KO by Kevin O ’ Connell
KO by Kevin O ’ Connell
I concluded last time with the exhortation “ Do not make your students weaker !” and the promise of concrete advice .
When teaching beginners , try to moderate , or even avoid the shabby worn out piece value system of 3-3- 5-9 in terms of “ pawns ” or “ units ” ( units of what ?).
Staunton |
said |
that |
trying |
to |
determine |
piece |
values |
“ with |
mathematical exactitude … appears |
to be an expenditure of ingenuity and |
research |
upon |
an |
unattainable |
object .” |
|
|
|
3-3-5-9 |
illustrates |
the |
law |
of |
unintended |
consequences . |
The |
constant |
reinforcement |
that |
beginners |
experience |
sets |
the |
concept |
in |
stone . |
They |
are |
repeatedly told “ you must not play |
that , she just takes it ” or “ you can ' t |
take that pawn with your rook , he ' ll |
recapture and you ' ll be lost – the |
rook is worth 5 and the pawn only 1 ” |
and so on , and on . Thus the rule of |
“ can ' t ” is established . |
Once established , the “ can ' t ” syndrome blights the further development of club and intermediate level players , and even affects the play of masters and Grandmasters .
Spielmann wisely pointed out that pieces have values like shares on the Stock Exchange – they can be static , but most of the time they go up and down .
Maria Schoene ( WIM , 2251 ) - Vlastimil Babula ( GM , 2554 ), Bundesliga 2010 , is typical . It ’ s obvious that “ she can ' t take on f7 ,” isn ’ t it ?
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My next example is from a 2007 French League game Florian Ranc ( 1860 ) – Guy Cesbron ( 2105 ). White had given up a rook because Black can ' t avoid losing the queen after 1 Bb2xd4 .
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Sometimes there ' s a panto style “ can – can ' t sequence ” as in Klyukin- Gergel , USSR 1971 . White to play .
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Overcoming “ can ' t ” can pay big dividends . Look at Mark Heidenfeld
( IM , 2365 ) – Roberto Cechhetti ( 1930 ), Turin Olympiad 2006 . White to play .
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That was great , but the ultimate “ can ' t ” was seen in GM Paul Motwani ' s first tournament game . He was a small boy . The game : 1 e2-e4 d7-d6 2 Bf1-b5 mate . White ( a little girl ) said " your king is in check and it can ' t move , so it ' s checkmate ." Black gracefully accepted .
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Schoene - Babula . But she could and did : 1 Bc4xf7 + Rh7xf7 2 h6-h7 1-0 , although White ' s last move wasn ' t best ( Qb3-e6 ).
Ranc - Cesbron . Oh yes he can ! 1 ... Be7-c5 ! White had the temerity to limp on for four moves before resigning .
Klyukin - Gergel . 1 g5-g6 f7xg6 2 Rf6xe6 Qd8xh4 3 Re6xc6 + Kc5-b4 4 a2-a3 + Kb4-a4 . Oh yes I can : 5 Rc6- c4 + b5xc4 6 Be4-c6 mate .
Heidenfeld - Cechhetti . 1 d4-d5 ! e6xd5 2 Nc3xd5 ! Bf7xd5 3 Rd1xd5 +! c6xd5 4 Bc4-b5 + Black resigned ( 4 ... Qa4xb5 5 Qf4-c7 + Kd7-e6 6 Rh1-e1 + Qb5-e2 7 Re1xe2 mate ).
More next time ... 35 | P a g e I r i s h C h e s s J o u r n a l