The Love For Wood

A 1979 Dutch documentary featuring Ma Euwe, Hein Donner, Jan Timman, Hans Ree and others from the era when cigarettes and coffee were the chess player's constant companions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E48r-JTSAVM

Street Chess In Washington Square Park, NYC

An interesting short film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-3r3UAMz48

Lyndonville Chess Club Banner

We'll have a new banner in a week or so to hang in The Grindstone Cafe. Perhaps we should become the Lyndonville Chess and Film Society..........

Queen vs. Two Rook Endgame? Who Should Win?

That's what occurred last night in a game between David Paulson and me. Due to a mistake in recording the game, I stopped at the point in the pgn below. After perhaps another 20 or so moves, we agreed to a draw in a situation where White was up a pawn, but Black's Queen could essentially check the White King, not in perpetual check, but pretty much into infinity or until the 50 move rule or a three position repeat occurred. A good, very draining game--I slept until 10am this morning.

Robert and Bill Storz had a good long game that they adjourned---shades of years past, although there was no sealed move.

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "David Paulson"]
[Black "Brian Lafferty"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[BlackElo "0"]
[Classes "?"]
[ECO "D07"]
[TimeControl "?"]
[WhiteElo "0"]

{Game analysis^13 ^10 Processor: AMD A10-5757M APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics
(@2.50GHz)^13 ^10 Engine(s): stockfish^13 ^10 Analysis time: 0:10:16} 1. d4 d5
{[%t Val] 7} 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c4 Nf6 {[%t Val] =}{[%t Shrt] N} (3... e6 4. Nc3
Nf6 5. Bg5 Be7 6. e3 O-O 7. Rc1 b6 8. cxd5 {...1-0, Karpov Anatoly 2700 -
Prata Jose 2068 , Torino 5/22/1982 Simultan})(3... Bg4 4. cxd5 Bxf3 5. gxf3
Qxd5 6. e3 e5 7. Nc3 Bb4 8. Bd2 {...1-0, Ivanchuk Vassily 2705 - Brynell
Stellan 2473 , Sweden 3/14/2004 Ch Sweden (team) 2003/04}) 4. Nc3 {[%t Val] :}
4... Bf5 {[%t Val] B} 5. e3 {[%t Val] 7} 5... e6 6. Bd3 {[%t Val] 4} 6...
Bxd3 7. Qxd3 Bb4 8. a3 {[%t Shrt] N} 8... Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 h6 {[%t Val] 9} (9...
O-O 10. cxd5 exd5 11. O-O Na5 12. Nd2 Re8 13. f3 c5 14. e4 {-0.08}) 10. O-O
Ne7 {[%t Val] D} (10... dxc4 11. Qxc4 Qd5 12. Qe2 O-O 13. Rb1 Rab8 14. Nd2
{+0.27}) 11. cxd5 Qxd5 12. c4 Qe4 13. Qb3 O-O 14. Bb2 Qc6 15. d5 {?!}{[%t Val]
6} (15. Ne5 {!?} 15... Qb6 16. Qc2 Qd6 17. Rfb1 c5 18. dxc5 Qxc5 19. Bc3 b6
20. a4 {+0.63}) 15... exd5 16. Bxf6 {?!}{[%t Val] ^31 } (16. Qb4 {!?} 16...
Rfe8 17. Bxf6 a5 18. Qb1 Qxf6 19. cxd5 Nxd5 {+0.13}) 16... dxc4 17. Bxe7 {??}
{[%t Val] ^07 } (17. Qb2 {!} 17... gxf6 18. Rfc1 {-0.72}) 17... cxb3 18. Bxf8
Kxf8 19. Nd4 Qa4 20. Rfb1 Rd8 21. Nxb3 Rd3 {??}{[%t Val] K} (21... b6 {!} 22.
Nd4 c5 23. Ne2 Rd3 24. Re1 Rxa3 25. Rad1 b5 26. Rc1 c4 {-4.13}) 22. Nc5 Qc2
23. Nxd3 Qxd3 24. Rxb7 Qc3 25. Rbb1 a5 {[%t Val] N} 26. Rc1 Qe5 27. a4 {?!}
{[%t Val] F} (27. Rab1 {!?} 27... Qd6 28. a4 g6 29. g3 Qa3 30. Rc4 Qa2 31.
Rbc1 c5 32. Kg2 Qb3 {+1.24}) 27... c5 {[%t Val] K} (27... g6 28. Ra3 Qe4 29.
Raa1 Qe5 30. Rab1 Qe4 31. g3 c6 32. Rb8+ Kg7 33. Ra8 {+0.74}) 28. Rab1 g6 {?}
{[%t Val] X} (28... Qe4 {!} 29. Rb8+ Ke7 30. Rxc5 Qxa4 31. Rb7+ Kd6 32. Rc1
Ke5 33. Rxf7 Qa3 34. Rfc7 {+0.97}) 29. Rb5 Qe4 30. Rxa5 c4 {[%t Val] \} 31.
Rc5 c3 32. R1xc3 {?!}{[%t Val] X} (32. a5 {!?} 32... f6 33. R5xc3 Qa4 34. Rc8+
Ke7 {+3.54}) 32... Qxa4 1/2-1/2

What To Do With Chess Winnings?? Buy A Goat, Of Course!

 "I think I will buy a goat. It will see tactics better than me".--Fabio Caruna at the post-tournament press conference in St. Louis.

http://chess-news.ru/en/node/19927

Nakamura Comments on So's Preparation

Interesting comments relating to computer analysis that Nakamura considers misleading.

http://chess-news.ru/en/node/19892

Never Give Up!!

Nakamura seems to have worn down Magnus to a draw. Some chess players might call this a swindle.............

[Event "3rd Sinquefield Cup 2015"]
[Site "Saint Louis"]
[Date "2015.08.31"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "2853"]
[BlackElo "2814"]
[Annotator "Deep Fritz 14 x64 (10m)"]
[PlyCount "190"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{D37: Queen's Gambit Declined: 5 Bf4} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7 4. Bf4 Nf6
5. e3 O-O 6. a3 {Controls b4} c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. Nf3 Nc6 9. Qc2 Qa5 10. Rd1 Be7
11. Be2 Ne4 12. cxd5 Nxc3 13. Qxc3 Qxc3+ 14. bxc3 exd5 15. Rxd5 Bxa3 16. Nd4
Nxd4 17. exd4 b6 18. Kd2 {White loses the right to castle} Be6 19. Rb5 Bd7 {
Black threatens to win material: Bd7xb5} 20. Rb3 Be7 21. Bf3 {White threatens
to win material: Bf3xa8} Ba4 {Black threatens to win material: Ba4xb3} (21...
Rad8 22. Ra1 Be6 23. Rxa7 Bxb3 24. Rxe7 $11) 22. Rb2 $14 Rad8 23. Ra1 {White
threatens to win material: Ra1xa4} b5 {White has a new backward pawn: c3} 24.
Bc6 a6 25. Bb7 {White threatens to win material: Bb7xa6} Bd6 {Black threatens
to win material: Bd6xf4} (25... g5 26. Bg3 f5 27. Be5 $14 (27. Bxa6 $143 f4 28.
Bh4 gxh4 29. Bxb5 Bxb5 30. Rxb5 Rd7 $15)) 26. Be3 $16 a5 (26... Bxh2 $2 {would
be great except for} 27. Bxa6 Bd6 28. Bxb5 Bxb5 29. Rxb5 $18) 27. Bc6 {White
threatens to win material: Bc6xb5} Rb8 (27... f5 28. Bg5 (28. Bxb5 $143 Bxb5
29. Rxb5 f4 $15) 28... Rb8 29. c4 $16 (29. Rxa4 $2 {doesn't work because of}
bxa4 30. Bd5+ Kh8 $19)) 28. d5 Rfd8 (28... Bxh2 $4 {the pawn contains a lethal
dose of poison} 29. g3 f5 30. Bf4 $18) 29. Kd3 Bf8 (29... Bxh2 $2 {fails to}
30. g3 $18) 30. Bd4 (30. Ke4 g6 $16) 30... f6 31. Ke4 Bd6 $2 (31... Rdc8 $142
$5 $16) 32. c4 $1 $18 {Deflection: a4} Bb4 (32... bxc4 33. Bxa4 {Pinning} (33.
Rxa4 {Deflection})) 33. Ba7 f5+ 34. Kf3 Rbc8 35. cxb5 Bxb5 36. Bxb5 Bc3 37.
Rab1 (37. Rbb1 $5 Bxa1 38. Rxa1 Rxd5 39. Rxa5 Kf8 $18) 37... Bxb2 $16 38. Rxb2
Rxd5 39. Be3 (39. Ba4 Re5 40. Be3 g6 $18) 39... Rb8 40. Bc4 Rxb2 41. Bxd5+ Kh8
42. Bd4 Rb1 43. Ke2 a4 44. g3 a3 {He broke from his leash} 45. Kd2 h5 46. h4
Kh7 47. Bc4 g6 48. Kc2 Re1 (48... Rb8 $5 $16) 49. Be3 f4 50. Bxf4 (50. gxf4 $6
Rh1 $14) 50... a2 51. Bxa2 Re2+ 52. Kb3 Rxf2 53. Bb1 Re2 54. Kc4 Kg7 55. Kd5
Re1 56. Bc2 Re2 57. Bd3 Re1 58. Be4 Rd1+ 59. Ke5 Re1 60. Bd2 Re2 61. Bc3 Kh6
62. Bb4 Rf2 63. Bc5 Rf1 64. Bb4 Rf2 65. Be7 Rf1 66. Bf6 Rg1 (66... Ra1 67. Kd6
Rd1+ 68. Bd5 $16) 67. Bg5+ Kg7 68. Bf4 (68. Kf4 $5 Rf1+ 69. Bf3 Rc1 $18) 68...
Re1 $16 69. Kd5 {Twofold repetition} Rd1+ 70. Ke6 Re1 71. Ke5 Re2 72. Kd5 Re1
73. Bd3 Kh7 74. Kd4 Kg7 75. Be3 Ra1 76. Ke4 Ra4+ 77. Kf3 Ra3 78. Bb5 Rb3 79.
Be8 Rb1 80. Bc6 Rb4 81. Bd2 Rb6 82. Bc3+ Kh6 83. Bd5 Rb1 84. Kf4 Rf1+ 85. Ke5
Rg1 86. Bd2+ Kg7 (86... Kh7 87. Bf4 $16) 87. Bf4 (87. Kf4 $5 Rd1 88. Ke3 Kh7
$16) 87... Re1+ $16 88. Kd6 Kf6 89. Bf3 Kf5 90. Kd5 Rf1 {Black threatens to
win material: Rf1xf3} 91. Be4+ Kg4 92. Bxg6 (92. Ke5 $5 Re1 93. Kd4 $14) 92...
Rxf4 $11 93. gxf4 Kxf4 {White wins a piece.} 94. Bxh5 {Sacrifices material} Kg3
{Black threatens to win material: Kg3xh4} 95. Bd1 Kxh4 1/2-1/2