My Chess Blog

I sat facing you for hours but you didn't speak; Then I finally understood the unspoken meaning. Removed from their covers, books lay scattered about; Outside the bamboo screen, rain beats against the plum tree. - Ryokan Chess moves.....games.....are like the Zen poem by the great Zen Poet and saint Ryokan! The moves do not announce their intentions in advance and at times even after they are played! One has to go beyond the facade ....the outward appearance of the position and the pieces that lay scattered on the board. The implications may appear as relevant or irrelevant as rain beating against the plum tree.....but!       The above pictures describe the game better than any comments and analysis! Nepomniatchi - Carlsen, WC 2021: Game-3 1. e4 e5  2. Nf3 Nc6  3. Bb5 a6  4. Ba4 Nf6  5. O-O Be7  6. Re1 b5  7. Bb3 O-O  8. a4 Bb7  9. d3 d6  10. Nbd2 Re8  11. Nf1 h6  12. Bd2 Bf8  13. Ne3 Ne7  14. c4 bxc4  15.Nxc4 Nc6   An unusual position from Ruy Lopez. Black's preceding moves 1

/  Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year. He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake. The only other sound's the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake. The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.                                                                                                             - Robert Frost ....all these attempts at watching the game live and analysing the game subsequently and writing articles, doing podcasts......are nothing but.... "giving the bells a shake and ask if there is some mistake" .....for, as Savielly Tartakover said, "Chess owes its existence to mistakes" ! What is the move? We

 " We enjoy playing Chess " - Carlsen and Nepo ......may be you do! But we hope you both make us all enjoy the games and not like the previous two matches - Carlsen vs Karjakin in particular! They had to run strong engines and write some 'deep' books to show that those matches and certain moves were good! Nepomniatchi - Carlsen, Game: 1 1.e4 e5  2.Nf3 Nc6  3.Bb5 a6  4.Ba4 Nf6  5.OO Be7  6.Re1 b5  7.Bb3 OO  8.h3 Na5!? Whatever be the name.... it is a big relief that it does not carry the name " Berlin "..... 9.Ne5 Nb3  10.ab3 Bb7  11.d3 d5 Striking the centre, trying to open it up as Black has two Bishops 12.ed5 Qd5  13.Qf3 Bd6   Ideally, Black would want to keep his Queen to backup his initiative for the sacrificed pawn.  14.Kf1!? A curious computer move.....perhaps! It removes the King from a spate check on h2 and defends the Rook on e1, as with his last move, Black was threatening 14.....Qe5! 14......Rfb8!? Defending the Bishop on b7 and renewing the thre

 " Nobody is perfect " - Billy Wilder   ......and nothing in this world is perfect! Literature is all about depicting the time it belongs to and not its interpretation! It is different from History in a way, that, literature is not merely facts but is about expression! It expresses a given time and its happening unadulterated! A game of Chess is a piece of literature! The annotator is like a litterateur who records the games at the time of its happening and tries to bring out the expressions that the moves intend to! The moves that are played is significant and constitute the words in a poetry. And as the words in the poetry evoke different meaning for different persons who read it at different point of time, so does a chess move, which may evoke different feel and perception and may give rise to different options! It is not the job of the annotator to give all options ..... at best he may indicate a few that occurs to him, not worried about the "correctness" of a m