Sunday, January 31, 2010
Chess Movie Preview
Rescued Media has posted a "teaser" for their documentary about Brooklyn's I.S. 318 chess team, coached by Elizabeth Vicary and led by Justus Williams. It looks like it is going to be excellent, right up there with Mad Hot Ballroom. Hat tip: Jim West.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Jonah Lehrer on Chess and Expertise
Jonah Lehrer, who often writes on choice and decision making (from How We Decide to "Don't," mentioned here previously), has a great recent blog post on Carlsen and "Chess Intuition," in which he has some interesting things to say about what we mean by expertise:
Although we tend to think of experts as being weighted down by information, their intelligence dependent on a vast set of facts, experts are actually profoundly intuitive. When experts evaluate a situation, they don't systematically compare all the available options or consciously analyze the relevant information. Carlsen, for instance, doesn't compute the probabilities of winning if he moves his rook to the left rather than the right. Instead, experts naturally depend on the emotions generated by their experience. Their prediction errors - all those mistakes they made in the past - have been translated into useful knowledge, which allows them to tap into a set of accurate feelings they can't begin to explain. Neils Bohr said it best: an expert is "a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field." From the perspective of the brain, Bohr was absolutely right.Who was it who said that you have to lose thousands of chess games before you become an expert? Hat tip: Chess Vibes
And this is why we shouldn't be surprised that a chess prodigy raised on chess computer programs would be even more intuitive than traditional grandmasters. The software allows him to play more chess, which allows him to make more mistakes, which allows him to accumulate experience at a prodigious pace.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Kasparov Reviews "Chess Metaphors"
There have been many unintended consequences, both positive and negative, of the rapid proliferation of powerful chess software. Kids love computers and take to them naturally, so it's no surprise that the same is true of the combination of chess and computers. With the introduction of super-powerful software it became possible for a youngster to have a top- level opponent at home instead of needing a professional trainer from an early age. Countries with little by way of chess tradition and few available coaches can now produce prodigies. I am in fact coaching one of them this year, nineteen-year-old Magnus Carlsen, from Norway, where relatively little chess is played.Hat tip The Chess Mind.
The heavy use of computer analysis has pushed the game itself in new directions. The machine doesn't care about style or patterns or hundreds of years of established theory. It counts up the values of the chess pieces, analyzes a few billion moves, and counts them up again. (A computer translates each piece and each positional factor into a value in order to reduce the game to numbers it can crunch.) It is entirely free of prejudice and doctrine and this has contributed to the development of players who are almost as free of dogma as the machines with which they train. Increasingly, a move isn't good or bad because it looks that way or because it hasn't been done that way before. It's simply good if it works and bad if it doesn't. Although we still require a strong measure of intuition and logic to play well, humans today are starting to play more like computers.
The availability of millions of games at one's fingertips in a database is also making the game's best players younger and younger. Absorbing the thousands of essential patterns and opening moves used to take many years, a process indicative of Malcolm Gladwell's "10,000 hours to become an expert" theory as expounded in his recent book Outliers. (Gladwell's earlier book, Blink, rehashed, if more creatively, much of the cognitive psychology material that is re-rehashed in Chess Metaphors.) Today's teens, and increasingly pre-teens, can accelerate this process by plugging into a digitized archive of chess information and making full use of the superiority of the young mind to retain it all. In the pre-computer era, teenage grandmasters were rarities and almost always destined to play for the world championship. Bobby Fischer's 1958 record of attaining the grandmaster title at fifteen was broken only in 1991. It has been broken twenty times since then, with the current record holder, Ukrainian Sergey Karjakin, having claimed the highest title at the nearly absurd age of twelve in 2002. Now twenty, Karjakin is among the world's best, but like most of his modern wunderkind peers he's no Fischer, who stood out head and shoulders above his peers—and soon enough above the rest of the chess world as well.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Barriers, Bridges, and Shelters in Rook Endings
ChessBase has posted a wonderful Karsten Mueller article on building "Barriers" in Rook and pawn endings in order to avoid Rook checks. It's definitely worth a look, if only to admire the clarity of the examples and the useful java interface for learning. Mueller has written in his Endgame Corner at ChessCafe about the importance of creating shelters in Rook endings to avoid checks. Sometimes a pawn might even be surrendered to create the shelter (see Endgame Corner #24), the classic example of which is Capablanca - Tartakower, New York 1924 (well represented online with detailed notes and video commentary.) A classic example of using the Rook as a "bridge" to escape checks is seen in the Lucena Position. Here are some useful pieces on the Lucena:
- The Sacred Key to All Rook Endings: The Lucena Position by Jeremy Silman at his site.
- The Lucena Position by David Surratt at Chessville
- Chess Endgame Lesson: Lucena Position
- Chess Lesson #10: Rook and Pawn Endings, Lucena
- DNAunion: Chess: Endgame: Rook&Pawn:Lucena
72nd Corus at Wijk aan Zee Opens
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Kenilworth CC Championship Begins Tonight
Imagination in Chess
Krasenkow - Swiercz, Warsaw 2010
White to play and win.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Gelfand - Nakamura, Bursa 2010
Gelfand and Nakamura Post Mortem
The internet response to the game Gelfand - Nakamura, 7th World Team Championship, Bursa Turkey 2010, has been almost electric. It is a game with all of the bells and whistles typical of a brilliancy, made all the more special because of the players themselves: the U.S. Champion sacrificed a piece and then left his queen hanging for six moves against the recent winner of the World Cup. Incredible.
Gelfand - Nakamura
Black to play.
Commentators point out the similarities to Beliavsky - Nakamura 2009 and Roozmon - Charbonneau 2008. Here are some notes from around the web:Black to play.
- Nakamura Annotates Gelfand Scorcher by GM Hikaru Nakamura at the USCF website
- Bursa WTC: Nakamura beats Gelfand in round five at ChessBase
- Ben's Blog: Hikaru leads U.S. to victory over Israel, Robson draw clutch by Ben Finegold
- Round 5 Games from Bursa by Dennis Monokroussos
- World Teams '10: Messing with Zohan by Mig Greengard
- Nakamura Brilliancy Beats Gelfand by Malcolm Pein at TWIC
- Russia and USA Lead at World Team Championship at ChessVibes
- Beliavsky and Gelfand Hopelessly Confused by Nakamura’s King’s Indian by Mark Ginsburg
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Thomson - Stoyko, Kenilworth 2010
Thomson - Stoyko, Kenilworth 2010
White to play and draw.
Saturday, January 09, 2010
Jeff Sarwer Interview: Poker and Chess
Jennifer Shahade's "Lost and Found: An Interview with Jeff Sarwer" at the USCF website is worth a read, especially if you are among those numerous chess players with an interest in poker. I have made mention of Sarwer before on this blog ("Jeff Sarwer, Chess Prodigy Turned Poker Star" and "Jeff Sarwer - Josh Waitzkin, National Primary Championship 1986") and his story is worthy of full Hollywood treatment, especially now that he has reached what seems the sort of happy place where the film might end (though his life seems just getting interesting again). I am still waiting for the full story, but I liked his reflections on the difference between poker and chess:
Shahade: How do you compare the wrenching feeling of blundering in chess to the wrenching feeling of getting knocked out of a poker tournament?
Sarwer: Can't compare, blundering in chess feels much worse for me. In poker getting knocked out usually doesn't hurt as much because you lose a coin-flip that was out of your control or someone sucks out on you, things like that. Those type of things tend to effect me very little these days, simply because they have nothing to do with myself, it's just life playing variance with me. Occasionally in poker you feel bad when you do make a mistake, like a bad read, but since it is a game of incomplete information usually it doesn't feel that bad. It's more like a "hmmm got it wrong this time". Not a "how could I miss this? I just missed this stupid knight fork?"
GM Ken Rogoff on Artificial Intelligence
In "Grandmasters and Global Growth," Ken Rogoff (chess grandmaster and one of the world's leading economists) uses chess as an example of how artificial intelligence might represent the next growth sector for the ailing economy and one that might just be the engine to lift us out of the global slowdown. After discussing many of the ways that computers have impacted chess, he writes:
So has all this put chess players out of work? Encouragingly, the answer is “not yet.” In fact, in some ways, chess is as popular and successful today as at any point in the last few decades. Chess lends itself very well to Internet play, and fans can follow top-level tournaments in real time, often with commentary. Technology has helped thoroughly globalize chess, with the Indian Vishy Anand now the first Asian world champion, and the handsome young Norwegian Magnus Carlsen having reached rock-star status. Man and machine have learned to co-exist, for now.See "Grandmasters and Global Growth" in ChessBase for some interesting links. And see his earlier piece in Project Syndicate on "Artificial Intelligence and Globalization" for more on the topic.
Sunday, January 03, 2010
Five Easy Pieces: White Open Sicilian Repertoire
White seeks to play f4 if possible.
Many amateur chess players are put off from playing the Open Sicilian (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 followed by 3.d4) as White because of the wide range of choices at Black's disposal and the apparently large amount of theory you need to know to support this choice. The Open Sicilian looks like a lot of study. But 2.Nf3 followed by 3.d4 is looking better than anything else against the Sicilian these days, and the anti-Sicilian side-lines (especially the Grand Prix, Smith-Morra, and Alapin) have accumulated enough theory of their own to make the effort to learn them nearly comparable to some main line repertoire choices. A number of repertoire books, including John Nunn's three editions of Beating the Sicilian (my first influence), Nigel Davies's interesting Taming the Sicilian, Jesus de la Villa's
But is it possible to construct a low-theory, not-so-mainline Open Sicilian repertoire that is completely supported by free web sources? That's the challenge I took on in compiling the following "Five Easy Pieces" main line Sicilian webliography. If anyone is looking for a "starter" Open Sicilian repertoire on the web, here it is. I may revise it down the road if my interest (or that of readers) merits, especially to add to the supplemental resources at the end. As always, reader suggestions are most welcome.
The lines I have chosen emphasize White's claim on the center, typically with an early f4 advance. These are very dangerous lines, especially at the amateur level where you are likely to score many quick kills by just over-running your opponent in the center (typically with an early e5) or on the kingside (often with an f5 advance).
1) Sicilian Dragon, Levenfish Variation (B71)
The Levenfish Variation has always intrigued me. White sets a huge trap for naive Dragoneers (or hasty blitz players) who continue with the natural 6...Bg7, when 7.e5! leads to some very sharp and dangerous play (that anyone who is booked enough to survive would have avoided by playing the safer 6...Nc6 in the first place!) And some Black alternatives turn out not to be completely free of danger, as the following resources suggest.
- The Openings Explained: The Sicilian Dragon, Levenfish Attack [B71] by NM Abby Marshall at ChessCafe
- The Verdict by Andrew Martin at JeremySilman.com
- Blitz #165 vs daviv52 (1904) by Kingscrusher at Letsplaychess.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xE3k0BrcNJw
A smashing game with an interesting idea in the Levenfish for White, meeting Flohr's 6...Nbd7 with 7.Qe2!? trying to force through the e5 push. - Sicilian, Dragon, Levenfish Variation (B71) at Chessgames.com
Transpo Tips: Black can sidestep the Levenfish and "enter the Dragon" via an Accelerated (2...Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 g6) or Hyper-Accelerated (2...g6) move order. You can meet the Accelerated with an early f4 push in the Maroczy Bind (which is essentially a Four Pawns Attack against the KID) as described in "How to Beat a GM, Part One Torture" and "How to Beat a GM, Part Five" by IM Tim Taylor. And you can meet the Hyper-Accelerated with 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4! Nf6 5.e5! as discussed by Gary Lane in Opening Lanes #115 -- meeting 3.d4 Bg7!? with 4.dxc5! Qa5+ 5.c3! as discussed by Jonathan Hilton in "How Wojo Won: The Accelerated Dragon" (which covers Nakamura - Wojtkiewicz, New York 2005, where Wojo lost; also see their game from 2004).
2) Najdorf (B93), Scheveningen (B82), and Classical (B56) with f4
Viktor Kupreichik and others have played a very straight-forward f4 system against lines where Black gets a small center (with d6 and e6). This is most clear in the Najdorf line 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f4 followed generally by a4, Bd3, Nf3, O-O, and possibly Qe1-g3 or -h4. This is a very straightforward line and much easier for White to play than for Black.
- Shankland Teaches the Najdorf 6.f4 at Chess.com
A preview of a Chess.com video, available to subscribers, which begins laying out the basic ideas for White and Black in the Najdorf and the ideas behind 6.f4, recommending 6...e5 7.Nf3 Nbd7 8.a4 as the natural continuation. - Sicilian Najdorf, 6.f4 (B93) at Chessgames.com
- Sokolov Playing Sicilian Najdorf 6.f4 (B93)
A great selection of Andrei Sokolov's games which offer a very good repertoire. - Victor Kupreichik playing Sicilian B56 at Chessgames
- B82: Sicilian, Scheveningen, 6.f4 at 365Chess.com
3) Sveshnikov Variation, Markovic Attack (B33)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Nd5 Nxd5 8.exd5
This might be called the "simplified Svesh," as White avoids the long and well-trodden paths of 7.Bg5 for the exchange line 7.Nd5 Nxd5 8.exd5, fixing the pawn center and giving the game a more strategic character. White can play this line in a few ways, but my links below focus on two: (1) the tricky and tactical 8...Nb8 9.Qf3!? meeting 9...a6 by 10.Qa3 pinning the a-pawn so that the Knight can remain on b5 and preparing a direct piece assault on the backward d-pawn by Bd2-b4, and (2) the solid 8...Nb8 9.c4 planning an eventual f4! to hault Black's kingside ambitions before getting on with the business of a queenside attack with c5. The latter will hold up best long-term, but the former makes for some fun games and perhaps an interesting side-line.
- The Comeback of the e5 Sicilians by Stefan Bücker
This article not only covers our preferred variation but also throws in great coverage of the Lowenthal (5...a6) and Haberditz (5...Nf6 6.N1c3 h6!?) The focus is, however, on the tricky 8...Nb8 9.Qf3!? of Paragua - Poliakov, Goa India 2002 and Solleveld-Alekseev, Santo Domingo 2003. The line was discussed in SOS #1 by Jeroen Bosch. Bücker offers an important improvement on earlier analysis that might just make this line viable for human players despite what some "Centaur analysis" might suggest. In any case, it is good also to know the more positional variations discussed below. - Opening Lanes #33 by Gary Lane
Covers the tricky 9.Qf3!? line.
- Chess Knowledge Base Forum
Analysis of the tricky 8...Nb8 9.Qf3!?
- Eduard Gufeld, 1936-2002, by Jack Peters
In his obituary, Peters analyzes the game Gufeld - Ivanovich, Soci 1979.
- Kuperozov - Schipkov, Hungarian Ch 1990 by Boris Schipkov
- Eismont - Schipkov, Team Match 1982 by Boris Schipkov
- Vink - Harikrishna, Corus 2001 by Boris Schipkov
- Dvoirys - Heedt, Biel 2005
A useful GM-amateur game that shows the ideal situation for White in this line -- though it involves the idea of a4-a5 instead of the c4 that I advocate.
Transpo Tips: Black can try to reach the Sveshnikov while side-stepping the 7.Nd5 line via different early-e6 move orders, but the f4 system I recommend will generally keep play in our ballpark. White also needs to be prepared for the other ...e5 lines, especially the Haberditz and Lowenthal discussed by Bücker above. Strong play against the Lowenthal was demonstrated in the game Robson - Vigorito, which I have annotated.
4) Paulsen and Kan (B48)
4) Paulsen and Kan (B48)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 followed generally by Be3, Bd3, O-O and eventual f4 advance. This is much more straight-forward than the g3 "Guseinov Gambit" lines I've written about here previously.
- Paulsen System with Bd3 by IM Zoran Ilic
From the Archives, features White playing an early Be3 and Bd3 against Black's e6 system. - Friedel - Zivanic, USCL San Francisco - Dallas 2009 analyzed by John Donaldson -- compare also his notes at the team's blog.
- Friedel - De Jong, Hoogeveen 2009 analyzed by Ljubomir Kavalek
- Friedel - De Jong, Hoogeveen 2009 annotated by Jack Peters
5) Pin Variation, Koch's Refutation (B40)
The ultra-sharp Pin Variation (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bb4) has become popular among amateurs, but Koch's 6.e5 looks practically like a refutation.
The ultra-sharp Pin Variation (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bb4) has become popular among amateurs, but Koch's 6.e5 looks practically like a refutation.
- Old but Unknown Is As Good as New by Ignacio Marin
From the Internet Archives. You must see the game Tisdall-Lee, London 1981 to appreciate White's attacking power here. You can see some updated information in a ChessVibes Review of Dismantling the Sicilian.
- Pin by Michael Rohde
Annotates Waitzkin-Tate, Boston 1996 with notes on the main line with 6.e5. - Sicilian Defence: Pin Variation by Grakowsky at Chess.com
Good overview of Koch's killer 6.e5!
Supplemental Material
Black has a number of sidelines that you need to know as White. I may add more material here and welcome reader recommendations.
Black has a number of sidelines that you need to know as White. I may add more material here and welcome reader recommendations.
- Kovacevic vs Pazos-Gambarrotti at Chessgames
A solid response to 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 d5!? is 5. Bb5, which practically forces a favorable ending for White -- as analyzed in depth by Gary Lane in Opening Lanes #124 at ChessCafe.
- Tofte - Wohl, Arctic Challenge 2009 at Chessgames
This looks like a good approach to the Grivas (early Qb6), which represents essentially a transposition to the f4 lines considered above. The main line Grivas for White typically involves an ultra-aggressive g4 and O-O-O here, but I think White does better with the more circumspect O-O treatment that Tofte demonstrates. - Against the Nimzovich Variation with 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6, you can play 3.e5 but it is complicated and not necessarily better for White (see, for example, Andrew Martin Pt. 1 and Pt. 2 -- also here and here -- and a recent Gary Lane piece that ignores Martin's recommendations for Black). Easiest may be to head back to main lines with 3.Nc3, though you need to be prepared for 3...d5!? when White's simplest option may be represented by Movsesian - Markos 2001.
Friday, January 01, 2010
Magnus Carlsen Featured in TIME
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