Category: gambit

Fischer, the Invincible

by lefthandeddragon, posted in championship, chess, Fischer, gambit, history, King's Gambit, Uncategorized

Recently, I was going over some games from the 1963/64 US Championship. That tournament stands out for at least three reasons.

 
(1) The winner was the first, and so far, the only one, to achieve a perfect score in the Championship.

 

(2) Fischer won his sixth Championship in a row. He would eventually win eight of them, which was another perfect score as he played in a total of eight Championships.

 

(3) Fischer played a King’s Gambit, a rarity in a national championship. It was also one of his best games.
Here is the game, annotated by Fischer, with a few additional notes (mostly to highlight some background information) by me (RME).

 

 

GM Fischer-GM Evans
US Ch.
New York, Nov. 16 1963
[Fischer, “Exclusive Commentary on Round Two”, Chess Life and Review, Jan. 1964]

1.e4 e5 2.f4 [I knew that my opponent had some prepared line (since he usually plays the Sicilian) but felt that he would be unfamiliar with the King’s Gambit. Besides, I’d made up my mind to play it in this tournament anyway.] 2…exf4 3.Bc4 [Better than 3.Nf3 which is practically refuted by 3…d6 (see my analysis in the American Chess Quarterly.)] 3…Qh4+ [Turning it into an old-fashioned slugfest. The moderns frown on this move and prefer to fight in the center with 3…Nf6 4.Nc3 c6, etc. (But 4…Qh4+ is, by far, still the most common response in the Bishop’s Gambit as it displaces White’s king and prevent him from transposing into other variants of the King’s Gambit. RME.)] 4.Kf1 d6?

[Evans said this game would set chess back a hundred years. He didn’t know how right he was! The defense he chooses was also played by LaBourdonnais against MacDonnell (20th Match Game, 1834) which continued 5.d4 Bg4 6.Qd3 Nc6 7.Bxf7+? Kxf7 8.Qb3+ Kg6 9.Qxb7 Nxd4 10.Qxa8 f3 with a winning attack. More usual is 4…g5 (or d5) 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.d4 Ne7 7.Nf3 Qh5 8.h4 h6 and it’s a hard game.

(Here is the game in its entirety.

Macdonnell-de la Bourdonnais
Match, London, 1834
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 Qh4+ 4.Kf1 d6 5.d4 Bg4 6.Qd3 Nc6 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Qb3+ Kg6 9.Qxb7 Nxd4 10.Qxa8 Nf6 11.Na3 f3 12.g3 Bh3+ 13.Ke1 Qg4 14.Be3 d5 15.Qxa7 Nc6 16.Qxc7 d4 17.Bd2 Qxe4+ 18.Kd1 f2 19.Nxh3 Qf3+ 20.Kc1 Qxh1+ 0-1. RME)]

5.Nc3? [Returning the compliment. It’s natural that White should want to save the juicy tempo (5.Nf3!) and I make the same mistake as MacDonnell by delaying this move.] 5…Be6! [I overlooked this move. Now Black has a choice of where to put his Queen once she’s attacked. (This move also eliminates any quick victories by White as his bishop is thwarted. RME)] 6.Qe2

[Moving the bishop back is really not an option.

Harrwitz-Mayet
Match
Berlin, 1847
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 Qh4+ 4.Kf1 d6 5.Nc3 Be6 6.Be2?! Qf6 7.d4 g5 8.d5 Bc8 9.Nf3 h6 10.h4 Be7 11.Nb5 Na6 12.Bd2 Qg7 13.Bc3 f6 14.Kg1 g4 15.Nfd4 f3 16.Bf1 Bd8 17.gxf3 gxf3+ 18.Kf2 Nc5 19.Qxf3 a6 20.Na3 Bg4 21.Qf4 h5 22.Re1 Nh6 23.Rg1 Be7 24.b4 Na4 25.Ne6 Qh7 26.Nxc7+ Kd7 27.Nxa8 Nxc3 28.Nb6+ Kc7 29.Nbc4 f5 30.Kg2 fxe4 31.Kh1 Nxd5 32.Qxe4 Qxe4+ 33.Rxe4 Bf3+ 34.Bg2 Bxe4 35.Bxe4 Nxb4 36.Rg7 Kd8 37.Bxb7 Nf5 38.Rf7 Nxh4 39.Na5 d5 40.c3 Ke8 41.Rxe7+ Kxe7 42.cxb4 Kd6 43.Bxa6 Nf5 44.Bd3 Ne7 45.Nc2 Rg8 46.Nb7+ Ke6 47.Nc5+ Kd6 48.a4 Nc6 49.Nb7+ Ke7 50.Nc5 Kd6 1/2-1/2. Fischer didn’t mention this game, but in all fairness, he didn’t have access to the Internet. RME]

6…c6 7.Nf3 (Inaccurate. Having made the mistake of delaying this move once, White should hold off a while longer and play 7.d4, which does not permit Black’s Queen to retreat to e7 without relinquishing his “f” pawn.) 7…Qe7 (If 7…Qh5 8.Nd5! Now, however, Black has time to consolidate his king’s position.) 8.d4 Bxc4 9.Qxc4 g5 (Despite White’s strong center and great lead in development, Black’s position is not easy to crack. If 10.h4 g4 11.Ne1 Bh6, etc.) 10.e5 d5 [During the game I thought Black’s best defense was 10…dxe5 11.Nxe5 (11.dxe5 Nd7 12.Ne4 Nxe5 13.Nxe5 Qxe5 14.Bd2 is unclear) 11…Nd7 12.h4 Nxe5 13.dxe5 Qxe5 14.hxg5 O-O-O 15.Bxf4 Qf5 with equality.] 11.Qd3 [11.Nxd5 cxd5 12.Qc8+ Qd8 13.Qxb7 Nd7 is unsound. (14.Nxg5? Rb8). Now the threat is simply 11.Qf5.] 11…Na6 12.Ne2 (Not 12.Qf5 Nh6 13.Qxg5 Qxg5 14.Nxg5 Nb4 15.Bxf4 Nxc2 16.Rd1 Nf5 and Black wins.) 12…Nb4 (12…f6 loses 13.Qf5 Bg7 14.exf6 Bxf6 15.Bxf4! gxf4 16.Nxf4 with a winning attack. It is important to repel White’s queen from its present diagonal.) 13.Qd1 O-O-O (Very complicated, and possibly better, is 13.c3 which leads to a more active defense.) 14.c3 Na6 15.h4 g4 16.Nh2! h5 (Better was 16…f3 17.gxf3 gxf3 18.Nxf3 f6 although White’s king is quite safe and Black lags in development. Also to be considered was 16…Qxh4 17.Nxf4! g3 18.Qg4+ Qxg4 19.Nxg4 with a powerful ending.) 17.Nxf4

2019_10_10_A
17…Qxh4? [The losing move. Relatively best is 17…Kb8 (preventing Nxh5!) (Fischer is referring to White’s threat of 18.Nxh5! Rxh5 19.Qxg4+, winning the rook and the game. RME) but his game is already bad. (The advanced pawn on e5 which is crippling Black’s play on the kingside. RME).] 18.Kg1 (Black apparently underestimated the strength of this move. He has no adequate defense now to the twin threats of 19.Nxg4 and Nf1.) 18…Nh6 (The only way to avoid outright material loss. Black originally intended 18…Bh6 but 19.Nf1 followed by Rxh5 stands him up.) 19.Nf1 Qe7 20.Nxh5 Rg8 (Black already knew he was lost and was shaking his head in amazement at how quickly White’s dead pieces had sprung to life.) 21.Nfg3 Rg6 22.Nf4 Rg5 (If 22…Rg8 23.Nxd5, etc.) 23.Be3 Nc7 (The last hope. 23…f6 is answered by 24.Qd2 fxe5 25.Nxd5, winning a full rook.) 24.Qd2 Rg8 25.Nfe2 (This piquant retreat wins a piece, putting a clear end to black’s agony.) 25…f6 (Black is still hoping for a miracle.) 26.exf6 Qxf6 27.Bxh6 Bd6 28.Rf1 Qe6 29.Bf4 Rde8 30.Rh6 Bxf4 31.Qxf4 Qe7 32.Rf6
2019_10_10_B
[Tripling on the Bishop file. (And being material up, the victory is not too far off. RME)] 32…Ne6 33.Qe5 Ng5 34.Qxe7 Rxe7 35.Rf8+ (Trading down to skin and bones.) 35…Rxf8 36.Rxf8+ 1-0

 

I Beat A 2812!

by lefthandeddragon, posted in chess, gambit, Humor, Uncategorized, Winawer

Yes, this is true.

 

And this is the story.

 

In order to gain an established rating, you must play events obviously. During the time you start playing tournament games and your rating more or stabilizes, you are issued a provisional rating. This rating can wildly swing as you win and lose games.

 

In 1988 my correspondence rating was settling into a stable one. My opponent’s rating was still in wild flux before he and I started our game.

 

And this is the game.

 

A.I.-Escalante
corres. 1990
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5 (This is the Wilkes-Barre Variation, an extremely tactical and popular opening in the 1980s.  It was my favorite opening at this time as well. And it also seems to have been a favorite of my opponent as he made book move almost to the end of the game. Kenneth Williams’s pamphlet, The Real American Wilkes-Barre, published in 1979, was probably the reason for its popularity.) 5.Nxf7 (An alternate move is 5.Bxf7+. But if tactical is your M.O., then you can’t beat 5.Nxf7 for the pins, forks, checks, and sacrifices.) 5…Bxf2+ 6.Kxf2 Nxe4+ 7.Ke3!? [7.Kg1 is another move. But boldly (or maybe even recklessly) moving one’s king to the center in this variation is stronger than it appears (IMHO) as Black doesn’t have too many pieces developed and White is ahead materially.]

7…Qh4

[Black has the choice of the text move and 7…Qe7. I chose 7…Qh4 as I felt the queen was more active on this square.

Remember I mentioned this was popular opening back in the 1980s? Here two very strong players trying out 7…Qe7!? Notes are from NIC Yearbook #4.

Van de Loo-Hesslin
Netherlands, 1985
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5 5.Nxf7 Bxf2+ 6.Kxf2 Nxe4+ 7.Ke3 Qe7 8.c3 Nd4 9.Kxe4 Qh4+ 10.Ke3 Qf4+ 11.Kd3 d5 12.Bxd5 Bf5+ 13.Kc4 b5+ 14.Kc5 Qh4 15.Nxe5 O-O-O 16.c4 Rxd5+ 17.cxd5 Rd8 18.Nc3 Nc6 19.Qa4!! Qe7+ (19…bxa4 20.Nc6 -/+) 20.Kxb5 Qxe5 21.Qc4?! (21.Qa6+!? Kb8 22.Qc6 Bd7) 21…Nd4+ 22.Ka4 Bd7+ 23.Ka5?! (Ka3!?) 23…Nc6+ 24.Ka6? (Ka4) 24…Nb8+ 25.Kxa7 (unclear) c6? (Qd6! -+) 26.Nb5! (with the idea of Kb6, Na7#) 26…Bf5 27.d4 Rd7+ 28.Ka8 (Kb6!) 27…Qe7 29.dxc6 Be4 30.d5 Bxd5 31.Qxd5 Rxd5 32.Na7+ Kd8 33.Kxb8?! (33.Bf4 with the idea of c7) 33…Qc7+? [33…Qe5 34.Kb7 (34.Ka8? Kc6!) Rb5 35.Nxb5 Qxb5=] 34.Ka8 Ra5 (Ke8!?) 35.Bg5+!! Rxg5 (35…Ke8 36.Rae1 Kf7 37.Re7+ -+) 36.Rad1+ Ke8 37.Rhe1+ Kf8 38.Rd7 Qxh2 39.Ree7 Qxg2 40.Rb7 Rc5 41.c7 Qg4 42.Rf7+! Ke8 43.b4 Rc2 44.a4 h5 45.a5 h4 46.b5 h3 47.Nc6! h2 48.Rxg7!! 1-0 Back to the game!]

8.g3 Nxg3 9.hxg3 Qd4+ 10.Kf3 d5!

[Black has the option of 10…O-O, letting his rook into play. However, again IMHO, the text move is stronger as it allows Black’s c8-bishop to come into play AND lay claim to the center.

Oleksenko-Malksirits, corres., 1984, continued with 11.Rh4!? e2+ 12.Kg2 d5 13.Rf4 dxc4 14.Qf1 Rxf7 15.Rxf7 Bg4 16.Nc3 Ne5 17.Qf2! Bf3+ 18.Rxf3 exf3+ 19.Kg1 Qd7 20.d4 cxd3 21.Bf4 Ng6 22.Qxf3 dxc2 23.Rc1 Nxf4 24.Qxf4 Rf8 25.Qc4+ Kh8 26.Rxc2 c6 27.Qc5 Rf5 28.Rf2+ 1-0]

11.Be2

[All this studying for correspondence can pay off. Here is another game by the author.

Escalante-Tym Belanger, US Amateur Team Ch., Feb., 20 2006, 11.Rh4 e4+ 12.Kg2 Rf8 13.Bxd5 Qxd5 14.Qh5 Qxh5 15.Rxh5 Rxf7 16.Rxh7 Nd4 17.Na3 Bg4 -/+ 18.Rh8+ Rf8 19.Rxf8+ Kxf8 20.c3 Bf3+ 21.Kf2 Nf5 22.d3 Rd8 23.dxe4 Bxe4 24.Bg5? (>24.Bf4 c6 25.Nc4) 24…Rd3 25.Bf4 Rf3+ 26.Ke2 Nxg3+ 27.Bxg3 Rxg3 28.Rf1+ Ke7 29.Kd2 Rd3+?! (>29…Rg2+ 30.Ke3 Bc6 31.Nc4? Bb5) 30.Ke2 Rg3 31.Kd2 g5 32.Re1 Kf6 33.Rxe4 Kf5 34.Re2 Kf4 35.Nb5 Kf3 36.Nd4+ Kg4 37.Rf2 Kh3 38.Ke2 Rg4 39.a4 Re4+ 40.Kd3 Re1 41.Rf3+ Kg2 42.Rf7! +- (White wins with a windmill.) 42…g4 43.Rxc7 Kf2 44.Rf7+ Kg1 45.Rxb7 Rf1 46.Rg7 g3 47.Rxg3+ Kh1 48.Rg7 Rb1 49.b4 Rd1+ 50.Kc2 Rf1 51.Rxa7 Rf2+ 52.Kd3 Rf8 53.Rg7 Rf3+ 54.Kc4 (Of course not Nxf3, stalemate!) 54…Rf8 55.b5 Rc8+ 56.Kb4 Rf8 57.a5 Rf3 (Another attempt at stalemate.) 58.a6 Rf2 59.c4 Rf1 60.a7 Ra1 61.b6 Rb1+ 62.Kc5 Ra1 63.b7 Rxa7 64.b8=Q Rc7+ (Yet another try at stalemate; the third of the game. 65.Qxc7 is a draw, so…) 65.Rxc7 1-0]

11…O-O (11…Bxe2 Bg4 12.Kg2 Qe4 13.Bf3! +-) 12.Rf1? (Kg2! – K. Williams)

2019_07_25

12…Bh3!! 0-1 (This is stronger than 12…Qe4+ 13.Kf2 Rxf7+ and either 14.Ke1 or 14.Kg1 and the White king lives. But after 12…Bh3!!, White has a choice between …Rxf7# or losing a massive amount of material with 13.Bd3 Rxf7+ 14.Ke2 Bg4+ 15.Ke1 Rxf1+ 16.Kxf1 Bxd1.)

 

–correspondence_AI_1

FIREWORKS

by lefthandeddragon, posted in chess, gambit, miniature, Najdorf, Petrov, sacrifice, Sozin, Uncategorized

Fireworks-pastel-colors-jpg

 

Fourth of July in the US is considered our Independence Day. A day we love to celebrate with parades, hot dogs, ball games, barbeques, and fireworks.

 

We can’t provide the parades, ball games, barbeques, and our hot dogs are reserved. But we can give you fireworks. Check out these games.

 

Keres-Siitam
Estonia Jr. Ch.
Parnu, 1933
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nc3 (This opening is known as the Mason or Keres Gambit. By either name, it leads to many tactical games.) 3…Nc6 4.d4 Bb4!? 5.Bxf4 Qh4+ 6.g3 Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 Qe7 8.Bg2 d6 9.Nf3 Qxe4+ 10.Kf2 Bf5 11.Re1 Qxe1+ 12.Qxe1+ Nge7 13.d5 O-O 14.dxc6 Bxc2 15.Qxe7 Rae8 16.Qxc7 Re4 17.cxb7 Rfe8 18.b8=Q Re2+ 19.Kg1 Rxg2+ 20.Kxg2 Rxb8 21.Qxb8mate 1-0

 

Here are is another Keres/Mason Game. Black has the advantage after 6.…Ba6+. Now try to find Black’s best moves from this point.

 

N.N.-Chadwick
corres.
PCCA Gambit Tournament, 1911
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.d4 Qh4+ 5.Ke2 b6! 6.Nf3 Ba6+ 7.Kd2 Qf2+ 8.Ne2 Nb4 9.a3 Nf6 10.Qe1 d5 11.Kc3 Nxe4+ 12.Kb3 Bc4+ 13.Ka4

2019_07_04_A

13…b5+ (Alex Dunne, writing in the Dec. 2000 issue of Chess Life, notes that 13…a5 14.Nc3 Qxc2+ 15.b3 Qxb3# wins faster. Would you have found that idea?) 14.Ka5 Nc6+ 15.Ka6 b4+ 16.Kb7 Rb8+ 17.Kxc6 Rb6+ 18.Kxc7 Bd6+ 19.Kc8 Ke7mate 0-1

 

Victor Knox (2320)-Krzysztof Pytel (2381)
Manchester, 1981
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.Bd2 Ne7 6.Nb5 O-O 7.c3 (7.Bxb4 doesn’t seem to fare too well. Vasiliev (1703)-Lysakov (2032) Petr Izmailov Memorial, Tomsk, Russia, June 13 2013, continued with 7…cxb4 8.Nd6 Nbc6 9.Nf3 f6 10.Bd3 fxe5 11.dxe5 Nxe5 12.Nxc8 Nxd3+ 13.Qxd3 Rxc8 14.O-O-O Ng6 15.h4 Nf4 16.Qe3 Qf6 17.Qxa7 Ra8 18.Qd4 Ne2+ 0-1) 7…Ba5 8.dxc5 Bc7 (> 8…Ng6) 9.f4 Nd7 10.b4 b6 11.cxb6 Nxb6 12.Nf3 Bb7 (Black is coming close to equality, or at least an unclear position. However, he needs to either active his kingside or defend it. He does neither.) 13.Bd3 Nc4? (Now comes the thematic Bxh7+ and subsequent king walk.)

2019_07_04_B

14.Bxh7+! Kxh7 15.Ng5+ Kg6 16.Qg4 f5 17.Qg3 Qd7 (17…Qc8 18.Nc7) 18.Nxe6+ Kf7 19.Qxg7+ Kxe6 20.Nd4mate 1-0

 

Escalante-“Me4ok” (1846)
corres.
http://www.chess.com, 2019
[B57]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 d6 5.Bc4 Nf6 6.Nc3 g6 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.e5 Nh5 9.e6?

 

(This is what sometimes happens when I analyze a game in my head. Most of the time, this is not problem. But this time I thought he had played 8…Ng4, and 9.e6 works well in that variation.

 

By the way, after 8…Nh5, 9.Qf3 is considered the best move here. A few games illustrate the possibilities.

 

GM Fischer-N.N.
Simul
New York, 1963
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bc4 g6 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.e5 Nh5 9.Qf3 e6 (9…d5? 10.Nxd5! cxd5 11.Bxd5) 10.g4 Ng7 11.Ne4 Qa5+ (11…d5? 12.Nf6+ Ke7 13.Qa3+ Qd6 14.Qxd6#) 12.Bd2 Qxe5 13.Bc3 (The black queen is trapped.)
2019_07_04_C
1-0

 

Sarapu-Cornford
New Zealand Ch.
Christchurch, 1967
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bc4 g6 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.e5 Nh5 9.Qf3 e6 10.exd6 Qxd6 11.g4 Ng7 12.Bf4 e5 13.Bxf7+ Kd7 14.Rd1 exf4 15.O-O Ba6 16.Ne4 Bxf1 17.Nxd6 Bxd6 18.Qxf4 1-0

 

Mayerhofer (2203)-Klimes (2365)
IPCA World Cup
Czech Republic, 2003
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bc4 g6 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.e5 Nh5 9.Qf3 d5 10.Nxd5 e6 11.Nc3 Bb7 12.O-O Be7 13.Bh6 Bg5 14.Rad1 Qe7 15.Bxg5 Qxg5 16.Ne4 Qe7 17.Nd6+ Kf8 18.Nxf7 Qxf7 19.Qxf7+ Kxf7 20.Rd7+ Kf8 21.Rxb7 Ng7 22.Rd1 a5 23.Rdd7 Nf5 24.Bxe6 1-0

 

De Haas (2171)-Bakker
Nova Open
Haarlem, July 2 2004
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bc4 g6 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.e5 Nh5 9.Qf3 d5 10.Nxd5 cxd5 11.Bxd5 Rb8
2019_07_04_D

12.Bxf7+ Kd7 13.Qd5+ Kc7 14.Qc5+ Kb7 15.Bd5+ Ka6 16.Qc6+ 1-0

 

Now let’s get back to the original game.)

 

9…fxe6! (Oops! Black definitely has the advantage.) 10.Qf3 (Trying to keep Black from castling.) 10…d5! (Another good move. This bolsters his pawn structure.) 11.Bb3 (Forced. White wants to keep the bishop on the diagonal.) 11…Bg7 12.Bg5 Nf6? (Black could have tried 12.Rf8, and forgo castling to use the open “f” file.) 13.O-O-O O-O!? [Seems safe. But White’s bishop is still on the diagonal. If Black’s plan is king safety (always important), then he probably should hide his king on h8.] 14.Qg3 c5? (Again, …Kh8 is called for. All this move does is loosen his pawn structure. Perhaps he wanted to push …c4, getting rid of the bishop. But this approach is too slow.) 15.Rhe1 (White’s development is now superior, for the cost of a pawn. His bishop is about to become very active.) 16…Bd7? 16.Bxf6! (The start of a combination to open lines against the enemy king.) 16…exf6
2019_07_04_E
17.Nxd5! Kh8 [Now he moves his king to safer square. But he loses a critical tempo in the process. By the way, taking the knight leads to immediate disaster. I’ll let the reader figure it out the moves (it’s more fun that way!)] 18.Nc7 +- Qe7 19.Nxa8 Rxa8 20.Qc7 Rd8 21.Rxe6 Bh6+ 22.Kb1 Bxe6 23.Rxd8+ 1-0

 

GM Fabiano Caruna (2652)-GM Konstantin Landa (2664)
Torneo di Capodanno
Reggio Emilia, Italy, June 1 2010
[C42]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Be3 Nc6 8.Qd2 Be6 9.O-O-O Qd7 10.Kb1 Bf6 11.h4 h6 12.Nd4 Nxd4 13.Bxd4 Bxd4 14.Qxd4 O-O (So far, we are still in “book”.) 15.Rg1 [White played 15.Be2 in GM R. Ponomariov (2751)-GM Hao Wang (27433), Kings Tournament, Bucharest, Oct. 11 2013, with the continuation of 15…Rae8 16.Bf3 b6 17.g4 Qb5 18.g5 Qc4 19.gxh6 Qxd4 20.Rxd4 gxh6 21.Bc6 Rd8 22.Ra4 a5 23.b4 axb4 24.cxb4 Bd7 25.Bxd7 Rxd7 26.Re1 Kg7 27.Kb2 Kg6 28.Ra3 Kh5 29.Rg3 f5 30.Re6 b5 31.Kb3 f4 32.Rgg6 Rh7 33.f3 Rf5 34.c4 bxc4+ 35.Kxc4 Re5 36.Ref6 Kxh4 37.Rxf4+ Kh3 38.Rfg4 h5 39.Rg3+ Kh2 40.Rg2+ Kh1 41.Rg1+ Kh2 42.R6g2+ Kh3 43.Rg7 Rxg7 44.Rxg7 Re3 45.a4 Ra3 46.Kb5 c5 47.bxc5 1/2-1/2. Caruna’s move seems clearer and stronger.] 15…Rae8 16.g4 Qc6 17.Bg2 Qa6 18.b3 Bd7 19.g5 h5 20.g6 Re7 21.Bd5 Be6 22.Rde1 c5 23.Qd1 Rfe8 24.Qxh5! +- fxg6
2019_07_04_F
25.Rxe6! (Black resigned as he gets checkmated after 25…Rxe6 26.Qxg6. Or he could play on by taking the queen first, and then still get mated after 25…gxh5 26.Rxe7+ Kh7 27.Be4+ Kg8 28.Rgxg7+ Kh8 29.Rh7+ Kg8 30.Rxe8# .) 1-0

 

“jovialdick” (2178)-“blueemu” (2297)
Match
Team Malaysia vs The Canadian Team
chess.com, Aug. 2018
[This game can be found in a forum titled, “A Heroic Defense in the Sicilian Najdorf – Kids, don’t try this at home!” on chess.com. Notes in green are by Escalante, those in red by “blueemu”. I hesitate to include any diagrams, since virtually every move after White 10th would necessitate a diagram.]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Bb3 b5 8.O-O Be7 9.f4 (Another common move here is 9.Qf3, with the idea of activating pieces over using the kingside pawns to cramp and attack Black’s position.) 9…Bb7 (Black’s only good idea with his white bishop is to fianchetto it. He has play it soon anyway.) 10.e5 (This move is the direct result of White’s previous move. The attack, however, is double-edged as White’s king is not exactly safe if his attack should fail.) 10…dxe5 11.fxe5 Bc5 12.Be3 Nc6 13.exf6 Bxd4 14.fxg7 [Another crazy possibility (pointed out by one of the Master-strength players who was drawn by the carnage) was 14 Nd5!? instead of the piece sacrifice 14. fxg7 that White actually played.] 14…Bxe3+ 15.Kh1 Rg8 16.Bxe6 Rxg7 17.Bxf7+ Rxf7 18.Qh5 Ne5 [Florian, writing in Informant 19, game 453, gives this move “!!” and a -+. The game, Cervenka (2190)-A. Schneider (2266), Czechoslovakia, 1974, continued after 18…Ne5!! -+, with 19.Qxe5+ (19.Rae1 Qg5! -+ ; 19.Rf5 Qd2, are again Florian’s notes to the game.) 19…Qe7 20.Qh8+ Kd7 21.Rad1+ (or 21.Rxf7 Qxf7 22.Qe5 Bxg2+ 23.Kxg2 Rg8+ 24.Kh3 Qf3+ 0-1, as in Kaleb-Sostra, corres., Keres Memorial, 1982) 21… Ke6 0-1. Back to original game. ; Black is indeed winning after 18. … Ne5!! but I messed up on move 20 with 20. … Rd8?! allowing White to head into a very drawish position by swapping everything off on f7 after 21. Rae1 Kf8 and White takes on f7 then recovers his piece on e3.] 19.Qxe5+ Qe7 20.Qh5 Rd8 [20…b4?! is too slow. Miranda Rodriguez (2167)-Ruiz Sanchez (2392), Capablanca Memorial, Havana, May 11 2010 continued with 21.Rae1 bxc3 22.Rxf7 Qxf7 23.Rxe3+ Kf8 24.Qc5+ Kg7 25.Rg3+ Kf6 26.Qd4+ Kf5 27.Qf2+ 1-0 ; Black had a much better 20th move, playing 20. … Kf8! (instead of playing it one move later, as I actually did) 21. Rae1 Re8! and White is lost because he cannot recover his piece, while the Black King is now safe (for a given value of “safe”).] 21.Rae1 Kf8 22.Qxh7 Bd4 23.h3 Rd7 24.Qg6 Qh4 25.Re8+ Kxe8 26.Qg8+ Ke7 27.Rxf7+ Kd6 28.Qb8+ Kc5 29.Rf5+ Kb6 30.Kh2 Qe1 31.Nd5+ Rxd5 32.Rxd5 Bg1+ 0-1

The Daring Damiano

by lefthandeddragon, posted in chess, gambit, Opening, Petrov, Uncategorized

The Petrov (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6) has a reputation for being drawish. But that doesn’t mean that there no pitfalls.

 

Let’s take a look at one of them, sometimes called “The Daring Damiano” (don’t ask me why).

 

The moves are 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nxe4. Although White has several moves available to choose from, he almost always chooses 4.Qe2. The main reason is that it activates his queen and he can quickly win the game if Black stumbles.

 

Let’s take a look at a common (at least among beginners) trap from this position and let’s call it “Ancient Chess Trap” (or ACT). The moves that make this (bad) variation are (in case you need review all the move so far) are : 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nxe4 4.Qe2, and now Black can lose quickly lose with 4…Nf6??

2019_03_28

5.Nc6+! +-

 

This trap is one worth remembering as it can come up in other openings and is a nice way to end a rated game early enough so you can enjoy playing blitz chess for the rest of the day.

 

After the better 4…Qe7, the game can continue with 5.Qxe4 d6 6.d4 dxe5 [Black almost has to take the pawn. After 6.d4 Nd7, White won nicely with 6.d4 Nd7 7.f4!? f6?! 8.Be2 fxe5 9.fxe5 dxe5 10.O-O exd4 11.Bh5+ Kd8 12.Bg5 Nf6 13.Rxf6 Qxe4 14.Rd6# 1-0 (Steinkuehler-Horwitz, Manchester 1961).] 7.Qxe5 Qxe5+ 8.dxe5 Bf5, giving Black a decent chance.

 
This was starting point for Hertan’s article in the February 1990 issue of Chess Life. By the way, his article was titled, “The Daring Damiano”. It may the first time anyone has used the term to describe this variation in the Petrov.

 

The big question here, is how should White continue? The answer is not clear.

 

9.Bb5+ doesn’t look so good after the obvious 9…c6. In addition, Sapfirov-Yaroslavsev, USSR 1971, continued with 9.Bb5+ Nd7!? 10.O-O Bxc2 11.Bf4 c6 12.Be2 Bf5 13.Nc3 Be7 = (ECO evaluation). So Black can at least equalize.

 
It turns out that 9.Bd3 is an error as Black can continue with 9.Bd3? Bxd3 10.cxd3 Nc6 and his development is no worse than White and Black may already have the advantage.

 

9.c3 has possibilities. After 9.c3 Nd7 10.f4 O-O-O 11.Be3 f6 (this move deserves either !? or ?!), Black won after 12.Be2 fxe5 13.O-O exf4 14.Rxf4 Re8 15.Rxf5 Rxe3 16.Bg4 h5 17.Kf2 Re4 18.Bh3 g6 19.Nd2 gxf5 0-1 (R. Oosting (1983)-FM S. Muehlenhaus (2199), HZ Open, Netherlands Aug. 6 2017).

 
Other games with 9.c3

 

Fridthjofsdottir-Canela
Thessaloniki Ol., 1984
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nxe4 4.Qe2 Qe7 5.Qxe4 d6 6.d4 dxe5 7.Qxe5 Qxe5+ 8.dxe5 Bf5 9.c3 Nd7 10.Bf4 O-O-O 11.Nd2 Bc5 12.Nb3 Bb6 13.Nd4 Bg6 14.O-O-O Rde8 15.Re1 Nc5 16.Bc4 Rhf8 17.Rd1 Re7 18.f3 Rfe8 19.Rhe1 Nd7 20.e6 fxe6 21.Bxe6 Kb8 22.Bxd7 Rxe1 23.Bxe8 Rxe8 24.Bg3 Kc8 25.Re1 Rxe1+ 26.Bxe1 Bxd4 27.cxd4 Kd7 28.Bg3 Bd3 29.Be5 Bf1 30.g3 Be2 31.Bxg7 Bxf3 32.Kd2 Ke6 33.Ke3 Bd5 34.a3 Kf5 35.Be5 c6 36.Bb8 a6 37.Kd3 Ke6 38.Kc3 Kd7 39.Kb4 b6 40.Kc3 Kc8 41.Be5 Kd7 42.Kd3 Ke6 43.Bc7 b5 44.Kc3 Kd7 45.Bb6 Be6 46.Kb4 Kd6 47.Ka5 Bc8 48.Bc5+ Kc7 49.Kb4 Bf5 50.Kc3 Kd7 51.Kd2 Ke6 52.Ke3 h5 53.Kf4 Kf6 54.Be7+ Kg6 55.Ke5 a5 56.Kd6 Be4 57.a4 bxa4 58.Bd8 Bd5 59.Bxa5 Kg5 60.h3 Kf5 61.g4+ 1/2-1/2

 

Herbrechtsmeier-Duerr
Badenweiler Open
Germany, 1988
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nxe4 4.Qe2 Qe7 5.Qxe4 d6 6.d4 dxe5 7.Qxe5 Qxe5+ 8.dxe5 Bf5 9.c3 Nd7 10.Bf4 O-O-O 11.Nd2 Re8 12.Nc4 f6 13.O-O-O fxe5 14.Bg3 g6 15.Bd3 Bg7 16.Bc2 h5 17.h4 Nc5 18.Rhe1 e4 19.Bf4 a6 20.Ne3 Rhf8 21.Bg3 Bh6 22.Kb1 Nd3 23.Nxf5 gxf5 24.Bxd3 exd3 25.Rxe8+ Rxe8 26.Rxd3 Re1+ 27.Kc2 Re2+ 28.Kd1 Rxb2 29.Rf3 Rd2+ 30.Ke1 Rxa2 31.Rxf5 Bd2+ 32.Kd1 Bxc3 33.Rf8+ Kd7 34.Rf7+ Ke6 35.Rxc7 Be5 36.Bxe5 Kxe5 1/2-1/2

 

Jolanta Zawadzka (243200-Ewa Harazinska (2310)
Polish Women’s Ch.
Poznan, Apr. 1 2016
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nxe4 4.Qe2 Qe7 5.Qxe4 d6 6.d4 dxe5 7.Qxe5 Qxe5+ 8.dxe5 Bf5 9.c3 Nd7 10.Bf4 O-O-O 11.Bc4 Nxe5 12.Bxe5 Re8 13.f4 f6 14.O-O fxe5 15.fxe5 Bc5+ 16.Kh1 Bxb1 17.Raxb1 Rxe5 18.Bd3 h6 19.b4 Be7 20.Bf5+ Kb8 21.Bg4 Bf6 22.Bf3 Re3 23.c4 Rd8 24.a4 c6 25.a5 Kc7 26.b5 cxb5 27.Rxb5 b6 28.c5 bxc5 29.Rxc5+ Kd6 30.Rc6+ Ke7 31.Rb1 Rd6 32.Rc7+ Rd7 33.Rc4 Rd4 34.Rcc1 Ra3 35.Rb7+ Rd7 36.Re1+ Kd8 37.Rb8+ Kc7 38.Rb7+ Kd8 39.Rb5 Bc3 40.Rb8+ Kc7 41.Rb7+ Kd8 42.Rb8+ Kc7 43.Rb7+ 1/2-1/2
White can offer a pawn with 9.Nc3. Black should not take it and play the most reasonable development move; 9…Nc6. The c-pawn is still vulnerable, and Black is free to castle queenside, giving his king safety and his activity to his rook.

 

Finally, White can sidestep this variation with 6.d4 dxe5 7.dxe5 Nc6. But that is for another post.

Swiss Gambit

by lefthandeddragon, posted in Bird, chess, gambit, games, miniature, Opening, Uncategorized

Most players know of Froms’ Gambit [1.f4 e5 2.fxe5 d6 3.exd6 Bxd6 4.Nf3), with continuation of either 4…g5 (to drive away the knight) or 4…Nf6 (to defend and ready to redeploy the knight to g4 or e4)].

 

But White can also offer a similar gambit after 1.f4 f5 2.e4 fxe4 3.d3. This gambit is known as the Swiss Gambit. Because of its rarity, most players are not aware of it or it’s thematic ideas.

 

Let’s take a look the gambit after the opening moves (1.f4 f5 2.e4 fxe4 3.d3).

2019_03_14_a

If Black was to take the pawn, he would be a pawn up in the game. However, it would be hazardous to do so as both of White’s bishops (after 3…exd3 4.Bxd3) would be activated and his own kingside would be vulnerable. There are two things that slow down White’s attack. The first is the f-pawn, which unlike in the From’s Gambit (which does not have such an advanced pawn), blocks the bishop from going to f4 or g5. The second thing is that Black usually plays an early 4…Nf6, to stop the h5 checks.

 
Now, lets look at some games.

 

First, Black does not have to take the pawn. But such a plan can be risky as the d3-pawn can easily capture the e4-pawn and White has a nice center, without having to sacrifice a pawn.

 

Ranniku-Karakas
Briansk, 1965
1.f4 f5 2.e4 fxe4 3.d3 g6 4.dxe4 e5 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.Bc4 Qe7 7.Nc3 exf4 8.Qe2 d6 9.Bxf4 Be6 10.O-O-O Nc6 11.Bb5 Bd7 12.Bg5 Bg7 13.Nd5 Qd8 14.e5 dxe5 15.Nxe5 Nxe5 16.Qxe5+ Kf7 17.Nxf6 1-0

 

Priehoda (2404)-Cyprian
Kubin Open, 1978
1.f4 f5 2.e4 fxe4 3.d3 e3 4.Bxe3 Nf6 5.Nc3 d5 6.d4 Bf5 7.Bd3 e6 8.Nf3 c6 9.O-O Bb4 10.Ne2 Nbd7 11.Ng3 g6 12.Qe2 O-O 13.Bd2 Bxd2 14.Qxd2 Qc7 15.Rae1 Rae8 16.h3 b6 17.Nh1 Nh5 18.Ne5 Nxe5 19.fxe5 c5 20.Bb5 Rc8 21.g4 cxd4 22.gxf5 exf5 23.Qxd4 Rcd8 24.e6 Qe7 25.Bd7 Nf6 26.Qh4 Qc5+ 27.Nf2 Qe7 28.Nd3 Kg7 29.Qd4 Kh6 30.Ne5 Ne4 31.Qe3+ Kg7 32.Nc6 Qh4 33.Nxd8 f4 34.e7 Rf6 35.Qf3 Nd2 36.Qg4 1-0

 

Petran (2341)-Veselsky (2200)
Slovakia Ch.
Dolny Kubin, 1979
1.f4 f5 2.e4 fxe4 3.d3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e3 5.d4 e6 6.Bd3 Bb4 7.Bxe3 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 O-O 9.Nf3 d6 10.O-O Nbd7 11.Bd2 Qe8 12.Qe2 Rf7 13.Rae1 Nf8 14.f5 h6 15.Nh4 Bd7 16.Qf3 Qc8 17.Qg3 Nh5 18.Qh3 Nf6 19.Ng6 N6h7 20.fxe6 Bxe6 21.Rxf7 Bxh3 22.Ree7 Nxg6 23.Rxg7+ Kf8 24.Ref7+ Ke8 25.Bxg6 1-0

 
If Black wants to decline the pawn offer, he must play an early …d5.

 

Heinola-Lehtivaara
Tampere Hervanta, 1987
1.f4 f5 2.e4 fxe4 3.d3 d5 4.dxe4 dxe4 5.Qxd8+ Kxd8 6.Nc3 Nf6 7.Be3 c6 8.Nge2 Bf5 9.O-O-O Nbd7 10.Bd4 Kc7 11.Ng3 e6 12.Be5+ Nxe5 13.fxe5 Ng4 14.Ncxe4 Nxe5 15.Be2 g6 16.h3 h5 17.Kb1 h4 18.Nxf5 gxf5 19.Ng5 Re8 20.Rhe1 Rh6 21.Rd2 Bc5 22.Bf1 Nd7 23.Bc4 e5 24.Red1 Nb6 25.Bb3 Be3 0-1

 

And he must play it accurately.

 

R. Oberlin-R. Berggren
US Open
Los Angeles, 1991
1.f4 f5 2.e4 fxe4 3.d3 d5 4.Nh3 Nf6 5.Nf2 exd3 6.Bxd3 Nc6 7.O-O b6? (This setup of the knight on c6 and the bishop going to b7 seems too slow and out of touch with a tactical opening such as this one. Black soon finds himself short of moves.) 8.Nd2 Bb7 9.Nf3 Qd7 10.Ng5 Nd8 11.Bxh7 e6 12.Bg6+ Ke7 13.Re1 Kd6 (Let the King Hunt begin!)

2019_03_14_b

4.f5 exf5 15.Nd3 Qa4 16.Bf4+ Kc6 17.Ne5+ Kc5 18.Qd2 d4 19.b4+! Kd5 20.c4+ 1-0

 

It is only after 1.f4 f5 2.e4 fxe4 3.d3 exd3 4.Bxd3 Nf6 that the real battle begins.

De Groot-Anderssen
Amsterdam, 1875
1.f4 f5 2.e4 fxe4 3.d3 exd3 4.Bxd3 Nf6 5.Nf3 e6 6.Nc3 Be7 7.Ne4 Nc6 8.c3 d6 9.Nfg5 Nxe4 10.Nxe4? (>Bxe4) 10…g6 11.Qe2 e5 12.O-O Bf5 13.Ng5 Bxd3 14.Qxd3 Bxg5 15.fxg5 Qe7 16.Qh3 Qd7 17.Be3 Qxh3 18.gxh3 0-1

 

After the moves 1.f4 f5 2.e4 fxe4 3.d3 exd3 4.Bxd3 Nf6 5.Nf3 e6, White has three excellent choices of 6.Ng5 (A brazen attempt at an attack, probably best for a blitz game), 6.Ne5 (a more cautious and shy approach to an attack), and 6.Be3 (a developing move that allows White to castle queenside if the need arises).

 

Bird+Dobell-Gelbfuhs
Vienna, 1873
1.f4 f5 2.e4 fxe4 3.d3 exd3 4.Bxd3 Nf6 5.Nf3 (a very good move as the knight usually finds itself involved in White’s attack.) 5…e6 (this move is the most common as it allows his bishop to develop and bolsters his defense of his weak point on f7.) 6.Ng5!? g6 (not 6…Bc5? because of 7.Bxh7 Kf8 8.Nxe6+, winning) 7.h4 Bh6 8.h5 Bxg5 9.fxg5 Nd5 10.hxg6 Qe7 11.Rxh7 Rxh7 12.gxh7 Qb4+ 13.Kf1 Qh4 14.Bg6+ Ke7 15.Qh5 1-0

 

Popp-Jørgensen
corres.
IECC, 2000
1.f4 f5 2.e4 fxe4 3.d3 exd3 4.Bxd3 Nf6 5.Nf3 d6 6.Ng5 c6 7.h4 Bg4 8.Be2 Bxe2 9.Qxe2 g6 10.Qe6 Qa5+ 11.Bd2 Qf5 12.Qf7+ Kd7 13.h5 gxh5 14.Rxh5 Qc5 15.Rh1 Qxc2 16.Ne6 Qe4+ 0-1

 

Christian Maltais (2134)-Daniel J. Freire (2047)
corres.
DE10A /pr 48
ICCF, 2016
1.f4 f5 2.e4 fxe4 3.d3 exd3 4.Bxd3 Nf6 5.Nf3 e6 6.Ng5 d5 7.Qe2 Bc5 8.Nd2 O-O 9.Ndf3 Qd6 10.h4 Nc6 11.c3 h6 12.Ne5 hxg5 13.hxg5 Ne4 14.Bxe4 dxe4 15.g6 Rf5 16.Nf7 Rxf7 17.Qh5 Qf8 18.Qh8mate 1-0

 

Ivar Jakobsson-Hakan Johansson
Stockholm, 1974
1.f4 f5 2.e4 fxe4 3.d3 exd3 4.Bxd3 Nf6 5.Nf3 e6 6.Ne5 d6 7.O-O b6 8.Ng4 Ba6 9.Nxf6+ Qxf6 10.Re1 Bxd3 11.Qxd3 Nc6 12.Qf3 Kd7 13.Nd2 d5 14.c4 Bc5+ 15.Kh1 Nd4 16.Qh3 Rae8 17.cxd5 Nc2 18.Ne4 Qh6 19.dxe6+ Kc8 20.Qf3 Kb8 21.Nxc5 bxc5 22.Qb3+ Nb4 23.a3 a5 24.axb4 cxb4 25.Rxa5 1-0

 

Schirmer-Schleipen, 1956
1.f4 f5 2.e4 fxe4 3.d3 exd3 4.Bxd3 Nf6 5.Nf3 e6 6.Be3 Be7 7.O-O O-O 8.Nbd2 Nd5 9.Ng5 Bxg5 10.fxg5 Rxf1+ 11.Nxf1 Nxe3 12.Bxh7+ Kf8 13.Nxe3 Qxg5 14.Qf3+ Qf6 15.Qh5 Ke7 16.Rf1 Qh6 17.Qf7+ Kd6 18.Rd1+ Kc6 19.Be4+ d5 20.Bxd5+ exd5 21.Qxd5+ Kb6 22.Nc4+ 1-0

Thinking of Jimmy Quon

by lefthandeddragon, posted in gambit, game, Uncategorized, Urusov

This morning I was thinking of Jimmy Quon. For those who don’t know was one of the nicest chess players you could ever meet and he achieved his Master title while he was in his late teens.

 

But I have to admit I didn’t like him when we first met. I thought him to be arrogant and more than slightly condescending.

 

It was when Jimmy found out that I was analyzing some sharp, tactically rich variations of the Two Knights Defence games that we became friends. He was impressed by some of the lines, and more importantly, how well I could come up with responses to some interesting problems of the variations.

 

You see, both Jimmy and I were interested in studying and playing tactical games. Which would greatly serve us in a tournament at Cal Tech.

 

Siamese chess is an extremely tactical variant of chess that be defined as “a variation with two boards, four players, and general mayhem”.

 
Jimmy and I studied for this tournament. And won it with a score of 19-1. The lone loss was due to one of the players telling my opponent a winning move in a complicated position.

 

He, the kibitzer, was immediately condemned by the organizer, the TD (amazing he even spoke up in front of them), the other players who were watching the game, and his own teammates.

 

He was not on good terms with most players before this event and was on bad terms after this event.

 

I remembered running into Jimmy on a Wednesday night, just before the American Open (held every Thanksgiving weekend). I had to smile when I saw him playing a TN in a Siamese game, a variation we had studied for the Cal Tech tournament.

 

I lost contact with him for a while. I found out he was teaching at San Diego and I was proud he did was doing something he liked. His subject, by the way, was teaching chess.

 

Jimmy suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm in 2010. It was one of those cases in which you had only hours to live. It happened so fast that a friend who wanted to see him, had to immediately drive from Orange County, CA to San Diego and didn’t know if he could do it in time. He made it.

 

You won’t find too many games from Jimmy Quon on the Internet as he played most of his in the pre-Internet era. And I know you won’t find this one.

 

J. Quon-Forte
Blitz Game
Labate’s Chess Center
Anaheim CA, 1986
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Nxe4 5.Qxd4 Nf6 6.Bg5 Be7 7.Nc3 Nc6 8.Qh4 d6 9.O-O-O O-O 10.Bd3 h6 11.Rhe1!?

[Estrin analyzed 11.Bxh6 gxh6 12.Qxh6 Ne5 (12…Nb4 13.Ng5 Nxd3+ 14.Rxd3 Bf5 15.Rg3 Bg6 16.Ne6! +/-) 13.Nxe5 dxe5 14.Qg5+ Kh8 15.Bf5 (with the idea of Rd3) +/-. But Jimmy’s idea has it’s own merits.]

11…hxg5 12.Nxg5 Re8 13.Kb1 Bd7?! 14.Nd5! Be6 15.Bh7+ Kf8

2018_12_20

16.Rxe6! +- Nxd5 17.Bg6 Nc3+ 18.bxc3 Kg8 19.Qh7+ Kf8 20.Qh8mate 1-0

 

In 2011 a Jimmy Quon Memorial was held in Los Angeles. Here are two games.

 

GM Mackenzie Molner (2458)-GM Mark Paragua (2521)
Jimmy Quon Memorial
California Market Center, Los Angeles, Jan. 19 2011
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.Bc4 Qb6 8.Bb3 e6 9.Qd2 Be7 10.O-O-O Nc5 11.Rhe1 O-O 12.f4 h6 13.h4 Qa5 14.Bxf6 Bxf6 15.g4 e5 16.fxe5 Bxe5 17.Rg1 Be6 18.Kb1 Rac8 19.g5 h5 20.g6 Nxb3 21.axb3 Bg4 22.Rxg4 hxg4 23.Nf5 Bf6 24.Nd5 Qxd2 25.Nxf6+ gxf6 26.Rxd2 fxg6 27.Ne7+ Kf7 28.Nxc8 Rxc8 29.Rxd6 f5 30.exf5 gxf5 31.Rd7+ Kf6 32.Kc1 g3 0-1

 

Alessandro Steinfl (2209)-GM Daniel Naroditsky (2419)
Jimmy Quon Memorial
California Market Center, Los Angeles, Jan. 23 2011
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f4 (The Four Pawns variation of the King’s Indian – a rarity.)5…O-O 6.Nf3 Na6 7.Bd3 e5 8.fxe5 dxe5 9.d5 Qe7 10.O-O Nc5 11.Bc2 a5 12.Qe1 Nh5 13.Be3 b6 14.Rd1 Bg4 15.Nb5 f5 16.exf5 e4 17.d6 cxd6 18.Bxc5 dxc5 19.Qxe4 Qxe4 20.Bxe4 Rae8 21.Bd5+ Kh8 22.Nd6 Re7 23.fxg6 hxg6 24.Nf7+ Rexf7 25.Bxf7 Nf4 26.Bd5 Bxb2 27.Rb1 Bd4+ 28.Nxd4 cxd4 29.g3 Ne2+ 30.Kg2 Rd8 31.Rxb6 Bf5 32.Rd1 d3 33.Rd2 Nc3 34.Bf3 a4 35.g4 Be4 36.c5 Rd4 37.c6 Bd5 38.c7 1-0

 

 

Calling all Smith-Morra Players

by lefthandeddragon, posted in chess, gambit, games, Sicilian, Smith-Morra, Uncategorized

Most players are aware of the Smith-Morra Gambit (1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 ). And some of them actually use the gambit. And a few even win their majority of the games with it.

 

But not too many know about this sideline of the gambit. Here, White insists on giving up third pawn. He can do this by either playing 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 or 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nf3.

 

Results are mixed; you might want to first try these ideas out on a blitz game.

 

 

~~~~ 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 ~~~~

 

Andrew Cooper (2175)-J.L. Foster (2040)
Barnstaple, England, 1972
1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 Nc6 5.Nxc3 d6 6.Nf3 e5 7.O-O Be7 8.b4 Nf6 9.h3 O-O 10.b5 Na5 11.Bd3 Qc7 12.Nd5 Nxd5 13.exd5 b6 14.Be3 Nb7 15.Rc1 Nc5 16.Qc2 f5 17.Be2 Qd8 18.Rfd1 Bd7 19.a4 Rc8 20.Qa2 Bf6 21.Ne1 Qe8 22.Nc2 Kh8 23.Nb4 Qf7 24.Bd3 g5 25.Be2 Rg8 26.Kh1 Ra8 27.Rg1 f4 28.Bd2 g4 29.Qa3 Ne4 30.Be1 gxh3 31.gxh3 Rxg1+ 32.Kxg1 Rg8+ 33.Kf1 Qg6 34.Bf3 Bxh3+ 35.Ke2 Nc5 36.Kd1 Bf5 37.Be2 Qg1 38.Nd3 f3 39.Bxf3 Nxd3 40.Qc3 Rc8 0-1

 

Gustavo Celis (2379)-Juan Pablo Seminara (2326)
FMDA (A)
Buenos Aires, 1992
1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 Nc6 5.Nf3 e6 6.O-O Be7 7.Nxc3 d6 8.Qe2 a6 9.Rd1 Qc7 10.Bf4 Nf6 11.e5 Nh5 12.Bg5 Bxg5 13.Nxg5 Nf4 14.Qf3 Nxe5 15.Qxf4 Qxc4 16.Nce4 O-O 17.Rac1 Qxa2 (White’s two knight are well-placed, but they have do something before Black fully develops.)

2018_09_27_A

18.Nxh7! Ng6 19.Nhf6+ gxf6 20.Nxf6+ Kg7 21.Nh5+ Kg8 22.Qf6 1-0

 

Xavier Pinero Fernandez (2277)-Lionel Gachon (2275)
Active Chess, 1992?
1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 e6 5.Nf3 Qc7 6.Qe2 Nc6 7.O-O Nf6 8.e5 Ng4 9.Nxc3 a6 10.Bf4 b5 11.Bd3 Bb7 12.h3 Nh6 13.g4 Be7 14.Rac1 Qa5 15.Rfd1 Ng8 16.Ne4 h6 17.Nc5 Bxc5 18.Rxc5 g5 19.Bd2 Qxa2 20.Bc3 h5 21.Nxg5 hxg4 22.Nxf7 Kxf7 23.Bg6+ Kxg6 24.Qxg4+ Kf7 25.Rxd7+ Nge7 26.Kh2 0-1

 

Francisco Adell Corts (2196)-Alexis Cabrera (2502)
Cullera International
Spain, 2003
1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 e6 5.Nxc3 Nc6 6.Nf3 Qc7 7.Qe2 Nf6 8.Nb5 Qb8 9.e5 Ng4 10.Bf4 Bb4+ 11.Kf1 a6 12.Nd6+ Bxd6 13.exd6 b5 14.Bb3 Nf6 15.Rd1 a5 16.Ng5 Nd8 17.Be5 Bb7 18.Bc2 Ra6 19.Bxh7 Kf8 20.Be4 Bd5 0-1

 

GM T. Gareev (2618)-Scott White
Blindfold Simul, Dec. 3 2016
1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 Nc6 5.Nf3 e6 6.Nxc3 a6 7.Bf4 Nge7 8.O-O Ng6 9.Bg3 b5 10.Bb3 Be7 11.Nd5 exd5 12.exd5 O-O 13.dxc6 dxc6 14.Qc2 Qb6 15.h4 c5 16.Bd5 Bb7 17.Bxb7 Qxb7 18.h5 Nh8 19.Rfe1 Rad8 20.a4 c4 21.axb5 axb5 22.Qf5 Bf6 23.Be5 Qd5 24.Rad1 Qe6 25.Rxd8 Qxf5 26.Rxf8+ Kxf8 27.Bd6+ Be7 28.Rxe7 Qd3 29.Re6+ 1-0

 

“Ziryab” (1940)-“Nomen Nescio” (1978)
Blitz Game
ACS, Mar.5 2018
[“Ziryab”]
1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 c6 5.Nf3 d6 6.O-O Nf6 7.Qe2 Bg4 8.Rd1 Bxf3 9.Qxf3 Be7 (9…c2 and White is busted.) 10.e5 Ng8 (10…O-O 11.exf6 and White is better ; 10…c2 still works.) 11.Qxf7+ Kd7 12.exd6 Nf6 (12…Kc8 13.Be6+ Nd7 14.dxe7) 13.Be6mate 1-0

 

~~~~ 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 cxb2 ~~~~

 

Lukes-Jan Holub (2020)
Czechoslovakia Army Ch.
Prague, Aug. 24 1955
1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 cxb2 5.Bxb2 Nc6 6.Ne2 Nf6 7.O-O e6 8.Nbc3 Na5 9.Bd3 d5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Nxd5 Qxd5 12.Nf4 Qg5 13.Nh3 Qe7 14.Qh5 Nc6 15.Ng5 g6 16.Qf3 e5 17.Bc4 Be6 18.Nxe6 fxe6 19.Bb5 Qc7 20.Rac1 Rc8 21.Qf6 1-0

 

Xavier Pinero Fernandez (2277)-Victor Vehi Bach (2365)
Active Chess
Barcelona, 1996
1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 e6 5.Nf3 cxb2 6.Bxb2 Qa5+ 7.Nc3 Bb4 8.Rc1 Nf6 9.O-O Nc6 10.e5 Ng4 11.Nb5 O-O 12.Bd3 f5 13.exf6 Nxf6 14.Bxf6 gxf6 15.Rc4 Rf7 16.Rg4+ Kh8 17.Qa1 e5 18.Qb1 d5 19.Rh4 e4 20.Bxe4 dxe4 21.Qxe4 Bd7 22.Qg6 Raf8 23.Rh5 Qxb5 24.Qxf7 Qxf1+ 25.Kxf1 Rxf7 26.Rb5 b6 0-1

 

Lucio Maurino (2235)-Juan Pablo Hobaica (2368)
Argentina U26 Ch., 1997
1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 cxb2 5.Bxb2 e6 6.Nf3 d6 7.O-O Nf6 8.Nc3 Be7 9.Qe2 O-O 10.Rfd1 Qa5 11.Nb5 d5 12.exd5 exd5 13.Qxe7 dxc4 14.Bxf6 Nc6 15.Qd6 Qxb5 16.Rd5 Qb4 17.Qg3 g6 18.Rh5 c3 19.Rh4 Qc5 20.Rxh7 Kxh7 21.Ng5+ 1-0

 

Handigol (2008)-Chernobilskiy (1883)
Neil Falconer Tournament
Mechanics’ Institute, San Francisco, Sept. 24 2013
1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 cxb2 5.Bxb2 Bb4+ 6.Nc3 Qe7 7.Nge2 Nf6 8.O-O O-O 9.Qb3 Nc6 10.Nd5 Nxd5 11.Bxd5 Bd6 12.f4 Bc5+ 13.Kh1 Kh8 14.Qg3 f6 15.e5 f5 16.Rac1 Nb4 17.Bb3 d5 18.a3 Nc6 19.Nc3 Nd4 20.Nxd5 Qf7 21.Rxc5 Nxb3 22.Rxc7 1-0

 

~~~~ 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nf3!? ~~~~

 

Bernd Oltersdorff-Geyer
corres.
East Germany, 1962
1.d4 c5 2.e4 cxd4 3.Nf3 Qa5+ 4.c3 dxc3 5.Nxc3 Nf6 6.Bc4 Nxe4 7.Qd4 Nxc3 8.b4 Qb6 9.Qxc3 e6 10.a3 Nc6 11.Be3 Qd8 12.O-O-O a6 13.Rhe1 b5 14.Bg5 Ne7 15.Bxe6 fxe6 16.Rxe6 dxe6 17.Rxd8+ Kxd8 18.Qc6 Ra7 19.Ne5 Bd7 20.Qb6+ Rc7+ 21.Kb2 Kc8 22.Qxa6+ Rb7 23.Nxd7 Nd5 24.Qa8+ Kc7 25.Qd8+ 1-0

 

Rafael Leitao (2360)-Aron Correa (2390)
Brazil Ch.
Americana, 1995
1.d4 c5 2.e4 cxd4 3.Nf3 Qa5+ 4.c3 dxc3 5.Nxc3 Nc6 6.Bc4 d6 7.O-O Nf6 8.Bf4 a6 9.Rc1 Ne5 10.Nxe5 dxe5 11.Bd2 Qd8 12.Nd5 Nxd5 13.exd5 g6 14.Bc3 Bg7 15.f4 Qd6 16.Qe2 f6 17.fxe5 fxe5 18.a3 Bd7 19.Bb4 Qb6+ 20.Kh1 Rc8 21.d6 e6 22.Qg4 Rxc4 23.Qxc4 Qe3 24.Qh4 1-0

 

Kontra-Slavomir Gulvas
Slovakia Ch.
Bratislava, June 2004
1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Nxc3 d6 6.Bc4 Nf6 7.h3 a6 8.O-O  b5 9.Bxf7+ Kxf7 10.e5 e6 11.Ng5+ Ke7 12.exf6+ gxf6 13.Nd5+ exd5 14.Qxd5  Kd7 15.Ne6 Qb6 16.Be3 Qb8 17.Qf5 Be7 18.Rac1 Bb7 19.Bb6 Ke8 20.Qh5+ Kd7  21.Qf5 Ke8 22.Rfd1 Kf7 23.Qd5 Ke8 24.Qh5+ Kd7 25.Nc5+ 1-0

 

 

~~~~ 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nf3!? e5 ~~~~

 

Eugenio Szabados-Giovanni Emilio Rottigni
Venice, 1923
1.d4 c5 2.e4 cxd4 3.Nf3 e5 4.c3 dxc3 5.Nxc3 Nc6 6.Bc4 Nf6 7.Ng5 Bb4 8.Nxf7 Qa5 9.Bd2 Rf8 10.a3 Bxc3 11.Bxc3 Qc5 12.b4 Qb6 13.Nd6+ Kd8 14.O-O a6 15.Rb1 Qc7 16.a4 Nd4 17.f4 Qxd6 18.fxe5 Qxe5 19.Bxd4 Qc7 20.Rc1 1-0

 

Igor Bondarevsky-Genrikh Kasparian
USSR Ch.
Tbilisi, 1937
1.d4 c5 2.e4 cxd4 3.Nf3 e5 4.c3 dxc3 5.Nxc3 Nc6 6.Bc4 d6 7.Ng5 Nh6 8.O-O Bg4 9.Bxf7+ Nxf7 10.Qxg4 Nxg5 11.Bxg5 Be7 12.Bxe7 Qxe7 13.Nd5 Qd7 14.Qh5+ g6 15.Qh4 Qg7 16.Nf6+ Kd8 17.f4 Rc8 18.Nd5+ Ke8 19.Qh3 Ne7 20.Rac1 Rxc1 21.Rxc1 Nc6 22.Qe6+ Kd8 23.Qxd6+ Ke8 24.Nc7+ 1-0

 

Igor Bondarevsky-Peterson
USSR Ol.
Moscow, 1959
1.d4 c5 2.e4 cxd4 3.Nf3 e5 4.c3 dxc3 5.Nxc3 d6 6.Bc4 Nc6 7.Ng5 Nh6 8.O-O Bg4 9.Bxf7+ Nxf7 10.Qxg4 Nxg5 11.Bxg5 Be7 12.Bxe7 Qxe7 13.Nd5 Qd7 14.Qh5+ g6 15.Qh4 Qd8 16.Qh6 Qa5 17.b4 Nxb4 18.Qg7 O-O-O 19.Rab1 1-0

 

Fidel Albertoni-Roque Eckenfels
corres.
Argentina, 1977
1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.Nf3 e5 4.c3 dxc3 5.Nxc3 Nc6 6.Bc4 d6 7.O-O Be7 8.Nd5 Nf6 9.Ng5 O-O 10.Nxf6+ Bxf6 11.Qh5 Bxg5 12.Bxg5 Qe8 13.f4 Be6 14.f5 Bxc4 15.Bf6 Ne7 16.Rf3 Ng6 17.Bxg7 Qd8 18.Bxf8 Qh4 19.Qxh4 Nxh4 20.Rc3 d5 21.Be7 1-0

 

Joseph Gallagher (2531)-Jim Plaskett (2450)
Commonwealth Ch.
England, 1986
1.d4 c5 2.e4 cxd4 3.Nf3 e5 4.c3 dxc3 5.Nxc3 d6 6.Bc4 Nc6 7.Qb3 Qd7 8.Ng5 Nh6 9.Bd5 Nd4 10.Qd1 Be7 11.Nf3 Nxf3+ 12.Qxf3 Qg4 13.Nb5 O-O 14.Be3 Qg6 15.Bxa7 Be6 16.Bxb7 Bc4 17.a4 d5 18.b3 Bb4+ 19.Kd1 Rxa7 20.Nxa7 Qb6 21.bxc4 Qxa7 22.Bxd5 Qd4+ 23.Kc2 Qd2+ 24.Kb3 Bc3 0-1

 

~~~~ 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nf3!? cxb2 ~~~~

 

Gaudin-de Gency
corres., 1925
1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nf3 cxb2 5.Bxb2 e6 6.Bc4 b6?! 7.O-O Ba6 8.Nbd2 Bxc4 9.Nxc4 Nf6 10.Bxf6 Qxf6 11.e5 Qf4 (One can criticize this move as White has more pieces developed than Black. But if the Black queen goes back to d8, then Black has a very cramped game. But after the text move, he still has a very cramped game.) 12.Rc1 Nc6 13.Nd6+ Bxd6 14.Qxd6 (From this point onward, White’s game almost plays itself due to the cramped position of Black’s game.) 14…Rd8 (Not 14…f6, in attempt to flee to f7 or at least break the bind imposed by the e5 pawn, due to 15.Rxc6! dxc6 16.Qxe6+) 15.Rfd1 Qe4 16.Nd4 Nxd4 17.Rxd4 Qe2 18.h4 Qh5 19.a4 1-0

 

Rothgen-G. Meystre
corres.
Europe Tournament, 1961
1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.Nf3 e5 4.c3 dxc3 5.Bc4 cxb2 6.Bxb2 Nc6 7.O-O d6 8.Nc3 Be6 9.Nd5 Nf6 10.Qe2 Be7 11.Ng5 Nd7 12.Nxe6 fxe6 13.Nf4 exf4 14.Bxg7 Nde5 15.Bxh8 f3 16.Qc2 Bf6 17.Bxf6 Qxf6 18.Rfc1 Nd4 19.Qa4+ Kf8 20.g3 Nxc4 21.Qxc4 Ne2+ 22.Kf1 Nxc1 23.Rxc1 Qb2 24.Rc3 Qb1+ 1/2-1/2

 

Helgren-Soderlung
Uppsala, 1967
1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nf3 cxb2 5.Bxb2 e6 6.Bc4 Qa5+ 7.Nbd2 Nf6 8.O-O Nc6 9.Bb3 Qh5 10.e5 Ng4 11.Nc4 b6 12.Nd6+ Bxd6 13.Qxd6 Bb7 14.Rfd1 Rd8 15.Ba4 Nh6 16.Ba3 Nf5 (Black is dodging mating threats. But this strategy cannot be sustained for long.) 17.Qc7 Ba8

2018_09_27_B

18.Rxd7! Rxd7 19.Qc8+ 1-0 (19…Rd8 20.Bxc6+ Bxc6 21.Qxc6+ Rd7 22.Rd1 +-)

 

An. Meszaros (2286)-M. Orso (2328)
Caissa IM
Kecskemet, Hungary, Nov. 16 2013
1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nf3 cxb2 5.Bxb2 Nc6 6.Bc4 d6 7.O-O Nf6 8.Nc3 e6 9.Re1 Be7 10.Rc1 O-O 11.Ng5 a6 12.Kh1 b5 13.Bb3 Na5 14.Bc2 Nc4 15.Ba1 Bb7 16.f4 h6 17.Nf3 Rc8 18.Re2 Re8 19.Qe1 Bf8 20.Nd4 d5 21.e5 Nh5 22.Qf2 b4 23.Nd1 a5 24.g4 Nxf4 25.Qxf4 Be7 26.Rf2 Rf8 27.Qg3 Bh4 28.Qd3 g6 29.Rxf7 Nxe5 30.Rg7+ Kxg7 31.Nxe6+ Kg8 32.Bxe5 Qe8 33.Nxf8 Qxe5 34.Qxg6+ Qg7 35.Qe6+ Kxf8 36.Bg6 Rd8 37.Nb2 Qf6 38.Qxf6+ Bxf6 39.Rc7 Bxb2 40.Rf7+ Kg8 41.Rxb7 d4 42.Bd3 Bc3 43.h4 a4 44.g5 hxg5 45.hxg5 Rc8 46.Kg2 a3 47.g6 Be1 48.Kf3 Rc6 49.Kg4 Rc3 50.Bf5 Re3 51.Bc2 Rg3+ 52.Kf5 Rc3 53.Bb3+ Rxb3 54.axb3 Bc3 55.g7 Kh7 56.Kf6 d3+ 57.Kf7 Bxg7 58.Rxb4 Kh6 59.Rb6+ Kh7 60.Rb4 Kh6 61.Rb6+ Kh7 1/2-1/2

 

 

 

 

The Albin Counter Gambit

by lefthandeddragon, posted in gambit, game, games, Uncategorized

After a brief time of not playing or studying this gambit, I’ve returned to this interesting line of play. Here are some games which you might enjoy (esp. if you also experiment with the Albin).

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Curt Jones-Doug Ralston
Nashville Invitational
Tennessee, 1974
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 d4 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.e3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 dxe3 7.Bxb4 exf2+ 8.Ke2 Qxd1+ 9.Kxd1 Nxb4 10.a3 Nc6 11.Nc3 Bg4 12.Be2 O-O-O+ 13.Kc2 Bxf3 14.Bxf3 Nd4+ 0-1

George Murphy-Robert Beacon
SCCA Premiers, 2000
[Robert Beacon]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 d4 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Nbd2 (Normal here is 5.g3, but the game soon transposes.) 5…f6 6.exf6 Nxf6 7.g3 Bg4 8.a3 Qe7 (Normal would be 8…Qd7 as mentioned. The text is an idea of Nikolay Minev in Inside Chess. I’m following the game Lignell-Niemela 1941.) 9.Bg2 d3! 10.e3 Nd4 11.O-O (11.h3 was obligatory according to Minev.) 11…Ne2+ 12.Kh1 O-O-O 13.Qa4 [13.b4 was played in the above mentioned game (if 13.h3 h5! ). I’m now on my own!] 13…Kb8 14.b4 h5 15.Bb2 h4 16.Nxh4 Bd7 17.Qa5 Ng4 18.Ndf3 Qe8 19.Ne5 (19.Qg5!? with the idea of 20 Qg6!?) 19…Rh5 20.Nxd7+ Rxd7 21.Qa4 g5 (For me it is “all or nothing” in this position. It is difficult to say what the alternatives are.) 22.Bf3 Qe6 23.Kg2? (The game now swings in Black’s favor. Possibly 23.Qb5 to bring the Queen into the game would be better.) 23…gxh4 24.h3 Nxe3+ (Forced ) 25.fxe3 Rg5 26.Bg4 Qe4+ 27.Rf3 Rf7 (The pressure now builds on White.) 28.Raf1 Nxg3 (With hindsight 28…Rxg4 followed by 29… h3+ looks stronger.) 29. R1f2 Nf5 (Black throws away some of his advantage – 29…Ne2 is the move!) 30.Kg1 Bd6 31.Rxf5 (This is probably the decisive mistake At this point the game was finely balanced. 31.c5!? looks better.) 31…Rfxf5 32.Rxf5 (32.Bd4 prolongs the game.) 32…Qxe3+ (32…Rxg4+ 33.hxg4 Qxg4+ 34.Kh1 Qh3+ 35.Kg1 Qh2+ 36.Kf1 Qh1+ 37.Kf2 Bg3# would be more precise.) 33.Kf1 Rxf5+ 34.Bxf5 Bg3! (In a lot of lines in the Albin White’s Queen goes to a4 to pressure Black’s queenside. In this instance it was his undoing as it remained out of the game The back rank threat was an illusion!) 35.Bd4 (The Bishop threat comes too late.) 35…Qe1+ 36.Kg2 Qe2+ 37.Kg1 Qh2+ 0-1

Solis (1934)-WFM Horn (2012)
Women’s Ol.
Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, Oct. 3 2010
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 d4 4.g3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Nge7 6.Bg2 Ng6 7.Nbd2 Ngxe5 8.Nxe5 Nxe5 9.Nf3 Bb4+ 10.Bd2 Bxd2+ 11.Nxd2 O-O 12.O-O Be6 13.b3 c6 14.Nf3 Nxf3+ 15.Bxf3 Qb6 16.Qc2 c5 17.Rfe1 Rad8 18.Rad1 g6 19.Rd2 Rfe8 20.Red1 Bf5 21.Qb2 g5 22.Bd5 Rd7 23.Bf3 g4 24.Bg2 Rde7 25.Bd5 a5 26.a4 h5 27.Bg2 h4 28.gxh4 Qh6 29.Re1 Qxh4 30.Qc1 Qg5 31.Qb2 Re6 32.Bxb7 Rh6 33.Kg2 Ree6 34.Rh1 Rh3 35.Qc1 Rxb3 36.Ra2 Qxc1 37.Rxc1 Rxb7 0-1

“sergiydazhura”-Escalante
Blitz Game
chess.com, July 16 2018
[chess.com computer and Escalante]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 d4 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Bg5 Bb4+ 6.Nbd2 Nge7 7.a4 (7.g3 is more common and the game could follow many different paths.) 7…h6 (This move allows an escape square just in case an attack gets too hot – I still don’t know what White’s plans are. In addition, the move …h6 also prepares a kingside attack by Black if White was to castle on that side or plays weakly.) 8.Bxe7 Qxe7 9.e3 (The chess.com computer calls this an inaccuracy and claims a better move with 9. Qc2 Nxe5 10.Nxd4 O-O 11.e3 Bg4 12.Be2 Rad8 13.Bxg4 Nxg4. I consider this move a little passive, after all, Black intentions are clear – he wants to attack.) 9…dxe3 10.fxe3 Nxe5 11.Nxe5 Qxe5 12.Qb3 Bxd2+ [Mistake. The best move was 12…Bg4!! (The !! are mine – the move wins outright – RME.) See, computer analysis does have its good points!] 13.Rd1 Qg5 14.h4 Qe5 15.Kf2 Bxd1 16.Qxb4 O-O-O 17.Nf3.) 13.Kxd2 Bf5 (Inaccuracy. A better move was 13…O-O. How true! In general, the more pieces involved in an attack, the better!) 14.Bd3 [The best move was 14.Qb5+ (and blunting Black’s attack.) Qxb5 15.axb5 O-O-O+ 16.Ke1 Rhe8 17.Ra3 Kb8 18.Be2 Be4.] 14…O-O-O 15.Rhd1 Rxd3+ 16.Qxd3 Bxd3 (Inaccuracy. A better move was 16… Qxb2+ 17.Ke1 Bxd3 18.Rxd3 Qxa1+ 19.Kd2 Qb2+ 20.Kd1 Qxg2 21.h3.) 17.Kxd3 Rd8+ (The best move was 17… Qxb2 18.e4 Re8 19.a5 Qb3+ 20.Kd4 Rd8+ 21.Ke5 Rxd1 22.Rxd1.) 18.Ke2 Qxb2+ 0-1

John Hurt’s Wings

by lefthandeddragon, posted in 1970s, gambit, John Hurt, Sicilian, Uncategorized, Wing Gambit

John Hurt was a local player from Memphis who played there for over three decades. He was Class A competitor during his Tennessee tenure.

He was fond of the Sicilian Wing Game (1.e4 c5 2.b4) and even wrote a book about it. Titled The Sicilian Wing Gambit (1983), it met with moderate success.

He even wrote an article that appeared in the Tennessee Chess News (May, 1974) which featured many of his games and are reprinted here with updated notes.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

John Hurt-H. Smith, no date
1.e4 c5 2.b4 e6 3.bxc5 Bxc5 4.d4 Bb6 5.Nf3 Ne7 6.Bd3 O-O 7.c3 f5 8.O-O Nbc6 9.Nbd2 a6 10.Nc4 fxe4 11.Bxe4 d5 12.Bxh7+ Kxh7 13.Ng5+ Kg6 14.Nxb6 Qxb6 15.Qd3+ Nf5 16.g4 e5 17.gxf5+ Bxf5 18.Qg3 Kf6 19.Be3 Qc7 20.dxe5+ Ke7 21.Bc5+ Kd7 22.e6+ 1-0

John Hurt-Middleton, no date
1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 3.a3 d5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Nf3 e5 6.axb4 Bxb4 7.c3 Bc5 8.Na3 Nf6 9.Bc4 Qe4+ 10.Be2 O-O 11.Nb5 Nc6 12.Ra4 Qf5 13.O-O Nd5 14.d4 exd4 15.Bd3 Qh5 16.cxd4 Be7 17.Re1 Bg4 18.Be4 a6 19.Bxd5 axb5 20.Rxa8 Rxa8 21.Bxc6 1-0

John Hurt-Berry
Arkansas Open, 1961
1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 3.a3 bxa3 4.Nxa3 d5 5.exd5 Qxd5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Nb5 Qd8 8.d4 Bf5 9.d5 Nb4 10.Nfd4 Bd7 11.Bc4 a6 12.Qe2 axb5 13.Nxb5 Rxa1 14.Nd6mate 1-0

John Hurt-Wright
Delta Invitational
Greenville, Mississippi, 1961
1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 3.a3 Nc6 4.axb4 d5 5.exd5 Nxb4 6.Nf3 Qc7 7.Bb5+ Bd7 8.Bxd7+ Qxd7 9.c4 Nd3+ 10.Kf1 Nxc1 11.Ne5 Qc7 12.Qa4+ Kd8 13.Nxf7+ Kc8 14.Qe8+ Qd8 15.Qxd8mate 1-0

John Hurt-Middleton
Memphis C.C. Rating Ladder
Tennessee, 1961
1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 3.a3 d5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Nf3 e5 6.axb4 Bxb4 7.c3 Bc5 8.Na3 Nf6 9.Bc4 Qe4+ 10.Be2 Nc6 11.Nb5 Kd8 12.Ra4 Qd5 13.d4 exd4 14.Nfxd4 Nxd4 15.Nxd4 Bd7 16.O-O Bxa4 17.Qxa4 Re8 18.Rd1 Ke7 19.Bf3 Qe5 20.Bf4 Bxd4 21.Bxe5 Bxe5 22.Qb4+ Ke6 23.Qxb7 Rab8 24.Qc6+ Ke7 25.Qc5+ Ke6 26.Re1 Nd7 27.Qd5+ Kf6 28.Qxd7 Bxc3 29.Qc6+ Kg5 30.Qxc3 f6 31.Qc5+ Kg6 32.Qh5mate 1-0

John Hurt-Richard Long
Nashville vs. Memphis Match
Tennessee, 1962
1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 3.a3 d5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Nf3 e5 6.axb4 Bxb4 7.c3 Bc5 8.Na3 Nf6 9.Bc4 Qe4+ 10.Be2 Nc6 11.Nb5 O-O 12.Ra4 Qf5 13.O-O Rd8 14.Nh4 Qb1 (A bizarre move. White will certainly gain at least a few tempi trying to snare the queen.) 15.d4 Be6
2018_07_19_A
16.Be3 [16.Bd3 would seem better. But White has to be careful. After 16…Bxd4 White can’t immediately play 17.Bxb1 due to 17…Bxf2+ 18.Kh1 Rxd1 19.Rxd1 Bb3. Instead he has to first play 17.Nxd4! Qb6 (or 17…Bb3 18.Bxb1 Bxd1 19.Rxd1 exd4 20.cxd4) 18.Nxc6 Qxc6 19.Qc2.] 16…Qxd1 17.Bxd1 exd4 18.cxd4 Bb6 19.Bf3 Bb3 20.Ra3 Bc4 21.Rb1 Bd5 22.h3 h6 23.g4 Bxf3 24.Nxf3 Nd5 25.Kg2 Rac8 26.h4 Ba5? 27.Nxa7 Ra8 28.Nxc6 bxc6 29.Rba1 Nxe3+ 30.fxe3 Rd5 31.Ne5 1-0

John Hurt-Fischbarg
Mid-South Open, 1964
1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 3.a3 bxa3 4.Nxa3 Nc6 5.d4 d5 6.exd5 Qxd5 7.Nb5 Kd8 8.Be3 e5 9.dxe5 Qxd1+ 10.Rxd1+ Bd7 11.Nf3 a6 12.Bb6+ Kc8 13.Nd6+ Bxd6 14.Rxd6 Nh6 15.Bd3 Re8 16.O-O Re6 17.Rxe6 Bxe6 18.Rd1 a5 19.Bb5 a4 20.Ng5 a3 21.Nxe6 fxe6 22.Bc4 Ra4 23.Bxe6+ Kb8 24.Bb3 Re4 25.e6 Nf5 26.f3 Re2 27.Kf1 Re5 28.Kf2 Rb5 29.g4 Rxb6 30.gxf5 Rb5 31.Ra1 Ra5 32.Ke3 b5 33.Bd5 Kc7 34.Bxc6 Kxc6 35.c3 a2 36.Kd3 Kd6 37.Kc2 Ra7 38.Kb3 Ke5 39.Rxa2 Re7 40.Ra6 Kxf5 41.Kb4 Kf4 42.Kxb5 Kxf3 43.Kc5 Rc7+ 44.Rc6 1-0

John Hurt-James Wright
Club Ladder Game
Memphis, 1965
1.e4 c5 2.b4 b6 3.Nf3 Bb7 4.bxc5 Bxe4 5.Nc3 Bb7 6.cxb6 axb6 7.d4 d5 8.Ne5 Nf6 9.Bb5+ Nbd7 10.Qf3 Qc8 11.Bxd7+ Nxd7 12.Qxf7+ Kd8 13.Ne2 Nxe5 14.dxe5 Qxc2 15.Be3 Ra6 16.Nd4 Qc3+ 17.Ke2 Rxa2+ 18.Rxa2 Qc4+ 19.Kf3 Qxa2 (John Hurt claimed White has a forced mate in 8. Can you find it?) 1-0

John Hurt-David Burris
Tennessee Open, 1965
[White makes several small errors in the opening.]
1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 3.a3 d5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Nf3 e5 6.axb4 Bxb4 7.c3 Bc5 8.Na3 Nf6 9.Bc4 Qe4+ 10.Be2 Nc6 11.Nb5 O-O 12.Ra4 Qf5 13.O-O e4 14.Nfd4 Qg6 15.Kh1 Bg4 16.f3 exf3 17.Nxf3 a6 18.Nbd4 Nxd4 19.cxd4 Bd6 20.Ba3 Rad8 21.Qb3 Qh5 22.Bxd6 Rxd6 23.Qxb7 Re8 24.Bc4 Bxf3 25.gxf3 Nd5 26.Ra5 Rh6 27.Rf2 Re1+ 28.Bf1 Rxf1+ 29.Kg2 Qh3mate 0-1

John Hurt-Churchill
Club Game, 1969
1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 3.a3 d5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Nf3 e5 6.axb4 Bxb4 7.c3 Bc5 8.Na3 Nf6 9.Bc4 Qe4+ 10.Be2 O-O 11.Nb5 Nc6 12.Ra4 Qf5 13.O-O Nd5 14.d4 exd4 15.Bd3 Qh5 16.cxd4 Be7 17.Bd2 a6 18.Qa1 Bh3 19.Ne1 Bd7 20.Nc3 Ncb4 21.Nxd5 Nxd5 22.Ra5 Bd6 23.f4 Bc6 24.Rf3 Qg4 25.Qb1 g6 26.f5 Qxd4+ 27.Kh1 Nc3 28.Qa1 Bxf3 29.Bxc3 Bxg2+ 30.Kxg2 Qg4+ 31.Kh1 Qh4 32.Ra2 Rfe8 33.Rg2 Re3 34.Qd1 Rae8 35.Nf3 Qh3 36.fxg6 fxg6 37.Bxg6 Kf8 38.Qxd6+ R3e7 39.Be4 Qe6 1-0

John Hurt-Robert Holyfield
Memphis City Ch., 1973
1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 3.a3 d5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Nf3 e5 6.axb4 Bxb4 7.c3 Be7 8.Na3 Nf6 9.Nb5 Bd8? 10.Ba3 Bg4 11.Bc4 Qd7 (Certainly not 11…Qxc4? 12.Nd6+, and after 11…Bxf3 12.Qxf3 Qxf3 13.gxf3, Black still has to worry about White’s very aggressively placed pieces.)  12.Nd6+ Kf8 13.Nxf7+ Ke8 14.Nxh8 1-0

John Hurt (1894)-Peter Thayer (1556)
Memphis Candidates, 1974
1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 3.a3 d5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Nf3 e5 6.axb4 Bxb4 7.c3 Bd6 8.Na3 Bxa3 9.Bxa3 Bg4? 10.Qa4+ Bd7 11.Qb4!! 1-0

John Hurt (1894)-Stephen Thomas (1556)
Memphis Candidates, 1974
1.e4 c5 2.b4 d6 3.Nf3 a6 4.c3 Bg4? (This is almost never a good move in the Sicilian.) 5.Bc4 e5? (Severely weakening the f7 square and the diagonal leading to it.) 6.Bxf7+! Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Ke8 8.Qxg4 Nf6?? (The immediate and obvious 8…dxe5 is better.) 9.Qe6+ Qe7 10.Qc8+ Qd8 11.Qxd8+ Kxd8 12.Nf7+ 1-0

John Hurt-James Wright
Club Ladder Game
Memphis, 1974
1.e4 c5 2.b4 b6 3.Nf3 Bb7 4.Bc4 e6 5.Qe2 Nf6 6.e5 Nd5 7.Bxd5 Bxd5 8.bxc5 Bxc5 9.c3 O-O 10.d4 Be7 11.O-O Qc7 12.Nfd2 d6 13.f4 Nd7 14.Ba3 Rae8 15.c4 Bb7 16.Nc3 dxe5 17.Bxe7 Rxe7 18.Nb5 Qb8 19.fxe5 f5 20.Nd6 Ba8 21.Nf3 h6 22.Nh4 g5 23.Ng6 Rg7 24.Nxf8 Nxf8 25.Rac1 Ng6 26.g3 f4 27.d5 exd5 28.cxd5 fxg3 29.hxg3 Ne7 30.Rf6 b5 31.Rxh6 Qb6+ 32.Kh2 Bxd5 33.Qc2 Qe3 34.Qc8+ Nxc8 35.Rxc8mate 1-0

John Hurt-Thomas
Memphis C.C. Championship, 1975
1.e4 c5 2.b4 d6 3.Nf3 a6 4.bxc5 dxc5 5.c3 Bg4 6.Bc4 e5 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Nxe5+ Ke8 9.Qxg4 Nf6 10.Qe6+ Qe7 11.Qc8+ Qd8 12.Qxd8+ Kxd8 13.Nf7+ Ke7 14.Nxh8 1-0

John Hurt-Rackley
Summer Rating Tourney, 1975
1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 3.a3 d5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.axb4 Nf6 7.Nc3 Qd8 8.b5 Nb4 9.Bc4 e6 10.O-O Be7 11.Ba3 O-O 12.Re1 Re8 13.d4 Qc7 14.Ne5 Bd6 15.b6 Qxb6 16.Nb5 Bxe5 17.dxe5 Rd8 18.Qe2 Nfd5 19.Rab1 a6 20.Nd6 Qa5 21.Qf3 Nxc2 22.Qxf7+ Kh8
2018_07_19_B
23.Ne8! 1-0

John Hurt-Stearns
Memphis vs. Nashville Match, 1976
1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 3.a3 d5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Nf3 e6 6.axb4 Bxb4 7.c3 Be7 8.Na3 Bd7 9.Nc4 b5 10.Ne3 Qb7 11.Qb3 a5 12.Ne5 b4 13.Be2 Ra7 14.Bf3 Qb5 15.Nxd7 Nxd7 16.c4 Qb6 17.d4 Qxd4 18.Bb2 Qb6 19.Bxg7 Nc5 20.Qb1 Bf6 21.Bxh8 Bxh8 22.Qxh7 Bxa1 23.Qxg8+ Ke7 24.O-O Bc3 25.Bh5 Rd7 26.Qxf7+ Kd8 27.Rd1 Rxd1+ 28.Bxd1 b3 29.Qg6 Qd6 30.Nd5 Qe5 31.Qg8+ Kd7 32.Qf7+ Kc6 33.Qe8+ Kd6 34.Qb8+ Kc6 35.Qc8+ Kd6 36.Qc7mate 1-0

John Hurt-Scott
Mid-South Open, 1978
1.e4 c5 2.b4 Qb6 3.bxc5 Qxc5 4.d4 Qc7 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.Bd3 d6 7.O-O Bg4 8.Be3 g6 9.Nbd2 Bg7 10.c4 O-O 11.Rb1 Nc6 12.h3 Bd7 13.Nb3 Nb4 14.e5 dxe5 15.dxe5 Nxd3 16.exf6 exf6 17.Qxd3 Bf5 18.Qe2 Bxb1 19.Rxb1 Rfe8 20.c5 Qc6 21.Na5 Rxe3 22.Qxe3 Qa4 23.Nxb7 Qxa2 24.Qb3 Qe2 25.Re1 Qa6 26.Re7 Rf8 27.Nd6 h5 28.Nxf7 Kh7 29.Qb7 Qa1+ 30.Kh2 Rg8 31.Qxa7 Qc1 32.Qc7 1-0

John Hurt (1831)-Morris Busby (1033)
Bluff City Open, February 17, 1979
1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 3.a3 Nc6 4.axb4 Nf6 5.b5 Nd4 6.c3 Ne6 7.e5 Ne4 8.d4 d5 9.f3 N4g5 10.h4 1-0

John Hurt-Mueller
Norderstedt vs. Memphis Match, 1979
1.e4 c5 2.b4 e5 3.Nf3 cxb4 4.Bc4 Qf6 5.a3 Nc6 6.axb4 Bxb4 7.c3 Bc5 8.Na3 a6 9.Nb5 Rb8 10.Nc7+ Kd8 11.Nd5 Qg6 12.d3 Qxg2 13.Rf1 d6 14.Ne3 Bxe3 15.fxe3 Bg4 16.Ra2 Qh3 17.Bxf7 Nh6 18.Bd5 Rf8 19.Raf2 Kd7 20.d4 exd4 21.exd4 Rxf3 22.Rxf3 Qh4+ 23.R1f2 Ne7 24.Qa4+ b5 25.Qxa6 Nxd5 26.exd5 Bxf3 27.Qc6+ Kd8 28.Qxd6+ Kc8 29.Bf4 Rb7 30.Qf8+ Kd7 31.Qxg7+ Kc8 32.Qf8+ Kd7 33.Bxh6 Bxd5 34.Kd2 Qe7 35.Qf5+ Be6 36.Qe5 Qa3 37.d5 Qa2+ 38.Ke3 Qa7+ 39.Kd3 Qxf2 40.Qxe6+ Kc7 41.d6+ Kc6 42.Qe4+ Kxd6 43.Bf4+ 1-0

John Hurt-Fowler
Mid-South Open, November 25, 1979
1.e4 c5 2.b4 a5 3.bxc5 Nc6 4.d4 e6 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.Nf3 d6 7.cxd6 Bxd6 8.e5 Bb4 9.Bd2 Bxc3 10.Bxc3 Ne4 11.Bb2 a4 12.Qd3 Qa5+ 13.Nd2 Nxd2 14.Qxd2 b5 15.Qxa5 Rxa5 16.a3 Na7 17.Bc3 Ra6 18.Rb1 Bd7 19.Bb4 Bc6 20.Bc5 Kd7 21.Bxa7 1-0

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here some additional Sicilian Wing Gambit games for study or enjoyment (or both!)

Greco-N.N.
Rome, 1620
1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 3.d4 e6 4.a3 bxa3 5.c4 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Bxd2+ 7.Qxd2 d5 8.e5 dxc4 9.Bxc4 Nc6 10.Ne2 Nge7 11.Rxa3 O-O 12.O-O Nf5 13.Rd3 a6 14.f4 b5 15.Bb3 a5 16.g4 Nh6 17.h3 a4 18.Bc2 b4 19.f5 exf5 20.g5 b3 21.Bd1 Qa5 22.Qf4 Qb5 23.Rg3 Bd7 24.gxh6 g6 25.Qg5 f6 26.exf6 Rf7 27.Nf4 Nxd4 28.Nxg6 Ne6 29.Ne7+ Kh8 30.Qg7+ Nxg7 31.fxg7+ Rxg7 32.hxg7mate 1-0

Capablanca-Richard Black
New York, 1911
1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 3.a3 bxa3 4.Bxa3 d6 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.d4 g6 7.h4 Bg4 8.c3 Bg7 9.Nbd2 Nf6 10.Qb3 Qb6 11.Qa2 Bxf3 12.gxf3 Nh5 13.Nc4 Qc7 14.Bc1 O-O 15.Rb1 Kh8 16.Bh3 b6 17.Bg4 Nf6 18.Ne3 h5 19.Bh3 Na5 20.Bd2 Bh6 21.Rc1 Kh7 22.c4 Nb7 23.Nf5 Ng8 24.Nxh6 Nxh6 25.Bxh6 Kxh6 26.Qd2+ Kh7 27.f4 e5 28.fxe5 dxe5 29.d5 Nc5 30.Qe2 Qe7 31.Bf5 Kg7 32.Rc3 Rh8 33.Rg3 Rh6 34.Qe3 Qf6 35.Rhg1 Kh7 36.Rg5 gxf5 37.Rxf5 Qe7 38.Qf3 f6 39.Rxh5 Nd3+ 40.Kd1 Nf4 41.Rxh6+ Kxh6 42.Qg3 Rc8 43.Qc3 Qc5 0-1

IM Shirazi-IM Peters
US Ch.
Berkeley, CA, 1984
1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 3.a3 d5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.axb4? Qe5+ 0-1

GM Timur Gareyev (2703)-Peter Bodziony (1733)
Blindfold Simul
Las Vegas, Dec. 3 2017
1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 Qe7 9.Bxb4 Qxb4 10.Nc3 a6? 11.Rb1 Qc5 12.Ne4 Qc6 13.Nd6+ Ke7 14.Ng5 f6 15.Qh5 fxe5 16.Nge4! Rf8
2018_07_19_C
17.Qg5+ Rf6 18.Qxg7+ Rf7 19.Qxf7+ Kd8 20.Qf6+ Kc7 21.Ne8mate 1-0

T. Shih (2060)-P. Sorge (1617)
US Amateur Team Ch., East, 2000
1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 3.a3 e5 4.axb4 Bxb4 5.c3 Be7 6.Bc4 Nf6 7.d3 d5 8.exd5 Nxd5 9.Qb3 Be6 10.Nf3 Nf4 11.Nxe5 Bxc4 [Tempting, but ultimately winning for the other player is 11…Nxg2+ 12.Kf1 Bh3 13.Bxf7+ Kf8 14.Bh5 Nf4+ 15.Ke1 (not 15.Kg1 Ne2#) 15…Nxd3+ 16.Nxd3 Qxd3 17.Qf7#] 12.Qxc4 Ne6 13.O-O O-O 14.Be3 Nd7 15.Nxd7 Qxd7 16.Rxa7 Rxa7 17.Bxa7 b5 18.Qb3 Qxa7 19.Qxb5 Rb8 20.Qf5 Qa2 21.d4 Qe2 22.g3 g6 23.Qa5 Qe4 24.Nd2 Qe2 25.Qa7 Rb2 26.Qxe7 Rxd2 27.Qf6 Rd1 28.Rxd1 Qxd1+ 29.Kg2 Qd3 30.Qf3 Qxf3+ 31.Kxf3 Kf8 32.h4 Ke7 33.Ke4 Kd6 34.g4 f6 35.f4 Ng7 36.c4 f5+ 37.gxf5 gxf5+ 38.Ke3 h5 39.Kd3 Ne6 40.Ke3 Nc7 41.Kd3 Na6 42.Kc3 Nb8 43.Kb4 Nc6+ 44.Kc3 Ne7 45.Kb4 Ng6 46.Kb5 Nxf4 47.Kb6 Nd5+ 48.Kb5 Nc3+ 49.Kb4 Nd5+ 50.Kb3 Nf4 51.Kc3 Ng6 52.Kd3 Nxh4 53.Ke3 Ng6 54.Kf3 h4 55.Kg2 Nf4+ 56.Kh2 h3 57.d5 Nxd5 58.Kxh3 Ne7 0-1

 

A Fascinating Line in the Slav

by lefthandeddragon, posted in chess, gambit, Slav, Uncategorized, Winawer

Most chess players know of Szymon Winawer, the Polish chess player whose name is attached to a popular line in the French Defence (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4).

 

However, his name is also attached to a line in the Slav, namely the Winawer Counter Gambit (1.d4 d5 2.d4 c4 3.Nc3 e5!?). The purpose of this move is to free up Black’s pieces as soon as possible, even if it means giving up a pawn.
White can proceed in a number of ways.

 

First, he can play 4.e4?, but that is ruthlessly refuted by 4..dxc4 5.dxe5+ Qxd1. H.W. Jordan-Redpath Drummond, Canadian Ch., Toronto, 1936, continued with 6.Kxd1 Be6! 7.Nf3 Bc5 8.Ke2 Nd7 9.Be3 O-O-O 10.Rd1 Bxe3 11.Kxe3 Ne7 12.Nd2 b5 13.f4 Bg4 14.Nf3 g5 15.g3 gxf4+ 16.gxf4 Ng6 17.h3 Bxf3 18.Kxf3 Nc5 19.Be2 Ne6 20.Ke3 Nexf4 21.Bg4+ Kc7 22.Rhf1 Rxd1 23.Nxd1 Rd8 24.Be2 Nxe2 25.Rxf7+ Rd7 26.Rxd7+ Kxd7 27.Kxe2 Nf4+ 28.Kf3 Nxh3 29.Kg4 Ng1 30.Kf5 Ke7 31.Ne3 Ne2 32.e6 Nd4+ 33.Ke5 Nxe6 34.Nf5+ Kd7 0-1.

 

White can also play 4.e3 But that move usually doesn’t preserve the opening advantage.

 

Alekhine-Llorens
Simul
Barcelona, 1935
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 e5 4.e3 e4 5.Qb3 Nf6 6.f3 Qb6 7.Qc2 Bb4 8.a3 Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Bf5 10.Ne2 Nbd7 11.Ng3 Bg6 12.f4 Nh5 13.Be2 Nxg3 14.hxg3 f5 15.a4 Nf6 16.Ba3 Bf7 17.cxd5 Nxd5 18.Kf2 O-O-O 19.c4 Nxe3 20.Qc3 Nxc4 21.Bxc4 Rxd4 22.Be2 Bc4 23.a5 Rd3+ 24.axb6 Rxc3 25.Bxc4 1-0

 

A. Nosenko (2524)-P. Simacek (2474)
Lower Silesia Cup
Legnica, Poland, Nov. 27 2016
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 e5 4.e3 exd4 5.exd4 Nf6 6.Nf3 Be7 7.Qb3 O-O 8.Be3 dxc4 9.Bxc4 b5 10.Bd3 Na6 11.a3 b4 12.Bxa6 bxc3 13.Bxc8 cxb2 14.Qxb2 Rxc8 15.O-O Nd5 16.Qb7 Qa5 17.Ne5 Qa4 18.Rfc1 Rc7 19.Qb2 c5 20.Qc2 Qa6 21.Qd3 Qe6 22.Rc2 Bf6 23.Nf3 c4 24.Qe2 Re8 25.Re1 Qa6 26.Nd2 Bxd4 27.Nxc4 h6 28.Qd3 Bc3 29.Rd1 Qxc4 30.Qxc4 Rxc4 31.Rxd5 Rd4 32.Rxd4 Bxd4 33.Kf1 Bxe3 34.Re2 f5 35.fxe3 Re4 36.Rf2 g6 37.Rf4 Rxf4+ 38.exf4 Kf7 39.Ke2 Ke6 40.h4 Kd5 41.Kd3 h5 42.g3 a6 0-1

 

Finally, he might try 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nf3 e4 6.Ne5, which creates and maintains a dynamic mix of tactics and forceful play.

 

It is from this line we find the following, fantastic, and ultimately satisfying, variation.

 

After 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 e5 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nf3 e4 6.Ne5 f6 7.Qa4+ Nd7 8.Ng4 (an attempt to weaken Black’s kingside), Black plays his surprise move.

2018_07_12_A

8…Kf7! (or maybe even !!)

 

This move not only puts the Black king on a more active square, but allows his pieces to occupy more optimal squares without taking out the time to castle and then attempt to put his pieces on better squares, a tempo behind.

 

Is this a risky more? Yes. But not as much as you might believe. Access to Black’s kingside is checked (oh, I love puns!) by his pawns and the lack of activity on the that side of the board.

 

Let’s look at some White replies to 8…Kf7

 

9.Nxd5 has some hidden tactics to it. Black plays 9…Nb6! with the idea of 10.Nxb6 Qxb6 11.Ne3 Bb4+ 12.Bd2 Bxd2+ 13.Kxd2 Qxb2+ 14.Nc2 Be6 15.Qb4 Qxb4+ 16.Nxb4 Ne7! and the game retains its dynamic style. Chances are about even. This line has been pointed out by several masters.

 

That doesn’t mean that some players won’t play it.

 

Dmitry Smolin-A. Tsybulnik
300 Years
St. Petersburg, Russia, 2003
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 e5 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nf3 e4 6.Ne5 f6 7.Qa4+ Nd7 8.Ng4 Kf7 9.Ne3 Nb6 10.Qb3 Be6 11.a4 a5 (Otherwise, 12.a5 spells trouble for Black.) 12.g3 Ne7 13.h4 Nc6 14.Nc2 Bd6 15.Bh3 Bxh3 16.Rxh3 Nb4 17.Nxe4 Nxc2+ 18.Qxc2 dxe4 19.Qxe4 Bb4+ 20.Kf1 [Black wants to play …Re8 with the idea of a possible …Kg8 (if he wants to play it safe!). But he can’t yet play 20…Re8? as 21.Qxh7 is almost winning for White. So he moves to trade queens, after which White has almost no developed pieces while Black’s active pieces take over the board.] 20…Qd5 21.Qxd5+ Nxd5 22.g4 Rhe8 (Now that Black’s rook can move to e8, he is winning.) 23.Rd3 h5 24.g5 Re4 25.f3 Rxh4 26.Kg2 Bd6 27.e4 Nf4+ 28.Bxf4 Bxf4 29.Rb3 Rc8 30.Rc3 (30.Rxb7+? Kg6, and White can’t prevent …Rc2+.) 30…Rh2+ 31.Kg1 Rd8 32.Rc4 Rxb2 33.Rd1 Bxg5 34.Re1 Bf4 35.e5 fxe5 36.dxe5 Bxe5 37.Rce4 Bf6 38.R1e2 Rxe2 39.Rxe2 Rd4 40.Ra2 Rb4 0-1

 

E. Goudriaan-P. Ten Vergert
Netherlands U21 Ch.
Venlo, 2008
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 e5 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nf3 e4 6.Ne5 f6 7.Qa4+ Nd7 8.Ng4 Kf7 9.Nxd5 Nb6 10.Nxb6 Qxb6 11.Ne3 Bb4+ 12.Bd2 Bxd2+ 13.Kxd2 Qxb2+ 14.Nc2 Be6 15.Qb4 Qxb4+ 16.Nxb4 a5 17.Nc2 b5 18.a3 Ne7 19.e3 Rhb8 20.Rb1 Bd7 21.f3 exf3 22.gxf3 Ra7 23.Bc4+ Kf8 24.Rb2 Rc7 25.Bd3 h6 26.Rhb1 Rcb7 27.Na1 b4 28.axb4 Rxb4 29.Rxb4 Rxb4 30.Rxb4 axb4 31.Nc2 b3 32.Nb4 Ba4 33.Kc3 Ke8 34.Kb2 Nc6 35.Nxc6 Bxc6 36.e4 g5 37.Kxb3 Ke7 38.Kc3 Kd6 39.Kd2 Bd7 40.Ke3 Be8 41.f4 Ke7 42.Be2 Bf7 43.Bg4 Be8 44.Bf3 Bd7 45.Bh5 Bc8 46.Bg6 Bg4 47.Bf5 Bd1 48.h3 Kf7 49.Bg4 Ba4 50.f5 Ke7 51.e5 Bc2 52.h4 Bb1 53.hxg5 hxg5 54.Kd2 Kd7 55.Kc3 fxe5 56.dxe5 Ke7 57.Kd4 Ba2 58.Kc5 Bb3 59.f6+ Kf7 60.Kd6 Kg6 61.Ke7 1-0

 

Sasa Jovanovic-Milovan Ratkovic
Belgrade Trophy 2010
Obrenovac, 2010
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 e5 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nf3 e4 6.Ne5 f6 7.Qa4+ Nd7 8.Ng4 Kf7 9.Nxd5 Nb6 10.Nxb6 Qxb6 11.Ne3 Bb4+ 12.Bd2 Bxd2+ 13.Kxd2 Qxb2+ 14.Nc2= Be6 15.Qb4 Qxb4+ 16.Nxb4 Ne7 17.e3 Rac8 18.Be2 a5 19.Nc2 Rc7 20.Na3 Rhc8 21.Rhc1 Rxc1 22.Rxc1 Rxc1 23.Kxc1 Nd5 24.Kb2 Ke7 25.Nb5 Kd7 26.a3 Kc6 27.Bc4 Nf4 28.Bxe6 Nxe6 29.Nc3 Nc7 30.Nxe4 Kd5 31.Nd2 f5 32.Kb3 b5 33.Nb1 Ke4 34.Nc3+ Kd3 35.d5 Na6 36.Nxb5 Nc5+ 37.Kb2 Ke2 38.Nd4+ Kxf2 39.Nxf5 g6 40.Nh6 Kxe3 41.Kc3 Ke4 42.Kc4 Nd7 43.Nf7 Nb6+ 44.Kb5 Nxd5 45.Ng5+ Ke3 46.Nxh7 Kf2 47.h4 Kxg2 48.Nf8 Kg3 49.Nxg6 Kg4 50.Kxa5 Kh5 51.Nf4+ Nxf4 52.Kb5 Nd5 53.Kc5 Nc3 54.Kc4 Na4 55.Kb4 Nb6 56.Kb5 Nd5 1/2-1/2

 

A more common reply is 9.Ne3.

 

Carlsson- Thomas Engqvist
Sweden, 1988
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 e5 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nf3 e4 6.Ne5 f6 7.Qa4+ Nd7 8.Ng4 Kf7 9.Ne3 Nb6 10.Qb3 Be6 11.f3 f5 12.fxe4 fxe4 13.g3 Nf6 14.Ng2 Nh5 15.a4 Qd7 16.Nf4 Nxf4 17.Bxf4 Nc4 18.Bg2 Be7 19.O-O Rhf8 20.Rf2 Kg8 (I have not been able to locate the entire game. Perhaps a generous reader can help.)

 

IM Michael Wiedenkeller (2443)-FM Thomas Engqvist (2366)
Sweden Ch.
Goteborg, 1990
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 e5 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nf3 e4 6.Ne5 f6 7.Qa4+ Nd7 8.Ng4 Kf7 9.Ne3 Nb6 10.Qb3 Be6 11.a4 a5 12.g3 Ne7 13.h4 Nc6 14.Nc2 Nb4 15.Bh3 Bxh3 16.Rxh3 Qc8 17.Rh1 Nxc2+ 18.Qxc2 Bb4 19.Qb3 Qc4 20.Qxc4 Nxc4 21.Kd1 Bxc3 22.bxc3 b5 23.Rb1 bxa4 24.Rb7+ Ke6 25.Bf4 Rhd8

2018_07_12_B
26.Kc2 Rd7 27.Rxd7 Kxd7 28.Ra1 Ra7 29.Rxa4 Rb7 30.Bc1 h5 31.f3 exf3 32.exf3 Kc6 33.Kd3 Re7 34.Rxc4+ dxc4+ 35.Kxc4 Re1 36.d5+ Kd7 37.Ba3 Re3 38.Bf8 g5
0-1

 

Wolfram Von Alvensleben (2235)-Martin Maier (2225)
Oberliga Nord W 9394
Germany, 1994
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 e5 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nf3 e4 6.Ne5 f6 7.Qa4+ Nd7 8.Ng4 Kf7 9.Ne3 Nb6 10.Qb3 Be6 11.g3 f5 12.Bh3 g6 13.a4 a5 14.O-O Nf6 15.Ng2 Kg7 16.f3 Bf7 17.Bf4 Bd6 18.Bxd6 Qxd6 19.Nb5 Qe7 20.Rac1 Nc4 21.Qc3 Rhc8 22.b3 Nd6 23.Qd2 Nxb5 24.axb5 b6 25.Rc6 Rxc6 26.bxc6 Rc8 27.Rc1 Rc7 28.Ne3 Qe6 29.b4 axb4 30.Kf2 Rxc6 31.Rb1 Qc8 32.Qxb4 Qd7 33.Ra1 Be6 34.Ra8 Ne8 35.fxe4 fxe4 36.Bxe6 Rxe6 37.Rb8 Rf6+ 38.Kg2 Qf7 39.Ng4 Re6 40.Rxb6 Rxb6 41.Qxb6 Nf6 42.Ne5 Nd7 43.Qd6 Nxe5 44.Qxe5+ Kf8 45.g4 Kg8 46.Kg3 h6 47.Qf4 Kg7 48.Qxf7+ Kxf7 49.Kf4 Ke6 50.h3 g5+ 51.Ke3 Kd6 52.Kd2 1/2-1/2

 

P. Golubka-V. Stradej
Vsetin Open 2015
Czech Republic, 2015
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 e5 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nf3 e4 6.Ne5 f6 7.Qa4+ Nd7 8.Ng4 Kf7 9.Ne3 Nb6 10.Qb3 Be6 11.a4 a5 12.g3 Bb4 13.Bg2 Ne7 14.Nc2 Nc6 15.O-O Re8 16.Nxb4 Nxb4 17.Nb5 Nc4 18.Bf4 g5 19.Bc1 Kg7 20.f3 e3 21.f4 g4 22.f5= Bf7 23.Qd1 Rc8 24.Nc3 Qd7 25.Rf4 Kh8 26.Rxg4 Qxf5 27.Rf4 Qg5 28.b3 Nb6 29.Bb2 Bg6 30.Rc1 Rc6 31.Bh3 Be4 32.Nxe4 Rxe4 33.Rxe4 dxe4 34.d5 N6xd5 35.Rxc6 bxc6 36.Qf1 Kg7 37.Bf5 h5 38.Bxe4 h4 39.Qf5 Qxf5 40.Bxf5 hxg3 41.hxg3 Kh6 42.Kg2 Kg5 43.Be4 f5 44.Bf3 f4 45.Be4 fxg3 46.Kxg3 Kh5 47.Kf3 Kg5 48.Bd4 1-0

 

Finally, White can play 9.f3, hoping to open the kingside.

 

Ruslan Sherbakov (2495)-Aleksander Czerwonski (2370)
Katowice Open, 1992
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 e5 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nf3 e4 6.Ne5 f6 7.Qa4+ Nd7 8.Ng4 Kf7 9.f3 Nb6 10.Qd1 Bxg4 11.fxg4 Bd6 12.e3 Ne7 13.g3 Qd7 14.Bd2 Rhc8 15.b3 a6 16.Be2 Ba3 17.Rb1 Bb4 18.Nxe4 Bxd2+ 19.Nxd2 Qe6 20.Nf1 Rc3 21.Bd3 Rac8 22.h3 R8c7 23.Rh2 Nbc8 24.Rc2 Rxc2 25.Bxc2 Nd6 26.Bd3 Ne4 27.Rc1 Nc3 28.Qd2 Ne4 29.Bxe4 Rxc1+ 30.Qxc1 Qxe4 31.Kf2 Qd3 32.Nd2 b5 33.Nf3 h6 34.Qd2 Qb1 35.Qa5 Qc2+ 36.Qd2 Qb1 37.Ne1 Qe4 38.Qa5 Qe6 39.Nf3 Qe4 40.Ne1 Qe6 41.Qc7 Qe4 42.Qb6 Qh1 43.h4 Qe4 44.Qxa6 Qxg4 45.Qxb5 Qf5+ 46.Ke2 Qg4+ 47.Kf2 Qf5+ 48.Ke2 Qg4+ 49.Kd2 Qxg3 50.h5 Qh2+ 51.Qe2 Qb8 52.Nd3 Nf5 53.Qf3 Ne7 54.Qg2 Qb5 55.Kc2 g5 56.hxg6+ Nxg6 57.Qh3 Kg7 58.a4 Qe8 59.Nc5 h5 60.Qxh5 Qxe3 61.Qxd5 Qf2+ 62.Kc3 Qe1+ 63.Kc4 Qf1+ 64.Kb4 f5 65.Qd7+ Kf6 66.a5 Qe1+ 67.Kb5 f4 68.a6 Qe2+ 69.Kb6 1-0

 

Boris Chatalbashev (2524)-Lexy Ortega (2499)
Padova Open
Italy, 1999
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 e5 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nf3 e4 6.Ne5 f6 7.Qa4+ Nd7 8.Ng4 Kf7 9.f3 Ne7 10.Qb3 Nb6 11.Nxe4 Nc6 12.Nc3 Nxd4 13.Qd1 Nc6 14.e3 Bc5 15.Bd3 f5 16.Nf2 d4 17.exd4 Re8+ 18.Ne2 Nxd4 19.O-O Nxe2+ 20.Bxe2 Qxd1 21.Bxd1 Be6 22.b3 Rad8 23.Bg5 Rc8 24.Rc1 Nd5 25.Kh1 Be3 26.Rxc8 Rxc8 27.Ne4 Kg6 28.h4 fxe4 29.fxe4 Bxg5 30.exd5 Bxd5 31.hxg5 Kxg5 32.Kh2 Rc1 33.Kg3 h5 34.Re1 Kf6 35.Kf2 Ra1 36.Bxh5 Rxa2+ 37.Ke3 Rxg2 38.b4 g6 39.Be2 Ke5 40.Bf3 Ra2 41.Kd3+ Kd6 42.Bxd5 Kxd5 43.Re7 Ra3+ 44.Kc2 b5 45.Rc7 a6 46.Rc5+ Ke6 47.Kb2 Rd3 48.Kc2 Rd6 49.Rg5 Kf6 50.Rg1 g5 51.Rf1+ Ke5 52.Re1+Kf4 53.Rf1+ Ke3 54.Rg1 Rd2+ 55.Kc3 Rd5 56.Ra1 Rd6 57.Rg1 Rc6+ 58.Kb3 Rg6
0-1

 

Remember, this is a gambit. And the best way to learn a gambit, or any opening for that matter, is to experiment, both with a partner and by yourself.

 

Have fun with it!