TODAY'S LESSON

Discovered attacks. Don't just wait for an opportunity - create the opportunity by putting knight in front of a bishop, or a rook behind a bishop.

I also forgot to mention a tactic called the double-check.This can happen when you have a discovered attack on the king while the piece that moved is also checking the king. The only way to get out of a double check is to move the king.

White to move and checkmate in 2 moves.

OPENING OF THE WEEK - Danish Gambit

This opening for White leads to a wild game which either ends quickly with a win for white, or if Black can can defend accurately, the two pawn advantage may allow Black to win the endgame.

1. e4    e5

2. d4    exd4

3. c3    dxc3

4. Bb4    cabs

5. Bxc2

Note how White is ready to attack with two bishops and a queen that can attack frim three different directions. White controls the center and is only one move away from being ready to castle.

Black on the other hand still has all his pieces on the original squares - but he is two pawns up. Was it worth it?

RATINGS

Name	25-Oct
Cavan	813
Simon	616
Thomas	557
Q	541
Alex	287
Jack	232
Soren	175
Santi	170
Audrey	163
Hunter	144
Eldrych	132
William	132
Harrison	125

Answer to puzzle 1. Bf5+ Kb8 2. Rc8#

TODAYS LESSON: PINS

Two big pieces on a line? Look out! it's pinning (or hurdle) time!

After your pin a piece, attack it!

Never underestimate the power of the pin. Even a pawn that's pinned can be a problem.

Find White's best next two moves.

NEXT TOURAMENT

Nov 4 Highview Middle School in  New Brighton. This is a grade-level team tournament. Team score is the total points of the top 3 players.

OPENING OF THE WEEK - KING'S GAMBIT

How about an opening for White. A gambit is when you give away a pawn to gain a positional advantage. You often try to regain the pawn later. Here White gambits the f pawn.  White will eventually try for Bxf4 and o-o (castling kingside). The light bishop, knight, rook and queen will all put pressure on f7.

Kings Gambit accepted 

1.e4.    e5

2.f4.    exf4

3. Nf3

Kings Gambit declined

1.e4.    e5

2.f4.    d5 (other good choices were Bc5 or Nc6)

RATINGS

Cavan	797
Simon	600
Thomas	565
Q	517
Alex	275
Jack	227
Soren	164
Audrey	163
Santi	158
Hunter	137
Eldrych	125
Harrison	125
William	121

PUZZLE SOLUTION

1.Rg1 (pin it) f5  2.f3 then attack it!

Tournament Results

TOURNAMENT RESULTS

Merit Name  1 2 3 4 5 bef aft chg
25.5 Cavan  L W L W W 738 778 +50

18.3 Simon  L L L W W 570 576  +6

14.3 Thomas L L W L W 558 538 -20
 4.0 Q      L L W L L 530 516 -14

Cavan earned his silver medal. He did well in spite of having tough competition.

Simon, Q and Thomas performed as their rating would predict.

Today's Lesson

was about the hurdle and skewer - two powerful tactics. It's much more effective to look for patterns of weakness to exploit rather than explore all possible moves.

     Two big pieces in a line?

    Look out! It's hurdle time!

We also went over the fork worksheets. Here's a good puzzle for you to figure out. It is White's turn. What's the best move? (That black pawn is just about to turn into a queen.)

Tournament

This Saturday (Oct. 14) at the Diamondhead Educational Center in Burnsville. New players may want to wait until their ratings get closer to 300 before trying a tournament, but if you don't mind losing, it's a good way to learn a lot. Sign up at SchoolChess.org before Saturday.

Opening of the Week: The French Defense

The French Defense is similar to last week's Caro-Kann Defense. Both are responses to e4 and both move a pawn up one square to guard the empty d5 square. After 1.e4 e6 2.d4 e5 3.Nc3 Bb4, the board would look like this:

Black's idea is to eventually play c5 and Ne7. White often plays Qg4. Black may need to be patient and creative in order to activate his light-squared bishop.

RATINGS

Cavan	738
Simon	570
Thomas	558
Q	530
Alex	244
Jack	197
Santi	154
Audrey	152
Hunter	137
Soren	135
Eldrych	127
Harrison	125
William	121

Puszle Solution: 1.Rb8 a1(Q) 2.Ra8+

Today's Lesson

Forks - attacking two pieces at the same time. Any piece can deliver a fork but Knights are best. Pawns are also very good. Look for that pattern. At the end of the game as the pieces get captured, the queen be can deliver some nasty forks. Worksheets had good results.

Next Tournament : Saturday Oct 14 Sections for Grades 3-5, and 6-8 at the Diamonhead Educational Center in Burnsville. Register on-line at www.schoolchess.org. Cost is about $26. Lunch can be purchased on site. Begins at 8:30 done at about 2:00 or maybe longer if you're getting an award.

Opening of the Week: Caro-Kann

The Karo-Kann defense is an opening for black. In response to 1. e4, Black chooses an alternative move instead of e5. Actually there are many different good moves Black could make that control the center and also open paths for Black pieces while also restricting White's choices. One such move Black can play is c6 which attacks d5 which is one of the four middle squares. It opens a path for Black's queen while closing the b5 square for White's bishop.

White will often play 2. d4. White now has two strong pawns occupying and attacking the center. Black now makes the second move of the Caro-Kann - 2. ... d5. Black's plan is to play Bf5 when he can and then e6 with plenty of mobility for his dark bishop. The board now looks like this:

It's White's move and he has lot's of good choices:

Nc3 attacks and defends the center pawn, but blocks his c-pawn. Nd2 protects his pawn but now the c-pawn is still free to advance. exd5 opens up the board a bit after the exchange of the center pawns. e5 locks up Black's pawns and limits his g-knight.

Ratings

Merit	Name	4-Oct
22.5	Cavan	711
16.3	Simon	555
12.3	Thomas	546
3	Q	520
	Alex	229
	Jack	192
	Audrey	154
	Santi	137
	Eldrych	127
	Harrison	124
	William	121
	Soren	121
	Hunter	105