Chess: glee v Mosier

The Game Room
1

This is a training game (I’m a retired professional chess coach) and hopefully will interest spectators as well.

Mosier can:

  • take a move back (if he happens to blunder horribly, I’ll point that out!)
  • ask my advice on his next move
  • ask questions about strategy + tactics
  • read my running commentary on the game

I’d prefer he didn’t use a computer (I do practice against them, but this is about Mosier learning for himself) and I don’t think spectators should make suggestions (for the same reason.)

The game idea came from this thread:

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=14531263&posted=1#post14531263

I’ve got White (I’m going to play Candyman 74 as Black in another thread as well) and will move next post.

2

We’ll be using algebraic notation - see here for an explanation:

I hope some kind soul will put up board diagrams along the way (very helpful.)

OK, opening principles for inexperienced players (as Mosier describes himself):

  • control the centre (d4,d5,e4,e5), because it allows access to all parts of the board
  • develop your pieces (don’t move the Queen all the time)
  • get castled (it protects your King, especially when the centre opens up)

There are four popular and widely-played opening moves:

  • e4
  • d4
  • Nf3
  • c4

There are other moves, but beginners should avoid them. Stick with the best!

I like…

  1. e4
3

Mosier, you have a choice of trusted replies:

  • e5 (solid)
  • c5 (rapid counter-attacking)
  • e6 (very solid)
  • c6 (solid but more interesting)
  • d6 (eventual counter-attacking)

Riskier, but also played:

  • Nf6 (instant counter-attacking)
  • d5 (dodgy, but avoids main lines)
4

I’ll play the move I’m most comfortable with

  1. e4 - e5 (is that notated correctly, to include both white and black moves?)

initial thoughts-

e5 and e6 seem like the obvious moves to me, as they open lanes for the bishop and queen. My intent for the first few moves will be to develop the king side pieces soonish, in order to castle. I settled on e5, as it seems to make a stronger vie for control of the center.

Thanks for the game, glee! It’s an honor.

5

game here

6

Mosier, It’s my pleasure. :slight_smile:
Your notation is fine - and thanks for the game board! :cool:

I suggest we put the actual game moves in bold to distinguish them from analysis.

1. e4 e5
2. Nf3

I develop a piece, control the centre and attack the e5 pawn.
This is by far the most popular move for White here.

Black has a couple of sound defensive replies:

  • Nc6 (easily the most played, since it develops a piece, controls the centre and defends the e5 pawn)
  • d6 (quiet, solid, defensive. It blocks in the bishop on f8 a bit, but Black often has to make such minor concessions in the opening)

A couple of points:

  • f6? defends the pawn, but weakens the defence of the uncastled Black King. For example the game could then go:
  1. e4 e5
  2. Nf3 f6?
  3. Nxe5 fxe5??
  4. Qh5+ Ke7 (if 4. … g6 5. Qxe5+ wins the Rook on h8.)
  5. Qxe5+ Kf7
  6. Bc4+

and Black is in real trouble defending his King

Black can certainly counterattack by 1. … Nf6, but needs to know the trap:

  1. e4 e5
  2. Nf3 Nf6
  3. Nxe5 Nxe4?
  4. Qe2 Nf6??
  5. Nc6+ wins the Black Queen

(the sign + stands for check)

7

Not in unfamiliar or uncomfortable territory yet, so I’ll play the move I’m used to

1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6

I used to prefer d6, because I didn’t like having to respond to the bishop moving to b5. Now I’m not so sure that would be a bad position for black to be in, as it would eventually result in more of my pawns near the center and would make you “waste” a move capturing the knight.

game

8

1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bc4

  1. Bb5 is probably the ‘best’ move here. It’s known as the Ruy Lopez (after a 16th century Bishop) and is one of the most analysed openings ever.

  2. Bc4 is known as the Guicco Piano (I believe it’s Italian for ‘quiet game’.)
    I intend to play a sharp variation though :wink: :

  • if you play 3. … Bc5 I play 4. b4 (The Evans Gambit, named after Captain Evans 1790-1872)
  • if you reply 3. … I play 4. Ng5 (a tactical line known as the Two Knights Defence)

For a quieter life, you can try 3. … Be7 (the Hungarian Defence.)

9

As a minor hijack, all these various openings and defences makes me wonder whether the analysis available with modern computing power has been able to prove any longstanding openings/defenses as being suboptimal?

I play bridge and the ability to use computers to analyze thousands of deals is now affecting thinking in certain areas of bidding and play.

10

I hope you don’t mind that I’ve set up a new thread especially for interesting questions and comments like yours. It’s here:

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=14535830#post14535830

This separation will keep the game easier to follow here.

11

Not at all - thank you.

12

Before I make my move, can you please answer a question about the Evans Gambit?

Having never encountered the Evans Gambit before now, it seems to me that the benefits of the Evans Gambit for white would be to open routes for the queen and queens bishop, while forcing me to spend several moves keeping my bishop safe, and in exchange white sacrifices a pawn. Am I correct, or am I missing some other important consequence?

13

You’re basically correct!

All gambits (moves which sacrifice material) rely on compensation such as:

  • getting a lead in development
  • opening up the position for an attack
  • controlling the centre

So for example my favourite wacky opening ‘The Monkey’s Bum’* goes

  1. e4 g6 2. Bc4 Bg7 3. Qf3 e6 4. d4 Bxd4 5. Ne2 Bg7 6. Nbc3

White has lost a pawn, but gained 3 moves in development.

The Evans Gambit mainly relies on:

  • gaining time with c3 (to help build a centre with d4)
  • playing Qb3 to attack f7 (always a weak spot until Black can get castled)
  • getting Black to waste time moving his Bishop

Plus I have played it a lot and know several traps and how to proceed generally…
*yes, that really is its name :eek:

14

Thanks for the explanation.

  1. e4 e5
  2. Nf3 Nc6
  3. Bc4 Nf6

As black I like to threaten white positions early and change the tempo so he’s responding to my moves instead of the other way around. My eventual goal is to apply some pressure whenever I can to give white the fewest options possible.

game

15

We’d all like to do that as Black, but it’s simply not possible - unless Black takes risks (or White plays poorly.) That extra ‘half-move’ for White is very important.

I remember an inexperienced colleague asking me and another internationally rated player for a new opening as Black.
“What sort of thing are you looking for?” we asked, expecting a choice between ‘positional’ and ‘tactical’.
He replied "I want an opening for Black that:

  • gives me an strong attack
  • is easy to play
  • is competely sound"

We were left speechless! :smack:

1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bc4 Nf6
4. Ng5

This is a very sharp line, so watch out for tactics. :cool:
The main lines here are:

    1. … d5 (sacrifices a pawn, but definitely gets compensation)
    1. … Bc5 (sacrifices at least a pawn, but can get compensation)
16

I see the threat of the knight fork (or the bishop checking me, not sure which is worse) at f7. Before I make my move, can you please explain how Bc5 could be anything but disastrous for me? All I can see is that 4. …Bc5 would lead to either 5. Nxf7, or 5. Bxf7, either of which would leave me in a terrible state. I think d5 would be the proper move for me here right?

17

You are correct that I threaten to win a pawn with Bxf7+ … or even more material with Nxf7 (forking Queen and Rook.)

  1. … d5 prevents this, but leads to complications. :cool:

  2. … Bc5 is called the Wilkes-Barre (probably named after two chaps who first played it.)
    The idea is

  3. e4 e5

  4. Nf3 Nc6

  5. Bc4 Nf6

  6. Ng5 Bc5

  7. Nxf7 Bxf2+ :eek:

  8. Kxf2 Nxe4+

and then Black brings his Queen out to h4 with an attack (and after that White probably doesn’t have time to capture the Rook on h8.)
There are complications, since White can try 5. Bxf7+ (which is what I have analysed and played several times :wink: ) or in the above line 6. Kf1 (instead of 6. Kxf2), when Black has to play 6. … Qe7 and lose the Rook. (He still has an attack though.)

This stuff shows what lurks beneath the surface of chess, as most people never know how much analysis has gone into openings.
Chess is a seriously deep game.

18

Wow, that line was surprising! It seems like it would be very easy to mis-step along that route though. I’m interested to see what kind of complications you were talking about. :slight_smile:

1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bc4 Nf6
4. Ng5 d5

updated game here

19

glee welcome back! I am not interested in chess (hence the horrible hijack) but I missed you as a poster!

20

1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bc4 Nf6
4. Ng5 d5
5. exd5

There’s a lot of complications about. :wink:

In the game, you have the choice between:

    1. … Nxd5 (obvious, but lets White sacrifice)
    1. … Na5 (the ‘book’ move, where Black sacrifices a pawn, but gets counterplay}
    1. … Nd4 (probably the trickiest, leading to huge complications)

After 5. … Nxd5, White can try 6. Nxf7?! (known as ‘The Fried Liver Attack’.)
The game would thus continue:

  1. e4 e5
  2. Nf3 Nc6
  3. Bc4 Nf6
  4. Ng5 d5
  5. exd5 Nxa5
  6. Nxf7 Kxf7
  7. Qf3+ Ke6

Now White has given up a piece for just a pawn. However the Black King is stranded in the middle of the board and the Knight on d5 is in a nasty pin.