Post your tactical miniatures

Queen's gambit exchange variation.

Originally posted by schakuhr
Queen's gambit exchange variation.

Here's a similar game. A piece sacrifice with the idea of opening the rook file.

another two knights tango.

Originally posted by diskamyl
the best you could actually do in that game if black had taken the rook was a draw. when black stops the check with ...Bg5, Rh6+ isn't mate and you're down a lot of material. only possibility is to look for a perpetual, which by pure luck, exist. h4! is the move to prepare it. (with Rh5+ and Rg5+ etc.)

I'm really surprised how many people don't check out ...[text shortened]... an engine, which they should do for all their games, either they exhibit them or not.

Heh, well thanks for the corrections. And I actually don't check any of my games with engines... so anyway, I guess I'm lucky my opponent didn't see that! We were tight on time. But thats good to know for the next time a similar position arises.

Originally posted by schakuhr
another two knights tango.

[pgn][Event "August 2007 One-0 Split IV"]
[Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"]
[Date "2007.08.19"]
[EndDate "2007.08.25"]
[Round "1"]
[White "volunteers"]
[Black "schakuhr"]
[WhiteRating "1608"]
[BlackRating "1974"]
[WhiteELO "1608"]
[BlackELO "1974"]
[Result "0-1"]
[GameId "3936243"]

1. d4 Ng8f6 2. c4 Nb8c6 3. Nb1 ...[text shortened]... Nf4h3 17. gxh3 Bg4xf3
18. Qd1d2 Qf6g6 19. Qd2g5 Qg6xg5 0-1

[/pgn]

After our game and this one I'll take lots of care with th h3 square on the two knights tango.

A Vienna gambit game of mine. It was my first try with this opening and after my opponent took the pawn my position just got better and better. I think he made some suspicious moves and most likely I made a couple myself but it was a fun game nonetheless.

Originally posted by ChessJester
And I actually don't check any of my games with engines...

I would strongly suggest you to do so. toga is a free and terrificly strong engine.

Originally posted by diskamyl
I would strongly suggest you to do so. toga is a free and terrificly strong engine.

I have no engine, how can I get one?

Originally posted by Thomaster
I have no engine, how can I get one?

You have lots of choices with free software. I use the Arena 1.1 GUI (graphical user interface) and various UCI engines, but there's also the Winboard GUI and Winboard engines, and then there's database programs like Scid or Chesspad that come with integral Winboard or UCI engines. Like diskamyl said, Toga is a nice UCI engine, and I often run it under the Arena GUI. The only problem I'm having with Toga is that everyone seems to be releasing their own versions, and now there are more Toga versions than I can keep track of. 🙂

Here's a few links to get you started:

http://www.playwitharena.com/
http://freechess.50webs.com/index.html
http://www.superchessengine.com/
http://wbec-ridderkerk.nl/index.html

Also, while almost any free engine is more than adequate for blunder checking my games, I have to admit that I'm intrigued by what I've heard about the new commercial Rybka 3.0 and its associated "Aquarium" GUI that's supposed to be released by Convekta later this year. I haven't bought any commercial chess programs in a few years, but I might be tempted with this one. The descriptions of the persistent hash feature and the deep interactive analysis feature are just way too cool. (Yeah, I know that I don't NEED those features, but they just appeal to the geek in me.)

Originally posted by Mad Rook
You have lots of choices with free software. I use the Arena 1.1 GUI (graphical user interface) and various UCI engines, but there's also the Winboard GUI and Winboard engines, and then there's database programs like Scid or Chesspad that come with integral Winboard or UCI engines. Like diskamyl said, Toga is a nice UCI engine, and I often run it under the ah, I know that I don't NEED those features, but they just appeal to the geek in me.)

finally! someone is inclined towards trying Rybka! now that makes me happy 🙂

believe me, you won't be dissapointed. and it's not about the special analysis features. the style of Rybka is so natural and logical, it's really like having a good GM friend going over your games. it's the single most positional engine ever.

Originally posted by diskamyl
finally! someone is inclined towards trying Rybka! now that makes me happy 🙂

believe me, you won't be dissapointed. and it's not about the special analysis features. the style of Rybka is so natural and logical, it's really like having a good GM friend going over your games. it's the single most positional engine ever.

Oh, one more thing I forgot to mention. While I really admire Vasik Rajlich's Rybka engine, scuttlebutt has it that all versions so far have used incorrect node and ply counts in an attempt to keep people from figuring out the secret of Rybka's strength. (He divided node counts by some arbitrary number and subtracted 2 from the ply counts, according to rumors.) I think the cat is out of the bag now regarding this attempted smoke screen, so I don't think there's really any reason for Vasik to not use accurate node and ply counts in Version 3.

Yeah, I know that these doctored node and ply counts don't change Rybka's performance, but just the idea that it's reporting bogus numbers rubs me the wrong way. Before I buy a copy of Version 3, I'll make sure that Vasik has corrected Rybka so that correct node and ply counts are reported.

Originally posted by zebano
[pgn]
[Event "SPS Summer Tournament"]
[Site "http://www.playtheimmortalgame.com"]
[Date "2008.06.24"]
[EndDate "2008.06.25"]
[Round "1"]
[White "zebano"]
[Black "Mahoutsoukai"]
[WhiteRating "1268"]
[BlackRating "1882"]
[WhiteELO "1268"]
[BlackELO "1882"]
[Result "1-0"]
[GameId "5144881"]

1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Nb1xc3 Nb8c6 5. Ng1f3 ...[text shortened]... Ne5xf7 O-O
17. Qe2xe6 Rf8xf7 18. Qe6xf7 Kg8h8 19. Nc3e2 1-0
[/pgn]

Well, the move 16 is really something 🙂

Originally posted by ivan2908
Well, the move 16 is really something 🙂

That was the plan when I played 13. e5. Either he plays Rc8 or he plays 0-0 when I get to do fun things like Rxb4. Kxf7 would have been suicide.

Full with errors probably but I like the final position.