Thursday, June 06, 2013

En Passant Checkmate

Tonight I executed a checkmate by En Passant at the g/20 tournament at Carls Jr.
Here was the position.


White to move. I played 20. e5+
Black's only move is 20...f5
and then...
21. exf6# 1-0

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Need To Play Better

My chess reached a low point tonight when I got this position against a master. I was White.


White to play. I had 10 minutes, he had 5 minutes. I blacked out and played 18. Bxe7??  He bashed out 18...Qxd3+ and I resigned; it's mate in 2. A missed opportunity.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Called the Tournament Director Over

I had a good tournament at Carl's Jr. last Wednesday. Twenty people showed up, nine rated over 1800. I scored 3.5/4 and tied for 1st place ($13 prize).  In Round 2, something peculiar happened.

Carl's Jr. G/20, Mesa, AZ, Mar. 13, 2013
Round 2
Randy (2008) - Joe (1905)


Black's last move was 36...Ba4-b5+. I had 20 seconds on my clock (3 second delay) and I did not see the check. I touched my rook on a2. Then I realized that I was in check. What would you do? Out of confusion, I stopped the clock and one of the observers called the tournament director. The ruling was that since I did not make an illegal move, the game would continue without penalty. 37. Kf3 Rc3+ 38. Kf4 Rc4+ 39. Kf3 Rc3+ draw agreed.

Next time this happens, I will move the rook back to a2 (since there is no legal move with that rook), play Kf3, and press the clock.

Thursday, March 07, 2013

Trapped my own piece

Here is a position from last night's game at Carl's Jr. (g/20), round 1.


I was White and it is White's move. White is up two pawns and about to win the pawn on a4. Instead of playing the simple Rxa4, I played 19. b3? d5! My bishop is lost. 20. Rxa4 dxc4 21. Rxa8 Qd5! 22. f3 Bxa8 23. bxc4? Qd4+ 24. Kf1 Qxa1+ 25. Ke2 0-1

Lessons to be Learned:
1. Do not relax when up two pawns. Need to be alert for opponent's tactics
2. Need to anticipate Qd5 and Qd4+. Those moves surprised me during the game.
3. Need better board vision