Doubled Pawns as weakness in Endgame

In a balanced game, creating pawn weaknesses comes at a price. In the following chess position, Boba-Fett of Germany playing at ICC allowed the doubling of his c7 and c6 pawns which create weak squares at c5 and c4. The "price paid" by White was giving up his Bishop for the Knight at c6 which was referred to as giving up the mini exchange by Jew Hater Robert Fischer.



Weak squares are ones that typically can not be guarded by pawns and provide great permanent outposts for pieces and Kings in an ending. Also as more material leaves the chess board, the weakness of the doubled pawns becomes more of a concern.

Black would like to place a piece at d6 begging for an exchange which would undouble his pawns. The white Knight at c4 is the dominant piece on the board for either side attacking the weak a5 pawn which can only be protected by Black Horse residing at b7.

Black has to be on guard for White King infiltrations which could lead to lost endings

Very Common Chess Error

In the following 3 minute blitz game played at ICC, Schiller of Belgium playing White against an Exchange French Defense  made a mistake that has also plagued me most of my career.

Black played Queen to the e2 square offering the exchange of Queens and establishing a Rook on Whites 2nd rank. White chose to play Queen to the c4 check giving check forgetting that his unprotected Queen is still being attacked by the Black Queen.




Black acquiescing to the phenomenon  of mutual blunder moved his King! White still not noticing his mortally wounded lady, made another move. Black, on his second opportunity, finally noticed the en prise dame and captured resulting in Schiller's almost certain dejected resignation.

The type of mistake moving away from one capture square to another capture square is very prevalent and likely has a psychological cause.

 

Stonewall Dutch Ending

This Stonewall Dutch Defense played between Ivan Sokolov and Arthur Yusupov is an excellent example of a Stonewall player spending a lot of time trying to make his bad c8 bishop "good". Notice the problem Bishop has found its way outside the pawn chain only find itself ineffectively positioned with not much bearing on the game

White's pawn chain of b6,c5, and d4 appears rigid, but is actually harmonizing with the Knight at e7 threatening tactical sequences that will turn the b6 pawn into a passer.

So despite Black's two bishops, White has a relatively simple way to win the game. See if you can figure out way to get the temporarily blocked b6 pawn moving towards her queening square.

In The Square of the Pawn

The following King and Pawn ending looks very winning for Black owing to his central pawn duo at e4 and d4. There is a little wrinkle after one observes that White has a protected passed pawn at a5 which is three squares from Queening.

The pawn at a5 forms a square with vertices at the chess squares a5,d5,d8, and a8. As long as the White King remains within this square, the Black passed pawn must remain frozen.

This leads to the formulation of the simple plan of attacking the protecting b4 pawn and destroying the support of White's only hope. Now capturing the b4 pawn with the King would be an egregious blunder as it would land the discombobulated Black King outside the aforementioned quadrangle/square.




So the winning idea is to get the King to b5 which facilitates the pawn dissolving c5 pawn advance leaving two capturable pawns and White's resignation imminent. Incidentally, players of the French Defense are often rewarded after patiently defending with strong central pawns which also sometimes happens in Sicilian Defense games.

Kaalzar from the country of Guadeloupe(a group of Caribbean islands and an overseas region of France) is an uncompromising chess player who would rather lose "his way" than acquiesce to the will of his opponent.

The definition Rudy and Jimbo Loved

The Rudolf Spielmann definition(The late NM Jim Gallagher of San Antonio,TX was quite fond of this definition) of a chess sacrifice is the giving up of material where the goal is not necessarily to recover the material, but to create a difficult to defend position. Also the consequences of a true sacrifice are incalculable.




In the following position, with Black to Move, Bishop captures at h3 is to be considered. Black gets two pawns for the sacrificed Bishop and pressure on the the White Monarch. Since White has not done anything wrong other than not play for the initiative, you wouldn't expect him to be losing.

I have seen these type of sacrifices be well defended where the defender takes it to the ending while maybe dropping another pawn yielding an imbalance( A mainstay in Jeremy Silman's lexicon) of 3 pawns for the piece.

So a relatively common outcome for this type of sacrifice would be a minor piece and six pawns versus two minors and three pawns. All truly in keeping with the incalculable aspect of the piece sac definition Jim was so fond of.

Also it is vital that a strong chess player realizes that the goal of sacrifice is to not necessarily recover the material or to quickly checkmate the enemy King. A sacrifice can place psychological(the word that Fischer hated) pressure on the defender inducing mistakes leading to excellent practical results. Just don't sacrifice against Carlsen, even in a simul, as he proved in his win against Anand that he does not not make mistakes even under the blistering weather of an attack, e.g. how he got his Knight to e8 defending the mating square g7 on Black side of Nimzo Indian.

Second Rank Skewer common Motif in Rook and Pawn Endings

This 1940 chess composition by Prokes was in Practical Chess Endings by Irving Chernev. This book was emphatically espoused by the late NM Jim Gallagher of San Antonio,TX. Jim believed that far too many class players were deficient in the endgame phase of The Royal Game.

The idea behind the second rank skewer in this position is to advance the g6 pawn to g7 which places it on Black's second rank where the Black monarch also resides at c7. The Black Rook is then forced to attack the pawn from g6 to prevent its promotion to Queen.

White reacts with Ra1 setting up the skewer if the Rook captures the immune g7 pawn. This combined with the threat of Rook to a8 also threatening a Queen promotion is sufficient to force resignation.

Would like to close with a little tribute to the good old days in San Antonio chess when Selby Anderson was editor. Will close by listing some of the Players that I remember from that region: Martin Gordon, JP Hyltin, Eric Dimazana, Mitch Vergara, Mitchell White, Tony Alston, Greg Wren, Larry Moss, Steve Young, Pete Gibson, Enrique Rios, David John, Shawn Noland, Sonny Kamberi, Bill Wheeler, Jesse Matlock, Matt Campbell, Dave Mackey, John Hendricks, Paul Muljadi, Gregg Stanley, Steven Grubbs, Donald Flournoy, Randall Schwarz, ....

A couple of important Rook ending themes

One crucial aspect of chess mastery is knowledge of certain types of endings that are known to be won or drawn. Endgame knowledge saves you time over the board with respect to calculation time. Rook and pawn endings are likely the most common endings so more time should be spent acquiring knowledge and undertanding the intricacies in these type of endings.



In the following 3 minute game played at ICC, RiskyMonster of Iceland has a Rook and three pawns and his opponent has a Rook and two pawns with the a2 black pawn one square from queening. White's King is tactically confined to the the second rank, otherwise a rook check will  allow the a2 pawn to promote to a Queen.

Also White's c2 pawn is immobilized because of a skewer also along the second rank after the black rook moves threatening a queen promotion. Also note that  White's rook is stuck on the A file.

So despite White's extra pawn, Black can easily draw by moving just moving his king around.

Capturing at c3 too early in the Nimzo Indian

The below chess diagram is an example of a theoretical opening mistake by Black with significant practical implications.

Specifically in this Nimzo Indian Defense Black captured the c3 Knight with his f8 Bishop without any provocation which is OK only after White has placed his King's Knight on f3.

Why is this important? Capturing the c3 Knight is part of a long term blockade strategy for Black where he intends to construct an unbreakable pawn barrier comprised of the c5,d6, and e5 pawns and fight like hell to keep the position closed.



A natural enemy to this is the White f4 pawn which seeks to open files and diagonals that will favor the c1 Bishop which is currently quite immobile and immured by his own pawns.

Note that in the diagram, the White Knight developed to the e2 square staying out of the way of the f2 pawn which will advance in an attempt to liberate the Queen's Bishop aimed at the Black Kingside. This may not seem like a big deal,but remember Black has no dark squared Bishop to oppose White's.

Black gave up that piece to produce a rigid, blocking pawn structure and give White weak doubled c pawns.

Blockade Benoni

BFavre of the ICC loves playing the Blockade Benoni where Black constructs a pawn triangle with pawns at the c5,d6,e5 squares.  In the position you see White did not place a pawn on c4 so he could route his Knight from a3 to to the c4 square.



Also Black has just placed his Queen on c7 and with White to move it is very tempting to play the clearance sacrifice e5 which would win a piece if the d7 knight captures at e5.

Do you see why? After Bishop captures knight and the thrust d6, Black is losing a piece owing to Bishop takes pawn check at h7. However since Black can capture at e5 with the d6 pawn, White should abstain from from the diagonal opening pawn advance.

Moving the e2 Horse to either c3 or g3 ensure the first player of a lasting initiative.

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.

Defending against that Haymaker

I remember one of the faint criticisms of former world chess champion Gary Kasparov was that he packed one big punch which was usually enough to overwhelm even strong grandmasters.

At a lower level I was reminded of that one big punch in the following game played at ICC. Black has just played g5 threatening g4 which could dislodge the f3 knight which is preventing mate at h2. This sequence looks extremely dangerous for White, but there is hope if you remember Lasker's principle of justice in chess.

Black's c8 Bishop and a8 rook are impotently placed for action. The Black Monarch is still uncastled in the middle of the board.  White can take advantage of a standard fianchetto defensive maneuver by moving his rook to e1 creating an escape square at f1. Note how the g2 Bishop guards h1 preventing checkmate.

Also there is another defensive line where the White Queen can get to e5 guarding the h2 mating square. 

So repelling Black's haymaker refutes his lack of queenside development and justice is served.

The Price of Passivity

Many chess players do not like to throw the first punch. Rather, they prefer playing provocative moves encouraging their opponent to attack them. There are animals like hedgehogs and porcupines who are designed by evolution to be master defenders equipped to attack with vengeance if another animal gets too close.



Pawnstar11 of the ICC is an excellent defensive player who is frequently rewarded by pouncing on chess players who are overly aggressive. One of the drawbacks to his style of play is that his defensively placed pieces can sometimes be captured sacrificially leaving weakened squares in their wake.

In the following position, he just played Nf8 in an uncastled position in order to guard the sensitive pawn at g6. White reacted by sacrificing exchange(means to give up ones rook for either a knight or bishop).

After Black recaptures at f8, White recovers the exchange sacrifice with a pawn to boot by capturing at g6 with a fork leaving the Black King exposed in the center. In this particular game Black's defensive play resulted in a hopelessly weak/pasive position, but sometimes good defense results in a better position for the defender if the attacker overextends his position and becomes vulnerable.

Converting Dangerous position to Winning Ending

In the following game, outash of the internet chess club , lost his queen for a Rook and a Bishop in a tactical sequence. Many chess players believe a Queen against a minor piece and a rook is a winning material advantage.

Black just moved his rook to e7 attacking the White Queen at e5. Black has two rooks and two bishops versus a rook, queen, and knight for White. Significant is White's 3 to 2 king majority if mass trading occurs.



Would you move your queen if your were White in this position? If not, what move would you play to exploit your pawn majority on the king side?

Just threaten Mate

Chess is probably the most subtle game of strategy in the world. Beginners often just attack the King from move one come hell or high water until they realize there are principles like controlling the center, developing your pieces, King safety, coordination that the world class players understand almost perfectly.

 The current world champion Magnus Carlson probably understands the principle of coordination better than any player in the history of the Royal Game. Mick Bighamian of Houston and Mack Novosad of Austin,TX were also exceptional in this facet of the game.



Despite all subtleties of chess, sometimes a caveman approach is enough to win depending on the nature of the position. In the following position, black is "up the exchange" with White to move. Black, rather greedily in this case, grabbed a rook in the corner at a1 with his Bishop. It turns out  that left him fatally weak along the a3-f8 diagonal.

See if you can find the move that forces Black to resign due to the unguardably weak e7 and f8 dark squares.

Sacrifice the Lady

Queen sacrifices are understood pretty well even by people who do not particularly enjoy chess. Non-chess addicts realize that giving up the most powerful piece on the chess board represents a burn your bridges sort of conviction where a miscalculation could result in a disappointing loss.

 Also there is something rather romantic about parting with a piece of such potency from an artistic perspective. In the following game played at the internet chess club, White(inito from Russia) has built up quite an attack against Black's King but also has an exposed King and needs to finish quickly. Can you find the move that will force Black to tip over his King or force checkmate?



 Remember the hint Queen Sac as that is an enormous amount of information which should lead you quickly to the solution.

Bishop Ending-Pawn Structure Versus Pawn Count

In the following Bishop chess ending, White has 6 pawns and Black has 5 pawns. If  White's pawn structure on the queenside was not shattered and split, his 3-2 majority would probably be decisive. The White King has just moved to e3 vis a vis the black monarch at e5.

White's King move threatens f4 check driving Black backward to the d6 square. Black's drawing strategy is to temporarily prevent f4 by playing g5, but White is able to force through f4 with the preparatory g3. This will force Black to retreat to the d6 square where it turns out he can set up an inpenetrable fortress by guarding all entry squares.



See if you can envision the position with the White King occupying d4 and the Black King sitting on d6. With the correct pawn moves, the Black King cannot be dislodged from d6 which will help the second player sustain the fortress structure!

If the White queen side pawn structure  was uncompromised, then it is likely he could drive the Black King away from his blockading perch at d6 allowing White to infiltrate with his King and win.

Got South Poled in this Ending

Played a guy at ICC name Reb from Antarctica. Wonder if Reb is short for rebel which you would have to be to live in an area larger than the United States covered by mile thick layers of ice! Reb moves deliberately and seems to prefer endings. He frequently reaches won end games, but loses on time before he can convert the win. Such is the burden of playing 3 minute blitz chess.

The position you see below is likely a win for Black with with his strong Knight and White's passed pawn has no chance of promoting. Also White's g1 Bishop is a prison bitch to the powerfully centralized, fire-breathing Steed!

I wonder if Reb is a scientist as there are no indigenous Antarcticans, but scientists from around the world are allowed to capture data and do research on the southern tip of the Planet Earth. Also, there was some sort of world wide agreement preventing the use of this frozen continent for military purposes or nuclear activities.

She Deflectively Krushed Him

The position you see with Black to move features Irina Krush(Great surname for a chess player) playing Black in closed Sicilian Defense. Her opponent, Miles Ardaman, has just retreated his Bishop from h6 to the d2 square to prevent Qe1 which would be curtains for White.



Notice that White's sensitive back rank is guarded by the h3 Queen and the aforementioned Prelate.See if you can discover a move that would disrupt the protection of the bank rank. Hint: deflection is a common theme when a piece is overloaded or its dislocation from its protective services leads to disaster.

What do I mean by deflection? Deflection literally means to dislodge a piece from a defensive post by force and often happens via being attacked by an unprotected(hanging) piece.

Positional King's Indian Players

Am I the only chess player who is frustrated when a King's Indian Defense player opts for Nd7 instead of playing the famous Mar Del Plata Nc6 move? I thought all KI players were attacking fools who would prefer to go down in a blaze of glory rather than acquiesce to a boring endgame even if they were winning that endgame!! Not true as Black can offer Lewis McClary's moron defense(you can read more about this very playable defense at a Houston chess blog maintained by Wilson) and then play Nd7 hoping to occupy c5 and play positionally.



The following game shows how Irish born chess player Eugene Curtin beats Robert Sulman. Curtin displays extraordinary patience and aplomb waiting for Sulman to overextend his King side pawns which fatally exposed his King to the Bc2/Qd3 mating pair.

The game ends when Sulman erroneously captures back with his e5 pawn allowing the diagonal opening space clearance thrust e5 which leaves the mating square h7 indefensible.

Widening the Beachhead

In armed combat, a beachhead is a defended area within the enemy position where two armies are engaged or fighting. Not surprisingly, widening the beachhead occurs in war games like chess. In the following position involving only pawns, Black temporarily goes down a pawn to create a maurading King Zugzwang position.

Black paradoxically, moves his King Backwards to c7 or in reverse which is always winning according to Bill Reuter. This strategy allows the second player to get to the a4 square uncontested as the second diagram shows.

Despite White's extra pawn, he is in Zugzwang and will lose both queenside pawns and the d4 pawn resulting in him likely tipping over his King. Widening the beachhead effectively means spreading out your attacking area(creating a path for your King into your opponent's position) oftentimes at the cost of a pawn. It is a common theme in King and Pawn endings

White disconnected and Forfeits

The person playing under the name of dashriprock at the Internet Chess Club is usually rated around 1300 and loves playing 3 minute blitz chess. Dash Riprock was the name of  a pick up bar in Lubbock,TX long ago. Very sexy girls in tight shorts and alcohol led to a lot of one night stands at this PUA's dream within easy walking distance of Texas Tech. Go Raiders. The sexual tension was so high that the bathroom stalls were sometimes occupied by horny coeds banging away. Campus police put an end to that one late Saturday night.



TTU had a strong chess team headed up by Susan Polgar. She brought in Grand Masters and the University hosted some exceptionally strong tournaments during her tenure. Susan departed amidst nasty USCF politcal wranglings, apparently more her husband's doings, but left a lasting chess legacy and also a sense of permanency with chessic architecture located near the library.

Anyways back to this character named dashriprock who plays blitz chess at the ICC. He is an aggressive, but relatively weak player whose anger has a much higher rating than his chess playing. I would say he is around Master strength with respect to anger and hot-headedness.

In the game you see below he disconnected without resigning after he hung his rook while desperately pre-moving trying to consume time. Many blitz players play under the pre-aggreed condition that all disconnects will count as losses even if the disconnect is caused by lag or internet outage. This guy obviously disconnected for his blunder in time pressure.

Pawn Roller for a Piece

In the following chess position  reached  via a King's Indian Defense, White's Knight at b5 has just been attacked by a pawn pushed to a6. Note that Black's weak d6 pawn can not be captured as it is guarded by the Queen and the e8 Knight.

So what to do with the harried horse? Retreating to c3 would be the natural option in this fight or flight situation. I will give you a hint. Pawn duos(two pawns side by side) increase in strength depending on how far advanced they are. For example a pawn duo on the fifth rank can be strong, but not as potent as a duo on the sixth rank.

I think Hans Kmoch might consider this position worthy of inclusion in his book titled Pawn Power where he develops an unnecessarily cumbersome lexicon of terminology with terms like sealer, sweeper, melanpenia, etc.

Sleaze as an Element of a Blitz Game

Anybody who plays Blitz chess knows that there is Sleazy side to the game. 3 minute chess games are very popular at the internet chess club and often one side has a much better chess position but had taken a long time to create the "winning position".

For example, the stronger side may have an extra Queen on the board and be 3 moves from delivering mate, but only have 2 seconds remaining which is generally not enough time to execute a three move checkmate. This is fair as time is a critical resource and if you only have 2 second to your opponent's full minute or 60 seconds, the perhaps you deserved to lose.



Such was the case with Kaspivarov of Brazil playing the white side of a French Defense Opening. Black ahead on time placed his Rook on d3 next to White's King on e2 for sleazy, disruptive and time consuming reasons. White ran out of time at this point never capturing the rook at d3.

One might speculate that White had already "pre-moved" his King to either e3 or f3 all of which would be illegal moves and not allowed by the Blitzen interface! How can you blame somebody for not doing this if they have accumulated a substantial time advantage and the other side has grossly mismanaged their time?!

Ask any ICC blitz addict what pre-move is and how it is a double edged sword.

Gruenfeld Opening-Russian Variation

This Black defense to the Queen pawn opening is called the Russian variation of the Gruenfeld defense. More descriptive would be the provocative variation as White is provoking Black to capture a flank pawn with a center pawn, namely the Black d5 pawn captures the White c4 pawn.

From the diagram, one can see that White has attempted to induce this pawn capture by moving his Queen a little earlier than many chess theorists would recommend. Black is allowing White the pawn duo at d4/e4 in return for a potentially vulnerable White Queen.

In the main lines of the Gruenfeld, Black gets 2 to 1 queenside pawn majority and loves endings. In this variation, Black has 3 to 2 majority queenside. White has an extra pawn in the center which can lead to decent chances in the middle game.

I think this particular variation is more favorable to White than the main lines because the center attacking move c5 is harder to execute. The only line I am aware of where c5 is played is the Knight to the d7 square variations or the a6 followed by b5 line.

Huebner System: A Tough Nut to Crack

The Huebner blockading variation of the Nimzo Indian defense is so feared by many Chess grandmasters that they will play White systems that avoid it. This is the ultimate compliment to arguably the best defense in chess to a queen pawn opening.

Roman Dzindzichashvili, in his excellent video on this opening largely due to the efforts of German GM Robert Huebner, points out subtleties like what White should do if Black captures the Knight at c3 too early with his Bishop. If the White Knight has not already developed to f3 prior to this capture, then Ne2 gives White the option of not blocking the f pawn and allowing its advance which will very likely turn the c1 Bishop into a menace.



In the diagrammed position White, also, wants to play the pawn lever f4, but it will require much preparation with Black taking all measures to keep the character of the position closed while eyeing the weak c4 pawn.

Please Enter my Lair says Mr Hedgehog

There are many strong chess players who essentially reject certain aspects of opening theory and blaze their own trails with noteworthy success. The person who plays under the ICC handle of of phil2force is of that ilk. He/She loves to assume a defensive posture with either the White or Black pieces, i.e. the chess equivalent of crouching and fighting only when attacked. He is sort of the MMA/octagon version of fighters who have exceptional ground games. In following diagram of a 3 minute game played at ICC, he places many of his pawns on his third rank while attempting to create a strong point at e5 with both of his Knights poised to occupy that important central square. His thinking/setup is similar to the equally provocative Hippopotamus Defense where Black places his knights on e7 and d7 avoiding pins and preparing central pawn breaks.



He actually took the time to hop his Stead from g8 to h6 to the f7 square just so maybe someday the peripatetic horse could occupy the e5 square. His strategy is to inveigle White into some type of Austrian attack where the first players attempts to steamroll 4 pawns down the board and suffocate Black.

I had to lose  to this guy a couple of times before I figured out his subtle strategy which has frustrated many. phil2force realizes many players are taught to grab central space with pawns and his schema is an almost perfect counter to that teaching. He is content to move his King back and forth on the g8 and h8 squares begging White to over extend his center leaving himself vulnerable.

The internet chess club is chockablock full of players with incredibly artistic and unique styles. Playing there will prepare hardcore USCF players for about anything!

Be Aware of the Zig-Zag in your Chess Games

All serious chess players are aware of the various geometrical motifs that guide our play in the Royal Game.

In the following game played at the ICC, White has just played Bishop to a3 attacking the Black Rook at f8. When I was growing up and playing in the dorms at McMurry University(Go War Hawks) in Abilene,TX, the chess "wiz" on our floor preached(yes he was actually a seminary student) that a Rook was worth 5 points and a Bishop was worth 3 points. Conclusion: according to the Jesus Freak Baptist bible thumper, thou shalt always move 5 pointer that is being attacked by a 3 pointer. Even then, I knew that the game of all games could not be amenable to such a crass general truth.

I got tired of this guy and started reading the instructive chess columns of the Bulgarian master Nikolay Minev who wrote for Yasser Seirawan in the bi-monthly periodical Inside Chess. Minev wrote simple declarative sentences and was easy to understand.




In the diagrammed position back in 1985, I would have instinctively moved the Rook to the e8 square. After reading Minev's column on the zig-zag rampaging pawn capturing tactical sequence, I would have immediately played e4 attacking the White Steed at f3.

Let me please tell you why Minev referred to this tactic as zig-zag. The path of the pawn captures from e4-f3-g2-f1(promoting to rook/queen with check) wins a piece for the second player even though White captured first! Actually with accurate play by White he would stand a little worse after giving up a Knight and a Bishop for a Rook

I never met GM Minev, but feel like I know the gentleman and wish him the best. If you want to know more about this excellent chess player and teacher, read through this interview at Derrick's Blog

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.

Sicilian Reversed against Dutch Defense

Many chess players have pet opening systems with Black that they know cold. An idea to cut down on the amount of studying one has to do is try get the same position or system with the White pieces where the extra move white has could be an advantage. For those who don't know much about the rules of chess, White gets to move first  and at the highest levels, this is a minute advantage.

So a White strategy is to play his "opening system in reverse".  A common practice at ICC is to try and play a Sicilian in reverse as  mosheianina of Israel is fond of. Had Black cooperated by playing d5, then White would have been salivating playing an open Sicilian Defense in Reverse!



Black opted for d6 instead and played a Dutch like position which would likely frustrate players who memorize line after line of their favorite opening.

ICC Record

The Internet Chess Club is a treasured resource for players around the globe.Viewing your opponent's country flag, you will find worthy competitors from Peru, Cuba, Iceland, Argentina, Belize, Spain, Germany, United States, Russia,France, UK, Greenland,etc.



You can find a game 24/7. There are tons of educational and historical aids along with Grand Masters giving live high quality commentary about the latest opening wrinkle or just recently excellent coverage of the World Championship match between Magnus Carlson and Vishy Anand. (Fpawn say it isn't so Vishy)

 A chess player can always view his record in his last 20 games with time stamped outcome of game and opponent. I play a lot of 3 minute chess there and you would be amazed at the number of high quality games one can play even reaching theoretical endings that are quite useful to know in OTB USCF competition. Below is display of my last twenty ICC games where I finally made it over 1700 in 3 minute blitz chess. My record was 13 wins, 6 losses, and one draw over that particular 20 game span.

As you can see ICC player TommyGunn has my number, phil2force has a mercurial hedgehog style where he lures you in only to rip your heart out, JohnCohen is a solid opponent who will not beat himself, worldcitizen is a very principled uncompromising player, long time ICC member velvetfrog is more of a bulldog than an amphibian, chesskabob as his handle indicates is a little bit of everything and difficult to play against, RaiseTheCurve appears to be an erudite academician who is vulnerable if you get him out of his memorized opening theory, and mosheianina is strong expert from Israel that I managed to beat this time, but he has significant overall winning record against me.

Awakening of Those Men in The Rear

Many of the younger generation of chess players may not be familiar with the Magnum Opus of Aron Nimzovitch titled My System considered by many to be the most seminal book on chess ever written. His effort not only added invaluable pieces to chess theory, but had considerable literary value as the good doctor could really turn some phrases.

 One of my favorites was The awakening of the men in the rear which referred to cramped pieces that became active as pawns often sacrificially move forward. The following game played at the internet chess club involved an odd second move by a Japanese chess player named MerKavA. Against a Dutch defense our oriental friend plays 2. Qd3 which ended up subjecting his Queen to many attacks and allowed Black to fully develop and obtain a winning position.



Back to Nimzovitch. The Black Bishop, in the diagram you see, was stuck behind pawns at f5,e4,and d5. White's Rook had moved to a2 to guard weak c2 pawn. Black reacted by advancing his d5 pawn, sacrificially opening the the a2-g8 diagonal and attacking the a2 Rook.

All this makes the e6 Bishop the fellow who was awakened from his slumber to snap off the inattentive tower on a2.