Elysian Shadows

1.e4 IS more aggressive. :P

Also, for those of you who haven't been following, Anand just won the world chess championship again to retain the title!

I thought it was a pretty awesome game, though people are mostly bitching at Tapalov's big mistake with his pawns.

http://www.chess.com/news/vishy-anand-r ... title-6866

Anand blundered pretty badly in game 1, so I guess it all evened out in the end.

Hell yeah! So, I'm sitting in my last highschool class ever, screwing off on my Iphone and Ipad. Well, I just played a game of chess against the computer on my Iphone. I find that the mode/level I have it on is very challenging, with a 50/50 chance when I play 1. d5.

Anyway. I just played 1. e4 for the first time against it...And it tried the Sicilian, with 2. ... Knf6. Well, luckily for me, I was playing the c3 sicilian, and had analyzed this move on black's part to find it pretty shitty. So, anyway, here's the game. I was just happy that I beat the fucker--it's usually quite challenging. ;p


1. e4 c5
2. c3 Nf6
3. e5 Nd5
4. Bc4 e6 (I think, on the computer's part, this move was a failure)
5. d5 d6
6. h3 cxd4 (preparing Nf3, and a safe king escape if things get dirty...But because black has already trapped their white pawn by e6, I think this was a wasted move on my part) edit: n/v, after a few moves, this ended up beneficial (see the battle around move 10 when this pawn is removed)
7. cxd4 Nc6
8. Nf3 Be7
9. 0-0 0-0
10. Bxd5 exd5 (With the trade being highly favorable on my side due to his restrictive d6 pawn, I think. Looks easy to capture the isolated d5 pawn)
11. Nc3 dxe5 (I reveal my attack on his d5 pawn, and he sees this, and tried to get some queen protection with his response.)
12. Nxe5 Nxe5 (And, of course, I won't be having any of that shit. If it requires move even trading to get that one pawn advantage, I'm up for it.)
13. dxe5 d4 (Now my queen is actively attacking that fucker, too...But he tries to foil my plans.)
14. Nb5 d3 (I'm still not sure this was a very sound move on my part...But, atleast I'm keeping the pressure on that pawn, and locating my knight in an area of reasonable mobility.)
15. Bf4 Bf5 (I stop caring about the pawn, as it's reaching a dead-zone anyway, and begin to fortify the ground I gained for that middle exchange. Looks like he's got similar motives.)
16. Rc1 Re8!? (I'm preparing Nc7, and I guess he's still caught up on that pawn I fortified? This was an absolutely horrid move on the computer's part, especially after my Rc1. Now Nc7 will have a doubled effect, forking both rooks...)
17. Nc7 d2 (Okay, it's obvious this guy just wants to delay the inevitable. Whatta scrub. And yes, I'll happily take that fucking pawn. ;p)
18. Bxd2 Bd3 (He's still trying to delay my Knight's inevitable slaughter. Ohwell--now I've got a reason to activate my rook.)
19. Re1 Rc8 (Okay, NOW he makes that leap of faith, submitting to the inevitable. :P)
20. Nxe8 Qxe8 (Deactivated his queen, and gained two points in one smooth move. Hell yeah! ;p)
21. e6 Bc5 (This will probably wind up bad for him, by the looks of it. Nice tries at activating your bishops, but complete fail.)
22. Qf3 Ba6 (I guess he's trying to protect Bb7? No idea what that's about--I'm going for blood, not a few random pawns. This move of his was pretty bad, I'd say. He should have done Bg6 or someshit--my advancing pawn spells out trouble, and now his bishop's backed into a corner.)
23. b4 Rd8 (He tried a counterattack. No cigar. Was he really thinking I'd take his bishop with my pawn instead of rook? Whatta scrub.)
24. Rxc5 Rxd2
25. b5 b6 (hell yeah. This move allows me to give this fucker more issues on this plate than he can deal with--now his bishop and rook are both in terrible positions, and I'm mounting a heavy attack on king and queen. Lesseee if he can counter....)
26. Rf5 Bxb5!? (yeah, okay, so by now you're thinking this computer isn't too bright....Maybe you're right. XD I think his only real option would have been Rd7, which he didn't do.)
27. exf7+ Qxf7
28. Rxf7 Rxa2
29. Rxf8#
Okay, so not really that great a game...But I'm in school, bored, and happy I won. XD

If anybody else has a fun game, lemme know. I should post some of those real hardcore 40 minute games Winawer and I played the other day. 3 of them were just amazing...XD

Good game!

Here's some thoughts:
6.h3?! - Seems too slow, Nf3 looks more natural.
14.Nb5 - Seems very sound to me, the other squares look more passive.
14...d3? - A mistake. Qa5 and black seems fine.
15.Bf4! - A good move, the right square at the right time.
16...Re8? - Weak. White definitely has the advantage now.
17...d2?? - A blunder. Qd4 seems necessary here. Now white is winning with ease.
25.b5?! - Almost every move wins, but exf7+ is a forced mate in a few moves after 25...Qxf7 26.Rd8+.

Woah. That US chess championship format is just alien.

I'm totally digging it, though, sounds like it would make for a very fun game, LMAO!

For those of you who don't know, this is what they did for the tie-breaker game:

In order to guarantee there will be a winner, both players got to silently bid for a starting time. The person who submitted the lower time won the privilege of playing as Black with draw odds (win or draw = win) and the other player got the full 60 minutes with White and maximum advantage and incentive to go all out and play for the must-win game situation he or she is in!

LMFAO!! I just had a really good game....With somebody rated 1587. I ALWAYS play unrated when I do 20 min games (no particular reason) so my current rating is not accurate at ALL. I only played ONE single rated game with 20 minutes, and lost to Winawer. Therefore, it shows me as far lower than I am (1100)

So, at the end of this game, the guy I was playing cussed me out. He says "there's no way a 1100 rating could have done that well without a computer!"

At which time I loled to myself, and explained to him where he fucked up his game, how his opening was shit, and wtf was his problem giving me the initiative like that, and putting himself down a few pieces?

Anyway, without further due, here's the game: (I AM BLACK)


1.Nf3d5 This was probably his fault--what kinda opening is that, letting me take the center? It's like he's used to playing black or something...But idk. Is that a valid white opening?
2.c3Nc6
3.d4Bg4
4.Nbd2Qd7
5.h3Bxf3 I think this helped to weaken his kingside, as now he's only got that one knight. And that's where most of my assault will be, anyway...
6.Nxf3O-O-O
7.e3Kb8 Idk...This move was sorta pointless on my part...But he doesn't seem to be taking up the initiative at all, so if I've got a free move, may as well put my king in a nearly impossible to penetrate position...Anybody know what would have been better here?
8.Be2Re8 Another mostly useless move...But reinforcing that pawn. I guess in the end this turned out strong...But I still don't understand how I'm being given two free moves like that. Maybe he was expecting a very tactical game? What would have been better than this?
9.O-Oe5 He must have misjudged this pawn threat now that the rook is backing it up. He's probably not used to black getting a queenside castle in like that.
10.Bb5exd4
11.exd4Nf6
12.Bg5Ne4
13.Bf4Bd6 My plan was to provoke a trade here, as I saw an ideal spot for my knight, threatening his bishop.
14.Bxd6Nxd6
15.Ne5Rxe5 This move was awesome on my part, dumb on his.
16.dxe5Nxb5
17.c4Nbd4
18.cxd5Qxd5 And it is with this setup and a very strong central presence that I feel I got the game. My knights are completely obstructive, and he's only got rooks+queen. Plus, my king's safe as hell.
19.Re1Re8 No sure that this was too-great a move, as it's not protected. Probably could have done better..Aw, well, it served its purpose.
20.f4f6 I think that was a fail on his part? No idea what he was trying to achieve, other than be overly tactical and ignore the obvious. It's not like I have a bishop alive.
21.a3fxe5
22.b4a6 Though it may appear that this was in direct response to his move...This wasn't really the case. i realize his strong rook presense, and the fact that one placed on my 8th row would be mate for me. I really wanted to establish an escape sometime...And this was an ideal time, because it reinforced a block to a Bfile advancement
23.Rc1Re6
24.Rc5Qa2 Interesting move, on his part. Again, I feel like he's just trying to make moves for the sake of being tactical--this was not really that strong, I don't think...
25.Rxc6Rxc6 I think his hope was that I'd take with knight, leaving him an attack route with rook and queen. I didn't bite...And left him at a disadvantage..
26.Rxe5Qb2 Another move I had a long thing about. But I liked protecting the C file for my rook. I heavily considered a check with my knight, but that goddamn queen being there wouldn't allow for a desirable position after the fun play that would follow...What was a better move here?
27.Re8+Ka7 Obvious move + obvious response...
28.Qg4Rg6 BITCH SLAP IN THE FACE! COMPLETE FAILURE! Whatta scrub, LMAO. He didn't take into considering my move, I don't think, because he was envisioning me checking him with rook or queen.
29.Qxg6hxg6
30.Rd8Ne2+ A final bitchslap before he freaked and started cussing me out.

With the game ending in a time win because he posted:

Kennebennek: GFY you poopy headed cheater

Kennebennek: no f'ing way an 1100 comes out 2 pieces up without using software. thanks arschloch

I'm going to be sending his account a trophy for the game--an "almost had it" just to piss him off for being a cunt. ;p

You were a bit lucky this time. White definitely came out of the opening with an advantage.

1.Nf3 is valid.
7...Kb8 is probably too slow. Maybe Re8 immediately or f6 followed by e5 is better.
11...Nf6 maybe this is inaccurate? If Bd6 first, white can't put the bishop on f4 and if white puts it on g5, you can harass it with the kingside pawns. Also, 11...f6 with the idea of starting a kingside pawnstorm is interesting.
12.Bg5?! the immediate Ne5 looks stronger.
14...Nxd6? is weak. Take with the queen or pawn instead.
15.Ne5 is actually a strong move. White is much better now.
16.dxe5? bad move. 16.Bxc6 seems winning for white.
17.c4?? looks like white just doesn't want to win this one. 17.a4 trapping the knight is better for white.
20...f6?! inaccurate, but black is still winning. White should just take the pawn.
25.Rxc6? weird sacrifice. Black can take back with any piece and white has nothing for the exchange.
26...Qb2 seems best.
28.Qg4?? horrible.

1587? That guy is overrated. Nice manners, though.

Hm, might actually play you some time later when I'm back from school Arce. And yes, this site actually works at school

Meh. My black games don't seem to be improving much. =/

I need to get serious about learning some beginning/midgame plays for black.

This was a very interesting article. While I haven't finished the whole thing yet, I found the games detailed to be pretty fun. They all felt like watching professional, world class games in the beginning (probably due to studying and advanced chess academics on both ends) yet the middle, despite being sharp and fun, felt like both players always just dodged the best move.

http://www.chess.com/article/view/plann ... s-of-u1200

Lemme know what you think! I especially enjoyed the first game because of the 1. d4 and the dutch defense, one that I'm just starting to experiment with. I was very appreciative of white's attack on the kingside, and could sympathize easily with both players. I used to be a 1. d4 player, and had a fond liking for white's type of position and attack style, while at the same time, I was just discussing the Leningrad last night!

To be completely honest, that's the only game from the article I've looked at yet, but plan to finish throughout the day.

If you guys ever run into other interesting articles, lemme know.

mgold07 wrote:Hm, might actually play you some time later when I'm back from school Arce. And yes, this site actually works at school

Oh, and lemme know a time. ;p

Be sure to create an account beforehand (since you need email activation, and this is likely blocked form your school).

Site is blocked at school yeah :p

here is a pgn of a game I just watched, what do you think of the endgame? I didn't watch the whole thing came in at around move 20, why didn't white play Qd5 on move 29 (instead of Qb4), I think the endgame would have favored white in this position, and I think Qc2+ at move 41 was a mistake, Kxh4 looks better to me and then 53.. Kf3, I would've pinned the rook and gone into an easy king and pawn endgame, what are your ideas about this game?

Anybody think they'd be up for a TCR chess bowl?

We can decide on a date/time/format when we've got some interested peeps. ;p