So... White to play and win. Can you guess the move?
_maddog64(1658).jpg)
Ed.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
White to play and win
In my neverending battle to remove the rust from my chess game, the following is a position from my most recent ICC game. It was against a lower rated opponent, but I can slowly feel the rust coming off. Just over a week before the New York State Championship!!!
So... White to play and win. Can you guess the move?
_maddog64(1658).jpg)
So... White to play and win. Can you guess the move?
Relentless, the rest is optional
It turns out that somebody actually reads my blog! I know, I was pretty surprised myself. My good friend Sean Tobin pointed out an error in my post about checkers. At the end I had noted that chess was a draw. I, in fact, meant to say that checkers was a draw. I've corrected that error.
In appreciation of my avid fan and his relentless pursuit of the truth, I will attemp to predict the future. I forsee.... nothing. No, wait a minute... I see a book. A chess book. Yes, I see a chess book in your future.
Enjoy,
-Ed.
In appreciation of my avid fan and his relentless pursuit of the truth, I will attemp to predict the future. I forsee.... nothing. No, wait a minute... I see a book. A chess book. Yes, I see a chess book in your future.
Enjoy,
-Ed.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
For the love of the game
The following picture is the final position in a chess game I played on the ICC tonight. What makes it amazing isn't necessarily the game itself. To me it was the fact that I really enjoyed playing it. It's been a while! So, who's winning?
_comcon51(1819).jpg)
In this game I'm playing white. Though I feel that ratings on the ICC have even less meaning than those of the USCF, my opponent was rated about 200 points lower than I. And when I say I, I mean me... the me that is out of practice because of a certain WOW addiction over the past 8 months. In the above position, my opponent resigned. There's too much pressure against the king.
Part of my renewed interest in chess has to do with a phone call I received yesterday. I've been thinking about playing tournaments all summer. In the end I decided WOW was more important. Last night Larry called me to ask if I was going to play in the New York State Championship. How could I say no? I have a storied history with that tourament, and even though I'm out of practice I couldn't pass it up. So now I have a few weeks to figure this game out!
Labor Day Weekend... here we come!
Take care, Ed.
_comcon51(1819).jpg)
In this game I'm playing white. Though I feel that ratings on the ICC have even less meaning than those of the USCF, my opponent was rated about 200 points lower than I. And when I say I, I mean me... the me that is out of practice because of a certain WOW addiction over the past 8 months. In the above position, my opponent resigned. There's too much pressure against the king.
Part of my renewed interest in chess has to do with a phone call I received yesterday. I've been thinking about playing tournaments all summer. In the end I decided WOW was more important. Last night Larry called me to ask if I was going to play in the New York State Championship. How could I say no? I have a storied history with that tourament, and even though I'm out of practice I couldn't pass it up. So now I have a few weeks to figure this game out!
Labor Day Weekend... here we come!
Take care, Ed.
Friday, July 20, 2007
And the winner is...
Checkers has been solved! It's really an amazing feat, though it was done by calculating every possible position and creating a database for it. Was it easy? Well, if you consider having several computers do nothing but this task for 13 years easy, then yeah! The article makes a chess comparison which I, of course, find very intriguing. If a computer could solve checkers in 1 nanosecond, that computer would take 3000 years to solve chess! Wow!
Oh yes, and the result... with perfect play checkers is a draw! Here's the complete article:
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3997
Happy Friday!
Ed.
Oh yes, and the result... with perfect play checkers is a draw! Here's the complete article:
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3997
Happy Friday!
Ed.
Monday, July 09, 2007
Back at One
It's been an interesting year to say the least. I'll spare you the details, at least for tonight, but suffice it to say that I feel a hint of normalicy slowly returning to my life. Tonight... I didn't play WOW! I know.
Last night I ordered a new dvd. It's by Alexei Shirov and it's called "My best games in the Slav and Semi-Slav". I'm hoping it's good! I can feel the chess bug slowly returning. It's about damn time.
Speaking of the chess bug, I went to the club for a little while on Saturday night. I ended up playing 2 games against Paul Spatarella. They were without a clock, with the 2nd of the 2 being played quickly. The first one was an interesting struggle where I gave up a knight and bishop for a rook and 2 pawns. My extra pawn proved decisive. During the second game Paul faultered early in a tactical slugfest. Since we were trying to play quick because it was someone else's set we were using and they needed to leave, I'm sure Paul was a bit flustered. Though his rating is about 650 points lower than mine, Paul always gives me a great game. He's taught me a few lessons over the years as well. Look out!
I'm trying to get back to studying for my next chess tournament. I'm planning to play in Sturbridge at the Continental Open from August 9-12. I may play in one of the accelerated schedules so I don't have to take time off from work. We'll see.
For now I think I'll get some sleep.
Until next time,
Ed.
Last night I ordered a new dvd. It's by Alexei Shirov and it's called "My best games in the Slav and Semi-Slav". I'm hoping it's good! I can feel the chess bug slowly returning. It's about damn time.
Speaking of the chess bug, I went to the club for a little while on Saturday night. I ended up playing 2 games against Paul Spatarella. They were without a clock, with the 2nd of the 2 being played quickly. The first one was an interesting struggle where I gave up a knight and bishop for a rook and 2 pawns. My extra pawn proved decisive. During the second game Paul faultered early in a tactical slugfest. Since we were trying to play quick because it was someone else's set we were using and they needed to leave, I'm sure Paul was a bit flustered. Though his rating is about 650 points lower than mine, Paul always gives me a great game. He's taught me a few lessons over the years as well. Look out!
I'm trying to get back to studying for my next chess tournament. I'm planning to play in Sturbridge at the Continental Open from August 9-12. I may play in one of the accelerated schedules so I don't have to take time off from work. We'll see.
For now I think I'll get some sleep.
Until next time,
Ed.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
2007_WMCA_Miller-Borowski
For the final round (4) I was paired against George Miller. George was having an amazing tournament. His only loss going into this game was against Larry Williams in the previous round. Larry is rated over 500 points higher than George - and in their game George was winning. He lost to Larry on time. Wow!
We only needed a 1/2 point in the last round to guarantee our club victory. So I had no doubt that regardless of my result we'd win. With 5 of us, to lose all 5 games was extremely unlikely.
George continued with his amazing play, and in the position shown I was lost. Unfortunately he moved a little too quickly, perhaps concerned about the time trouble from his last game. He blundered into a knight fork, lost his queen, and resigned.
So for my foray back into the world of chess, 3 wins and 1 loss. It felt good. Now I have to keep playing. No year off again!
Now it's time to get some sleep!
Enjoy!
Ed.
We only needed a 1/2 point in the last round to guarantee our club victory. So I had no doubt that regardless of my result we'd win. With 5 of us, to lose all 5 games was extremely unlikely.
George continued with his amazing play, and in the position shown I was lost. Unfortunately he moved a little too quickly, perhaps concerned about the time trouble from his last game. He blundered into a knight fork, lost his queen, and resigned.
So for my foray back into the world of chess, 3 wins and 1 loss. It felt good. Now I have to keep playing. No year off again!
Now it's time to get some sleep!
Enjoy!
Ed.
2007_WMCA_Borowski-Dould
I had the pleasure of playing John Dould in Round 3. John has been a solid player for many years now. I somehow felt like I was getting picked on. Where did my easy pairings go? I was determined to win this game, so I tried to play aggressively. Although I made some mistakes, I was happy with the end result.
2 wins, 1 loss.
Ed.
2 wins, 1 loss.
Ed.
2007_WMCA_Montgomery-Borowski
In Round 2 I was paired against Parker Montgomery. Parker was an Expert for many years and is always feared OTB. Since Parker was the highest rated player in the event not on our team, I knew this would be the toughest game for me.
In the final position I resigned. I didn't see a way out of it. After the game Parker told me he was surprised that I resigned. That the position was actually drawn. After we went over it for a while, it did appear that Black had some good resources and with best play should be able to draw.
I was a bit shaken up by this and determined to win my next round. Not always a great idea to let emotions come into play.
As a side note, I had Fritz look at the game. I was lost. LOST! So oddly enough I felt better about that.
So after 2 rounds, I'm 1 win, 1 loss.
Ed.
In the final position I resigned. I didn't see a way out of it. After the game Parker told me he was surprised that I resigned. That the position was actually drawn. After we went over it for a while, it did appear that Black had some good resources and with best play should be able to draw.
I was a bit shaken up by this and determined to win my next round. Not always a great idea to let emotions come into play.
As a side note, I had Fritz look at the game. I was lost. LOST! So oddly enough I felt better about that.
So after 2 rounds, I'm 1 win, 1 loss.
Ed.
2007_WMCA_Borowski-Hall
The first round started at about 9:15am. As luck would have it, I travel half way across the state just to play my arch rival! Of course, I mean that in the nicest possible way. I first started playing "real" chess against Dave. When Sean and I first started playing chess so many years ago, Dave was the first real tournament chessplayer that we met. Though I usually do pretty well against Dave, bad days are not allowed!
My last tournament was the New York State Championship last September. And having played very little since due to something we'll just call WOW... I was concerned about being nervous playing while trying to get back into the game.
I wasn't - it felt really good. In the picture shown this was the critical position of our game. Dave had been playing great up until this point. After his move Rd5 it unravels quickly.
1-0.
Ed.
My last tournament was the New York State Championship last September. And having played very little since due to something we'll just call WOW... I was concerned about being nervous playing while trying to get back into the game.
I wasn't - it felt really good. In the picture shown this was the critical position of our game. Dave had been playing great up until this point. After his move Rd5 it unravels quickly.
1-0.
Ed.
A Lot of Things Different
Getting to the WMCA Club Championship in Fitchburg was a bit of a challenge. What could possibly go wrong with such a well planned trip? Well, my plan consisted of the following:
No WOW the night before
Wake up early (6am)
Drive there
Play chess
Not bad. Seemed like it couldn't fail. Now let me take you back to late last week. I learned that my excise tax wasn't paid. I received a final warrant in the mail. Well - not so bad. I can still drive. The upsetting part was that I paid it in February! I received the warrant in the mail, got a cashiers check, and had it paid. So I have an issue to work out.
So Friday night I stop at my mothers house on my way home from work. I forget what we're talking about, but I pull out my license. Expired! Now that could cause a bit of a problem. It expired on my birthday, which was Tuesday. So I decide it would be bad for me to drive.
After a few phone calls, Larry says he'll pick me up. Kip calls me at 7am to say that I could probably renew my license online. Then Larry comes and Larry, Cliff, and I are off to Fitchburg. Larry mentions that his car leaks some fumes into the car so there might be some breathing issues. We decide to have him drive my truck.
There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the wheel of time, but it was a beginning (Robert Jordan).
Ed.
No WOW the night before
Wake up early (6am)
Drive there
Play chess
Not bad. Seemed like it couldn't fail. Now let me take you back to late last week. I learned that my excise tax wasn't paid. I received a final warrant in the mail. Well - not so bad. I can still drive. The upsetting part was that I paid it in February! I received the warrant in the mail, got a cashiers check, and had it paid. So I have an issue to work out.
So Friday night I stop at my mothers house on my way home from work. I forget what we're talking about, but I pull out my license. Expired! Now that could cause a bit of a problem. It expired on my birthday, which was Tuesday. So I decide it would be bad for me to drive.
After a few phone calls, Larry says he'll pick me up. Kip calls me at 7am to say that I could probably renew my license online. Then Larry comes and Larry, Cliff, and I are off to Fitchburg. Larry mentions that his car leaks some fumes into the car so there might be some breathing issues. We decide to have him drive my truck.
There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the wheel of time, but it was a beginning (Robert Jordan).
Ed.
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