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A brevity, or a defeat snatched from the jaws of victory, can be sweet or sour depending entirely on whether you were the doer or the done-to. That's the essence of Sweet & Sour Chess.
To play through the games below using Robert Ambalong's Chess Genie just click on the links. If you're only looking at the diagrams, you can move the pieces around to check out the variations. Click on the reset button to put them back the way they were.
In the NSWCA Teams Competition rapid play last month I thought I had played well against Blair Mandla and since he was rated at 1978 I was feeling pretty pleased with myself. In fact I was completely relaxed when he moved his rook from h8 where it blockaded my passed pawn and said, "Check!" That suited me, I'd just move aside and continue walking my king down the board where it would force his rook to exchange itself for my pawn, allowing me to pick off his tripled f-pawns. Alas! On an almost empty board I had found the only square (on perhaps the only tempo) from which my king could find no escape. Check it out in the diagram. |
CHECKMATE! David Evans vs Blair Mandla | |
One of the best recoveries I've ever seen was at Manly last year in the NSWCA Grade Matches when Robert Ambalong (Under 1800s), a piece down against Aram Sandalciyam, refused to give up. He boxed himself in on the side of the board, practically challenged Aram to play Nf6+, then sacrificed his rook for the knight on move 68. Aram was forced to recapture or risk a difficult endgame and the result was the beautiful stalemate position shown here. If you want to play through the whole game you can click here. |
STALEMATE! Black to move Aram Sandalciyam vs. Robert Ambalong |
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Here's a brevity Rick Carballo was kind enough to share with us. He was on the receiving-end of an 8-move loss to Eddy Katnic in this year's WSCP. Eddy loves trappy openings and, after one of our games, showed me what he had planned if I'd been just a little bit greedier. In this game he offered a pawn to Rick who might well have held it, but things started to go wrong. It's not often a strong player loses so quickly and I think Eddy's going to have a fight on his hands next time they cross swords. Here it is. |
OOPS! Rick Carballo vs. Eddy Katnic |
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Personally I like Eddy. After all, anybody who lets me get away with a queen sacrifice—even if it is only a pseudo sacrifice—has to be a great guy. This one was played at the NSW Open last year. Eddy was forced to capture the knight I offered on move 17 (18 Bxf4 loses immediately to 18 ...Ne2+) leaving me the exchange and a pawn in front. Seeking counterplay, a few moves later he sacrificed a bishop for two pawns in my king's cottage and what happened after that was just good fun. After the game he said, a bit ruefully, "I thought your horse would run away." See how it happened. |
Sleight of Knight? Eddy Katnic vs. David Evans |
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Hello Your Majesty. Would you care to dance? Gary McNamara vs Carrie Evans |
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Checkmate occurs when the king cannot avoid capture on the next move. He is spared the ignominy and disgrace of being led away in irons like some wanton criminal. Not so his consort. The queen enjoys no such immunity and it reflects poorly on the disciples of Germaine Greer and Amelia Bloomer that such a situation has been allowed to continue unremarked by modern feminists. The chess queen is no shrinking violet – she's a warrior nonpariel, an Amazon,and she deserves a better fate than befell her in the next three examples. | ||
Browse through any chess primer for beginning players and you'll learn not to bring your queen out early. Tim Wheeler, playing black in a queen's pawn opening, found out that this advice may not guarantee Her Majesty's safety. In this encounter Frank Kresinger winkled her out in just 12 moves. Check the diagram or play through the game. You'll enjoy this. Click here. |
Was this a Yugoslav Attack? Frank Kresinger vs Tim Wheeler |
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What did I say about bringing the queen out early? After all, Frank took 12 moves to win Tim Wheeler's stay-at-home monarch. In this game Donald Paterson playing with the black pieces had an early visit from Drago Kragovic's queen. His pieces snapped at her heels in a most unfriendly manner till she was forced back to her second rank. Drago resigned on move 11 but, to be fair to Frank, Don couldn't have actually captured the queen if Drago's king exited via f2. Of course, he was already a piece down with another about to fall so from that point the queen's welfare was academic. Black's rook manoeuvre from a8 to c6 without loss of time was interesting. Check this out. |
Family Feud The king & queen are both in trouble. Drago Kragovic vs Don Paterson |
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During the 1970s I played in many tournaments without much success and I remember one particular Swiss in which I'd lost my first two games. In Round 3 I was paired with Morris Needleman who said, without intending to be offensive, "Thank God I've got an easy opponent for a change." Well, I might be easy but I'm not that easy as I set out to show him. The Giuoco Piano is a much underrated opening and 6 ...Bb6 is a no no! In the ensuing attack I trapped his queen on the 11th move with all the pieces still on the board. It's OK, Frank, it would have taken twelve moves actually to capture it, so this win was no faster than yours. Check out the final position or just play through the game by clicking here. |
QUEENMATE? David Evans vs Morris Needleman |
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The queen feels most comfortable in enemy territory either when she can not easily be chased away, or when she can use threats against the enemy king to make good her escape. Of course, if she starts enjoying herself it's hard to persuade her to escape at all. This game from Round 10 of this year's WSCP was played between Leonardo Tenorio, white, and Milosav Markovic. In this irregular Sicilian, Leo's queen charged down the board on move 5, took up residence on the eighth rank, and evicted black's pieces. Take a moment to look at the possibilities in the diagram if 14...dxe5. — After 15 Bg5+ if the king moves, 16 Qd8 is mate. If 15...Nd5 16 Qd8 is still mate. After 15...Bd6, 16 Rxd6+ Qxd6 18 Qxh8 and white's bishop is safe on g5 because black has to defend against 19 Rd1 winning the queen or, once again, threatening mate on d8. Play through the game yourself by clicking here. It won't take long. |
Cuckoo in the nest. Leo Tenorio vs Milosav Markovic |
So there you are. Chess can be sweet or sour depending on which side of the table you are sitting at the time but you'll come out smiling if you remember the golden rule—do unto others before they do you!
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