Claymation Chess

Now this must have taken some time (and creativity!)

Ottawa Chess-in-the-street 2009

Chess-in-the-Street is an outdoor chess event that takes the game of chess from the parlour to the street. Chess-in-the-Street will have numerous activities appealing to everyone: from kids to adults and from those who have never played before to the seasoned tournament player. With each game you play, your name will be entered in a draw for prizes. Chess-in-the-Street will also have GIANTCHESS!, a giant-sized chess board on the street. There will be a Simultaneous Chess Competition in the afternoon each day, featuring a Chessmaster who will battle 15 simultaneous chess opponents.

Chess-in-the-Street is an outdoor chess event, and will be held as part of Ottawa's biggest street festival WESTFEST, on Saturday and Sunday, June 13th and 14th, 2009.

For more information CLICK HERE.

New Video: Chess Blitz #9 - Extended

[Event "ICS rated blitz match"]
[Site "freechess.org"]
[Date "2009.03.29"]
[Round "-"]
[White "jrobi"]
[Black "Nomesi"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d4 exd4 7. cxd4 O-O
8. Re1 Bb4 9. Nc3 Ne7 10. h3 Ng6 11. e5 c6 12. exf6 cxb5 13. fxg7 Kxg7 14.
Qd2 d5 15. Qh6+ Kh8 16. Ng5 Qxg5 17. Qxg5 f6 18. Qg3 Bf5 19. Bh6 Rg8 20.
Qc7 b6 21. a3 Be7 22. Rxe7 Nxe7 23. Qxe7 Bxh3 24. Qxf6+
{Nomesi resigns} 1-0

[Event "ICS rated blitz match"]
[Site "freechess.org"]
[Date "2009.03.29"]
[Round "-"]
[White "jrobi"]
[Black "stretto"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. f4 d5 2. Nf3 e6 3. g3 Be7 4. Bg2 Nf6 5. O-O Nc6 6. d3 O-O 7. a4 Bd7 8.
Re1 Bd6 9. e4 dxe4 10. dxe4 e5 11. f5 Bc5+ 12. Be3 Bxe3+ 13. Rxe3 Ng4 14.
Rd3 Nd4 15. Nxd4 exd4 16. Rxd4 Ne5 17. Nc3 Re8 18. b3 Qg5 19. Rxd7 Qe3+ 20.
Kh1 Nxd7 21. Qxd7 Rad8 22. Qxc7 Rd2 23. Nd5 Qf2 24. Nf4 Qe3 25. Qxb7 Red8
26. Nd3 Qe2 27. Rg1 Rxc2 28. Qe7 Rdc8 29. Ne5 Qh5 30. g4 Qh6 31. Nxf7 Qd2
32. f6 Rc1 33. Nh6+ Kh8 34. Qxg7#
{stretto checkmated} 1-0

[Event "ICS rated blitz match"]
[Site "freechess.org"]
[Date "2009.03.29"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Yoshioil"]
[Black "jrobi"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. c4 Nb6 4. d4 d6 5. f4 Nc6 6. Nf3 e6 7. Nc3 d5 8.
cxd5 Nxd5 9. Nxd5 Qxd5 10. Bd2 Bb4 11. Bxb4 Nxb4 12. a3 Nc6 13. b3 O-O 14.
Bc4 Qe4+ 15. Qe2 Qxf4 16. Qd3 b6 17. O-O h6 18. Nd2 Qxd4+ 19. Qxd4 Nxd4 20.
Rf4 c5 21. Raf1 Bb7 22. Bd3 Rad8 23. Be4 Bxe4 24. Nxe4 Ne2+ 25. Kh1 Nxf4
26. Rxf4 Rd1+
{Yoshioil resigns} 0-1

[Event "ICS rated blitz match"]
[Site "freechess.org"]
[Date "2009.03.29"]
[Round "-"]
[White "vieque"]
[Black "jrobi"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. c4 Nb6 5. f4 Nc6 6. Nc3 dxe5 7. d5 Nd4 8.
fxe5 c5 9. dxc6 Nxc6 10. Qxd8+ Nxd8 11. Nf3 e6 12. a3 Be7 13. Bd3 O-O 14.
O-O f6 15. Ne4 f5 16. Nd6 Bxd6 17. exd6 Nf7 18. Be3 Nd7 19. c5 b6 20. b4
Bb7 21. Rac1 Bxf3 22. gxf3 Nfe5 23. Be2 bxc5 24. bxc5 Rac8 25. Ba6 Rc6 26.
Bb7 Nd3 27. Bxc6 Nxc1 28. Bxd7 Nd3 29. Bxe6+ Kh8
{jrobi resigns} 1-0

Automaton Chess Player - The Turk

Here's an interesting video I came across on YouTube covering the famous Turk machine. If anyone knows the name of what discovery show this was part of please post, I would like to see the rest of the clip.



Legend has it that the "machine" defeated Napolean in a game of chess:

[Event "Schoenbrunn"]
[Site "Schoenbrunn"]
[Date "1809.??.??"]
[EventDate "?"]
[Round "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[White "Napoleon Bonaparte"]
[Black "The Turk"]
[ECO "C20"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "48"]

1. e4 e5 2. Qf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ne2 Bc5 5. a3 d6 6. O-O Bg4
7. Qd3 Nh5 8. h3 Bxe2 9. Qxe2 Nf4 10. Qe1 Nd4 11. Bb3 Nxh3+
12. Kh2 Qh4 13. g3 Nf3+ 14. Kg2 Nxe1+ 15. Rxe1 Qg4 16. d3 Bxf2
17. Rh1 Qxg3+ 18. Kf1 Bd4 19. Ke2 Qg2+ 20. Kd1 Qxh1+ 21. Kd2
Qg2+ 22. Ke1 Ng1 23. Nc3 Bxc3+ 24. bxc3 Qe2# 0-1

For the wiki page on this machine, click HERE.

Hip Hop Chess Federation Reaching out to the Youth

Henry Bird Games Added to http://www.jrobichess.com

I have added the games of chess legend Henry Bird to http://www.jrobichess.com/. Bird worked full time as an accountant, yet was a brilliant chess player. He squared off against the likes of Morphy, and has a chess opening that bears his name: "The Bird's Opening" which despite repeated attempts to refute, continues to be a solid opening choice for white.

Emanuel Lasker and Wilhelm Steinitz Chess Games added to the Grandmaster Collection on http://www.jrobichess.com

The games of Emanuel Lasker and Wilhelm Steinitz are now in the Grandmaster Collection section on the main page of http://www.jrobichess.com

Action Star Vin Diesel Discusses Working out the Mind with Imagination

New Video: Mamedyarov's Questionable Cheating Accusation

[Event "Aeroflot Open"]
[Site "Moscow RUS"]
[Date "2009.02.22"]
[EventDate "2009.02.17"]
[Round "6"]
[Result "0-1"]
[White "Shakhriyar Mamedyarov"]
[Black "Igor Kurnosov"]
[ECO "D70"]
[WhiteElo "2724"]
[BlackElo "2602"]
[PlyCount "42"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. f3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nb6 6. Nc3 Bg7
7. Be3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. O-O-O f5 10. h4 fxe4 11. h5 gxh5
12. d5 Ne5 13. Bh6 Nec4 14. Qg5 Rf7 15. Bxc4 Nxc4 16. Rd4 Qd6
17. Bxg7 Rxg7 18. Qxh5 Qf4+ 19. Kb1 Bf5 20. fxe4 Bg4 21. Nge2
Qd2 0-1

Game over - Kasparov and the Machine

This is definitely one of the best chess-related videos I have ever seen. Enjoy it and here's to a great weekend!

PART 1



Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8

When you finish watching all of the parts, feel free to post what you think about the match that took place between Kasparov and Deep Blue.

Aquarium Update 3.1.0

Links

ChessOK.com
Patch Notes

Patch 3.1.0 Notes

Major features
=======================
* New, more convenient, 'Paint-like' way of editing color markers in the game and in the tree.
* You can read Aquarium i-Books. Editing possibilities are limited, they'll be enhanced in futher update. However, if you are not afraid of writing a Wiki-formatted text, you can edit/create new i-Books.
* You can run Game Analysis from the Sandbox.

Major bugfixes
=======================
* Fixed occasional header fields loss when pasting a game into the database game.
* 'Remove before' no longer cripples games that stared from non-initial positions.
* Randomizer match dialog is now displayed correctly.
* Engine evaluations are now printed correctly.

Minor features
=======================
* Added a popup menu for changing tree configuration in the Tree window header.
* Added possibility to view only main tree moves in a tree configuration.
* Smart Input is now 'even smarter': you can right-click (with left button pressed) to cycle through available moves.
* You can manually edit opening book play probability for each move in the tree configuration.
* You can set clocks during the game in Play mode (double-click the clocks).
* Allowed playing against Fritz via Auto232 network protocol (works OK on all our computers, but not tested much).
* Using Ctrl+move to exclude moves from infinite analysis now changes the analysis pane display.
* There is a clearer indication of which window has focus. Helps to determine whether we are browsing tree or notation.
* New feature: opponent move to limited depth. After reaching this depth the engine switches to normal analysis.
* Ribbon double-click minimization is more convenient now.
* Board sounds now active in the Sandbox and database game view.
* Export options dialog changed slightly to be more logical.
* Newly created database is added to the Recent list.
* When loading a EPD string, the leading and trailing spaces are now ignored.

Minor bugfixes
=======================
* Fixed memory leak issue in analysis chart.
* Display options dialog: checkbox for 'Show board navigation' is consistent with 'Material imbalance'.
* Fixed occasional clearance of game header by Game Analysis.
* Improved hit detection when clicking on the game flag in the games list.
* Fixed tree window reappearing after it was hidden by the user.
* Selected cell in Games list is no longer made gray.
* Ctrl+move in Two clicks input mode now works as well. If it's done during IA it excludes the move from the search, otherwise it adds a variation.
* Using Ctrl+move to exclude moves from infinite analysis works with Smart move too.
* Fixed occasional incorrect conversion of PGN NAGs to 'Long after' comments.
* Tree options dialog: advanced controls no longer peek out of the bottom of the window.
* Notation position change after switching to another application and back is partially fixed.
* 'Insert deleted moves to clipboard' option works now.
* Fixed smart move inability to drag the pointer from destination to the source square.
* Cursor is position correctly after 'Delete variation'.
* Fixed occasional mouse pointer disappearance when editing the game header.
* Analysis pane is no longer cleared when the mate score is achieved.
* Engine match view now respects board cursor settings.
* IDEA display now respects board orientation.
* Game Analysis now respects 'Show coordinates' and 'Show board navigation' settings.
* Fixed diagram display in HTML export.
* Fixed absence of sampled search display after switching to Rybka 3 from another engine.
* Fixed small bugs in tree custom coloring.
* Finished Engine Competition date is no more reported as 30/12/1899.
* Fixed some issues in CTG book handling.

What's next:
We are going to enhance the editing possibilities for Aquarium i-Books, so that you can easily write such books yourselves. This, and some more minor fixes and features, will make a 3.1.1 update.
Then it'll be time for another 'large' project. Maybe it'll be IDEA this time, but I don't know yet.

GM Igor Kurnosov (Russia) Responds to Allegations of Cheating

In the blog post "Grandmaster Accuses Fellow GM of Cheating at Tournament" we talked about GM Shakhryiar Mamedyarov's accusation that his opponent GM Igor Kurnosov cheated during their game. There has been to date absolutely no evidence to support this claim, and now Kurnosov has responded to the accusations in the following letter:

Dear Colleagues and chess lovers,

With regard to the discussions in the press of Mamedyarov's letter, I must explain the situation. I present the game Mamedyarov-Kurnosov from round six of the Aeroflot Open, with my brief notes:

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.Be3 0–0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.0–0–0 f5 10.h4 fxe4 11.h5 gxh5. A well-known theoretical position, which I consider to be better for Black. Here my opponent played a move which was new to me. 12.d5 Ne5 13.Bh6 Nec4. I also looked at Rf7, but I did not like the fact that after Rh5 the knight is attacked with tempo: 13...Rf7?! 14.Bxg7 Rxg7 15.Rxh5. 14.Qg5 Rf7. The only move. 15.Bxc4. This move seemed dubious to me, but objectively, it is not bad. 15...Nxc4. After thinking over his previous move for 40 minutes, my opponent now offered me a draw. However, I considered that I had a serious advantage, and saw no grounds for taking a draw. 16.Rd4? It seemed to me as though the move Qd6 gave me a serious initiative. It turns out that instead, Nb2 led to a decisive advantage, but I did not consider this move. Just think how much I would be to blame if I had analysed this position at home!? 16...Qd6?! 17.Bxg7 Rxg7. The only move! 18.Qxh5 Qf4+. Also forced, and mate was threatened, and the knight en prise. Now I would invite any competent player to give themselves three minutes on the clock, and try to find Black's next three fairly straightforward moves. I think the majority of people would manage this! 19.Kb1 Bf5 20.fxe4 Bg4 21.Nge2? Losing immediately. 21.Qh6 Qf2. 21...Qd2! 0–1. Black has a winning position. Here, my opponent stopped the clocks and, without shaking hands or signing the scoresheet, approached the arbiters' table. The rest you know yourselves...

I believe that every chessplayer, regardless of titles or ratings, should have respect for himself and his colleagues, and should not make accusations of computer use, without any foundation or evidence whatsoever. Especially when they have played the game quite weakly! Mamedyarov's claim, that I left the playing hall after every move, taking my coat with me, and went into the toilet, does not correspond with the facts. During the first twelve moves, which we played quite quickly, I did not once leave the hall. Whilst my opponent was thinking for 40 minutes over his 15th move, I twice went to the smoking area, which was located just two metres from the door into the hall, and where there were always quite a few other players, arbiters and also security guards. I also several times went and splashed cold water over myself, without ever speaking to anyone. Neither before, nor after, the protest did the arbiters show any unusual interest in me, as claimed in the press. I behaved exactly as I always do. Whilst my opponent is thinking, I find it easier to think about the position whilst walking round, without looking at the board. As far as I know, most other chessplayers do exactly the same.

Unfortunately, all these negative things could not but have an effect on my play in the rest of the tournament... I should like to thank all those who supported me on the pages of the Internet, or in personal conversations. I should also like to make the following proposals:

That the organisers of top tournaments install metal detectors and other such devices at the entrance to the playing hall, so as to exclude the possibility of players receiving outside help, and also to rule out unfounded and insulting accusations, which can seriously impact on a player's reputation.

That the international chess organisation adopt a rule, under which serious sanctions would apply both to those who use outside help, and also to those who make unfounded accusations of such, against other players.

IGM Igor Kurnosov
28.02.2009

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2724) - Igor Kurnosov (2602)

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. f3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nb6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. Be3 O-O 8. Qd2Nc6 9. O-O-O f5 10. h4 fxe4 11. h5 gxh5 12. d5 Ne5 13. Bh6 Nec4 14. Qg5 Rf7 15.Bxc4 Nxc4 16. Rd4 Qd6 17. Bxg7 Rxg7 18. Qxh5 Qf4+ 19. Kb1 Bf5 20. fxe4 Bg4 21.Nge2 Qd2 0-1*

Personally, I believe GM Shakhryiar Mamedyarov needs to step forward and apologize. With the lack of evidence I see no other alternative. Any thoughts on the issue?

New Video: Chess Endgame Study - The Lucena Position

I went back and updated my old Lucena Position video due to some mistakes near the end in the drawing line. Here is the new and updated version:



To practice this endgame position and other staple endgame positions, visit http://www.jrobichess.com and click on the Endgame Practice link on the main page.

Grandmaster Accuses Fellow GM of Cheating at Tournament

At the Aeroflot Open in Moscow, Russua, Grandmaster Shakhryiar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan) accused his opponent Igor Kurnosov (Russia) of cheating. Mamedyarov then withdrew from the tournament.

According to GM Mamedyarov, he felt the following circumstances pointed towards his opponent somehow getting computer assistance during the game in a letter he wrote:

To: The organizer of the AEROFLOT-OPEN tournamentAlexander Grigorievich
Bakh

From: GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
Explanation of my protest

Dear Alexander Grigorievich,

On 22.09.2009 the game between myself and Igor
Kurnosov was played. During the game my opponent went out of the playing hall
after each move, took his coat and withdrew himself on the toilet. After
suspicion of unfair play on move 14 I offered a draw, he refused. We quickly
played 11 moves, on the 12th move I played a move which confused my opponent.
The next moves from him were given as first choice by Rybka, which quickly
allowed him to win the game.

Due to this series of suspicions, having to do with the unusual behaviour of my opponent, Igor Kurnosov, I hereby lodge a protest and refuse to continue participation in the tournament. I hope that his kind of situation will not occur in the future.

Sincerely,
GM
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov

When the chief arbiter asked to see the contents of Kurnosov's jacket, all that was found was some ciggaretes, a lighter, and a pencil.

Here is the game data:

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2724) - Igor Kurnosov (2602)

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. f3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nb6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. Be3 O-O 8. Qd2Nc6 9. O-O-O f5 10. h4 fxe4 11. h5 gxh5 12. d5 Ne5 13. Bh6 Nec4 14. Qg5 Rf7 15.Bxc4 Nxc4 16. Rd4 Qd6 17. Bxg7 Rxg7 18. Qxh5 Qf4+ 19. Kb1 Bf5 20. fxe4 Bg4 21.Nge2 Qd2 0-1*

Any thoughts on this interesting development in the chess world?

New Video: Chess Position Practice #4 - Candidate Moves

Game PGN Data

[Event "Amber Blindfold"]
[Site "Monte Carlo MNC"]
[Date "2006.03.19"]
[EventDate "2006.03.18"]
[Round "2"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "Levon Aronian"]
[Black "Veselin Topalov"]
[ECO "A03"]
[WhiteElo "2752"]
[BlackElo "2801"]
[PlyCount "101"]

1. f4 d5 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 c6 5. O-O Bg4 6. Ne5 h5
7. h3 Be6 8. d3 Nh6 9. Qe1 Nd7 10. Nf3 Qb6+ 11. Kh1 d4
12. Nbd2 Nf5 13. Ne4 Bd5 14. c4 dxc3 15. bxc3 Nc5 16. Nh4 Nxh4
17. gxh4 Nxe4 18. dxe4 Bc4 19. Ba3 Qa5 20. Bb4 Qc7 21. Bc5 b6
22. Be3 c5 23. a4 O-O 24. Rg1 e6 25. Bf3 Bh6 26. Qf2 Kh7
27. f5 exf5 28. Bxh6 Kxh6 29. exf5 Qf4 30. Raf1 Rae8 31. fxg6
fxg6 32. Qg2 Qd6 33. Bxh5 Rxf1 34. Rxf1 Re5 35. Qg3 Bd5+
36. Kg1 Be4 37. Rf7 Qd1+ 38. Kf2 Rf5+ 39. Rxf5 Bxf5 40. Qg5+
Kh7 41. Qe7+ Kh6 42. Bg4 Qd2 43. Qe5 Qd8 44. Qf4+ Kh7 45. Bxf5
gxf5 46. Qxf5+ Kh6 47. Qg5+ Qxg5 48. hxg5+ Kxg5 49. Kf3 Kf5
50. h4 c4 51. Ke3 1-0

A Bit of Chess Philosophy

The British philosopher John Locke once made the case that the human mind is best described in terms of "ideas", and I think the same holds true for chess. People talk about tactics and strategy, theory and calculation, opening principles and endgame mechanics, but what all these terms boil down to eventually is ideas.
Think about it. The single most important thing about each and every chess move is that you know what you are doing, regardless of whether you deal with a tactical move, a strategic move, an opening move, an endgame move, an aggressive or a defensive move. And unless you excel at calculation, your decision will likely be based on an idea you are already familiar with from your previous games or your chess study.
Knowing what you are doing is key in chess, but in order to know what you are doing you first have to come up with an idea about what you could be doing. The more chess you play, the more ideas you will have, and the more familiar some ideas will be to you.
Familiarizing yourself with ideas will help you get ideas during the actual game. The nice thing about the word "idea" is that it avoids the somewhat artificial distinction between tactics and strategy. In chess, tactics and strategy are in essence the same thing: finding moves that make sense. The fact that tactics tend to play out in one to five moves rather than ten to fifty is irrelevant to the actual game: unlike a chess puzzle, a chess game doesn't tell you that there is a tactic in the position; if you want to discover a tactic in an actual game, you first have to get the idea that this kind of position might offer tactical opportunities you can take advantage of. Therefore, tactics is in essence the same as strategy, i.e. assessing the position as a whole to get an idea what kind of move you are looking for. And kinds of moves are what ideas in chess are all about.
Ideas, or kinds of moves, are the repertoire of the experienced player. They are part abstract (in the form of a motto, or principle, or rule of thumb) and part concrete (in the form of familiar positions or piece setups from previous games or puzzles). Learning a chess idea means to know the theme of the move, that is how it relates to other ideas and when the move usually occurs (in the opening, in a cramped position, in a kingside attack, in an endgame, etc.), but also to have a rough picture of the move on the actual board (knowing common positions, and the pieces and squares commonly involved).
The reason I'm waxing philosophical about the notion of "idea" in chess is that I find it highly useful for structuring and managing my study of the game. First of all, I no longer have that disconnect between studying tactics versus strategy, or or studying the opening versus the endgame; I still use these distinctions, but they are now all subsumed under "ideas", which I find makes accessing them much easier. Secondly, it is much easier for me to make sense of and articulate to myself what I am learning. When I learn, say, the 2-pawns+rook versus rook endgame, I know that I have to learn the ideas behind the moves, and that makes it much easier to look for those ideas, for instance the idea how pawns can shield a king from enemy rook checks. Thirdly, I feel I have a better grasp of what is important to retain from a study session and what is not. When studying master games, for example, I know longer care about the concrete moves or how the game progresses, but the central ideas the games illustrate. When doing tactics puzzles, I try to make a mental note of the ideas the tactics involve and the positional features that make the tactic work; just solving the puzzle, on the other hand, doesn't seem to benefit my OTB play all that much, because I can take nothing away from it except the fact that I solved it.
To sum up: The notion of idea enables you to ask, "what's the key idea behind that move, or what kind of move is this?" I, for one, find that question extremely helpful, although I perhaps need to flesh out in some more detail how I think the answer to that question should be structured. That's for another post.

Edit: Rather than writing another post, here's an illustrative example of a puzzle position. White to move:


Since this is a tactics puzzle, we already have the idea that there is some forced sequence here White can exploit to get an advantage. If we came by this position in an actual game, we might consider moves such as Re2 (defending against potential intrusions on the second rank) or Nc5 (placing the knight on a nice outpost). But as it is, we immediately start searching for a forced line, and the one forcing move that jumps out is Nc7, attacking the rook. From there, we have to calculate and see if there's a follow-up move that wins material. However, ideas are extremely useful to aid us in our calculations. During my calculation, I saw that the Black knight on d6 was pinned once the knight moved, and so I immediately considered Ne8. I also saw that Nxe8 was forced. At this junction, however, I had the idea that after Rxe8, the bishop on f8 would be pinned that that there was nothing to prevent my bishop from attacking the enemy bishop again if I moved it do d6, and I had the vague idea that Black's white-squared bishop was pinned. What I missed, however, was that the white-square bishop isn't pinned at all, and that Black can simply move his rook to a8 and after Rxe8, the bishop can move to b7, protecting the rook and his black-square bishop at the same time.

Now, you might say that this is just trivial calculation stuff and hasn't much to do with ideas at all. I would argue, however, that missing the bishop-bit in my calculation would have been much less likely if I had been familiar with that kind of bishop-move. Why? Because calculation is only partly figuring out a move-by-move sequence; a huge part of calculation is simply knowing a typical kind of move sequence. Look at the following position, for example (Black to move):


If I reached this position, I'd quickly see that Bxa4 is a bad move because after playing a lot of painful blitz games I have absorbed the idea of the rook-piece-rook pin. So it takes much less time to see that after Ra1, Black loses the bishop or the exchange. And the same goes for the above position once you assimilated the idea of rook-bishop-rook-protection. Here's the idea in its pure form:


To return to my original point: in order to absorb and retain chess positions in a way that is useful for improvement, think about them in terms of ideas. Of course, I am only a 1650-player, and I have yet to prove with my own chess-development whether the notion of idea is indeed a useful one. Let me know what you think!

Space - The Final Garbage Dump

If you think your back yard looks out of shape (or your room for that matter) take a look at this computer generated impression of the debris orbiting the planet.



Source: MSNBC

New Endgame Study with Computer Practice on http://www.jrobichess.com

I have added a new section to the main site at http://www.jrobichess.com that allows you to practice a number of staple endgame positions, along with some extras, with the computer as your opponent. Whether your new to endgame study or just want to get back to basics because you're in a slump, this should help quite a bit.

Sicilian Defence Najdorf Poison Pawn Variation: New Annotated Chess Opening with Computer Practice on www.jrobichess.com

I have added an annotated opening for the Sicilian Defence Najdorf Poison Pawn Variation with computer practice and Grandmaster examples on the main site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

The Poisoned Pawn Variation is a name used to describe several chess opening variations where a pawn is said to be 'poisoned' because its capture can result in positional problems or material loss for the captor.

The best-known of these, and that most often described as the "Poisoned Pawn Variation," is a line of the Sicilian Defense, Najdorf Variation that begins with the moves:

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6 after which 8. Qd2 Qxb2 usually follows, accepting the 'poisoned' b2 pawn, although White can also play 8. Nb3, protecting the pawn.

Linares Chess Tournament 2009 - A Historical Look at the "Wimbledon of Chess"

With Linares 2009 fast approaching, I thought it would be interesting to see who has won over the years since the tournaments first gathering in 1978. For those not familiar with the Linares tournament (sometimes referred to as the Morelia - Linares Tournament) it is regarded as one of the strongest annual chess tournaments held each year.

Tied for Win
Ljubomir Ljubojević - Tied for win 1985
Robert Hübner - Tied for win 1985
Péter Lékó - Tied for win 2003

1 Clear Victory
Jaan Eslon - 1978 Winner
Boris Spassky - 1983 Winner
Jan Timman - Winner 1988
Levon Aronian - Winner 2006

1 Clear Victory + Ties
Larry Christiansen - 1979 Winner, Tied for win 1981
Anatoly Karpov - Tied for win 1981, Winner in 1994
Vladimir Kramnik - Winner 2004, tied 2000, tied 2003.

2 Clear Victories + 1 Tie
Vassily Ivanchuk - Winner 1989, 1991, 1995 (won on tiebreak)

3 Clear Victories
Viswanathan Anand - Winner 1998, 2007, 2008

8 Clear Victories + 1 Tie
Garry Kasparov - Winner 1990, 1992, 1993, 1997, 1999, tied 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005 (won on tiebreak),

As the past shows, Garry Kasparov has definitely dominated the tournament that is often referred to as the "Wimbledon of Chess".

As more information is announced about Linares 2009, I will post it on the blog here. Should be another excellent tournament! Coming off of an amazingly interesting Corus 2009, this year is shaping up to be one for the history books in terms of quality top-level chess tournaments.