Chess in Israel

Yesterday's game came after almost a month's break from rated Rapid games on Chess.com. A win would have pushed me over the 1500 mark, and I made sure to have energy, altertness and motivation. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.a3 Bxc3 5.bxc3 0-0 6.a4 White allowed the Nimzo-Indian Defense with 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 and led us down the path of the Samisch Variation with 4.a3 . I chopped the pinned knight with 4...Bxc3 , White rechopped with 5.bxc3 , and I castled with 5...0-0 . So far, so book -- although Seirawan in Winning Chess Openings prefers 5...c5 to castles: "Black's strategy is to freeze the c4-pawn so that he might capture it in the future." White had sole possession of the bishop pair, but I was making the case for a lead in development and a healthier pawn structure. Despite having no pieces deployed, White moved his a-pawn a second time with 6.a4 . This move was and is puzzling. Chess.com's game review labels it the best move, but at depth=2...

It's that time of year again when my skin gets darker and my hair gets whiter -- the former on account of longer and sunnier days, the latter on account of mounting pressure at work. It's also a time of year when I don't get nearly enough sleep, and that is a recipe for poor chess performance. 1. 2024-05-04 Black to move (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.f3) In this position, from an anonymous Lichess Rapid game, White just played 11.a4 . How should I have replied? Explanation: White has two pieces targeting Black's bish on e7, and it looks like Black's f6-knight is pinned. Black, however, has the opportunity to win a pawn. How so? Black has a move that captures a pawn, discovered-attacks White's undefended g5-bish and double-defends the bish on e7. After 11...Nxd5 , whichever way White captures back, Black emerges a pawn up: 12.Bxe7 Nxe7 / 12.Nxd5 Bxg5+ / 12.Rxd5 Bxg5+ / 12.cxd5 Bxg5+ . Solution: 11...Nxd5 2. 2024-05-06 Black to move In this position, fro...

Game 4 in John Shaw's Starting Out: The Queen's Gambit was played in 1996 between Alexander Huzman and Mosi Ravia. As it features the Lasker Defense, a variation described by Shaw as "dull" and by Grigori Levenfish as "peaceful," Huzman-Ravia 1996 lacks the fireworks of Atalik-Bagakis '94. The point of the Lasker is to take the sting out of White's attack by forcing a pair of minor pieces off the board early: less pieces equals less threats. As indicated in the image above, the game between Huzman and Ravia was played in Tel Aviv. Born and raised in Ukraine, Huzman currently lives in Israel as a naturalized citizen. He made the news in 2017 when his opponent at a tournament in Gibraltar, 15-year-old Borna Derakhshani of Iran, defied the Iranian chess federation's prohibition on competing against Israelis and was consequently banned from representing his country in future tournaments. 1. Opening: Queen's Gambit Declined, Lasker Defens...