King's Gambit
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Monday, July 26, 2004
Tool For Making Nice-Looking Chess Boards
You might have noticed the different looking board that shows the problem of the day. I got tired of fiddling with JPEG images and wrote a small JavaScript tool that accepts standard FEN notation and outputs valid HTML that draws a chessboard using freely available graphics. You can download it here. There is no documentation yet but once I've done some testing and converted all the problems on this site to this new format, I'll write some instructions. Feel free to use it on your own chess-related site and send me an e-mail with the URL.
You might have noticed the different looking board that shows the problem of the day. I got tired of fiddling with JPEG images and wrote a small JavaScript tool that accepts standard FEN notation and outputs valid HTML that draws a chessboard using freely available graphics. You can download it here. There is no documentation yet but once I've done some testing and converted all the problems on this site to this new format, I'll write some instructions. Feel free to use it on your own chess-related site and send me an e-mail with the URL.
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Thursday, July 15, 2004
Solution To Problem Of The Day 2004-07-13
1. c8=N+ the only move that doesn't lose outright. For example 1. c8=Q? Qf3+ 2. Kh2 Qf4+ 3. Kh1 fxg1=Q+ 4. Rxg1 Qxh6+ 5. Qh3 Qxh3# and it's White who gets mated. So 1...Qxc8 (otherwise 1...Ka8 2. Rxa6 Ra7 3. Rxa7#) 2. Qxg7+ Ka8 3. Qg2+ (3. Rxa6 delays mate by one move) 3...Ka7 4. Rh7+ and mate in next move.
1. c8=N+ the only move that doesn't lose outright. For example 1. c8=Q? Qf3+ 2. Kh2 Qf4+ 3. Kh1 fxg1=Q+ 4. Rxg1 Qxh6+ 5. Qh3 Qxh3# and it's White who gets mated. So 1...Qxc8 (otherwise 1...Ka8 2. Rxa6 Ra7 3. Rxa7#) 2. Qxg7+ Ka8 3. Qg2+ (3. Rxa6 delays mate by one move) 3...Ka7 4. Rh7+ and mate in next move.
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Tuesday, July 13, 2004
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
Tempo Is The Key
I've been busy with my correspondence games and work but here's an annotated game I finished a while ago:
T. Lassila - N.N (B20 - Sicilian, Wing Gambit)
1. e4 c5 2. b4
I seldom play 1. e4 so haven't really got any worked lines against Sicilians. The Wing Gambit is not very strong but is useful against weaker Sicilian players who get lost when down some tempo.
2...cxb4 3. a3 bxa3 4. Nxa3 a6 5. Bb2 Nc6 6. Nf3 d6 7. d4 Bg4 8. Be2 Bxf3?!
Trading off the bishop pair gives nothing for Black and in fact my position is bolstered by this trade.
9. Bxf3 Qa5+ 10. c3 e5 11. Nc4
Conquering space from the center and allowing for the pawn push.
11...Qc7 12. d5
Maybe even better is 12. dxe5, trying to break through while Black is down on development.
12...b5 13. dxc6 bxc4 14. Qd5 Nf6
My plan is clear - to queen the passed c-pawn. My queen unfortunately must stand in the defence of her subject so I need to mobilize my other pieces quickly before Black gets his defence together.
15. Qxc4 a5 16. O-O Be7 17. Rfb1
With the idea 18. Bc1, 19. Be3 and 20. Bb6.
17...O-O 18. Bc1 Rfb8 19. Be3 Ne8!
Now I realize that 20. Bb6 doesn't work with the rook on b8. Black meanwhile plays a good move that mobilizes his bishop and safeguards c7.
20. g3 Rxb1+ 21. Rxb1 Rb8 22. Rxb8 Qxb8 23. Qa6 Bd8 24. Bg4!?
I was running out of ideas here and instinctively played the risky looking Bg4, which turned out to be a key move in the end.
25...Qb1+ 25. Kg2 Qxe4+?
Surprisingly, this move loses. For example: 26. Bf3 Qf5 27. Qa8 e4 28. Be2 Qf6 29. Bb6 e3 30. fxe3 Qxc3 31. Bxd8 Qxe3 and White wins.
26. Kh3 f5
Seems to block things but doesn't. For example 27. Bh5 g6 28. Qc8! gxh5 29. c7 Qg4+ 30. Kg2 Bxc7 31. Qxe8+ Kg7 32. Qe7+ Kg8 33. Qe6+ Kh8 34. Qc8+ Kg7 35. Qxc7+ wins. The best try is 27...g5 28. Bxg5! Bxg5 29. Qc8! wins.
27. Bh5 Nf6??
This loses by force.
28. c7! Nxh5
Since 28...Bxc7 29. Qc8+ and mate in two follows.
29. cxd8=Q+ Kf7 30. Qa7+ Kg6 31. Qg5# 1-0
I've been busy with my correspondence games and work but here's an annotated game I finished a while ago:
T. Lassila - N.N (B20 - Sicilian, Wing Gambit)
1. e4 c5 2. b4
I seldom play 1. e4 so haven't really got any worked lines against Sicilians. The Wing Gambit is not very strong but is useful against weaker Sicilian players who get lost when down some tempo.
2...cxb4 3. a3 bxa3 4. Nxa3 a6 5. Bb2 Nc6 6. Nf3 d6 7. d4 Bg4 8. Be2 Bxf3?!
Trading off the bishop pair gives nothing for Black and in fact my position is bolstered by this trade.
9. Bxf3 Qa5+ 10. c3 e5 11. Nc4
Conquering space from the center and allowing for the pawn push.
11...Qc7 12. d5
Maybe even better is 12. dxe5, trying to break through while Black is down on development.
12...b5 13. dxc6 bxc4 14. Qd5 Nf6
My plan is clear - to queen the passed c-pawn. My queen unfortunately must stand in the defence of her subject so I need to mobilize my other pieces quickly before Black gets his defence together.
15. Qxc4 a5 16. O-O Be7 17. Rfb1
With the idea 18. Bc1, 19. Be3 and 20. Bb6.
17...O-O 18. Bc1 Rfb8 19. Be3 Ne8!
Now I realize that 20. Bb6 doesn't work with the rook on b8. Black meanwhile plays a good move that mobilizes his bishop and safeguards c7.
20. g3 Rxb1+ 21. Rxb1 Rb8 22. Rxb8 Qxb8 23. Qa6 Bd8 24. Bg4!?
I was running out of ideas here and instinctively played the risky looking Bg4, which turned out to be a key move in the end.
25...Qb1+ 25. Kg2 Qxe4+?
Surprisingly, this move loses. For example: 26. Bf3 Qf5 27. Qa8 e4 28. Be2 Qf6 29. Bb6 e3 30. fxe3 Qxc3 31. Bxd8 Qxe3 and White wins.
26. Kh3 f5
Seems to block things but doesn't. For example 27. Bh5 g6 28. Qc8! gxh5 29. c7 Qg4+ 30. Kg2 Bxc7 31. Qxe8+ Kg7 32. Qe7+ Kg8 33. Qe6+ Kh8 34. Qc8+ Kg7 35. Qxc7+ wins. The best try is 27...g5 28. Bxg5! Bxg5 29. Qc8! wins.
27. Bh5 Nf6??
This loses by force.
28. c7! Nxh5
Since 28...Bxc7 29. Qc8+ and mate in two follows.
29. cxd8=Q+ Kf7 30. Qa7+ Kg6 31. Qg5# 1-0
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Serious chess. Serious fun!
