Philidor Defense (11), tactical slips

Today’s game is a USCF rated game at the club played at G75 with a 30 second increment. My opponent is an unrated player who shows tactical awareness. I am defending 1.e4 with my favorite Philidor Defense.

My opponent tried an early attack against the f7-Pawn, which was easily deflected, as I gain two pieces for a Rook and Pawn.

A trade of pieces with 14.Nxd6+ cxd6 results in a majority of central pawns, but d6 is now backwards and I have 3 pawn islands against White’s two.

I missed 26...Rxd2 and 27...Rd4, both potentially winning tactical attacks. My tactical vision definitely needs improvement.

Later in the game, I made a couple of draw offers when I saw no advantages for either side, although there was enough time on the clock. The problem is that I get discouraged with drawn positions late in the game and lose enthusiasm for playing. Shortly thereafter I carelessly subjected both my pieces to pins and my opponent emerged victorious.

The variations and move evaluations are Houdini’s (1.5 32-bit), diagnosed with ‘Scid vs PC’ at 15 seconds per ply and a 0.6 error threshold. The verbal comments are my thoughts during the game and my interpretations of the analysis provided by Houdini. The score chart is at the bottom of this entry.

My chess studies have been haphazard and intermittent for the last 3 months. This showed up in this game. I am renewing my chess study log and making tactical and endgame problems prominent.

Today’s endgame study: taken from Chernev’s Practical Chess Endgames is fun and challenging. I missed the win a couple of times before successful completion. Later, I found another winning method. Hope y’all try it and enjoy.

Take the endgame FEN and paste it into your favorite engine and try to repeat the win. My opponent was Houdini set at full strength.

FEN "8/1pk5/8/1K6/1PP5/8/8/8 w - - 0 1

Bird’s Opening (3), painful pawns

Today’s game is a USCF rated game at the club played at G75 with a 30 second increment, a time control which enhances the endgame. My opponent is a class-E player who occasionally uncorks a good game. Unfortunately for me, it was this night. The opening is the Bird and 4.b4 creates the Orangutan variation.

An after-game discussion with a class-A member who saw much of the game evoked a suggestion that Andrew Soltis’ Pawn Structure Chess may improve my game. I examined today’s game, concentrating on my pawn play. It was terrible as my game comments emphasize. .

When my opponent grabbed my a-Pawn, it gave me the chance to force a draw with repetition of moves. I was 2 pawns down at this point and (truthfully) tired of defending.

The variations and move evaluations are Houdini’s (1.5 32-bit), diagnosed with ‘Scid vs PC’ at 15 seconds per ply and a 0.6 error threshold. The verbal comments are my thoughts during the game and my interpretations of the analysis provided by Houdini. The score chart is at the bottom of this entry.

I do not like Soltis’ writing. I did open my copy of Hans Kmoch’s Pawn Power and already am learning new (or is it old?) principles and techniques. Web comments rate Pawn Power at 1300-1700, whereas Pawn Structure Chess is rated ?-2300. I definitely need to improve my pawn play.

I printed an online dictionary of Kmoch’s neologisms to facilitate the study of Pawn Power. I am using SCID on my nexus 7 to duplicate and explore the book’s examples. Stay tuned to see if it makes my list of ‘Chess Books that have Helped Me the Most’ at the bottom of the blog.

Today’s endgame study: taken from chapter 3 of Pawn Power in Chess by Hans Kmoch, where the 1925-26 Hastings tournament game between Alexander Alekhine and F. D. Yates is used to illustrate dynamic monochromy. The position is taken from where Black resigns and is used as an exercise in endgame technique. Although White is ahead by only one pawn, Black’s Bishop is virtually useless.

Take the endgame FEN and paste it into your favorite engine and try to repeat the win. My opponent was Houdini set at full strength.

FEN "4bk2/8/4PK2/p7/2pP2p1/2N3P1/P7/8 b - - 0 1"

Philidor Defense (10), slow and steady

Today’s game is a G45 game against a higher rated Chessmaster opponent. The opening is classified as a Pirc, but transposes into a Philidor. This is my preferred move order which practically forces the Hanham varation of the Philidor.

Chessmaster typically gives away an early lead but then sets traps throughout the game, both easy and difficult. The way to play this game is to take the advantage given and not make mistakes. I know that my opponent will capitalize on any lapse.

After trading off all Chessmaster’s pieces, I promote a Pawn and look for a quick checkmate without falling victim to a stalemate. Both the game graph and the analysis show that I played well throughout.

The variations and move symbols are Houdini’s (1.5 32-bit), diagnosed with ‘Scid vs PC’ at 20 seconds per ply and a 0.5 error threshold. The verbal comments are my thoughts during the game and my interpretations of the analysis provided by Houdini. The score chart is at the bottom of this entry.

This game shows the solidity of the Philidor Defense and how my opponent cannot capitalize on an early, unfounded attack.

Today's endgame study: Take the endgame FEN and paste it into your favorite engine and try to repeat the win.  My opponent was Houdini set at full strength.

FEN "8/1p6/7K/8/7P/8/5k2/8 w - - 0 1"

Philidor Defense (9), a Reti defense

Today’s game is a club tournament game played at G75 with a 30 second increment. My opponent was a rapidly improving sub-class player. He opened with the Reti, a relatively passive opening with dynamic potential. I responded with my standard Philidor development, which was up to the defensive task.

The middlegame was mostly an exchange of material during which I built up a slight advantage. I had missed an opportunity early, but it was not apparent even with Houdini’s analysis.

The endgame had an exchange of draw offers, but both of us declined as we thought we had an exploitable advantage. When my opponent got the opposition deep in my territory, I twice counted the tempi necessary to promote via the Q-side vs. my opponent’s tempi on the K-side and came up short. Therefore I shifted my attention to the K-side and we fought to a draw. Subsequent analysis (appended below) indicated I did have a winning line but would not have found it over-the-board.

The variations and move symbols are Houdini’s (1.5 32-bit), diagnosed with ‘Scid vs PC’ at 20 seconds per ply and a 0.5 error threshold. The verbal comments are my thoughts during the game and my interpretations of the analysis provided by Houdini. The score chart is at the bottom of this entry.

This game shows the flexibility of the Philidor Defense.  It also emphasizes the need to advance your pawns to improve your chances in an endgame pawn race.

This analysis was played against Houdini set at full strength with 5-second moves. The FEN is below for all who want to explore further:
FEN "8/1p2k2p/2p3p1/2P1K3/6P1/8/7P/8 b - -"

Bird’s Opening (2), bad habit

Although I would rather post winning games, it is from losses that we learn the lessons that are most important. Today’s game is my first OTB tournament game of the year, played against a lower-rated opponent. I am using yNotate on my Nexus 7 to record the moves and will also record time per move. The time control was G75 with a 30 second increment, but the clock malfunctioned about move 24. My opponent and I agreed to finish without replacing the clock.

I opened with my resurrected Bird and my opponent played a non-standard response. My opening notes will be updated to anticipate 2...e5 which would transpose to the tactical From Gambit. A prolonged downward slope in the game’s graph indicates a incorrect plan. This occurred before completion of development, starting with 9.d3?! Relinquishing my opening advantage. Note to self: evaluate all Checks, Captures and Threats (CCT) fully. My opponent’s plan appeared to be trading pieces for a drawn endgame. The game concluded with a blunder in the middlegame, unfortunately it was mine.

The variations and move symbols are Houdini’s (1.5 32-bit), diagnosed with ‘Scid vs PC’ at 20 seconds per ply and a 0.5 error threshold. The verbal comments are my thoughts during the game and my interpretations of the analysis provided by Houdini. The score chart is at the bottom of this entry.

A bad habit caused my self-destruction. I find a series of moves which apparently will give me an advantage. Then, I play quickly without bothering to reassess the position at each stage. This has cost me games in the past and I must be more aware of this tendency. Lesson learned!

FEN "6K1/7p/5R2/5p1k/8/8/8/8 w - - 0 1"

Take the endgame FEN and paste it into your favorite engine and try to repeat the win. It took a couple of tries to win today’s endgame, but the technique is important to learn. The win cannot occur without cooperation of the King and Rook. My opponent was Houdini set at full strength.

Philidor Defense (8), endgame victory

Because today’s game has an instructive endgame and because it is the start of a new year, I am appending my USCF rating history in graph form instead of another endgame. The graph shows my progress and explains why I am going back to my previously successful opening repertoire. Hopefully, I can resume my chess progress with these old friends. 

Today’s game is an online tournament game. I overlooked the proper recapture of my f6-Knight w/ 8...Bxf6?!, which lost a Pawn. Otherwise the opening was satisfactory. In the early middlegame, I missed a complex, game-deciding tactic. This shows the importance of examining all checks, captures and threats (CCT) on almost every move. Later I was able to gain advantage of the exchange. A later trade of the Bishop for a Knight and Pawn brought on the endgame. I centralized the King and realized a winning endgame where my King was in front of my Pawn and I had the opposition. Winning from this position is easy.

 The variations and move symbols are Houdini’s (1.5 32-bit), diagnosed with ‘Scid vs PC’ at 20 seconds per ply. The verbal comments are my thoughts during the game and my interpretations of the analysis provided by Houdini. The score chart is at the bottom of this entry.

Employ CCT often on both offense and defense to detect winning tactics. Learn the standard endgame techniques so that you recognize an easy win. Another successful trial with the Philidor Defense.