Thursday, December 31, 2009

New Chess Video: Chess Traps #6: Blackmar-Diemer Gambit (Halosar Trap)



jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Monday, December 28, 2009

New Chess Video: The Pincer Attack Evolution #2



jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

"You're a Mean One Mr Grinch" - 2009 Style!



jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Chess Grandmaster Loses to Pincer Attack

Tryfon Gavriel, otherwise knowns as Kingscrusher on YouTube and webmaster of my favorite correspondence site http://www.letsplaychess.com posted a video in which he defeated a Chess Grandmaster using the Pincer Attack.



Some information on Tryfon:

British Regional Master - Achieved a standard play "A" grade of at least 180 in two consecutive seasons on ECF official grading lists.

Top 100 in his country for the top Rapid play chess players!

Fide Rating: usually over 2100

British Championship Qualifier for 2008, by coming 2nd= at the Southend Open with a rating performance of ECF 206.

2009 Muswell Hill 5 minute chess champion! I mention this because I plan on doing quite a few 5 minute chess videos with live commentary! :)

2009 2nd= with IM Trent in North London Blitz chess tournament, defeating Russian GM Chernaiv in final round with black pieces, but losing 2nd game on time from winning position throughout most of the game!


jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Friday, December 18, 2009

New Chess Opening: The Pincer Attack



This is a live blitz video of a chess opening I have been working on that I call the Pincer Attack. It's similar to the Hippo Defence from black, but fundamentally different with the extra tempo that white enjoys with the first move from the game. My goal is to have my YouTube subscribers try it out and send in their games to jrobichess@gmail.com from which I will begin to compile a human database of the opening. I have bench marked the position with Rybka vs. Rybka and the structure yields a very equal position.

While the opening does not strive for an initial advantage, by creating this structure black will have to play very carefully to work towards maintaining that equality. White has a lot of tools at its disposal to launch a flank attack while maintaining a solid hold of its purposefully small center. The positions that arise have been fun to play so far, so I am excited to continue looking into the possibilities.

jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Boeing 787 Dreamliner Takes to the Air



I hope Boeing has addressed the following concerns, or the plane might become known as the Deathliner ...



Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Rex Murphy on Climategate



jrobi's thoughts on Climategate:

1. If scientists at the top echelons of the global warming movement have been cooking the data (no pun intended) for years to maintain and bolster their agenda, I can't see how anyone could rationally endorse their views and theories.

2. Given that the earth is cooling as opposed to heating up, instead of trying to blame it on carbon (which would "theoretically" be an insulator heating the globe)the focus now needs to shift to what is actually causing climate change (i.e. the sun, etc).

3. Countries like Iran are helping propagate the climate movement because at the core it means that western democracies will have to hurt their economies to reduce emissions. I don't see Iran, China, or Russia for that matter making any moves towards substantial reductions themselves, so it's fairly straight forward to understand that some countries are using climate change to hurt nations that they are ideologically opposed to while continuing to merrily raise emissions themselves. This, in my opinion, is a form of economic warfare.

China is now the largest polluter in the world, with coal plants taking off on almost a weekly basis. However, the vast majority of non-democratic nations continue to focus exclusively on western nations (i.e. the United States, Canada, and European countries) when laying the blame and pushing for economic changes based on climate change. Economic changes that of course don't hurt their own economies, yet will greatly hurt the economies of western nations.

These are just a few of the points I have been thinking about since the information was leaked that the upper echelons of the climate change movement have been willingly cooking the data to propagate their agenda. Don't get me wrong, I am all for responsible living when it comes to things like taking care of the environment, but to cripple economies and cause massive job losses based on cooked data is completely illogical. After all, we're already in a less than ideal economic reality.

The climate change movement has an agenda: hurt western economies under the guise of morality. Millions of well-intentioned people have taken up the cause for carbon reduction based on this sense of morality, even though the leaked data shows that the globe is cooling, and not heating up. These people can't and shouldn't be blamed - their intentions were good. However, the fact of the matter remains that we all need to get sensible about the situation and turn the scientific community's focus to finding out what is actually impacting the changes we see in our climate.

Carbon is most likely not the culprit. In fact, plants love C02 and recent studies have found that plankton (the backbone of the oceanic ecosystem) grow faster and larger when Co2 levels are increased. The worry was that C02 would destroy the base of the oceans food chain, but low and behold this just isn't the case. (source)

So what's causing the change? I have no clue! I would wager it's just the natural state of affairs. After all, I live in Canada and millions of years ago we used to be tropical, and now we're one of the coldest nations on the planet, so something has already happened before to cause major climate change and it wasn't people pumping CO2 into the atmosphere - so what was it? Lets focus on that question now instead of needlessly hurting our economies based on flawed and cooked science. The findings might show us a way we can prevent it, or they might show us that it's inevitable, but nonetheless it will be based on fact and not manipulated data.

New Chess Video: Grandmaster Chess Blunders #2 - Can You Spot the Mistake?



1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Ng5 Ndf6 6. Bc4 Nd5 7. N1f3 g6 8.
O-O Bg7 9. Re1 h6 10. Ne4 Bg4 11. a4 Ngf6 12. Nxf6+ Bxf6 13. Ra3 Kf8 14. h3
Bxf3 15. Rxf3 Kg7 16. c3 Qd7 17. Qd3 Rad8 18. Re4 Qc8 19. b4 Rd6 20. Rg3 Re6
21. Reg4 Re1+ 22. Kh2 Rxc1 *

jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Update and New Book Review: The Genius and the Misery of Chess


Hi all - just a quick update. I have been fighting off a nasty chess cold (and continuing to work throughout) going on a week and a half now. While talking has been a challenge, it has given me an opportunity to read some chess books. I have placed a new review on http://www.jrobichess.com in the review section for a book called "The Genius and the Misery of Chess" by Zhivko Kaikamjzov. The book was amazing!

I thought I knew a fair amount about the life stories of the most famous chess grandmasters, but I was in for a surprise! Check out the review section on the main site for more information and the full review.

jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

New Chess Video: Kasparov vs Karpov 2009 - Game 1



Karpov (2644) - Kasparov (2812)
Valencia, 22.09.2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nb6 7.Ne2 c5 8.d5 0–0 9.0–0 e6 10.Nbc3 Na6 11.h3 exd5 12.exd5 Nc4 13.b3 Nd6 14.Bf4 b6 15.Qd2 Bb7 16.Rad1 Nc7 17.g4 Qd7 18.a4 f5 19.g5 Rad8 20.Bg3 f4 21.Nxf4 Nf5 22.Nb5 Nxb5 23.axb5 Nd4 24.Ne6 Black wins 0–1


jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

New Chess Video - King's Indian Attacks!



[Event "Linares"]
[Site "Linares ESP"]
[Date "2009.03.02"]
[EventDate "2009.02.19"]
[Round "10"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "Teimour Radjabov"]
[Black "Levon Aronian"]
[ECO "A07"]
[WhiteElo "2761"]
[BlackElo "2750"]
[PlyCount "111"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Bg4 3. Bg2 e6 4. O-O Nd7 5. d4 c6 6. Nbd2 Ngf6
7. Re1 Be7 8. e4 dxe4 9. Nxe4 O-O 10. c3 Re8 11. Nxf6+ Bxf6
12. h3 Bh5 13. Qb3 Qb6 14. Nd2 e5 15. d5 Qc7 16. d6 Qb8
17. Ne4 Bd8 18. Be3 Bb6 19. h4 h6 20. Bh3 Qd8 21. Bxh6 Nc5
22. Nxc5 Qxd6 23. Nd7 Qxh6 24. Nxb6 axb6 25. Qxb6 Bf3 26. Qe3
Qh5 27. Bg2 Bxg2 28. Kxg2 Ra4 29. Qg5 Qxg5 30. hxg5 Kh7 31. a3
Kg6 32. Rad1 Re6 33. Rd7 b5 34. Red1 Rc4 35. Rc7 e4 36. Rdd7
e3 37. fxe3 Rxe3 38. Rxf7 Rg4 39. Rxg7+ Kh5 40. Rh7+ Kg6
41. Rcg7+ Kf5 42. Rf7+ Kg6 43. Rhg7+ Kh5 44. Rf3 Re2+ 45. Kh3
Rxg5 46. g4+ Kh6 47. Rxg5 Kxg5 48. b3 Kg6 49. Kg3 Ra2 50. Kf4
Rxa3 51. b4 Kf7 52. Ke5+ Ke7 53. Rh3 Kd7 54. g5 Ra1 55. Rh7+
Ke8 56. Rc7 1-0

[Event "Sousse izt Rd: 3"]
[Site "Sousse izt Rd: 3"]
[Date "1967.??.??"]
[EventDate "?"]
[Round "?"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "Robert James Fischer"]
[Black "Lhamsuren Myagmarsuren"]
[ECO "C00"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "61"]

1. e4 e6 2. d3 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. g3 c5 5. Bg2 Nc6 6. Ngf3 Be7
7. O-O O-O 8. e5 Nd7 9. Re1 b5 10. Nf1 b4 11. h4 a5 12. Bf4 a4
13. a3 bxa3 14. bxa3 Na5 15. Ne3 Ba6 16. Bh3 d4 17. Nf1 Nb6
18. Ng5 Nd5 19. Bd2 Bxg5 20. Bxg5 Qd7 21. Qh5 Rfc8 22. Nd2 Nc3
23. Bf6 Qe8 24. Ne4 g6 25. Qg5 Nxe4 26. Rxe4 c4 27. h5 cxd3
28. Rh4 Ra7 29. Bg2 dxc2 30. Qh6 Qf8 31. Qxh7+ 1-0

jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

New Chess Video: King's Indian Attack Opening



[Event "Chess Opening King's Indian Attack"]
[Site "www.jrobichess.com"]
[Date "2009.09.06"]
[Round "?"]
[White "?"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "A08"]

1. e4 (1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 c5 4. O-O Nc6 5. d3 e6 6. Nbd2 Be7 7. e4 O-O
(7... dxe4 8. dxe4 O-O 9. e5)8. Re1 b5) (1. d3 d5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 c6 4. Nf3
Bg4 5. O-O Nbd7 6. Nbd2 e5 7. e4 dxe4 8. dxe4 Bc5 9. h3 Bh5 10. Qe2 O-O 11. Nb3
Bb6 12. a4 a5 13. Bd2 Bg6 14. Nh4)(1. g3 d5 2. Bg2 Nf6 3. Nf3 c6 4. O-O Bg4 5.
d3 Nbd7 6. Nbd2 e5 7. e4 dxe4 8. dxe4 Bc5) 1... c5 (1... e6 2. d3 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6
4. Ngf3 c5 5. g3 Nc6 6. Bg2 Be7 7. O-O)(1... c6 2. d3 d5 3. Nd2 e5 4. Ngf3 Bd6
5. g3 Nf6 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O) 2. Nf3 e6 3. d3 d5 4. Nbd2 Nc6 5. g3 Nf6 6. Bg2
Be7 7. O-O O-O *

jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Do you wanna date my Avatar?

These guys created an original comedy sketch on YouTube called "Watch the Guild" and it's a parody of a group of online gamers interacting both in-game and in real life.

They are entering into season 3 now and the show got sponsored by Microsoft. Not too bad at all considering it all started off as a fun YouTube series!

Note: Press the full screen button on the lower right-hand side of player to get full screen.



Original "Watch the Guild" Season 1 - Episode 1



Watch the Guild YouTube Channel


jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

New Chess Video: US Chess Phenom - IM Ray Robson



[Event "Arctic Chess Challenge 2009"]
[Site "Scandic Hotel, Tromsø"]
[Date "2009.08.01"]
[EventDate "2009.??.??"]
[Round "5"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "Ray Robson"]
[Black "Vadim Malakhatko"]
[ECO "B18"]
[WhiteElo "2491"]
[BlackElo "2570"]
[PlyCount "81"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6
7. Nf3 Nd7 8. h5 Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 e6 11. Bd2 Ngf6
12. O-O-O Be7 13. Qe2 O-O 14. Nf1 c5 15. g4 cxd4 16. g5 hxg5
17. Bxg5 Nd5 18. Bxe7 Qxe7 19. Rxd4 Qf6 20. Kb1 Qh6 21. c4
Rac8 22. Qd1 N5f6 23. Ne3 Nc5 24. Ne5 Nce4 25. Qf3 Qh7 26. Ka1
Rcd8 27. Rxd8 Rxd8 28. h6 Rd2 29. N3g4 Qf5 30. Nxf6+ Nxf6
31. Qxb7 Qh5 32. a3 Rd1+ 33. Rxd1 Qxd1+ 34. Ka2 Qh5 35. Qa8+
Kh7 36. hxg7 Kxg7 37. f4 Qf5 38. Qxa7 Nh5 39. Qd4 Qxf4
40. Qxf4 Nxf4 41. a4 1-0



jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Gaming Addict Talks about Losing Family

This is a very deep video. This man lost his family because of his hobby, and shares the experience and gives some very important advice. A person doesn't have to be married with children to get something out of this; anyone who has a strong passion for a hobby has relationships that are important, whether it's immediate family, or friends.



NOTE: This isn't anyone affiliated with the blog (or even chess as far as I know) but it's a powerful video nonetheless. The man who created the video has his YouTube channel located HERE.

jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Kasparov vs. Karpov 2009 - Clash of the Chess Immortals!

These two chess greats are scheduled to clash once again over the 64 square battlefield in a 12 game match (4 rapid - 8 blitz) in Valencia September 21-24, 2009. This match will commemorate the 25th anniversary of the first time these men squared off against each other in Moscow in 1984. Karpov won the last match in NY City by the score of 2.5 - 1.5.

You can safely bet that Kasparov will be looking for revenge for his 2002 performance.



jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

New Chess Book from Gary Kasparov - Garry Kasparov on Modern Chess Volume 3



Garry Kasparov is, of course, one of the all time greatest chess players in history. Given that, any book he writes is bound to be good. I haven't read this one yet, but his new book is hot off the press (published just this month) so if you're interested here is the link to the publisher's main site. Maybe I will get a chance to review it at some point for http://www.jrobichess.com if time permits.

Garry Kasparov's New Book
Garry Kasparov on Wikipedia

jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Happy Birthday to Judit Polgar - The Reigning Queen of Chess


Judit Polgár (born July 23, 1976) is a Hungarian chess grandmaster. She is by far the strongest female chess player in history, and remains the world's number 1 women's chess player. In 1991, she achieved the title of Grandmaster (GM) at the age of 15 years and 4 months. She was, at that time, the youngest person to do so.

Judit has won many important chess games, including a victory over one of the all time chess greats Gary Kasparov:

Judit Polgar vs. Gary Kasparov - Russia vs. The Rest of the World (Moscow 2002)

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Nc3 h6 10.Rd1+ Ke8 11.h3 Be7 12.Ne2 Nh4 13.Nxh4 Bxh4 14.Be3 Bf5 15.Nd4 Bh7 16.g4 Be7 17.Kg2 h5 18.Nf5 Bf8 19.Kf3 Bg6 20.Rd2 hxg4+ 21.hxg4 Rh3+ 22.Kg2 Rh7 23.Kg3 f6 24.Bf4 Bxf5 25.gxf5 fxe5 26.Re1 Bd6 27.Bxe5 Kd7 28. c4 c5 29.Bxd6 cxd6 30.Re6 Rah8 31.Rexd6+ Kc8 32.R2d5 Rh3+ 33.Kg2 Rh2+ 34.Kf3 R2h3+ 35.Ke4 b6 36.Rc6+ Kb8 37.Rd7 Rh2 38.Ke3 Rf8 39.Rcc7 Rxf5 40.Rb7+ Kc8 41.Rdc7+ Kd8 42.Rxg7 Kc8 1-0

Source: Wikipedia

jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Underwater Chess?

Yes, you read the title right - it's some underwater chess! According the video poster:

"Dutch chessmasters 'Hans Böhm' and 'Robin Swinkels' take up a chess match 4 meters below sealevel having stingrays and fish as their spectators!"



jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Judit Polgar on Bobby Fischer



jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Four Drawn Rook vs Rook+Pawn Endgames




Check out Jeremy Silman's Complete Endgame Course. Also: I missed the fact that Black's got a win at one point if White's careless enough to oblige. My apologies! And: I say "recapture" when I meant to say "recapitulate".

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

New Chess Video: jrobi (1543) vs Yaughan (1602)



[Event "rated standard match"]
[Site "Free Internet Chess Server"]
[Round "?"]
[White "jrobi"]
[Black "Yaughan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[BlackElo "1602"]
[ECO "C02"]
[TimeControl "1800"]
[WhiteElo "1543"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Qb6 5. Qb3 Qxb3 6. axb3 cxd4 7. cxd4 Nc6 8. Bb5 Bd7 9. Bxc6 Bxc6 10. Ne2 Ne7 11. Nbc3 Nf5 12. O-O Be7 13. Be3 O-O 14. Ng3 Nxg3 15. fxg3 Rfc8 16. Na4 h6 17. h4 b5 18. Nc5 Bxc5 19. dxc5 b4 20. Rf4 a5 21. Rg4 Kh7 22. Rf4 Kg8 23. g4 Rf8 24. g5 h5 25. g4 hxg4 26. Rxg4 g6 27. h5 gxh5 28. Rh4 Kg7 29. Rxh5 Rh8 30. Rxh8 Kxh8 31. Rf1 Kg7 32. Bd2 Rc8 33. Be3 Ra8 34. Ra1 Kg6 35. Rf1 Kg7 36. Kf2 Rh8 37. Kg3 Kg6 38. Ra1 Ra8 39. Kf4 Kg7 40. Kg3 Kg6 41. Kf4 Kg7 42. Kg3 a4 43. bxa4 Rxa4 44. Rxa4 Bxa4 45. Kh4 b3 46. Kg4 Kf8 47. Kh5 Ke7 48. Kh6 Ke8 49. Kg7 Ke7 50. g6 fxg6 51. Kxg6 Kd7 52. Kf7 Bc6 53. Kf8 Bb5 54. Bd4 Bc6 55. Kf7 Bb5 1/2-1/2

jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Miss Universe Chess a Joke? - Update

The "Miss Universe of Chess" website has now added Judit Polgar into the category listing for voting, but the poll itself hasn't been reset. Hopefully they will reset the vote now that the overall options have changed - seems to be the fair thing to do.

Miss Universe Chess Official Site
Miss Universe Chess Official Twitter Page
FIDE Top 100 Women Chess Players

Miss Universe Chess a Joke?

While having morning coffee and analyzing a personal game I am posting on video today, I came across a message on Twitter announcing an online forum to vote for Miss Universe Chess. Obviously interested, I took a look at the link thinking I would see a lot of the best in women's chess. Curiously, in the slide show hosted on the site from which people vote from, there was a huge amount of Alexandra Kosteniuk pictures, and even the Twitter page created for the contest (as of the posting of this article) had a Kosteniuk icon. Interesting!

Notably absent from the contest was the world's highest rated women's chess player, Judit Polgar. Susan Polgar is also not listed, but she hasn't been active in competitive chess for awhile, focusing mostly on promoting chess to the next generation, so that might be the reason why. But no Judit? Here is a picture of Judit Polgar:



As to why the world's strongest women's chess player (who also happens to be quite beautiful) isn't on this list is completely beyond my understanding of how the world works. Somethings off in my opinion.

There are some interesting comments posted about the competition and these oddities on the Miss Universe Chess site.

For those interested, here's the FIDE list of the top 10 women chess players in the world as of July 2009:

Rank Name
1 Polgar, Judit
2 Koneru, Humpy
3 Hou, Yifan
4 Zhao, Xue
5 Muzychuk, Anna
6 Kosintseva, Tatiana
7 Dzagnidze, Nana
8 Stefanova, Antoaneta
9 Sebag, Marie
10 Cramling, Pia

I don't know who is hosting this competition, but there definitely seems to be a little bit of bias to the whole thing. Feel free to post your thoughts or go to the official site page and voice them there.

Miss Universe Chess Official Site
Miss Universe Chess Official Twitter Page
FIDE Top 100 Women Chess Players

Monday, July 13, 2009

jrobichess on Blip.FM


It's no secret that I really enjoy music (pretty much of all kinds) so when I found out about Blip.FM I was all over it. Basically what the website lets you do is listen to your favorite songs, create a playlist, and share them with your friends who can just listen to them all from your personal page on Blip.FM. In other words, you basically can DJ whatever you want and have people share your music with you from wherever they are provided they have internet access. It also has integration into twitter which is nice.

If you check out my page there, you will notice a pretty big variety in musical taste - I don't concern myself with labels, I just go with what sounds good to me. If you sign up there (it's free of course) let me know so I can check out your tunes.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Chess Blog Challenge #1 - Annotate This!

I think it's fun to share the games people send me. Annotating chess games (looking for mistakes, awesome play, etc) is very beneficial to overall chess improvement. If you have a game you would like posted on the chess blog for people to look at and possibly annotate, feel free to email them to me and I will post them here.

If you're up to helping the people that send these in, post your annotations in the comment section.


[Event "Let's play chess"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/chess.pl?bd=11923045"]
[Date "2009.07.12"]
[Round "-"]
[White "theultimatemilk"]
[Black "joenis"]
[Result "*"]
[WhiteElo "1200"]
[BlackElo "1471"]
[TimeControl "1/1209600"]
[Mode "ICS"]
[Termination "unterminated"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 h6 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. a3 Bxc3
6. bxc3 Nf6 7. Bd3 d5 8. Qe2 d4 9. cxd4 exd4 10. e5 O-O
11. O-O Re8 12. Bb2 Bg4 13. Rfe1 Nd7 14. Qe4 f5 15. Qf4 Bxf3
16. Bc4+ Kh8 17. Qxf3 Ndxe5 18. Qe2 Qd6 19. Bb5 Ng4 20. Qxe8+ Rxe8
21. Rxe8+ Kh7 22. g3 Nce5 23. Bd3 Nf3+ 24. Kg2 Qd5 25. c4 Qc6
26. Bxf5+ g6 27. Re7+ Kh8 28. Bxg4 Nxd2+ 29. Kh3 Qxc4 30. Rc1 Qb5
31. Rcxc7 *

jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Wow ...



jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

New Chess Video: jrobi (1512) vs Bristols (1495)



[Event "rated standard match"]
[Site "Free Internet Chess Server"]
[Round "?"]
[White "jrobi"]
[Black "Bristols"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "1495"]
[ECO "C41"]
[TimeControl "1800"]
[WhiteElo "1512"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Bg4 4. dxe5 Bxf3 5. Qxf3 dxe5 6. Bc4 Qf6 7. Qb3 b6 8.
Qb5+ c6 9. Qb3 Bc5 10. Be3 Bxe3 11. Qxe3 Ne7 12. Nc3 O-O 13. O-O Nd7 14. b4
Rad8 15. a3 b5 16. Bb3 a6 17. Ne2 Ng6 18. c4 Nf4 19. Nxf4 Qxf4 20. Qxf4 exf4
21. cxb5 axb5 22. a4 bxa4 23. Bxa4 Rc8 24. Rfd1 Nb6 25. g3 Nxa4 26. Rxa4 g5 27.
Rb1 Rb8 28. Rc1 Rfc8 29. e5 f3 30. Re1 g4 31. b5 Rxb5 32. Rxg4+ Kf8 33. Rf4 Rb3
34. e6 Ke7 35. Rxf7+ Ke8 36. Rxh7 Rcb8 37. Rh8+ Ke7 38. Rxb8 Rxb8 39. h4 Rg8
40. Kh2 c5 41. Kh3 c4 42. g4 Rf8 43. h5 Rf4 44. h6 Rf8 45. Re3 Rf6 46. g5 Rf8
47. h7 Rh8 48. g6 c3 49. Rxc3 Kxe6 50. Rxf3 Ke5 51. Rf7 Ke6 52. Ra7 Kf6 53.
Ra6+ Kg5 54. Kg3 Kf5 55. f4 Ke4 1-0

jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

New Chess Video: Grandmaster Chess Tactics #6: Can you spot the line?



[Event "12, Bad Lauterberg"]
[Site "12, Bad Lauterberg"]
[Date "1977.??.??"]
[EventDate "?"]
[Round "?"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "Anatoli Karpov"]
[Black "Istvan Csom"]
[ECO "A16"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "99"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 c5 3. Nf3 e6 4. g3 b6 5. Bg2 Bb7 6. O-O d6
7. b3 Be7 8. d4 cxd4 9. Qxd4 a6 10. Ba3 O-O 11. Rfd1 Ne8
12. Bb2 Nd7 13. e4 Nc5 14. Qe3 Qb8 15. Nd4 Nf6 16. h3 Rc8
17. g4 h6 18. f4 Nh7 19. Qf2 Ra7 20. Rd2 Ba8 21. Re1 Bf6
22. h4 g5 23. hxg5 hxg5 24. fxg5 Bxg5 25. Rdd1 Nd7 26. Rd3 Ne5
27. Rh3 Re8 28. Nce2 Rc7 29. a4 Qd8 30. Qg3 Ng6 31. Qh2 f6
32. Rd1 Rg7 33. Nf3 Bxe4 34. Rxd6 Qc7 35. Ba3 Be3+ 36. Kf1 Bc5
37. Bxc5 Qxc5 38. Rd4 Bxf3 39. Rxf3 Ne5 40. Rh3 Nxg4 41. Qd6
Qf5+ 42. Rf3 Qb1+ 43. Rd1 Qe4 44. Rg3 Ne3+ 45. Kg1 Nxg2
46. Rxg7+ Kxg7 47. Ng3 Qa8 48. Qc7+ Kh8 49. Rd7 Nf8 50. Nf5
1-0

jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Looking for Contributers!


If you are passionate about chess and would like to share your thoughts and ideas here on the blog, send me an email to jrobichess@gmail.com ! You will get setup with the ability to post on the main page, and with the tools blogspot provides posting images and things of that nature is a snap!

So if you like to discuss or share tactical puzzles, openings, middle games, end-games or just chess news, thoughts, and opinions, send an email to me at jrobichess@gmail.com and join the contributer team!

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Composite Material Concerns in Large Airliners - Air France Crash Connection?

Given the recent Airbus crash in the Atlantic Ocean, a lot of questions are being raised as to what could have brought it down. Issues with the Airbus rudders are raised in this video, posted back in 2007. Boeing plans on releasing the "Dreamliner" soon which has the highest percentage of composite materials in history for such a large aircraft.

While no one knows what happened yet in the Airbus crash (hopefully the black boxes will be recovered) there are very serious questions as to the reliability of high percentages of composite materials in large commercial airliners. Divers recovered a huge part of the rudder, which has caused some to speculate that it came off in the air. Generally, if a plane impacts intact, the materials are literally "crushed" due to the force, but with the rudder being in relatively good condition, it has caused some to speculate that it came down by itself. Food for thought for sure.



Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

More Goodies on the Fishing Pole Chess Trap in the Ruy Lopez Berlin Defence Line

The YouTube channel that is hosting the video made by Brian Wall is managed by someone else, but the videos themselves are definitely unique and well done and Mr. Wall talks about how a 1500 rated chess player defeated a Grandmaster in a Chess Simul exhibition using the trapping line:

Fishing Pole: First Blood pt 1
Fishing Pole: First Blood pt 2

Brian Wall also has his own web page that you can visit HERE. I believe the site is still under construction.

Chess Traps #5: Ruy Lopez Berlin Defence Trap (Fishing Pole)



jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Susan Polgar's "Chess Rules of Thumb"



These are the rules of thumb to be applied throughout the entire game.

After every move by your opponent, ask yourself these questions:
1. Can I capture any of my opponent's pieces to gain material?
2. What does my opponent want to do?
a) Am I in check?
b) Does my opponent want to capture any of my pieces?
c) Is my opponent threatening a tactical maneuver (i.e., fork, pin, etc.)?
• Simplify the position by trading pieces when you are ahead in material.
• Avoid doubling your pawns (placing two pawns on the same file).
• Always keep your pawns connected.
• Occupy open file(s) with your rook(s).
• Do not trade a bishop for a knight unless the position is closed (with many pawns and no open lines), or unless you gain some kind of advantage from the exchange.
• Avoid staying in pins.
• Keep your pieces on protected squares as much as possible.

In the Opening
Here are some things to look for in the beginning of the game.
• Control the CENTER (start out by putting at least one center pawn in the center).
• Develop your pieces so that they can attack the center as much as possible.
• Put your king in safety quickly by CASTLING.
• Don't move the same piece twice (unless necessary; i.e., moving away from an attack or recapturing, etc.).
• Don't move your queen out early (usually only after both knights and bishops are developed and the king is safe).
• Connect your rooks by moving out all pieces between them.
In the Middlegame
Below are some of things to look for after you have developed all your pieces.
• Look for targets or weaknesses in your opponent's position.
• Make plans based on the targets and your opponent's position.
• When you have an attack going on the opponent's king, avoid trading queens.
• Keep your king safe, usually behind two or three pawns and near the corner.
• Gain a space advantage.

In the endgame
Here are some things to look for after several pieces (usually including the queens) have been exchanged.
• Try to bring your king toward the center and in play. In the endgame, contrary to the earlier parts of the game, the king should be an active participant, at times even in the attack.
• Try to create passed pawns.
• If you have a passed pawn, advance it. Try to promote your passed pawn to a Queen.
• If your opponent has a passed pawn, make sure you can stop it before it reaches the promotion square (or at least make a counter plan).

Source: Susan Polgar's Chess Blog

jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Anand Defeats Lékó


Anand wins the match by the score of 5-3 (6 draws and 2 wins)

Official website: http://www.lekoanand.hu/eng/



jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Chess Blitz Game with the Dutch Defence Stonewall Variation

[Event "rated blitz match"]
[Site "Free Internet Chess Server"]
[Date "2009.06.03"]
[Round "?"]
[White "cybernie"]
[Black "jrobi"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. d4 f5 2. Bg5 Nf6 3. Nf3 d5 4. c3 e6 5. e3 c6 6. Be2 Be7 7. Bf4 Nbd7 8. O-O h6 9. h3 g5 10. Bh2 Rg8 11. Nbd2 h5 12. Ne1 g4 13. hxg4 hxg4 14. Bg3 Nh5 15. c4 Nxg3 16. fxg3 Bd6 17. cxd5 cxd5 18. Nb3 Bxg3 19. Nd3 Qh4 20. Nf2 Qh2# {cybernie checkmated} 0-1

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Scandinavian Defence with 4. D3

Both sides made some mistakes throughout this game, but 4. D3 is not often played by white. Thoughts on the move order and positional play that followed?

[Event "Online Blitz"]
[Site "Playchess"]
[Date "2009.06.02"]
[Round "?"]
[White "?"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d3 Bf5 5. Bd2 c6 6. Nf3 e6 7. g3 Nf6 8. Bg2Qd8 9. O-O Nd5 10. Re1 Nxc3 11. Bxc3 Nd7 12. Ne5 Nxe5 13. Bxe5 Qd7 14. Qd2 f615. Bc3 Be7 16. a4 a6 17. Bb4 O-O 18. Bxe7 Qxe7 19. Qc3 Qd7 20. Qb3 Rfe8 21.Re2 Kh8 22. Rae1 e5 23. f4 Be6 24. Qc3 Bd5 25. Bxd5 cxd5 26. fxe5 Rac8 27. Qd2f5 28. e6 Qd6 29. Qg5 Rc6 30. e7 Qf6 31. Qxf6 Rxf6 32. Re6 Rxe6 33. Rxe6 Kg834. Kf2 Kf7 35. Re5 g6 36. Rxd5 Rxe7 37. Rd4 Rc7 38. c3 g5 39. Rd5 Ke6 40. Rd4h5 41. Rb4 Kd5 42. Rb6 f4 43. gxf4 gxf4 44. Rf6 Kc5 45. Rxf4 Kb6 46. Rh4 Rh747. Rb4+ Kc6 48. Rh4 b5 49. axb5+ axb5 50. c4 Kc5 51. cxb5 Kxb5 52. Re4 Kc5 53.h4 Rf7+ 54. Ke2 Rf5 55. b4+ Kb5 56. Rc4 Re5+ 57. Kf3 Re1 58. Rc5+ Kxb4 59. Rxh5Kc3 60. Rd5 Rg1 61. h5 Rg8 62. h6 Kb4 63. h7 Rh8 64. Rd7 Kc5 65. Kf4 Kc6 66.Rg7 Kd6 67. Kg5 Ke6 68. Kg6 Kd5 69. Rg8 Rxh7 70. Kxh7 Kd6 71. Rg3 Ke6 72. Re3+Kd5 73. Re1 Kd6 74. Rd1 Kd7 75. d4 Kd8 76. d5 Kd7 77. d6 Kd8 78. d7 1-0*

Hosting Software for Correspondence Chess Server

If you have any information of a good server-side correspondence chess package please link the information here.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Online Chess Tactics Server


Currently the Chess Tactics Server has 23,803 tactical chess problems with a degree of difficulty ranging from trivial to ambitious. There is a degree of challenge with time control as well as the tactical puzzles are timed. Your tactical performance will be measured by the Glicko rating system. The problems are rated too.

You can sign in completely anonymous as guest to get familiar with the chess board interface, browse some problems or just look around.

If interested, you'll just need a valid email address to register and join the Chess Tactics Server community. If you know of any other solid online tactics servers, feel free to share them in the comments.

Link - http://chess.emrald.net/

Other Tactics Server as per Comments: http://www.chesstempo.com


jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Chess Games of Grandmaster Pal Benko Added to http://www.jrobichess.com


I have added the game collection of chess Grandmaster Pal Benko to the main site at http://www.jrobichess.com. Pal Benko, born July 14, 1928, is a chess grandmaster, author, and composer of endgame studies and chess problems. Benko's highest achievements were playing in the Candidates Tournament - the tournament to decide the challenger for the World Championship - in 1959 and 1962. Both tournaments had eight of the world's top players. He qualified for the 1970 Interzonal tournament, the leaders of which advance to the Candidates. However, he gave up his spot in the Interzonal to Bobby Fischer, who went on to win the World Championship in 1972.

jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Monday, May 18, 2009

The Dutch Defence Stonewall Variation: New Annotated Chess Opening with Computer Practice on www.jrobichess.com


I have added an interactive annotated opening study for the Dutch Defence Stonewall Variation with computer practice and Grandmaster examples on the main site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

The Dutch Defence opening, played by black against a white queen's pawn opening, is a very dynamic and tactical opening option. The Stonewall Variation of the Dutch Defence looks to lock down the center in preparation for a king side attack against white. It is very common in Dutch Defence Stonewall games for a piece sacrifice (sometimes more than one!) to begin a brutal assault against the white king. The very first move of the Dutch Defence F5 immediately creates an imbalanced position, laying the foundation for sharp tactical play.

jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Overhaul to http://www.jrobichess.com

Revamped the main page of my personal chess site http://www.jrobichess.com over the weekend. I streamlined it a bit more, and plan to continue to do so to help with load times, and general ease of use.

I have also taken down the forums for a period of time. I want more engaging forum software that allows for games to be embedded in posts, along with diagrams and videos. When I find someone to help with that, or find some pre-made forum software that is capable of those things, the forums will return.

jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

U.S. Chess Championship 2009 - Tournament PGN on http://www.jrobichess.com

The complete tournament data for all rounds of the 2009 U.S. Chess Championship is now online at http://www.jrobichess.com/ in the tournament section on the main page to explore from the comfort of your internet browser.

Official Tournament Page
United States Chess Federation

jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Grandmaster Nakamura is the official U.S. Chess Champion!

GM Nakamura is the offical 2009 United States Chess Champion! He had a very convincing win against fellow Grandmaster Friedel. The only other person who could have tied Nakamura was GM-Elect Hess, a 17 year old football player. Despite an absolutely amazing performance in the tournament, Hess was unable to achieve more than a draw against GM Akobian.

Here is the winning game played by GM Nakamura in a very impressive 22 moves:

[Event "2009 U.S. Championship"]
[Site "St Louis"]
[Date "2009.05.17"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Black "Friedel, Joshua"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "2757"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackELO "2568"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[Source "MonRoi"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Na5 6.Bb5 c6 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.Bd3 Be7 9.Nc3 O-O 10.O-O Rb8 11.h3 c5 12.b3 Rb4 13.Re1 Bb7 14.Ba3 Rf4 15.g3 Rd4 16.Nf3 Rxd3 17.cxd3 Qxd3 18.Nxe5 Qf5 19.g4 Qf4 20.d4 Rd8 21.Qe2 Rxd4 22.Bc1 1-0

Official Tournament Page

jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

U.S. Chess Championship Round 8 Review



Official Tournament Page

jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

U.S. Chess Championship 2009 - Round 9 Pairings

Round 9 Pairings (White / Black)
Sunday, May 17, 10:00 am

1. IM Robert Hess (6) 2545 - GM Varuzhan Akobian (5½) 2664
2. GM Hikaru Nakamura (6) 2757 - GM Joshua Friedel (5) 2568
3. GM Alexander Onischuk (5½) 2736 - IM Ray Robson (4½) 2542
4. GM Jaan Ehlvest (4) 2649 - GM Gata Kamsky (5½) 2798
5. GM Yury Shulman (4½) 2697 - GM Gregory Kaidanov (4) 2662
6. IM Enrico Sevillano (4) 2549 - GM Larry Christiansen (4) 2681
7. GM Joel Benjamin (4) 2650 - GM Alexander Shabalov (4) 2620
8. GM Ildar Ibragimov (4) 2628 - IM Michael Brooks (4) 2419
9. IM Samuel Shankland (3) 2464 - GM Boris Gulko (3½) 2631
10. GM Julio Becerra (3½) 2672 - GM Melikset Khachiyan (2½) 2632
11. Tyler Hughes (3) 2293 - FM Doug Eckert (2) 2278
12. IM Irina Krush (3) 2496 - Charles Lawton (½) 2350


Official Tournament Page
United States Chess Federation

jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Top 5 after 8 of the 2009 U.S. Chess Championship

U.S. Chess Championship Standings after 8 Rounds

1. GM Nakamura, Hikaru (2).... 6.0
2. IM Hess, Robert (17)....... 6.0
3. GM Kamsky, Gata (1)........ 5.5
4. GM Onischuk, Alexander (3). 5.5
5. GM Akobian, Varuzhan (7)... 5.5

Official Tournament Page
United States Chess Federation

jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Nakamura holds Leader Position of 2009 U.S. Chess Championship with only 1 More Round to Go!

Hikaru Nakamura held onto the leader position with a decisive win today in round 8 of the 2009 U.S. Chess Championship.

The last and final round 9 will prove to be an extremely interesting one. Who will handle the pressure best with all the money and prestige on the line? We will find out soon enough! Games will be shown live on the official tournament site, and as soon as the final PGN is available it will be up on http://www.jrobichess.com.


[Event "2009 U.S. Championship"]
[Site "St Louis"]
[Date "2009.05.16"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Brooks, Michael"]
[Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "2419"]
[WhiteTitle "IM"]
[BlackELO "2757"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[Source "MonRoi"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Nd5 Nxd5 8.exd5 Ne7 9.c4 Ng6 10.Bd3 Be7 11.O-O O-O 12.Bxg6 hxg6 13.Be3 f5 14.f3 b6 15.f4 a6 16.Nc3 exf4 17.Bxf4 Bf6 18.Be3 Bd7 19.Bd4 Rc8 20.Qd3 Qc7 21.Bxf6 Rxf6 22.b3 Qc5 23.Kh1 b5 24.Rae1 bxc4 25.Qg3 cxb3 26.Ne4 fxe4 27.Rxf6 Bf5 28.Rxd6 b2 29.Rc6 Rxc6 30.dxc6 Qc1 31.Qb3 Kh7 32.Qd1 Qxd1 33.Rxd1 e3 34.c7 e2 0-1

Official Tournament Page
United States Chess Federation

jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Friday, May 15, 2009

U.S. Chess Championship Round 7 Review



Official Tournament Page

jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Rybka Wins the 14th Computer Chess Olympiad


Rybka once again silenced the critics, winning the 14th Computer Chess Olympiad, with a perfect 5-0 score. The last and final victim of the Rybka Chess Machine was the Shredder Chess Engine, which put up a good fight but in the end fell like the rest.

1 Rybka USA
2 Shredder DEU
3 Deep Sjeng
4 Pandix HUN
5 Joker NLD
6 Equinox ITA


Here is the final game of the tournament, securing Rybka's first place standing: Rybka vs. ShredderComputer Olympiad 2009, Pamplona, 5th round

Official Tournament Page
Rybka 3 with Aquarium

jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

This Drummer Definitely has some Beats!



The 401 Drummer

U.S. Chess Championship 2009 - Standings after 7 Rounds

Standings (3.0 or higher)
No. Name Score

1. GM Kamsky, Gata (1)........ 5.0
2. GM Nakamura, Hikaru (2).... 5.0
3. GM Onischuk, Alexander (3). 5.0
4. IM Hess, Robert (17)....... 5.0

5. GM Shulman, Yury (4)....... 4.5
6. GM Akobian, Varuzhan (7)... 4.5

7. GM Benjamin, Joel (9)...... 4.0
8. GM Ehlvest, Jaan (10)...... 4.0
9. GM Friedel, Joshua (15).... 4.0
10. IM Sevillano, Enrico (16).. 4.0
11. IM Brooks, Michael (22).... 4.0

12. GM Kaidanov, Gregory (8)... 3.5
13. GM Ibragimov, Ildar (13)... 3.5
14. IM Robson, Ray (18)........ 3.5

15. GM Christiansen, Larry (5). 3.0
16. GM Becerra, Julio (6)...... 3.0
17. GM Gulko, Boris (12)....... 3.0
18. GM Shabalov, Alexander (14) 3.0
19. IM Krush, Irina (20)....... 3.0
20. Hughes, Tyler (24)......... 3.0

Official Tournament Page
United States Chess Federation

jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

New Chess Video: Chess Lesson - The Dutch Defence Stonewall Variation



jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.