In the position on the right it is White to move. 

 

   Answer below.

   When Vince Lombardi took over the Green Bay Packers (NFL American Football team), he was asked if he was going to change the players, the plays, the training, or other key aspects of the team.

 

   He replied, ''I'm not going to change anything; we are simply going to become brilliant on the basics.''

   The Green Bay Packers had been doing poorly for some years.  In his first meeting with the team, Lombardi famously picked up a football and said, ''Gentleman, this is a football.''

 

   From then on, Lombardi concentrated on the basics, running drills aimed at making his team faster and more effective at executing plays than any other team. He took the Green Bay Packers to two Super Bowl Championships and made football coaching history.
 

   Consistent with the Lombardi method, one of the keys to success in chess is to become "brilliant on the basics."

 

   The position above is an example from someone working on becoming brilliant on the basics.

 

   After this game Richard (playing white) wrote to me:

 

   "Tim,

 

   Shredder says this game was a lot closer than it felt.  Cory had me tonight but then after 150+ Tactics Time e-mails gave me a "too easy to publish" gift on move 33. 

 

   More importantly, I actually saw the potential tactic on Move 31, otherwise I would have put the bishop somewhere else.

 

   Thanks for the Practice puzzles!  Keep them coming!"

 

 

   I loved getting this e-mail!  Richard is one of my early subscribers, and has been getting "brilliant on the basics" for 150 newsletters, and used this knowledge to pick up over 50 rating points in this tournament!  Sweet!  You can see the tournament results here: http://main.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201208055112-12614322

 

   Not everyone likes doing "easy" puzzles.  In fact just this morning I had someone unsubscribe from my newsletter with the comment "some of the positions are too simple". 

 

   Maybe this person is already a Grandmaster, and they are in fact too easy for him.

 

   But I think that doing a mix of "simple" puzzles can really help build up the pattern recognition that wins games at the class player level.

 

 

   On a different note, there are some good chess tournaments coming up in Colorado... 

 

   I got a postcard in the mail yesterday for the Colorado Open, which will be held Labor Day weekend.  There will be a simul Friday night with Grandmaster Alexander Yermolinsky, AKA "The Yerminator".  Life Master Joel Johnson from Arizona is planning on being there also, and should be a lot of fun!

 

   Also Fred Spell is having his Monument Open IV next weekend.  Fred puts the "class" back in "class player tournaments" and always does a nice job.

 

   You can find out more about these tournaments at http://www.coloradochess.com/newtourn.shtml.

 

   Also, I am planning on playing in Jeff Baffo's "Chess Flash Mob" this afternoon at Park Meadows mall in Denver.  My girlfriend and her daughter need to do some "back to school" shopping, and so I can push some wood, while they try on clothes!  A win-win situation!

 

 

   Here is the complete game:

 

[Event "Pikes Peak Open"]
[Site "Manitou Springs, CO"]
[Date "2012.08.05"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Brown, Richard"]
[Black "Foster, Cory"]
[WhiteElo "1456"]
[BlackElo "1550"]
[ECO "B54"]
[Opening "Sicilian Defence"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. c4 Nf6 4. Nc3 Nc6 5. d4 cxd4 6. Nxd4 e6 7. Be3 Be7 8. Be2
O-O 9. O-O Bd7 10. f4 a6 11. e5 dxe5 12. Nxc6 Bxc6 13. Qxd8 Rfxd8 14. fxe5 Ne4
15. Nxe4 Bxe4 16. Rad1 Rac8 17. Rd4 Bf5 18. Rc1 Rxd4 19. Bxd4 Bc5 20. Rd1 h6
21. a3 Bxd4 22. Rxd4 Rc5 23. g4 Bg6 24. Kf2 Rxe5 25. Bf3 b5 26. cxb5 Rxb5 27. Rb4
Rc5 28. Rb6 e5 29. Rxa6 Rc2 30. Kg3 Rxb2 31. Bd5 Rd2 32. Bc4 e4 33. Rxg6 Rc2
34. Rc6 Kf8 35. Bd5 Re2 36. a4 e3 37. Rc3 Rd2 38. Bc4 e2 39. Kf2 e1=Q 40. Kxe1
Rxh2 41. a5 Rb2 42. Ra3 Rb7 43. a6 Ra7 44. Rb3 g5 45. Rb7 Ra8 46. a7 Kg7 47. Bd5
Re8 48. Kf2 1-0

 

 

   You can play through this game here: http://tacticstime.com/richard-brown-vs-cory-foster/

 

   Answer:

 

   Black is up a pawn, and just pushed e4 following the maxim "Passed pawns should be pushed in the endgame", but overlooks the move 33. Rxg6 winning a bishop.

 

   The f7 pawn is pinned to the king, and cannot capture the rook.

 

   Richard knew this idea, and did a good job putting his pieces in place to take advantage of this tactical motif.

 

   Often pawns and pieces on the g6 square can look safe, but are not, because of a pin on the f7 square.

 

 

   Happy Tactics!

 

   Your Friend,

 

   P.S.  If you enjoy my chess newsletter you will also like Yury Markushin's "The Chess World" e-mail newsletter.  Sign up at http://www.thechessworld.com (it's free).  Yuri writes about a lot of fun, educational and interesting topics related to chess!