Bughouse and Zhouse (Scroll down to see entire post)

The majority of contemporary players think that trades are generally good and essential.   Some players are both chess masters and bughouse masters.  But when going over one of their chess games they can explain the purpose of every trade they initiated.  It is only in bughouse that they trade for the sake of trading.  Sometimes chess masters who are inexperienced in bughouse trade because they would trade in speed chess and in speed chess they like to reach the ending.  I wouldn't say that endings never happen in bughouse.  A chess master should be able to win a won endgame in 30 seconds or less.  My friend Ron call this the "Tournament Game strategy" So if he has these two advantages, he can have his partner sit while he wins.  But if you don't have both of these advantages and your board is sparse, it is especially important to guard against checks and/or make sure trades come on your tempo. There are trades for defensive or offensive...

Yes, I know its a bughouse blog, but here I have a zhouse game that I was fortunate enough to win against a master: My opponent decided to play 1.e4 d5.  I think this a bad idea.  In zhouse,  white starts with a slight edge and a small number of trades amplifies the edge.  It is different than bughouse, and when black trades the pieces go to his partner who is playing white. The pawn a c3 is an advantage for white.  Black can place either knight or pawn on f4, or better yet, place the pawn on h3. Here black makes his first aggressive move, but it is too little too.  Also his plan is to win the knight, which may be ill advised.  Sometimes squares are more import than pieces, so p@h3 might be a better move.  White has some threats planned, especially p@h6. Black defends h6 and completes his idea of trapping the knight.  White will play e5, which threatens the bishop on d6 and provides the e4 square for the knight.  Blac...

In this game, I was playing a master.  Both of us had a good amount of material in hand.  I didn't expect to win this game because my opponent had two queens.  Fortunately almost all of the checking squares were covered and he didn't realize I had a threat. It was in this position that he made a mistake.  I think that assuming he could give a Queen, his best bet is the Queen sacrifice Qxb5+.  If he has two knight, he can place one on c4 or a4, threatening to put the the other on c5.  If I take with the b-pawn,   It leaves b5 open for a rook or c4 or a4 open for the second Knight. Here I have several threats, but he defended the wrong one.  If he doesn't check me somehow,  I am threatening Rxe7, Bf4 and Qf2. He took the rook, letting me get in Qf2+ and he plays Ne2 (the f-knight is pinned).  I play B@e3.+  I have a queen in my hand, so he has to take Qxe3. So I forked his King and Queen with N@c4+ So I c...

Time: In bughouse, speed is more important than in most forms of chess.  The side that has more time has more control over the flow of pieces.  In general, you want to have more time than your partner's opponent.  Time is more important when the material count is against your side on either board. Defense: Always defend before attacking unless you have mate.  By having mate, I mean that you already have the necessary pieces and have mate in every continuation.  Your opponent must have less time than your partner. Don't bring your king out.  Often keeping your king back is more important than recapturing. Don't think in terms of defending by having your partner stall unless its the only alternative.  Remember that you can be mated by the pieces your opponent already has. It is much harder for Black to defend than for White.  In general, I advise against playing or allowing a sac on f7.  Know the standard defensive moves.  Playin...

Unfortunately chess.com only has bughouse replay on one board, but actually I was concentrating on one board.  c6 is a wasted move.  Of all the threats that White has, the most serious is h6.  This kind of position is an argument against Black playing a passive opening.  After a passive opening, Black will always have some weak squares at this point, but he should also have a pawn in the center in return.  e5 is also weak. Against a weak player, h6 is probably a good move.  Against a strong player, take into consideration that he might play p@g6. Black has played Ng5 which is a mistake.  His knight is trapped.  Correct was Nd5.  Black should not worry about p@d6 because Bxd6 exd Qxd6,  In general, moving the c-pawn weakens your position.  Unlike the e-pawn and the d-pawn, c7 is only guarded by one piece, and its a piece you don't want to give up. p@g6 is probably a mouse-slip, as it doesn't address either of Bla...

Why did White here resign?   The immediate threat is that if White plays Kd1, R@e1 is mate as White's Bishop on d2 is pinned by the Queen on d8.  But what if White plays Ke2?  Even if Black gets a Knight, both bishops cover f4.  If she places a Knight on d4, she blocks her own pin, and White can retreat with Kd1.  With the King on e2, If she puts a pawn on d3 it blocks her pin.  White she can play dxc2, after Kc2 there is no mate.  If instead of p@d3 she gets a bishop and plays Bc4+, if White plays Kd1, R@e1 is mate. But say White plays p@d3 and Black takes with either the Bishop or the Pawn.  Again she has broken her own pin and White can play Kd1.

This is how it ended with my partner giving mate. It started with Black playing Nge7.   This is a suspect move, though I have seen some good players play the Knight there and going to f5 with it as soon as possible.  Now f6 and f7 are both very weak.   I sometimes play f6 instead of Nge7.  That also has some problems, though it is more robust than it looks. So what should Black play on the first few moves?   1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 is an option,. but you can see the problem with f6 in this game.   1.e4 e5 is possible.  Note that if 2.Bc4, White is not threatening the Bishop sac immediately as there is no square to place the Knight for a followup check.  There is 1.e4 d5 after 2.exd, some players play 2..Qxd5.  This is probably the easiest continuation for beginners.  Some play 2..e6 which is called the Leaf.  Is it any good?  Don't be silly. It loses a pawn.  Some go for 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d6 which is pas...