In OmarLittle (Alexey) - Stukas, our teammate makes an interesting choice after 6...h6.  Alexey steers clear of what I might consider the natural 7.ef hxg5 8.fg Rg8 and plays, instead, 7.Bc1...  (The strangely common 7.Bd2... practically shows Black that he should play what is in that position the equalizing 7...Ne4, so I find it objectionable.) Notably, his opponent defends passively with 7...Nd7 (I think 7...Ne4 is stronger) and with 8.Qg4... Alexey is very strong.  Perhaps we should discuss the decision to seek the position after 7.Bc1 Ne4 8.Qg4 g6 9.Ne2 (or 8...g5 9.h4...)... instead of 7.ef hxg5 8.fg Rg8 9.Qh5.    While my own (defective?) intuition would have led me to prefer 7.ef, having seen this through I now think I prefer Alexey's 7.Bc1 ... even if Stukas had replied with the more aggressive 7...Ne4.  What do you guys think?

http://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=72309

http://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=72309

While we wait on the Kuku match, we might want to analyze OmarLittle (Alexey's) crush of Stukas' French Defense.  I've posted the game on Caissa for an easy link to the game.  Cut and paste the link above.

<iframe scrolling = "no" width = "400" frameborder = "0" height = "580" src="http://www.chessvideos.tv/replayer-insert.php?id=72309" style = "border: 1px solid black;"></iframe>

It looks like it will be a Sicilian for 100le...

Top rated Chess Match: Kuku2008 (2354) - 100le (2348)

Discuss this first board match as the King Stompers take on Serbia, and our own Kuku (#2 Chesshere) plays 100le (#3 Chesshere).

I will post the position periodically, if there is interest.  Everyone should comment as they choose.

Our current team:

Active Members
#	Name	Rating	Won	Lost	Drawn	Total	Timeouts	Active	score
1.	Kuku2008	2354	37	0	12	49	0	5	37
2.	paso58	2238	8	0	7	15	0	1	8
3.	XAJIK20	2104	78	12	22	112	5	12	66
4.	mavax	2065	32	18	17	67	2	9	14
5.	OmarLittle	2060	4	0	0	4	0	18	4
6.	serenjoseph	2005	34	19	9	62	0	14	15
7.	xandermell	1836	17	13	11	41	6	13	4
8.	Lemma (C)	1835	53	29	36	118	11	10	24
9.	ramakant1	1777	33	15	10	58	4	16	18
10.	Caballero	1747	63	71	19	153	0	3	-8
11.	ATAKA	1741	30	3	2	35	0	13	27
12.	roy_arav	1685	57	47	10	114	0	8	10
13.	viriol	1657	22	22	8	52	7	10	0
14.	marc104	1648	49	26	4	79	17	5	23
15.	AlBel	1586	40	21	8	69	0	7	19
16.	DimKI	1565	25	19	2	46	0	6	6
17.	BaltimorePlayer	1545	36	16	4	56	4	0	20
18.	sidra4	1539	22	33	7	62	0	14	-11
19.	pardelhix	1474	122	112	12	246	5	8	10
20.	the yid	1360	0	0	0	0	0	8	0
21.	geminine117	1316	1	6	0	7	5	9	-5
22.	Ozzie23	1205	114	83	3	200	0	4	31

Our current team

1. paso58 2217



2. Kuku2008 2142



3. XAJIK20 2096



4. mavax 2077



5. serenjoseph 1992



6. Lemma (C) 1947



7. xandermell 1883



8. Caballero 1733



9. Bluesbrother 1711



10. Juliov 1678



11. sidra4 1660



12. roy_arav1648



13. BaltimorePlayer



14. viriol 1612



15. ramakant1 1598



16. Albel 1590



17. JAhlberg 1574



18. marc104 1571



19. tuttut 1527



20. toroseduto 1504



21. fonzy185 1486



22. pardelhix 1460



23. Boardwatcher 1453



24. Ozzie23 1247



25. chris1951 1239

Alex (XAJIK20)

I wanted to highlight Alex (XAJIK20) first in this series because of the incredible contribution he has made to our team.  I met Alex in a tournament and after two very challenging games I asked him to join us -- and he agreed, to our great good fortune.  Alex is now 2051 (#3 behind only Paso58 and Mavax on our team ladder) and has compiled an astonishing team record of 49-1-1!  His +48 net team score is second only to Ozzie's +49. In answer to my inquiry, asking him to tell us about himself, this is Alex's very informative and excessively humble reply.

About myself? ... The Far East of Russia. (what you do for a living?).. Dont know)) Now I am on a \"crossroad\" (thinking what to do in the future). Some online poker (but not for living yet). IMHO-I think that a basic game of a country (region) is extremely significant. Poker in America, chess in Europe, Go (baduk) of Asian. Its not only the games, but fundamental "things". Botwinnik (outstanding), Reshevsky, Lasker...But this is is not my style. When I played better, my style was like Vasjukov, Nakamura & so on... Tal, Shirov also is great... The list of my favorite chessplayers is infinite.)).Some time ago I tried also the chess composition..( Raymond Smallian, studies, fairy chess...). I thought that Gelfand had a chance before the 1/4 of pretendent\'s match to win ( in Kazan). I was right)). Favorite openings?...)) For black- its 1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 f6!?? )))) I'm bad in chess openings. Also the Marshall kontrattack d5 with Bb7 or Steiner's e4 in Spanish defence for black, but I know that this variants is bad... 1. e4 for white. 1. e4 g6 2. d4 d6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. f4 Bg7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. h4 c5 7. h5 cxd4 8. hxg6 dc 9. Rxh7 !?? I discovered this move before Nakamura (Nakamura-Smirin) and played in some blitz ....))) My +40 here? I think its is a luck in half. Some opponents lost by time in winning (or draw) position. I think I'm not good against the opponent with the 2000+. The summer is soon --its a bad internet in my place, plus I can't spend much time for chess  in the summer. ( Sorry for bad English).

Who we are

http://www.chesshere.com/team.php?id=397

The razor's edge

This is the position after 33...hxg4 in Forecookies - Verns2 in a team game against The Wings of Hope.  Phil has played a positionally sound system against a Sicilian, but black has broken through on the Queenside with the threat of the passed, connected b & c pawns.  Black is so eager to break things open that he plays hxg4 and allows the Knight fork: 34.Ne6+ which Phil takes.  After the natural 34...Kd6 35.Nxf8 gxh3+ Phil realizes that the pawn recapture may be poisoned, which may in fact be black's idea behind allowing the fork and loss of the exchange.  If white plays 36.Kxh3 (position below), for example:

Black seems to have a very strong attack.  One reasonable possibility is that the game continues: 36...Rxf8 37.Rxb4 Qh7+ 38.Kg2 g4 39.fxg4 Qe4+ 40.Kg3 Rg8 41.Rf6+ Kd7 42.Rf7+ Kc8 43.Rb7 (desperate) Rxg4+ and white loses.

White may well have better resources than I have found so far [if you find a winning line for white after 36.Kxh3, let us know!], but it is clear that Phil foresaw risks with 36.Kxh3... and decided that he would give up the pawn and try to consolidate his position up the exchange (rook for knight).  Why allow all this counterplay?  So Phil plays the apparently safer 36.Kh2 tucking in behind the pawn instead.
 Black now has to prove his exchange sacrifice works even against a positionally sophisticated player who doesn't just jump at pawn captures!  Under pressure, the Latvian continues 36...Rxf8 37.Rxb4 Kc5 38.Rb7... and black faces a critical position:

Black's exchange sacrifice idea required that he blast open the pawns around the white King, so he must have considered 38...g4-- and his position would have been strong had he followed through with his original strategic plan: 39.Rc7+ [39.fxg4 Nxg4+ is a disaster for white] Kd6 40.Rc6+ (giving back the sacrifice, trying to survive) Nxc6 41.dxc6 Kxc6 42.Rg1 and white doesn't find a way out.  Is there a much better defense for white?  It appears that 38...g4 was both strategically coherent and correct, while black's actual play, 38...Qd6, was weaker, and the product of his nerves faltering in the face of Phil's psychologically-savvy and positionally interesting 36.Kh2. 

Black's attack is still active, however, so white has to continue to defend ferociously. The game continued with 39.f4 gxf4 40.Rg7 f3 (ominous!) 41.Qd2 Nd3 (revealed) + 42.Kh1 ... and once again black falters. Here is the position:
:
At this critical moment, black has the counterintuitive offer of a Queen exchange, which many defending players would embrace gladly, but after 42...Qf4 43.Qxf4 Rxf4 44.Rd7 f2 45.d6 Rd4 46.Kh2 Rxd6 47.Rc7+ Rc6 black is clearly much better.  Even if white sees this and plays much more aggressively with 43.Qa5+ Kd4 44.Qxa6 Kc3 45.Qa5+ Kc2 46.Qc7 Kd2 and now white trades the Ladies: 47.Qxf4 Rxf4 48.Kh2 f2, black is still winning.

Instead, in this complex position, black instead plays 42...f2 and Phil responds with the incisive 43.Qe3+!


Following the incisive 43.Qe3+!

 I think this move is deeply insightful.  Black has been faltering very slightly, not entirely sure of himself in his attacks, not demonstrating long term consistency with his apparent plans -- and Phil has forced black to make a complex strategic decision which requires just those talents Verns2 has not demonstrated.  What should black do here?  He has 43...Kb4!! which can draw if white wants one: 44.Qd2+ Kc5 45.Qe3+ etc.  Note that after 43...Kb4!! white doesn't really have anything better than a draw.   He has to deal with the advanced pawns, and if he tries the natural 44.Rh7 ... he is in for a terrible surprise! Black drives his Queen into White's bedroom with 44.Rh7 Qxd5+ 45.Qe4 Qxe4+ 46.Kh2 Qg2#.  So if black offers a draw here, white should take it.  All that said, Black has to be perfect to win or draw -- he can just as easily lose in this razor's edge position!

Instead of 43...Kb4, black tries the natural but deficient 43...Kxd5? and Phil pounces on his mistake!  44.Rg5+! Kc6 45.Qe4+ Kb6 46.a5+ Kc7 47.Rg7+ ... and now mate will soon be forced.  Black plays on
47...Kc8 48.Qb7+ and black doesn't hang around for the denouement: 48...Kd8 Qa8+ Qb8 49.Qxb8# and here it is Black's Queen instead of White's who must throw herself in front of a mate-threatening Queen.

What a battle!  Phil scores another point for The King Stompers.  Well done.

Early Sacrifice Attack in the Nd2 Caro-Kann

This is the position in Kingbang (2085) - Lemma (2014) after 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Ng5 Ngf6 6. Bd3 Qc7 7. N1f3 h6 8. Ne6!? ... White, a good expert on the team XClass (one of the top three teams at Chesshere, and therefore one of our two chief rivals) decided to play a brutal and speculative piece sacrifice against my Caro Kann.  It is not a dubious move, as masters have employed it, including GM Zelcic (2500+) of Croatia.  But it is a somewhat insulting move, as GMs never seem to play it against each other, but only against weaker players.  In one notable game, GM Zelcic played this idea against the Slovenian expert Hinko Krumpac (2110) and Krumpac tried to decline the sacrifice with 8...Qd6 ... and lost.  

I had just drawn a game with Kingbang (the Hungarian, Hovanecz Laszlo) so I felt he should have to prove his gambit was sound against me, so I took the piece with 8...fxe6, throwing down the gauntlet!

Fireworks followed.  9. Bg6+ 9.5. Kd8 10. O-O b6 11. Re1 Qd6 12. c4 Bb7 13. Bf7 g5 14. Rxe6 Qc7 15. Qc2 Bg7 16. Bd2 Nf8 17. Re2 e6 18. Bxe6 Nxe6 Rxe6 Re8 20. Rxe8+ 20.5. Kxe8 21. Re1+ Kf8 22. Ne5 Re8 23. Bc3 Bc8 24. Re3 Qd6 25. Qg6 Re7. I have been struggling to hold the extra material, keep my King safe, and slowly make room for my pieces while trading as much wood as possible.






So far, so good.  But remember the joke about the guy who jumps off a 100 story building.  Somebody sticks his head out the window of the 50th story and says, "So, how's it going?"  His answer: "So far, so good." I still had to hit the ground and I wasn't yet sure I was safe.  It just shows how tricky the piece sacrifice on the 8th move really is: almost 20 moves later and black is still struggling to consolidate.  I have had to give back two pawns for the Knight and I am still far from finding calm seas!

The game continued: 26. h3 Kg8 27. c5 Qc7 28. Bb4 ... and of course I did not want to invite his bishop into the game so I played 28...b5 to lock him out.  At that point he played the interesting tactic: 29.Ba5!?...



This is actually where the game stands at the time of this writing, so don't give me any advice until I let you know the game is complete.  Here is my thinking:

29...Qxa5 may at first seem foolish, but it may be right.  Following 29...Qxa5 I face 30.Nxc6 ... forking the Queen and Rook.  30...Qc7 trying to come home to defend is terrible, as 31.Rxe7 is crushing.  But I have the very, very interesting 30...Qe1+!? 31.Rxe1 Rxe1+ 32.Kh2 ... and I have a B + R for the Queen and am actually playing with a R + 2 B for the Q  because of the earlier sacrifice.

Further, I have 32...Re6!? hitting the white N and protecting the black N.  If white mistakenly plays the interesting 33.Ne5 or the more pedestrian 33.Nxa7, I have 33...Nf4+ revealing an attack on his Queen. White may have to abandon his Knight, as well!

{The game has proceeded since this draft.  We have in fact played as predicted: 29...Qxa5 30.Nxc6 ... followed by my surprise 30...Qe1+ 31.Rxe1 Rxe1+ 32.Kh2 Re6 33.Qd3 Rxc6.}

But even then, my game is neither won nor clear.  I will have a Rook and 3(!) minor pieces for a Queen and four extra pawns.  It will still be a complicated endgame.

A most interesting, tactical game so far!

The game drags on illustrating how extraordinarily rich and complex chess can be!  This is the position after  34. Qxb5 Bd7 35. Qb8+ Be8 36. b4 Re6 37. Qa8 Re2.  I am playing a rook and three pieces v a Queen and four pawns.  It's pretty hard to come up with a winning plan while suppressing counterplay - which can be quite dangerous with all those connected pawns supporting by their Queen!  I am not actually sure if I should even be playing for a win or a draw!  Keep in mind that White sacrificed a piece on move 8 and here it is on move 38 and it is still unclear.



The game continued: 38. b5 Rxf2 39. a4 Rd2 40. c6  and my opponent offered a draw.  I was sure I could sacrifice a couple of pieces for the advancing pawns, but a rook and piece versus Queen is not ideal.  I had no plan for eliminating the promotion threats completely with the sacrifice of only one piece, so I accepted the draw.  It turns out that one can get away with a piece sacrifice on move 8 and still have threats 30 moves later - at least against an opponent of my skill.

The #1 Team in the Chesshere International Correspondence Chess League

Rated #1 as of March 28, 2011!  Huge ascent from #31 in January!  #1 of 85 teams!

As of today...

Our international team roster: playing name, rating, plays under the flag of...

Board #
1. Paso58 (2168) USA
2. Mavax (2080) Czech
3. Lemma (2007) International
4. XAJIK2O (1866) Russia
5. sUrReAl86 (1847) USA
6. Juliov (1739) Venezuela
7. Bluesbrother (1716) Australia
8. Roy-arav (1636) Israel  (moved up from board #10)
9. sidra4 (1614) Hungary
10. Caballero (1630) Norway
11. forecookies (1589) New Zealand
12. viriol (1586) Portugal
13. pardelhix (1568) Portugal
14. fonzy185 (1561) Scotland
15.marc104 (1472) Israel
16. AlBel (1449) USA
17. Justen (1433) Estonia
18. anachess (1428) USA

19. zl700239002 (1340) Canada
20. jytymy (1340) Canada

21. Ozzie23 (1300) USA
22. siya321 (1038) USA 

Since the last rating list, Roy_arav wins gold for most improvement, moving up two boards.

What Goes In, Must Come Out (or You Must Have Other Plans)

This position is after 33...g6 in r28e07p87 (1740) - XAJIK20 (1814; now 1868).  


Alex has put the question to white's Knight and white has to decide if the check on h6 is worthwhile.  Remember: if you go in, you must be able to get out (or do enough damage while in to make it worth your efforts).  White does not calculate correctly and he loses accordingly.


White should probably not check but play 34.Nh4 instead, although our own Alex is still quite a bit better.   So white decides to be daring and after 34.Nh6+ Kh8 white's knight has nowhere to go, but he is depending upon following up a ...Bxh6 with Bxh6 -- but can his Bishop then get out?


White decides to try to pry open an escape route for his Knight (or Bishop) but he chooses precisely the wrong way to go about it!  After 35.g4? Alex replies 35...Bxh6 36.Bxh6 and now Alex has 36...g5! and the Bishop is threatened by the Queen and has no escape.  White plays the creative 37.Qf5! and Alex cannot capture the Bishop directly as his Rook would fall, but after 37...Qxf5 38.gxf5 Rd6 and the Bishop is once again without escape.   White plays on another three moves before resigning.


Notice that 35.g4? only appears to pry open the pawns.  In fact, it cuts off White's critical option of not getting his Bishop out directly, but at least going in after it with his Queen!  If White had played say 35.Kh2 instead of g4?  and Black exchanged pieces on h6, 35...Bxh6 36.Bxh6 g4, White would have had 37.Qxh5 protecting the suffering Bishop.  What 35.g4? does is it blocks this diagonal and destroys White's chances of saving the piece.


In fact, in this scenario White is actually up a pawn (but he is still worse off).  Black might immediately play his Q and R against White's f2 pawn with his Rook on the 7th, where he would almost surely pick up at least the pawn on b2.   But at least White would have a fighting chance.  35.g4 looked as if it might pry open an escape route, but it actually closed off a supply line instead.

Sometimes the Natural Move is Wrong

This is the position after black has played 15...Rd7 apparently intending to double his rooks on the e file behind his mobile e pawn.  So far, black has held his own against our own Caballero.  Peter plays 16.Na5 ... and black misreads the danger signals.  He plays the natural but weak 16...Bc7 instead of challenging the invading Knight with the far better, but not obvious, 16...Ne4 which holds off the invasion of the white knight into c5 and also hits the backward white d-pawn.  In fact, white's best reply to 16...Ne4 might actually be the passive looking 17.Qc2. 

After the innocuous 16...Bc7? white gains a lot of ground in a hurry.  With 17.Nc5 the black rook on d7 and the b pawn are both threatened.  Further, don't miss the fact that the b pawn is the only protector of the Knight on c3 which will be under attack from the white rook on c1 when the black Knight on c5 moves.   In this position there is another surprise: it is actually better for black to lose the exchange (rook on d7 for knight on c5 ) then to try to preserve the rook.  It is natural to think that the rook has been misplaced and needs to move -- "accepting" the loss of a pawn and a tempo -- but again the natural move is wrong! 

Black is actually astute enough to avoid 17...Rd8 but he does not find an adequate defense, playing 17...e5? instead [17...Rae8 is his best chance] .  After Peter's 18.Nxd7 Qxd7 19.Bxf6 gxf6 white is doing very well, indeed, and the game is really over. 



At this point, Caballero's combination had won the game and the rest was anti-climactic.

Our analysis does not end there, however.  You might have considered first taking the Knight with the Bishop, 18.Bxf6 , noticing (1) that the Queen cannot recapture on f6 (it is protecting the rook) yet (2) it would seem that after Peter's 18.Nxd7, black has the option of ...Nxd7 trying to avoid the further harm to his Kingside pawns.    But after 18.Nxd7 Nxd7 white has 19.Qxd5 which is even worse for black!  

Strangely, if 18.Bxf6 is worthy of consideration (as an alternative to the direct 18.Nxd7), it is not for these natural reasons (for the capture gxf6 is forced in either line, as we have just seen).  The argument in favor of this alternative to Peter's winning 18.Nxd7 is much more subtle!   The best move for white after 18.Bxf6 gxf6 is not actually 19.Nxd7, believe it or not!  White can instead go aggressively after the d pawn on d5 with 19.Ne2-c3! If black then runs with the rook, 19 ...R7d8 white has 20.Ncxd5 and the black Queen is starting to worry about safety!  If 20...Qe8, of course, 21.Nxf6+.  But even the apparently safer 20...Qd6 leads to 21.Nxe4 Qe6 22.Nd5xf6+ Kg7 23.Qxe6 fxe6 24.b5! and either the Knight or Bishop on the c file falls!  Black's alternative 20...Qe5 faces 21.Nxe4! Rxd5 22.Qxd5! Qxd5 23.Nxf6+ Kf8 24.Nd5 ... and white is winning easily. 



The lessons here, it seems to me, are (1) the natural move is sometimes wrong -- we must learn to check our own and our opponents moves for tactical considerations such as these.  Peter exploited his opponents lazy analysis of 16...Bc7; (2) sometimes there is something about a position that makes natural moves fail move after move.  This is just such a position.  (3) Sometimes even the winning line can be improved upon but for reasons more subtle than may at first appear.  We can reject a move such as 18.Bxf6 for very good reasons yet it may be worthwhile for other reasons hidden from view.

Performance Statistics for The King Stompers

As of today we are +796=89-535 for a +261 total points and an incredible 59.27% performance.  In a sample this size, we are quite significantly better than the players we meet in team challenges who, on average, are equal to us in rating. One can certainly reject the null hypothesis that we are a team of typical players. The King Stompers are a motivated, committed team!

Do not neglect King Safety

This lesson is from a Friendly Game,  Donidon (1813) - Lemma (2007).  I am ahead a pawn as Black, but my King's pawn structure is a bit loose.   Donidon (of South Africa) has the long term worry of not only the lost material but the isolated a and c pawns, but Black has no immediate threats of consequence.  (In fact, Black has to deal with his cumbersome back rank Rook and Bishop pair babysitting the b pawn.) White meanwhile is poking at Black's Kingside pawn structure, and Black's job is to suppress counterplay and preserve King safety.  Donidon has just played 32.Rh3-h5 and I underestimate the threat.  It is time to play cautiously and solidify the pawns around my King with 32...f6, but I play the excessively aggressive 32...f5 instead.

Donidon follows immediately with a rook sacrifice intent on blasting open my Kingside: 33.Rxg5+ hxg5 34.Qxg5+ and I face the prospect of repeated check draw -- or worse!  34...Kf7 35.Qh5+ Kg8 36.Qg6+ Kf8 37.Qf6+ Ke8 and I am thinking it is time to accept the draw.  But then Donidon plays 38.Rd1 ... and I realize he is actually hoping for the full point!  So having gone from up a pawn to up a rook, I am now fighting for a half-point against a lower rated opponent -- all because I didn't fortify with f6 and got impatient with the overextended f5 on my 32nd move. 

This position is after white's declarative 38. Rd1 at which time I learned he was fighting for a win.  I had to bear down and not make any more mistakes  Most notably, I must prevent Rd8++ : 38...Qe7 (if he allows the trade of Queens, of course I win -- I am up the sacrificed rook.  So White's job is to keep up the checks or maneuver me into a mating net or the loss of my Queen.) 39. Qh8+ Kf7 40.Qh7+ Kf6 41.Qh4+ Kf7 42.Qh7+ Kf6 43.Qh4+ Kf7 (at this point he should be offering a draw, as there is no headway to be made) 44.Qh7+ Kf6 1/2 -1/2

The half point thrown away carelessly because I failed to suppress counterplay and ensure my King's safety.

If you return to the first diagram, you will see that ...f6 has an additional quality -- when the pawn is not on the 5th rank it is not blocking the Black Queen from defending against a more persistent onslaught on the g pawn.  For example, after 32...f6 if White persists with his sacrifice theme and plays 33.h5 Black has at his disposal 33...Bd7 34.hxg5 fxg5 and now 35.Rxg5+ can be met by either the relatively safe 35...Qxg5 despite 36.Qb2+ or, for the more daring, 35...hxg5 36.Qa1+ Rd4 and Black has a bit more work to do regrouping, but his game is won. 

One more note: Fritz 8, even at a depth of 14 ply, recommends the mistaken ...f5.  Chess engines fail to appreciate positional subtleties such as this one. Rybka 2.3.2 does not reject ...f5 in favor of ...b5 and then finally finds... f6  until 14 ply!  So the right positional move in this position takes even a very good engine 14 ply to find -- human minds still have something to say about chess strategy!

Roy_arav wins team game against The Wings of Hope

This position occurs in csotibi (1575) - roy_arav (1610) after 24...Re8.  White is worse and his best plan is probably Na4-c3-e2-f4 and h4 to fortify his King.  But Roy's opponent apparently thinks he can exploit the potential pin on the c file with 25.Nxc5 Bxc5 26.b4 ... and the piece would be recovered after the flight of the Queen from the file.  But Roy has a surprise for his Hungarian opponent: 26...Bxf1!?  (He could have played 26...Qd7, as well, and White would have more defensive material but less space to maneuver near his King.) Now, after 27.Rxc5 Qd7 28.Kxf1, but the piece is not so easily collected, as black has not passively repositioned his Queen!  Black now has 28...Qxh3+ 29.Ke2 Qg4+  (Black also had 29...Rf2+!? 30.Kxf2 Qh2+ and the White Queen falls.) At this point, White blunders with 30.Kd2?? so 30...Rxf2+ ends the game.  But the question to the team is this: how should Black continue after the alternative 30.Kf1? [Hint: there is a mate in four, including a futile sacrifice.]  White's best defense was 30.f3 exf3+ 31.Kd2 Qxg3 32.Kd1 (has to both get out of the second rank and protect the rook) 32...f2 and there is still a chance that Black could err in finishing off his opponent.

Juliov shocks Denisas with brilliant 17th move

This position takes place after 16.Ne6 in Denisas (1831) - Juliov (1715) in the Steinitz Team Tournament. This was our first victory in the tourney. White's immediate "threat" is the Q-R fork, and he apparently seeks to cut off the protection of black's Knight, thinking that after 16...Bxe6 17.Bxe6 fxe6? 18.Qxg4 ... and he has created an target by isolating black's e-pawn. Or, if fortune smiles upon white, black may play 16...fxe6? 17.Qxg4 Qe8 18.Be6+ (possibly not even white's best line) Bxe6 19.Qxe6+ Qf7 and black has no compensation for the loss of the pawn. However, after 16....Bxe6 17.Bxe6 ... Juliov shocks his Lithuanian opponent with 17...Nf6! and white cannot protect both Queen and Bishop. White resigned immediately.

Our international team roster: playing name, rating, plays under the flag of...

Board #
1. Paso58 (2168) USA
2. Mavax (2080) Czech
3. Lemma (2005) International
4. XAJIK2O (1859) Russia
5. sUrReAl86 (1825) USA
6. Juliov (1705) Venezuela
7. Bluesbrother (1698) Australia
8. sidra4 (1614) Hungary
9. Caballero (1610) Norway
10. Roy-arav (1598) Israel
11. forecookies (1587) New Zealand
12. viriol (1586) Portugal
13. fonzy185 (1583) Scotland
14. pardelhix (1580) Portugal
15. Justen (1487) Estonia
16. AlBel (1472) USA
17. marc104 (1439) Israel
18. anachess (1436) USA
19. zl700239002 (1343) Canada - 10 years old!
19. Ozzie23 (1293) USA
20. jytymy (1214) Canada
21. siya321 (1038) USA -- 9 years old!

In both rating categories we are rated in the top 12 of 85 teams on Chesshere.

The King Stompers Chesshere Blog

I am hoping this blog will allow our chess team to discuss team issues and more with greater ease than afforded by Chesshere communications technology.