Thought Process Needs Work

In this position I made the obvious 2 Exclam !! winning move...



1. Nd5!! ... and white wins right?

WRONG

I overlooked the only refutation.. 1. ... Qxd4+ !!

Which makes 1. Nd5?

The thing that really burns me though is how obvious the refutation move is. I SHOULD have seen it because it involves giving check. In 4th grade my chess coach always taught us, before you make ANY move ensure your opponent cannot give check, mate or have any other threats, but specifically check.

/sigh

Va Tech Chess

Boylston Chess Club just posted this letter

Dear BCC members and chess enthusiasts,

The Chess Club of Virginia Tech kindly requests your support and participation in its October 13 and 14 tournament commemorating the 32 lives lost and 25 injured persons in the April 16 massacre. To our knowledge, this will be the first sporting-type event to be held with all proceeds going to the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund. Your contributions are welcome in any form:

- chess sets and clocks to accommodate new players
- lectures and exhibitions from talented players
- corporate sponsorship
- donated items for a possible silent auction

The entire student center is reserved for the occasion, including an 88 seat lecture hall. Local hotels and restaurants are discounting rates for participants. Media attention will be strong so this is a great chance to promote your organization.

Most of all, we want you there as a chess player. Details for players will be forthcoming from the USCF and the Virginia Chess Federation.

To become involved, please contact Chuck Ronco, hokiechem -at- yahoo.com, or respond here and I'll answer what I can.

Respectfully yours,
Brian Salomon

I don't get nearly the traffic but I wanted to pass it along as well.

See Also:
VA Tech Chess Hero
BCC Article

Pin Power

One of the tactical motifs you see all the time while doing Chess problems is the pin. In this position from one of my recent timeforchess.com games I found pins very effective. I haven't analyzed the game with a computer but the game played out demonstrating the power of pins even if its not 100% tactically accurate.



31. Ne4
Exploits the pin of black's knight to his king, and the pin of the f5 pawn to the knight, and even more obscurely threatens to pin the knight to black's Queen on f1 . This puts whites knight en prise but it cannot be captured.
31. ... Bd8
Protecting the Knight.
32. g4
Leaving the Knight en prise but still pressuring the pin of black's knight.
32. ... Qf7
33. Ng5 Qb7
34. Rc6 h6
35. Ne6 Kf7
36. Nxd8 Rxd8
37. Qxf6 1-0

Its important to note that black's king position and the open center of the board contribute to the power of the pins.

I'm not at all sure I even see 31. Ne4 a year and a half ago as a "candidate" move. I believe I would have instantly ruled it out as a losing move and looked for a more quiet move to solidify my position. I think this is where doing circles and studying tactical problems can help you. I recognized the pattern of the knight pinned on the diagnol to the king and pawn also pinned to the same knight on the file by the rook. It reminded me of a position I spent time on from 1001 Combinations. It wasn't the same position but it was close enough that it caused me to not abandon the 31. Ne4 candidate almost out of hand like I would have previously.

Not Everyday

Do I beat a computer. Even bad computers usually beat me. So I proudly present this screenshot, I dubbed "I_win_no_takebacks" .. sorry I dont have the full score, but notice I pushed the computer all the way to the ropes once I had the advantage.

in case your Tivo was on the Fritz

Here is the Assignment America Story

Turns out they were younger than teens. Still was a nice story.

Set your Tivo

Tonight on CBS Evening News, Katie Couric is supposed to do an expose on teens playing championship chess.

Still Searching

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