Lit Review Wednesday: Winning Chess

Winning Chess: Tactics & Strategies, by Ted Nottingham, Al Lawrence, and Bob Wade, is the first chess book I should have read. It starts out right where I was a month ago--someone who knew the basic moves but knew nothing about the theory behind those moves. The book highlights all of the important tactics: the fork, the pin, and the skewer. It also goes into some detail on discovered check and double check.

I think this book was written for a younger audience, particularly high school students, but it was still very informative. It's definitely the best beginner book I've come across so far. It's not really the most complete book, but if you're just trying to learn the game, this is where you should start.

 

With that said, I would give this book a 4 out of 5. It has a lot of really good basic info, yet there are some glaring problems too. For example, it uses a weird form of algebraic notation for most of it, one that isn't what the professionals use. If they had used the more commonly used version, I think this book would be much more complete.

Theory Thursday: Episode 3--Castling Imbalances

Today I wanted to touch upon the concept of imbalances. This is a huge subject, and there are many books out there that explore this in great depth, so this post will be far from complete, but it should get you pointed in the right direction at spotting these game changers.

By definition (according to IM Jeremy Silman), an imbalance on the chess board occurs when a player has an edge over another. These come up in many different forms; they can be in what pieces have been developed, how well positioned pawns are, whether the king is protected with a castle, or even what parts of the board the pieces are placed on. As you can see, there are many different areas that this concept covers, but one of the more overlooked things is the castling of the king and rook.

The castle is supposed to serve two purposes. The primary one is to protect the king. The king and rook switch positions, usually behind a wall of pawns, tucking the king into a protective corner of the board. But there’s another function, too. When you castle, your rook comes into a more prominent position—and this allows you to play it much more easily.

Castling too early can be disastrous, though. The rule of thumb is that casting on the king side is superior, but if you castle before your opponent has placed their pieces they can adjust their strategy and focus an attack on the king. So while castling is meant to protect the king, if you do it too early or on the wrong side, you are actually making your opponent’s checkmate a little bit easier.

Here’s a quick example.

 

 

As you can see, the king cannot kill the knight on f2 because of the bishop on c5. Nor can the king move to d1 because of the knight's reach. So one possible reaction to this "threat" is to castle. But look at what happens.

 

 

 

One of the rooks will fall victim to the knight's fork, and this is a big imbalance. So while you might be thinking that castling will whisk your king away from the threat, the move creates a material imbalance that will be difficult to recover from. The better reaction here would be to recognize that as long as the h1 rook was moved out of harm's way into g1, the knight in the original diagram does not pose a major threat at this point in the game.

Literature Review Wednesday: Logical Chess

Logical Chess Move by Move: Every Move Explained is not a book in the traditional sense. Written by Irving Chernev several decades ago, this book looks at many famous chess matches and breaks them down in painstaking detail, explaining what the masters behind the games were thinking when they made their moves. Chernev also takes the time to list the pros and cons of each move and even lists what alternative lines may have produced for the players.

I thought that this book would be boring, but it's actually quite enjoyable. I haven't made it through all of the games yet, but the ones that I have read are written in an entertaining manner and they are very detailed--which is great for the chess player with a basic grasp on the game, but doesn't yet truly understand why some moves are better than others. This is right where I am with my game now, so this book is perfect for me.

 

 

I highly recommend this book for players just getting into serious chess. Chernev is very thorough with his explanations why the moves made are good or bad, and this line of thinking will eventually its way into your game. It's already starting to show with my play.



Friday Update

Fridays will be used for going over goals and where I stand in relation to them. Now that June is half over, I have gotten further away from my blitz goal of 800, and have regressed down to a score of 665. This looks bad, but I'm not concerned. I've been focusing mainly on my standard 30 minute games, so the blitz score has been neglected. The standard score has dropped, too, which is a little disheartening. It's down to 862 right now, even though I was up above 900 for quite a while.

Still, I'm not worried. My standard games have been tough. I changed my opponent search ratings, and I am facing a lot of higher quality players. I'm losing much more often than I'm winning against these guys, which is frustrating, but I'm confident that I am getting better. I'm seeing moves more easily, I'm able to set up forks and skewers with more regularity, and I'm better able to visualize moves into the future. I think it is only a short matter of time before I start beating these opponents and step up in class. I am even able to spot their mistakes at times and turn the tables on them, which is very promising for me.

So my scores are getting worse, but I'm getting better. While I'm not making progress as quickly as I'd like, I know that I'm slowly starting to understand the game better, and this is a good thing.

Theory Thursday: Episode 2

I missed Lit Review Wednesday yesterday, but that doesn't mean I haven't been reading. I am currently going through a couple chess books and I will catch up with these next week.

I didn't want to forget theory Thursday, though. I think this is my most important post of the week, so I am making a point to get this blog in, even though it's getting late. Through my playing and reading, I've been trying to figure out what the most important theory subject is in my own games, and I really think talking about forks again is warranted.

Here's why: a properly executed fork can completely change the momentum in a game. I've been on both sides of this recently, but nowhere is this more important than when I do tactical exercises. These keep coming up over and over, and that implies to me that they are important. In a club game I played yesterday and today, I walked right into a pawn fork, where my opponent moved his pawn up against mine, forcing me to decide between my bishop and my knight. I had the lead up until this point, but after I lost my knight, the game quickly ended, with me on the downside of things.

So the point I wanted to make today is that while the knight fork is perhaps the most obvious example, you can have a fork with any piece that can attack in more than one direction. That's every single piece in the game, for those that are wondering. The important thing to keep in mind is that your pieces are versatile. They can serve more than one purpose at any one moment, and the winning player needs to know this and make the most of it. A weaker player will use their pieces in a single minded fashion, focusing on an end goal and not deviating. This might win a few games, but it severely limits how well you will play at higher levels.

Threat Perception

Not all threats are created equal. This is something I had figured out on my own, but seeing it put in writing was very reassuring, especially since it was a grandmaster that had written it. Sometimes your opponent will mount a threat, but the damage will be minimal, or even nonexistent. For example, if they are setting up an attack on your pawn with several pieces, but you never make the move they are looking for, all of their pieces will be pointed in one direction, while you can attack in another. Losing a pawn is not a big deal. If you can find a hole in their defense, taking advantage of it can pay off more than the pawn or two you might lose.

This goes both ways. You need to make sure that your attacks, when real, are legitimate. Setting up a decoy play is fine, but when you are making an honest effort toward an attack play, you need to make sure that you are fully prepared. If possible, you need to account for the moves that your opponent will be making, and you cannot count on them falling for your tricks. Again, if you are going for a ruse of some sort, this is okay, but once you realize that they are not going to fall for it, you need to change your tactics. If you don't, you can lose pieces, and the game.

Black and White

Obviously the title of this post is a reference to the squares on a chess board, but it's also a nod toward writing. First and foremost, I'm a writer. That's what I do to earn money. I don't make a lot, but I have yet to get tossed out of my house, and my kids eat whenever it's mealtime. I know a lot of people that read my blogs know this about me, but I think it's worth a mention for those that might not personally know me. When I started getting into chess, it only seemed natural that I write about it since that is my primary passion.

I also wanted to keep a track record for myself. In the event that I ever do become good at this frustrating game, maybe I can look back at the blog and figure out what worked for me so that I can write a book or a series of articles that will detail my system of learning.

Bobby Fischer wrote a few books and worked as a private instructor, too. There are so many books out on the market right now about chess (I know, I looked at Barnes and Noble yesterday), and there's not much sense in me writing another one if I don't have anything original to add. But there will always be the personal satisfaction in figuring out the best way to apply those concepts, and I'm hoping that this blog will help in that respect for me and whoever else reads this.