Greenwood Chess Club: White to play

https://greenwoodchessclub.blogspot.com/2022/03/white-to-play.html

I had the hardest time with this one. For those who understand king and pawn endgames, it seems counterintuitive, I think because normally the king is supposed to be in front of the pawn that he is trying to queen. Maybe it is just me.

Why Did Magnus Carlsen Decline to Work with Garry Kasparov?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aFbYO0dIeo

DO NOT PLAY This Opening...

https://youtu.be/F0WmFqo3-N0


Best wishes,

John Coffey

Re: Sergey Karjakin BANNED From Chess...

I support free speech.  I don't have to agree with Karjakin and he doesn't have to agree with me, because it has nothing to do with his ability to play chess.

On Wed, Mar 23, 2022 at 10:13 PM Albert wrote:

I know banning Karjakin from playing in FIDE events is currently for 6 months. I don't like that he will be unable to play in the candidates tournament. Organizations who set up international events should not be involved with politics. After all, isn't this the 21st century?

On Wed, Mar 23, 2022 at 9:00 PM John Coffey <john2001plus@gmail.com> wrote:

The first couple of games are really interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dieM4IDbJsQ

Sergey Karjakin BANNED From Chess...

The first couple of games are really interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dieM4IDbJsQ

Lost chess endgame.

This is an interesting endgame that I should have lost.  My 31... Ra6 is a serious miscalculation.  I soon started to think that I was going to lose.

https://columbuschessclub.blogspot.com/2022/03/interesting-endgame.html

White can win with 34. h4 or 34. Ke1 or Ke2, but he pushes the wrong pawn making it equal.  My 36... Kc6?? is also a blunder because it takes my king out of the range of his kingside pawns.  His 39. g4 loses for a surprising reason reminiscent of the movie "Searching for Bobby Fischer."  What surprises me is that he has to abandon his pawn to draw, i.e. 39. Kb2 Kxc4 40. g4 draws.

I'm aware that I could have played the opening a little better.

[Event "Casual G/10"]

[Site "Columbus Chess Club"]
[Date "2022.03.10"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Bill Starr"]
[Black "John Coffey"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B22"]
[PlyCount "94"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 d5 4. d4 dxe4 5. Ne5 Nxe5 6. dxe5 Qxd1+ 7. Kxd1 Bg4+
8. Be2 Bxe2+ 9. Kxe2 O-O-O 10. Be3 e6 11. Nd2 f5 12. exf6 Nxf6 13. Bg5 Be7 14.
Bxf6 gxf6 15. Nxe4 Rhg8 16. g3 f5 17. Nd2 e5 18. c4 e4 19. f3 Bf6 20. Rab1
exf3+ 21. Nxf3 Rge8+ 22. Kf2 Bd4+ 23. Nxd4 Rxd4 24. Rhe1 Rd2+ 25. Kg1 Rxe1+ 26.
Rxe1 Rxb2 27. Re5 Rxa2 28. Rxc5+ Kd7 29. Rxf5 h6 30. Rf7+ Kc8 31. Rf6 Ra6 32.
Rxa6 bxa6 33. Kf1 Kd7 34. h4 a5 35. Ke1 h5 36. Kd1 Kc6 37. Kc2 Kc5 38. Kc3 a4
39. g4 hxg4 40. h5 g3 41. h6 g2 42. h7 g1=Q 43. h8=Q Qa1+ 44. Kc2 Qxh8 45. Kb1
Qc3 46. Ka2 a3 47. Kb1 Qb2# 0-1

Chess game

[Event "Casual G/10"]
[Site "Columbus Chess Club"]
[Date "Mar 10, 2022"]
[Round "2"]
[White "John Coffey"]
[Black "John Tasca"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 c5 5. cxd5 cxd4 6. Qxd4?! exd5 7. Bg5 Be6 8.
e4 Nc6 9. Bb5 Be7 10. e5 Nd7 11. Bxc6 bxc6 12. Bxe7 Qxe7 13. O-O O-O 14. Rfe1
Rfc8 15. b4 a6 16. Rac1 Rc7 17. Na4 Rb8 18. Nc5 Nxc5 19. Rxc5 Qd7 20. Rec1 Bg4
21. Nd2 Kf8 22. Nb3 Qe8 23. Na5 Bd7 24. Qc3 Rbc8 25. a4 h6 26. b5 axb5 27. axb5
1-0 eventually

Chess Puzzle (instructive)

https://www.chess.com/puzzles/problem/1212004/practice

This chess problem is relatively easy, but fun.    Imagine getting this position in a real game.  Black to play.

To see the problem you probably would have to sign up for the free version of chess.com membership if you don't have a membership on the site, so here is a diagram...

--

Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

Screenshot 2022-03-02 at 11.58.30 PM