Plunging Back Into The Chess Waters

Vacation is officially over! I plunged right back into the multiple aspects of my chess life.



Wednesday and Thursday I played my first tournament games in over three weeks. Thursday I taught my first chess class of the new school year. Friday and Saturday I inputted entries for my first scholastic tournament of the new school year, and on Sunday I directed the tournament with 190 kids. Last night I had 16 players for our Monday night tournament that I ran with no computer or pairing cards! (That is harder then it looks, especially with 3 upsets in the first round!) I have one question: When is the next plane outta here? (November 28th, Destination Seattle.)

Some people find that a three week break from tournament chess leaves them refreshed and full of renewed energy when they return. I am not one of those people. Rust sets in. This game from Wednesday night proves it. My opponent in this game doesn't play very many tournaments, and he only plays at our club. Even though I out rate him by almost 600 points he always plays me tough. This was only our third game. Up to this point I had a win and a draw. John's biggest is problem is time management. He finds the right moves, but it takes him a long time. He's very cautious in his analysis, and wants to make sure it's right before committing to a move. I think if he could find things quicker, trust his instincts, and played more often his rating would be more like 1400-1500.

jm-pw11052008.pgn


I had gotten a big edge on the clock, but gave a big chunk of it back after I blundered. At the end I had a 10 minute edge, he had 8 minutes to my 18. I felt it was too much time to for him to blow it at this point. This game occurred before the one that I discussed in my cheap draw post, so I couldn't even take encouragement that all was not lost if I played on.

Based on the comments I got on that post, I'm sure most of you think I should have played this game out. If the 1/2 point was terribly important to me, perhaps I would have played it out and make him prove that he could win that ending. The 1/2 point didn't matter, and as far I was concerned he deserve to win. Thinking back on the evening I'm sure deep down inside I was punishing myself for my terrible play and felt I deserved to lose. The possibility of slithering away with a cheap draw would have taken away the loss I felt I deserved. I wasn't actually thinking that consciously when I resigned, but I'm sure the inner critic was. Perhaps my reaction to the cheap draw was based on the idea that the 1700 played terribly and also deserved to lose. Then again maybe I'm reading too much into all of this.

So it wasn't exactly how I wanted to return to the chess world, but things started looking up by Thursday. To be continued.....

Going for Cheap Draw Versus Being Gracious?

Note: Take this post for whatever it's worth. I've spent way too long trying to put words down without sounding "holier then thou". I give up, so if sounds that way I apologize. For whatever reason what I recently witnessed bugged the living daylights out of me. So here it goes.

Around this time last year I had several posts where I discussed resignations and the timing of them. There was my discussion with King Kong about why I resigned. Then less then a week later I had the game where my opponent refused my resignation. There was this position that my adult opponent made me play out last winter. Then there was the game where I've felt kind of bad because I didn't resign in an ending of rook and 3 pawns vs my lone rook. I ended out winning on time. Though in that post I did make the remark "One never wins a chess game by resigning."

One can not get a draw by resigning either. But is there a point where dignity become more important then trying to squeeze a draw or win out of a hopeless position? How does one define a hopeless position? Down by a queen or more? Lone king against mating material? Positions like that are pretty resignable. Though one will see Grandmasters resign against other Grandmasters down considerably less material then a queen. How can I forget the master who resigned against me after blundering his queen in the opening? Actions such as these demonstrate the respect the players have for their opponents' ability.

Then you have the positions that were resignable many moves ago, and now it's a forced mate in one. Once it's reached that stage it doesn't really matter if the player opts to resign or allows himself to be mated. Pick your poison! Though don't be a total knucklehead like White in the position below.



Black had just played 66...Qb3+. 67. Kd4 is White's only move. Did he play it? No. He wouldn't make a move. He figured he'd let his remaining 50 minutes run out. I really didn't want to sit there for 50 minutes, especially since my friends were waiting for me to go out for dinner. I complained to the tournament director, who chastised my opponent for his behavior and awarded me the win. The next day my college aged opponent did come up to me and apologized for acting like a jerk. He said he was pissed off about playing so poorly, but realized that was not an excuse to behave the way he did. Apology graciously accepted.

I don't have problems with kids playing out a hopeless position against their peers. There can be educational value in seeing a mating attack played out to its conclusion, even if one is on the receiving end of it. It's important for young and inexperienced players not to give up. They need to develop the hang in there attitude. As they become more mature and experienced they will have better understanding when it's appropriate to fight on, versus accepting defeat and moving on. It's the same sort of process they will deal with in life.

So what about about an adult player rated mid 1700s who plays out lone king versus queen, bishop and king against an older adult rated mid 1400s? The best he's going to get is a draw if the opponent runs out of time or stalemates him. The former was not likely since they were using a delay clock and the opponent had over 5 minutes when he promoted. What will a stalemate accomplish?

Is this game deciding first place in the World Open where holding a draw means $10,000 clear first? No. It's a 2nd round game in a small club tournament. There's no entry fee or prizes. The tournament provides members a chance to play rated chess under tournament conditions. Here are some interesting questions:

Does that type of money on the line make it acceptable to play on?

What would you do?

Eventually they reach the position below is with white having about 3 minutes left.



White initially reaches for the king, but pulls his hand back. 1. Kc3 will cause stalemate, and 1. Kb3 will lead to mate on the next move after 1...Kb1, 2. Qf1# Then he reaches for the queen. Any queen move along the b file except b2 or b3 will force mate after 1...Ka2, 2. Kc3+ Ka1, 3. Qb2#. Unfortunately White played Qb3, rewarding Black with the cheapo draw.

I'm sure there may be many out there that are thinking "See! Black was right to play on and go for that draw! White didn't deserve the full point for botching such an easy win." I respectfully disagree. When I see opponents play out such an absurd position I feel as though they're insulting the opponent. Essentially they're saying "I don't think you're good enough to finish me off. I'll take a cheap draw if I can get it."

Readers remember my Saratoga Open saga and quoting my Tae Kwon Do school's mantra. "Quitters never win. Winners never quit. I'm not a quitter. I'm a winner." So how does that fit into a timely graceful resignation? After all when one resigns that's quitting, and one loses. How is one a winner when he just lost a game of chess? In my opinion a properly timed resignation demonstrates respect to one's opponent. It's a simple way of saying "You have demonstrated your ability by reaching this point. There is no need to prove more to me. Good job!" Showing and receiving respect goes a long way in this game we call life.

I'll get off my soapbox now. Am I becoming a curmudgeon in my old age? I hope not.

f4!

Birds Opening! My last day in Hilton Head I went out and shot birds......with my camera.

Sunrise. The start of my last day of vacation. It doesn't look too much different then the sunset shot I took here. Though in this picture the sun is rising over the Atlantic.

"Don't even think about taking my fish! Go find your own."

Snowy Egrets. Sigh. I egret to say vacation is done.

If you wear your chess related attire in enough different places someone is bound to ask you one of the following questions:

Are you a chess master?

Do you know _________? (fill in the blank)

I was asked both questions by a gentleman I met on the beach Thursday afternoon. He saw the Marshall Chess Club cap. He asked me if I knew Bruce Pandolfini. It turns out he had been the principal at a school in Charlotte, NC where Pandolfini visited and did a simul for the kids. We had a good time discussing "Searching for Bobby Fischer" and the reality of the book versus the movie. He mentioned that he asked Bruce about the scene where Bruce swept the pieces off the board in a fit of rage. He had wondered if that really happened. Bruce said not exactly.

Foto fun with pieces. One of my lame attempts at being artsy.

The Pelican Variation? They weren't too thrilled with my presence. Pelican Variation Part II

Their take off is the damnest thing.

One has to wonder how they get off the ground.

Though once they get going, they can haul ass.

Creatures with smaller wing spans. Monarch butterflies on their way to New Mexico for the winter. I saw hundreds of these beauties both at the beach and inland.

Alas all good things come to an end. Sunset, and hopefully not a bad moon risin'.

Okay this is a chess blog, so I will end this post with some chess. Back to the chess club tonight. We had a small turnout of 5 players so we played a casual Game/10. No prizes, and no quick rating results submitted. It figures I'd go 4-0 on a night like this. The position below was an approximation of the finishing touches on my game with Guy.

As the little arrow indicates it's very clear what my next move is going to be. I reached this position by using my bishops to chase him around and then finally got utilize a killer check by taking advantage of the pinned g pawn. I'm usually the one who gets nailed by my g3 pawn getting whacked because of that bishop lurking on a7. This time I beat my opponent to the punch with 1. Qxh6+ Kg7 2. Qxg7#

So back to my normally scheduled programming. Back to some teaching, directing and playing. Next stop on my travels will be adding another state to my "States I've played a tournament in.", Redmond, WA for the Washington State Class Championships over Thanksgiving weekend. I decided it was time to cash in some frequent flier points before some absurd merger causes me to lose them all.

PS. If you're registered to vote, don't forget to do so.

Chess Study Can Be a Beach!

Greetings from Hilton Head, South Carolina. I've been having a nice time hanging out with my sisters and other family and friends. I will not be adding South Carolina to my "states I've played tournaments in" list on this trip. Maybe another time.

"No tournament down here is for the birds!"

This is the remnants of one position I was looking at from "The Seven Deadly Chess Sins" by Jonathan Rowson. This is what happens when you try to play over a game sitting on the beach on a windy afternoon. I have a small roll up board and it took off in gust of wind. Note: A little artistic license was taken by putting the white king in the clam shell. The rest of the pieces landed as is.

Since I've found Blue Devil Knight's summaries of Rowson's Chess For Zebras so interesting, I thought I'd look at Rowson's other book. I don't have the Zebra book. This first chapter is already giving me food for thought. The first chess sin is thinking. That's something I can relate to since I have a tendency to over think, or lock in on one thing without taking other parts of the position into consideration.

I did find this first position interesting. (Before the wind gust trashed the board)

Rozentalis-Appel
Bundesliga 1993/94

Rowson asks the reader to consider the position and the possibilities for White. Like most people I'm looking at trying to break through on the king side with perhaps a move like 25. Bh3 with the idea of g4. Instead the game continued 25. a4!? Qd7 26. Qd1 (Was the queen better on h5?)Rc8 27. a5 Rcf8 28. Qa1 Qe7 29. Qa3! (I would not have considered this move because of the doubled isolated pawns after Qxa3. However that's the point Rowson is making.) Qxa3 30. bxa3 (The pawns look weak, but Black can not attack them.) ...Rd8 31. Rb2 Rc7 32. Rb5 (d5 and b7 are vunerable points in Black's position, made possible by White's doubled a pawns.)....Rdd7 33. Kf2 g6 34. Ke3 Kg7 35. Rfb1 Kf7 36. Rc5 Ke7 37.Rbb5 Rxc5 38. dxc5! (Normal thought processes would have come up with Rxc5. However the pawn capture gives White's king a place to penatrate) ...Kd8 39. a6 Kc8 40. Rb6!! Bg8 (40... axb6 41. a7 bxc5 42.a8=Q+) 41. Rf6 Rd8 42. Kd4 bxa6 43. Rd6 1-0

Rowson asked Rozentalis about how he came up with this plan. Rozentalis explained the idea of using his strategic advantange to penetrate Black's position. He felt with the closed position he needed to open the queen side. Rowson's point is how easy it is to stuck on certain ideas. "If you began by looking for combinational breakthroughs on the kingside, you made it much more difficult for yourself to see the position as a whole. This type of problem, where our mind fixes on something and can't get past it, is very typical of the way we think. We are attracted to something and then it pulls us in like a magnet before we can think of anything else."

Guilty as charged! That has been one of my biggest problems in recent losses. I get stuck on one way of approaching a position, or fixated on what I think the issue is, and can't see beyond that line of thinking.


The position above is after White's 17th move in Smyslov - Reshevsky 1948. This is a fllow up game to the Rozentalis game in Chapter 1. I solved the flying chess board issue by drawing a board in the sand. I guess it's a little hard to tell if there are dark or light square weaknesses in the position.

Until my next post, see you later....

..... alligator!

Terrible Tuesday! The Photo Edition

Better late then never, but today I'm finally posting the totally bizarre game I played in the last round of Four Rated Games Tonight! It's worthy of Wacky Wednesday status, but given the psychological havoc of the game I decided it deserved its own designation, hence Terrible Tuesday. As an added bonus you get to see some of the fun animals I saw in California last week. If you don't want to look at the pictures scroll down. If you have better captions you can add them to the comments.

"ZZZZZZZZ Maybe I should have taken a bye for round four."

"I have a bone to pick with you."

" No, you will not be the next King Kong."

"Stop yapping to me about how lousy you played."

I can't even begin to understand what happened to me in round four that night. Starting out the evening 0-3 can be rough on the psyche, but I've managed to bounce back and win the last round before. It seemed like I should have been able to do it again. I had gotten paired down against a 1600 who was having an equally rough evening. It looked like his evening was going to get even rougher when he dropped a knight on move 11. That was until a little over confidence on my part combined with a serious brain fart starting on move 13. Maybe finger fart would be the correct term since I let go of the queen a little too quickly.

I had been considering 13. Qf3 and 13. Qe2. I had decided the knight on c3 was defended enough and that it was more important not to allow his rook to come to my second rank with 13...Rxb2. However when I picked up the queen I stopped at f3 instead of e2 and let go of her. That's not the losing move, but the psychological impact was tremendous. I started seeing things that weren't there, and not seeing what was there. I knew at any point he could play Bxc3+ and pick up the pawn on a2 with either the rook or the queen. The prospect of his picking up a second pawn and having two of his major pieces in my territory was causing me utter panic. Winning the second pawn doesn't help Black all that much, but I couldn't see that at the time.

I spent 6 minutes on my 14th move before deciding to break the pin with Kd1. I kept worrying about what would happen if I played Be2 and then castled. For some reason I was convinced I would lose the piece and the a2 pawn. I'm not going to lose the piece with correct play, but I couldn't look at the position objectively. Even after Kd1 I'm okay. I'm still not lost. It wasn't until I played Be2 a move later that the position went all to hell. Despite spending 4 minutes on that move, I totally missed Bg4, and all the problems that causes. Another 5 minutes was spent overlooking the mate in two after Rc2.

polly-craig100908.pgn


So what did I learn from this mess? STAY CALM! Take a deep breath after making a finger fehler move, even if it means leaving the board for a minute or two to compose myself. Trying to analyze a position when you're having a mental panic attack doesn't work. One has to get over the past and work with what is in the present position.

California Flower Power

Since LEP said he likes flower pictures, thought I'd post a few. The when I get back to cold New York I can look at these and pretend it's warm out.

Front Rose Seat

Even flowers need web access

Orchids

No frogs on these lily pads.

California Dreamin'

Greetings from San Diego! The weather has been totally awesome. I went to the San Diego Zoo on Wednesday. I took tons of pictures. The Internet here is kind of slow so each of the pictures I loaded for this post took forever! So I just a few up from the zoo. I won't bore you with my flower and cactus pictures from Balboa Park.

Finally I'm on the gorilla's back.

Zebras for chess?

Panda-monium?

"I can get that fish! No problem."

Surfin' anyone?

Today I'm going to check out the USS Midway, and then head up to San Francisco, via Los Angeles. I'm hoping I can get on the earlier flight out of LAX, otherwise I will have a long time to post more pictures, and perhaps get around to "Wacky Wednesday Deferred", AKA "Thursday Thud".

PS. I was well behaved, and didn't ditch my niece to go to the San Diego chess club that meets on Wednesday nights!