Thursday, June 21, 2012

Sage Mode Chess. Games 8, 7, and 6

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

My Top 10 chess games - Games 10 & 9

Here I present the best chess games I've played so far. All of them are correspondence games and most of them, I played at http://redhotpawn.com (challenge me if you dare!!!). You can see my comments on the games in the Java applet.

Many of you might not agree with my ordering especially games 10th to 6th and may not even agree that some of the games should be in the list (I might have played better against you, but those games are undocumented) but hey, they're MY games.

You might have noticed I don't give looooonnngg winding variations or in-depth technical annotations (though I'll be doing that where possible - or necessary),  that's because this is basically a story-telling sequence, a sort of  diary you're reading through.

Observe also that some of the games are old (the 8th game for example, was played as far back as 2005) and so I might not really remember what exactly I was thinking when I made certain moves.

 If you'd like to share your personal favorite games too (with me), send me the PGN of your games in an e-mail. Please detail your game with as much comment as possible (not unnecessary ones). So we can share your moments with you.

That will be all.

Enjoy.



THE 10TH PLACE PRIZE WINNER
1. g3 I decided I didn't want to play my usual e4 or d4. So I decided to play an opening I'd never really explored before.

1 ...c6 2. Bg2 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. O-O Nf6 5. c4 d5 6. cxd5 cxd5 7. d4 O-O 8. Nc3 Nc6 9. Bg5 h6 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. e3 Rb8

12. b4 I'd decided to put my planning muscles to use. I've read a lot about planning in chess and I still suck at it. I'd planned that if Nxp then the a- rook to the b file (pressuring the pawn, the second rook to the open c-file and at an appropriate time play e4 to open the long diagonal adding more pressure viz-a-viz the fianchettoed bishop on g2

12 ...e6 13. b5 yeah so he didn't take the pawn

13 ...Ne7 14. Rb1 b6 15. Qd3 Qc7 16. Rfc1 Qd6 17. Rb3 Bb7 18. a4 Rfc8 19. Ra1 Bg7

20. Bf1 The only thing I remember about making this move; I needed to protect the b-pawn and my bishop wasn't doing anything on g2. So I decided to give the clergy a mission Since I would have to move my queen sooner or later.

20 ...Rc7 21. a5

21 ...bxa5 After this exchange, my next plan was to place a white knight on the outpost at c4 (where it would take a looooonnng time before it can be exchanged with another minor piece), then double queen and rook on black's a-pawn. Leave the bishop and rook protecting the b-pawn. At the right time, this might just become a passed pawn and decide the game

22. Rxa5 Bc8 23. Na4

23 ...Bd7 error! the black bishop blocks the queen's path of escape therefore going the exchange down on the next move

24. Ra6 Rb6 25. Nxb6 axb6 26. Qd2 Bc8 27. Ra8 Kh7 28. Rc3 Bb7 29. Ra7 Rxc3 30. Qxc3 Qb8

31. Ra1 Planning to double on the c-file with the queen. Black's pieces are already cramped

31 ...f6 32. Rc1 e5

33. Qc7In chess, they call this a family fork!

33 ...Qc8 34. Qxe7 Qxc1 35. Qxb7 1-0



9TH PLACE WINNER IS...

1. d4 This second game I also played at http://itsyourturn.com
1 ...d5 For the longest time, I had wanted to be a successful positional player. This was because I found Petrosian's Constrictor-style really fascinating. He seemed to be able to snuff the life out of his opponent's plan even before the opponent knows what plan to make. His games reveal his deep understanding of positional chess as shown by his exchange sacrifices(R for B, and R for N). So I decided to befriend the gentle giant they call positional chess You can imagine my ecstasy the day read somewhere that 1. d4 usually leads to positional games.... and yep, you guessed it... I began to play 1. d4, from then on.
2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 Nf6
Can you guess the next move?
6. Ba3 From the time we were chess infants, we'd been milked with the importance of castling... so for black, no castling today (come back tomorrow). The bishop is very active on a3 while at the same time preventing black from castling. This is common sense chess
6 ...Ne4 Did black have to move that knight again? Common sense: In the opening, try to move each piece only once
7. Qg4 Qf6 8. Nh3
8 ...Nxc3 black moves his knight a third time.... see my previous comment.
9. cxd5 Nxd5 The e pawn cannot take back because of Q x c8
10. Bc4 Nc6
11. O-O I had felt tempted to play Bb5 at this point, but that would be contradicting my own principles wouldn't it? (that was my next move though)
11 ...Nde7 12. Bb5 Bd7 In my opinion, black should have castled
13. Qe4 a6 Do I have to scream!? I said castle!!!
14. Ba4 Nd5 So, he refused to castle eh?
15. Rfc1 Okay, planning for control of the b- and c- files. Or pressure along the c file by doubling rooks there. It all depends on what happens
15 ...b5 16. Bb3 Nde7 17. Bxe7
17 ...Qxe7 the black knight is pinned to the rook
18. Rxc6 f5 better than ...Bxc3, Qxc3+ picking up the rook
19. Qf3 Bxc6 20. Qxc6+ Kf7
21. d5 High hopes for the d-pawn (If I'm allowed that is) ...exd Bxd+ leading to 2 rooks for the queen
21 ...Qd6 22. dxe6+ Kf6 23. Qc3+ Kg6 24. Nf4+ Kh6
25. Rd1 Bringing the last white piece into the game
25 ...Qb6 At this point, I entered SAGE MODE (any Naruto fans out there?). I suddenly realized the black king had only one legal square to go to. So I decided to complete the mating net by seizing the square...
26. h4 Rhe8
27. Rd7 From now on every white move comes with excruciating impact. This move threatens mate
27 ...Rg8 28. e7 Rge8 29. Bf7 Rec8 30. Ne6 c5 31. Qxg7#
I never want to forget this game, so I saved it in a PGN file and uploaded it to my skydrive! 1-0