Greetings,
…
The USCF has rated the July Quick Six. Finally! I got 1st, Alex Bozhenov claimed 2nd, and Robert Carlson won the under prize.
uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201907098742
And now, the newsletter…
Game Of The Week
A couple years back, I came up with a method to organize chess tactics. I called it the DROP Method (cschess.webs.com/apps/blog/cate … rop-method). The DROP method is an acronym for the basic kinds of tactics. It is meant to remind you not to drop your pieces and help you get your opponent to drop theirs.
I said that the DROP Method was a work in progress, and it was. So, I thought I would revisit each of the four kinds of chess tactics to provide more examples. The first kind of tactic in the DROP Method is Discovery, which I revisited on April 8th (cschess.webs.com/apps/blog/show … rload-viii).
The fourth kind of tactic in the DROP Method is Pin.
Pin is a chess move that immobilizes an opponent’s piece.
The Pin is different from the other kinds of tactics in that it does not create multiple threats. Its main function is to prevent a piece from moving. A Pin on a target allows that target to be attacked by a lower value piece. A Pin on a support allows the capture of the piece the support is guarding.
“The defensive power of a pinned piece is only imaginary.”
(Aaron Nimzovich)
The Pin works by threatening a low value piece that has a higher value piece (or an ungarded piece) behind it. The low value piece is stuck (as if with a pin) to the higher value piece due to the loss of material should the low value piece move and allow the capture of the higher value piece.
If the higher value piece is the King, the low value piece is absolutely immobilized, as the rules of Chess do not allow moves where the King could be captured. Otherwise the Pin is relative, as the opponent can actually move the low value piece if he is willing to accept the loss of material. The other types of Pins are rare:
Absolute (Pins a target to the King)
Relative (Pins a low value target to a higher value piece)
Cross (Multiple Pins on one piece)
Cross-check (blocks check and counter-checks)
Here is an example from the Colorado Springs Chess Club’s Tuesday night event: July Mating Game. Alex Bozhenov created the best example of a Pin in his game with Joel Brown this night. While the Black Pawns on the 3rd rank make this position dominating for Black, taking advantage of the Pin on g2 is by far the best move.
Black to move
See the diagram and answer here:
cschess.webs.com/apps/photos/ph … =205826625
P Is For Pin VIII
chessvideos.tv/chess-game-r … ?id=114553
[Event “July Mating Game”]
[Site “http://cschess.webs.com/”]
[Date “2019.07.16”]
[Round “2.1”]
[White “Brown, Joel”]
[Black “Bozhenov, Alex”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “B07”]
[WhiteElo “1378”]
[BlackElo “1971”]
[PlyCount “74”]
[EventDate “2019.07.16”]
[TimeControl “2700”]
- e4 d6 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. d4 Bg7 5. h3
Nxe4 6. Bxf7+ Kxf7 7. Nxe4 Rf8 8. Nf3 Kg8 9. Be3 Nc6 10. Qd2 Bf5 11. Ng3 e5 12.
Bg5 Qe8 13. d5 e4 14. Nh2 Ne5 15. Qe2 Nf7 16. Bc1 Qe5 17. c4 c6 18. dxc6 bxc6
- Nxf5 gxf5 20. O-O d5 21. cxd5 cxd5 22. Rb1 d4 23. b4 d3 24. Qd1 Qd5 25. a4
Rac8 26. Be3 Rc7 27. Bc5 Re8 28. Re1 Rd7 29. Rb3 Re6 30. Nf1 f4 31. Nh2 Rg6 32.
Nf3 Bf6 33. Nh2 e3 34. Nf3 e2 35. Rxd3 Qxd3 36. Qxd3 Rxd3 37. Rxe2 Nd6 0-1
This Week In Chess
On July 16th, the Colorado Springs Chess Club started the July Mating Game (4SS, G/45;d/10).
Standings. July Mating Game
Name Rtng Rd 1 Rd 2 Tot Prize
1 Aleksand Bozhenov 1971 W8 W3 2.0
2 Grayson Ed Harris 1646 W7 W4 2.0
3 Joel N Brown 1378 W5 L1 1.0
4 Jonathan An Brown unr. W6 L2 1.0
5 Mark McGough 1824 L3 W8 1.0
6 Christophe Motley 1690 L4 W7 1.0
7 Richard Buchanan 2000 L2 L6 0.0
8 Dean W Brown 1459 L1 L5 0.0