Monthly Archives: October 2012
Trends in the Sicilian Kan 5.c4 Bind(B41)
Here is an interesting game in the topical Maroczy Bind featuring Chinese GM Ni Hua.
‘Ni Hua (born May 31, 1983 in Shanghai)[1] is one of China’s top chess grandmasters and is the national team captain. In 2003, he became China’s 15th Grandmaster at the age of 19.
On April 2008, Ni Hua and Bu Xiangzhi both became the second and third Chinese players to pass the 2700 Elo rating line, after Wang Yue. He also played 4th board at the World Team Chess Championship in January 3–14, 2010..-Wikipedia
Ni Hua (2637) – Lin Chen (2446) [B41]
TCh-CHN 2012 Hangzhou CHN (11), 22.09.2012
Critical Position 1(28…Kh7)
All white’s pieces are pointed at the queenside and poised for action. c5 is the theatic break. Does this need more preparation(with say Nb3)? or can c5 be played right away?
White to play
Critical Position 2(40..Bd7)
White has made some progress. Na5 ties up the queenside pawns and the passed d-pawn is in a menacing position. But what is the next step?
White to play
Readership Breakdown after 17 Days
Readershiop information after 17 days shows some interesting facts.
Country Breakdown
The blog’s main audience so far is largely Hungarian and coming in a surprising second is the U.S. I was expecting more from Canada but very surprising is the popularity of Kuwait.
Country of Entry Pageviews
Hungary 524
United States 295
Canada 169
Russia 69
Kuwait 62
Israel 20
Germany 17
France 14
Portugal 12
Ireland 10
Post Subject Breakdown
The most popular subjects are the team championships, local tournaments and GM Portisch. Kuwait and Hungarian women players are also very popular. Farkas,R(2112) and Koczo,K(2199) are local players generating a large viewership.
Post Pageviews
Budapest Team Ch Rd Division 4(unrated) Rd1
Oct 11, 2012, 1 comment 60
Vintage Portisch on the g3 King’s Indian(1964)
Oct 26, 2012 35
Kuwait Chess Team at Oct 2012 First Saturday
Oct 15, 2012 23
First Saturday FMA2 Koczo wins 8/9
Oct 22, 2012 21
Papp,P(2303) at Chess House IM 2012-07
Oct 26, 2012 20
GM Hoang at the Istanbul Olympiad 2012
Oct 26, 2012 19
Józsefvárosi Open-Budapest, 2012. október 20–22
Oct 16, 2012 18
Budapest Team Ch Rd2 Oct 14 2012
Oct 13, 2012 17
Farkas,R(2112) in FSFMA 2012-10
Oct 27, 2012 15
TWIC 936(Oct 16 2012)-Hungary
Oct 16, 2012 14
Vintage Portisch on the Closed Sicilian
Here is an instructive game from the Larsen-Portisch Candiates Match 1977 in the Closed Sicilian.
‘Jørgen Bent Larsen (4 March 1935 – 9 September 2010) was a Danish chess Grandmaster and author. Larsen was known for his imaginative and unorthodox style of play and he was the first western player to pose a serious challenge to the Soviet Union’s dominance of chess.[1] He is considered to be the strongest chess player born in Denmark and the strongest from Scandinavia until the emergence of Magnus Carlsen.
Larsen was a six time Danish Champion and a candidate for the World Chess Championship on four occasions, reaching the semi final three times. He had multiple wins over all seven World Champions who held the title from 1948 to 1985: Mikhail Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov, Mikhail Tal, Tigran Petrosian, Boris Spassky, Bobby Fischer, and Anatoly Karpov.,[2] but lifetime minus scores against them. On a percentage basis, his best score against a World Champion was with Max Euwe. Larsen and Euwe met over the board only once, at the Munich Olympiad in 1958; the game ended in a draw.[3] From the early 1970s, he divided his year between Las Palmas and Buenos Aires,[1] with his Argentinian-born wife. He suffered from diabetes and died in 2010.-Wikipedia
Larsen,Bent (2615) – Portisch,Lajos (2625) [B25]
Candidates qf3 Rotterdam (1), 01.03.1977
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.d3 d6 6.f4 e5
Black intends a postional battle from the solid Botvinnik structure.
Critical Position 1
The early middlegame has been reached and black must form a cohesive plan. White has just played 19.cd. How do you play?
Black to play
Critical Position 2
The game is deep into the middlegame. Black is well established on e5 and has the bishop pair. White has just played 34.Ne2. What should black play next? Undermine d5 with ..f5? Improve the kingside first with ..Kg7? Or is there something else?
Critical Position 3
The ending has been reached. Black has been pressing hard but now must do something about the Rxg5 threat. White has just played 41.Nxd2. How do you play?
Black to play
Farkas,R(2112) in FSFMA 2012-10
Al Hajeri,B(KUW-1978) managed to beat both Koczo,K and Farkas,R in the same tournament so I had to see how as I have recently lost to both these strong local players.
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Name: Bader Al Hajeri (currently the top player of Kuwait)
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Age: 39
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Favorite White Opening: 1. e4!
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Favorite Black Opening: Petrof Defence and the Slav defence
Farkas,R had been taking some risks to get winning chances against a tough Petroff Defence. Black has just attacked the queen with 20..Nd4 and is taking over the game. What should white do with the queen?
White to play
GM Berkes,F(2679) in the Bundesliga 2012-2013
Here is an interesting game from recent Budesliga 2012-13 action. Let us see how a GM plays for a win against another strong GM.
Romanov,E (2611) – Berkes,F (2679) [A13]
Bundesliga 2012–13 Muelheim GER (2), 21.10.2012
1.c4 e6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 dxc4 4.Qa4+ c6 5.Qxc4 b5 6.Qc2 Bb7 7.Nc3 a6 8.a4 Nd7 9.Nf3 Ngf6 10.0–0 Be7 11.d4 0–0
Critical Position 1
The opening phase was nothing special. White pushed ambitously on the kingside and seems to be making progress. But now what? The critcal moment has arrived. What plan should white adopt? Maybe there is a combination?
White to play
Budapest TCh Rd1-Benko Gambit
The Benko Gambit has been getting a lot of attention lately.
Here is an interesting effort from the Budapest TCh Rd1.
Farkas,Lajos Dr (2228) – Juhasz,Mark (2155) [A59]
BUD tch Lilienthal 12/13 Budapest (1), 30.09.2012
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 Bxa6 6.Nc3 g6 7.Nf3 d6 8.e4 Bxf1 9.Kxf1 Bg7 10.g3 0–0 11.Kg2 Nbd7 12.a4 Qb6 13.Qe2 Rfc8N
Critical Position 1
Black has just played the novelty 13…Rfc8. Normally black would play ..Rfb8 with play on the a.b files. Now black can support …c4 and follow with …Nc5-d3 with light square play. How do you assess the move? What should white do next? Seek a refuation? Play a normal move and keep the tension?
White to Play
Critical Position 2
The position is complicated. What is the right plan for black?
Black to Play
Canada-Ottawa Open 2012-10 19th-21st
The National Capital Open was held in 3 sections. Qn and Plotkin shared first place with 4/5 in the Open section.
2012 National Capital Open: Open Section
1 Zi Yi [joey] Qin 2453 4.0 Tied 1-2 for $300
3 Victor Plotkin 2335 4.0 Tied 1-2 for $300
(17 players)
2012 National Capital Open: U1900
5 Ryan Yang 1800 4.0 First $200
8 Herb Langer 1773 3.0 Tied 2-3rd $87.50
10 Steven Dale 3.0 Tied 2-3rd $87.50
(13 players)
2012 National Capital Open: U1600
2 John If Lukezich 1432 5.0 First $125
4 Curtis Barlow Wilkes 1307 4.0 Second $75
(7 players)
Here is an interesting ending from the tournament
Plotkin Victor (CAN) (2335) – Sun Mike (1928) [B22]
2012 National Capital Open/U2200 Ottawa (Canada) (3), 20.10.2012
Position 1
White is trying to make progress in an equal postion. How should white try for the win?
White to play
Vintage Portisch on the g3 King’s Indian(1964)
‘Lajos Portisch (born 4 April 1937 in Zalaegerszeg, Hungary) is a Hungarian chess Grandmaster, whose positional style earned him the nickname, the “Hungarian Botvinnik“. One of the strongest non-Soviet players from the early 1960s into the late 1980s, he participated in twelve consecutive Interzonals from 1962 through 1993, qualifying for the World Chess Championship Candidates‘ cycle a total of eight times (1965, 1968, 1974, 1977, 1980, 1983, 1985, and 1988). Portisch set several all-time records in Chess Olympiads. In Hungarian Chess Championships, he either shared the title or won it outright a total of eight times (1958, 1959, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1971, 1975, and 1981). He won many strong international tournaments during his career. In 2004, Portisch was awarded the ‘Nemzet Sportoloja‘, Hungary’s highest national sports achievement award.’-Wikipedia
Here is a nice game featuring a plan which is still relevant today in the King’s Indian.
Portisch,Lajos – Gligoric,Svetozar [E69]
HUN-YUG Budapest (2.1), 1964
This middlegame is can be divided into distinct parts
(1)A quiet building phase where e4 is overprotected and small improvements are made to the position
(2)A favorable transformation in the pawn structure
(3)Concrete attacking play to break down the kingside
Critical Position 1
Nothing seems to be happening. What is white’s plan? Continue building? or is there a chance for concrete play?
White to play
Critical Position 2
The position still looks very calm. What is white’s plan? Build? A combination? Maneuver around?
White to play
Critical Position 3
Black’s kingside looks too well fortified for a direct attack. What should white do? Press the compromised queenside pawns? Fight for the d-file? Patiently look for building moves? or is there something else?
White to play
GM Hoang at the Istanbul Olympiad 2012
GM Hoang led the Hungarian Womens Team at the recent Olympiad. 12th seeded Hungary finished 17th.
Bo. Name Rtg FED Pts. Games Rp
1 GM Hoang Thanh Trang 2464 HUN 6.0 10 2476
2 WGM Gara Ticia 2385 HUN 6.5 10 2320
3 WGM Rudolf Anna 2289 HUN 5.0 8 2231
4 IM Gara Anita 2306 HUN 3.5 7 2144
5 WGM Papp Petra 2302 HUN 6.5 9 2226
Rk. SNo Team Team Games + = – TB1 TB2 TB3 TB4
1 2 Russia RUS 11 8 3 0 19 450.0 33.0 155.00
2 1 China CHN 11 8 3 0 19 416.0 31.5 154.00
3 4 Ukraine UKR 11 7 4 0 18 408.5 30.5 154.00
4 6 India IND 11 8 1 2 17 336.0 28.0 148.00
5 10 Romania ROU 11 8 0 3 16 313.5 28.5 129.00
6 8 Armenia ARM 11 8 0 3 16 313.0 26.5 140.00
7 14 France FRA 11 7 1 3 15 347.5 29.0 147.00
8 3 Georgia GEO 11 6 3 2 15 344.0 28.5 144.00
9 26 Iran IRI 11 7 1 3 15 339.0 31.0 132.00
10 5 United States USA 11 6 3 2 15 326.0 29.5 133.00
11 9 Germany GER 11 7 1 3 15 316.0 27.0 144.00
12 22 Kazakhstan KAZ 11 6 3 2 15 309.0 27.0 138.00
13 21 Mongolia MGL 11 7 1 3 15 308.0 28.0 134.00
14 36 Belarus BLR 11 6 3 2 15 292.0 28.5 121.00
15 7 Poland POL 11 6 2 3 14 336.5 27.5 151.00
16 13 Bulgaria BUL 11 6 2 3 14 316.5 27.5 136.00
17 12 Hungary HUN 11 6 2 3 14 303.0 27.5 129.00
Here is a nice positional game
Hoang Thanh Trang (2464) – Pham Le Thao Nguyen (2393) [D23]
40th Olympiad Women Istanbul TUR (2.18), 29.08.2012
This game can be examined under the following themes
- Space advantage
- Bishop pair
- Infiltration
- Open file
Critical Position 1
Black is suffering from a lack of space and is slowly getting squeezed. How to continue? Is there a tactic?
White to play
Critical Position 2
White has made some progress. Black has an isolated pawn, White has increased the space advantage on the kingside and is pressing on the d-file. But what is next? More slow building? Is there a tactical blow?
White to Play
Papp,P(2303) at Chess House IM 2012-07
This small IM norm tournament could easily escape one’s attention. Papp,Petra one of the rising stars on Hungarian women’s chess, gained valuable experience scoring 4/9.
See ChesshouseIM
Final Standings
Eggleston,D won clear first with 7/9. Papp,P got 4/9.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
1 Eggleston,D 2323 +233 * 0 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 7.0/9
2 Semcesen,D 2464 -20 1 * 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 1 6.0/9
3 Andersen,Jack 2328 +88 ½ 0 * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 5.5/9
4 Pedersen,NicV 2453 -89 0 ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 5.0/9 19.75
5 Skytte,R 2401 -31 0 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 5.0/9 19.00
6 Jacobsen,Bo 2302 +39 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * 1 0 1 ½ 4.5/9
7 Papp,Petra 2303 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 * 1 ½ ½ 4.0/9
8 Hansen,Mads3 2341 -82 0 0 ½ 0 0 1 0 * 1 1 3.5/9
9 Hagesaether,H 2278 -54 0 1 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 * 1 3.0/9
10 Sorensen,TorbenK 2181 -105 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 0 * 1.5/9
Average elo: 2337 ; Category: 4
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