This and That

IM dpruess
| Feb 1, 2012 at 7:16 PM
| Posted in: dpruess's Blog
| 2193 reads
| 12 comments

This post is just to let people know about some random things going on on chess.com these days, particularly in my work.

Up first: tomorrow's episode of our weekly chess TV show, "Pardon our Blunders," will be open to basic and gold members as well as platinum and diamond. I will be joined by a special guest co-host instead of Danny-- a participant from the just-concluded Tata Steel tournament. You can watch it live at 10 am pacific, 1 pm eastern, 6 pm London, 7 pm Paris/Amsterdam. Platinum and Diamond members may also be able to watch the saved show later.

Second: my buddy "the Poet" brings to our attention a photography project/calendar made by his girlfriend about female intelligence vs. female beauty, using chess. To read more about it or to get a copy of the calendar, please check out his post here.

Third: I recently had a chance to meet up with an old chess friend and... analyze chess! Wow, that really happens ever so rarely, and it was so much fun! Here, try to solve this little puzzle from one of the games we studied. It is black to play, what should black do?

Fourth: although I have not done many videos on chess.com in the past couple months, I've been hard at work recording a lot of videos for chesskid and the youtube channel. In particular I feel really good about a few series that I have finally completed for kids: one on the La Bourdonnais-McDonnell match, another a kind of complete guide to basic strategy, and the third a guide to basic endgame piece play/strategy.

If you are a non-diamond member, you might like to check out our youtube videos, to get a taste of what video lessons are like on chess.com. These youtube videos are complete videos, just not as long or as well planned out as the ones on chess.com. Here's one I just did featuring some great play from the current Gibraltar tournament.

You can view the whole channel here: http://www.youtube.com/user/wwwChesscom

I have also started a new video series for chess.com, in which I do real-time analysis of a member's live games. E.g. the first one.

Fifth: More DEATH MATCHES coming your way!! We have great battles planned for both February and March and April! I'll be announcing the match-ups tomorrow on Pardon our Blunders. The dates are February 26, March 31, and April 28.

Sixth: We've just released a terrific new mentor course, about defending!!

Comments

14 months ago
yameen123

i think i would play Qb6. it looks safe for black and could give black a future opening. i still say Qb4 is potentially dangerous for black. and though i made an error with KNd5, Qc1 eliminates blacks theat to b2 as well as Bishop at f4
14 months ago
yameen123

oh, oh! I only just now seen that Qb4 also threatens white's Bishop at f4.
14 months ago
yameen123

Hi, everyone ; Well, let's see. I would definitely take a second look at Qb4 which our friend Petrosianic offered. Sorry, Petro. At first glance i'd say the same thing but it poses a potentially deadly outcome for black by way of giving white an upper hand with white's KNd5 KNxd5. Bxd5 Qxb2 Rb1.....threating Queen and the b7 pawn should the Bishop ever be moved at which time Bishop at e7 and pawn at f7 come under threat. I do not yet see the play black should take, still working on it in my head.
16 months ago
dualbishops

Uhmmm, does anyone know where to find the Saved Show for viewing?

dualbishops
16 months ago
Petrosianic

Thanks for the updates David. I lke Qb4 as it forces white to make an unpleasant decision for at least the next few moves, and it is quite safe there. While after Be6 I'm not convinced of Black's compensation after Bxb Rad8 Qc1, White's well coordinated.
16 months ago
dracoms

I saw Be6, then read the comments, and can't really disagree with Qb4.
16 months ago
IM dpruess

sure, if anyone wants to contribute towards the Death-Matches to see super-GMs you can do that quite easily. just email me dpruess at chess dot com and we can set that up.
16 months ago
smokydarkv1

for the diagram B to a3 looks decent for me
16 months ago
gambitgareth

i would play rd8... then probably be6 (after seeing pfrens post!) ... ^_^ on the death matches - is there any way we could set up a fund so we can afford supergms - i would definately donate :P

which leads me to another idea - why not start a reputable chesscom tourney- its members could raise enough funds to run one with strong players ((fees would have to be quite high tho)(i think))... an then cover it on chesstv :D
16 months ago
IM pfren

1...Be6 looks fine to me, e.g. 2.Bxb7 Rad8 3.Qc1 Ng4!? going for the d3 square, although I cannot find some serious fault about 1...Qb4, either. It should be about equal, I think.
16 months ago
ThePoet1800

Qb4 looks pretty good to me. Hi, Dave! Thanks for mentioning my blog about Leslie's calendar!
16 months ago
IM Fins0905

Man, I've been staring at that diagram for 10 minutes now - it just looks very slightly better for White. Strongest candidates are 1...Qb4 and 1...Be6!? (pawn sac - seems unclear after 2.Bxb7 Rad8 3.Qc1). Am I missing something?