Archive for December, 2018

Don’s Coffee & Tea Break

December 27, 2018

Don’t miss out on the good things in life.  Realize that time stops only when your heart no longer is beating the drum.  In a way it is like tossing out the spent Christmas Tree following the tranquility that comes from the beauty shown from the annual creation. 

In Pickles, we seen Opal addressing her husband Earl.  Is there anything worse or sadder than a Christmas Tree after Christmas?  It is like a Christmas guest going home after the festivities.  And you have to literally drag the guest out of the house after the party function is over.  We see Earl who is now scratching his head as he turns back to reading the newspaper, making this query on Opal’s comments:  Are you talking about your sister now or the Christmas Tree?  Such is the life of retired folks.

Beetle Bailey and his girlfriend are seen sitting back to back on the park bench under a quarter moon.  Beetle asks Bux,  “How do you see things in the future?” ” I’ll get a new job…a new car… a new wardrobe…Live in a nice Condo…  Beetle breaks in with a question, “Do I fit in somewhere in all that?” She responds, “Of course, dear….You can pay for the Condo!”

The D & C newspaper jargon

December 27, 2018

Lets face it folks,   Governor Cuomo’s call for workers in NY deserving a living wage turn on wet turf.  I mean it sinks with reality and no shovel is big enough to bury it. How so, you ask?

This in all likelihood is just another holding ploy of Democrats to give the waste of government funds bolstering up waste as seen from months and months and months leading to years of wasteful pillaging of funds wasted on tax dollars chasing Donald J. Trump’s alleged  crimes when in fact one simply must ask what crimes in office? If you agree with me that it is a rainbow chase which is dying from lack of oxygen to feed it, what ill-fated temper rant by  democrats S and P in particular benefit from waste of taxpayer money?  They cry about waste??!! over  legitimate wall debate they now disown as beneficially necessary using dummy ideas like using drones, clothesline remedies long known to hold no creditable deterrent against invasion by foreigners—illness infected interlopers once blocking entry of any infected via  the population’s medical health concerns.  This is the real threat to well-being of our people and citizens.  Yet, you will not see it anywhere but on my blog website for those smart enough to understand English as the official language of the United States of America. That is the stupidity of our government who use the news media as it’s principle information sources of disinformation.

I guess I waste my time on writing my columns learned from a time of analysis training attained at the chessboard.  And I won’t even go into the crimes committed by Democratic Party hacks who use the FBI as a scapegoat to justify their utter contempt for the rule of law.  And I won’t go without knocking senators who use their personal ambitions to weaken our Republic.  I simply close with tiny Tim from the Christmas Carol hoping that all red-blooded Americans join in with GOD BLESS OUR AMERICA.

The Amateur Eye – Freedom

December 18, 2018

World Champion Magnus Carlsen against Hikaru Nakamura shows the advantage of pressure chess and demonstrates the theory of square-count producing a Capablanca like brilliancy of exchanged ideas.

l. Nf3  Nf6 2. d4  e6 3. c4  d5  4. Nc3  Be7 5. Bf4 O-O  6. e3  b6 This is a recent try to vary from a more standard 6. … Nbd7 in the Blackburn system and alters the structure going for a more direct challenge of the center.

7. Bd3  d:c4  8. B:c4  Ba6 Black confronts White’s square advantage directly.

9. Qe2  B:c4  10. Q:c4  c5  11. d:c5  b:c5 12. O-O Nc6  13. Rac1 Rc8  14. Ne5  Qb6 15. Na4 Qb7 16. N:c6 Q:c6 17. Bg5 threatening B:f6 leaving White a slight edge.

The point here is that following my square-count operations gives both sides deep play where progress might materialize should either side falter.


The Amateur Eye – China

December 12, 2018

There was not too many years ago when the wise men had predicted the death of chess.  The cry was that computers had destroyed public interest in chess and even the highest level rated had voiced negativity to its future. To survive, chess rules had to change.  But my readers to whom I direct my chess prowess as a pure amateur can assure the fallacy of those doomsayers that go back decades.  Is chess dead?  No! No! No!

In recent times, China and much of Asia have put new life into chess.  The answer to chess survival might be said to be simply the result of competition which stimulate brains to think up new ideas.  The growth of competition, organized clubs and tournaments across the world of sport enabled those new players, ideas, research, pursuit of rating achievements–however you might want to coin it, has afforded the stimulus necessary to achieve success and put new life in a very old game.

The double GOLD for Chinese playing teams in chess comes from collective work according to Ye Jiangchuan.  The simple truth is something they miss.  The good old spirit so often seen in sporting events in America rubbed off on the realization that winning is having the stamina in facing difficult moments that spur their spirit to achieve by never surrendering to pessimism.

One of the rising stars on the chess world stage is Ding Liren who met Jan-Krzysztof Duda in the 2018 Batumi Olympiad in the 10th round. Duda uncorks one of the oldest defenses against a Queen Pawn Game, namely Queen’s Gambit Accepted in which Duda adopts a modern approach.

The question is always as white to be: What move do I open with?  That is usually determined long before the start of play or even sitting down at the board. 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 d:c4 5. e4 b5

In top class games, moves are often repeated from earlier events as happens here.  Duda had played this same choice in the Polish Championship.  It is considered risky but risk is involved when you are trying to get a fighting game especially with black.

This defensive play is not new to Liren who answers quickly as does several quick moves exchange leading after…6. e5 Nd5 7. N:b5 Nb6 8. Be2 Nc6 9. O-O Be7 10. Qd2  White envisions a coming Kingside pressure with the pawn structure d4/e5/. Previously played had been Be3 that led to equality. Now, Liren sets in motion a Kingside demonstration following 10…O-O 11. Qf4  Rb8 12. Nc3  f5!? Risky but in the same vein.  He had expected 12….Nb4 and spent 20 minutes on his reply 13. Qg3 aiming to keep central tension and improve his own square count. 

13. …Kh8 14. Rd1 Nb4 15. b3  c:b3 16. a:b3 a6  17. Bc4 Nc2 20. Ra2 Nb4 21.Re2 a5.

Planning to challenge risk with risk. Liren’s decision was to go for the attack with d5.

22. d5!? e:d5 Better seems to be N:d5 23. N:d5 N:d5 was a greater challenge to who stands better.

23.e6 Bd6 24. Qh3 Qf6 25. Nb5 d:c4 26. N:d6  c:d6 27. e7 Re8 28. Ng5 Qg6 29. R:d6 f4 30. Qh4 Qb1 31. Re1 Bf5 32. Rd8 Bg6 33. R:b8 R:b8 34. Q:f4 Rg8 35. Nf7+ B:f7 36. Q:f7 Nd7 38. e(Q) Nf6 39. Bg5 Resigns. (1-0).

Don’s “The Amateur Eye”

December 11, 2018

If you follow my chess lessons, especially using Square Count, it largely confirms the system I devised when a kid learning the game of chess. The example game I want to show here is similar to the game won by a New Yorker out of the Buffalo area some years ago which I illustrated. This was played thousands of miles away by two Russians, twenty-year-old GM David Paravyan and IM Saveliy Goluov in 2018 at St. Petersburg. It is a Petroff Defense.

If you follow my chess lessons, especially using Square Count, it largely confirms the system I devised when a kid learning the game of chess. The example game I want to show here is similar to the game won by a New Yorker out of the Buffalo area some years ago which I illustrated. This was played thousands of miles away by two Russians, twenty-year-old GM David Paravyan and IM Saveliy Goluov in 2018 at St. Petersburg. It is a Petroff Defense..e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. N:e5 d6 4. Nf3 N:e4 5. d4 d5 6.Bd3 This system dates back to the 1800s during the era of chess which I call the era of enlightenment.  The current game play continues with 6….Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8, c4 c6 9, Qb3 d:c4 10. B:c4 Nd7 11. Re1 Ndf6 12. N:d2 N:d2 13. B:d2 and Black eyes the loose Q-side choosing to gobble up a pawn

In stage 2 Black chooses to attack the Q-side pawn structure.  What does he see in this plan? He has two Bishops with diagonal pressure on both color square diagonals.  His hope is to counterattack, win a pawn . To quote GM Larry Evans: A PAWN IS A PAWN!  Black should   see this to be at some risk because he figures that the opening of lines and gain in square count will more that offset the pawn loss.  Thus, we see an evaluation emerge featuring plusses and minuses within this planning stage by both players.  Plan continues with 13….Qb6 14. Qd3 Q:b2.

White now gains square-count for material.15. Rab1 Qa3 16. Qc2 Nd5 17. Rb3 Qa4 18. B:d5 c:d5 19. Ng5! Made possible because of the “pin” tactic introduced here.  Black suddenly finds himself facing a classic “king hunt” by White.  19…g6 20. N:h7!  White has noticed the exposure of the black Queen.  What must be going through the mind of Golubov at this point?

20….Bf5 Do you see why Black cannot capture with 20…K:h7??  21. Nf6+ Kg7 22. Bh6+!! K:h6 23. g4+!!  Here the question is: Who is winning? The question must at almost every attacking position is this: did White overestimate and Black will garnish up some more points toward Grandmastership?  For Black now, there is no other move but 23….Bf4 seemingly to justify Black’s own play and position.

Who knows if White found the brilliant 24. Qc7!!! ahead of time but to be sure he had it in his pocket and it gave him a unique brilliancy of the grandest order!  24….B:h6 25. Qe5+ Kg5 26. h4+ K:h4 27. Rh3+! Now, on …K:h3 28. Qg3 mates, so 28. Qe7+ mates with 28…f6 29. Qe3+ K:g4 30. Qg3 mate.  I would vote that Paravyan saw the idea all along.

The product of square-count can be seen in how the squares were eventually eliminated for escape routes.  This is always a classic theme of what checkmate represents on the chessboard.

I hope you enjoyed this presentation and might find it a stimulating and valuable lesson on the 64-squares.

A Checkmate in Latvia

December 4, 2018

Dirty Laundry was snuffed out by the woman’s chess grandmaster Dana Reizniece-Ozola when she checkmated the evil empire of Latvian corruption charges reeling within the Baltic Banking System gaining  scrutiny after unwanted attention for what the media has dubbed the “Russian Laundromat.” with billions of funneled dirty monies from corrupt former Soviet republics being syphoned off to Europe.

The cleanup of corruption is led by no other than Minister Dana Reizniece-Ozola and reported to be a game changer in Latvian politics. 

Joel Benjamin – Not just another chess book

December 4, 2018

Clear enough is the title: BETTER THINKING, BETTER CHESS and How a Grandmaster Finds His Moves.  For what should be a truly great work from one of America’s greatest champions, the book leaves a bit of skepticism from my view having a cover unworthy of such a fine product.

Finding a good pathway to achieve a planned operation requires more than simply finding strong moves.  It can boil down to seeing a conceptual plan finding one or more men on the battlefield experiencing a growing complexity as force exerts pressure over terrain and against opposing units and squares.

GM Benjamin, a three-time US Champion has endeavored to tackle this difficult topic for readers.  Understanding and seeing progress emerge from an earnest effort to recognize just how the author works his magic in giving life to the complex nature of this little explored concept, viewing such as alternative continuations in planning strategy, recognizing the complex nature of seeing forces sometimes emerging in conflicting ideas mapped out on the board, seen or misjudged attack and defense needs of weighing success or shortfall in visual unfolding before or within combat operations.

This treatise makes it ever so clear the value of the chess clock as a part of the intrigue and overview of the chess struggle.