Month: January 2022

Rooks vs a Queen

Timothy Sheffield Passion Blog: Analysis of my Chess Games

 

I played the black pieces.

 

The game started out in a normal Giuoco Piano game (1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3). This has been many times among high level players. According to my database, about 5,230 games have been played from this position between master players (both players are 2200+ FIDE). However, this opening is easy to equalize against. The black player in this position is typically happy to opt into the balanced position.

 

The game developed normally from there. One positional idea that developed was, on move 10, white played Bxb6 which allowed me to play axb6. This allowed my rook on a8 to have access to a semi-open file. I then played Be6 on move 11. This move would allow me to trade off white’s light-squared bishop a few moves later. Trading the bishops is important as white’s bishop was aiming toward my king. Also, if white traded the bishops immediately, I would have been left with another semi-open file. In addition, I was able to trade off one of white’s knights. This trade was an advantage for black as the knight wasn’t doing much as compared to white’s knight which pressured the pawn on e5. Scroll through the position from move 7 to 18.

 

On move 18, I played f5. This move has many ideas. Firstly, it attacks the pawn on e4 and I will be able to remove the pawn from the square. Since the e4 pawn would be removed, the d4 pawn will be weaker and could become a target later in the game. Secondly, after a trade between the f and e pawns, my rook will have a semi-open file and I would not have to use a tempo on developing it.

 

The game developed further with both players arranging pieces on better square and trading the knights. Then the critical moment of the game came on move 27. White played Rg3 which attacked my queen. In this position, I could move my queen back or have 2 rooks for the queen. While moving my queen leads to an even game, I felt that taking the 2 rooks was better in this situation. Firstly, my king is very safe from checks. White’s pawn on d5 blocks the diagonal, there has 2 pawns around the king, and the doubled rooks are on a file that can help protect the king. Secondly, it opens a file for my doubled rooks, essentially making them much more powerful in the position. Thirdly, my rooks would be able to harass his queen without my position being in any danger. Lastly, my e pawn would become a passed pawn and become much more valuable in the position. Thus, I played Qxg3 and got the 2 rooks for the queen.

 

The game went on as some captures and trades occurred. On move 34, it is notable to show the complete lack of target for white’s queen. White played Qd8 only for black to play Rf7, fully shutting down any ideas white may have had. Then, on move 37, I was able to double my rooks on the 2nd rank, and just a move later, I was able to win the g2 pawn. Move through the position from move 31 to move 39.

 

From there, time pressure and my passed e pawn allowed me to win the game. Scroll from move 39 to the end of the game. If the game continued, the next couple moves for black would include Rd1 and e8=Q, and I would be up 2 rooks in material. And so, my opponent resigned.

0-1

 

Key Takeaways:

Generally, trading your queen for your opponents 2 rooks in an endgame is advantagous when your king is safe, there are many connect pawns, or there are only a few targets on the board.

This I Believe Draft

Timothy Sheffield RCL

I thought I knew what science was. I had gone to science camps and learned about the protons, neutrons, electrons, and the periodic table in middle school. In high school, I memorized the difference between carbonate and the other carbon ions, what makes a strong acid or base, and the cell cycle. I did a frog dissection in biology class and discovered the different wavelengths of light in chemistry lab. I had always found science interesting and easy to understand.

 

However, I did not truly understand what a scientist does.

 

In 11th grade, I took AP Physics 1. My first assignment was 15 problems kinematics for homework. This was my first experience learning how to think like a scientist. I spent 3 hours doing the 15 questions. This was the first time I struggled with a science assignment. I was forced to understand all elements of problem. The vectors of acceleration, the uses for the different formulas, labeling the angles properly, and the list goes on. I struggled to do each one of them and I didn’t know if any of them were correct. The next day in class, I discussed the homework, but none of my classmates were able to fully understand or complete the problem set. We spent the class period putting our brains together to solve all the problems so that all of us had complete knowledge and understanding.

Later that week, we had our first lab experiment. I expected a packet of steps to complete outlining the steps necessary to collect the data, but this was not the case. Instead, I was given a problem a problem to experimentally solve: What was the acceleration due to gravity? I had no clue where to start. I was surrounded by a room filled with equipment, but no clue how to even start to solve this problem. My lab group and I thought of many ideas: Video recording, rolling a ball off a table, and even using a stopwatch to time the ball. Eventually, we came up with a solution. We connected a motion sensor and measured the velocity as a function of time and took the average change over the time a basketball was falling.

 

When I turned in the lab and completely understood the homework, I realized the way I perceived the world had changed. In my social science classes, I used data to complete conclusions rather than simply reading as many articles on the topic and memorize as many events or vocab words as possible. I was first looking at the whole picture rather than simply the in-depth details as compared to being blind to the bigger picture. I started making decisions by widening all possible ways to fully understand the problem before trying to find a solution. In short, I started thinking like a scientist.

 

I believe that the science education should focus on problem solving and complete understanding rather than memorizing. In memorizing and doing “cookie cutter” problems in previous science classes, I learned very little on how to problem solve or how to critically think. If everyone was able to think like a scientist, critically think and problem solve like a scientist and applied it to their understanding of the world around them, political discourse would be respectful with facts being the primary common ground between all people. In all, if people were able to think like scientists, critical thinking would be the normal, not the exception.

Ideas for “This I Believe” Podcast, Passion Blog, and Civic Issues Blog

Timothy Sheffield RCL

“This I Believe” Podcast Ideas:

-Education- or Lack There Of: Many skills valuable in the workforce today are not being taught. These skills including agility, problem-sloving, leadership, negotiation, and technical skills. Instead of these skills, we are taught to prepare for every test or presentation exact as we were shown by the teacher. Rarely, we came to conclusions by ourselves. I didn’t realize this until I took AP Physics in which coming to our own solutions and fully understanding why every step in the process is necessary.

-Failing is Important: We have heard the phrase “learn from your mistakes.” However, I believe that purposefully putting yourself in positions to fail is very important.

 

Passion Blog Ideas:

-Chess Analysis: Continue writing about my chess games, but put more of a focus on beginner level play instead of my level.

-TED Talk Analysis: I would watch a TED Talk and write about the important part and lesson from each.

 

 

Civic Issues Blog Ideas:

-Voter Suppression: Explain why voter suppression is happening and the risks the country faces due to it.

-Importance of Democracy: I believe that the experiment of democracy is currently the closest to failing since the Civil War. People are Toward the end, I would like to offer some suggestions in who to protect the vision of our Founding Fathers