SUSPEND ISRAEL FROM INTERNATIONAL SPORTS

The petition is here:

Suspend Israel from International Sports

Some comments

I have now signed this petition.

The point is that if it was right (if it was) to block Russian chess players and chess teams because Russia started a war against Ukraine, it is undoubtedly even more appropriate to impose sanctions on Israeli sportspersons on the grounds that Israel is committing war crimes on a massive scale in the Gaza Strip, killing tens of thousands of civilians and, let us face it, committing genocide.

Sporting sanctions against Israel should, of course, also apply to chess.

Details should certainly be clarified, for example, when it is permissible to compete as an individual but not as part of an Israeli team, when it is permissible to compete but not under the Israeli flag, etc. 

Such clarifications are necessary to avoid collective punishment of individuals.

However, I must emphasise here that, although I have signed this petition, my signature is to be considered valid only in so far as it relates to crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by Israel. 

I refrain from taking a clear position on who is occupying whose territory, who started the war and who had the right to do so.

Unfortunately, petitions often contain more demands than the supporters are prepared to sign. So they have no choice but to either sign the whole package or not sign even a demand they strongly favour.

In fact, I believe that Israel has the right to defend its territory and its citizens. But I do not know where Israel's legal territory is, and I know that the right to self-defence does not give Israel the right to kill more than 10,000 children.

WHITE WON IN THE REVERSED BENONI OPENING

I had white pieces in an exciting correspondence chess game on Chess Mail.

Having a solid centre and space advantage, I did nothing special. 

I developed my pieces on maximally useful positions. I avoided making early, unclear tactical breakthroughs and tried to protect my centre against possible attacks. 

Black itself destroyed one's position in an unsuccessful attempt to break free from the cramped position.

While I am a strong tactician, the most challenging task was to refrain from tactical mirages. This may be the only reason I succeeded in winning such a strong chess player.

Unfortunately, my opponent continued playing until the checkmate. 

On Chess Mail, claiming a victory based on endgame tablebases is impossible. 

Fortunately, my opponent used only some of one's legal thinking time... 

Nanomaster - Graywolf60, Chess Mail, 2024

Some comments on this game

 

 In the present post, the Apronus and Chessbase chess softwares were used.

BLACK WON IN 23 MOVES - TWO KNIGHTS DEFENCE

In the Two Knights Defence, the variation 4 Ng5 is very sharp. White wins a pawn, but Black gets the initiative. The slightest mistake can cost a game for White.

I had black pieces in the game Krasotkin - Nanomaser on the platform ChessOK, 15 minutes per game. The game lasted only 23 moves.

Krasotkin - Nanomaster, ChessOK, 2024

You can analyze the game here:

Some comments on this game

Position after 10...Bd6

After 10...Bd6, 11 Nc4? was a mistake. White lost time to exchange one's centralized knight for Black's knight on the board's edge.

The correct moves were 11 d4 or 11 f4, defending the knight on e5. 

For example, after 11 d4 exd4 12 Nxd3, White's knight is close to White's king, while Black's knight is still on the edge. The disturbing central pawn on e4 has been exchanged. White's queen on d1 and bishop on c1 have gained some space.

The move 13 0-0?? was a final mistake. The correct move was 13 d4, after which White still has a bad position.

After 13 0-0??, Black has a winning combination. 

Position after 13 0-0

This combination is typical. First, Black sacrifices the bishop on h2: 13...Bxh2+. Then, Black plays 14...Ng4+. Then, depending on circumstances, Black plays 15...Qh4, 15...Qg5 or 15...Qd6.

Note that in the diagram above, White's queenside is entirely undeveloped. 

Worse, White's bishop on c4 also does not participate in the battle that will start around White's king. That bishop does not protect the crucial square g4 and, thus, does not deter the threatening move Nf6-g4.

With the move 12 Be2xc4, White's bishop abandoned the square e2 and landed on a seemingly more active position on c4. Unfortunately, the bishop on c4 alone does not threaten the well-defended pawn on f7.

White's position would be bad but much better than in the game if, on the diagram above, White's bishop would be on e2 instead of c4, as shown in the diagram below:

The position from above, if the bishop on c4 is on e2 instead

In the present post, the Apronus chess software was used.

BLACK WON IN THE TWO KNIGHTS DEFENCE

I had black pieces in the game on the platform ChessOK. Time control 15 minutes per game. The game

vugar79 - Nanomaster (0-1)

lasted only 17 moves:

vugar79 - Nanomaster, 2024

Some comments on this game

After the game move 9...Be6, the following theoretical position is on the board:

The game move 10 Neg5 grabs back the pawn, but it is a loss of time. 

Better is 10 Bg5, continuing the development and hindering Black from castling to the queenside. After 10...h6?, there is a tactical reply 11 Bf6!

After the game move 12...Bd6, the following position is on the board:

Black threatens with the combination 13...Bxh2+ 14. Nxh2 Qxd1. 

Unfortunately, White had to play 13 Qd3. 

After the game continuation 13 Bg5?, the following position is on the board:

White's bishop on g5 is hanging. The knight on f3 is overloaded. In the game Bohm - Reshevsky (Amsterdam 1977), Black used it to play 13...Bxh2+! 

However, when grabbing the pawn on e6, White managed to open the f-file for Black's rooks.

In the present game, and in the game De Abreu - Harshavardhan (Chess.com INT 2020), Black used the half-open f-file to attack with 13...Rdf8!

In the present post, the Apronus chess software was used.