Psychology Today article: "The Making of Mental Energy"

One of the keys to my progress in chess (or alternatively sub-par performance) has been the management of mental energy, as mentioned in The Long Journey to Class A. We often tend not to take into sufficient account the energy requirements of our brain during extended mental efforts, although it is a part of our body that needs it as much - actually much more - than our muscles during physical activity.

I recently ran across the Psychology Today article "The Making of Mental Energy" which reminded me of its importance. It also serves as a short and useful background to the topic, including how to manage your energy inputs. One excerpt from the introduction helps frame the situation:

It's only 2 percent of your body weight, but your brain consumes 20 to 25 percent of your metabolic energy. And that's just on idle, the energy cost to keep your 86 billion neurons and give-or-take 164 trillion synapses on standby.

Once the brain is activated, energy demands quickly multiply. Paying attention is an energy-guzzler requiring mental effort, the application of self-control. Decision-making, empathy, even meditation consume mental resources. Taking in information and processing it, conducting a quick inventory check against memory, maintaining focus and interest, to say nothing of suppressing distraction - whew, it's exhausting just thinking about it.

This of course describes chess-related mental tasks quite well, so the applicability of the topic should be obvious. Now I just need to do a better job of it myself...

Annotated Game #288: Losing by rote

In this final-round tournament game, it's my opponent who seemingly loses by rote. I'd seen him play the same setup as White previously, although I hadn't prepared anything specific for it. The Reti/fianchetto/English type opening was not challenging at all for Black, and I had fully equalized by move 7. After that, my opponent did not seem to have much of a plan and soon ended up down a pawn for no compensation. Some of my own games have certainly followed a similar trajectory, so it was good to feel sharp this time and hungrier to create something new, rather than drift planless out of the opening.

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "5"] [White "Class A"] [Black "ChessAdmin"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A11"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Dragon 3.2"] [PlyCount "82"] [GameId "2063048253468751"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 c6 4. c4 Bg4 (4... dxc4 {scores much better in the database. White will need time to recover the pawn.}) 5. cxd5 (5. Ne5 $5 Bf5) 5... cxd5 (5... Bxf3 $5 {is the engines' choice, simplifying further and slightly misplacing White's bishop.}) 6. h3 {although the bishop is now chased away or eliminated, White spends another tempo to do so without gaining anything.} (6. Ne5 {is again an interesting idea, hitting the bishop with a little more initiative.}) 6... Bh5 7. g4 Bg6 $11 8. Nc3 e6 9. Ne5 $6 {now this does not come with tempo, so in fact hurts White's development.} Nc6 10. Nxg6 hxg6 $15 {White exchanges his central knight for my constrained light-square bishop, which I was fine with. The semi-open h-file is also of potential future use.} 11. d4 Bd6 {this seemed the most flexible choice for the bishop.} (11... Bb4 {I also considered.}) 12. Bg5 $6 {White already has problems finding decent moves to make. The pin on the knight does not have much point to it.} Qb6 {long think here, to make sure the idea worked. Both the b2 and d4 pawns are now hanging.} 13. Qb3 $2 {this allows forced simplification with a material advantage.} (13. O-O $15) 13... Qxb3 14. axb3 Nxd4 $17 {this is just a free pawn, and my developed pieces are also better-placed, while White's doubled b-pawns are quite weak.} 15. Ra4 $6 {an attempt at activity, but White's threats can be refuted.} (15. O-O-O $17) 15... Nxb3 {another long think here. Eventually I decided that at worst I'd be two pawns up, if my opponent chose to go for the two bishops, and I would be happy to play that out.} 16. Nb5 Kd7 {defending both the Bd6 and against the fork on c7.} 17. Nxd6 Kxd6 $19 {although White can now castle, there are not enough threats remaining against my centralized king to compensate for the material. I do have to be careful, however, about ideas of e2-e4 and attempting to open the center.} 18. O-O {I now had the longest think of the game here. There are multiple ways to play this out; I chose the third best according to the engine, which is still winning.} Nc5 {guarding b7 and forcing the Ra4 to make a choice.} (18... a5 {is the engine's choice, but riskier-looking.} 19. e4 Nxe4 20. Bxe4 dxe4 21. Rd1+ Kc6 22. Rxe4 Nc5 $19) (18... Nd7 {was the other good option, repositioning the knight.}) 19. Rf4 $2 {this attempt at making further threats results in closing off the Bg5's ability to retreat.} Nfe4 (19... Nh7 {is even more effective, but I did not even consider the knight retreat.}) 20. Bxe4 (20. b4 {this avoids greater material loss, but Black ends up with three extra pawns, including the two connected ones on the queenside, which should easily win.} Nxg5 21. bxc5+ Kxc5 22. Rc1+ Kd6 $19) 20... Nxe4 {an example of a "reloader" tactic, renewing the same threat to the bishop, which cannot be avoided.} 21. h4 f6 $19 22. Ra1 Nc5 {here I wanted to extract the knight, block the c-file and protect b7 again; I had the time, since the bishop cannot get away.} 23. Bxf6 gxf6 24. Rxf6 Rxh4 25. Rxg6 {perhaps my opponent thought the passed g-pawn would somewhat compensate for the material.} Rah8 {For once I avoid materialistic thinking and emphasize the rook activity, which generates a skewer threat against the Kg1 and Ra1. At this point the win is inevitable, unless I blunder. The Black rooks dominate White's separated ones, and my extra knight is also centralized and mobile.} 26. Kg2 {forced} Rh2+ 27. Kf3 Rf8+ $6 {I wasn't able to visualize the mate here and just concentrated on doubling my rooks on the 2nd rank and winning more material.} (27... R8h3+ 28. Kf4 Rxf2+ 29. Kg5 Ne4#) 28. Ke3 Rfxf2 29. Re1 {I had a long think here again and decided to mobilize the queenside pawns, which would also remove a potential target from a White rook on the 7th rank.} a5 30. Kd2 b5 31. Kd1 Rf4 {harassing the g-pawn and making the rook mobile on the 4th rank.} 32. Rg8 Rg2 33. g5 Rc4 {final long think, to make sure that the mating net would work.} 34. Kd2 Rg3 35. e3 Rg2+ 36. Re2 Nb3+ 37. Kd3 Nc1+ 38. Kd2 Rxe2+ 39. Kd1 Rcc2 40. g6 Nb3 41. g7 {perhaps hoping that I would blunder and miss the mate in one, but} (41. Rd8+ Ke5 {and mate is unstoppable.}) 41... Rcd2# 0-1

Annotated Game #287: A failure of X-ray imagination

For this next tournament game, the notable lessons found in analysis were my failure to visualize X-ray tactics/patterns, the subject of the previous post, along with a general lack of imagination in understanding how I could regroup my forces to pursue a winning attack. An opening surprise did not help, as I adopted a mentality that was too defensive afterwards, although I will give myself credit for rallying after the material loss.

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "ChessAdmin"] [Black "Class B"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D00"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Dragon 3.2"] [PlyCount "54"] [GameId "2054698018771000"] 1. d4 d5 2. e3 Nf6 3. Bd3 e6 4. f4 {heading for a Stonewall formation.} Nbd7 5. Nf3 c5 6. c3 b6 7. Nbd2 Bb7 8. O-O Bd6 9. Ne5 {the classic Stonewall setup. White has various choices for a plan to follow, depending on Black's next moves.} Qc7 {this is a more effective move than it appears to be at first glance, and I did not take into account the x-ray on c3 from the queen's new position.} 10. b3 $6 {I did not see that my opponent could penetrate with her queen on c3 until after I played this, being unfamiliar with the queen location and (breaking my throught process rules) not looking for my opponent's response; instead, I was focusing on how I would develop the Bc1.} (10. Qf3 {with play on the kingside is indicated here.}) 10... cxd4 $15 11. cxd4 Qc3 {this penetration and queen fork of the Ra1 and Bd3 looks very threatening, but Black also has to be careful of getting the queen trapped. I recognized that much, so did not despair completely. However, I did not play the critical continuation, which would have been to occupy c4 with a knight.} 12. Rb1 $6 (12. Ndc4 {I only briefly considered trying to trap the queen here and did not pay enough attention to the idea. The key is the threat to the hanging Bd6.} dxc4 (12... Bxe5 13. Bb2 Qxd3 14. Qxd3 dxc4 15. bxc4 $17 {Black has three pieces for queen and pawn and they will be well-positioned, but this is still not terrible for White. For example} Be4 16. Qb3 Bd6 17. Ba3 Bxa3 18. Qxa3 {and I would be happy playing this out, with Black's king stuck in the center.}) (12... Qxa1 $2 13. Nxd6+ Ke7 14. Qd2 $18) 13. Nxc4 Bf8 14. Bb2 Qb4 {And now White can trap the queen or go for an attack.} 15. Ba3 (15. f5 $5 {with an attack.}) 15... Qxa3 {the best, as the queen can be taken after retreating.} (15... Qb5 16. Nd6+ Bxd6 17. Bxb5 $16) 16. Nxa3 Bxa3 $11) 12... Bxe5 {correctly removing the protector of the Bd3 first.} 13. fxe5 Qxd3 14. exf6 {and now my opponent was too tempted by} Qxe3+ $2 (14... Nxf6 $17 {consolidates the advantage.}) 15. Kh1 {now the engine shows White with an advantage - the Black king in the center and under threat outweighs the material inadvertently sacrificed.} Qd3 (15... O-O) 16. Rf3 {played after a long think. This maximizes the chances for Black to go further wrong.} (16. Nc4 {I thought about this idea for a long time, echoing the move 12 situation, but correctly concluded it did not work.} dxc4 {is the simple refutation, although I had a hard time visualizing this.}) (16. fxg7 {immediately is also good.} Rg8 17. Rf3 $16) 16... Qg6 (16... Qxd4 $16) 17. fxg7 {this seemed like the only option at the time.} (17. Ba3 $1 {is the much stronger follow-up.} Nxf6 18. Rc1 $18 {fixing the king in the center and continuing the attack should produce a win; however, I was too focused on the material balance.}) 17... Qxg7 18. Rg3 $18 {here I still have a great deal of pressure and nice attack, however.} Qf8 19. Nf3 {mobilizing the knight and the Bc1.} Nf6 20. Ne5 (20. Qf1 {would have created more threats with an x-ray on the Nf6, but occupying the e5 outpost immediately was too tempting.}) 20... Ne4 {threatening the fork on f2. I thought for a while here, eventually deciding the rook would be better placed on the f-file anyway.} 21. Rf3 {the safe move.} (21. Qe2 $1 {the idea of sacrificing an exchange did occur to me at various points, but not this early.} Nxg3+ 22. hxg3 {visually this just looks bad for White, with the weak doubled g-pawns, but White's remaining pieces all become more powerful now.} a6 23. Qh5 Rg8 24. Bh6 Qe7 25. Rf1 {now all the White pieces are in action against the king, while Black has a R+B on the queenside that are not effectively playing.} Rg6 {and now} 26. Kg1 $1 {is the engine line, avoiding potential future x-rays on the h-file. Black's g6 rook cannot escape, so White can improve the position at leisure, or strike immediately if Black attempts to force the issue. For example} f6 27. Nxg6 hxg6 28. Qxg6+ Qf7 29. Rxf6 $19) 21... f5 $2 {the wrong f-pawn move, leaving holes behind in its wake.} (21... f6 $11) 22. Qe1 {again thinking too defensively. The key is to further activate White's pieces on the attack. Ideas include} (22. b4 a6 23. Bf4 Rc8 24. b5 a5 25. Rc1 $18) (22. Bf4 Qb4 23. Rc1 Rc8 24. Rxc8+ Bxc8 25. Qc1 $18) 22... Qe7 23. Bd2 (23. Bf4) 23... Rg8 24. g3 {continued unnecessarily cautious play leads to my attack possibilities evaporating, at least temporarily.} (24. Rc1) 24... Rc8 $14 {now Black's rook gets to the c-file first.} 25. Rc1 Rxc1 26. Qxc1 Qd6 $2 (26... Kd8 $14) 27. Bf4 {making several threats, but none decisive.} (27. Bh6 $1 {is found by the engine. At this point I did not see how to rearrange my pieces to continue the attack in his manner. One of the points is to allow for the maneuver Qf4-h4, as well as to prevent Black from using g7 and f8.}) 27... Qe7 $18 {and here my opponent offered a draw. I thought for several minutes, not seeing how I could make progress anymore down the c-file. The engine could have done it, however, in various ways starting with the maneuver Re3-e2, or Qc2 followed by Rf1 and Qe2.} (27... Rg7 $16) 1/2-1/2

Article: "The Most Important Tactical Pattern in Chess" by GM Gregory Serper

While analyzing the next tournament game that will be published here, I recalled the relevance of GM Gregory Serper's Chess.com article "The Most Important Tactical Pattern in Chess". In it, he provides several useful illustrations of the x-ray tactic, which he described as:

 ...a situation where a long ranged piece (a queen, rook, or bishop) attacks an opponent's piece (usually a king or a queen), through a bunch of other pieces (both of your opponent's and your own). Or, how Chess.com's lesson puts it: "The X-ray brings to mind superman's ability to see through objects. A piece is able to mount an attack even if there is another piece in the way."

He also shares insights about how the x-ray pattern actually is the basis for other chess tactics, making it an excellent article for practical improvement understanding. As my next game will show, I lacked the perception to identify x-ray tactics, and could have done better on both defense and offense as a result.

FT article (from How To Spend It) - "Aarti and Sohum Lohia are changing chess, one move at a time"

The latest chess article from the FT in its "How To Spend It" weekend section is entitled "Aarti and Sohum Lohia are changing chess, one move at a time". They're not really changing chess, but it's still interesting to see how Sohum, the talented #2 junior player in the UK, expresses his views on chess and a description of his mother's crusading support of it.

The article touches on some modern scientific points about chess and its calming effect on the mind, as well as the nature of it as a mental sport. Unfortunately it also help perpetuate some of the typical fallacies of chess imagery in popular culture - the first photo in the article shows a somewhat abstract chess board set up properly, while the following ones, showing an antique set, have the board rotated 90 degrees from where it should be (with wrong color squares for the pieces). This includes shots of Sohum playing on it. I expect that was just for show for the journalist (understandable) and perhaps he didn't notice - but then again, especially strong players should really be aware of these things when sitting down at a chessboard.