Tag: Chess

Rest in Peace, GM Yuri Averbahk

The chess world suffered a major loss earlier this week with the death of Russian Grandmaster Yuri Averbakh. GM Averbakh was born in 1922 in Kaluga, Russia, and was the oldest living (and first centenarian) Grandmaster after recently celebrating his 100th birthday on February 8th of this year. He was the chairman of the Soviet Chess Federation from 1973 to 1978 and was the Soviet Chess Champion in 1954, just two years after earning his International Grandmaster title.

Yuri’s contributions to the chess world evolved over the years but he remained active in the game until his death. After rising to the top of Soviet chess and finding himself equal with the likes of greats like Boris Spassky and Mark Taimanov, he became a major contributor to the world of chess literature. He was known as an expert on endgame theory and was a major editor of the Soviet chess magazines Shakhmaty v SSSR and Shakhmatny Bulletin.

In addition to being a well-known endgame tactician, Yuri is also known throughout the chess world for his attacking style, as indicated in this game (notes by Yuri).

[pgn]
[Event “Match for Masters Title”]
[Site “Moscow”]
[Date “1947.??.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Yuri Averbakh”]
[Black “Vladimir Zak”]
[Result “1-0”]
[EventDate “?”]
[ECO “C83”]
[WhiteElo “2550”]
[BlackElo “2340”]
[PlyCount “51”]

{Notes, abridged, by Averbakh. [ Averbakh gives a very lost and fascinating
preamble to this game, from which I will include one nice story. Simaginfan]
Towards the end of 1946 I tooki part in the semi-final of the 15th USSR
Championship, which was held in Leningrad. In the first round I had White
against Semyon Furman, and in reply to 1.e4 he chose the Open Variation of the
Ruy Lopez. Sitting at the board and considering my next move, I noticed that the
same position had been reached in the game Kopaev – Levenfish. I had heard that
Levenfish prepared for this tournament together with Furman, and the idea
occurred to me of delaying my move a little, in order to see what plan the two
Leningrad players had prepared.And so I began waiting. and my clock ticked.
Kopaev meanwhile was sunk in thought. Ten minutes, then twenty, and still Kopaev
did not make a move. He finally did so only after 40 minutes (!!) and moreover
he deviated from the main theoretical continuation and won the game. But I
followed the theoretical plath, fell into a prepared variation, and as a result
lost, overstepping the time limit on the 38th move.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5
a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. c3 Be7 10. Be3 {This
old move, which had been employed by Alekhine, used to occur comparatively
rarely, and did not bring White good results.} 10… O-O 11. Nbd2 Nxd2 12. Qxd2
Na5 13. Bc2 Nc4 14. Qd3 g6 15. Bh6 Nxb2 16. Qe3!? ({A theoretical position,
given in many books has been reached. the opening books only considered} 16. Qe2
{which threatens to regain the Pawn, but diverts thye Queen from participating
in the attack on the King’s-Side. The plan with 16. We3 was specially prepared
by me for the forthcoming match. I do not think that it leads to an advantage
for White, but certainly it seriously sharpens the play, which in combination
with the surprise factor plays a considerable role..}) 16… Re8 ({If} 16… Nc4
17. Qf4 Re8 {I was proposing to play} 18. Ng5) 17. Nd4 {White has created two
threats. One is obvious – to exchange the opponent’s dark square Bishop by 18.
Nc6, while the other is a latent one – to begin a Pawn attack on the King’s-side
with 18.f4.} 17… Qd7 ({If Black disregards the first threat and plays} 17…
c5 {there follows} 18. Nc6 Qd7 19. Nxe7+ Qxe7 20. Bg5 Qf8 21. Bf6 {followed by
22. f4.}) ({During the game I considered the strongest reply to be} 17… Bf8
{when I intended to continue} 18. Bxf8 Rxf8 19. Qh6 {…..However Black can
reply} 19… c5! {when after} 20. Bxg6 hxg6 21. Nxe6 fxe6 22. Qxg6+ Kh8 {it is
doubtful if White has more than perpetual check.}) ({But Black’s genuinely
strongest reply, which I noticed only when preparing this book, was} 17… Bd7
{when White still has to demonstrate that his initiative is worth the sacrificed
Pawn.}) 18. f4 Nc4? ({It was essential to play} 18… c5 {and if} 19. f5
({Perhaps I would have to reply} 19. Nxe6 fxe6 20. f5 {again with sharp play.})
19… cxd4 20. cxd4 Bxf5 21. Bxf5 Qa7 {gaining time for the defence.}) 19. Qg3
c5 {White’s attack can no longer be halted. Now comes a forcing combination.}
20. f5 cxd4 21. fxg6! hxg6 ({Or} 21… fxg6 22. Bxg6 Bg4 23. Bf5) 22. Bxg6 Kh8
{Black was hoping for 23. Bxf7 Rg8; 24. Bxg8 Rxg8, but White had prepared in
advance the concluding blow!} 23. Bg7+! (23. Bxf7 Rg8 24. Bxg8 Rxg8) 23… Kxg7
24. Bxf7+ Kh8 (24… Bg4 25. e6) 25. Qg6 Bf8 ({If} 25… Bg5 {White has a mate
in 4 with} 26. Qh5+ Kg7 27. Qxg5+) 26. Qg8# 1-0[Event “Match for Masters Title”]
[Site “Moscow”]
[Date “1947.??.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Yuri Averbakh”]
[Black “Vladimir Zak”]
[Result “1-0”]
[EventDate “?”]
[ECO “C83”]
[WhiteElo “2550”]
[BlackElo “2340”]
[PlyCount “51”]

{Notes, abridged, by Averbakh. [ Averbakh gives a very lost and fascinating
preamble to this game, from which I will include one nice story. Simaginfan]
Towards the end of 1946 I tooki part in the semi-final of the 15th USSR
Championship, which was held in Leningrad. In the first round I had White
against Semyon Furman, and in reply to 1.e4 he chose the Open Variation of the
Ruy Lopez. Sitting at the board and considering my next move, I noticed that the
same position had been reached in the game Kopaev – Levenfish. I had heard that
Levenfish prepared for this tournament together with Furman, and the idea
occurred to me of delaying my move a little, in order to see what plan the two
Leningrad players had prepared.And so I began waiting. and my clock ticked.
Kopaev meanwhile was sunk in thought. Ten minutes, then twenty, and still Kopaev
did not make a move. He finally did so only after 40 minutes (!!) and moreover
he deviated from the main theoretical continuation and won the game. But I
followed the theoretical plath, fell into a prepared variation, and as a result
lost, overstepping the time limit on the 38th move.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5
a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. c3 Be7 10. Be3 {This
old move, which had been employed by Alekhine, used to occur comparatively
rarely, and did not bring White good results.} 10… O-O 11. Nbd2 Nxd2 12. Qxd2
Na5 13. Bc2 Nc4 14. Qd3 g6 15. Bh6 Nxb2 16. Qe3!? ({A theoretical position,
given in many books has been reached. the opening books only considered} 16. Qe2
{which threatens to regain the Pawn, but diverts thye Queen from participating
in the attack on the King’s-Side. The plan with 16. We3 was specially prepared
by me for the forthcoming match. I do not think that it leads to an advantage
for White, but certainly it seriously sharpens the play, which in combination
with the surprise factor plays a considerable role..}) 16… Re8 ({If} 16… Nc4
17. Qf4 Re8 {I was proposing to play} 18. Ng5) 17. Nd4 {White has created two
threats. One is obvious – to exchange the opponent’s dark square Bishop by 18.
Nc6, while the other is a latent one – to begin a Pawn attack on the King’s-side
with 18.f4.} 17… Qd7 ({If Black disregards the first threat and plays} 17…
c5 {there follows} 18. Nc6 Qd7 19. Nxe7+ Qxe7 20. Bg5 Qf8 21. Bf6 {followed by
22. f4.}) ({During the game I considered the strongest reply to be} 17… Bf8
{when I intended to continue} 18. Bxf8 Rxf8 19. Qh6 {…..However Black can
reply} 19… c5! {when after} 20. Bxg6 hxg6 21. Nxe6 fxe6 22. Qxg6+ Kh8 {it is
doubtful if White has more than perpetual check.}) ({But Black’s genuinely
strongest reply, which I noticed only when preparing this book, was} 17… Bd7
{when White still has to demonstrate that his initiative is worth the sacrificed
Pawn.}) 18. f4 Nc4? ({It was essential to play} 18… c5 {and if} 19. f5
({Perhaps I would have to reply} 19. Nxe6 fxe6 20. f5 {again with sharp play.})
19… cxd4 20. cxd4 Bxf5 21. Bxf5 Qa7 {gaining time for the defence.}) 19. Qg3
c5 {White’s attack can no longer be halted. Now comes a forcing combination.}
20. f5 cxd4 21. fxg6! hxg6 ({Or} 21… fxg6 22. Bxg6 Bg4 23. Bf5) 22. Bxg6 Kh8
{Black was hoping for 23. Bxf7 Rg8; 24. Bxg8 Rxg8, but White had prepared in
advance the concluding blow!} 23. Bg7+! (23. Bxf7 Rg8 24. Bxg8 Rxg8) 23… Kxg7
24. Bxf7+ Kh8 (24… Bg4 25. e6) 25. Qg6 Bf8 ({If} 25… Bg5 {White has a mate
in 4 with} 26. Qh5+ Kg7 27. Qxg5+) 26. Qg8# 1-0
[/pgn]

May 11, 2022
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

April 25, 2022
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

April 21, 2022
An Appeal to WordPress

Dear WordPress,

For the love of God, please stop destroying your platform. Campfire Chess runs on a nearly 10-year old WordPress installation and for many years it was unbeatable as a blogging and content management system. More recently it seems that every time I log into my site to make an entry I am confronted with some unnecessary and extremely destructive redesign of basic features. At first it was the Gutenberg editor that divides paragraphs into blocks. Fortunately, there is a plugin to remove that nonsense and return to the classic editor.

And now it’s widgets. The small blocks of interactivity on the right side of Campfire Chess are done with WordPress widgets and until recently, it was a very easy and basic function of site management. Now it’s received its own Gutenberg upgrade an it literally destroyed my sidebar. Fortunately, there is a plugin to remove that nonsense and return to the classic widgets…

Are you noticing the pattern yet?

Come on, guys. Stop ruining a good thing. When the top plugins on your platform are designed to remove some of your most recent added features…take a freakin’ hint.

Non-chess rant over!

Game on, campers!
Ex

April 15, 2022
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

April 11, 2022
FIDE Crushes Russia and Belarus
Today, on February 27, 2022, an extraordinary meeting of the FIDE Council was held on the current situation and the urgent measures to be taken after the military action launched by Russia in Ukraine.

As stated by the FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, the FIDE Council regards its main mission in preserving the unity of FIDE and respecting the basic human rights enshrined in the FIDE Charter.

In this regard, the FIDE Council has adopted a number of important emergency decisions.

FIDE Council approves the following statement condemning the military action:
- “FIDE expresses its grave concern about the military action started by Russia in Ukraine. FIDE stands united against wars as well as condemns any use of military means to resolve political conflicts. FIDE will take any necessary action to ensure the security of chess players and other members of the chess community. No official FIDE chess competitions and events will be held in Russia and Belarus.”
- Following the call from IOC, the FIDE Council decides that no Russian and Belarusian national flag be displayed or anthem be played in all FIDE-rated international chess events. Instead – the national chess federation’s flag or the official symbol/logo shall be used. A simplified procedure for performing under the FIDE flag would be followed where it is crucial for the players or any other chess officials under the current geopolitical situation.
- In order to safeguard FIDE from reputational, financial, and any other possible risks, FIDE terminates all existing sponsorship agreements with any Belarusian and Russian sanctioned and/or state-controlled companies and will not enter into new sponsorship agreements with any such companies.
- FIDE Council condemns any public statement from any member of the chess community which supports unjustified military action and brings the case of chess grandmasters Sergey Karjakin and Sergey Shipov to the Ethics and Disciplinary Commission.
Sergey Karjakin deleted this tweet, but the internet never forgets. It’s my opinion that this lowlife garbage should never play in an international tournament again.

The FIDE Council reaffirms the FIDE Congress dates, welcomes the AICF’s bid to host the 44th Chess Olympiad, and suggests 10 days for other bids.

The FIDE Council suggests that regardless of the organization of the Chess Olympiad 2022, FIDE will organize the annual FIDE Congress during the previously planned dates – from 27.07.2022. till 02.08.2022. with the election date on 01.08.2022.

The preference is to combine the FIDE Congress with the Chess Olympiad 2022. However, consultations with the potential organizers of the Chess Olympiad 2022 will be carried out and adjustment of the FIDE Congress dates is possible if it does not imply a notable delay of elections. The FIDE Council confirms that the continental elections shall be organized within their constitutional terms.

The FIDE Council confirms its commitment to the continuation of all the established development programs for national federations, zones, continents, and affiliated organizations.
February 28, 2022
US Chess Endorses Tornelo

US Chess announced on January 12, 2022 that the executive board is officially endorsing online tournament manager Tornelo.

It’s no secret that cheating is a big problem in online chess. One only need to glance at the monthy stats sent out by Chess.com to see how many player accounts (including titled players) are closed for fair play violations. It’s one reason that many chess federations are reluctant to fully embrace online tournaments.

In an odd twist of fate, online tournaments have gone “viral” in the past few years and more governing bodies are growing to accept them. The United States Chess Federation (USCF) has sanctioned online tournaments via Chess.com for several years now, but they recently took a step to improve the integrity of these events and to consolidate tournament management across the federation.

I have to admit that I’ve never heard of Tornelo, so I had to do a little bit of research to fully understand what this means for chess. In a nutshell, Tornelo is an online tournament managing system built for both in-person and online play. It has some robust anti-cheat elements embedded in their management system that will make it easier for players to report potential cheaters early in a tournament. This in turn will help to alleviate much of the headdache associated with redistributing points and voiding games when a cheater is identified later in a game.

Is this really going to change things? I honestly don’t know. I do appreciate US Chess‘s continued embrace of rated online activities and hope that this system proves valuable for TDs across the country.

You can read the original article on the official US Chess Website or view the letter from the US Chess Executive Board discussing the decision here.

January 20, 2022
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!

December 29, 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.

December 10, 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.

December 3, 2021