Exeter Juniors 1-3 Broadclyst Primary 6th June 2014

Having won our other two matches, we went into our last game with league
victory assured, and so we ventured a younger team against Broadclyst
Primary School, who for so long have been the core of Devon’s junior
squad.

When Ethan missed the start and Henry out-tricked himself, it looked as
though we were going to struggle for any sort of result. Oliver set up
a solid fortress while Redmond went fishing for chances against his
opponent’s King. After Redmond hooked a mate and Oliver’s castle was
breached, we went home with just one point.

Ethan finally found the venue, and salvaged some honour by defeating the
home side’s top board in a friendly game.

Games to follow!



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  • The chess family tree

    Last week the juniors saw the game of Shogi played. It’s the sort of chess played in Japan, and by our new friends Kaz and Hatzune. How is Shogi related to the sort of chess that we normally play?

    When I first looked at the history of Western Chess, I thought that the original game was Chaturanga, a game played in India before 600AD. Chess as played in other countries seems to come from the Arab form of Chess called Shatranj. And that is what I used to tell people.

    Chaturanga --> Shatranj --> Medieval chess --> Modern Western chess
                            ---------------------> Chinese Chess (Xiang-Chi)
                            ---------------------> Japanese Chess (Shogi)
    

    But I now believe that the best picture that fits what we know says that Chaturanga and Shatranj were both later forms of an original game, which we don’t know much about.

    Sort-of-Chess --> Chaturanga 
    --> Shatranj --> Medieval chess --> Modern Western chess
    ---------------------> Chinese Chess (Xiang-Chi)
    ---------------------> Japanese Chess (Shogi)

    There are lots of different sorts of chess around the world that seem to come from the same stock, including:

    Shatar (Mongolian Chess)
    Sittuyin (Burmese Chess)
    Makruk (Thai Chess)

    Each form of chess seems to have its own special rule that makes the game come alive. Burmese chess is the only sort of chess where you can decide where to put your pieces at the start of the game; Japanese chess is the only sort of chess that uses the ‘drops’ that we see in Exchange Chess; Chinese Chess is the only sort of chess that has the Cannon piece; modern Western Chess is the only sort of chess that has the super-duper Queen. (In fact, our game used to be called le Jeu de la Dame enragée — the game with the Mad Queen.)

    You can read about all these different sorts of chess here:
    http://chessvariants.org/
    http://www.ancientchess.com/page/free-downloads.htm

  • 20 October — No club night next week!

    Welcome to James!

    No club night next week (27th October) for Half-term.

    I am copying old posts from old websites and reminded myself of Mr.B’s interest in Otto Blathy’s ‘grotesque’ chess problems, and tried one out this evening: the first one on this page – Grotesque!

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  • Exeter Juniors 1½-2½ Sidmouth UPDATED

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    {White avoided an early Queen swap, which might have been a nuisance, but it
    was a move leading out of the frying pan into the fire.}

    {Black improvised in the opening and while trying to sort out the position
    wasted a lot of the time that should be used to develop and get castled.
    White crashed through the middle to win.}

    See also: http://exeterchessclub.org.uk/content/making-it-you-go-along

    {An early mistake by Black left White needing only to avoid an accident to win}

    {Black wasn’t playing badly but overlooked a few simple threats by White to go
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  • |

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    Welcome back to some old friends we missed last week, and a warm welcome to Reuben, Dylan and Teddy.

    Sorry I didn’t get around to printing a rating list this week — Tuesday proved to be a longer day at work than I expected! — but they’re all there on the website and updated this evening.

  • |

    Puzzle corner

    Mr.B was always very good at producing a puzzle for us each week. Today’s puzzle comes from Mr.Lees — many thanks!

    You’re Black, and you can checkmate White in two moves (you move, White moves, then you play checkmate).

    SOLUTION: reveal by clicking the [ > ] button.

  • Our first match

    Our First Match

    Well, ouch! We lost four-nil, but I hope you thought that, however
    big and strong they were, they weren’t that much better than us, and
    they didn’t do anything very special to beat us. (Is that a good
    thing?)  But I was very pleased and proud with how well you
    played, how well you fought, and how well you concentrated.  It
    wouldn’t have needed much luck for us to come away with 2-2. 
    They’re just tall, that’s all…

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di1-bB1w4wM

    In the end, we fell
    for a few simple tactics and there were a couple of chances that we
    missed, and that all comes with time and practice.
    The best books to start to practice spotting tactics are the blue one I
    wrote with Tim ([b]Chess Puzzles in One
    Move[/b]) and a yellow book by Tony Gillam, [b]Simple Chess Tactics[/b]. If you think
    those are too easy, try the website http://chess.emrald.net/

    These will help, but the main thing is to [b]think for both sides[/b]. There’s
    no point in spotting all the ideas for your side, but ignoring what
    your opponent can do to you.   Check each check and each
    capture on every move.

    Also, we do need some better openings to put pressure on our
    opponents. I have written a little guide that I think I’ve given to all
    the team players, but everyone can have a copy
    [url=/chessx/ftp/JuniorRepertoire.pdf]PDF[/url]
    if they like. The idea is
    to play the Scotch Gambit against 1…e5 and to go for IQP positions
    against everything else.

    [blockquote]
    “[em]There are no hopeless positions; there are only inferior positions
    that can be saved.

    There are no drawn positions; there are only equal ones in which you
    can play for a win.

    But at the same time, don’t forget that there is no such thing as a won
    position in which it is impossible to lose.[/em]”

    — Grigory SANAKOEV
    [blockquote]
    “[em]Playing safe is too dangerous[/em]” — Dr.Dave.

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