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Svyatoslav Simul Stop Press: A Black Win

NM Roger Williamson - 09/08/2024

General
Match Report

Contrary to earlier reports, we are pleased to bring you, the chess-watching public, the sole victory by one of the challengers against IM Svyatoslav Bazakutsa in April’s simul. Previously believed lost to posterity, the following game has been painstakingly reconstructed sans scoresheet by the vict...

IM Svyatoslav Bazakutsa Simul

NM Roger Williamson - 16/06/2024

General
Match Report

On Wednesday 24/4/2024, John Littlewood Chess Club and St. John the Evangelist Church, Rice Lane, were honoured to host a simultaneous display given by Ukrainian International Master Svyatoslav Bazakutsa. Mr. Bazakutsa, an IM at the age of just fifteen (and who I am informed has recently achieved hi...

A Grandmaster annotates

GM Dan Fernandez - 02/06/2024

General

The board 1 clash from this year's John Ripley Cup final, between Liverpool Chess Clubs IM Gary Quillan and John Littlewood's GM Dan Fernandez....

Favourite Mistakes of Chess Mice

NM Roger Williamson - 27/05/2024

General
Middle Game

"Chess is a mental exercise in managing failure." James Rizzitano, Understanding Your Chess Inside the mind of the chessplayer is a laboratory mouse running a maze. He explores every avenue, usually more than once, even the blind alleys, but not necessarily with the idea of escape. He does so beca...

The Pressure Principle

Rob Frith - 27/05/2024

General
Middle Game

There’s a general consensus that GM Hikaru Nakamura is in the best form of his life. Given that he’s won several major tournaments, qualified for the Candidates and then came within half a point of reaching the final itself, it’s hard to disagree. He’s also repeated the mantra over the last couple o...

The Knight Leads the Caro-Kann Orchestra

NM Roger Williamson - 02/03/2024

General
Middle Game

The Caro-Kann is currently immensely popular. This is no doubt less to do with its endorsement at the highest level by Anand, Carlsen et al and more to do with how and where new chess players (those who came to the game during the pandemic) get their information. The most popular chess YouTube strea...

Carlsbad Structure Explained - Part 1

Jamie Kumar - 20/01/2024

General
Middle Game

Hey everyone, Jamie Kumar at your service, member of the John Littlewood Chess Academy, and yes, I'm one of those unfortunate people who's been using 1. d4 for what feels like an eternity in his chess "career." But hey, we can't all be 1. e4 rebels, right? Now, let's dive right into the heart of...

"Do Nothing" as Grand Strategy

NM Roger Williamson - 19/12/2023

General
Middle Game
Endgame

The Skillful Warrior Does not rely on the enemy’s Not coming, But on his own Preparedness. He does not rely on the enemy’s Not attacking, But on his own Impregnability. Sun-tzu, ‘The Nine Changes’ The Art of War In ‘Do Nothing’ we looked at the necessity for doing nothing when appro...

Do Nothing!

NM Roger Williamson - 07/11/2023

Endgame
General
Middle Game

Blackadder: Am I jumping the gun, Baldrick, or are the words "I have a cunning plan" marching with ill-deserved confidence in the direction of this conversation? Baldrick: They certainly are, sir! Blackadder: Well, forgive me if I don't jump up and down with glee. Your record in this department...

Do Something!

NM Roger Williamson - 05/11/2023

Middle Game
General
Endgame

Baldrick: Oh, sir! Poor little Mildred the cat, what's he ever done to you? Blackadder: It is the way of the world, Baldrick. The abused always kick downwards. I am annoyed, and so I kick the cat, the cat [loud squeak] pounces on the mouse, and finally, the mouse-- Baldrick: Argh! Blackadder:...

Match Report: Liverpool 2 3.5 - 3.5 John Littlewood 1 17/10/2023

NM Roger Williamson - 05/11/2023

Match Report

This was, dare I say it, a match of three halves. JL lost on the three bottom boards but won on three of the top four. Which left Jamie odd man out at the end. Board 1: Roger Williamson (2212) (JL) 1-0 Luke Maher (1872) (L2) A quite sedate Bogo-Indian led to a slight white advantage out of the op...

Match Report: John Littlewood 1 vs Liverpool 1 (04/10/23)

NM Roger Williamson - 10/10/2023

Match Report

As much as I’d like to, it would be hard to argue with the final score line of 2-5 in this one. We were outplayed. But that doesn’t mean to say we were terrible; rather, we lacked the required intestinal fortitude. Board 1: Gary Quillan (2411) (Liverpool) 0.5-0.5 Roger Williamson (2212) (John L...

Match Report: John Littlewood 1 4.5 - 2.5 Wallasey 1 (27/9/2023)

NM Roger Williamson - 01/10/2023

Match Report

John Littlewood CC scored its first victory with the first team overcoming Wallasey 1 4.5-2.5. The final result perhaps flattered us slightly, but there was enough good (in Jamie’s case excellent) chess played by the home team to justify it. Board 1: D. Clark (2060) (Wallasey) 0-1 R. Williamson (22...

Match Report: Aigburth U6000 vs John Littlewood U6000 (20-09-23)

Keeghan McGarry - 27/09/2023

Match Report

The U6000 teams first foray into Away Games ended in a hard fought draw, with a nice mix of results across all the boards. Board 1: K. McGarry (JL) 1486 vs S. Kane (Aigburth) 1618 0.5-0.5 A fairly typical Advance French, Milner Barry Gambit - with an interesting novelty on move 10. Sadly, not one wi...

Match Report: Aigburth 1 vs. John Littlewood 1 (13-09-23)

NM Roger Williamson - 26/09/2023

Match Report

Our very first division one game away to Aigburth ended in narrow 4-3 defeat, but could hardly be considered disheartening. If anything, it served as timely (and it doesn’t get more timely than immediate) notice that better is both possible and required of us. My somewhat partisan report: Board 1:...

Match Report: John Littlewood U6000 vs. Hoylake U6000 (06-09-23)

NM Roger Williamson - 26/09/2023

Match Report

John Littlewood CC’s inaugural fixture saw a narrow 1.5 - 2.5 home defeat to Hoylake in the Under 6000 league. Board 1: M. Stoddart (Hoylake) (1701) vs. T. Francis (JL) (1587) 1-0 A topsy-turvy opening/early middlegame lead to what should have been an excellent position for Tom. However, wi...

Don't Trust the Engine?!

NM Roger Williamson - 12/09/2023

General

An argument as to why chess engines should only be supplementary to human analysis  You’ll have heard this advice before. You should analyse your games yourself first, or with your coach (if you have one) or your peers, before then subjecting them to the verdict of stockfish. The reason for this is...

Planning & Prevention

NM Roger Williamson - 12/09/2023

General
Middle Game

The aim in chess, as in many areas in life, is to put our carefully laid plans into action. But while in life we must reckon with circumstances beyond our control, contingency, in chess that role is played by our opponent. They get to plan too. So where exactly is the line drawn between planning and...

Minority Attack

NM Roger Williamson - 30/08/2023

Glossary

A form of pawn break/lever where a pawn minority attacks a pawn majority. When a minority attack is successfully implemented, the majority is reduced to a single weak pawn, or a pair of weak doubled pawns on the same file. The minority attack is not some kind of ultimate weapon, but rather an essent...

Weakness

NM Roger Williamson - 30/08/2023

Glossary

A pawn or a square in a player’s position that can be either effectively attacked or pressured. A weakness can be like a bleeding ulcer draining a player’s resources, leaving them unable to concentrate on anything but its defence. Generally, however, two weaknesses, usually multiple files apart, nee...

Transposition

NM Roger Williamson - 30/08/2023

Glossary

Transposition occurs when the same position arises from two or more different sequences of moves. It most typically occurs during the early middlegame when the same position can arise from different initial openings. Position 1 (Zhukova – Danielian, 2005) was reached via 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6...

Transformation of Advantages

NM Roger Williamson - 30/08/2023

Glossary

After seizing the initiative, to keep it until victory a player must repeatedly exchange one type of advantage for another whenever the opportunities arise. In position, 1 black’s 18... f5 enables white to play 19. cd, forcing 19... cd 20. Nb5 Bb8 21. Rc1 Bd7 22. Nc7 forcing off black’s dark square...

Tension

NM Roger Williamson - 29/08/2023

Glossary

When opposing pawns have the option to capture each other, but both sides decline, there is tension in the position. When one side captures, the tension is released. Matters are clarified, and the position becomes easier to assess and plans easier to formulate. In position 1, a standard Queen’s Gam...

Space advantage

NM Roger Williamson - 29/08/2023

Glossary

When one player’s most advanced pawn crosses the center of the board to the fifth rank and remains there, they have more space. But for one side to have a space advantage, this expansion should ideally leave no weaknesses for the opponent with less space to exploit. In position 1 (Capablanca – Trey...

Prophylaxis

NM Roger Williamson - 29/08/2023

Glossary

Prevention. A prophylactic move or idea is one that anticipates and defuses the opponent’s plans/threats. In position 1, white retreats their knight from e2 to g1 for it to re-emerge on f3, thus controlling g5. Controlling g5 is necessary because black, at a space disadvantage, intends to relieve th...

Principle of two weaknesses

NM Roger Williamson - 29/08/2023

Glossary

A phenomenon usually associated with the endgame, the principle of two weaknesses also has significance in the middlegame. One weakness can be effectively protected. Two weaknesses is often fatal. When one side has inflicted a weakness on their opponent, and restricted them to defending it, victor...

Pawn Majority

NM Roger Williamson - 29/08/2023

Glossary

When one side has more pawns on a particular side of the board than their opponent they are said to have a pawn majority. When both sides have majorities, such as in position 1 (Marshall – Capablanca, 1909), the game can resemble a race to achieve a passed pawn: the faster majority wins. In posit...

Pawn break/lever

NM Roger Williamson - 29/08/2023

Glossary

'A pawn lever is a move that allows the opponent to capture the pawn with one of his own pawns.’ – Axel Smith. In his book Pump Up Your Rating, GM Axel Smith points out that it is very difficult to formulate an effective plan without having pawn breaks/levers available. The power to change the paw...

Opposite colour bishops and queens

NM Roger Williamson - 29/08/2023

Glossary

According to Michael Adams in Think like a Super-GM, the attacking potential of the combination of opposite colour bishops and queens is insufficiently appreciated below a certain level. The non-master associates opposite colour bishops with drawing chances in the endgame. But ally the unopposed bis...

Operation

NM Roger Williamson - 29/08/2023

Glossary

An operation is a tactical sequence that permits a transformation of advantages. In position 1 white is targeting a weakness on a6, but black is threatening dangerous counterplay with ...e3. White begins an operation with 30. Bf4. After 30... e3 31. fe Nxe3 white plays 32. Qxf7! (position 2), ex...

Misplaced Piece

NM Roger Williamson - 29/08/2023

Glossary

The Tarrasch dictum (or formula, or principle) holds that one misplaced piece renders its owner’s entire position bad. The knight on d1 in position 1 is misplaced not because it is not participating in the game, but because it has no obvious route to participating in the game. The onus, then, is on...

Light Square Strategy

NM Roger Williamson - 29/08/2023

Glossary

The same as dark square strategy, only applying to the light squares. In position 1, white is missing his light square bishop, so it makes sense for black to conquer as many light squares on the queenside as possible with 15... a4. At some point in the future black also hopes to play ...f4, releasin...

In memory of John Littlewood

NM Roger Williamson - 29/08/2023

General

This club is named in tribute to one of Merseyside chess scene’s luminaries, John Littlewood (1931-2009), and the spirit in which he played and taught the game of chess. There is an apocryphal story concerning the sinking of the Titanic that the disaster was reported in the Aberdeen Daily Journal un...

Isolated Queens Pawn (IQP)

NM Roger Williamson - 27/08/2023

Glossary

The isolated queen’s pawn (IQP) offers its owner many benefits to offset the pawn's potential weakness in an endgame. For white, the IQP gives white more space, and thus attacking possibilities. In position 1 (Rodshtein – Kontanjian, 2008), the isolated pawn has permitted the classic knight sacrifi...

Intermezzo

NM Roger Williamson - 27/08/2023

Glossary

An intermezzo (or Zwischenzug), an ‘in-between’ move, breaks the sequence of a seemingly forced series of captures and recaptures. In position 1, it may have appeared that white was forced to recapture the knight on g3 and restore the material balance. But such is the harmony of white’s pieces, wh...

Knight Outpost

NM Roger Williamson - 27/08/2023

Glossary

A knight outpost is a square from which a knight cannot be evicted by either a pawn or another minor piece. Generally, knight outposts are not gifted by an opponent, but must be created. In position 1, white has advanced his a-pawn to a5, thus securing c4 as an outpost for his knight. The knight ca...

Good knight versus bad bishop

NM Roger Williamson - 27/08/2023

Glossary

A good knight vs bad bishop scenario involves an outposted knight versus a bad bishop. Sometimes the knight completely overpowers the bishop. Generally, however, good knight vs bad bishop is liable to be a ‘two result’ position, where either the knight wins, or the bishop enables the defender to hol...

Compensation

NM Roger Williamson - 27/08/2023

Glossary

Refers to the positive aspects (when they exist) of being material down. Compensation can take various forms: damage to the opponent’s pawn structure, control of a colour complex, an initiative, or an attack on the king. In position 1 (Quang Liem – Carlsen, 2022), black has sacrificed a pawn in ret...

Dark square strategy

NM Roger Williamson - 27/08/2023

Glossary

When one side is strong, and aims to play largely on the dark square colour complex, they are said to be using a dark square strategy. In position 1 (Burrows – Williamson, 2008 [analysis]), black has purposefully given up his light square bishop in order to both make his dark square bishop stronger...

Doubled Pawns

NM Roger Williamson - 27/08/2023

Glossary

One of the more contentious and harder to appreciate aspects of chess strategy. For many non-masters, doubled pawns are always bad, as they result in isolated and or weak pawns, as in position 1 (Alekhine – Marshall, 1927). There, black’s doubled c-pawns mean a7 is both isolated and weak. Were his...

Development

NM Roger Williamson - 27/08/2023

Glossary

One side is said to have a lead in development when they have more pieces involved in the game. A lead in development, if not neutralised, may translate into either a quick win or a long-term positional advantage for its possessor. In position 1 (Liiva – Skrebnevskis, 1993), while black is a piece...

Initiative

NM Roger Williamson - 27/08/2023

Glossary

One side is said to have the initiative, or an initiative, when they are dictating the terms of the game to their opponent. The initiative may take the form of an attack, prolonged pressure, or even be prophylactic in nature. It can be the outcome of a positional advantage, big or small, or an aspec...

Exchange Sacrifice

NM Roger Williamson - 27/08/2023

Glossary

The trading of a rook for a knight or bishop and compensation. Compensation resulting from an exchange sacrifice can take various forms, such as an initiative, or enduring damage to the opponent’s pawn structure, or increased control of a colour complex, or a combination of any of these things. In...

Colour Complex

NM Roger Williamson - 27/08/2023

Glossary

There are two colour complexes on the board: light squares and dark squares. In position 1 (Reti – Spielmann, 1928), black is fatally weak on the light squares. In position 2, white is not only strong on the dark squares, but also has an advantage in space and a lead in development. After the roo...

Blockade

NM Roger Williamson - 27/08/2023

Glossary

A multi-purpose term. As in position 1 (Caruana – Shankland, 2021), it can refer to the practice of impeding a passed pawn by putting a piece, ideally a knight, in front of it. The knight is the ideal blockading piece, as, even blockading, it can still attack by virtue of its unique movement. Al...

Bad Bishop

NM Roger Williamson - 27/08/2023

Glossary

A bad bishop is the bishop on the same colour complex as its central pawns. ‘Bad’ is not an assessment of quality, merely a descriptive term. In position 1, we see a bad ‘bad’ bishop. It is completely locked out of the game, leaving white effectively a piece up and giving him a free hand to attack...

Rook and Pawns: How to Draw 3 vs. 4 on the Kingside

NM Roger Williamson - 09/08/2023

Endgame

Play chess for any length of time and eventually you will be asked to defend this position: Black to play. We’ve all either been told or just feel this should be defendable for black, despite black being a pawn down. ‘All rook endings are drawn’ is a humorous generalisation, but it’s also a mantra y...

Why study the opening?

NM Roger Williamson - 08/08/2023

Opening
General

Why study the opening? Note I say the opening, not a specific line. Learn plans, not openings. Which means familiarising yourself from as many typical middlegames arising from as many openings as possible. In other words, look at and try to understand as many openings as possible. Legend has it that...

What makes certain openings superior to others?

NM Roger Williamson - 21/07/2023

Opening

'What openings should I play in order to improve?' Is a question frequently asked of this chess coach by a casual student. More often than not, my answer is 'whichever openings you enjoy playing'. Unless as a student you're prepared to wholly submit yourself to your coach's suggestions (and few are!...

Razuvaev's 'Gambit'

NM Roger Williamson - 05/07/2023

Opening
Middle Game

On the value of understanding transpositional possibilities in chess One of the most remarkable aspects of chess is its capacity to show you how little you still know after even 20+ years of playing and studying the game. Browsing the late Yuri Razuvaev's Key Concepts of Gambit play,I came across a...