'Your Move' TV Chess Challenge (Annotated and LONG)
r...@and.cs.liv.ac.uk
TV Chess Challenge - The British Public (White) vs. GM Jon Speelman (Black)
Viewers were requested to phone in and suggest moves to play against
GM Jon Speelman in a live televised TV match. The six most popular suggestions
for each move were presented to William Harston (a British Master) who then
selected the best one. Thankfully, and in keeping with the spirit of the game,
Hartson only had to overrule the British Public once during the match.
Here's the moves with annotations (and a list of up to the six most popular
choices where they were supplied...they weren't during the endgame because of
the rapid play):
White: British Public Black: GM Jon Speelman
a) 34% e4
b) 17% d4
1. e4 c5
Straight into the Sicilian Defence.
a) 24% Nf3
b) 18% d3
2. Nf3 d6
a) 56% d4
3. d4 Nf6
Still in the book, although 3...cxd4 is the more usual move.
a) 24% Nc3
b) 9% dxc5
4. Nc3 cxd4
a) 55% Nxd4
5. Nxd4
Perhaps 5. Bb5+ might have caused a bit more excitement, but it's not exactly
threatening much.
5. ... Nc6
Still in the book and plenty of (bishop) moves for White to choose from now.
6. Bb5
Unusual move for the British Public here. More accepted are Bg5, Bc4, Be3 or
Be2. Bb5 plunges us out of the book and into uncharted waters.
6. ... Bd7
At this point, the first person to make the Bb5 move talked to Hartston on the
phone and it was announced that 3200 calls had been made in just over 15
minutes.
a) 19% o-o
b) 16% Nxc6
c) 7% Bg5
d) 6% Nd5
e) 5% Bxc6
f) 4% Be3
7. o-o
Actually, I thought 7. Be3 wasn't bad at all :-)
7. ... e6
a) 20% Bg5
8. Bg5 Be7
a) 15% Re1
b) 12% f4
c) 9% a4
d) 6% Qf3
e) 5% Bxf6
f) 5% Nxc6
9. Re1 o-o
Pretty quiet at the moment. No real stinkers by the British Public (yet).
a) 12% Nxc6
b) 12% Qd3
c) 9% Qf3
d) 8% Nf3
e) 7% a4
f) 6% e5
10. Nxc6
The first dead-heat (12% each), so Hartston picked Nxc6 "randomly". However,
Hartston kept referring to Nxc6 as "Nf3" (confusion on the notation) and only
realised at the last minute that he was supposed to make Nxc6 :-( The first
real 'cock-up' on the programme.
10. ... Bxc6
I was expecting bxc6 to line the pawns up nicely, but perhaps Speelman was
worried about both bishops being blocked in.
a) 28% Bxc6
11. Bxc6 bxc6
a) 38% e5?
b) 9% Qd3
c) 9% Qd4
d) 4% Na4
e) 3% a4
f) 3% Qf3
12. e5?
I think this is a weak move and gives the tempo to Black. Better might have
been a more cautious Bishop retreat or the second most popular move, Qd3.
12. ... dxe5
Over 6000 calls at this point (about 35 minutes into the game).
a) 23% Qf3
b) 22% Qxd8
c) 15% Rxe5
d) 5% Na4
e) 2% b3
f) 2% Qe2
13. Qf3
Hmmm...aggressive attack on two pawns, but does it achieve anything ?
Would have been better a move earlier.
13. ... Ne5!
I wasn't expecting this move, but it really does open the game up.
The pawn on e5 is doomed, so 13...Qc7 would only delay the inevitable.
a) 25% Bxe7
14. Bxe7 Qxe7
a) 44% Rxe5
b) 19% Ra1d1
c) 11% Ne4
d) 6% Nxd5
15. Rxe5
About the only sensible move here. I would reckon that White is slightly
ahead in this position, but only by a fraction due to the isolated Black
pawn on c6. Another member of the public talked to Hartston on the phone
and said he disagreed with most of the moves made by the public so far :-)
15. ... Ra8b8
Perhaps 15...Qb4 might have been more awkward to defend against.
a) 24% b3
b) 23% Nxd5
c) 9% Ra1e1
d) 5% Ne4
e) 5% Na4
f) 5% Rb1
16. b3?
I think Rb1 or Na4 look much safer bets (although pretty defensive) and also
avoid the nasty diagonal of pieces (a1-c3-e5). The b3 move puts pressure on the
White knight (e.g. a possible Qb4 or Qc5) and Black now has a slight advantage.
16. ... Qf6
a) 21% Qg3
b) 18% Re1
c) 14% Qxf6
d) 8% Ne4
e) 5% Qe4
f) 5% Qh5
17. Qg3
The only safe move. Another member of the public talks to Hartston but thinks
the position is risky for White and perhaps 18. Re1 would be sensible.
17. ... Rb4
Preventing 18. Ne4. The 10000th phone call had just been received.
a) 33% Ra1e1
b) 15% a3
18. Ra1e1
Again the only safe move. At this point, Hartston was expressing concern about
18...Rg4, but I think 18...Rf4 is stronger. Another member of the public gets
on the phone to Hartston again and expresses worry about White's position.
18. ... Rf4
And Speelman agrees with me :-)
19. Nxd5?
Perhaps 19. Na4 was safer. Or even 19. Re4 could have been considered - quite
a nice aggressive move.
19. ... cxd5
That's why 19. Nxd5 was weak: the isolated pawn is no longer on its own and the
position now looks pretty good for Black.
a) 12% c4??
b) 11% Qe3!
c) 9% Rg5
d) 9% f3
e) 6% Qg5
f) 5% Re5e2
20. Qe3!
Hartston overruled the crazy 20. c4, which loses the pawn immediately with
20...dxc4 21. bxc4 Rxc4. Maybe 20. c3 would be a stronger move, to prevent
20...Rd4. The move 20. Qe3! won the prize (a Mephisto Monte Carlo chess
computer) for the best move in the game by the British Public. However, the
position is still good for Black.
20. ... a6
Seemed quite passive from Speelman. I was expecting an aggressive 20...d4,
but the pawn is left hanging if this risky move is made.
a) 36% g3?
21. g3?
Another weak move. Stronger is 21. Qc5 to prevent Black's rook grabbing the
c file. Even 21. f3 is preferable to the selected move. Another phone call
to Hartston from the public who, not surprisingly, doesn't like White's
position - I don't think anyone has expressed any hope for White during the
game :-)
21. ... Rf3
Exactly why 21. g3? was so weak.
a) 40% Qe2
b) 8% Kg2
c) 8% Qb6
d) 6% Qd2
e) 4% Qxf3
f) 3% c4
22. Qe2
Still valid is 22. Qc5, but hey I'm only one member of the British Public...
Another member of the public phones to say that the f and c files look suspect
for White.
22. ... g6
Allows 23...Rc8 to be safe next move (to avoid 22... Rc8 23. Rxd5 exd5
24. Qe8+).
a) 28% Re3
b) 26% Kg2
c) 8% Qxa6
d) 8% c4
e) 3% Rd1
f) 2% h4
23. Re3 Rxe3
a) 63% Qxe3
b) 19% fxe3
c) 2% Kg2
d) 2% h4
e) 2% Rd1
f) 1% Kf1
24. Qxe3
All pretty straightforward...and the position improves for Black.
24. ... Rc8?
I fully expected 24...Qb2 to attack White's pawns. The rook move can be
defended against more easily by 25. Qc1, but try telling the British Public
that !
a) 22% Rc1??
25. Rc1??
This is a distastrous move - the worst by the British Public during the match.
25...Qb2 destroys any defence White had. Clearly, 25. Qc1 is the only saving
move, but the position still looks very bad for White. What annoys me is that
Hartston didn't even say that this move obviously loses a pawn and just went
ahead and played the move, his only comment being that "this looks terribly
passive". Aaarrgghh ! He's supposed to be watching out for blunders by the
British Public and he didn't do his job properly here, considering he is
a Master chess player. I was screaming at the TV screen at this point and
yelling obscenities at Hartston :-)
25. ... Qb2
A very obvious move for Speelman here - he must have laughed himself silly
at White's move 25.
a) 32% c4
b) 16% a4
c) 11% Rd1
d) 5% Qe1
e) 4% Qd2
f) 2% b4
26. c4
The only move to prevent total carnage of White's pawns.
26. ... d4
Speelman piles on the agony here.
a) 37% Qe1
b) 14% Qf4
c) 12% Qh6
d) 4% Qd2
e) 2% Qd3
f) 2% Qg5
27. Qe1
Playing safe and who can blame them after the debacle of move 25 ? 27. Qf4
would at least have kept pressure on the Black pawn on d4.
27. ... Qxa2
And the British Public finally go down a pawn after 27 moves.
28. Qd1!
White hangs on valiantly. Threats are 29. Ra1 immediately or delayed with
29. Qxd4 and 30. Ra1.
28. ... Qb2
a) 35% Rb1
b) 16% Rc2
c) 11% Ra1
d) 9% Qc2
e) 7% c5
f) 2% Qf3
29. Rb1
The only way to apply pressure to Black's queen.
29. ... Qc3
a) 48% Rc1
30. Rc1
Amazingly, the British Public are fighting back and giving Speelman a run
for his money. After White's shoddy middle game, they're playing this section
very well.
30. ... Qb4
a) 41% Qxd4
b) 14% Ra1
c) 7% Qd3
d) 7% Qc2
e) 3% h4
f) 3% Qe1
31. Qxd4 Qxb3
a) 27% c5
32. c5 Qb5
a) 39% Qd6
33. Qd6 Qb4!
Speelman tries to lure the simplifying exchanges with a probably won endgame.
Also pins the White pawn on c5.
a) 22% Qxa6
b) 18% Qd7
c) 10% Ra1
d) 7% a4
e) 5% Rd1
f) 4% Qe7
34. Qxa6
Only alternative was a 'quiet' move such as Kg2 or Qe5.
34. ... Rxc5
a) 48% Qa8+
35. Qa8+
The first check of the game, but really only designed to delay the rook
exchange for a move or two.
35. ... Kg7
36. Qa1+ e5
All the checks really fell into Speelman's hands. He gets the chance to
advance the pawn and still threaten the rook exchange.
a) 36% Rxc5?
37. Rxc5?
A safer move would have sufficed eg. Kg2 or Rb1. The position is now near
desperate. If the queens are exchanged, White should really resign.
37. ... Qxc5
a) 33% Kg2
b) 31% h4
c) 9% Qe1
d) 1% h3
38. Kg2
At long last, and a move or two late, the safe move is made. This releases the
pin on the White pawn on f2, but maybe 38. Qb2 or 38. h4 is nicer. The caption
that came up with the most popular moves here claimed it was Move Number 39,
but it certainly wasn't - in fact the move numbering of the TV captions from
now on was ahead by one ! And no-one seemed to notice this...
38. ... Qd4
Speelman offers the fatal Queen exchange. If this happens, Black wins the
endgame.
39. Qe1
Thankfully, White refuses the offer.
39. ... g5?
I was very surprised at this - fully expecting something like 39...f5 or
39...h5. Some counterplay is gained by Black - for example 40. Qa5 preventing
the e-pawn advance.
a) 15% Qe2
b) 13% h3
c) 13% h4
d) 12% Qe3
e) 11% f4
f) 8% f3
40. Qe2
A perfectly reasonable move, but not as aggressive as 40. Qa5.
40. ... h6
a) 20% h3
b) 17% f3
c) 16% h4
d) 16% Qh5
e) 5% Qe3
f) 3% g4
41. h3
There's still time to play 41. Qb5 :-)
41. ... Qd5+
a) 55% f3
b) 20% Qf3
c) 15% Kh2
d) 5% Kg1
42. f3 h5
43. g4 h4
a) 41% Qe3
b) 14% Qe4
c) 10% Qf2
d) 9% Qb2
e) 5% Kf1
44. Qe3
Maybe 44. Qb2 or 44. Qc2 were better.
44. ... Kg6
a) 45% Qe4+??
45. Qe4+??
That's finished the game off for White. Even a retreat (45. Qe2) would
have been preferable.
45. ... Qxe4
46. fxe4 Kf6
The inexorable march towards the capture of the White pawn on e4 commences.
All these moves are extremely predictable, terminating in the winning of the
e4 pawn thanks to the f7 pawn allowing the tempo to swing to Speelman.
a) 82% Kf3
47. Kf3 Ke6
a) 86% Ke3
48. Ke3 Kd6
a) 79% Kd3
49. Kd3 Kc5
a) 81% Kc3
50. Kc3 f6
51. Kd3 Kb4
a) 56% Ke3
52. Ke3 Kc4
53. Kf3 Kd4
a) 52% Resigns
Resigns 0-1
White would be 2 pawns down and would not be able to stop the e5 pawn from
queening. Over 20000 calls were received in the space of 2 hours.
Summary
-------
An interesting, if somewhat futile, exercise. There were two major blunders
by the British Public: 25. Rc1?? and 45. Qe4+?? Hartston should have certainly
overruled Move 25 and failed dismally in his duties. The snag with this mass
phone-in is that a subtle strong move will be missed by most people and an
overall weaker move will be played instead. Oh, and yes, I tried to phone a
move in myself and it was, not surprisingly, engaged :-(
I'm really jealous of the bloke who won the Mephisto Monte Carlo chess
computer, especially since it was the only time a move was overruled by
Hartston in the entire game.
Richard K. Lloyd, *** This is a MicroVAX II running VAX/VMS V5.3-1 ***
Computer Science Dept., * JANET : R...@UK.AC.LIV.CS.AND *
Liverpool University, * Internet : RKL%and.cs.l...@cunyvm.cuny.edu *
Merseyside, England, ****************************************************
Great Britain. Q: "What's the world's fastest home micro ?"
L69 3BX A: "The Archimedes A3000. 4 MIPS for under 800 pounds."
Bill Donahue
>Friday 7th December 11.25 pm BBC 2 "Your Move"
>TV Chess Challenge - The British Public (White) vs. GM Jon Speelman (Black)
>33. Qd6 Qb4!
>Speelman tries to lure the simplifying exchanges with a probably won endgame.
>Also pins the White pawn on c5.
I cannot agree here. With all the pawns on one side, getting into a queen
endgame even a pawn down should be drawn; when the black king comes to
aid his queen in advancing the extra pawns, in most cases he gets chased
back by numerous checks by the white queen.
>34. Qxa6
>34. ... Rxc5
>35. Qa8+
>35. ... Kg7
>36. Qa1+ e5
>All the checks really fell into Speelman's hands. He gets the chance to
>advance the pawn and still threaten the rook exchange.
The checks are counter-productive, as they just allow the black pieces to
be more centralized, but the exchange of rooks should be encouraged by
white here.
>37. Rxc5?
>A safer move would have sufficed eg. Kg2 or Rb1. The position is now near
>desperate. If the queens are exchanged, White should really resign.
I would say that it is dead drawn.
>37. ... Qxc5
>38. Kg2
>At long last, and a move or two late, the safe move is made. This releases the
>pin on the White pawn on f2, but maybe 38. Qb2 or 38. h4 is nicer.
I agree that 38. h4 was the move here, to prevent black from advancing his
h pawn to h4 as later in the game.
>38. ... Qd4
>Speelman offers the fatal Queen exchange. If this happens, Black wins the
>endgame.
Whoa!!! What happens after 39. Qd4: ed: 40. Kf3 Kf6 41. Ke4 Kg5 42. h3,
keeping the black king out of the white pawns? I cannot see any way for
black to make progress. Can someone see something stronger than 40 ... Kf6
or 41 ... Kg5?
>39. ... g5?
No, that should be an exclamation point instead of a question mark. Black
prevents white from playing his h pawn to h4, so that he might advance
his own h pawn; a very common theme especially in rook-pawn endings.
>40. Qe2
>40. ... h6
>41. h3
>41. ... Qd5+
>42. f3 h5
>43. g4 h4
The tough question is whether white could still draw if he (they?) hadn't
played 43. g4?? I guess the main threat is 43... g4 but 43... h4 also
makes problems for white, i.e. 43. Kf2 h4 44. gh: gh: and black can work
against the two weak pawns. But still, if we get a pawn endgame with
black pawns on e4 and h4 against the white pawn on h3, this should still
be drawn.
>An interesting, if somewhat futile, exercise. There were two major blunders
>by the British Public: 25. Rc1?? and 45. Qe4+?? Hartston should have certainly
>overruled Move 25 and failed dismally in his duties.
Not having seen the broadcast, but only the moves, I wonder if Speelman
was hoping to get it over with by an easy, honorable draw. The BBC
audience really misplayed the endgame especially 43. g4? It might have
been too late for white so 45 Qe4+ made no difference. What Hartston's
duties were, I am not sure. I suspect he did not look forward to seeing
a queen-pawn ending drag on ... and on ... and on, so if the audience
wanted to commit hari-kiri...
John Richards
>Friday 7th December 11.25 pm BBC 2 "Your Move"
>An interesting, if somewhat futile, exercise. There were two major blunders
>by the British Public: 25. Rc1?? and 45. Qe4+?? Hartston should have certainly
>overruled Move 25 and failed dismally in his duties.
It's possible that Hartston was trying to bring the game to an end by
allowing weak moves. They were certainly panicking late on and speeding
up the moves.
>Oh, and yes, I tried to phone a
>move in myself and it was, not surprisingly, engaged :-(
I heard an interesting rumour about that. A friend told me that the BBC
were worried they would not get enough calls. So they hired a roomfull of
chess players with phones. This worked fine early on, but later the number
of calls started dropping off a bit. A minion was sent to investigate and
found the players had discovered they had real outside lines and were using
the opportunity to ring their friends long0-distance. Well, it's a nice story
and would certainly explain why some of the callers were shy about revealing
their names and where they were ringing from. But it can't account for the
total number of calls.
--
John Richards
John Tromp
>In article <1990Dec11....@and.cs.liv.ac.uk> r...@and.cs.liv.ac.uk writes:
>>Friday 7th December 11.25 pm BBC 2 "Your Move"
>>TV Chess Challenge - The British Public (White) vs. GM Jon Speelman (Black)
>>37. Rxc5?
>>A safer move would have sufficed eg. Kg2 or Rb1. The position is now near
>>desperate. If the queens are exchanged, White should really resign.
>I would say that it is dead drawn.
so would I.
>>37. ... Qxc5
>>38. Kg2
>>At long last, and a move or two late, the safe move is made. This releases the
>>pin on the White pawn on f2, but maybe 38. Qb2 or 38. h4 is nicer.
>I agree that 38. h4 was the move here, to prevent black from advancing his
>h pawn to h4 as later in the game.
right; white wants to trade any advancing black pawns, and trading his
h-pawn is definately preferred over any capture with the g-pawn that would
leave white's pawns disconnected. so sticking out the h-pawn in front is
the most sensible thing to do.
>>38. ... Qd4
>>Speelman offers the fatal Queen exchange. If this happens, Black wins the
>>endgame.
>Whoa!!! What happens after 39. Qd4: ed: 40. Kf3 Kf6 41. Ke4 Kg5 42. h3,
>keeping the black king out of the white pawns? I cannot see any way for
>black to make progress. Can someone see something stronger than 40 ... Kf6
>or 41 ... Kg5?
we have to give Speelman a little credit; after Qd4: ed4: Kf3 he would
of course be very happy to play f7-f5 followed by Kf6 and Ke5
(possibly prepared with h6 and g5+), with an easily won endgame.
he is trying hard to trap the viewers into making these poisened moves.
>>39. ... g5?
>No, that should be an exclamation point instead of a question mark. Black
>prevents white from playing his h pawn to h4, so that he might advance
>his own h pawn; a very common theme especially in rook-pawn endings.
completely agreed.
>>40. Qe2
>>40. ... h6
>>41. h3
>>41. ... Qd5+
>>42. f3 h5
this looks to me like a good candidate for the losing move.
i find Kh2 much preferrable.
>>43. g4 h4
>The tough question is whether white could still draw if he (they?) hadn't
>played 43. g4?? I guess the main threat is 43... g4 but 43... h4 also
>makes problems for white, i.e. 43. Kf2 h4 44. gh: gh: and black can work
>against the two weak pawns. But still, if we get a pawn endgame with
>black pawns on e4 and h4 against the white pawn on h3, this should still
>be drawn.
But black will keep the f-pawns on the board, since f3 makes a good target.
Blacks queen will get to g3 after forcing white's
king down to the first row and with the black king on the 5th row.
I believe the position is lost already.
>>An interesting, if somewhat futile, exercise. There were two major blunders
>>by the British Public: 25. Rc1?? and 45. Qe4+?? Hartston should have certainly
>>overruled Move 25 and failed dismally in his duties.
I couldn't believe he allowed Qe4+, even if the position was already lost.
As an IM he should recognize this as an outright resignation. I was
actually looking forward to seeing how Speelman would win the `hard' way,
getting his queen to g3 and what else.
>Not having seen the broadcast, but only the moves, I wonder if Speelman
>was hoping to get it over with by an easy, honorable draw. The BBC
I'm afraid there would have been little honourable in a draw.
Seeing how the public managed to get into a drawn (at least drawish)
endgame before he was finally able to take advantage of a series of
inferior moves must have been quite embarrasing already.
>audience really misplayed the endgame especially 43. g4? It might have
>been too late for white so 45 Qe4+ made no difference. What Hartston's
>duties were, I am not sure. I suspect he did not look forward to seeing
>a queen-pawn ending drag on ... and on ... and on, so if the audience
>wanted to commit hari-kiri...
well, i's true the show was running late, but even an endgame where the
public avoids (losing) queen trades shouldn't last for more than 15
moves. It would have been a demanding task for Hartston however, since
the reasonable (not straight losing) moves might be way down the list...
John Tromp (tr...@cwi.nl)