Tactics Time Chess Newsletter: Carlos Danger

Published: Wed, 08/07/13

Newsletter Issue Carlos Danger

Tactics Time

Carlos Danger

You are the Anthony Weiner of Colorado chess - you just don't know when to resign! ~ Paul Anderson in an email to me


T

oday I want to do something a little different! We are going to look at four different tactics, all from the same game, one that I played last Thursday at the Academy Blvd Panera Bread, in the August 2013 Colorado Springs tournament.

Tactic #1

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

Answers are just below each problem, so don't scroll too far before solving them.

I have been having a crazy week of chess here in Colorado!

Last Thursday night at the August Panera Bread tournament I was playing a young boy, who I had never played before.

I got an advantage right out of the opening, winning a Rook and a pawn for a Bishop, with 9...Bxg3+ 10. hxg3 Qxh1+

Then I got lazy and careless!

I started thinking to myself - if I finish this game up quickly, I can make it home in time to watch the Pirates-Cardinals game on MLB Network!

Tactic #2

In this position it is White to Move

I had put the car in cruise control, and missed 13 Bb5+! which wins my Queen with a discovered attack! D'oh!!!

This got my attention!

I easily could have resigned at this point, but I remembered the teachings of my friend Francisco Baltier, whose mantra is "NOTHING IS OVER" which he learned from Rambo.

In fact, each year, Life Master Brian Wall gives out a "Jim Burden-Francisco Baltier Award" on April Fool's day to a player who loses their queen, but still manages to win.

I decided to play on, and go for this award!

I had been working hard on a Tactics Time sequel book, and had been looking at tons of tactics from class player games. I knew that the games contained tons of mistakes in them, and that I should be able to win another piece back and some point, and at least make a fight of the game.

The funny thing is, right before the game, my friend Paul Anderson told me in an e-mail:

You are the Anthony Weiner of Colorado chess - you just don't know when to resign!

If you don't know Anthony Weiner, he is a politician who is always getting caught texting inappropriate pictures to young women. He is currently running to be Mayor of New York. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Weiner

His self created nickname is "Carlos Danger"!

In this position I got my first chance for a come back.

Black to Move

Here I played 24...Rxd6. If White recaptures with 25. Nxd6 I have the Knight fork 25...Nf2+ forking the White King and Queen.

So now I am slightly less in the hole, but there is still work to be done. My opponent ended up dropping his rook, and he resigned in this position.

Black to Move

Black traps the Queen with 32...Rh6

I was talking to my Paul Anderson after the game, and told him what happened. He wrote about the game in his weekly chess e-mail newsletter. You can read his humorous article here: http://cschess.webs.com/apps/blog/show/31652127-i-told-carlos-danger-to-resign

I think the main lessons are:

Always look for tactics, even in the opening (the Qh5+ and Bb5+ are both good ones to know)
Once you get an advantage, don't take your eyes off the road!
Everyone makes blunders. Stronger players just make them less often, than weaker players.
Don't take your opponent for granted, even if they are young, or lower rated.
Even if you fall behind, look for resources
Players make lots of tactical mistakes in class player games. Look to exploit these mistakes! Knight forks, and overloaded pieces helped me a lot in this one.
If you can cut a piece out of the game, it is almost like having equal material. Even though my opponent was up a Queen, the Queen wasn't doing anything, so it gave me time to activate my pieces.
Having a "Nothing is Over" mentality can help you save lost games!

Here is the complete game:

[Event "August 2013 Academy Panera Bread"]
[Site "Colorado Springs, CO"]
[Date "2013.08.01"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Lee, Jason"]
[Black "Brennan, Tim"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D03"]
[WhiteElo "1236"]
[BlackElo "1836"]
[PlyCount "63"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Bg5 Ne4 4. e3 Nxg5 5. Nxg5 e5 6. Nf3 e4 7. Nfd2 Bd6 8.
f3 Qh4+ 9. g3 Bxg3+ 10. hxg3 Qxh1 11. fxe4 dxe4 12. Kf2 Bh3 13. Bb5+ c6 14.
Qxh1 Bf5 15. Be2 Nd7 16. Nxe4 O-O 17. Bd3 Bg6 18. Nd6 Nf6 19. Bxg6 fxg6 20. Ke2
Ng4 21. Qh3 h5 22. Nc3 Rf2+ 23. Kd3 Rf6 24. Nce4 Rxd6 25. Rf1 Re6 26. Rf3 Rae8
27. Nc5 Rxe3+ 28. Kd2 Rxf3 29. Nxb7 Ree3 30. b3 Rf2+ 31. Kc1 Re1+ 32. Kb2 0-1

You can play through this game here: http://tacticstime.com/chess-tactics/you-can-call-me-carlos-danger/

Happy Tactics!

Your Friend,