Casual Chess Night 032519 Had Ten Players - and Club Events Update!

Chess is a fun and sociable game for everyone!

A nice night of chess this evening with ten participants.

The annual Club Officers Meeting will be held this Wednesday Night. The meeting minutes will be shared with the Club on this blog after that meeting.

Without further adieu, here is the latest Club Events update:

Livingston County Chess Club Events and News

1. Next Event - April 15^th  - 960 Tournament – 45 minute game – 5 second delay if possible.

We will play 3 or 4 rounds - depending on the number of entries.
Sorry for the wrong information on the original post. 

Kid’s Night on April 8^th.

2. Ladder Tournament – is up and running!

Rules are available by the sign in sheet.

You simply look at who is in attendance that is above you on the Ladder and challenge them to a game! If you win, you move to the space above them. If you draw, you move to the space below them. If you lose, you stay where you are! It’s just a fun little motivation to have when playing your casual games! Ladder Rules will be available at the Club!

3. Membership Dues and Election of Officers Time Again – April 1 thru April 22

To become a “Regular” Member of the Club, dues are $20 per year. This entitles the Member to run for any office for the Club (President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary or Tournament Director). A Regular Member also can attend any Board Meeting of the Officers. The time and place of any Baord meeting will be given to the Regular Members ahead of time.

All Club dues collected are used for Club supplies, advertising and event hosting – such as simultaneous exhibitions or lectures by Masters or other higher caliber players that may require an appearance fee.

4. Club Election – April 29

Voting for officers is done by a Regular Member writing their selections on an index card supplied by the Club and placing it in an envelope also supplied by the club. The member simply marks the envelope with a “V” to show it is a vote envelope, and drops it in the Club Senior Center Collection cigar box.

Upcoming Local Tournaments

April 6 – 7 – 2019 Michigan Senior Championship

April 7 – Lansing Mini-Swiss

April 14 – TYASCC Quads – Troy Public Library

April 16 – Genessee County CC Quick Swiss – Eastside Senior Center, Flint

April 20 - Thinkers Challenge - Detroit

April 27 - Canton Chess Tournament - Cherry Hill School, Canton

May 5 -  Lansing Mini-Swiss

May 18 -  Canton Chess Tournament - Cherry Hill School, Canton

May 18 - 2nd Annual Grand Rapids Spring Classic - New City Church, Grand Rapids

May 19 -  TYASCC Quads – Troy Public Library

May 21 -  Genessee County CC Blitz Championship – Eastside Senior Center, Flint

June 8 – 9 – 2019 Michigan Amateur – Lansing

July 20 - 21 - 2019 Michigan Bottom Half Class Championship - Lansing

Kids Night 031219 a Success with 16 players

Another fun night of chess was had by all. We had seven of the younger chess players and nine older players.

NPP welcomes new members Alex E., Carl S, Dan S and Peter M. Glad you are here.

Casual chess is on the horizon for the next few weeks, so come on in and play in a friendly, relaxed atmosphere.

Now for a little chess clock history compliments of the late great GM Larry Evans, with some commentary from your humble scribe:

The chess clock did not exist at the first international tournament in 1851. Howard Staunton, who invented the now standard design for chess sets, groused when his opponents took forever thinking about each move.
A year later, in a match between Harrwitz and Lowenthal a time limit of 29 minutes per move was established. Then in 1862, in a match between Anderson and Kolisch, hourglasses were used that gave each player 2 hours for 24 moves.
The now standard double chess clock made its debut in London in 1883. Each side had an hour for 15 moves and clocks then became a fixture for any serious chess match or tournament.
Time limits got tighter and tighter, and today with the better clock designs, we have a bevy of tournament time controls available.
Most serious tournaments have a time limit of around 40 moves in 2 hours. Then 30 moves in an hour and then 30 minutes sudden death. Sometimes the 30 in an hour is removed as a second time control and you go right to a sudden death time control.
The belief is to keep any serious game to 7 hours maximum, as the general rule.
Newer clocks even allow for a "delay" where you maybe set a 5 second interval (although delays can be set for whatever can be agreed upon, but 5 seconds is standard) that runs BEFORE your main time starts running down to at least give you the opportunity to move before losing on time.
There is also something called the "increment" option where a set amount of time is added to your clock after each move. This give a player "credit" for moving. Of course players take advantage of this feature by maybe moving their pieces back and forth twice on the same squares to add a minute to their clocks. GM games have gone over 100 moves with much more frequency now due to that option.
Obviously shorter time controls lowers the quality of the chess game, but idly sitting while a game drags on is no good for the player or any spectator.
Time control for casual games are up to the two players.
For a point of reference, chess games 1 minute to 5 minutes are called Blitz chess. 6 to 15  minutes are called Rapid Chess. 15 minutes to 30 minutes is called Quick Chess.
So now chess has not only it's own special greatness, but you can also play it at any speed you desire - including no clock at all.
But in your scribe's opinion, playing chess with a clock is what makes you a real chess player.

2019 LCCC Blitz (5 min) Championship was a Success!

There were 15 players at the Club this Monday and 13 players entered the Blitz Tournament!

Our Tournament Director declared a 3 round event. So each player played their opponent 2 games each round. If you split the games - it was a drawn round.

Here are the top three finishers!

1st Place - Scott Marvel
2nd Place - Matt Trujillo
3rd Place - Ken Tack

Congratulations to the winners!

Playing speed chess can lead to some funny games and strange positions. But they can happen in regular chess also.

This strange draw was played from an opening that does not usually end in a draw. It's the type of swashbuckling opening used often in speed chess - the King's Gambit Accepted.
Your humble scribe apologizes for losing the names of the players and the tournament and year the game was played. I got rid of the magazine I found the game in after I ran the game thru Igor3000.
But Igor found a reference to a game with a similar conclusion in 1904!

1. e4            e5
2. f4            exf4
3. Nf3         g5
4. h4           g4
5. Ne5        Nf6
At this point, Black is up the pawn advantage (-1), but he must be able to hold off the White attacking chances on his open king side successfully.

6. Bc4          d5
7. exd5         Bd6
Igor says the game is back to EVEN at this point.

8. O-O         Bxe5
9. Re1          Qe7
10. c3           Nh5
Black takes a half pawn lead here according to Igor (-.4).

11. d4          Nd7
12. dxe5      Nxe5
13. b3          O-O

Position after 13. .......   O-O

What looks like a wild wide open game is back to EVEN and - according to Igor3000 - stays that way the rest of the game! Each player making moves that just keep the game EVEN the rest of the way!

14. Ba3          Nf3+
15. gxf3         Qxh4
16. Re5          Bf5
Igor3000 searched his data base and found this game between Gunsberg-Teichmann in London, 1904 - which finished 16. ....Qg3+ 17. Kh1, Qh3+  Draw agreed. As Igor stated - the position is EVEN. How come it looks so uneven?

17. Nd2          Qg3+
18. Kf1           Qh2
19. Bxf8         g3
20. Bc5           g2+
21. Ke1           Qh4+
22. Ke2           Ng3+
23. Kf2           Ne4+
24. Kxg2        Qg3+
25. Kh1          Qh3+
26. Kg1          Qg3+
Draw

LCCC Newsletter and Events - 022519

Easy on the eyes - but too much green for me.

Livingston County Chess Club Events

March 4^th  - Club Speed Tournament

Two 5 minute games against the same opponent – one game with White and one with Black.

Win both or win and draw and win the match. Split the two games and you draw the match.

We will play 3 or 4 rounds that night, depending on the number of entries.

This is a fun and quick event so be sure to be here on March 4^th. 

Casual chess on February 25^th.                                               

 Kid’s Night on March 11^th.

Also, the Club President is starting the Ladder Tournament again!

You simply look at who is in attendance that is above you on the Ladder and challenge them to a game! If you win, you move to the space above them. If you draw, you move to the space below them. If you lose, you stay where you are! It’s just a fun little motivation to have when playing your casual games! Ladder Rules will be available at the Club!

Upcoming Local Tournaments

See the Michigan Chess Association website and/or the USCF website for more details.

March 2 – Thinkers Challenge 5 – University Prep Sci& Math High School, Detroit

March 3 – Lansing Mini-Swiss

March 17 – TYASCC Quads – Troy Public Library

March 19 – Genesee County Chess Club Action Quads – East Side Senior Center, Flint

March 23-24 – 2019 Michigan Junior Chess Championship – Oakland University

April 6 – 7 – 2019 Michigan Senior Championship

June 8 – 9 – 2019 Michigan Amateur – Lansing

Club News

Dues to be a Regular Member and/or an Officer of the Club are due April 1.

Elections for Club office are April 15. So any Regular Member can be on the ballot to run for any office in the Club – President, VP, Treasurer, Secretary or Tournament Director.

Voting and Club Meeting attendance is allowed by Regular Members only.

Another Fun Night 021819 - And a Anatoly Karpov Masterpiece Anotated

Michigan chess legend Norman Haygood (L) takes on our own Sam Thompson

We had 11 players this night and a fun night it was.
We have quite a few fun events lined up in the coming weeks so the Club is where you want to be.
A newsletter will be published in the next few days and posted on the website - so stay tuned.

Here is a game well annotated by none other than Anatoly Karpov.  He is the ex-World Champion and one that many said had a fighting chance to defeat Bobby Fischer if Fischer would have played him. 

Your scribe’s computer Igor3000 will comment in bold italics.

Dos Hermanos, Spain 1995

White: GM Joel Lautier – Black: GM Anatoly Karpov – Catatlan Defense

1.      d4              Nf6

2.      c4              e6

3.      g3              d5

4.      Bg2            Be7

5.      Nf3            O-O

6.      O-O           dxc4

7.      Nc3            Nc6

8.      e3               Bd6

9.      Nd2            e5

While White spends time to recover the c4 pawn, Black must strike at the White center. Igor3000 has White up (+.24).

10.  Nxc4          exd4

Black is slightly better after 10. d5, Na5 11. Qa4, b6 as White cannot recover the c4 pawn with 12. Nxc4 due to 12. …..Bd7 – driving the Queen away from protection of c4.

11.  Exd4           Bg4

12.  Qb3             Nxd4

Notice that 12. f3 closes the Catalan bishop on g2 and weakens White’s kingside. (+.1)

13.  Qxb7           Bf3

White expected  13. …..Rb8 14. Qxa7, Ne2 15. Kh1, Nxc3 16. Nxd6, giving White the advantage. The game is EVEN.

14.  Qa6?            Bb4

It was necessary for White to play Bxf3 and holding for a draw. Now Black threatens to remove the c3 knight, which is protecting the important light squares d5, e4 and c2.

Igor agrees with GM Karpov’s analysis. Black now up (-.2).

15.  Be3!             Bxg2

This exchange is necessary now as 15. …… Bxc3 16. Bxc4!, Bxg2 allows 17. Bxf6! and White’s problems are solved as 17. ….Qd5? 18. Ne3 is available.

Igor has a problem with the exclamation point given by Karpov to White as Black is now up (-.6). White needed 15. Ne3 to maintain.

16.  Rfd1!                    c5

Move 16 was White’s only move as 16. Kxg2, Bxc3 17. bxc3,  Qd5+ 18. F3, Nc2 19. Rfd1, Qxc4! 20. Qxc4, Nxe3+ and that forks the entire White family. Black’s move simply reinforces his centralized knight.

17.  Bxd4                     cxd4

18.  Kxg2                     Rc8!

19.  Kg1                       Re8

The White pieces (the knights in particular) lack the coordination to form a blockade in front of the passed d-pawn. In addition, White’s Queen on a6 is out of play. (-.7)

20.  Rac1                      Qd7!

21.  Nb5?                     d3!

White misses 21. Ne3 which holds by opening up the a6-f1 diagonal for the White Queen, while also closing the e-file. (-2.5)

Now it is downhill for White as Karpov now continues to increase his advantage.

22.  Ne3                       Rxc1

23.  Rxc1                      d2

24.  Rd1                       Nd5!

The simplest way to eliminate the blockaders and open the e-file. (-4.1)

Igor says 24. ….Ng4 was a shorter path to victory – 25. Rxd2, Qxd2 26. Nxg4, Re1+ 27. Kg2, Qd5+ 28. Kh3, Qh5+ 29. Kg2, Qxg4 (-5.4) but the game is over in any event.

25.  Qa4                       a6!

This gains a critical tempo while the b4 bishop is still protected. (-5.8)

Igor3000 says 25. ……Nxe3 is better after 26. fxe3, Qd3 but I am splitting hairs at this point. (-6.8)

26.  Qxa6                     Nxe3

27.  Fxe3                      qd3!

28.  Qc6                       Qxe3+

29.  Kg2                       Qe2+

30.  Kh3                       Qh5+

White Resigns

Club Packed for Kid's Night 021118 - and Advanced Concepts - Part 2

White to move!

We had a crowd of 16 players this night for our monthly Kids Night. A good time was had by all.
Stop by the club on any Monday and you will find friendly people ready to play some casual chess.

Now for Part 2 in our series - Topic - exchange sacrifices.

The computer Igor3000 says that the moves 1. g3 or 1. Ba4 or 1. Be2 are equally as good as what is stated below. But Igor is an unfeeling machine. The adrenaline rush of the attacker and the panic attack for the defender are not measured by Igor.

In the diagram the position is very good for White. He has more space, more active pieces, can work on getting his knight into the hole at e5 and has 3 backwards pawns to play for (a6, c6 and e6). Black has just played …..Rb8 hoping to trade rooks, using the chess rule that the cramped player should trade pieces to free himself.
White knows all this and plays

1. Rb6!            Nxb6
2. cxb6            ……..
White breaks another chess rule. Besides giving up material, he trades pawns AWAY from the center. But White has a good reason for this as he wants the c5 square for his knight and so his dark squared bishop can have access to the a3-f8 diagonal. You see chess is all about controlling squares - and almost always center squares.

2. …….           Qb7
3. Ne5+           Kg8
4. Ba4             …….
White attacks c6 by bringing all his pieces into the battle. Chess is a war and not using your entire army is a waste of resources!

4. ……..         Qe7
This is desperation as 4. …..Bd7 5. Qd6, Be8 6. Bb4 and threatening 7. Qf8+ is hopeless for Black.

5. Bb4             Qf6
6. Qc3             h6
This stops the back rank mate threats but Black's queenside is under-defended.

7. Bd6
This simple bishop attack forces the win of a rook, so Black resigned.

Another example next time.

Club Busy 020419 - Be There for Friendly Chess - Now Some Advanced Concepts - Part I

LCCC's Nathan Holland in Michigan Open action

We had 12 players this nice. A nice crowd of friendly people. Come in and play some chess! You won't regret it.

Don't think your wood pushing scribe will be leading these lessons. Chess teacher IM Jeremy Silman will be your guide. I just type and push wood.

JS: When we learn to play chess we are told that the Pawns are worth 1 point, the knights and bishops worth 3 points, the rook 5 points, the queen 9 points and the King is priceless because if you lose him the game is over.

These values are fairly accurate, but they color our vision when it comes down to what pieces may really be worth in a given position.

Grandmasters seem to donate rooks (5) for a knight or bishop (3) all the time while us mere mortals would get cold feet and never consider such a move.

If we are going to ignore the dictates of point count then what should we be looking for?

This diagram shows a very common exchange sacrifice.
A Grandmaster playing Black would play  1. .....Rxc3

 without hesitation. No calculation needed because

2. bxc3        Nxe4

gives Black a knight, a center pawn and a clear structural advantage due to White's doubled pawns. Sure Black is down 5 to 4 in the point count, but he has plenty of compensation in superior play, initiative, space and a better pawn structure.
In addition, Black's extra knight can be a factor in the game before White's extra rook.


By the way, Igor3000 chimed in with his bit-coin two cents. He says yes -

1. ......         Rxc3
2. bxc3       Nxe4 is best at an advantage for Black of almost a half-pawn (-.49), its not the only move that is suitable.

Don't you love chess? This is exactly why. Sometimes there are only fractions of differences between moves. And your scribe as seen Igor claim any of 5 moves in a position were equal before.

1. .....           Ne5
2. Qe2         Nc4  is second best as the advantage for Black 'shrinks' to (-.47). Big whoop. And

1. ......          Re8
2. Nde2       Ne5  is third best with the advantage to Black collapsing all the way to (-.41).

Not exactly the blunders of the century. But the jist of this lesson is that exchange sacrifices should be considered if you have enough compensation for the point or two lost in material.

We will look at another example next article.