Greenpoint Chess and Go Club

As anyone who views this blog can tell, there hasn't been a new post since January 10th, 2007!?! Why?—well, after starting my new job, there was a bit of a chess hiatus. However, not only am I playing once again, but I'm also writing, only not here. The Greenpoint Chess and Go Club has become slightly more formal and now has its own URL: http://greenpointchess.org. Not only are my new chess posts found there, but so are Greg's. I also imported all of our old Blogger posts, so the archive is complete.

Please update your bookmarks to Greenpoint Chess and Go Club. Thanks!

portable game notation [pgn]

Portable Game Notation [PGN] is a computer-processible format for recording chess games [both the moves and related data]; many chess programs recognize this extremely popular format due to its accessibility by ordinary ascii editors, including word processors capable of importing and exporting plain ASCII.

PGN is structured "for easy reading and writing by human users and for easy parsing and generation by computer programs." The chess moves themselves are given in Algebraic chess notation. The usual filename extension is ".pgn."

PGN code begins with a set of "tag pairs" [a tag name and its value], followed by the "movetext" [chess moves with optional commentary].

sample pgn file

for more information on this sample file, please see the notes below.

[Event "F/S Return Match"]
[Site "Belgrade, Serbia JUG"]¹
[Date "1992.11.04"]²
[Round "29"]
[White "Fischer, Robert J."]³
[Black "Spassky, Boris V."]⁴
[Result "1/2-1/2"]⁵

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 {This opening is called Ruy Lopez.} a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 O-O 9. h3 Nb8 10.d4 Nbd7 11.c4 c6 12.cxb5 axb5 13.Nc3 Bb7 14.Bg5 b4 15.Nb1 h6 16.Bh4 c5 17.dxe5 Nxe4 18.Bxe7 Qxe7 19.exd6 Qf6 20.Nbd2 Nxd6 21.Nc4 Nxc4 22.Bxc4 Nb6 23.Ne5 Rae8 24.Bxf7+ Rxf7 25.Nxf7 Rxe1+ 26.Qxe1 Kxf7 27.Qe3 Qg5 28.Qxg5 hxg5 29.b3 Ke6 30.a3 Kd6 31.axb4 cxb4 32.Ra5 Nd5 33. f3 Bc8 34.Kf2 Bf5 35.Ra7 g6 36.Ra6+ Kc5 37.Ke1 Nf4 38.g3 Nxh3 39.Kd2 Kb5 40.Rd6 Kc5 41.Ra6 Nf2 42.g4 Bd3 43.Re6 1/2-1/2⁶

notes

For archival storage, PGN data must provide the seven bracketed fields seen in the above sample file.

1—"City, Region COUNTRY" format, where COUNTRY is the 3-letter International Olympic Committee code for the country

2—"YYYY.MM.DD" format

3—"last name, first name" format

4—"last name, first name" format

5—one of four possible values: "1-0" [White won], "0-1" [Black won], "1/2-1/2" [Draw], or "*" [other, e.g., the game is ongoing]

6—standard algebraic notation

resources

→ PGN specification by Steven J. Edwards [HTML by Thomas Stahl]
→ Portable Game Notation Specification and Implementation Guide, Steven J. Edwards
→ PGN viewer
→ Online PGN viewer

source :: Wikipedia

since we've been having so many good games recently…

we thought it might be nice to start recording our games and posting them [with snarky commentary and all] to our chess blogs [this one, obviously, and checkersisfortramps]. the question, of course, is how to do it.

Portable Game Notation [PGN] seems like the obvious way to record our games. Now to find some good diagramming software and possibly an online Flash or Java applet capable of reading and stepping through PGN files…

mon capitán [sorry team]

So, Greg really stepped it up last night after I let down the team by losing to a drunken old man at Matchless during an impromptu money game [the proposed wager was $20, scaled back to $5 due to Greg's and my precarious pecuniary positions]. You can read the full and witty version of the story here ["God Save the Queen!"], but suffice to say what should have been another crowning moment [like Jose's defeat at Eat Records] rapidly led to the pillory after I hung my queen!

Starting from the Four Knight's Game, my opponent began to slowly [and by slowly, I mean the rate of his play] make a series of questionable tactical moves; nothing game-stopping, but they did culminate in a hung knight and the potential to mate. At this point, I got greedy, and, inverting the chess maxim "When you see a good move, sit on your hands and see if you can find a better one," proceeded to ignore the hung knight and snatch the g7 pawn, looking to snap up the rook and get a quick[er] mate. Instead it was "orf wiv' 'er head," as the "hung" knight handily disposed of my now hung Queen. What should have been an easy win rapidly degenerated into a complete and utter fiasco.

Luckily, Greg was there to save the day. While I hid outside, smoking and nursing my wounds, Greg managed to turn the money game into a best three of five money match and pick up two wins. I jumped back on the table, eager to redeem myself, but wary, so played a slow and solid game. This win gave us our three, but the old man wanted to finish the match regardless. Greg played the King's Gambit superlatively [or, given that opening, the old man just really fucked up] and won in seven moves. Final score: 4-1 [us] with Greg 3-0 and me 1-1.

mon capitán, may god and greg save the queen

medieval chess

this week's opening :: nimzo-indian defense

The Nimzo-Indian is "hypermodern" in strategy, which is why it is labeled as an "Indian" defense without having the characteristic fianchetto. Black does not occupy the central squares at first, but his|her pieces control them. The characterizing pin of the Nimzo, 3 … Bb4, exerts control on the e4- and d5-squares and allows the option of doubling White's c-pawns. White's chances for advantage are due to his|her pawn center and the frequent occurrence that he|she gains a bishop pair. The main variations seek to use these possible advantages in different strategic ways.

1	d4	Nf6
2	c4	e6
3	Nc3	Bb4

source :: Firmian, Nick de [2003]. Chess Openings the Easy Way [MCO-Beginners]. New York: Random House.

weak pawns

"The pawns are the soul of chess."

—Philidor

What is a weak pawn? A pawn that is exposed to attack and also difficult to defend is weak. There are several varieties: isolated, doubled, too advanced, retarded. An isolated pawn, because it is separated from the neighboring pawns and cannot be supported by them, requires defense by pieces. These pieces are called passive since they must function below their full potential. A doubled pawn is limited in mobility; its weakness is usually felt in the endgame because a group of pawns that includes a doubled pawn is less likely than a healthy group to produce a passed pawn. [However, not all doubled pawns are weak.] A pawn that is advanced too far runs the risk of being cut off from the rest of its army and becoming isolated. A pawn not advanced far enough [or not at all] can get in the way of the other pieces and may become backward and vulnerable.

source :: Reshevsky, Samuel [2002]. Art of Positional Play. New York: Random House.