Robert is going crazy with this chess software. Tesseract, Lovely Lunegood, Adeia, Pseudonym, SudoRandom, and mas0n have all expressed interest in a lesson, in approximately that order.
Tesseract — ready to roll?
(Note: “Lesson” games are played in public. Players may comment on their own or each other’s moves; observers may ask questions, which the players may or may not answer. It’s all highly experimental.)
[Event "Chess Lessons"]
[Site "MuseBlog, NET"]
[Date "2009.10.12"]
[Round ""]
[White "Tesseract, "]
[Black "Robert"]
[CBBWhiteId "Tesseract"]
[CBBBlackId "admin"]
[Result "*"]
1.g4 d5 2.h3 e5 3.Nf3 e4 4.Nd4 c5 5.Nf5 Bxf5 6.gxf5 Qf6 7.Nc3 Qxf5 8.b3 a6 9.Bb2 d4 10.Na4 Nd7 11.c3 b5 12.cxd4 bxa4 13.bxa4 Rb8 14.Bc3 cxd4 15.Bxd4 Bc5 16.Bxc5 Nxc5 17.Qc1 Qe5 18.h4 Rc8
Board for studying variations (not the actual game):
[Event "Chess Lesson 2 — Variations"]
[Site "MuseBlog, NET"]
[Date "2009.10.12"]
[Round ""]
[White "White"]
[Black "Black"]
[CBBWhiteId "admin"]
[CBBBlackId "admin"]
[Result "1-0"]
Could I be added to the lineup?
SFTDP- I accidentally moved one of the pieces on the second board, can it be moved back?
I don’t think the move is permanent, and I don’t think anybody but you can see it. (I can’t.) At least, that’s how the software used to work before the upgrade.
Oh. Yay! *plays against self…*
Yeah!!! I’ll be able to use these moves in chees club, which I signed up for today!
I would like a chess lesson after they have their turns.
Lesson begins.
1. g4 d5
1. g4 isn’t a very strong opening move for White.
At the beginning of the game, there are two main things to do: get your pieces out quickly, and keep your opponent’s pieces away from reaching strong squares. In general, the strongest squares of the board are those near the center. A knight in the center of the board, for example, has many more possible moves than one at the edge or in a corner.
1. g4 does provide a way of getting the bishop out, which is good. But it doesn’t help control the center of the board, and it opens a hole on the side of the board near White’s king. Unless White repairs the weakness in future moves, Black will try to exploit it.
With 2. … d5, Black controls the center square e4 and opens an exit for the bishop on c8. By uncovering the bishop, it also attacks White’s pawn on g4. Black will take the pawn on the next move unless White protects it. Defending the pawn will take time White could be spending on other things. Every move counts!
2. h3 e5
2. h3 protects the g4 pawn from Black’s bishop on c8.
2. … e5 doesn’t move any pieces out, but it opens an exit for Black’s other bishop and for Black’s queen. It also controls the center square d4 (because White can’t post a piece there).
Black will now be able to develop his pieces quickly.
3. Nf3 e4
White develops a knight while attacking Black’s pawn on e5.
Black could protect the pawn with 3. … Nc6 or 3. … Bd6, but instead he decides to move the pawn forward, counterattacking the knight and forcing it to move.
4. Nd4 c5
White moves her knight away from the attacking pawn. Black attacks it with another pawn.
By the way, sorry Ducky for not moving for so long…but I’ve moved now! *tries to cheer up* I should have checked back on the Chess Lessons thred,as Robert told me to move…
3. Nf5 Bxf5
From Black’s point of view, it’s a shame to part with the bishop, but White’s knight is too strong on the f5 square.
After White recaptures, Black will have a strong group of advanced pawns in the center. White’s king side will have holes through which Black will try to attack. White’s pawns on f5 and h3 will also be vulnerable. (Pawns are strongest in chains; “isolated” pawns, as they are called, can’t support one another and have to be defended by stronger pieces. That makes them good targets.)
White, for her part, will have an open file from g1 to g8. (On chessboards, rows of squares are called ranks; “columns” of squares are called files.) Open files are generally good places to put rooks and queens to attack the other side. White needs to start developing pieces, though. Because her kingside pawns are disrupted, she may also want to consider castling on the queen side.)
6. gxf5 Qf6
Normally I don’t like to bring out the queen so early in the game. But as the grandmaster Wilhelm Steinitz used to say, “A pawn ahead is worth a little trouble.”
White can’t defend the pawn, so there’s no point in worrying about that. Now her main jobs are to get some pieces out, strengthen her king side, and figure out what to do about Black’s pawns in the center. It’s do-able but will take careful play.
With 7. Nc3, White moves another knight out while using it to attack Black’s pawn on d5. Black captures the white pawn on f5 with his queen (7. … Qxf5). The queen now defends the pawn on d5.
8. b3 a6
With 8. b3, White makes room to move her bishop to b2. That way of deploying bishops is called a fianchetto, an Italian word meaning “little flank.” Italians pronounce it fyan-KET-to, but Americans usually say fee-an-CHET-to. Fianchettos are common in many standard openings. I’ve always liked them. They’re like making a little house for your bishop.
Once the bishop moves to b2, it will be pointing at Black’s king side — a good place for mounting attacks on the king, especially if White can support it with a rook on the open (unblocked) g file (g1-g8).
At this point, Black really wants to start getting his pieces out. First, though, he decides to make sure that White can’t penetrate his queen side by moving a knight or bishop to b5. By moving 8. … a6, Black puts that square off-limits to White, at least for a while.
9. Bb2 e4
White’s bishop occupies its “house”; Black moves a pawn forward to attack White’s knight. He’s trying to squeeze White’s pieces backwards or to the side of the board. Then, if he can, he’ll use the advanced pawns to tear up the pawns around White’s king. (The king is the big prize, of course.)
Pawns are weak on their own, but they can be very powerful when they join forces. Attacking with a “wall” of them, with pieces behind them, can be deadly. Try it some time!
10. Na4 Nd7
White moves the attacked knight to the side of the board. Black moves his knight to Nd7 to keep the white knight from going to b6.
Now Black threatens to trap the knight by playing the b pawn to b5 (pawn power, again!). To save the knight, White must either (1) prepare a retreat square for it or (2) attack Black in a way that prevents him from carrying out his threat. I’m not sure whether option 2 is possible in this position, but it’s something to look for.
Any questions or comments from anyone else? They’re allowed.
11. Nb6
Tesseract — what are you trying to accomplish with this move?
Oops.
Let’s erase that one and let you try something else.
11. c3 b5
With 11. c3, White decides to attack Black’s advanced pawns in the most direct way. It’s good to get rid of them before they reach the white king. In the process, unfortunately, White will lose her knight. In exchange, she will get a pawn or two and will end up with two strong bishops. Black’s pawn attack will be over in a couple of moves, and then White may be able to cook up some threats of her own.
(If I were White, I’d have played 11. Ba3, making room for the knight to escape to b2.)
13. bxa4 Rb8
White recaptures the pawn that took her knight; Black moves the rook to put a little pressure on White’s bishop on b2. Moving the rook also takes it off the h1-a8 diagonal, where White is likely to move her white-square bishop within the next few moves.
The game is entering a new stage. Black has lost his wall of pawns in the center and now has no immediate way to attack White’s king. But Black has trapped and captured one of White’s knights.
The balance of forces (or “material,” as chessplayers say) now stands like this:
Pawns: White, 7; Black, 6.
Minor pieces: White, two bishops; Black, one bishop and two knights.
Rooks and queens: even.
So Black is slightly ahead in material. He’ll try to keep that edge and use his extra piece to snap up more pawns. (Pawns are important, because later in the game they can turn into queens.)
White, however, has good prospects for developing (bringing out) her pieces and starting a counterattack. I’ll say more about that soon.
First, though, White has to decide what to do about Black’s attack on her bishop. Ignore the attack (not recomended)? Support the bishop with another piece? Move it out of danger? Distract Black with a counterattack somewhere else on the board?
14 Bc3 cxd4
Sorry about the delay — I hadn’t noticed that you had moved.
Black now wants to get his pieces out and castle his king. Being a piece ahead, he won’t mind exchanging pieces. The fewer there are on the board, the more his advantage will become apparent. White, meanwhile, should try to keep pieces on the board.
15 Bxd4 Bc5
The white bishop is too powerful on the long a1-h8 diagonal. Black tries to exchange it for his less active bishop, while preparing the way for castling his king.
(Some of White’s possible responses are ruled out because of the threat of …Qxf2 mate.)
16 Bxc5 Nxc5
17 d4 e3
White attacks Black’s knight, but Black doesn’t care. He has his eye on White’s king. White has to play very carefully now, because of the vulnerable f2 square.
Tesseract: Now that you’ve seen how endangered your king is, would you like to try a different 17th move?
That might be good.
Done! Your 17th move is erased.
17 Qc1 Qe
Black’s queen move isn’t as innocuous as it looks. It threatens the fork …Nd3 check. Can you see why?
White has a couple of ways to defend against Nd3, but she’ll have to move carefully.
Nd3 check?
That’s right. That’s the threat.
Hm, maybe not after all. I was thinking that after something like 18. Rb1 Ne3+ 19. d2xe3 d4xe3+ 20. Kd1 Qh5+ . But then White just moves the king back to e1, and Black’s attack goes nowhere.
Black does threaten a few weak points in White’s position, but nothing big like that. Sorry to mislead you!
Tesseract: Sorry! This thread had been dormant for so long that I had stopped checking for new moves. I’ve just made Black’s 18th move, sliding the rook one square toward the king, to c8 (18. … Rc8).
Now Black really does threaten Ne3+, because moving the knight with check will enable the black rook to capture the white queen. If you work out all the resulting exchanges, you’ll find that White would get a knight and a rook for the queen — generally not a good trade.
To meet the threat, White has to do at least one of three things: either move the king (so Ne3 isn’t check); move the queen (so Ne3 doesn’t expose the queen to attack by the rook); or conjure up a counter-threat compelling enough foil Black’s plan.
White also has to be careful not to choose a move that would let Black’s queen capture the rook on a1.