Blog entries

PUBLICATION NOTE:
This article was published originally on The Chess Improver blog on 2016-10-18
I have reposted it here for reference.

Online voting chess is a nice challenge. Rules are very simple: two teams face each other in one game, each team can have as many members as possible, reflection time is 2 days per move and moves are selected by a majority of votes (each member has 1 vote). During the 2 days of reflection time each team discusses the position and merits of possible moves.

PUBLICATION NOTE:
This article was published originally on The Chess Improver blog on 2016-10-11
I have reposted it here for reference.

PUBLICATION NOTE:
This article was published originally on The Chess Improver blog on 2016-10-04
I have reposted it here for reference.

"Most commentaries in chess magazines and books are superficial and sometimes just awful. Once a certain experienced master explained to me how he worked. You put two fingers to the page with text on it and see that there are only moves under them - in other words, it is time to make a comment."
Mark Dvoretsky

PUBLICATION NOTE:
This article was published originally on The Chess Improver blog on 2016-09-27
I have reposted it here for reference.

"This is the end, beautiful friend
This is the end, my only friend, the end
Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end ..."
The End, The Doors

PUBLICATION NOTE:
This article was published originally on The Chess Improver blog on 2016-09-20
I have reposted it here for reference.

PUBLICATION NOTE:
This article was published originally on The Chess Improver blog on 2016-09-06
I have reposted it here for reference.

The ICCF Laws of Correspondence Chess state:
"5.2.2 The game is drawn when a position has arisen in which neither player can checkmate the opponent’s king with any series of legal moves. The game is said to end in a "dead position". This immediately ends the game, provided that the move producing the position was in accordance with Articles 3 and 4."

The above has the corresponding FIDE rule:

GM Nakamura beat GM Duda 15.5 - 11.5 in the quarter-finals of Speed Chess Championship 2019 on chess.com The game below is a spectacular miniature from the match where GM Duda got to sacrifice his Queen twice. The second time Hikaru had no choice but to resign on the spot because checkmate was inevitable. Enjoy!
[Event "Live Chess"][Site "Chess.com"][Date "2019.12.04"][Round "11"][White "Nakamura, Hikaru"][Black "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"][Result "0-1"][ECO "C42"]1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nd3 {An obscure choice before 2018, it has been brought back into the spotlight by the top GMs} 4... Nxe4 5. Qe2 Qe7 6. Nf4 Nc6 7. c3 (7. Nd5 Nd4 8. Nxe7 Nxe2 9. Nd5 Nd4 10. Na3 Be6 {Carlsen - Caruana, 1/2-1/2 at move 80, game 6, WCh 2018} ) 7... Nf6 8. d4 Bf5 9. Be3 $5 {An interesting decision by Hikaru to avoid the Queen exchange, decision the engines did not like very much} 9... d5 10. Nd2 O-O-O 11. O-O-O $6 {Hikaru completely overlooked black's response} 11... Qa3 $1 12. Qb5 {The Queen is tabu} (12. bxa3 Bxa3#) 12... Qxa2 13. Bd3 Bxd3 14. Qxd3 Na5 {A strong and normal looking move to me. The engines do not have it in top 5 though} 15. Kc2 $2 {Probably the fatal mistake} (15. Qb1 {Forcing the black Queen out of there} ) 15... Qa4+ 16. Kb1 Kb8 {A prophylactic move Nimzowitsch would be proud of} 17. Nf3 $2 {The last straw; possibly Hikaru thought his King could run away to the King side, otherwise there is no explanation for it} 17... Rd6 $1 18. Nd2 Ra6 19. Qc2 Qa1+ $1 {A second Queen sacrifice white cannot decline. This is one heck of a finish even for a blitz game} (19... Qa1+ 20. Kxa1 Nb3+ 21. Kb1 Ra1#)