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.