Basic Chess Tips 1

It has been awhile that we update this blog. Anyway, here are some awesome tips that amateurs need to know.

Throughout the opening to middle game, most of us feel difficult to calculate or plan the moves because there were too many candidate moves (pawns, bishops, knights, rooks, etc.).

Steps of thinking:

1. First of all, find those pieces that are not secured or undefended by any other pieces.
2. If there is no unprotected piece that you can not find, then it is best to search for the least unprotected piece.

Thinking guides [CCTI]:

1. Check - find a way to check, if any.
2. Capture - capture those unprotected or find a winning 'trade-in'.
3. Trap - set a 'capture zone' for a 'big' valued pieces, ie. Queen, Rooks.
4. Improve - If there are none of the above, improve & secure your space and positions; cramped & push the opponent back to their home.

Below you may see branches of thinking steps, simplified ways that we may use it, it seems quite easy.



Source: http://icsdiscussion.forumotion.net/t398-thinking-process

Many of us find that there was not enough time to win the game because we do simple mistakes in the thinking method. Even the GM advised us to be able to thik and calculate at least 3-steps move calculation.

That's it...until next time. Adios.

Tata Steel Challengers LIVE Broadcast Online!

Broadcast streaming here >>
http://thechessghost.blogspot.com/p/live-chess-tournaments.html

Standings of Tata Steel Challengers

		Score	Rating	TPR	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
1	Bok, B.	3.5 / 4	2560	2957			½						1	1		1
2	Jobava, B.	3.5 / 4	2710	2831					½					1			1	1
3	Saric, I.	3.0 / 4	2637	2747	½						1	1			½
4	Muzychuk, A.	3.0 / 4	2566	2746					1		½	1			½
5	Duda, J.	2.0 / 4	2553	2604		½		0		½							1
6	Wojtaszek, R.	2.0 / 4	2711	2509					½		0	½						1
7	Reinderman, D.	1.5 / 3	2593	2638			0	½		1
8	Troff, K.	1.5 / 4	2457	2499			0	0		½							1
9	Brunello, S.	1.5 / 3	2602	2601	0									½		1
10	Zhao, X.	1.5 / 4	2567	2489	0	0							½					1
11	Timman, J.	1.0 / 3	2607	2502			½	½								0
12	Yu, Y.	1.0 / 3	2677	2465	0								0		1
13	Van Delft, M.	1.0 / 4	2430	2345		0			0			0						1
14	Goudriaan, E.	0.0 / 4	2431	1805		0				0				0			0

Credits: tatasteelchess.com

Sergey Karjakin is the new World Rapid Champion!

Sergey Karjakin is the new World Rapid Champion! He won the competition in Astana with 11,5/15, a full point ahead of the second Carlsen, after completing a fenomenal third day with 4,5/5. This adds yet another brilliant trophy to the carrer of Sergey Karjakin and one more time justifies the transfer that the Russian Chess Federation made a few years ago.

Magnus Carlsen was brilliant during day 1 and day 2 of the World Rapid chess championship in Astana. However, his third day games were in total contrast to the general performance so far. He started with a logical win against Ismagambetov, but scored back-to-back loses against Ivanchuk and Grischuk. A draw against Radjabov left him without much practical chances for the title, while in the last game he could have even lost the silver, had Veselin Topalov seen a forced mate in the endgame.

Topalov himself had yet another strange mixture of irregular performances. He made normal draws with Ismagambetov and Gelfand, and exploded in the right moment with a beautiful sacrifice in a key game against Grischuk. However, right when he was touching the silver, he missed the already mentioned mate in the game with Carlsen.

Grischuk and Mamedyarov had good chances for the bronze medals during the third day, up to the last moment they were possible top finishers. In the final table Grischuk has equal points with Topalov and will share the prize money with him, while Mamedyarov is half a point behind.

The classical chess finalist Boris Gelfand showed solid chess to take the 6th position, half a point ahead of Ivanchuk, Svidler and Radjabov. Alexaei Dreev is clear 10th, followed by Morozevich, Bologan, Kurnosov, Kazhgaleyev, Tkachiev, and Ismagambetov.

Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin is born January 12, 1990 in Simferopol. He is a chess prodigy and holds the record for both the youngest International Master (eleven years and eleven months old) and youngest grandmaster in history (at the age of twelve years and seven months). He is currently 6th in the world with ELO rating 2779, while his highest mark is 2788 in July 2011.
During the Chess World Cup 2007, which served as a qualification tournament for the World Chess Championship 2010, Karjakin reached the semi-finals, in which he lost to Alexei Shirov. On the January 2008 FIDE rating list, published just before Karjakin’s eighteenth birthday, he passed the 2700 mark for the first time, with a new rating of 2732 and a world rank of 13.

In July 2008 Karjakin played a ten game rapid chess match against GM Nigel Short and won convincingly with a score of 7.5-2.5. In February 2009 he won the A group of the Corus chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee (category XIX) with a score of 8/13.

Later he also won the ACP World Rapid Cup which was conducted from 27 May to 29 May 2010. He defeated Dmitry Jakovenko in the final game by 4-3.

In November 2011 Karjakin tied for 3rd–5th with Vassily Ivanchuk and Ian Nepomniachtchi in the category 22 Tal Memorial in Moscow.

Bronx Stars of Tomorrow: Chess Master Justus Williams

Bronx Stars of Tomorrow: Chess Master Justus Williams
March 23, 2012 at 2:44 PM
Source: http://www.norwoodnews.org

In his first year as a teenager, Bronx native Justus Williams has already become the youngest African-American chess player to be awarded the title of Chess Master in the country, and he is the first to tell you about the hours of studying and dedication that he is continuing to put towards his game. Williams sat down with the Norwood News at IS 318, the Brooklyn middle school he attends, which boasts a nationally ranked chess team, to talk about his past tournament in Brazil, his favorite chess piece, and his secrets to match preparation.

You were just in Brazil for the World Youth Chess Championship, welcome back! How did it go down there?

It was very good out there, very hot. I got 26th out of probably 200 people. I was there for two weeks and I played one game a day and the games usually last somewhere between three and four hours with a 90-minute time limit per move. I played against a top rated player from Russia who was 14 and it was a draw (a tie). When I went to Brazil, all my opponents were from different countries. I prepared for each one so I wouldn’t be blindsided by their moves and so I wouldn’t get into opening trouble. When I go to continental tournaments I bring my own chess set because I feel more comfortable with it. The pieces are wooden and are not too big, not too small; I just like the way it feels.

How did you prepare for a game?

I look at my opponents’ past games, see what they’re good at and see what openings they had trouble with. I would build a database for them, and try to get the best position, so I felt that I had a good edge.

How did you begin playing chess?

It started at P.S. 70 (in the Bronx) with the Bronx Bomber chess team. I didn’t really know how to play, but my mom was just pushing me to do it. I moved to IS 318 (in Brooklyn) in 2009, because it would be a good chess team, and I felt that I should be challenged. I’m glad now that there are more people into chess than just me. Now, playing [with my classmates] is a challenge. I will probably win, but it’s challenging. I used to not study a lot, but now I’ve gotten more serious about chess and I’m trying to study an hour a day, like reading books and looking at top games. I used to just play in tournaments and think that it was helping me but it really wasn’t.

What makes a challenging opponent? Strong offense or strong defense?

I would probably say offense because a lot of the top grand masters have told me that I have a lot of good defensive skills, and usually an offensive type of player will push you hard.

Does the opening player have an advantage?

Usually people would want to play first and usually they have an advantage. But the part of chess is learning how to use your color to your advantage. I wouldn’t really care what color I got. I would just let it be.

Who do you think is the most skilled opponent that you’ve beat?

I beat my first GM (grand master), Michael Rohde, when I was 11 years old. I felt that that was a big accomplishment, and I was playing black.

Any GMs that you look up to?

I was honored to meet Maurice Ashley. He’s the first black chess GM and we’ve talked a lot. He’s a good guy.

Are you friends with the other young chess masters from New York?

Yeah, James Black goes to this school. We kind of go back and forth a lot because we’re both good players, but I don’t know, I think I’m better than him. But we’re all friends. The other one lives in White Plains. When we see him at tournaments we always hang out.

If you had to be a chess piece which chess piece would you be?

I really like knights because they can just jump all over the board, and sometimes knights are just annoying pieces because generally they’re good at attacking. They could just jump towards the King, attack it and jump back out.

Do you have any words of wisdom for Bronx kids your age?

I didn’t think I was going to be good at chess, so just try everything, and try the things you don’t think you’d be good at. If those don’t work out then try the things that you don’t think you’ll like.

–Interview by Emily Piccone.