Friday, October 30, 2020

Black to play

Mar del Plata, Mar del Plata ARG
Bernardo Wexler (?) vs. Osvaldo Manuel Bazan (?)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
hgfedcba
-3
(black to move)
1.c4Nf6
2.g3e5
3.Bg2c6
4.Nc3d5
5.cxd5cxd5
6.Qb3e4
7.d3exd3
8.Nxd5Nxd5
9.Bxd5Bb4+
10.Kf1dxe2+
11.Nxe2O-O
12.Be3Bh3+
13.Kg1Qe7
14.a3Bd6
15.Bxb7Nd7
16.Bxa8Rxa8
17.Qd5Rd8
18.Qh5Bc5
19.Nd4Bxd4
20.Bxd4Qe6
21.Bc3Nf6
22.Qf3Rd5
23.Re1Qc6
24.Bxf6gxf6
25.g4Rd1
 

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

Friday, October 16, 2020

Tricky Ending

Most King and Pawn endings are relatively simple to play, but there are exceptions called "corresponding square" positions that are technically very complicated. Most players below the level of Expert wouldn't even know that these endings exist. I have had a couple of these kinds of endings memorized for around 25 years, but this particular ending I did not know. My first impression looking at the position is that the game would be a draw. As White, Grandmaster Firouzja lost to the world champion Magnus Carlsen because he did not find the correct move here. The right move is counterintuitive. However, I would assume that most professional players would know these positions by heart.  


Saturday, October 10, 2020

A bad opening goes very bad





[Event "Casual Game"]
[Site "https://itsyourturn.com"]
[Date "2020.09.22"]
[Round "?"]
[White "John Coffey"]
[Black "francishenryd"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D07"]
[WhiteElo "2016"]
[PlyCount "33"]
[EventDate "2020.09.22"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nc6 3. c4 Nf6 4. cxd5 Qxd5 5. Nc3 Qd8 6. d5 Nb4 7. Qa4+ Bd7 8.
Qxb4 b6 9. Qb3 e6 10. e4 exd5 11. e5 Ne4 12. Qxd5 Nxc3 13. bxc3 Be6 14. Bb5+
Bd7 15. Bxd7+ Ke7 16. Ba3+ c5 17. Qd6# 1-0