Monk

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6

[This is Philidor's Defence, named after François-André Danican Philidor, the leading chess master of the second half of the 18th century and a pioneer of modern chess strategy. He was also a noted opera composer. It is a solid opening, but slightly passive, and it ignores the important d4-square. Most modern players prefer 2...Nc6, and 2...Nf6 (the Petrov Defence) is also popular at master level.]

3. d4 Bg4?!

[Though 3...Bg4 is considered an inferior move today, this was accepted theory at the time.[3] Today 3...exd4 or 3...Nf6 are usual. 3...f5 (Philidor's original idea) is a risky alternative.]

4. dxe5 Bxf3

[If 4...dxe5, then 5.Qxd8+ Kxd8 6.Nxe5 and White wins a pawn and Black has lost the ability to castle. Black, however, did have the option of 4...Nd7 5.exd6 Bxd6, when he's down a pawn but has some compensation in the form of better development.]

5. Qxf3

[Steinitz's recommendation 5.gxf3 dxe5 6.Qxd8+ Kxd8 7.f4 is also good, but Morphy prefers to keep the queens on. After Black recaptures the pawn on e5, White has a significant lead in development.]

5...dxe5 6. Bc4 Nf6

[This seemingly sound developing move runs into a surprising refutation. After White's next move, both f7 and b7 will be under attack. Better would have been to directly protect the f7-pawn with the queen, making White's next move less potent.]

7. Qb3 Qe7

[Black's only good move. White was threatening mate in two moves, for example 7...Nc6 8.Bxf7+ Ke7 9.Qe6#. 7...Qd7 loses the rook to 8.Qxb7 followed by 9.Qxa8 (since 8...Qc6? would lose the queen to 9.Bb5). Notice that Qe7 saves the rook with this combination: 8.Qxb7 Qb4+ forcing a queen exchange.

[Although this move prevents immediate disaster, Black is forced to block the f8-bishop, impeding development and kingside castling.]

8. Nc3

[Morphy could have won a pawn by 8.Qxb7 Qb4+ 9.Qxb4 Bxb4+. White can also win material with 8.Bxf7+ Qxf7 9.Qxb7, but Black has dangerous counterplay after 9...Bc5! and 10.Qxa8 0-0 or 10.Qc8+ Ke7 11.Qxh8 Bxf2+! In keeping with his style, Morphy prefers rapid development and initiative over material.]

8... c6

[The best move, allowing black to defend his pawn without further weakening the light-squares, which have been weakened by black trading off his light-square bishop.]

9. Bg5 b5?

[Black attempts to drive away the bishop and gain some time, but this move allows Morphy a strong sacrifice to keep the initiative. This move loses but it is difficult to find anything better; for example 9...Na6 10.Bxf6 gxf6 11.Bxa6 bxa6 12.Qa4 Qb7 and Black's position is in shambles.]

10. Nxb5!

[Morphy chooses not to retreat the bishop, which would allow Black to gain time for development.]

10... cxb5

[Black could have played 10...Qb4+ forcing the exchange of queens (11.Qxb4 Bxb4+ 12.Nc3), although White would retain a technically won game being a pawn up.

11. Bxb5+

[Not 11.Bd5? Qb4+, unpinning the knight and allowing the rook to evade capture.]

11... Nbd7 12. 0-0-0 Rd8

[The combination of the pins on the knights and the open file for White's rook will lead to Black's defeat.]

13. Rxd7 Rxd7

[Removing another defender.]

14. Rd1

[Compare the activity of the white pieces with the idleness of the black pieces. At this point, Black's d7-rook cannot be saved, since it is pinned to the king and attacked by the rook, and though the knight defends it, the knight is pinned to the queen.]

This game is taken from the Chess King program dated April 9, 2016.

( Read more... )

♠
“It was Bobby Fischer who had, single-handedly, made the world recognize that chess on its highest level was as competitive as football, as thrilling as a duel to the death, as esthetically satisfying as a fine work of art, as intellectually demanding as any form of human activity,” wrote Harold C. Schonberg, who reported on the Reykjavik match for The New York Times, in his 1973 book, “Grandmasters of Chess.”

-- Bruce Weber for The New York Times

Here is a more extended backgrounder on the chess legend, including the chaotic turmoil of his private life. This is also the first time I heard of his ideas to reform the game and take it away from the tyranny of the computer, by randomizing the back-row pieces. I gather this idea never took off, but I am hauntingly impressed by it. I suppose it adds an element of chance to the game, but it seems worth more consideration. But I never really became a chess player and perhaps lack the appropriate sensibilities. All in all, it was a fascinating life.

( article )



Spassky-Fischer 1970

xXx

♠
REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) -- Bobby Fischer, the reclusive American chess master who became a Cold War icon when he dethroned the Soviet Union's Boris Spassky as world champion in 1972, has died. He was 64.

-- The Associated Press

The man who put the sexy in chess has dropped his king for the last time. He was a most eccentric genius who had some fairly ugly poltical ideas, but there was a time when he gave some brilliant shine to the U.S.A., and the man of mystique left the world a little more enchanted than when he came.

( Report )

xXx

♠
This is the third time that Duke has kept me from advancing, and he is the first of whom I consider to be the intermediate players. Now Monk has to go back down three players into the Beginners ranks and give Sonja another quick fucking over.

Monk is still overlooking the most obvious pitfalls, leaving big pieces exposed and missing the childishly obvious attacks. Like being a little brain dead. But it still feels good the way Monk gets absorbed in these games, and before he knows it, it is thirty moves later and it is a mystery what happened to the time, as Monk falls back in his chair groaning, with his Queen being taken off the board by a fast-charging Knight that seemed to come out of nowhere. Very neat to get lost in another imaginary realm like that.

xXx

♠
To think that Monk was hunting around the Internet to learn about chess openings, even considering buying a book on them - buying chess books again!

He looked harder at ChessMaster 9000, and, of course, they offer an excellent program on chess openings. Now it is just a matter of applying himself to learn the openings and their names. LJ's chess forum has stimulated this interest in being more literate in the game. After all, he is not a beginner and should know this much by now. Neverthemore, this may be more effort and dedication than Monk has to give - shocking, I know.

But Monk is enjoying his chess for what he intended it to be. It is proving a great way to wile away some restless hours. He is doubtful that he will spend money on Scrabble. These chess games are an endless provision of fascinating little puzzles. He can be only so good at it, but the program allows him enough satisfaction to keep him interested, thanks to that Beginners Row of players!

xXx

♠
Chess life also has been plummeting these days. It feels like Monk has lost twenty IQ points recently. He keeps overlooking the most obvious moves, leaving his pieces hanging out to dry, and not spotting the most transparent attacks. Monk just lost a game to one of the beginners. At this rate, he will be battling his heart out against Cassie, hoping to be able to beat someone again. Before this, Monk was actually getting a bit cocky.

xXx

♠
I enjoy playing an opponent who eats some of his clock, yet I am not so fond of having to wait for him to make a move. It also reminds me how pathetic a person can look doing nothing but staring over the board for minute after minute, thinking back to high school days and playing with friends. It looks retarded. After all, it is not like Monk would be mulling over long, complicated chains of combinations. The mind just vainly spinning away out of its groove.

And, after beating ol' Duke handily, I had to resign to Raj. I have a feeling that Monk is going to be seeing a lot of Duke, Raj and Lucy for the foreseeable future.

xXx

♠
Now Monk is remembering the frustration of chess.

The very next player above that Duke guy, Lucy, is looking like his limit. The first two times he played her, she got him to draw through three-time repetition. Then she beat him flat the next two games.

Tonight, Monk was sure he had her, having stripped her of all but her Queen and a couple of pawns, while Monk had his three big pieces still on the board, with a raft of pawns ready to race for enlightened reincarnation. But he made a juvenile mistake, while trying to dance Lucy's King into a polite and fatal checkmate, and left his Rook next to her King while he moved his Queen on down. Then, as he played on with his heart in his throat, he even failed to secure a draw as Lucy managed to checkmate him with only her Queen and King.

Scrabble anyone!

xXx

♠
I did not think that Monk would get interested in chess, again. I suppose it comes and goes. If the past is indicative, Monk will get frustrated at some point when he can no longer improve and he is drowning in the stagnation. But, right now, he feels like a rat addicted to running the maze. He has this hunger and compulsion to get back in the matrix and run the board. Wanting to run himself ragged and lose himself in oblivion. Like a new kind of drug.

xXx