As a tournament director I often end out with random score sheets from some tournament I directed. Kids leave them on my table, or while cleaning up I find them on the floor. They end out getting filed away and sometimes I end out actually looking at them and see if I can develop a classroom lesson from it. Often kids' games make excellent lessons because the moves are ones that kids can relate to. Most lower level kids are not going to understand why 4. Nh3 is good against the Leningrad Dutch.
While cleaning out some files with assorted chess lessons and notes I came across this game played by two kids in the Primary section of a tournament I directed back in 2002. I had never looked at it before so in deciding whether I should keep the piece of paper or not I decided to play it out. I found it rather amusing and thought given its length it would be suitable Wacky Wednesday material. The names have been changed to protect the guilty, um....innocent? Neither of these kids are playing anymore. I haven't quite formulated a lesson plan around the game yet. Maybe after you look at it, you can give me some ideas. :-)
eddie-andy2002.pgn
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
A Chess Riddle
Q: What do you call a post mortem between two patzers?
A: A fishing expedition.
On Friday Silvio and I met at his house to play the game we were supposed to play on Wednesday. This was our second encounter of the week. Just like Monday I managed to pull the proverbial rabbit out of my hat.
We reached this position after Silvio's move of 35...Ra1. At the time I was feeling rather glum about my prospects. I figured the a pawn was toast and Black's a and b pawns would be cruising down the board fairly easily. I didn't see much hope for my lonely d pawn. In reality my position wasn't as bad I thought, but I got it into my head that my only chance of winning was to try for some crazy rook and knight mate. This was the pattern I had in mind.
With that idea in my head I played 36.h4 h5? He knew what I was up to so he stopped my advance, but better would have been to simply play 36...Rxa5. So I went with plan B which was to march the king up there. 37.Kf4 Rf1+? A mistake since that drives my king to where I want him. 38.Kg5 Nd5 39.Ng6 Rf5 This is desperate try on black's part to put off the inevitable mate on h8. 40.Kxf5 Ne3+ 41.Kg5 1-0
After the game was done we started analysing. Now we get to my chess riddle that I made up. In the course of our Fritz-less analysis some how we arrived at the following position.
pw-sr analysis 071808.pgn
We spent a lot of time with the variation where I chase the king around he keeps making interpositions with one of the two queens. It took us a long time to come up with the idea that interposing isn't really necessary. Just run the king to a spot where white runs out of checks or allows black to interpose with check, forcing the queen trade. When writing this post I let Fritz loose on the position. All I can say is Fritz makes it look so simple.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Taking Anonymous' Advice
My recent post Me and My Big Mouth generated a number of responses including an anonymous commenter who made the following observation: "You pay way too much attention on possible pairings, byes etc. Just play the game!" I admitted that he was probably right even though I'm not quite as obsessive as the higher rated players who constantly try to work out the pairings to see if they're going to avoid certain opponents. So last night I decided I would not spend time in between rounds staring at the wall chart, guessing who I would play in the next round, worrying about whether I make or miss the break, or fussing about whether I would get a bye or not. Though eliminating bye worries would be made a lot simpler if I could just win one of those early round games when I get paired up.
With "Four Rated Games Tonight!" I really don't have look at the wall chart too closely to know that unless the field is unusually small and weak I will get paired up for at least two rounds. It seems that no matter where I am on the wall chart if I lose in the first round my opponent will get paired against an IM or GM. In April I had two weeks in a row where I got Vladimir Polyakin in the first round and after beating me got Jay Bonin in round two. Those same two weeks I got Jay's first round opponents. In most cases it works out much better for Jay since he's most likely going to be 2-0 or maybe 1.5 - .5, more times then not I'm looking at 0-2.
This week Jay got my first round opponent in round two, and he had about as much luck beating him as I did. I didn't get his first round opponent. Unfortunately I got a 2100 player who had been upset in the first round by a 1750. I think he decided to take his frustrations out on me. It wasn't enough to simply beat me, he crushed me. I'd be thinking "Okay he's going to win a pawn here." He ignores the free pawn. A few moves later he sacs the exchange. It wasn't really sound, but passive play on my part made it work for him. Later I'd think "Okay he's going to get the rook back." Why bother grabbing a mere rook? He can threaten mate forcing me to give up my queen to stop it.
samb-polly071708.pgn
Click on + to view game.
Note to self: Don't play Ne4 against the Trompowski if you don't know what you're doing.
It's normally between rounds two and three that I start fretting over possible pairings and bye possibilities. This night I refused to even look at round two results or the wall chart. One of my regular readers who was hanging out while his son played downstairs in the Members Only Thursday Night tournament started talking to me about my possible round three opponent. He tells me "maybe you'll play Steve Chernick or one the 1400 rated kids. It depends on what Schnitzler did. He may play Chernick." I told him it didn't really matter to me, and that I wasn't even going to try to figure it out. I suppose knowing that there was not some kid with a 3 digit rating that I might have to play if I just make the break, or being faced with a round three bye made it easier to tune out thoughts about who I'd play next.
As it turned out just as Anatoliy had predicted, I played one of the kids with a 1487 rating. No fireworks or excitement in the game. I played a boring opening, we traded down and his bishop pair was much more active then my bishop and knight. He won a pawn and then marched his a pawn down the board. End of story. Kind of a "Dog Bites Man" type of story, except here's another kid winning by grinding out a positional yawner, not by going for a slash and bash attack.
So it came down to waiting for the answer to the frequently asked question of "Does Polly get sent home early or not?" The only difference, I wasn't asking the question. I went into the back room and listened to Shernaz Kennedy tell one of her interesting Bobby Fischer stories. I didn't look at the wall chart to try to figure out if there would be an odd or even number, whether or not I was the lowest zero or who I'd play if there was an even number. I decided it didn't matter. Don't sweat the small stuff.
The pairings went up, and I actually had a fourth round game. I was a little surprised by who I ended out playing. My inner-TD is always curious about seemingly odd computer generated pairings. For what ever reason Swiss-Sys did not drop the low 1 pointer who played white in round four to play me. Instead it dropped one of the middle 1 pointers who like me was due black. So not only did I get to play the fourth round, but I got a third white. Not that having another white guaranteed me improved chances. I was 0-2 with white that night, and lately my play as white has been underwhelming. I wasn't complaining. If I had been in my usual "fret about who I'm playing" mode I would have been stressed about having to play a third grader with a 1300 rating. Having not fretted about it, I was thrilled to be playing a 1600 rated high school kid instead.
"Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat!" - Time Pressure Magic
With "Four Rated Games Tonight!" I really don't have look at the wall chart too closely to know that unless the field is unusually small and weak I will get paired up for at least two rounds. It seems that no matter where I am on the wall chart if I lose in the first round my opponent will get paired against an IM or GM. In April I had two weeks in a row where I got Vladimir Polyakin in the first round and after beating me got Jay Bonin in round two. Those same two weeks I got Jay's first round opponents. In most cases it works out much better for Jay since he's most likely going to be 2-0 or maybe 1.5 - .5, more times then not I'm looking at 0-2.
This week Jay got my first round opponent in round two, and he had about as much luck beating him as I did. I didn't get his first round opponent. Unfortunately I got a 2100 player who had been upset in the first round by a 1750. I think he decided to take his frustrations out on me. It wasn't enough to simply beat me, he crushed me. I'd be thinking "Okay he's going to win a pawn here." He ignores the free pawn. A few moves later he sacs the exchange. It wasn't really sound, but passive play on my part made it work for him. Later I'd think "Okay he's going to get the rook back." Why bother grabbing a mere rook? He can threaten mate forcing me to give up my queen to stop it.
samb-polly071708.pgn
Click on + to view game.
Note to self: Don't play Ne4 against the Trompowski if you don't know what you're doing.
It's normally between rounds two and three that I start fretting over possible pairings and bye possibilities. This night I refused to even look at round two results or the wall chart. One of my regular readers who was hanging out while his son played downstairs in the Members Only Thursday Night tournament started talking to me about my possible round three opponent. He tells me "maybe you'll play Steve Chernick or one the 1400 rated kids. It depends on what Schnitzler did. He may play Chernick." I told him it didn't really matter to me, and that I wasn't even going to try to figure it out. I suppose knowing that there was not some kid with a 3 digit rating that I might have to play if I just make the break, or being faced with a round three bye made it easier to tune out thoughts about who I'd play next.
As it turned out just as Anatoliy had predicted, I played one of the kids with a 1487 rating. No fireworks or excitement in the game. I played a boring opening, we traded down and his bishop pair was much more active then my bishop and knight. He won a pawn and then marched his a pawn down the board. End of story. Kind of a "Dog Bites Man" type of story, except here's another kid winning by grinding out a positional yawner, not by going for a slash and bash attack.
So it came down to waiting for the answer to the frequently asked question of "Does Polly get sent home early or not?" The only difference, I wasn't asking the question. I went into the back room and listened to Shernaz Kennedy tell one of her interesting Bobby Fischer stories. I didn't look at the wall chart to try to figure out if there would be an odd or even number, whether or not I was the lowest zero or who I'd play if there was an even number. I decided it didn't matter. Don't sweat the small stuff.
The pairings went up, and I actually had a fourth round game. I was a little surprised by who I ended out playing. My inner-TD is always curious about seemingly odd computer generated pairings. For what ever reason Swiss-Sys did not drop the low 1 pointer who played white in round four to play me. Instead it dropped one of the middle 1 pointers who like me was due black. So not only did I get to play the fourth round, but I got a third white. Not that having another white guaranteed me improved chances. I was 0-2 with white that night, and lately my play as white has been underwhelming. I wasn't complaining. If I had been in my usual "fret about who I'm playing" mode I would have been stressed about having to play a third grader with a 1300 rating. Having not fretted about it, I was thrilled to be playing a 1600 rated high school kid instead.
"Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat!" - Time Pressure Magic
We reached this position after 38 Qf7+ Kh8. I had 3 seconds and my opponent had almost 3 minutes. In the meantime there's was a dispute on a near by board over an insufficient losing chances claim. The player making the claim is a big loud guy so there is no such thing as a quiet resolution to a dispute involving this game. My opponent and I keeping tell them to quiet down. That may be why I missed the immediate 39. Rxh6+ Kh8 40. Qf6+ Kh7 41. Qxf8. Instead I played 39. Kf2 to break the pin on my knight. He plays 39...Rf8? I spotted the pinned bishop and play 40. Qxf8+. The game continues 40...Kh7 41.Qf7+ Kh8 42.Qf8+ Kh7 I debated briefly on simply repeating the position since my time was so short. Instead I continue 43.Rxh6 Qxh6 44.Qxh6 Kxh6 Now I have only 1 second left and he still has over 2 minutes. I'm up a knight and figure that the worse thing that will happen is I offer a draw if I can't wipe his pawns and promote one of mine. Time delay gives me that option.
45. Nf1 g5 46.Ne3 Kg6 47.Nd5 Kg7 48.Ne7 Kg6?? (illegal move!) After adding the two minutes to my time we play a few more moves, and he resigns. He realizes that in this position two minutes is all the time in the world and I'll have no difficulty winning. Phew! A close call. It was not a steller night of chess, but at least it ended on a good note. Maybe next week I can ignore all the pairing and bye concerns again, and win a couple of games.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Organized?! Bedlam: Westchester CC Summer Round Robin
We started a new tournament at the club last Wednesday. It's a 12 player round robin. It's the chess version of a free for all. If it had been my event to start with I would have taken all the players who were there and paired against each other and assigned the pairing numbers accordingly. Match up all the no shows each other and let them make up the games. But this not my show since I was far away last week as the picture below indicates.
Polly finds her Seoul mate at Gyeongbokgung Palace?
I'm not sure how pairing numbers were assigned so instead it ended out people just playing random people who may have been matched up for later rounds. As this tournament progresses (regresses) I have visions of a group of people showing up and everyone has played everyone else. I'll let Andre sort that out! I suppose it will all shake out in the end, but I'll be the one submitting all the results to USCF after everything is said and done. Fortunately the newest version of Swiss-Sys makes it fairly easy to jump around to put in results, so hopefully it won't be too much of a pain in the butt before it's all done.
Even though I'm organizationally challenged and my desk continually looks like a bomb has gone off on it, I have difficulty dealing with chaos when it comes to chess tournaments. As a director I like things to run smoothly, and I have my routine to help ensure that things will go as smoothly as possible. As a player I just want to know who and where I'm playing. Albeit difficult, I try not to worry about how I ended out playing a certain person with what ever color I was assigned. Disruptions in my directing and playing routines can cause havoc with my mental frame of mind.
Needless to say this tournament did not get off to a good start for me. I'm sure it was a combination of continuing jet lag and my getting a little stressed by the chaos not knowing who I was supposed to play. Was I going to play my opponent (Ben) from last week's round one which I missed, my actual round two opponent (Silvio) who was going to be an hour late, or my round 3 opponent (Dario) who played his round two game last week during round one? The TD was running around the room figuring out who was playing who. I didn't know whether I should start my game against Dario or not. Like I said in the title organized bedlam. Finally I just thought to myself "the hell with it" and started my game with Dario. At least I tried to. He made his first move as white, and when I hit start on my Mon Roi, I realized I forgot to click the black box, so it was showing me as white. I had to exit the game, and start all over. Inputting all the information such as tournament, date, round, opponent, and rating is the slowest part of using a Mon Roi. Dario graciously stopped the clock while I re-inputted all the information.
Maybe I would have been better off inputting the game from White's side. I sure wasn't seeing anything from Black's side. I lost two pawns early and spend entire game trying to get my pieces out. The first pawn I dropped was a blunder and gave him active squares for his knight. I gave up the send pawn thinking I was getting counter play. Nope. I forgot his f3 knight was covering the square where I wanted to stick my queen and annoy him.
dario-polly071608.pgn
We were the last game going on so everyone was watching. When he played 47. Bh3 I could not see beyond the fact that I had to abandon the queening square. I was sure within a move or two I'd be fored to give up the exchange to stop his pawn from queening. When I resigned at that point all the kibitzers were quick to point out things I could have done. Before I could even record the result they were moving the pieces around the board. There was a little life left in the position for me, but I think at that point I was too tired and stressed to work it out. Here are a few possibilities that I looked at today.
47...Ra7 48. f8/Q Rxf8 49. Rxf8 Rxh7 (this was what I didn't see for me if promotes right away.) 50. Rb8+ Kc6 51. Bg5 Ba5 I still have to contend with the h pawn, but it's not an easy win for white.
47...Ra7 48. Bc1 Rcc8 49. Rg1 Bf8 50. h4 Ra2+ 51. Kd3! (51. Kd1?? is bad for white. Rh2 52. Rh8 c2+ 53. Ke1 Bb4+ 54. Kf1 Rxh8) 51...Rh2 52. Rh8 Rf2. Still an uphill battle for me, but not hopeless quite yet.
Polly finds her Seoul mate at Gyeongbokgung Palace?I'm not sure how pairing numbers were assigned so instead it ended out people just playing random people who may have been matched up for later rounds. As this tournament progresses (regresses) I have visions of a group of people showing up and everyone has played everyone else. I'll let Andre sort that out! I suppose it will all shake out in the end, but I'll be the one submitting all the results to USCF after everything is said and done. Fortunately the newest version of Swiss-Sys makes it fairly easy to jump around to put in results, so hopefully it won't be too much of a pain in the butt before it's all done.
Even though I'm organizationally challenged and my desk continually looks like a bomb has gone off on it, I have difficulty dealing with chaos when it comes to chess tournaments. As a director I like things to run smoothly, and I have my routine to help ensure that things will go as smoothly as possible. As a player I just want to know who and where I'm playing. Albeit difficult, I try not to worry about how I ended out playing a certain person with what ever color I was assigned. Disruptions in my directing and playing routines can cause havoc with my mental frame of mind.
Needless to say this tournament did not get off to a good start for me. I'm sure it was a combination of continuing jet lag and my getting a little stressed by the chaos not knowing who I was supposed to play. Was I going to play my opponent (Ben) from last week's round one which I missed, my actual round two opponent (Silvio) who was going to be an hour late, or my round 3 opponent (Dario) who played his round two game last week during round one? The TD was running around the room figuring out who was playing who. I didn't know whether I should start my game against Dario or not. Like I said in the title organized bedlam. Finally I just thought to myself "the hell with it" and started my game with Dario. At least I tried to. He made his first move as white, and when I hit start on my Mon Roi, I realized I forgot to click the black box, so it was showing me as white. I had to exit the game, and start all over. Inputting all the information such as tournament, date, round, opponent, and rating is the slowest part of using a Mon Roi. Dario graciously stopped the clock while I re-inputted all the information.
Maybe I would have been better off inputting the game from White's side. I sure wasn't seeing anything from Black's side. I lost two pawns early and spend entire game trying to get my pieces out. The first pawn I dropped was a blunder and gave him active squares for his knight. I gave up the send pawn thinking I was getting counter play. Nope. I forgot his f3 knight was covering the square where I wanted to stick my queen and annoy him.
dario-polly071608.pgn
We were the last game going on so everyone was watching. When he played 47. Bh3 I could not see beyond the fact that I had to abandon the queening square. I was sure within a move or two I'd be fored to give up the exchange to stop his pawn from queening. When I resigned at that point all the kibitzers were quick to point out things I could have done. Before I could even record the result they were moving the pieces around the board. There was a little life left in the position for me, but I think at that point I was too tired and stressed to work it out. Here are a few possibilities that I looked at today.
47...Ra7 48. f8/Q Rxf8 49. Rxf8 Rxh7 (this was what I didn't see for me if promotes right away.) 50. Rb8+ Kc6 51. Bg5 Ba5 I still have to contend with the h pawn, but it's not an easy win for white.
47...Ra7 48. Bc1 Rcc8 49. Rg1 Bf8 50. h4 Ra2+ 51. Kd3! (51. Kd1?? is bad for white. Rh2 52. Rh8 c2+ 53. Ke1 Bb4+ 54. Kf1 Rxh8) 51...Rh2 52. Rh8 Rf2. Still an uphill battle for me, but not hopeless quite yet.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
I Learned My Lesson, RE:Jet Lag
Last summer I had returned from Susan Polgar's Budapest Chess and Culture tour on a Sunday and attempted to play chess on Monday. It was not a pretty picture as I went 0-3. The last round game came to an abrupt and ugly conclusion. It was the battle of the zeros between Silvio and I. We had reached this position after 30 moves.
Silvio played 31. e5? Black to move and lose. 31...Re8?? (31...Qxe5+ gives black a second pawn with check and a very strong position.) 32. Bd5+ Kh8 33. Qxg3 1-0. Unlike the two earlier games in that tournament I had no clock issues. I had almost 10 minutes left when I played Re8. Silvio's comment after the game was priceless. He said "We're the Two Dwarfs. Sleepy and Dopey." I couldn't have said it better.
Having learned from last year's fiasco I resisted the urge to go to Marshall over the weekend and instead waited three days before attempting any serious chess after a long trip involving many time zones. I thought after a few weeks with no tournaments at the club that we'd get a decent turnout. No such luck. We ended out with a single quad of the regulars Silvio, Ben and myself, and a rare appearance on a Monday night of King Kong.
I wasn't playing horrible chess, but my play was sluggish and in the first round I got into absurd time pressure against Silvio. At the point that we stopped keeping track of the moves he had around four and half minutes and I had four seconds. At one point he could have repeated the position which I was perfectly willing to accept, but he chose not to. I guess he figured the time advantage would be enough. Given my history with him with little time left on the clock, he should have known better.
Even though the forcing the queen trade allows him to double my extra pawns I thought it was my best shot at winning. We reached this position.
pw-sr ending 071408.pgn
Click plus sign to view position.
I messed up big time with the pawn push on f5. Kevin was quick to point out at the end that a4 holds for black. I should play a4 first, then I have the tempo I need to force him away from the queening square. Fortunately me for me my opponent missed a4 also. With 3 seconds left on my clock I got the mate.
It seemed as though I was in a lot of trouble, being down a pawn and his having connected passed pawns on the queen side. Also he had around two minutes versus my 50 seconds. Somehow in the midst of the ensuing time scramble we reached this position, allowing me to win his bishop.
Special thanks and credit goes to Liquid Egg Product for his fine artwork above. I had the idea, and he had the necessary skills to put it together for me. Thanks Donnie!
One one post I made about previous encounters with King Kong one person made the following comment: "Polly, unless there's a pattern to the chess in your games against King Kong, don't worry about "How to beat him?" Just play chess. Also, against youths, I've personally found that the more boring the game the more likely they are to lose interest and transition into bad (often positionally lost) situations.So, just play boring chess! Signed,Just another 1700 player".
After two hair raising close calls I was ready for some quiet and boring chess. But the above poster's stratagy doesn't work with kids who have increased their rating over 200 points in a year's period. To make that type of steady improvement they don't do it on tactics alone. They also have learned to play solid positional chess. There are no spectacular fireworks in this game. It's just solid play with a more active knight versus a jet lagged bishop.
polly-kevin071408.pgn
Click plus sign to view game.
Chalk up another one for King Kong.
Silvio played 31. e5? Black to move and lose. 31...Re8?? (31...Qxe5+ gives black a second pawn with check and a very strong position.) 32. Bd5+ Kh8 33. Qxg3 1-0. Unlike the two earlier games in that tournament I had no clock issues. I had almost 10 minutes left when I played Re8. Silvio's comment after the game was priceless. He said "We're the Two Dwarfs. Sleepy and Dopey." I couldn't have said it better.
Having learned from last year's fiasco I resisted the urge to go to Marshall over the weekend and instead waited three days before attempting any serious chess after a long trip involving many time zones. I thought after a few weeks with no tournaments at the club that we'd get a decent turnout. No such luck. We ended out with a single quad of the regulars Silvio, Ben and myself, and a rare appearance on a Monday night of King Kong.
I wasn't playing horrible chess, but my play was sluggish and in the first round I got into absurd time pressure against Silvio. At the point that we stopped keeping track of the moves he had around four and half minutes and I had four seconds. At one point he could have repeated the position which I was perfectly willing to accept, but he chose not to. I guess he figured the time advantage would be enough. Given my history with him with little time left on the clock, he should have known better.
Even though the forcing the queen trade allows him to double my extra pawns I thought it was my best shot at winning. We reached this position.
pw-sr ending 071408.pgn
Click plus sign to view position.
I messed up big time with the pawn push on f5. Kevin was quick to point out at the end that a4 holds for black. I should play a4 first, then I have the tempo I need to force him away from the queening square. Fortunately me for me my opponent missed a4 also. With 3 seconds left on my clock I got the mate.
That game had taken a lot out of me both mentally and physically. My stomach was twisted in knots my breathing was similar to what happens when I'm having a panic attack. The physical sensations were similar to those I experienced the night of my "adult's worst nightmare" tournament. I'm not sure why I was having such physical reactions. I've had plenty of games that have finished with wild time scrambles before. It wasn't like I was going to go 0-3 in this tournament against a bunch of kids. I'd already won a game, and next up was a kid who I have 5 wins and a draw against. If Kevin is my King Kong, I may be Ben's Godzilla. Somehow I keep finding ways to win against him in positions he should at least have drawn if not won.
Last night's game was no different then our previous encounters. It usually starts with him falling way behind on the clock, and then me catching up later on. This was probably his best game against me, and I thought that this was going to be the time that he finally got this monkey off his back. It didn't help that at one point I had forgotten to press my clock. We had been rattling off a series of moves, and suddenly he goes into a deep think. I'm staring at the board trying to figure out what he's thinking about, then I glance at the clock and notice my time is running. Did he make a move, and I didn't notice? Nope. I simply had forgotten to press the clock. He was trying to catch a breather on my time.
At the point that we stopped keeping score the position looked like this.
It seemed as though I was in a lot of trouble, being down a pawn and his having connected passed pawns on the queen side. Also he had around two minutes versus my 50 seconds. Somehow in the midst of the ensuing time scramble we reached this position, allowing me to win his bishop. I did give the knight back several moves later to eliminate one of his pawns and then converted my king side majority for the win with 18 seconds to spare.
So after two crazy time pressure packed wins it came down to Polly VS King Kong XIV for all the marbles. The walloping $35 prize fund.
Special thanks and credit goes to Liquid Egg Product for his fine artwork above. I had the idea, and he had the necessary skills to put it together for me. Thanks Donnie!
One one post I made about previous encounters with King Kong one person made the following comment: "Polly, unless there's a pattern to the chess in your games against King Kong, don't worry about "How to beat him?" Just play chess. Also, against youths, I've personally found that the more boring the game the more likely they are to lose interest and transition into bad (often positionally lost) situations.So, just play boring chess! Signed,Just another 1700 player".
After two hair raising close calls I was ready for some quiet and boring chess. But the above poster's stratagy doesn't work with kids who have increased their rating over 200 points in a year's period. To make that type of steady improvement they don't do it on tactics alone. They also have learned to play solid positional chess. There are no spectacular fireworks in this game. It's just solid play with a more active knight versus a jet lagged bishop.
polly-kevin071408.pgn
Click plus sign to view game.
Chalk up another one for King Kong.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Shameless Plug Time!!!
Last year I put up a post with a picture of me wearing a lot less then I would during a chess tournament. Don't get excited. No bikini shot. Sorry guys I was walking a marathon. The picture was in response to Edwin's and DK's sexy babe pics. Here is another picture from that same race.
At the time I was not looking for donations because my fundraising was done for the year. It's a new year, and once again I will spending the third weekend in October in San Francisco doing the Nike Women's Marathon on behalf of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
In response to last year's post, I received the following comment:
Glenn Wilson said...
Next year maybe I'll make a shameless plug.
Please do (and now you'll be able to say that it is by request!).
So at Glenn's request here is my shameless plug for a wonderful cause that I've been involved with since 2003.
http://pages.teamintraining.org/wch/nikesf08/pwrighton4
Thanks!
At the time I was not looking for donations because my fundraising was done for the year. It's a new year, and once again I will spending the third weekend in October in San Francisco doing the Nike Women's Marathon on behalf of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
In response to last year's post, I received the following comment:
Glenn Wilson said...
Next year maybe I'll make a shameless plug.
Please do (and now you'll be able to say that it is by request!).
So at Glenn's request here is my shameless plug for a wonderful cause that I've been involved with since 2003.
http://pages.teamintraining.org/wch/nikesf08/pwrighton4
Thanks!
Friday, July 11, 2008
She's Back!!
It's around 10:30 pm in New York, but despite very little sleep my body thinks it's 11:30 am tomorrow. I just got back from Korea. It was an amazing trip. I saw some totally awesome things.
View from the near the top of Seonunsan Provincial Park. Yes that is Buddha carved into the pocks.
My guess is Smokey the Bear's Korean counterpart.
What better place for a lotus pose in front of a lotus patch. I know I'm cheating because my legs aren't on top. Sorry I'm not that flexible.
I only had internet access in Seoul so no time to blog or check other people's blogs. I did not get a chance to go to the chess club in Seoul. Even though I was in the city on the night it met, our group had received tickets to see Nanta. I did not want to miss our dinner and show.
I brought a chess set with me, but no one in our group seemed to play. I was reduced to playing the pathetic program that's part of the in flight entertainment system. I had lots of choices in terms of movies, music, and games. I decided I give the chess program a try. Even on "hard" it was pretty pathetic. The first game I won in around 15 moves. I couldn't remember all of the moves, so I played again. The program put up a little more of a fight, but I still crushed it despite having been on the plane for over 6 hours with another 6 hours to go. I was going to put it up as a Wacky Wednesday" post, but was too tired to put into Chess Base at the time.
airplane-pw070108.pgn
Those are just a few pictures from the trip. I've a gazillian pivs and will post more, and talk about the trip. However I just wanted eveone to know I survived. I just don't want to see boiled white rice and kimchi any time too soon.
I'm fading! Over and out........ZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz........
View from the near the top of Seonunsan Provincial Park. Yes that is Buddha carved into the pocks.
My guess is Smokey the Bear's Korean counterpart.
What better place for a lotus pose in front of a lotus patch. I know I'm cheating because my legs aren't on top. Sorry I'm not that flexible.I only had internet access in Seoul so no time to blog or check other people's blogs. I did not get a chance to go to the chess club in Seoul. Even though I was in the city on the night it met, our group had received tickets to see Nanta. I did not want to miss our dinner and show.
I brought a chess set with me, but no one in our group seemed to play. I was reduced to playing the pathetic program that's part of the in flight entertainment system. I had lots of choices in terms of movies, music, and games. I decided I give the chess program a try. Even on "hard" it was pretty pathetic. The first game I won in around 15 moves. I couldn't remember all of the moves, so I played again. The program put up a little more of a fight, but I still crushed it despite having been on the plane for over 6 hours with another 6 hours to go. I was going to put it up as a Wacky Wednesday" post, but was too tired to put into Chess Base at the time.
airplane-pw070108.pgn
Those are just a few pictures from the trip. I've a gazillian pivs and will post more, and talk about the trip. However I just wanted eveone to know I survived. I just don't want to see boiled white rice and kimchi any time too soon.
I'm fading! Over and out........ZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz........
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