Are Chess Traps Really a Taboo

[Geoff Chandler]

Plus me beating David Howell.

Fritz Fun + games.


http://www.chessedinburgh.co.uk/chandle ... handID=389

[Alex Holowczak]

I had no shame in pulling off this draw (got overshadowed by the board 1 beating an IM though): http://www.warleychess.org/holowczakvcrump.htm

[Geoff Chandler]

Now that is good, well spotted, when did you get the idea?
When his Knight came to e5 or were you waiting for it to come to e5.
A beauty.

And I see you have added the names.
For a moment I thought chess had gone all PC.
That's Corner fodder alright.

What I find really distressing and annoying is that EVERY player
has these wee creative moments hidden away in their score books
and I fear they will never see the light of day giving a totally false
impression that it's only 'the good and great' that can play these moves.

This is totally unfair, why should it just be one or two players
that see these games.

I love chess, you love, we all love chess.

(OK some love their grades more than the game, but these guys we pity)

And any chess player who does not chuckle (and admire) that one
needs to remember why they play chess.

Thanks for sharing, I'll make sure it goes around the planet.

[Alex Holowczak]

Now that is good, well spotted, when did you get the idea?
When his Knight came to e5 or were you waiting for it to come to e5.
A beauty.

And I see you have added the names.
For a moment I thought chess had gone all PC.
That's Corner fodder alright.

Well, that's my club's website. I'll be sure to pass on your praise to the webmaster.

I got the idea when he took with the h-pawn (I thought he'd take with the f-pawn to make sure he avoided that). So I was trying to open the c-file. I thought that if he played Nxd7 then I'd play Rxd7, but I thought he wouldn't recapture because the perpetual would be obvious. He could also play Qxd5 instead of cxd7, which would have won. It was a team match though, and we were 3-0 up, losing one, and the board 1 game with the IM. I thought that with normal play I'd lose, so needing a draw, I'd aim for the perpetual. Nd7 was the only way I could see to have a chance of that.

Unusually, the home team put food on for the match. I wandered off to get some when I played Nd7. I don't know if that had anything to do with it. Maybe he was lulled into a false sense of security.

[John Hickman]

Three cheers for Warley Quinborne. That was my old club as a junior. I thought I recognised the name of your opponent, and checking my old scores, I lost to him in 1983 in the Birmingham Easter Open. J E Crump. Checking the ECF grading site, must be the same guy. My first ever open, and I started on 2/2

And Geoff is right. There are many many wonderful and beautiful traps, swindles and combos played by amateurs that will never see the light of day.

[Geoff Chandler]

Hi. Guys

"There are many many wonderful and beautiful traps, swindles and
combos played by amateurs that will never see the light of day."

...you must have one or two in your locker. I have the space to show it.

Maybe I'll see a publisher and get them to take a full page ad out
in Chess and BCM asking for under 2000 player's tricks and traps.

We don't want it clutered up with the the (ahem...) good players.

Infact a stroll through the players index would reveal the real backbone
of British Chess. The low graded trap-setters who haunt the minors.

It would be like finding 100's of unheard Beatles songs.

I'll call it.

Chess Traps Played by Players with Big Balls

Stick that next to the opening books on the bookstall and see what sells.

[Geoff Chandler]

Hi.

My quote from yesterday:

"Thanks for sharing, I'll make sure it goes around the planet."

And recieved an email from Slovakia this morning about it.

(passed email onto to Alex).

Suggests there may be a very beautiful (and no doubt instructive) White wrap up.
Though does stress he did it blind as has no chess set to hand.

I love these positions that can be squeezed dry of tactics in so many ways.

Slung the bits about a while but can only find the White mundane wins
(after 28...Nd7). Have not used a box, but doubt if box even sees the 28...Nd7
idea - these things have no imagination.

Also bunged up solid with a cold/flu. Head is full of cement.

Hopefully someone in South America will find it as the position circles the globe.

Don't you just love Chess and the way things pan out?

[Alex Holowczak]

Well, I could only find the obvious wins, Nxd7 or Qxd5. I didn't look beyond those, I thought they'd be enough. I thought that Nxf7 might "work" but was risky, and I thought that it was unnecessary given his advantage. (I think after a lot of exchanges, the pawn gets through.) Something like 29. Nxf7 Kxf7 (29... Kmoves Nd6) 30. Rxd5 Ke7 31. Re1+ etc. or 30... Kf8 doesn't look too pleasant either.

[John Hickman]

Maybe I'll see a publisher and get them to take a full page ad out
in Chess and BCM asking for under 2000 player's tricks and traps.

Go for it. Appeal to the mass of the Chess book buying public by creating a book containing combos that were found by players of their own level

Hi. Guys

...you must have one or two in your locker. I have the space to show it.

Ok, if you insist. I don't know how to put up diagrams on this site, so I'll post the scores.

My first one did see the light of day in a couple of magazines, including Chess. However neither magazine can tell you the whole story. I had not played Chess for 5 Years. My return into the Chess World was at the 14th Isle of Man Congress in 2005. Who do I get fed up to in my first game? David Howell . Then they fed me to Parimarjan Negi. Ouch. OK, avoiding a drubbing in this tournament was going to need special measures. Now on the Isle of Man coach trip, they tell you about the Fairy Bridge http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy_Bridge. I had indeed greeted the faeries, but obviously I needed to take things further and make a little pact with them. So they gave me the positon after Anthony Fox's 35. ...Qxb2 with the digital clock ticking to well below a minute. Anthony has just eaten the poisoned Bishop So I stick another Bishop on him 36. Bd5+!!

[Event "Monarch Assurance 14th"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2005.09.28"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Hickman, John"]
[Black "Fox, Anthony"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A06"]
[WhiteElo "2115 - after 5 years not playing, yeah, right "]
[BlackElo "2118"]
[PlyCount "73"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. d3 Nf6 3. Nbd2 Nc6 4. g3 e5 5. Bg2 Bc5 6. O-O O-O 7. a3 a5 8. e3
Ba7 9. b3 Re8 10. Bb2 h6 11. h3 Bf5 12. b4 axb4 13. axb4 Nxb4 14. Nxe5 c6 15.
Ndf3 Qc7 16. g4 Bh7 17. h4 Nd7 18. Qd2 Na6 19. Qc3 Nxe5 20. Nxe5 Bb8 21. Nf3 f6
22. Ra4 b5 23. Rf4 b4 24. Qd2 Qd7 25. g5 fxg5 26. hxg5 Bxf4 27. exf4 hxg5 28.
Ne5 Qd6 29. c4 dxc4 30. Nxc4 Qxd3 31. Qc1 Rad8 32. Bxc6 Re2 33. Ne5 Qc2 34. Qa1
Nb8 35. Qa7 Qxb2 36. Bd5+ Rxd5 37. Qxb8+ 1-0

This swindle was my only win of the tournament, and it made my week

However, be warned of pacts with Faeries! On the next day, less than five minutes into the game, I lost a Bishop to a tactic on move 8 I should have resigned against my IM opponent, but was too embarressed to be handing in my result before some of the players had even finished filling in the names on their score sheets.

The second (well you did ask for one from the locker) was from the last round of a Congress where I have nothing to play for at that point except for fun. I humbly present my 34. Nxe5!! which leaves a Rook hanging that can be taken with check, but wins!

[Event "Metropolitan Major"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2006.10.08"]
[Round "5.8"]
[White "Hickman, John"]
[Black "Abedian, Mohsan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C87"]
[WhiteElo "2058 - grade at this point still plunging like a roller coaster to sub-2000"]
[BlackElo "1930"]
[PlyCount "81"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O d6 6. Re1 Bg4 7. c3 Be7 8. h3
Bh5 9. d3 O-O 10. Nbd2 Nd7 11. Nf1 Nc5 12. Bxc6 bxc6 13. Ng3 Bg6 14. d4 Nd7 15.
dxe5 dxe5 16. Be3 Bd6 17. Qa4 c5 18. Rad1 Nb6 19. Qc2 Qe7 20. c4 a5 21. a4 Nd7
22. Bd2 Nb8 23. Nf5 Bxf5 24. exf5 Re8 25. Qe4 Nd7 26. Bg5 f6 27. Bd2 Reb8 28.
Re3 Nb6 29. b3 Qe8 30. g4 Be7 31. h4 Nc8 32. g5 Qh5 33. gxf6 gxf6 34. Nxe5
Qxd1+ 35. Kg2 Nb6 36. Rg3+ Kf8 37. Bh6+ Ke8 38. Rg8+ Bf8 39. Rxf8+ Ke7 40. Nc6+
Kd7 41. Qe6# 1-0

[Rob Thompson]

and one from mine, though i will admit I only managed to swindle a draw rather than a win. I was unrated at this point, though I got my first part-rating of 1885 the next week.

[Event "British U-16"]
[Site "Liverpool"]
Date "2008.08.01"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Thompson, Robert"]
[Black "Sathyanandha, Saravanan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[Black Elo "1954"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 Ne4 3. Bf4 d5 4. f3 Nf6 5. e4 dxe4 6. Nc3 Nd5 7. Nxd5 Qxd5 8. Bxc7 Bf5 9. c4 Qd7 10. Ba5 Nc6 11. Bc3 e6 12. Be2 e3 13. Qb3 0-0-0 14. 0-0-0 Qc7 15. g4 Bg6 16. h4 h5 17. gxh5 Rxh5 18. f4 Qxf4 19. d5 Qe4 20. Bd3 Qxa1 21. Ne2 Qf3 22. dxc6 Qxc6 23. Nd4 Rxd4 24. Bxd4 Rxh4 25. Bxg6 e2 26. Re1 Rxd4 27. Bxf7 Rxc4+ 28. Kb1 Qe4+ 29. Ka1 Bb4 30. Qh3 Bxe1 31. Qxe6+ Qxe6 32. Bxe6+ Kc7 33. Bxc4 Kd6 34. Kb1 Ke5 35. Bxe2 Kf4 36. Bc2 g5 37. Bc4 Ke3 38. Be6 Bh4 39. a4 b6 40. b3 Kf4 41. Kd3 g4 42. Ke2 g3 43. Kf1 Be7 44. Kg2 Bd6 45. Bc4 Ke3 46. Bg8 Kd4 47. Bf7 a6 48. Bc4 b5 49. axb5 a5 50. Bg8 Kc5 51. Bf7 1/2-1/2

3 clear pawns behind and almost mated to a drawn ending - not too bad However, in my case that was the Faeries repaying me - I'd blundered my queen in 8 moves earlier in the tournament

[Geoff Chandler]

Cheers guys.

Yes can do things with these games - it won't just be the diagram
but the whole game with light leg-pull notes.
(in the same vein as the title of the book)

You cannot get players setting up positions these days (thank you Fritz).
So my job would be to coax them to the critical position and they play
them to the moment.

Notes were writing themselves as I skipped through the games.
And no pad-put analysis. Who plays out all the anlysis you see in books/mags.

The author and maybe one of the players and it's usually gunk vomitted out by Fritz.

Yes - a book waiting to be written there.
A collection of one hit wonders (blunders).

Rob mistake at Move 36 it should be 36.Kc2.
Corrected it easily as I'm used to correcting scores in games.
Incorrect moves and badly written score-sheets are the bane of my life.

http://www.chessedinburgh.co.uk/chandle ... handID=118

Both of you mention dropping Queens or a piece before move 10.

Don't be shy Give em up lads. (these will be for The Corner).

Our man in Slovakia got back in touch - the win was there but not the stunner
I hoping it was - glad in a way, would have been annoyed if I never saw it.

[John Hickman]

Cheers guys.
Both of you mention dropping Queens or a piece before move 10.

I'm sure there is no shortage of blunders for a book. You'd probably need a long series . Chess amateurs seem to like talking about these as much as their winnning combos. Catharsis, or probably that they've got a lot more of them to talk about

What you don't get with those little problem diagrams is the story behind it. They all must have one, although we might not care. Even so, here's the tail of mine. Following on from the tale of the fox, I get drawn against IM Craig Hanley. No shortage of titled players in Port Erin! In the Chess magazine following the tournament, Richard Palliser produced the problem pages entirely based on games from this tournament. Quite a delight to see one of mine in there. Unfortunately, next to it was the postion after my 8. ...Bf5 against Craig. Now I have a cunning plan to avoid players preparing against me. I just forget my own repertoire . I trotted out my first "prepared" 8 moves quickly, but hadn't noted the subtle difference between my move, and what I meant to play, 8. ...Na6. Craig obviously did

[Event "Monarch Assurance 14th"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2005.09.29"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Hanley, Craig"]
[Black "Hickman, John"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B07"]
[WhiteElo "2367"]
[BlackElo "2115"]
[PlyCount "65"]

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 c6 4. f4 Qa5 5. e5 Ne4 6. Qf3 f5 7. exf6 Nxf6 8. Bd3
Bf5 9. b4 Qxb4 10. Bxf5 Qxd4 11. Nge2 Qc5 12. Qh3 Nbd7 13. Be3 Qa5 14. Bg6+ Kd8
15. O-O Kc7 16. Rab1 Nc5 17. Bd4 e6 18. Kh1 Be7 19. Bf7 Raf8 20. Bxe6 Nxe6 21.
Qxe6 Bd8 22. Qc4 b6 23. Bxf6 Bxf6 24. Nd4 Bxd4 25. Nb5+ Kb7 26. Nxd6+ Kc7 27.
Nb5+ Kb7 28. Nxd4 Rf6 29. Rfe1 Rc8 30. Re7+ Rc7 31. Rbe1 Qa3 32. Rxc7+ Kxc7 33.
Nb5+ 1-0

I have some consolation though. I was the first to add this blunder to chess theory, but not the last. I hope Ivanov didn't use my game as his prep

[Event "Glassy Stream Masters"]
[Site "Kharkov"]
[Date "2006.09.30"]
[Round "11"]
[White "Ogleznev, Alexandr"]
[Black "Ivanov, Alexander Al"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B07"]
[WhiteElo "2207"]
[BlackElo "2394 "]
[PlyCount "95"]
[EventDate "2006.09.22"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "UKR"]
[EventCategory "4"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2006.11.03"]

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 c6 4. f4 Qa5 5. e5 Ne4 6. Qf3 f5 7. exf6 Nxf6 8. Bd3
Bf5 9. b4 Qxb4 10. Bxf5 g6 11. Be6 Qxd4 12. Nge2 Qb6 13. Rb1 Qc7 14. O-O Nbd7
15. Be3 Bg7 16. Nd4 Nc5 17. f5 Kd8 18. Rfd1 Nfd7 19. Ne4 Nxe4 20. Qxe4 Nc5 21.
Nxc6+ Qxc6 22. Qxc6 bxc6 23. Bxc5 Kc7 24. Bd4 Bxd4+ 25. Rxd4 Rab8 26. Rb3 gxf5
27. Bxf5 h6 28. Ra4 Rb7 29. g4 e5 30. Kg2 d5 31. h4 Rf8 32. Kg3 Rf6 33. Rxb7+
Kxb7 34. Ra3 Rf8 35. Re3 Re8 36. g5 hxg5 37. hxg5 Kc7 38. Bh7 Re7 39. g6 e4 40.
Kf4 Kd6 41. Bg8 Rc7 42. Bf7 c5 43. Kg5 Ke5 44. g7 Rxf7 45. g8=Q Rf2 46. Qh8+
Kd6 47. Rh3 Kc6 48. Qe8+ 1-0

[Geoff Chandler]

Cheers John, perfect. - this one thread is a Corner. (and it will be).

Book idea was half a joke but have had encouragement from here, USA including
contact from people in the trade. And one from Germany asking where they can get it!
(these German lads sometimes never see the funny side.......joke!).

Will give it some consideration, I am dropping The Corner soon.
The 400th one will the last. (11 left). It's ran it's course.

So perhaps a book full of bad moves and traps will be a perfect Swan Song
before I finally go toes up. Whose knows? I do like the title.

It took Keith Ruxton and me 8 months to write Rampant Chess

http://www.ukgamesshop.com/Merchant2/me ... gory_Code=

(Yes! I've sneaked in a plug - though sales have been tremendous, it does not need it.)

So don't expect a weekend job.
No more games for now - you will hear about it if I decide to go for it.

[John Hickman]

Cheers John, perfect. - this one thread is a Corner. (and it will be).

Great, I look forward to it.

I am dropping The Corner soon.
The 400th one will the last. (11 left). It's ran it's course.

That's a shame.

[John Moore]

Geoff - you should carry on - the number of strong players I have mentioned your site too and they have been interested. Oh and the cats are great.