Neg4 was my next move, but his queen move changed that. I thought about it on that move, but I felt it could wait.

Neg4 attacks h2 twice and also attacks his queen. It looks like he's forced to move his queen to d2 f3 or g5, none of which look great for him. No idea what happens after that, though. Depends on the opponent as it's hard to predict moves at this level.

I'm kind of known for launching attacks prematurely, though so maybe Neg4 is too aggressive yet. It's a move I would probably play just to see what comes of it.

Neg4 is definitely interesting, but I'm not sure there's a way forward after Qd3. Nh2 Re1 and I think the knight is going to get stuck there unless Black comes up with something quick. And I don't see what Bh2 Kh1 achieves either.

I think the move Nfg4 is also worth considering. If White takes it Black's attack looks strong, but if he drops back with Qd2 Black just has two pieces hanging, so maybe it's not good either.

Finally got an actual non-provisional rating! First game after getting it:

http://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game...r.php?id=90833

Biggest demofest I've ever won. Took forever for 13. g3 and was just looking to exchange after that.

Also have no idea how to play vs the sicilian.

Black missed excellent resigning chances.

I kind of like 6. Nxe5 there as it has no defender but as played you end up winning the rook anyway, which is my long-term plan for playing Nxe5, if he doesn't counter it.

8. Nxd5 should be strong. It's undefended and you don't care if he plays Qxe5 since you follow Rfe1, pinning his queen to his king, which means you trade a rook for his queen.

Though there could be something I'm missing.

Good game, though. 19. Qa6+ might be better than Qc6+ since it chases his King back toward your Rook controlled e-file but I dunno.

So what's your rating?

1365 on fics - dunno how good that is

9-17=0

I don't know what 9-17=0 means. I always see that written on wiki under tourney results.

I just guessed - I think (hope) it means 9 wins 17 losses 0 draws

and somewhat not relevant, but I just bought:


1x DGT North American Digital Chess Clock - DGTNA
1x Weighted Supreme Staunton Chess Pieces with Vinyl Board and Carryall Bag - 3.75" King - Green

Ordered it at 1:30pm from cool chess canada (lol alliteration) and it shipped 4pm on a Sunday. Amazing.

I think that's exactly what I ordered from them.

Another update: I've been pretty much sick all week, so I've done some reading (Everyone's 2nd Chessbook - meh; started Zurich 1953 - this can wait; finished studying knight forks on Predator at the Chessboard) and tactics on Chess Tempo (still need a lot of work - around 1300).

Played two games - first one I misclicked my bishop by one spot while up a piece and left my queen wide open. Snap resign and shut computer off. Second one is here:

http://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game...r.php?id=91099

It's a pretty boring game, but it was fun to demo someone.

Nice demo. Black is whack.

I have a question: after reviewing my games and seeing that I lost a K+P v P endgame, I decided to read up on it a bit. I understand key squares and their importance (i.e. winning position if you can get there) and opposition and everything - and I understand that the defending king needs to get in front of the pawn, and I understand the 3 rules (which you need 2) to have a 'sure' win.

What I don't quite get is how they all intertwine. Are the '3 rules' just a quick way to determine if there's a sure win there; essentially guaranteeing that a key square will be available if 2 of the conditions exist without having to do all the legwork to figure it out?

What, specifically, are the "3 rules" that you are referring to? Different people talk about the same positions using different terminology, sometimes, and clarifying the exact three "rules" we're considering will help make this discussion go a lot more smoothly.

K+P wins if (2 of 3):

1. his king is in front of his pawn
2. he has opposition
3. his king is on sixth rank

Okay, so to understand the interrelation, let's start by examining the situation where all three conditions apply. Note: I am intentionally omitting diagrams. Partially this is to give you a chance to work on your visualization skills, but if you have any difficulty understanding any portion of this post, by all means set it up on a board and work through it. It's also partially to work on MY visualization skills by attempting to explain all of this without a board in front of me. So I would appreciate if someone would double-check that I didn't say anything stupid

White has his king in front of the pawn, and on the 6th rank, with the opposition; for example the white king is on e6, pawn on e5, and the black king is on e8 - black to move. Hopefully this is clearly a trivial win for white. Because white has the oppposition, the black king is unable to advance - all three squares within its reach on the seventh rank are covered by the white king. Since black cannot bring his king to d7, e7, or f7, he must instead sidestep to either d8 or f8. Whichever direction black moves, the white king can come forward to the seventh rank on the other side and take control of the queening square (1. ... Kd8 2. Kf7 or 1. ... Kf8 2. Kd7), and now 3. e6 4. e7 and 5. e8=Q are ineveitable.

The only other question about this "all three rules apply" scenario might be to ask what happens if the pawn is not so far advanced. Say the kings are still on e6 and e8, but the white pawn is only on e5. Black still must sidestep, and white can still just grab the queening square. For example 1. ... Kd8 2. Kf7 Kd7 {With the queening square coverd, black's only try is to attempt to get closer to the temporarily undefended pawn, running away does nothing} 3. e6 {and the pawn is defended, making the rest trivial} Kd8 4. e7+ and 5. e8=Q

And if the pawn is further back still, say on e4, then white just brings it forward until the first scenario is reached. Say 1. ... Kf8 2. e5 Ke8 {trying to take back the opposition, but of course to no avail} 3. e6 and we're back to the beginning.

So what if only two conditions are met? Well there are three cases, so let's look at them one by one.

1) King is in front of pawn with opposition, but king is NOT on the 6th rank:

An example position might be a white pawn at e4, white king at e5, and black king at e7 - black to move. Just like before the black king cannot come forward, due to the opposition. In this case it's not yet on the eigth rank and so technically has two options - sidestep or retreat. Retreating, however, just brings us into "all three rules are met" and we know that loses (1. ... Ke8 2. Ke6 and see above). So side-stepping is the only try, but just like before, whichever direction the black king side-steps to, white can come forward to the other side.

Say 1. ... Kf7 2. Kd6 and now what can black try? White threatens Kd7 to claim the queening square and win. The only way black can prevent this at the moment is 2. ... Ke8 {briefly grabbing control of d7} 3. Ke6 and white wins because all three rules apply.

So the point is that if the king is in front of the pawn, and has opposition, he doesn't need to be on the sixth rank *yet* because he will inevitably get there, at which point all three rules will apply, and the pawn will queen.

2) King is in front of the pawn and on the 6th rank, but without the opposition.

An example position might be a white pawn at e5, white king at e6, and black king at e8, but this time it is WHITE to move.

Well now it is white who is forced to sidestep with his king, but it's a lot less harmful than it was for black. Consider this line: 1. Kd6 Kd8 {black's only hope here is that he holds the opposition, so presumably he'll try to retain it, the other "try" of 1. Kd6 Kf7 2. Kd7 gives up the queening square, and the pawn is close enough to the white king that it can't be picked off} 2. e6 and now white has his king on the 6th rank WITH the opposition (thanks to the tempo gained by pushing the pawn), but no longer has his king in front of the pawn. In other words, this will be case 3, and we'll return to it momentarily.

What if the pawn was farther back? Would that allow black's alternate "try" to have a chance? Well, no. For example a pawn on e4, king on e6, and black king on e8 just leads to 1. e5 gaining the opposition and giving us "all three rules" again.

3) King is on the sixth rank, with the opposition, but not in front of the pawn.

And therefore this is the only case left. Let us revisit the position we had reached in case 2 after white played 2. e6; a white pawn on e6, king on d6, and the black king on d8 - black to move.

Just like the other 6th rank with opposition scenarios, the black king must of course side-step, and Kc8 obviously just loses to any number of white responses. So black clearly MUST try to step back in front of the pawn. 1. ... Ke8 2. e7 {defended by the white king, and cutting off both d8 and f8 from black's king} Kf7 {only legal move} 3. Kd7 and white wins.

Remember though, all of these "three rules" situations rely on one thing: the pawn can't be a rook pawn!

I strongly recommend spending 30-60 minutes playing with KP vs K on a chess board, either with a friend (best) or by yourself. Or set up a position vs the computer and try to win/hold a draw. It's really the best way to internalize it all.

The key to understand is the opposition. When you have the opposition, you can force your king forward; it's the key to maneuvering two kings. I'd recommend reading up about the opposition in its various forms (direct, distant, diagonal). A good exercise: put white's king on a1, black's king on a8. White to play and reach the 8th rank. In order to do this, you need an experienced player to defend as black.

Anyway, regarding your rules, they're not quite complete. I'll assume as usual that white is the side with K+P. First, they don't apply when the pawn is a rook pawn (generally a draw if black can get near the queening square). Second, if white's king is 2+ squares in front of the pawn, it's always a win regardless of opposition or being on the 6th rank, because he can advance the pawn to gain the opposition at an appropriate moment.

To answer your question, yes, those rules just summarize whether it will be a win or not. Experienced players generally won't think in terms of those rules, but will instinctively know if it's a win or not from their past experience.

Thanks a ton guys - this help is much appreciated. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything along the way.

I'm aware of the rook king rule (key squares b7/b8 and g7/g8 for a/h pawns) and knight pawn stalemate possibility. Also I've learned about the different types of opposition, and just assumed the king being 2+ squares in front was covered by one of those types of opposition/tempi.

I'm going over some endgame practice on chessgym right now. I'm still trying to get used to the strategy for both sides, particularly black's drawing strategy.

A game vs a FICS 1480 today after tilting away the Sunday tourneys:

http://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game...r.php?id=91350

My standard scandi - I'm getting comfortable with it, but should probably look at something else in the near future.

It took me probably 5 minutes to play 13...e4. I got myself in a kinda gross spot playing 12...Qb5 instead of Qa6, but I really thought e4 was a good move there. Turns out he couldn't resist the c pawn and his knight was fubar.

Once he plays 27. h3 I know there's a mate in there somewhere but I couldn't find it. I legit somehow thought that his K could get to the bishop somehow after 27...Rd1+ 28. Kh2 Nh5 guarding g3 . I didn't bother looking hard for mates in one (50...Q5# as an example) and just wanted to play the endgame as practice. I'm sure it's bad chess, but it's only my 25th game.

I was pretty scared of stalemate, so I took a bit of time with the R+K endgame - getting the bishop out of the way and probably looking like a noob. Oh well. I enjoyed myself.

5...e5 feels wrong, but I'm too sleepy to be able to articulate why.

completely agree, especially when Nf6 blocks any protection of that pawn

played another game today - a 45 min one against a 1500

http://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game...r.php?id=91441

I'm getting a couple trends out of my games:

1. I goddamn suck around moves 5-12
2. I'm anticipating players not making the best moves, and it's costing me
3. I waste needless tempi on useless checks and queen 'scares'

It appeared in this game that, after the halfway point ish, I had control of the game. After reviewing it through the engine, I was shocked to see I was down over 3 pawns during the early game. It's clearly a hole I need to close before I go anywhere.

I'm trying to recall the game - my friend was over and we left immediately after - I recall him wanting to exchange queens as really bad, as I was in a pretty bad spot. After that exchange I think I was in quite good shape the rest of the way, and I just looked to exchange to get to an easily winnable endgame. I remember moving my rook to the third rank to attack a knight at about move 30 and thinking it was really bad afterwards - I'm not sure if it actually was or not.

Of course he let his last 22 min run down before disconnecting at the final position, but whatever. Managed to tilt me for an hour or so at wings afterwards.

I felt I was pretty conscious throughout about how powerful my bishop pair was (until the game was already won) and maintaining that advantage. I also thought I had a decent tactic to gain a piece and essentially dagger him. I don't know if it's poor form to play the last 1/3 of the game like this, but it's the way I know how to win 100% of the time without blundering or stalemating.

Post more games where you sucked around moves 5-12.

The f6-e5 idea is bad, but I'm sure you realize that now.

Which moves are you referring to?

Also, it's poor form to play the end of the game like Black plays it here.

Looks pretty good from my eye. You are playing damn well for how much experience you have.

I ditched the Scandi because any time I play Qa5 line I always get into a heap of mess. I notice you play this defense line and have seemingly been able to evade serious damage. I found it kinda tricky though and had to waste too much time figuring out how to not lose my queen over there.