Silent Draw Offer at the Highest Level

So I was watching the Ruy Lopez Rapid Championship 2019 game between the Norwegian and the American Nakamura. Magnus was Black and had a screwed up pawn structure but possessed the Bishop pair. Hikaru had granite grip on the c4 square with his Horses since the Horse could NOT be driven away by Black pawns. Carlsen had put his tower/rook at a spot that would straighten out the pawns if the best player in the United States ever decided to capture the  tower on square controlled by one of the Norway star's doubled pawns. So the two dudes agreed upon mysterious draw where the spectators present observed no draw offer!!

Sunil's son had just  moved his lady to the corner square a1 and a draw was agreed upon with no clear verbal offer by Nakamura. So do these stud chess players practice better non verbal communication better than most females?!!

Chris Voss knows all about this in the world of business negotiations. Nashama Mohamed relates it to helping those afflicted with Big Phrama's dream malady Aspergers. Yoshihiro Nishiaki connects it to cavemen in a paleontology backdrop.

Weakened Pawn Structure Versus High Mobility Bishop Duo

Norway or Norwegian blitz player PerMag(An adoring fan,devotee and lover of Carlsen) plays much better than his 1400 rating. In the following diagram, he chose the bishop pair over a maimed King Side pawn structure.

He does have a healthy uncompromised(will stand strong against the feared COVID-19 virus) 3-2 queenside pawn majority that could possibly lead to an endgame advantage. US Grandmaster D. Naroditsky wrote a beautiful piece dealing with tattered pawn structure,Bishop Pair(Magnus Carlsen) versus solid pawn structure with two Horses(Nakamura).

Carlsen, exploiting imperceptible weaknesses, while torturing  the dumbfounded American in an article published in the USCF periodical.

The Stockfish ICC machine, as G. Kasparov calls it in his magnum opus "My great predecessors", evaluates White's compromised structure as a long term advantage for Black, unless the Bishop pair that were once a single piece according to J. Rowson can impose their will!!

BTW, do any of you know who owns the website simplifychess.com? Whoever it is does Caissia an extreme disservice with marketing slogans like LEARN HOW TO ALWAYS WIN AT CHESS

Moreover, the entrepreneur behind the site never discloses his/her name, but wants your name so they can send you "cool software" that will make you never lose a chess game. OMG, are you kidding me? Who is your target audience for a ludicrous thing like this? CHESS PLAYERS ARE SUPER SMART. Do you think anybody will be suckered in by such Bullshit?!! 

The whole notion that chess can be simplified or dumbed down to where average IQ people can always win is a travesty. Take down your site and make a living another way!! Have the guts to reveal yourself to the chess world by disclosing your name like fredthebear did at his gaming site.

Read the efforts of Daisy Grewal regarding the misogyny that exists in the Royal Game. She was brave and principled enough to put her venerable and trusted name on her work in Scientific American.

Even National Masters suffer from Materialism

The diagrammed position, arising from the Leningrad Dutch Defense, is sound evidence that even titled USCF players fall prey to the Chess Sin of greed. ICC player National Master rpenquin, is a gentleman and a scholar, but became fatally weak along the h1-a8 diagonal after mistakenly "winning the exchange" snapping off the inactive Rook in the corner.

It is just a blitz game, but look at the c1 Bishop and a1 Rook the NM is neglecting while all of Black's forces are active poised to attack on the permanently weakened light squares near White's Monarch. The NM should have "talked to his pieces" in the chess psychologist Rowson fashion. They would have articulated their abject misery about being locked out of the action and poorly coordinated due the avarice and materialism of the first player.

Concretely, with White to Move, the NM has no choice but to "castle into the menacing assault" on his trepidating King.

Neophyte players should be comforted to learn that even GMs are willing subject themselves to brutal onslaughts hoping to hang on to their precious material for an endgame conversion to victory.


Finally, I would welcome the valued input of Seattle, Washington GM Gregory Serper on the soundness of this National Master's decision to engage in such risky play. Serper is flexible in his approach to Royal Game capable of attacking or defending as the position dictates. Go Seahawks!!

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.