It all started in Boston in 1967 The first time a computer beat
a human being (one of the fleshy ones) in a tournament game
MacHack IV - Ben Landy, Boston 1967.
We join the game just asMacHack is wrapping it up.
[FEN "r2qk2r/3b1pbp/p1nQ1np1/4p3/Pp2P2B/2N2N2/1PP2PPP/1K1R1B1R w kq - 0 14"]
14. Nd5 Nxe4 15. Nc7+ Qxc7 16. Qxc7 Nc5 17. Qd6 Bf8 18. Qd5 Rc8 19. Nxe5 Be6 20. Qxc6+ Rxc6 21. Rd8 {Note the Queen sac and a Morphy Mate just like Morphy did in Paris in 1856.}
Since then the computer has continued chipping away at the human ego,
another landmark was reached in the 1990 World Chess Championship.
Karpov - Kasparov, World Chess Championship (Game 15) 1990
The game was drawn but the computer Mephisto pointed out a missed
Karpov win. Ray Keens in his book of the match said that this was the
‘ultimate humiliation for a human being.’ Now we know different, the
machines were sending us a warning now the machines are unbeatable.
Here is the missed win (apparently missed by all the commentators as well)
[FEN "1r1r4/p3n3/1p3kp1/8/4P1b1/3BKN2/P4P1R/1R6 w - - 0 25"]
25. Nd4 Rb7 {Karpov played f3 here. Mephisto came up with this very pretty variation.} 26. Rh4 Rbd7 {If instead Bc8 then f4 gives White an overwhelming position.} 27. e5+ {Possibly rejected by Karpov because it gives the Black Knight freedom. There are some nice mates in here.} 27... Kg5 {Kxe5 also leads to completely lost position after Rb5+} 28. Rxg4+ Kxg4 29. Rg1+ {Kh3 or Kh4 or Kh5 all meet the same reply.} 29... Kh4 30. Rh1+ {Kg5 White mates with Nf3+ and Rh4 mate.} 30... Kg4 31. Be2+ Kg5 32. f4# {Checkmate. Computers still show these missed variations to the younger chips when they come off the production line.}
After all the drama of the 2016 World Championship it’s good
to get back to normal. But remember Carlsen’s Queen sacrifice.
M. Carlsen - S. Karjakin Rapid Tie Break (Game 4)
50.Qh6+ gxh6 51.Rf7 mate or 50....Kxh6 51. Rh8 mate.
Clever and very pleasing....and we have a mirrored doubler!
A.Vyzmanavin - V. Tukmakov, Ukraine 1986
White sacced a Rook trying to get a perpetual....
...he nearly succeeded but it’s Black’s move (see it?)
Sad to hear that during the World Championship Mark Taimanov,
Russian Chess Grandmaster and Music Maestro had passed away.
Here he Mark Taimanov (left) playing a young Spassky in 1954.
And on the cover of a CD dedicated to the worlds greatest pianists.
A very enterprising and astute player always on the look for a tactic.
“Always the optimist,” is how Bronstein describes him when noting
up one of Taimanov’s games in his book on the 1952 Zurich Candidates.
In that book Bronstein often indulged in very instructive flights of fancy
and you do get the feeling he enjoyed adding notes to Taimanov’s games.
M. Taimanov - Y. Averbach (round 6) Zurich 1953 (White to move)
Taimanov played 27.d7 spotting a nice double trick shot in the position.
Bronstein asks us to imagine it is White’s move so we can see the threat.
29.Qxf8+ Kxf8 30.Bxf6
That is a White win, Bronstein then shows us what Taimanov was thinking.
[FEN "3q1rk1/1b5p/1p1PpppQ/2p5/2P5/4P3/1B3PPP/3R2K1 w - - 0 1"]
1. d7 Rf7 {To his credit Averbach spotted the drawback of this move and played Bc6 instead but still he lost. We now see the main idea why White played d7.} 2. Qh3 {2...Rxd7 3.Qe6+ winning the d7 Rook.} 2... f5 {Having sucked forward the f-pawn and opening up the White Dragon diagonal a1-h8 the Black Queens returns to h6.} 3. Qh6 {With the idea.....} 3... Rxd7 4. Qg7+ Rxg7 5. Rxd8+ {This time winning the Black Rook on g7.} 5... Kf7 6. Rd7+
To end this very brief bio a few of Taimanov games for some instruction.
** The importance of having the first check in a Pawn Promotion Race.**
E. Gufeld - M. Taimanov Tbilisi, 1959
[FEN "4r3/6P1/2K2R2/8/8/8/4p3/3k4 w - - 0 65"]
65. Rf8 e1=Q 66. g8=Q {Black gets in the first check.} 66... Qe4+ 67. Kb5 Re5+ 68. Kb6 {White is mated in all variations, this is what was played.} 68... Qd4+ 69. Ka6 Qd6+ 70. Ka7 Re7+ 71. Ka8 Qc6+ {And it's mate next move. The first check, it's so important, remember that next time you have a pawn race.}
Alas this news was too late this year for khi2364 who took part in:
khi2364 - lililoom RHP 2016
[FEN "8/7P/8/k7/P3K2R/2p1N3/8/4r3 w - - 0 52"]
52. h8=Q Kxa4 53. Qb8 c2 54. Kd3+ Ka3 {Nxc2+ mate next move, the crowd leave their seats, the show is over.} 55. Kd2 {No! The Fat Lady is calling them back. She has yet to sing.} 55... c1=Q+ {Promoting with a check, only in rare cases does this not lead to clear win, this is no exception.} 56. Kd3 Qxe3+ 57. Kc4 Rc1+ 58. Kd5 {Black can pick up the Rook with Qg5+. Is there better. Yes a Skewer picking up the White Queen.} 58... Rd1+ 59. Kc6 Qc3+ {The White King is forced onto the b-file and Rb1+ will win the Queen and then mate White.}
Back to Mark Taimanov here he pounces on a very slack ‘obvious move’.
F. Nordstrom - M. Taimanov Stockholm .2001
[FEN "4r3/8/1p1pp3/p4p2/PkP2PP1/1P1R1K2/1r6/3R4 w - - 0 62"]
62. g5 Rh8 {I am showing this to prove it's not only RHP players who can walk into self-mates.} 63. Kg3 {Seems OK it stops Rh4 allowing Rg4 when the Rooks gets behind the passed pawn. Can you see Black's reply.} 63... Rbh2 {OOPS! White resigned. Nothing can stop R8h3 mate. Every move is a potential blunder, try to avoid them (if only we could) and try to spot them when your opponent slips up.}
Between 1975 and 1979 World Champion Karpov lost just 7 games with Black
(He won 44). This one of the seven losses. Taimanov sets Karpov a cunning trap
and Karpov walks into it. If World Champions can stub their toe, then so can you.
A. Karpov - M. Taimanov, Leningrad 1977
[FEN "r7/6k1/1q1p2p1/1P1Ppn2/8/8/6PP/1R2QB1K w - - 0 36"]
36. Rb3 Qd4 {Inviting the b-pawn forward. Don't do it Anatoly, he's up to something, don't do it.} 37. b6 {He did it.} 37... Ra1 38. Rb1 {Now what, there is no snare here.} 38... Ng3+ {White has to take that, Qxg3 drops the b1 Rook but White can play...} 39. hxg3 Ra8 {Stopping Rh8 mate is going to prove difficult, even for a World Champion. Karpov realised this and resigned after Ng3+.}
****The Knights of Agincourt ****
This piece was inspired by this t-shirt design.
There is an Agincourt Variation of the English Opening but I thought I would
see if I could find an RHP game where the Knights came out and fought first.
So I fired up the Database for the 2,100th time. (Chessbase keeps a record
of how times you open a Database) and I went looking for this RHP set up
Lasker tells us to develop our Knights before our Bishops so why not?
xolanisigabi - Dalradian RHP 2011
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. e4 {How disappointing, this is going to transpose into....} 3... e5 {...The Four Knights.} 4. d4 {Wrong again, it is now the Scotch Four Knights.} 4... exd4 5. Nxd4 Bc5 {I was going to pull the plug and look at another game but I carried on, you never what wee undiscovered pearl lurks within an RHP game.} 6. Be3 d6 {7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.Bxc5 dxc5 8.Qxd8 Kxd8 Black has tripled c-pawns which cannot be good news for Black.} 7. Qd2 O-O 8. Nxc6 {If White is expecting to see tripled Black c-pawns they don't happen because Black can slip in the next move.} 8... Bxe3 9. Qxe3 bxc6 {Now the game is level.} 10. Rd1 {With e4-e5 ideas.} 10... Re8 {A good move. Black can ignore the 'threat'.} 11. e5 {A genuine chess trap. A trap has to have a pitfall for the target player to fall into and a refutation that leaves the trap setter in a poorer position.} 11... Rxe5 {The target player happily jumps into the pitfall. 11...Ng4 and Black picks up the e-pawn with a much better position (and a pawn up.)} 12. Qxe5 {The trap is sprung.} 12... dxe5 13. Rxd8+ {Black resigned, it's mate next move.}
It’s good to be back. The thread accompanying this blog is.....
rydnine - jonesy3156 RHP 2012
[FEN "2r5/2P4r/1K6/P2k4/8/1P6/7B/8 w - - 0 57"]
57. a6 Rxh2 58. Kb7 Rhh8 59. b4 Kc4 60. a7 Kb5 61. a8=N Rxa8 { I suppose for a piece of fun White now played.....} 62. c8=B {I've no idea if this 'joke' put Black off for a mouse click and they lowered their guard. because Black played.....} 62... Rhxc8 {That is stalemate. Black should have taken the Bishop with the other Rook.}
What an incredible collection of total nutcases.
Wish I had thought of it.
BTW, there's also this: https://xkcd.com/chesscoaster/
Maybe a challenge for RHPers?
it's where I saw it, a site that was selling t-shirts, some lad has obviously copied it and stuck it on a t-shirt.
(It's also not a t-shirt design unless you have short arms, a growth on your hip, and a turtleneck. Yes, I'm a pedant.)