keskiviikko 24. kesäkuuta 2015

My latest effort

Finally playing some chess again - meaning an actual real game from start to finish.

This one was against Novag Super V.I.P., computer that I had already played with 16 games. 11-5.

Novag Super V.I.P. (SD7 90 mins./game) - ChessCurious  60 mins./game 23. - 24. 6. 2015  

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 e6 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 d5 { Transposing into Slav defense. I
decided to play as securily as possible, therefore this kind of structure.}  5.
Bg5 Be7 6. cxd5 Nxd5?! { I know taking here with pawn was standard, but my
goal was to exchange as many pieces as possible.}  7. Bxe7 Qxe7 8. e4 Nxc3 9.
bxc3 $16 Nd7 $5 ( 9... b6) ( 9... O-O) 10. Bd3 b6 { This was meant to be also
waiting move, trying to see where the computer would castle.}  11. e5 { I
thought this was interesting decision. Instead of committing, computer is
taking space and opening some white squares.}  11... Bb7 12. Qc2 $6 { What is
the thinking here?}  ( 12. Nd2) ( 12. O-O) 12... O-O-O $2 { This I knew was a
risky choice... but I wanted to have attacking prospects to white´s probable
kingside castle. 12...Rc8 and 12...c5 were good choices.}  13. O-O ( 13. a4 $1
$18) 13... Nf8 $2 { Here there were several choices. This was just slow.}  14.
Qa4 $2 { Typical computer-move. Wants to attack the weak point(s) with queen
maneuver.}  ( 14. a4 $1) 14... Kb8 $16 15. Be4 Qd7 $2 { Preferring to exchange
the queens.}  16. Qa3 $2 { Correct idea but wrong square.}  ( 16. Qb3 $1 $18)
16... Ng6 { Maybe the comp would prefer the doubled pawns... If not, my horse
could use f4 or after g3 support h-pawn push.}  17. Bxg6 $2 { Poor strategic
decision.}  17... hxg6 $15 18. Rfc1 $2 { This does nothing, really.}  ( 18. c4)
18... c5 $1 $19 { This move is really powerful! It was also computer´s
suggestion after many different white moves.}  19. dxc5 { Immediately.}  ( 19.
c4 { was just slightly better.} ) 19... Bxf3 { Suddenly it is white king`s
position that is in ruins.}  20. gxf3 { Immediately also.}  20... Qe7 $1 $7 {
Was glad to find this move.}  21. f4 $2 ( 21. Qb4 { is first choice of
Stockfish 5 and was also my expectation.}  21... Rh4 22. f4 Rg4+ 23. Kf1 Qh4
24. Rd1 Rxd1+ 25. Rxd1 Rxf4 26. Rd8+ Kb7 27. c6+ Ka6 28. Qa3+ Ra4 29. c7 Qc4+
$19 ) 21... Qh4 { M11.}  22. c4 Qxh2+ 23. Kf1 Rh3 $1 24. Qxh3 Qxh3+ 25. Ke1
Qh1+ 26. Ke2 Qe4+ 27. Kf1 Rh8 { M4. White resigned. 0-1}  

Definitely a clear win this time. Computer was not in his A-game at all.


sunnuntai 29. maaliskuuta 2015

Chess fatique - for good reason(s)!

I have gotten a chess fatique. This is probably party due to change of country I am staying at, but I could felt it this month before also. One other reason might be the last big chess project I undertook, namely 11-game simul versus chess computers, out of which 4 games are still unfinished!

Most importantly however, is that since mid-June last year till mid-March this year, I played most amount of chess games that I ever have (or perhaps even ever will! Though I doubt that one) during a single 9-month period. Last year from mid-June till the end I played total 88 long games, while this year during first 2,5 months I played total 55 long games! Combined together: 143 long games of chess. Overwhelmingly the biggest number ever, which is not so surprising since I`ve just played total 557 long time control chess games. This includes OTB games as well as online games, time controlled as well as casual games and also correspondence games. Minimum time control being 60 minutes per whole game for one player.

Some simple statistics from that 143-game period:

63 white wins, 66 black wins, 14 draws.
59 games I played with white, 84 games I played with black.

This year is probably going to become most productive in my chess playing career, since the record is 119 long games during 2014 and now already during 3 first months I have that number at 55.


maanantai 29. syyskuuta 2014

First chess video!

I decided to give it a go early today, to try and produce (make) a chess video. Quite simple one, of my randomly chosen game. Here it is: 



The game ended quite badly to say the least! But perhaps this little video can work as a lesson.

lauantai 20. syyskuuta 2014

Bad game but a good reminder!

Started to take part in slow games at Chess.com. First need to play qualification tournament, which consists of 3 games, then possible to play some actual tournaments and more slow games. First game happened early today after midnight hour. I was paired against obviously pretty decent (and probably better) player, with USCF rating over 2000! So I knew I was in for a challenge right away. Best opponents I have ever played have been around 1700 ELO. Until now!

So I had white pieces and after bit of research had noticed just one game of my opponents where one of his opponent had played 1.e4, the opening move that I would play! (As I don´t have premium membership in chess.com, it´s not possible to see more than recent games.) My opponent had responded 1...c6, Caro-Kann defense. This is all I had. So I prepared little bit for C-K. Earlier in the day I played against computer program with rating setting 1620, and so it happened the program would also answer 1...c6! There I tested the exchange variation, got good position but in the end lost badly. So I somehow came into conclusion I should not repeat such try but to go for my old preference the advanced variation. With 4.Bd3...

[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2014.09.20"]
[Round ""]
[White "MeAgainstWorld"]
[Black "Rogue_King"]

1. e4 c6 He played it! 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Bd3 Not the most ambitious or best, but wanted
to play quiet game... 4... Bxd3 5. Qxd3 e6 6. f4 Nh6 7. Nf3 Qa5+ 8. Bd2 Qa6





9. Qxa6 ( 9. O-O was my other option but  9... Qxd3 10. cxd3  would leave
doubled pawns, which I didn´t prefer even though c-file is now also half-open.
On the other hand pawn exchange on c5 would be a fix. 10... Na6 11. a3 and
if now 11... c5?! for example 12. Nc3 Nf5 13. Nb5 ) 9... Nxa6 10. a3?!
( 10. Nc3 was better. Normal development, but I thought it looks ugly! This is one
of my weaknesses in the opening, sometimes not seeing beyond first move that
is.}  ) 10... c5 11. c3?! This may look solid, but is just too passive and
slow. Of course I realized it´s suspicious to play both a3 and c3, but somehow
didn´t see anything better.( 11. Ke2 Stockfish 5 likes this better.)
11... Rc8 Equal. 12. O-O Stockfish´s suggestions Kf2 and Ke2 would have perhaps
worked better! I did think about those alternatives as well. 12... Be7




Here position is still equal, though easier for black. 13. h3? I tried to get control of the
light squares on kingside, but this move is simply based on an oversight.
13. b4 was good, but I considered it somehow too radical to open position
while my pieces are still clumsy. 13... Nf5!=/+ 14. Kh2?! (14. Kf2 missed this option completely.) ( 14. g4? Ng3 Moderate advantage. 15. Rd1 h5 16.g5 ) 14... h5! Here I knew I had messed up badly, black controls now both queen- and kingside! 15. g3? (15. b4 one last chance to play it.
15... cxd4 16. Nxd4 Nxd4 17. cxd4 Rc2! giving black smaller advantage
that in the game.) 15... cxd4−/+  Here black is probably already
winning. 16. Nxd4 Or 16. cxd4 Rc2 16... Nxd4 17. cxd4 Rc2! 





18. Rc1?! Looks active, but doesn´t provide much. (18. Ra2 is suggestion of
Stockfish and would have kept the pawn at least. However 18... Kd7 19. Rc1
Rhc8 wasn´t to my taste. 20. Rxc2 Rxc2−/+ white being essentially
completely tied up.) 18... Rxb2 Almost 2 pawn advantage now for black.
19. Rc8+ Bd8 20. Ra8?! Attacking black weakness, but I did feel maybe my
rook should stay on the c-file... ( 20. Kh1 ) 20... Kd7 ( 20... O-O even better)
21. Kh1 Re8! Killing essentially all possible tactics for white.  





22.Rxa7 Engine says this is NOT a mistake! Phew. Not that it matters much. 22... Bc7 23. Bc1? ( 23.Bb4 Nxb4 24. axb4 Rxb4 25. Nc3 would have given me more activity, but I
wanted to hang on to my pawn... 23... Rc2 24. Nd2 White´s setup is
ackward to say the least, and will result losing the exchange now. Again, I had
sensed some of these things in my mind but failed to act accordingly! 24...
Kc6 25. Nf3 Bb6 26. Rxa6 bxa6 Rest is just more moves, not much relevance.
27. Rb1 Rc8 ( 27... Rf2 ) 28. Bd2 Kb7 ( 28... Rc4 ) 29. g4 hxg4 30. hxg4 Ka7
31. Bb4 Rh8+ 32. Kg1 Rh3 33. Bc5 Bxc5 34. dxc5 Rxf3 35. c6 Rxc6  0-1

What about the reminder then?

1. Play your own game.
2. Make the game interesting instead of getting busted in 15 moves.
3. Trust your learned instincts.





maanantai 15. syyskuuta 2014

Tough...

The second simul with computers is proving to be clearly harder. Of course playing black does it´s own part, but this is much heavier and harder to keep focus... Almost 5,5 hours behind, with one game drawn - against the toughest opponent! Positions at 22. - 23. moves:














2nd Chess Computers Simul matchup!

Now going, 6 pairings, positions at 15th move:

                                            Chess 2001 (Level 6) - ChessCurious


Kasparov Travel Champion 2100 (Level 5 +EASY) - ChessCurious


Super Enterprise 210 (Level 7) - ChessCurious


Excalibur IGOR (Level 8) - ChessCurious


Fidelity Excellence (Level 2) - ChessCurious


Novag Super VIP (FT, Level 2) - ChessCurious



1st Chess Computers simul results

14. 9. 2014

[Event ""]
[Site ""]
[Date ""]
[Round ""]
[White "ChessCurious"]
[Black "Chess 2001 (Level 6)"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "C24"]

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 d5 4. exd5 Nxd5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. O-O Bc5 7. Bb5 f6 8.
Bxc6+ bxc6 9. Nbd2 O-O 10. Ne4 Qe7 11. Nxc5 Qxc5 12. h3 Rd8 13. a3 Bf5 14. Re1
Rab8 15. b4 Qb6 16. Be3 Nxe3 17. fxe3 a5 18. bxa5 Qxa5 19. Qd2 Qc5 20. d4 exd4
21. exd4 Qxc2 22. Qxc2 Bxc2 23. Re7 Rb7 24. a4 Kf8 25. Re6 Rd6 26. Rxd6 cxd6
27. a5 Bd3 28. Kf2 Rb2+ 29. Ke3 Bc4 30. a6 Rxg2 31. a7 Re2+ 32. Kf4 g5+ 33. Kg3
Re8 34. a8=Q Rxa8 35. Rxa8+ Kg7 36. Nd2 Bd3 37. Rc8 Bb5 38. Ne4 d5 39. Nd6 h5
40. Nxb5 cxb5 41. Rd8 b4 42. Rxd5 Kg6 43. Rb5 f5 44. Rxb4 Kf7 45. Rb5 h4+ 46.
Kf3 Ke6 47. Rb6+ Kf7 48. d5 Kg7 49. Ke3 Kh7 50. d6 f4+ 51. Ke4 f3 52. d7 f2 53.
d8=Q f1=Q 54. Qe7+ Qf7 55. Qxf7+ Kh8 56. Rh6#  1-0

[Event ""]
[Site ""]
[Date ""]
[Round ""]
[White "ChessCurious"]
[Black "Kasparov Travel Champion 2100 (Level 5 +EASY)"]
[Result "*"]

1. e4 e6 2. Qe2 Nc6 3. Nf3 d5 4. exd5 Nb4 5. d3 Nxd5 6. g3 Ngf6 7. Bg2 Bd6 8.
O-O O-O 9. Ne5 c5 10. f4 b5 11. c4 bxc4 12. dxc4 Ba6 13. Qc2 Nb4 14. Qa4 Bxe5
15. fxe5 Qd4+ 16. Kh1 Ne4 17. a3 Nf2+ 18. Rxf2 Qxf2 19. Bd2 Bb7 {  White
resigned.} 0-1

[Event ""]
[Site ""]
[Date ""]
[Round ""]
[White "ChessCurious"]
[Black "Super Enterprise 210 (Level 7)"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "B45"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Be2 Nf6 6. Nc3 Bb4 7. Nxc6 bxc6 8.
Bd3 Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 Qa5 10. Bd2 O-O 11. O-O Rb8 12. Bf4 e5 13. Bg5 Qxc3 14. Qf3
d6 15. Bxf6 gxf6 16. Qxf6 Be6 17. Rae1 Rfd8 18. Qh6 Bxa2 19. Re3 f6 20. Rg3+
Kf7 21. Rg7+ Ke8 22. Qxh7 Bf7 23. Rxf7 Rb4 24. Qg8#  1-0

[Event ""]
[Site ""]
[Date ""]
[Round ""]
[White "ChessCurious"]
[Black "Fidelity Excellence (Level 3 +EASY)"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "B44"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Be2 Nxd4 6. Qxd4 d5 7. exd5 Qxd5 8.
Qxd5 exd5 9. O-O Nf6 10. Nc3 Bd6 11. Rd1 Bg4 12. Nxd5 Bxe2 13. Nxf6+ Ke7 14.
Re1 Kxf6 15. Rxe2 Rhe8 16. Be3 Re4 17. Rd1 Be5 18. Rde1 Kf5 19. b3 Bc3 20. Rd1
Rae8 21. Kf1 R4e7 22. Rd5+ Kg6 23. Rd3 Be5 24. Bxa7 Bxh2 25. Rxe7 Rxe7 26. g3
b5 27. Be3 Re5 28. Kg2 Rh5 29. Rd6+ f6 30. Rd1 f5 31. Rh1 Bxg3 32. fxg3 Rxh1
33. Kxh1 Kf6 34. a4 bxa4 35. bxa4 Ke5 36. Kg2 Kd5 37. a5 Kc6 38. a6 h5 39. a7
Kb7 40. Kf3 g5 41. Bxg5 Kxa7 42. Kf4 Kb6 43. Kxf5 Kc5 44. Kg6 Kd5 45. Kxh5 Kc4
46. Bf6 Kc5 47. g4 Kd5 48. g5 Ke6 49. Kg6 Kd6 50. Kf7 Kd5 51. g6 Kd6 52. g7 Kc5
53. g8=Q Kb5 54. Qc8 Kb6 55. c4 Ka5 56. Qb7 Ka4 57. Bb2 Ka5 58. Qb5#  1-0


Result: 3-1  Used time: 5:22:49  

Very interesting first experience. Was even bit easier overall, than expected. Issue with time control, had 5 hours time but it went over by almost 23 minutes, since computers took some time to make their last moves while the games were practically decided. Need to keep strict time limit with last one hour for finishing the games only.