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| Posted by kansaspatzer blitzbrain.net 6/07/2008 14:03:34 Play online chess |  Subject: Philidor Position?Message:  gameknot.com | ||||||||||
| Posted by bonsai blitzbrain.net 6/07/2008 15:23:12 Play online chess | Message: The position 60.Rxf4 should be an easy draw, not sure why you gave away your f6 pawn, even so it was all still easily drawn, because your king was on the promotion square. With 67...Ra6+ you nicely set up a third (sixth) rank defence (=Philidor's position) which easily holds the draw. 69...Ra7 is still a draw, but why bother with taking the rook of the 6th rank?? Just wait until his pawn has advanced far enough to not give his king any place to hide from checks and then go to the first rank and check him. In the same sense 71...Ra6 was the right move. 71...Ra5 looses - white could have played 72.Kf6, but he missed that, after 72.Rh7 you could once more have held it with 72...Ra6. After missing that the defence became more complicated. 75...Re1 would still have drawn for black, but it's harder to do. 75...Kf8 looses. However white doesn't really know what he's doing 77.Ra5 is a pointless move that throws away the win, the rook is great on the 8th rank and one should just play 77.Kd6 to advance the pawn (and if Rd1+ then Ke7). After 86...Kf7 you've once more got a nice third rank defence, but you once more go for the wrong kind of continuation with 87...Ra5 and this time white punishes it properly and doesn't let the win slip away, again. | ||||||||||
| Posted by kansaspatzer blitzbrain.net 6/08/2008 02:04:22 Play online chess | Message: ——— The Great London Chess Debate — The former world chess champion Vladimir Kramnik won the London Chess Classic, a tournament that brought the English capital close to its former glory. London was the world chess center in the mid-19th century when the first two important tournaments were organized: the knockout event in 1851 and the round-robin in 1862, both won by the German master Adolf Anderssen, one of the greatest chess attackers. Did the current tournament eclipse the events played roughly 150 years ago? Anderssen did not like the playing conditions in 1851. The chairs and tables were too low for him, the chessboard too big and the players were confined to a small place. But the German chess master would have ... Posted by marinvukusic | blitzbrain.net 6/08/2008 02:31:49 Play online chess Wikipedia is your friendMessage: en.wikipedia.org
Much better than asking on a forum IMHO ——— Chess: Why resign with two queens? — Despite the extra queen, Howell was in trouble and when he missed a miracle defence Kramnik seized his chance. This is the final position of the chess game we considered last week. Kramnik has just played his rook to c8 and Howell promptly resigned. Why? RB: Yes, why did Black resign? With two queens on the board you'd think he'd be fine. But what are his options here? I can see two. The first doesn't seem to help Black: 1…Rxc8 2 Qxc8+ Kh7 3 a8=Q when, with the threat of mate on h8, Black has to continue 3…Qxa8 and after the recapture White is a knight and a pawn up. The alternative is 1…Qxb8 2 axb8=Q Rxc8 3 Qxc8+ Kh7 4 Qf5+, when White is again a knight and pawn to ... Posted by bonsai | blitzbrain.net 6/08/2008 02:49:14 Play online chess Message: ——— Making the Case for, and Against, Chess as an Olympic Sport — Could chess be an Olympic sport? Such an idea may seem absurd to some people, but the World Chess Federation has been lobbying the International Olympic Committee for years to include chess in the Games. As part of its efforts, the federation even instituted drug testing to bring chess into compliance with the committee’s rules. (Players have grumbled about this, pointing out that aside from caffeine, there are no drugs that can plausibly help them play better.) In making a case for chess, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the president of the federation, has said that curling is essentially “chess on ice.” The Olympic committee has granted the federation status as a Recognized International Sports Federation, but ... Posted by ionadowman | blitzbrain.net 6/08/2008 17:54:26 Play online chess marinvukusic -Message: Cheers, Ion ——— On Chess: Game is brainy mix of theory, practice — The frequent emphasis on rote learning is decried by critics of formal education. Learning is often reduced to reproducible sound bites amenable to multiple-choice testing. The result can be a learned incapacity in making complex decisions demanding fluid thinking and purposeful action. We often hear from those who use chess as an educational tool that “Chess makes kids smarter.” But why? Chess, like other games, is a testing ground that combines theory and action. It is no accident that the best performers in sports are often effective men and women who achieve new successes when their athletic careers are over. Playing chess involves a continuous mental process of applying and modifying concepts to ... Posted by marinvukusic | blitzbrain.net 6/09/2008 04:35:02 Play online chess Yeah, but...Message: Of course if the purpose of the topic is fun that forum is better :) ——— Vlad Kramnik sweeps past Englishmen en route to winning London Chess Classic — Beating up the Brits was the key for Russia's Vlad Kramnik, who won this week's London Chess Classic narrowly from the US No1 Hikaru Nakamura and the world No1 Magnus Carlsen. Kramnik made a clean sweep of the four Englishmen. His key game was in the penultimate round against Luke McShane who till then was a contender for the €50,000 first prize and still finished a strong €15,000 richer fourth. Carlsen was only third, yet the combined elite chess events at Moscow last month and London boosted the 21-year-old Norwegian's status as top dog, second only to the retired Garry Kasparov on the all-time ratings. Carlsen was unbeaten in both chess tournaments, whereas Kramnik and ... Posted by ionadowman | blitzbrain.net 6/09/2008 12:57:41 Play online chess Marin...Message: But maybe I shouldn't have said "fun" - rather that a discussion of the question is a more ... social way of exploring the topic. Here, it is a more engaging way of studying this kind of endgame. Cheers, Ion |