One and two, into the ladies! – 1. Part (Educational materials from the games of the Latvian Championship 2025)
One- or two-move combinations are studied during the period of becoming a good player. And we were really upset when we scored the Latvian championship games. In almost every round, we saw that the players missed simple ideas. The quality of the game is falling inexorably.
The words of Latvian grandmaster Laimonis Zalitis are often remembered and quoted to our students. The witty Laimonis Zalitis once said: “The level of play in Latvia is so low that you get used to playing any way you want. You can make any move. Any “crazy” idea. After tournaments in Latvia, you lose your sense of position, your sense of responsibility and fear. And it really gets in the way later, when playing at international tournaments, when playing with the really masters of this great game.”
We present a selection of games from the women’s tournament. We remind you that they were played with classic time control.
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M. Fideline – A. Valnere, Round 1, LR2025
1…. 21-26?? 2. 31- 27?? White passed by a simple combination of 2 .. 34-29!! with the endgame won. Black will be forced to sacrifice two more checkers after White’s battle on field 7. |
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A. Valnere – A. Radionova, Round 2, LR2025
In this position, Black unexpectedly made a move of 1. … 5-10??, which White immediately took advantage of. 2. 33-28 23:21 3. 26:6 |
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A. Misāne – J. Zaharova, Round 2, LR2025
Here, quite unexpectedly, black played 1. … 4-10?? and lost the checker, and with it the game. 2. 28:19 14:43 3. 49:38 29:29 4. 33:24 with a win. |
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M. Misāne – Z. Uvačana, Round 2, LR2025
In this position, White routinely made a 45-40 move and fell for a two-move combination. The game later ended in a draw. 1. 45-40 22-27! 2. 33:22 19-24! 3. 29:20 15:33 4. 38:29. |
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M. Fideline – A. Orlova, Round 2, LR2025
In this game, the whites fell for a simple tactical idea. Did White make a move 1. 34-29?? and after a couple of moves we got a lost position. After the move 1. 43-38, the game could have ended in a forced draw. 1. 34-29?? 23:34! 2. 30:39 12-17 with the inescapable threats of combinations from which there is no protection. |
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V. Ivanova – A. Radionova, Round 4, LR2025
In the chart position, Black showed game shortsightedness. Having made a move of 1. …6-11??, and after White’s answer of 2. 41-36, black, after exchanging on the field of 24, lost the checker and the game. But after the move 1 .. 7-11! the position is defensible. Is it impossible to perform a maneuver related to move 2. 27-22? because of the black counter-combination. We grant our readers the right to find it.
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L. Gudeviča-Liepiņa – A. Orlova, Round 5, LR2025
In a position with a slight advantage for white, or more correctly, with initiative, white fell for a hidden blow. 1.41-37?? 27-32! 2. 38:27 14-19! 3.. 24:13 18:9 4. 27:18 9-13 5. 18:9 10-14 6. 9:20 15:44 with a win. |
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L. Gudeviča-Liepiņa – A. Orlova, Round 5, LR2025
In an already won position, Black made a “fatal” mistake. Instead of a calm move of 1…. 28-33 and setting the second queen, black made a move of 1…. 17-22??. Black’s last move allowed white to go to queens on field 3 and reach a peaceful harbor through several draughts victims. |