Most Common ICC Blunder Leads to Epaulette Mate

 Blitz Player rf(Robert Fischer diehard fan probably)  usually crushes me, but today he blundered trying to castle Queenside. I don't have incontrovertible proof, but with the center wide open he moved his Queen to d1 rather than TRIPLE O.

Do you see the mate in 2 in the position below with Black to move?  Rc1 attracts Whites rook to that square and then mate at d2 for the shouldered White Monarch. Note that Epaulette Mates would NOT BE THING if two pieces could occupy same square!

So, Yup attempted castling is the most common blunder. I guess some people just can not get used to King being able to move two squares.

Was I playing Monkey; I mean former business colleague

A computer programmer that I sort of knew popped into my mind during the following blitz game. I did not know him well but he had a reputation as an excellent debugger and trouble shooter among the project leads and the developers or coders as they are called these days. 

Tom Holmen was logical guy that would explain his love of chess. Toguho, a monkey from Finland, played weakly in opening, dropping a pawn for nothing and then just running his h pawn down the board neglecting his development. 

His punishment was the lost ending you see where White has two minor pieces for the Rook and will win comfortably.  Last I heard, he was doing HR work and liking it, but we ended up in different countries so it has been awhile. 

 

Two Distinct Mating Patterns Decide this Sloppy Contest

 Norwegian Chess player Mark Fatty Thomas(markfattythomas) was in poor form lucky for me since he usually chews me up and spits me out Marvin Huckaby style.

The ICC blitz player when in for a piece sacrifice which was unsound owing to his ultra aggressive mood I suspect.

In the above diagrammed position White had a mate in two which is an enormous amount of information rendering this a trivial tactic to find. Problem in the game is the combatants HAVE TO KNOW IT IS A MATE IN 2 rather than sitting around on their couch in this Delta Mutation hell with a captioned position to work from.

White instinctively castled not noticing the forcing mate in 2 variation. The motif of two mating patterns simultaneously is what decides the game quickly

Naked Pin Ends this game of Chess

 If naked pin is not a tactical motif, then it should be. What happened to American player WildRaven is actually called a deflection sacrifice

In the above diagrammed position, Black just played Rd5 protecting his b5 pawn and "keeping an eye" on White's far advanced d7 pawn. The winning  move is easy to discover if one realizes the simple truth that a Queen is invariably worth more than a Rook. HInt: What is the only move White can make to prevent Queen Pawn from becoming a lovely lethal lady? Alliteration for choice!

Incidentally, I have never understood why WildRaven has a USCF rating below 1600. He is such an uncompromising and principled player at the Internet Chess Club in Pennsylvania!

Also Kenny Lucky can tell your more about Naked Pin as it relates to Mary Wollstonecraft.

Thematic King's Indian Bishop Sacrifice

 Was reminded of an old chess friend from Houston, Texas in the following game. Mick Bighamian(USCF rating of around 2400 at the time) said something that really stuck in my mind. The specificity of his claim made me realize that Chess players are really inveterate nerds. "when the unmoved c8 Bishop sacrifices itself at h3 the result of game is frequently, if not always, in favor of the second player". Now that may not be exactly the way Mick phrased it, but if he reads this I am sure he would agree with the paraphrasing. He had close to a photographic memory for positions which is a big part of the reason he was a senior master and one of the top 5 or so players in Bayou City. 

Another master from the region, Todd Thomas, penned an accurate quote in the Texas Knights monthly periodical stating that the late Robert Brieger was on chess nerd fringe in the same fashion that chess nerds are on the fringe of society at large. Todd was lampooning Brieger for making a big deal about the difference between the terms Zugzwang and Squeeze. Funny how certain things just stick in your head!!

So check out the position, arising from a Dutch Defense,  where Mick's always winning move wipes out Australian player Pritoka. After Bxh3, the f8 Rook occupies f3 square with fatal consequences. The Black king regicide is only avoided by the 9 pointer giving herself up. 

I do love this kind of position where an "undeveloped piece" is actually the most active force on the board! This actually shows how the nebulous concept of development as it is taught sometime in middle school as "just getting you pieces out" is quite mistaken.

Would like to close by paying tribute to the now defunct Dave's Chess Studio. Lotta good times there around 20 years ago, but alas the inconstancy of friendship and life getting in the way prevails. 

Take another look at this Drawn Bishop wrong color ending!!!

 Any chess neophyte can tell you that if the rook pawn is queening square that is not the some color as opponent's Bishop, the game will be drawn, BUT  let us not forget Lasker's infamous ceteris paribus(what does ceteris paribus mean from Latin-"all things being equal")

Well all things were definitely NOT equal in the following ICC 3 minute blitz game!!!

Note that Black's a6 pawn on a White Square would be Queening on the Black a1 square. Problem appears to be the stand impotent pair commentary since Black's prelate only guards White square diagonals!! 

So I doubt any of you would believe that Black to move it is mate in 10 in the diagrammed position. The give away hint is that Black must let White Queen his pawn on the a8 square.  This involves Black's Rook pawn becoming a Knight pawn and mating White King at a1 with pawn to b2 checkmate!!  Mind you White would have a just Queened pawn at a8 witnessing the Regicide. It is all about mating patterns and having the huge balls to count it out!!

Fortunately for Boaz1775,  this knuckleheaded American did not discover the mate in 10 and lost the game on time. 

Also please note that I am not referencing the dimorphic mating patterns as alluded to in scholarly effort by Guo-Hua Ding, Yun Tang, Zhi-Hua Lin, Xiao-Li Fan, and Li Wei  

Mating Pawn

 The ICC chess playing engine authors Tord Romstad, Marco Costalba and Joona Kiiski  indicated the following razor sharp position was a Mate in nine.  I should say the Stockfish chess playing program written/coded by  by these geniuses revealed a checkmate in 9 moves.   USA player Schachspieler(German for chess player. I once asked a red hot German girl if she was a spieler and was promptly slapped- I deserved it, but eventually got laid by only her sister) was on the wrong end of this one with the Black pieces

OK back to the less sexually tense  diagrammed position where e6 is the obvious move threatening mate at f7.  Either Rd5 or the suicidal Qd7 prevent mate in one. You all can work out the rest of it. 

BTW Arlen G. Gallo does a nice job of covering mating pawns, but she should drop the weird sound effects on YouTube

Some Discovered Checks are fatal Blunders

 I am writing this partly due to Eric Camp's tireless devotion to the well known tactical motif of Discovered Check. I had a game with American provisional player Bigj18 where the ICC player automatically played a move that setup a Knight move Queen Discovered check on the Black Monarch at g8. 

Eric despite his two failed marriages has done a magnificent job of expounding upon the preconditions that must exist to ignore the threat of the normally DEALDY discovered check tactical theme!! Camp published a game where he was able to calculate that a threatened discovered check WAS NOT REALLY A THREAT AT ALL BUT, IN FACT, AN EGREGIOUS BLUNDER.

In the diagrammed position, Black can all ignore Whites threat by attacking White's very breezy King side with the move Qh3. After Qh3, White continued with Ne3 discovered check. After Kh8, White guards the g3 pawn with Nf5,BUT White just rips off the strong Horse with Rxf5 and wins easily due to Whites miserably developed Queenside including a "stuck Bishop on the back rank and a spectator 5 pointer at a1 that will stand witness to the impending REGICIDE!!!

Shout out and thanks to all my El Segundo California buddies! We shared a lot of good times, women, and male bonding!!

Benin Chess Oddity

 I thought of social media Icon James B. Delmhorst  as I observed the following chess game by a dude named Suntzu76 from Benin Africa. This guy is very strong, but inexplicably resigned after dropping the exchange due to a Knight fork on the c6 square.

Now James from Connecticut, in the United States of America, firmly believes one has the right to steal any street sign with ones name on it. BUT what if your last name is STOP Mr Delmhorst? Would you really want to be responsible for a T Bone crash at a major intersection?!?

Fortunately, Nigerian Ministry of Education views chess as much more important than the ignominious online financial scams that originate in his country.

Instructive Mate in Seven

 The following position, resulting from a blitz chess game at the internet chess club, is a Black to Move and Win variety. The title of this article is a dead give away and provides enough information for an average player to figure out the forcing winning line.

BUT, would you discover the mating pattern in a real over the board game had you not been given the elephant in the room hint?  

Notice that White's f2 Bishop and f4 pawn occupy escape squares for the forlorn and isolated Monarch. Also fantasize about the g file being open after your Jonathon Rowson conversation with your h8 rook. Add the g7 Knight to the dialogue. After all, fianchettoed HORSES SUCK.

First Player Begging for Early Exchange of Queens

 There is a significant and growing number of ICC players who grovel, if not beg, for a very early Queen Exchange with THE WHITE PIECES!!!!!! This reminded of the humorous chess columnist named Wilson is Houston Texas USA who wrote extensively about the Idiot's Defense where Black invites a very early exchange of the Ladies. Wilson actually became quite well known in Hungary and remote parts of former Soviet Union with his expositions on viability of such a chicken shit opening.

There is even an idiot's defense accepted and declined variation to make matters even more laughable. The position you see below played in a 3 minute no increment blitz game at ICC shows Bergmann voluntarily weakening his g1-a7 diagonal for no apparent reason other than he is afraid to keep the Queens on the board for reasons unknown to this writer. I guess he is "being true to thyself" but I still find it extremely timid and unmanly. 

So what you see in the above diagrammed position is a moron's defense in reverse. Oh crap, I really can't believe I decided to even write about this!  Much more interesting is writing of Zaq Harrison attempts to relate our beloved Royal Game to never ending conflicts in Israel and Iran and the desperate actions of the Iran revolutionary Guard.

Breathtaking Drawing Apparatus

The following position actually occurred in 5 minute blitz game at the Internet Chess Club in Pennsylvania United States of America.

So it is definitely White to move otherwise Black b2 pawn promotes to either a Rook or a Lady with mate in two after spite interposition of White Rook to d1. 

Can you see why White can draw due to the breathtaking coordination between the Horse and the Tower? After Nh7 check, Ke8 is answered by Nf6 checking King and simultaneously protecting Rook. Also observe if the Black Monarch stupidly goes to h8 square, Rook h7 is CHECKMATE again with elegant piece coordination!!! 

Mrs Jessica E Prescott, also known as bounding owl, possesses much acumen regarding the nuanced connections between the Knight and the Rook.I believe she is employed by the same entity as Thomas Lucker who is a middle school organizer somewhere in Houston,TX. Rob Lazorchak has a cushy job in NYC teaching chess at charter school and is loved by staff, students and parents alike!!!

 

Ethics as related to the 50 move rule and bullet chess at ICC

 

Mexican chess player Robert Rosarito plays for draws with the White pieces inviting early Queen Trades because he presumes he can outplay his opponent in the ending. Lewis McClary, a Texas player, endorses the Moron's defense which was actually studied in depth by a gentlemen named Glen Wilson from Dallas. 

Andrew Hanson of Arizona, who teaches chess, has had some success welcoming his opponent to give up the lady in the first 5 moves of the game.

In 3 minute chess, the 50 move draw rule comes into play especially when one of the players has mismanaged their time and then begs for a draw when they reach a theoretically drawn position as in the game below.

Note that the last pawn move of b6 was played on move 79 as seen in the game score below. Robert Rosarito's time expired in a position where no legal move would have resulted in splitting the point! That is what Rosarito deserved for being way behind on the clock! Dick Head made sure of that!! Roberts last move happened on move 122 making it 7 moves shy of 50 without any pawn moves or any type of capture. Dick Head won fair and square despite whining Robert's opinion on the matter! 

Alec Bojalad is familiar with ethics as it applies to chess and he also into other Geek stuff like unconventional chess sets.

[Event "ICC 3 0"]

[Site "Internet Chess Club"]

[Date "2021.05.01"]

[Round "-"]

[White "RosaritoRobert"]

[Black "DickHead"]

[Result "0-1"]

[ICCResult "White forfeits on time"]

[WhiteElo "1552"]

[BlackElo "1597"]

[Opening "Alekhine's defense: Maróczy variation"]

[ECO "B02"]

[NIC "AL.10"]

[Time "12:14:34"]

[TimeControl "180+0"]

1. e4 Nf6 2. d3 e5 3. Be2 d5 4. Nd2 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Nxe4 6. dxe4 Qxd1+ 7. Bxd1

Bc5 8. f3 Nc6 9. c3 a5 10. Bc2 Be6 11. b3 O-O 12. Ne2 f5 13. Ng3 g6 14. Ke2

Rad8 15. Rd1 Kg7 16. Bb2 f4 17. Nf1 g5 18. Rxd8 Rxd8 19. Rd1 Rxd1 20. Bxd1

h5 21. Bc1 g4 22. Bc2 Kf6 23. Nd2 Be3 24. Bd3 gxf3+ 25. gxf3 Bh3 26. Bb2 Nd8

27. Nc4 Bb6 28. Nxb6 cxb6 29. Bc4 Ne6 30. Bd5 Nd8 31. Ba3 Be6 32. c4 Bxd5

33. cxd5 Nf7 34. Kd3 Ng5 35. Ke2 Kf7 36. Bb2 Kf6 37. a3 Nh3 38. b4 axb4 39.

axb4 b5 40. Bc3 Ng5 41. Be1 Nf7 42. Bh4+ Kg6 43. Be7 Ng5 44. Bxg5 Kxg5 45.

d6 Kf6 46. h4 Ke6 47. d7 Ke7 48. Kd3 Kd8 49. Kc3 Kc7 50. Kd3 Kd8 51. Kc3

Kxd7 52. Kd3 Kc6 53. Kc3 Kc7 54. Kd3 Kd7 55. Kc3 Ke7 56. Kd3 Kf6 57. Kc3 Kg6

58. Kd3 Kh6 59. Kc3 Kh7 60. Kd3 Kh8 61. Kc3 Kg8 62. Kd3 Kf8 63. Kc3 Ke8 64.

Kd3 Kd8 65. Kc3 Kc8 66. Kd3 Kb8 67. Kc3 Ka7 68. Kd3 Kb6 69. Kc3 Kc6 70. Kd3

Kd6 71. Kc3 Ke6 72. Kd3 Kf6 73. Kc3 Kf7 74. Kd3 Kg8 75. Kc3 Kf8 76. Kd3 Ke8

77. Kc3 Kd7 78. Kd3 Kc6 79. Kc3 b6 80. Kd3 Kb7 81. Kc3 Ka7 82. Kd3 Ka6 83.

Kc3 Ka7 84. Kd3 Ka8 85. Kc3 Kb8 86. Kd3 Kc8 87. Kc3 Kd8 88. Kd3 Ke8 89. Kc3

Kf8 90. Kd3 Kg8 91. Kc3 Kh8 92. Kd3 Kh7 93. Kc3 Kg7 94. Kd3 Kf7 95. Kc3 Ke7

96. Kd3 Ke6 97. Kc3 Kd6 98. Kd3 Kc6 99. Kc3 Kb7 100. Kd3 Ka7 101. Kc3 Ka8

102. Kd3 Kb8 103. Kc3 Kc8 104. Kd3 Kc7 105. Kc3 Kd6 106. Kd3 Kd7 107. Kc3

Ke7 108. Kd3 Ke6 109. Kc3 Kf6 110. Kd3 Kg6 111. Kc3 Kh6 112. Kd3 Kh7 113.

Kc3 Kh8 114. Kd3 Kg8 115. Kc3 Kf8 116. Kd3 Ke8 117. Kc3 Kd8 118. Kd3 Kc8

119. Kc3 Kb8 120. Kd3 Ka8 121. Kc3 Ka7 122. Kd3 Kb7 {White forfeits on time}

0-1

Devastating Rook Pin Along your Opponent's 2nd Rank

 I was reminded of a former chess buddy J.P. Hyltin who resided in Austin Texas and often played in Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. He once drew with legend Joe Bradford after memorizing Big Joe's Benko Gambit line if I recall and wore a T-Shirt about his pregnant wife's GM candidate fetus. 

He was probably a genius in many regards including his profession in some branch of engineering, but I remember him saying that an overwhelming number of decisive tactics involved exploiting or creating a lethal pin. I also respected his views on the absurd DWI laws in our country where way too many repeat offenders end up killing people never having spend a day behind bars!!! His Austin friend and lawyer Mike Simpson Esquire defended many of those types usually the weekend when the Longhorns played the Sooners. I think  Victor Yaward  and Luis Salinas had strong opinions on vehicular homicide as well.

The following position involves the latter. See if you can figure out the winning move in the following position with White to play:

ICC player Danifrani had just withdrawn his Queen to the f6. Can you see how this move is a losing blunder due to the presence of the White Rook on the c7 square? I missed it in the game, but eventually won on time in a 3 minute no increment time control blitz game.

Outside Passed Pawn Wins Again

 A very common error in King and Pawn endings is to keep pushing your pawns forward in a middle game attack fashion. However, that often leads to lost endings! 

In the following three minute blitz game played at the Internet Chess Club in Pennsylvania, Black played the losing move pawn to b4. Do you see why?

After some pawn exchanges on the b4 square, White(Gianky59 from the country of Switzerland ) wins easily by capturing Black's f5 pawn which forces the creation of outside passed White h pawn which will drag the Black Monarch way out of play!!!

ChessFactor content provider IM Andrey Ostrovskiy does an above average job of explaining the mechanisms associated with these type of structures that involve "on the edge of the board" type of motifs. Istanbul, Turkey chess benefactor Mert Bahadır is an ardent fan of Andrey's pedagogy and self-effacing style.

BTW Black would have easily drawn by replacing the blunder b4 with the drawing Kd6 which leads to a sterile, innocuous drawn position!

Benoni-Three Minor Pieces for a Queen

Chess luminaries Pachman and Silman both had astute observations regarding when 3 minor pieces were stronger than a Queen. Irascible "How to Reassess your Chess" Jeremy stated that as long as the Queen did not have a "disruptive pawn" that the Queen would usually lose to the three minors.

 Rewan Demontay and David Miedema have also thrown in their opinions on this fascinating imbalance which happens to be the term that made Silman's book famous but also with the significant flaw of oversimplifying at times.  Jeremy now spends some of his time reviewing Kung Fu Movies or some other Asian themed avocation. 

Cristinel Leaua of Romania unwittingly sacrificed his Queen for three minor pieces in the following Benoni Defense played at the Internet Chess Club in the United States of America.  His move Ng4 was actually a blunder as he amateurishly saw only Bd4 pinning Queen at e3 to the White King located on g1 square.  White wins two Horses and one Prelate which led to a convincing victory for the first player!
 

Stunning Pawn Sac in Dead Drawn Looking Ending

 In the following blitz game played at USA based Internet Chess Club, TheBlackCat must have thought he had an easy draw. Black despite having an extra pawn, had no way to promote his passed g3 pawn.

I was not able to figure out a brilliant pawn break through based on the "weakness of White's f4 pawn". Do you see it?!?!? That's right pawn to e5, followed by pawn to d4 leads to the capture of White's f4 pawn and Black should win! 

H C Schonberg would have easily discovered these two naked pawn sacs based on the informant notation Xf4. Contemporary commentator Naroditsky would have noticed it in less than 10 seconds probably between his binge viewing of Breaking Bad. He was cool kid at Stanford when I was working on my post doctoral stuff. He may have been the reason I never finished because his love of Royal game was soooo damn infectious along with his massively expansive vocabulary. The late Emory Tate may not have found it because he did not reach many endings based his tendencies to have things resolved in the middle game. 

Monkey See Tactic, Monkey Play Tactic

 My Russian friends at ICC are among the most rational and concrete thinking guys I have ever known. However, Potoslonam must have been having trouble with family or girlfriend when he egregiously blundered with Knight captures d5 pawn in the following diagrammed position. 

His weak amateurish idea was to pray(I know most Russians are atheist) that Black captures the horse on d5 leaving his f5 Horse en prise. Black now wins easily with Qg1 threatening mates on g3 square and Qh1 mate. The White Queen cannot defend both threats so the Russian disconnected and lost.

Hockey fan Mark Scheig is also a talented chess player and a friend of the affable Russian expert of our beloved Royal Game.

Trading Queens a Losing Blunder in the blitz game

Swedish player Gianky59, a weak 1498 player, after playing better than his low USCF rating, offered a Queen exchange on the e3 square which leads to a LOST King and Pawn ending in the following diagrammed position.

After the exchange on that dark square, Black plays Kf5 to be in attacking range of White's over advanced and vulnerable 3-2 Queenside Majority. Black is easily winning because she can make an outside passed h pawn! 

 

Strong Knight WEAK King

 Some of my old Russian buddies often spoke of a weak opponent King location as a long term positional consideration. I had a hard time with this concept initially, but over the years have learned exactly what these wise Russian School of Chess dudes actually meant.

In the position below, which arose out of a Dutch Defense Staunton Gambit, the country of India player AabhasJindal resigned when he could  not see an adequate way to defend his d pawn.  Chigorin would have rolled twice in his grave mocking the passive and gutless style of a guy who just gives up when his unjustified attack did not work.

The Indian's King is certainly pathetic at g1 blocking in his own Rook at h1 while also being placed on the weak g1-a7 dark diagonal. However, resigning and not playing on suggests a lack of maturity and resolve. He forgot or never learned Andy Soltis' recommendation to make your  opponent win the game as a last line of defense. 

I do understand that experienced Android Developers working as Mobile Engineers do not have as much time for chess and respect that. Life in Udaipur, Rajasthan can be competitive and a man has to feed his family first and then give up time for leisurely pursuits.