Robert has an idea for a new way to use the chess software: He’ll play a game with one MBer (at a time), trying to create interesting positions for his opponent to exploit. He’ll make comments on the action as it unfolds and will answer questions from anybody on the blog. Sound interesting?
(You can replay or “unplay” the games move by move by using the arrows on the bar below, just as you would with a video or music player.)
Variations:
(This section will change, so keep an eye on it.)
Slightly more complicated this time. As before, Black has weakened ens king side. Once again, White has a dramatic way to exploit that weakness. How?
Yes! That sounds great.
Righto. Fire away!
1. …f6 is a weak move. It blocks the knight’s natural outpost at f6 and opens the king up to attack along the e8-h5 diagonal. Black should be trying to make his king harder to attack.
The f pawn (f2 or f7) is a weak point in each side’s starting position. The pawn is supported only by the king, so by pointing pieces at it, you can threaten to whack open the king side and get a quick checkmate. It’s like a pressure point in martial arts — something to be aware of both in both attacking and defending.
This looks great! Thanks, Robert!
This looks helpful.
Ooh! I’d like a chess lesson.
Me too! I’m not very goo at it, so…yeah. *raises hand*
Lovely: Speaking of chess, Ducky is waiting for you to move.
I think I should play one game at a time. But everyone may watch and read my comments and ask questions. “Lesson” games are played in public, and there won’t be much mystery about what the players are up to. (When good players play a game, each usually has a fairly good idea of what the other is trying to achieve with each move.)
3… So I should try to point firepower in that direction. The one advantage of that move is that I have to figure out to to with my black bishop, so that I can move the e pawn to e3 to free the white bishop. *thinks*
Nf3 is a sort of standard move but it seems appropriate.
(9) First, notation: To refer to White’s numbered moves, one writes the number and the move. Black’s moves get the number, ellipsis periods, and then the move. So White’s first move was 1.d4, but Black’s first move was 1. … f6. White’s second move was 2. Nf3. Now Black moves 2. … c6.
As White, I probably would have played 2. e4, thinking that anyone inexperienced enough to have played 1. … f6 might follow it up with something silly enough to make it worthwhile to get my queen into the action over on the king side. It’s not usually a good idea to move the queen out quite so early (because Black might attack it, forcing White to waste time moving it again while Black develops his pieces). But after 2. e4 and 2. … g5 (say), White has an instant mate. Do you see it?
(I’ll put the position on the “variations” board.)
Also, why do you want to play e3? e4 grabs more of the center and doesn’t block your black bishop.
May I play next?
Tesseract and LL (comments 6 and 7 above) seem to be ahead of you in line, if that’s indeed what they meant. We can straighten it out after this game is over. That might take a while — or it might not.
Ooh, another chess lesson! *pulls up a chair to watch*
Would I need a chess account to have a chess lesson? If so, how do I get one?
Do you see on the green bar near the top of the page, on the right where it says “Log In”? Click on that, and on the next menu click on the link that says “Register.”
Huh. I never noticed that before! I always just dug through my email looking for the link.
Thanks, Robert!
Thank you.
Thanks, but isn’t that just for registering for the paleophyte threads? It told me I needed an administrator’s approval…
The registration process is the same for both from your side. We take it from there.
I got the same thing….
10- I was a bit worried about playing too aggressively too early. But I suppose it would have been better.
It’s a bit early to say “would have been,” don’t you think? You’ve only made two moves, both of them good.
Ahoy, bookgirl! Are you going to move? The lesson is for everybody, and you’re as much a teacher as I am. But nothing will happen if nothing happens.
3. Nc3 d5
3. Nc3 blocks the c pawn; I’d have moved the c pawn first and then put the knight behind it for extra oomph.
With 3. … d5, Black is finally making a decent move. It helps control part of the center, opens a path for the bishop, and keeps White from playing d5 herself. By wasting time with 1. f6, however, Black has let White take the lead in getting her pieces out (“developing” them, as chessplayers say), and he has opened a hole in the pawns near his king. White may be able to use that hole to attack the king sooner or later.
Speaking of holes and weakness, has anyone spotted White’s best move on the lower board?
White’s best move… not yet. I need to pay attention to chess threads *headdesk*
Feel free to come by and help me out while you’re at it.
bookgirl: Look closely at the lower board. Hint: Black has seriously weakened ens king side.
(If you need another hint, I’ll post it as an attachment to this one, with the letters reversed.)
Another hint (SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER): evomneeuqasiti.
Black’s fourth move, 4. … Nxd4, forces White to play aggressively. (Come on, bookgirl: get in touch with your inner Morphy!)
Inner Morphy…
Black didn’t develop much so I think I can bring out the queen. My king still is still fairly unprotected, but I can always castle on the queen’s side to get the rock into the center.
SFTDP:
My main problem now is probably the e pawn…
4. … Nxd4
5. Qxd4 e5
Black thinks he can get the knight back by forking the queen and the bishop. But with such bad development, and such a weak king side, this trick (though a good one) is almost certainly unsound here. What’s the best way for White to proceed?
Let’s talk about this position a bit before you make your next move.
bookgirl: Have you solved the riddle of Board 2 yet?
The second board- Queen h5. That was easy. I’m still working on our game though…
That’s fine. Meanwhile, I’ve posted a similar but slightly harder problem on the “variations” board.
It’s hard to go wrong in the center. Remember that you’re already ahead a knight for a pawn. You could give it back to Black and still have a much stronger position.
Okay, I’m back and I finally realized that it might be a good idea to move the Queen- Qa4 buys me time. I’m assuming that black will just move the bishop in front of his king, instead of the Queen because then I could trade them off, being in the stronger position. I’d have to move again, but I’m not sure where. Still, I didn’t like the idea of just trading off like that- especially since I had to move my Queen in the first place.
Variation:
What about Nh4? That way, the Queen could go to h5, and white could sacrifice on g6 (or should I call it a bad trade?) to bring the bishop in.
I think you could have smashed Black’s position open with 6. Nxe5.
And in the variation, you’ve got the right idea, but Ng5 is stronger. If Black takes the knight, then Qh5 is mate.