2008-12-24

I've played chess on and off again since age seven. Last summer I joined the PlayTheImmortalGame.com site and later the Chess.com site and have seen my rating skyrocket to 1800 as a result of wins against 1600 and 1700 rated players.

Am I really that strong? Actually, no! After computer-aided analysis of the games played I quickly realized that my opponents simply suffered from lapses of judgement. So should I chalk-up my wins as mere winning streaks? Perhaps not, after all I did see the proper winning continuations in each of my wins. I do believe my playing strength has indeed improved and that perhaps I'm playing 1600 level chess - at best - and not 1800 as my current rating might indicate. If you're a chess player you can decide for yourself:

#1: White to play and win		#2: Black to play and win
#3: Black to play and win		#4: White to play and win

Solutions:
Problem one: 1. Rxe6 {black loses his queen}
Problem two: 1... Qd1+ 2. Kh4 Qh1+ 3. Qg1+ {black forces the exchange of queens and is able to stop the advance of white's pawn while advancing his own to promotion.}
Problem three: 1... Re1+ Rxe1 2. Qxd8 {winning white's queen}
Problem four: 1. Qh3+ Kg5 2. Rd5+ f5 3. Rxf5+ Qxf5 4. Qxf5+ {and Black soon loses the game}

cjus vs. titomanolo: The draw that wasn't

2008-12-13

[Event "Challenge"] [Site "http://www.chess.com"] [Date "2008.09.25"] [White "cjus"] [Black "titomanolo"] [WhiteELO "1604"] [BlackELO "1701"] [Result "1-0"]

Position after 75. Kg6

1. e4 e5 2. Ng1f3 Nb8c6 3. Bf1b5 a6 4. Bb5a4 b5 5. Ba4b3 Ng8f6 6. O-O d5 7. exd5 Nf6xd5 8. Rf1e1 Bc8e6 9. Nf3xe5 Nc6xe5 10. Re1xe5 c6 11. Bb3xd5 cxd5 12. d4 Bf8d6 13. Re5e2 O-O 14. Qd1d3 Rf8e8 15. Nb1d2 Qd8c7 16. g3 Qc7d7 17. Nd2f3 Be6g4 18. Re2xe8 Ra8xe8 19. Bc1d2 Bg4f5 20. Qd3b3 Qd7c6 21. Bd2e3 Bf5xc2 22. Qb3c3 Re8c8 23. Qc3xc6 Rc8xc6 24. Ra1c1 Rc6c7 25. Be3f4 Bc2e4 26. Rc1xc7 Bd6xc7 27. Nf3d2 Bc7xf4 28. gxf4 Be4f5 29. a3 a5 30. f3 f6 31. Nd2b3 a4 32. Nb3c5 Bf5c8 33. h4 Kg8f7 34. Kg1f2 Kf7g6 35. Nc5d3 Kg6f5 36. Kf2g3 h5 37. Nd3b4 Bc8b7 38. Nb4d3 Bb7c8 39. Kg3f2 g5 40. hxg5 fxg5 41. fxg5 Kf5xg5 42. Kf2g3 h4 43. Kg3h2 Bc8f5 44. Nd3b4 Kg5f4 45. Nb4xd5 Kf4xf3 46. Nd5e7 Bf5d7 47. d5 Kf3e4 48. Ne7g6 h3 49. Ng6f8 Bd7f5 50. d6 Ke4d3 51. d7 Bf5xd7 0-1

I offered a draw twice in this game. In fact, the game was a technical draw on move 48. Neither side realized the draw and we played on. After move 52 the game went downhill for black and eventually ended on move 75.

IyoKobat vs. cjus: Bishop sacrifice

2008-10-04

[Event "Challenge"] [Site "http://www.playtheimmortalgame.com"] [Date "2008.09.25"] [White "IyoKobat"] [Black "cjus"] [WhiteELO "1616"] [BlackELO "1542"] [Result "0-1"] [GameId "5475503"]

Position after 51... Bxd7

1. e4 e5 2. Ng1f3 Nb8c6 3. Bf1b5 a6 4. Bb5a4 b5 5. Ba4b3 Ng8f6 6. O-O d5 7. exd5 Nf6xd5 8. Rf1e1 Bc8e6 9. Nf3xe5 Nc6xe5 10. Re1xe5 c6 11. Bb3xd5 cxd5 12. d4 Bf8d6 13. Re5e2 O-O 14. Qd1d3 Rf8e8 15. Nb1d2 Qd8c7 16. g3 Qc7d7 17. Nd2f3 Be6g4 18. Re2xe8 Ra8xe8 19. Bc1d2 Bg4f5 20. Qd3b3 Qd7c6 21. Bd2e3 Bf5xc2 22. Qb3c3 Re8c8 23. Qc3xc6 Rc8xc6 24. Ra1c1 Rc6c7 25. Be3f4 Bc2e4 26. Rc1xc7 Bd6xc7 27. Nf3d2 Bc7xf4 28. gxf4 Be4f5 29. a3 a5 30. f3 f6 31. Nd2b3 a4 32. Nb3c5 Bf5c8 33. h4 Kg8f7 34. Kg1f2 Kf7g6 35. Nc5d3 Kg6f5 36. Kf2g3 h5 37. Nd3b4 Bc8b7 38. Nb4d3 Bb7c8 39. Kg3f2 g5 40. hxg5 fxg5 41. fxg5 Kf5xg5 42. Kf2g3 h4 43. Kg3h2 Bc8f5 44. Nd3b4 Kg5f4 45. Nb4xd5 Kf4xf3 46. Nd5e7 Bf5d7 47. d5 Kf3e4 48. Ne7g6 h3 49. Ng6f8 Bd7f5 50. d6 Ke4d3 51. d7 Bf5xd7 0-1

cjus vs. Sam The Sham: Pawn march

2008-09-16

[Event "Open invite"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2008.09.16"] [EndDate "2008.09.24"] [White "Sam The Sham"] [Black "cjus"] [WhiteELO "1513"] [BlackELO "1513"] [Result "0-1"] [GameId "5439523"]

Position after 33... d2

1. f4 d5 2. Ng1f3 Ng8f6 3. g3 b6 4. Bf1g2 Bc8b7 5. d4 c5 6. c3 e6 7. O-O Bf8d6 8. Nf3e5 Nb8c6 9. Bc1e3 O-O 10. Ne5xc6 Bb7xc6 11. Nb1d2 Nf6d7 12. c4 Qd8c7 13. cxd5 exd5 14. dxc5 bxc5 15. Nd2b3 d4 16. Be3d2 Bc6xg2 17. Kg1xg2 Qc7c6 18. Kg2g1 Qc6e4 19. Ra1c1 Rf8e8 20. Rf1e1 Ra8c8 21. Rc1c2 Nd7f6 22. Qd1c1 Qe4d5 23. e4 Nf6xe4 24. Nb3a5 Ne4xd2 25. Qc1xd2 Re8xe1 26. Qd2xe1 c4 27. b3 c3 28. Na5c4 Bd6c5 29. Rc2g2 Kg8f8 30. Kg1f1 Rc8e8 31. Qe1d1 d3 32. Nc4e5 d2 0-1

cjus vs. Zenic: Seizing space!

2008-09-13

[Event "Challenge"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2008.09.01"] [EndDate "2008.09.13"] [White "cjus"] [Black "Zenic"] [WhiteELO "1470"] [BlackELO "1488"] [Result "1-0"] [GameId "5381341"]

Position after 21.Nd5

1. e4 e5 2. Ng1f3 Nb8c6 3. Bf1b5 d6 4. d3 Bf8e7 5. Nb1c3 Bc8d7 6. Bc1e3 Ng8f6 7. Qd1d2 Nc6d4 8. Bb5xd7 Qd8xd7 9. Be3xd4 exd4 10. Nf3xd4 a6 11. Nd4f5 g6 12. Nf5xe7 Qd7xe7 13. O-O-O O-O-O 14. f4 Nf6h5 15. g4 Nh5f6 16. g5 Nf6d7 17. h4 Nd7c5 18. Rh1e1 f6 19. d4 Nc5e6 20. f5 Ne6f8 21. Nc3d5 Qe7d7 22. Nd5xf6 Qd7g7 23. Qd2c3 Nf8d7 24. Nf6d5 gxf5 25. Qc3xc7 1-0

cjus vs. izzi: Inactive rooks

2008-09-01

[Event "Open invite"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2008.08.13"] [EndDate "2008.09.01"] [White "cjus"] [Black "izzi"] [WhiteELO "1470"] [BlackELO "1626"] [Result "1-0"] [GameId "5320563"]

Position after 43.Qd5

1. c4 Ng8f6 2. d4 e6 3. Nb1c3 Bf8b4 4. Bc1g5 Bb4xc3 5. bxc3 h6 6. Bg5h4 g5 7. Bh4g3 Nf6e4 8. Qd1d3 Ne4xg3 9. Qd3xg3 Qd8e7 10. e4 d6 11. Bf1d3 Nb8d7 12. Ng1e2 b6 13. d5 e5 14. O-O Nd7c5 15. Bd3c2 Bc8a6 16. Bc2d3 O-O-O 17. Ne2c1 h5 18. Nc1b3 Nc5xd3 19. Qg3xd3 g4 20. Nb3d2 h4 21. g3 h3 22. f3 gxf3 23. Rf1xf3 Kc8b8 24. Nd2b3 Rd8f8 25. Ra1b1 Kb8c8 26. a4 Qe7d7 27. a5 Qd7a4 28. Nb3d2 Qa4xa5 29. Rf3f1 Qa5c5 30. Kg1h1 b5 31. cxb5 Ba6b7 32. c4 Kc8d7 33. Nd2b3 Qc5b6 34. Rb1c1 Bb7c8 35. c5 dxc5 36. Nb3xc5 Kd7d8 37. Nc5a4 Qb6a5 38. Na4c5 Qa5b6 39. Nc5a4 Qb6d6 40. Rc1c6 Qd6b4 41. d6 Bc8d7 42. Rc6xc7 Bd7xb5 43. Qd3d5 Bb5c6 44. Qd5xc6 1-0