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Chess variants
This is an interesting variant with unequal forces, invented by Ralph Betza and not by the great Russian Chess player himself. Chigorin Chess is one of the last variants that I have tried before writing this column. The idea behind the variant is to pit Leapers against Sliders. On a regular 8x8 board four Bishops face off against four Knights. The Knights are also joined by a Chancellor and the only Sliders that White has left are his King and Rooks. Below is the starting array.
All the basic rules of Chess apply in this game. Both sides can castle and the only unique “Fairy” piece is the Chancellor, which as usual, moves like a Rook and a Knight. In Green Chess play, programming only allowed White to play the Knights and Black the Bishops.
Mikhail Chigorin did not invent this variant and the name derives from Chigorin's supposed fondness for Knights over Bishops during his career. This preference was shared by many others in the 19th century. Similar to many inexperienced players, the players of that time overvalued the Knight's ability to reach all the squares on the Chess board as well as his ability to hop over obstacles. In Chigorin's case, this fondness for Knights perhaps is more myth than reality. Still, his classic win over Emanuel Lasker at the Hastings 1895 tournament does show how well a Knight pair can be handled successfully against a Bishop pair in certain types of closed and blocked positions, even against a World Champion! The game remains a classic worth studying by players of all levels.
The Question remains: how balanced is the game? From a material standpoint things look about equal. Bishops and Knights are supposed to be of equal value and the Chancellor on an 8x8 board usually is considered to be only slightly weaker than the Queen. Certainly no more than a half Pawn. Still the mighty Bishop pair has been seen to be worth as much as a half Pawn over the Knight pair and Black has two such pairs! If one adds up all these factors then perhaps White is playing under a Pawn and a half handicap!
If there is a bright side for White, he can certainly develop much faster than Black. White may only need to make a couple of Pawn moves in the opening, mostly to battle for the centre. Otherwise, White's Leapers can enter the fray without making Pawn moves. Black on the other hand does not have this luxury and must move at least four Pawns plus additional Bishop moves to bring his pieces into play. The White development lead may compensate for the long term advantage the two Bishops do offer, at least in the opening stages of play. If White is up three tempos in the opening maybe he “gets a Pawn back” if we are trying to value dynamic factors.
White also can take some solace in the redundancy factor that Black faces by having each of those sets of two Bishops riding on the same limited 32 square colour complex. One can certainly ask, does Black having two pairs of Bishops on the same colour add tremendous force there or does having a second Bishop just result in the two getting in each other's way? Scenarios can and do arise where Black may have been forced to exchange off both Bishops of one colour, being then stuck with his two remaining Bishops on the same colour. That colour complex may certainly be well controlled, but what about the other one now empty of Bishops? How do two Knights match up against two Bishops on the same colour? The general impression is that this is not a good thing and if possible players in practice try to avoid this scenario!
So how do we answer the balance question? In the games that I have tried with this variant, I have won equally from both sides of the board. Still, my experience has been rather limited to only a handful of games either through Green Chess or playing my friend and fellow variant fan, Jesse Berry at his tea shop in Greenville. My opinion of the game is prejudiced to some extent. By nature in more than 50 years of playing Chess, I have been more the serene positional Bishop player than the maniacal tactical Knight player. In the games of Chigorin Chess I have played, I have found it easier to win with the Black Bishops than with the White Knights. My instinct tells me there is not a complete balance here and the Knight side may need more help—but more on that later!
A Question of Time
The following game shows many of the problems both sides face in this variant. White using his more agile Knights quickly gains a lead in development that allows him to obtain a space advantage and a dangerous attack. The game becomes critical, but Black defends carefully and manages to keep White's avenues of attack closed. Behind his barricades, Black then slowly builds up dangerous counter threats. As happens many times with Knights, White is unable to mark time and finds himself in a position where he practically is in Zugzwang. The obvious waiting moves available to him just seem to lead him into ever more unpleasant situations. Like the boy riding the tiger in the old children's story, there is no good way off and staying on the tiger will soon not be a good option either! Lacking any decent waiting moves I decided to keep riding the tiger and tweaking his nose, charging head on with a speculative piece sacrifice. This sacrifice, while perhaps not totally sound, does require time to refute. Playing 50 or more games beside this one, Doug may not have that time and decides basically to ignore the sacrifice. Instead, after a few less than optimal moves Black ends up drifting into a lost position when he allows the Chancellor to infiltrate into his position.
Green Chess Website Game
Oct 3-Nov. 20, 2020
White : John Vehre
Black : Doug Dysart
1.e4 e5, 2.Nf3 c6
This is a developing move in this position, opening the diagonal for the b8 Bishop while defending the threatened pawn on e5. Black has a lot of choices. 2....d6, 2....f6 and even the Latvian Gambit-like 2....f5 all seem like decent defences. In this variant, White lacks a white-squared Bishop and far roaming Queen. Moving the f-Pawn one or two squares is perfectly safe and Black's King does not feel so drafty as he might in a regular Chess game. Moving the f-Pawn even has many advantages. It is a developing move and psychologically making a move like 2....f6 might throw off a classically trained player. One of the first traps you learn is 3. Nxe5 in regular Chess, which of course does not work here. If White continues with 3. d4 Black can advantageously play 3....ed4, 4.Nxd4 c5!? [Another ugly move in regular Chess!] 5.Nf3 d5 and all the Bishops have open diagonals and easy development into the game. White should play in a more restrained fashion with 3.Ne3 or 3.Nc3 before advancing so precipitously into the centre of the board.
3.d4 ed4, 4.Nxd4 f6, 5.Ne3
Mikhail Chigorin did not invent this variant and the name derives from Chigorin's supposed fondness for Knights over Bishops during his career. This preference was shared by many others in the 19th century. Similar to many inexperienced players, the players of that time overvalued the Knight's ability to reach all the squares on the Chess board as well as his ability to hop over obstacles. In Chigorin's case, this fondness for Knights perhaps is more myth than reality. Still, his classic win over Emanuel Lasker at the Hastings 1895 tournament does show how well a Knight pair can be handled successfully against a Bishop pair in certain types of closed and blocked positions, even against a World Champion! The game remains a classic worth studying by players of all levels.
The Question remains: how balanced is the game? From a material standpoint things look about equal. Bishops and Knights are supposed to be of equal value and the Chancellor on an 8x8 board usually is considered to be only slightly weaker than the Queen. Certainly no more than a half Pawn. Still the mighty Bishop pair has been seen to be worth as much as a half Pawn over the Knight pair and Black has two such pairs! If one adds up all these factors then perhaps White is playing under a Pawn and a half handicap!
If there is a bright side for White, he can certainly develop much faster than Black. White may only need to make a couple of Pawn moves in the opening, mostly to battle for the centre. Otherwise, White's Leapers can enter the fray without making Pawn moves. Black on the other hand does not have this luxury and must move at least four Pawns plus additional Bishop moves to bring his pieces into play. The White development lead may compensate for the long term advantage the two Bishops do offer, at least in the opening stages of play. If White is up three tempos in the opening maybe he “gets a Pawn back” if we are trying to value dynamic factors.
White also can take some solace in the redundancy factor that Black faces by having each of those sets of two Bishops riding on the same limited 32 square colour complex. One can certainly ask, does Black having two pairs of Bishops on the same colour add tremendous force there or does having a second Bishop just result in the two getting in each other's way? Scenarios can and do arise where Black may have been forced to exchange off both Bishops of one colour, being then stuck with his two remaining Bishops on the same colour. That colour complex may certainly be well controlled, but what about the other one now empty of Bishops? How do two Knights match up against two Bishops on the same colour? The general impression is that this is not a good thing and if possible players in practice try to avoid this scenario!
So how do we answer the balance question? In the games that I have tried with this variant, I have won equally from both sides of the board. Still, my experience has been rather limited to only a handful of games either through Green Chess or playing my friend and fellow variant fan, Jesse Berry at his tea shop in Greenville. My opinion of the game is prejudiced to some extent. By nature in more than 50 years of playing Chess, I have been more the serene positional Bishop player than the maniacal tactical Knight player. In the games of Chigorin Chess I have played, I have found it easier to win with the Black Bishops than with the White Knights. My instinct tells me there is not a complete balance here and the Knight side may need more help—but more on that later!
A Question of Time
The following game shows many of the problems both sides face in this variant. White using his more agile Knights quickly gains a lead in development that allows him to obtain a space advantage and a dangerous attack. The game becomes critical, but Black defends carefully and manages to keep White's avenues of attack closed. Behind his barricades, Black then slowly builds up dangerous counter threats. As happens many times with Knights, White is unable to mark time and finds himself in a position where he practically is in Zugzwang. The obvious waiting moves available to him just seem to lead him into ever more unpleasant situations. Like the boy riding the tiger in the old children's story, there is no good way off and staying on the tiger will soon not be a good option either! Lacking any decent waiting moves I decided to keep riding the tiger and tweaking his nose, charging head on with a speculative piece sacrifice. This sacrifice, while perhaps not totally sound, does require time to refute. Playing 50 or more games beside this one, Doug may not have that time and decides basically to ignore the sacrifice. Instead, after a few less than optimal moves Black ends up drifting into a lost position when he allows the Chancellor to infiltrate into his position.
Green Chess Website Game
Oct 3-Nov. 20, 2020
White : John Vehre
Black : Doug Dysart
1.e4 e5, 2.Nf3 c6
This is a developing move in this position, opening the diagonal for the b8 Bishop while defending the threatened pawn on e5. Black has a lot of choices. 2....d6, 2....f6 and even the Latvian Gambit-like 2....f5 all seem like decent defences. In this variant, White lacks a white-squared Bishop and far roaming Queen. Moving the f-Pawn one or two squares is perfectly safe and Black's King does not feel so drafty as he might in a regular Chess game. Moving the f-Pawn even has many advantages. It is a developing move and psychologically making a move like 2....f6 might throw off a classically trained player. One of the first traps you learn is 3. Nxe5 in regular Chess, which of course does not work here. If White continues with 3. d4 Black can advantageously play 3....ed4, 4.Nxd4 c5!? [Another ugly move in regular Chess!] 5.Nf3 d5 and all the Bishops have open diagonals and easy development into the game. White should play in a more restrained fashion with 3.Ne3 or 3.Nc3 before advancing so precipitously into the centre of the board.
3.d4 ed4, 4.Nxd4 f6, 5.Ne3
5....Qc7
Black wants to prevent White from castling King-side. Black could have also considered the sharper isolated pawn position that arises after 5....d5, 6.ed5 cd5, 7.Nc3. I like playing this position as a gambit and probably would try 7....Bfd6. White can grab the pawn right away with 8.Ncxd5 Bxd5, 9.Nxd5 but with 9....0-0 Black has good compensation for the Pawn. The position is nice and open for the Bishops and it is tough for White to castle in the next few moves without returning his ill-gotten gain. White also can win a Pawn with 8.Ndb5. Black can continue to play in “gambit” style with 8....Bge6, 9.Ncxd5 0-0, 10.Nxd6 Qxd6. This again yields a pleasantly open position for the Bishops, where White again needs a few moves to bring his King into safety. Black seems to have good play for his Pawn. Doug may not have wanted to play so aggressively or just distrusted being down a Pawn.
Of course there is nothing wrong with the move chosen in the game. It stops castling for a long time, without having to give up material. The down side is that Black remains in a somewhat cramped position. The position also remains pretty closed, something that Knights tend to prefer over their diagonally bound comrades.
6.Nd3 Bf7
Both sides calmly develop their forces. The Knights naturally gravitate towards the sub-central squares c3, d3, e3 and f3. Black, on his side of the board, decides to prepare for castling. As usual in such unbalanced games, there are always unusual or even ugly tactical tries that must be considered. 6....c5 was something I examined with the idea of disrupting the calm promenade of White's cavalry. Under the laws of regular Chess it should not work and it really does not here either. After the retreat 7.Nde2 White will soon occupy d5 under very favourable circumstances. Less good would be 7.Nb5 Qa5+, 8.Nbc3 a6, 9.Na3 b5 justifying Black's sharp reaction. With a Black ....c4 coming quickly White's Knights while fully developed are not feeling very comfortable in the face of Black's onrushing Pawn phalanx! One could also say that three of the four Black Bishops are fully developed just sitting on their home squares!
7.Nc3 Be7
This time against 7....c5, I had planned the Pawn sacrifice. 8.Ncd5 Bxd5, 9.Nxd5 Qa5+, 10.b4!? cb4, 11.0-0 followed by Ce3 and e5 under the right circumstances.
8. N4f5?!
When I made this move, I thought it was rather clever since it practically forces a Black fianchetto on the King-side and creates a target for me to attack. Unfortunately it also will end up losing a tempo and the h-Pawn attack will look more threatening than what it actually is! I should have waited and withheld Nf5 until Black had castled. Continuing my development with 8.Cd2 looks more natural and it is probably anybody's game after 8....0-0, 9.f4. In this position, White will have to decide on which side of the board he is brave enough to castle or whether he even wants to castle!
8....Bf8, 9.h4 g6, 10.Nd4 Bg7
Black wants to prevent White from castling King-side. Black could have also considered the sharper isolated pawn position that arises after 5....d5, 6.ed5 cd5, 7.Nc3. I like playing this position as a gambit and probably would try 7....Bfd6. White can grab the pawn right away with 8.Ncxd5 Bxd5, 9.Nxd5 but with 9....0-0 Black has good compensation for the Pawn. The position is nice and open for the Bishops and it is tough for White to castle in the next few moves without returning his ill-gotten gain. White also can win a Pawn with 8.Ndb5. Black can continue to play in “gambit” style with 8....Bge6, 9.Ncxd5 0-0, 10.Nxd6 Qxd6. This again yields a pleasantly open position for the Bishops, where White again needs a few moves to bring his King into safety. Black seems to have good play for his Pawn. Doug may not have wanted to play so aggressively or just distrusted being down a Pawn.
Of course there is nothing wrong with the move chosen in the game. It stops castling for a long time, without having to give up material. The down side is that Black remains in a somewhat cramped position. The position also remains pretty closed, something that Knights tend to prefer over their diagonally bound comrades.
6.Nd3 Bf7
Both sides calmly develop their forces. The Knights naturally gravitate towards the sub-central squares c3, d3, e3 and f3. Black, on his side of the board, decides to prepare for castling. As usual in such unbalanced games, there are always unusual or even ugly tactical tries that must be considered. 6....c5 was something I examined with the idea of disrupting the calm promenade of White's cavalry. Under the laws of regular Chess it should not work and it really does not here either. After the retreat 7.Nde2 White will soon occupy d5 under very favourable circumstances. Less good would be 7.Nb5 Qa5+, 8.Nbc3 a6, 9.Na3 b5 justifying Black's sharp reaction. With a Black ....c4 coming quickly White's Knights while fully developed are not feeling very comfortable in the face of Black's onrushing Pawn phalanx! One could also say that three of the four Black Bishops are fully developed just sitting on their home squares!
7.Nc3 Be7
This time against 7....c5, I had planned the Pawn sacrifice. 8.Ncd5 Bxd5, 9.Nxd5 Qa5+, 10.b4!? cb4, 11.0-0 followed by Ce3 and e5 under the right circumstances.
8. N4f5?!
When I made this move, I thought it was rather clever since it practically forces a Black fianchetto on the King-side and creates a target for me to attack. Unfortunately it also will end up losing a tempo and the h-Pawn attack will look more threatening than what it actually is! I should have waited and withheld Nf5 until Black had castled. Continuing my development with 8.Cd2 looks more natural and it is probably anybody's game after 8....0-0, 9.f4. In this position, White will have to decide on which side of the board he is brave enough to castle or whether he even wants to castle!
8....Bf8, 9.h4 g6, 10.Nd4 Bg7
11.N4e2
Remember move 8? Here we are again except I have made the move h4, and Black managed to squeeze in g6 and Bf8-g7. I think Doug more than managed to have the better bargain out of that transaction of tempos! When I arrived at this position, I had considered a number of other replies, but could not come up with anything better than this meek retreat. I really wanted to play the more aggressive 11.h5, but after the central counter-thrust 11....f5, I did not like my position after the forcing sequence 12.hg6 hg6, 13.Rxh8+ Bxh8, 14.Nf3 [With the idea of playing e5] 14....f4!, 15.Ng4 [The ugly 15.Nf1 probably is necessary with just a bad rather than a lost position!] 15....d5, 16.Nh6 Bfe6 and it looks like I will soon drop that stalwart steed on h6. I also examined 11.f4. The idea was to meet 11....f5 with 12.e5 and the resulting closed position could end up being a “Knight” game. Black can play to open the game with 12....d6, 13.Nf3 a5 [To harass the e3 Knight] 14.Cd2 Ba7, 15.Ce2 d5, 16.0-0-0 Bce6 with chances for both sides, but hardly any of that is forced. Black can also play more patiently with 11....0-0 not rushing forward with ...f5. In my notebook I considered 12.Cf2 d5!?, 13.0-0-0 [Taking the Pawn allows ...Re8 and the Ne3 is not feeling the “love.”] 13....Qb6, 14.Cf3 de4, 15.Nxe4 f5 winning. 11 f4 just seemed to leave all the Knights in too unstable a situation! Knights by their nature like support in the centre, whether from Pawns or Bishops. Lacking Bishops White needs to be extremely circumspect with any Pawn moves.
Withdrawing the Knight allows White to prevent Black's ...f5 and White keeps more control over the position with this retreat. At least for the moment Black lacks a direct hook into White's position.
11....b6
Black could have considered playing 11....f5 anyway! The Pawn sacrifice looks pretty strong after 12.ef5 d5, 13.fg6 hg6, when Black has a great game. He is threatening ...d4 and it is hard to see how White will be able to avoid the total dispersion of his cavalry. White does better to decline the poisoned Pawn and should instead prepare to castle long with Cd2 or play h5 and just hope for the best!
12.h5 d6, 13. h6
White gains a little space with this double-edged thrust and maybe a tempo or two back. On the other hand it will be hard to open lines for an attack if Black finally decides to castle King-side. Still keeping the position closed makes it more comfortable for the Knights than the Bishops.
13....Bf8, 14.Cd2 Be7, 15.f4 0-0, 16.0-0-0?!
Remember move 8? Here we are again except I have made the move h4, and Black managed to squeeze in g6 and Bf8-g7. I think Doug more than managed to have the better bargain out of that transaction of tempos! When I arrived at this position, I had considered a number of other replies, but could not come up with anything better than this meek retreat. I really wanted to play the more aggressive 11.h5, but after the central counter-thrust 11....f5, I did not like my position after the forcing sequence 12.hg6 hg6, 13.Rxh8+ Bxh8, 14.Nf3 [With the idea of playing e5] 14....f4!, 15.Ng4 [The ugly 15.Nf1 probably is necessary with just a bad rather than a lost position!] 15....d5, 16.Nh6 Bfe6 and it looks like I will soon drop that stalwart steed on h6. I also examined 11.f4. The idea was to meet 11....f5 with 12.e5 and the resulting closed position could end up being a “Knight” game. Black can play to open the game with 12....d6, 13.Nf3 a5 [To harass the e3 Knight] 14.Cd2 Ba7, 15.Ce2 d5, 16.0-0-0 Bce6 with chances for both sides, but hardly any of that is forced. Black can also play more patiently with 11....0-0 not rushing forward with ...f5. In my notebook I considered 12.Cf2 d5!?, 13.0-0-0 [Taking the Pawn allows ...Re8 and the Ne3 is not feeling the “love.”] 13....Qb6, 14.Cf3 de4, 15.Nxe4 f5 winning. 11 f4 just seemed to leave all the Knights in too unstable a situation! Knights by their nature like support in the centre, whether from Pawns or Bishops. Lacking Bishops White needs to be extremely circumspect with any Pawn moves.
Withdrawing the Knight allows White to prevent Black's ...f5 and White keeps more control over the position with this retreat. At least for the moment Black lacks a direct hook into White's position.
11....b6
Black could have considered playing 11....f5 anyway! The Pawn sacrifice looks pretty strong after 12.ef5 d5, 13.fg6 hg6, when Black has a great game. He is threatening ...d4 and it is hard to see how White will be able to avoid the total dispersion of his cavalry. White does better to decline the poisoned Pawn and should instead prepare to castle long with Cd2 or play h5 and just hope for the best!
12.h5 d6, 13. h6
White gains a little space with this double-edged thrust and maybe a tempo or two back. On the other hand it will be hard to open lines for an attack if Black finally decides to castle King-side. Still keeping the position closed makes it more comfortable for the Knights than the Bishops.
13....Bf8, 14.Cd2 Be7, 15.f4 0-0, 16.0-0-0?!
This was a hard move to make. White clearly wants to attack on the King-side, but his Pawn on h6 has closed off many avenues of attack. Black can easily evade line opening tries such as a possible future White f5 with ...g5 or g5 with f5. This is the down-side of the space gaining thrust h6. To break through White probably must sacrifice a piece. Black on the other hand is behind several tempos in his Queen-side attack, but he has a full range of possible line opening Pawn thrusts available to him.
16.Cf3 was a logical alternative. White would make a useful move, both supporting the loose Knight on e3 and bringing his Chancellor over a little closer to the Black King. It is a move that he probably needs to make anyway with or without castling and again has the advantage of not committing himself too early to an opposite side castling battle that he might not be able to win.
Still, looking at my notes, I had hoped with castling to introduce concrete play in an otherwise murky position. By encouraging Black's Pawns forward, I thought there was a decent possibility of gaining useful Knight outposts, especially on d5! Whether this outweighs giving Black a clear target to attack is doubtful and the Chancellor move was better than the move chosen in the game.
16...a5
Black begins his Pawn storm, and at the same time gives his b8 bishop another developing square on a7. 16....b5 was worth considering, contemplating bringing the Queen to a5 and starting a quick attack with his pieces rather than relying on the slow march of his pawns. In my notebook, I also looked at two less logical moves. First the counter-blow in the centre with 16....f5 just looks too risky, although it may be just barely okay. I then examined an equally risky antidote 17.ef5 gf5, 18.g4!? fg4, 19.Nxg4 Bxg4, 20.Rdg1 Be6, 21.Nd4 Kh8, 22.Nxe6 Bxe6, 23 Rg7 considering I had compensation for my piece although this may be doubtful even in the line I considered, 23....Rf7, 24.R1g1 Rxg7, 25.Rxg7 Qd7. 16....Bce6 is another doubtful try. Black really does not need to rush and sacrifice a piece in search of counter-play. Still 17.f5 Bxa2, 18.Nxa2 Bxa2, 19.fg6 hg6, 20.h7+ Kg7, 21.h8 Rxh8, 22.Rxh8 Kxh8, 23.Rh1+ Kg7, 24.b3 a5, 25.Nc3 [Not 25.Kb2 a4, 26.Kxa2 ab3+ and Black does have a nice attack for his piece.] 25....a4, 26.Nxa2 ab3, 27.Nc3 Ra1+, 28.Nb1 Ra2 yields a rather complex position where Black has three pawns for his piece. Even so White probably is close to winning after 29.Cf3.
16.Cf3 was a logical alternative. White would make a useful move, both supporting the loose Knight on e3 and bringing his Chancellor over a little closer to the Black King. It is a move that he probably needs to make anyway with or without castling and again has the advantage of not committing himself too early to an opposite side castling battle that he might not be able to win.
Still, looking at my notes, I had hoped with castling to introduce concrete play in an otherwise murky position. By encouraging Black's Pawns forward, I thought there was a decent possibility of gaining useful Knight outposts, especially on d5! Whether this outweighs giving Black a clear target to attack is doubtful and the Chancellor move was better than the move chosen in the game.
16...a5
Black begins his Pawn storm, and at the same time gives his b8 bishop another developing square on a7. 16....b5 was worth considering, contemplating bringing the Queen to a5 and starting a quick attack with his pieces rather than relying on the slow march of his pawns. In my notebook, I also looked at two less logical moves. First the counter-blow in the centre with 16....f5 just looks too risky, although it may be just barely okay. I then examined an equally risky antidote 17.ef5 gf5, 18.g4!? fg4, 19.Nxg4 Bxg4, 20.Rdg1 Be6, 21.Nd4 Kh8, 22.Nxe6 Bxe6, 23 Rg7 considering I had compensation for my piece although this may be doubtful even in the line I considered, 23....Rf7, 24.R1g1 Rxg7, 25.Rxg7 Qd7. 16....Bce6 is another doubtful try. Black really does not need to rush and sacrifice a piece in search of counter-play. Still 17.f5 Bxa2, 18.Nxa2 Bxa2, 19.fg6 hg6, 20.h7+ Kg7, 21.h8 Rxh8, 22.Rxh8 Kxh8, 23.Rh1+ Kg7, 24.b3 a5, 25.Nc3 [Not 25.Kb2 a4, 26.Kxa2 ab3+ and Black does have a nice attack for his piece.] 25....a4, 26.Nxa2 ab3, 27.Nc3 Ra1+, 28.Nb1 Ra2 yields a rather complex position where Black has three pawns for his piece. Even so White probably is close to winning after 29.Cf3.
White is threatening Ch3 followed by a dangerous penetration to either h7 or h8 with a quick mate as well as Nf5+ in some lines. For example if 29....bc2, 30.Nf5+ Kg8 [Taking the piece with 30....gf5 is no fun either and Black is mated after 31.Cxf5+ Kf7, 32.Rh7+ Ke8, 33.Cg7+ Kf8, 34.Cg6+ Ke8, 35.Cg8+ Bf8, 36.Cxf6 Kd8, 37.Cxf8.] 31.Rh8+! Kxh8, 32.Ch4+ Kg8, 33.Ch6+ Kf8, 34.Ch8 mate. A Chancellor and a Rook combining against a lone King is a deadly combination!
17. a4
This is again a brave if somewhat foolhardy choice! The idea is to exchange on b5 if and when Black makes a Pawn advance to that square. White then will not only have an outpost for one of his Knights on d5, but a weak Pawn to pressure on d6. In a positional sense, this is all well and good, but White concedes to Black a very dangerous potential passed Pawn on the a-file that not only can become a Queen, but also set up mating threats once it arrives on a3!
17....Qb7, 18.Cf3 b5, 19.ab5 cb5, 20.f5
17. a4
This is again a brave if somewhat foolhardy choice! The idea is to exchange on b5 if and when Black makes a Pawn advance to that square. White then will not only have an outpost for one of his Knights on d5, but a weak Pawn to pressure on d6. In a positional sense, this is all well and good, but White concedes to Black a very dangerous potential passed Pawn on the a-file that not only can become a Queen, but also set up mating threats once it arrives on a3!
17....Qb7, 18.Cf3 b5, 19.ab5 cb5, 20.f5
20....g5
No doubt this is the safest and most natural response to White's efforts to open lines on the King-side. White does have real threats if Black hurries with his own play on the Queen-side. 20....a4 is playable, but Black has to be careful. White does have a surprising breakthrough after 21.fg6 hg6, 22.h7+ Kg7?, 23.h8(C) Rxh8, 24.Rxh8 Kxh8 ,25.Ch4+ Kg7, 26.Rh1 [Threatening a mate in 3!] Now if 26....Bg8, 27.Nef4 g5, 28.Cg6+ Kf7, 29.Rh8 wins. In the above line 22....Kh8 is more resilient. I intended to play 23.Ncd5, but 23....a3 does yield dangerous play for Black. Then a defensive arrangement with Knights surrounding my King say with 24.ba3 Rxa3, 25.Kb2 Qa7, 26.Ra1 and with the idea of playing the d3 Knight to b4 after the exchange of Rooks seems to be the way to go. A similar defensive arrangement is possible if Black had advanced his other pawn on the Queen-side with 20....b4. White then needs to play 21.Ncd5 when he seems to have an adequate defence against the Pawn sacrifice 21....a4. 22.N3xb4 a3, 23.ba3 Rxa3 with 24.Kb2 followed by Ra1. But again Black need not hurry and 21....Ba7 looks like a better try. Black now threatens to go into a favourable ending with 22....Bxe3 and 23....Bxd5 if White would recapture with the Chancellor. Here is where one of the advantages Bishop pairs have over Knights shines pretty brightly. There often arises an opportunity to give up one of the Bishops in return for some other positional advantage—in this case trying to take advantage of White's overextended Pawn structure.
21. Ncd5 Bd8
It makes sense to hold onto this Bishop. Black's f6 does need some protection and it is not beyond the realm of possibility for White to sink Knights onto g4 and h5 putting a lot of pressure on Black's little fellow on f6. The Bishop also from d8 may emerge later onto a5 and perhaps make White regret his Queen-side castling. Certainly with the Bishop on a5 there won't be any easy “Petrosian-like” King marches back to the King-side.
Black of course could play 21....a4 again and I had thought about meeting it with something like 22.N3b4 a3, 23.ba3 Ra3, 24.Kb2 followed by Ra1 contesting the a-file. I liked my chances, but play probably is just even. Still Black does not need to hurry like this and White does not have immediate threats. Consequently there is plenty of time for Black's a-Pawn to do his thing.
22. Cg3 Kh8
This is good prophylaxis. Why permit White a free Ne2-f4-h5? The move also makes room for the Bishop to drop back to g8 allowing further protection of the vulnerable f6 point.
23.Cg4
No doubt this is the safest and most natural response to White's efforts to open lines on the King-side. White does have real threats if Black hurries with his own play on the Queen-side. 20....a4 is playable, but Black has to be careful. White does have a surprising breakthrough after 21.fg6 hg6, 22.h7+ Kg7?, 23.h8(C) Rxh8, 24.Rxh8 Kxh8 ,25.Ch4+ Kg7, 26.Rh1 [Threatening a mate in 3!] Now if 26....Bg8, 27.Nef4 g5, 28.Cg6+ Kf7, 29.Rh8 wins. In the above line 22....Kh8 is more resilient. I intended to play 23.Ncd5, but 23....a3 does yield dangerous play for Black. Then a defensive arrangement with Knights surrounding my King say with 24.ba3 Rxa3, 25.Kb2 Qa7, 26.Ra1 and with the idea of playing the d3 Knight to b4 after the exchange of Rooks seems to be the way to go. A similar defensive arrangement is possible if Black had advanced his other pawn on the Queen-side with 20....b4. White then needs to play 21.Ncd5 when he seems to have an adequate defence against the Pawn sacrifice 21....a4. 22.N3xb4 a3, 23.ba3 Rxa3 with 24.Kb2 followed by Ra1. But again Black need not hurry and 21....Ba7 looks like a better try. Black now threatens to go into a favourable ending with 22....Bxe3 and 23....Bxd5 if White would recapture with the Chancellor. Here is where one of the advantages Bishop pairs have over Knights shines pretty brightly. There often arises an opportunity to give up one of the Bishops in return for some other positional advantage—in this case trying to take advantage of White's overextended Pawn structure.
21. Ncd5 Bd8
It makes sense to hold onto this Bishop. Black's f6 does need some protection and it is not beyond the realm of possibility for White to sink Knights onto g4 and h5 putting a lot of pressure on Black's little fellow on f6. The Bishop also from d8 may emerge later onto a5 and perhaps make White regret his Queen-side castling. Certainly with the Bishop on a5 there won't be any easy “Petrosian-like” King marches back to the King-side.
Black of course could play 21....a4 again and I had thought about meeting it with something like 22.N3b4 a3, 23.ba3 Ra3, 24.Kb2 followed by Ra1 contesting the a-file. I liked my chances, but play probably is just even. Still Black does not need to hurry like this and White does not have immediate threats. Consequently there is plenty of time for Black's a-Pawn to do his thing.
22. Cg3 Kh8
This is good prophylaxis. Why permit White a free Ne2-f4-h5? The move also makes room for the Bishop to drop back to g8 allowing further protection of the vulnerable f6 point.
23.Cg4
23...Bg8
Doug keeps his cool and continues with his plan. At about this time he mentioned something about conducting a rope-a-dope strategy. Both players are dancing around the ring, but nobody has yet landed a good jaw-breaking blow. I have to admit that I don't always have the patience that I should have in Chess and certainly would have been tempted to play 23....Bxd5. The point is that Black can win a Pawn against the natural recapture 24.Nxd5 Bxf5, 25.ef5 Qxd5. Unfortunately for White the f-Pawn is also weak and he can not immediately play any tricks like Nd3-f4 with a further hop to e6 or maybe even g6+ in some lines. Still, maybe he is doing okay. After 26.Ng3. Nf4 is again a threat and there is a good chance he can gain further compensation for his Pawn deficit by controlling the e-file. Finally Black also is stuck with two Bishops on dark squares, which as mentioned earlier is not something Black strives for in Chigorin Chess!
White also need not give up the Pawn, but the reply 24.ed5 Re8, 25.Rh3 Ba7 followed by ...Qe7 puts White's somewhat overextended position under considerable pressure.
24.Rh3
White takes his own prophylactic measures and in some lines the rook may even be able to slide over to the Queen-side and help with defence. For the moment he gives the e3 Knight another defender and eyes the g file as well in case some vague sacrificial operation might arise.
24....Ba7, 25.Nd3f4!?
Doug keeps his cool and continues with his plan. At about this time he mentioned something about conducting a rope-a-dope strategy. Both players are dancing around the ring, but nobody has yet landed a good jaw-breaking blow. I have to admit that I don't always have the patience that I should have in Chess and certainly would have been tempted to play 23....Bxd5. The point is that Black can win a Pawn against the natural recapture 24.Nxd5 Bxf5, 25.ef5 Qxd5. Unfortunately for White the f-Pawn is also weak and he can not immediately play any tricks like Nd3-f4 with a further hop to e6 or maybe even g6+ in some lines. Still, maybe he is doing okay. After 26.Ng3. Nf4 is again a threat and there is a good chance he can gain further compensation for his Pawn deficit by controlling the e-file. Finally Black also is stuck with two Bishops on dark squares, which as mentioned earlier is not something Black strives for in Chigorin Chess!
White also need not give up the Pawn, but the reply 24.ed5 Re8, 25.Rh3 Ba7 followed by ...Qe7 puts White's somewhat overextended position under considerable pressure.
24.Rh3
White takes his own prophylactic measures and in some lines the rook may even be able to slide over to the Queen-side and help with defence. For the moment he gives the e3 Knight another defender and eyes the g file as well in case some vague sacrificial operation might arise.
24....Ba7, 25.Nd3f4!?
“Half a league, half a league, / Half a league onward / All in the Valley of Death / Rode the six hundred....” The sacrifice is not so vague after all, and what was I saying about patience! At this point, I thought I had improved my position about as much as I could and if I started waiting, say by shuffling around my Knights, my position would just continue to deteriorate. Additionally what Knight should I shuffle? The e2 Knight is the logical candidate since he is the worst placed of the herd, but after 25.Ng3 a4, 26.Nh5 an old unfriendly tactic again arises and Black can again land the blow, 26....Bxd5, 27.Nxd5 Bxf5, 28.ef5 Qxd5 under more favourable circumstances. A further Black ….Bd4 and ...a3 make this position much more threatening for Black than it was two moves ago. Taking back with the Pawn is not an option either on White's 27th move. If 27.ed5 Bxe3, 28.Cxe3 Bb6, 29.Cg4 Qxd5 and now 30.Nxf6 is bad because of Qxf5 and White's position is just falling apart.
25....Bxe3+
Black signals his intention that he will just ignore the prancing cavalry and continue with his own counter play on the Queen-side. I spent a lot of time on the passive Knight sacrifice and my main line ran 25....gf4, 26.N2xf4 Bf7, 27.Nxf6 Bxf6, 28.Cxf6 Qe7.
25....Bxe3+
Black signals his intention that he will just ignore the prancing cavalry and continue with his own counter play on the Queen-side. I spent a lot of time on the passive Knight sacrifice and my main line ran 25....gf4, 26.N2xf4 Bf7, 27.Nxf6 Bxf6, 28.Cxf6 Qe7.
White now has a number of choices, but none really seem to give an equal game. Taking the d-Pawn of course is the most natural way of playing, but unfortunately proves to be a losing blunder! If 29.Cxd6 White drops a further piece to 29....Qxd6, 30.Rxd6 Bb8. 29.Rxd6 Bb8 does not look any better. 29.N3d5 may be White's best shot. Now 29....Bxd5?? would be a losing blunder. White has the shot 30.Ng6+ hg6, 31.Cxg6+ winning. Still that line is too good to be true and better for Black is 29....Qxf6. At this point we can leave human analysis behind and switch to our ever popular silicon friend. Houdini evaluates the position after 30.Nxf6 Bb7, 31.Rg3 Bc5, 32.Rg7 Bg8, 33.N4h5 Bc6, 34.g4 to be somewhat better for Black, around a half of a Pawn. White has a little compensation with his swarming pieces on the King-side for his material deficit, but not really quite enough. Still in some ways it would be a tough position for humans to conduct the defence. Having a cornered King and enemy pieces ready for Arabian-like mates is not the most fun situation to have to defend.
26.Rxe3 a4
Black could still take the piece, but I think Doug correctly chooses to decline the sacrifice. With the greedy 26....gf4 there are many ways to go wrong. After 27.N2xf4 Bxd5?, White would have the strong reply 28.Ng6+ and could even force a draw after 28....Kg8 [The Knight is taboo since White mates against 28....hg6, 29.Cxg6+ Kh7, 30.Cxf8 mate. This is a classic Chancellor mate pattern, attacking from behind the lines.] 29.Ne7+ since 29....Kf7, 30.Cg7 mate is out of the question. White could also consider keeping the position alive with 29.Nxf8+ Kxf8, 30.Rxd5. With a Rook and Pawn for two Bishops White still has chances, especially considering Black's exposed King and broken Pawn structure. This is probably the way I would have proceeded considering the rating difference between the two players as well as our previous scores in chess variant games.
27.Rc3 Bxd5
26.Rxe3 a4
Black could still take the piece, but I think Doug correctly chooses to decline the sacrifice. With the greedy 26....gf4 there are many ways to go wrong. After 27.N2xf4 Bxd5?, White would have the strong reply 28.Ng6+ and could even force a draw after 28....Kg8 [The Knight is taboo since White mates against 28....hg6, 29.Cxg6+ Kh7, 30.Cxf8 mate. This is a classic Chancellor mate pattern, attacking from behind the lines.] 29.Ne7+ since 29....Kf7, 30.Cg7 mate is out of the question. White could also consider keeping the position alive with 29.Nxf8+ Kxf8, 30.Rxd5. With a Rook and Pawn for two Bishops White still has chances, especially considering Black's exposed King and broken Pawn structure. This is probably the way I would have proceeded considering the rating difference between the two players as well as our previous scores in chess variant games.
27.Rc3 Bxd5
If instead 27....b4 White had in mind a flashy little combination starting with 28.Rxc8 Qxc8? [Unfortunately the more stubborn 28....Rxc8, 29.Ng6+ hg6, 30.fg6 Be7, 31.g7+ Kh7, 32.gf8(C)+ Rxf8 probably still favours Black slightly.] 29.Ng6+ hg6, 30.fg6! Qxg4, 31.g7+ Kh7, 32.gf8(C)+. Nice but too good to be true!
Also deserving attention was 27....Ba5. I again examined 28.Rxc8 where if 28....Qxc8?? 29.Ne7 wins on the spot. Better again is taking on c8 with the Rook. After 28....Raxc8 [28....Rfxc8, 29.Ng6+ hg6, 30.fg6 Bxd5, 31.g7+ Kg8, 32.Cxf6 is another pretty mate.] 29.Ng6+ hg6, 30.fg6 Bxd5, 31.g7+ Kh7, 32.gf8(C)+ Rxf8 and regardless of which way White takes on d5 after a further ….Qd7 Black again stands a little better.
Taking the piece also is possible, if rather messy after 27....gf4, 28.N2xf4 Bf7 when White does not appear to have anything better than capturing the Pawn with 29.Nxf6. I now was a little afraid of 29....a3, but 30.ba3 b4, 31.Rg3 shows that White has some fangs also. Whether Black can beat off this attack or not there probably is no reason to risk such a continuation when Doug can maintain an advantage by much simpler means. Doug's move does simplify the position and at least to human eyes gives his King much more breathing room!
28.Nxd5 b4, 29.Rcd3 Bd7
Doug continues to play cagily and decides to improve the position of his Bishops before committing himself to any decisive action. Still the plan seems to be slow and 29....a3 deserved serious consideration. After 30.b3 Black could have at least forced a draw with a continuation like 30.... a2, 31.Kb2 a1(Q)+, 32.Rxa1 Rxa1, 33.Kxa1 Qa7+, 34.Kb1 Ba6, 35.Rd2 Bxe2, 36.Rxe2 Qg1+, 37.Kb2 Qd4+, 38.Kc1 Qg1+. Playing for more with 38....Be7!? 39.Ce3 Ra8, 40.Cd3 looks a little too risky.
Against the other breakthrough attempt 29....b3, 30.Nd4 I can just hold on after 30....bc2, 31.Kxc2 Rb8, 32.b4 even if the airy King-position is totally scary!
30. Nd4 Bb5
I don't like this move, which surrenders the last pair of Bishops, but 30....a3, 31.b3 a2, 32.Kb2 Qa7, 33.Ka1 Qa3 is not any better. Both sides' Kings are hanging on a precipice, but despite their unseemly perches seem relatively safe. Still appearances are deceptive and 34.Ne6 reawakens White's dormant attack and the move is very awkward to meet. It is hard to see how Black avoids material loss or even find the necessary compensation for the Pawn he is about to lose. 34....Bxe6, 35.fe6 Ra7, 36.Rf3 picks up the f6 Pawn and Black's castled position finally collapses. 30....b3, 31.cb3 ab3, 32.Rxb3 Ra1+, 33.Kd2 Rxd1+, 34.Kxd1 Qa7 looks more like realistic compensation for the Pawn. Despite surrendering the last Bishop pair, Doug's move holds the balance, but one is starting to have the feeling that his position is drifting downwards.
31 Nxb5 Qxb5 32. Ce3 Kg8 33. Kb1 Kf7?!
This is an interesting idea. Black starts to centralize his King for the upcoming ending. Still the move can become dangerous, especially if Black forgets to enter the ending he is contemplating playing! Still, the good Knight vs. bad Bishop ending would not be my first choice for conducting a defence. I tend to like complications and would have preferred 33....Re8, which stops White's next move and easily maintains the balance. Black could then contemplate playing ideas like ...Rc8 and ...Qc4 that put pressure on both the centre and White's Queen-side.
34 Cf3 Qc5 35. Cd4 Rb8?
During the game, I thought this was the losing moment, but perhaps Black's 33rd move is more the culprit after all. It looked like Black's best chance was to enter a regular Chess game with 35....Qxd4 and that did seem to be the point behind Doug's earlier King move to f7. However, my computer says Black already is basically lost and already evaluates this ending as being roughly two pawns in White's favour! I had examined 36.Rxd4 b3, 37.cb3 ab3, 38.Rb4 Ra7, 39.Rxb3, although the computer's 39.Rd3 Ba5, 40.Rb5 playing for an attack along the 7th or 8th rank is much stronger. I remember seeing some similar ideas in my line when analyzing the position during my trip to California in 2020. 36....Ba5 may be more stubborn. After 37.Nxb4 the computer likes the sacrifice 37....a3!?, 38.ba3 Rfb8, 39.c3 Bc7, 40.Rc4 Rb7, 41.Kb2 Ke7. The plan now is to eventually play a4 and gradually push the broken Pawns up the board. This requires some patience and hard work to realize the advantage. Doug's move unfortunately allows White to demonstrate a nice mating attack.
36.Ce6!
Already threatening 37.Cg7 mate!
36....Rg8, 37. Ne3 Be7
Also deserving attention was 27....Ba5. I again examined 28.Rxc8 where if 28....Qxc8?? 29.Ne7 wins on the spot. Better again is taking on c8 with the Rook. After 28....Raxc8 [28....Rfxc8, 29.Ng6+ hg6, 30.fg6 Bxd5, 31.g7+ Kg8, 32.Cxf6 is another pretty mate.] 29.Ng6+ hg6, 30.fg6 Bxd5, 31.g7+ Kh7, 32.gf8(C)+ Rxf8 and regardless of which way White takes on d5 after a further ….Qd7 Black again stands a little better.
Taking the piece also is possible, if rather messy after 27....gf4, 28.N2xf4 Bf7 when White does not appear to have anything better than capturing the Pawn with 29.Nxf6. I now was a little afraid of 29....a3, but 30.ba3 b4, 31.Rg3 shows that White has some fangs also. Whether Black can beat off this attack or not there probably is no reason to risk such a continuation when Doug can maintain an advantage by much simpler means. Doug's move does simplify the position and at least to human eyes gives his King much more breathing room!
28.Nxd5 b4, 29.Rcd3 Bd7
Doug continues to play cagily and decides to improve the position of his Bishops before committing himself to any decisive action. Still the plan seems to be slow and 29....a3 deserved serious consideration. After 30.b3 Black could have at least forced a draw with a continuation like 30.... a2, 31.Kb2 a1(Q)+, 32.Rxa1 Rxa1, 33.Kxa1 Qa7+, 34.Kb1 Ba6, 35.Rd2 Bxe2, 36.Rxe2 Qg1+, 37.Kb2 Qd4+, 38.Kc1 Qg1+. Playing for more with 38....Be7!? 39.Ce3 Ra8, 40.Cd3 looks a little too risky.
Against the other breakthrough attempt 29....b3, 30.Nd4 I can just hold on after 30....bc2, 31.Kxc2 Rb8, 32.b4 even if the airy King-position is totally scary!
30. Nd4 Bb5
I don't like this move, which surrenders the last pair of Bishops, but 30....a3, 31.b3 a2, 32.Kb2 Qa7, 33.Ka1 Qa3 is not any better. Both sides' Kings are hanging on a precipice, but despite their unseemly perches seem relatively safe. Still appearances are deceptive and 34.Ne6 reawakens White's dormant attack and the move is very awkward to meet. It is hard to see how Black avoids material loss or even find the necessary compensation for the Pawn he is about to lose. 34....Bxe6, 35.fe6 Ra7, 36.Rf3 picks up the f6 Pawn and Black's castled position finally collapses. 30....b3, 31.cb3 ab3, 32.Rxb3 Ra1+, 33.Kd2 Rxd1+, 34.Kxd1 Qa7 looks more like realistic compensation for the Pawn. Despite surrendering the last Bishop pair, Doug's move holds the balance, but one is starting to have the feeling that his position is drifting downwards.
31 Nxb5 Qxb5 32. Ce3 Kg8 33. Kb1 Kf7?!
This is an interesting idea. Black starts to centralize his King for the upcoming ending. Still the move can become dangerous, especially if Black forgets to enter the ending he is contemplating playing! Still, the good Knight vs. bad Bishop ending would not be my first choice for conducting a defence. I tend to like complications and would have preferred 33....Re8, which stops White's next move and easily maintains the balance. Black could then contemplate playing ideas like ...Rc8 and ...Qc4 that put pressure on both the centre and White's Queen-side.
34 Cf3 Qc5 35. Cd4 Rb8?
During the game, I thought this was the losing moment, but perhaps Black's 33rd move is more the culprit after all. It looked like Black's best chance was to enter a regular Chess game with 35....Qxd4 and that did seem to be the point behind Doug's earlier King move to f7. However, my computer says Black already is basically lost and already evaluates this ending as being roughly two pawns in White's favour! I had examined 36.Rxd4 b3, 37.cb3 ab3, 38.Rb4 Ra7, 39.Rxb3, although the computer's 39.Rd3 Ba5, 40.Rb5 playing for an attack along the 7th or 8th rank is much stronger. I remember seeing some similar ideas in my line when analyzing the position during my trip to California in 2020. 36....Ba5 may be more stubborn. After 37.Nxb4 the computer likes the sacrifice 37....a3!?, 38.ba3 Rfb8, 39.c3 Bc7, 40.Rc4 Rb7, 41.Kb2 Ke7. The plan now is to eventually play a4 and gradually push the broken Pawns up the board. This requires some patience and hard work to realize the advantage. Doug's move unfortunately allows White to demonstrate a nice mating attack.
36.Ce6!
Already threatening 37.Cg7 mate!
36....Rg8, 37. Ne3 Be7
38 Rxd6! Qxe3
Black has nothing better and has to give up his Queen to avoid mate after 38....Bxd6, 39.Rxd6 Qxd6, 40.Cxd6+. Still, there is no rest for the wicked and he loses the a8 Rook to 40....Ke7, 41.Cb7+ Kf8, 42.Cxh7+ Ke8, 43 Cc7+.
39.Rd7 Rbe8
Black's position is now hopeless, but a bit more stubborn is 39....Rge8, 40.Cg7+ Kf8, 41.Cxh7+ Kg8, 42.Rxe7 Rxe7, 43.Cxe7+ Kf8, 44 Cd7+, when moving the h-Pawn decides the battle after both ...Kg8 or ...Ke8.
40.Rxe7+
Sacrifices are easy in such positions. This mating pattern shows the dangers of letting a Chancellor approach too closely to a King hemmed in by his own forces!
40....Rxe7, 41.Cd6+ Kf8 42.Cd8+ Re8, 43.Cd7 mate. The Chancellor's version of a smothered mate!
This was a difficult game for both players and for me perhaps too difficult if one considers the rating difference and experience of a former Correspondence Master playing a low-expert over-the-board rated player, not to mention the time advantage of my four or five online games that I was playing at a time against Doug's 50 or so! Considering I won my Black game against Doug relatively easily, I tend to think this variant isn't completely balanced and may need some tweaking. That said, I still think it is an interesting game and if nothing else another way of testing one's skill at handling a bishop pair against a Knight pair or visa versa that would be useful training for regular Chess.
I always like to tinker with rules and I might encourage readers, who also think that Chigorin Chess might need more balancing, try enhancing the Chancellor piece slightly by adding a single square diagonal move to its Rook and Knight compound move. This probably makes the piece slightly better than a Queen and in the few games I have tried with it also seems to make a nice playable game for the Knight side even playing Black. Unfortunately, to play this way you would have to forego server play and revert to old email-style games or play live. I would be interested in hearing back from anybody who has tried working with this suggested enhancement. ◾️
Header image
Portrait of great Russian Chess player, Mikhail Chigorin. Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Black has nothing better and has to give up his Queen to avoid mate after 38....Bxd6, 39.Rxd6 Qxd6, 40.Cxd6+. Still, there is no rest for the wicked and he loses the a8 Rook to 40....Ke7, 41.Cb7+ Kf8, 42.Cxh7+ Ke8, 43 Cc7+.
39.Rd7 Rbe8
Black's position is now hopeless, but a bit more stubborn is 39....Rge8, 40.Cg7+ Kf8, 41.Cxh7+ Kg8, 42.Rxe7 Rxe7, 43.Cxe7+ Kf8, 44 Cd7+, when moving the h-Pawn decides the battle after both ...Kg8 or ...Ke8.
40.Rxe7+
Sacrifices are easy in such positions. This mating pattern shows the dangers of letting a Chancellor approach too closely to a King hemmed in by his own forces!
40....Rxe7, 41.Cd6+ Kf8 42.Cd8+ Re8, 43.Cd7 mate. The Chancellor's version of a smothered mate!
This was a difficult game for both players and for me perhaps too difficult if one considers the rating difference and experience of a former Correspondence Master playing a low-expert over-the-board rated player, not to mention the time advantage of my four or five online games that I was playing at a time against Doug's 50 or so! Considering I won my Black game against Doug relatively easily, I tend to think this variant isn't completely balanced and may need some tweaking. That said, I still think it is an interesting game and if nothing else another way of testing one's skill at handling a bishop pair against a Knight pair or visa versa that would be useful training for regular Chess.
I always like to tinker with rules and I might encourage readers, who also think that Chigorin Chess might need more balancing, try enhancing the Chancellor piece slightly by adding a single square diagonal move to its Rook and Knight compound move. This probably makes the piece slightly better than a Queen and in the few games I have tried with it also seems to make a nice playable game for the Knight side even playing Black. Unfortunately, to play this way you would have to forego server play and revert to old email-style games or play live. I would be interested in hearing back from anybody who has tried working with this suggested enhancement. ◾️
Header image
Portrait of great Russian Chess player, Mikhail Chigorin. Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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John Vehre is a an expert in chess and its variants, and was one of the world's strongest Grand Chess players around the turn of the century. Indeed, he wrote about Grand Chess in AG13 and AG14. Initially I had contacted John to see if he would be interested to return to Grand Chess in the pages of Abstract Games. I am glad he selected Chigorin Chess to write about instead, as it is one of those particularly interesting chess variants which pit unequal forces against each other. ~ Editor