September 14, 2006

Thoughts upon a position: 1.The brave sacrifice

Many times in the past I have caught myself trapped in the magic of the chessboard, looking at the pieces amazed of their mystery. The reason is not always the same. Sometimes I admire the strategic mind that organizes the army, or the tactical blow hiding in the position. There are also chess problems that kept me struggling for hours to discover the key. More than that, sometimes the position on the board escapes from chess logic limits, and my mind travels like a beam of light from under the board and behind the scene, to deep in the mind and the soul to examine the psychology and the mastery of certain players.

I want to share with you this experience. Here is the position. The opening is not over yet, and everything looks calm. However, the storm is about to begin.

black Rook on a8 black Knight on b8 black Bishop on c8 black Queen on d8 black Rook on e8 f8 black King on g8 h88
black Pawn on a7 black Pawn on b7 c7 d7 e7 black Pawn on f7 black Pawn on g7 black Pawn on h77
a6 b6 black Pawn on c6 black Bishop on d6 e6 black Knight on f6 g6 h66
a5 b5 c5 black Pawn on d5 e5 f5 g5 h55
a4 b4 c4 white Pawn on d4 e4 f4 g4 h44
white Pawn on a3 b3 white Knight on c3 white Bishop on d3 white Pawn on e3 f3 g3 h33
a2 white Pawn on b2 white Queen on c2 d2 white Knight on e2 white Pawn on f2 white Pawn on g2 white Pawn on h22
white Rook on a1 b1 white Bishop on c1 d1 e1 white Rook on f1 white King on g1 h11
a b c d e f g h  

I do not want to tell you anything about the opponents, or the event. This is your task. Post your comments, anything that comes into your mind regarding the board: strategy, tactics, plans or the impression of the game. If you recognize it, I am sure that you have a lot to write.

Have fun…

Important notice
This article is not available for new comments anymore, since it has been discovered by blog robots which managed to post comments with inappropriate content. Many thanks to all of you who contributed your own opinion.

Posted by Michalis Kaloumenos at September 14, 2006 09:07 PM
Comments

If is black move .... with Ah2+ begin a stupid game I
believed was played between Kasparov - Deep Junior
Stupid because seems a comp game and I never understand why Kasparov come in this variant playing as a comp .....

Posted by: Astrolopitecus at September 14, 2006 10:39 PM

Was it a comparable mistake like Kasparov played in his last game against Deep Blue? Playing with black he allowed the position of a wellknown Caro Kann line, where white could successfully sac a knight on e6.What is your opinion GM Svidler?

Posted by: Belzlover at September 15, 2006 12:47 PM

f2-f4

Posted by: ahmad at September 15, 2006 07:06 PM

Well, maybe you can call such behaviour stupid. I remember another computer game of Kasparov, where he sacrificed something. He lost, because the computer defended flawlessly (as computers always do).
Trying to compete with computers on the one sector, where they are *really* strong (tactics), may appear like fighting windmills. But, just like Don Quichote, this has something heroical at the same time. I am no Kasparov fan, but I always admired him for trying the near impossible. Nobody except Kasparov dared to do this - and nobody except him would have had a chance to survive. Winning with the usual anti-computer strategies is much more effective, but so boring.
For me, Kasparov is probably the last hero that tried to win a tactical battle against a computer. And he nearly succeeded.

Posted by: Thomas Stahl at September 16, 2006 10:54 AM

je pense cette position ne peut pas exister car je vois elle est imaginee pour moi playchess c est ameliorer le niveu des gens
pour ameliorer le niveu il faut fauire des positions reales jouer par le champion du monde que son niveu pour moi et moyen car il est loin d etre un artiste comme alekhine et ficher appel moi je suis future alekhine 0021370354815

Posted by: benkhennouf kamel at September 16, 2006 06:44 PM

Kasparov - Deep Junior New York 05.02.2003
1.d4 Sf6 2.c4 e6 3.Sc3 Lb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Ld3 d5 6.cd: ed: 7. Sge2 Te8 8.0-0 Ld6 9.a3 (better is 9.Ld2 ) c6 !? NOVELTY
Well known is here 9. ..h5 and 9. ..Sg4 played by Eric Lobron in 1995
10.Dc2 now we have the diagram position (10.f3 !? to avoid the ugly draw was played in Sukhareva-Chernova Kazan women 2003 but with bad sucess 10...Lc7 11.e4 Lb6 12.Lg5 de4: 13.Le4:+- 1-0, 27)10... Lh2:+ this leads nearly forced to a draw, the game is dead now, it was a strategic mistake by Kasparow to allow the comp to escape into that draw. 11.Kh2: Sg4 + 12.Kg3 (12.Kg1? Dh4 13.Td1 Dh2 14.Kf1 Dh1 15. Sg1 Sh2 16.Ke2 Lg4 17.Kd2 Ld1: 18.Dd1: Dg2: +-) 12. ..Dg5 13.f4 Dh5 14.Ld2 Dh2: 15.Kf3 Dh4 16.Lh7:+ (16.Sg3 Gulko Sh2+ 17.Kf2 Sg4 18.Kf3 = 16.g3!? Gulko Sh2+ 17.Kf2 18.Ke1 +- Gulko I don`t like this for Black at all)16. ..Kh8 17.Sg3 Sh2+ 18.Kf2
Sg4+ 19.Kf3 Sh2+ 1/2

Posted by: Pillsbury at September 16, 2006 09:32 PM

WHITE CASTLED WITHOUT PREVENTION OF THE BISHOP ATTACK AT h2.
THE ACTION OF PREVENTING IS FOR A MASTER AS BUILDING A BASE UPON THE ROCK FOR A BUILDER. IT DOES NOT MATTER HOW BORING IT LOOKS: TACTICS IS ONLY THE WAY, DETERMINED BY A VERY GOOD STRATEGICAL PLAN.

Posted by: DANTONIFAYARD at September 16, 2006 09:45 PM

Fake or real? Have a look at the E-Mail adress of Astrolopitecus ! Is it GM P.Svidler?

Posted by: Belzlover at September 17, 2006 09:48 AM

Of course this is not GM Svidler ! He would never post something like this ! Look at his minor brilliant english !

Posted by: Pillsbury at September 17, 2006 06:48 PM

Sorry, itīs a poor reply. I saw and I heard him in Stutttgart in 2004, and his english wasnīt perfect.As I know he comes from Russia ... .
The point of his comment is the observation that Kasparov ( in this game against a comp) played like a comp by himself.This judgement requires a deeper understanding of that what happened on the board.

Posted by: Belzlover at September 17, 2006 08:51 PM


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