Good luck tomorrow man. Give 'em hell.

Aroma chess is awesome man.

Anyone notice the USCF has an experimental online server now, correspondence only for now?

http://chessserver.rmrdevelopment.com

Someone register and challenge me. Kyle Mayhugh

Interesting. My membership expired so I can't register right now. Let us know how it is.

I was entering some of my old games into a database this evening, reached a R+P vs. R endgame in some lines that I wanted definitive answers to, and decided to download the tablebases up to five pieces. The server I was getting them from kept timing out, though, so I'm still downloading...and only now getting to the R+P vs. R ones. Argh.

if you just want the evaluation of a certain position, you can look it up here:

http://k4it.de/index.php?topic=egtb&lang=en

Thoughts on one of my T4545 league games this week?

I was playing a higher-rated player as black, and I knew he played some of that funky d4/c4 fianchetto the kingside bishop nonsense which I usually struggle with.

I did some prep earlier in the morning, and everything through 6. ... Bb4 is book. After 7. Nb1, surely black is just better.

10. ... h6 instead of 0-0 is kind of ish, but I wanted to maintain my option to castle on either side until I saw more of a commitment from white to a plan.

I need to work on my calculation a lot. I'm starting to find positions where I need to calculate accurately further into the game, and I'm missing some stuff.

Leading up to 12. e4, I had all the right ideas, but I missed a key move order because I was focused on 14. Nxf6 and missed Nxd6, which doesn't cost black the game by any means but gives me some problems. Now instead of a beautiful centralized bishop supporting my kingside attack, I've got an awkward knight.

Calculation error No. 2 was when I thought I couldn't play 17. ... Nxe3. I was looking at Nxe3/Nxf7 Nxd8/Nxd1 Nxd6+ as worse for black, when it's actually better if you play it out and it's not even necessary because black can win a full piece very early in the combination anyway.

I figured 18. ... Nxc3 would leave me on the worse side of a draw, but Qb8 looked even more unappealing.

After 22. a3, I knew I was pretty much winning, just had to be careful not to blunder or get suckered into a drawish pawn-up rook ending.

For my 23rd move, I made up my mind I was playing b6, but I swear my hand had a mind of its own and reached out to play Rxd6, which is still winning but makes my life a lot harder than it was.

d'oh, helps if I post the link:

http://team4545league.org/pgnplayer/...r.php?id=54988

How good am I if I found the game without the link yesterday?

As far as the game goes, I am really not a fan of Bb4 to be honest. Firstly, it does not win a tempo, since your bishop will have to go back anyway. If I was white in this position, my main concern would be: "how the hell do I get the c3 N out of the way so I can play c3, removing the annoying pressure black has on c2 and strengthening my center?". After Bb4, his problem is solved w/o losing the tempo. Nb1, c3, then N can go to d2 where it is not worse than on c3 for sure. I think I like h6 the most in that position just to create the square for the bishop, followed by something like Be7 (maybe d6 in some circumstances, but usually e7), Nbd7, 0-0, and probably playing for c5 if by that time he still hasn't moved the c3 knight out of the way.

Also, I don't like Bd6 --> Qc7 idea. The battery is really not doing a whole lot, and the bishop on d6 comes under constant tempi after e4 (e5 is threatened, if u take N comes to e4, etc.) I think retreating to e7 is more logical, mainly because Nh4 is pretty much a crucial move for him. In most of the lines he will play Nh4 forcing your bishop back, and then shove e4. If you have your B on e7, h4 is a constant target and a lot of those lines don't work anymore, and since it's pretty much the only plan white has..

22. a3 was a pretty horrible move by your opponent I think. Immediate b4 and it is far from clear. U shoulda played b6, but you already said that yourself. I thought for a second that after 28. Rb5 you can win with 28.. Rf2 29. Rb7+ Kc8 and now you are threatening a simple Be4, and if he plays 30. Kg1 then Rxg2!. However, after 28.. Rf2 white has immediate Kg1 after that, everything is pretty solid I think, wp

This isn't really a justification, I know, but Bb4 is the book line and that's why I played it (Retreating it to d6 eventually was also book, but the line didn't include Nb1 so I was out of book at that point anyway).

Qc7 was a move I really wasn't sure about. That does make a lot of sense to be targeting h4 because of Nh4. I was focused on trying to prepare for e4 rather than just prevent it. I was still kind of hoping to get my own e5 in at some point.

I think my ideas worked to that end, because as played Nh4 was a bad move. I just botched the move order in refuting it.

e4 dxe4/Nxe4 Nxe4/Bxe4 Bxe4/Rxe4 g5/Nf5 0-0-0/Nxd6+ Qxd6 I think I'm pretty happy as black with the resulting position, though it's going to take some energy and you have to be careful not to trade into a worse BvN endgame.

The computer kind of likes going straight into g5, but I don't really care for that. There are some weird "Piece for three pawn" lines that look better for white to me.

Leading up to e4, I think the main issue was that I thought c4 was an equally valid break move for him, and I wanted to be prepared for either. If he plays c4, then I want to be castled short and just play a basic restraint pawn structure game. If he plays e4, I want to be able to castle long.

I think one of the first things I said to you four months ago was that "I feel really comfortable with my calculation, but my evaluation/positional understanding is awful." It's kind of come full circle, because I thought positionally I had a pretty good idea of what was going on this whole game (relative to my former "d4 and what the hell is happening, is this still chess?" feelings), but I botched a couple of key calculations that ruined what should have been good positions. Still have a ton of work to do to improve, but I felt like your fingerprints were all over that game.


tl;dr version: Book opening, right ideas but miscalculated, opponent botched endgame, I win.

81st Massachusetts Open:
EF: $69 for 3-day, $68 for 2-day if mailed by 5/22 or online by 5/24, $80 at site. GMs and IMs free. $30 discount to unrated and to players in U1400 sect. rated under 1000. Special EF: Under age 23 or age 60 and older: $30 in 3-day, $29 in 2-day, $35 at site, no other discounts apply.


Under age 23 gets a > 50% discount . If you want to give age 18-23 (college students) a discount that's fine. Fine with giving old people a discount, but giving children a DISCOUNT is UTTERLY RIDICULOUS. Yes, lets give discount EFs to the only people that have a chance at winning prizes not in the open section in the first place, and who aren't paying their own entry fee anyway. Most small children who are good at chess have rich parents, this is the biggest joke ever. I'm just thinking a few years back to when I made no money and it really really annoys me. Chess is an expensive hobby, so lets make it even less of a burden on the people who benefit from it financially and more of a burden on those that don't. Do you realize how much of % of the prize pool an adult player is paying compared to the kids? Ugh.

Ugh I'm just still so annoyed about this. If anything kids should have to pay more.

One last thing:

Proposed format for Open Cash Cow Tournaments that SHOULD happen but will never happen.

Every tournament like this should have a KID's sections. Kids may play in either the Open or Kid's section but no rating restricted sections. The kid's section can have class prizes of its own of course can can even be broken up into multiple kid's sections if they are expecting a lot.

Kids would have the opportunity to play strong adults IF THEY so CHOOSE or if they aren't strong enough to do that then there should be no bitching and moaning that the other kid's in the kid's section aren't strong enough.

1) I hate children and playing them is annoying because they are rude, smell, and don't sit still
2) They're always under-rated and playing in a U2000 section and having to a face a kid of Over2000 strength is annoying. You never have any chance at these things, it's ridiculous and the USCF is poorly run.

Good news I have never played a chess tournament in which I paid a fee for.

This doesn't make any sense. Yes, some kids are on a rating upswing and some have already had their rating upswing for the year. Just like adults who take up the game later in life, or college students or whomever. And if I can win my section at the US Open, trust me, anyone can.

The goal of discounted EF is not to attract 'poor people,' it's to attract people that wouldn't normally play the event.

Chess should be doing EVERYTHING IN ITS POWER IN THE US to get AS MANY KIDS AS POSSIBLE to play.

I never understood adults who don't like playing kids, even kids that have been rated equally to me I usually beat in a trivial fashion. I think the only kid I ever lost to was a future US jr champion - so it goes. Some kids are going to be better than you, that's life so get used to it.

Having played several tourneys in NYC, Houston, and Philly, I can assure you that my experience is that adults are 10x more likely to have not showered and stink than kids. And, on the whole, adults are 100x more rude. YMMV.

I don't care if some kids are better than me. My gripe is all about the cost. Most non-open prizes at least along the Northeast corridor are taken by kids. I'll give you that the adults smell as bad/worse at times, but I will not give you the rudeness point. Kids are far more likely to be rude. Plus one time I was playing one and he started crying. I really don't need this. The rudeness comes in post-game. They tend to be very bad winners, and after losses they will often explain to you what you "should have played to beat them faster" If the kid's good enough to play in an Open section they're usually past this nonsense, and I wouldn't restrict anyone from playing an OPEN, but they really don't belong in rating restricted sections.

TY for kind words

I won't argue that Bb4 is not a book move cause you definitely know better, but I dunno, it is just utterly illogical to me still. Its kind of "let's attack a poorly placed piece and force it to go to a better square while we will have to spend another move retreating our attacking piece later" , I just don't see why it is the book move

One other note, the USCF already does do as much as possible to get kids to play chess. They have very much reduced membership fees. This I am fine with, as it promotes chess clubs signing up all their kids in grammar school, grandparents giving it as gifts or whatever. Cheap scholastic tournaments, etc all these thing are great. But giving them breaks in 'real' tournaments is where it is just goes too far.

The thing is kid's don't make their own decisions about what section they will play in, their parents and coaches do. A small child with a rating over 1700 almost always has some expensive coach and rich parents that think they have the next bobby Fischer or whatever. Giving these people EF breaks is insane. They'll show up anyway. I couldn't imagine making my kid sit for 6 hour chess games twice a day. If they really love it on their own that's totally fine, but most of them don't. I'm kind of off track with my original point but whatever.

And I'm not saying these kids don't like chess, I'm saying they don't want to be playing long grueling multi hour games constantly in tournaments. They also don't want to 'study' constantly. If they do want to study constantly, well thats where our freaks of nature and world class players come from.

You are way over-reacting. Just calm down and play chess. Don't worry about other people. If the tournament wants to cater to the very young and the very old, you shouldn't care. And if you do care that much, don't play in the MA open.

love the avatar

kids are the only hope that chess has in the USA. Have to cater to them. I enjoy facing them over the board. Never know what you are going to get...keeps ya on your toes.

lol over-reacting online?? NAH! Saying I 'hate' kids was taking it too far, I actually like kids. It's just they have a huge advantage at class prizes because they are never truly the class that they are in, and giving them a cheaper EF is pretty ludicrous. I actually was going to play in the MA open but decided against that because of that EF discount. Most insane discount I have ever seen.

This came up in a game of mine today. My opponent blundered 2 moves later and I won, but the optimal continuation is pretty tough to find (at least for me).