This is Frodo from one of the many L.O.T.R. Chess sets
Which gives me a great excuse to show the Frodo Game.
If any of you are coaching kids or just wanting a game to show
to your merry men down at the club then this is it. It's a classic.
The Frodo Game (It’s actually Runau - Schmidt, Germany 1972)
1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 {The d-pawn is Frodo. Keep your eyes on Frodo.} 2... d5 3. exd5 Qxd5 {Frodo is being attacked.} 4. Nf3 Bg4 5. Be2 {A nasty pitfall has appeared on the board. If Black tries to take Frodo. 5....Bxf3 6.Bxf3 Qxd4 (Frodo) then 7.Bxc6+ and White is a whole Queen up. 12 RHP players have fallen into that dark hole.} 5... O-O-O {Now Frodo really is in danger of being taken.} 6. c4 Qh5 7. d5 {Frodo marches on.} 7... Bxf3 8. Bxf3 Qe5+ 9. Be3 Qxb2 10. O-O Qxa1 11. dxc6 {Frodo! No! You lost your Queen.} 11... Rxd1 12. cxb7+ Kb8 13. Rxd1 c6 {If now 14. Rd8+ then Frodo is taken on b7. Note 13....Qxb1 14.Rxb1 with Ba7+ and Frodo promotes.} 14. Bxc6 {Frodo is safe and this put Rd8+ back on the board.} 14... Kc7 {15. Bxa7 Qb2 and Frodo fails. However.....} 15. Rd7+ Kxc6 {Careful Frodo, Black is attacking the Rook and has QxN+ on the board.} 16. b8=N {Checkmate! Bravo Frodo.}
And who is this...Another Frodo?
No. This little chappie had me turning my study upside down, inside out and
back to front looking for it. (I know, it is the story of my life, losing a pawn.).
That was before last Christmas. I could not find it anywhere. I was stumped.
There I was playing over a game, I knocked a pawn off the board (have you
noticed it’s always a black pawn, some kind of Murphy’s Law going on there.)
I carried on with the game, when I’d finished the pawn had simply vanished.
Ages I spent looking for it, finding lot’s of other things I forgot I had. But
no pawn. It drove me bonkers, where could it have gone to? Where is it?
Then a few days ago I found it. The pawn had hit the floor, bounced and got
itself stuck under the contraption that holds the wheel on my computer chair.
I’ve taken a picture of it in case it gets lost again so I know what it looks like.
It was 100 years ago that women in the United Kingdom got the vote.
Good. We can blame them for all the mess our politicians have made.
So let us celebrate a woman. A chess playing woman, Nona Gaprindashvili
And let us celebrate a chess book, (by a women?) No.
....and now the link between the two.
N. Gaprindashvili - R. Servaty, Dortmund 1974
[FEN "r1b2rk1/pp1p1pbp/6p1/1N2p3/2PnP2q/4B3/PP2BPPP/R2QK2R w KQ - 0 12"]
12. Nxd4 exd4 13. Bxd4 {What I'm doing here is getting to the critical position.....} 13... Qxe4 14. Bxg7 Qxg2 {....and here it is. Nona now cooks up a Double Rook Sacrifice.} 15. Qd4 Qxh1+ 16. Kd2 Qxa1 17. Qf6 {And there is nothing except giving up the Queen Black can do about Bh6 and Qg7 mate. (I hope you are storing these ideas...Tal did). Black resigned but let us see how the checks pan out.} 17... Qxa2 18. Bh6 Qa5 19. Kc1 Qa1+ 20. Kc2 Qa4+ 21. Kb1 {That is the end of the checks. I just wanted to show less experienced players that wee King march in that common set up. I've used it myself to escape a perpetual.}
Time passed...A few months went by and then this happened.
M. Tal - T. Paehtz, Les Halles, Paris. 1974
[FEN "r1b2rk1/p2pqpbp/1p4p1/1N2p3/2PnP3/4B3/PP1QBPPP/R3K2R w KQ - 0 13"]
13. Nxd4 exd4 14. Bxd4 {What I'm doing here is getting to the critical position.....} 14... Qxe4 {....and here it is. You see the similarity between this position and the one from the previous game. The main difference is Black has played b6 which Tal uses a tempo gainer.} 15. Bxg7 Qxg2 16. Qd4 Qxh1+ 17. Kd2 {Black now declined the 2nd Rook} 17... Qxh2 18. Bxf8 Kxf8 19. Bf3 {The Bishop redeploys on a better diagonal.} 19... d5 {The pawn is given up to get the c8 Bishop active. it does appear to be the best chance.} 20. Bxd5 Rb8 21. Re1 Be6 {This block the e-file.} 22. Rxe6 {Forget that last note. This is Tal. Black resigned. The finish is the Queen and Bishop working together. With must know patterns and procedure.} 22... fxe6 23. Qf6+ Ke8 24. Bc6{Checkmate.} 1-0
Did Tal know the Nona game. I suspect he would have found his 16.Qd4 over the board.
However Tal did enjoy his wee jokes. On page 183 of the above book we happily read:
I’ll stay with the Queens and Bishop working together as a team.
This next one is from a board 5 division 4 Edinburgh league match.
The Black player was playing in only his third serious game of chess.
Now don’t go all snobby on me thinking you cannot learn anything from
these games. You can. It is the same game GM’s play. Chess is very rich.
I was playing over the score sheet in a pub in 1994 and we reached here.
Black to play. The game ended in a draw, White got a perpetual.
But you do sense a win in this position when skipping through a game.
I paused and ‘eventually’ dug it out. I’m glad I persevered to find it.
S. Ritchie - B. Duncan, Edinburgh Chess League1994
[FEN "7k/Q5pp/8/1q3P2/4b3/P7/6PP/6K1 b - - 0 1"]
1... Qb2 {In the actual game Black checked on b1 and the White King ran to freedom. . This move is s clear win. Look how the Queen and Bishop prevent a back rank mate.} 2. Kf1 {If instead Qf2 White can be coy and play Qb1+ to swap Queens pick up f-pawn and win the ending.} 2... Bd3+ {White's moves are all forced else he gets mated.} 3. Kg1 Qc1+ 4. Kf2 Qf4+ {White will chase the King to the Queenside with a light square attack and it's on the Queenside where the dark squares will suddenly become unavailable..} 5. Ke1 Qf1+ 6. Kd2 Qe2+ 7. Kc3 Qc2+ {d4 is off limits. Black will skewer the Queen with Qf2+} 8. Kb4 Qc4+ {And that pawn on a dark square gives White only one move.} 9. Ka5 Qb5 {Mate. A wonderful variation tucked away in the dark of vaults of chess. I’m glad I pulled from obscurity.}
Been having it pretty rough in the RHP games department.
Of course I’ve been getting beat by good play but sometime I’ve really
mess up. Of late I have been looking at a position with a move played,
rejecting it and then perhaps thinking it’s a re-set button I press send!
I’ve actually heard of others doing this and I thought how could you.
This one was particularly galling. I screwed it up by pressing send..
greenpawn - NN Cheap RHP 2018
[FEN "5r2/1pr2ppk/2n1p2p/p1ppP1q1/3P2N1/2P1PR1Q/PP4PP/3R3K w - - 0 1"]
1. Rdf1 Qg6 2. Nf6+ {This looks so good you just have to play it. I did not think he could take it.} 2... gxf6 {Apparently he can. I looked at exf6 first. OK nothing winning. Looked at Rxf6, pretty grim the Knight comes to e7 and holds....back to look at gxf6 and I sent by mistake Rxf6.} 3. exf6 {I was attracted to this first because if Qd3 which ties down the f3 Rook hold f1 I have Qg3 hitting g2 and the c7 Rook. That wins.} 3... Rg8 {Originally I could not see past this move because if Rg3 then his Qd3 holds. I have to do something about QxR+ he then plays Rg6.} 4. Rg3 {But I can play this.} 4... Qd3 {Back to the wall here. Look at everything.} 5. Qxh6+ Kxh6 6. Rh3+ Kg6 7. Rg3+ Kh5 8. Rh3+ Kg5 9. Rg3+ Kh6 {It a brilliant perpetual. What a scunner.}
I have not learned my lesson, I did it again a few hours ago and resigned on the spot.
But one must not dwell on these things. Have played a few goodies.
This one was funny. I’m glad someone else is having a bad hair day
Melina67 - greenpawn RHP 2018
Having successfully managed to bury my g7 Bishop I finally have a good threat.
A Family Fork with Nf3+ White saw this and very quickly played Kf1 It is now
a Family Fork Checkmate as I played Qh3+ and White resigned. Kg1 Nf3 mate.
Funnily enough this player lost me a game in one of my mad moments.
greenpawn - Melina67 RHP 2018
Here I played 6...Nd6 checkmate and a few days later I went for it again.
(sorry about those two positions Melina but you do get the last laugh).
greenpawn - Farzad Farsee RHP 2018 (My Hall of Doom entry)
I’m thinking. Hey! I’ve that mate again and quickly played 8.Nxe4. OOPS!
8....Nxf4. I played 9.Nxf6+ to show Black what I was thinking and resigned.
(have to admit - and it’s not an excuse. I had been out drinking that night )
But enough of this misery and gloom. Here is the one I you all want to see.
A Queen sac, A Rook sac and mate. This one game wipes out all the despair
Kratic - greenpawn RHP 2018
Notes will based loosely on what I was thinking.
1. Nf3 Nc6 {And why not?} 2. b3 e5 {Well if you don't want the centre then I'll stake a claim.} 3. Bb2 d6 4. e3 Nf6 {Just develop, see what happens.} 5. Bb5 Bd7 6. O-O a6 {Recall seeing if 7.Bd3 (such moves sometimes trap central pawns) . 7...e4 8.Bxf6 and Bxe4 A pawning stealing trap. . No. 7.Bxf8 Qxf6 I'm on the a1 Rook.} 7. Bxc6 Bxc6 8. d3 Be7 {Just develop, see what happens.} 9. Nbd2 Qd7 {Plan A. 0-0-0 and throw my Kingside pawns at him.} 10. e4 {That c6 Bishop is blocked. But I'll get f5 in with a pawn or a piece. Stick to Plan A.} 10... O-O-O 11. Nc4 g5 {Plan A.} 12. Ne3 {That Knight is going to f5. I'll shift it later with a Queen move and Bd7. Meanwhile Plan A....} 12... h5 13. Nf5 h4 {Plan A needs White to take something and open a file for my Rooks.} 14. Nxg5 {Thank you.} 14... Rdg8 {This Rook because it is offering the f7 pawn with Nxf7 hitting the h8 Rook when I had in mind what happened in the game. If you set a trap make it look at first glance attractive. } 15. Nh3 {There is nothing quite like setting a trap and waiting to see my opponent falls into it. I've lost games just for the thrill of the wait by setting a trap. It's a character flaw I cannot shake.} 15... Qxf5 {He did not fall for Nxf7 but with the Knight on h3 this is even better and totally unexpected.} 16. exf5 Rxg2+ 17. Kh1 {Maybe the lad went into this on purpose thinking all I have is a draw. Check All Checks. (especially Double Checks.)} 17... Rg1+ 18. Kxg1 Rg8+ {White resigned, he is getting mated.}
