Finished the Australian Open chess wiht 6.5/11, which was reasonable. Could have been better, could have been worse. My final two rounds were quite a mix, with a great position in round 10 against Patrick Champion becoming a horrible loss thanks to a few shocking moves in an ending. Round 11 was quite the opposite, with a good attacking game against Richard Voon making up (somewhat) for the previous round, and a good way to finish the tournament.
As far as the tournament itself is concerned, it was a three-way tie between GM Zong-Yuan Zhao, IM George Xie & Moulthun Ly, with George getting the trophy on tie break (the illogical sum of opponent's ratings ... but what tie break system is really fair?). Vladimir Smirnov also picked up his third & final IM norm ... and with the 2400 rating requirement having been previously fulfilled, he should be an IM on the next FIDE list.
The Aussie Millions has been run & won as far as I'm concerned. I'm not as cashed-up as I was at this time last year, so decided to only play the 8-game event (of course this was 'helped' by the lack on non-NLHE events - no limit holdem, Manila, Omaha hi-lo or stud outside the 8 game) ... and I found myself on a pretty tough table. It was a good decision to play the tournament 6-handed, however when the table consist of Dave Morton, Leo Boxell, Oliver Gill, Matt Pearson, myself & an unknown player, there really aren't too many obvious places to get chips easily ... particularly when the unknown guy manages to run me down in the few pots I manage to play heads-up with him. I only managed to finish around 50th out of the 68 starters, which was disappointing. Of course with only NLHE events left on the schedule (apart from a $10k 8-game), I'm not going to play any more events ... NLHE isn't my best game & I'd rather play cash than have to deal with the swings of bigger buy-in events.
The series itself is being run well, as most Crown tournaments are, however the lack of non-NLHE events is disappointing from a personal level. Having said that, the use of the Studio 3 nightclub area for the TV tables/$100k challenge/televised cash game is excellent, although as you might expect, poker still lacks something as a spectator sport when you can't see the hole cards.
Also for those who bother to read the blog, I'll extend the deadline for the quiz ... and reveal results & winner in around a week ... needless to say the man behind the UnknownName3 blog is in front at the moment, though his total is definitely beatable.
Showing posts with label chess. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chess. Show all posts
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Quiz re-wording & chess update
A minor change to question 1 of the quiz ...
1. You are playing Omaha & have 9c3c3d3h in your hand. What three combinations of five community board cards would give you the nuts?
That should clear up any confusion as to what I am looking for in the answer. I want the final 5 board cards (three different boards) where 9333 can be the nuts in Omaha.
As far as the chess goes, I'm currently on 3.5/6 in the Australian Open, which is a reasonable result so far. I'd definitely like to finish on 6.5 or more, so will need to win some more games to make that happen. No particularly special results, though I did draw with former Australian Champion Doug Hamilton in round 5.
1. You are playing Omaha & have 9c3c3d3h in your hand. What three combinations of five community board cards would give you the nuts?
That should clear up any confusion as to what I am looking for in the answer. I want the final 5 board cards (three different boards) where 9333 can be the nuts in Omaha.
As far as the chess goes, I'm currently on 3.5/6 in the Australian Open, which is a reasonable result so far. I'd definitely like to finish on 6.5 or more, so will need to win some more games to make that happen. No particularly special results, though I did draw with former Australian Champion Doug Hamilton in round 5.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Chess, poker & a new year
I finished the Canterbury Summer Swiss with 5/7, which was =5th out of 68 players. The result was far better on paper than it was in regards to the actual chess. I was losing in four games (rounds 1, 4, 6 & 7) but managed to win round 1 & draw round 6 & 7 to make my score look far better than it actually was.
Christmas with the family was good & I'm now back in Sydney for New Years & the Australian Open chess. Hopefully the good chess results can continue ... obviously with improved quality of play!
The homegame went reasonably well, with 12 players turning up & playing at various times throughout the day & night, though it did end up being multiple single table tournaments, rather than the intended mix of tournament & cash games. Of course I still managed to run horribly, but managed to win one of the tournaments. The response from those who attended was positive, so I may begin hosting home games on a more regular basis.
Happy New Year to all the readers of the blog & listeners to the podcast! Hopefully things will continue to grow & improve in 2011!
Christmas with the family was good & I'm now back in Sydney for New Years & the Australian Open chess. Hopefully the good chess results can continue ... obviously with improved quality of play!
The homegame went reasonably well, with 12 players turning up & playing at various times throughout the day & night, though it did end up being multiple single table tournaments, rather than the intended mix of tournament & cash games. Of course I still managed to run horribly, but managed to win one of the tournaments. The response from those who attended was positive, so I may begin hosting home games on a more regular basis.
Happy New Year to all the readers of the blog & listeners to the podcast! Hopefully things will continue to grow & improve in 2011!
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Sydney & some updates ...
I'm in Sydney at the moment, spending some time with the family over Christmas. I'm sure I'll catch up with many of my Sydney friends while in town as well.
I've also got a few things happening over the next month ... two chess tournaments - one in Melbourne (the Canterbury Summer Swiss) & one in Sydney (the Australian Open) ... a poker homegame (let me know if you're interested in attending) ... as well as the Aussie Millions!
As far as the chess stuff goes, I would like to do some sort of blogging/podcast type thing around it. I suspect this may involve setting up another blog, though it might also end up here, but either way I'll let you know.
As for the 'you' ... there's been 8 downloads of the latest episode, which only went up about a week ago, so I suppose that means there's at least 8 people who read the blog & listen to the podcast (or perhaps fewer readers/listeners who have trouble downloading & need to download multiple times ... but I'll go with the optimistic numbers!) ... one would almost call it a following, although I think such terms should be reserved for times when you run out of fingers when counting.
As for the Deuces Cracked 50,000 hand challenge, I'm currently around 11,500 hands in and down about $40. I've been going in the right direction lately playing micro-NLHE, which has seen something of a recovery from my earlier efforts with Rush poker & limit holdem, where I ran horribly. At the moment, I think the leaders in the challenge are up around $300, so I'm not entirely out of the running yet, although the graph needs to keep heading in the right direction.
I'm sure I'll also be playing some poker while in Sydney & I'll let you know how it goes.
If I don't get around to updating beforehand ... have a great festive season!
I've also got a few things happening over the next month ... two chess tournaments - one in Melbourne (the Canterbury Summer Swiss) & one in Sydney (the Australian Open) ... a poker homegame (let me know if you're interested in attending) ... as well as the Aussie Millions!
As far as the chess stuff goes, I would like to do some sort of blogging/podcast type thing around it. I suspect this may involve setting up another blog, though it might also end up here, but either way I'll let you know.
As for the 'you' ... there's been 8 downloads of the latest episode, which only went up about a week ago, so I suppose that means there's at least 8 people who read the blog & listen to the podcast (or perhaps fewer readers/listeners who have trouble downloading & need to download multiple times ... but I'll go with the optimistic numbers!) ... one would almost call it a following, although I think such terms should be reserved for times when you run out of fingers when counting.
As for the Deuces Cracked 50,000 hand challenge, I'm currently around 11,500 hands in and down about $40. I've been going in the right direction lately playing micro-NLHE, which has seen something of a recovery from my earlier efforts with Rush poker & limit holdem, where I ran horribly. At the moment, I think the leaders in the challenge are up around $300, so I'm not entirely out of the running yet, although the graph needs to keep heading in the right direction.
I'm sure I'll also be playing some poker while in Sydney & I'll let you know how it goes.
If I don't get around to updating beforehand ... have a great festive season!
Friday, October 1, 2010
Another chess post
Yes, I know its primarily a poker blog, but I thought I'd put up some recent chess news.
1. I played another tournament game ... and lost. This was another game in the Victorian teams Championship, against the City of Yarra team.
Thankfully the rest of the team compensated for my loss, with one win & two draws, to finish with a tied match (2-2).
2. The Chess Olympiad is well and truly underway. Australia is just above the middle in both the open & womens sections, which is about where they are expected to be. Hopefully they can have good finishes & move up the standings.
One of the craziest (and most interesting) games of the Olympiad occurred in the round 7 clash between Ukraine & Georgia, with Vassily Ivanchuk winning in spectacular, though somewhat unusual sytle. The game, with analysis, can be seen at Chessbase.
The best Australian game so far has been Zong-Yuan Zhao's win against Moldova's Viktor Bologan, which can be viewed at the official Olympiad site.
The best 'frontline' reading that I have done has come from Australia's board 2 David Smerdon, who has been writing about his chess adventures on his blog. Also worth a look is Shaun Press' blog.
For a more lighthearted look at the Olympiad (and the world of chess generally), take a look at the Closet Grandmaster's blog.
3. I have recently started playing in an online chess tournament, somewhat ironically organised by posters at the 2+2 poker forums. All the games are being played on FICS. So far my best win has been a typical Blackmar-Diemer gambit destruction, which can be seen here (no idea who added the comments, but some of the lines given seem a bit dubious). Of course as someone who is looking to improve their poker game, 2+2 is an excellent place to do this, however the fact that I am spending most of my time of late in the chess forum there is not quite helping the cause as it should be.
Anyway, best of luck to the Aussies in the Olympiad ... and back to the poker for me!
1. I played another tournament game ... and lost. This was another game in the Victorian teams Championship, against the City of Yarra team.
Thankfully the rest of the team compensated for my loss, with one win & two draws, to finish with a tied match (2-2).
2. The Chess Olympiad is well and truly underway. Australia is just above the middle in both the open & womens sections, which is about where they are expected to be. Hopefully they can have good finishes & move up the standings.
One of the craziest (and most interesting) games of the Olympiad occurred in the round 7 clash between Ukraine & Georgia, with Vassily Ivanchuk winning in spectacular, though somewhat unusual sytle. The game, with analysis, can be seen at Chessbase.
The best Australian game so far has been Zong-Yuan Zhao's win against Moldova's Viktor Bologan, which can be viewed at the official Olympiad site.
The best 'frontline' reading that I have done has come from Australia's board 2 David Smerdon, who has been writing about his chess adventures on his blog. Also worth a look is Shaun Press' blog.
For a more lighthearted look at the Olympiad (and the world of chess generally), take a look at the Closet Grandmaster's blog.
3. I have recently started playing in an online chess tournament, somewhat ironically organised by posters at the 2+2 poker forums. All the games are being played on FICS. So far my best win has been a typical Blackmar-Diemer gambit destruction, which can be seen here (no idea who added the comments, but some of the lines given seem a bit dubious). Of course as someone who is looking to improve their poker game, 2+2 is an excellent place to do this, however the fact that I am spending most of my time of late in the chess forum there is not quite helping the cause as it should be.
Anyway, best of luck to the Aussies in the Olympiad ... and back to the poker for me!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
That other game ... chess ... some history & my favourite players
I've been playing some chess on the Internet Chess Club of late (as I tend to do from time to time) & played a game that sparked my interest in chess analysis again.
The game was the Fritz-Ulvestad variation of the Two Knights Defense (this is the complicated way of saying both my opponent & I made moves so that the pieces on the board looked like the diagram): 
This is a rather famous position from a 1965 correspondence game between Yakov Estrin & Hans Berliner, where Berliner won a spectacular game (and ultimately the World Correspondence Championship).
This is a rather famous position from a 1965 correspondence game between Yakov Estrin & Hans Berliner, where Berliner won a spectacular game (and ultimately the World Correspondence Championship).Of course I attempted to follow the Estrin-Berliner game, but played a different (and worse) move on move 9 & soon after completely forgot about the clock (not the smartest of things to do in a 1-minute game) & lost on time. This got me thinking about the variation & its many wild complications ... and of course dreams of playing a game like this in a tournament one day (though of course my recent form would suggest that this is a long way from reality). The variation is fascinating on many levels & I would not be able to do it justice in this blog, however if you are interested in it, this page has a number of links to articles about the variation (in particular have a look at the Tim Harding articles).
This got me thinking about some of my favourite chess players & some of their best games (which also double as some of my favourite games). In order to keep this post to a manageable length, I've decided to run with a brief description about the player in question, with links to some of their better games.
Jonny Hector
My favourite player without a doubt. Jonny is a Grandmaster from Sweden who has been a regular in top level events there, as well as other events around Europe. Although he sometimes has shockers, he loves attacking chess & many brilliancies can be found in his games.
Some of his best games:
Watch for the uber-sadistic zugzwang finish!
A less-than-conventional opening that turns into a stunning attack!
Another unusual opening turns into an amazing sacrificial attack leading to a king hunt!
Rashid Nezhmetdinov Rashid, or Nezh, was an International Master from the Soviet Union (born in modern-day Kazakhstan) who was well known inside the Soviet Union (not so much outside) for his tactical style & ability to find combinations in a range of positions. His reputation outside the USSR did not grow until late in his career & after his death in the 1970s.
Some of his best games:
Nezh's most famous game with an amazing queen sacrifice leading to a king hunt & eventual mating attack.
Nezhmetdinov v Enrico Paoli
Another fascinating attack that sees two pieces sacrificed for the attack, which ultimately proves decisive.
Another fascinating attack that sees two pieces sacrificed for the attack, which ultimately proves decisive.
A piece sacrifice in a seemingly standard opening position launches a devestating attack on the king.
A positional queen sacrifice in the middlegame, followed by an exchange sacrifice, before a combination leading to a winning ending!
This queen sacrifice is in some ways similar to another very famous queen sacrifice played in the game Vassily Ivanchuk v Alexei Shirov where Shirov sacrifices his queen in the middlegame for two pieces. This is another of my favourite games, played by two of my favourite modern Super Grandmasters.
Tiger Hillarp Persson Tiger is another Swedish Grandmaster who plays in a very creative attacking style. He has become a regular in the Swedish Olympiad team & like Hector plays many tournaments around Europe.
Some of his best game:
An innocuous opening soon turns wild & Persson sacrifices his queen, then a rook for a mating attack!
A wild game with many pieces flying all over the board, which ultimately leads to a winning attack for Persson.
Ultimately I'll continue to play chess & hope to one day play a game of that quality. The closest I have been would have to be a game I played at the Australian Open against Tony Weller, which won the brilliancy prize for the round. Some of my other best games would include a win against Andrew Allen from the Parkroyal Invitational, or for a straightforward attack that worked perfectly, my game against Kevin Tan from last year's Oceania Zonal.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Victorian Champs 8-Game, chess & cash games
The 8-game event should have been one of my better events, however it ended prematurely due to a few factors:
1. A poorly timed bluff in Razz. Although I had a pretty good idea of what my opponent's hand was, as well as the hand I was representing, it didn't stop my opponent from calling down ...
I had a board of A5T2 v 37J5 which saw me complete (one other player called as well as my opponent), bet 4th, only to be raised by the 37 & I 3-bet ... my opponent then called me down & had (as expected) a 7-low, obviously not giving me credit for the wheel or any better hand I thought I could credibaly represent, even saying 'do you have a 6?' before calling on 7th. Of course the fact that I had TTJ in the hole didn't help my cause ... but its simply a spot I should have avoided in this event. Fold 4th, wait for a better spot & move on ... rather than needlessly donking off 80% of my stack.
2. Getting too much respect & not adjusting my play accordingly. Over half the table knew who I was & knew I could play mixed games, with players even asking me if they played their hands correctly after the hand concluded. Of course it also meant that my raises (pre-flop or on 3rd street in stud) often got folds from hands that players would happily play against other opponents. The obvious adjustment to make is then to play more hands & take down more blinds & antes, but I didn't do this anywhere near as much as I should have, so found myself winning a few small pots, while leaving the bigger pots up to the cards ... which sometimes went my way, sometimes not.
3. Not playing enough hands. I'm really starting to reconsider my general philosophy for tournaments of late (a combination of recent results, as well as various videos/podcasts/forum threads on Deuces Cracked) & I really need to play lots of hands in an event like this in order to accumulate chips early.
There are a few reasons for this:
a. The weaker players tend to be the ones eliminated earliest, so I want to get as many of their chips as I can, rather than having to win them from better players (which may prove more difficult)
b. Although the structure looks good on the surface (10k stack & 30 minute levels), it plays much quicker given the extra time it takes to deal the stud & draw games, as well as the extra time that less experienced players take during non-holdem games as they try to figure out what hand they have (let alone worrying about what other people in the hand have - see the ill-timed Razz bluff as an example).
c. Its a (mostly) limit event, so I want to avoid being all-in during the tournament if at all possible. This is best achieved by having more chips than my opponents (or at least enough bets to cover a limit hand with plenty of action).
d. Chips early often means chips late ... and I generally enter tournaments with the intention of winning them (or at least cashing).
Ultimately I finshed around 32nd from the 48 starters the event attracted, which was very disappointing.
I also played a chess tournament on the weekend, the 'Best in the West' event at Yarraville. I managed 2 wins, 2 draws & a loss from the 5 games, which saw me finish tied for 6th out of 22 players. This sounds reasonable on the face of it, but when you consider that I was the 5th seed and was actually worse, if not losing, each of the four games I scored points in (the two wins & two draws), as well as the fact that I butchered a completely winning position in the game I lost, it made for a disappointing result. In some respects it was good to salvage points from such poor positions, but the fact that I found myself in them in the first place is the frustrating part about it.
Cash games have been going reasonably well over the last few days. There are times when I feel I am playing well, yet I still find myself in situations where I feel lost from time to time. If its any consolation, I feel that the last few days have been better than earlier in the week & some of the Deuces Cracked material (mentioned above) has really got me thinking about my game & my approach to it ... hopefully with a positive outcome!
In podcast news, I'm hoping to interview Tim Duckworth of Pokernews/Tilted Behaviour in the next week or so, with some other interview guests also being a possibility. Will see how I go on that front.
1. A poorly timed bluff in Razz. Although I had a pretty good idea of what my opponent's hand was, as well as the hand I was representing, it didn't stop my opponent from calling down ...
I had a board of A5T2 v 37J5 which saw me complete (one other player called as well as my opponent), bet 4th, only to be raised by the 37 & I 3-bet ... my opponent then called me down & had (as expected) a 7-low, obviously not giving me credit for the wheel or any better hand I thought I could credibaly represent, even saying 'do you have a 6?' before calling on 7th. Of course the fact that I had TTJ in the hole didn't help my cause ... but its simply a spot I should have avoided in this event. Fold 4th, wait for a better spot & move on ... rather than needlessly donking off 80% of my stack.
2. Getting too much respect & not adjusting my play accordingly. Over half the table knew who I was & knew I could play mixed games, with players even asking me if they played their hands correctly after the hand concluded. Of course it also meant that my raises (pre-flop or on 3rd street in stud) often got folds from hands that players would happily play against other opponents. The obvious adjustment to make is then to play more hands & take down more blinds & antes, but I didn't do this anywhere near as much as I should have, so found myself winning a few small pots, while leaving the bigger pots up to the cards ... which sometimes went my way, sometimes not.
3. Not playing enough hands. I'm really starting to reconsider my general philosophy for tournaments of late (a combination of recent results, as well as various videos/podcasts/forum threads on Deuces Cracked) & I really need to play lots of hands in an event like this in order to accumulate chips early.
There are a few reasons for this:
a. The weaker players tend to be the ones eliminated earliest, so I want to get as many of their chips as I can, rather than having to win them from better players (which may prove more difficult)
b. Although the structure looks good on the surface (10k stack & 30 minute levels), it plays much quicker given the extra time it takes to deal the stud & draw games, as well as the extra time that less experienced players take during non-holdem games as they try to figure out what hand they have (let alone worrying about what other people in the hand have - see the ill-timed Razz bluff as an example).
c. Its a (mostly) limit event, so I want to avoid being all-in during the tournament if at all possible. This is best achieved by having more chips than my opponents (or at least enough bets to cover a limit hand with plenty of action).
d. Chips early often means chips late ... and I generally enter tournaments with the intention of winning them (or at least cashing).
Ultimately I finshed around 32nd from the 48 starters the event attracted, which was very disappointing.
I also played a chess tournament on the weekend, the 'Best in the West' event at Yarraville. I managed 2 wins, 2 draws & a loss from the 5 games, which saw me finish tied for 6th out of 22 players. This sounds reasonable on the face of it, but when you consider that I was the 5th seed and was actually worse, if not losing, each of the four games I scored points in (the two wins & two draws), as well as the fact that I butchered a completely winning position in the game I lost, it made for a disappointing result. In some respects it was good to salvage points from such poor positions, but the fact that I found myself in them in the first place is the frustrating part about it.
Cash games have been going reasonably well over the last few days. There are times when I feel I am playing well, yet I still find myself in situations where I feel lost from time to time. If its any consolation, I feel that the last few days have been better than earlier in the week & some of the Deuces Cracked material (mentioned above) has really got me thinking about my game & my approach to it ... hopefully with a positive outcome!
In podcast news, I'm hoping to interview Tim Duckworth of Pokernews/Tilted Behaviour in the next week or so, with some other interview guests also being a possibility. Will see how I go on that front.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Chess ... the rusty comeback!
So I played a game of chess for the first time in a long time (roughly three months). Although it might not seem like a long time to play OTB (over the board for the non-chess readers), if it is compared to my days in Sydney when I was a uni student, one game in three months was unheard of. Back then I would play one or two nights during the week, as well as any weekend tournament within driving distance, which was normally once a fortnight, if not more often.
Since moving to Melbourne around 5 years ago, my chess has decreased considerably, for a variety of reasons. Of late, its because I don't have the interest I once had, combined with the fact that the nearest chess club is over 30 minutes away. I still keep an interest in the game & still have many people who I keep in touch with who I got to know through chess, but on the whole its a stage in my life that is almost past.
Anyway, to the game itself. I was playing board three for Elwood (four players per team) against Justin Tan for Canterbury Juniors (all the players in the team were under 18). To those unfamiliar with chess, this may seem like something of a mismatch, however the ratings of the various players were not that far apart (combined with the fact that as improving juniors, their 'current' rating tends to be more reflective of their standard 3-9 months previously). Regardless, I was the theoretical favourite, with a slightly higher rating (1966 v 1891), though having the black pieces somewhat negated this supposed edge.
The game itself started off fairly routinely, with my Gurgenidze defence giving me a position I was both familiar and comfortable with. Around move 10 things began to heat up & I took the commital step of playing Qb6, allowing my king to be 'trapped' in the centre (losing castling rights), however I thought it was my best option to get some activity in the position. This lead white to make the decision to sacrifice a piece to launch an attack on the king (17.Nxd5+). I simply took the piece, hoping to be able to successfully defend against the onslaught & win the ending. All good in theory ... and in practice as well ... until I blundered horribly with 32... Rad8. Amazingly I spent over 3 minutes on this move & still found a horrendous blunder! Pretty much any other reasonable move in the position (something like 32...Qxc4) let me keep my advantage, though it did still leave me with some work to do to convert the point. Of course it went downhill reasonably quickly from there, however the (almost) final position with the queen & pawn ending is not as simple as it might first look. There is no obvious winning plan for white (black simply keeps the h-pawn blockaded & looks for a perpetual check if either the king comes towards the centre or the queen tries to support the h-pawn), however I found a way to lose, managing to blunder into checkmate at the end when short of time.
Here is the full game ... feel free to comment:
White: Justin Tan (1891) Black: Kerry Stead (1966)
1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 c6 4. f4 d5 5. e5 h5 6. Nf3 Bg4 7. Bd3 e6 8. Be3 Ne7 9. Bf2 Nd7 10. Bh4 Bxf3 11. Qxf3 Qb6 12. Bxe7 Kxe7 13. 0-0-0 c5 14. f5 Bh6+ 15. Kb1 gxf5 16. Bxf5 cxd4 17. Nxd5+ exd5 18. Bxd7 Kxd7 19. Qxf7+ Kc8 20. e6 Qc6 21. Qf6 Kc7 22. Qe7+ Kb6 23. Rxd4 a5 24. c4 Rhe8 25. Qa3 Qxe6 26. Rxd5 Bf8 27. Rb5+ Kc7 28. Qc3 Qe4+ 29. Ka1 Bb4 30. Qg3+ Kc6 31. a3 Bc5 32. Rd1 Rad8 33. Rxd8 Rxd8 34. Rxc5+ Kxc5 35. Qc7+ Kd4 36. Qxd8+ Kxc4 37. Qxa5 Qxg2 38. Qxh5 Qg1+ 39. Ka2 Qg8 40. Qd1 Kc5+ 41. Qb3 Qh7 42. Qb4+ Kc6 43. h4 Qh5 44. Qe4+ Kb6 45. Qb4+ Ka6 46. Qc4+ Kb6 47. Qd4+ Ka6 48. Qf6+ b6 49. Qf1+ Kb7 50. Qc4 Qf3 51. a4 Qh5 52. Qe4+ Ka6 53. Qa8# 1-0
Overall the match finished tied 2-2, with boards 1 & 2 drawing (Cheng-Goldenberg & Sandler-Matheson) & board 4 was a win for the 'good guys' (Lindberg-Chan).
Since moving to Melbourne around 5 years ago, my chess has decreased considerably, for a variety of reasons. Of late, its because I don't have the interest I once had, combined with the fact that the nearest chess club is over 30 minutes away. I still keep an interest in the game & still have many people who I keep in touch with who I got to know through chess, but on the whole its a stage in my life that is almost past.
Anyway, to the game itself. I was playing board three for Elwood (four players per team) against Justin Tan for Canterbury Juniors (all the players in the team were under 18). To those unfamiliar with chess, this may seem like something of a mismatch, however the ratings of the various players were not that far apart (combined with the fact that as improving juniors, their 'current' rating tends to be more reflective of their standard 3-9 months previously). Regardless, I was the theoretical favourite, with a slightly higher rating (1966 v 1891), though having the black pieces somewhat negated this supposed edge.
The game itself started off fairly routinely, with my Gurgenidze defence giving me a position I was both familiar and comfortable with. Around move 10 things began to heat up & I took the commital step of playing Qb6, allowing my king to be 'trapped' in the centre (losing castling rights), however I thought it was my best option to get some activity in the position. This lead white to make the decision to sacrifice a piece to launch an attack on the king (17.Nxd5+). I simply took the piece, hoping to be able to successfully defend against the onslaught & win the ending. All good in theory ... and in practice as well ... until I blundered horribly with 32... Rad8. Amazingly I spent over 3 minutes on this move & still found a horrendous blunder! Pretty much any other reasonable move in the position (something like 32...Qxc4) let me keep my advantage, though it did still leave me with some work to do to convert the point. Of course it went downhill reasonably quickly from there, however the (almost) final position with the queen & pawn ending is not as simple as it might first look. There is no obvious winning plan for white (black simply keeps the h-pawn blockaded & looks for a perpetual check if either the king comes towards the centre or the queen tries to support the h-pawn), however I found a way to lose, managing to blunder into checkmate at the end when short of time.
Here is the full game ... feel free to comment:
White: Justin Tan (1891) Black: Kerry Stead (1966)
1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 c6 4. f4 d5 5. e5 h5 6. Nf3 Bg4 7. Bd3 e6 8. Be3 Ne7 9. Bf2 Nd7 10. Bh4 Bxf3 11. Qxf3 Qb6 12. Bxe7 Kxe7 13. 0-0-0 c5 14. f5 Bh6+ 15. Kb1 gxf5 16. Bxf5 cxd4 17. Nxd5+ exd5 18. Bxd7 Kxd7 19. Qxf7+ Kc8 20. e6 Qc6 21. Qf6 Kc7 22. Qe7+ Kb6 23. Rxd4 a5 24. c4 Rhe8 25. Qa3 Qxe6 26. Rxd5 Bf8 27. Rb5+ Kc7 28. Qc3 Qe4+ 29. Ka1 Bb4 30. Qg3+ Kc6 31. a3 Bc5 32. Rd1 Rad8 33. Rxd8 Rxd8 34. Rxc5+ Kxc5 35. Qc7+ Kd4 36. Qxd8+ Kxc4 37. Qxa5 Qxg2 38. Qxh5 Qg1+ 39. Ka2 Qg8 40. Qd1 Kc5+ 41. Qb3 Qh7 42. Qb4+ Kc6 43. h4 Qh5 44. Qe4+ Kb6 45. Qb4+ Ka6 46. Qc4+ Kb6 47. Qd4+ Ka6 48. Qf6+ b6 49. Qf1+ Kb7 50. Qc4 Qf3 51. a4 Qh5 52. Qe4+ Ka6 53. Qa8# 1-0
Overall the match finished tied 2-2, with boards 1 & 2 drawing (Cheng-Goldenberg & Sandler-Matheson) & board 4 was a win for the 'good guys' (Lindberg-Chan).
Sunday, July 25, 2010
A weekend of highs & lows ... and an online self-challenge
Spent some time at Crown this weekend, playing cash games & a tournament ... and it was chalk & cheese ... swings & roundabouts ... or whatever your favourite cliche is for such a situation.
Saturday turned into a horrible session of $2/3 NL. After getting off to a reasonable start, I managed to find a number of second-best hands (which is never good for the chip stack) & was treading water slightly down when a novice player sat down at the table. As seems to happen so often, he managed to run like God & in no time had his $150 buy-in up to around $700! Given the number of 4 (or less) outers he hit, myself & the others at the opposite end of the table could not wait to get our hands on some of this, when the inevitable end to the run good happened. Of course the other problem that the beginner's presence created was that everyone else wanted to get in on the action. I managed to find myself on the wrong end of this in a big hand where I had TT in the big blind. After most of the table (including the beginner) limped, I made it $20 to go, which was called by 6 players! The flop came down J43 & I lead into the field for $40. The only callers were the beginner & the player to his immediate right. Although not the ideal situation, it was still not such a bad result, though obviously the jack was a little concerning. The turn brought a 5 & I bet $60 this time, which was called by the beginner & the other player moved all-in for just over $90. Obviously this was not ideal, but I called the extra amount (as did the beginner) & checked the repeat jack on the river. I showed my TT, the beginner showed 87 (yes, he called the flop with 87 & the turn with a gutshot!) & the all-in player showed his A2o for the wheel to take the $400+ pot! FML! I played poorly for the remainder of the session, getting more frustrated by the horrible play of the beginner, as well as his chipping up, then redistributing these chips around the table. My final hand for the evening saw my horribly misplay AK. It was folded to middle position (this was about an hour after the beginner had left ... with no chips & a lighter wallet) & a tight player raised to $15. This was the first time he had raised pre-flop & only a few hands earlier he had called a pre-flop raise & called flop & river bets in position with QQ to take down a pot worth around $100 on a K-high board, so I thought he had to have something pretty reasonable to be doing this. The button, who had been playing solidly & was the major beneficiary of the recently-departed novice player, called & I decided to just call from the small blind. I generally do this for a few reasons - it disguises the strength of my hand; AK can be a difficult hand to play out-of-position with the betting lead if you miss the flop; it keeps the pot size manageable - technically my hand is just a big drawing hand at present, so I don't feel the need to make the pot overly big (yes, I tend to go for the 'big hand, big pot; small hand, small pot' type of mentality). Three to the flop & it was KT7 with two diamonds. Expecting a c-bet from the pre-flop raiser, I decided to check, only to see it check around. The turn brought an offsuit 4 & I bet $30, which was called by the PFR, only to be min-raised by the button! Of course because I had played the hand so strangely/badly to this point I had no idea what kind of a hand he might have (although I knew it was decent), though it could be anything from a combo straight/flush draw (QJdd, 89dd) to top pair, two pair or a set. I decided to call, as did the PFR. The turn was a horrible card for me (in hindsight), an offsuit ace, giving me top two pair. I only had about $90 left, so shipped it, to see the PFR insta-muck & the button insta-call ... and I knew he had a set & I was heading home. Of course when he showed his 44, it simply made me more frustrated with myself for playing the hand so badly, as he most likely would have folded the hand on the flop to a bet. Oh well ...
Today I turned up late for the $125 Sunday tournament ... and it made no difference! I didn't even survive a round! After folding my first few hands, I looked at 66 in the BB & checked my option after 5 limpers. I check-folded the J75 flop & was just about settling into my table, which had quite a few familiar faces at it (yes, the Sunday tournament definitely brings out the regulars!). Of course on the very next hand there were again 5 limpers to the big blind (a regular who tends to overplay marginal hands) who made it 1300 to go (blinds were 100/200). I looked down at AK in the SB & re-raised to 3200 (we started with 10,000 & I'd only lost 350 in blinds prior to this hand, so pretty much had a full starting stack, with the button having me covered). It folded back around to the button, who moved all-in fairly quickly. I called & he showed his QQ. The dealer dealt the flop ... ACE! ... queen, four ... groan, FML, etc ... Of course I was drawing dead by the turn, but picked up a consolation ace on the river (what a lovely book title Mr Greenstein) before heading to the cash games.
The cash game proved to be great. In my first 2 orbits at the table I picked up AA twice! The first time I doubled-up (with change) on an AJ9 flop when I got it all-in against 99. I then stacked an opponent on a king-high flop when he got it all-in with K6 & did not improve. Obviously this was a great start to have my $200 buy-in up to over $600 within 30 minutes! I kept my stack around the $600 mark for the next few hours, with a few minor fluctuations, until another big hand came my way. This time I picked up AK in the big blind after 7 people had limped in, so made it $20 to go. Two players called to see a flop of A75 with two hearts. I bet $35 & they both called. The turn was an 8 & I bet $55 & was again called by both opponents. The river was a T (flush did not complete) & I checked, intending to check-call (I had the ace of hearts, but was concerned about one of my opponents having two pair). It checked to the player in the cutoff who bet $75 (about half of his remaining stack). With the pot being so big, I could not possibly fold, so I called his bet. After the other player mucked, the bettor insta-mucked & I took down the $450+ pot uncontested! I left about an hour later with a healthy profit that well and truly made up for the previous night's forgetable performance.
I've also decided that this week I will play a minimum of 25 hours of online low-limit holdem, playing at least 4 tables at a time. I was hoping to do this by Wednesday (roughly 8 hours per day on Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday), though this may not be possible, as I am actually going to be playing chess (for Elwood) on Tuesday night. Will see how things go (both the poker and the chess) & I will update my progress here. Lets hope it turns out well!
Saturday turned into a horrible session of $2/3 NL. After getting off to a reasonable start, I managed to find a number of second-best hands (which is never good for the chip stack) & was treading water slightly down when a novice player sat down at the table. As seems to happen so often, he managed to run like God & in no time had his $150 buy-in up to around $700! Given the number of 4 (or less) outers he hit, myself & the others at the opposite end of the table could not wait to get our hands on some of this, when the inevitable end to the run good happened. Of course the other problem that the beginner's presence created was that everyone else wanted to get in on the action. I managed to find myself on the wrong end of this in a big hand where I had TT in the big blind. After most of the table (including the beginner) limped, I made it $20 to go, which was called by 6 players! The flop came down J43 & I lead into the field for $40. The only callers were the beginner & the player to his immediate right. Although not the ideal situation, it was still not such a bad result, though obviously the jack was a little concerning. The turn brought a 5 & I bet $60 this time, which was called by the beginner & the other player moved all-in for just over $90. Obviously this was not ideal, but I called the extra amount (as did the beginner) & checked the repeat jack on the river. I showed my TT, the beginner showed 87 (yes, he called the flop with 87 & the turn with a gutshot!) & the all-in player showed his A2o for the wheel to take the $400+ pot! FML! I played poorly for the remainder of the session, getting more frustrated by the horrible play of the beginner, as well as his chipping up, then redistributing these chips around the table. My final hand for the evening saw my horribly misplay AK. It was folded to middle position (this was about an hour after the beginner had left ... with no chips & a lighter wallet) & a tight player raised to $15. This was the first time he had raised pre-flop & only a few hands earlier he had called a pre-flop raise & called flop & river bets in position with QQ to take down a pot worth around $100 on a K-high board, so I thought he had to have something pretty reasonable to be doing this. The button, who had been playing solidly & was the major beneficiary of the recently-departed novice player, called & I decided to just call from the small blind. I generally do this for a few reasons - it disguises the strength of my hand; AK can be a difficult hand to play out-of-position with the betting lead if you miss the flop; it keeps the pot size manageable - technically my hand is just a big drawing hand at present, so I don't feel the need to make the pot overly big (yes, I tend to go for the 'big hand, big pot; small hand, small pot' type of mentality). Three to the flop & it was KT7 with two diamonds. Expecting a c-bet from the pre-flop raiser, I decided to check, only to see it check around. The turn brought an offsuit 4 & I bet $30, which was called by the PFR, only to be min-raised by the button! Of course because I had played the hand so strangely/badly to this point I had no idea what kind of a hand he might have (although I knew it was decent), though it could be anything from a combo straight/flush draw (QJdd, 89dd) to top pair, two pair or a set. I decided to call, as did the PFR. The turn was a horrible card for me (in hindsight), an offsuit ace, giving me top two pair. I only had about $90 left, so shipped it, to see the PFR insta-muck & the button insta-call ... and I knew he had a set & I was heading home. Of course when he showed his 44, it simply made me more frustrated with myself for playing the hand so badly, as he most likely would have folded the hand on the flop to a bet. Oh well ...
Today I turned up late for the $125 Sunday tournament ... and it made no difference! I didn't even survive a round! After folding my first few hands, I looked at 66 in the BB & checked my option after 5 limpers. I check-folded the J75 flop & was just about settling into my table, which had quite a few familiar faces at it (yes, the Sunday tournament definitely brings out the regulars!). Of course on the very next hand there were again 5 limpers to the big blind (a regular who tends to overplay marginal hands) who made it 1300 to go (blinds were 100/200). I looked down at AK in the SB & re-raised to 3200 (we started with 10,000 & I'd only lost 350 in blinds prior to this hand, so pretty much had a full starting stack, with the button having me covered). It folded back around to the button, who moved all-in fairly quickly. I called & he showed his QQ. The dealer dealt the flop ... ACE! ... queen, four ... groan, FML, etc ... Of course I was drawing dead by the turn, but picked up a consolation ace on the river (what a lovely book title Mr Greenstein) before heading to the cash games.
The cash game proved to be great. In my first 2 orbits at the table I picked up AA twice! The first time I doubled-up (with change) on an AJ9 flop when I got it all-in against 99. I then stacked an opponent on a king-high flop when he got it all-in with K6 & did not improve. Obviously this was a great start to have my $200 buy-in up to over $600 within 30 minutes! I kept my stack around the $600 mark for the next few hours, with a few minor fluctuations, until another big hand came my way. This time I picked up AK in the big blind after 7 people had limped in, so made it $20 to go. Two players called to see a flop of A75 with two hearts. I bet $35 & they both called. The turn was an 8 & I bet $55 & was again called by both opponents. The river was a T (flush did not complete) & I checked, intending to check-call (I had the ace of hearts, but was concerned about one of my opponents having two pair). It checked to the player in the cutoff who bet $75 (about half of his remaining stack). With the pot being so big, I could not possibly fold, so I called his bet. After the other player mucked, the bettor insta-mucked & I took down the $450+ pot uncontested! I left about an hour later with a healthy profit that well and truly made up for the previous night's forgetable performance.
I've also decided that this week I will play a minimum of 25 hours of online low-limit holdem, playing at least 4 tables at a time. I was hoping to do this by Wednesday (roughly 8 hours per day on Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday), though this may not be possible, as I am actually going to be playing chess (for Elwood) on Tuesday night. Will see how things go (both the poker and the chess) & I will update my progress here. Lets hope it turns out well!
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