The February clinic is still on internet games and features Tiger Chess opening recommendations in all of them. One of the Black wins reached the following position in which Black found a nice way to proceed (see diagram):
NN - RB. Black to play.
Black uncorked 16…Bxh3, the idea being that after 17.gxh3 Qxh3 18.Re1 Black can force mate with 18…Bh2+ 19.Kh1 Bg3+ 20.Kg1 Qh2+ 21.Kf1 Qxf2 mate. The game went 17.Qd4 Bg4 18.g3 and now 18…Qg5 (rather than 18…Bxg3, as played in the game) would have left Black a good pawn up.
The January 2021 clinic is now up and can be accessed by members here. Internet games are still the ones being reviewed though with some over the board events taking place I hope we will have some real games soon.
There were a few nice moments in the games sent in, for example this one that arose after Black had just played 20...Qf6xf5 (see diagram):
White had prepared a stunning reply in 21.Nxd6! after which 21...Qxd3 (21...Qd7 meets with the crushing 22.Nxf7! Qxf7 23.Bc4) 22.Qxf7+ Kh8 23.Nf5 left Black with no other move than 23...Ne6. After 24.Qxe6 White was left with a winning position which he duly converted.
The December clinic was unfortunately delayed, largely due to complications caused by the new UK lockdown. Things will get back on track from here and, with the vaccine rollout steaming ahead, some of us are optimistic about a return to normality.
Most of the games this time featured wins for Black in the French Defence, which remains my top recommendation for Black. One of them featured a nice finish with Black to play in the following position (see diagram):
NN - MB. Black to play.
Black played 28...Nxf2! 29.Kxf2 f4 which wins a pawn. White tried to block the a7-g1 diagonal with 30.Nd4 and should have met 30...fxe3+ with 31.Kf3. Instead there followed 31.Kxe3 e5 when White resigned because of the lost piece (0-1).
The November clinic is still on internet games, though as the Covid vaccine is now being distributed things should soon be getting back to normal. My personal estimate is that most countries will have OTB tournaments from March and that with suppressed demand they will be well attended.
As usual there were a variety of submissions with this one featuring a nice finish. White has just played 22.Rf1xf5 but has missed the devastating reply (see diagram).
Black to play surprised his opponent with 22...Qe6! and after 23.Qxe6 Rd1+ White resigned (0-1) because of impending mate. There was no salvation in 23.Qf1 because 23...Qxf5 24.Qxf5 Rd1+ would similarly lead to mate.
The October clinic is now online with another selection of internet games. The signs are that we will have a Covid vaccine before long after which terrestrial tournaments will return.
The following position arose in a game in which R. A. played Black in a Queen's Gambit Declined Exchange Variation and managed to build up a strong attack (see diagram). What should he play here?
NN vs RA: Black to play
Black uncorked the brilliant 21…Bxh3!! after which 22.gxh3 Rg6 23.Ne2 Ne4 was a killer. The game ended 24.f4 Qd8 0-1, though Black could win with 24…Qh4 25.f5 Rg5 26.Qc2 Qf2 etc..
The latest clinic is now online, featuring even more internet games. There are some signs that face to face competitive chess is returning, at least in countries with a low transmission rate. Hopefully this will soon extend to the rest of us.
The highlights this time were the two games sent in by J. P. using the new White d2-d4 Repertoire. He won both games in fine style, one of them featuring a nice tactic at the end. In the position below it is White to play (see diagram):
JP vs. NN
White played 24.Nxd5! which has devastating consequences; if Black captures the knight with 24...exd5 then 25.Bxd5+ followed by capturing on c4 will leave White two pawns up. The knight on c4 is threatened anyway, and so is the rook on c7, so Black chose instead to resign (1-0).
It's good to see this repertoire working for people; founded upon logical plans it aims to minimise the number of variations people have to learn rather than present them with reams of unfathomable computer analysis.
Many of us are still shielding and over-the-board tournaments are only just starting up again. So once again the clinic is devoted largely to internet games, with all their 'variability'. I think that one of the main issues with such games is their low value, if you lose you can easily find another opponent and may have better luck. Inevitably this means that playing standards will be highly variable.
This month's clinic featured a cross section of such games together with some interesting points. It was also gratifying to see a win for White using the White 1.d2-d4 Repertoire Course, a game by M. L. reaching the following position after the moves 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. Nc3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 O-O 8. Be2 c5 9. O-O Nc6 10. Be3 Bg4:
ML vs. NN; White to Play
Despite the fact that all his moves look 'natural', Black had in fact played inaccurately with the nonchalent 7...0-0 instead of 7...c5 8.Be3 Qa5!. This now gave White the opportunity to play 11. d5 and after 11...Bxf3 12. Bxf3 Ne5 13. Rc1 b6?! 14. Be2 e6 15. c4 exd5 16. cxd5 Re8?! 17. f4 Nd7 18. e5, White had obtained a crushing position and soon went on to win.
This is one of the issues with the Gruenfeld, it needs Black to play very accurately. And this in turn is why I tend to recommend the Queen's Gambit Declined for Black, it's much more forgiving if you play it inaccurately.
With lock down continuing for many of us, internet chess remains the only game in town. The July Clinic featured another three internet games but also two from those distant days when we would sit opposite people to play, chess and breathe on each other for up to 7 hours.
The following position arose in a game by L. J. in which he allowed Black to give him a potentially weak b5 pawn but one which gave White space and an outpost on c6. Black has just played 17...Nb8 in an attempt to exchange White's well placed knight, but in doing so he has missed something (see diagram):
L.J. vs A. N. Other; White to play
With the rook on a8 having been unprotected White played 18.Ne7+ Bxe7 19.Qxa8 and went on to win in an endgame. Members can see the complete game here.
The June clinic can be found here and features another collection of lockdown internet games. A few important opening and strategic points were covered in a very mixed sample.
Here's a finish from one of the games in which White (K. A.) has penetrated down the e-file with his rooks and Black has just played 28...b4, trying to break through with his rook on the c-file. What should White do (see diagram)?
White found the lethal 29.Rxf7!, which leads to mate after 29...Kxf7 30.Re7+ followed by 31.Qxg7. Black resigned after 30.Re7+ and should have played 28...Qf8 instead of 28...b4, though this too would not have saved him because White has 29.Rd7 intending to double on the seventh rank.
The May clinic is now online here and features another collection of internet games played by Tiger Chess members. As usual there was a mixed group of submissions but one game in particular showing one of my recommendations in action.
The following position came from my Building an Opening Repertoire formula against the King's Indian in which White advances his queenside pawns in order to create a breach which his rooks can exploit. White is the exchange up but the position still looks messy. What should he do (see diagram)?
White to Play
White played the powerful 33.Nc6! regaining the initiative, the point being that 33...Qxc6 allows 34.Qxf7+ followed by mate on h7 and that 33...Rxc6 loses to 34.Rb8!, once again decoying Black's queen from the defence of f7. In the game Black played 33...Bf6 when White consolidated with 34.g3 Kg7 35.Nd4 and won after 35...Be5 36.Nb5 d2 37.Qxd2 Qe6 38.Kg2 h5 39.Rc7 1-0.
