on the move #9jan12 copy - · pdf filevic teams championship 2011 this year’s victorian...

On The Move January 2012

www.chessclub.com.au

Chess or Politics?

In retrospect it was an interesting choice - attend the Chess Victoria AGM or help the Mildura Chess Club put on their first Open Weekender. At the time there was never any doubt in my mind, I've been providing assistance to the Mildura Club for close to 10 years and it was an exciting step to watch them venture into ACF rated events!

It ended up being a great weekend. The Mildura Chess Club are planning to make their event a regular on the Grand Prix Calendar and I'm sure that within a few years it will be as big as the Tri-Nation Series...after all what better location for players from SA, NSW and Vic to come together for a relaxed resort-style weekender.

Back in Melbourne, at the CV AGM, stalwart Gerry Hartland was also satisfied with the weekend (I quote his words from the Box Hill newsletter) "Congratulations to all the boys. No young people no women steady as she goes."

Now I see why Chess Victoria's executive rejected offer from Tornelo of a 3-year, $5000 (per year) sponsorship of the Vic Open, in favour of the Box Hill bid of "same as the last 10 years, plus 10% on entry fees and prize-money".

I guess for the politicians it's all about 'jobs for the boys', back-patting and the joy of seeing the same faces at the same events year after year. For me

it's about doing new things, challenging status-quo, striving to improve and actually getting out there and DOING stuff ... I guess it turns out I'm not suited to politics after all.

David CordoverChess Guru

Covering Chess in Victoria, Australia and the WorldEdited by IM Robert Jamieson

Chess World Australia Pty. Ltd. ABN 41 118 087 862

On The Move

In This Issue ....Vic Teams Championship 2011Cecil v LloydChess Masters FinalVic. Championship gameHow to play boring chessMoves we missWarm up puzzlesWorld Youth ChampionshipsCity of Melbourne OpenMelbourne Cup of ChessLetters to BobDo you know the rules?Magazine ReviewStudy EndgamesKeeping Stronger Players in ChessLack of Sight no Problem

JUSTIN

TAN

STARS

IN

WYCC

Vic Teams Championship2011

This year’s Victorian Teams Championship was played in 3 divisions with MCC taking out the top division.

The MCC team was Mirko Rujevic, James Morris, Jesse Jager and David Garner and Justin Penrose.

Full scores are on the Chess Victoria website http://www.chessvictoria.org.au/2011vic_teams_competition.htm

The top division of the Victorian team Championship had some problems this year. Of the 8 places, there were only 7 teams that wanted to play, and two of them, MCC 2 and Box Hill have both appeared to be struggling to survive at times. Also, with so many players involved in the Victorian Championships and Reserves during August, a number of matches were postponed for that month, however all was well in the finish.

Carl Gorka drew my attention to the following pretty little game from board one in the match MCC v Noble Park.

Vic Teams Championship 2011IM Mirko Rujevic 2293FM Dusan Stojic 2278Sicilan Defence1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.Be2 h6 8.Be3 b5 9.a4 bxa4

White to play

10.Ne6 Qa5 11.Rxa4 Qxa4 12.Nxa4 fxe6 13.Bh5+ Nxh5 14.Qxh5+ Kd8 15.Bb6+ Nxb6 16.Nxb6 Rb8 17.Qa5 1-0



http://www.chessvictoria.org.au/2011vic_teams_competition.htm




Cecil v Lloyd

By IM Robert Jamieson

I was browsing through some old issues of “Chess World” the other day (yes, I lead a very exciting life!) and came across a game between two characters of Australian Chess. Purdy v Fell 1948.

Purdy was a small, fit-looking man, bald as a bat but wearing a silly toupee and an eyeshade so that his opponent couldn't see where he was looking. Fell by contrast was also small in stature but with a huge pot belly and his trousers were kept up with braces. He too was bald, but without the toupee, and spoke in a strange, high-pitched voice. Purdy had been the Australian Chess Champion. Fell had been the Australian Draughts Champion.

Let's see how they played back in those days.

Match 1948C.J.S. PurdyL.FellSicilian Defence1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Be2 g6 7.Bg5 Bg7 8.Nb3 h6 9.Bh4 a5 10.a4 Be6 11.O-O Bxb3 12.cxb3 O-O 13.Qd2 13.f4 was more precise. Black probably should have played ...g5 on one of the last few moves.13...Qb6 14.Bc4 Qd4? This is just wasting time for no gain. Fell considered himself to be an expert at endgames and so perhaps he was content to waste a couple of tempi just to get the queens off.15.Qxd4 Nxd4 16.Rad1 Nc6 17.f4 Rac8 18.Rfe1 White has the 2 Bs and more space.

18...Nh5 19.Nd5 e6? (Rfe8) 20.Ne7+ Nxe7 21.Bxe7 Rfe8 22.Bxd6 Bxb2 23.Re2 Bf6 24.g4 Ng7 25.Red2 e5?25...Bd8 was better. Purdy has several promising lines. 23.f5 looks pretty good. Also 23.Bb5 Red8 24.fxe5 wins a pawn but it's only a doubled pawn. Is there something better?

White to Play26.Bb5! Red8 26...exf4 was best, but Black probably missed White’s clever reply.27.g5! hxg5 28.fxe5 1-0Very pretty. The Black B is entombed.Not too bad for a couple of old fellows.



Chess character, Lloyd Fell. Is the hat better than Purdy’s toupee? You be the judge.

If you like playing through interesting grandmaster games then the following game is certainly worth a look. Confusing tactics rule!

Bilbao 2011GM L.Aronian 2807GM V.Ivanchuk 2765Queens Gambit1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 e6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.Bg5 Bb4 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Nd2 c6 8.e3 Nf8 9.Bd3 Be7 10.Qc2 Ne6 11.Bh4 g6 12.h3 O-O 13.Nf3 a5 14.g4 b5 15.Ne5 Bb7 16.f4 c5 17.f5 cxd4 18.fxe6 dxc3 19.O-O

19...d4! A surprise. White thought he was attacking but now Black is also!

20.Nxf7 Better may have been 20.exf7+ Kg7 21.e4 to block the diagonal.20...Qd5 21.Bxf6 Qh1+ 22.Kf2 Qxh3 23.Ke1 cxb2 24.Qxb2 Bb4+ 25.Kd1 Bf3+ 26.Rxf3 Qxf3+ 27.Be2 Qxf6 28.g5 Qg7 29.Qxd4

29...Rxf7?Better was 29...Bc3!30.exf7+ Qxf7 31.Rc1 Rb8 32.a4?? Losing a piece. 32.Rc2 was best.32...Qb3+ 33.Rc2 Qb1+ 34.Rc1 Qb3+ 35.Rc2 Rc8 36.Bc4+ bxc4 37.Qd5+ Kf8 38.Qd7 Re8 1-0



Lev Aronian

Victorian Championship GAme

Lawrence Matheson has sent in a pretty little game form this year’s Victorian Championships.

He comments: Quick thoughts: the Na6 plan against the f3 Benoni is not meant to be great for black, 16.b4! seems to refute almost all of black's previous play and then there were a few simple tactics to negotiate after that.

Victorian Championships, Round 1 L.MathesonD.StojicBenoni Defence.1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 c5 4.d5 Bg7 5.e4 d6 6.Nc3 0–0 7.Be3 e6 8.Qd2 exd5 9.cxd5 Re8 10.a4 Na6 11.Nge2 Nc7 12.Ng3 a6 13.Be2 Rb8 14.0–0 b5 15.axb5 axb5 16.b4 cxb4 17.Na2 Na6 18.Rab1 h5 19.Nxb4 Nxb4 20.Rxb4 h4 21.Nh1 Bd7 22.Nf2 Qa5 23.Rfb1 Rec8 24.Bd4 Nh5 25.Bxg7 Kxg7 26.f4 Rh8 27.Qd4+ f6

28.e5 Bf5 29.Ra1 Nxf4 30.exf6+ Kf7 31.Bf1 Qc7 32.Ra7 Rb7 33.Rxb7 Qxb7 34.Rxb5 Qxb5 35.Bxb5 g5 36.Qa7+ 1-0

Chess is a strange game in that a player can have many fine wins in a tournament, yet one bad loss will be so painful as to erase the joy of many wins. I remember stories of one Melbourne player whose initials are DH who allegedly, after a big blunder, would walk outside the Melbourne Chess Club and keep hitting his head against a lamp post!

No doubt this is how Denmark's top player, GM Sune Hansen, must have felt after his game against world #3 GM Lev Aronian in the European Team Championship. Hansen was White in the position in the diagram below and he has a crushing attack, but is in time trouble. He must chose between 1.Rxg7 or 1.Rg6 or 1.fxe8=Q or 1.Ng5 or 1.Kh2. All of these moves win except one. Your task is to find the one losing move played by Hansen and his opponent's reply.

ANSWER:White played 1.fxe7=Q?? and was stunned when Black replied 1...Qh3+ 2.Rh2 Rxg1+ Kxg1 3.Qf1# 0-1. Any of the other first moves would have won easily.



How to Play boring chess


I know what you are thinking. Why would anyone want to play boring chess?

If you are a practical player you will have realised that there is more than one way to win at chess. Many players are good at attacking, but give them a quiet position and they are all at sea.

One of the best “quiet” players of all time was Karpov who had an incredible ability to manoeuvre, wait, prod for weaknesses and gradually outplay his opponent.

His perennial opponent, Gary Kasparov, was an attacking player but, over time, as he played many games against Karpov, he too learnt the value of patience.

Have a look at the position in the diagram. White is clearly better as Black has a weak, isolated pawn which is attacked four times. White cannot yet capture the pawn as it would allow Black counter-play along the “c” file, so what does he do. Have a think about what you would play.

1.h3 Gaining control of the g4 square.1...h5! Gaining space and prevent any plans White may have for playing g4.2.a3 A useful waiting move.

2...g6 Weakens the dark squares a bit but supports the h5 pawn and allows Black to follow up with Kg7.3.e3 Improving his pawn structure and cementing control of d4.3...Kg7 No panic - just improve the position of the King.4.Kh2 Protecting h3 to free the B.4...Rc4 Inviting a trade of rooks.5.Bf3 Improving the placement of the B and continuing to wait.5...b5 Seeking some play on the queenside.6.Kg2 Improving the placement of the King and continuing to wait.

Notice how Karpov has just played 6 “little” moves in a row to improve his position and wait for his opponent to self-destruct under the pressure of having to find moves. Karpov went on to win after a long end-game. Now that’s patience. Boring? Perhaps, but effective.

Try it sometime yourself.



Karpov v Kasparov

White to Play

moves we Miss


The problem with chess is that there are many possible moves and we can’t analyse them all. To be a good player we need to train our brain to “fine tune” our analysis so that we look at a small number of relevant moves (and don’t miss anything!). As we get older the tendency is to reduce the amount we analyse (too much like hard work) and rely on experience and “feel” for the position to still come up with a good move.

To do this we often make assumptions. One such assumption is rationality. I remember playing a game in the Australian Lightning Championship and leaving my Queen en pris. I missed it. My opponent missed it. Everyone else in the room saw it! Why did my opponent not see that he could take my Queen? He assumed that the Australian Champion would not leave his Queen to be taken and so only looked at what he was already planning. He assumed “rationality.”

One example that I often show my students is a position where Karpov has his N on a good square (c3) and his brilliant move is to play it back to where it came from (b1). No-one ever finds this idea. It’s counter-intuitive to “un-develop” a developed piece and “backwards” moves are very hard to find. From childhood we are lectured about developing our pieces quickly and putting them on good squares so we are trained not to look for such moves.

I’ve recently been trying to solve some difficult problems on “Chess Tempo” and invariably the obvious moves which spring to my mind turn out not to be the solution. I have to really

force myself to examine the whole board and to look at different ideas to the idea that I have previously been looking at.

Even the best players in the world can occasionally coast along and only look at the obvious moves. Take the following position for example. It looks like a relatively even position and there are no tactical threats, so what is White to play?

Boris Gelfand (US) v Gata Kamsky (US)World Championship candidates semi-final,

Kazan 2011.

White to PlayHave you decided on your move? I like to focus on putting my pieces on good squares and chasing my opponent’s pieces to bad squares, so I’m sure that I would play 1.a3 without much thought. This forces either 1...Na6 or more likely 1...Nd5 when I might consider 2.e4.

Unfortunately for White Black’s brain is not in “coasting” mode and he has spotted a flaw in our plans. Now that you know that there is something to look for you can probably find it (after 1.a3??).

The answer is on the next page.



Warm-Up PuzzlesTwo puzzles to tune up your brain for your next game. (Answers below)

White to Play

Black to Play



ANSWERS:#1 1.Rxg8 Kxg8 2.f7+ Kf8 3.Bg7+ 1-0#2 1...Ng2!! 2.f3 Ne3+ 0-1

world YOUTH chess championships

Justin Tan was the only player to beat the winner of the World U/14 Youth Championships held in Brazil in Nov.

World Youth Championship U14 2011Justin Tan AUS 2160FM Kirill Alekseenko RUS 2351Sicilian Defence1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 a6 8.O-O-O Bd7 9.f3 Be7 10.Be3 h5 11.h3 b5 12.Bd3 h4 13.f4 Rc8 14.Nf3 Nb4 15.Kb1 Bc6 16.Qe1 Qc7 17.Bf2 d5 18.e5 Nd7 19.f5 Nxd3 20.cxd3 d4 21.Nxd4

21...Qxe5 22.Qd2 b4 23.Nce2 O-O 24.Rhe1 Qf6 25.Nxc6 Rxc6 26.Nd4 Rd6 27.fxe6 Nc5 28.Qe3 Nxe6 29.Nf3 g5 30.d4 Rfd8 31.Qe4 Rd5 32.Bg1 Qf5 33.Qxf5 Rxf5 34.Ne5 Bf6 35.Ng4 Bg7 36.Ne3 Rb5 37.d5 Nd4 38.Bh2 Rc5 39.Rc1 Rxc1+ 40.Rxc1 f5 41.Bc7 Rf8 42.d6 Kf7 43.Nd5 Ke6 44.Nxb4 g4 45.Re1+ Kf7 46.Re7+ Kg6 47.d7 Bf6 48.d8=Q Rxd8 49.Bxd8 Bxe7 50.Bxe7 f4 51.hxg4 f3 52.gxf3 h3 53.Bd6 Kg5 54.Nd3 Nxf3 55.Nf2 1-0ANSWER to previous page:1.a3 c4!! wins immediately as 2.dxc allows 2...Nc5.

City of Melbourne Open 2011

Striving hard to beat a lower-rated opponent has its dangers as IM James Morris discovered in the following game.

City of Melbourne OpenIM J.Morris! 2327J.Penrose!2024Vienna Game1.e4 d5 2.Nc3 d4 3.Nce2 e5 4.Ng3 Be6 5.Nf3 f6 6.Bb5+ c6 7.Ba4 Nd7 8.Bb3 Nc5 9.Bxe6 Nxe6 10.O-O d3 11.c3 Qd7 12.Re1 Bc5 13.b4 Be7 14.Rb1 h5 15.Re3 g6 16.Ne1 Nf4 17.Qf3 O-O-O 18.Nf1 h4 19.g3 hxg3 20.fxg3 Rh3 21.Qf2 Qg4 22.Kh1 Ne6 23.Nxd3 Ng5 24.Qg2 Qe6 25.Rb2 Nh6 26.Nf2 Rh5 27.d3 f5 28.Re1 Nhf7 29.Bxg5 Rxg5 30.Rbe2 Rh8 31.exf5 gxf5 32.d4 f4 33.Nd3 fxg3 34.Nxg3 Qg6 35.Re3 exd4 36.Nf4 Qd6 37.Rxe7 Qxf4 38.Rf1 Qxg3 39.Qxg3 Rxg3 40.Rfxf7 dxc3 41.Rc7+ Kb8 42.Rxb7+ Ka8 43.Rxa7+ Kb8 44.Rab7+ Ka8 45.Rbc7 Rg6

White to Play46.Rf2? (take the draw!) 46...Rd8 47.h3 Kb8 48.Re7 Rgd6 49.Rff7 R6d7 1-0

Melbourne cup of chess 2011

Here is the fantastic game between top seed George Xie and young gun Bobby Cheng striving to topple George from first place.

MCC Cup WeekenderIM George Xie ! ! 2440FM Bobby Cheng! 2346ECO "D45"1.Nf3 d5 2.e3 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 e6 5.d4 Nbd7 6.Qc2 b6 7.Be2 Bb7 8.O-O Be7 9.Rd1 O-O 10.e4 dxe4 11.Nxe4 Nxe4? (11...Qc7) 12.Qxe4 Qc7 13.Bd3 Nf6 14.Qh4 c5 15.Bf4 Qc8 16.Ne5 cxd4 17.Bxh7+ (17.Ng4 h5 18.Bg5 Nxg4 19.Bxe7 Re8 20.Qxh5 +=) 17. ... Nxh7 18.Qxe7 f6 19.Rxd4 (19.Bh6!?) 19...fxe5 20.Rd7 Qxd7 21.Qxd7 Rf7 22.Qxe6 exf4 23.f3 Nf8 24.Qd6 Re8 25.Qd2 Re3 26.Rd1 Rfe7 27.h4 Ng6 28.Qd6 R3e6 29.Qb8+ Kh7 30.h5 Ne5 31.Rd8 Nf7 32.Rd4 Bxf3! 33.Qxf4 (33.gxf3 Re1+ 34.Kg2 R7e2+ 35.Kh3 Rh1+ 36.Kg4 Ne5+ 37.Kxf4 Rh4+ 38.Kg3 Rxd4 -+) 33. ... Bxh5 34.Qh4 g6 35.g4

35...Re4 (35. ... g5!! 36.Qxh5+ Rh6) 36.Qf6 Re1+ 37.Kg2 R7e2+ 38.Kh3 Re3+ 39.Kg2 R3e2+ 40.Kh3 Re3+ 41.Kg2 1/2-1/2



More Letters from Readers for you to enjoy...

Letters to Bob...

This letter is from Leo NEd of elwood

Dear Bob.

I very upset. Australian player have no manners. I play in Vic Lightning Championship against horrid little boy named "Little Jimmy" and he keep banging pieces and smashing clock. Normally I beat him very easy, but he put me off and I even lose game. Dis bad behaviour would never be allowed back in Russia. Wat can I do?

Dear Leo,

I have never played this "Little Jimmy" fellow but I can sympathise with you as I did have a similar experience many years ago at Ballarat. On that occasion I was playing a new arrival from Russia and he kept banging the clock. He was so upset at losing to me he wouldn't even shake hands when I beat him! At the time I was President of the ACF as well Chairman of Selectors so I thought it was weird that this guy was trying to annoy me. Anyway I have a long memory and I got him back simply by not selecting him for the Olympiad team. Perhaps this strategy would work for you too. Why don't you have a quiet chat to the President of Chess Victoria and suggest that "Little Jimmy" is not the sort of player that we want representing Victoria until he learns how to behave properly. It's about time that the younger generation learnt to respect their elders. I once lost to the Rogers boy back in 1977 when he upset me during a game - so I know how you feel.If all else fails Len, you could take up seniors chess. I can't imaging Phil Viner banging the clock against you.

I share your pain,Bob

This letter is from MAGNUS of Oslo

Dear Bob,

I am thinking of taking a holiday “down under” and perhaps playing a bit of chess at the same time. Can you recommend any tournaments that I can play in over the Xmas holidays? I’d particularly like to play in a tournament that uses Tornelo as it looks like a great program and I’d like to see it in action.

Dear Magnus,

It’s great to have a letter from overseas. I didn’t realise that OTM was read so widely.

We have lots of tournaments here over the Xmas hols so I’m sure that we can find something for you. Unfortunately not all events in Australia are using Tornelo yet so the Australian Championships, for instance, would not be suitable. I don’t think we let foreignors play in it anyway, particularly if they don’t have an ACF rating.

There is a good tournament on in New Zealand in January however, run by my good friend GM Murray Beard. That may be a possibility although you may find the going a bit tough. Tornelo starts all new players off with rating of 1000 so you would continually be facing higher-rated opponents. Perhaps that’s something you may, like me, enjoy. In fact I had to give up chess some years ago when I had improved so much I couldn’t find any higher rated opponents worth playing. It’s tough at the top, but I guess you wouldn’t understand that.Cheers,Bob



Do You know the rules?by Robert Jamieson

Picture this scene. Ray Keene, the English IM has been struggling for years to get his grandmaster title and become England’s second GM.

He needs one more GM norm to clinch the title and if he wins his game in the last round of the 1976 Olympiad he will get his final norm and the coveted title. His opponent, Donoso from Chile, is however putting up stern resistance and Keene is struggling to make headway.

R.Keene v P.Donoso 1976

Play continued 1... Kc7 2.Ra7+ Kd6 3.Ra6 Kc7 4.Ra7+ Kd6Looks like Keene is struggling to make headway and so they have repeated the position twice.5.Ra8 Ke7 6.Ra6!! Here Donoso realised that he could bring about the same position for a third time (which every schoolboy knows is a draw)

so he summoned the arbiter and announced that he intended to play 6...Kd6 and so claimed a draw by triple repetition. Keene was not concerned! In fact Donoso had fallen for his clever trap as 6...Kd6 is a bad move which immediately loses the game.

What Donoso hadn’t realised, and what the arbiter quickly pointed out, was that to claim triple repetition it must be the same player to move and in this position it was now White to move whereas before it had been Black. Worse still, Donoso was forced to play his announced move and lost quickly as follows:6...Kd6 7.d5 Ke5 8.dxc6 Bc8 9.Ra8 Kf4 10.Bd5 1-0.And thus Ray Keene became a grandmaster with a little help from a knowledge of the rules of chess.



What would you play?

Geller v Smyslov 1956 - Black to PlayBlack is coasting along the exchange ahead.Most players would play 1...Rg6 but Smyslov found 1...Qe4! (threatening 2...Qh7) and won quickly.

magazine Review

Australasian ChessReviewed by IM Robert Jamieson

Australasian Chess is published bi-monthly and seeks to cover chess in Australia and New Zealand plus overseas news. It sells for $8.95 per issue.

The magazine has many interesting colour pics and packs a lot of material into 72 pages, although I find some of it quite boring. I would rarely, if ever, publish a game without a diagram, and Charles Zworestine’s round by round tournament reports are just too much detail for me.

FM Max Illingworth does a good job with the games column. This guy clearly likes to analyse and his enthusiasm shows out.

FM Chris Wallis presents some challenging tactical problems to solve, which I usually have a go at, but the couple of pages devoted to composed problems are a waste of space for most of us.

I’ve probably read more chess magazines than anyone else in Australia and the best ones are where the personality of the Editor comes through.

That’s where Cecil Purdy was such a great writer. Unfortunately Brian Jones does not have this quality and often writes in the third person. He even describes Spencer Crakanthorp and Cecil Purdy as “former Australian Chess Champions.” They are former everything because they are dead!

Despite these criticisms there is a roll for a hard-copy magazine to serve as a permanent record of he events of the day (for when digital records have long since been lost to time) and “Australian Chess” does this well.



Study Endgames!


I think it was Capablanca who said that we should spend more time studying endgames as so often decisions in the late middle-game are based on whether the resulting endgame position will be good or bad for us.

It would be terrible for instance to swap off into K+R+P v K+R thinking that we were winning only to discover that it was a book draw.

Take the following position for example from a game I played in the 1992 Summer Interclub Competition. What would you play here as White?

B.Hastings v R.Jamieson

White to Play

The game continued as follows:1.Nc1 Bc5+ 2.Kf3 a4 3.Na2 Kd4 4.Kf4 Kc4 5.Kg5 Kb3 6.Nc1+ Kc2 7.Na2 Kb2 0-1.Michael Baron, walking past the board, did not analyse the position but immediately

saw the correct idea for White. “Robert!” he exclaimed in his broad Russian accent. “You wus lucky. It is immediate draw!” 1.Nxa5! and White’s King hides on h1 with a book draw as Black’s B is on the wrong colour to get the K out of the corner. A lucky escape for Black.

In the second diagram, taken from a game between two strong grandmasters, White is losing and can choose between 1.Ne4+ or 1.Nb3. Which would you choose?

Furman v Smejkal 1971

White chose 1.Ne4+ and resigned after 1...Kf3 2.Nxc5 a2 3.Nb3 Ke4 4.Kg2 Kd5 as the N will be chased away from the defence of a1.

When the game ended former World Champion, Mikhail Tal, who had been watching, asked Smejkal “What were you going to play on 1.Nb3?” Smejkal said “1...a2, of course” but he was shocked when Tal showed him 2.Nc1!! and if 2...a1=Q it’s stalemate. “Ah!” he exclaimed. “But I can play 2.a1=N! and I’m still winning.” Tal, one of the greatest tacticians of all-time calmly played 3...Nb3!! and left Smejkal to ponder his lucky victory.



Keeping stronger players in chess...by FM Grant Szuveges

Let’s give them incentive to stay!I feel that the biggest problem facing Australian chess at the moment is the loss of adults rated between 1900 and 2300. Too many of these players are leaving chess for a variety of reasons. This is the crop of players from where our next FMs, IMs and GMs are going to come We need to keep as many of these players in the game as possible in order to give ourselves the best chance of turning the maximum number of them into titled players!

When I discuss chess with many of these types of players (those who are still playing and those who have dropped out), I find that most of them feel that despite becoming extremely good at what they do, the chess scene doesn’t give them any support. While the chess scene gives excessive support to juniors who are doing well (whether they are 1400, 1700 or 2200), adults in the 1900-2300 bracket are generally left to fend for themselves. To my mind this situation is wrong and we could do more to keep them in the game.

The problem for these sorts of players is that they are not strong enough to consistently win tournaments but they are too strong to be in rating groups – therefore they are stuck playing in tournaments where they score 5/7 or 6/9 – scores which are often just underneath the prize winners… As one of these players myself, I can remember winning “scraps” - $30 here and there for tournaments where I had actually played reasonably well.

I have two main theories as to how we can keep these players in chess: Firstly if they are too strong for rating prizes but too weak for the top

prizes, we should extend prize pools down a bit more – to perhaps 5th or 6th place, and secondly we should try to actually help these players get stronger! If they get stronger, they will win more larger prizes and thus they will have more incentive to stay in chess.

As a tournament organiser, I understand how tight a tournament budget usually is, and how it is harder than it looks to make a prize pool extend itself further down. This is where the ACF (or state bodies) come into the picture. The state or national body could “sponsor” the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th prizes in events. In a weekender with $500 first prize and $300 second and $200 third, 4th would not need to be more than $100 and 7th may be as little as $30. Its not a huge cost for a national body.

Each year, the ACF could reward the 30 most active players between 1900 and 2300 with a few incentives to keep playing. Perhaps the

ACF (or CV) pays the entry fee for one tournament per year for each of these players, the ACF provides a certain number of books or other study materials for each per year. Even a special “ACF library” for use of these players only could be a lasting asset and be used over a

number of years. Finally, a JETS style coaching program, run by GMs and IMs to help these players improve! This would be a great way to assist these players to take the next step!

This should not be for free. These players should also have to give something back. While they are not strong players if you compare them to GMs and IMs, compared to most club players, they are very strong. Therefore, in order to receive a place in the “subsidized 30”, each of these players should have to commit to doing some sort of service for chess – whether it be coaching at a JETS type of program, being an arbiter at a junior tournament or giving a lecture/simul for junior or grassroots clubs etc.

Perhaps the “subsidized 30” could each be given a junior to mentor – anaylsing games or they could also give them advice etc. about preparation and study.



“the chess scene doesn’t give them any

support”


On 29th August 1924, the chess correspondent of The Times published his report on the Hastings Chess Congress, a tournament that had drawn together many famous names in master chess. At the end of The Times report, a small note arouses interest: “Among the entrants in the Boys’ Championship at the London Chess League Congress which opened at St. Bride’s Institute yesterday, was a blind boy of 12, Rupert Cross. He is a pupil of Worcester College for the Blind, but belongs to London. He is a promising player and has competed before in tournaments. In front of him he has a small set of pegged chessmen, and follows the game by touch.” The black men have rounded tops and the white pieces pointed tops. By gently running his fingers over the board, Cross is evidently able to carry a picture of the position of the men in his head.

During the British Championship at Chester, end-July to early August 1934, Rupert Cross managed to defeat some of the strongest players of his day, including William Winter who the previous year had managed to escape defeat. Here is one of his wins.

British Championship 1934 Rupert CrossC.H.O'D. Alexander A48 - King's Indian without c4

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.h3 Bg7 4.Bf4 d6 5.e3 Nc6 6.Bc4 Nd7 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Ng5+ Kg8 9.Ne6 Qe8 10.Nxc7 Qd8 11.Nxa8 Nf6 12.d5 Nb4 13.c3 Na6 14.Qd4 Nc5 15.b4 Nfe4 16.Qd1 Na6 17.f3

17...Nxc3 18.Nxc3 Bxc3+ 19.Kf2 Bxa1 20.Qxa1 e5 21.dxe6 e.p. g5 22.e7 Qxe7 23.Bg3 h5 24.Qd4 Rh6 25.Rd1 Qf7 26.Bxd6 g4 27.Be5 Be6 28.Qd8+ Kh7 29.b5 Nb4 30.Nc7 gxf3 31.gxf3 Bxh3 32.Qh8+ Kg6 33.Rd6+ Be6 34.Qd8 Kf5 35.Bc3 Nxa2 36.e4+ Kf4 37.Bd2+ Ke5 38.Bxh6 1-0

Cross went on to become a professor and a distinguished lawyer and was awarded a knighthood by the British Monarchy in 1973. He died at Oxford on 12 September 1980 and was remembered as one of the greatest authorities in the realm of British law.

Harry Golombek commented “My friend and I the late Sir Rupert Cross, who was blind from birth, both played in the London Chess Championship for 1926 and he trounced me unmercifully. Though I got the better of him during our university days, he was still quite a formidable player who did well in the sighted British Championship. Like every chess player I have met, he enjoyed playing the game. For the sighted it is a pleasure to play chess, for the unsighted it is a delight.”



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