Adventures in Georgia Tournament Chess

2006 Georgia State Championship

2006-04-15T07:33:00.000-05:00

I've decided to play in the 2006 Georgia State Championship from May 5-7 at the scenic Emory University campus. I haven't played tournaments since last year. I'll be playing a completely new opening repertoire for the first time (that as of this post I know maybe half of). And I'll be fighting against the Curse of Emory. So it looks like I have nothing to lose :)

I scored 2.5 out of 5 in last year's championship. It should be fun!

FM Miles Ardaman
2005 Georgia State Champion

FM Todd Andrews
2004 Georgia State Champion

FM Stephen Muhammad
2003 Georgia State Champion

A New Beginning

2006-04-10T09:13:00.000-05:00

I have taken a break from chess since the new year. Part of my decision was because I had used up all my vacation time for work on taking Mondays off after weekend tournaments, and was unable to take my customary week off between Christmas and New Years. But mainly it was because I needed a break.

I've made some significant practical decisions about how chess fits into my life.

1) I have completely revamped my opening repertoire. Previously I opened with 1.e4, playing many main lines. With Black I responded to 1.e4 with 1...e5, mostly main lines, and a Nimzo-Queen's Indian system against 1.d4. I'll go into my new repertoire at a later date, once I actually start playing it in tournaments. For now I'll say that 99% of my opponents won't have prepared for the lines, they are minimal in theory, and still very playable.

2) I am going to have fun. I had fun before, but there was also a lot of grind associated with my chess preparation. I did the Tactics Boot Camp. I drilled tactics and opening variations regularly. Weekend tournaments were gruelling affairs where I tapped into my energy reserves by the third day and completely exhausted myself (hence my Mondays off from work). Okay, I'm getting old(er). Vital-physical conditioning is now assuming a top priority in my preparation. I have this crazy idea that the more balanced my entire being is, the better I will play, even without constant drilling. I want to look at a game of chess as something that can't really be prepared for. I want to forget everything I know when I sit down to play, so that I can simply be there. I want to see a position for what it is, with a clear and empty mind, not filled with rules and ideas all competing with one another. A chess game is a sculpture being carved by two players. Each move gives it more shape, removing more and more possibilities.

I have seen many chess games in the A class (and below), where the winner is the player who maintained a clearer focus in the later parts of the game. Four hours go by and both players play some hard chess. Very complicated tactical struggles resolve down to an endgame with a few minor pieces and pawns remaining, and both players are tired. I have noticed that the consistent winners of class sections are not always the flashiest players. Some of these winners I even feel that I can generally outplay them. They are good enough to hold on and survive to the endgame. But by then I am tired, and they maintain their focus. And they beat me almost every time. There's a lot to be said for this. They are the better chess player and competitor, simply because they get the full points. I want to feel fresh in the late middlegames and endgames. I believe so many lost games can be drawn and even won, and many drawn games can be won in these phases of the game. This is the area I want to focus my study on. It's not boring. It's ripe with possibilities.

I'll let you know how this goes. I'm not yet sure when I'll start playing tournaments again, but it will definitely be a new beginning for me.

I'm Not Dead Yet!

2006-02-01T09:01:00.000-05:00

Since several people are asking, I haven't given up chess. But I am taking a breather from the intense study and playing I had been doing. It had started to become a grind and I needed a break. I still play a weekly online slow game with Fussy Lizard, buy and read new chess books (an addiction all its own), and keep up with the big super-GM tournies, such as Wijk aan Zee. My USCF rating dipped back into the B class from my last couple of tournaments, and I don't want to play in them again until I'm serious about my preparation and play.

My Game With Topalov

2005-11-21T09:17:00.000-05:00

The sun had just gone down, and the three chess sets were on a long table outside in front of a train car. An excited crowd murmured in anticipation. At table #2 was Mickey Adams and Vishy Anand. At table #3 was Alexander Morozevich and Judit Polgar. And at table #1 sat Veselin Topalov and an empty chair.

I knew it would be a tough game, but soon I would be able to say that I had played the World Champion. I sat down across from Topalov, when he looked at me and said in his Bulgarian accent, "Do I have White or Black?"

"Um..., I'm not sure," I said.

"Do I have White or Black? We can't play until I know."

I looked around for the pairings sheet and found it. Sure enough it said Topalov and I would play on board #1, but it didn't specify the colors. The other pairings had clear notations for who had what color. At the time it didn't seem unusual to me that colors were specified in this way. I only noticed that my game with the chess great was being held up. I frantically started looking for Scott, the TD, to resolve the issue.

The other players started their games. Topalov sat back impatiently. I asked people where Scott was. Nobody could find him!

Time passed and soon the reporters were interviewing Topalov as I sat on top of the train car, dejected. My game with Topalov was not to happen.

And then I woke up.

2005 Georgia Class Championship

2005-09-28T11:41:00.000-05:00

A rough tournament for me after not playing in several months. I scored a sad 1.5 out of 5 in the A section, and 1 of those points was a full-point bye in round 2. The A-section was small, and I had to play Black three times in a row (not that color choice makes a whole lot of difference at this level).

Some highlights:

Kilgore (1826) - Kinsler (1893)
White to move

I saw a way to grab a pawn with 14.exf5! exf5 15.Qd5+ Kh7. But now I began to worry that after 16.Qxd6, Black could trap my queen with 16...Bxc3 17.bxc3 Nhf6. Saving the queen (and the won position) is not that hard once you are willing to let her stay on d6 for awhile. For example, 18.Re1 Re8 19.Bd2 Rc8 20.Rxe8 Qxe8 21.Re1. I didn't see all this during the game, so I played 16.Re1?? because taking on d6 looked too scary. Another psychological factor I've experienced before is that initially my plan on extracting my queen was based on 16.Qxd6 Nhf6 17.Nd5, and 16...Bxc3 ruins that idea. Discovering 16...Bxc3 at the last moment, I began to worry that he could indeed trap my queen and didn't stop to make a detailed practical analysis.

Kostrinsky (1884) - Kilgore (1826)
Black to move

I've gotten myself into a bit of trouble here. White's about to win back his piece and will be a pawn up. Then I found 17...Bxf2+! If 17.Kxf2 then 17...Qc5+ and I can save my light-squared bishop. My opponent played 18.Qxf2 and I got out of the mess with even material. This game should have been a draw, but I misplayed the endgame.

Bedell (1966) - Kilgore (1826)
Black to move

I managed to win a piece after 21...Nxd4 22.Bxd4 Qg6 23.g3 Qd3 24.Re3 (24.Qb2 is better, but allowing my queen to f3 is not an easy thing to do) Qxd4. Confident that I would now beat this 1966 player, I responded to 25.Rae1 with 25...Qxa4?? whereupon he equalized with 26.Qxc8! Ouch. I'll skip the next part where I donated a queen to the cause. One of my worst chess moments ever.

Cano (1866) - Kilgore (1826)
Black to move

Here's a Nimzo-Indian. I played 7...e5, the main line. At the time, having never played this line before, I wondered whether 7...e5 was the right move, or if I was confusing it with another line. I calculated that Black had nice compensation if White takes on e5, and feeling rather reckless from my lackluster tournament performance so far, I decided to go for it and at least go down fighting. The game continued 8.dxe5 Nc6 9.Nf3 Bf5 (the point of 7...e5) 10.Qb3 Na5 11.Qa4+ c6 12.cxd5 Qxd5 13.Be3 Nc4 14.Bd4 b5 15.Qd1.

Cano (1866) - Kilgore (1826)
Black to move after 15.Qd1

Now who wouldn't love this type of play with the Black pieces? Later my opponent offered a draw in a position I probably should have played on, but eager to have some positive score where I actually played, I agreed to the draw.

Gary Southerland

2005-08-25T07:50:00.000-05:00

The Georgia chess community lost a long-time chess teacher and tournament director last week. Gary Southerland passed away in his sleep. I did not know Gary very well, but I'd seen him at all the GCA tournaments and spoken with him a few times. The next issue of Georgia Chess magazine will remember Gary. The upcoming Georgia Class Championship is also being named the Rueben Hand, Gary Southerland Memorial. He clearly had a passion for chess, and he will be missed.

Memorial Service Information (to be held August 30)
Newspaper Obituary

Dynamic Play

2005-08-12T16:02:00.000-05:00

Consider the following three positions:

Slav
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3

Open Catalan
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Nf3

Semi-Open Catalan
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Nf3 Be7 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0

What do they all have in common?

A main line move in each position is ...dxc4. What's going on here? Why is Black voluntarily giving White the center by removing that nice pawn on d5 which controls e4?

The answer is time.

In the Slav position, Black wants to develop his light-squared bishop before playing ...e6, but to do so immediately would invite cxd5 followed by Qb3 and Black is in trouble on the queenside light squares. In all three cases, it will take a few moves for White to recapture the c-pawn (in the Catalan positions White has to do so without the light-squared bishop since he wants to fianchetto it). While White is busy getting his pawn back, Black has a little extra time to develop his queenside and bring his pieces to active squares. Sometimes White will truly gambit the pawn and bet that the dynamic activity he gets will more than make up for Black's measly one-pawn advantage.

Is Black's position so cramped that he has to give up the center just for a few tempi? Can't he find a way to develop his pieces and retain the central tension? Won't Black just be worse without any lasting advantage for giving up the center? What is this dynamic compensation that Black receives?

Will you give up a structural/static advantage (or accept a structural/static weakness) for temporary dynamic play? This is a difficult concept to truly grasp and have the confidence and technique to use. After all, if you let your dynamic advantage fade away you're just left with a structural, long-term weakness.

I reached this position in a tournament game:

Kilgore - Tillis 2004

Black has just played 7...h6. In case you don't recognize the position, it was also reached in Deep Blue - Kasparov 1997, a game which Kasparov quickly lost. I knew immediately that I was supposed to play 8.Nxe6! White sacrifices material for dynamic compensation in the form of Black's king getting stuck in the middle and a long-lasting initiative. But I sat there and thought for about 15 minutes. A single thought kept going through my head. "Do I have the technique to make this dynamic compensation count?" I finally decided that I would never forgive myself if I chickened out, so I played 8.Nxe6! There's no forced mate or winning back of the material. If I let Black untangle himself, I'm simply down the material.

What would you do?

Do you like to play dynamic chess?

I drew the above game, after winning back the material plus a little more, but in mutual time trouble with a fairly balanced position I played it safe and offered a draw (one thing I am good at in chess is blundering in time trouble). I was still satisfied with the game on some level because I did maintain the initiative for a long time and eventually converted it into a material gain.

Yes, playing dynamic chess is scary, but it's also fun. And I believe it's an essential part of becoming a stronger player at some point.

Into the Lion's Den

2005-08-08T12:26:00.000-05:00

How do you play a superior opponent?

I'm talking about someone rated way above you. 400+ points above you.

Do you play cautiously, trying to survive for as many moves as possible, praying for a draw?

Do you try to make the game as boring as possible, and hope to wear out your opponent?

Do you recklessly go for the kill, figuring that since you'll lose anyway you might as well have some fun?

Or is your approach more subtle, where you basically try to play your best, but:

- You play more conservatively, trying to keep it safe, avoiding complications for fear your opponent can navigate them better.

- You welcome complications, figuring there's more chances for your opponent to mess up.

One thing's for sure: Your higher-rated opponent wants to win. They won't be happy with a draw. Many times this translates into them taking unnecessary risks and making mistakes.

The 2005 Atlanta Chess Center Championship is August 19-21, and it is a little unusual in that the Open section goes all the way down to 1800. This means I'd be playing in the Open section and potentially facing players I've only seen on the upper tables until now.

I've only ever played in an Open section once before, at the 58th Annual Tennessee Open last year. Now that was a blast. Rated 1691 at the time, I beat two experts and gave a FIDE Master a rough time in a long game I eventually lost. I went into each game believing I could beat them all (well, to be honest, I was too nervous at the start of my game with the FM to believe much of anything, so nervous I accidentally knocked over two of my pieces on one of my opening moves!). This was also during the peak of my tactics bootcamp training.

While it's still up in the air as to whether I'll play this upcoming tournament (still recovering from bronchitis, and I don't want to play unless I feel 100%), I can't help but feel an extra element of excitement at the thought of so-called mis-matched pairings in the early rounds of these Open tournaments, because every now and then you get an upset or two.

Peach State WoW

2005-07-15T09:13:00.000-05:00

The 2005 Peach State Open is next weekend, July 22-24, and I'll be playing in it.

What chess study and playing have I done since Emory?

Well, I'm afraid I've been sucked into the World of Warcraft, an MMORPG, affectionately known as Warcrack.

At least finally the age old question can be answered: Is Warcraft suitable training for weekend Swiss tournaments?

I'll let you know.

Not me, but you get the idea.

How To Lose To a Grandmaster in 22 Moves

2005-06-25T14:34:00.000-05:00

GM Susan Polgar gave a simul last night in Stone Mountain Georgia (just north of Atlanta). This was the first time I've played a GM, much less a world class GM, and it was a lot of fun. I believe she won all the games, and we had some strong players from the House of Pain there to play.

Check out Susan's blog from June 21-25, 2005 for posts with photos of her visit to Atlanta.

You can see how she demolished me here.

Atlanta Chess Center

2005-06-17T13:03:00.000-05:00

The Atlanta Chess Center is the place in Georgia to play in USCF tournaments. Known as The House of Pain by its regulars, they have finally gotten something resembling a real web site up and running. Yay!

http://www.atlantachessclub.com/

This is the End

2005-06-16T09:29:00.000-05:00

I've been watching IM Timothy Taylor's 5-part series on How to Defeat the Weaker Player, and the final article has arrived. And this one covers endgame play. This may be my favorite article of the bunch, for many times it will work against the stronger player.

Taylor spells out the need to study endgames very convincingly:

Let’s say you get no attack (HOW TO DEFEAT THE WEAKER PLAYER 2); let’s say you get no special opening advantage (HOW TO DEFEAT THE WEAKER PLAYER 3); let’s say your experience gets you nowhere in the middlegame (HOW TO DEFEAT THE WEAKER PLAYER 4); then all is not lost, for the ending is the most difficult part of the game, and it’s the hardest part of chess to play well without experience.

I can't tell you how many times I've played games like that. No opening advantage (or it fizzled out). No killer tactics. No big middlegame advantage. Pieces trade down. No major activity by anybody. Draw? Sure.

I remember one blitz tournament game (out of the two blitz tournaments I've ever played in), where I had a K+P vs K. I saw right away it was a dead draw. But my excitable opponent didn't understand the opposition and I soon promoted the pawn. Most endgames aren't that simple. Many times you need to visualize a winning endgame after a forced sequence of trades. Here's an example from a fairly recent tournament of mine:

Cope (1985) vs Kilgore (1741)

White has just played 30.Red3?? Black can now force play into a winning endgame. Can you find it? The solution is here.

I still feel that I have a lot to work on for my endgame (don't we all?), and that many of my "boring draws" can turn into wins if I become much better in endgame play.

My current favorite endgame books are:

Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual

Fundamental Chess Endings

Curse of Emory

2005-06-15T07:48:00.000-05:00

I played at the Emory Castle Grand Prix tournament for the second year in a row. And once again turned in a poor performance, scoring 2 out of 5 points. 2 out of 5 might not sound so bad, until you realize that I was playing in the U2000 section, and all of my opponents were B players playing up!

Round 1 - Paul Davis (1756), draw. A Sicilian Moscow where I felt I had a slight edge through most of the game, but was unable to convert it to a win. Paul is one tough defender.

Round 2 - Bryan Tillis (1647), I lost. A Glek Four Knights where I turned down a draw offer, found a neat tactic that should lead to a win if I had found the followup tactic. But I didn't, and after playing my last 10+ moves with 1 second on my clock, I finally resigned in a lost endgame. Great job by Bryan who never gave up.

Round 3 - Madhu Nair (1623), I won. A Spanish Berlin (without the queen trade) where I missed a simple tactic that almost got me into real trouble, but I found the sharpest continuation that presented all sorts of problems to solve for my opponent. He missed the best continuation and I soon traded down to a winning endgame.

Round 4 - Joshua Mu (1648), I lost. An Exchange Alekhine. Little kids who can't sit still in their chairs with a 1648 rating are not supposed to understand the subtleties of positional pawn sacrifices! Yet Joshua did, and I fell for it, munching a pawn and then struggling to survive the rest of the game. Joshua piled on the pressure and converted to a nice win. Very impressive.

Round 5 - Myles MacDonald (1648), draw. A double-fianchetto Reti where I forgot to consider such matters as pawn structure, and walked into an IQP position. Still, it had been played before by strong players, so I went with it, aiming for dynamic piece play, controlling the square in front of the IQP, and always looking for an opportune moment to push the pawn. But it quickly turned into a hanging pawn position when I got away with a major bluff: Myles made a move to prevent my pawn push, and I pushed it anyway. There were tactics if he munched the pawn incorrectly, but one line we both missed allowed him to safely keep the pawn with no compensation for me.

Lessons Learned

The amount of time I've studied chess in the last two months? Zero. And it's showing. I also haven't played any, except for a weekend tournament a month ago. My non-chess interests have exploded recently (playing guitar, which I used to do professionally, digital home recording, and World of Warcraft). I'm in the process of putting together a realistic study-plan to try and keep my chess muscles exercised.
A week of chess camp inspires players to perform well in the tournament. Maybe I should take part in the chess camp. It's mainly kids, but some adults do participate. Taking a week off from work to receive training by GMs and IMs sound like a blast.
It doesn't matter if all my opponents were B-class players. Sure, my rating will take a dive, possibly back into B, but I should be able to beat players below 1650 if I deserve to be in A. I'll come back again next year, until I finally break the Curse of Emory!

WGM Anna Zatonskih (co-winner)

I could say my poor performance was due to being distracted by WGM Anna Zatonskih, sitting in my direct line of sight several times, but the truth is, I sucked at chess. The open section was won by WGM Zatonskih and GM Becerra.

2005 Emory Castle Grand Prix

2005-06-08T10:47:00.000-05:00

IM Jonathan Schroer, last year's winner

This coming weekend is the Fifth Annual Emory Castle Grand Prix. It culminates a week-long chess camp, where students (mostly kids, but adults can participate, too) receive intense chess-training for a week. Imagine receiving chess lessons from a variety of GMs and IMs all week long, and then playing in a Swiss weekend tournament afterward.

GM Julio Becerra, playing blitz...blindfolded

This is my second time playing in this tournament (I haven't signed up for the chess camp yet). Last year was tough. All my opponents were young kids whose ratings were deflated (there's a whole controversy about scholastic players having deflated ratings compared to the rest of us -- I try to stay out of it) and their brains were on fire from all the chess instruction they'd just received. I scored a dismal 1.5 out of 5 and lost a bunch of rating points. And from some other adult players I've talked to, their experience was very similar to mine. So I figure it's time to get back on the proverbial horse and jump right back in. Worst case is getting to watch a bunch of well-known chess players battling it out.

WGM Martha Fierro

The camp instructors include: GM Yuri Shulman, GM Julio Becerra, GM Gregory Serper, GM Boris Kreiman, GM John Fedorowicz, WGM Martha Fierro, WGM Anna Zatonskih, IM Carlos Perdomo, IM Jon Schroer, FM Alex Dunne, FM Andrew Whatley, NM Richard Francisco, Gary Southerland and Jim Mundy.

2005 Georgia State Championship

2005-05-27T06:30:00.000-05:00

The Georgia State Championship was held this year at Emory University from April 29 to May 1. We had a decent turnout, fairly close to last year's numbers.

FM Miles Ardaman

FM Miles Ardaman won the championship section.

Lester Bedell won the U2000 section.

Hartley Chang won the U1600 section.

The GCA elections were held between the 4th and 5th rounds for the "member-at-large" position. Surprisingly, only one of the candidates, Steve Schneider, showed up to give a speech. Guess who won.

Steve Schneider

I played in the U2000 section and didn't have so great of a tournament.

My first game was quick and easy. It lasted 30 minutes, of which I spent 2 minutes on my 13th and final move (all my previous moves were known theory).

My second game was a Moller Attack where again my opponent wasn't up on the main line theory, and I was soon up a free pawn.

My third game was a bizarre Center-Game against the U2000 champ Lester Bedell, and I thought I handled the opening and early middlegame quite well. Then I made a few innacuracies and White equalized. Finally, amidst extreme fatigue I made a stupid one-move blunder and threw away the game.

In my fourth game I faced the French Rubinstein, and even though I managed to stay awake throughout this exciting opening, it resulted in a draw as Black had most likely planned.

My fifth game was another howler. I played well and then got tired and missed multiple opportunities to easily win, finally blundering the endgame and I lost.

I attribute the fatigue on my 3rd and 5th games to not having fully recovered from my flu a month ago, but there are still some valuable lessons in all of my games, so it was worth it.

The crosstables are here.

Three of my games are amongst those here.

Xiao Cheng Wins Scholarship

2005-05-26T07:39:00.000-05:00

Xiao Cheng
(Photo by Daniel Lucas)

Awards Given to Winners of "SuperNationals" Competition In Nashville Over the Weekend RICHARDSON, Texas (April 11, 2005) — The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) awarded three separate full-tuition-and-fees, four-year scholarships to the top performers at the “SuperNationals” of chess competition held in Nashville over the weekend. The winners of the scholarships, each of which has a cash value of about $48,000 to non-Texas residents, were Joel Banawa, a 15-year-old from Los Angles, Ray Robson, a 10-year-old from Largo, Fla., and Xiao Cheng, a 15-year-old from Alpharetta, Ga. The only stipulation is that the winners must meet UTD’s rigorous entrance requirements at matriculation.

From GCA Web Site.

HB Global Chess Challenge Results

2005-05-23T12:34:00.000-05:00

Lester Bedell scores highest of all people I've ever played with 7 points in the U2000 section.

Congrats, Lester!

Here's how players I've seen in Georgia tournaments did in this 9-round tournament:

Open
GM Wojtkiewicz, Alek - 6 points
lost to WGM Anna Zatonskih in round 2
lost to GM Gata Kamsky in round 8

FM Ardaman, Miles Ferdi - 6 points
lost to GM Alexander Stripunsky in round 2
beat GM Gregory Serper in round 7

FM Muhammad, Stephen A - 5.5 points
drew with GM Alexander Stripunsky in round 4
drew with GM Alexander Shabalov in round 5
beat GM Igor Glek in round 6
lost to GM Joel Benjamin in round 9

GM Becerra, Julio - 5 points

IM Burnett, Ronald - 5 points

Cheng, Xiao - 4.5 points
lost to GM Joel Benjamin in round 1

Gulamali, Kazim - 4.5 points
drew with GM John Fedorowicz in round 1
lost to GM Zviad Izoria (winner of open section) in round 3

GM Fedorowicz, John - 4 points
drew with Atlanta's own Kazim Gulamali in round 1

Pohl, Klaus - 4 points

FM Andrews, Todd D - 2.5 points
lost to GM Joel Benjamin in round 3
lost to WGM Anna Zatonskih in round 7

U2200

Francisco, Richard T - 6.5 points
White, Lawrence - 6 points
De Peaza, Terrence - 5.5 points
Widjaja, Muliadi - 5.5 points
Brookshear, Tim - 4.5 points

U2000
Bedell, Lester B - 7 points

U1800
Hoffa, Danny E - 5 points
Raman, Shanker - 4 points
Bledsoe, Spencer - 3.5 points
Burrus, Don A. - 2.5 points

HB Global Chess Challenge

2005-05-19T06:56:00.000-05:00

Maurice Ashley's super-tournament with a guaranteed $500,000 prize fund started yesterday in Minnesota. Looks like a lot of fun. I just can't see spending the money and time off from work at this time to make the trip. Someday maybe.

Some people I know from (or have seen in) Georgia tournaments who are playing in this tournament are:

No.	Name	Rtg.	Rnd1	Score
53	Stephen Muhammad	2445	X	1.0
67	Todd Andrews	2404	W209	1.0
71	Miles Ardaman	2390	W213	1.0
139	Ron Burnett	2444	L100	0.0
168	Xiao Cheng	2249	L21 (GM Joel Benjamin)	0.0
192	Klaus Pohl	2214	L45	0.0

Open

No.	Name	Rtg.	Rnd1	Score
13	Terrence De Peaza	2157	W141	1.0
54	Muliadi Widjaja	2028	W122	1.0
151	Tim Brookshear	2023	L23	0.0
157	Lawrence White	2006	L29	0.0

U2200

No.	Name	Rtg.	Rnd1	Score
11	Danny Hoffa	1780	W179	1.0
27	Don Burrus	1757	W191	1.0
54	Shanker Raman	1723	W213	1.0
96	Spencer Bledsoe	1630	X	1.0

U1800

Sorry if I missed anyone. Hundreds of names to sift through.

Friday Cat Blogging

2005-05-06T09:18:00.000-05:00

My co-worker rolled over to the other side of the bed one morning and guess where she discovered her cat was sleeping?

In the fine tradition of Friday cat blogging, here are some random thoughts having nothing to do with Georgia tournament chess:

A Big Hello to some great friends from long ago: Clay, Brian, Curt, Jason. Just heard from them recently and I feel twenty years younger. We had the best rock band for a bunch of young teenagers. Spectrum forever!

Weird Clocks seem to be everywhere. From a prototype digital clock to Clocky, the digital alarm clock from MIT that intelligently finds a new hiding place each morning so you're forced to get out of bed to turn him off, to the creepy Death Clock.

The Purpose of the Ninja is to flip out and kill people. (Sound warning)

Infinite cats! Just what the Internet was made for.

Congrats to Fussy Lizard

2005-04-26T08:27:00.000-05:00

Fussy Lizard (aka Chris) just finished the MDLM program!

I know personally what a grueling ordeal the program is, and Chris made it through with very impressive stats. Go on over to his blog and congratulate him.

Rude Chess Players

2005-04-21T07:50:00.000-05:00

Ever encounter a rude chess player? I've heard some wild stories, but I find that 99% of chess players I meet in tournaments are very nice and professional. I've never had anyone try to cheat, such as letting go of a piece and then quickly grabbing it again, claiming they never let it go (as Kasparov did in his first encounter with Judit Polgar at Linares 1994).

Most Common Disturbance

Two players start analyzing a game after finishing in the tournament room while others are still playing. They usually talk softly, but it disturbs everyone until someone finally SSSSSHHHHHHHHHH!!!'s them.

Most Amusing Disturbance

A young teenage girl had apparently finished her game early and was playing "step on the other person's foot" and giggling with her friend, ten feet from my board. I looked up and politely said, "Please," and they left.

Most Annoying TD Experience

The TDs for the tournaments I play in are top notch and very professional. I tend to presume they have ultimate authority and abide by whatever decisions they make. When I was 14, my Dad and I played in a tournament (some small club) and my Dad won Top Unrated and a trophy. Only the TD decided to give his friend the trophy, and fed my Dad a bunch of double talk. My Dad threatened to report him to the USCF. He gave my Dad the trophy.

As far as my own personal most annoying TD experience? It was mild. My opponent was 20 minutes late to the game, and when he arrived his father was with him and told me to add the 20 minutes back to his son's clock. I refused. We started playing. A little while later the TD shows up with Dad and tells me to add the 20 minutes. Apparently the father and son had prearranged something with the TD. That's fine -- nothing wrong with that. But the TD should have told me before or at the start of the game what was going on.

Rudest Player

The rudest player I ever encountered (and this is mild compared to some stories I've heard) was two pawns up, but I managed to find a forcing sequence that led to a perpetual check. After repeating the position three times, I made my move, said "Draw?" and pressed my clock. My opponent ignored me. We made a few more moves. Now this was one of my earlier tournament games as an adult, and I should have just stopped the clocks and gotten the TD right then. But I looked up at my opponent, who was way ahead on time, and I said, "Are you going to acknowledge a draw by repetition?" My opponent said, "You'll run out of time before I will." Apparently he was content to repeat the position for hundreds of moves and wait for my flag to fall! I got up (I didn't stop the clocks, which I should have, but I had plenty of time for what I was about to do) and got the TD. The TD took one look at the position and said it was a draw. My opponent stormed out of the tournament room.

I Don't Mind Losing, But I Do Mind Sucking

2005-04-11T06:52:00.000-05:00

"I don't mind losing, but I do mind sucking," was Derek Grimmell's comment after he missed a mate in two and drew a tournament game. He recounts this painful memory in an entertaining article at Chess Cafe where he reviews three books and a CD about chess tactics (requires the free Adobe Acrobat reader).

He also shows us a rather painful high-level encounter between GM Hikaru Nakamura and FM Stephen Muhammad:

Nakamura - Muhammad

Black just played 27...Ra8-b8?? All of you on the MDLM plan should find Nakamura's response within three seconds. Grimmell's article has the solution.

I know most players prefer to only share their brilliant victories, but in keeping with the theme of this post, here are some of my worst tournament blunders.

Holmes (1500) - Kilgore (1680)

I've just played 26...Rd8?? to add a defender to my d-pawn. My opponent quickly replied with

27.Qh4+

Free rook. Yum. Suprisingly, I later achieved a rare x-ray attack and got a draw by perpetual check. Better yet in the drawn position I had a forcing mate combination, but I was so thrilled to see the draw I didn't look any further.

Kilgore (1763) - Shaw (1678)

I'm already in trouble with this game, but it's playable. 23.Rd3 is probably best, but instead I wanted to trade down and played

23.Re3??

I had only looked at 23...R1xe3 but of course my opponent played

23...R8xe3

winning a whole rook and the game.

Moon (1308) - Kilgore (1677)

This game got me to swear off G/45 tournaments. I'm a comfortable piece up with an easily won game. So I decided to simplify things by forcing a queen trade.

40...Qd5??

My young opponent got the most amazing smile on his face and played

41.Ne7+

and you can stick a royal fork in this game because it's over.

No One Here Gets Out Alive

2005-04-05T16:14:00.000-05:00

Continuing on with my plugs for IM Timothy Taylor's articles on How to Defeat the Weaker Player, he now has Part 3: No One Here Gets Out Alive. This month covers a weaker player's lack of opening knowledge. Sorry, but this is a waste in terms of instructional value. A player strong enough to exploit an opponent's leaving theory doesn't need to be told any of this.

Of more interest at Silman's site this month, however, is a review of an interesting new book, Experts vs. The Sicilian. Reviewed by IM John Donaldson, this book offers a White repertoire in the Open Sicilian. This stuff isn't easy to find. You have the standard Beating the Sicilian 3, by GM John Nunn and GM Joe Gallagher, but beyond that I've only found very restrictive repertoires, like GM Nigel Davies Taming the Sicilian, in which he recommends fianchettoing the light-squared bishop whenever possible -- not exactly the system to strike fear into your opponents. Here's another look at this interesting new book and a review by Carsten Hansen.

Flu: 1 Me: 0

2005-03-31T16:45:00.000-05:00

Ah well, a nasty flu got me earlier this week and I won't be playing in the Southern Congress. Still quite weak and sleeping close to 18 hours per day. I tried ignoring the threat and seeking counterplay, but this is one tough bug. Even refused my draw offer yesterday.

Preparing for The Southern Congress

2005-03-25T12:19:00.000-05:00

I'm currently preparing for the 36th Annual Southern Congress, or is it the 35th? They called last year's the 35th, and they're calling this year's the 35th, but I'm going out on a limb and calling this year's the 36th. Has it been a year already? Last year in this tournament I was rated 1689 and managed to lose 11 rating points with a 2½ score (out of 5), and one of those match points was a full-point bye in the last round. Now I'm unofficially rated 1840 (gained another point last night -- woohoo!), and I've survived tactics boot camp.

I've adopted more of a GM Michael Adams approach to preparation (when he was an early Grandmaster). Mickey's idea of good preparation was watching a Jean-Claude Van Damme movie and having a beer. I don't really like Van-Damme movies (I mean if you want to watch a martial arts movie starring someone who can't act, at least go for Steven Seagal, who could take out Van-Damme in a heartbeat). So I watched Underworld last night instead. And I'm not a big fan of beer either, so instead I sipped on my Starbucks Coffee. Yum. But hey, it's kinda like Mickey's approach, don't you think?

The House of Pain

2005-03-17T07:45:00.001-05:00

No, I'm not talking about Helga's S&M business; I'm talking about The Atlanta Chess Center. Known by the local regulars as The House of Pain, because visiting IMs and GMs who come here looking for some easy cash in a weekend Swiss tournament frequently leave with their wallets lighter and their egos bruised.

GM Aleks Wojtkiewicz

For example, in December 2003 GM Aleks Wojtkiewicz and GM Petr Kiriakov came to Atlanta to play in the 33rd Annual Atlanta Open. The only two GMs in the tournament, they were clear favorites to win. Local expert Anthony Ritz (2166) drew with both GM Wojtkiewicz (2653) and FM Grigoriy Kapranov (2396). Georgia's top-rated player IM Carlos Perdomo (2459) drew with GM Kiriakov (2645) to win 1st place in the tournament. FM Kapranov also lost to both scholastic star Xiao Chang (2096) and Brandon Hutchinson (2002).

GM Petr Kiriakov vs IM Carlos Perdomo

The Chess Drum describes Atlanta players as a "scrappy bunch" whose "monthly 5-round Swiss tournaments are always competitive." In this article, you can read how the House of Pain regulars scored well at the Emory Castle Grand Prix, where local David Vest (2162) beat IM Irina Krush (2460).

Even though I'm still a class player, it's nice to know I'm paying my dues at Atlanta's infamous House of Pain.

Welcome to the A Class

2005-03-16T19:53:00.000-05:00

Yay, it finally happened. I officially made it into the A class. Now my goal is to reach expert and break 2000.

My First Annotated Flash Game

2005-03-09T21:15:00.000-05:00

I'm playing around with a neat little program called Camtasia, that makes it super-easy to capture any part of the screen in real-time along with narration, and then edit everything afterward. My first attempt is an annotated game I played earlier this year.

Please give it a look and let me know what you think (of the software, and even of the game if you'd like). You'll need the free Flash player if you don't already have it. If anyone doesn't have Flash, I'd love to hear what happens when you try to watch the game before downloading Flash. (The game is about 1.66 MB, so dialup users be forewarned.)

Thanks!

How To Defeat a Weaker Player

2005-03-08T12:45:00.000-05:00

Playing weaker players can be frustrating. Sometimes it's easy. You just wait for them to make a mistake and they usually do. But sometimes they are having a good day, and they aren't making the usual mistakes. Suddenly you find yourself scambling to make sure you at least draw! I talked about this in a recent post. IM Timothy Taylor has released his next article in the series of how to beat a weaker player. He says there are four basic ways:

Attack
Opening knowledge
Experience
Endgame

In his current article, he talks about the first way, Attack. I'm very interested in seeing what he has to say about this subject. Attacking makes sense. The idea is that a weaker player won't be able to defend against the stronger player's knowledge of how to attack and tactical strength. There's also a psychological element here. A weaker player may be defeated well before the position is lost, because of the pressure of an attack from a stronger player. But I'm curious as to what IM Taylor has to say about the other three ways. Don't you just have those qualities or not? How can you use them in a way that you wouldn't ordinarily use them anyway?

Georgia Chess - March/April 2005

2005-03-07T15:01:00.000-05:00

My Georgia Chess magazine finally arrived in the mail today! The GCA (located in Georgia) sent it out bulk mail on February 14, and I (also located in Georgia) just now got it. Bulk mailing gives new meaning to the term "snail mail". On the cover are the winners of the 2004 Georgia Class Championship, held November 2004. Chris Wiley (middle row, right) won the C section, Shomari Mosi (bottom row, left) won the D section, and Hartley Chiang (bottom row, right) won the U1200 section.

I played in the B section that tournament and did not do so well. It seems to be my destiny that whenever a really nice trophy is being awarded, I will not do well ;)

Kazim Gulamali won the Expert section, which surprisingly only had three players.

Joe Couvillion won the A section. Joe is really tough. I've lost two games to him so far.

Eddie Shaw won the B section. I wish I could have given Eddie a better game this tournament, but he played well and deserves the title.

Also covered in this issue is the 2004 Atlanta Open (won by FM Todd Andrews).

A fairly new tactics problem page contains examples from Georgia tournament games. I'm the proud contributer of two moments from my games where I missed a tactic :)

Mike Mulford gives us his typical high-quality book reviews of Secrets of Chess Transformations, Play the 4.f3 Nimzo-Indian, and Starting Out: The Queen's Indian.

And it looks like I made it into the Georgia Top 100 List at last at #94, based on the December 2004 USCF supplement.

Georgia Chess magazine won the 2004 Best State Magazine award, and it's a must-have for the Georgia tournament player.

2005 Atlanta Championship

2005-02-28T08:54:00.000-05:00

The 2005 Atlanta Championship just finished and had a moderate turnout. FM Todd Andrews from Tennessee and FM Miles Ardaman from Georgia were there, along with the usual suspects from the Atlanta Chess Center where the tournament was held. I played up in the A-section again (the largest section in the tournament), and scored 2½ out of 5, gaining some rating points. I noticed last night after I got home that my out-of-date USCF rating has dropped one point, apparently because some games my opponents played previously finally got registered, and they recalculate everyone's rating from that point forward. With the huge delay the USCF has in updating tournaments and ratings (I have 4 tournaments they haven't yet posted, going back to last November), it's a wonder anyone is playing in the section they should be in. The USCF is becoming like Microsoft in the sense that everyone loves to put in a dig, such as Mig's Daily Dirt. Anyway, back to the tournament. The only incident that stood out was in the last round, when I believe in the row of tables behind me, a kid who was leaning his chair back leaned a little too far and crashed to the floor!

Bye City and Rating Mismatches

2005-02-25T08:37:00.000-05:00

I'm playing in the 2005 Atlanta Championship this weekend, starting tonight. I'll be playing up in the A section for the fourth time. If you're really bored, you can track my progress (updated daily) here. So far, every time I've played up in the A section, my first round has been a full-point bye. I drive over 30 miles to find out I won't be playing. So that's the big question for tonight? Will I play or will I go? Place your bets now.

It'll be hard to match my performance in the last tournament I played up in the A section. I scored clear 1st place (and everyone else in the tiny section also got full-point byes). I've noticed that playing people rated far above you has certain advantages. They feel they have to win, and thus won't play for a draw. This provides far more opportunities for mistakes on their part. In that tournament there was only one game that I felt I outplayed my opponent from the beginning. The other games were lost by my opponents blundering in games they could have drawn. In the Tennessee Open last year I beat two experts -- well, they beat themselves actually, presumably because they felt they must win against a B-player.

Unfortunately, this principle also applies when you're playing people rated a good bit below you. They'll be happy with a draw, and you probably feel that you must win. My embarrassing performance at last year's Emory Castle Grand Prix is a good example. Four of my opponents were young kids, having just completed a week-long intensive chess camp, led by GMs and IMs. I'd like to say they must have been inspired from the chess camp, and that scholastic players have deflated ratings (all of which is true), but in fact I just played horribly. Incidentally, this was my last tournament before the tactics boot camp effects started kicking in.

So what's the best way to play against a much-stronger opponent? And how should you play against a much-weaker opponent? IM Timothy Taylor will tell us how to defeat a weaker player in upcoming articles. I know some players (master-level) who just try to play solidly and wait for their weaker opponent to make a mistake. And I've seen these same players start to get very worried when their opponents don't seem to be making any mistakes. Some stronger players aim for a complicated position where they can blow away their opponents tactically. When playing against stronger players, I definitely feel an absence of pressure I normally feel, because hey -- I'm expected to lose! And now that I feel more confident with my tactical ability, I'll happily enter into crazy complications with stronger players, and so far, I've held my own. So personally, I just try to play good chess, regardless of who I'm playing. I even prefer not to know their rating beforehand.

Thought Process

2005-02-20T23:01:00.000-05:00

I was inspired to write this after reading Fussy Lizard's post in which he asked a question about thought process. An OTB thinking process is something I have struggled with a lot. At first I tried elaborate thought processes, but like Fussy Lizard I'd always revert back to my old ways after a few moves. After analyzing my tournament games, one thing I've noticed is that I will tend to miss things if I'm distracted by an idea that I did see. Two quick examples:

My opponent (Black) just played ...g7-g6. I thought, "He wants to retreat his bishop back to g7 because Ng4 will threaten to capture it or divert it from the a1-h8 diagonal." And I stopped thinking about his move, and missed a game-winning tactic. Can you find it? Solution

My opponent (White) has apparently just hung a knight on c7. Suspecting a trap, I calculated what would happen if I took the knight, and saw that I could defend against his "threat". And I stopped thinking about it and took the knight. He then showed me the "other" threat that caused me to resign immediately. Do you see how he can win if I take the knight? Solution

In both cases my mind latched onto something and I dismissed further investigation. In the first example, had anyone said, "White has a game-winning tactic here," I could have found it. In the second example had anyone said, "Does White have any other threats?" I could have found it.

Noticing this pattern led me to a simple idea: Always ask, "What else?"

In the first example, "What else has changed because of my opponent's move?" Well, ...g7-g6 removes a defender of the f6-bishop. Is there any way I can exploit this? It's already protected once by the e8-knight. Oh look, Ncd5 attacks the f6-bishop twice and also attacks the queen. Let's calculate some variations.

In the second example, "What else (i.e., forcing moves) can my opponent play?" It has to be forcing since he's sacrificed a piece.

What else... what else... what else...

So I try to keep things simple. My thought process outline goes something like this (always asking what else!):

1) Understand my opponent's move. Understand his idea(s) and what all has changed by the move.

2) Any tactics?

3) Make a strategic plan

4) After deciding on a move, do a final blunder-check.

I'm leaving a lot out here, stuff I already naturally do. But this is the structure I try to impose when I feel I need to. I leave a lot of room in the thought process to go with an idea and see where it takes me. Sometimes I find the right wave and everything flows naturally, and no intentional thought process is needed. So the other area of focus for me is physical conditioning, which includes being able to relax and slow down (while still remaining focused). This seems to help me find those nice waves more often.

Karpov Coming to Nashville

2005-02-17T07:32:00.000-05:00

GM Anatoly Karpov is coming to the 2005 SuperNationals Chess Championship in Nashville, Tennessee on April 10, 2005.

Chess, Music and Programming

2005-02-16T09:18:00.000-05:00

I love to play chess. I've also played the guitar since I was ten years old, and almost chose music as my profession, but settled instead for the more secure job as a computer programmer. I was surprised to learn that many programmers are also musicians, and I wonder now if many chess players are also musicians. Anela Pasovic has noticed a common thread between chess and music, and here's a few games of musicians who play chess. Some rock musicians play chess between concerts. In fact, the history of chess has some first-rate musicians. Many have debated whether chess is a game, sport, art, or science. I say it's all of these things. Chess lends itself to creativity, as does music (and programming). While some consider chess a metaphor for self-transformation, for me the artistic aspect is more like starting off with a blank canvas. Two artists then begin to slowly create the work, each stroke defining it a little more, removing more and more possibility and actualizing a specific shape. The moves on the board are just an outer record of the dynamic interaction of creative ideas that play out within the artists. I don't despise my opponents and desire to crush them; I try to enjoy a creative process that always produces a unique result.

Tactics Boot Camp

2005-02-11T11:50:00.000-05:00

A few months ago I completed the most intense tactics training program I have ever seen. The program is from Michael de la Maza's book, Rapid Chess Improvement. (You can get the same information for free in two online articles by de la Maza: 400 Point in 400 Days, parts one and two.) You can also check out an entire blogging group, Man de la Maza, who are working on the program. First let me say that de la Maza presents tactics as the sole solution for class players, and while that claim is rather silly, a firm foundation in tactics is required in order to improve. Fighting for a weak square or aiming for a knight outpost won't be very productive if you drop a piece along the way. But to ignore endgames and strategy and only focus on tactics is not the best long-term strategy. Michael went from a Class D player to an Expert in around two years, which is quite a phenomenal accomplishment, but he now appears to be stuck and hasn't played since winning the U2000 section of the 29th World Open.

For those not wishing to read his book or the articles, here's a quick summary of the training program. After spending a few weeks on chess visualization exercises, select a collection of about 1000 tactics problems. I chose the excellent CT-ART, as recommended by the author. Now set up a training schedule, where you will do all 1000+ problems in 64 days, followed by all 1000 problems in 32 days, then 16 days, then 8, 4, 2, and 1 day. At first spend no more than 5 minutes trying to solve a problem, and 5 minutes studying the solution. Cut that time in half (down to 30 seconds) for each subsequent cycle. A big part of the program is to stick to the schedule, and never miss a day. If you're sick or you're playing in a tournament, you never miss a day. This is a huge committment, requiring many hours of your time, and your brain will hurt!

I followed a schedule very close to that recommended by the book. I was sick and I played in several tournaments during that time, and I stuck to the schedule. Did it help my chess? Most definitely, yes. When I started the program my rating was in the low 1600s, and my first practical test was in the 2004 Peach State Open, held in Atlanta. I scored 4 out of 5 and tied for first in the U1800 section. Now here's the interesting part. I don't feel like I got much more "tactically aware" because of the program. I already had a good tactical eye. But this training program was building up this "tactical chess muscle" in my head. I don't know how else to describe it. When you do the program, there are many times when your head will hurt, very much like a muscle will hurt when first undertaking an exercise program. Over time, you feel the muscle strengthening, and it aches less. In the past when I played in a weekend Swiss tournament, I'd always reach a point when I'd get very tired, and my concentration would start waning, and I'd sometimes play poorly. Well, I still got tired in the Peach State Open, but my ability to concentrate stayed razor sharp! My games in the tournament were not exceptionally tactical in nature, but my concentration remained at a high level, and so I won most of my games. My performance rating was 1912. Amusingly, my only loss was due to a horrible one-move blunder I made that dropped a piece (something I rarely do).

My second practical test was a little over a month later when I played in the 58th Annual Tennessee Open (yes, I brought my laptop to the hotel so I could still do my tactics problems!). This was an open tournament, so I had to play with everyone rated above 1600. This time I beat two experts, tied for first in the U1800 prize, and got a performance rating of 2108! I definitely felt this "chess muscle" at work during my games. Perhaps my proudest game was one I lost, however, against FM Todd Andrews, rated over 2400 at the time. He happened to play the one line of the French Tarrasch that I knew 16 moves of theory for, and I achieved a very promising position in the middlegame. I then gave him a very tough fight, and I'm sure he was starting to worry that this B-class patzer was not making any serious mistakes! Alas, I finally erred near the endgame and Todd brought home the full point. Again, my other loss was due to another horrible one-move blunder in the final round against another expert. This suggests I need to work on de la Maza's final part of the program, which involves modifying your thinking process to look for tactics on each and every move.

So for all those considering or already involved in this training boot camp, I can say that for me it was successful. Just remember that tactics is a fundamental skill in chess, and not the only thing we should work on. I would imagine that D-class players would benefit even more from this type of training program, since they are generally much weaker tactically and have much more to gain. My rating is now "officially" in the mid-1700s, but after winning 1st place in the U2000 section of the 2005 Atlanta Winter Congress, it should "unofficially" be well into the 1800s. What do I do now for chess training? Actually, not that much in the way of tactics. My main areas now are physical conditioning and studying both my own and Grandmaster games. I practice tactics and endgames when I can, and I look for opening ideas in lines I've faced in my games.

$10,000 Georgian Peach Open

2005-02-09T16:50:00.000-05:00

Cajun Chess made another appearance in Georgia last weekend for the $10,000 Georgian Peach Open, which actually ended up being a $5,000 prize fund based on the weak turnout. Maybe scheduling a chess tournament on Superbowl Weekend and during a Saturday G/45 Championship at the Atlanta Chess Center wasn't such a good idea. This was my first experience with Cajun Chess, and I wasn't sure at first if the tournament would even take place. The former owner, Richard Crespo, was recently arrested by a SWAT team for kidnapping a woman he had met at one of his chess tournaments. The new owner was quick to say that the tournament would go on, and that Crespo was no longer associated with Cajun Chess. The tournament was held at the Holiday Inn in Marietta, and for the most part was run professionally.

GM Aleks Wojtkiewicz, FM (IM-elect) Stephen Muhammad, IM Ron Burnett, and other titled players were present. Of course I was playing in the U1800 section, hoping for a share of the $1700 -- oops -- make that $850 allocated to our section. And our section had a whopping five people in it, meaning byes were handed out left and right, and I was paired with the same player twice during the tournament. The rounds started on time, and the only complaint I had during play was someone pushing their baby around in a stroller as they watched games! Nothing like having a baby start making noise while you're in a tense position with less than five minutes on your clock.

The final round brought some controversy to this otherwise smoothly run tournament. I sat down knowing full well that a draw would guarantee me second place. My opponent sat down knowing full well that a draw would guarantee him first place. When the round started, my opponent played 1.e4 and offered me a draw. I accepted and we went to collect our prize money. The organizers were not happy. They were sure we had prearranged the draw (we had never agreed to any such thing beforehand), and spent a good while going through the USCF rule book, looking for any way to disqualify us. They finally concluded they had to pay us our prize money, and offered the advice, "Next time, make a few more moves. It looks better." Ah well, lessons learned.

I'll keep going to their tournaments in Georgia, because I can't get enough of tournament chess. Hopefully they'll plan their next tournament a little better and get a larger turnout.