Chess960: Playing Komodo-9 64bit

I decided to play Komodo-9 in a game of Chess960 because the consensus is that it plays natural human looking moves, which might be a nice way to practice Chess960 openings.

So I played Komodo-9 on SP456 - a nice easy number to remember!

Here is the situation at move 2:

SP456 White (Komodo-9) to play move 2

My first move as black was a very natural move that takes good control of the center. Komodo's first move f4 surprised me a little. I'm not sure if it is a good idea to commit to weakening the light squares on the kingside so early when there are better moves. f4 does threatens f5 at some point which would kick black's knight if I planted it on e6. However that is not a threat. I would instead play Nc6/Bd7 which opens up some nice lines on the light squares for my bishop against white's kingside. 

But now I really got a shock. Komodo-9 decides to play Qf2?! This cannot be a good move. There is no point playing out the queen so early while also blocking the dark square bishop in the process. Trying to defend f4/f5 so soon seems to be silly.

So I analysed what my other engine Stockfish thought of Komodo's move. Here is the result:

Stockfish at depth 22 thinks that after 2.Qf2?! Black should play ...Nd6 with a slightly better score -0.16. On the other hand, Komodo-9 at depth 18 thinks that black should play ...Nd6 but that white is slightly better at 0.14.

So after 2.Qf2?! we can see that Komodo-9 has issues playing Chess960 openings. Firstly, it is a slower engine than Stockfish when it comes to achieving the same depth. Stockfish got to depth 22 really quickly. Perhaps the depth of the calculation is really important in the Chess960 opening which favours Stockfish.

But Komodo's issue is not just depth, but also evaluation. There is no way in hell you can tell me that after 2.Qf2?! white is a bit better? Stockfish's evaluation of the position seems to me to be about right if not even a bit too conservative in it's favouring of black after 2.Qf2?! Nd6.

So I thought I would take a look at the CCRL 24-hour-a-day computer engine competition. In standard Chess Komodo appears to have the current lead. But in Chess960 the story is different. Stockfish is still the leader with a 50 point ELO rating higher than Komodo.

Well there you go. A little bit of engine trivia for you.

Enjoy 960

Chess960: Puzzle no.16

Dear followers of this blog, enjoy this unusual puzzle. It requires an understanding of what a pawn island in Chess is. For more information see a definition Pawn islands (wiki). Often in Chess960 openings we try to avoid creating long lasting pawn islands because the isolated pawn or pawns are a long term target of attack for our opponent to exploit. There are exceptions of course!

In this position, both white and black have three pawn islands each.

White has three pawn islands (a-e),(f),(g-h).
Black has three pawn islands, (a-f), (g), (h).

Here is the puzzle,  the answer is surprising!

SP455 move 2 white to play:

If white captures the g-pawn, who will have the
greatest number of pawn islands before move 7?
White, black or equal number?

Solution given bottom left hand corner

Answer: White!

2. fxg5      white has three pawn islands, black two.

2. ...h6     no change, white=3, black=2.

3. gxh6 Qxh6 white=2, black=1

4. h3   Be5! no change

5. g4   Bh2  no change

6. Rg2  Qxh3 white=2, black=1

White has more pawn islands than black. If instead white tries 5.Nbc3 or any other move, white still has one extra pawn island than black.

Add this Chess960 start to the list of difficult SP's black must face?

Since Chess960 was invented, SP408 has never been played in real world competition. It is a serious intelligence test for black after white plays the move 1.d4.

SP408 Black to play: How to respond to 1.d4?

The problem is that the d5 square cannot be comfortably supported in such a way that assist black's development. For example, ...d5/e6 blocks a development square for a knight. If black plays ...d5/c6, yes that frees the dark bishop, but white has natural developing moves that undermine the d5 square:

1. d4...d5

2. Nfe3 {attacking d5} c6

3. c4! {threatening to draw a pawn onto the weak d5 square}

The big question is, what does black do about supporting the weak d5 square in a way that assists development?

Well since no human has played this SP in competition, I turned to the CCRL database of computer engines instead. The stats are not promising for black with a 62% - 38% win rate for white which is pretty high. A lot of engines, in particular Houdini 4, will try to play this line:

1. d4...c4

2. d5!? {preventing black's knights from developing toward the center} c4?!

However, I found one game played by Stockfish 5 that I think is a very memorable win for black, spoiled only by Critter's bad opening idea to push the a-pawn aggessively. Stockfish bypasses the d5 problem altogether by appearing to play ultra conservatively minimising any weaknesses, then only later beginning to apply pressure.

This is a stunning opening by Stockfish, as if it were intelligent. Critter is made to look foolish I think!

SP408 Critter plays a kind of Queen's Gambit Declined Slav?

Ok here is one possible answer to the problem of 1.d4 in SP408!

1.d4...d5
2.Nfe3...c6
3.c4...Nde6! {So black attacks the very same weak square that white attacks}
4.cxd5...Nxd4

Nice idea, brilliant! What is this in theory? A counter gambit on a weak square? Ideas like this are never seen in standard chess...

Chess960: Seeing the strategy from the first move

I played SP121 today and could see a clear strategy from the first move. I looked up the Chess960 database and any other database of human players I could find, to see if others could also see this strategy that seems to me to be very obvious (but I have played more than two thousand Chess960 games already).

SP121: Can you see the obvious strategy here?

 Here are the central features of the strategy that either side can play:

1. Kingside castling is very likely since it will take too long and the queen will be too restricted, to make queenside castling plausible.
2. With two heavy pieces on the queenside (Q+R), pushing the b-c pawns seems very likely.
3. The titular bishop pair in the center of the board will have very clear roles on this occasion, they will work in tandem to sit on the queenside and take aim at the kingside, working in cooperation with the queen to form powerful diagonal batteries.
4. The side that first makes this strategy a serious threat, will create more weaknesses anywhere on the board, even if all the bishops are neutralised.

The titular bishop pair  can be quite difficult to assign roles to since neither bishop can efficiently be fianchettoed. However, when the king and queen are sitting on the extreme ends of the back rank opposed to each other, the strategy I have described here becomes much more obvious. See also my analysis of SP505 by clicking on the label (titular bishops).

Incredibly, no player in the database even up to 2000 rating, has seen this very obvious strategy. I wonder why? .....Hint.

Enjoy 960!

Chess960: Anand's dubious opening in the Chess960 World Championship 2007

In the last moments of the 2014 candidates tournament featuring Anand and Aronian, I thought I would look at a game played by these two greats in the 2007 Mainz world Chess960 championship.

What I found slightly shocked me I have to be honest!

In a rapid game of Chess960 where there is still plenty of time to play a reasonable opening, Anand started out in a dubious fashion, giving a lot of hope to all us Chess960 patzers out there!!

SP535: Anand (white) first move - Wch. Mainz Rapid 2007

1.c4 ... g6. A dubious first move by white, since it slightly weakens king safety, and black can apply pressure immediately with 1...g6 (with d5 to come). White probably didn't want to play d4 or e4, since the former comes under fire after g6, and the latter blocks white's own bishop on h1. However, d4 and e4 still seem like better moves, since they are centralizing and allow a more rapid development (develop more pieces at once), without compromising king safety at all.

SP535: Anand (white) second move - Wch. Mainz Rapid 2007

2. d3 ... d5. A dubious second move by white, since it is passive, giving black the chance to play aggressively with d5/Qa4+. A better move would have been 2.Nc3 which takes control of d5 and prevents what black now tries...

SP535: Anand (white) third move - Wch. Mainz Rapid 2007

3. cxd5... Qa4+. White seems to accept that Qa4+ is coming, but there were alternatives. One energetic but dubious alternative was 3.Qa5...dxc4, 4.Qd5+...Nbd7, 5.Qxc4 ... Nb6.

SP535: Anand (white) fourth move - Wch. Mainz Rapid 2007

4.Kd2 (forced). White will never castle, will have to move his king again to free the c1 bishop and the only compensation is that black cannot easily develop his knights to c6 and e6

If one of the greatest players of all time can play a Chess960 opening like this, there is still hope for all us patzers out there! 

I do have to say in Anand's defense, he actually won the game despite this opening! 

Another point in Anand's favour is that incredibly, Houdini-4 evaluates this position at 0.00 even at depth 22!

Enjoy 960
PS) if you want the PGN for this game, download the database of all Chess960 games here.

Chess960: Bishops in the corner do not have to exchange off!

Unlike some, I actually like all four bishops in the corner. Mark Weeks has also talked about this in the Myth of the Corner Bishop. To quote Mark from his own post:

 

"The only real disadvantage of the B:a/h setup is when both Bishops start in the corner. When this happens, all four Bishops are facing each other on their long diagonals. The order in which the Bishops are developed becomes a subtle tactical dance where a player's fast grab of one diagonal cedes the other diagonal to the opponent. Furthermore, a premature development of the Bishops can lead to them all being swapped off in the opening for a Bishopless middlegame. A player who wants to avoid this must block the diagonal before developing the Bishop, but this gives the opponent the opportunity to develop first on the same diagonal. And so the dance continues"

The reason I like bishops in the corner, is that both sides can play can and mouse, which I think of more as a subtle strategic dance as they hide their castling intentions from each other. If either side can provoke evidence of castling intention prematurely, the other side can castle to the opposite wing and launch an attack.....well at least in theory!

Here is a classic example. Note how both sides play all their moves to deliberately hide castling intentions, until one side cracks. In this example it is white that cracks, and is then promptly punished for it when black offers a sacrificial pawn.

SP515: Who will reveal their castling plans first?

So don't believe the gossip out there spread by some anti-Chess960 people, that bishops in the corner produce boring games. There are ways to prevent bishop simplification from happening and to even create opposite wing castling scenarios. However computers usually can't see that deep into the game to appreciate the cat and mouse that is going on, so computer examples of bishops in the corner games are not valid.

Chess960: The Bishop Sweet Spot

Here is the start of series of posts on what I call "the bishop sweet spots" on the chessboard, which are squares that allow the bishops to come out and be active, yet avoid being exchanged off. Usually in the opening we are trying to avoid changing the strategic quality of a position by exchanging a bishop for knight before the opening has had a chance to evolve (the bishop might be needed). The bishop sweet spots are not really outposts, because they are not solid enough to be called an outpost. They are just important squares in the Chess960 opening system, that need to be considered.

 

From classic standard chess (SP518), a very well loved and well worn bishop sweet spot is on b5 and it's mirror on g5. As we all know, the knight gets pinned and the bishop can sit on it's sweet spot for a long time, creating some important thematic tactics:

 





The Classical Queenside Bishop Sweet Spot (b5)

 



Finding the sweet spot is really easy. Look for any SP where a bishop and knight are separated by a minimum of three squares, triangulate vertically, and the bishop sweet spot will be three ranks directly above the knight.

 

Triangulating to find the Bishop Sweet Spot

In summary, the general definition of the bishop sweet spot is:

 

Classic Bishop Sweet Spot:

1. The start does not contain Military Knights
2. Bishop and knight separated by at least three squares

 

So, what are the benefits of the bishop sweet spot?

1. The sweet spot square allows a bishop to sit without being attacked by another knight
2. A bishop on a sweet spot does not have to waste tempo relocating
3. Since the bishop is actively placed, it can create tactics striking the enemies back row
4. Finding a safe square to place pieces helps with rapid, coordinated development
5. Gives the bishop a chance to transition to a different diagonal
6. If the enemy tries to kick the bishop off the sweet spot, this can be at the expense of pawn structure

Here is a start that fails the bishop sweet spot test:

 

Military Knights mean the sweet spot can be attacked

 

 

Here are some examples of the many bishop sweet spots in Chess960!

 

SP007 - Classic Bishop Sweet Spot



 

Notice that when the bishop is in the corner, the bishop on its sweet spot (d5), attacks the position of blacks castled king (g8).

 

Variants of the classic bishop sweet spot:

Chivalry Knight Sweet Spot:

1. The start contains Chivalry Knights
2. There is still a space of three squares between bishop and furthest knight

SP007 - Chivalry Knight bishop sweet spot

 

Even when the chivalry knight sits in the middle, the bishop sweet spot can still not be attacked by an enemy knight.

 

Variants of the classic bishop sweet spot:

Monastic Knight Sweet Spot:

1. The start contains Monastic Knights
2. There is still a space of three squares between bishop and furthest knight

SP114 - Monastic Knight bishop sweet spot

Notice that the monastic knight variant is not as tactically strong as the classic bishop sweet spot because the bishop only ever hits a knight on the enemies back rank. However, the sweet spot might still be useful to use as a spot to temporarily locate a bishop to aid in rapid, coordinated development.

 

Finally, don't forget that the mirror version of the bishop sweet spot also exists and is just as powerful.

 

SP001 - The bishop sweet spot reflected on the queenside



Finally here is a sample game that demonstrates the bishop sweet spot quite nicely:

 

SP511 - White finds the bishop sweet spot!

 

White finds the c5 square to pin black's knight against the rook

 

Enjoy 960



Chess960: Titular bishop strategy clarified

Well I've had a bit of encouragement to post again, because someone over at Reddit.com was kind enough to link to this site and the hits to this blog have spiked for a short moment in time.

 

If you are a reader of this blog, you know I love giving names to the bishop and knight pairs because it gives Chess960 more ways to distinguish between start positions. I think of the titular bishops as "bishops without a diocese" and even great players like Yasser Seirawan have been perplexed about how to deploy them (commentary from the Kings and Queens 960 tournament 2011).

 

So here is a discovery I have made about them which is relevant to a few dozen starting positions (SPs) in Chess960.

 

SP505: Pawn structure with titular bishops separating the king and queen

In this example, I've played out the position to show the basic strategy available to both players:

1. In SP505, the king is unlikely to castle queenside because four pieces have to be cleared out of the way.
2. The queenside is very heavy in pieces. The rook and queen team combine to allow a rapid space gain on the queenside by pushing pawns there (even the rook pawn).
3. The titular bishops are deployed to the queenside in the space made available, so that they form a powerful diagonal battery attack against the enemies king.
4. Now the queen switches between backing up either colour of bishop using the freed squares on the back rank, so that diagonal battery is at maximum strength.
5. The twist in the strategy is that white does not castle kingside and so does not give black this same strategic option.
6. The e-pawn is played to e3 so that it does not get in the way of the diagonal battery and the king plays to e2. This is safe, because white has gained so much queenside space that black cannot organise any kind of diagonal attack or knight attack against the king on e2.
7. Now white uses the kingside pawns as a storm front to break open blacks kingside defences to combine a crushing attack in combination with the bishop battery. The queenside rook is shifted across the back rank to aid in the kingside storm attack. 

Do you see this strategy? It works for black as well if white is not vigilant. The point is that when the king and queen are separated by the titular bishops in the middle, this strategy almost plays itself. In fact, I studied this SP in the LSS database only to find the rough sketch of this idea repeated a number of times.

 

Now I hear some critics of Chess960 say that this means that SP505 is relatively crude, because the strategy is so clear and potentially crushing. However, I looked at this SP in detail with Houdini-4, and I found that in fact, black has some amazing and efficient ways of undermining whites ideas. For example, check out the trial game of SP393 that Mark Weeks and I played with the titular bishops where black snuffed out this plan right out of the door!

 

So to me, the titular bishops in the combination [QBBK] or its mirror, are a wonderful study in how black efficiently prevents the strategy outlined here or deploys it themselves if white is clueless to it.

Who says that there is no theory or nothing to remember in Chess960 :-)

Chess960: What is a logical first move?

In the previous post on viable first moves for SP395 Mark offered to play a match to try and find out the truth about what is a viable first move.Thanks for the match sounds like fun!

But before we start I have to clarify that the post was about viable first moves not logical first moves!

So if I reduce the viable list down to logical first moves, what are the list of logical first moves?

I think to decide that, we need to agree on why the center is so important in Chess960......

The center is fundamentally important in all 960 positions because of strategic flexibility.....the problem with Chess is that for at least a move you do not know what your opponent will commit to strategically. Therefore it is illogical to commit unnecessarily on either wing.

So the center (or possibly a flank) is the only place left to play....

Definition of wings, flanks and center:
Wings = a,b or g,h
flanks = c or f
center = d,e

So using that, a logical first move:

1. Doesn't break any tactical truths about the start (there usually aren't any)
2. Doesn't break any technical truths (as in moves that excessively slow down development)
3. Prefers playing out in the center for the sake of flexible strategy. That can include ANY move that controls the center either directly or indirectly. 
4. Doesn't play out knights unless they take some ownership of the center and/or there is a clear tactical theme that is generally beneficial in material or tempo.
5. Avoids committing to the wings because it commits to a specific strategy too soon. There may be a few exceptions to this where committing to a wing satisfactorily restricts the opponent in a very few start positions.
6. Doesn't castle straight away - there is no point revealing intentions so soon.

SP395: Eight logical first moves!?

SP395 is a great example because it includes 100% of all possible first moves in Chess960. So, despite that there are 16 viable moves, according to the above criterion for logic we get these logical moves (not ranked in any particular order):

1. c4 - yes because it takes some direct center control
2. d3 - yes because it is a direct center move
3. d4 - yes because it is a direct center move
4. e3 - yes because it is a direct center move enabling Nc1-e2
5. e4 - yes because it is a direct center move
6. g3 - yes because it is an direct center move
7. Nc3 - yes because it is a direct center move
8. Ne3 - yes because it is a direct center move

Rejected moves:

1. a3 - no because it commits to one wing too soon
2. a4 - no because it commits to one wing too soon
3. b3 - no because it is too vague (doesn't commit to the center either directly or indirectly)
4. b4 - no because it commits to one wing too soon
5. f3?! - no because it traps the bishop and weakens the king
6. g4 - no because it commits to one wing too soon.
7. Nb3 - no because it is too vague (doesn't commit to the center either directly or indirectly)
8. h3?! - no because it achieves too little
9. h4?! - no because it commits to one wing too soon
10. O-O?! - no because it makes little sense to reveal castling intentions so soon

Contested moves on technical grounds:

1. c3?! - problem is that it is technically not that good although it is an indirect center move. It is technically weak because it doesn't develop any pieces and probably commits to developmental congestion because keeping the c3 square clear is important developmentally.
2. f4?! - problem is that it is technically not that good although it is an indirect center move. It is technically weak because the only ownership right it makes to the center is to e5, a square that the opponent has no need to own.
3. Nd3?! - problem is that is technically not good. It takes control of center squares that the opponent need not own, and causes a potentially congested development.

Using the same logic we can compare SP395 with standard chess SP518:

SP518 {c4, d3, d4, e3, e4, f4, Nc3, Nf3} = 8 logical moves
SP395 {c4, d3, d4, e3, e4, g3, Nc3, Ne3} = 8 logical moves

Chess960: SP395 beats SP491 in the competition for the most number of viable starts

Turns out that SP395 beats SP491 in the competition to find the highest number of viable moves *here*. It beats standard chess in variety and also only takes four moves to castle queen-side like standard chess.

SP395: Sixteen viable first moves!?

Depth 24 search using Houdini-3 with a variation of only +/-0.15 for:

1. a3 - yes because it develops a queen
2. a4 - yes because it develops a queen, threatens a5 and controls b5
3. b3 - yes because it develops a queen and Nc3 shields the queen
4. b4 - yes because b4 is supported by Be1xb4 lining up black's king
5. c3 - yes because it shields the queen and enables d4
6. c4 - yes because it controls d5 and threatens c5
7. d3 - yes because it develops a bishop
8. d4 - yes because it develops a bishop and threatens d5
9. e3 - yes because it enables developing Nc1-e2
10. e4 - yes because it allows Ne3 and controls d5
11. f4 - yes because it develops a bishop and could support a pawn on d5
12. g3 - yes because it develops a bishop
13. g4 - yes because it develops a bishop (can white castle queenside!?)
14. Nb3 - yes because if 1...a5 white has a4/d3 attacking with development
15. Nc3 - yes because it is flexible and rapidly develops for sake of possible O-O-O
16. Ne3 - yes because it rapidly develops and controls d5

Rejected moves:

1. f3?! - no because it traps the bishop and weakens the king
2. Nd3?! - no because it over commits to a congested position
3. h3?! - no because it achieves too little
4. h4?! - no because it achieves too little
5. O-O?! - no because it makes little sense to reveal castling intentions so soon

I'm starting to think that the positions with queen in the corner and a bishop in the corner produce such massive first move choices because there is no compulsion for white to play out pawns into the center when it might be wise to keep the long diagonals open. Also, another possible reason is that both rooks are on the b-g files which supports pawns that could be useful all the way up to the 5th rank.

Chess960: Competition to find the SP with the highest number of viable first moves

Discovered a start position SP today that has a ridiculous amount of viable first moves options! More than standard chess in fact, fifteen in total. The absolute maximum number of first moves in some Chess960 starts is 21, but usually a large number of those can be ridden off because they are possible but theoretically too weak.

So here's the challenge.

See if you can find an SP that has more viable opening moves than this one:

SP491: 15 viable first moves

1. a3 - yes because it enables Qa2 developing the queen
2. a4 - yes because it enables Qa3 developing the queen
3. c3 - yes because it defends against Bh8 and allows d4
4. c4 - yes because it claims some center and can be supported by d3
5. d3 - yes because it develops a bishop
6. d4 - yes because it develops a bishop
7. e3 - yes because it allows Ne2/c3
8. e4 - yes because it claims some center and allows Ne2/c3
9. f4 - yes because it develops a bishop, controls g5 and threatens f5
10. g3 - yes because it develops a bishop
11. g4 - yes because it develops a bishop and is supported by a rook
12. h4 - yes because it takes control of g5, threatens h5 and allows Nh2/f3
13. Nb3 - yes because it controls d4
14. Nd3 - yes because it enables rapid castling
15. Ne3 - yes because it is flexible and developing

After a depth 24 search, Houdini-3 thinks that the variation in score between the best and worst first moves in that list is +/- 0.1 which is tiny. Realize that favoring a quick development of the corner bishop to attack the queen is not especially powerful and can be handled without problems.

In contrast, standard chess has at the very most 13 viable first moves but the variation in score is much bigger at +/- 0.43.

SP491 has a unique set of conditions with the queen in the corner allowing more options and a pair of knights that can be developed in a variety of ways. Also, the rooks support pawns that can be played out effectively. The only thing holding it back is less than optimal ways to develop the bishops. That opens the door for an SP which could possibly hit 16 viable first moves.

From my experience, I think SP491 could take the all time record. Prove me wrong!

Chess960: two move ideas no.10 - the pawn walk!

To celebrate reaching the 10th Chess960 opening idea, here is an original idea that I don't think is seen in traditional chess. It features two pawns that walk by each other on the e-f street like two pedestrians on a foot path that walk past each other!

The idea originates because of the limitation of idea no.9 in the same starting position, that seems to lead nowhere. So white instead tries something more radical:

SP463 white to play: trace back the moves and try to see black's idea!

Enjoy 960

Hint: black plays a bold development (1.e4...f5!)
White is not worried by (...Qh5+/Ne2)
white refuses the pawn capture to try and restrict black
Black then walks the f-pawn 2....f4!
exposing white's e-pawn with initiative!
It is black who now restricts white's development

Chess960: If you love genetics you will love 960

I do not understand why more geneticists and scientists are not playing Chess960. They would love it. Buried in the sequence of all Chess960 positions, are clusters of thematic positions. Tonight I played SP456 a very easy number to remember! This SP has to be one of the most hideously complex positions in the whole set of 960. Why is that? Here is the position:

SP456: Complexity!

The diagram on the right shows where you will find the KQR sequence on the king-side in the set of Chess960 positions. The diagram is rotated to fit on this page so SP001 is top left and reads down then across. In the diagram you can just see where the dark splotches represent the KQR positions. There are only 18 of them! If you take the mirror of them RQK then there are 36 positions, but Chess960 is not actually symmetrical about the half way because of the castling rule, and so I'm reluctant to include the mirror positions.

The amazing thing about the KQR sequence on the kingside edge are these features:

1. There are probably at least 12 possible pawn moves to start the game that are all feasible, and must be ruled out by merit. Incredibly, every single pawn is defended which is pretty special.
2. The a-pawn is particularly effective in this SP. This is because it develops a bishop on a2, it is backed up by a rook already, and if it is pushed up the file a4-a5 it potentially biffs a knight on b6.
3. The green lines show that the bishops are poised to make some deadly attacks on the KQR sequence and the pawn move a3 or a4 followed by Ba2 attacking black's queen on g8, is a surprisingly effective development sequence
4. It is difficult to know how to develop the queen (so what's new!)
5. King-side castling is a high probability, and so the other side of the board and the center become major themes
6. All the heavy weight pieces are concentrated on one side of the board, leaving all the minor pieces on the other side, and a lone undefended rook. Thus the queenside is a minefield of potentially undefended squares and holes in the position if it is not properly secured.
7. There is a possibility to rapidly push out the kingside pawns f5/g5/h5 and not even castle at all.

The thing about SP456 is this, because all the minor pieces are concentrated on one side of the board, the chess960 players have to achieve three important high level tasks:

1. They must structurally develop the queen-side to secure it from possible long term structural weaknesses
2. They must structurally develop the queen-side to best develop the minor pieces
3. They should be mindful of the powerful attacks that reflect back at the king-side.

Objectives 1 and 2 above are actually competing against each other. Yes it is possible to build a beautifully secure pawn structure on the queenside, but then the minor pieces won't be developed properly. It's a compromise and a potential minefield.

Enjoy 960.

Note: Queenside means the same as it does for traditional chess, except that the queen is not actually on the queenside!

Chess960: The Great King's Pawns Opening Research Project part 2

Just thought I'd run this finding past anyone out there who is interested in Chess960 research. There are not many of us, but those of us who are should stick together and talk!

Here is part two of the great king's pawn research project. You know the old traditional move 1. e4.

Part one is here

Here is an amazing contrast between two adjacent SP's that switch two minor pieces. In one SP, the kings pawn opening is totally benign and quiet, while in the other it is dynamic and exciting. The two SP's are SP444 and SP445:

SP444 is draw?

SP445 is alive!

Here are some points on SP444 and SP445 that you might find interesting. You really have to play with them and experiment with them so see how totally different these SP's are in terms of their degree of volatility. 

1. The only difference between them is that Nb1 and Bd1 are swapped
2. The really standout feature is that in SP445, the Nd1 that stays the same in both SP's suddenly has a really surprising developing move Nd3!? that actually is good sitting out in front of the d2 pawn because none of the other pieces are blocked and white still has powerful pawn initiatives even without the d-pawn taking part. There is an excellent parallel with this developing move and Aronian's discovery of Nd3 in SP941. In SP445 there is an underlying theme of a pawn gambit line with e4/Nd3/f4!?
3. In SP444 however, Nd3 does not work nearly as well simply because the b1 bishop is blocked which is not the case in SP445.
4. Because of the surprisingly good developing move of Nd3 in SP445, white has a whole bunch of extra choices that are all good. They can push the g-side pawns and castle c-side for example.
5. For some strange reason that I do not understand fully, in SP444, almost all opening lines are totally evaluated at less than 0.1 going to huge depths of over 16 ply in many many variations. However in SP445, with the simple switch of the knight and bishop, the game is much sharper earlier on.
6. SP444 is a draw question, should not underestimate that it is still a very interesting SP. If you play through it, you find that black has perfect counter play for almost everything white does, but that all of the sharpness in the SP is not in tactics, but in the very deep positions that emerge later on, in the late midgame.

This contrast between SP444 is a draw? and SP445 is alive! is an excellent example of how different SP's distribute the sharpness of tactics verses position over time. SP444 only becomes sharp very late in the game, while SP445 is sharper earlier.

Enjoy researching Chess960 (for the very few of us that are out there)

Chess960 Opening Survival Guide 2: Covering weak squares

Here's a theory for you for part two of the Chess 960 survival guide.  In Chess960 we need to elaborate on what we mean by a weak square during the opening phase of the game.

Here is a possible definition: A Chess960 weak square is a square that was already under-defended to begin with, yet cannot be satisfactorily strengthened with a subsequent developing move...

SP439: multiple chess 960 weak squares

Why do I think that the three yellow squares are weak?

1. d5: weak because there is not many good developing moves available that strengthens the square in any kind of satisfactory way
2. c7: weak for exactly the same reason as d5, except that there is also a forking tactic involved on that square
3. a8: weak because of the long diagonal attack on it and that it is simply an undefended square

If  lucky, the weak squares dissolve away quite naturally through the action of the first few moves. If you are not keen to them, you could find that the weak squares become the elephant in the room rather than the mouse! The point is that chess 960 weak squares are *invisible* and have to be inferred. They are easy for either side to miss and take a bit of time to find. This is because Chess960 weak squares are both a positional AND tactical weakness. Even though they are invisible, they so totally shape the position, and so the invisible is as important as the visible! 


It is difficult to stare at a chess 960 start and just not see these invisible weaknesses. Eventually practice will reveal them quicker and quicker in your awareness. For example there are a few ways to deal with the weak squares in SP439. Here are a few quick ideas:

• ... d5 (followed by c6!? and Na6/Nc7)
• ... b6!? (followed by Bb7)
• ... g5!? (counter attacking to create more tempo to deal with the weaknesses)

In the first idea (d5/c6) notice something really interesting about the trade off that black has with c6!? Although the move is non developing, it does not impede development but actually achieves three things in one move. It eliminates all the three weak squares at the cost of only one tempo. Therefore black has actually achieved a net gain with c6! The idea only works because although black gives up the tempo with a non developing move, white has nothing in their development to prove it's weakness and actually struggles to find any play against it.

Here is another example:

SP941 The Bacrot Disaster: multiple chess960 weak squares

1. b5: weak because there are not many satisfactory way that black has to strengthen it and leads to a mating attack with Qb5
2. c5: weak for the same reason as b5 and leads to a forking attack on d7
3. d7: weak for the same reasons as b5 and d5

There are a few ways to deal with the weak squares in SP941. Here are a couple of quick ideas:

• ... c6!? (followed by Bb6)
• ... f6!? (followed by c5)

NOTICE SOMETHING?

The survival guide theory to play Chess960 especially when you are black, is to count the number of weak squares on each side of the board (traditionally called the Kingside and Queenside). Because of the way that tempo plays out in Chess, we must try to do more than one thing with each tempo we get. In chess it's quite easy to achieve two things with one move, but difficult to achieve more than two. If you count the weak squares and find that there are more than two weak squares on either one side of the board or the other, you are going to have to think how to strengthen them as a top priority especially if you are black. You need to work out a way to plug the holes as efficiently as possible, because there are more than two holes! You are going to have to accept compromises in the position, but always keeping an eye out for counter attacking chances that do happen.

Here are avenues of thought on how to deal with three chess 960 weak squares

1. If you are white, you have an extra tempo to play something that gives away the tempo but strengthens the weaknesses
2. If you are black, you can counterattack on white's equivalent weak squares, which can buy you extra time to sort out the weaknesses
3. Sometimes it is possible to expend a non developing tempo, if that non developing move achieves three things, in particular removing three weak squares in one move. This can be equivalent to a net gain in tempo!
4. If white allows, black can play out pieces to unusual squares like Na6!? if the position does not require the piece to come into active duty for some time, or if the piece makes a useful threat on it's unusual square, or the piece can redeploy to a very good square without cost. This can sometimes lull the opponent into a false sense of security and then later spook them out as the position transforms into something effective.

So here is a Chess960 insiders tip:

If you want to read the chess 960 start position really well, count the number of chess 960 weak squares on each side of the board kingside and queenside. If three weak squares exist on either side, you must develop a plan to make at least one of the squares stronger to reduce the problem down to two or less weak squares, especially if you are black. Always keep an eye out for counter attacking chances when the opponent is misreading the position.

Enjoy 960!
(note that this is only another theory!)

Chess960: The Great King's Pawns Opening Research Project

Played an SP141 Chess960 game the other day. So often when playing quickly as white, I'll play 1.e4 as a knee jerk reaction! After all it is the famous King's Pawn Opening in traditional chess isn't it? The problem is that in Chess960, 1.e4 can have a bit of a nasty sting in tail for white! Here is an example:

SP141 White to play: 1. e4

The classic scenario simply goes like this:

1. e4!?  ... f5!? (White screams doohhh! because of Bxa2)
2. Nb3!? ... fxe4!?
3. f3!?  ... Nb6!?

I cannot tell you how many times I have played e4 to find this scenario or similar cropping up! So here are some stats for the scenario and how often to expect it. Notice that the theme crops up in batches of three consecutive SP's in a row? I've included quick computer checks of exactly the same King's Pawn Opening opening sequence from above, noting their approximate severity:

| 141 | NRQBNKBR ok

| 142 | NRQNKBBR good

| 143 | NRQNKRBB dubious

| 157 | NRNBQKBR good

| 158 | NRNQKBBR good

| 159 | NRNQKRBB good

| 173 | NRNBKQBR good

| 174 | NRNKQBBR good

| 175 | NRNKQRBB good

| 189 | NRNBKRBQ dubious

| 190 | NRNKRBBQ dubious

| 191 | NRNKRQBB dubious

| 237 | NRQBKNBR ok

| 238 | NRQKNBBR good

| 239 | NRQKNRBB dubious

| 253 | NRKBQNBR good because of Qe1

| 254 | NRKQNBBR good

| 255 | NRKQNRBB dubious

| 269 | NRKBNQBR dubious because of f1

| 270 | NRKNQBBR good?

| 271 | NRKNQRBB dubious

| 285 | NRKBNRBQ dubious

| 286 | NRKNRBBQ good because fxe4

| 287 | NRKNRQBB dubious

| 333 | NRQBKRBN dubious

| 334 | NRQKRBBN good

| 335 | NRQKRNBB good?

| 349 | NRKBQRBN good?

| 350 | NRKQRBBN good?

| 351 | NRKQRNBB good?

| 365 | NRKBRQBN dubious

| 366 | NRKRQBBN good?

| 367 | NRKRQNBB good?

| 381 | NRKBRNBQ good?

| 382 | NRKRNBBQ ok because e4 blocks Qh1

| 383 | NRKRNQBB dubious

Basically the underlying pattern is this:

1. If a rook is on f1 it is dubious for white because of Rf8xRf1
2. If a queen is on f1 same as above
3. If a queen or rook is on e1 then usually good
4. If a knight is protecting a7, then it is dubious for white
5. If a knight is on f1 then good

I actually quite like the Chess960 numbering scheme because of the way that themes like this play out in consecutive batches of SP numbers. Makes for interesting studies by consecutive SP numbers.

Chess960 insiders tip!:

If you are playing white and you knee jerk 1.e4 only to realize that black can counter attack on the edge pawn and your rook on b1, don't panic! Just continue playing the opening calmly, because out of all Chess960 positions, the situation crops up only 4% of the time, and when it does, 1.e4 is only dubious roughly 33% of the time and it is never fatal!

Why do people still insist on playing traditional chess?? Analyzing the patterns in Chess960 is a lot of fun.

Enjoy 960!