Game Of The Week

Last year, I came up with a method to organize chess tactics. I called it the DROP Method (http://cschess.webs.com/apps/blog/categories/show/1378181-drop-method). The DROP method is an acronym for the basic kinds of tactics. It is meant to remind you not to drop your pieces and help you get your opponent to drop theirs.





I said that the DROP Method was a work in progress, and it was. So, I thought I would revisit each of the four kinds of chess tactics to clarify and improve the method. The first kind of tactic in the DROP Method is Discovery.





Discovery is a chess move that attacks with two pieces.





The Discovery is played when a player is going to make an attack with the piece that he moves, but also he will make an attack with another piece that was blocked by the piece that he moves. The second attack is often a check on the King, which is called a Discovered Check.





When the Discovery is successful, the opponent can only avoid one of the attacks. This means that the other attack will gain material or mate. The player may set up a Discovery intentionally or often just stumble across the opportunity.







"Strategy requires thought, tactics require observation."

(Max Euwe)





Here is a position where I realized that my opponent had created an opportunity for a Discovery. It is white to move.





The Discovery is played by moving the Knight to d5! The first attack is a mate threat should the Knight be allowed to land on c7 with check since the black King has no escape squares. The second attack is a capture of the black Queen on a5 by the white Queen on d2. Since white is attacking with both the Knight and Queen, black is in trouble.





Both the Knight and Queen can be captured freely. However, black can only capture one of the attackers on his turn which leaves white with one attack left to succeed. Should black take the Knight, he would lose his Queen. Should black take the Queen, he would get mated.





Other options for black fail as well. The black Queen cannot move out of capture and guard the c7 square. Counter-attacks just lead to a loss of material and don't solve the problem.





So, by just being observent, a player can find these Discovery opportunities and enjoy a quick win.







D Is For Discovery



http://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=78458

[Event "March Panera"]

[Site "http://cschess.webs.com/"]

[Date "2013.03.28"]

[Round "4.4"]

[White "Anderson, Paul"]

[Black "Freeman, Alex"]

[Result "1-0"]

[ECO "A45"]

[PlyCount "37"]

[EventDate "2013.03.07"]

[TimeControl "5400"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 Ne4 3. Bh4 d5 4. f3 Nd6 5. Nc3

c6 6. e4 Qa5 7. Qd2 Nc4 8. Bxc4 dxc4 9. Nge2 e6 10. O-O Nd7 11. a3 b5 12. Nd5

c3 13. Qxc3 b4 14. axb4 Nf6 15. Rxa5 cxd5 16. Qc6+ Nd7 17. Qxa8 Nb6 18. Qxa7

Nc4 19. Qc7 1-0

This Week In Chess

On April 2nd, the Colorado Springs Chess Club held a Speed event. Eight players battled each other in a double, Round Robin tournament (2RR, G5). NM Josh Bloomer only suffered a couple losses to take home 1st place. Here are the results:





Score, Player:





12.0 Josh Bloomer

10.0 Josh Divine

10.0 Paul Anderson

6.0 Peter Grigg

6.0 Alex Torres

6.0 Koji Del Conte

5.0 Mark McGough

1.0 Mike Madsen

Tuesday Night Chess Tour Cumulative and 2nd Quarter Standings



1 Paul Anderson 27.50 2.50

2 Mark McGough 13.00 1.00

3 Tim Brennan 12.00 0.00

4 Alex Torres 9.00 1.00

5 Mike Madsen 8.50 1.00

6 Koji DelConte 7.50 1.00

7 Dean Brown 7.00 0.00

8 Josh Bloomer 6.50 4.00

9 Alex Freeman 5.00 0.00

10 Isaac Martinez 5.00 0.00

11 Jeff Fox 4.50 0.00

12 Brian Rountree 4.00 0.00

13 Daniel Herman 4.00 0.00

14 Sara Herman 4.00 0.00

15 Peter Grigg 4.00 1.00

16 Eugin Pahk 3.00 0.00

17 Josh Divine 2.50 2.50

18 Anthea Carson 2.00 0.00

19 Mike Wanek 2.00 0.00

20 James Powers 2.00 0.00

21 Shirley Herman 2.00 0.00

22 Rebecca Herman 1.50 0.00

23 Joe Pahk 1.50 0.00

24 Mike Toth 1.00 0.00

25 Buddy Diamond 1.00 0.00

26 Wes Smith 1.00 0.00