Latest Bristol Chess Times

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Jon Fisher
Posts: 41
Joined: Sat May 06, 2017 9:53 am

Re: Latest Bristol Chess Times

Post by Jon Fisher » Sat Jun 23, 2018 9:50 am

Three new articles this week:

Beyond the fundamentals - Chris Russell challenges the myth of luck and looks at psychological bias in your chess game
https://bristolchesstimes.com/2018/06/2 ... damentals/

Problems in June with GM Jones - GM Christopher Jones returns with a series of unstoppable mates in his monthly problems column
https://bristolchesstimes.com/2018/06/2 ... -gm-jones/

From the frontline: Bristol Spring Congress - Rescheduled after the beast from the East, attendance records tumbled as several titled players battled it out in the Open
https://bristolchesstimes.com/2018/06/2 ... -congress/

Enjoy!

Jon Fisher
Posts: 41
Joined: Sat May 06, 2017 9:53 am

Re: Latest Bristol Chess Times

Post by Jon Fisher » Sun Jul 01, 2018 12:37 pm

Two new articles this week on the Bristol Chess Times:

Chess Myths - Creativity. Mike Harris explores how creativity plays a vital role in many a brilliancy and the art of knowing when to break the rules
https://bristolchesstimes.com/2018/06/2 ... reativity/

A useful technique for assessing your chess opening repertoire - We look at how we describe our games and can these emotional descriptions prove useful in spotting flaws?
https://bristolchesstimes.com/2018/07/0 ... epertoire/

Enjoy!

Jon Fisher
Posts: 41
Joined: Sat May 06, 2017 9:53 am

Re: Latest Bristol Chess Times

Post by Jon Fisher » Sun Jul 15, 2018 12:45 pm

Two new articles this week on the Bristol Chess Times:

The Graeme Thompson Memorial Rapidplay Report and Bristol Tournament News
https://bristolchesstimes.com/2018/07/1 ... ment-news/

Does your chess need a pallet cleanser
https://bristolchesstimes.com/2018/07/1 ... -cleanser/

Enjoy!

James Pratt
Posts: 524
Joined: Sat Jan 10, 2009 11:10 pm

Re: Latest Bristol Chess Times

Post by James Pratt » Sun Jul 15, 2018 9:47 pm

a plucky effort!

Jon Fisher
Posts: 41
Joined: Sat May 06, 2017 9:53 am

Re: Latest Bristol Chess Times

Post by Jon Fisher » Sun Jul 22, 2018 8:25 am

Two new articles this week on the Bristol Chess Times:

Problems in July with GM Jones. A lovely helpmate to get the brain cells cooking:
https://bristolchesstimes.com/2018/07/1 ... -gm-jones/

Celebrating one year of the Bristol Chess Times. A review of the first 12 months and how active promotion is helping the clubs of the Bristol & District Chess League:
https://bristolchesstimes.com/2018/07/2 ... ess-times/

Enjoy!

Jon Fisher
Posts: 41
Joined: Sat May 06, 2017 9:53 am

Re: Latest Bristol Chess Times

Post by Jon Fisher » Sun Aug 26, 2018 2:27 pm

Its been a busy month but here is a summary list of August articles from th Bristol Chess Times:

Two Latvian gambit games from the Bristol Open 2018. Both games featuring FM Mike Waddington with both white and black!
https://bristolchesstimes.com/2018/07/2 ... open-2018/

Game of the Season 2017/18 - Votes please... An overview of the 10 nominated games for Game of the Season from the Bristol & District Chess League
https://bristolchesstimes.com/2018/08/0 ... es-please/

Steve Boniface Memorial Preview. Also includes BCT Editor Mike Harris competing in the Diving Chess World Championship in Soho this weekend!
https://bristolchesstimes.com/2018/08/2 ... -memorial/

UK Open Blitz Championship comes to Bristol. An introduction and call to arms to compete in this exciting event from international arbiter Tom Thorpe
https://bristolchesstimes.com/2018/08/2 ... o-bristol/

Enjoy!

Jon Fisher
Posts: 41
Joined: Sat May 06, 2017 9:53 am

Re: Latest Bristol Chess Times

Post by Jon Fisher » Sun Sep 02, 2018 7:52 am

Two new articles this week:

Three challenges facing Chess960: a fan perspective. With the $250,000 Champions Showdown announced we look at a range of problems facing the promotion of this chess variant
https://bristolchesstimes.com/2018/08/2 ... rspective/

Game of the season 2017/18 - The winners! Looking at the winning games from the Bristol & District Chess League 2017/18 season
https://bristolchesstimes.com/2018/08/3 ... e-winners/

Enjoy!

Kevin Thurlow
Posts: 5821
Joined: Wed Apr 30, 2008 12:28 pm

Re: Latest Bristol Chess Times

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Sun Sep 02, 2018 9:24 am

"Three challenges facing Chess960"

Oh dear - the position shown is illegal and not one of the 960. The king is required to be between the rooks, otherwise castling would be difficult.

Jon Fisher
Posts: 41
Joined: Sat May 06, 2017 9:53 am

Re: Latest Bristol Chess Times

Post by Jon Fisher » Sun Sep 02, 2018 1:10 pm

Thanks for the spot. I’ll update it later

Jon Fisher
Posts: 41
Joined: Sat May 06, 2017 9:53 am

Re: Latest Bristol Chess Times

Post by Jon Fisher » Sun Sep 09, 2018 8:06 am

Two new articles this week:

Season preview and August news: An update on August tournament results across Bristol as well as our predictions for the coming season across the Divisions

https://bristolchesstimes.com/2018/09/0 ... gust-news/

The forgotten lady champion who defeated Emanuel Lasker. We look at a game by Mary Rudge from the 19th century vs.the second world champion

https://bristolchesstimes.com/2018/09/0 ... el-lasker/

Enjoy!

Jon Fisher
Posts: 41
Joined: Sat May 06, 2017 9:53 am

Re: Latest Bristol Chess Times

Post by Jon Fisher » Sat Sep 15, 2018 11:33 am

Three new articles this week:

New London Chess festival for world championships. A brief preview of an excellent idea from the Ginger GM team:
https://bristolchesstimes.com/2018/09/1 ... in-london/

GM Nicolas Pert wins Bristol qualifier of UK Open Blitz 2018. Arbiter Tom Thorpe brings us a full run down of the Bristol qualifier event:
https://bristolchesstimes.com/2018/09/1 ... litz-2018/

Why don’t amateurs play mainline openings? We discuss a valuable lesson learned and challenge the “system” opening
https://bristolchesstimes.com/2018/09/1 ... -openings/

Enjoy!

Roger de Coverly
Posts: 21301
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 2:51 pm

Re: Latest Bristol Chess Times

Post by Roger de Coverly » Sun Sep 16, 2018 12:41 pm

Jon Fisher wrote:
Sat Sep 15, 2018 11:33 am
Why don’t amateurs play mainline openings?
The article suggests that the Sicilian Scheveningen is a suitable choice. That's a system where the Black pieces go to f6 and c6 (Knights), d6,e6, b6/b5,a6 (pawns), e7, d7/b7 (Bishops) and c7 (Queen). The Keres attack with 6. g4 is an attempt to disrupt this, but there are numerous plausible moves against this.

I think it applies to many openings, that what you need to know is where the pawns and pieces go, rather than necessarily the order in which they get there. There is still a need to be tactically wary though. There was an instance in the recent English Women's championship where the game started 1. e4 e5. 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 . A feasible plan for Black is to play .. d6, .. Be7 and .. O-O when .. Na5 chases the Bishop on c4 and allows Black to play .. c5 with Spanish style play. But not in that order as 4. .. d6 allows 5. Ng5 when the usual defence idea 5. .. d5 6. exd5 Na5 works less well because both the e pawn and Bishop on c4 are now defended.

Jon Fisher
Posts: 41
Joined: Sat May 06, 2017 9:53 am

Re: Latest Bristol Chess Times

Post by Jon Fisher » Sun Sep 16, 2018 1:41 pm

Only that the Sicilian Scheveningen seems to be a suitable choice for myself. Not my intention to suggest such an opening for all amateurs.

Right squares for pieces and pawns and an awareness of the common plans in an opening are obviously key, I agree. These in themselves can help dictate the style of a particular opening.

My intent was to highlight how many amateur players shy away from things like Ruy Lopez, Sicilian, and other top table opening choices and are they doing themselves a disservice in their chess development?

Roger de Coverly
Posts: 21301
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 2:51 pm

Re: Latest Bristol Chess Times

Post by Roger de Coverly » Sun Sep 16, 2018 2:32 pm

Jon Fisher wrote:
Sun Sep 16, 2018 1:41 pm
My intent was to highlight how many amateur players shy away from things like Ruy Lopez, Sicilian, and other top table opening choices and are they doing themselves a disservice in their chess development?
Almost certainly you need to know what the main lines look like, even if you choose to avoid them. It's worth avoiding positions you don't really understand, for example the white side of the Benko is best not played unless you either have an off beat method of avoiding the endgame tabiyas, you are confident you can withstand the queen side pressure and consolidate the extra pawn or you can make a central attack with e4-e5 work.

On the other hand I didn't find the white side of a Berlin ending particularly difficult to play. The Knights and the remaining Bishop went to the Reti squares of d2, f3 and b2. Pawns went to h3, b3 and a4 (to prevent a5 .. a4). The f1 Rook stayed there as the longer term plan was to advance the King side pawns. Black self destructed a bit by playing .. Rg8, .. h6 and .. g5. This left the f5 and f6 squares very weak and exploitable by Knight jumps to d4 and e4.

David Robertson

Re: Latest Bristol Chess Times

Post by David Robertson » Sun Sep 16, 2018 2:46 pm

It's worth avoiding the Spanish (Ruy Lopez) too, at least in evening league chess. I do. Against any reasonable opponent, in many lines, you can reach the first time control (#30) still in book with barely a pawn exchanged. I exaggerate, but not by much.