Knights at the Opera

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1233404

On one of the chess sites, I’m busy playing a tournament and this particular player sent me the above link on chessgames, to highlight a ‘better’ move for one of the moves I’ve made. When looking at the game, I realised that our game was almost this game, in particular the first few moves. I felt sort of ‘thrilled’ by the idea of playing the start of Morphy’s famous game called: ‘Night at the Opera’. The moves in blue are the first moves of our game -I played white- and you can compare it with Morphy’s game in this entry.[maybe, if I didn’t castle, I could have had move 9 with move 7 – which was Morphy’s move – he castled move 12.] I hope you like Dolannes Melody by Jean-Claude Borelly, you can listen to it at the bottom of this post.

1. e4 e 5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Bg4 4. dxe5 Bxf3 5. Qxf3 dxe5 6. Bc4 f6 7. 0-0 Ne7
8. Rd1 Qc8 9. Qb3 c6

In 1858 the Duke of Brunswick and Count Isouard invited the American master Paul Morphy to the Paris Opera to watch The Barber of Serville, then asked their guest to play chess with them. Morphy was more interested in watching the opera, but could not courteously refuse.

Morphy played white, while Brunswick and Isouard consulted on black. He took his opponents apart in 17 moves, enabling him to watch the rest of the show without distraction, and incidentally proving that teaming two mediocre players does not double their talents.

This game is one of the best known in chess, exemplifying as it does the advantages of quick development over the pursuit of minor advantages. The game features a queen sacrifice that leads directly to mate.

The score of the game follows:

Paul Morphy vs Duke of Brunswick & Count Isouard, Paris Opera House, 1858. Philidor’s Defense.

Paul Morphy “The Pride and Sorrow of Chess,” was an American chess player. He is considered to have been the greatest chess master of his era and an unofficial World Chess Champion. He was also one of the first chess prodigies in the modern rules of chess era.

The “Opera game” – a casual game against inexperienced opponents, but at the same time one of the clearest and most beautiful attacking games ever. Often used by chess teachers to demonstrate how to use time, develop pieces and generate threats.

While most of the audience was following the performance of The Barber of Seville, Paul Morphy was busy at the chessboard, facing noble opposition. His opponents, working together, played well enough for a while, but they allowed Morphy to set two deadly pins.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Bg4 4. d x e5 B x f3 5. Q x f3 d x e5 6. Bc4 Nf6
7. Qb3 Qe7 8. Nc3 c6 9. Bg5 b5 10. N x b5 c x b5 11. B x b5 + Nbd7
12. O-O-O Rd8 13. R x d7 R x d7 14. Rd1 Qe6 15. B x d7 + N x d7
16. Qb8 + N x b8 17. Rd8 mate

These two images found on google and edited it slightly – beautiful poster – the second image.

I spoilt myself the last few days with a few chess games and even a few tournaments, but work is calling again! The following two games were played against the same opponent – you will notice in both games, my Knights were used – in conjunction with the Queen – to checkmate my opponent. I always prefer to save my Knights – I will even sacrifice my Bishops in order to keep my Knights for the reason as in these games and also for their tricky moves.

1. e4 e5 2. d4 Bd6 3. d5 h6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Nc3 Bb4 6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 d6 8. Be3 Bg4 9. h3 Bxf3 10. gxf3 a6 11. f4 Nxe4 12. c4 f5 13. Rb1 Nc3 14. Qh5+ Ke7 15. Rxb7 Qc8 16. Rb3 Ne4 17. Qh4+ Nf6 18. Rg1 Rg8 19. f3 Kf8 20. fxe5 dxe5 21. Bc5+ Kf7 22. Bd3 Nbd7 23. Bb4 c5 24. Bxf5 cxb4 25. Bg6+ Kf8 26. Rxb4 a5 27. Rb3 Nc5 28. Re3 Qb8 29. Kf2 Ra7 30. f4 e4 31. Kg2 Qb2 32. Qf2 Qa2 33. d6 Qxc4 34. c3 Rb7 35. f5 Nd3 36. Qe2 Rb2 37. Kf1 Rxe2 38. Kxe2 Nf4+ 39. Kf2 Nd3+ 40. Ke2 Qxc3 41. Rxe4 Nxe4 42. d7 Qd2+ 43. Kf3 Ng5+ 44. Kg3 Qe3+ 45. Kg2 Ke7 46. Rb1 Qxh3+ 47. Kg1 Nf3+

1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 Nf6  3. Bf4 Na6  4. Be5 Bf5  5. Bxf6 exf6  6. e3 Qd7  7. Bxa6 b6
8. Bb7 Rb8  9. Ba6 Bd6  10. a3 O-O  11. h3 h6  12. Nge2 Rfe8  13. Bd3 g6  14. Bxf5 Qxf5  15. O-O Rxe3  16. fxe3 Qe6  17. Qd2 Re8  18. Rf3 c6  19. Raf1 c5 20. Rxf6 Qd7  21. Rxf7 Qxf7  22. Rxf7 Kxf7  23. e4 dxe4  24. d5 e3  25. Qe1 a6 26. Qh4 h5  27. Qg5 Re5  28. Qh6 b5  29. Qh7+ Kf8  30. Qxg6 Be7  31. d6 Bd8 32. d7 Bc7  33. Qf6+ Kg8  34. d8=Q+ Bxd8  35. Qxd8+ Kg7  36. Qc7+ Kf6
37. Qd6+ Kf5  38. Qxa6 b4  39. axb4 cxb4  40. Nb5 Ke4  41. Nd6+ Kd5                42. b3 Re6  43. Qd3+ Ke5  44. Qd4+
Dolannes Melody by Jean-Claude Borelly

And for the record: It was Republic Day

Read Full Post »

Have a ball

Alexandra Kosteniuk: The current Woman’s World Chess Champion – see her blog-link on my blog’s sidebar.

 

A nurse playing chess with a patient – WWI

Women at Chess in London
London, June 24 – The fourth round of the International Women’s Chess Tournament, played in this city this evening, was finished with the following results:
Stevenson beat Thomas in a Giuoco Piano after twenty-nine moves. Gooding beat Muller-Hartung in a French defense after fifty-three moves. Bonnefin beat Hooke in a Ruy Lopez after forty-eight moves. Fagan beat Watson in a French defense after seventy-four moves. Finn beat Forbes-Sharpe in a two-knight defense after forty-three moves. Rudge beat Field in a Giuoco Piano after twenty-nine moves. Fox beat De La Vigne in an irregular opening after thirty-one moves.
Appended are the scores up to date: 1897

*Games left unfinished
The New York Times
Published June 25, 1897
Click HERE to read the news article in PDF-format. Links will open in a new window.

Giuoco Piano – Chess Opening – image: Wikipedia

I’m not familiar with this name as a chess opening, I’ve heard/read about many chess openings, but this one was new to me.

The Giuoco Piano is a chess opening characterized by the moves

1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bc4 Bc5
Instead of 3. … Bc5 it is possible for Black to play 3… Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Nxd5 ( Two knights defence ) or 3. … Ne7 4.d4 d6 5. h3 Nf6 6.Nc3 0-0 7.0-0 exd4 ( Hungarian defence )

The Giuoco Piano (Italian: “quiet game”) is the oldest recorded opening. The Portuguese Damiano played it at the beginning of the 16th century and the Italian Greco played it at the beginning of the 17th century. The opening is also known as the Italian Game, although that term is sometimes used more generally to describe the position after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4. The Giuoco Piano was popular through the 19th century, but modern refinements in defensive play have led most chess masters towards openings like the Ruy Lopez that offer White greater chances for long term initiative.

White’s “Italian bishop” at c4 prevents Black from advancing in the center with …d5 and attacks the vulnerable f7 square. White plans to dominate the center with d2-d4 and to attack the Black king. Black aims to free his game by exchanging pieces and playing the pawn break …d5, or to hold his center pawn at e5.

Source: Wikipedia

Another champ…

MRS. HARRISON TRIUMPHS

February 27, 1938, Sunday

 Defeats Miss Lesley in Women’s Title Chess Tourney.  Mrs. Edna Harrison continued her winning streak in the preliminaries for the Hazel Allen championship trophy at the Marshall Chess Club yesterday, defeating Miss Dora Lesley in the seventh round. Mrs. Harrison now has scored 6 1/2 points.

Click here to view the source.

Mar 5, 1986 – Lyudmila Rudenko, the first women’s world chess champion, has died at age 81, the official Soviet news agency Tass reported Tuesday. The news agency said she died Sunday in Leningrad. A native of the Ukraine, she won the first world chess competition for women in 1950, …

was a Soviet chess player and the second Women’s World Chess Champion from 1950 until 1953. Rudenko held the FIDE International Master and Woman International Master titles.

Born in Lubny in the Poltava region of Ukraine, in the Russian Empire, her father taught her to play chess at age 10 although at first she was more serious about swimming. After grammar school, she moved to Odessa and took a degree in economics. Rudenko became the Odessa swimming champion in the 400m breaststroke. Her professional career would be as an economic planner for the Soviet Union, and chess would remain a hobby.

She began playing tournament chess in 1925 after a move to Moscow. She then moved to Leningrad where she met and married scientist Lev Davidovich Goldstein; in 1931 they had a son. In Leningrad in 1929 she began training with chess master Peter Romanowski. She would not reach the peak of international women’s chess until she was about 40 years old.

Source: Wikipedia – Vera Menchik died during a German air raid in Kent.

Lasker and Women …

Among the women fond of chess of this country, mrs J W Showalter has long been considered the champion chess player. At present she is engaged in a little match with Lasker who has to concede to her the odds of a knight. Mrs Showalter has so far won two games, while her opponent has registered an equal number of wins.

Read the NYTimes-article dated 1890’s here.

On this Google-link you will find more links about the history of women in chess to follow up.

 
To explore some chess openings, click on this link from the site of chessgames. To enjoy your chess openings, I have three music files to share with you which you might want to listen while exploring some chess openings. Choose the music to open your chess dance floor and have a ball! The first song is a famous song – Zorba’s Dance. The second, a South African golden oldie – Helloh-A  and Strauss – The Skaters Waltz. I will of course choose the music of Strauss to open my chess dance floor. On rainy days like today, Amazon can be sure of making their money out of me when it comes to music!

Image:chess.com

Zorba’s Dance by Mikis Theodorakis
from the CD: Memories from Greece  – see the youtube-link for the dance.

I once tried to teach this dance to 10 year old kiddies for our class assembly – see this video….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkHfKjwPHXo

Sharon Tany and Billy Forest – Helloh-A

The Skaters Waltz – Mantovani and his orchestra. If you prefer a different Waltz to open your chess ball, enjoy this link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJNcomorvjg

The Sicilian Defence: Eduard Gufeld – a book I found on Amazon about openings.

Click here to take a look inside  Modern Chess Openings or to order it from Amazon. The Giuoco Piano (“quiet game”) is even chapter 2 in this book!

Something to do on a rainy day!

Read Full Post »

Wind beneath my wings

I’ve come across this fantastic image. I love thunder/lightning and I do miss it here in London. You don’t get it here and if you do, you would think it was just another plane to touch down at Heathrow. I’ve taken the quote from this travelblog too. Also, enjoy the music of Bette Midler – The wind beneath my wings. South Africa, you are the wind beneath my wings!

Images here from a Cape Town-awardwinning-travelblog, worth to visit! The link will open in a new window.

Cape Town doesn’t get that many thunderstorms so when we do we tend to get very excited. This morning’s spectacular storm had us getting out the cameras and snapping away, but I think Cape Town local John Maarschalk wins with this incredible image.

John says:

“We had a marvellous electric show this morning around Cape Town. This was taken from inside my car with the camera balanced on the camera bag, with the wind blowing and the occassional squall of rain coming through. It wasn’t the best conditions to shoot, hence the movement in the image.

Read Full Post »

Chess, poetry art and music

Image: Chesscentral.com

I believe this is a good combination: chess, poetry, art and music! I’ve started recently reading Dean’s poetry blog and glad that I’ve discovered his blog. This poem in this post, is today’s entry on his blog and I’ve really enjoyed it and thought to share it with you. If you’re a lover of poetry, make sure to visit his blog, if you don’t, you will regret it! If you don’t like poetry, then you still should visit his blog and you will immediately fall in love with his poems! I have a present for you today too, let’s call it an early Christmas present if you like, a composition by Jim Brickman. Finally, for my chess-lovers (and those who think they might become chess-lovers!) I’ve got a few games here (do check back as I have about ten more to blog in this entry!) played a few days ago in the Dresden Olympiad. This post is almost as good as “wine women and song!”:) All links will open in a new window.

Remember me to the world
And all the beautiful girls
I never kissed; if there’s one regret
That is it: that I left any lovelies’
Lips unblessed, her heart repressed

Remember me to the wind, which
Blows wherever it goes; still, or not
Any feeling does not cost, but what you
Do with it: recall I am that
Innocent, awake to only wonder told

Remember me to the sun; the heat,
The blaze, worries public or hidden,
I have had them all, unbidden: most
Of all when you see that woman or girl,
Remember me, my dear, to the blessed world

©Dean J. Baker
To read more wonderful poetry, please click HERE to read on Dean Baker’s blog! Chess=love+poetry+music+art=chess!

Read more about Dean on his biography-link on his blog!

Over 500 poems and prose poems published since 1972 in over 130 literary publications in Canada, the USA, England, Australia, New Zealand, etc., such as Descant, Carleton Literary Review, Poetry WLU, The Prairie Journal, Freelance, Nexus, Bitterroot, Oxalis, Bogg, Aileron, RE:AL, Art Times, Pegasus, Impetus, On The Bus, and many others. More have been published in newspapers, magazines, online and in anthologies, recorded and paper.

Music: Jim Brickman: Dream comes true

Please click HERE to play through the game of Nyback from Finland vs Carlsen played in round 6, Dresden 2008.

Carlsen

Please click HERE to play through the game of Dominguez from Cuba vs Gata Kamsky in round 6, Dresden 2008.

This game of Etienne Bacrot was played in round 7 against Sasikiran from India.

Click HERE to play through the game of Boris Gelfand from Israel vs Elexei Shirov of Spain in round 7.

Please click HERE to play through the game of one of my favourite players, Ivanchuk vs Wang of China.

Ivanchuk

Click HERE to play through Kamsky’s game played in round 7 against Peter Leko.

Play through the game of Michael Adams against Radjabov played in round 7, Dresden.

Please click HERE to play through the game of Yelena Dembo, from Greece,  played in round 7 at the Olympiad.

Yelena Dembo

Please click HERE to play through the game of Cheparinov in round 8, Dresden.

To play through a game of Topalov played in round 8, click on the link!
Please click HERE to play through the game of David Howell from England played in round 9.

image: Greekchess.com..David Navara

Please click here to play through the game of David Navara played in round 9.

To play through the game of NIGEL SHORT, played in round 9, click on the link!

Image: chessbase..Nigel Short

Please click HERE to play through the game of Peter Svidler played in round 9 at the Dresden Olympiad in Germany.

Samuel Bak Chess Art. See my “chess humour”- page for more chess art from Samuel and his link.

Read Full Post »

Make a joyful sound

The Dancer: Image: noise.net/featured-work.asp?artist_id=8618&category_id=4

This entry is quite an odd entry. I have a few snippets of music files which I truly enjoy and they are some of the about 2GB music files on my MP3-player. The first file is the Elizabeth Serenade, then you can listen to “The mouth organ boy” – by Vicky Leandros. The 3rd song is by Laurika Rauch..”The song of the trains” and then you can enjoy Jackson Browne’s “For a dancer”- a bit down in this entry!

I also have a poem! “The Night Mail”. I had to teach this poem to Y4’s a few years ago and when I searched for the poem, I found it on a website which was about the Night Mail…Royal Mail! It was such interesting reading – the history of the night mail, but what was sad, was the fact that the services of the Night Mail train were terminated. The same time it was about to be terminated,  I came across the site and the poem. There was an abundance of info on that site, but it seems to me that the site, where I found the poem, doesn’t exist anymore! What a shame! I could find you a newspaper article about this train- at least! The poem by Auden is about this train! The Royal Night Mail was about the train from London to Scotland/Wales…see the youtube movie-links at the bottom of this post… and there are even more movies on youtube to be seen! Do enjoy it! Enjoy the music here too! Wherever you go this week, make sure you “make a joyful sound”! – see the lyrics of “For a Dancer”.

 

Night Train
(Commentary for a G.P.O. Film, July 1935)

by W.H. Auden (1907 – 1973)

This is the Night Mail crossing the border,Bringing the cheque and the postal order,
Letters for the rich, letters for the poor,
The shop at the corner and the girl next door.

Pulling up Beattock, a steady climb:
The gradient’s against her, but she’s on time.

Past cotton-grass and moorland boulder
Shovelling white steam over her shoulder,

Snorting noisily as she passes
Silent miles of wind-bent grasses.

Birds turn their heads as she approaches,
Stare from the bushes at her blank-faced coaches.

Sheep-dogs cannot turn her course;
They slumber on with paws across.

In the farm she passes no one wakes,
But a jug in the bedroom gently shakes.

Dawn freshens. Her climb is done.
Down towards Glasgow she descends
Towards the steam tugs yelping down the glade of cranes,
Towards the fields of apparatus, the furnaces
Set on the dark plain like gigantic chessmen.
All Scotland waits for her:
In the dark glens, beside the pale-green sea lochs
Men long for news.

Letters of thanks, letters from banks,
Letters of joy from the girl and the boy,
Receipted bills and invitations
To inspect new stock or visit relations,
And applications for situations
And timid lovers’ declarations
And gossip, gossip from all the nations,
News circumstantial, news financial,
Letters with holiday snaps to enlarge in,
Letters with faces scrawled in the margin,
Letters from uncles, cousins, and aunts,
Letters to Scotland from the South of France,
Letters of condolence to Highlands and Lowlands
Notes from overseas to Hebrides
Written on paper of every hue,
The pink, the violet, the white and the blue,
The chatty, the catty, the boring, adoring,
The cold and official and the heart’s outpouring,
Clever, stupid, short and long,
The typed and the printed and the spelt all wrong.

Thousands are still asleep
Dreaming of terrifying monsters,
Or of friendly tea beside the band at Cranston’s or Crawford’s:
Asleep in working Glasgow, asleep in well-set Edinburgh,
Asleep in granite Aberdeen,
They continue their dreams,
And shall wake soon and long for letters,
And none will hear the postman’s knock
Without a quickening of the heart,
For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?

It was one of the world’s great railway journeys, but you could not book a seat on it. It inspired two of Britain’s greatest 20th-century poets, and Britain’s most infamous bunch of 20th-century villains. It rushed through the darkness, utterly reliable, while the rest of us slept. But last night it ran for the last time.

Please click HERE to read more about the last Night Mail train from London. The link will open in a new window.

Night Mail Image: See more images on this link….http://flickr.com/photos/scardy/421208053/in/set-72157594588477493/

Image: buckinghamcovers.com

Jackson Browne

For a Dancer..by Jackson Browne

Keep a fire burning in your eye
Pay attention to the open sky
You never know what will be coming down
I dont remember losing track of you
You were always dancing in and out of view
I must have thought you’d always be around
Always keeping things real by playing the clown
Now you’re nowhere to be found

I dont know what happens when people die
Can’t seem to grasp it as hard as I try
It’s like a song I can hear playing right in my ear
That I can’t sing
I can’t help listening
And I can’t help feeling stupid standing round
Crying as they ease you down
cause I know that youd rather we were dancing
Dancing our sorrow away
(right on dancing)
No matter what fate chooses to play
(theres nothing you can do about it anyway)

Just do the steps that youve been shown
By everyone you’ve ever known
Until the dance becomes your very own
No matter how close to yours
Anothers steps have grown
In the end there is one dance you’ll do alone

Keep a fire for the human race
Let your prayers go drifting into space
You never know what will be coming down
Perhaps a better world is drawing near
And just as easily it could all disappear
Along with whatever meaning you might have found
Don’t let the uncertainty turn you around
(the world keeps turning around and around)
Go on and make a joyful sound

Into a dancer you have grown
From a seed somebody else has thrown
Go on ahead and throw some seeds of your own
And somewhere between the time you arrive
And the time you go
May lie a reason you were alive
But you’ll never know.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=zmciuKsBOi0
The poem on this link on youtube.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=AlG4dLxHjCY
The Royal Mail on this youtube-link.

Read Full Post »