Here is a game Ed and I played on Saturday. A brain hammering affair. Please let us know what we may have missed.

Twinsburg Chess Club Tournament 09/25/2010

Tournament results
Ed Prochak 4
Alex James 3
Chris Coutts 3
Calvin Wolfe 2
Caywood Cooley 2
Vic Corsi 2
Robert Jones 0

Here is the final game between Ed and Alex, proving to crown the Champion, Ed Prochak!
Congrats Ed!

Nick v Jon

Here is a game I played Saturday in a rare appearance at the club. Nick joined us for the first time and hopefully will be back again. He said he hadn't played in a while, but showed he can definitely play. The turning point came when white played Bishop b4, putting him down a piece. All in all, a nice game.

Chris v Ashkman

Here is a game Chris and I played tonight. As you can see e4 was our own little O.K. Corral. The game ended with black resigning due to the black king being tied to defense of the a pawn. My thoughts were to bring my knight to the king side and try to force a pawn move, which would lead to me advancing a pawn. And Chris pointed out that a4 would free up my king to go pawn hunting because if Kxc3, my a pawn walks to promotion, so the king can only sit and watch.

Pashu4u v Chris

This is a game Chris played on Chess.com. Notice the nice use of his pawn advantage on the king-side in the middle to end games. Also, on the bishop sac, this shows how a minor piece can definitely be worth trading for destruction of the kings blockade. This is a good example of trading off pieces when it is advantageous to you. Nice game Chris.

Chris v Larry

Chris v Brad

Chris v Jon

Here is a game I recently played against Chris from the TCC. It was a marathon of a game, and he out-classed me. I made the fatal blunder in the end game, but after giving away 2 pawns in the middle game, hoping for a strong attack with my rook and bishop, with my queen easily accessible. When that attack was defused, I had a difficult time getting equality, and should have salvaged a draw, and possibly with some help a win. But Chris played extremely solid and from my review, did not really make any mistakes. He kept a slight pawn advantage to the end and took the exchange of rooks in a position that he could grap opposition in. A very nice game from Chris. I am looking forward to feedback and definitely a rematch.

Double Sac

This is a game that I was down a piece in the middle game and came up with an idea to double sac to lead to checkmate. My opponent followed my lead and bit on the Rook sac, which sealed the deal.

Chris v Brad

Crazy game I recently played online

I have annotated the game a little bit, as you go through, you can see the comments I have placed in there to give a little insight into how I see things. I hope that it is helpful to you, and also to me. If you see any faulty reasoning, or blatantly wrong observations, please let me know. I think that this is the best way to improve, by talk about what you see on the board and how you process it.
This game is a wild-card, and if you notice something that both I and my opponent missed, let me know. I tried something different in the opening, and thought it was a mistake at about move 9 or 10, but it worked out. Let me know what you think.
Cheers!

Jeff v Joe

Mate in 4 - Chess.com

Mate in 4 - Chess.com

The 2010 World Chess Championship

This is a link from Joe with some good analysis about game 12 of the championship.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5URbl3tNyo

Anand retained his title against Topolov in 12 games. He won the last game with black in a tied position at 5.5 points a piece. The link on the right side for Jrobi has some good analysis of this 12 game series as well.

If you are interested in the Queens gambit lines, these games are great to review. All but one game was some variation of the Queens gambit. I thought that game 12 was a great game, and there is a lot to learn from these videos and the videos Jrobi does as well.

Sunil v Chris

Jeff v Jon

Joe v Keith

Larry S. v Joe

Larry S. v Jon

Pat v Jon

Ed v Jon

Larry v Jon

Chris v Ed

Fischer v Weinstein

Ruy Lopez opening as played by the great Bobby Fischer. Feel free to analyze the game and post your thoughts about what you see. 28. Nxe5 is a great move that gives white a pawn advantage, and more importantly, puts him positionally in a strong and threatening situation. Enjoy...

Nice Finish

Since I could not be with you all on Saturday, due to Valentine's Day festivities, I am posting a game that I am fairly proud of my play in.

Joe v Robert

This is a game I just finished on Chess.com. I sac'd a knight early to get a positional advantage and prevent his castling possibilities, and almost pulled it off. Actually, I should have won, but 42. Rxa7 was a mistake. I should have gone Rb7 instead and then Rb4, which would have controlled those pawns and I should have been able to promote the a pawn. An exciting game either way.

Jon v Calvin

Larry v Jon

This is a game I played against Larry from the Akron Chess Club. I was way behind in pawns after the dust settled. If you see any flaws, please comment. Thanks!

The French Defense

I will be posting some openings out of a book I have recently bought. These are the main lines, and I am paraphrasing from the author, Bill Robertie, on the comments. The book is titled "Winning Chess Openings".