Tag: Chess.com

  • Chess.com: Resistance is Futile

    Chess.com: Resistance is Futile

    Well, I guess there is just no getting away from Chess.com as they have officially acquired Play Magnus Group, which owns Chess24, New in Chess, GingerGM, Chessable, etc. etc…

    Chess.com, the world’s largest chess website, has acquired Play Magnus Group, a leading chess entertainment and education company that includes Chess24. The proposed acquisition was initially announced on August 24, 2022 and was unanimously recommended by Play Magnus Group’s board. After receiving regulatory and shareholder approval, the acquisition officially closed on December 16, 2022. 

    Chess24.com press release

    Many Chess24 players and fans are understandably nervous as it most likely indicates an impending doom for the smaller website. In my opinion, there is no chance that Chess.com will allow Chess24 to continue to operate in its current capacity when they can close its play servers and direct that traffic to the main website. It is an unfortunate development for the online chess world. In any case, we will just have to wait and see how it plays out.

  • Chess.com Is Lost

    Chess.com Is Lost

    I’ve been openly critical of major chess websites before. ChessBase and Chess.com regularly receive praise here on Campfire Chess when they do things that further the development and promotion of the game, but they also get flamed when I believe that its necessary. This week, Chess.com went far beyond the necessity for a simple commentary. They’ve crossed into territory that should be unsettling for anyone who values our game. In fact, it’s my opinion that Chess.com has become so lost and has moved so far away from actual chess that I’ve made the unfortunate decision to stop playing and contributing to it for the foreseeable future.

    Wasted Opportunities

    Over the years, I’ve watched as Chess.com focused its attention on hideous endeavors like POG Champs and promotions that were designed to drive Twitch views more than actually promote the game in way that focused on longevity. Short-term exploitation of the Queen’s Gambit boom has led to negligible increase in the game’s long term interest. Then, they spent extraordinary amounts of money to house the Botez sisters in a Big Brother-like mansion in the name of (somehow) promoting the game. Yet, we haven’t really heard anything about it since. Why? Most likely because it doesn’t appeal to the wider chess audience and it’s a ridiculous waste of funds generated by site memberships.

    And what did they learn from the fizzling of these activities? Absolutely nothing…

    Selling Their Souls for NFTs

    I have to admit that I was beyond furious when Chess.com announced its new NFT website, Treasure Chess. Now YOU TOO can mint your special 300 ELO Scholar’s Mate and charge $3000 on Chess.com for people to “own” it. No other technology available today infuriates me more than the peddling of cryptocurrency garbage like Non Fungible Tokens (NTFs). Or, as I prefer to call them, No F**king Thanks. This could be the first foul language moment in this blog’s history, but that’s okay. It’s time.

    NFTs are one of the greatest pyramid schemes to emerge (so far) in the 21st Century. It’s a technology that prays on people’s lack of understanding of blockchain and cryptologic technology to get them to buy art, music, and now…chess games. These sites promise ownership of the purchased item, but all you own is a digital receipt or hyperlink to a receipt identifying you as the owner. Nothing stops other users from screenshotting the art, downloading the music, or retrieving a chess game from a database and posting it in another place. In essence, you own nothing.

    On top of the fact that NFTs promise the future but deliver nothing, the power required to generate the crypto receipts for NFTs is enormous. It’s contributed to the insane price of Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) these days and the increased energy consumption is detrimental to the health and wellbeing of our planet.

    Done for Now

    I realize that Chess.com is not an airport and there is no reason for my to announce my departure. However, I have been blogging about chess for 8 years now and a majority of the games, analysis, and stories have come from Chess.com. I’ve watched the site evolve from a competent and inviting community for people to grow, learn, and connect through chess…into a monstrosity. I have hope that one day Chess.com will find its away again, but until then, I simply cannot continue to support the site through a premium membership or paid verification. Until the insanity is reigned in at Chess.com, you’ll find all of my future content here on the blog and at lichess.org.

    Game on, campers!
    Ex

  • Game Analysis – The Missile!

    Game Analysis – The Missile!

    I’ve played some of the best chess of my entire life over the past few months. There were nerve-wrecking wins and heartbreaking losses, but all of them were wonderful opportunities to hone my skills and keep getting better. I chose to analyze and comment on this game because I felt that it is an important instructional moment. My opponent played solid chess until about midway through the game when he made a critical error and allowed me full access to his defenses. I hope you enjoy!

    [pgn]

    [Event “Let’s Play!”]
    [Site “Chess.com”]
    [Date “2022.04.17”]
    [Round “-“]
    [White “CMDRExorcist”]
    [Black “Internet Opponent”]
    [Result “1-0”]
    [CurrentPosition “6r1/pp6/2nP4/k1P5/4PP2/2bPB3/P6P/1R3R1K b – – 1 28”]
    [Timezone “UTC”]
    [ECO “C25”]
    [ECOUrl “https://www.chess.com/openings/Vienna-Game-2…d6”]
    [UTCDate “2022.04.17”]
    [UTCTime “01:30:28”]
    [WhiteElo “1341”]
    [BlackElo “1292”]
    [TimeControl “1/86400”]
    [Termination “CMDRExorcist won by resignation”]
    [StartTime “01:30:28”]
    [EndDate “2022.04.19”]
    [EndTime “01:16:58”]

    {I’ve played some of the best chess of my entire life over the past few months.
    There were nerve-wrecking wins and heartbreaking losses, but all of them were
    wonderful opportunities to hone my skills and keep getting better. I chose to
    analyze and comment on this game because I felt that it is an important
    instructional moment. My opponent played solid chess until about midway through
    the game when he made a critical error and allowed me full access to his
    defenses. I hope you enjoy $1

    } 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 d6 3. Nf3 Bg4 {Black
    neglects his center development in favor of an old trick to make White think his
    Queen is in danger. Spoiler alert: she is not.} (3… c5 4. Bc4 Be7 {+0.40} 5.
    d3 Nf6 6. h3 Nc6 7. b3 O-O 8. O-O {+0.69}) 4. Bc4 {4.d4 is better here, but it
    could force me to bring my Queen out earlier than I wanted.} 4… Nf6 5. d3 Nc6
    6. O-O {Stockfish is absolutely determined to get me to play h3 and attack the
    Bishop, but I was not interested in destroying my Kingside fortress just yet.}
    (6. h3 Bxf3 7. Qxf3 Nd4 8. Qd1 c6 9. O-O d5 10. exd5 cxd5 {+0.55}) 6… Nd4 7.
    Be3 Bxf3 8. gxf3 {The trade is equal in material but it opens my King up to a
    direct assault if Black continued with solid play.} 8… c5 9. Nd5 {This is
    purely bait. I wanted Black to take the Knight so that I could free up more room
    along the diagonals for my coming Bishop assault.} (9. f4 exf4 {+1.31}) 9…
    Nxd5 10. Bxd5 {The Bishop is in a prime location to strike at the heart of the
    Rook structure and the Black King himself.} 10… Rb8 (10… Qd7 11. c3 Ne6 12.
    Qb3 Rb8 13. a4 Nc7 14. Bc4 {+1.18}) 11. c3 Nc6 {Simply pushing the Knight out of
    the way.} 12. Qb3 $1 {Black needs to be very careful here. He is in danger, but
    doesn’t seem to realize it.} 12… Qc7 13. f4 Be7 $4 {Black did well by moving to
    Qc7 to defend the f7 square, but moving Be7 negates that defense and gave me the
    opening I was looking for.} 14. Bxf7+ {Black loses the right to Castle and the
    bloodbath begins.} 14… Kd8 15. Bg8 (15. Be6 Rf8 16. f5 Bf6 17. Kh1 b5 18. a3
    a5 {+4.61}) 15… Na5 {The most natural reply, but not a threat.} 16. Qf7 Bh4 $6
    17. Qf8+ Kd7 18. Qxg7+ Kc6 19. Qxh8 {It’s +7 on the analysis board at this point
    and despite my King being 100\% open and vulnerable, Black is desperately on the
    retreat.} 19… Kb6 20. b4 {I can’t think of anything else this Knight has done
    but run away for the entire game.} 20… Nc6 21. bxc5+ Ka5 {I spent a lot of
    time exploring this position because it’s apparent that my Queen is about to
    fall. When she does, I needed to ensure that I was left with the best possible
    structure I could come up with. In the end, it was better to develop the f pawn
    so as to maintain pressure with the c5 pawn.} 22. fxe5 Qd8 $2 {I was surprised
    that Black didn’t recapture on e5.} 23. exd6 Bg5 (23… Qxg8+ 24. Qxg8 Rxg8+ 25.
    Kh1 b6 26. Rab1 Bd8 27. Rb3 {+9.64}) 24. f4 Bf6 {My Queen prepares to go down in
    a blaze of glory $1} 25. Qxh7 Qxg8+ 26. Qxg8 Rxg8+ 27. Kh1 {And my once vulnerable
    King will remain safe for the rest of the game.} 27… Bxc3 28. Rab1 {Black
    resigned. This was a brutal game that demonstrates the importance of watching
    the entire board to prevent your opponent from launching a missile into the
    heart of your defenses. According to Stockfish, the game may have continued…}
    (28. Rab1 Ka6 29. e5 Nd8 30. Rg1 Rf8 31. Rg7 Rh8 32. Rb3 {+10.6}) 1-0

    [/pgn]

    Following this victory, my online rating sits at an astounding (for me) 1340!

    Game on, campers!
    Ex

  • My Best Rating Improvement Ever!

    My Best Rating Improvement Ever!

    Pretty much everything in my life over the last year has been a whirlwind, and chess was not exempt from that chaos. It had been a long time since I played chess regularly when I started playing again in May of 2021. So many times before I would dive headfirst into chess with an massively unrealistic set of goals and expectations. Eventually I’d realize that those goals were unachievable and give up chess for a while.

    This time, things have been different…

    Focusing heavily on Daily (e-correspondence) chess, I’ve seen a massive improvement in the quality of my gameplay and my overall rating. What was typically a 50-100 point increase had jumped threefold over the past twelve months with a monumental jump from 800 to 1300 ELO!

    There have been bumps in the road along the way, but the quality of my play and my confidence has gradually increased throughout the year. It was only recently that I took time to pull up my stats on Chess.com and see how much I have actually improved. But what exactly has changed from before?

    Well, for starters, I’ve switched to much slower forms of chess. I’ve realized that my PTSD does not give me the focus and response time necessary to play blitz and bullet chess for serious rating. They’re okay for fun, but they’re often brutally messy and not nearly as positive an outcome as the more classical variants and daily chess. In addition, I’ve been regularly watching YouTube chess videos and reading through games of my favorite players (Morphy, Fischer, Larsen, etc.). Occasionally I’ll recognize a position or tactic in one of my games that I’ve seen in those books, but mostly reading keeps me in the mode and focused on playing the game.

    Here’s a perfect example of recent play that I’m very proud of. This particular game was rough and ended with a beautiful tactic to win my opponent’s queen:

    [pgn][Event “2022 Chess.com Daily Chess Championship – Round 1”]
    [Site “Chess.com”]
    [Date “2022.01.01”]
    [Round “?”]
    [White “CMDRExorcist”]
    [Black “Internet Opponent”]
    [Result “1-0”]
    [ECO “C26”]
    [WhiteElo “1205”]
    [BlackElo “1143”]
    [TimeControl “1/86400”]
    [EndDate “2022.01.12”]
    [Termination “CMDRExorcist won by resignation”]

    1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Bb4 4. Nf3 Bxc3 5. bxc3 O-O 6. O-O Nc6 7. d4 exd4 8.
    cxd4 Nxe4 9. d5 Ne7 10. Re1 Nf6 11. d6 cxd6 12. Qxd6 Nf5 13. Qf4 Qa5 14. Bd2 Qc5
    15. Bb4 Qxb4 16. Bxf7+ 1-0
    [/pgn]

    There’s still so much to learn and so much to do! I recognize that it takes hard work to play this game and I don’t expect to ever play at a master level. I also recognize that I’ll face slumps and dips, but I am reaching a point where I feel confident enough that I can continue to play and improve in a way that is reasonable and reachable.

    Game on, Campers!
    Ex

  • Book Look: How to Study Chess on Your Own

    Book Look: How to Study Chess on Your Own

    I’ve been playing chess regularly since 2014 and have made (in my opinion) minimal progress. Well, I guess you could say that I haven’t made the progress that I expected after devoting so much time to reading, studying, and playing. That’s one reason that I’m always on the lookout for new materials and new ideas to help me improve my game. That’s why I was very excited to read GM Davorin Kuljasevic’s new book How to Study Chess on Your Own. This is the honest review of a < 1200 ELO player. So, let’s begin…

    I learned about this book from the Perpetual Chess podcast. Which, if you’ve never listened, you’re missing out! The title alone drew me to it because I tend to be an isolated chess player. I play correspondence games regularly, read and follow games in books/magazines, and play a lot against my DGT Centaur chess computer. I wanted something that might help me understand why my improvement was so stagnant. So, I put away all the other chess books and projects I was working on and focused solely on How to Study exclusively for the next few weeks.

    The Study Advice

    For the purposes of this review, I am going to divide the book into two sections: The Study Advice and The Games. The study advice offered by GM Kuljasevic throughout the book is interlaced with a variety of Grandmaster and student games that are used to illustrate the various principles explained in each chapter. The study options presented are very down-to-earth and application-driven. There’s very little “theory” involved in the advice he gives. Instead, he digs down and shows how the variety of tools at a chess player’s disposal these days can be used for a multitude of improvement opportunities.

    Of particular interest to me was his advice for creating a study plan. This is a step that countless chess students (including myself) tend to ignore. I study and play chess a lot, but I realized that I didn’t have a solid plan of what I wanted to achieve and what steps I was going to take to achieve it. Not in the sense of “I want to be an IM in 5 years”. Instead, the advice is more practical and nuanced such as “I have 4 hours to study chess today, so 2 hours for openings, 1 hour for endgame, and 1 hour on tactics”.

    Overall, I’d say that the advice in this book is a welcome addition to the growing library of chess improvement materials out there. It’s practical, sensible, and is flexible enough to where anyone from a lower-rated D-class player up to a Grandmaster could use it.

    The Games

    There are 71 annotated games and fragments scattered across How to Study Chess on Your Own. At first, I was following each of the games with my travel chess set at home and then using my iPad on my breaks at work. But I soon realized that despite the excellent study advice in the book, much of the game analysis was way over my head. There were principles explained that I understood but the application in many of these instances were still in the Grandmaster range. I felt like I wasn’t ready in my chess ability to get the most out of this analysis.

    So, after playing through Game 15, I stopped reading/playing the games and focused on the meat of the book and its study recommendations. This is not to say that the analysis in the book isn’t excellent, because it is! There’s so much knowledge shared in these games that it was overwhelming for someone of my level. I know that I can’t speak for everyone, but I would assume that many lower rated players would have similar problems understanding the application of some of the more advanced concepts. I guess you can consider it a word of caution before digging into the variations and ideas that the games themselves present.

    A New Library of Games

    As I read through the book, I took note of the Grandmaster games and decided to put them together into a Chess.com library. I also played through the student games and fragments in the book for this collection. That library is free for access and download here and will eventually be added to the downloads section here on Campfire Chess.

    Final Thoughts

    It’s impossible to truly unpack the depth of knowledge and expertise presented in How to Study Chess on Your Own. GM Davorin Kuljasevic obviously produced this as a labor of love. You can sense the passion he has for chess and the drive to help others improve their game. Of the chess books I’ve read recently, it’s most definitely one of my favorites. I only hope that over time I can improve in my game enough to go back through many of the annotated games and unlock their secrets!

  • Campfire Digest – December 10, 2021

    Campfire Digest – December 10, 2021

    Good Morning, campers! Welcome to Campfire Chess Digest for Friday, December 10, 2021! The World Chess Championship 2021 is still underway and it has certainly had a share of ups and downs, breathtaking and disappointing moments. There’s still much more chess to come before the year is done!

    Here’s some of the best chess action we’ve seen this week:

    Magnus Carlsen is…once again…World Chess Champion

    https://www.chess.com/news/view/fide-world-chess-championship-2021-game-11
    Magnus Carlsen cruised to defend his World Championship title for the fifth time this week against Ian Nepomniachtchi. It was one of the most lopsided and unusual championships I can recall. Ian just couldn’t capitalize on several opportunities presented to him by Magnus. And for another two years, Norway is king of world chess.

    A World Record at the World Chess Championship

    https://en.chessbase.com/post/world-championship-2021-g6
    Magnus Carlsen came out on top of an incredible 136 move game that set a world record for the longest chess game played in a world championship. The previous title was held by Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi in the 1978 World Chess Championship.

    A Century of Chess: Karlsbad 1907

    https://www.chess.com/blog/kahns/a-century-of-chess-karlsbad-1907
    Long before the Soviet Empire dominated the professional chess world, the German Empire’s elite held firmly to the title of the world’s best chess players. This exceptional article from Chess.com (a rarity these days) explores Akiba Rubinstine’s rise to prominence in the early part of the twentieth century.

    World Rapid and Blitz Coming to Warsaw

    https://en.chessbase.com/post/the-world-rapid-and-blitz-championships-will-take-place-in-warsaw
    The FIDE World Rapid and Blitz tournament will soon be making its way to Warsaw beginning on Christmas Day and running through December 31st.

  • Campfire Digest – December 3, 2021

    Campfire Digest – December 3, 2021

    Good Morning, campers! Welcome to Campfire Chess Digest for Friday, December 3, 2021! As you read this, the 2021 World Chess Championship rages (if you can call it that) in Dubai between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi. There’s no clear leader at this point but Nepo certainly put Magnus on the ropes a few times going into Thursday’s rest day.

    Here’s some of the best chess action we’ve seen this week:

    Anish Giri Annotates WCC 2021 Game 5

    https://en.chessbase.com/post/world-championship-2021-g5-expert-annotations
    After the sleeper draw that was Game 5 of the World Chess Championship, GM Anish Giri published a very nice annotated game outlining some of the missed opportunities for both players.

    Hikaru Nakamura Departs the FIDE World Ranking List

    https://en.chessbase.com/post/the-new-fide-world-ranking-list-december-2021
    GM Hikaru Nakamura was nowhere to be found on the newly published FIDE World Ranking List because he has not been active in international tournament play for quite some time. He’s mostly traded those commitments for a life on Twitch these days.

    Chess.com Remains Undisputed Clickbait Article Champion

    https://www.chess.com/article/view/chess-coms-holiday-gift-buying-guide
    Ten ways to mate your opponent in five moves… Ten streamers you wouldn’t want to play blitz with… and the list goes on and on. Maybe we could start making a list of Chess.com’s most click-baity articles. In any case, this year’s “Buying Guide” for the holidays is no better than the website’s recent forays into Bitcoin, PogChamps, and other nonsensical stuff.

    Levon Aronian Joins the US Chess Federation

    https://chess24.com/en/read/news/levon-aronian-completes-transfer-to-usa
    The United States continues to build an impressive roster of players with the recent addition of GM Levon Aronian. He joins the ranks of recent additions such as GMs Wesley So and Fabiano Caruana.

    The World Chess Championship 2021 continues today in Dubai live via Chess24’s YouTube channel. Chess.com has a stream with GMs Hess and Caruana, but I recommend the Chess24 stream as its less headache-inducing.

  • Game Analysis – An Interesting Collapse

    Game Analysis – An Interesting Collapse

    It’s been a while since I annotated one of my games. Part of that is IRL stuff that’s been getting in the way and part of it is that I haven’t played any games that intrigued me enough recently to annotate. This game is a little bit of an exception. Let’s go…

    [pgn]
    [Event “Let’s Play!”]
    [Site “Chess.com”]
    [Date “2021.10.05”]
    [Round “-“]
    [White “CMDRExorcist”]
    [Black “Internet Opponent”]
    [Result “1-0”]
    [ECO “B23”]
    [WhiteElo “1091”]
    [BlackElo “1099”]
    [TimeControl “1/86400”]
    [CurrentPosition “8/p4k1p/2p1p1p1/2Q5/8/5P2/5KPP/1r6 b – – 0 37”]
    [Timezone “UTC”]
    [ECOUrl “https://www.chess.com/openings/Sicilian-Defense-Closed-Traditional-Line-3.Nf3”]
    [UTCDate “2021.10.05”]
    [UTCTime “14:17:56”]
    [Termination “CMDRExorcist won by resignation”]
    [StartTime “14:17:56”]
    [EndDate “2021.10.08”]
    [EndTime “16:38:11”]
    [Link “https://www.chess.com/game/daily/360542321”]

    {It’s been a while since I annotated one of my games. Part of that is IRL stuff
    that’s been getting in the way and part of it is that I haven’t played any games
    that intrigued me enough recently to annotate. This game is a little bit of an
    exception. Let’s go…} 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nf3 g6 4. Bb5 Bg7 {A fairly
    standard Sicilian Defense configuration I’ve seen in a few games recently. White
    has a slight edge here, but at this rating level its too insignificant to make a
    real difference.} 5. O-O e6 $6 ({The engine calls 5…e6 an inaccuracy and it
    does seem like 6.d6 would have been a better choice that leaves Black with a
    much more solid development after} 5… d6 6. Bxc6+ bxc6 7. Re1) 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7.
    e5 {Cutting off Black’s Bishop and preparing to bring the f1 Rook into play.}
    7… Ne7 8. d3 ({Good also is} 8. Ne4 O-O 9. Re1) 8… O-O 9. Re1 Nf5 {My first
    real mistake of the game. Instead of capitalizing on the weaknesses on the King
    side, I played a developing move that did very little to strengthen the
    position.} 10. b3 $2 (10. Bg5 f6 11. Bxf6 Bxf6 12. exf6 Qxf6 {and White has a good
    position here.}) 10… Nd4 11. Na4 b6 {The pawn structure grows a little weak
    here, but the Knight moves away and frees up more room for me to work.} 12. c3
    Nf5 13. c4 $6 {Once again, the engine prefers that I engage with the Bishop on
    g5.} (13. Bg5 Qd7 14. Qe2 Qc7 {and there’s a lot of pressure building up on the
    e5 pawn $1}) 13… Bb7 {Black misses a chance to engage on the f-file.} 14. Bb2
    (14. Bg5 f6 15. exf6 Bxf6 16. Bxf6 Qxf6) 14… Qe7 15. d4 $2 {I thought about this
    one for a long time, which is probably why it turned out so poorly at the time.
    I needed to find a way to break through on the d-file and this was one way to do
    it, although arguably not the best way.} 15… Rad8 $6 16. Ba3 Nxd4 17. Nxd4
    Rxd4 $4 {Not the breakthrough I was expecting. Now Black has placed his Rook into
    dangerous territory.} 18. Qc2 {Missing a win with Qxd4 18…cxd4.} 18… Bxe5 $4
    {Black’s position completely falls apart.} 19. Rxe5 Qf6 $6 {Black tries to put
    pressure on the Rook, but his pieces are so disorganized that there’s no real
    counterplay. An easy Rook move counters the attack.} 20. Rae1 Rfd8 21. f3 Rd2
    22. Qc1 Rxa2 $6 {I had expected a Rook trade, but this move attempts to attack
    both the Bishop and Knight, but there’s still no significant threat to the
    position.} 23. Bb2 {and the Rook is trapped.} 23… Rd3 $2 24. Rxe6 {This was very
    difficult for me to find. Ultimately, the Rook sacrifice wins the Queen and the
    game is lost for Black.} 24… Qxe6 25. Rxe6 fxe6 26. Qh6 $2 {A sloppy move, but
    considering how the position was crumbling, I was trying to see if I could win a
    quick mate with 27.Qg7#.} 26… Rxb2 27. Nxb2 Rxb3 28. Qd2 Ba6 29. Qd8+ {Trying
    to force Black’s King into the center of the board.} 29… Kg7 30. Qd7+ $6 (30.
    Na4 Bxc4 31. h4) 30… Kf6 31. Qd2 b5 32. cxb5 Bxb5 33. Qf4+ Kg7 34. Nc4 $6 {One
    last mistake. The intention was to play 35.Be5 but Black isn’t going to allow
    it.} 34… Rb1+ 35. Kf2 Bxc4 36. Qxc4 Kf7 37. Qxc5 {This was a fun game to play.
    It started out tough and there were moments where I had to dig deeper into my
    shallow mind to find the win. Ultimately, Black’s position came apart at the
    seams and I was able to pull off a nice little victory.} 1-0
    [/pgn]

  • Never Give Up! Never Surrender!

    Never Give Up! Never Surrender!

    Sometimes I get so frustrated when I make a blunder that I simply give up and rage quit the game. Making a mistake in a chess game can often be as frustrating as being spawn camped by some n00b in Call of Duty. This is something I’ve been actively working on for the past few months: trying to stay in the game despite the apparent hopelessness of the position. Now, there are times when its important to realize that you have no chance of winning and you’re just delaying the inevitable. A lone King versus a Rook and a bunch of pawns comes to mind. But when most of the pieces are still on the board, there’s little reason to give up so quickly. Such is the case with this game where I had to make a painful sacrifice early in the middlegame but was able to turn things around in the end.

    [pgn] [Event “Let’s Play!”] [Site “Chess.com”] [Date “2021.08.09”] [Round “-“] [White “Internet Opponent”] [Black “CMDRExorcist”] [Result “0-1”] [CurrentPosition “8/7p/1b4pk/8/5PP1/5Q1P/6K1/6q1 w – – 1 51”] [Timezone “UTC”] [ECO “B23”] [ECOUrl “https://www.chess.com/openings/Sicilian-Defense-Closed”] [UTCDate “2021.08.09”] [UTCTime “00:44:21”] [WhiteElo “904”] [BlackElo “1052”] [TimeControl “1/86400”] [Termination “CMDRExorcist won by checkmate”] [StartTime “00:44:21”] [EndDate “2021.08.12”] [EndTime “01:06:00”] [Link “https://www.chess.com/game/daily/350244835”] {While it’s certainly not the prettiest game out there, this one is quite the enigma. It was played over the course of about four days and there were moments where my position was hopelessly lost and I somehow managed to convert it into a winning endgame. Lets take a ride.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 d6 4. Bc4 Nf6 {Structurally, placing the Knight here before moving the Bishop out constricts the Bishop and makes it difficult to activate later.} (4… Be7 5. O-O h6 6. a3 Nf6 7. b4 Nc6 {is a little better.}) 5. d3? {My opponent trades a mistake for a mistake.} 5… Bg4 6. O-O Be7 7. Be3 O-O 8. h3 Bxf3 {I had several ideas for breaking through the center, so this Knight had to be eliminated before any of them could be started.} 9. Qxf3 Nc6 10. Rfe1 Nb4 11. Rac1 Qb6 {Defending the Knight and opening the back rank to connect my Rooks. I anticipate an attack on the b4 Knight, so I needed to keep squares open for a potential retreat.} 12. a3 Nc6 13. Rb1 Nd4 14. Bxd4 exd4 {Removing the defender on e5 would come back to haunt me later in the game.} 15. Nb5 a6 16. Nxd6 Bxd6 17. e5! {A solid move and destructive fork. Removing the e5 blockade enabled this and I paid for it dearly more than once.} 17… Bb8? (17… Bxe5 18. Rxe5 {would keep material even and prevent a hard sacrifice to come.}) 18. exf6 Qc7? {Obviously there’s no chance of Qh2#, but a man can dream.} 19. g3 g6?! {This kind of feels like a mistake. It definitely leads to some unpleasant positions and a sacrifice I wasn’t too happy with.} (19… Qc6 20. Qxc6 bxc6 21. Re4 Bd6 {would have relieved some of the bleeding.}) 20. Qg4 Ba7? {I’m not sure what I was thinking with this move. Perhaps I was worried about the Rook coming forward to target my c5 pawn. Even though, it’s already defended by the Queen. This was just careless and thoughtless.} 21. Qg5! {It was here that I realized what he was trying. I was in serious trouble of a deadly checkmate. I needed to come up with a plan fast, but everything I tried in my head ended in a Queen sacrifice…} 21… Qd6 {The obvious target here is the f6 pawn to prevent Qg7#!} 22. Re4 Rae8? {A futile attempt to bait White into trading Rooks and giving my King an escape route.} 23. Rf4 b5 24. Qh6! Qxf6 {The only way to prevent Qg7#. I was not happy that I had to sacrifice my Queen in this position and was pretty demoralized. However, I decided it was best not to give up and press on to see if I could convert the position into a draw (at least).} 25. Rxf6 bxc4 26. Rxa6 Bb8 27. dxc4 Re2 {White is quickly moving into my house, so I decided to pay him a little visit as well.} 28. Ra5 Bd6 {The next few moves are developmental, but also very defensive. Knowing that I was down 8 whole points in this position, I wanted to see how well I could defend multiple pieces and still maintain a solid structure.} 29. Ra6 Rd8 30. Qg5 Be7 31. Qg4 Rxc2?! {A mistake I noticed almost immediately after making it, but it still helped to maintain my immediate goal of pushing the d-pawn down the board.} 32. Rxg6+? Kh8? {Not a blunder, but it probably should have been. I missed the MUCH better 32.hxg6!} (32… hxg6 33. Qe4 {and my position is still terrible, but at least I win a Rook.}) 33. Qf5 fxg6 {Found the best move this time. And now, things are about to get interesting.} 34. Qf7?? {Black misses an opportunity to eliminate the deadly Rook hanging on c2. Now’s my chance!} 34… Re2 {Protecting the e7 Bishop and building a wall for the d-pawn.} 35. b4 d3 {The lone soldier marches forward!} 36. Rd1 d2?! {The Rook on d1 is pinned and it will take careful maneuvering to trick White into sacrificing it.} 37. Qf3?? {White misses the chance to prevent having his Rook sacrificed to promote the d-pawn. Now, the tables have turned.} (37. Kf1 {prevents 37…Re1+!.}) 37… Re1+ 38. Kg2 Rxd1 39. Qxd1 cxb4 40. axb4 Bxb4 41. f4 Rc8 42. Qb3 {White is chasing my pieces around the board when he should be pushing pawns since he has a Kingside majority. This was a stressful part of the game because I had calculated a few variations with the intention of baiting White into trading my Rook for promotion potential.} 42… Ba5 43. Qa4 Rxc4!? {Offering my opponent a tasty treat.} 44. Qxc4? {White takes the bait.} 44… d1=Q {The sacrificed matriarch returns to the board and I go from -8 to +2.} 45. Qc8+ Kg7 46. Qb7+ Kh6 {And my King is safe from harm.} 47. Qf3 Qd2+ {The next few moves are merely luck of the draw, in my opinion. There were many variations in which White can force a draw or even convert for a better position over time, but none of those were fleshed out in this game.} 48. Kf1 Qe1+ 49. Kg2 {A good move, but the initiative allows me a chance to place my Bishop on the deadly b6 square.} 49… Bb6 50. g4?? {A fatal mistake.} 50… Qg1# {As I said in the beginning, this is not a pretty game by any stretch of the imagination, but I enjoyed playing and analyzing it because of how I was able to convert a hopelessly lost position into a win.} 0-1 [/pgn]

  • It’s Been a Bad Day

    It’s Been a Bad Day

    Today was rough all around. Network problems made my day job a challenge and I lost two daily chess games that I should have won. That’s not saying that my opponents didn’t deserve to win. They certainly played good games and came out on top, but there were so many ridiculous blunders today that have been so uncharacteristic of me lately. I managed, in extraordinary fashion, to blunder not one, but two Bishops today. Perhaps the analysis of these games is just a way of venting. I’m sure that I’ll bounce back…I always do. But wow, these are hard to stomach.

    [pgn] [Event “Let’s Play!”] [Site “Chess.com”] [Date “2021.08.04”] [Round “-“] [White “Internet Opponent”] [Black “CMDRExorcist”] [Result “1-0”] [ECO “B21”] [WhiteElo “1030”] [BlackElo “1055”] [TimeControl “1/86400”] [CurrentPosition “r1b1k2r/pp1pqppp/2nQ1n2/1N2p3/4P3/5N2/PPP2PPP/R1B1KB1R b KQkq – 2 8”] [Timezone “UTC”] [ECOUrl “https://www.chess.com/openings/Sicilian-Defense-Smith-Morra-Gambit-2…cxd4-3.Qxd4-Nc6-4.Qd1”] [UTCDate “2021.08.04”] [UTCTime “18:32:24”] [StartTime “18:32:24”] [EndDate “2021.08.05”] [EndTime “18:04:14”] [Link “https://www.chess.com/game/daily/349479391”] {I’ve had a really rough day. This is the first of two heartbreaking games I played over the past two days. I had just gotten my rating to 1066 with a 12 game winning streak and was feeling good about my progress. But, alas, the chess gods were there to humble me.} 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. Qxd4 Nc6 4. Qd1 e5 {Looking good so far. I’m out of the Book, which I think I’ve made significant improvement in my playing of the Sicilian as Black.} 5. Nc3 Nf6 {The buildup in defense and anticipation of destruction for the e4 pawn. The center is about to get crowded.} 6. Nf3 Bd6?? {Holy mother of God. This was a move that I made in a hurry and its 100\% obvious I wasn’t really paying attention to what’s going on. The Bishop is blundered and there is no saving it. Essentially, the game is over because my pieces are trapped and there’s no way to gain a tempo to fight against the coming onslaught.} 7. Qxd6! {I hoped and prayed that my opponent would blunder similar to me, but he did not. The Bishop is gone and things are about to get worse.} 7… Qe7!? {Offering a Queen trade in a last ditch effort to develop some counterplay.} (7… Qb6 8. Nxe5 Nd4 9. Qxb6 axb6 10. Nc6 Nxc2+ 11. Kd1 Nxa1) 8. Nb5 {Ouch. Stockfish wants White to take the Queen trade, but the human side of me is devastated by the nice Nb5 because after 8…Qxe7 9.Kxe7, it’s just a gobble fest for White.} (8. Nb5 Qxd6 9. Nxd6+ Ke7 {is the most likely continuation, with White being up almost two pieces before the core of the middlegame begins.}) 1-0 [/pgn]

    And shortly after that little gem was played, this happened…

    [pgn] [Event “Let’s Play!”] [Site “Chess.com”] [Date “2021.08.04”] [Round “-“] [White “CMDRExorcist”] [Black “Internet Opponent”] [Result “0-1”] [CurrentPosition “5rk1/1b1r1ppp/p2p4/4n3/2p2q2/1QN4P/PPP2PP1/R3R1K1 w – – 0 21”] [Timezone “UTC”] [ECO “B01”] [ECOUrl “https://www.chess.com/openings/Scandinavian-Defense-Mieses-Kotrc-Main-Line-4.d4-Nf6-5.Nf3”] [UTCDate “2021.08.04”] [UTCTime “18:32:22”] [WhiteElo “1046”] [BlackElo “974”] [TimeControl “1/86400”] [Termination “razorace1 won by resignation”] [StartTime “18:32:22”] [EndDate “2021.08.05”] [EndTime “19:09:13”] [Link “https://www.chess.com/game/daily/349479385”] {After blundering a Bishop in an earlier game today, I had this gem to deal with. What follows is an absolute nightmare…} 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 {My depth in book openings has certainly improved over the last few weeks. More people in Daily chess seem to play solid openings at this rating level than some of the Live chess games I’ve played.} 5… Nc6 6. Bb5 a6 7. Bxc6+ bxc6 8. Ne5 {This is a very nice position for me. The Knight is dominating my opponent’s pieces, but there is counterplay options for Black if he plays carefully.} 8… Bb7 9. O-O {9.a3 is best here, but I was hyperfocused on opening the E-file and missed the pawn push.} 9… c5 10. d5 {I thought long and hard in this position about what’s the best next move. There were several lines, but I decided on one that ultimately sealed my downfall.} 10… Rd8 {I had anticipated 10.c4 or 10.c6.} 11. d6?? {There’s really no excuse for this move. There’s nothing to be gained by it and it ultimately just sacrifices the pawn and forces me to move my Queen. Much better was to move the Queen to f3 to put some pressure on that annoying f6 Knight.} (11. Qf3 Qb6 12. Re1 e6 13. a4 {and things would have been different.}) 11… exd6?? {The chess gods have smiled upon me. My opponent commits a similar blunder in the position and gives me a chance to redeem myself. This is especially dangerous as 11…exd6?? exposes the King to a direct attack on the e-file.} 12. Nc4 Qb4 {The Queen’s only safe space.} 13. Qe2+ {Defending the vulnerable c4 Knight.} 13… Be7 14. Re1 O-O 15. Qxe7?? {Greed. That’s all this was. I saw a piece and gobbled it up like it was first day playing chess. What I didn’t realize was that I had missed winning my opponent’s Queen with the awesome 15.a3! What’s worse is that I didn’t gain any material from this because the move eliminates protection of the c4 Knight and allows Black’s Queen to escape from any future trap on the Queenside.} 15… Qxc4 16. Qxc7?? {I’m pretty sure it was just frustration at this point. MUCH better was 16.Qe2 and offering a trade of Queens. Instead, I backed myself into a corner.} 16… Rd7 17. Qb6 Ng4 18. h3 {Preventing any sneaky ideas my opponent might have had on the f2 square.} (18. Re4 {looks like a neat fork, but is an illusion.} 18… Bxe4 19. Nxe4 Qxe4 +-) 18… Ne5 19. Bf4?? {Two Bishop blunders in a single day. I didn’t see it until after I had made the move and pretty much resigned at this point.} 19… Qxf4 20. Qb3 c4 {There’s really no reason to continue. A few lines offer me a chance to regain some points, but there’s no real path to victory and I knew that I’d let the game get to me too much to continue in a sensible way. Maybe I should switch to checkers… ;)} (20… c4 21. Qa3 Re7 22. Ne2 Qe4 23. Qg3 Qxc2 24. Nd4 {is one possible continuation. Black retains an upper hand, but at least there is some counterplay.}) 0-1 [/pgn]

    At least tomorrow is a new day.

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