The one beginner's book you absolutely MUST buy!

I had never heard of Jeff Coakley before reading teaching guru Elizabeth Vicary's blog.   Follow this link to get some of Coakley's wonderful free chess lesson plans (a software download is required).

If you are teaching advanced beginners (students above USCF 800) and you can afford 30 clams, you must stop what you are doing and buy Winning Chess Exercises For Kids right now!  (The linked site is Canadian: I bought the book on Amazon last month, but they seem to be out of inventory at the moment.)  Be forewarned that these problems are far too difficult for players below USCF 600, and be careful to order the right title (Coakley has authored several books with similar titles: another book, Winning Chess Puzzles for Kids, is a tactics primer for true beginners.)

 

In the introduction to Winning Chess Exercises for Kids, Coakley promises, "This is at least a year's worth of material," and he delivers!  There are 100 exercise sheets in the book: each sheet is a quiz with nine diagrams: three mates, three combinations to win material, and three "find the best move" problems that develop defensive, middlegame, and endgame skills.  At the bottom of the page, there's a question generally designed to make students think about the way the pieces work. (For example: "What is the most total squares that can be attacked by two rooks?")  Most adults would find the material challenging, but Coakley and illustrator Antoine Duff present the exercises in a kid-friendly format.  (Adults rated 1000 to 1600 may wish to work through the book for their own benefit before using it to teach!)

Over the next couple weeks, I'll post some sample problems from Winning Chess Exercises for Kids.  Here's one:

White to play and mate

National Chess Day at Rudy Lozano Library

Keith Ammann reports on the action at Hector Hernandez's stomping grounds on the ICA website.


Here's an interactive version of the game featured in the article, as annotated by Keith:

Learning to count

I'm getting ready for the scholastic season, and I'm on the lookout for tactics books for beginners.  One of the best I've seen is Dan Heisman's Back to Basics: Tactics (Kindle edition available here).

Heisman argues (quite convincingly, in my opinion) that before one teaches students about pins and forks and such, one first has to teach them not to leave pieces en prise (chess speak for "giving pieces away for free") and to take your opponent's pieces when she leaves them en prise.

Sometimes the answer is rather easy:

White to play

Other things equal, the rook on g3 should eat the pawn on d3: a free pawn is a good thing!

Sometimes the answer is more complicated:

White to play

1.Raxd3 Qxd3 2.Rxd3 Rxd3 is approximately an equal exchange, so the correct answer is "It depends."  (Heisman provides the reader with a more sophisticated point-count system, still suitable for advanced beginners, that suggests that in the general case, the exchange is good for White.)

And sometimes the answer is surprisingly subtle:

White to play

Is the Black pawn safe?  (Three attackers, three defenders)

There are of course other pieces on the board.  To answer Heisman's question, just concentrate on these seven pieces; you may assume that when the missing pieces are taken into consideration, material is equal.

I'll have a few more examples from Heisman in the coming days....

Tactics, tactics, tactics...

Over the next week or two, we'll be featuring tactical exercises from books for beginners, advanced beginners, and intermediate players.

I've been reading Yakov Neistadt's Improve Your Chess Tactics (New in Chess, 2011) on the METRA for the past few weeks.     It's a great tactics refresher for the average tournament player.

Some of you will recognize the textbook combination in the following position immediately:

Glass-Russell, Belfast 1958

Black to play and win

This exercise (adapted from position #100 in Neistadt) has a similar theme (which is...?), but requires a bit more creativity:

adapted from Nette-Abente, Paraguay 1983

Black to play and win

Board 1: Gurevich ½ - Holt ½

IM Conrad Holt is ranked 36th in the nation.  He's 18 years old and still rapidly improving: I know a couple of GMs who don't look forward to playing him.  Maybe Dmitry had a little something from the unusual opening, but both players collaborated to play a creative and correct game.  After the e-pawn is traded for Black's a-pawn, neither player has any chances, so a draw was a natural result.

Blaze - Dallas, Board 4: Dean 1 - Xiang 0

By point count alone, Black has the advantage of two rooks vs. queen. But the two rooks need to be coordinated to be effective, and king safety is paramount in middlegames with opposite-color bishops are on the board.

31.f6!, shaking up His Majesty's hizzle, is very nice. Black could have defended with 31...Ra8! 32.Qg4 (threatening both mate on g7 and the c4 bishop) 32...g6! 33.Qxc4 Rxd2.

Manager Daniel Parmet has a very pleasant task each week filling the lower boards: Jim Dean, Eric Rosen, Sam Schmakel, Angelo Young....

Industrial League: UChicago / Citadel 6 - Tradelink 0

Trash-talking emanating from a certain Quadrangle duly noted.

Board 3: Kierwa 0 - Rosen 1

The best thing about tripled pawns is that there's three of them.  Newly-minted Senior Master Eric Rosen got very nice play against e5 out of the opening (a Frenchified anti-Sicilian), but FM Keaton Kierwa made the most of his tripleton and was at least equal in this very interesting middlegame.

But White slips, after which Eric exploits the dominated Nb1 and the f2 weakness.  (Why didn't Black play the immediate 35...Rxb1 winning a piece, you may ask?  There's a good reason.)

Blaze 3½ - Dallas Destiny ½

Today's text (equally relevant to Grandmasters and Class E players): "For what is a man profited if he shall gain a whole rook and lose his own king"?


Even though Josh Friedel got his opponent's king to walk all the way out to f4 in the middlegame, it was relatively safe because of the locked pawn center, and it was White who was pressing Black.  And this game could easily have gone the other way (the computer likes 45.h5!).   But White succumbed to temptation with 47.Qc8+, after which GM Friedel demonstrated the error of gross materialism.



 

"Maybe Teach Them Math, Science, and Chess"

Bonnie Trafelet for Chicago News Cooperative

I did not mention the Susan Polgar World Open for Boys and Girls, held October 7-10 in Oak Brook, because of pending litigation involving the U.S. Chess Federation that I really don't want to discuss here.

But this New York Times article (James Warren is, I assume, not Helen's husband, but the former editor of the Tempo section of the Chicago Tribune?) is too good to pass up.  Local teaching legend Shiva Maharaj is prominently featured.

This Sunday in DeKalb: Midwest Senior Open

Cut and pasted from the website.  (Hmm, I'm 53 years old....)

One Day Only - New VenueSunday, October 23, 2011 American National Bank of DeKalb CountyCommunity Room, 1985 DeKalb AvenueSycamore, IL

An exciting event for the Age 50-plus crowd:

• 3 rounds, Game/75 minutes

• Sections: Open & Reserve (Under 1600)

• Additional prizes for top scores in Under 1800 in 

• the Open Section and Under 1400 in Reserve Section

• Rated by the US Chess Federation 

 Playing Schedule:

• On-site registration: 9am - 9:20am

• Rounds: 9:30am, 12:50pm, 3:30pm (ending by 6pm)

 Money Stuff: 

• Modest $20 entry fee

• At least 70% of prize fund distributed as specified at site or available via advance request by electronic mail.

Amenities:

• For those wishing to arrive the night before, a $60/night hotel rate was arranged at the nearby NIU Student Center 
(private or shared room); theater tickets available to one of several excellent local performances

• Refrigerator and microwave available at tournament site

• Site is on "restaurant row" with numerous lunch options  

Further Details:

• With success of this preview event, it is hoped the Midwest Senior Open may grow into an annual multi-day, regional tournament -- your feedback is welcome

• Designed for comfort & convenience of mature players

• Reunite with old chess friends; make new ones!

• Completely handicap accessible

• Special assistance available upon request

• All equipment provided but you may bring your own

• Questions? 
e-mail SeniorOpen@DeKalbChess.com

Midwest Class: C, D, and E!

Our own Robert Gorodetsky and Angelo Fleming of Indiana drew with each other in the first round, then swept their remaining games to finish equal first with 4½-½ in Class C.  Ethan Brown and Souroush Kanideh, both of Illinois, tied with Michael Slosson of Indiana for third, all with 4-1.

Another local preteen, James Biondo (post-event rating 1566) and an adult who refused to be a victim, Talhah Chaudhry, split Class D honors, each scoring 4½-½.  Ben Marks and Tiffany Madson divided third with 4-1.

Willam Wang of Illinois and Andrew Trattner of Wisconsin, tied for first in Class E, each with 4½-½.  Jim Epley and Douglas Campbell, both of Illinois, tied for third with 4-1.

Chess can be cruel, as Keith Amman discovered in this final-round game against Alexander Breydburd from Class E:

34.Qd4! would have been a killer.  But White ate a rook, which made winning surprisingly hard.  38.Qc5! would have done the trick.

Steve Immitt, Wayne Clark, and Jeff Wiewel directed for the Continental Chess Association.

Midwest Class - More child-on-adult violence

This is getting ridiculous: ten-year-old Adream Liang of Wisconsin tied for first with Rick Lutzke, both with 4½.  David Paykin took third with 4-1.

Midwest Class - Expert / A

Thirteen-year-old cheesehead Alexander Velikanov earned his National Master title in style by winning the Expert Section  with 4½-½.  Sedrick Prude, Dane Mattson of Wisconsin, and Robert Keating of Iowa tied for second with 4-1.

Eleven-year-old Alex Bian of Lincolnshire (one of our Warren Junior Scholars) won the Class A section with a perfect 5-0 score.  Locals Rafeh Qazi and Robert Moskwa tied for second with 4-1 to complete the Illinois sweep.

For those of unfamiliar with tournament chess: this is not a scholastic event!

Midwest Class Championsips results-Master Section

This weekend's results are in from Wheeling!

Bulgarian Grandmaster and opening theoretician Atanas Kolev won the top section of the 20th Midwest Class Championship with a 4½-½ score.  Kolev  beating GM Dmitry Gurevich and Illinois Co-Champ Aun Thant Zin in rounds 3 and 4, and drawing Seth Homa of Michigan (who finished second with 4-1) in the final round.  This section was a tough one for the most of the locals: Aun Thant Zin did beat GM Nikola Mitkov in round 3, and Mitkov and Gurevich were paired with each other in the last round.

Age is catching up with 96-year-old Erik Karklins.  He lost all his games in the Expert Section: when he got a bye in round 4, he used the opportunity to play up to the Master Section, and beat NM James Ellis of Iowa.

Senior Master Eric Rosen

Congratulations (yet again) to Niles North senior Eric Rosen, who went to Texas this weekend and won the Dallas Open. 

Eric's post-event rating is (unofficially) 2404, which makes him a Senior Master.  Congratulations!

Illinois Chess Association Banquet Honoring Andrew Karkins

Please join us (this means you!) on Sunday, November 6th, from 1 to 4 p.m., at Buca di Beppo in Lombard.  Andrew Karklins will be receiving the Natalie Broughton Lifetime Achievement Award.  Preregistration is required: more info and online ticket link here.

The meal at last year's banquet was excellent: generous helpings (similar to Maggiano's), but more affordable.  I am on a diet, so there will be much more for others to eat.

The meeting will be preceded by the Illinois Chess Association's annual meeting (11 a.m. to 1 p.m.), open to all ICA members and pretty much anyone not carrying a Molotov cocktail.

An interesting endgame moment from Shulman-Bhat

After 50.Kf3: Black to play 

I don't want to try to anticipate what the master annotators at the Blaze Blog will have to say.  But at the very end of this game, it's a fair question as to whether Black found the best move.

Board 4: the move of the match (Byambaa 0 - Schmakel 1)

Is it correct?  I have no clue, but I do know that Black's 18th move is très cool, and shows a desire to fight for the full point.  Normally one does not wish to move pawns in front of one's castled king.  Especially not two squares.  Especially not the g-pawn. Especially not when the players have castled on opposite sides. Especially when one creates a lever that helps the enemy open lines to your king.

But rules of thumb are made to be broken: chess is a very concrete game. The idea is known from the Browne System of the Najdorf.  The e5 square is worth a lot: Black gets a horsie on c4 and a bishop on f6 soon afterwards.  So you could say that Black is attacking White's queenside with 18...g7-g5!?

And Sam Schmakel of Whitney Young must have been planning this shocker some moves earlier: otherwise, why 16...Qd8?

Board 3: Young ½ - Naroditsky ½

Board 3 was potentially a problem for Chicago: the young prodigy Naroditsky is the author of Mastering Positional Chess.  24...a5! looks strong to me, and a few moves later, White's c5 pawn fell.

But IM Angelo Young (no slacker at positional play) held on for the draw.

Board 1: Shulman ½ - Bhat ½

I really don't understand the opening on Board 1.  Usually in the Leningrad Variation of the Nimzoindian, Black will trade the Bb4 for the Nc3 to double White's c-pawns.  But Bhat played ...e6xd5 and deferred capturing on c3.  Strange to this amateur's eyes, but the proof is in the results.  It was Yury who had to force the draw with White.

Blaze 2½ - San Francisco Mechanics 1½

The Chicago Blaze are now 7-0!

On Board 2, Grandmasters Jesse Kraai and Mesgen Amanov played a sharp Catalan that fizzled out into a draw:

Point-count chess

The object of the game is checkmate, so all point-count systems are rules of thumb at best.  But the "primitive" values we teach beginners are surprisingly useful: bishops and knights are worth 3 pawns, the rook is worth 5 pawns, and the queen is worth 9 pawns.

Some years ago, IM (now GM) Larry Kaufman slightly revised these rules of thumb based on empirical data.  I just happened across the article today while looking up something else: it's still fascinating.

To summarize Kaufman's improved rules of thumb: bishops and knights are worth 3¼ pawns (but add ½ pawn for the bishop pair), rooks are still worth 5 pawns, and the queen is worth 9¾ pawns.

Blaze match begins in a few minutes

Tonight the Blaze face off against the San Francisco Mechanics: Brad Rosen previews the match here.  Mechanics first board Jesse Kraai went to Shimer College: I knew him back when he had a flowing mane of hair and I wasn't quite bald.

Carlsen wins Bilboa in blitz playoff

...and Hikaru Nakamura, bizarre round nine loss notwithstanding, takes third on tiebreaks.  A deserved win for Carlsen (who beat the red-hot Ivanchuk twice in regulation play) and a bittersweet step forward for Nakamura.

Coverage in the usual places....

ChessBase 

ChessVibes

WhyChess (all games available via drop-down box)

The Week in Chess

What tactic is more basic than pins and forks?

Dan Heisman (whose Chess Cafe column is wonderful reading for beginners and their teachers) has argued that teaching beginners to count is the indispensable first step in teaching tactics.

Blog contributor Vince Hart, who has been working with the Prospect High School chess team for the past nine years, emphasizes piece safety with his team, and points us to a wonderful Heisman column on the subject.

Bilboa Round 9: Vallejo 1 - Nakamura 0

Nakamura flagged on move 40 in a slightly superior position: he thought he had made the time control, and stepped away for a glass of juice.

As Carlsen beat Ivanchuk today, a win would have brought Nakamura into a tie for first.

Three decisive games today!

Preregister for the 2011 Midwest Class!

The event returns to the Westin Chicago North Shore in Wheeling next weekend, October 14-16! Play on Friday night, or begin play Saturday morning: your choice! Details here!

While I don't like to play for money, I do tend to cash my prize checks. So I should note that there are $16,000 in guaranteed prizes next weekend, and that the projected prize fund is $20,000....

Save money and preregister by Tuesday, October 11th!

Round 8, Bilbao Masters: Nakamura 1 - Aronian 0

A really impressive squeeze by Nakamura! The minority attack is thematic in the Queen's Gambit Declined, but White usually pushes b2-b4 in the opening. But Hikaru defers the undermining operation until the endgame.

Round 6, Bilbao Masters: Ivanchuk 1 - Nakamura 0

Ivanchuk's opening lends credence to the credible rumors that he has been working with David Franklin.

Board 1: Amanov ½ - Margvelashvili ½

GM Giorgi Margvelashvili deserves half a point for courage: he played the Modern Benoni against GM Mesgen Amanov and lived to tell the tale! Black even had a pull in the ending, but Mesgen defended easily enough to clinch the match.

Young 1 - Defibaugh 0

Just as in last week's game, Angelo Young plays rope-a-dope and exploits a weakness on the light squares. Black hung a pawn on move 11, so the execution is a bit more routine.

Schoch 0 - Menon 1

NM Gopal Menon plays this game in the style of Bent Larsen circa 1967: bait the opponent into committing to a kingside attack, extract positional concessions, and counterattack on the opposite wing.

Blaze 2½ - Baltimore Kingfishers 1½

Speaking very very selfishly, I'm glad that if Dmitry Gurevich had to lose, he lost in a variation that has been giving me trouble with the White pieces. IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat is not tempted by the long diagonal, but simply plays to recover the gambit pawn.

Industrial League: AMA Rogue Squadron 4 - Northwestern University 2

CICL veteran David Franklin made his debut for the Rogue Squadron last night. Northwestern's new Board 1, Karsten McVay, studied with FM Aviv Friedman for many years and has represented the U.S. in international play. Dave was kind enough to share his annotations:

September CICL bulletin is out!

Enjoy this month's Chicago Chess Player! (pdf link)

Avert your eyes as Steve Tennnant crushes me mercilessly.

Bilbao Masters - Nakamura clear 2nd at halfway point

Coverage at ChessBase, ChessVibes., and The Week in Chess.

The venue now shifts from Brazil to Spain.  When play resumes Thursday, Nakamura plays tournament leader Vassily Ivanchuk: a win would bring Nakamura into joint first place!

Mesgen Amanov's win in today's New York Times

Article here.

Well, the game is good enough to be mentioned in three blog posts.  See previous posts here and here.

A Correct Draw

To me, this game lends credence to the fairly credible rumors that Kasparov is coaching Nakamura.  The 3...Be7 and 5...h6 move order has been used by big boys in World Championship matches. Not very exciting for fans, but Nakamura with Black managed to completely shut down Carlsen.

Good coverage at Thw Week in Chess. Ivanchuk has won three games in a row; Nakamura is in 4th with an even score; he has a good chance to move up tomorrow with White against the off-form Vallejo.

Carlsen-Nakamura live

WhyChess has nice coverage: the game started at 1 p.m. Chicago time.

Hedgehog or hedge fund?

Dylan Loeb McClain explains. Hat tip to Maret Thorpe.

How many trading firms are in the Chicago Industrial Chess League?

Board 4: Karlow - Schmakel 0-1

How can a rook pawn help you undermine your opponent's control of the center? Whitney Young sophomore Sam Schmakel shows us how. 20...a4! trades the a-pawn for White's b3 pawn. b3 controls c4. And once Black controls c4....

Young 1 - Eckert 0

I've known Doug Eckert since he was in high school, and I owe my only win against Morris Giles to a book Doug wrote on the Keres Attack.

Angelo trots out one of his patented knuckleball openings. 5...Nh5!? (instead of Doug's 5...O-O, also the choice of most top players) has scored extremely well for Black, but obviously Angelo had something prepared against that. After 13.Qb4!, it becomes clear that Black responded a mite too actively to White's seemingly passive opening. The rest of the game, we see Angelo Young switch from Petrosian mode to Capablanca mode. It's hard to point to Black's decisive mistake (maybe 24...Rd8). Very nice game!

Friedel ½ - Finegold ½

Hmm. Ben Finegold guaranteed victory, then played the passive 4...Bd7 variation of the Rubinstein French. It's not necessarily bad match strategy, but one would think that it's not fair to one's teammates to say the Blaze "are going down next week" without trying to win one's own game as Black.

Friedel got an edge, Finegold defended correctly: the draw was logical.

Chicago beats St. Louis 3½-½

Catching up on Wednesday night's action, finally! Dmitry Gurevich was absolutely brutal on Board 2. White gets zilch against the Queen's Gambit Tartakower (12...Rd8 is Spassky's patent), declines a slightly inferior ending, makes an incorrect break on e4, and is totally busted. Dmitry showed no mercy.

FM Albert Chow analyzes Abrahamyan-Dean

Enjoy Albert's wonderful analysis of this wonderful game between WGM Tatev Abrahamyan and FM Jim Dean.

Chicago Industrial Chess League season underway

As always, check out the latest results at the fabulous CICL site.  I play for the AMA Rogue Squadron in the East Division: we won a tough match on Monday against Blue Cross / Blue Shield 4-2.  Our teammate Jim Duffy lost a very interesting game to Sonny Mata, and it took me a long time to figure out the computer evaluations in this very interesting ending.  Please take the following notes with a large grain of salt: I'm still not sure I understand what was going on, and computers are not to be trusted in rook endings!

 After 40.Kc2

Black to play: how to stop the e-pawn?

Analysis diagram

White to play and win: harder than it looks!

Nakamura-Anand in São Paulo

That was certainly a fun game at the Bilbao Masters this afternoon!  Kasparov thought that Nakamura missed one clearer try for advantage.

I'd heard this unconfirmed rumor some months ago: it certainly seems plausible....

November 5th in Peoria: All-Grade Championship!

If you're a scholastic player, parent, teacher, or coach, you should really make a road trip to Peoria to play in this great Illinois Chess Association event or to cheer on your kids.  The event determines the Illinois champion for each grade from 1st through 8th.  There's also a high school section.

The Greater Peoria Chess Federation is organizing this year's event on November 5th at the Peoria Grand Hotel.  Two of the top players in the state, Nikhil Kumar Kunche and Timur Aliyev, will be giving simultaneous exhibitions for the students.  Register by October 25th, and the entry fee is a very reasonable $25.

More info here!

Another look at Menon-Lu

Grandmaster Dmitry Gurevich explains the critical moments in Gopal Menon's win last week for the rest of us: learn and enjoy!

2012 U.S. Amateur Team Championship North in Northbrook!

Save the date (February 17-19), and get your four-player teams (with optional alternate) ready now!

The early bird entry fee is $140 per team: divide by four, and you'll see it's very affordable!  The site is the Crowne Plaza in Northbrook.

More info here.

Top 200 in Illinois

Check out the October list!

Playing blitz with Kasparov

Apparently Garry can still play chess, as France's top player, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, recently discovered.  Read his firsthand account on ChessVibes.

Aronian on Truffaut and Coltrane

Bad boy Vladislav Tkachiev just published a very entertaining interview with Levon Aronian at WhyChess.

Today's Bible verse

The Benoni has never had a reputation for being easy: its name was drawn from Genesis 35:18:

Rachel was about to die, but with her last breath she named the baby Ben-oni (which means "son of my sorrow"). The baby's father, however, called him Benjamin (which means "son of my right hand").

If you play the Modern Benoni against Mesgen Amanov, it's going to cost you Benjamins.  Mesgen annotates this incredibly entertaining game. 

As long as we're blogging etymology, Mesgen uses the word "tabiya" in his annotations to refer to the position after White's 9th move.  In chess's medieval ancestor shatranj, pawns could only move one square, and the fers (predecessor of the modern queen) could only move one square diagonally.  Consequently, the two armies in shatranj did not make much contact in the initial moves.  The Arabic word "tabbiyya" was used to describe the battle array chosen by each player. 

In modern chess, when the two armies are colliding from the initial moves, you can't ignore what the other player is doing when you choose your battle array.  A modern tabiya is a standard position known to both players before the beginning of the game from which they tacitly agree to begin the battle.

Tactics quiz for advanced beginners...and beyond

Dan Heisman's quiz may be too hard for true beginners. It's drawn from John Bain's Chess Tactics for Students (strangely out of print, but used copies can be found on the Intertubes).

Get out your stopwatches, read Dan Heisman's instructions before you begin, and play along! (Yes, I scored 12 out of 12, no, I wasn't as fast as I should have been, yes, I saw the dual solution. The easiest problem was the one that took me the longest.)

Here's an earlier Heisman quiz with the same format.

Thanks to Dan Heisman for pointing out that Chess Tactics for Students can be ordered directly from John Bain.

Board 4: Menon-Lu 1-0

Again, don't ask me how NM Gopal Menon won his Blaze debut. The game is a fairly logical Tarrasch French: Black broke White's attack by sacrificing the Exchange, and White gave the Exchange back at an appropriate time, and it seemed that Black was OK.

I suspect that Black got a little overexcited about having a passed center pawn on the 5th rank (in queen endings, having the pawn closest to the queening square is often more important than having more pawns), and match considerations may have made him overreach. Black's king had no pawn shelter: getting mated is not a big worry in this ending, but being forced to exchange queens into a lost pawn ending is a concern. Bringing the king from h1 to e2 worked out very well for Gopal!