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| Posted by jstevens1 nikto.net 6/28/2008 07:16:11 Play online chess |  Subject: Chess and the Wizard of OzMessage: The Land of Oz or the Wizard's Kingdom = The Land of Expertdom for those players with ratings of 2000+, which at the moment for me is ......... Somewhere over the Rainbow! The Yellow Brick Road = The Road to Expertdom. The Wicked Witch of the West = Enemy Queen, the chessplayer's chief nemesis who will do everything in her power to halt that chessplayer's path along The Yellow Brick Road. Glenda, Good Witch of the North = Friendly Queen - this is what I call my queen, who is doing everything in her power (by protecting her beloved husband Dear Ole 'Enry with all her might and main) to prevent the Wicked Witch of the West from pushing me backwards on the Yellow Brick Road. "The North" is also significant, because this is where the Yellow Brick Road is heading. We chessplayers all want our ratings to head DUE NORTH!! Ok, well I have annotated a few games based on this story. One is called "Glenda Saves the Day" against a chessplayer called ronlum with a rating in the low 1500s. I was two pawns down in a queen and piece ending but Glenda got in some very useful checks, winning back one of the pawns and enabling me to exchange queens into a drawn opposite bishop ending. The second one, against the same opponent is called "Stealth and Wealth" where I quietly amassed a queenside attack on a castled position and won oodles of material. I then annotated another two games against two different opponents, one who had a rating of 1480 in Old Matey Strikes, Part 1 (in which Glenda played a useful back up role) and another who again had a rating in the low 1500s called Old Matey Strikes, Part 2. In both games I delivered checkmate. I hope you all enjoy your weekend and have a good read! Cheers and bye for now. Joanne |
Chess news: Dortmund Begins -- The Sparkassen Chess-Meeting (an odd name, to be sure) began Thursday in Dortmund. Though the chess tournament is not at the level of Linares or Corus, it still attracts top players, notably Vladimir Kramnik, the former world chess champion from Russia. Kramnik has been associated with Dortmund, as the chess event is often referred to, for many years because he has won the tournament nine times, far more than any other. He first won it in 1995 and is the defending champion this year. The tournament is a double-round robin this year, meaning each competitor plays all the others twice, once with each color. In addition to Kramnik, the No. 4 chess player in the world, the field includes ... Endgames, part 1: Rook against Bishop -- A superb lesson from Magnus Carlsen in endgame technique. It's been a while since we looked at the endgame, so this week we begin a short series on this often neglected area with a terrific demonstration of endgame technique from the ever-improving chess world No 1 Magnus Carlsen. Although White has the advantage of rook against bishop, Black has an extra pawn and a solid position on the chess board. How did Carlsen make progress? RB I'm pretty sure the answer lies in g4. The question is whether to nudge the pawn forward immediately or whether some preparation is needed first, perhaps exchanging on d5 or advancing the king to e3. The only way is concrete calculation, so let's see what ... Viktor Laznicka seals runaway World Open victory -- The World Open in Philadelphia has been staged annually since the early 1970s, and although it has never quite justified its grandiose title it is still a huge magnet for chess players from grandmasters to novices. It is a big money event, with high entry fees but first prizes of several thousand dollars even for weaker sections. Its continued success reflects a ruthless policy by the organisers towards rating cheats, coupled with a highly flexible schedule. The final rounds are on Independence Day, but it is possible to compete anywhere between three and seven days and to re-enter if you start badly. For GMs in the top section, it can be a vicious battle. They normally get a minimum ... | |