chess kids newsletter oct 09chesskids.com.au/wp-content/uploads/pdf/knight-times/knight_times... ·...

Knight Times October 2009

www.chesskids.com.au

Message from the GuruExciting world news this month is that the education department in Canada has approved chess as a year 12 subject! We look forward to Australia following suit one day.

We're hoping this month to have broken a few more records -- the State Interschool Finals in Victoria and Tasmania should both be the largest events ever in their respective states (and both breaking the records set last year).

With all the State Events out of the way for the year it leaves us with only the National Finals (and Australian Junior Championships for individual players) before the long summer break!

To celebrate the end of the year there will be celebrations at the RJ Shield in November and a Chess Kids Elite break-up party. We look forward to seeing you at those.

November is also the time we try to setup the calendar for 2010 interschool season. We'd like to put a call out to any schools who would like to host an interschool event next year to get in touch with us during November and lock in your dates.

DavidCordover,Managing Director,Chess Group of Companies

Knight TimesChess World Australia Pty. Ltd. ABN 41 118 087 862

Chess Kids Contacts:www.chesskids.com.au

Coaching: [email protected]: [email protected]:[email protected]: [email protected]

1300-424-377

Vic Junior Masters Post-Mortem

David,Bobby &

James.

The Chess Kids Elite Programme started on Sunday 13th September at the Oakleigh RSL with the aim of providing specialised coaching and chess activities for our better junior players in each age group.

Forty players participated in the event from 1pm to 5pm with players divided into groups of eight.Activities were as follows:

Robert Jamieson - Decision making in chess.Carl Gorka - Attacking when castled on opposite sides.Vineetha Wijesuriya - The power of the diagonal and pawn structure.Frank Meerbach - Chess PuzzlesDavid Cordover - Chess PsychologyJames Morris - Game analysis

The second session on Sunday 20th September had 44 players with the focus being on game play and analysis, chess variants, chess endgames and a clock simul by IM Robert Jamieson.

To view the Chess Kids Elite calendar go to http://chesskids.com.au/kids/elite/elite-calendar/. If you are interested in joining the programme in October for term four contact David Cordover on 1300 424 377.



ChessKidsElite

Puzzle king Frank Meerbach tests the players with a series of graded chess problems.

Carl Gorka demonstrates how to attack when castled on opposite sides.

Even the parents get involved and enjoy a close-up view of their children being coached.

RJ Shield TournamentS

The seventh RJ Shield tournament for 2009 was held on 27th September at the Oakleigh RSL and attracted a field of 67 players.

This was a special event as both Chess Kids Superstars, IM James Morris & FM Bobby Cheng played in the tournament which was also a fund-raiser for Bobby’s forthcoming trip to Turkey for the World Under 12 Championships.James beat Bobby in their individual game and thus won the tournament with 7/7 followed by Bobby on 6.

The players were all very interested in following the games of our two “Superstars” and some were lucky enough to play against them. We have recorded all the board one games and present them at the end of this article.

The event was divided into four sections with the winners as follows:

Trophy Winners:Under 8

1st Dion Halikopoulos2nd Matthew Hart3rd Bobby ZhangEncouragement: Haran Salasan & Suren Kapadia

Under 101st Henry Lai2nd Liam Sotos3rd Jeremy EmroseTop Girl Shanaya MendisEncouragement: Antonius Bennett & Shankar Seevanayagam

Under 121st Jimmy Ying2nd Maiyurentheran Srikumar3rd Luke Bailey

Open1st James Morris2nd Bobby Cheng3rd Joshua LevinEncouragement: Karl Zelsco

At the conclusion of the event some chess items were auctioned to raise funds for Bobby’s trip. A total of $551.30 was raised/donated so a big thanks to the parents and players for their contributions. Thanks again also to David for directing the tournament and the Oakleigh-Carnegie RSL for supplying the venue.

And now... to THE GAMES!An easy first game for Bobby as Black makes a number of errors simply by making moves and not first considering what the opponent will reply. You should always check your move just before you play it.

Bobby Cheng 1441Jonathan Tissa 1060Round 1, RJ Shield 27.9.09B00 - Nimzowitsch Defence1.e4 e5 2.d4 Nc6 3.d5 Nb4? 4.a3 Na6 5.c4 Nf6 6.Nc3 Bc5? 7.b4 Be7 8.Bb2 d6 9.Bd3 O-O



James Morris and Bobby Chengwith the RJ Shield.

10.h3 c6 11.Nge2 cxd5 12.cxd5 Nc7 13.O-O Nd7 14.Qb3 Ne8 15.a4 Nef6 16.Ng3 b6 17.Nf5 Bb7 18.Nb5

18...Qb8?? 19.Nxe7+ Kh8 20.Nc6 Qe8?? 21.Nxd6 Bxc6 22.Nxe8 Raxe8 23.dxc6 Nb8 24.c7 Nc6 25.Bb5 Re6 26.Rac1 Ne7 27.Rfd1 Nxe4 28.Rd8 Kg8 29.Qd3 Nf6 30.Rxf8+ Kxf8 31.Qd8+ Ne8 32.Qxe8# 1-0

In this game White gives Bobby a free pawn at the start then exchanges pieces for no reason (a common error). More tactical blunders allow Black to win material and force a quick checkmate.

Isaac Zhao 1048Bobby Cheng 1441Round 2, RJ Shield 27.9.09B45 - Sicilian/Four Knights Variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.e5? Nxe5 7.Bg5 d5 8.Bxf6? Qxf6 9.Bb5+? Bd7 10.Bxd7+ Nxd7 11.O-O Bd6 12.Ndb5 Bb8 13.Re1 O-O 14.Ne4?

14... Qg6 15.Ned6? a6 16.Nxf7 Qxf7 17.Nc3 Qxf2+ 18.Kh1 Qh4 19.h3 Qg3 20.Kg1 Qh2# 0-1

Bobby forces Black to open up his King position early in the game and finishes with a very pretty checkmate.

Bobby Cheng 1441Sebastian Saunders 980Round 3, RJ Shield 27.9.09C21 - Centre Game1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3 Bc5 5.Nf3 Nf6? 6.Bc4 Nc6 7.e5 Qe7 8.O-O Ng4 9.Nd5



Examining the RJ Shield....Watching James in action....

Qd8 10.Bg5 f6 11.exf6 gxf6 12.Re1+ Kf8 13.Bh4 Ne7 14.Nxf6 Nxf6 15.Bxf6 Rg8

16.Bxg8 Kxg8 17.Rxe7 Bxe7 18.Qd5+ Kf8 19.Ng5 Qe8 20.Nxh7# 1-0

The big game! James gets on top early and wins a pawn with a very good position also. Bobby tricks him to win back the exchange and we get down to an ending with Q+B+4p v Q+R+3p. It’s better for Bobby but he unwittingly grabs a poisoned pawn and loses his Q to a discovered check. Even good players make mistakes when under time pressure!

James Morris 1513Bobby Cheng 1441Round 4, RJ Shield 27.9.09C10 - French/Rubinstein Variation1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bd7 5.Nf3 Bc6 6.Bd3 Nd7 7.c4 Ngf6 8.Nc3 Be7 9.O-O Bxf3 10.Qxf3 c6 11.Bf4 O-O 12.Rfe1 Re8 13.Rad1 Bf8 14.Bb1 Nb6 15.b3 a5 16.Be5 a4 17.c5 Nbd7 18.Nxa4 Nxe5 19.dxe5 Nd5 20.Nb6 Ra7 21.b4 Qh4 22.Re4 Qh6 23.Qg3 Be7 24.Nc4 g6 25.Nd6 Rb8 26.Qf3 Qg7 27.h4 b6 28.cxb6 Nxb6 29.h5 Nd5 30.hxg6 hxg6 31.a3 Bxd6 32.exd6 Nc3 33.Qe3 Rd7 34.Red4 Nxd1 35.Rxd1 Rbd8 36.Qc5 Qf8 37.Qxc6 Rxd6 38.Rxd6 Qxd6 39.Qe4 Qd1+ 40.Kh2 Qh5+ 41.Kg3 Rd5 42.f4 Qd1 43.Bc2 Qa1 44.Qe3 Qd4 45.Kf3 Qb2

46.Bxg6 Rd1 47.Bd3 Qxa3?? (47...Ra1 48.Qc5 Rxa3 49.Qg5+ Qg7 50.Qd8+ Qf8 51.Qg5+=) 48.Bh7+ Kxh7 49.Qxa3 1-0

Vinay Lakshman 1299James Morris 1513Round 5, RJ Shield 27.9.09B22 - Sicilian/Alapin Variation1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.c3 d5 4.exd5 exd5 5.d4 Nf6 6.Bg5 Nc6 7.Bb5 Be7 8.O-O O-O 9.Re1 Be6 10.Nbd2 Qb6 11.Bxc6 Qxc6 12.Ne5 Qc7 13.dxc5 h6 14.Bf4 Qxc5 15.Nb3 Qb6 16.Qd4 Ne4 17.Qxb6 axb6 18.Nd4 Bc5 19.f3 Nd6 20.Kf1 Nf5 21.Nxe6 fxe6 22.Bd2 Rfe8 23.a3 Ne7 24.Be3 Bxe3 25.Rxe3 Nc6 26.Nxc6 bxc6 27.Rae1 Kf7 28.Re5 Kf6 29.f4 Ra4 30.g3 g5 31.fxg5+ hxg5 32.Kg2 c5



The hand is quicker than the eye ....

33.Rxd5 exd5 34.Rxe8 d4 35.cxd4 Rxd4 36.Re2 Kf5 37.h3 b5 38.Rc2 c4 39.Kf2 Ke4 40.Re2+ Kd5 41.Ke1 Kc6 42.Re5 Rd3 43.Rxg5 Rb3 44.h4 Rxb2 45.h5 Kb6 46.h6 Rh2 47.Rg6+ Ka5 48.g4 Ka4 49.Ra6+? (49.g5) Kb3 50.g5? (50.Rb5=) c3 51.Rc6 c2 52.g6 Rxh6 53.g7 Rxc6 54.g8(Q)+ Rc4 55.Qg3+ Ka2 56.Qg2 Kb1 57.Qg6 Kb2 58.Qg2 Kxa3 59.Qg3+ Ka2 60.Qg2 b4 0-1

White plays the opening very well but allows a tactic on move 15 and then mistakenly moves his King to the centre rather than hiding on h1. He is soon mated.

Karl Zelesco 1096James Morris 1513Round 6, RJ Shield 27.9.09B43 - Sicilian/Kan Variation1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Nc3 Bc5 6.Be3 d6 7.Bc4 Nf6 8.O-O b5 9.Bb3 Bb7 10.f3 Nbd7 11.Re1 Qb6 12.Qd2 O-O 13.Rad1 Ne5 14.Qf2 Rae8 15.a4? (15.h3)

15...Neg4 16.fxg4 Nxg4 17.Qg3? (17.Qd2 Nxe3 18.Rxe3! e5 19.Nf5 g6 20.Kh1 is OK)Nxe3 18.Qxe3 e5 19.Qf3 exd4 20.Nd5 Bxd5 21.Bxd5 d3+ 22.Kf1?? dxc2 23.Rc1 bxa4 24.Rxc2 Kh8 25.Ke2 f5 26.Qh3 fxe4 27.Kd1 Bb4 28.Rh1 Qd4+ 29.Kc1 Qxd5 30.Rd1 Qa2 31.Re2 Rc8+ 32.Rc2 Qa1# 0-1

Black is going OK but makes a bad defensive choice on move 19 and James finishes the game off with a nice combination. See if you can find the winning move in the diagram on the next page.

James Morris 1513Thumula Gamage 1060Round 7, RJ Shield 27.9.09C55 - Two Knights/Modern Variation1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Be7 5.O-O O-O 6.c3 d6 7.Nbd2 Bg4 8.h3 Bh5 9.g4 Bg6 10.Re1 h6 11.Nf1 Re8 12.Ng3 a6 13.Nh4 Bh7 14.Nhf5 Bxf5 15.gxf5 d5 16.Bb3 dxe4 17.Nxe4 Nxe4 18.Rxe4 Bd6 19.Qh5 Re7?? (19...Qf6)



Antonius & Shankar receive their prizes.

20.Bxh6! gxh6 21.f6 Rd7 22.Rg4+ Kh7 23.Rg7+ Kh8 24.Qxh6# 1-0

For all the scores and rating changes check out the results section of the Chess Kids website.

Some notable changes were:

Jimmy Ying + 76 pointsDanny Han +58 pointsMatthew Katopothis +48 pointsMax Ruan +35 points

Why not play in the next RJ Shield in November and see if you can improve your rating?



Coming Up ...RJ Shield

Chess Tournament

Sunday 29th NovemberOakleigh-Carnegie RSL97 Drummond St, Oakleigh1.00 pm to 5.00 pm$20 each. Unrated players FREE!Enrol at www.chesskids.com.au

ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION in WARBURTON

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Victorian Youth ChampionshipsOctober 24/25

@ McKinnon Secondary College

$200 cash prize for best in Age GroupsUnder 7, 9, 11, 13, 15 and 19

Chess coaches on hand to analyze your moves after every game. Best learning experience!

http://www.chesskids.com.au

http://www.chesskids.com.au

Victorian Junior Masters 2009

The first junior master titles were awarded at the Junior Masters Knock-Out event held at the Victorian State Library on 4th October.

The format copied the AFL Finals Series; with the top 4 seeds having a double-chance and others being eliminated in each round. There was also a special prize for the best player in each age-group after a single-game playoff.

IM James Morris went home with $150 cash for winning the event; FM Bobby Cheng with $100 cash and 7 players with their new Junior Master Title!

Many thanks have to go to the State Library for the excellent venue, IM West, IM Jamiesion, Gorka, Meerbach, Yotov and others for their coaching, to Chess Kids for sponsoring the event and making it free for all the players and to Jan from the Library who showed people through the Anderson Collection and some of the rare chess books the Library owns.

Full ResultsIM James Morris (1st prize $150)FM Bobby Cheng (R/up $100)JM Isaac Ng (U12 winner)JM Michael Chan (preliminary finalist)JM Sasha Parsons (U10 winner)JM David Cannon (U8 winner)JM Isaac Zhao (semi-finalist)JM Ege Girgin and JM Joshua Devarajh (eliminated in Game 1)

Bobby Cheng 1447James Morris 1588Vic Junior Masters 2009A44 - Old Benoni Defence1.d4 c5 2.d5 e5 3.c4 d6 4.e4 Be7 5.Nf3 h6 6.Bd3 Bg5 7.Nbd2 Ne7 8.h4 Bxd2+ 9.Bxd2 O-O 10.Qc2 f5 11.O-O-O a6 12.h5 b5 13.Nh4 bxc4 14.Qxc4 Nd7 15.exf5 Nb6 16.Qg4 Rf6 17.f4 Nbxd5? (17...Ndxb5) 18.Bc4 Kh7 19.fxe5 dxe5 20.Bc3 Bb7 21.Bxe5

21...Qb6 22.Bxf6? (22.Rh3!) Nxf6 23.Qg3 Bd5 24.Bxd5 Nexd5 25.Rhe1 Rb8 26.Rd2 c4 27.Qf2? (27.Re6) c3 28.Rc2 Qa5 29.bxc3? (29.Qg3) Nxc3 30.Rb2 Rc8 31.Qf1 Nxa2+ 32.Kb1 Nc3+ 33.Kc2 Na4+ 34.Kb1 Nxb2 35.Kxb2 Qc3+ 36.Ka2 Rb8 37.Re2 Qa5# 0-1.



The big screen at the Junior Masters.

Probably the single most important skill to have in chess is to be good at rook endings. We have so many of them!

In endings pieces need to be active (particularly the rook) and to help us remember this there are some common chess sayings:

“Place rooks on open files”“Place rooks behind passed pawns”

“Rooks belong on the 7th rank”

“Open Files” give the rooks more mobility. “The 7th rank” generally has lots of unprotected pawns for rooks to attack and “Behind passed pawns” allows the rook to push the pawn home to queening.

Remember these phrases and use them in your own games. Here are two examples. (see diagram).

Wade v GeorghiuKastav 1968

Black is clearly winning - he is a pawn ahead and his King is closer to the action, but see how he ties White down to passive defence.

1.Re1 Kf6 2.dxe4 Ke5! Now White’s rook is tied down to defending the “e” pawn”.3.Kb1 Rc7! Black doesn’t go pawn chasing just yet. He wants to lock White’s King out of the game.

White to play.

4.Re3 Kf4 5.Re1 Rc5! Putting his rook on a better square and preventing the white “e” pawn from advancing.6.Re2 a5No hurry! White cannot improve his position so let’s get everything in order before we push our extra kingside pawns.7.Re1 g5 0-1White chucks in the towel. Black’s pieces are beautifully placed and White is doomed to dismal defence with no counter-play.

Now look at the second diagram with White to play.

The result is in the balance. It all hinges on finding the correct plan in this position.



PRACTICAL ADVICE ..... From IM Robert Jamieson

Lakshman v MorrisRJ Shield September 2009

White to Play

Play continued with the natural 46.h6 Rh2 47.Rg6+ Ka5 48.g4 Ka4 49.Ra6+ Kb3 50.g5 (50 Ra5=) 50...c3 51.Rc6 c2 52.g6 Rxh6 53.g7 Rxc6 54.g8(Q)+ Rc4 55.Qg3+ Ka2 56.Qg2 Kb1 57.Qg6 Kb2 58.Qg2 Kxa3 59.Qg3+ Ka2 60.Qg2 b4 0-1

Had White remembered our chess saying “Rooks belong passed pawns” he would have found 46.Rg4! aiming to put the R on h4 then push the pawn. There is little Black can do against this plan as if 46.Rg4 Rh2 47.Rh4 and Black can’t swap rooks as his King is out of range to stop the “h” pawn.

Chess Kids Ratings

Here are the latest Ratings Lists.

Check the Chess Kids website for more details and be sure to check/update your own player details. We still have a few duplicate players or players who need to update to their new school.



Give me activity or give me death!

http://chesskids.com.au/ratings/

When we play a game of chess we generally have some idea that directs the sort of moves we make. Some players try to play attacking chess and look for opportunities to attack. Some players try to play safe and not blunder. Some players try to swap off because they think they are good at endgames.

My own philosophy is fairly simple. I try to place my pieces on “good” squares and to force my opponent’s pieces to “bad” squares. A “good” square is one from which the piece has good mobility and ideally cannot be dislodged by a pawn or swapped off. Here is an example of how it works.IM Robert Jamieson Max Maddock Chess Kids Elite Clock SimulSep 20, 2009C02 - French/Advance Variation1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 f5?! 5.f4 g6?Too many pawn moves! 5...g6 achieves nothing and weakens the black squares. 5...Nc6 was better.6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 b6 8.Bb5 Bd7 9.O-O a6 10.Be2 Nh6 11.h3 Nf7 12.Nbd2 h5?White is ahead in development and so needs to break open the position to exploit his advantage in time. 13.g4 was possible but 12...h5 weakens the g5 and g6 squares. White can now break with c4 instead.13.c4 Be7 14.cxd5 exd5 15.dxc5 Bxc5 16.Bxc5 bxc5 17.Rc1 Qb6 18.b3 Be6 19.Kh2 a5 20.Qc2 Seems to pick up a pawn and Black hasn’t castled yet.

20...Nb4 21.Qxc5 Qxc5 22.Rxc5 O-OIf 23.Nxa2 Ra1 gets the pawn back.23.Nd4 The N dominates the board from this lovely square.23...Nd8 24.a3 Na6 25.Rc3?I was intent on keeping Black’s N on a6 blocked in and missed 25.Rxa5.25.. Rc8 26.Rfc1 26.Rg3 would have won material.26...Rxc3 27.Rxc3 Nb8 28.N2f3Heading for the good square “g5”.28...Bf7 29.Ng5 Kg7 30.Bb5 0-1Black has no play and White threatens 31.Rc7 or 31.Rc8

Black resigns.Look at the contrasting locations of the pieces. All White’s pieces are on excellent squares whilst Black’s are poorly placed on the back two ranks and the black B is bumping into his own pawns.



PRACTICAL ADVICE ..... From IM Robert Jamieson

Another Coach v Pupil Game...

IM Robert Jamieson Thomas EbeyanChess Kids Elite Clock SimulSep 20, 2009C62 - Ruy Lopez/Steinitz Defence1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 4.O-O a6 5.Bxc6+ bxc6 6.d4 exd4 7.Qxd4 Nf6 8.Nc3 d5?When you are behind in development it’s generally not a good idea to open up the position.9.exd5 cxd5 10.Re1+ Be7 11.Bg5 O-O?11...Be6 was necessary but 12.Ne5 threatening 13.Nc6 still leaves White better.

12.Rxe7!

I didn’t have to think long about this as the sacrifice opens up Black’s King and I assumed that there would be a good follow-up.12...Qxe7 13.Nxd5 Qd6 14.Bxf6 gxf6 15.Nxf6+ Kh8 16.Qc3 Now White has the threat of a devastating double discovered check.16...Qd8 17.Ng5 Kg7??17...Bf5 was necessary but 18.Nfxh7+ f6 19.Nxf8 would leave White well ahead. 18.Ne8+ Kg6 19.Qg7+ 1-0

Checkmate is not far away.



451 North Rd, Ormond www.chessworld.com.au Ph. 1300 424 377

Chess Worldfor all your chess requisites.

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