Round 1 is just getting ready to start. Good luck everyone! Any questions or games from this season should be posted here. In case you haven't already done so, please go to the Game Forum and negotiate a time to play your game.Good luck and remember that women love chess players!

for some reason "SIMULTANEE EN DOUBLE" just doesn't look right with that cover.

Or perhaps it looks very, very right??

So... about openings.

Play what you normally play and let him the do the work of proving if you have any major flaws? Work to play against his repertoire? Try something new and unexpected so you're both completely clueless?

I'm probably just going to opt for #1.

I'm leaning towards the Sicilian - it's not my best opening experience-wise but I'm willing to bet he plays 1. e4 and I'd rather have a more aggressive opening then my Pirc - something that gives me counterchances with a similiar kingside structure to my Pirc - (maybe a Najdorf - I seem to have some good experience playing that as white) - but I should look at my opponent's experience and run it thru my PC

I could strongly recommend the Qb6 sicilian then. Definitely a different structure than the pirc but it's certainly something that is easy for you to learn, will be a surprise for him and I'd expect there's basically 0 chance he plays the most dangerous line with the Be3 gambit stuff.

I gotta say, it has occurred to me (and I've confirmed) that it is terribly easy to find this web page by goggling either team's list of players and following to the forum - it may be EXTREMELY wise to take strategy discussion pre-game off the forum - I'll shoot you an IM, Dire

Hrm, good point. Does the team4545 page offer private forums or anything like that? Kind of sucks we can't do it openly here. I guess that's just pregame stuff though. At least can openly post the games/analysis/etc here.

there is private emailing forum, but I think that's interteam and wouldn't allow me to discuss stuff with the 101 Onslaught team

I'll try to look into this and see if I can find something.

well, round 1, and I got the draw - blew opening but managed to use tactics enough to recover and get a pair of connected passed pawns but his passed pawn was gonna be a headache - ended up going for the draw and calling it a fight well fought.

I have analyzed game a bit but don't want to post/discuss it until I've done more analysis - it's on the team4545league site - aside from hosing the opening , the middlegame, and the ending, I think it went ok -

I think I had a win at move 42 by trying to get my rook behind his pawn instead of my king in front of it - force him to escort it down all the way while my pawns/king make enough progress to dislodge the rook before the king can get back up - ah well - lesson for the fire next time -

RB

Nice game, Whiskey! I got to watch part of it and I thought you did a very nice job keeping your pieces active and finding tactics that allowed you to recover from a rough opening. But to be fair, your opponent was only 300+ points higher rated, so I expected at least a draw from you

yuk yuk - with a gameknot rating of 1600 and a 15-minute rating of 1550, I was expecting my 45 45 performance to be close to 1600 - I found myself with my screen maximized walking around as opposed to sitting studying at the board - swinging my Green Destiny replica sword - LOL

have been playing mostly corr. chess thru gameknot - I finally warmed up with a couple games last night but spent a lot of time studing that other opening and not other gotchas in the Pirc - (it's almost always Austrian, Classical, or 150 Attack) - haven't been playing many games lately and just working on tactics or game replays, so I'm a little rusty at live thinking, calculation, and visualization -

I'm kinda tired - (and was during the game) so I don't have a lot in me but I STILL don't see a win after move 42 - could let Fritz run at it but it sure feels like a draw to me - ah well

not happy with my opening at all - in addition to locking my dark bishop I left myself with a backward pawn on the d file trying to secure e5 - probaby a different plan then the Nbd7/c5 was called for

[Event "Team 45 45 League T44"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2010.02.04"]
[Round "1"]
[White "room-matt"]
[Black "whiskeytown"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "1726"]
[BlackElo "1410"]
[Opening "Pirc: Byrne variation"]
[ECO "B07"] [Time "15:00:33"]
[TimeControl "2700+45"]

1. e4 {0:45:39} d6 {0:45:43} 2. d4 {0:46:18} Nf6 {0:46:26} 3. Nc3 {0:46:42} g6 {0:47:06} 4. Bg5 {0:45:41} h6 {0:47:38} 5. Bxf6 {0:43:57} exf6 {0:48:18} 6. Qf3 {0:44:40} Bg7 {0:49:01} 7. Bd3 {0:44:44} Nd7 {0:47:46} 8. O-O-O {0:45:07} c5 {0:47:55} 9. Nge2 {0:43:13} cxd4 {0:48:16} 10. Nxd4 {0:43:55} Ne5 {0:48:59} 11. Qe3 {0:43:03} O-O {0:48:11} 12. f4 {0:40:23} Nxd3+ {0:48:11} 13. Rxd3 {0:41:04} Bd7 {0:47:10} 14. Nf3 {0:37:51} Qc7 {0:45:56} 15. Rhd1 {0:38:22} Bg4 {0:42:11} 16. Rxd6 {0:36:48} b6 {0:40:04} 17. R1d4 {0:32:48} Rfd8 {0:37:56} 18. Rxd8+ {0:33:00} Rxd8 {0:38:31} 19. Nd5 {0:29:35} Qb7 {0:36:48} 20. Rc4 {0:28:36} Bxf3 {0:35:20} 21. Qxf3 {0:27:48} f5 {0:35:51} 22. Rc7 {0:21:49} fxe4 {0:34:49} 23. Rxb7 {0:21:27} exf3 {0:35:31} 24. Ne7+ {0:22:10} Kh7 {0:36:13} 25. gxf3 {0:22:53} Bd4 {0:34:15} 26. c3 {0:20:59} Be3+ {0:34:27} 27. Kc2 {0:21:41} Rd2+ {0:35:06} 28. Kb3 {0:22:15} Bxf4 {0:34:43} 29. h3 {0:20:49} Kg7 {0:33:57} 30. Rxa7 {0:21:09} Rf2 {0:33:54} 31. Rb7 {0:19:27} Bc1 {0:34:37} 32. Nd5 {0:18:43} Rxb2+ {0:35:01} 33. Kc4 {0:19:23} Rxa2 {0:35:09} 34. Rxb6 {0:19:36} Rf2 {0:35:27} 35. h4 {0:15:24} Rxf3 {0:35:38} 36. Rb1 {0:16:02} Bf4 {0:35:04} 37. Rh1 {0:14:12} g5 {0:31:47} 38. hxg5 {0:12:35} hxg5 {0:32:28} 39. Rg1 {0:11:42} f6 {0:32:11} 40. Nxf4 {0:09:28} Rxf4+ {0:32:53} 41. Kc5 {0:10:12} g4 {0:33:27} 42. c4 {0:10:13} f5 {0:34:02} 43. Kd5 {0:10:21} Kf6 {0:33:26} 44. c5 {0:10:37} Ke7 {0:33:56} 45. c6 {0:10:32} Rf2 {0:29:03} 46. Ke5 {0:08:08} Kd8 {0:24:27} 47. Kd6 {0:07:44} Rd2+ {0:24:27} 48. Ke5 {0:08:13} Kc7 {0:23:58} 49. Kxf5 {0:07:33} Kxc6 {0:24:40} 50. Rxg4 {0:08:13} Rd5+ {0:25:16} {Game drawn by mutual agreement} 1/2-1/2

Here was your position after white's 43rd move.



Your plan is to get your rook behind the white pawn, slowing the pawn's advance (since the king has to escort it). Your king and pawns will then win. The plan is easy but you do have to calculate pretty accurately, not easy with the clock ticking. The easiest winning line is:

43...Rf2 44.c5 (44.Rc1 g3 45.c5 g2 46.Rg1 (46.c6 Rf1) 46...Kf6 47.c6 Rd2+ 48.Kc4 Ke7) 44...Rc2 45.Kd6 Kf6 46.c6 Kg5 47.c7 f4 48.Rg2 (48.Ra1 Rxc7 idea was - Ra5+, Rc5) Rxc7 49.Kxc7 f3 50.Rg1 Kf4 51.Kc6 g3 -+

I think playing for c5 is pretty dangerous after you've played exf6. It leaves a huge gaping hole at d5 that your opponent could have really taken advantage of. And playing Nd7 is very painful since it completely blocks your useful light bishop.

I think I'd prefer to just play simple chess in the opening. Something like 7. .. O-O 8. Nge2 Nc6 and now you actually already have alot of threats. For instance: 9. O-O?! Nb4 and black is already better (after Nxd3 comes f5). Actually I'm not sure what white should play for his 9th move there. O-O-O and Nb5 still comes with powerful effect. 9. .. a3 is too slow as black can get things going with 9. .. f5! 10. exf Nxd4 11. Nxd4 Bxd4 12. fxg6 Bxc3+ 13. bxc3 Qe8+ when white is probably just lost.

It seems possible that after 7. .. O-O 8. Nge2 Nc6 black is just better.

yah, I really boned the opening and paid for it with that backward pawn - I'm getting to a point where the actual study of openings may be beneficial - tactics and blind wood pushing will only get you so far - as it stands I don't think I've ever read a single opening book cover to cover all the way thru

Nah man, you played it great. You had a plan and went with it, and ended up with a winning position against a substantially higher rated opponent. What more could ya want!? I'm just giving suggestions.

But tbh, one other suggestion would actually be to still avoid opening theory for a while. Just focus on making your pieces work better together. Ya know, like Nd7 vs Nc6 isn't about opening theory - I just want to keep your light bishop alive is the main reason I preferred Nc6. That it ended up creating some nice tactics is just a side effect of making your pieces harmonize more.

Well the main point is good job whiskeytown on holding someone ranked 300+ points above you to a draw. If you can keep getting results like that and the rest of us do our jobs we should do well imo.

My game is scheduled for 00:30 GMT Saturday (19:30 Friday NYC time/11:00 Satuday local)

Bad news, I can't find any private forum options on the league website I guess discuss whatever you like here, but if you're worried about your opponent's finding this page and gaining an upper hand, be careful posting opening analysis for upcoming games.

Everyone did a great job getting their games set up, but just to remind you of some important specifics:

• The first contact deadline is Thurs 22:00 icc time. If you miss this deadline, then you are required to accept one of your opponent's offered times or forfeit.
• The contact-or-forfeit deadline is Fri 22:00 icc time. If you haven't posted in the Game Forum by this time, then you're forfeited.
• You need to offer 3 time periods for your offer to meet the guidelines - it can be various times on the same day.

Good luck to everyone this weekend!

You guys can kibitz me on ICC at the moment if you like, if you want to see what me being completely lost by move 9 looks like (lost as in very unfamiliar positions, not lost as in I've lost the game).

I wish I could kiblitz - alas, work from 6pm to 6am ( which made scheduling my match a bear) - BUT I will examine when you're done and it's posted to the forum

RB

that isn't what happened to Damagor, is it? - it looks like our top table didn't get the game scheduled

RB

Nope. His game did get scheduled, but he didn't show up. Hopefully he's okay and just got stuck doing something more important. FYI - you and your opponent have until 30 minutes after the scheduled time to show up. That's the forfeit cutoff point.

I lost. Tough game. Got out-theoried and outplayed by my opponent in the opening and ended up in very messy and unfamiliar territory. Analysis to follow.

I kept checking the website and thinking - "man, it's taking a long time - must be a good fight" - - looking forward to analysis

rb