Fihankra Chess Collective
Monday, September 06, 2004
 
For the Collective: A Chess Journal by Michael J. Farris on August 26, 2004

Peace and good health to you. We are marking time as we grow, and one is capable of wasting the time or spending it wisely. It is exciting for me to see you who use time as a tool aligning yourselves here with us at the Chess Collective.

I have been spending my talents as designer, documenter, organizer. I want the best for our collective, and I feel confident that you also want to see and experience good things.

Time is short, some say. I say that time is endless, and we must make our view of it, which is short, mean something to us while we are here in this domain to influence it directly.

Let’s do that Now!

I am currently running tournaments at www.schemingmind.com, and also at www.brainking.com, in Alice Chess, Standard Chess, Gothic Chess, and Janus Chess. Two of these styles of game require an 8x8 board, and two require an 8x10 board. The masses of folks have access to the 8x8, and so I encourage you to look at the games at either site.
A bold few are forging into the ancient world of Shatranj, and we are beginning to see the subtlety and the difficulty of this game. To read about the powers of the pieces in the Parent Game of the one we refer to as chess now, goto www.chessvariants.com and read about the Alfil, and the Ferz.
(picture courtesy of www.chez.com/cazaux/images/shatranj/shatranj-picture.jpg)

One of the games of the standard fare is between two Czech Republic players Bobes and Alex II, which begun on April 27, 2004. The competition (http://brainking.com/game/ShowGame?g=337674) is tight between these two, who began their battle like this:

Bobes versus Alex II 27. April 2004, 11:44:07
1. e2-e4 e7-e5 2. Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6 3. Bf1-b5 a7-a6 4. Bb5-a4 Ng8-f6 5. O-O Nf6xe4 6. d2-d4 e5xd4 7. Rf1-e1 d7-d5 8. Nf3xd4 Bf8-d6 9. Nd4xc6 Bd6xh2+ 10. Kg1-h1 Qd8-h4 11. Re1xe4+ d5xe4 12. Qd1-d8+ Qh4xd8 13. Nc6xd8+ Ke8xd8 14. Kh1xh2 Bc8-e6 15. c2-c3 f7-f5

With white to move, we have:

r2k3r/1pp3pp/p3b3/5p2/B3p3/2P5/PP3PPK/RNB5 w - f6 0 16

…which is bloody, and sharper than they may get in OTB play. The important thing to remember in CC games is that an advantage, or a deficit, must be dealt with for days instead of minutes, so each player understands that sharpness is key, that decisions will be faced for weeks. Think: who wants to be an underdog in One Game for weeks?
The game is still going on, and they are at move 33. Tune in and see what happens.
For those who are interested, the game is the Ruy Lopez Open [C80] and a link to several games similar to it are both located at http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?eco=C80&node=2042817

And also at www.chesslive.de for you database fans.

What would you do with this, sports fans?

Try and see how you fare.


For a bit of spice, set it up, try an AUCTION, and see how you would bid—which side would you take, how many moves would you give up to take the side of your choice? Then PLAY. Handicap yourself against a weaker opponent; ask a strong, flexible-minded player to take a handicap against you.
See what’s inside this position.

Many players who have spent decades playing OTB tournaments, studying theory, battling for position, have moved to a new avenue of the game, to which the international crowd is being drawn: Chess 960, or FischerRandom Chess, wherein the backfile positions are scrambled, while retaining castling rights for each player. Read up online at www.dwheeler.com/essays/Fischer_Random_Chess.html and then check out information on the World-Class Tournament held in Mainz, Germany, which included GMs Peter Svidler of Russia and Levon Aronian of Germany. They are both world-class players in the Standard Game and this powerful variant, which allows for a leveling of the playing field, as there is no opening book. Real players think from the beginning of the game, and must rely on their own talent. Here is one of their games. After the first 8 moves, what do you think You would do? Find a good chessfriend, set up with the FEN notation as these strong competitors did, and try your hand at this new position.

NOTE: Think of the castling privilege as “A-side castling” and “h-side castling”, and avoid hassle in your head—castling looks the same in the end in Chess 960, and the rules allow for pieces being in unfamiliar places, as long as the rules of [1.king + rook being unmoved from the start of the game, 2.king not being in check or castling through check, and 3. king not ending up in check] are maintained.

[Event "CCM4 - Gerling Match Chess960 WCh"]
[Site "Mainz"]
[Date "2004/8/5"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Svidler"]
[Black "Aronian"]
[Result "1-0"]
[FEN "nbrkrnbq/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/NBRKRNBQ"]
[Board "2"]
[Input "DGT1805"]
[Owner "schach.com"]

1. g3 c6 2. O-O-O h5 3. f4 h4 4. Qf3 Nb6 5. e4 O-O-O 6. d4 hxg3
7. hxg3 d5 8.e5 e6 9. Nb3 Bh7 10. Nfd2 Nfd7 11. Be3 Qg8 12. Rh1 Nc4 13. Rh2 Ndb6 14. Nc5 Bg6 15. c3 Bxb1 16. Kxb1 f6 17. Nxc4 Nxc4 18. Bc1 Bc7 19. Rdh1 Kb8 20. b3 Nb6 21.Rh8 Qf7 22. Rxe8 Rxe8 23. Qh5 Qxh5 24. Rxh5 fxe5 25. dxe5 Kc8 26. Rg5 Nd7 27.Nxd7 Kxd7 28. Rxg7+ Re7 29. Rg6 Rh7 30. Kc2 c5 31. g4 Rh2+ 32. Bd2 d4 33. b4 dxc3 34. Kxc3 cxb4+ 35. Kd3 Ba5 36. f5 b3 37. fxe6+ Kc6 38. e7+ Kd7 39. e6+
…Kxe7 40. Bg5+ Kd6 41. e7+ 1-0

Keeps your mind fresh.


Start from here. The FEN, Forsyth Edwards Notation, lists the Black pieces, on top, in lower case, and the White pieces, bottom, in upper case.
Numbers indicate the sequence of empty spaces in a line. In every line, separated by a forward slash, there can be only 8 characters, spaces, or combinations of those.






More to come.


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