Check mates –and brothers!
20 February 2008
A CHESS champion has faced one of his toughest opponents yet – his little brother, writes Kelly-Ann Kiernan.
Jakob Yianni was on his way to becoming the top under-11 player in the county, aged only nine.
But as he battled away on the top board, his six-year-old brother Joseph was also playing remarkably well.
Mum Emma, of The Ridgeway, Cuffley, said she was shocked when she found out the boys, who are both pupils at Lochinver House School in Potters Bar, would have to face each other.
She said: “Obviously I love them both, Jakob was leading the competition and Joseph was trying to snap at his heels.”
“Jakob didn’t want to play his little brother, but he had to.”
Jakob won the tie, going on to win all seven games and being crowned Hertfordshire’s under-11 champion.
Mum Emma added: “When they had finished playing they stood up and hugged each other and that was so lovely.”
Joseph also left the competition with his head held high, after jointly winning the under-nines title.
The pair both attend Little Heath Chess Club.
Source: http://www.whtimes.co.uk/
aaaawwww. nice kids.
DEAR MISS OR MRS SUSAN POLGAR
I AM A 60 YEAR OLD RETIRED CHIEF OF POLICE FROM NEAR ATLANTIC CITY , NEW JERSEY
I AM NOW ALSO DISABLED FROM A STROKE I HAD IN 2002 THAT LEFT MY LEFT SIDE PARALYZED, MY LEG IS COMING BACK , BUT LEFT HAND IS STILL PARALYZED. I WAS INTERESTED IN READING YOUR ARTICLE ABOUT WHY YOU USE THE COLLE ZUKERTORT VARIATION OPENING(BUT COULDN’T FIND IT ON BLOG. I AM TRYING TO LEARN THIS SYSTEM., I HAVE TRYED A COUPLE OF THE OPENING MOVES, BUT WOULD LIKE TO LEARN TO BE PROFICIENT AT IT, I’M JUST PAST A BEGINNER IN CHESS AND SINCE STROKE, I HAVE BECOME MORE INTERESTED IN IMPROVING MY CHESS GAME. I HAVE ENJOYED READING YOUR TACTICS BOOKS AND ADMIRE YOU AND YOUR SISTERS FOR THE HUGE STRIDES YOU ALL HAVE MADE IN THE CHESS WORLD
THANK YOU ANTHONY E. SOLIS JR
314 SOUTH RAILROAD AVENUE
RIO GRANDE, NEW JERSEY 08242 EMAIL antne003@comcast.net
if you can show me or send me the article on thre colle opening zukertort variat and why you use it i would appreciate it, thank you anthony e. solis jr.
Taking a detailed look at Solits’ opening theory on the Zukertort,
one of the main lines follows the 1923 game Euwe – Rubinstein,
which went 5 b3 Nc6 6 0-0 Bd6 7 Bb2 0-0 8 a3 b6 9 Ne5 Bb7 10
Nd2 Qe7 11 f4 Rfd8 12 Rf3 Ne4 13 Rh3 f5 14 Bxe4 dxe4 15 Qh5.
While all three sources, Soltis, ECO and Harding, include this
game, only Soltis clearly states that the resulting position is
advantageous for White. Harding provides the complete game, won
by White, but does not indicate his evaluation of the line, while
ECO considers the position after 15…Be5 16 Qh7 Kf7 17 fe5 Rh8
to be unclear (which is, perhaps, somewhat gratuitous in light of
the game continuation of 18 Qxh8 Rxh8 19 Rxh8, when White
went on to score the full point.) However, ECO and Harding
diverge on move 10 and consider Duz-Hotimirski-Nimzovich,
1907 Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad) to be the main line after 10…a6 11
f4 b5 12 dc5 Bc5 13 Qf3 Rc8 14 Qg3 Ne5, assessed as even by
both sources. In any event, one can’t help but agree with Soltis
when he writes that “White’s chances certainly look good here”
(page 98), although 10…a6 suggested by ECO and Harding may be
a Black improvement. (Soltis brushes this move aside with the
comment that “If Black bides his time with moves like 10…a6 and
11…b5, White starts his attack with 11 f4 and Qf3- h3″ [page 96].)
Soltis’ second principal variation in the Zukertort is 5…Nbd7.
Concurrence between the three sources exists through the moves 6
Bb2 b6 7 0-0 Bb7, when Harding continues by following the game
Spielmann-Stoltz through 8 Nbd2 Be7 9 dc Bc5 10 Qe2 0-0 11 e4
Re8 12 e5 Nh5 13 g3 g6 14 Nd4 Rc8 15 f4 “with a double-edged
game” won by White. ECO also follows Spielmann – Stoltz but
stops after 14 Nd4, assessing White a solid advantage.
Soltis, however, continues with 8 Ne5 and comments that “This is
most accurate since it prevents Black from blocking the attack
lines with 8…Ne4 …” (page 99) According to him, White is for
choice after 8 Ne5 a6 9 Nd2 b5 10 Nxd7 Qxd7 11 dxc5 Bxc5 12
Qf3 Qe7 13 Qg3 0-0 14 a3. Although Soltis attempts to debunk
ECO’s suggested improvement of 8…Be7 with the comment that
White can transpose into the line 6…Be7 7 0-0 0-0 8 Nbd2 b6 9
Ne5 Bb7 10 f4 and should obtain an advantage shortly thereafter
(pages 99 and 100), this writer would have liked to have seen the
1994 game Ubilava-San Segundo included, which contained
8…Be7 and resulted in a Black win. (The game went as follows:
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 e6 4.Bd3 c5 5.b3 Nbd7 6.0-0 b6 7.Bb2 Bb7
8.Ne5 Be7 9.Nd2 0-0 10.Qe2 Ne4 11.Bxe4 dxe4 12.Nxd7 Qxd7
13.dxc5 Bxc5 14.Rfd1 Qe7 15.Nf1 a5 16.Ng3 a4 17.Qg4 f6
18.Nh5 Kh8 19.a3 Rf7 20.b4 Bd6 21.Rd2 b5 22.Qe2 Qc7 23.Rad1
Bd5 24.Nf4 Bxf4 25.exf4 Qxf4 26.Qxb5 e3 27.fxe3 Qxe3+ 28.Kh1
Rc7 29.Bd4 Qxa3 30.Bb6 Rc3 31.Bd4 Rc7 32.Bb6 Rc3 33.Bd4
Rc4 34.Bc5 h6 35.Qd7 Rxc5 36.bxc5 Qxc5 37.c4 Qxc4 38.Rd4
Qe2 39.R4d2 Qe4 40.Rf1 a3 41.Qc7 Qb4 42.Qc1 a2, White
resigned.)
Regardless of whether White chooses to meet the 5…Nbd7 line of
the Zukertort with either 8 Ne5 or 8 Nbd2, all three sources appear
to agree that White should be able to reach the middle game with at
least a small advantage.