Manual of Chess, “Possibly one might say without exaggeration that in the opening the plan should be rapid development and nothing else, at any rate, very little else.”
9 Qd2 Nd7 10 O-O
Mastering the Chess Openings, “One of the most important guidelines in chess is to protect your king from harm.”
10 … Be711 Ne2 O-O12 Qc3?
Chess Player’s Handbook, “It is not good to play the Queen out into the game at the beginning, because she can be attacked by inferior pieces, and is compelled to retire with the loss of many moves.”
12 … b413 Qd2 Rfd814 Nf4 d5
15 Rae1?
The Ten Most Common Chess Mistakes, “You have to consider your follow-up before deciding on your move.”
15 … PxP 16 PxP NxP
Kasparov Teaches Chess, “No matter what the opening the best moves for both sides are always subordinate to one goal – the fight for the center.”
17 Qe3 Bf6 18 BxB NdxB 19 Rd1
Portable Chess Coach, “Rooks are best placed on open files.“
19 … Ng4 20 RxR+
Learn from Your Chess Mistakes, “Sometimes we are almost programmed to adopt standard set-ups and to make automatic recaptures.”
20 …RxR 21 Qe1 Nc3
22 Ng5?
Manual of Chess, "Search for the combination which brings home your advantage.”
That combination is 22 NxP! PxN 23 QxP+ and 24 Ng5!
Logical Chess, “A good way to begin is to release two pieces at one stroke, and this can be done by advancing one of the center pawns.”
2 Nf3 Nc6
Chess Fundamentals, “The beginner would do well to remember this, bring out knights before bringing out bishops.”
3 Bb5 d6
Manual of Chess, “The oldest defence is 3 … d6, which is the most direct one. Surely a sound and substantial one, though it may not appeal to the high-flown fancy.”
This is known as the STEINITZ DEFENCE of the Ruy Lopez Opening. The variation was popularized by Wilhelm Steinitz, the first World Champion.
Other popular continuations are 3 … a6 – Morphy’s Defence, 3 … Nf6 – Berlin Defence, and 3 … Bc5 – Classical Variation.
Modern Chess Openings, “The rarely played 3 … Bb4 is dubious, one reason is that 4 c3 Ba5 5 O-O Nge7 6 BxN NxB 7 b4 Bb6 8 b5 Na5 9 NxP wins a pawn for insufficient compensation.”
4 d4 Nf6?
Junior continued to develop his knights which is fundamentally sound. However, the best move in this position is 4 … Bd7; Chigorin vs Steinitz in 1889 World Championship, Gunsberg vs Steinitz in 1890 World Championship, Lasker vs Steinitz in 1894 World Championship, and Lasker vs Capablanca in 1921 World Championship.
5 d5
5 … a6!
The Ideas Behind the Chess Openings, “The whole defense, incidentally, is a classic illustration of the fundamental principle that a cramped position is freed by exchanges, but exploited by an attack.”
6 PxN PxB 7 PxP BxP
Better Chess, “Bishops are best deployed on the longest diagonals – the ones from corner to corner.”
8 Nc3 c6???
Attacking the knight with 8 … b4 will lead to the capture of White’s center pawn. Instead, Junior blocked his bishop’s diagonal that Capablanca cautioned in …
Chess Fundamentals, “When they are blocked by pawns their scope is shorter, and they are hence less effective.”
9 Bg5
d
Better is 9 … Be7 which is in accordance with …
Kasparov Teaches Chess, “It is of primary importance to adhere to the principle of rapid development of one’s pieces and to implement it in practice during the opening stage.”
10 PxP PxP 11 BxN QxB? 12 NxP
d
-->
12 … BxN???
Promising is 12 … Qd6! 13 Nc3 QxQ 14 RxQ BxKN; giving White the disadvantage of the doubled pawns.
Furthermore, exchanging a good bishop is against ...
Chess Fundamentals, “The advantage of having the bishop lies as much in its ability to command, at long range, both sides of the board from a central position as in its ability to move quickly from one side of the board to the other.”
Mastering the Chess Openings John Watson Gambit Publications Ltd 2006
The Center The center is a primary concern in deciding how to proceed with your plans, not to mention your next move.
Development This refers to moving pieces (not including pawns) off their initial squares and putting them "in play". Just counting counting the number of pieces that you have moved is the simplest measure of development. Of course, it's essential to consider the "quality" of development, that is, how well the pieces are placed.
King Safety One of the most important guidelines in chess is to protect your king from harm. This elementary consideration is sometimes forgotten. It can strongly affect the proper conduct of the opening stage.
Space & Its Properties When you control more territory, you can often move your pieces from one theater of action to another more quickly than your opponent can, and thus attack on that front before he can defend.
Piece Characteristics Bishops like open diagonals and should usually be developed accordingly.Knights also need as much freedom of movement as possible, but only to the extent that they don't unduly interfere with the activity of other pieces.Rooks like to have open files, preferably ones that extend vertically as far as possible into the enemy camp.The queen tends to stay at home or to lurk behind her pawns and pieces in the early stages of the opening.
Activity and Initiative Active pieces control more squares. Such pieces aren't necessarily involved in a direct attack but can serve to harass opposing forces, support a pawn advance, and generally accrue more territory.
W: Junior SOL CRUZ B: MARLON PASAMONTE Practice Game MERALCO, Pasig City
Junior won a B in the middle game from his opponent's blunder. This is how he converted the advantage into an endgame victory.
1 Rb6+ Kg7 2 Bc3+ Kf7 3 a6
THE COMPLETE CHESS PLAYER, "The goal of endgame procedures is generally the promotion of a passed pawn."
3 ... h4 3 PxP Ra3 4 Rc6 Rb3 5 a7 g3 6 Kf3 [0-1].
This is Junior's 8th win against an adult player after Jimmy of TWH, Darryl Mata in another practice, Rolly Sapalasan in Halloween Blitz, Alex Ramos in LSGH practice, Alvin in MERALCO vs LSGH, Ruben Lagrimas and Billy in practice games!
Practice Game
W: Junior SOL CRUZ
B: Billy of Jollye
12 O-O-O?
Junior missed the checkmate with 12 RxP but managed to win a bishop in the middle game that forced resignation.
This is Junior's 7th win over an adult player; 1st Jimmy of TWH, 2nd Sapalasan in Halloween Blitz, 3rd Darryl in 2007 practice, 4th Alex in 2008 practice, 5th Alvin in MERALCO-LSGH 2008, 6th Lawrence in Aguila Cup 2008!
Logical Chess The advantage of castling is that the king is safer in the corner, where he is sheltered by three pawns and a stalwart knight, than in the center of the board, while the rook is brought toward the center files in the most convenient way possible.
The 10 Most Common Chess Mistakes Nothing is more important than safeguarding your king by castling early, within the first dozen moves, if possible.
Portable Chess Coach So, castling is a multi-purpose move, aiding in the development of a strong piece and protecting the king.
W: Junior B: Paula SIMUL PLAY Tahanan Walang Hagdanan, Cainta
1 e4 e5 Chess Fundamentals, "These moves both control central squares and open the diagonal for a B."
2 Nf3Bd6? 3 Nc3 Nf6 Manual of Chess, "Get the N's into action before both B's are developed."
4 b3 O-O5 Bb2 Portable Chess Coach, "It is usually advisable to bring out your N's and B's first, followed by your R's and Q."
5 ... b6 6 Qe2 c5 7 O-O-O
The 10 Most Common Chess Mistakes, "Nothing is more important than safeguarding your K by castling early, within the first dozen of moves, if possible."
"Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down and decide whether with ten thousand troops he can successfully oppose another king advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops?" 8 NxN +- a6??? 9 NxB e4 10 NxB h6??? 11 QxP QxN 12 QXR a5 13 Qe4 d6 14 Qc4 Qe8 15 Qc3 Qe6??? 16 QxP# [1-0].
Chess Fundamentals The main thing is to develop the pieces quickly. Get them into play as fast as you can.
4 b3 O-O
The Ideas Behind the Chess Openings Castle as soon as possible, preferably on the king's side.
5 Bb2 d6 6 Qe2
The Game of Chess It is best, in the opening, to make but one move with the Queen, and that to a square where she is not exposed to any direct or indirect attack, so especially not to a file in which there is an opposing ROOK, no matter how many men there may be in between.
6 ... NxP???
The Complete Chess Player An attack should be undertaken, as a rule, only when one's development has been completed or well advanced.
The Ideas Behind the Chess Openings Open with either the e-pawn or the d-pawn.
2 c4 Nh6?
Portable Chess Coach You may remember learning that pieces tend to have more scope when placed toward the center, than when placed on a corner or an edge.
3 Nc3 Bd6?
The 10 Most Common Chess Mistakes Just bringing out the pieces isn't good enough. You have to bring them to the right squares and consider what happens once they get there.
4 Nf3 O-O
Winning Chess openings The purpose of the opening is to get a safe King and an equal middle game.
"Chess teaches foresight, by having to plan ahead; vigilance, by having to keep watch over the whole chess board; caution, by having to restrain ourselves from making hasty moves; and finally, we learn from chess the greatest maxim in life - that even when everything seems to be going badly for us we should not lose heart, but always hoping for a change for the better, steadfastly continue searching for the solutions to our problems."
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) Statesman, philosopher, inventor, scientist, musician, economist
Aguila Memorial CupMERALCO, Pasig City W: Junior SOL CRUZ B: Lawrence KIMO
1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Nc3 Nf6 COMMON SENSE IN CHESS, "Bring your N's out before developing the B's, especially the QB."
4 Bc4 In theory, this is the ITALIAN VARIATION (on Bc4) of the FOUR KNIGHTS' GAME. 4 ... Bb4 5 Ng5? THE 10 MOST COMMON CHESS MISTAKES, "Don't lose time by moving the same piece twice."
5 ... O-O
6 BxP BETTER CHESS FOR AVERAGE PLAYERS, "A common error by novices is to exchange B & N for the opponent's R & P."
6... RxB 7 NxR KxN8 b3? d5 -+ 9 exd5
MY SYSTEM, "A center pawn should always be taken if this can be done without too great danger."
9 ... Nxd5 10 NxN QxN
11 Bb2?Bf5 12 Qe2? Rd8 13 O-O MASTERING THE CHESS OPENINGS, "One of the most important guidelines in chess is to protect your K from harm."
13 ... Qxd2 14 Qh5+
THE RIGHT WAY TO PLAY CHESS, "If in a bad position in the middle game, the retention of the Q will at least offer chances of a perpetual in the ending, for a lone Q can often force the draw in this manner."
14 ... Bg6 15 Qf3+ Kg8 16 Rad1 THE GAME OF CHESS, "The ideal to be aimed at is attack with development or defense with development."
16 … Qf4??17 RxR+ = NxR
18 Rd1?? RYBKA recommends 18 Qd5+ !? Nf7 19 Qxb7=; retention of the Q.
18 ... Ne6?? 19 QxQ NxQ? 20 Bxd5 Ne2+ 21 Kh1 Bxc2 22 Rd8+ MY SYSTEM, "The ideal which lies at the root of every operation in a file is the ultimate penetration by way of this file into the enemy's game, that is to say to our 7th or 8th rank.
22 ... Bf8??
23 Bxc7! +- But stronger, as recommended by RYBKA, is 23 Rd2; simultaneous attack of unprotected pieces. 23 ... Nc3 24 Bd6! THE GAME OF CHESS, "One of the most frequent and most dangerous forms of attack is the pin."
24 ... Kf7 25 RxB+ Ke6 W is an exchange up; R & B vs N & B.
26 Bc5 b6 27 Bb4 NxP 28 Bd2! TURNING ADVANTAGE INTO VICTORY, "As your opponent finds his pieces squeezed further and further, he begins to accept defeat."
W is already a full R ahead. But according to some GMs, the hardest thing to win is winning a won game. 33 ... a534 Re8+?? Kf6 35 Be7+?? RYBKA recommends 35 Bc3+ followed by 36 Rb8 +-
35 ... Kf7 36 Rc8 Be4+ 37 Kg1 KxB
White loses his B as his Plan A of going for the mate faltered.
38 ... Kd6 39 Rd8+ Kc540 Rc8+ RYBKA recommends 40 Kf2, "to set the K in motion, and strive to reach the center of the board."
40 ... Kb5 41 f5?? a4 42 Rc7 g6?? 43 f6! +- THE COMPLETE CHESS PLAYER, "For the possibility of queening can reduce any number of enemy pieces to virtual immobility in the feverish effort to prevent the pawn's promotion."
43 ... Bd5 44 f7 BxP 45 RxB a3 46 h4? a2
47 Ra7
TARRASCH FORMULA : The R’s proper place is behind the passed pawn, whether it be his own or an enemy.
Junior vs Edson GONZALES
Aguila Memorial Cup
MERALCO, Pasig City
August 2, 2008 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Nc3 Bc5 4 Bc4 Nf6
Better Chess, "Your aim in the opening should be to get your pieces into play as quickly as possible, so that they can cooperate with one another, rather than getting into each other's way, and assist the more important plan of conquering territory and gaining space."
5 Ng5
The Game of Chess, 'The knight is chiefly useful for attack, and must therefore be advanced as far as possible into, or at least against the enemy camp, but not in the OPENING."
5 … O-O 6 BxP+ RxB 7 NxR KxR
Steinitz Theory: In the beginning of the game, ignore the search for combinations, abstain from violent moves, aim for small advantages, accumulate them, and only after having attained these ends search for the combination.
8 b3 d6 9 Bb2
Logical Chess, “A bishop is utilized to greatest effect in controlling an important diagonal or in pinning an enemy piece.”
9 … Bg4 10 f3
Best Lessons of a Chess Coach, “Pawns are an asset when they can drive your opponent’s pieces back or control key squares.”
10 … Bh5 11 g4
Modern Art of Attack, “Another method of assaulting the orthodox castled position consists of a mass pawn advance.”
11 Bg6 12 g5?Nh5 13 Qe2? Chess Player's Handbook, "It is not good to play the Queen out into the game at the beginning, because she can be attacked by inferior pieces, and is compelled to retire with the loss of many moves."
13 ... Nd4 14 Qd1 QxP 15 Nd5 Qh4+
The Ten Most Common Chess Mistakes, “Nothing is more important than safeguarding your King by castling early, within the first dozen moves if possible.”
Best Lessons of a Chess Coach, “Do not let enemy pieces remain in your territory unchallenged.”
A worthy challenge is 20 NxN followed by Qe2.
20 … Bd4+ 21 Kb4 NxN 22 PxN a5+ 23 Ka4 Qg4+ 24 c4 Qd7# [0-1]. Kasparov Teaches Chess, "By remaining in the center, the King may be lured to the very center of the board by sacrifices and then disaster becomes imminent."
Aguila Memorial Cup MERALCO, Pasig City W: Junior SOL CRUZ B: Teddy SANTIAGO
1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Nc3 Nf6 Manual of Chess, “Get the knights into action before both bishops are developed.”
4 b3 a6 5 Bb2 Bc5 6 Bc4
The Game of Chess, “The whole art of the Opening consists in bringing into action pieces which are at first shut in, in freeing pieces by a very few pawn moves, and in getting them favorable positions and that as quickly as possible.”
6 … O-O 7 Qe2 b5 8 Bd5 NxB
9 PxN? Avoiding a doubled pawn through NxN may be better. This also centralizes the N and threatens the c7 pawn.
9 … Nd4 10 NxN BxN 11 O-O-O?
Diag 3
The Art of Chess, “Beware of castling when your adversary has, or can force, an open file bearing on your castled King.”
11 … Bb7 12 Qe4? The Ideas Behind The Chess Openings, “Do not bring your Queen out early.”
12 … d6 13 Qg4 b4 14 Ne4???
Diag 4
14 … BxB An f5 pawn push wins a piece.
15 KxB BxP? Well, Black is happy with a pawn advantage.
16 Ng5 Qf6 17 Qh5 h6
Diag 5
18 Nf3? Manual of Chess, "Search for the combination which brings home your advantage.”
That combination starts with 18 h4 and if 18 … PxN, the knock-out 19 Qh8 wins the game.
18 … e4+ 19 c3 PxN 20 QxB PxP 21 QxNP a5 22 Qg3?
Diag 6
The Chess Player’s Handbook, “It is usually good play to get command of an open file, that is to say, a file which is occupied by no other man, by stationing a Rook at one end of it.”
The e-file is the best station for Rook.
22 … Rae8! 23 Rhg1 Re2! 24 Rg2 c5 25 Rdg1???
Diag 7
Learn from Your Chess Mistakes, “It is therefore vital, when your opponent has moved, not only to see and understand what his intention is but also to check again for a reoccurring tactical concept.”
25 … RxP+ 26 Kc1 PxP
Diag 8
27 QxP+? Modern Art of Attack, “The attack against an opposite castled opponent can focus on the creation and efficient use of an open file.”
Placing the Q to e3 will allow the doubled Rooks work more efficiently, and if Black continues with the natural looking 27 … d5, then 28 RxP+ Kh8 29 R1g6 and Black will choose between the lesser evil; 29 … PxR leads to mate on 30 QxRP+ or 29 … QxR leads to a lost endgame on 30 RxQ KxR 31 QxP+ and 31 QxR.
However, the ensuing exchange of Queen simplifies the game for Black.
Before development has been completed, no piece should be moved more than once, unless it is essential in order to obtain material advantage or to secure freedom of action.
Junior vs Mark DIMALIWAT 
