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George Spahn, a fifth grader at Palermo Consolidated School, scored a perfect 4.0 points in four games to tie for first at the 2008 Scholastic Teams State Championship held in March at the University of Maine, Orono. One of Spahn's victories was a fine effort with the black pieces against Matthew Fishbein, a powerhouse player from Cape Elizabeth who has been ranked in the top 100 players in the nation for his age group. Here is the exciting game Fishbein - Spahn with annotations provided by Fritz 9. |
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Matthew Fishbein vs. George Spahn
Magnificent Magnus!
Sixteen year-old Magnus Carson of Norway recently finished the Morelia/Linares Super GM Tournament in second place trailing only Indian Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand. In the course of this tournament, Carlsen defeated Alexander Morozevich in a riviting game in which he queened two pawns and threatened to queen another before forcing his opponent to resign. This game is worthy of the deepest study and, at the same time, it is really just fun to play through. We bring you the game with annotations by GM Mihail Marin courtsy of ChessBase.com as well as some biographical information on the Wonderboy from Norway.
Endgame Tactics
The endgame and tactics are two of the most important areas of study for players who are below expert strength. In this week's quiz, engame concepts are combined with tactical motifs to create some deceptively difficult problems. Only five problems because their degree of difficulty is high. All white to move and gain a winning advantage or checkmate.
Triple Loyds Puzzle 1
Samuel Loyd (January 31, 1841 ’Äì April 10, 1911), born in Philadelphia and raised in New York, was an American puzzle author and mathematician. As a chess composer, he authored a number of chess problems, often with witty themes. At his peak, Loyd was one of the best chess players in the U.S., and was ranked 15th in the world. In 1866, he invented the "Triple Loyd." These puzzles are in three parts: first place the black king in checkmate, next place the black king in stalemate and finally place the black king so that white has a mate in one, then give the mating move.
Mate in One Quiz 1
Hone your skills in finding the checkmating move with these mate in one problems. When you are playing a game there won't be a "mate in one" caption under the board so it pays to always be on alert for possible moves that will end the game on the spot.
Dr. John Nunn's Chrstmas Puzzle Number 1
This week's puzzle is authored by Grandmaster Dr. John Nunn, one of the world's best known chess players and authors. It's a deceptively simple looking affair until you spend some time with it. We wish you the best of luck finding the solution which we will post here sometime after January 1st. Our thanks to Dr. Nunn and ChessBase.com for this little brain teaser.Continue reading "Dr. John Nunn's Chrstmas Puzzle Number 1" »
Fork Quiz 1
This week we invite you to try your hand at some simple tactics involving forks. Just as basketball players practice layups and free throws, chess players need to practice elementary tactical positions over and over until solving them becomes second nature. In each position it is White to move and you are asked to find the fork. Solutions appear after Diagram 10. Good Luck!
Advantage in Development
The Australian player C. J. S. Purdy wrote in his book Guide to Good Chess, "You can play chess with the wizards of the chess world, living or dead, any time and anywhere you like, at negligible cost. The wizard's games are printed--in a simple notation--and you just play the games over, understanding little at first but gradually more and more." We're taking Purdy's advice this week with a game from one of the all-time great wizards of the game, Paul Morphy. This game was played nearly 150 years ago! Annotations provided by the Encyclopedia of Openings CD by Convekta, Ltd.
Mate in 2 Quiz 1
This week it's Mate in 2 puzzles! If you can't get some of these don't feel bad, just remember the world champion missed a Mate in 1 this week! Thanks to Richard James and his awesome site ChessKIDS.com for providing the positions for this week's quiz.Tactics Quiz 2
This week we challenge you with ten more tactics problems with motifs including double attacks, discovered attacks, and some not so obvious attacks! Thanks to Richard James and his awesome site ChessKIDS.com for providing the positions for this week's Tactics Quiz.
