibly weakened Black's King Side.

The following game played at the the Internet Chess Club is a refutation of the Stonewall Dutch Defense. Just teasing! White swapped off Black's dark squared Bishop because Black's choice of pawn structure, namely c6,d5,e6, and f5 permanently weaken all the dark squares.

F4thebird, playing out of America, starts an unjustified pawn avalanche on the King side grossly overestimating his chances. Observe that he retreated his d7 Bishop to the e8 square after is was attacked by the unassailable horse at e5. Like the Knight was actually going to capture the pathetic stonewall Dutch Achilles heal!?!

In the following diagram, "Black's attack" has ran out of steam and he is still stuck with his miserable Bishop while White's Steed at e5 is optimally positioned. White offered a Queen trade which would lead to lost ending if accepted, so the cross bearing American name F4thebird walked face first into a well known tactical them called attraction/deflection.

See if you can find the move that would force a civil chess player to resign like a gentleman. Black chose to let his 53 seconds expire rather than resign. I am sure his Blood pressure was quite elevated as he watched his time expire.

BTW, do all Americans have crude, inane, loutish, sexist handles at ICC?

Bad Bishop and Weak Pawns Equals a Loss in this Chess Ending

Playing 3 minute blitz chess at ICC is not as bad for one's chess game as is widely promulgated. In the following ending that arose from a Catalan Opening structure, kenmiller457 finds himself with a difficult to defend position due to two considerations: 1. A bad Bishop  2. A weakened, shattered pawn structure namely doubled pawns at f7, f6, and h7.

Amazingly, Black's Bishop is bad because of one pawn! Yes the d5 pawn obstructs two long diagonals limiting the the mobility of the dismayed Prelate.  White's light squared bishop is NOT blocked by the d4 pawn giving it superior range and mobility.



White's winning plan is quite straightforward. Occupy the weak square f4 with impunity owing to the the doubled Black f pawns. After bringing his Bishop to f5, White will create a Zugzwang  position which will eventually yield a passed a pawn and a won game.

Black's weakened Kingside pawn structure occurred due to a pin on the f6 Knight by White's g5 Bishop. As the Queen's and rooks were exchanged these weaknesses became more of a concern. Remember tattered pawns are invariably a liability in an ending. Allow them at your own risk!

Bg5 Against Dutch Defense

Ebochess of Belgium loves playing Bg5 against any variation of the Dutch Defense whether it be the Stonewall, Lenigrad, or the the more fluid setups. The strategy is well founded as Black has already weakened his king side with f5 and White intends to rip off the f6 Knight further denuding the king side of a much needed defender.

In the following game played at the internet chess club, he does just that. Black reacts with c5 pressuring the White center. Black also elected to play d5 driving the Knight from the e4 square leaving the second player with a backward e6 pawn and a problem Bishop at c8.




In this particular game, Black managed to get in e5 creating a strong pawn center and liberating the c8 Bishop and eventually mating the strong chess player from Belgium who eliminated the United States in World Cup Soccer.

 

Overrated Idea

The blockade Benoni is a defensive setup where Black places his pawns on c5,d6, and e5. Since these pawns all resided on dark squares, Black's f8 Bishop is, by definition, bad. So it seems reasonable to trade it off for White's c1 Bishop.

In the following position played at ICC, Black a  Spanish GM named jelmatos did just that via g6 and Bh6. However his kingside became a bit breezy creating the preconditions for the following attraction sacrifice which set up a fork that ultimately won a piece and forced the Grand Master to resign.




It is a very straightforward temporary sacrifice to find. I think the GM may have been drinking or perhaps letting a weaker player use his account.

Bad Bishop And/Or Zugzwang

In the diagrammed position with Black to Move, see if you can determine if there is a way to for White to hold the position. Put differently, can White find a way to make a draw?

If it were White to move in this chess position, then Ke1 would most certainly draw as it would prevent the Bf1 encroachment.  If there is a win for the second player, it has to involve getting the Black Monarch to g1 attaching the White f2 pawn.

There is some risk in this idea as the Black e4 pawn could become vulnerable. This weakness would be no more if the Black prelate could get to the d3 square where it is also attacking the White c4 pawn.



A theme here is Zugzwang which means any move you make will eventually lose. White's King is stuck at e1 defending f2. Maybe White could play pawn to a3 clearing the a2 square for his Bishop to occupy and perhaps avoid Zugzwang.

Good Knight Versus Bad Bishop 1

One can reach some remarkably instructional positions and endings in blitz chess at the ICC. The position you see here occurred in a 3 minute blitz game where White certainly has the better chances based on the fact that the Black light-squared Bishop is obstructed by four of his 5 pawns being fixed on light squares.



In the diagrammed position with Black to move, the h6 pawn has three options. Capture the g5 pawn, advance to h5, or await developments.

In either case, the White Knight would like to occupy the juicy e5 square. This is only possible, it appears, by rerouting to either the d3 or f3 squares. The question becomes can the severely restricted Black prelate impede that plan?

Another idea is for the c3 White Knight to sacrifice by capturing either the d5 or b5 pawn. This would jettison the White c5 pawn which could Queen rather quickly at c8 if the Black Bishop could somehow be diverted away from its surveillance of that square. Black would pretty much have to fall asleep to allow that!