Update and small endgame lesson

I have been busy lately. I am preparing a week long chess camp for this summer (3 hours per day for 5 days). I have been thinking about this topic for over a year and gathering notes, but organizing the topic and creating the materials is acting like a full time job. I expect to be done by the end of May.

Tactics, Tactics, Tactics is the working title.

I am also working out lesson plans for the Kings Indian Attack. The idea is to present the material needed for a beginning tournament player to use the opening. I hope both more basic explanation than a Starting Out book, but also broader. Several of the local scholastic players have been using a Barcza setup for white, and I thought  at least a pamphlet on the KIA would be a good idea.

Endgame lesson materials derived from Nunn's Understanding Chess Endgames

Why the Sicilian is so Popular

because of the chance of being in a game like this

Exhaustion

I went up to Minneapolis for the High School Nationals to accompany my son. I spent the weekend at a table in the skittles room analyzing games for the Rochester players.

I am exhausted and tired of chess.

I think this will pass shortly.

Also, I hope to get my voice back soon.

Anyway, Anand v Gelfand world championship match games start on May 11.

Hey, I just thought of a way to structure lessons on how to use the King's Indian Attack.

Maybe, I am recovering already.

Book Review: From the MIDDLEGAME into the ENDGAME

I really liked Edmar Mednis's From the MIDDLEGAME int the ENDGAME (capitalization as on the cover). The title actually describes pretty well what this book is about; how to decide to transition from the middlegame into the endgame. (Unlike Shereshevsky and Slutsky's out of print Mastering the Endgame which is mostly about queenless middlegames).

A game of chess begins in the opening, where the main concerns are controlling the center, developing ones pieces and tucking one's king away in a safe hiding place. The opening gives way to the middle game, where one focuses on controlling space, better activation of one's pieces, attacking the opponents weaknesses, defending one's own weaknesses and keeping one's king safe. If both sides manage to keep their kings safe, eventually material is reduced enough that the king may come out of hiding and begin to take an active role in the contest.

Because the queen is such a dangerous piece, trading queens is often the point of transition from middlegame into the endgame. The important part of the book, which covers how to decide to enter an endgame or not, is mostly  but not entirely concerned with the trade of queens.

To make this decision, it is important first to understand what kind of ending one is transitioning into. The first three parts of the book are dedicated to defining, evaluating and playing endgames. This prerequisite coverage is  makes up a little more than half the book. I would have wished that Mednis would have pointed to other books for this coverage and provided more examples on the main topic. It was informative, and I need to know more about endings, but there are lots of books on endings.

The key lessons of the book are easily stated, but not easily implemented. The examples illustrate the points well, but I wish there were more. Each example starts with a key position where a player has a choice between remaining in the middlegame or moving to an endgame. Mednis explains each position and the choice facing the player. He then discusses the right and wrong choices. The rest of the game is then given with sparse comments.

All of the lessons are extensions of the simple rule: "Make things difficult for your opponent". My take aways from reading the book.

1. Go into the endgame if it is a clear and simple win
2. Stay in the middlegame if the endgame is a clear loss
3. Go into an endgame to avoid a middle game loss(defensive trades)
4. Reduce your opponents ability for counterplay if you hold the advantage
5. Increase complexity if your opponent holds the advantage
6. If your advantage is temporary, use it or lose it

Personally, I need a lot of work evaluating endgames.

Vulnerability and the Kingside Fianchetto

Last weekend was the MN High School championship tournament. I hung out in the Rochester room and went over a lot of games with the players.

In several games, players had lost because of lack of knowledge of fianchetto mating patterns, so I went over a few with each.

Today (Monday, April 2, 2012), the www.chessgames.com puzzle fits into some of what I was showing the students. White to move and win:



A fianchetto with a bishop in place can be more robust than a flat 3 pawns plus a knight, but not always. One advantage for the fianchetto is less vulnerability to a back rank mate with its built in ability to block the check with the bishop and the luft created if the bishop departs. But back rank issues do arise.

If we fiddle with the Polgar-Angelova game a bit we can create a position where still having the bishop does not help.



Bad things can happen even if your opponent no longer has a bishop to exploit the holes.



There are some patterns to learn to avoid if you like kingside fianchetto's like I do.

MN Closed 3rd round Game

After the disaster of my impromptu Nimzovitch defense in the first round and a pretty tame for a Pirc draw in the second round, I sat down to my first game as white. My opponent was an up and coming young man, and I was expecting an interesting contest.

I am trying an new pgn replayer. I required that I break the game up into three parts.



At this point things are resolving quickly, but I did not find the best lines.


The endgame is interesting, and I need to work on improving in this area..



Here is the PGN text:

[Event "MN Closed 2012"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2012.03.17"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Newshutz"]
[Black "Zagar"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E08"]
[PlyCount "132"]

{E08: Closed Catalan: Main Line: 7 Qc2} 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. g3 Be7
5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Qc2 c5 {Kids today with their crazy new fangled
Tarrasch lines. This is off the main lines of my new openings. It shows up in
a side line.} 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Nc3 {black's knight may be misplaced on d7.} cxd4
$6 $146 (9... Nb6 10. Bg5 cxd4 11. Nxd4 $14) 10. Nxd4 Nb6 11. Rd1 {I probably
should have taken the time now for 11.b3 and 12 Bb2 to help hold the blockade
on d4. I find the rook gets akward on d1.} Bg4 12. Bf4 Rc8 13. Qb3 {The
pressure on the isolated pawn grows} Rc4 14. Rac1 (14. h3 Bc8 $14) 14... Bc5
15. Be3 Re8 16. Ncb5 (16. a3 h5 $11) 16... a6 (16... Bd7 17. Nc3 $15 (17. Nxa7
$4 Ba4 18. Qd3 Bxd1 19. Rxd1 Na4 $19)) 17. Na3 $11 Rb4 18. Qc2 {I may lose the
e2 pawn, but pick up the exchange.} (18. Qd3 Bf8 19. Nb3 Bh5 $11) 18... Bxd4 (
18... Na4 19. b3 Rxd4 20. Bxd4 Rxe2 21. Qb1 Bxa3 22. bxa4 Bxc1 23. Rxc1 $11)
19. Bxd4 (19. Rxd4 Rxd4 20. Bxd4 Rxe2 21. Qb3 $14) 19... Bxe2 (19... Rxe2 $5
20. Qc5 Rexb2 21. Bxb2 Rxb2 $11) 20. Rd2 (20. Qc5 {I remember analyzing Qc5 on
an earlier move. I did not look at it here. I need to be more sensitive to
counter attack.} Rxd4 (20... Bxd1 $4 21. Qxb4 Bh5 22. Bxb6 $18) 21. Rxd4 Nfd7
$18) 20... Bg4 {I spent 12 minutes on this move, and did not find the best one.
} 21. b3 (21. Qc5 $142 {traps the rook directly} Rxd4 22. Qxd4 $16) 21... Ne4
$4 (21... Nc8 $142 $14) 22. Bxe4 $18 Rxe4 23. Qc3 (23. Bxb6 $142 {I missed a
lot of tactical shots here. I was moving too quickly having spent a great deal
of time on move 21. This was a critical time of the game, and I could have
used more time.} Qe8 24. Be3 $18) 23... Rbxd4 $16 24. Rxd4 Rxd4 25. Qxd4 Be6
26. Nc2 (26. Qc5 Nd7 27. Qc8 Qf8 $18) 26... Nc8 (26... h6 27. Nb4 $18) 27. Qe5
Qd6 (27... Ne7 28. Nd4 Bh3 29. Qc7 $18) 28. Qc3 {I did not want to trade
queens, until I was assured of a superior endgame} ({but Houdini likes the
trade} 28. Qxd6 $142 Nxd6 29. Nb4 $18) 28... Qd7 $2 (28... h6 29. Nb4 $18) 29.
Rd1 {The rook comes back to the c-file later. Perhaps, it should never have
left.} (29. Nd4 $142 Bg4 30. f3 $18) 29... Nd6 30. f3 {taking e4 away from
black's knight. I intend to place my rook on d2 to cover my king} h6 31. Nd4
Nb5 32. Nxb5 Qxb5 33. Kf2 Qb6+ 34. Qe3 {I am ok with a queen trade here,
because I will be assured of the blockade of the d-pawn, and I should have no
trouble getting my pawns out of the way of his bishop.} Qa5 35. Rd2 b5 36. Qd3
Qb6+ 37. Qd4 Qxd4+ (37... Qc7 $142 $5 $16) 38. Rxd4 $18 {I have what I want
from my new openings. An advantage in an endgame. I need to learn to win these,
and games like this should force me to.} Kf8 39. Ke3 Ke7 40. Rd1 {going to the
c-file} Kd6 41. Rc1 f6 {black's King cannot go to e5 because my rook will
penetrate} 42. b4 Bd7 43. a3 g6 44. h4 g5 $4 (44... Bc6 $142 $18) 45. hxg5 hxg5
46. g4 $6 {this may be a mistake. I am thinking my light square pawns may
restrain his bishop, and my rook may penetrate on the h-file. I should also
like pawn trades (to a point). Each pawn gone is another open line for my rook.
} ({Houdini agrees and thinks it's time to take the blockade and keep black
restrained with his own pawn.} 46. Kd4 $142 g4 47. fxg4 Bxg4 $18 48. Re1 Bh5
49. Rh1 Bg4 50. Rh8 {and my rook penetrates and black's a-pawn will fall.})
46... Ke5 {Now he gets counterplay. The book I am working on now (Mednis: From
the Middlegame into the Endgame) says I should never allow my opponent
counterplay in an endgame.} 47. Rc7 Be6 48. Ra7 (48. Rc6 Bf7 $18) 48... d4+ 49.
Kf2 d3 (49... f5 50. gxf5 Bc8 51. Re7+ Kxf5 52. Re4 $18) 50. Ke3 Bd5 51. Rxa6
d2 52. Kxd2 Bxf3 53. Rb6 Bxg4 54. Rxb5+ Kd4 55. Rc5 Bd7 56. Ke2 g4 57. Kf2 f5
58. Kg3 $4 {definitely a mistake. I should stand back and make his pawns come
to my king, and my rook needs checking distance. I had plenty of time. I
should have taken it, even though I was tired.} (58. Rc7 Ba4 (58... Be8 59. Kg3
) 59. Kg3 Ke4 60. Re7+ Kd5 61. Kf4 Kd6 62. Re5 Kc7 63. Rxf5 Kb6 64. Rg5 Bb3 65.
Kxg4) 58... Ke4 59. Kf2 (59. b5 f4+ 60. Kh4) 59... f4 60. b5 g3+ 61. Kg1 ({
last chance to win} 61. Kg2) 61... f3 62. Rh5 Ke3 {Black prepares f2} 63. a4 $2
{The clinching blunder, I am lost now} ({My last chance to draw was} 63. Re5+
Kf4 (63... Kd4 64. Rh5 f2+ 65. Kg2 Bc8 66. Rh4+ Ke5 67. Rh7 Be6 68. Rh4 Bd5+
69. Kf1 Be4 70. Rxe4+ Kxe4 71. Ke2 (71. Kg2 Ke3) 71... Kd5 72. a4 Kc5 73. Kf1
Kb6 $11) 64. Rh5 $11) 63... Bg4 64. Re5+ Kf4 65. Re7 f2+ 66. Kg2 (66. Kf1 {
lasts longer, but I am still dead}) 66... Bh3+ 0-1

MN Closed Championship results

My last round game was a quick draw, so I took the opportunity to drive home in the daylight. I got the final results from the USCF website. All sections had clear winners. Sean Nagel is the 2012 MN state champion. Dane Bruno Zagar won the amateur section. Seth Kaplan-Turner won the reserve.

My play was mixed. Besides the early perpetual in the fifth round, I feel I only played well in one game(my second round draw). I had a winning endgame against Zagar and blew it.  My only win came as a result of a blunder by my opponent.

The most striking thing was in the first game after my opponent played 1.e4, I reached for and touched my b8 knight. Aaack! I have never played the Nimzowitch defense in my life, and here I am commited to it! I messed up the opening, no surprise, and had to sac a piece to save my queen. I managed to snag three pawns for it, but was not able to consolidate and lost my extra pawns, one by one.