Chess: Koko’s Apprentice vs. Purple Panda — 1-0
MuseBlog ratings before the game: KA, 200; Pan, 150.
Date: June 8, 2011
Categories: Chess, Games completed, The Universe
Wednesday, 24 April 2024
Life, the universe, pies, hot-pink bunnies, world domination, and everything
MuseBlog ratings before the game: KA, 200; Pan, 150.
Date: June 8, 2011
Categories: Chess, Games completed, The Universe
Random question-Why is it that the chess game header says “purplepanda/black” for en and just “White” for me?
Just a quirk of the chess software. I’ll edit the game manually.
Cake. I think I have an entire plan figured out, then I move and 10 seconds later I regret it. Cake.
Hmmm.. That sounded a little more annoyed than I meant it to. I meant it as more of a good-natured grunt type thing.
All the reverses and surprises have been very exciting for us spectators, I must say. From move to move, it’s been impossible to predict what was coming next.
Argh, similar things are happening to me! I noticed the stupidity of my last move just a second too late. Oops!
Good game, though!
Grr, I keep going over that move in my head. Not smart. I don’t usually do silly things like that!
I played chess with my dad last night, and I let him checkmate me because I just wan’t paying attention (similar to this game, in move 13, but I moved my Queen instead of my pawn). We decided to take it back a couple moves, though, and keep playing, just for fun!
It is a good game! I’m having fun with this one, and It’s probably the fastest I’ve played. I’ll be able to be on a lot more, now that schools out
I think you’re well matched. You accentuate each other’s weaknesses, so playing together can make you both stronger.
Yes! I agree.
I also like playing quickly, because I don’t forget what was going on in the game between moves. (I’ll be gone for much of the day tomorrow, unfortunately, but I’ll check in the morning, possibly lunch, and night!)
Yeah, I definitely agree about playing quickly. I’ve been watching my brother play Errata, and we both forget what’s going on after Errata moves sometimes, so he rewinds it.
I think moving promptly is good manners.
Right now my rule is that a player who doesn’t move for a month (while continuing to post elsewhere on the blog) forfeits the game. A month seems too long, though. What would be fair? Two weeks? One week? I don’t want to penalize people who truly want to play, but the longer someone ignores the game, the harder it becomes for both players to pick up the thread.
I think that 2 weeks is reasonable, with the exception of summer camps, family vacations, etc.
People would be off the blog entirely for those, wouldn’t they? I would just count time when they were posting on other threads but not making chess moves.
Oh, okay.
KA–I just returned home after a very long day, so I’m going to go to sleep now, but I’ll be sure to post tomorrow, as early as I’m up and alert! I hope you had a wonderful day!!
Robert–I think that a week is enough, but maybe the players can agree on an amount of time before the game begins? (That might be hard to keep track of, though.)
Good game!!
Yeah, that was fun!
New ratings: KA 210, Pan 140.
Would one of you two like to play me? I’m a bit out of practice but I’d really like to. Also, I promise to move more promptly this time.
Hmm, let’s see. I think move 11 was probably not the greatest idea for me, because the next few moves were difficult. Maybe if I had moved my Queen out, or moved my pawn on h7? I think I also should have moved my knight on c3 in move 17, instead of moving my other knight. Move 22 was certainly a mistake, and I think I could have been paying more attention in move 23. I don’t think I really realized that moving my Bishop in 28 would block my Queen–should I have not moved it, instead? KA’s Rook would probably have taken it, maybe, and then I’d Qxe6, but he could still checkmate me the same way. Maybe, then, I wouldn’t move my Queen and instead Re8? It’s hard to move all of this around in my head. I think I’m generally less aggressive than I should be, or I’m not very good at balancing attack and defense.
bookgirl_me (13): Sure, I’ll play!
In general, I’d say I’m too aggresive. I forget abou the pieces I’m not using and dont concentrate on the opponents plan while I work on my own, which a lot of the time leads to a lot of my pieces needlessly being captured.
GAPA’s commentary:
KA, one thing you understand better than most MB chessplayers is that it’s all about the king. Everything else players do in the game is just a means to the end: checkmate. You kept your eye on Black’s king and went after it relentlessly. A lot of MBers wouldn’t have made your 20th move, because they think it’s taboo to trade a valuable bishop for a puny pawn. But it’s worth it if you can strip away the pawns that stand between you and your opponent’s king. Nice work!
You could have taken better care of your own king, though. You really should have castled him to safety before launching your attack on move 12. Failing to do that could have blown up on you big time — and should have.
Pan, you were woefully negligent with your king, too. Abandoning him like that on move 23, when he had a drafty pawn shield and all those white pieces pointing at him, was nothing short of scandalous.
Even more outrageous, though, was the way you ignored White’s king. From moves 9 through 13 you had him in your sights — stuck in the middle with your queen staring straight down the e file at him — and then on move 14 you backed off. Why?! What you should have played on move 11 was Bf4, winning the queen. A bishop move any time at that stage of the game would have been devastating.
Maybe it’s your Quaker upbringing. You seem happy enough to snap up stray pawns, but you seem reluctant to exchange pieces, and you don’t seem to look for chances to go after the really big game. You’re perfectly capable of seeing those moves if you look for them, but first you need to believe they are there. Have faith, Grasshopper!
Yes, I think I was completely oblivious of the fact that my queen had power on e8–I definitely didn’t realize that moving my bishop out of the way could cause a check in move 11. In fact, even after reading your comment and going back up to the board to look at it, I kept thinking, “but then he’ll just take my bishop? Why would I do that?” I think I really might benefit from setting the game up on a real board so I can move the pieces around and visualize it better.
I’ve definitely noticed that I’m reluctant to trade pieces, though I really like playing with fewer pieces, so I’m not sure why I try so dearly to hold onto them. I like the idea of sacrificing a really powerful piece to force a checkmate, but I’ve never been able to actually pull it off.
I’m always reluctant to go after the king right away; I try to strip away other pieces first, but that doesn’t seem to be working for me very well. In the same way that I think I’m really helping myself out by taking pawns, I seem to favor protecting my pawns instead of paying attention to everything else going on in the game. In move 14, when White moved Ng5, I was worried about my pawn on f7 (I have no idea why I was concerned about that–he clearly wasn’t interested in the pawn), and I thought that moving my queen over would somehow help that–though now I don’t know why.
Pan: Some other moves worth looking back at: 13. …g6 (breaking the bishop’s diagonal while driving off the queen; your own bishop would then have fit nicely into the slot at g7, leaving your king snug and safe). 16. … Qg4 (forcing the exchange of queens; with three extra pawns, you had nothing to fear from simplifying the position). 18. … Nxc2 (the bishop was the real threat; if then 19. Kxc2, you could have replied Qf5 check). 20. … Qg4 (exchanging queens again). 24. … Re5 (a better way to keep the queen out). 25. … Re5 (late, but still better).
I guess the big theme is that when attacked, you don’t always have to prop something up or run away. Often the best response is a deflection or counterattack. And in any position, it’s always worthwhile to review your potential checks; you never know when one of them might prove useful.
(By the way, in case you didn’t know it, the button with the two curved arrows flips the board so you see Black’s position at the bottom.)
Also 10. … Bxc3 ch.
Thanks! In my current game, I tried to be less protective of pieces (at least, not retreat into completely useless positions) and trade a lot to clear out the board.