When boredom sets in I sign in as a guest at Chess Hotel and play a few 10 minute games. I am not sure, but I think the Chess Hotel website is controlled from Stockholm, Sweden.
It’s a good site for a few casual games and you can expect to meet all kinds of opponents ranging from engine users to strong players to beginners.
There is a fair share of poor sports...players who get losing positions and then just leave the site, or worse yet, those who just let their time expire without moving.
Occasionally you get an opponent who like to swear at you, or as happened to me a while back, a near beginner who quickly got a lost position and then began slinging accusations of engine use. Believe me, it didn't take an engine to beat him! It reminded me of the time at the chess club at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina when I beat some young kid and he said, "Where I come from I hardly ever lose." My reply, "Where I come from I hardly ever win."
Then there was a recent opponent who asked if I spoke English and after finding out I did, asked where I was from. When he found out he said he was from the Ukraine and proceeded to tell me how much he hates Americans. All I can say is some people are amusing.
When playing these games my openings are all the dubious ones I can think of because they are fun to play and the results don’t mean anything. Upon seeing things like 1.h4, 1.g4 or with black 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 c6 3.dxc6 e5 (sort of a Danish Gambit Reversed) it’s surprising how careless some players get. The following game featuring the Irish Gambit (aka the Razzle-Dazzle or Chicago Gambit) is a case in point.
[Event "Chess Hotel"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Tartajubow"]
[Black "Guest"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[EventDate "2025.??.??"]
{Irish Gambit} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nxe5 {Millions of games in my database
and there is not a single example of this.} Nxe5 4. d4 Ng6 {An equally good
alternative is 4...Nc6} (4... Nc6 5. d5 Nb8 6. Bd3 d6 7. O-O Nd7 8. c4 Be7 9.
Nc3 Ne5 10. Be2 f5 11. f4 Nf7 12. Bd3 {was played in D. T. Phillips-Harry
Nelson Pillsbury. Chicago, 1899. Black has a winning advantage, but Pillsbury
got careless and eventually lost.}) 5. Bc4 {As good as anything else.} (5. c4 {
This, building up a broad P-center is the main engine selection.} Bb4+ 6. Bd2
Bxd2+ 7. Qxd2 b5 8. cxb5 d5 9. e5 Nh6 10. Nc3 O-O 11. h4 f6 12. f3 a6 13. O-O-O
{White is still a piece down with noting to show for it.}) (5. c4 Bb4+ 6. Nc3
c5 7. a3 cxd4 8. axb4 dxc3 9. h4 h5 10. bxc3 Nf6 11. Bg5 O-O 12. Be2 Qe7 13.
O-O {This is PlentyChess' line which is a bit more human looking. White still
has no compensation for the piece.}) (5. h4 {Is an interesting offer of
another P. Engines recommend either 5...d5 or 5...h5, but most hu,ams would
probably take the P.} Nxh4 6. c4 Bb4+ 7. Nc3 Bxc3+ 8. bxc3 {White is still a
piece down with no compensation.} d6) 5... d5 {Not a bad idea...black returns
a P to open up line for development.} 6. exd5 (6. Bxd5 {is strongly met by} Nf6
7. Bb3 Nxe4 8. Qe2 Qe7 9. O-O Nd6) (6. Bxd5 Nf6 7. Nc3 Nxd5 8. Nxd5 f5 {
Undermining the N.} 9. Qe2 Be7 {Nlack has the far superior position.}) 6... Bd6
7. Kf1 {This was not a mouse slip and the reason I played it and not 7.O-O
escapes me.} N8e7 {Of course 7...Nf6 was better.} 8. h4 {Black should now play
8...h5, but je underestimated the consequences of my next move.} Bd7 $2 9. h5 {
Up to this point black had been moving fairly quickly, but this move caused
him to pause.} Nf8 (9... Nf4 {is probably what he originally intended, but now
realized that after} 10. Qf3 {the N has no retreat.}) 10. h6 {This weakens his
K-side and as a result of 8...Bd7 white jas improved his position considerably.
} Nf5 (10... gxh6 {was perfectly satisfactory/} 11. Bxh6 Nf5 12. Bxf8 Kxf8 {
Black is still much better.}) 11. hxg7 Nxg7 {Material-wise black has a B vs.
two Ps and his engine evaluation has dropped from 4Ps to 2Ps. Appearance-wise
his position looks "confused."} 12. Nc3 Qf6 {This seems to make sense as black
wants to play O-O-O. but he never geys the chance and white now equalizes.
Correct was 12...Ng6} (12... Ng6 13. Bh6 O-O {and black ia safe.}) 13. Ne4 {
Suddenly black's K has found itself exposed in the center and white has more
than enough compensation for the N.} Qg6 {This is just bad.} (13... Qe7 14. Bd3
O-O-O 15. Bg5 f6 16. Bxf6 Qf7 17. Bxd8 Kxd8 {Technically white's R+3Ps
outweigh blacks B+N, but practically...?}) 14. Qe2 $16 {Black is on the road
to losing evan though he accomplishes his gioal of castling Q-side.} O-O-O (
14... Be7 {is met by} 15. Rh6 Qf5 16. d6 {Would I have seen this? Probably not.
} (16. Ng3 Qg4 17. Qxg4 Bxg4 {and black is better.}) 16... O-O-O (16... cxd6
17. Nxd6+ {wins}) 17. dxe7 {White is winning.}) 15. Rh6 {[%mdl 96] This is my
best move of the game...it attacks d6 and sets up a N forl on the K and Q.} Qf5
{The only safe square, but...} 16. Rxd6 Ng6 {It's disappointing that he wouldn;
t take the R! Now what?!} (16... cxd6 17. Nxd6+ Kb8 18. Nxf5 Bxf5 (18... Nxf5
19. Qe5+) 19. Qe5+) 17. Rf6 Qg4 18. Qxg4 {I really did not want to trade Qs,
but after some thought realized that if I didn't black might actually get some
counterplay. Engine analysis of the position after avoiding the exchange
with18.Qd3 turns up some real complications!} (18. Qd3 Nh4 19. Ng3 Rde8 20. Bf4
(20. Bh6 Nh5 {The heretofore badly place N finally finds something to do.} 21.
Rxf7 Rhg8 22. Re1 {Watch this!} Nxg2 23. Rxe8+ (23. Kxg2 Qh3+ 24. Kg1 Rxe1+ 25.
Qf1 Nxg3 {Black mates.}) 23... Rxe8 24. Ne2 Nh4 25. Bb5 Bxb5 26. Qxb5 Rd8 27.
Qb3 {With carefukl plat white's two P advantage should prove enough.}) 20...
Nh5 {White still has the advantage, but must watch his step.}) 18... Bxg4 19.
Rxf7 {The complications are over and white has a winning two P advantage.} Nh5
{The wrechedly placed N finally gets into the game, but with no effect.} 20.
Bg5 Rdf8 21. Rxf8+ Rxf8 22. f3 Bf5 23. Bd3 Bxe4 24. Bxe4 Ng3+ 25. Kg1 Ne2+ 26.
Kf2 Nxd4 27. Rh1 h6 28. Rxh6 Ne5 29. Bf6 {Black resigned.} 1-0
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