Zukertort's Immortal

There is a nice article by GM Raymond Keene at Chessville titled "Zukertort Remembered," which takes a close look at the concluding combination in Zukertort-Blackburne, London 1883.  The game has been widely annotated on the internet and is worth a look.

Games from the Amateur Teams

It was a busy week, so I am just now getting around to posting some games from the World Amateur Teams last week.  Our team finished even at 3/3, but we stayed in the main room the whole time and rose as high as Board 15 along the way.  Though Fritz says my games are riddled with errors and inaccuracies, I still ended with a decent score of 4.5/6 and will likely gain a few ratings points.  Almost all of my games as both White and Black began 1.e4 e5, which is a bit odd.  I have annotated my two games with the Urusov Gambit (about which I've written a bit) and my three games playing my Black Fianchetto System in the Open Games (on which I have written a Part One and Part Two, and seems it's about time I got around to the other parts).  


Every time I play in a tournament, I wonder if I couldn't be spending my time better.  Then I will play a good game or even make a single good move, and the pleasure of winning seems to erase all second thoughts from my mind.  The following are a couple interesting positions -- one of which I have already posted.  Black to play and win -- and both from Black's perspective.  The "solutions" now are posted among the annotated games.

Xu - Goeller
Black to play and win.

Kolker - Goeller
Black to play and win.

I'm sure it pains him to see it in print, but I could not resist annotating a game that Don Carrelli played in the last round.  He was filling in for Ian Mangion, who unfortunately fell ill on the last day and couldn't play.  In the diagram below, his opponent made a brave and fateful decision.  What was it?

Carrelli - Xu
Black to play.  What would you do here?

Blitz tournament tonight at KCC

Five-minute Blitz tournament at the Kenilworth Chess Club tonight.  Be there by 8:20.

"The Kenilworthians" at the World Amateur Team

Kolker - Goeller.  Black to play and win.

The World Amateur Team chess championship is living up to its billing, with 294 teams (a new record) and almost 1300 players.  On day one, my team "The Kenilworthians" (what else?) won one and lost one.  But in the match we lost, I had a rare moment of brilliance, finding a truly "invisible chess move" to win against a life master (see diagram above).  Today we played the team of fellow chess-blogger Polly "Castling Queenside" Wright and I won a wild Urusov Gambit (that I will have to post on my return).  Every time I play in a tournament, I vow it will be my last, because I just have so little time for such chess immersion.  But then I play one fun game and my whole mood changes.  We'll see how I feel at the end of the weekend.

2012 KCCC Ends with a Draw

White to play.  What's the best move?

I have annotated the game Goeller - Moldovan from the final round of the 2012 Kenilworth Chess Club Championship.  It was a useful lesson in a sharp line of the Two Knights French, which I will be sure not to repeat.  Despite some difficulties, though, I reached a position where I was suddenly gaining some initiative, but I agreed a draw on Black's offer because I was short of time.  The draw ended up securing me 2nd place in the tourney on tie-breaks.  John has also annotated the game on his blog, the Chess Coroner.

2012 KCCC Gets Complicated in Round 4

White to play and grab the initiatve after 11...Qg6?!

I have annotated Macascap - Goeller from the 4th round of the Kenilworth Chess Club Championship.  The game ended in a draw on my offer in a messy position.  Barring a complete collapse in the final round, Macascap seems almost guaranteed the championship now.