50th RHP Blog + A Day in the Museum + Unusual Openings
by greenpawn34 on Jul 18 2011 13:19 | 12970 views | 1 edit | Last edit on Jul 18 2011 13:33
This is my 50th. Red Hot Pawn Blog.
Thought I’d celebrate by showing a game of mine I played last summer
on a giant chessboard the Edinburgh Museum had put up for the punters to play on.
As I live just around the corner from the Museum I spent quite a bit of
time there on my days off playing all comers.
Most games were slaughters but now and then I bumped into someone
who knew the basics or had a bit of chess in their locker.
These guys I beat because I was familiar to the giant set and they often
had an impatient spouse or child tugging at their sleeve. Consequently they
would leave a piece or their King hanging.
This following game was one of the best and has a humorous link which
I can safely say did not occur to me until a hour or so later when I was
scribbling the game down in my note book. I go one better than Tarrasch!
But first this.
So I’m ambling along Princes Street looking all cool and trendy when suddenly I see…
You cannot see the prices at the bottom of the dummy in the window but believe me
adding up the dummies hat, shirt, trousers and shoes it came to £114.
Me and my Oxfam outfit..
Hat £2.00 Jacket £4.00, t-shirt 50p, Jeans £3.00, Shoes (new) £4.00. = £13.50
Under £100 difference.
Proof you cannot buy charisma. You either have it or you do not.
(By the way I'm the dummy wearing the glasses.)
A Day at the Museum
First you should have a copy of this…
And if you don’t then your chess library is missing one of the best ever
books written on Chess. The current No1 player, Skeeter, actually has a
rare signed copy.
So you go to Game 15. Tarrasch v von Scheve, Leipzig 1894.
and on the last note to the final position…
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nc3 e6 5. g4 Bg6 6. Nge2 c5 7. h4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bc5 9. h5 {Now I was expecting him to play 9...Bxc2 thinking 10.Qxc2 Bxd4 wins a pawn. Of course if 9....Bxc2? 10.Nxc2.} 9... Bxd4 10. Qxd4 Bxc2 11. Nb5 {Now he is worried about me playing Qc5 hitting the c2 Bishop and the c7 square. 11...Nc6 is his best move here. Instead...} 11... h6 {He makes a hole for the Bishop. He stayed away from 11...Be4 due to 12.Nd6+} 12. Qc5 Bh7 13. Nd6+ {This is me alright. I'm so predictable, I'm not giving up that Knight for that Rook on a8. 13.Nc7+ is safe, good and winning.} 13... Kd7 {It appears he thought going to f8 was fatal due to the discovered check. It's not as he can play Qe7, a move I only saw when waiting for him to move. Now of course I refuse the h8 Rook with 14.Nxf7 and instead have a new idea!} 14. Nb5 {Actually a miserable move and if had not been looking at the position standing on d3 (remember this was played on a giant set) I would no doubt have played 14.Bb5+. And that folks is one of the best excuses I’ve ever heard for not playing the best move. “I was standing on d3”.} 14... Be4 {This Rook fixation sets up a brilliant (and instructive) finish. I'm am about to pull off a corker all because I have refused both Rooks. Now the cool move.} 15. Bd2 {At last I'm playing proper chess. Stops any Qa5+'s vacates c1 for the Rook. Another ‘me’ move. I’ve lost count of the tricks that have been bust because I’ve over-looked a mid-combo check.} 15... Bxh1 {Played without a moments thought.} 16. Qd6+ Kc8 17. Rc1+ Nc6 18. Rxc6+ {I'm loving this, I refuse both of his Rooks and sac both of mine. Is there a word in the English Dictionary that supersedes Genius? } 18... bxc6 19. Qxc6+ Kb8 20. Bb4 {The hidden sneaky pete idea behind 13.Bd2!} 20... Ne7 {This appears to be as good as anything.} 21. Bd6+ Qxd6 {Only move.} 22. Qxd6+ Kb7 23. Qc7+ Ka6 {And now the move that was definitely not planned. I mate with my unmoved King’s Bishop. A Tarrasch finesse.} 24. Na3 {Knight anywhere is a discovered mate. It went to a3 with me stepping off the board announcing checkmate and taking a bow.}
I can link two recent threads, one about Unusual Openings and another
proclaiming 2.Qe2 as a good method of playing against the French.
This often transposes into a King’s Indian Attack however one move
the crew did not discuss was 2…e5(!). Now that’s unusual.
Black is arguing that the Queen is misplaced on e2 in an 1.e4 e5 opening.
Todays RHP argument is between ferreiraglenn - daromott RHP 2008.
1. e4 e6 2. Qe2 e5 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. e5 dxc3 {OOPS! Black losses the argument, here the Queen on e2 is good.} 7. exf6+ {CHECK! Black losses a piece on e7. 1-0}
I can show an amusing OTB game in this line.
White plays the Ruy Lopez with his Queen.
1. e4 e6 2. Qe2 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. Qb5 {The Queens Lopez.} 4... d6 5. Bc4 Bd7 6. Qb3 {French Defence players play 1...e6 so they won't have to face attacks on f7 from b3 and c4 this position is a French players nightmare.} 6... Qf6 7. O-O Na5 8. Qc3 Nxc4 9. Qxc4 O-O-O 10. Nc3 Qe6 11. Nd5 Bc6 12.d3 h6 13. Qb3 {Black now has a 'think'. He can see c4 coming so he sets about to undermine the d5 Knight's support and tries to open the f-file for his own attack. A good idea....} 13... f5 {...one slight drawback. The Black Queen is now undefended.} 14. Nb6+ {And The Black Queen is lost. 1-0.}
Of course there are plenty of examples of this blunder trick on RHP.
Here is just one with the key pieces ending up on the same squares as the above game.
rastokap - Marassma RHP 2009
We join the game with White in check.
FEN
7r/1kp1n1p1/p1p1q2p/4p2Q/PbN1P3/4B1P1/1P3P1P/2Rr2K1 w - - 0 1
[FEN "7r/1kp1n1p1/p1p1q2p/4p2Q/PbN1P3/4B1P1/1P3P1P/2Rr2K1 w - - 0 1"] 1. Qxd1 c5 2. Qb3 {With an x-ray attack on the undefended Black Queen. The threat is Na5+ winning the Queen.} 2... Kc8 {Black spots it and notes that Nb6+ will not work because Black can play Qxb6.} 3. a5 {So White recreates the threat by protecting b6 with a pawn.} 3... Nc6 {And Black duly forgets all about the threat. (Check all checks).} 4. Nb6+ {And Black resigned.}
Great book - I have worn through multiple copies of that and Larry Evans' "Modern Chess Brilliancies". Sad to say I only have the paperback editions :>( The Pillsbury vs. Gunsberg taught me how complex (and beautiful) endings can be. The above two books I think are classics.
Congrats on the 50th blog and I loved the giant chess game. I always enjoyed playing on giant chess sets as a kid, made me feel like some kind of leader with my comrades made of plastic (I didn't have many friends as a child).
do oxfam do refunds?