Dane vs Nigel, Game 4 of the Second Boris Chessky Cup Head-To-Head

A15 Consistency is a large aspect of being strong. If you often play well for 38 moves & terrible for 2, you're likely not that good #chess

— Dan Heisman (@danheisman) April 15, 2017

I txted the above quote that I'd seen on Twitter to Dane only a week or so before we played this game. Consistency IS a big part of playing well. One bad move can change a whole game.

My game would've been far better if my (Black) 7th move was 7 ... Ngxe5. Not sure why I didn't see it - I think I was wanting to castle as soon as poss. Ironically, if I had taken the Pawn with my Knight, I might've still been able to castle.

On move 11, I saw the potential for the Knight forking my King and Queen if I moved my King to f8, but I would have been better off doing that move due to my Knight still threatening the White Queen. Definitely not the move I did make - 11 ... Kg8.

Our shortest cup game to date, as far as I recall.

First to 5 points: 

• Dane: 4
• Nigel: 0

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. d4 exd4 4. e5 Ng4 5. Qxd4 d6 6. Bc4 Nc6 7. Qe4 Be7 8. e6 Bxe6 9. Bxe6 Nf6 10. Bxf7+ Kxf7 11. Ng5+ Kg8 12. Qe6+ Kf8 13. Qf7# 1-0

Sandstone Chess Pieces

I bought these chessmen about twenty years ago at half price, if I recall correctly, from Trade Aid in Nelson. The board that went with them was broken in half. I think I still paid $90 for the set.

The board is probably still in storage somewhere; I haven't seen it for years.

The sandstone chessmen aren't the most practical to use (very non-standard style and the Kings are taller than ideal), but they must be some of the best-looking pieces you'll find.

After not knowing where they were for ten years or so, I stumbled across them last year, inside a games table from my childhood that had been put into storage.

Nigel vs Dane, Game 3 of the Second Boris Chessky Cup Head-To-Head

Well, I was winning for a while there...

First to 5 points: 

• Dane: 3
• Nigel: 0

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. e3 g6 5. Be2 Bg7 6. O-O d6 7. b3 O-O 8. Bb2 Re8 9. a3 e5 10. Qc2 Bf5 11. d3 d5 12. cxd5 Nxd5 13. Nxd5 Qxd5 14. e4 Qe6 15. exf5 Qxf5 16. Qxc5 Rac8 17. Rfe1 Nd4 18. Qxa7 Nc2 19. Rac1 Nxe1 20. Rxc8 Nxf3+ 21. Bxf3 Rxc8 22. Kf1 Qxd3+ 23. Be2 Qb1+ White resigns 0-1