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From the
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April 6th, 2003

Your chance to pick the brain of one of the world's leading GMs, chess teachers, and authors!  Learn more about Nigel's teaching philosophy and check out his very reasonable rates.  Visit his website, Tiger Chess, loaded with instructional articles.

Ask the Tiger Your Question Now!

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Q: I am about to play a big tournament here in the USA. How do you prepare for a tournament technically and psychologically? With kind regards, Diego

A: The main thing is keep a clear head and to keep concerns (both chess and non-chess) to a minimum. Your technical preparation should be in keeping with this and you should solve any specific worries that you have in the opening.

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Q: I was at the recent Huddersfield chess tournament and was able also to see you there. How do you prepare for these taxing 5 round tournaments, and what advice could you give me for preparing? Thanks, Mark

A: If you're facing a tough schedule it certainly helps to stay in reasonable shape. I go to the gym every day at 6am, keep coffee down to one cup a day and try to get plenty of sleep.

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Q: I'm 54 and have a USCF rating of 1900. I'm been at this rating for
years. I play on ICC quite often so, it's not like I don't play enough.
What would you suggest I do to become an expert? Thanks Greg Sanford

A: The answer will vary from person to person and it may not be possible at all. Playing a lot on the ICC is not necessarily a good thing as I guess you're playing a lot of blitz.

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Q: Who were the players in this week's "Position of the Week"? A very nice combination indeed... best regards Gabor Gyuricza (from Budapest)

A: I've got no idea. But you could try a position search in ChessBase!


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Q: What I need to understand from a GM is this: Your openings' choice flow from your style of play. Goddem it! How to know the kind of player I am?  Is there some kind of tests? Don't tell me that I need a trainer to see what is my style!

I end up with 1.c4 after years (around 15) playing 1.d4 because of the
quantity of theory behind it. With 1.c4 I can see my opponents less
comfortable, maybe because there is less books on this opening. Of course 1.c4 tends to transpose to 1.d4. I don't like to play against 1.d4 kind of structure: I'm talking about the Slav and the King Indian type.

On the black side I opted for the Slav against 1.d4 but tried recently to reply with 1...f5 for very slow play. Against 1.e4 I prefer the Pirc and try sometimes the Counter Center with big deception. On other moves I play a King Indian structure type.

Also, to help you to figure out who I am, I like Karpov's patience when
mobilizing his pieces and Petrosian's way to play the middlegame.
Kasparov's openings knowledge is too much to grasp for a 1800 elo player like me.

Do you think you can see my style from what I'm playing in the openings
without seeing a single game of mine? Could you really help me?

Pierre from Canada

A: The way someone's personality is reflected in their chess is often quite subtle; I don't think it's dictated by their choices of openings. It's better to focus on playing good moves and making the best results that you can. Your opening choices should be dictated by how well or badly you score with them.

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Q: A friend and I have been playing one or two quick games a day at work and I have written the last ten down, brought them and put them in chessbaselight to analyze. I have noticed that being novices ( I have a uscf rating of 1300) we continually make the same tactical mistakes. I try to study at least 30 minutes a day and read Chessville's wisdom section everyday but I don't see any improvement. I have actually taken a downhill turn and lost the last 3 games. I feel I have reached a plateau and can't get over the hump so to speak. I am starting to feel burned out and taking some time off. So my question how do you stay motivated to keep playing? Sincerely, Jerry Fultz

A: If you feel 'burned out' it's good to take a break, and I've often taken some time off myself. People play their best when they're 'hungry'.

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Q: I am a 2300 USCF and neither I nor Crafty could find the win for white in the "position of the week" on the page where I found "Ask the Tiger":
white (to move): Kg1, Qd1, Ra1, Rf1, Be2, Nd4, p: a2, c2, c4, d5, f2, g3,
h2
black: Kc8, Qh3, Rd8, Rg6, Bd7, Nc6, p: a7, b7, c7, e6, f7, f6, h7

...Rh6 just looms too large. So, Tiger, I'm asking.

A: White should sac the queen with 1.dxc6 Bxc6 2.Nxc6, e.g. 2...Rxd1 3.Rfxd1 bxc6 4.c5 etc. I'm surprised that Crafty didn't find this.

[Editor's note: this position was given as the position of the week in the April 6th, 2003 issue of The Chessville Weekly.  The complete solution given there was: 1.dxc6 Bxc6  1...Rh6 2.cxb7+ Kxb7 3.Nf3 Kc8 4.c5 Bb5 ( Slightly better may be 4...Rg8 5.Rb1 Rg5 6.Rb8+ Kxb8 7.Qxd7 but the text line is more interesting) 5.Bxb5 Rxd1 6.Rfxd1 Kb7 7.Rab1 Qg4 and Mr. Fritz says there are at least two different mates-in-eight for White in this position.  Have fun!  2.Nxc6 bxc6  2...Rxd1 3.Rfxd1 b6 ( 3...bxc6 4.c5 with mate soon to follow.) 4.Rd8+ Kb7 5.Bf3 Rh6 6.Nb4+ c6 7.Bxc6+ Kc7 8.Rd7+ Kc8 9.Rad1 Qxh2+ 10.Kf1 Qh3+ 11.Bg2 Qh1+ All other moves lead to a quick(er) mate.  3.c5 See the notes to the previous variation if you want to know why Black doesn't just take the Queen. 3...Rd5 4.Ba6+ Kd7 5.Qe2 and White is a piece up.]

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Q: My name is Jeroen. I live in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and I have a question about learning openings. I know the ideas about the openings I play, but I often get in inferior positions against stronger opponents in
the opening.  I would thus like to learn the techniques to study concrete lines as I - like most people - have limited time and want to use that wisely.  Thanks in advance for your thoughts. Greetings, Jeroen.

A: I wouldn't recommend trying to study concrete lines at all. It's better to try and deepen your understanding by studying complete games with notes by strong players.

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Q: Do you have an opinion on the Urusov Gambit? Is it just too complicated for over-the-board play? Is it strong enough to stand up to IMs and GMs? Someone at Chessville suggested you've been looking at it....  Likely you have read Tim Harding's latest installment of the Kibitzer where he looks at the latest theory:

http://www.chesscafe.com/TIM/kibb.htm and perhaps the website he reviews: http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~goeller/urusov.html

Any opinion?

A: I don't really have an opinion but I can offer a simple and practical antidote. After 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nf3 I see that Black can, if he wants, transpose into a Two Knights Defence with 4...Nc6. This is known to be rather harmless.

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Q: I have decided to study tactics using CT-ART 3.0 and to facilitate the
studies, I have chosen to develop an opening for each side comprised of
Gambits. Could you recommend a solid Gambit opening against 1d4? Matt Burress

A: I wouldn't be so quick to give away pawns if you want solidity! But the Chigorin and Gruenfeld Defences may be suitable as they have a high tactical content.

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Q: My question is in regards to the Grunfeld defense. See, my coach and I have a difference of opinion in the position that results from:  1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 0-0 8.Ne2 c5 9.0-0 Nc6 10.Be3 cxd4 11.cxd4 Bg4 12.f3 Na5 13.Bxf7+ Rxf7 14.fxg4 Rxf1+ 15.Kxf1

There are three moves that I know of from theory:
A) 15. ... Qd6 [ Kasparov's ]
B) 15. ... e5
C) 15. ... Qd7
My coach thinks that C) with the idea of following up with b5 - a6 (or a5) - Rd8 - and e6 is good for black. However, statistics from www.chessbase.com show that black is struggling to get a draw...
I believe that A) is by far more dynamic... Statistics are balanced here.
Coach and I think that 15. ... e5 is a bit too premature and stiff...
Question: Which plan is best for black in your expert opinion?

A: I don't have an opinion on this variation, but I'd recommend that you stand by your own convictions and play it your way. You learn by playing your own moves and making your own mistakes. Not other peoples....

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- GM Nigel Davies,  Tiger Chess

Ask the Tiger Your Question Now!

[Index of Ask the Tiger Columns]

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