Chess Life for Kids

I write a regular column for the United States Chess Federation's Chess Life for Kids magazine.

I noticed that in Don Maddox and Ranae Bartlett's article, "The Bridge", in the December 2014 issue, the following game appeared. It is from a team match played, via Skype, between elementary students in Madison, Alabama, USA and Xiamen, China.



Wilhelm,J - Lexuan,W
Madison, AL - Xiamen, China Skype match, 2014

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Nc3 Na5

Readers who are familiar with this kind of move, or who recall "Another Coffin, Another Nail" or "Kick Me" know what will happen next.

5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Ke8

FM Bradley Denton, writing in Chess Life for Kids, recommended, instead, 6...Kf8 7.Qh5 Qe8 8.Nxd7+ Bxd7 9.Qxc5+ Ne7 10.Qxa5, although White would still be better.

 7.Qh5+ g6 8.Nxg6 hxg6 9.Qxh8 Kf8 10.d3 Qf6 11.Bh6+ Kf7 12.Qh7+ Ke6 13.Qxg8+ Kd6

14.Qf8+

Missing the killer move 14.Bf8+! that would wrap things up. That's okay, White still has things in hand, up the exchange and three pawns.  

14...Qxf8 15.Bxf8+ Kc6 16.Bxc5 Kxc5 17.0-0 d6 18.f4 Bd7 19.f5 

Jerome pawns, forward!

19...gxf5 20.exf5 Rf8 21.f6 Nc6 22.Rae1 Nd4 23.Re7 Kc6 24.Rg7 Nxc2 25.f7 Be6 26.Rf6 Bc4 

This slip hastens the end.

27.dxc4 Nb4 28.Rg8 Rxg8 29.fxg8Q Na6 30.Qd5+ Kd7 31.Rf7+ Kc8 32.Qe6+ Kd8 33.Qd7 checkmate

(Yes, Readers, I once wrote "The Worst Chess Opening Ever!" - on the Jerome Gambit - for the June 2010 and August 2010 issues of Chess Life for Kids. I don't remember, off hand, if they ran my article on "The Knucklehead Gambit," however...) 

Sunday Book Review: Paul Morphy: Confederate Spy

Paul Morphy: Confederate Spy
by Stan Vaughan
Three Towers Press (2010)
soft cover, 402 pages
descriptive notation



I could hardly wait to pick up Paul Morphy: Confederate Spy. The American chess champion from Louisiana, cast as an undercover agent during the War Between the States!

First, though, I had to set aside my concerns about the author, Stan Vaughan, of the American Chess Association (as opposed to the better known United States Chess Federation) and claimant to the World Chess Federation World Champion title (as opposed to the better known FIDE). There was more than a bit of trepidation in reviewing the July 1, 2011 WCF Top rating list, since there seemed to be a few players missing:

1. Stan Vaughan 2965 (current WCF "The World Chess Champion" after 2011 ACA Nevada State Open)
2. Bobby Fischer (deceased) 2897 (after WCF "The World Chess Championship" title match of 1992 versus Spassky)
3. Boris Spassky 2805 (after WCF "The World Chess Championship" title match of 1992 versus Fischer)
4. Ron Gross 2575 (after WCF 2011 Starbucks International- official WCF 2012 title match challenger after winning the 2010 WCF Candidates matches Final at Las Vegas Riviera Hotel Casino).

However, I took the leap.

The author writes from the omniscient, third person point-of-view, fully strident in a way that befits the Southern perspective of American Civil War

According to Article I, section 8 of the US Constitution, only US Congress has the power to call forth state militia (and even then it must be as a result of a call for assistance from a state legislature, or when said state's legislature is not in session, its governor). Yet, once the trespassers had been evicted from Fort Sumter, which should have been the end of the matter, Lincoln usurped this authority and issued his own illegal proclamation call on April 15, 1861. Not only was it illegal from the standpoint that he had no authority to issue it, it called for suppression of a so-called insurrection in South Carolina, a state no longer even part of the Union, as South Carolina had seceded the previous year!

Whew! As a Yankee, I was quickly getting schooled on Dishonest Abe Lincoln and his War of Northern Aggression. Of course, I awaited the author's treatment of the "Peculiar Institution", which was not immediately forthcoming...

I tripped over an occasional mismatch in verb tenses and some misspellings that should not have been there, but I was settling into a tale set in a vibrant time in chess and non-chess history.

The presentation of the chess games seemed a bit silly, however, placing "annotations" within the dialogue, e.g.

[After 1.P-K4 P-K3 2.P-Q4 P-Q4 3.PxP] Talking with some nearby spectators, Morphy commented, "This is my favorite treatment of the French Defense, whereby I get an open game."
4.Kt-Kb[sic]3 B-Q3 5.B-Q3 Kt-KB3 6.Castles, castles 7.Kt-B3 P-B3 8.B-KKt5 [Black's move is missing; it should be 8...B-KKt5] 9.P-KR3 BxKt 10.QxB QKt-Q2 11.KR-K1 Q-B2 12.P-KKt4
De Maurian, in a low voice to a fellow spectator, so that Jose Maria [Sicre] could not overhear, re marked, [sic] "This is one of his patented P.C. (Paul Charles) moves. Not only is it justified in a position like the present, but it is twice as strong, for it provokes anxiety, confusion and fear!"

Awkward.

Still, things moved along, and Morphy, in the role of diplomat, found himself across the Atlantic, in Spain... and the style of writing in Paul Morphy: Confederate Spy changed from politics and intrigue to more of a travelogue. I rode it out for about a dozen pages (like so much of the book, the places and buildings were interesting, even if I struggled with the prose), and then parked myself on a couple.

The phrase "characterized by a magical use of space, light, water and decoration" (page 62) describing a particular piece of architecture caught my eye, and I Googled it. Hmmm... That phrase shows up in the DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Seville & Andalusia (page 194).

Somewhat disappointed, I then chose "where the reigning sultan listened to the petitions of his subjects and held meetings" (page 62) and Googled that, only to find that the phrase is also from DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Seville & Andalusia (page 194).

It turned out that "an undigested cube of rock, and whoever designed it failed to realize that when plumped down beside the delicate Moorish palaces upon which it encroaches, it could only look ridiculous" (page 63), however, appears in Iberia, (page 227) by James A. Michener.

I set the book down. I do not know if I will pick it back up again.

Pity. I was just getting into the story.

I wonder how things turned out in the end.

The Knucklehead Gambit

After my two-part article on the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) in the United States Chess Federation's Chess Life for Kids (see " 'The Worst Chess Opening Ever' Warning or Menace??") I am writing an article titled "The Knucklehead Gambit", based on what I have learned about the Busch-Gass Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Bc5.

I was pleased to learn that last winter Chess.com held a Busch-Gass Gambit Thematic chess tournament (winner: Karpikicks) and even more pleased that links were given to three posts on this blog that referred to the gambit: "Worth A Second Look... (Part 1)" "(Part 2)" and "(Part 3)". 

To fill out the list, here are several others: "Danke!", "Busch-Gass Gambit" and "Busch-Gass Pass".

"The Worst Chess Opening Ever" – Warning or Menace??

 A number of months ago (see "The Worst Chess Opening Ever") I mentioned to readers that I had submitted an article on the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), titled "The Worst Chess Opening Ever", to the United States Chess Federation's magazine Chess Life for Kids, which runs my regular "Arabian Knights" stories.

If the editor doesn't die laughing, I'll let you know if he accepts it for publication.

Let me assure you that Chess Life for Kids Editor Glenn Petersen is very much alive, and he has a great sense of humor.

So – the June 2010 issue of the magazine is out, and within its pages is the first part of my article.

Oh, yes, as it says

In Part 2 we will take a closer look and analyze the Jerome Gambit

Is exposing young chess-playing minds to such folly a good idea? Will it teach them bad habits and steer them away from studying the Catalan Opening? Or will they learn to crush such outrageous violations of chessic common sense?

Only time will tell...

All's well that ends well

The other day I stopped by the website of the United States Chess Federation (USCF) and read about the Eighth U.S. Chess School recently held in Scottsdale, Arizona. There I read about 15 year old Kevin Zhang, rated 2160, who made the remarkable comment

I like playing any endgame that’s completely equal...
I made 2100 without any opening theory at all, just with simple tactical ideas and solid endgames. I would get horrible positions out of the opening and then have to fight back in the middlegame.

That came to mind later in the day when I was playing a game at the Free Internet Chess Server (FICS) and reached the following position with White. (It didn't arise from one of my Jerome Gambit games – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+.)


Readers will recognize a standard Bishops-of-opposite-colors ending, and realize that White, despite his protected passed pawn, has nothing.

If my opponent hadn't been rated some 150 points above me, I would have offered a draw. It seemed polite to let him do so.

32. Kf3 Bb2 33. a4 Ba3 34. b5 axb5 35. axb5 Kd7

36. f5 c6 37. bxc6+ bxc6 38. Ke4 Bb2

Once White plays e5-e6, Black will be able to establish a dark square blockade with his Bishop and King, and the White pawns will not advance. Likewise, White can establish a light square blockade with his King and Bishop, and the enemy c-pawn will do no damage.

39. Bc4 Ke7 40. Bb3 Kd7 41. Be6+ Ke7 42. Bb3 Kd7

It's evident that neither one of us is getting anywhere. (Even though it was a 2 12 game, time on the clock was not an issue for either of us.)

43. h4 Ke7 44. h5 Kd7 45. Bc4 Ke7 46. Bb3 Kd7

Same old, same old. To show that I had a sense of humor, I decided to break the deadlock by sacrificing a pawn – not that it would change anything.

47. f6 gxf6 48. exf6
After 48...Bxf6 White's King heads for – h1!

Black will be able to exchange his c-pawn for White's Bishop and even win White's remaining pawn, but he will find himself in the even more notorious wrong-colored-Bishop-and-Rook-pawn ending where he will be unable to promote his remaining pawn because he will not be able to chase White's King away from the Queening square!

48...Ke8

My opponent shows that he is a funny guy, too. It turns out that he can draw without even recapturing the pawn!

49. Kf5 Bxf6

However, this is one joke too many.

My opponent would not communicate with me after the game (perhaps he had already started another match) so that I could not learn why he played this move instead of 49...Kf8, which clearly draws.

If I were to guess, I would say that after 49...Bxf6 50.Kxf6 he told himself: now, even if I lose both of my pawns my opponent will still be stuck trying to win that notorious wrong-colored-Bishop-and-Rook-pawn ending...

50. Kxf6 c5 51. Kg6 Kf8 52. Kxh6


Oooops... The Black King cannot get to h8 to hold off the White pawn.

Black resigns.