Ted part 2

My wife and I went to the chess club tonight. I played Ted twice, and finally got a win against him. I played something resembling a Pirc defence, managed to keep everything really tight at the back, and waited patiently for an opening. It was touch and go who would break through first, and I managed to setup a double check which led to checkmate.

BTAT

I had a very enjoyable, open game against BTAT. I think I'll enjoy even more analysing it to see where more tactics were.

[Event "rated standard match"]
[Site "Free Internet Chess Server"]
[Date "2007.03.26"]
[Round "?"]
[White "deanmadden"]
[Black "BTAT"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "1345"]
[BlackElo "1459"]
[ECO "A08"]
[TimeControl "3600"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 c5 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. O-O e6 5. d3 b5 6. Nbd2 Bb7 7. Re1 d4 8. e4
dxe3 9. fxe3 Qc7 10. e4 Nbd7 11. e5 Ng4 12. b3 Qc6 13. Bb2 f6 14. exf6 gxf6
15. Qe2 e5 16. Nh4 Qe6 17. Bxb7 Rb8 18. Bf3 Nh6 19. Bh5+ Kd8 20. c4 b4 21.
Ne4 Be7 22. Nf2 Rg8 23. Bc1 f5 24. Kf1 Ng4 25. Nxg4 fxg4 26. Bb2 Qc6 27. Bxe5
Qh1+ 28. Kf2 Rf8+ 29. Ke3 Bg5+ 30. Bf4 Qc6 31. Bxg5+ Kc7 32. Bf4+ Rxf4 33.
gxf4 Nf6 34. Bxg4 Re8+ 35. Kd2 Rxe2+ 36. Bxe2 Qd6 37. Ng2 Ne4+ 38. Kc2 Nc3
39. a3 Qc6 40. Ne3 Qf6 41. axb4 cxb4 42. Rxa7+ Kb8 43. Rea1 Nb5 44. Ra8+ Kb7
45. cxb5 Qc3+ 46. Kb1 Qxb3+ 47. Kc1 Qc3+ 48. Nc2 b3 49. R8a7+ Kb6 50. R1a6+
Kxb5 51. d4+ Qc4 52. Bxc4+ Kxc4 {BTAT resigns} 1-0

BCM shop

My wife and I went to London on Wednesday, and while there we went to the British Chess Magazine shop, it is chess heaven :). I could have bought loads and loads, but we decided on two books so wouldn't have loads to lug around. We got 'Chess Tactics for kids' by Murray Chandler. I initially thought it would suit the wife, but soon realised it would be very useful to me too. We also got Winning Chess Tactics by Yasser Seirawan. These should keep us occupied for a bit.

While I've been off work, I've been playing online quite often, and have enjoyed playing blitz a bit more than usual. I could never complete a game in the 5mins without making major blunders, but am handling it a bit better now. I'm not sure whether I'll be entering the Nottingham Chess Congress yet, I'd love to, but the date could be clashing with when we'll be moving into our new house. Will have to wait and see.

AHogDriver

I had a very unenjoyable game last night. I played a 90mins each game against someone called AHogDriver, I prefer the longer games because there is little time pressure and I can analyse the positions very carefully. Anyway we get to the position below where he has just blundered to leave his Bishop hanging:

[Event "rated standard match"]
[Site "Free Internet Chess Server"]
[Date "2007.03.17"]
[Round "?"]
[White "deanmadden"]
[Black "AHogDriver"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "1359"]
[BlackElo "1373"]
[ECO "A04"]
[TimeControl "5400"]

1. Nf3 Nc6 2. g3 e5 3. Bg2 d5 4. O-O e4 5. Ne1 Nf6 6. Nc3 Bc5 7. d3 e3 8.
Bxe3 Ng4


He obviously forgot about the threat to the c5 bishop. He asked for a 'take-back' which I would never accept, and wouldn't dream of asking for even in an unrated match. So anyway I continue the match and get into a dominant position.

9. Bxc5 b6 10. Ba3 Be6 11. e4 Nf6 12. e5 Nxe5 13. d4 Nc4 14. Nd3
Nxa3 15. bxa3 O-O 16. Re1 Ng4 17. Nf4 Qf6 18. f3 Nxh2 19. Kxh2 Qh6+ 20. Kg1
g5 21. Nxe6 fxe6 22. Qe2 Rae8 23. Nb5 c5 24. Nd6 Rd8 25. Qxe6+ Qxe6 26. Rxe6
cxd4 27. Nb5 Rd7 28. Nxd4 Rdf7 29. Rae1 Rc7 30. Re8 Rc4 31. Rxf8+ Kxf8 32.
Ne6+ Kf7 33. Nxg5+ Kg6 34. f4 Rxc2 35. Bxd5 Kg7 36. Re7+ Kg6 37. Be4+



I think it's pretty obvious that it's pointless in him continuing now as I've forked his rook and king. But no, he decides this is the point of the game to run down his clock, we've both still got about 45mins left on our clocks. I think this is very unsporting and bad etiquette. So anyway, after 15mins he makes a move, I respond immediately, then he runs his clock down more etc. He's obviously hoping I'll get bored of sitting there and will quit the game.

37...Kh5 38.
Bxc2 Kg4 39. Kg2 a5 40. Bd1+ Kf5 41. Nxh7 b5 42. Bc2+ Kg4 43. Rg7+ Kh5 44.
Rg5+ Kh6 45. Rxb5 Kg7 46. Rxa5 Kh6 47. Re5 Kg7 48. a4 Kf7 49. a5 Kg7 50. a6
Kh8 51. a7 Kg7 52. a8=Q Kh6 53. Qa6+ Kg7 54. Re7+ {AHogDriver resigns} 1-0

So anyway I eventually force the win in an hour of the most boring tedium. This has put me off playing another 90mins game, which I've always enjoyed in the past. I think I'll limit it to 60 or 75 mins in the future.

I've got no problem with people taking time to make a move, but this persons conduct was very unsporting and portrays a very bad loser. Also I don't mind playing till the bitter end, but taking 30mins to make a forced move is disgusting in my opinion.

I didn't go to the chess club last Tuesday because I got stuck in horrendous traffic on the A38 on the way home. Thankfully the tomtom found me an alternative route to the official stationary diversion.

beebeetwo

Got beat up by beebeetwo:

[Event "rated standard match"]
[Site "Free Internet Chess Server"]
[Date "2007.03.12"]
[Round "?"]
[White "beebeetwo"]
[Black "deanmadden"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "1386"]
[BlackElo "1372"]
[ECO "B00"]
[TimeControl "3600"]

1. e4 d6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. d4 Bg7 5. Bd3 O-O 6. O-O Re8 7. e5 dxe5 8.
dxe5 Nh5 9. Re1 Nc6 10. Be3 Bxe5 11. Nxe5 Nxe5 12. Be2 Bf5 13. Bxh5 Qxd1 14.
Bxd1 Nc4 15. Nd5 Rac8 16. Bc5 Rcd8 17. Nxc7 {deanmadden resigns} 1-0

Peter Kay

I didn't get to play any chess this weekend, I just did a bit of practice with Personal Chess Trainer. Still having difficulty spotting mate-in-2s, although some are starting to stick. My wife and I went to see Peter Kay in The Producers in Manchester on Saturday, brilliant show. We were also doing a lot of looking around furniture shops because we're hoping to move into a new house in the next month or so. We've been renting since getting married in 2001, have had an offer accepted on a house and just waiting for a date to exchange contracts. We're off work for a week next week, so might be able to get a bit more chess in.

Sacrificing

I had an interesting match last night, it was the first time I sacrificed a piece, hoping to somehow get a mating opportunity around the king.

I sacrificed a bishop to take a pawn on h6:


Unfortunately it fizzled out, but it was fun being in an attacking position for a change. The idea was to get here:


But I couldn't figure out a way of getting rid of his pesky light bishop.

[Event "rated standard match"]
[Site "Free Internet Chess Server"]
[Date "2007.03.08"]
[Round "?"]
[White "deanmadden"]
[Black "BojtarLajos"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1381"]
[BlackElo "1507"]
[ECO "A07"]
[TimeControl "3600"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Bf5 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. O-O h6 5. d3 b5 6. Nbd2 c6 7. Re1 e6 8. e4
Bg6 9. e5 Nfd7 10. Nf1 a5 11. Bf4 Bh5 12. N1d2 c5 13. Rb1 b4 14. b3 Be7 15.
c4 d4 16. Qc1 Ra7 17. Ne4 O-O 18. Bxh6 gxh6 19. Qxh6 Bg6 20. Nfg5 Nxe5 21.
Bh3 Bxg5 22. Nxg5 Qf6 23. Re2 Nbd7 24. Rf1 Qg7 25. Qh4 Nxd3 26. Bxe6 N7e5 27.
Bg4 Nxg4 28. Qxg4 Raa8 29. Re7 Rfe8 30. Qe2 Rxe7 31. Qxe7 Qf8 32. Qf6 Ra7 33.
f4 Qe7 34. Qb6 Kg7 35. f5 Qe3+ 36. Kg2 Qxg5 37. Qxa7 Bxf5 38. Qb7 Qd2+ 39.
Kg1 Qe3+ 40. Kg2 Be4+ {deanmadden resigns} 0-1

Personal Chess Trainer

I finished unit 6 of TAC01 on Personal Chess Trainer last night. So far it has just shown mate-in-1s and mate-in-2s, which I'm getting a bit bored of :). Does anyone know when it moves onto other tactics?

ChessPublishing forum

I found a great chess forum I wasn't aware of previously: http://www.chesspublishing.com/yabb2/YaBB.pl. I'll have a nice time trawling through the archives.

Ted slaughters me

I played two friendly games against Ted Pye at Spondon Chess club last night. I got slaughtered in both. I lost material early on in both games to various overloading tactics that I overlooked. I'm trying to think of reasons I overlooked them. One is that I have less experience of OTB compared to 2D computer screens. Another is that Ted is obviously much more tactically aware and experienced than me. But I don't seem to get so overrun in online games. In both games I tended to get myself more into a muddle trying to stop his threats until my pieces were tied up, and then I tried to defend against another threat, overlooking a tactic. In both games he played e4 and c4 quite early and I tried to play kings indian type openings. I might ask him to play a club championship match next time so that I can at least record the moves and try to figure out how I could have improved. He has a style of just putting more and more pressure on pieces, including big pawn pushes until I just can't make any valid moves.

Internet Chess Club

I'm thinking of joining the Internet Chess Club. I was going to sign up for a free 7-day trial, but it was giving an error message saying it couldn't distinctly identify my computer. Strange. I'm wondering if it's worth joining and if it's an improvement on FICS?

Interesting draw

I had an interesting draw, it was bishop & 2 pawns v same colour bishop and 1 pawn. I couldn't figure out a win and was down on time so agreed a draw.

[Event "rated standard match"]
[Site "Free Internet Chess Server"]
[Date "2007.03.03"]
[Round "?"]
[White "deanmadden"]
[Black "groovyhassle"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "1350"]
[BlackElo "1329"]
[ECO "A04"]
[TimeControl "2700"]

1. Nf3 Nc6 2. g3 b6 3. Bg2 Bb7 4. O-O e6 5. d3 Nf6 6. Nbd2 Be7 7. e4 d5 8.
exd5 exd5 9. Re1 O-O 10. b3 Bc5 11. Bh3 Nd4 12. Nxd4 Bxd4 13. Rb1 c6 14. Bb2
Bxb2 15. Rxb2 c5 16. Nf3 Qc7 17. Bg2 Rab8 18. c4 d4 19. Rbe2 Qc6 20. Re7 Rfe8
21. Rxe8+ Rxe8 22. Rxe8+ Nxe8 23. Qe1 h6 24. Qe2 Nc7 25. Qe4 Qxe4 26. dxe4
Bxe4 27. Ne5 Bb1 28. Bd5 Bxa2 29. Bxf7+ Kh7 30. Bg6+ Kg8 31. Bf7+ Kf8 32. Kf1
Bxb3 33. Ke2 Ba2 34. Kd2 Bb1 35. f4 Bh7 36. Bg6 Bg8 37. Kd3 a6 38. Nd7+ Ke7
39. Nxb6 a5 40. Be4 Na6 41. Bd5 Nb4+ 42. Ke4 Bh7+ 43. Kf3 Bb1 44. Be4 d3 45.
Ke3 Bc2 46. Kd2 a4 47. Nxa4 Bxa4 48. Bxd3 Kf6 49. Ke3 Bc6 50. Be4 Bd7 51. h4
Bg4 52. Kf2 Nc6 53. Bxc6 g5 54. fxg5+ hxg5 55. hxg5+ Kxg5 56. Bf3 Be6 57. Bd5
Bg4 58. Ke3 Bf5 59. Be4 Bg4 {Game drawn by mutual agreement} 1/2-1/2

Exciting game

I just had possibly the most exciting game I've been involved in. I was totally confused in the middlegame. I went a pawn down, got it back, then we both queened, and I somehow managed to win the endgame. Really enjoyed it and fritz is working away at it as I type. I'm black.

[Event "rated standard match"]
[Site "Free Internet Chess Server"]
[Date "2007.03.03"]
[Round "?"]
[White "wekabird"]
[Black "deanmadden"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1401"]
[BlackElo "1332"]
[ECO "A16"]
[TimeControl "1800"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. Nf3 d6 6. e4 e5 7. O-O Re8 8. h3
Nbd7 9. d3 b6 10. Bg5 Bb7 11. Rc1 Rc8 12. Nb5 a6 13. Nc3 c5 14. Nd5 Bxd5 15.
cxd5 Qc7 16. a3 h6 17. Be3 b5 18. b4 c4 19. dxc4 bxc4 20. Rc3 Nb6 21. Nd2 Rb8
22. Bxb6 Rxb6 23. Rxc4 Qb8 24. Rc6 Rxc6 25. dxc6 Rc8 26. Qc2 Ne8 27. Rc1 h5
28. Qd3 Bh6 29. Rc2 Bxd2 30. Qxd2 Rc7 31. h4 Qc8 32. Kh2 Rxc6 33. Rxc6 Qxc6
34. Qe3 f6 35. Bh3 Kf7 36. Qb3+ Ke7 37. Qe6+ Kd8 38. Qc8+ Qxc8 39. Bxc8 Kxc8
40. Kh3 Ng7 41. g4 hxg4+ 42. Kxg4 f5+ 43. exf5 gxf5+ 44. Kg5 f4 45. Kg6 Ne8
46. h5 e4 47. h6 e3 48. h7 e2 49. h8=Q e1=Q 50. Qh3+ Kd8 51. Qh4+ Qe7 52.
Qxf4 Qf6+ 53. Qxf6+ Nxf6 54. Kxf6 d5 55. Ke6 d4 56. Ke5 d3 {wekabird resigns}
0-1

Databases

Yesterday I was trying to look into chess databases for the first time. I opened up the database that comes with Fritz 9, and with the help of these articles I have a good idea what to do to research past master games. But at my current standard, I don't have much use of them. What I wanted to do it make a database of all my recorded games in the last six months or so. I've got each game in an individual pgn file, but can't for the life of me figure out how to import them all into the fritz database, or a free one such as SCID. They only seem to allow adding one file at a time which I don't have the patience for. Steve Lopez mentioned on the Chess Exchange that I just need to drag and drop them, but that doesn't seem to work in Fritz, maybe only in ChessBase?

This is frustrating as I've been working with databases such Postgres, Ingres, MySQL, MSSQL and Oracle for the past five years or so without any issues :)

The Story so far...

I joined my local chess club, Spondon, in August of last year. I lost game after game, which motivated me to learn a bit more on how to get better. I've played a few games for the 'D' team, I'm 1-1-1. I've also lost some club championship games, and lost every cup game, rapidplay game etc.

But I'm not disheartened. I entered the Nottingham Rapidplay a couple of weeks ago, expecting to lose every game but got a respectable 2.5 out of 6. I lost the first two games against strong opposition, drew against a young boy when we got down to me with a King and pawn against him with King and Knight. I won the 4th and 6th games quite easily.

I play quite regularly on FICS, and have a rating about 1330. Probably inflated a lot I feel. I don't have an OTB rating yet, hopefully will have one in August.

At the moment I'm practicing tactics using Personal Chess Trainer, reading lots of books, playing games with times as long as I can, and analysing these with Fritz.

First Post

I've been reading some blogs on people trying to improve their chess, so thought I might as well join the bandwagon. I learnt chess when I was around 7, but never had anyone to play against. I started playing and learning seriously in about August 2006, and joined the local chess club. About me: I'm 30, married, and live in Derby in England.