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Posted by andy94
austinfilmfestival.org

11/16/2008
08:02:21

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Subject: A chess saying...

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"White plays to win, black plays to draw."
I don't remember who said it, but it's an interesting thing to talk about.
What do you think?

Posted by ionadowman
austinfilmfestival.org

11/16/2008
12:36:32

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Is it indeed attributable to one person?...

Message:
I seems to have been the approach taken by many chess masters, but certainly not all. Judging by the recent World Championship match, Vishy Anand had no idea of taking such a line. Bobby Fischer would have thought such an approach pusillanimous.

I much prefer the attitude of one Efim Bogoljubov, who flourished in the '20s and '30s: "When I have White, I win because I have the White pieces; when I have Black, I win because I am Bogojubov."

Cheers,
Ion

Posted by ccmcacollister
austinfilmfestival.org

11/16/2008
14:02:17

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I have always liked Bogo's~! Very masterful :))

Message:
Corollaries:
Alekhine: "When I am WT I win because I am Alekhine, with black I win because you Are Bogojubov".

Mine: "When I am White I win because You are not Bogojubov, with black I win because Bogojubov is deceased and only had an hour to get to the board. "
{ "Wait a minute, I won? What happened??" }

}8-)

About drawing with black, winning with WT. Obviously it Wins any single match. Besides that it is often used in RR or double RR play particularly amongst near equals and in long events. In Swiss play, especially short ones, it is not so commonly sought.
There it might be more like: Crush the lower rated because you are higher rated; Win with WT among your peers; and Let's see about winning with black among peers and betters since I hope to know my chosen defense better, but if not perhaps I will grace them (aka "bail out" :) with a draw . . .
———
Showdown in China Highlights Busy Month — There is no peak season for chess, but several overlapping tournaments are keeping top chess players busy. The events include the World Team Chess Championship, featuring 10 of the top national squads, in Ningbo, China; the Biel International Chess Festival in Switzerland; the Sparkassen Chess Meeting in Dortmund, Germany; and an elite invitational tournament for women in Hangzhou, China. The talented rosters include Magnus Carlsen in Switzerland; Levon Aronian, Sergey Karjakin, Vassily Ivanchuk and Teimour Radjabov in Ningbo; Vladimir Kramnik and Hikaru Nakamura in Dortmund; and Hou Yifan, the 16-year-old women’s world chess champion, in Hangzhou. Such a wealth of competition has ...
Posted by kansaspatzer
austinfilmfestival.org

11/16/2008
14:04:45

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I think that such an approach is more applicable at a higher level than most of us are at. Certainly, when you look at the world championship matches such as the one just played between Kramnik and Anand, the notion of who was White and who was Black was critical to match strategy (and it was a very big deal when Anand won as Black.) At my level - I'm around 1600 both on here and OTB, I'm going to play for a win any time I'm playing somebody unless they're much higher rated than I am, in which case I may head for drawish lines, knowing that heading for a technical endgame will likely play into the hands of someone with more endgame experience than myself.
———
Michael Adams and Nigel Short ready for rare battle — The British chess championship, which starts in Sheffield on Monday, is the strongest in the chess event's 107-year history, with almost all of England's top grandmasters taking part. There will also probably be a rare head-to-head between the former world finalists Michael Adams and Nigel Short, who are both in good form. Adams tied first at the World Open in Philadelphia, Short at the Commonwealth Open in South Africa. The other interesting prospect is a clash of generations as the long supremacy of Adams, 39, and Short, 46, is challenged by the ambitious and fast-rising David Howell, 20, and Gawain Jones, 23, who aim to take over the top boards in the national team. It is hard to see beyond ...
Posted by cascadejames
austinfilmfestival.org

11/16/2008
20:39:57

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Better with Black?

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For reasons that are unclear to me, I have consistently had a better record on Gameknot with
black. So I am skeptical about the application of the rule to those of use who are not Class A
players or higher.
———
Chess on the China road — Greetings from China! I am writing this column from my hotel room in Ningbo as I attend the 2011 World Team Chess Championship, which runs from July 16 to 26. Although I lived in Europe for four years (1988-92), this is my first trip to Asia. I feel privileged to witness the U.S. team as it battles hard against a tough field in an attempt to earn a medal and represent our nation on the world chess stage. I was invited to be a coach for the U.S. team, which is made up of three-time and reigning U.S. Chess Champion Gata Kamsky, 2006 U.S. Chess Champion Alex Onischuk, 2008 U.S. Chess Champion Yury Shulman, four-time U.S. Chess Champion Yasser Seirawan and 19-year-old chess phenom Grandmaster Robert Hess. A formidable ...
Posted by lighttotheright
austinfilmfestival.org

11/16/2008
21:35:48

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I sometimes play for a draw, even when I'm white. I drew a 2300 + player recently doing just that. I was surprised to get an early lead, but I knew it wasn't enough to win. When I got a chance to trade Queens, I took it. I had to give back some material to force a draw, but it worked.

I sometimes lose a game because I push things too far - trying to force a win.


———
Chess: Ulf Andersson, positional master — Andersson rarely makes a direct attack: he wins by subtle improvements in position. DK: I've been wanting to tackle positional play in this column for some time, but couldn't think of a good way into a topic that is just too vast – until inspiration came with the arrival of Grandmaster Chess Strategy, by Jurgen Kaufeld and Guido Kern (New In Chess, £19.95). The title is bland, but the strapline reveals the content: "What amateurs can learn from Ulf Andersson's positional masterpieces". Andersson is, for me, an enigmatic chess player: he rarely makes a direct attack on his opponent's king, preferring to exchange pieces and gently improve his position – and against strong chess players this frequently leads to ...
Posted by kansaspatzer
austinfilmfestival.org

11/16/2008
22:34:56

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Message:
An attitude I would generally find more profitable would be "keeping the draw in hand" rather than "outright playing for the draw". Trying to push for a miniscule advantage is easier than pushing outright for a draw, in which you aren't able to claim any positional advantages, which can be tricky since playing for a draw tends to be harder than it sounds.
———
Bobby Fischer Against the World (movie review) — A riveting documentary about the troubled US chess champion and his battle with Boris Spassky. Liz Garbus's gripping documentary about the life and times of the troubled American chess genius Bobby Fischer asks a number of questions. Did Bobby's missing dad create an emotional void which was neurotically filled with chess? Is there something in the game that encourages immersive obsession and ultimate madness? Would Fischer have gone the same way if he had been a plumber or a welder? And why is it that antisemitism is the bigotry of choice for mentally ill people? Non-chessers like me are already basically aware of the second and third acts of this American life. The middle act was ...
Posted by blake78613
austinfilmfestival.org

11/17/2008
04:55:41

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When I am Black, I am happy to repeat a line that lead to a draw, and will keep repeating it until someone finds a way to obtain an advantage. While with White if I draw with a line, I will start looking for a different line.

Posted by ionadowman
austinfilmfestival.org

11/17/2008
12:29:51

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Back in '83 ...

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... I got roped into a six-round Easter tournament, having played just one game (in a telegraph match) in the previous 12 months. Naturally I wasn't in form, having made no preparation. In the event Black won all six of my games!

On reflection, I suppose that wasn't such a good occasion to depart from my usual English Opening to try opening lines I hadn't played before. That wasn't very clever... :(

Cheers,
Ion

Posted by farhadexists
austinfilmfestival.org

11/18/2008
08:07:12

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At my level (1500-1600), I don't think it matters, as almost every single game is decided by a blunder of some sort, mine or my opponent's.
Then again, I've won 60% of my games as White here on GK, and 53% as Black, so maybe I have no idea what I'm talking about.

Farhad

Posted by wulebgr
austinfilmfestival.org

11/19/2008
06:16:37

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another

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Black is Okay

The title of a series of books, and allegedly a famous statement by some player--I don't know who.

Posted by ketchuplover
austinfilmfestival.org

11/19/2008
06:24:03

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Chess is a theoretical draw-Bobby Fischer

Posted by andy94
austinfilmfestival.org

11/19/2008
07:28:51

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Thanks ketchuplover, lack that quote of Bobby!

Posted by fmgaijin
austinfilmfestival.org

11/19/2008
10:50:48

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Andras Adorjan, wulebgr

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EOM

Posted by markb56
austinfilmfestival.org

12/04/2008
11:14:19

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I have a terrible time playing as White both on GK and OTB. My win record as Black is about 20% higher both on GK and OTB. I prefer playing with a plan (e.g positional) rather than attack. It also depends on the opponent -- young players seem to have a harder time grinding it out than older players, as they need constant stimulus to stay interested.


Posted by ionadowman
austinfilmfestival.org

12/04/2008
11:50:06

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I guess it depends...

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... on what you find "stimulating" enough to keep your interest. Consider that you are down a pawn in a rook ending; possibly - even probably - a draw, but your opponent has whatever the winning chances going. What keeps you interested enough to play the thing down to its last gasp - lose or draw? It could, of course, be your place in a tournament - the possibility of a "grade prize" (if such things are offered), or, since your opponent has 200 ELO rating points more, there's the "moral victory" of acquiring a significant boost to your own rating and an addition to your chess CV.

Then, there's the intellectual exercise of making the best of the situation, finding whatever tactics there might be in the position, of setting your opponent problems. The same goes if you're on the upside of such an endgame.

Maybe it's worth thinking of it in these terms: When down, you are extracting a draw from a game probably lost; when ahead, you are extracting a win from a game probably drawn! Grinding out the win is not always - I find it's not even usually - lacking in interest.

Cheers,
Ion