Chess Training

Putting together a training schedule for yourself sounds like an easy task. No problem! I'll just study openings on Monday, do some middlgame strategy on Tuesday, then perhaps some endgames on Wednesday, and sprinkle some online games here and there. But in reality, if you are like me, it's difficult to do because we, as chessplayers, are averse to doing anything that is not really fun. Half way through your opening sessions you find yourself suddenly emmersed in a bullet tournament on ICC or Playchess. Endings? Bah! I know Lucena's - good enough. It is a lack of discipline in our non-playing activities that keep us right were we settle in the rating scale. ANY player can steadily improve if they apply a basic schedule to their studies and become persistent in executing those studies. In fact, I would venture that outside of any extraordinary talent, any player can see improvement up to the 2100-2200 rating level using this study plan as a guide. This 4-day study plan encom...

White to move and win: highlight below to see answer: [ Gavrilov (2370) - Kevorkjan Correspondence, 1989/90 1.Bg5!! hxg5 [ 1...f6 2.Bxf6!+-; 1...Qf8 2.f6! (/\ Qf5) 2...hxg5 3.hxg5! Bb6 4.Qh5+ Kg8 5.g6+-] 2.hxg5 Nd7 [ 2...Kg8 3.f6 Qf8 4.Qh5 Nd7 5.Qg6+ Kh8 6.Bxf7 Nxf6 7.Qxf6++-] 3.Bxf7! [ 3.Bxf7 Kg7 ( 3...Nf6 4.Qh3+ Kg7 5.Be6 Nh7 6.f6+ Nxf6 7.Qh6#) 4.f6+ Nxf6 5.gxf6+ Kxf6 6.Qg6#] 1-0 ]

White to move and draw: highlight below to see answer: [ Landa (2445) - Cebalo (2505), Zagreb 1990 1.b4? [ 1.Rb6! Rxb3 2.h4 a) 2...Kg6 3.h5+ Kg7 4.Rb8 Rb4+ (4...h6 5.gxh6+ Kxh6 6.Rb7 Kg7 7.h6+=) 5.Kg3 h6 6.g6 fxg6 7.Rb7+ Kg8 8.Rb8+ Kf7 9.Rb7+ Ke8 10.Rb8+=; b) 2...Rb1 3.Kh5 b4 4.Rb8 b3 5.Rb6 b2 6.Rb7 Kf8 7.Rb8+ Ke7 8.Rb7+ Ke8 9.Kh6 Rh1 10.Rxb2 Rxh4+ 11.Kg7 Rh5 12.Rg2 Rh1 13.Ra2 Rg1 14.Ra8+=; c)2...h6 3.gxh6+ ( 3.Kh5! hxg5 4.hxg5 Rb1 5.Rb7 b4 6.g6 b3 (6...Rh1+ 7.Kg5 Rg1+ 8.Kh5 Rxg6 9.Rxb4=) 7.Rxf7+ Kg8 8.Rb7 b2 9.Rb8+ Kg7 10.Rb7+=; 3...Kxh6 4.Rb7 Kg7 5.h5 b4 6.h6+ Kxh6 7.Rxf7 Rb1 8.Rf2 ( 8.Rf6+ Kg7 9.Rxe6 b3-+) 8...b3 9.Kf4 b2 10.Rh2+ Kg6 11.Rf2 Kf7 …Ka2 -+] 1...Kg6 [ 1...Rc4+ 2.Kh5 Rxb4 3.Rb6=] 2.h4 Rc4+ 3.Kg3 Rxb4 4.Rb6 Rb1 [ 4...Kh5!? 5.Rb7 Rg4+ 6.Kf3 Rxh4 7.Rxf7 Kxg5 8.Rf6 Rh6 9.Rf7 b4 …Kg6 Xe5 -+] 5.Kg4 h5+ 6.gxh6 Kxh6 7.Rb7 Kg7 8.h5 b4 9.Kg5 Rf1 10.Kg4 Rf5 11.Rxb4 Rxe5 0-1 ]

It is common knowledge (and a dirty little secret!) in chess circles at every level below titled players that reviewing well-annotated games by Grandmasters in the opening of your choice is one of the best ways to improve your play. All at once you get an opening lesson, instruction on plan development, transition from opening to middlegame, review of vaious tactical elements, execution of attack and defense, and if you are fortunate the game goes long enough, an endgame where you can see both sides struggling to win or hold the position. A certain flow to the game only exists when you take the time to review a well-annotated game by a GM. So, where do we start? First and foremost, you need to define a clear methodology. We do not want to experience 'chess thrashing' - the act of jumping from one subject to another in a unorganized manner - during our study sessions. Our basic steps are: 1) Define the opening we wish to examine via our own personal repertoire 2) Obtain well-a...

Black to move and win: Highlight below to see solution [ Sanson - Estevez (2420) Sagua 1990 1...Nb2+! 2.Kb3 [ 2.Ka5 Ke3 3.b6 Kxf2 4.b7 d1Q 5.b8Q Qa4+ 6.Kb6 Qb3+-+] 2...Ke3! 3.Kc2 Nc4! [ 3...Kxf2? 4.Kxd2! Nc4+ 5.Kd3 Nxa3 6.b6+-] 4.Nd1+ Ke2 5.Nc3+ [ 5.a4 Na3+ 6.Kc3 Kxd1 7.b6 Kc1 8.b7 d1Q 9.b8Q Qd2+ 10.Kb3 Qb2#] 5...Ke1 6.a4 Ne3+ 7.Kd3 Nd5! 0-1 ]

Black to move and win: highlight to see anwser below [ Meister,P (2445) - Brynell (2405) London 1990 1...Rexc7! [ 1...Rexc7 2.bxc7 Nb4+ 3.axb4 Ra8+ 4.Kb1 Ra1#] 0-1 ]

Black to move and win: Highlight below for answer: [ Oslouhov - Nedobora SSSR, 1990 1...Qh4+!! 2.gxh4 [ 2.Kxh4 Rxh2#] 2...Re3+ 3.Bf3 Bxe6+ 4.Qxe6 Rxf3# ]

"Happy Birthday, to you, Happy Birthday, to you..." Here are two games by the Birthday girl: Lalic,S (2351) - Gormally,D (2505) [B26] Guernsey op 27th Guernsey (7), 27.10.2001 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.d3 d6 6.Be3 Rb8 7.Qd2 b5 8.Nge2 Nd4 9.0-0 h5 10.h3 Bxh3 11.Bxd4 cxd4 12.Bxh3 dxc3 13.bxc3 Nf6 14.a4 Bh6 15.f4 Qb6+ 16.Kg2 bxa4 17.Rxa4 0-0 18.Rfa1 Diagram 18...e5 [ Better is 18...Rb7] 19.Rxa7 d5 20.R1a6 Qd8 21.Qe3 dxe4 22.dxe4 Rb2 23.Qc1 Rb5 24.Qe3 Rb1 25.Qd3 Ng4 26.Rd7 Qb8 27.Bxg4 hxg4 28.f5 1-0 Lalic,S (2325) - Flear,G (2495) [C47] Hastings op8788 Hastings (9), 1987 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Bd3 d5 8.exd5 cxd5 9.0-0 0-0 10.Bg5 c6 11.Qf3 Be7 12.Rfe1 Re8 13.h3 h6 14.Bf4 Qb6 15.b3 Ba6 16.Na4 Diagram 16...Qb7 [ Better is 16...Qa5] 17.Rxe7 Rxe7 18.Nc5 Qb6 19.Nxa6 c5 20.a4 Rae8 21.Bb5 Re1+ 22.Rxe1 Rxe1+ 23.Kh2 Ne4 24.Nc7 c4 25.Nxd5 Qd4 26.Ne7+ Kh7 27.Nf5 Qa1 28.Ng3 f5 29.Bxc4 Nxg3 30.Kxg3 g5 31.Qb7+ 1-0

Here's some fun: Go to Wikipedia and click on the Random Article link in the left sidebar. Add "Chess" to the primary result and google it. Today I got an article about "Devon" that lead to a Google search of Devon Chess . Check out the Devon County Chess Association web site.

White to move and win Highlight below to see solution [ Correa (2320) - Tsuboi (2315) Brasil (ch), 1990 White mistakenly played 1.Rf5? [ Winning was 1.g4! Rh1 2.Rg7 Kc5 3.Rxb7 Re1+ 4.Kf5 Kd4 ( 4...Rf1+ 5.Kxg5 Kxd5 6.Re7) 5.Rd7!+-] 1...Kc5 2.g4 Rh1 3.Rxg5 b5 4.d6 b4 5.Ke6+ Kc6 6.Rd5 Rh6+! 7.Ke5 Kd7 8.g5 Re6+ 9.Kf5 Rxd6 10.Re5 b3 11.g6 b2 12.Re1 Rc6!= 13.Rb1 Ke7 14.Kg5 Kf8 1/2-1/2 ]

White to move and win Highlight below to see solution: [ Tal - Lozov, Riga, 1952 16. Nxf7! Kxf7? (better is 16...e5 17.Nxd8 Qxd8 18.Be6+ Kh8 19.Be3) 17.Bxe6+ Ke8 18.e5! Bf8 19.Qxh7 Rxd5 20.Qg6+ Kd8 21.Bg5+ Be7 22.Qf7 Nd7 23.Qg8+ 1-0 ]

Topalov,V (2813) - Kramnik,V (2743) [D18] WCh Playoffs Elista RUS (1), 13.10.2006 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.e3 e6 7.Bxc4 Bb4 8.0-0 Nbd7 9.Qe2 0-0 10.e4 Bg6 11.Bd3 Bh5 12.e5 Nd5 13.Nxd5 cxd5 14.Qe3 Re8 15.Ne1 Rc8 16.f4 Bxe1 17.Rxe1 Bg6 18.Bf1 Rc2 19.b3 Qa5 20.Bb5 Rd8 21.Re2 Rcc8 22.Bd2 Qb6 23.Rf2 a6 24.Bf1 Rc6 25.b4 Rc2 26.b5 a5 27.Bc3 Rxf2 28.Qxf2 Qa7 29.Qd2 Ra8 30.Rc1 Nb6 31.Bb2 Nxa4 32.Ba3 h6 33.h3 Be4 34.Kh2 Nb6 35.Bc5 a4 36.Ra1 Nc4 37.Bxc4 b6 38.Qe3 Rc8 39.Bf1 bxc5 40.dxc5 Qxc5 41.Qxc5 Rxc5 42.b6 Rc6 43.b7 Rb6 44.Ba6 d4 45.Rxa4 Bxb7 46.Bxb7 Rxb7 47.Rxd4 Diagram 1/2-1/2 Kramnik,V (2743) - Topalov,V (2813) [D45] WCh Playoffs Elista RUS (2), 13.10.2006 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.b3 0-0 8.Be2 b6 9.0-0 Bb7 10.Bb2 Re8 11.Rad1 Qe7 12.Rfe1 Rac8 13.Bd3 e5 14.e4 dxc4 15.Bxc4 b5 16.Bf1 g6 17.Qd2 Rcd8 18.Qg5 a6 19.h3 exd4 20.Nxd4 Qe5 21.Qxe5 Nxe5 22.Nc2 g5 23.Bc1 h6 24.Be3 c5 25.f3 Bf8 26.Bf2 Bc8 27.Ne3 Be6 28.Ned5 Bxd5 29.exd5 Ned7 30.Rxe...

WCh Elista RUS (12), 12.10.2006 [IM Malcolm Pein] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Bg6 7.Nxg6 hxg6 Unexpected but a back handed compliment to Kramnik. Topalov uses his opening line. Its solid and so it suits for thisgame 8.g3 Nbd7 9.Bd2 Bb4 10.Qb3 Bxc3 11.Bxc3 Ne4 12.Bg2 Nxc3 13.Qxc3 f5 Like in the Stonewall the white squared pawns act as a barrier against the white bishop. Black must be slightly worse and it feels like the players have swopped roles [ 13...dxc4 14.Qxc4 Qa5+ 15.Qc3+/=] 14.0-0 [ 14.0-0-0!? Fritz, would never have occurred to me] 14...Qe7 15.cxd5 Kramnik opts for clarity and the plan of a minority attack on the queenside 15...exd5 16.b4 Nf6 Diagram 17.Rfc1 [ 17.b5 cxb5 18.Qb3 Qd7 19.Rfc1 Actually look quite good as d5 is very weak because of Rc1-c5 and a2-a4 might be good later. However its too risky for the circumstances 19...a6 20.Rc2 0-0 21.Rac1©] 17...Ne4 18.Qb2 0-0 19.b5 Rac8 20.bxc6 bxc6 21.Qe2 Nice move with many points. Black's only count...

Kramnik gives important press conference · Oct 17, 09:28 PM Today in the “Central Chess Players House” Vladimir Kramnik gave a press conference together with Alexander Zhukov, Vassilii Smislov, the chief of President’s Putin administration Arcadii Dvorkovich, Gir Ginsen (the arbiter of the Wcc 2006 match), and Carsten Hensel. Alexander Zhukov congratulated Vladimir Kramnik for the victory, emphasizing that “his success – this is not just the success of an outstanding chess player, but also “rescuing” for the entire chess world and, certainly, enormous success of Russian chess. Alexander Roshal gave the idea that Topalov should be admitted in a round robin in Mexico and then the winner should then play with you a final match. How do you accept this idea? V.K.: The manager of Topalov, Silvio Danailov, certainly did not show his best side at the WCC 2006, but Topalov as a chess player undoubtedly deserves admittance at the tournament. I consider the old formula with some corrections was ...

Youth and Sports Minister: Azerbaijan Does Not Deny Attempts to Organize A Contender’s Match between Teymur Radjabov and Vladimir Kramnnik. Source: Trend Author: Z. Safarov 16.10.2006 “We are not going to deny attempts to negotiate with Vladimir Kramnik concerning holding a contender’s match between Teymur Radjabov and him”, Azad Rahimov, Azerbaijan`s Youth and Sports Minister exclusively told Trend commenting the possibility on organizing a match between the Azerbaijani grand master and the FIDE Champion. An agreement between the Azerbaijani Sports Ministry and their Bulgarian counterparts on holding a match between Teymur Radjabov and Veselin Topalov, who was a possessor of the chess crown till recently, was signed in the spring this year. However, the Bulgarian gross master lost it as a result of the recent match with Vladimir Kramnik of Russia, and due to that, the preliminary agreement with Bulgarians has lost its force. “It is too early to say anything concrete in this regar...

I just HAD to cc this over here: Chess Club Source: ChessBase

(Note: there is no specific credit to this article online, so the 'I' in the story is left to the imagination. If you know for certain who 'I' is, please post a comment!) On Feb. 23, 1993, FIDE President Florencio Campomanes announced Manchester, England, as the venue for the world championship match between Nigel Short and Garry Kasparov. That day Short was unavailable, crossing on a ferry from Italy to Greece. Instead of Manchester, the English grandmaster preferred two bids from London. By not consulting Short, Campomanes broke FIDE rules. Suddenly, Short had a reason to pursue the bids from London even at the cost of breaking up with FIDE -- provided Kasparov agreed. When Short contemplated how to reach Kasparov, I pointed to the phone in my kitchen and said: "Call Kasparov in Linares directly." Kasparov answered Short's call in Spain shortly after midnight on March 3. In a 13-minute conversation they discussed for the first time playing their match ou...

White to move and win. Basic Guidelines: Keep King in opposition or a Knight's move away from the opposing king. Force the opposing King into a corner of the same color as the Bishop. Use the Knight to cover flight-squares of opposite color of the Bishop. Use the Bishop to create Zugzwang positions. (highlight below to see one possible answer) [ 1.Nf2 Kf1 2.Bh2 Ke1 3.Ne4 Kd1 4.Ke3 Kc2 5.Nd2 Kc3 6.Bd6 Kc2 7.Be5 Kc1 8.Kd3 Kd1 9.Bg3 Kc1 10.Nc4 Kd1 11.Ne3+ Kc1 12.Kc3 Kb1 13.Kb3 Kc1 14.Be1 Kb1 15.Bd2 Ka1 16.Nc2+ Kb1 17.Na3+ Ka1 18.Bc3# ] Source: Fundamental Chess Endings

Veselin Topalov and his manager Silvio Danailov arrived yesterday at Sofia airport. They were glad to share some thoughts on the WCC 2006. Veselin was met by a crowd of journalists and fans. He gladly answered some questions. The resulting interview was published on the inofficial Topalov web site, www.veselintopalov.net . Question: Veselin, how do you feel? Topalov: I am happy to be in Bulgaria again. I would like to thank all the people that supported me. I am sorry I could not achieve more. Are you sorry that the match took place in Russia? No, Elista is a great place with very nice people. The organization was perfect. The problems that occured could have occured at any other place. How did the match go? I was dominating the game, but Kramnik was defending well and used his chances. Did you expect a tie break? No, I thought I would win the match in the regular games. I had not prepared for a tie break at all. Why did all the games start with a Slav? That was my strategy. I always h...

This will be my first book review here at this blog. I hope to review a book once every while to give my readers out there an idea of some of the better chess training books available to the public. Andrew Soltis' "How To Choose A Chess Move" is one such book. Holy Grails, in chess, are like those in real life, unattainable. Improving players constantly search for the 'holy grail' of chess - that one book, method or inspiration that will show them the light and allow them to advance beyond their current level. Every chess player has reached their own personal ceiling at one point. Some teachers shout 'tactics! tactics! tactics!' from the balcony, but for Expert to Class A players, that may be insuffucient. The derelictions in their play is usually not a tactical flaw. I think Andrew Soltis' book is geared very specifically to the Category B/A/Expert level player, or, Club player as Batsford likes to categorize, and comes as close as possible to being ...

Bulgaria's chess king Vesselin Topalov, who lost the title of world's best chess grandmaster with a narrow defeat against Russia's Vladimir Kramnik, will challenge his rival in Sofia. Sports: 15 October 2006, Sunday: Bulgaria's chess king Vesselin Topalov, who lost the title of world's best chess grandmaster with a narrow defeat against Russia's Vladimir Kramnik, will insist on a return game, his manager announced in Sofia. The regulations of the World chess federation (FIDE) allows every former world champion to challenge his opponent should he secure the prize of EUR 1,5 M, Silvio Danailov told journalists on Sunday. According to Danailov the return match could take place in Sofia, on March 3, 2007. Danailov suspects Kramnik will not accept the offer, which will force FIDE to strip him of the world's only chess king title. Kramnik won the title of world's best chess grandmaster defeating Vesselin Topalov on the fourth game of a tiebreak. The title was ...

First press conference of the unified world chess champion Immediately after Topalov extended his hand in a sign of resigning the fourth tiebreak game, the crowd became ecstatic. There were shouts, applause, friendly slaps and handshakes… Kramnik left the table, raised his fists in the sky, just like in Moscow 1994 after his sensational victory over Kasparov, and went into tight embrace of his manager Carsten Hensel. Other team members were also there – Illescas, Rublevsky, Motylev, Krylov, Rösch, and even the cook… A few minutes the new ‘absolute’ FIDE world champion moved on to the press conference hall, where he was warmly met by dozens of journalists. Question: In a situation that was similar to yours Mikhail Tal said "My head is filled with sun!" What were your first words after the match ended? Vladimir Kramnik : I was very concentrated on the play, and even after I won the last game, I was still in a fighting mood. The moment after Veselin played 44…Rc5 was very emotio...

Hi all, Heads up to all of you chess fans out there! If you visit Chessbase , you can write and send a letter to Kramnik or Topalov through Chessbase. I urge everyone to write a letter to both players expressing your congratulations to both for a fine match. Don't waste your time ranting about 'ToiletGate' - the letters will be pre-screened by Chessbase. Read the fine print!

Topalov's dead body is barely cold, but we JUST CANNOT WAIT to get the conversation rolling on something other than ToiletGate. The candidates Four players in the chess World Championship in Mexico City qualified by finishing in the top half of the last event, held in 2005 in San Luis, Argentina. They are the reigning champion, Veselin Topalov , plus Viswanathan Anand , Peter Svidler , and Alexander Morozevich . Veselin Topalov, by virtue of his defeat in the 2006 World Chess Championship Match against Vladimir Kramnik , should be replaced by Kramnik himself. The remaining four players are as yet unknown. They will come from these sixteen candidates, who will face off in two series of matches until the four finalists are found. The Matches Levon Aronian (Armenia) vs. Magnus Carlsen (Norway) Peter Leko (Hungary) vs. Mikhail Gurevich (Turkey) Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukraine) vs. Sergey Rublevsky (Russia) Boris Gelfand (Israel) vs. Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Uzbekistan) Etienne Bacro...

This morning at approximately 11:00 AM EST, Vladimir Kramnik defeated Veselin Topalov in a decisive Game 4 Rapid Tie-break to become the Unified World Chess Champion. Congratulations To both players for a match well played. Topalov deserves alot of credit for the hard work he put into this match. He gave very little, but in the end, Kramnik's exceptional positional style won the day in a 2R+B vs. 2R+B endgame, in which Topalov dropped a Rook in complications. Tie-Breaks, Topalov, White: Game 1: 1/2 - 1/2 Game 2: Kramnik, 1-0 Game 3: Topalov, 1-0 Game 4: Kramnik, 1-0 It is interesting to note that the three decisive games were all won by white. Media Coverage: International Herald Tribune/Europe Games to follow...

Question:Vladimir, what is your score against Topalov in rapid chess, and will it affect the outcome of the tiebreak in any way? Vladimir Kramnik: The match booklet states it is +4 in my favor. However, it counts rapid and blindfold games together. Will the score matter? I hope it will, but actually the tiebreak is a lottery. A lot will depend on small details: luck, the night’s sleep, etc. It is impossible to predict the result. In principle, I have already won the match from my point of view, so I think this will make playing easier for me. What can you say about today’s [the 12th] game? It is a very interesting and combative game. I exerted pressure, but the opponent managed to create counterplay and made a draw. Maybe I could play more accurately, I cannot tell without detailed analysis. But the draw is generally logical. And yet, you had White, which means something at the WCC… Modern chess theory develops in such direction that it is very difficult to find sharp positions with a...

Triskaidekaphobia is a fear of the number 13. It is usually considered to be a superstition. A specific fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia or friggatriskaidekaphobia . Let's hope these fears do not manifest in Elista today. I'm sure we all are looking forward to some great chess. It is my hope that Kramnik wins, if for no other reason than to put the unification debate to rest.

Mr. Ed Trice of GothicChess.com, during the show "Ask the Renaissance Man", hosted by NM Dan Heisman, on chess.fm, has just made an announcement that a Gothic Chess match between Fischer and Karpov most likely to take place. Prize Fund: Winner - $10,000,000, Loser - $5,000,000 Mr. Ed Trice and his team flew to Reykjavik for this negotiation. This has been an ongoing negotiation for the past 2 years. What Is Gothic Chess? Gothic Chess is *different* from standard chess in that in Gothic Chess, the board is 10 files wide. The first 4 files from the left are identical in setup to standard chess - R, N, B, Q. The three rightmost files are also exactly the same as Standard Chess - B, N, R. The King of each color resides on the square of it's own color in the center of the back rank. Two new pieces, the Chancellor (moves like a Rook or a Knight on any Turn), and the Archbishop (moves like a Bishop or a Knight on any turn), reside next to the King. From White's perspective...

Nothing was settled today, as with a well-played game by both sides today, we end up with a drawn game and a Rapid/Blitz/Armageddon playoff on Friday. Here are the rules for the Tiebreaks: 3.7 Tie-breaks 3.7.1 If the scores are level after the regular twelve (12) games, after a new drawing of colours, four (4) tie-break games shall be played. The games shall be played using the electronic clock starting with 25 minutes on the clock for each player with an addition of 10 seconds after each move. 3.7.2 If the scores are level after the games in paragraph 3. 7.1, then, after a new drawing of colours, two (2) five-minute games shall be played with the addition of 10 seconds after each move. 3.7.3 If the score is still level, the players shall play a single decisive sudden death game. The player, who wins the drawing of lots, may choose the colour. White shall receive 6 minutes, black shall receive 5 minutes, without any addition. In case of a draw the player with the black pieces is dec...

So, here we are. After 13 years of pitted confusion in the chess world, brought on by Gary Kasparov's breaking away from FIDE, we have come full circle. Will Kramnik remove all doubt with a victory here today? Or will Topalov be able to further expand the schizm in the elite chess world with a Victory himself, careening Top-Level chess into the courts? Or, will we have - what probably everyone in the chess world wants - a drawn game today so that the combatants can battle it out on Friday in tiebreaks? My personal feeling is this: Kramnik was definitely attacked by the Topalov team in a manner that has been regarded as a 'dirty trick' by most chess journalists, patzers, and titled players. Being a Kramnik supporter, I have to hope that there is justice in the stars and that Kramnik defeats Topalov today outright. We will know in about 6 or so hours.

Well, this has reached my inbox somehow. Here is a conversation between Gata Kamsky and Nigel Short , witnessed by thousands as it was played out on the Playchess Server : "Gentleman, Let's have a clean fight, Break when I tell you to. Good luck!" Nigel Short: Gata, in our 1994 match you delivered a written protest to the arbiter accusing me of visiting the bathroom too often. Was that done to disturb me, or because you thought I had a desktop hidden in the cubicle? Gata Kamsky: ask me something i can remember nigel Nigel Short: I remember it well, Gata. Gata Kamsky: all i remember is that you started talking to me during the game Nigel Short: Yes, and the arbiter had overheard a conversation between your father and yourself immediately after the game. He told you to complain. You said that there was nothing to complain about. And yet within the hour there was yet another written protest about me cheating during this match. Nigel Short: I guess Daddy had his way Ga...

Salvio, 1634 - White to move and win General Setup: Defender's King is pushed out of the pawn's way and cannot access the Queening square. Attacker's king is in front of his pawn, on the queening square. The basic winning technique here is to "Build a Bridge" - interpose the attacking Rook between the checking Rook and attacker's King. Once that is achieved, the position is lost as the exchange of Rooks results in a won K+P vs. K endgame. The general technique is as follows: 1) Superior side advances pawn to the 7th rank. 2) Superior side uses Rook to push defender's King out of the way. 3) Advance Attacker's Rook to the 4th Rank in preparation for 'Building a Bridge'. 4) Move attacker's King out of the way of his pawn. 5) Advance attacker's King toward defender's checking Rook. 6) Interpose attacker's Rook on the 4th rank to block checks - 'Building a Bridge'. 1.Rd1+ Kc7 "Superior side uses Rook to push defende...

Kavalek's take on Topalov's protests SI's Take on Topalov's Protests 11th IBCA individual world chess championship for the blind 2006 Caraga National Open Individual Chess Championship Round 4: European Club Cup / 08.-14.10.2006, Fuegen-Austria

Philidor - 1777, Black to move and draw Philidor's Drawing Method in the R+P vs. R endgame can be summarized as follows, given the defender's King is in front of the pawn on the queening square: 1) Defender prevents his opponent's King from advancing to the 6th Rank. The superior side is forced to push his pawn to use it as a shelter for the King to cross the sixth rank. 2) When the pawn moves to the sixth, defender shifts his Rook to behind the superior side's King to give checks. 3) With pawn on the sixth, Superior side cannot escape checks from Behind - Draw! Let's examine this move by move: 1...Rb6! "Defender prevents his opponent's King from advancing to the 6th Rank." It is clear that White, in order to make progress, will need to advance the pawn to screen the King from the Rook. Exchanging Rooks leads to a drawn endgame. In fact, any Rook move on the b-file draws except the obvious 1...Rb7?? (2. Rxb7 +-), and 1...Rb5? which allows 2. Kg6! and...

WCh Elista RUS (9), 07.10.2006 [Malcolm Pein] (Thanks to Mark Crowther, The Week In Chess , and Malcolm Pein for commentary and analysis) 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Bg6 A big surprise to me. Kramnik plays the same line that led to disaster in game 9. 7.Nxg6 hxg6 8.Rb1N An interesting choice which has the benefit of being new but it does rule out 0-0-0 for White which can be a useful option There is a huge choice of moves here. A sample: [ 8.Qc2; 8.Qb3; 8.cxd5; 8.g3; 8.Bd3; 8.Bd2; 8.a3 Nbd7 9.g3 Be7 10.f4 dxc4 11.Bxc4 0-0 12.e4 was much better for White in game 9 of the match and led to a fairly easy Topalov victory.] 8...Nbd7 9.c5 a5 Played after about 5 minutes thought. Black needs this file for counterplay 10.a3 [ 10.f4 b6! and b4 is not possible] 10...e5! Again essential to get counterplay before f2-f4 rules it out 11.b4 axb4 12.axb4 Qc7 13.f4 Diagram The same strategic idea from Topalov. As in game 9 White tries to take over the whole board. Topalov...

Endgame Lab Black to move and draw: Answer{Drag over to expose}: [ I. Rogers (2535) - Sirov (2580), Groningen 1990: 1... Kg2? (1... Kg3! 2. Rh8 f5+ 3. Kxf5 Kxf3 4. Rxh2 Kg3=) After this initial error, White demostrates an excellent display of shouldering the opposing king away from defending it's pawn: 2. Kxf4 h1=Q 3. Rxh1 Kxh1 4. Kg3!! (4... Kg1 5. f4 Kf1 6. Kf3 Ke1 7. f5 Kd2 8. Ke4 Kc3 9. Kd5 Kb4 10. f6 +-) 1-0 ]

WCh Elista RUS (10), 08.10.2006 [IM Malcolm Pein and Mark Crowther] (Thanks to Mark Crowther, The Week In Chess , and Malcolm Pein for commentary and analysis) 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Bg2 0-0 7.0-0 c6 8.Bf4 Nbd7 9.Qc2 a5!? Again a wrinkle off the main line. 9...b6 and 9...Nh5 are the normal moves but this may well lead to the lines where Black plays b5 and a5 10.Rd1 Nh5 11.Bc1 b5 Diagram [ 11...b6 12.Nbd2 Ba6 13.e4 Nhf6 14.e5 Ne8] 12.cxd5 [ 12.c5 f5 Gives Black a reasonable Stonewall Dutch where White has no automatic play on the queenside now it is blocked 13.Nc3 g5 14.a3 Bf6 15.Qd2 h6 16.h4 g4 17.Qxh6 gxf3 18.Qxh5 fxg2 19.Qg6+ Kh8 20.Qh6+ Kg8 21.Qg6+ 1/2-1/2 Rahman,Z (2542)-Ghaem Maghami,E (2500)/Doha 2003/CBM 94] 12...cxd5 13.e4! The optimal time when the Ra8 and Nh5 are loose but [ 13.Ne5 was interesting 13...Bb7 14.Nc6 Bxc6 15.Qxc6 Rb8 16.e4] 13...dxe4 [ 13...Nhf6 14.Ng5!? ( 14.e5 Ne4 15.Ne1! is just good ) 14...dxe4 15.Bxe4 ( 15.Nxh7!?) 15...Nxe4 16....

Kramnik succumbs to pressure and drops second game in a row. Arguably the worst played game of the match so far, Game 9 saw Kramnik completely fold in time pressure. Topalov,V (2813) - Kramnik,V (2743) [D12] WCh Elista RUS (9), 07.10.2006 [IM Malcolm Pein and Mark Crowther] (Thanks to Mark Crowther, The Week In Chess , and Malcolm Pein for commentary and analysis) 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Bg6 7.Nxg6 hxg6 A solid line, Black gets a lead in development and White the bishop pair plus space. Black must attack the centre at some point withc6-c5ore6-e5 8.a3 Nbd7 9.g3 [ 9.h3 Be7 10.Bd3 0-0 11.0-0 e5 12.cxd5 cxd5 13.dxe5 Nxe5 14.Bb1 Rc8 15.Ba2 Nc4 16.Qd3 Qd7 17.Rd1 Rfd8 18.e4 dxe4 19.Qxd7 Rxd7 20.Rxd7 Nxd7 21.Nxe4 b5 22.Bg5 Bxg5 23.Nxg5 a5 24.Re1 Kf8 25.Nh7+ Kg8 26.Ng5 Kf8 27.Nh7+ Kg8 28.Re7 Kxh7 29.Rxd7 f6 30.a4 Ne5 31.Rd4 g5 32.axb5 Kh6 33.Bb3 Rb8 34.Ba4 Rb6 35.Kf1 Nf7 36.Rc4 Ne5 37.Rc8 g6 38.Rc7 Re6 39.Bb3 Rb6 40.g4 1-0 Finegold,B (2539)-Zaremba,A (2342)/Philadel...

Rest Day at the WCC Since we have a rest day, let's throw up a puzzle: Kramnik,V (2730) - Short,N (2645) Dortmund Dortmund (5), 1995 [Notes by Bangiev,A] 22.Bxe6! Strong! [ 22.Nf4! Rxd4 23.Nxg6! Qe8 ( 23...fxg6 24.Bxe6+ Kh8 25.Qxg6+-) 24.Bxe6 fxe6 25.Nf4+-; 22.Nxe6? Qxh4] 22...fxe6 [ 22...Nxe5 23.de5, 23.Ba2 23.dxe5 Rxd1 24.Bxf7+ Qxf7 25.Nxf7+-] 23.Qxg6+- Nxe5 [ 23...Nf6 24.exf6 24.exf6 Qxf6 25.Qh7+ Kf8 26.Nf4!+-] 24.Qh7+ Kf8 25.Nf4! [ 25.Nf4 Ke8 26.dxe5 Rxd1 27.Qg6+ Kf8 28.Nfxe6++-] 1-0

Kramnik, possibly exausted from three Blacks in a row, capitulated to a nearly perfectly played, unbalanced position by Topalov. As Susan Polgar put it so well in her blog, I paraphrase: "These kinds of positions you should play out hundreds and thousands of times. It is the only way you can understand them. That was part of my training as a young girl". G8: Kramnik,V (2743) - Topalov,V (2813) WCh Elista RUS (8), 05.10.2006 [IM Malcolm Pein] (Thanks to Mark Crowther, The Week In Chess , and Malcolm Pein for commentary and analysis) 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 So this is Topalov's surprise, its a line Kramnik also plays with Black 8.Be2 Bb7 9.0-0 b4 10.Na4 c5!? Sharper than the standard 10... Be7 Topalov's pre-match preparation emerges. 11.dxc5 Nxc5 12.Bb5+ Ncd7 13.Ne5 Qc7 14.Qd4 [ 14.Nxd7 Nxd7 15.e4 ( 15.b3 Bd6 16.Bb2 Rd8 17.h3 0-0 18.Rc1 Qb8 19.Bxd7 Rxd7 20.Qg4 f5 21.Qg5 Qd8 22.Qxd8 Rfxd8 23.Nc5 Bxc5 24.Rxc5 Rd2 25.Bd4 Rd7 26....