Serendipity II
Mar. 16th, 2008 05:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexpgpI had resolved to finally chop, hack, and shred my way through a pile of stuff that I've been accumulating on a couch and coffee table behind my work area. Today, among other stuff, I found a 29cent; notebook, manufactured by L. Silverman & Sons, Inc., of Brooklyn, which I used to write down my first recorded chess games.
Most people who learn the moves of the game - at least in the U.S. - never get past the woodpushing stage. Though they may be aware of the fact that there is a way to record moves (and therefore, a way to replay them), they never take that next step, which is to learn how it's done.
Back when I started using the book, I was pretty enthusiastic about the game. In fact, shortly before, I had sent off what had been (for me) a pile of money to start a sustaining membership in the US Chess Federation (a good investment, as the membership converted into a life membership after 10 years). In shoft, I was not flush enough to get a "real" scorebook, so I made do.
My main opponent in those days was my late stepdad, whom I was slowly but surely overtaking over the board. The game from which the following position (and continuation) was taken was played 41 years ago today. The opening moves - particularly mine - are painfully amateurish, so I will not reproduce them here.
Most people who learn the moves of the game - at least in the U.S. - never get past the woodpushing stage. Though they may be aware of the fact that there is a way to record moves (and therefore, a way to replay them), they never take that next step, which is to learn how it's done.
Back when I started using the book, I was pretty enthusiastic about the game. In fact, shortly before, I had sent off what had been (for me) a pile of money to start a sustaining membership in the US Chess Federation (a good investment, as the membership converted into a life membership after 10 years). In shoft, I was not flush enough to get a "real" scorebook, so I made do.
My main opponent in those days was my late stepdad, whom I was slowly but surely overtaking over the board. The game from which the following position (and continuation) was taken was played 41 years ago today. The opening moves - particularly mine - are painfully amateurish, so I will not reproduce them here.
Cheers...
{My dad is playing White; I'm pushing the Black pieces. Although material is even, Black is saddled with two doubled pawns and White has two ferocious Bishops directing their malevolence at the Black King. On the other tentacle, White's d-pawn is weak, as is the square d3, and there is something to be said for the Rook sitting behind the e-pawn with sights trained on the White Queen.}
20.Rae1 {This is ill-advised, given the weak d-pawn, and I try to make something of it.} 20...Rad8 21.Rd1 Bh5! {A skewer attack, in which the Bishop attacks the Queen directly, and the Rook indirectly.} 22.g4? {In my opinion, White is better off taking his losses right now with 22.Qe3.} 22...Nxg4! 23.hxg4 Bxg4 {The Bishop presses on with his skewer!} 24.Qe3 {An alternative is 24.f3 that doesn't look much better to me now.} Bxd1 25.Rxd1 Qg4+ {And now, a fork! Forks occur when an attacking piece threatens two (or more) enemy pieces. Here the King is attacked, and so is the Rook on d1.} 26.Kf1 Qxd1+ 27.Qe1 Qxd2 {Black appears to want to get as much "insurance" as possible, in terms of material superiority.} 28.Qxd2 Rxd2 {Positions like this, with the "rook on the seventh" are very strong for the side with the rook.} 29.Kg2 e3 {Another tactic: the pin! The pawn can't move because to do so would expose the King to check.} 30.Bc1 Rxf2+ 31.Kg1 e2!? {White is willing to let the Rook on f2 go, since the pawn will Queen on the next move, with check.} 32.Bxe2 Rexe2 {Now both Rooks are on the 7th rank, and the King is confined to his first rank. Unless Black blunders badly, he's won the game.} 33.Bxg5 Rg2+ 34.Kf1 f5 35.Bd8 f4 36.Bxc7 f3 37.Bxa5 f2? {This is, technically, a bad move because Black has a mate in 3 here, starting with 37...Rf2+ 38.Kf1 Ra2 and mate on the next move. Playing an immediate 37...Ra2 won't do, as it allows 38.c4, prolonging the struggle.} 38.Bb6 Re1+ 39.Kxg2 f1=Q+ (0-1)
