Tactics Time Chris Peterson Guest Chess Newsletter

Published: Sun, 09/09/12

Newsletter Issue: Christofer Peterson Guest

Tactics Time

Tactical Dyslexia

[Chess players] naturally arrange facts in series, making sure everything follows logically. They learn fairly early on that many problems are solved by changing the sequence -- that is, by reversing the move order, or by playing the second idea first.

~ Bruce Pandolfini


T

oday's newsletter was guest written by Christofer Peterson, who is the club manager of the Denver Chess Club, and has been on the ratings fast track this year! You can see Chris's YouTube channel with lots of cool chess videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/sagacious00004. Thanks Chris!

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

Answer below.

   This position arose out of my game against James Mc Carty (USCF 2245) during the 2012 Colorado Open.

   The opening was a fairly straight forward Caro-Kann where I made a minor mistake by letting black double my g-pawns. After some untangling of my pieces I was able to reach this tactical position.

   During the entire tournament I was plagued with what I'll term Tactical Dyslexia, basically, a trans-positioning of moves that prevent a tactic from working. This can be caused by several different things.

   A very common cause is to have several tactical ideas all converge into one combination but more than one of the moves could be played right from the start.

The position provided is a great example, three good moves for white to start out with, but which is the best to lead:

22. Bxe5,
22. Rxe5,
or 22. d6

Another culprit is purely accidental. I cannot tell you how many times I see a combination but instead of making the first move, I reach for and touch/move the piece that was supposed to move second, completely nullifying my combo. Ofttimes in blitz, this can result in outright loss if your king is in check and you neglect your first move of getting out of check.

The best thing to do when confronted with a case of tactical dyslexia, or at least the onset of a case, is to take your time. If you can, get away from the board and try to clear your head. Sometimes the branches of a tactical tree will strangle your position and the best thing to do is to get away from the tree all together, at least for a little while.

Here is the complete game:

[Event "2012 Colorado Open"]
[Site "Denver, CO"]
[Date "2012.09.02"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Peterson, Christofer"]
[Black "Mc Carty, James"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B19"]
[WhiteElo "2074"]
[BlackElo "2245"]
[PlyCount "56"]
[WhiteTeam "12859076"]
[BlackTeam "12157520"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. Nf3 Nd7 7. h4 h6 8. h5
Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 e6 11. Bf4 Qa5+ 12. Bd2 Qc7 13. O-O-O Ngf6 14. c4 Bd6
15. Bc3 Bxg3 16. fxg3 O-O-O 17. Nd2 Kb8 18. Qf3 Rhe8 19. Rhe1 c5 20. d5 exd5
21. cxd5 Ne5 22. Rxe5 Rxe5 23. Nc4 Re4 24. d6 Qd7 25. Ne5 Qe6 26. Nd3 Re3 27.
Bxf6 Rxf3 28. Bxd8 Qc4+ {Black wins} 0-1

You can play through this game here: http://tacticstime.com/chris-peterson-vs-james-mccarty/

Answer:

During the game I blundered with Rxe5, the weakest of three main choices.

The correct answer is 22. d6! This move is fulfills two tactical types, it's an interference and attraction move.

If the queen captures, it is attracted to the d6 square where a nice Nc4 fork is waiting for it. If the queen moves away, the knight on e5 is no longer properly defended.

22...Qxd6 23. Bxe5 Rxe5 24. Nc4! Qc7 (or anywhere) 25. Rxd8+ followed by 26. Nxe5 or 26. Rxe5.

Happy Tactics!

Your Friend,

Chris

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