I played White in the following game, in the fall of 2015, at a chess club in the Salt Lake Valley of Utah. As usual with me, I recorded the game on paper, although it was informal and without chess clocks.

1) Nf3     d5

Strange to tell, but I was unprepared for this obvious and simple response to Nf3. I would have done better to have begun with c4, for I was better prepared for playing the English Opening. My greatest weakness, at present, may relate to knowledge of openings.

2) d4   . . . .   I did not see anything better. I had no desire for my opponent to play d4

2) . . . .  Bg4

Here I remembered that some club players give up their bishops for their opponents’ knights. Since I would be delighted to have the advantage of the bishop-pair, I gave my opponent that opportunity.

Diagram-1  after Black’s Bg4

3) Bf4   Bxf3

4) exf3  . . . .

Diagram-2  after White recaptured

What did I gain from that exchange? I had the bishop-pair and a slight lead in development, for my light-squared bishop is ready for development. I also had a half-open e-file. My opponent, on the other hand, got rid of what could have become a bad bishop, and he gave me doubled pawns. He also gained a slight edge in center-pawn power, for I was almost compelled to capture away from the center, with my e-pawn, to avoid making my kingside too weak for castling there.

4) . . . .   e6

5) c4!?  . . . .

Looking back at this game, a few days later, I’m not sure of this move (c4).

Diagram-3  after White’s c4!?

I might have done better with 5) c3 instead. The problem with that approach, which I recognized at the time, was that my opponent would then be able to play c5, with the threat of advancing his pawn further with  c4, gaining more space on the queenside. After Black’s advance c5, if I then would capture with dxc5 I would have no center pawns and my opponent would have two.

5) . . . .  dxc4

6) Bxc4  Nc6

7) Bb5  . . . .

Diagram-4  after White’s Bb5

7) . . . .  Qd5

8) Qa4  O-O-O

9) Bxc6  Qxc6

10) Qxc6  bxc6

Diagram-5  after the exchange of queens (White’s move)

I felt that my chances were better, although I had a weak isolated pawn, for my opponent had three of those, two of them being doubled. But in the position shown in Diagram-5 I did not want to be tied down in defense, so I gave up defending my isolated pawn.

11) O-O  . . . .  I wanted to get my king out of any potential difficulties

11) . . . .  Rxd4

I was not much worried about losing a pawn here because my opponent’s resulting pawn majority, on the queenside, is badly crippled

12) Be3     Ra4  Black must hold onto his a-pawn

13) Nc3    Ra5

Diagram-6  after Black’s 13th move: Ra5

At this time, I wanted to trap that rook, a questionable goal. If it’s forced to a6 (after I safely get my b-pawn to b4), how can I attack it there? On looking back at this position, I now think I should have been satisfied at keeping that black rook on the a-file and developing my own rooks.

14) a3  . . . .

Now my a-file rook is free to move to c1, although I had another idea at the time. By moving my queenside pawns to a3 and b4, and getting my knight to c5, that black rook would have been almost imprisoned. But there was a problem.

In the position shown in Diagram-6, it can take as few as two moves for Black to get his knight to d5, a great outpost from which it cannot be driven away by any of my pawns and on which it cannot be captured by my dark-squared bishop. If I exchange knights on d5, my opponent will get a protected passed pawn and undouble his rooks. I did not, however, foresee those possibilities at this point in the game.

14) . . . .  Rh5

My opponent appeared to fear having his rook trapped on the queenside, but that piece is even more vulnerable on the kingside.

15) g4   . . . .  better might have been Rac1, for the g4-pawn later becomes a target

15) . . . .  Ra5

Diagram-7  after Black’s 15th move: Ra5

16) b4!?  . . . .

After the game, I thought that Rac1 would have been better, for I can double rooks on the c-file and use my knight and bishop against Black’s weak pawns and squares on that file.

16) . . . .  Ra6

The black rook will sit on that square for about thirteen moves, but what about my rook on a1? My rook is also tied down to protecting my a-pawn.

17) Ne4   Be7

That looked like a strange move to me. I would have put my knight there, if I were Black.

Diagram-8  after Black’s Be7

18) Nc5    Bxc5  I was hoping for that exchange, to get a bishop versus a knight

19) Bxc5  Nf6  too bad for me, for Black’s knight gets a great outpost

20) Bd4  . . . .

Now that I’ve gotten a bishop against a knight, I changed my mind: I want to trade it away to prevent my opponent from having his knight at d5.

20) . . . .  Nd5

Diagram-9  after Black’s Nd5

In Diagram-9, it looks like White might put the black rook in prison by moves like Bc5, a4, and a5. But Black has aggressive plans of his own, related to the pawn I now capture.

21) Bxg7  . . . .  I could not resist getting this pawn

21) . . . .  Rg8

22) Bd4  h5!?  this did not quite work for my opponent, as the game progressed

23) h3   hxg4?

This gives me a protected passed pawn on a rook file: not usually desirable to give your opponent in the endgame.

Diagram-10  White soon obtained a winning advanced passed pawn

The games lasted for an additional 23 moves. My opponent was forced to give up his rook for my advanced pawn on the h-file. A few moves later, I sacrificed my rook for my opponent’s advanced center-passed-pawn. My king, however, ended up in a much better position, allowing me to be able to capture Black’s last remaining pawn and to promote my last remaining pawn to a queen. My opponent made me work for the win.

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The Backyard Professor of Chess

If only more people had as much enthusiasm for intellectual pursuits! Kerry Shirts, known as the “Backyard Professor” of chess (on Youtube) dives into the royal game, including analysis of some of his own games.

The Chess Coach Jonathan Whitcomb

I played first board, for our school chess club, in junior high school team matches in Pasadena, California. I later won the first Pasadena Chess Club Junior Championship in 1966 . . .

Giving a Chess Book as a Gift

What is the chess-playing skill of the gift recipient, when you’re to give a chess book as a gift? That’s a big question needing an answer.

Chess Book Reviews

Four books that appear to be for the beginner

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I’d been away from official chess competition for over 20 years, when I walked into the Chess Palace, in Lakewood, California, in the spring of 1993, to play in a three-round one-day tournament. There’s no consulting a chess book when you’re over the board, especially not in a rated game. Those countless chess facts, remembered or forgotten, had to remain at home in those books, as I sat down to my first game. I had White against Rick Young, who had a rating of 1593. Here’s how the opening progressed in a Caro Kann Defense.

1) e4     c6

2) d4    d5

Diagram-1  White has a number of third-move choices in the Caro Kann

I was probably ill prepared for this opening.

3) e5     Bf5

4) f4   . . . .   not a standard move here. Nf3 or Nc3 would probably have been better.

4) . . . .  e6

5) Nf3   c5  striking at the base of the pawn chain, according to standard theory.

6) c3      cxd4

7) Nxd4  Ne7

Diagram-2  after Black’s Ne7

Two decades after I played this game with Mr. Young, I now suspect I should have put pressure on my opponent with Bb5+. I probably thought of that move but saw that Black would appear safe after Nb8c6, for if I then played Qa4, Black would defend with the queen. Still, it could have tied up some of Black’s pieces, at least for awhile.

8) Nd2    Nb8c6

9) Nd2f3  a6

Diagram-3  after Black moved a6

Now Bb5 is not available. At this point, I saw no reasonable way to avoid trading away my good bishop. After all these years, as I look at this position, I still don’t see much future in my light-squared bishop unless I capture the f5 bishop before moving Bd3. In this unusual variation of the Caro Kann (with f4), that black bishop at f5 may have more access to e4, in the middle game, than it otherwise would have. In this game, it never got to that point.

In 1993, I wanted to keep at least one of my knights, to keep using that outpost on d4. It now seems obvious: Black will have the opportunity to trade away all the knights, if he chooses, so that square will probably be of little use to me later on.

As I now see it, I would move 10) Nxf5 and hope that my two bishops will be useful later in the game, even though Black’s knights look like they’ll have good squares. One advantage of having two bishops and a knight against two knights and one bishop is this: You may have more choices regarding trading a bishop for a knight than your opponent has of trading a knight for a bishop.

10) Bd3    Nxd4

11) Nxd4  Bxd3

12) Qxd3  . . . .

Diagram-4

Let’s now skip ahead to the endgame, for I made two mistakes, costing me the game.

Diagram-5  after Black’s 28) Bg5

I now believe that I here made my first endgame mistake in this game. The first question is this: Does Black threaten e3+? Not necessarily. In fact, if my bishop can quickly attack that black pawn, I could win it.

I now believe that I was in a defensive mood at this point in the game, for it’s an obvious concern that Black’s passed pawn is slightly more advanced than mine. Yet look at what may be accomplished with 29) d5. My bishop would then point at the g7 pawn and the black king would have no immediate way to advance towards the center. Look at one potential line, from Diagram-5, if I had moved d5 and my opponent had been rash:

29) d5    e3+ (apparently a mistake)

30) Kf3  g6

31) Bd4  Kd7

32) Bxe3  . . . . and it now the white king will soon reach e4, protecting the d5 pawn

I missed the move 29) d5, however, and soon mismanaged the placement of my king and bishop, losing a pawn and then, after 63 moves, the game.

Let’s look again at Diagram-5, and see another possibility for Black:

29) d5    g6

30) Be5  . . . .

Now White might have the option of pushing the pawn to d6, although that could also be rash. The resulting pawn endgame, should bishops be exchanged, looks like a draw.

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The Backyard Chess Professor of Idaho

I have found the Youtube chess videos of Kerry Shirts . . . to be delightful entertainment and probably helpful to a number of raw beginners . . . His rating with the United States Chess Federation (as of mid-November, 2015) is only 747, not in the top 1,000 players in the state of Idaho . . .

Chess Book for a Teenager

Books can also be divided into ages of readers, from small children to those 10-12 years old to teenagers and adult chess players.

Chess Book as a Gift

Children, teenagers, and adults can benefit from concentrating on a game of chess, for it’s good mental exercise. For those in school, playing the royal game can improve scholastic performance; yes it has been shown to improvement the brain in ways that can help one’s education.

For a teenager: a new chess book

Whether you’re giving a chess book as a gift or buying it for yourself, comparing these two publications may be helpful.

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