English Chess Forum

NickFaulks wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 25, 2019 9:34 am

Chris Rice wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 25, 2019 9:11 am

Then there is the case where you are playing a 2700 who outrates you by 300+ but offers you a draw. You know you shouldn't really take it don't you?

I genuinely do not understand how anyone takes a draw there against anyone. At a minimum you play the obvious forcing line with 39.Qh3 to get to the time control and have another think.

39 Ng4 is even more deadly. White should certainly have smelled a rat when the draw was offered,

The prettiest WMOTB ever played?

Played by my club colleague, Phil Crocker, in the final round of the Gibraltar Challengers A. Having walked all over his Spanish opponent for much of the game, Phil closed in for the kill. White has just played the plausible but wrong 31. Qg6, leaving Black [-4.40] to move and win. Phil now played the beautiful, line-cutting interference move 31...Rg5 with devastating impact - on Phil

Hassomal Daswani, Birjkumar
2019.01.25
Crocker, Philip J
Caleta Hotel, Gibraltar, Gibraltar
1-0
Gibraltar Festival Challengers A (5.17)
1. e4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. e5 Ne4 4. Nce2 f6 5. d3 Ng5 6. Bxg5 fxg5 7. h4 g4 8. d4 c5 9. dxc5 e6 10. Nd4 Nc6 11. Bb5 Qc7 12. Qxg4 Bxc5 13. Ngf3 O-O 14. Bxc6 bxc6 15. c3 Rb8 16. b4 Bxd4 17. Qxd4 Ba6 18. Ng5 Qd7 19. Qg4 Rf5 20. f4 c5 21. a3 h6 22. Nh3 d4 23. Qd1 Qd5 24. Qd2 Qe4 25. Kf2 dxc3 26. Qxc3 Qe2 27. Kg1 Bb7 28. Qg3 Rd8 29. Re1 Qc2 30. Rf1 Rd3 31. Qg6 Rg5 32. Qe8 Kh7 33. Nxg5 hxg5 34. hxg5

That's a complicated one but it's a winner if we can't cook it. All kinds of ways to lose a queen for nothing and none of them nearly as bad a move.

Tim Harding wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 25, 2019 4:09 pm

39 Ng4 is even more deadly.

True, but less trivial to calculate.

"The prettiest WMOTB ever played?"

That is unlucky. I hope someone bought him a beer.

The Spanish do generate some splendid names. Here's a couple of IMs who, if results go the right way, could be paired tomorrow.

Lance Henderson De La Fuente - Paolo Ladron De Guevara Pinto

Names straight from the pages of Cervantes

David Robertson wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 28, 2019 5:43 pm

Paolo Ladron De Guevara Pinto

Also mentioned here (where I included the accent but curiously spelled Guevara wrong). The other name, you'll notice, isn't just baroque, but half-English - I believe the guy is bilingual and has an American father.

Chess Mind round 7 report with brief analysis of the leader's win

Howell- Nakamura is one I'm looking forward to this afternoon.

benedgell wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 30, 2019 11:40 am

Howell- Nakamura is one I'm looking forward to this afternoon.

You must be a bit disappointed. Howell played with White against one of the world's most dangerous players, drew comfortably but with never a winning chance. I imagine he is only half pleased.

Cheparinov will play all ten games against GMs. I have not checked whether this is a first for Gibraltar, but it an impressive statistic.

Round 10, Howell is a piece up for apparently not much on move 12 as Black v Aronian. Very strange.

PeterFarr wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 31, 2019 11:31 am

Round 10, Howell is a piece up for apparently not much on move 12 as Black v Aronian. Very strange.

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. c3 Qc7 6. h3 g6 7. Qc2 f6 8. Ne2 e5 9. O-O Nge7 10. dxe5 fxe5 11. c4 e4 12. Bxe4 dxe4 13. Nbc3 Bg7 14. Nd5 Qd6

Perhaps he thought he could meet 11. .. e4 with 12. Qc3, then realised that 12. .. exd3 13. Qxh8 dxe2 works for Black.

This is reminiscent of the infamous Carlsen - Jones. Easy for the computer to say that White has nothing, but in the real world it isn't that simple.

NickFaulks wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 31, 2019 12:02 pm

This is reminiscent of the infamous Carlsen - Jones. Easy for the computer to say that White has nothing, but in the real world it isn't that simple.

Yes indeed, we can all be heroes with the computer in front of us.