Sunday Morning with Nimzo

Last Sunday, I procured a very nice chess set from my good friend and collector, Brian. It is a beautiful Piatigorsky Cup Commemorative Set. Beyond the incredible deal that Brian gave me, this set has been able to spark a return to the joy of studying old master games. Now, a week later, I have discovered an intricate and complex endgame that Aaron Nimzowitsch played in 1907.

Games like this are essential for all chess players to learn and gain a deeper understanding of chess fundamentals. It can be a challenge for modern players to see the value in these old games. The first chess algorithm penned by Alan Turing called “Turbochamp” was still 41 years away. The depth of chess openings inspired by human brains and built upon by these powerful computers, was still a full lifetime away. And despite the game being played over 100 years ago, it still carries a wealth of chess expertise especially in the endgame.

With advent of modern chess openings, it can be hard for players to understand the value of slow grinding positional endgames where one side is squeezed like a boa constrictor. White does not lose any material until Black’s 49th move! But, the major instructive value in studying this particular game is in seeing how Nimzowitsch continually ties down his opponents pieces. He does not let them gain any activity and poor Francis Joseph Lee probably hoped he could just hold onto a long painful draw. But, Nimzo had other plans and without any attempt to free himself by sacrificing, Lee was doomed to lose the game.

Take a long look and enjoy this game as it is one of the great pleasures in life to discover such a gem. Check out the game HERE (use an old fashion board so you can see the moves in 3D!):

Back in the Game

Hi Everyone,

I am getting back into my streaming game with a preliminary stream schedule of Wed, Sat, Sun streams starting at 7 PM PST. I haven’t streamed much over the last year due to my work schedule but I am ready for a comeback! There are a few big things that I want to do

1) Improve my chess! I haven’t had much time to study and I want to get back into so I will do some studying live on stream practicing tactics and studying openings.

2) Engage a wide audience and build a community. I want to get a lot more people involved and engage in the larger twitch community.

3) Play a variety of games - I am going to play a few other games such as Poker and Overwatch. I hadn’t done this much but I think it will be a lot of fun to have some variety.

Tactics from London Chess Classic

Welcome to Tactics Monday! Every Monday I will present different type of tactics that you can learn about from real world games. Since the London Chess Classic has already seen some very exciting games, let's take a look at some removing or capturing the defender tactics. These positions come from the current leader Wesley So's games. 

This tactics is simple but one of my favorites. One piece defends another and if you capture that piece, you will win the piece that it is defending. Obviously you need to be attack both pieces. In our first example, USA's GM Wesley So takes down his fellow country man GM Hikaru Nakamura. Poor Naka is already down one pawn; can you find the move that helps So win? Black to move. 

The answer is 1... Bxf4! This gives up the bishop pair but after 2.gxf4 Black can simply capture the d-pawn with 2... Rxd5. The Knight was defending it before but after the removal of the Knight the d-pawn is completely undefended.  There are other tactics involved in this position but for simplicity focus on the removal of the defender tactic.

The next example comes from the Anand - Lagrave game. Check out this position and see if you can find a way to win something by removing a defender. Remember to look for pieces that you are attacking and see if there is a way to eliminate the defender: 

For a slightly more complicated situation where removing the defender means removing the defense from a SQUARE. This position is from the round 3 Giri-So game. Black to move. 

1... Bxd4! 2.Rxd4 Rf5 and there is no way to protect the e-pawn. This kind of position can happen all over the board and there are plenty of checkmates that result from removing the defender. Giri barely squeeks out of the position down a pawn with a draw. 

But, So is still smiling as he leads the London Chess Classic 2016 with 3/4 points. Close behind him with 2.5 are Kramnik, Nakamura, Aronian, and Caruana. Nakamura has amazingly recovered from losing the first game with two wins in a row in Rounds 3 & 4. 

Look for more excitement tomorrow and with Coach Q's psychological tip of the day. 
 

Karjakin's Team Banking on Tie Breaks

Round 11 of the World Chess Championships 2016 saw a solid opening choice by the challenger, Sergey Karjakin, allowing very little danger as the World Champion, Magnus Carlsen, tried everything to complicate the game. It is clear that Karjakin's team has decided that tie breaks will be the best way to win the World Championship. Carlsen seems to be back in psychological stride as he chose continuations that were intended to put more pressure on the challenger. But, with accurate play from both sides this battle in game 11 soon led to a draw on move 34. 

Round 12 will be the final game in the regular time control. If neither player wins this final game, then the match will go into tie breaks. For historical reference, the World Championship match has only been decided on tie breaks once in the 2012 Anand - Gelfand match. Chess purist hate this fact as the World Championship was historically a much more open ended affair. In some matches they would play until a certain number of wins disregarding all of the draws or even the World Champion would have draw odds with no tie breaks. By the end of the 20th century the demand for a faster more spectator friendly championship pushed the matches into shorter time frames (not to mention monetary factors). Perhaps a major change reason for this change is that the 1984 Karpov - Kasparov matches lasted for a total of 48 games over the span of nearly 6 months!

If the players are tied after the 12th game, the first tie break round will be a rapid mini-match. A total of four games with the time control of 25 minutes with a 10 second increment (10 seconds added each move) will be played. This will give each player two White and two Black games. If this is still tied, then the match will enter the blitz tie break phase. Two games will be played with each side having 5 minutes plus 3 seconds increment each move. In the unlikely possibility of a tie here, a final Armageddon game shall be played. If the match were to reach this phase it would be as dramatic as it sounds with the White player receiving 5 minutes and the Black player receiving 4 minutes but draw odds! This means that the player receiving White would need to win to win the Championship! Even though chess purists hate the idea of this tie break scenario, it is a spectator's dreams. We would see the two best players in the world duke it out on pure intuition and instinct. 

But, this is all speculation thus far as Karjakin will need to survive the onslaught of the World Champion as Carlsen will have White for the final time in the match. Can Karjakin hold on to force a dramatic tie break or will he crumple under the pressure? Tune in at 11 AM PST on Monday 11/28 to find out!

Round 11: 

Event: Carlsen - Karjakin World Championship 2016
Site: New York, NY 
Date: 2016.11.26
Round: 11
Result: 1/2-1/2
White: Sergey Karjakin
Black: Magnus Carlsen

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.d3 b5 7.Bb3
d6 8.a3 O-O 9.Nc3 Be6 10.Nd5 Nd4 11.Nxd4 exd4 12.Nxf6+ Bxf6
13.Bxe6 fxe6 14.f4 c5 15.Qg4 Qd7 16.f5 Rae8 17.Bd2 c4 18.h3 c3
19.bxc3 d5 20.Bg5 Bxg5 21.Qxg5 dxe4 22.fxe6 Rxf1+ 23.Rxf1 Qxe6
24.cxd4 e3 25.Re1 h6 26.Qh5 e2 27.Qf3 a5 28.c3 Qa2 29.Qc6 Re6
30.Qc8+ Kh7 31.c4 Qd2 32.Qxe6 Qxe1+ 33.Kh2 Qf2 34.Qe4+ 1/2-1/2

Karjakin in the Driver Seat as Carlsen Still Trails

After the disastrous game 8, Carlsen came into game 9 trailing 4.5 to 3.5. The question on everyone's mind was would Carlsen have the mental fortitude to come back? It appears that he has lost the psychological battle allowing himself to be shaken by Karjakin's tenacious defense, declining many opportunities for draws in game 8 and eventually dropping the full point. Now, in game 9 as Black, would Karjakin be able to shut door on a comeback and win again?

Though the win did not come for Karjakin, he held the initiative for nearly all of game 9. Carlsen tried a pawn sac that led to a host of weak pawns for Karjkin but a few minor inaccuracies handed Karjakin a chance to secure a second straight win. As Caruana said during game 8, Carlsen's opening choices "seem a little tame". Tame this opening was allowing him to only play for a draw. But, despite the pressure the World Champ did not crack and will now have 2 White games out the remaining three. 

Look for game 10 to be a real fighting game by Carlsen and some incredible defense from Karjakin. If Carlsen can level the playing field here, then the match will be anyone's to win. But, if he does not, he will be in serious trouble of losing the top chess crown.  

Game 9 - 
 

Carlsen - Karjakin World Championship
Date "2016.11.23"
Location: New York, New York
Result 1/2-1/2
White Sergey Karjakin
Black Magnus Carlsen


1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.a4
Rb8 8.c3 d6 9.d4 Bb6 10.axb5 axb5 11.Na3 O-O 12.Nxb5 Bg4
13.Bc2 exd4 14.Nbxd4 Nxd4 15.cxd4 Bxf3 16.gxf3 Nh5 17.Kh1 Qf6
18.Be3 c5 19.e5 Qe6 20.exd6 c4 21.b3 cxb3 22.Bxb3 Qxd6 23.Ra6
Rfd8 24.Rg1 Qd7 25.Rg4 Nf6 26.Rh4 Qb5 27.Ra1 g6 28.Rb1 Qd7
29.Qd3 Nd5 30.Rg1 Bc7 31.Bg5 Re8 32.Qc4 Rb5 33.Qc2 Ra8 34.Bc4
Rba5 35.Bd2 Ra4 36.Qd3 Ra1 37.Rxa1 Rxa1+ 38.Kg2 Ne7 39.Bxf7+
Kxf7 40.Qc4+ Kg7 41.d5 Nf5 42.Bc3+ Kf8 43.Bxa1 Nxh4+ 44.Qxh4
Qxd5 45.Qf6+ Qf7 46.Qd4 Ke8 47.Qe4+ Qe7 48.Qd5 Bd8 49.Kf1 Qf7
50.Qe4+ Qe7 51.Be5 Qe6 52.Kg2 Be7 53.Qa8+ Kf7 54.Qh8 h5
55.Qg7+ Ke8 56.Bf4 Qf7 57.Qh8+ Qf8 58.Qd4 Qf5 59.Qc4 Kd7
60.Bd2 Qe6 61.Qa4+ Qc6 62.Qa7+ Qc7 63.Qa2 Qd6 64.Be3 Qe6
65.Qa7+ Ke8 66.Bc5 Bd8 67.h3 Qd5 68.Be3 Be7 69.Qb8+ Kf7 70.Qh8
Qe6 71.Bf4 Qf6 72.Qb8 Qe6 73.Qb7 Kg8 74.Qb5 Bf6 1/2-1/2