BEAU CHESS - the post-work workings-out of a chess amateur

I begin this blog after getting back into league chess following many years' absence due to work. My post-job status also means I am able to play more tournament chess. My new club in London is Battersea and my first game for them is on Thursday September 14, 2017. I start with a Fide rating of 1858, an ECF grade of 169 (=1968 elo) and an ICCF correspondence rating of 2267. My current Fide is 2009, my ECF is 1957 and my ICCF is 2325.

Wednesday, 20 November 2024

HELP!

IT is about this time every year I buy the upgraded annual edition of ChessBase's Mega database.

I used to get it from Chess & Bridge in London, but more recently I have been buying it direct from Germany when the company runs a one-day 25%-off sale.

The DVD takes a few days to arrive, and postage is extra, but I have been happy with that.

This year I bought Mega from Germany as usual, but instead of receiving a DVD I got a piece of paper with an activation code on it.

Apparently ChessBase is no longer offering a DVD option. If I had known, I would not have bothered paying postage.

But worse - much worse - was to follow.

I have installed the database on my computer, but there are no instructions for how to get it to appear in either of my versions of ChessBase.

I use ChessBase 9 on a day-to-day basis - the screen is far less-cluttered than later versions - and ChessBase 16 very occasionally.

I have repeatedly emailed the company asking for help, but have not even received an acknowledgement, never mind advice.

So I have two questions for blog readers.

1. Any idea on how I can get the database working in my versions of ChessBase?

2. Alternatively, is there a rival system with similar features I could use?

Battle Of The Fallen

PLAYED on board six (of eight) for Battersea against Athenaeum last night in London League Division Two, both teams having been relegated last season.

Spanton (1957) - Carl Hetherington (1991)

French Exchange

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bd3 Bd6 6.0-0 0-0 7.Bg5 Bg4 8.Nbd2 Nbd7

This symmetrical position occurs 1,225 times in ChessBase's 2024 Mega database

*****

9.Re1

The mainline in Mega24 runs 9.c3 c6 10.Qc2 Qc7 11.Rfe1 Rfe8, with an equal position, according to Stockfish17 and Dragon1.

9...c6 10.c3 Qc7 11.h3 Bh5 12.Qc2 Rae8 13.Nh4

How should Black proceed?

*****

13...Qb6!?

This seems to be a novelty. Gerard Oskham - Akiba Rubinstein, Ostend 1906, went 13...Bg6!? 14.Nxg6 hxg6 15.Bxf6 Nxf6, with equality, according to the engines (but 0-1, 63 moves). Equally popular in Mega24, although from a small sample size, is 13...Bf4, but the engines reckon 14.Bxf4 Qxf4 15.g3!? gives White an edge.

14.Qb3

The engines reckon 14.c4 Bb8 15.c5 leaves White with the upper hand, and if 15...Qc7 then 16.g3!?

14...h6?

This move, which is almost automatic for some players in such positions, is here a mistake.

15.Be3?!

White is quite a bit better after this, but stronger is 15.Bxf6 Nxf6 16.g4, when 16...Bg6 simply loses a pawn. Black can try 16...g5!?, but 17.Nf5 is good, and 16...Bf4 17.Qc2 still leaves Black with the problem of what to do about the h5 bishop. One suggestion by the engines is 17...Nxg4!? 18.hxg4 Bxg4, which looks a little intimidating, considering White's exposed king, but White should not have too many problems.

15...Ne4 16.Nxe4?!

Probably better is 16.Bxe4!? dxe4 17.Nc4 Qc7, after which the engines give 18.g4!? Be7 19.Ng2! (19.Nf5 Bg6 20.Nxe7+ Rxe7 gives Black the upper hand, according to the engines) b5!? 20.Bf4!? bxc4 21.Bxc7 cxb3 22.gxh5, claiming a winning advantage for White, albeit in a messy position.

16...dxe4 17.Bc4 Kh7

The engines suggest 17...Qc7, meeting 18.g4?! with 18...Be7.

18.g4 Bg6 19.Nxg6

How should Black recapture?

*****

19...Kxg6

The engines prefer 19...fxg6.

20.Qc2 f5?

Possibly even worse is 20...Nf6? 21.f3. The engines give 20...Kh7, and if 21.f3 then 21...f5, eg 22.gxf5 exf3!? 23.f6+ g6 24.f7, awarding White a slight edge.

White to play and gain a winning advantage

*****

21.gxf5+?

Missing 21.Be6! Rxe6 22.d5 etc.

21...Rxf5 22.Be2 Nf6 23.f3 Rh5??

Best is 23...Qd8!, according to the engines, eg 24.fxe4 Nxe4 25.Bd3 Qh4, with counterplay,but 23...Bg3 is also better than the text.

24.fxe4 Rxh3 25.e5+ Kf7 26.Bc4+ Kf8 27.Qg6 Qc7

There is nothing better.

28.exd6

Not 28.exf6?? Rg3+.

28...Qd7

Black's one hope is White's exposed king, but the king is a lot safer than it may at first seem

*****

29.Bf4 Rxe1+?! 30.Rxe1 Rh4 31.Be6 Qe8 32.Qxe8+ Kxe8

With queens off the board, the game is as good as over

*****

33.Be5 Nh5 34.Rf1 g5 35.d7+ Ke7 36.Bd6+!? Kxd6 37.d8=Q+ Kxe6 38.Qe8+ Kd5 39.Rf5+ Kc4 40.Qe2#

Athenaeum won the match 4.5-3.5.

MY BATTERSEA SEASON 2024-5

DATE.....EVENT...........................COL..RATING..OPP'S RATING..SCORE..SEASON PERF

12/9/24 Central London League W 1933 1886 1 2286

26/9/24 Central London League B 1933 2112 1 2399

15/10/24 Club Championship W 1968 1578 1 2259*

31/10/24 Central London League B 1968 1867 0 2061*

19/11/24 London League W 1957 1991 1 2127*

*My season's performance is really slightly better than this, the point being my win against the 1578 counts as a 1978 performance, which lowers my average despite me winning the game.

Tuesday, 19 November 2024

Lessons From Altea III: Ratingitis

AFTER taking a half-point bye in round three of the Cap Negret 65+ seniors, the following position was reached in my round-four game:

Black has just played 29...Bf6-e7!?

*****

US Fide master James Schuyler wrote the thought-provoking book, Your Opponent Is Overrated (Everyman, 2016).

Part of his thesis was that it is wrong to show too much respect for the player sitting opposite.

"We have a fallible opponent. He is messing up every game," Schuyler explained in the book's introduction.

"Even when he stumbles upon the right moves, it's often for the wrong reasons. I'd even go so far as to say he's overrated."

But there are two sides to this coin, and it is just as easy to fail to show your opponent enough respect.

In my round-four game Black had been under the cosh for much of the game, with Stockfish17 and Dragon1 reckoning White has a winning advantage in the diagram.

Furthermore, my ratings, Fide and ECF, were a fair bit higher than my opponent's, so I had few qualms about snaffling the e5 pawn with 30.Rxe5?! Rxe5 31.Nxe5, when White has won a pawn and threatens a devastating capture on f7.

What I missed is that after 31...Qf6 Black has protected f7 and is attacking both the undefended h4 pawn and the undefended knight.

True, I maintained an advantage with 32.Rd5!, but the advantage was much less than it would have been had I played the engines' suggestions of 30.Kg2 or 30.R1d3.

There can be little doubt that against a stronger opponent I would not have been so quick to dismiss 29...Be7!? as a mistake.

LESSON: arrogance in chess is as much a sin as undue deference.

Monday, 18 November 2024

Lessons From Altea II: Logical Thinking

THE following simple endgame position was reached in my round-two game at the Cap Negret 65+ seniors.

Black to play and win

*****

The game saw 67...g3?, which threatens mate on the move, but that is easily thwarted by 68.Rb1, after which there is no way for Black to make progress.

Returning to the diagrammed position, it should be obvious there are two plausible ways for Black to win.

One is by checkmate, based on the white king's restricted location on the back rank; the second is by promoting the pawn.

Since the first method cannot be realistically realised, Black must go for the alternative.

Once that has been settled, it becomes a matter of how the second way is to be attempted.

Clearly the white king has to be evicted from the queening square, and when Black has understood that, the correct move screams out from the position.

After 67...Ra1+, White's reply, 68.Kf2, is forced. Then Black's most obvious continuation, 68...g3+, can quickly be recognised as very strong.

It is not necessary to see Black has checkmate in a little over 20 moves (21, according to Stockfish17, 22, according to Dragon1!).

LESSON: at a simple level this is an example of how logical planning leads to finding the winning move, whereas moving does not necessarily lead to finding the winning plan.

Sunday, 17 November 2024

Lessons From Altea: Double Trouble

MY round-one game at the Cap Negret 65+ seniors reached the following position after 13 moves.

Black has just played 13...Nf6-h5!?

*****

My opponent decided (rightly) that 14...Nf4 is not much of a threat, and so played 14.exd5?

What he missed is that Black has the exchange-winning 14...Ng3!

In other words, 13...Nh5 contained two threats, and, as Lev Psakhis is quoted as saying by Jonathan Rowson in Chess For Zebras (Gambit, 2005): "Good moves usually have at least two ideas."

LESSON: don't stop looking for danger just because you have spotted, and correctly discounted, a threat posed by the opponent's last move - the move may contain more than one threat.

Saturday, 16 November 2024

Summing Up Cap Negret

MY score in the 65+ seniors of +3=4-1 (I also took a half-point bye) gained 2.6 Fide elo.

I won the third prize for those rated 1901-2100, which means I should receive 100 euros, minus Spain's withholding tax, which I understand is not insignificant.

Friday, 15 November 2024

Cap Negret Round Nine

Spanton (2009) - Cesar Camisón Zornoza (1895)

1.Nc3/Liberated Bishop

1.Nc3 d5 2.d4 Bf5!?

A Liberated Bishop approach has much more going for it when White cannot react with queenside pressure by playing c4, Nc3 and Qb3. The text scores an excellent 52% in ChessBase's 2024 Mega database.

3.f3!? e6

The mainline in Mega24 runs 3...Nf6 4.Bg5 Nbd7 5.Nxd5!? Nxd5 6.e4 h6!? 7.Bh4 Ne3?! 8.Qd3 Nxf1 9.exf5 Nxh2?! 10.Rxh2, with the upper hand for White, according to Stcokfish17 and Dragon1, but they are unimpressed with many of the moves in this sequence.

4.e4 dxe4 5.fxe4 Bg6

Not 5...Qh4+?? 6.g3 etc.

6.Nf3 Bb4 7.Bd3 Nc6

This is the main continuation in Mega24. The engines fluctuate between the text, 7...Ne7, 7...Nd7, 7...c5 and 7...Nf6.

8.a3 Bxc3+

The engines prefer 8...Ba5.

9.bxc3 Nge7

The pawn-formation somewhat resembles a French Winawer, and with the black light-square bishop outside of the pawn-chain, but Black has no pawn-pressure on the white centre

*****

10.0-0 a6?!

This seems to be a novelty, and probably not a good one. The known move is castling.

11.a4 Qd7 12.Ba3 f6!?

The engines are OK with this, albeit they reckon White is positionally winning.

13.Qe2 Bf7 14.Rab1 Nd8 15.Ra1

The engines suggest getting on with it on the kingside with e5, Nh4 or Qf2.

15...0-0 16.c4 Re8 17.c3

Stronger is 17.e5 f5 and now 18.c3, according to the engines.

17...Ng6 18.g3 Qxa4?!

The engines reckon a better way to grab the pawn is 18...e5 19.d5 Qxa4.

19.e5 Qd7

Possibly slightly better is 19...f5, but 20.h4 is good.

20.exf6 gxf6 21.Nd2 f5 22.Nf3 Nc6 23.Ng5 Rad8!?

Not just developing, but also setting up a possible sacrifice on d4.

24.Qh5 Nf8 25.Qh6 Bg6 26.Rae1

How should Black proceed?

*****

26...Ne7

Dragon1 agrees with this, but Stockfish17 prefers 26...Nxd4!?, continuing 17.Bxf8!? Rxf8 18.Re3, when Black is two pawns up, but both engines reckon White is winning.

27.d5!?

Trying to open kingside lines with 27.g4!? may be better.

27...exd5 28.cxd5?

The engines reckon 28.h4 gives a large advantage.

28...Qxd5?

The wrong capture. Instead 28...Nxd5 29.Bc4 c6 equalises (Dragon1) or leaves White with only a slight edge (Stockfish17).

How should White proceed?

*****

29.Rd1?

White has a winning advantage after the engines' 29.Nxh7! (29.Rxe7!? probably transposes) Bxh7 30.Rxe7 Rxe7 31.Bxe7 Qxd3 32.Qg5+ Bg6 33.Bxd8, when Black has a pawn for the exchange, but the black king is much weaker.

29...Qb3

Best may be 29...c5!?, although the engines reckon White has at least full compensation for being two pawns down.

30.Bxe7 Rxe7 31.Bc4+ Qxc4 32.Rxd8 Qc5+ 33.Kg2

Possibly better is 33.Rf2!? Re1+ 34.Kg2.

33...Qc6+?

The engines reckon White is at best only slightly better after 33...Re2+ 34.Kh3 Qe7.

34.Kh3?

White has a won game after 34.Nf3, according to the engines.

34...Qf6?!

Almost certainly better is 34...Re8.

What should White play?

*****

35.Nxh7??

Both 35.Nf3 and 35.Rb8 give the upper hand, according to the engines.

35...Rxh7 0-1

Port Of Call

THE Alicante tram system includes a line running just over 55 miles from the city of Alicante to the port of Dénia.
There is a stop at Cap Negret, which makes a trip to the port very manageable before the normal tournament start time of 14:30.

Unfortunately there is currently a bus-replacement service for part of the journey, but it is still worth the effort.

Sardine(?) with innards made from junk hauled out of Dénia harbour

Thursday, 14 November 2024

Cap Negret Round Eight

I WAS upfloated for the second time in the tournament, landing on top board against the top seed, a Dane, who was a point ahead of me, and me with a second black in a row!

Mogens Thuesen (2174) - Spanton (2009)

Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 a6!?

This is a popular alternative to the mainline in ChessBase's 2024 Mega database, which runs 5...d6 6.0-0 0-0 7.Bb3!? a6!? 8.Nbd2 Ba7!? 9.h3 h6, with an equal position, according to Stockfish17, although Dragon1 gives White an edge.

6.Nbd2 0-0 7.0-0

Both sides having castled, how would you assess the position?

*****

Neither side has any weaknesses, and the engines reckon the game is equal.

7...d5!?

Normal is 7...d6. If Black can get away with playing the text, Black should be at least equal, but the move is loosening.

8.exd5 Nxd5 9.Re1

This is Stcokfish17's choice. Dragon1 prefers 9.Ne4.

9...f6?

Apparently a novelty, and not a good one. The engines suggest 9...Nf6, or 9...b5 10.Bb3 Nf6.

10.d4 Bb6 11.dxe5 fxe5?

Better is 11...Nxe5 12.Nxe5 fxe5, but the engines reckon White has at least the upper hand after both 13.Ne4 and 13.Rxe5!?, eg 13.Rxe5!? Bxf2+ 14.Kh1 c6 15.Ne4 Bh4 16.Be3 with an initiative.

12.Ne4

Not 13.Nxe5?? Bxf2+ etc.

12...Ne7

Even worse is 12...Be6? as White wins by moving either knight to g5.

13.Bg5 c6 14.Bxe7

Even stronger, according to the engines, is 14.Nxe5.

14...Qxe7 15.Bxd5+ cxd5 16.Qxd5 Kh8 17.Neg5?

White has the upper hand after this, according to the engines, but there are much better moves, including the simple 17.Qxe5.

17...Bxf2+! 18.Kxf2 Qxg5

Black has got the pawn back, at least temporarily, but e5 is weak

*****

19.Rxe5?!

This might be enough for an edge, but the engines reckon White should get the king to safety first with 19.Kg1, picking up the pawn next move, eg 19...Qf6 20.Nxe5, one point being 20...Qb6+ seems well met by 21.Qd4!?, when 21...Qxb2?! looks to be asking for trouble, one line running 22.Nc4!? Qb5 23.Nd6 Qh5 24.Re7 with strong pressure.

19...Qg6 20.Kg1 Bg4 21.Nd4!

The engines agree this is best, even though it takes a piece away from defence of the king.

21...Qf6?!

Almost certainly better is the engines' manoeuvre 21...Qb6!? 22.b3 Qf6, when 23.h3 (this is the best move, according to them, as also is the case in the game) Rac8! comes very close to equalising, since 24.hxg4 allows a perpetual with 24...Qf2+ 25.Kh2 Qh4+ etc.

22.h3!?

Black equalises after 22.Ree1?! Qf2+ 23.Kh1 Qxb2, according to the engines.

22...Qf2+ 23.Kh1

The engines prefer 23.Kh2!? Qxb2 24.Rae1!?, claiming at least the upper hand for White.

23...Rad8!

The engines agree getting the last piece into play is more important than grabbing the b2 pawn, after which 24.Rae1 looks strong.

24.Qe4

White can take a second pawn with 24.Qxb7!?, according to the engines, when 24...Rb8? 25.Qe4 leaves White well on top, but 24...Bc8 is not so clear.

24...Qxb2 25.Qe1

The engines reckon the text, 25.Rb1 and 25.Re1 all give complete equality.

25...Bc8

White has two isolated pawns, but the knight is strong, and the black king is probably no safer than the white one

*****

26.a4 Qb6 27.Qg3!? Qd6 28.Rae1 Bd7 29.Qh4 Qf6 30.Qg3 Qf4 31.Qxf4 Rxf4 32.Rd5 Rff8 33.Re7!? Bxa4 34.Rg5 Rd7 35.Rgxg7 Rxe7 36.Rxe7

How would you assess this rook-and-minor-piece ending?

*****

Black has a protected passed pawn that is on the farside from the kings, and has what is usually the better minor piece for cooperating with a rook. But White's rook is much more active, and the knight is well-placed. The engines reckon the position is equal.

36...Rc8 37.Rxb7 Rxc3 38.Ne6 h3

Possible is 38...Rxh3+!? as 39.gxh3 loses to 39...Bc6, but White has 39.Kg1!, eg 39...Rg3 40.Rb8+ Rg8 41.Rb6 Bb5 42.Nc7 etc.

39.Ra7 Bb5 40.Nc7 Rc6 41.Kh2!?

A draw is all but inevitable after 41.Nxb5.

41...Bc4 42.g4 a5!? 43.Ne8?!

Other moves are probably better, including activating the king with 43.Kg3.

43...Ra6 44.Rc7

The minor-piece ending after 44.Rxa6? is almost certainly winning for Black.