Well, judging by the time odds recommendations by ICC, a player rated 2800 in blitz would be a good match for a 45-minute player rated 2000, though their weaknesses are different - blitz beasts have a better positional understanding than slow time control club players but certainly blunder more under time pressure.

A bad news is that he's now dropped to 2266, a good news is that he's playing in the Qatar Masters Open with 14 2700+ players and also such familiar faces as Shankland, Naroditsky, L'Ami. It's being covered on chess.com TV by GMs Daniel King and Simon 'GingerGM' Williams
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Has anyone else here tested this old puzzle-based FIDE rating estimator? It rated me at 1695, which seems quite accurate (though I haven't played OTB seriously for 12 years, so I can only use estimates from chess.com ratings). People find it rather inaccurate, though.

P.S. I didn't know that GM Bela Khotenashvili is so young and attractive (she has beat Jobava with Black in round 1 in a sharp middlegame with passed pawns nearing queening for both sides).

Prior to beating Jobava (2722) in round 1, her last classical game was a loss to Liu Manli (1988) in the Chinese League. Quite the pair of upsets (in opposite directions) for back to back games!

Also, is 26 really that "young" for an active chess grandmaster? Regardless of their gender?

Well, any prominent person who's younger than myself (by almost a year in Bela's case) seems 'young' to me, in the sense that I envy the extent of their success that I didn't have at their current age.

That's totally fair, and I definitely know how you feel, having crossed over to the far side of 30 not so long ago.

TIL that 1. d4 c6 does not have a name. It's not any good, but *everything* has a name.

It's not that strange, considering it's just one move. It might become a Slav or Caro (or something else) soon enough.

I mean, 1.e4 e5 has no name either.

1. e4 e5 has a variable name. At 2750+ it's known as the Berlin Endgame (all deviations from the mainline are the Berlin Endgame Declined), and at the club level it's the Red Gambit Cape.

1. e4 e5 is called the 'Open Game' (C20) according to FICSgames.org, but 1. d4 c6 indeed has no name (is referred to as 'A40 Queen's Pawn: 1... c6' there), I'd call it the 'Queen's Pawn Game: Caro-Kann Invitation' (analogously to the 'Zukertort Opening / Sicilian Invitation', as 1. Nf3 c5 is called by Chesstempo, though in fact it rather invites the Symmetrical English).

I thought a Sicilian invitation is what Luca Brasi got.

King's Pawn Game

Well, can't we say 1.d4 is a Queen's Pawn Game?

Either way, you get the point; Open Game or King's Pawn Game are not usually what the opening is going to be called, since in a couple of moves it will have a "proper" name.

On a more important note, when are you going to change your avatar?

Maybe it will happen when I or wlrs convert him into using this avatar:

So now that I'm playing for solidity and not wild complications, it's really hitting home to me how *awful* amateur players are at endgames.


Also, the two things that cover almost every single one of my results that I'm unhappy with:

1) "I shouldn't have given up that square."

2) "I really do need to start doing that checks/captures/threats" thing.

With that in mind, it's back to the T4545 competition for me!

http://team4545league.org/pgnplayer/...r.php?id=76785

1. e4 c6

So I've basically given up my entire opening repertoire for a spell and am just playing stuff I barely know. I've watched like one video on the Caro-Kann plus I have played against it as white a ton. Otherwise, I'm just feeling it out. It's actually really fun to try to play this way.

2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Bd3 Nf6 5. Bf4 Bg4
6. f3 Bh5 7. g4 Bg6

I've played the white side of "screw it, throw the kingside pawns at it" many times, knowing that it's technically giving equality but practically very difficult for black. It's a lot scarier being on this side.

8. h4 Nc6 9. h5 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 Qb6

The move that holds it all together. They happened to cover this theme in that one video. Hooray?


11. Nc3 Qxd4

Nb4 is complicated but better, and I'll admit I didn't even consider it.

Qxb2 is getting me steamrolled every time, I think.

12. Qxd4 Nxd4

For some reason Stockfish in Dasher refuses to give me an analysis for 12. Qxd4. Usually that means there's a mate in one, but that's obviously not true. I have no idea why this time. Maybe we've transposed into a book line? Sometimes it refuses to evaluate openings.

13. O-O-O Ne6

Not an easy move to play, but it's the only thing that holds it all together.

14. Be3 Nc7 15. g5 Nd7
16. Nxd5 Nxd5 17. Rxd5 e6

Alright, this is what the CK is supposed to be, I guess. This is super equal but with plenty to play for in the endgame.

18. Rd2 Bc5
19. Bxc5 Nxc5 20. Ne2 Rd8
21. Rhd1 Rxd2 22. Kxd2 Ke7 23. Ke3 f6

My plan was to trade one set of rooks but not both, then break open the kingside pawns to create weaknesses while his rook is denied any entry squares on the d-file.

24. f4 fxg5 25. fxg5 Rf8
26. Ng3 h6

Eh, too ambitious. I wanted him to let go of f6, but I'm perfectly happy with the file situation and letting him open up the g-file too undercuts my position.

27. g6 Nd7

Right about here, everything has worked out the way I wanted and I'm almost positive I'm better. I'm not sure how I'm going to break through, but this looks really good for black imo.

With the help of the computer, I can see that a good plan for black is to switch the rook over to the c-file and use c5 as a penetration square, since there's nothing for me on the f-file and I can close it to him at will with Nf6.

28. Rd4 Nf6 29. c4 e5


Deerrrrrrp.

Say it with me now. "I should not have given up f5. I should have checked what happens if he played one of his two checks in response to that move."

I'm just lucky he only saw the forced draw and not how he could extricate his pieces and be up a clean, protected, advanced passed pawn.

30. Nf5+ Ke8
31. Nxg7+ Ke7
32. Nf5+ Ke6
33. Ng7+ Ke7
34. Nf5+ Ke6
35. Ng7+ Ke7

GG! The CK seems to suit you well

Well, 'recreational' players have the right to be such; there's nothing wrong in not getting pleasure from endgame action, though neglecting it surely results in dropping a ton of points, but points are sometimes not the objective of playing chess (especially because it's not for real money).

Yeah, b6 is definitely the best development square for the Black's queen in the CK, where she pressurises d4.

White can make the play sharper by playing h4 early, but generally, that's my impression too, that's why I've played only one game in it and already had enough Now let TexAg06 chime in and prove us wrong about his 'former loved one'.

I know all about h4, the Caveman. It's my precious and it was very hard to give it up (and the g4 Sicilians) when giving up e4.

Oops, I've just clicked through his recent blitz, looking for examples of play in the Modern as Black... and it turns out that he's back to his old C-K / (Semi-)Slav ways, so the love is not 'former' and he can serve as a role model for those whose study those openings.

Btw, I've also stumbled into a game that illustrates Judit's opinion about the strength of 1. f3 2. Kf2:
Here's the game

Of course a knight was blundered because of time trouble, but the position preceding the gift (move 27) was surprisingly good for White (about equal).

Probably the reason why it wasn't winning for White is that he deviated from Judit's recommendation at move 3, but nevertheless, he built quite a solid Leningrad Dutch / Bird type position, much in line with what I've been recently thinking about with regards to these openings: on f2, the king covers the critical e3 and g3 squares, the rook might as well remain on h1 to cover h3 (or be put actively on e1 like in the game) and there's no need to castle in this case (it would only lose a tempo or two).

(Don't repeat it at home, though - the exposure of the a7-g1 diagonal makes the fortress a bit vulnerable; hence I'd prefer to do it only after Black plays c5; maybe I'm too cowardly.)

A book opening in Judit's spirit is Caro-Kann Defense, Accelerated Panov Attack, Pseudo-Scandinavian

Mamedyarov–Giri tomorrow is a meeting of the colossi of the Qatar Masters Open. Mamedyarov, 3.5/4, is in strong form, 10.0/15 over his last two tournaments, good for 14.5 rating points. Giri chucks aside lesser GMs like toddlers, 4.0/4, fresh off his 18-move win over Oleksienko (2620) in the Caro Advance, under a year away, perhaps, from becoming the ninth 2800 ever. (If Wei Yi doesn't get there first!)

Their classical record is 2-0-2, edge to Mamedyarov. Will Giri's surging momentum carry him into his first win? Stay tuned, boys and girls.

Is it unusual that whilst I don't play any gambits as white, my black repituire is heavily made up of gambits?

I'm not surprised - it's Black who usually needs counterplay and imbalance; White has intrinsic initiative and space advantage anyway due to his first move privilege. (A caveat is that Queen's Gambit is not a genuine gambit - it's too easy to regain the c-pawn, and it's usually rather positional. Try to show me another really sound White gambit that scores better than adjacent non-gambit options... it's hard.)

i'm glad my opening ideas are catching on.

i don't know if the admins allow advertising, but i'm getting into the coaching business! first lesson will cover basic concepts like getting the opposition in the opening and the positional queen sacrifice. it might be just what you need to get over the hump and win the world championship.

i will accept shiny and fluffy objects as payment, not stinky money.

Yeah, this makes a lot of sense









Sorry, but I'm already very well versed in positional queen sacrifices. My personal favourite is

1.e4 c5 2.f4 d5 2.Nf3 dxf 3.Ng5 Nf6 4.Bc4 Bg4 5.Qxg4 Nxg4 6.Bxf7+ Kd7 7.Be6+ Kc6 8.Bxg4 with more than adequate compensation for the queen and a very interesting game. I could fill a thread with info on this line