Grandmaster Theatre - The Case of the Disappearing Rook!!! - OzChess

**Just2Good** · 05-10-2008, 02:23 PM

Friends, comrades, children and parents. Please gather around the fire. Tonight I have a special treat for you. It an old favorite, one that was nearly lost in the heat of battle, but, thanks to some quick thinking and conjuring up a threat when no threat really existed, I saved the day and led celebratory parades down the streets of Brisbane.

Yes, everybody loves the parades ... all hell seems to break loose when there are no parades because some Grandmaster failed to play the right move at the right time.

But I digress (clap, clap) take your seats everyone, the tale is about to begin.

The Case of the Disappearing Rook!!!

White: Ryan Stevens ACF Rating 1850
Black: Alex Toolsie - ACF Rating 1454

1. e4 e6
2. d4 d5
3. Nc3 Nf6
4. Bg5 Be7
5. e5

Black is confronted by his first major choice of the game, to play Ne4 or the safer Ivanchuk style Nd7!

The Great Chess Oracle recommends ....

[spoil=Great Chess Oracle's Advice] 1.) ... Nfd7
2.) Bxe7 Qxe7[/spoil]

5.) ... Nfd7
6. Bxe7 Qxe7
7. f4

We reach the position below. Black must be very careful here. While the general idea of the French is to place pressure on the d4 square with the c5 thrust, if Black plays that immediately the result will be disasterous because White's c3 knight will get into b5 and then d6 with malicious intent!

**Just2Good** · 05-10-2008, 02:45 PM

7.) ... a6!
8.) Nf3 c5
9.) Bd3

Very tempting for Black is c4 followed up by b5, claiming a huge chunk of White's Queenside. But I wasn't in the mood for Queenside domination. Dynamiting pieces to oblivion has always been my number 1 preference, so piece development was needed.

9.) ... Nc6
10.) O-O cxd4
11.) Ne2 Nc5
12.) Nexd4

**Just2Good** · 05-10-2008, 02:56 PM

The Great Chess Oracle recommends ....

Spoiler for Great Chess Oracle's Advice:

However, I thought the moves I played are almost as good.

12. Nexd4 Nxd4
13. Nxd4 Nxd3
14. Qxd3 Bd7

By most measures this is equal with a slight edge to White because of his well placed central Knight. But he no longer has enough pieces to instigate a serious attack or break anything open. Given his 400 point rating advantage over me, the pressure is on him to win and with this equal position, I'm really quite content with the board here.

15.) Kh1 h4!

I had to think about this move a while because obviously it makes castling Kingside less appealing, but I thought 'what the hell?'. My king for the time being seems relatively safe in the centre, so lets have some fun!

**Just2Good** · 05-10-2008, 03:12 PM

16. Rae1 h4
17. f5

Now I am starting to feel a tad uncomfortable here. Obviously if White gets f6 in, my Queen won't be able to get into the action on the Kingside. But the Great Chess Oracle actually says my position has improved after f5, and recommends I play ...

Spoiler for Great Chess Oracle's Advice:

17. ... Qg5
18. Qc3

This is actually a pain in the neck move preventing me from Castling Queenside, which was precisely my plan if things got a bit too hot on the Kingside. Now the obvious option of Rc8 to kick the Queen will ruin my escape plan!

**Just2Good** · 05-10-2008, 03:23 PM

18. ... Rc8
19. Qa3

The nerve of some people! Now he is stuffing up my ability to Castle Kingside!!!!

19.) ...Rc4
20.) f6

Okay, clearly I can't take the Knight because there is a slight checkmate threat to worry about. The Great Chess Oracle says ...

Spoiler for Great Chess Oracle:

**Just2Good** · 05-10-2008, 03:33 PM

20. ... gxf6
21. exf6 Kd8
22. Qe7+ Kc8
23. Nf3

I spent at least 10 minutes on this next move! Okay, I've got a few issues to sort out here. Namely, how to keep my ship afloat! The threats are obvious, and most serious is the Ne5. I'd love to play Qg6 but then I'd get forked. That pretty much makes my options Qg8 to protect the f7 pawn, or Qh5. I decided to keep the pressue on the g file, so I played the same move the Great Chess Oracle recommends ...

23.) ... Qg8
24.) Ne5

Okay, my rook is under attack, bishop is under attack, and f7 is pawn under attack. I am in that unhappy spot every chess player sometimes finds themselves in, having to choose between various unpleasant options. In the end I think to myself that the fall of the f7 pawn is actually my greatest worry as the flood gates would open and I'd get slaughtered. Contrast this to the fall of the rook which opens up the a8-h1 diagonal which could lead to counter play for my bishop later on. So I play ....

**Just2Good** · 05-10-2008, 03:42 PM

24. ... Be8 (which the Great Chess Oracle also recommends I might add)

25. Nxc4 dxc4

Okay, I am actually still in the game after this exchange. This isn't so bad, even though I am behind the eight ball here. But then my opponent does something so strange, so mysterious, so unexpected, that I entitled this tale ... The Case of the Disappearing Rook!

26. Rxe6!?

His plan is obvious, he thinks he can cause enough problems with his f7 pawn to compensate for the rook sacrifice. But does he??? What would the Great Chess Oracle say?

Spoiler for Great Chess Oracle Says:

**Just2Good** · 05-10-2008, 03:51 PM

26.) ... fxe6
27.) f7 Qf8 (recommended by the Great Chess Oracle as well)
28.) Qxe6+

28. ... Bd7
29. Qxc4+ Bc6

The Great Chess Oracle only has White winning by +0.57 now.

**Just2Good** · 05-10-2008, 03:56 PM

30. Re1 Kb8 (Also a Shredder recommend move, not h3 which also looks playable)
31. h3 Ka8
32. Qe6

This is where I make a horrendus potentially game ending move!!!!

I play ....

32. .... Rh6?

and he misses his opportunity and plays

33.) Qxc6??

The mistake we both made was thinking that the c6 bishop actually adequately protected the e8 square. It doesn't

**Just2Good** · 05-10-2008, 04:06 PM

33.) ... Rxc6 (not bxc6 which loses)
34.) Re8+

I don't know if he saw this simple defensive move, but after ...

34.) Rc8 this game is in the bag.

I won't bother you too much with the remaining moves, but I did manage to misplay the endgame a bit and reached this unhappy position after he played Kb6.

Lucky for me there is one move that completely shuts White down. Can you see it?

Spoiler for Grandmaster Arrogant-One's Shut Down Move:

The full game can be found here

**vagrantnomad** · 05-13-2008, 08:47 PM

skillfull play and very entertaining !!!!

**Just2Good** · 05-14-2008, 09:53 AM

Originally Posted by vagrantnomad

skillfull play and very entertaining !!!!

Bowing (gracefully) centre stage.

Roaring Applause!!!

Bowing (gracefully) stage left.

Roaring Applause!!!

Bowing (gracefully) stage right.

Roaring Applause!!!

Exiting stage.

Applause Diminishing!!!

**vagrantnomad** · 05-21-2008, 09:33 PM

your 34th move is the best!!!!!!!

**Just2Good** · 05-30-2008, 01:49 PM

Originally Posted by vagrantnomad

your 34th move is the best!!!!!!!

Yes! Those Queen scarifices are always a crowd pleaser!!!!

05-10-2008, 02:23 PM	#1 (permalink)
Just2Good Tin Cup Champ 2004 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Cairns Posts: 6,233 ICC Handle: Advantage FICS Handle: Advantage	Grandmaster Theatre - The Case of the Disappearing Rook!!! Friends, comrades, children and parents. Please gather around the fire. Tonight I have a special treat for you. It an old favorite, one that was nearly lost in the heat of battle, but, thanks to some quick thinking and conjuring up a threat when no threat really existed, I saved the day and led celebratory parades down the streets of Brisbane. Yes, everybody loves the parades ... all hell seems to break loose when there are no parades because some Grandmaster failed to play the right move at the right time. But I digress (clap, clap) take your seats everyone, the tale is about to begin. The Case of the Disappearing Rook!!! White: Ryan Stevens ACF Rating 1850 Black: Alex Toolsie - ACF Rating 1454 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Black is confronted by his first major choice of the game, to play Ne4 or the safer Ivanchuk style Nd7! The Great Chess Oracle recommends .... [spoil=Great Chess Oracle's Advice] 1.) ... Nfd7 2.) Bxe7 Qxe7[/spoil] 5.) ... Nfd7 6. Bxe7 Qxe7 7. f4 We reach the position below. Black must be very careful here. While the general idea of the French is to place pressure on the d4 square with the c5 thrust, if Black plays that immediately the result will be disasterous because White's c3 knight will get into b5 and then d6 with malicious intent! __________________ . "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing." ~ Isaiah Berlin ~

05-10-2008, 02:45 PM	#2 (permalink)
Just2Good Tin Cup Champ 2004 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Cairns Posts: 6,233 ICC Handle: Advantage FICS Handle: Advantage	Part 2 7.) ... a6! 8.) Nf3 c5 9.) Bd3 Very tempting for Black is c4 followed up by b5, claiming a huge chunk of White's Queenside. But I wasn't in the mood for Queenside domination. Dynamiting pieces to oblivion has always been my number 1 preference, so piece development was needed. 9.) ... Nc6 10.) O-O cxd4 11.) Ne2 Nc5 12.) Nexd4 __________________ . "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing." ~ Isaiah Berlin ~

05-10-2008, 02:56 PM	#3 (permalink)
Just2Good Tin Cup Champ 2004 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Cairns Posts: 6,233 ICC Handle: Advantage FICS Handle: Advantage	Part 3 The Great Chess Oracle recommends .... Spoiler for Great Chess Oracle's Advice: 12.) ... O-O 13.) c3 Bd7 14.) Bc2 f6 with a +0.57 advantage to White. However, I thought the moves I played are almost as good. 12. Nexd4 Nxd4 13. Nxd4 Nxd3 14. Qxd3 Bd7 By most measures this is equal with a slight edge to White because of his well placed central Knight. But he no longer has enough pieces to instigate a serious attack or break anything open. Given his 400 point rating advantage over me, the pressure is on him to win and with this equal position, I'm really quite content with the board here. 15.) Kh1 h4! I had to think about this move a while because obviously it makes castling Kingside less appealing, but I thought 'what the hell?'. My king for the time being seems relatively safe in the centre, so lets have some fun! __________________ . "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing." ~ Isaiah Berlin ~

05-10-2008, 03:12 PM	#4 (permalink)
Just2Good Tin Cup Champ 2004 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Cairns Posts: 6,233 ICC Handle: Advantage FICS Handle: Advantage	Part 4 16. Rae1 h4 17. f5 Now I am starting to feel a tad uncomfortable here. Obviously if White gets f6 in, my Queen won't be able to get into the action on the Kingside. But the Great Chess Oracle actually says my position has improved after f5, and recommends I play ... Spoiler for Great Chess Oracle's Advice: h3 or O-O-O, with the slightest edge to Castling Queenside (+0.57) 17. ... Qg5 18. Qc3 This is actually a pain in the neck move preventing me from Castling Queenside, which was precisely my plan if things got a bit too hot on the Kingside. Now the obvious option of Rc8 to kick the Queen will ruin my escape plan! __________________ . "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing." ~ Isaiah Berlin ~

05-10-2008, 03:23 PM	#5 (permalink)
Just2Good Tin Cup Champ 2004 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Cairns Posts: 6,233 ICC Handle: Advantage FICS Handle: Advantage	Part 5 18. ... Rc8 19. Qa3 The nerve of some people! Now he is stuffing up my ability to Castle Kingside!!!! 19.) ...Rc4 20.) f6 Okay, clearly I can't take the Knight because there is a slight checkmate threat to worry about. The Great Chess Oracle says ... Spoiler for Great Chess Oracle: White is winning by 1.63 points. __________________ . "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing." ~ Isaiah Berlin ~

05-10-2008, 03:33 PM	#6 (permalink)
Just2Good Tin Cup Champ 2004 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Cairns Posts: 6,233 ICC Handle: Advantage FICS Handle: Advantage	Part 6 20. ... gxf6 21. exf6 Kd8 22. Qe7+ Kc8 23. Nf3 I spent at least 10 minutes on this next move! Okay, I've got a few issues to sort out here. Namely, how to keep my ship afloat! The threats are obvious, and most serious is the Ne5. I'd love to play Qg6 but then I'd get forked. That pretty much makes my options Qg8 to protect the f7 pawn, or Qh5. I decided to keep the pressue on the g file, so I played the same move the Great Chess Oracle recommends ... 23.) ... Qg8 24.) Ne5 Okay, my rook is under attack, bishop is under attack, and f7 is pawn under attack. I am in that unhappy spot every chess player sometimes finds themselves in, having to choose between various unpleasant options. In the end I think to myself that the fall of the f7 pawn is actually my greatest worry as the flood gates would open and I'd get slaughtered. Contrast this to the fall of the rook which opens up the a8-h1 diagonal which could lead to counter play for my bishop later on. So I play .... __________________ . "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing." ~ Isaiah Berlin ~

05-10-2008, 03:42 PM	#7 (permalink)
Just2Good Tin Cup Champ 2004 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Cairns Posts: 6,233 ICC Handle: Advantage FICS Handle: Advantage	Part 7 24. ... Be8 (which the Great Chess Oracle also recommends I might add) 25. Nxc4 dxc4 Okay, I am actually still in the game after this exchange. This isn't so bad, even though I am behind the eight ball here. But then my opponent does something so strange, so mysterious, so unexpected, that I entitled this tale ... The Case of the Disappearing Rook! 26. Rxe6!? His plan is obvious, he thinks he can cause enough problems with his f7 pawn to compensate for the rook sacrifice. But does he??? What would the Great Chess Oracle say? Spoiler for Great Chess Oracle Says: White is only up +0.76 after this move! __________________ . "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing." ~ Isaiah Berlin ~

05-10-2008, 03:51 PM	#8 (permalink)
Just2Good Tin Cup Champ 2004 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Cairns Posts: 6,233 ICC Handle: Advantage FICS Handle: Advantage	Part 8 26.) ... fxe6 27.) f7 Qf8 (recommended by the Great Chess Oracle as well) 28.) Qxe6+ 28. ... Bd7 29. Qxc4+ Bc6 The Great Chess Oracle only has White winning by +0.57 now. __________________ . "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing." ~ Isaiah Berlin ~

05-10-2008, 03:56 PM	#9 (permalink)
Just2Good Tin Cup Champ 2004 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Cairns Posts: 6,233 ICC Handle: Advantage FICS Handle: Advantage	Part 9 30. Re1 Kb8 (Also a Shredder recommend move, not h3 which also looks playable) 31. h3 Ka8 32. Qe6 This is where I make a horrendus potentially game ending move!!!! I play .... 32. .... Rh6? and he misses his opportunity and plays 33.) Qxc6?? The mistake we both made was thinking that the c6 bishop actually adequately protected the e8 square. It doesn't __________________ . "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing." ~ Isaiah Berlin ~

05-10-2008, 04:06 PM	#10 (permalink)
Just2Good Tin Cup Champ 2004 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Cairns Posts: 6,233 ICC Handle: Advantage FICS Handle: Advantage	Part 8 33.) ... Rxc6 (not bxc6 which loses) 34.) Re8+ I don't know if he saw this simple defensive move, but after ... 34.) Rc8 this game is in the bag. I won't bother you too much with the remaining moves, but I did manage to misplay the endgame a bit and reached this unhappy position after he played Kb6. Lucky for me there is one move that completely shuts White down. Can you see it? Spoiler for Grandmaster Arrogant-One's Shut Down Move: Rb2! The full game can be found here __________________ . "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing." ~ Isaiah Berlin ~

05-13-2008, 08:47 PM	#11 (permalink)
vagrantnomad Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: qld at the moment Posts: 272	skillfull play and very entertaining !!!! Last edited by vagrantnomad : 05-13-2008 at 08:48 PM Reason: play of the day!

05-14-2008, 09:53 AM	#12 (permalink)
Just2Good Tin Cup Champ 2004 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Cairns Posts: 6,233 ICC Handle: Advantage FICS Handle: Advantage	Thank you, thank you - you are too kind. Originally Posted by vagrantnomad skillfull play and very entertaining !!!! Bowing (gracefully) centre stage. Roaring Applause!!! Bowing (gracefully) stage left. Roaring Applause!!! Bowing (gracefully) stage right. Roaring Applause!!! Exiting stage. Applause Diminishing!!! __________________ . "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing." ~ Isaiah Berlin ~

05-21-2008, 09:33 PM	#13 (permalink)
vagrantnomad Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: qld at the moment Posts: 272	your 34th move is the best!!!!!!!

05-30-2008, 01:49 PM	#14 (permalink)
Just2Good Tin Cup Champ 2004 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Cairns Posts: 6,233 ICC Handle: Advantage FICS Handle: Advantage	Originally Posted by vagrantnomad your 34th move is the best!!!!!!! Yes! Those Queen scarifices are always a crowd pleaser!!!! __________________ . "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing." ~ Isaiah Berlin ~

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread: