The DKos Chess Tournament 2009 open thread is now open! Updated standings and results through Round 4 are posted below.
Every chess player, both amateur and expert, spends a lot of time focusing on the opening. The beginning stage of the game is usually where critical development of pieces and a fight for control of the middle occur. However, today's chess lesson will focus on the endgame, where a seemingly benign move turned out to be a mistake which completely turned the game around. You'll find the analysis below. Don't miss it.
If you're wondering about the diary's title....two reasons. One, I love Blazing Saddles. Two, today's lesson should serve as a reminder that sometimes your strongest piece on the board is a single pawn -- and how losing that one pawn can be disastrous.
UPCOMING MATCHES
White | Black | Match Time | Match Site |
Guy Fawkes (chess.com username Masque) | ActivistGuy | Thursday, July 16, 2009 08:00 PM ET | Chess.com |
Anderson Republican (chess.com username AndersonRep) | RageKage | Friday, July 17, 2009 08:00 PM ET | Chess.com |
spider441 (FICS username avkrishna) | mquander | Saturday, July 18, 2009 11:30 PM ET | FICS |
To chess players:
Round 4 will last from now until the evening of Monday, July 20. It is your responsibility to contact your opponent so that you can complete your match before the end of Round 4. When you and your opponent have agreed to a schedule and chess website for your match, enter the information here.
To the community:
If you would like to watch an upcoming match, you will first need to register for an account on the website where the game is taking place, then log in. You can observe the games on Chess.com by opening Live Chess (under the Play tab at the top of the main page) and finding the user of your choice. On FICS, type "observe [INSERT USER'S NAME HERE]" into the command console. On Chess Cube, add the user you're looking for as a friend, click on that user's profile, and observe the game he/she is playing. On Yahoo! Games, you will need to know which room/lounge the user is playing in -- then just enter it and sit at the table.
See more information about using these websites here.
ANALYSIS
At the request of one of the players involved in the match, I have withheld their names.
This game had a peculiar start. 1. f4 is known as Bird's Opening. It's not the most popular opening for White because it opens up no diagonals for the King and weakens the White King-side defense. Furthermore, based on an analysis of more than 1,700 games, White wins only 32.5% of the time in matches with 1. f4 as the first move, compared to 42.2% of the time for Black. Black would take control of the middle and never relinquish it with 1...d5, which represents a reversed Dutch Defense (1. d4 f5).
Both sides made some curious decisions in the early game. 7...Q6 was followed by 8. Ba3, forcing the Black Queen to return to its home -- essentially a wasted move for Black. However, White would exchange both of its Bishops for Black's Knights at Moves 9-11. Bishops are generally preferred over Knights in the endgame because of their unlimited range, so it was strange to see White give up both Bishops so early. However, the remaining Black Bishop and White Knight, not to mention both Queens, would all be removed from the board by Move 19. Now the Rook-Pawn endgame would begin.
Despite Black's superior Pawn development up till this point, Black's decision to bring the King down to e5 on Move 23 seemed like another curious strategy. The King certainly wasn't going to be used for either offensive or defensive purposes, not with the White Rook sitting at f4. White wasted no time in replacing that Rook on f4 at Move 27, and Black still had not advanced his center Pawns anywhere. Black's King would be forced to flee the scene at Move 30, and by Move 34, White's b Pawn would become a dangerous weapon threatening to advance. 35...Kb6 was a mistake for Black -- in its attempt to escape the White Rook and capture the a Pawn, White would gobble up two Pawns with 36. Re6 Ka5 37. Rxc6 Kxa4 38. Ra6+ Kb4 39. Rxa7, set up a formidable Pawn wall at b5-c4-d3, and threaten to promote the b Pawn to Queen.
At Move 40, White had a clear advantage -- a Pawn at b6 with a clear path to promotion and a Rook keeping guard. Black decided to pester the White King with 40...Re5+. What followed next completely turned the game upside-down.
- Kf2?
At first glance, this move appears perfectly harmless. White had to escape check, and f2 seemed like a safe place to go. It actually turned out to be a critical mistake. Even after the White Pawn advanced to b7, the Black Rook performed a devastating check with 42...Re2+, and then followed that with Rb2 on Move 43. At this point, White was basically finished. It could not move either the b Pawn or the Rook without losing the b Pawn altogether (which it did on Move 46), and with the capture of the White c and d Pawns, it was Black who would soon threaten to promote. Shortly thereafter, White resigned.
Look again at Move 41. The endgame of this match just goes to show that the game can turn on a dime, on a moment's notice, if the wrong move is played and if an opposing player can exploit the mistake. As Abelian pointed out while observing the match, instead of Kf2, White might have tried 41. Kd1 or Kf1, which would likely have given White enough time and space to promote its b Pawn to Queen. But just like that, the game swung the other way, all because of the square on which the White King happened to be sitting, and all for want of the Pawn on b7.
And for the record, this was NOT the Jumpin J vs. Abelian match.
ROUND 4 MATCH-UPS
The match-ups for Round 4 have been selected by the Tournament Director based on the results of Rounds 1-3 and the approximate skill rating of each player. All matches will have a 30-minute time limit per player, 0 bonus time. Every effort is being ensured to maintain color balance. In other words, every player will have ample opportunity to play as both White and Black throughout the tournament.
WHITE | vs. | BLACK | WINNER |
---|
cschess | vs. | dov12348 | cschess |
MakeChessNotWar | vs. | Gangster Octopus | MakeChessNotWar |
RickMassimo | vs. | PsiFighter37 | PsiFighter37 |
wmorriss | vs. | vets74 | DRAW |
ben masel | vs. | Albanius | Albanius |
Sharkmeister | vs. | DoomsdayShark | . |
Jumpin J | vs. | Abelian | Abelian |
Cobbler | vs. | FightingRegistrar | Cobbler |
spider441 | vs. | mquander | . |
i know | vs. | Twin Planets | i know |
cavebird | vs. | dnta | dnta |
brendanm98 | vs. | dissonantharmony | brendanm98 |
BTP | vs. | Andrew Lazarus | Andrew Lazarus |
thereisnospoon | vs. | high5 | high5 |
ferrisbueller | vs. | TeacherRyan | . |
papicek | vs. | nargel | papicek |
sharris0512 | vs. | jerseycorn | sharris0512 |
bgblcklab1 | vs. | stlbucket | stlbucket |
Dvd Avins | vs. | cskendrick | Dvd Avins |
Seneca Doane | vs. | Kimball | Kimball |
mnguy66 | vs. | cmorrison | cmorrison |
Thutmose V | vs. | evilstorm | . |
Anderson Republican | vs. | RageKage | . |
Dan Morris | vs. | PedsNeuro | PedsNeuro |
black2thefuture | vs. | writerkirk | black2thefuture |
PinkFreud | vs. | BaxKen | . |
rhutcheson | vs. | Keith Pickering | rhutcheson |
Free Radical | vs. | M31 | M31 |
montrealdan | vs. | hekebolos | montrealdan |
FWIW | vs. | LaughingPlanet | FWIW |
Marcion | vs. | Geenius at Wrok | Marcion |
louisedkos | vs. | ThyrsiodB | louisedkos |
Ignacio Magaloni | vs. | Robert Naiman | . |
zamrzla | vs. | Spud1 | Spud1 |
Grey Paladin | vs. | TheCid | Grey Paladin |
dpinzow | vs. | hanswall | hanswall |
mconvente | vs. | ericledford | ericledford |
AndrewMC | vs. | Elvis Vader | AndrewMC |
DeadB0y | vs. | Chicagoa | . |
Guy Fawkes | vs. | ActivistGuy | . |
vescis | vs. | kto9 | kto9 |
eztempo | vs. | lostboyjim | . |
Blue Wind | vs. | debedb | debedb |
Joffan | vs. | ZaBlanc | ZaBlanc |
Celtic Merlin | vs. | Melanchthon | Melanchthon |
neilliebus | vs. | Bill White | . |
Unlabled | vs. | Dbug | Dbug |
foodmetaphors | vs. | cartwrightdale | . |
USArmyParatrooper | vs. | JeffLieber | . |
DynamicUno | vs. | Blue Intrigue | . |
mattc129 | vs. | drache | . |
Mo | vs. | rmonroe | Mo |
Something the Dog Said | vs. | Odysseus | . |
dmet | vs. | Kevin in Long Beach | . |
Jimdotz | vs. | SuperBowlXX | SuperBowlXX |
38 of 55 Round 4 matches have been completed.
NOTE: zamrzla and Spud1 agreed to switch colors this round.
STANDINGS
Note: Standings are sorted first by points, then by alphabetical order. Color balance is included.
Player | Points | # Matches | # White | # Black |
---|
Abelian | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Albanius | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Cobbler | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
cschess | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
i know | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
MakeChessNotWar | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
PsiFighter37 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
vets74 | 3.5 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
wmorriss | 3.5 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Andrew Lazarus | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
black2thefuture | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
brendanm98 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
cmorrison | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
dnta | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Dvd Avins | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
FWIW | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
high5 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Kimball | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
M31 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Marcion | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
montrealdan | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
mquander | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
papicek | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
PedsNeuro | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Sharkmeister | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
sharris0512 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
stlbucket | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
ben masel | 2.5 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
DoomsdayShark | 2.5 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
dov12348 | 2.5 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
FightingRegistrar | 2.5 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Gangster Octopus | 2.5 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Jumpin J | 2.5 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
rhutcheson | 2.5 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
RickMassimo | 2.5 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
spider441 | 2.5 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
Twin Planets | 2.5 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Anderson Republican | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
AndrewMC | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
BaxKen | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
bgblcklab1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
BTP | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
cavebird | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
cskendrick | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Dan Morris | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Dbug | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
debedb | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
dissonantharmony | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
ericledford | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
evilstorm | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
ferrisbueller | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
Geenius at Wrok | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
Grey Paladin | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
hanswall | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
jerseycorn | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Keith Pickering | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
kto9 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
louisedkos | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Melanchthon | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
mnguy66 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Mo | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
nargel | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
PinkFreud | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
RageKage | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
Seneca Doane | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Spud1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
SuperBowlXX | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
TeacherRyan | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
thereisnospoon | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Thutmose V | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
writerkirk | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
ZaBlanc | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Free Radical | 1.5 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
hekebolos | 1.5 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
LaughingPlanet | 1.5 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
ActivistGuy | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Bill White | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Blue Wind | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Celtic Merlin | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Chicagoa | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
DeadB0y | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
dmet | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
dpinzow | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
drache | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
DynamicUno | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
eddiem86 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Elvis Vader | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
eztempo | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
foodmetaphors | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
Guy Fawkes | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Ignacio Magaloni | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
JeffLieber | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Joffan | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
KStreetProjector | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
lostboyjim | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
mconvente | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Odysseus | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Robert Naiman | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
rteeter | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
TheCid | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
ThyrsiodB | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
USArmyParatrooper | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
vescis | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
zamrzla | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
cartwrightdale | 0.5 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
Unlabled | 0.5 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
ajsuited | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Blue Intrigue | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Crawdaddy | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
filmgeek83 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Jimdotz | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
kentuckydave | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Kevin in Long Beach | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
KillerKoala | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
lexington1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
matador | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
mattc129 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
neilliebus | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
Patch Adam | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Pym | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
rmonroe | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
sjohntucson | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Something the Dog Said | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
aaraujo | 0.5 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Uncle Cosmo | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
valislav stein | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
KEY:
Points = 1 point for a win, 0 points for a loss, 0.5 points for a draw.
# White = Number of times played as White.
# Black = Number of times played as Black.
# Matches = Number of matches played.
Note: At the suggestion of high5, the Points and # Matches columns have switched so that Points are listed first.