DOES LIGHTNING STRIKE TWICE?

This is a position from my game yesterday. It is black to play, my instinct told me there must be a strong move to be found in this position so I started to look closely at it.

Then my opponent said "your flag has fallen!"

Exactly the same situation which happened last year happened again, I lost a winning position by running out of time!

1 Corinthians7:29 But this I say, brethren, the time is short:

EMNITY AND HATRED?

“The game of chess is a waste of time and an opportunity to squander money. It causes enmity and hatred between people,” 

You can read the whole article at this link.

Saudi Arabia's highest Islamic cleric 'bans' chess and claims game spreads 'enmity and hatred'

Genesis 16:12 11 And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction.

12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.

FINDING THE SECOND, THIRD, FOURTH OR FIFTH MOVE ETC, IS NOT SO EASY?

The position above is from one of my games against Fritz. It is a very interesting situation with black to play.

During the game I missed the most effective continuation and this illustrates one of the most glaring weaknesses in my play.

Black is not faced with a position where it is a matter of "find mate in one, or two, or three etc."  It is a case of finding a sequence of moves which should  give black a winning advantage. This means visualising a series of moves both for black and white.

I am sure the first key move would be instinctively spotted  by the majority of club players, however, visualising the series of follow-up moves may not be so easy?

The video below shows the moves suggested by Fritz.

ROOKIE`S REPORT ON LAST NIGHT`S MATCH

For overseas readers I have posted a video clip showing Rookie who writes the match reports.

Lions give a "paw" performance against the mighty A Team!

1. Calum Leitch 0-1 Ray Devenney;

2. Ross Harris 0.5-0.5 Sam Flanagan;

3. Paul McNaughten 0.5-0.5 Bruce MacLean;

4. Sam Moore 0-1 John Bryars;

5. John Bradley 1-0 Bernard Jaffa.

Total: 2-3. + Bonus: 2-5.


Can Belfast South keep their second position in the province ahead of C. S. Lewis, like last year? 

Well, our 2 teams are leading their 2 teams by 81.5 to 66! 

On Board 5, Bernard Jaffa, a pawn up, proved you can't have your "cake" and eat it by losing his game. 

You needed 2 "macs" to keep out the cold and Board 3 provided them- MacLean and McNaughten- who drew. 

There was "Moore" agony for the Lions as Sam Moore lost, like a "rookie", a rook and the game! 

Top board saw Ray achieve the double over " callow" Calum (google it!) and he was able to "teach" Leitch with a "peach" of a game! 

Needing a draw to win the match, Sam "harassed" Harris, but Ross avoided a "loss" but the draw sufficed, as I found "soft ice" on the way home! Martin Kelly.

CLOSE 3-2 WIN

Tonight`s match ended in a very close 3-2 win for Belfast South.


If I have all the moves down correctly my game with Ross produced an interesting endgame position.

It is black to play. If my move recording is not accurate and this position did not arise, I apologise to Ross.

The game was drawn.

WINNING IN LAS VEGAS

Rookie`s report about Cahal Murphy winning $1550 in Las Vegas.

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"Thought I would forward you the good news about the success of one of our club players whose luck did not "desert" him in Las Vegas- "desert" him- get it?"

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Here is a link to the particular tournament.

North American Open 2015 Standings – Under 1500 Section

Danny Mallaghan gets mentioned in this section.

I thought it was only gangsters, entertainers and boxers who made money in Las Vegas?

MULDOONS 3 BELFAST SOUTH 2

Last night`s match was a victory for Muldoons, it was a bit of a closer match than expected.

Here is a key moment from my game against Gareth, it is move 35 and white to move.  

Gareth won the game five moves later but it seems the game was drawable if I had played the appropriate move in this position.
I will post the recommended move in the comments section.

The position has been played in "shoot-out" mode by my Chess programme and it has always been drawn.

The opening did not let me down but my lack of end game skills did.

Excellent video by Sergey Tiviakov.


Psalm 19:12
Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.