Chess

[Sian]

(White to move)


White has 3 sensible moves:

a) 1. d4
b) 1. Kf4
c) 1. Ke3

Which move should he make? Impossible to say without looking ahead.

Kf4 seems like the way to go

Kf4, kb3, ke5, kc4, d4, and the king has to move away from the defense of his own pawn

Has to admit that at first sight Ke3 was the most obvious candidate move but that ended with something like

ke3, kb3, kd4, kc2, d3, kd2 which leads to drawing

[Gustaran]

@Sian

Kf4 seems like the way to go

Correct!

Has to admit that at first sight Ke3 was the most obvious candidate move

Which again shows that often the most obvious move is not the best...

[pindicator]

I just lost half an hour to this

http://chessteaching.x10.mx/1001-brilliant-checkmates/

[NobleHelium]

Way too many sacrificing checkmates in there...

I can pretty much just blindly move the queen to capture a piece near the king and it'll be the correct move 90% of the time.

[Jkaen]

Arrgh!

Just lost in end game against a player over 400 points better than me

http://www.chess.com/echess/game?id=62511240

So frustrated I couldn't quite close that out

[Gustaran]

I have annotated the decisive game against Pindicator/jmo5024. If you are interested, you can download the analysis of this entertaining encounter here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/4271598321/j...staran.pdf

Since I have finished all my tournament games I am offering unrated takeback training games to the players with lower ratings. This game mode allows you to take back your move at any time and I will check all moves immediately with an engine and tell you in chat when you make a mistake so you can immediately take it back and look for something better. You also have the possibility to ask any question about the position in chat in case you are unfamiliar with an opening or want to learn a certain defense.

[pindicator]

Ouch, that was a nice game up until the very end. Well done in promoting that a-pawn

Edit: x-post w/ gustaran. I liked our first game better, gustaran

2nd edit: There was a line to keep fighting at move 27? I was thinking that if I captured the g pawn and then went Nxf8 that it just opens a path for your queen to come to g4. I played h3 because I couldn't find a line with hxg3 that didn't end with you winning, so I think I lost the game before this point.

[Gustaran]

2nd edit: There was a line to keep fighting at move 27? I was thinking that if I captured the g pawn and then went Nxf8 that it just opens a path for your queen to come to g4. I played h3 because I couldn't find a line with hxg3 that didn't end with you winning, so I think I lost the game before this point.

Yes, I think you could have kept fighting.
If you play the line I mentioned in my analysis starting with 27.Rxf8+ you end up with an assessment around -1.7 which is probably losing but still leaves some chances. After 27.h3 the evaluation drops to around -9.0, that's almost one queen worse and completely hopeless. Capturing the pawn is indeed not great either because I can play Rxf1+ (-3.0), but still not as bad as 27.h3.

Edit: x-post w/ gustaran. I liked our first game better, gustaran wink

After the pawn loss the first game was an excellent defense on your part. Many people become irritated when they have to defend a worse position and destroy their game through impatient moves if you keep on playing long enough - but you kept your cool. So I had certainly no desire to enter a slightly favourable endgame again.

[pindicator]

Yes, I think you could have kept fighting.
If you play the line I mentioned in my analysis starting with 27.Rxf8+ you end up with an assessment around -1.7 which is probably losing but still leaves some chances. After 27.h3 the evaluation drops to around -9.0, that's almost one queen worse and completely hopeless. Capturing the pawn is indeed not great either because I can play Rxf1+ (-3.0), but still not as bad as 27.h3.

That was my first choise actually, but i got really scared of you responding Qg4 in place of Kxf8. I'd have threats on my rook, knight, and to defend against Qd1+. Maybe there is a counter i did not see.

After the pawn loss the first game was an excellent defense on your part. Many people become irritated when they have to defend a worse position and destroy their game through impatient moves if you keep on playing long enough - but you kept your cool. So I had certainly no desire to enter a slightly favourable endgame again.

Actually, i think the first game could have been won by you if you had kept the queens on and opened a second front on the queenside. It'd be neat to look at that game too- i really should dl a chess comp

[Gustaran]

That was my first choise actually, but i got really scared of you responding Qg4 in place of Kxf8. I'd have threats on my rook, knight, and to defend against Qd1+. Maybe there is a counter i did not see.

If instead of 29...Kf8 I play 29.Qg4, my advantage is gone - levelled position. The line goes 30. Nxg6 and if now 30...Qd1+ you play Bf1 and have an advantage (though frankly, I would have a very hard time evaluating such a position without a computer).

Actually, i think the first game could have been won by you if you had kept the queens on and opened a second front on the queenside. It'd be neat to look at that game too- i really should dl a chess comp

The analysis of the first game is a major PITA, because engines don't understand blocked endgame positions very well. They show something like +1.7 for me, but all they suggest is moving the bishop around in circles without making any progress towards winning the game. Fritz even thinks the final position is better for White when a humans know it's a dead draw.
But yes, the engines avoid the Queen exchange. I figured after the exchange the worst case scenario was a draw but I would never lose. However, I clearly overestimated my winning chances.

For an engine I suggest getting the Crafty engine for ChessBase light. I checked some other freeware interfaces for strong UCI engines, but I disliked all the UIs.