Chess

[Gustaran]

He might not know what Zagwang means.

It's "Zugzwang" (actually German so I know for sure ) and most players know what it is, but setting it up is a different story.

My opponents poor endgame skill means I get to go 2-0 instead of 0.5-1.5 with little effort.

Oh, 31.a4 was a very nice move - getting rid of the backward pawn and activating the rook at the same time.

Yeah - I definitely felt lost there. I did play out quite a few simulations there to try and find the best moves but (I don't remember exactly at this point) couldn't figure out how to best pass the pawns. It's an ongoing game, but maybe once it's over someone can help me mend my errors lol

Yeah, I will do an analysis, the likely outcome of this game changed several times.

Very interesting is the resulting Queen vs pawn endgame. In theory, Queen vs pawn on the 7th is a win if it is against a central or knight pawn and a draw vs bishop and rook pawns. However, in this case there is an additional a-pawn, which makes things a little complicated - for both sides. Even the computer without tablebases can't evaluate the position correctly.
Then again, looking at the way this pawn endgame was handled, I'm not really sure if both players still remember Queen's endgame theory, so I will just sit back and watch the rest of the game.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_versu...venth_rank

In better news, I am going to win my other game

http://www.chess.com/echess/game?id=75961262

after my opponent offered a rook sacrifice on move 44, hoping to queen his pawn, but not realizing that if he queened the pawn, I would mate him on the back rank. Game is still going as of this post, but up a rook I should (hopefully) win that.

GZ on the win, 44. Kf6 was brilliant! But I don't really agree with your assessment that your opponent offered a rook sacrifice. It looks to me like he had to remove the c6 pawn on move 44 or he gets mated immediately (the pawn covers d7, so black can't sidestep the mate).

[MJW (ya that one)]

I don't think offering help that might be useful is okay Gustaran...

[Gustaran]

I don't think offering help that might be useful is okay Gustaran...

What do you mean? Of course I won't do a complete analysis with specific moves until the game is over.

As for the rest: Everything I wrote can be found on wikipedia in a general article on basic Queen endgame principles, so it's not exactly a chess secret or custom advice by any stretch of the imagination. Any player can look these things up whenever he wants.

Added to this, the information in the article doesn't even exactly resemble the position on the board since there is an extra pawn. Neither does Rego know if the position is winning, drawn or losing and even if he did he would have to play it all by himself (which is not easy for either side).
So I don't see a problem.

[Jkaen]

Well sorry guys, seems my end game chess skills suck

[Gustaran]

Ah, don't worry. Let me quote the great Capablanca:

Most players ... do not like losing, and consider defeat as something shameful. This is a wrong attitude. Those who wish to perfect themselves must regard their losses as lessons and learn from them what sorts of things to avoid in the future.

If you want I can analyze one of your games.

[Jkaen]

Give me couple of days then yes thanks

[Gustaran]

Our lead went from 6-1 to only 6-5, so I follow all remaining games with great interest! We need only 1 more point out of three games to secure a draw against a much higher team and only 1.5 points for a great upset! Go team RB!

For anyone interested: I finished my analysis of the game Jkaen-sugabi. I think it was a good fight and Jkaen had genuine winning chances in a tough matchup against an opponent rated almost 300 points higher.

http://www.mediafire.com/view/teb7nc6kbo...sugabi.pdf

Usual disclaimer: I did check all variations with Houdini 3, but my judgement may still be off from time to time.

[Sian]

7-5 ... my opponent didn't feel like playing a rook down ...

suscept that David should be able to put his game to bed ... 5 pawns ahead

[Jkaen]

Thanks Gustaran that was useful. I think I did trade off a bit too much without thinking about it properly there.

[Gustaran]

7-5 ... my opponent didn't feel like playing a rook down ...

suscept that David should be able to put his game to bed ... 5 pawns ahead

Excellent! Yes, David has a winning position, but unfortunately he basically self-mated himself in his other game where he had clearly outplayed his opponent, so we probably shouldn't count our chickens before they are hatched, but other than that I agree with your assessment of course.
In addition Rego's game looks very promising as well and if I had to put my money on a result it would be a win for us in both remaining games!

Thanks Gustaran that was useful. I think I did trade off a bit too much without thinking about it properly there.

Actually there are psychological reasons why beginners love to trade pieces:
a) Trading a piece gives you the (temporary) feeling of control, because you usually force your opponent to react to your move with a recapture.
b) Some players think the game is easier since there are less pieces left on the board.
c) There is the idea that trading pieces gets you closer to a draw (often seen when people play someone rated much higher).

Of course neither of those is a valid reason, unless there are positional factors to back it up. If you look at my first game in this team match I had a major reason for each decisive trade:

a) I traded Queens, because I could win a pawn in the process and entered an endgame with very good winning chances due to that extra pawn. Without Queens, my opponent had no counterplay.
b) I traded Rooks, because the resulting minor piece endgame left me with a strong bishop against a weak and dominated knight.
c) I traded minor pieces only, once I was convinced that I had a clearly winning line in the resulting pawn endgame.

Trading is never just good or bad, it always depends on the position. Your opponent's King is weak and you have a potential kingside attack or threats? Don't trade Queens! You snatched an extra pawn but your opponent has counterplay against your King as compensation? Off with the Queens.