Category: Games

February 18, 2015

Solving chess problems is an useful way of improving tactical ability but the art of setting problems is a skill in itself and I discovered a great resource that I though I would share with you all .

The British Chess Problem Society, founded in 1918, is the world’s oldest chess problem society. It exists to promote the knowledge and enjoyment of chess compositions, and membership is open to chess enthusiasts in all countries. The Society produces two bi-monthly magazines, The Problemist and The Problemist Supplement (the latter catering for beginners), which are issued to all members. It organises the annual British Chess Solving Championship (sponsored by Winton Capital Management), and selects the Great Britain squad for the World Chess Solving Championship. Members are invited to attend BCPS lectures, which are held in London on the last Friday of each month between September and April. The Society holds an annual residential weekend, with a full programme of solving and composing tourneys and lectures. Members are entitled to use the resources of the BCPS library, and the Society book service, which can provide new and second-hand publications.

June 18, 2014

This was an interesting game played many many years ago, recorded in for posterity in the South Shields Gazette. In those days South and North Shields used to play on a monthly basis. In the early days the games were matched on a Random Ballot method, which often led to uneven contests. However this one seems to have been pretty evenly matched. A very aggressive Muzio Gambit was attempted.

[pgn height=500 initialHalfmove=16 autoplayMode=none]

[Event “North Shields v South Shields 1867”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “1867.02.16”]
[Round “1”]
[White “Mr Hopkinson”]
[Black “Mr J Scott”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “C37”]
[Annotator “Shields Gazette”]
[PlyCount “53”]
[Source “Shields Gazette”]
[WhiteTeam “?”]
[BlackTeam “?”]
[TimeControl “1/604800:0”]

1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. Bc4 g4 5. O-O gxf3
6. Qxf3 Qf6 7. d3 {A weak move P- K5 is the way to follow up the attack
Whites king pawn impedes his own forces and shelters the black King and his
suite.} Bh6 8. Bd2 {
Had the kings pawn been out of the way this move would have been effective.}
Ne7 9. Bc3 Qb6+ 10. Kh1 Rg8 11. Qh5 Qg6 12. Qf3 Qg4 {We question the policy of
this move black should now of brought the Queens pieces into action with all
possible speed.} 13. Nd2 Qxf3 14. Nxf3 d6 15. Bd2 Be6 16. Bxe6 fxe6 17. Nh4 e5
18. Nf3 Nbc6 19. c3 O-O-O 20. b4 Nb8 21. a4 b6 22. Be1 Ng6 23. Bf2 Nd7 24. a5
c5 25. axb6 axb6 26. bxc5 Nxc5 27. Rfb1 {At this point Mr H was compelled to
leave for the second time and the game was claimed for Black. Apart from this
there can be no doubt that whites attack has failed and he has no compensation
for his Knight.} 0-1

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June 18, 2014

[pgn height=500 initialHalfmove=16 autoplayMode=none]

[Event “Gilroy Northumberland Champ”]
[Date “2014.04.24”]
[Round “6”]
[White “Stan Johnson”]
[Black “Dave Stebbings”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[ECO “D35”]
[Annotator “Johnson,Stan”]
[PlyCount “72”]
[TimeControl “1/604800:0”]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. e3 Be7 5. Nf3 Nbd7
6. Bd3 O-O 7. O-O dxc4 8. Bxc4 Nb6 9. Bd3 h6 10. Qc2 Nbd5 11. a3 Nxc3 12. bxc3
b6 13. Bb2 Bb7 14. e4 Rc8 15. Rac1 c5 16. Qe2 cxd4 17. cxd4 Rc7 18. Rxc7 Qxc7
19. Rc1 Qb8 20. Ne5 Rc8 21. h3 Rxc1+ 22. Bxc1 Qc8 23. Bb2 Qa8 24. f3 Nh5 25.
Qf2 Nf4 26. Bb1 Ba6 27. Kh1 f6 28. Ng4 h5 29. Ne3 Bd6 30. Ba2 Qc8 31. Nf5 Bf8
32. Qg3 Ne2 33. Qg6 Bc4 34. Nh6+ Kh8 35. Nf7+ Kg8 36. Nh6+ Kh8 1/2-1/2

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