I got the good news today from Sherry's mother. Sherry Tian is the new BC Women's Champion! Well done. 
​Sherry ground down her biggest competitor and took the title with 4.5/5 points. I hope this inspires Sherry to play well in the rapid chess league play-offs. 

​[Event "BC wom ch"]
[Site "Richmond"]
[Date "2018.01.27"]
[Round "3.2"]
[White "Tian, Sherry"]
[Black "Nyamdorj, Uranchimeg"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E10"]
[WhiteElo "2046"]
[BlackElo "1912"]
[PlyCount "131"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "1"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e3 h6 7. Bh4 a6 8. cxd5
exd5 9. Bd3 c6 10. Qc2 O-O 11. O-O Re8 12. Rab1 Ne4 13. Bxe7 Qxe7 14. b4 Ng5
15. Be2 Nxf3+ 16. Bxf3 Nb6 17. Be2 Qg5 18. Qb3 Bh3 19. Bf3 Re6 20. Kh1 Bf5 21.
Rbc1 Nc4 22. Rfd1 Rd8 23. a4 Rg6 24. Ne2 Bg4 25. Bxg4 Qxg4 26. Nf4 Rf6 27. Kg1
h5 28. h3 Qf5 29. Qc2 g6 30. Qxf5 Rxf5 31. Nd3 Rf6 32. Nc5 b6 33. Nxa6 Nb2 34.
Rd2 Nxa4 35. Ra2 b5 36. Nc5 Nb6 37. Ra6 Nc4 38. Rca1 Kg7 39. Ra7 Rc8 40. R1a6
g5 {Black offered a draw.} 41. g3 Nb2 42. Ra2 Nc4 43. Kg2 h4 44. g4 Rd6 45. Rb7
Rf6 46. Raa7 Nb2 47. Ra2 Nc4 48. Nd3 Nd6 49. Rd7 Nc4 50. Raa7 Re8 51. Re7 Rxe7
52. Rxe7 Re6 53. Rc7 Kf8 54. Nc5 Rg6 55. Nd7+ Ke8 56. Nb8 Nb2 57. Rxc6 Rxc6 58.
Nxc6 Nd3 59. Kf1 Kd7 60. Ne5+ {(White gets a winning pawn endgame!)} Nxe5 61.
dxe5 Ke6 62. f4 gxf4 63. exf4 d4 64. Ke2 f6 65. exf6 Kxf6 66. Kd3 1-0

Examine this position from my rapid league match against Henry Yang (black pieces). This is why chess is so much fun. Treat this as an exercise.

​What do you see?

​

​A) After capturing on black's f6 and g6 squares, his "boxed" King side pawns are less mobile.

​B) The b7 square is weak and the a6 pawn will fall because the rook on b8 is undefended. Then Ra7 will threaten the a6 push. The Black rooks are passive.

​C) Black's actively placed King on d5 can be evicted anytime with f3 and e4, then after Kc4 the pawns can move up with d5.

When you add up all A, B and C it gives you an easy win. I calmly converted the endgame into a win. 

​NCM Vas Sladek vs Henry Yang, 1-0

​White to play.

​This is the final position. Why did White resign? Can you find the mates after all of White's legal moves?

​Brian Yang-NM Marel Radzikowski, Lightning vs Tri-Cities, rapid chess league round 4

This was my team's strongest line-up to date with NM Marek Radzikowski, NCM Vas Sladek and David Bissell. We dismantled our young opponents 7-2.

​The games took place at the Vancouver Chess School's new location on 2083 Alma St, Vancouver, BC V6R 4N6 in Vancouver. It's a great place to play chess or take chess lessons. 

​David did the carpool driving and playing despite having a cold. He was so sick he even let me pay for his Americano on the way home!

​Round 5 takes place next weekend on January 20, 2018. Sherry Tian will be available to play.

​First photo: From left Vas, Marek and David.

​The White Queen is overloaded here. Black to play!




15... Nxe4! 16. Bxe4 d5 (The queen is pinned) 17. Qb3 Rxe4 18. Qxb6 axb6 (The queen pin problem is solved but the knights are in deep trouble)  19. c3 c5 (White is losing a piece) 0-1

​

This is magic. You come home, boot up your laptop, open ICC (www.chessclub.com) and there it is, a grandmaster accepting challenges in your rating zone. So you click on the challenge quickly before someone beats you to it because free games against GMs are rare. 

​I lost the first 3 0 blitz game but came back nicely after my 2500-rated opponent made some big mistakes. Normally I wouldn't show a game like this but there is a mate at the end. That makes it fun.

Who did you play against this week?

[Event "ICC 3 0"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2018.01.10"]
[Round "?"]
[White "NCM Vas Sladek"]
[Black "GM OREY"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A40"]
[WhiteElo "2046"]
[BlackElo "2503"]
[PlyCount "43"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
1. d4 Nc6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Bg5 f6 4. Bh4 g5 5. Bg3 Nh6 6. h3 Nf5 7. Bh2 h5 8. Bg1
g4 9. hxg4 hxg4 10. Rxh8 gxf3 11. gxf3 Nfxd4 12. e3 Nf5 13. f4 Be6 14. Bd3 Qd7
15. Qh5+ Bf7 16. Qxf5 Qd6 17. c3 e5 18. Bh2 e4 19. Bb5 Ke7 20. Rh7 Nd8 21. Nd2
Qb6 22. Qd7# 1-0 (See diagram below). 
​

NCM Vas Sladek- Tiger S, ICC

This game was a bit comical. Black tried to mate the White King but he escaped with g4. Then the tables turned and White constructed his own mating net. This time there was no escape.

So remember, Rooks and Knights can work together to mate the King. 

​


29. Rxb5 Re1+ 30. Kh2 Nd3 31. f3 Nf2 32. g4 (escape!) a4 33. Ra5 Rc1 34. Rxa4 Rxc3 35.
Nf5 g6 36. Ra8+ Kf7 37. Ra7+ Kg8 38. Ne7+ Kh8 39. Nd5 Rc6 40. Rf7 Ra6 41. Nxf6 Diagram; and mate on h7 follows.)
1-0

​

Take a look at the position below. Black's bishop is very bad on a8 and he has no counterplay which means White gets to have fun by attacking. Can Black survive?

White to move!

​

​
27. f6! (This is a classic attacking thrust you must remember) gxf6 28. Rxf6 Qd8  29. Rd1 a5 30. Qxh6 {
NCM Vas won by resignation} 1-0 Qg5+ and Rh6 mate follow.

White to play and win! (Level: easy)

I sometimes follow titled players online when I'm too tired to play my own games. And sometimes I get rewarded with an instructive game.

​Point 1: According to GM Nunn the Scandinavian is a bit passive. I play it sometimes in blitz games but there are better openings for Black.

​Point 2: Black fails to get counterplay and only plays with his Queen. By the time his pawns start rolling with b5 it's too late.

​Point 3: Watch how the GM attacks without rushing; he avoids trading Queens, and finds the final crushing rook sacrifice Rxf7! His target was clear from very early on. 

[Event "ICC 60 30 u"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2017.12.30"]
[Round "1"]
[White "GM Zonata"]
[Black "IM Andrei Deev"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B01"]
[Annotator "Vas"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2018.01.02"]
[SourceVersionDate "2018.01.02"]
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. g3 Nf6 5. Bg2 c6 6. h3 Bf5 7. Nf3 e6 8. O-O
Nbd7 9. d4 Be7 10. Bf4 O-O 11. a3 Nd5 12. Nxd5 cxd5 13. Ne5 Nxe5 14. Bxe5 Qb6
15. Ra2 Rac8 16. c3 Bd6 17. g4 Bg6 18. f4 Bxe5 19. fxe5 Qa6 20. Ra1 Rc7 21. h4
Qd3 22. Qe1 (no Queen trades) h5 23. Rd1 Qb5 24. gxh5 Bxh5 25. Rd2 Qc4 26. Qe3 b5 (too late to drum up counterplay) 27. Qg5 g6 28. Bf3 Bxf3 29. Rxf3 (one defender is eliminated) Qa2 30. Rf1 Kh7 31. h5 Rg8 32. Rg2 Qc4 33. hxg6+ Rxg6 34. Rxf7+ ! Rxf7 35. Qxg6+ Kh8 36. Rh2+ 1-0

​