Not a Book Review and Blunder Castling.

Not a Book Review and Blunder Castling.

The Planet Greenpawn

Not a Book Review and Blunder Castling.


no title

Happy Halloween

Recently I picked up these two books...

no title

no title

...along with a load of others all for £2.00 to £3.00 each.
(never pass a charity shop you never know what they have.)

I’ve been spending most of my time going through ‘Swindles’
by Dave Smerdon and this is the first time I’ve opened them.

‘The Art of the Sacrifice’ is not just a descriptive to algebraic
rebrand. In the original version Spielmann requested that
others follows him in updating sacrificial terminology and
giving further examples. Karsten Muller has added extra
chapters with examples from Tal, Shirov and Kasparov...

no title

Kirsten does not appear to have butchered it or cocked it up like they
did with the first reprint of Fischer 60. However that just is a first
impression, I’ve only just skimmed through it.. More next blog.

I’ll start with the Neil McDonald book on Rudolf Spielmann
One passage by McDonald regarding tactics is interesting.

no title

Which means if you are not gifted in tactical affairs of the chessboard do
not despair when stepping nervously into your opponents half of the board.
Tactical skill can be learned through experience and a bit of hard work.
The ‘feel is knowing when something is on. Very hard to teach if the
student is not prepared to put some work in but very rewarding if they do.
You gain experience by playing and studying tactical games from books.

I could add online play but I can only say what did it for me. Sometimes I
think online players can occasionally get too annoyed for anything to sink in.

no title

McDonald also states you have no idea when a tactic will appear so you
have to become proficient at spotting them when they appear and also,
and this is the hard bit, not allowing a tactical blow to hit you (Guilty!)

no title

We must not knock ourselves out for the blunders we do here. We play
dozens of games at once. Sometimes we are ‘not in the zone’ and may be
rushing . When we play Over The Board the conditions are very different.
You are only playing one game and it is ‘hopefully’ getting your full attention.

McDonald shows an example of a good player drifting in a quiet position.

E. Bogoljubow - R. Spielmann Semmering 1932

That was a simple example but let us look at an RHP moment in time.

Ghost of a Duke - Mark Jones RHP 2021

If White had been a bit more aware (awake) they could have set Black an ‘I’ll allow that trap.’

Ghost of a Duke - Mark Jones RHP 2021 (part II)

Going back to the original position where Bogoljubow blunder castled in 1932.
It appears he forgot about blunder castling 13 years earlier and again v Spielmann.

R. Spielmann - E. Bogoljubow, Stockholm 1919


Black played 11...0-0 and White replied?
Reveal Hidden Content
12. Qe4 threatening checkmate and Qxa4


Castling into it a storm is not an uncommon trait on Red Hot Pawn.
Out of curiosity I did an RHP database search for anyone who
castled directly into a mate in one. I searched for both colours.

Guess how many I found? (answer below) here are the first and the latest.

Shirov - Lawnguy RHP 2003

White played 9.0-0

madmickey2 - Dcornell RHP 2022


White has just played 12. 0-0

Number of times a player castled into mate in one.
Reveal Hidden Content
432


Then, again, out of curiosity, I looked at Queenside castling into mate in one.
This time the number was 102. I’ll show one example, the player’s name is apt.

Suicidal Move Maker - Nicholas Wilson RHP 2022


White only expecting 12...Qa1+ played 12.0-0-0.

Easily done when skipping though games. I’ve not done it yet but I’ve just tempted fate.

no title

..er...I’ve run of room. I’m enjoying the book so far. It’s good. (more next time)
green pawns

no title

This puzzle is Black to play and White to win.

The Black Queen gets dizzy going around the board try for a perpetual.
It begins to look like Black succeeds but look out for White’s 11th move.

Next blog will more on the Spielmann books. Spielmann reminded of something,
an opening idea from years ago v the Berlin Wall. I know I have one good game
with it and will search about for another. I will reveal all in the next blog

The thread accompanying this blog is Thread 195261

Posted to The Planet Greenpawn

Show Comments (0)
Comments (0)

    Last Post
    23 Mar '24
    Posts
    467
    Blog since
    06 Jul '10

Cookies help us deliver our Services. By using our Services or clicking I agree, you agree to our use of cookies. Learn More.I Agree