Tis_Your_Move_Chess

Welcome back! Some more chess puzzle fun for everyone today - challenging or warm up puzzles to get your day moving along. Hope you enjoy them. Good chess skill, show lots of will and good chess luck! Look at Forcing Moves! Have a good one ~ S

Four fine puzzles and a quick game in the form of a chess movie! Hope you enjoy today’s selection - happy solving! Feel free to leave your solutions in the comments section down below. Thanks again for watching, wishing you and yours all the best in this life - S.

Three to grow on and a game to boot! Enjoy sharpening your tactics and may you play with much skill and good chess luck in your upcoming games! Have a great weekend! ~ S

Three more puzzles for you today! Remember to check your line pieces, every arm of the “octopi” and to check your forcing moves! Good skill and good chess luck to you as Pal Benko used to say! Make your best moves - at every opportunity, each and every day! ~ S

Three entertaining chess puzzles for you today plus a brief Oregon City Chess Club Photo Gallery! Brian, Karl, and Greg run a fine chess club so for those of you who are local to Oregon City or located in the Pacific Northwest. This chess club is one of your go to chess scenes. Add to your Sunday chess adventures with a visit to the Lucky lab off of Hawthorne in Portland Oregon for the PORTLAND CHESS MEET-UP and you have yourself a nice day full of chess! Say Hello to Geoff Kenway if you stop in at his club! Make it a great day - carpe diem! ~ S

Greetings and Welcome Back! We have one chess puzzle drawn up from a game I played against an Expert at the Oregon City Chess Club this past Sunday. I hope you enjoy this creative effort of mine! Feel free to leave comments down below and Thanks for watching! Wishing you and yours all the best ~ Sean

We have a newly minted Chess Champion of the World! It was all decided in the fourth Action tie-break game… Very exciting and educational stuff. Enjoy! Sean

Game fourteen of the World Chess Championship: Drawn! A quick summary of the game: Fairly straightforward Nimzo-Indian opening until Ding Liren got aggressive with the White pieces but Ian Nepomniachtchi didn’t take any fishing pole like bait and the game saw exchanges with Ding then offering his g-pawn to create an imbalance in the chessboard fields of force - which ultimately saw Ian take contro of the game with winning chances. That is until his move …e5 which he himself was critical of in the post game press conference. Ding Liren may have made a mistake when he opted for Ke2 in an earlier position instead of Kd2. Ultimately Ding Liren found a plan to draw the game a pawn down and did so - both players having exhaust themselves by playing the longest game of the match during the final fourteenth game of regulation play. So the match ended in a seven to seven point tie with the playoffs being conducted tomorrow. So one of these two players will be crowned FIDE King before the end of the day tomorrow! One game relevant warm-up puzzle and then a question about the best move during the actual game. Computer people are and have probably found many improvements for both sides. It is even suggested in some quarters that Ian missed a win during the game… Game 14 World Chess Championship Match Ding Liren vs Ian Nepomniachtchi 1.d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd2 d5 6. a3 Be7 7. Nf3 c5 8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. Qc2 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Nbd7 11. Rd1 Be7 12. Ng5 h6 13. h4 Qc7 14. Be2 Rd8 15. Rc1 Nf8 16. Nge4 Nxe4 17. Nxe4 Qxc2 18. Rxc2 Bd7 19. Bb4 Bxb4+ 20. axb4 Bc6 21. Nc5 Bxg2 22. Rg1 Bd5 23. e4 Bc6 24. b5 Be8 25. Nxb7 Rd4 26. Rc4 Rd7 27. Nc5 Rc7 28. Rc3 Rac8 29. b4 Nd7 30. Rcg3 Nxc5 31. bxc5 Rxc5 32. Rxg7+ Kf8 33. Bd3 Rd8 34. Ke2 Rc3 35. Rg8+ Ke7 36. R1g3 e5 37. Rh8 Rd6 38. b6 Rxb6 39. Rxe8+ Kxe8 40. Bb5+ Rxb5 41. Rxc3 Kd7 42. Rf3 Ke7 43. Rc3 a5 44. Rc7+ Kf6 45. Rc6+ Kg7 46. Ra6 Rb2+ 47. Kf3 Ra2 48. Kg3 h5 49. Ra8 Ra1 50. Kg2 a4 51. Ra5 f6 52. Kf3 a3 53. Ra6 Kf7 54. Ke3 Ke8 55. Ke2 Ke7 56. Kf3 Ra2 57. Ke3 Ra1 58. Ke2 Kf7 59. Kf3 Ra2 60. Ke3 Ke7 61. Kf3 Kd7 62. Rxf6 Rb2 63. Ra6 Rb3+ 64. Kg2 Kc7 65. f4 exf4 66. e5 Kb7 67. Ra4 Kc6 68. Ra6+ Kb5 69. Ra7 Kb6 70. Ra8 Kc5 71. Ra6 Kb5 72. Ra7 Kb6 73. Ra8 Kc6 74. Ra6+ Kd7 75. Kf2 Ke7 76. Kg2 Re3 77. Kf2 Rg3 78. Kf1 Rc3 79. Kf2 Re3 80. Kg2 Kd7 81. Kf2 Kc7 82. e6 Kd8 83. Ra7 Ke8 84. Kg2 Rxe6 85. Rxa3 Rg6+ 86. Kf2 Rg4 87. Ra5 Rxh4 88. Kf3 Ke7 89. Rf5 Ke6 90. Rxf4 Rxf4+ 1/2-1/2 Enjoy and see you on the flip side - tomorrow! ~ Sean

Game fourteen of the World Chess Championship: Drawn! A quick summary of the game: Fairly straightforward Nimzo-Indian opening until Ding Liren got aggressive with the White pieces but Ian Nepomniachtchi didn’t take any fishing pole like bait and the game saw exchanges with Ding then offering his g-pawn to create an imbalance in the chessboard fields of force - which ultimately saw Ian take contro of the game with winning chances. That is until his move …e5 which he himself was critical of in the post game press conference. Ding Liren may have made a mistake when he opted for Ke2 in an earlier position instead of Kd2. Ultimately Ding Liren found a plan to draw the game a pawn down and did so - both players having exhaust themselves by playing the longest game of the match during the final fourteenth game of regulation play. So the match ended in a seven to seven point tie with the playoffs being conducted tomorrow. So one of these two players will be crowned FIDE King before the end of the day tomorrow! One game relevant warm-up puzzle and then a question about the best move during the actual game. Computer people are and have probably found many improvements for both sides. It is even suggested in some quarters that Ian missed a win during the game… Game 14 World Chess Championship Match Ding Liren vs Ian Nepomniachtchi 1.d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd2 d5 6. a3 Be7 7. Nf3 c5 8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. Qc2 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Nbd7 11. Rd1 Be7 12. Ng5 h6 13. h4 Qc7 14. Be2 Rd8 15. Rc1 Nf8 16. Nge4 Nxe4 17. Nxe4 Qxc2 18. Rxc2 Bd7 19. Bb4 Bxb4+ 20. axb4 Bc6 21. Nc5 Bxg2 22. Rg1 Bd5 23. e4 Bc6 24. b5 Be8 25. Nxb7 Rd4 26. Rc4 Rd7 27. Nc5 Rc7 28. Rc3 Rac8 29. b4 Nd7 30. Rcg3 Nxc5 31. bxc5 Rxc5 32. Rxg7+ Kf8 33. Bd3 Rd8 34. Ke2 Rc3 35. Rg8+ Ke7 36. R1g3 e5 37. Rh8 Rd6 38. b6 Rxb6 39. Rxe8+ Kxe8 40. Bb5+ Rxb5 41. Rxc3 Kd7 42. Rf3 Ke7 43. Rc3 a5 44. Rc7+ Kf6 45. Rc6+ Kg7 46. Ra6 Rb2+ 47. Kf3 Ra2 48. Kg3 h5 49. Ra8 Ra1 50. Kg2 a4 51. Ra5 f6 52. Kf3 a3 53. Ra6 Kf7 54. Ke3 Ke8 55. Ke2 Ke7 56. Kf3 Ra2 57. Ke3 Ra1 58. Ke2 Kf7 59. Kf3 Ra2 60. Ke3 Ke7 61. Kf3 Kd7 62. Rxf6 Rb2 63. Ra6 Rb3+ 64. Kg2 Kc7 65. f4 exf4 66. e5 Kb7 67. Ra4 Kc6 68. Ra6+ Kb5 69. Ra7 Kb6 70. Ra8 Kc5 71. Ra6 Kb5 72. Ra7 Kb6 73. Ra8 Kc6 74. Ra6+ Kd7 75. Kf2 Ke7 76. Kg2 Re3 77. Kf2 Rg3 78. Kf1 Rc3 79. Kf2 Re3 80. Kg2 Kd7 81. Kf2 Kc7 82. e6 Kd8 83. Ra7 Ke8 84. Kg2 Rxe6 85. Rxa3 Rg6+ 86. Kf2 Rg4 87. Ra5 Rxh4 88. Kf3 Ke7 89. Rf5 Ke6 90. Rxf4 Rxf4+ 1/2-1/2 Enjoy and see you on the flip side - tomorrow! ~ Sean

Greetings! Five chess puzzles for you today! We start off with the Easier puzzles and then finish off with a final challenging puzzle in the Intermediate category. As always people will have their strengths and weaknesses in tactical understanding so you may find some of these puzzles to be more or less challenging than advertised. But no matter what - solved or not - you will sharpen your tactics by tackling puzzles on a daily basis. So with that… Enjoy! ~ S PS Looks like Nepomniachtchi is on his way to winning game 14… Ding played sharply out of the opening and the game has gone back and forth between them both. Exciting game!

World Championship update: It potentially all ends tomorrow… GAME 14 will be played on Saturday, April 29th of 2023. Whomever wins tomorrow’s game wins the title of World Champion… If drawn then they go to the playoffs! Today we look at Game 13 briefly and then take a look at a chess puzzle to round out todays offering. Enjoy! GAME 13 pgn (From chessgames.com) [Event "FIDE World Championship 2023"] [Site "Astana, Kazakhstan"] [Date "2023.04.27"] [Round "13.1"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Liren, Ding"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [TimeControl "40/7200:20/3600:900+30"] [WhiteClock "00:24:09"] [BlackClock "00:26:07"] [WhiteFideId "4168119"] [BlackFideId "8603677"] [WhiteElo "2795"] [BlackElo "2788"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Bb7 10. Be3 Na5 11. Bc2 c5 12. Nbd2 Re8 13. a4 h6 14. d4 exd4 15. cxd4 cxd4 16. Nxd4 Nc4 17. Nxc4 bxc4 18. f3 Bf8 19. Bf2 d5 20. exd5 Nxd5 21. Be4 Re5 22. Rc1 Rc8 23. Ne2 Qe7 24. Qd4 f5 25. Bg3 Rxe4 26. fxe4 Qxe4 27. Qxe4 fxe4 28. Rfd1 Nb4 29. Rd7 Bc5+ 30. Kh2 Bc6 31. Rc7 Rxc7 32. Bxc7 Bd5 33. Nc3 Nd3 34. Rc2 Bc6 35. a5 Kf7 36. Re2 Nc1 37. Re1 Nd3 38. Re2 Nc1 39. Re1 Nd3 1/2-1/2 Stay free, stay healthy and be well ~ Sean

World Championship update: It potentially all ends tomorrow… GAME 14 will be played on Saturday, April 29th of 2023. Whomever wins tomorrow’s game wins the title of World Champion… If drawn then they go to the playoffs! Today we look at Game 13 briefly and then take a look at a chess puzzle to round out todays offering. Enjoy! GAME 13 pgn (From chessgames.com) [Event "FIDE World Championship 2023"] [Site "Astana, Kazakhstan"] [Date "2023.04.27"] [Round "13.1"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Liren, Ding"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [TimeControl "40/7200:20/3600:900+30"] [WhiteClock "00:24:09"] [BlackClock "00:26:07"] [WhiteFideId "4168119"] [BlackFideId "8603677"] [WhiteElo "2795"] [BlackElo "2788"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Bb7 10. Be3 Na5 11. Bc2 c5 12. Nbd2 Re8 13. a4 h6 14. d4 exd4 15. cxd4 cxd4 16. Nxd4 Nc4 17. Nxc4 bxc4 18. f3 Bf8 19. Bf2 d5 20. exd5 Nxd5 21. Be4 Re5 22. Rc1 Rc8 23. Ne2 Qe7 24. Qd4 f5 25. Bg3 Rxe4 26. fxe4 Qxe4 27. Qxe4 fxe4 28. Rfd1 Nb4 29. Rd7 Bc5+ 30. Kh2 Bc6 31. Rc7 Rxc7 32. Bxc7 Bd5 33. Nc3 Nd3 34. Rc2 Bc6 35. a5 Kf7 36. Re2 Nc1 37. Re1 Nd3 38. Re2 Nc1 39. Re1 Nd3 1/2-1/2 Stay free, stay healthy and be well ~ Sean

Welcome back! Ding does it again! Wins game 12… brief coverage here after our warm up chess puzzle for today. Enjoy! Wishing you and yours all the best - Sean

SPOT ON CHESS PUZZLES… Actual chess puzzles today! Four puzzles for you to enjoy and a blunderful game played at the Grandmaster level. How all chess players love delivering cheapos but hate falling for them! And sometimes… we snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Enjoy the puzzles… Game 12 of the World Chess Championship happens later on today so don’t forget to “check” that out! Have a good one ~ Sean

Hello! What are the benefits of your local chess club? It will, ideally, be a place to meet, play and learn from others that share your interest in OTB (Over The Board) play. A good club - like the OREGON CITY CHESS CLUB - makes for a pleasant congenially competitive atmosphere where you can grow as a chess player. For those of you who live in the PACIFIC NORTHWEST or live in the Portland area then this club is a must visit chess club. Here are there details as lifted from off of their Meet-Up page: “What we're about Our free to all club has been meeting for casual chess since 1976 with an emphasis on enjoying chess and helping each other to improve our skills. Current active members range from beginners to former experts. We meet every Sunday from 12;30 to 4 PM at the Pioneer Community Center (615 5th St Oregon City), enter via the daylight basement on Washington St. Except on the last Sunday of the month, we meet at the nearby Oregon City Library (606 John Adams St). Both locations are spacious, quiet, well-lit, and close to I-205 and McLoughlin Blvd." Having stopped in for some casual play I had more than rust banged off of my game: but a real shiner of a goose egg on my ego! I was humbled by my humble opponent Greg Markowski in our first chess game - congratulations Greg! All one can say about chess results is that sometimes you are the bat and sometimes you are the ball! If you do not have a local chess club, then why not start one up? Many businesses will gladly host clubs to increase foot traffic - with the understanding that the utilization of space is justified by patronage of the local business or businesses. Or you can do a private by invite club - right from the comfort of your own home. Playing online is fun... but meeting folks, learning and growing as a chess player is more enjoyable. At least that is my point of view anyways. Enjoy today's puzzles, and always play the best moves in the game of life! ~ Sean Tobin.

SPOT ON DRAW... Nepo holds the 1 point lead as we enter the home stretch phase of the World Chess Championship! So the match score stands at 6 to 5, Nepomniachtchi leading by that one game... To win he need only achieve one more victory and a draw and then he will have crossed the seven and a half score point finishing line. Ding Liren has the tougher task ahead as, should he take risks in seeking a favorable result, he could very well give Ian the winning chances. But to achieve much sometimes risks must be taken... Ding needs to win one game and draw two to force a playoff for the title now. Two wins and a draw would win the match outright for him but would require the full 14 game contest... not too likely. Should he end up losing a game he would have to win two to force the playoff. So... it becomes an even more intense battle of nerves! Fascinating match... oh but were it 24 games long instead! Or, in an ideal universe, until one player had achieved 10 wins with draws not counting - crazy Bobby Fischer's preferred format! So I guess... we are lucky to have what we have! Enjoy the game and catch you on the flip ~ Sean.

World Chess Championship Game 10: A Hard fought draw! Just a quick overview of game ten today... still trying to get replacement computer up to date with all apps and software that are used by me. Fascinating game... several "fork" tactical tricks used to change the pawn structure or the character of the play during the game. Reducing material as well to exchange down into a drawn endgame. Interesting effort at the board today by Ding Liren and Ian Nepomniachtchi. Game 11 tomorrow - Monday April 24th of 2023. Enjoy and see you on the flip side ~ Sean.

Sometimes, just when you let your guard down and least expect it... Disaster strikes! My MacBook Pro 16" suffered catastrophic damage to the Display and is inoperable until repaired. Super annoyed. And so... my apologies about the delay in getting this post up and out to you in a timely manner. Today we will just look at Game 9 from the World Championship Chess Match between Ian Neopmniachtchi and Ding Liren. Some nice tactics, a great take-away chess lesson about fighting spirit and some interesting strategical and endgame plays made at the board by both fighters. Now we begin to head into the homestretch which makes us wonder: Can Ding equalize the score again or will he be held at bay by Nepo? Can Nepo increase his lead and settle the match before the need to play a 14th game? Can Ding shake off all rust and shine and sprint past Nepo to the finish line and thus secure the title of World Champion for himself? No matter what happens it is we, the chess fans all over the world, who come out winners from this contest. Enjoy and catch you on the flip ~ Sean.

Hello again fellow chess enthusiasts! Today I have some puzzles drawn up from some of my recent games against a formidable sparring partner - "Emperor Eswar". If you aren't careful he will use you as either a chess speed-bag workout or as a chess punching bag! Always interesting games so my thanks to the young master in training. Hope you enjoy today's puzzles - see you back here on the squares! ~ Coach Sean

SPOT ON CHESS PUZZLES for WEDNESDAY of April 19th, 2023. DINGED AGAIN? Welcome back! So in Game 7 Ding was unable to play a sharp position accurately as he ran short of time… and his position fell apart as the last of the sands of time were slipping past his grasp. In game 8… you’ll just have to wait and see what happened in this game as it will be played this Thursday! Rest day for today - Wednesday. Three tactical puzzle warm up positions to start us off today. Black to play and Slay… and as always solution explanations given. One featuring a song that I rather agree with and found to be an interesting listen so you get to listen to that if you so choose while the solution is played out upon the board. Hope you enjoyed today’s tactics! As long as you learned from them after you gained that benefit through your efforts at solving. Right or wrong the effort is everything! RESOURCES: FIDE Website: https://worldchampionship.fide.com TWIC (Mark Crowther’s “The WEEK in CHESS”): https://theweekinchess.com Have a great rest of your Wednesday and get over the hump! ~ S.

Game 5 coverage... What a great match! This one went long... so brace your self! At 17 plus minutes! 4 Tactics lifted from game 5 with long explanation for each. Then game five coverage. For Full Chess Coverage please visit Mark Crowther's TWIC at: https://theweekinchess.com Make your day great - get out there and crush it! ~ Sean Tobin.

Ding does it again! After having lost a game he bounced back with a win! Out of 6 games played we have 4 decisive games already... this is historical in nature as most matches may only have that many decisive games for the total match! As long as this match continues to go down to the wire then we should have between 12 and 14 amazing chess games from this match from which we can all learn a great deal. Looking forward to it! Two tactics take from Game Six today. Game six is briefly covered as well... I will have to post Nepo's game winning effort from the 5th round at a later date. A lot of fantastic chess from this event! As we all have been hoping as it is, after all, a World Chess Championship Chess Match! Thanks for joining us - wishing you and yours all the best. Stay healthy, be well and see you later on down the timeline! ~ Sean Tobin.

Two tactics and a short and quick piece providing coverage of the Spanish Opening Siesta variation. Fun stuff! Playing the Spanish allows you to achieve so many different types of chess positions... quite the lab for chess learning. Enjoy the tactical fireworks and feel free to Like, Share and Subscribe if you do! Thanks again - much appreciated. Yours in Chess ~ Sean Tobin.

So today we take a look at the current chess record of results between our two World Chess Champion candidates - Ding Liren and Ian Nepomniachtchi - which stands at 14 wins for the Russian Talent to Ding Liren's 10 wins with 19 draws between them. Quite a lot of fighting chess! This includes the first four games of the current World Chess Championship Match between them both. In this installment of SPOT ON CHESS PUZZLES we will look at some tactics taken from just a few of their previous encounters - games played before the current World Chess Championship Match. We will also briefly look at two rapid play games from an online event where they repeated the Berlin variation of the Spanish Defense. Interesting stuff... If you would like to follow or review any of the previous or current match play games please feel free to visit: www.theweekinchess.com www.chessgames.com and the FIDE website as well. I hope you enjoy today's games and tactical puzzles! Looking forward to the next game for this match as it should be quite an interesting one based upon the drama that has occurred thus far. Hopefully you can tune in and be there on the cyberspace square! Have a great weekend ~ Sean.

Hello and Welcome Back! Game three and four the World Chess Championship match between Ding Liren and Ian Nepomniachtchi. After four games the score is level as Ding Liren was gifted a nice strategical win as Nepo collapsed in game four. With the match only scheduled for fourteen total games we have now turned this into a ten game match with a lot of psychology in play. I hope you also enjoy todays only provided puzzle. It's a nice one... Tactics are hard to spot but if you want to spring them and better still defend against them then a little tactical training will work wonders. Enjoy today's post, and I will see you all later on down the timeline. ~ Sean.