Category: 1. e4 e5

The Cocksure Cochrane Gambit

October 3rd, 2011 · · 1. e4 e5, Games, Openings, Petroff Defense, posts, sidelines 2 comments - Tags: , , , ,

After losing a game recently to the Petroff, I decided to forgo the sideline that had only ever brought me spotty success for the whacky Cochrane Gambit. For those of you aren’t familiar, it occurs after the moves: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nxf7 Kxf7 5.d4…

White gives up a knight for two pawns and to draw black’s king out into the open. Current theory frowns on the variation, but there are a few GM’s who have bagged some beautiful victories with it, such as Vitolins, who played it regularly, and Sulskis more recently.

In any case, below find some instructive games, along with some theoretical material for the brave among you who want to give this a shot.



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Upsets at the World Cup

September 5th, 2011 · · Annotated Games, Endgame, Games, Open Ruy Lopez, posts, Ruy Lopez, Semi-Slav No comments - Tags: , , , , , , ,

(left: Polgar sisters as child prodigies playing 3D Risk)

In the Sunday NYTimes, FM Dylan Loeb McClain has a column where he covers the hot novelties and interesting chess tidbits that addicted chess fanatics such as myself crave. This last Sunday, while at Variety coffee shop slamming a stumptown ‘spro at 8a.m. before biking to the Marshall Chess Club, I picked up his column and saw this article. Sam Shankland upset Peter Leko at the World Cup- who could have seen that coming. It goes without saying that at No. 19 in the World, Leko is an elite GM. Thus, beating him with the black pieces is a major achievement for our own S. Shankland. The game is a Semi-Slav, which arrives at a curious position where Black’s pieces shuffle on the 3 ranks while white appears to have a better position for most of the game. Then, like an avalanche, Black’s kingside pawns start rolling forward and block out white’s dark square bishop, leaving black with a golden knight that is centrally placed. The game is nothing short of a positional masterpiece from the young American.

In my last post I think I lamented how most GM’s don’t have their own websites in an era where shameless self-promotion has become more than socially acceptable – almost mandated- but it turns out I spoke too soon. Sam Shankland has a site of his own here, and it’s not bad actually! Granted it isn’t a 20 thousand Euro website the way that Jan Gustafsson’s appears to be, but it isn’t an early 1990′s GeoCities looking chess website either, so kudos Sam.

Another upset which caught my eye was Judit Polgar eliminating the top seeded Karjakin in the World Cup. The masterful endgame is nicely analyzed over at ChessVibes (for no charge- believe it or not!)

Apparently, after having some babies Judit is back in action and gunning for an elite top spot again. How amazing would it be to see her in the candidates next time around? Having a female World Champion could give a lot of good publicity to chess and perhaps entice more women to play in general- like a gender specific Bobby Fischer effect. There’s no question that if any woman on the planet has a shot it’s Judit.

ok chess geeks -swoon-

If that game was juicy enough- in their second game Judit whipped out the Ruy Lopez Open as black to drawn (Swoon again!).

As those of you who follow this blog know, we have a bit of a love affair with the Ruy Lopez Open- check it out- I have all three Chess Informant Monographs on the subject by the hero of line himself!!

Naturally, the following game demonstrates Polgar’s ability to control the position and hold the draw.

I have to admit- despite all of the shenanigans her sister has been involved with here concerning the USCF (and I won’t mention specifics as I don’t want to be sued for defamation – ugh- ) i’m still a fan of Judit and wish her well.

The Philidor with g6!?

August 18th, 2011 · · Games, Openings, Philidor defense, posts 4 comments - Tags: , , ,

The other day, I was chatting with IM Renato Naranja about an idea that Nick Conticello showed him. It involves playing an early g6 in the Philidor, thus taking it into some sort of weird Pirc territory. The position in question occurs after the moves 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 g6!?

After glancing at the position, i thought that white should have an advantage after playing f4 and simply going for it in the center. However, with each variation I tried from this starting point, Renato easily demonstrated the flexibility of black’s position.

I can’t condone playing like this (the philidor…my word…other than Master Jim West- who can get away with playing such a defense?) but it is always eye opening to see a new idea so early on – especially one that seems so logical. As I progress (can I call it progress?) I’m reaching the conclusion that it’s best to deviate early and focus your study time on tactics, tactics, tactics, so fresh and original ideas- such as this one and those presented in the New in Chess SOS series- are worth their weight in gold for both surprise value and conservation of study time. The awesome thing about this variation is two IM’s seem to think it is solid as a rock for black- which is good enough for me. Who says originality is dead in chess? I seem to come across these amazing new little gems all the time- and I’m a patzer!

Following are some games I found over on chess labs featuring this variation.


Harikrishna Loses First Game at 4th NY International

June 18th, 2011 · · 1. e4 e5, Games, New York Chess, Openings, posts, Ruy Lopez No comments - Tags: ,

The 4th annual NY International started with a major upset on board one, with top seed Harikrishna surprisingly losing his game to Alex Ostrovsky. The game was a tense Ruy Lopez, where white maintained the tension in the center and emerged from complications with a clear winning plan of pushing his central pawns.

Left, Harikrishna ponders his position.

Shabalov on board two won his first game as expected.

Two Knight’s Defense: Modern Attack

April 21st, 2011 · · 1. e4 e5, Games, Modern Attack, New York Chess, Openings, posts, Two Knight's Defense No comments - Tags: , ,

If you play 1.e4 and wish to avoid the Spanish, than the Italian game with 3.Bc4 is the best option. Black’s logical responses are basically the Two Knights Defense, 3…Bc5(Italian game), or the Hungarian (3…Be7.) Naturally, against 3…Bc5 the Evans gambit is a fun option, but against the two knights defense I think the modern attack 4.d4 is actually easier and more straightforward than the mainline 4.Ng5. Here are three games from a big proponent of the variation, Asa Hoffmann.

I myself have had a lot of luck with this line in blitz games as of late. Some common themes for white are using his e and f pawns as battering rams to attack black’s kingside or in the alternative threaten to create a passed pawn. Black’s queenside dark square weaknesses are a key thematic idea as well, such that after the opening, if you remove all of the pieces from the board, the simple king and pawn ending would be winning for white, so white has that as an insurance policy in the middle game should he need it. Another idea worth mentioning comes from GM Dzindzichashvili, who advocates white develop his queenside knight to c3, allowing his pawns to be doubled. This is a theme we see in the following games as well.

When I asked Asa Hoffmann why he plays this line his answer answer was pretty simple: “It gives great practical attacking chances!”

Asa Hoffmann Lecture at Spectacle, Tuesday March 22nd @ 8 p.m.

March 10th, 2011 · · Annotated Games, Evan's Gambit, Games, New York Chess, NYC related posts, Openings, posts 2 comments - Tags: , , , , ,

Brooklyn 64 is sponsoring a lecture by legend Asa Hoffmann this month at Spectacle. The event space is suggesting at 5 to 10 dollar donation per guest, and the topic will most likely be uncommon opening ideas. I expect Asa will go over some of his own games in his signature witty style, quizzing the audience for ideas and variations.

Asa is a cornerstone of the New York City chess scene. He is at the Marshall Chess Club almost every evening, where he teaches, plays in tournaments regularly, occasionally lectures, and is an active member of the board. He was also formerly the vice president of the Manhattan Chess Club. To give a taste of his tactical brilliance, behold the following masterpiece in which he trounces Bobby Fischer:

Spectacle is an independent, not-for-profit theater in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY that screens hard to find and out of print films, silent movies, and hosts symposiums and presentations. It’s located at 124 South 3rd Street, Brooklyn, New York; between Bedford Avenue and Berry Street.

Directions

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Today In Italy-Chucky wins, all other games drawn

January 2nd, 2011 · · Games, Najdorf, Poisoned Pawn, posts, Ruy Lopez, Sicilian Defense No comments - Tags: , , ,

Today at the 53rd Reggio Emilia, Ivanchuk picked up a point from Godena in a Ruy Lopez. The move 31.f4 must be a blunder, though white’s position was already under a lot of pressure. It’s good to see Ivanchuk back in form again. This afternoon as the games unfolded however, I was following the Vallejo-Pons – Morozevich game much more closely. It began as a Najdorf, poisoned pawn, but the tension quickly released with a series of exchanges culminating in a quick draw after only 26 moves. Vallejo-Pons still leads the tournament comfortably, but Moro can still catch him.

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Today in Italy, Vallejo-Pons Leads

December 30th, 2010 · · Games, posts, Ruy Lopez No comments - Tags: , ,

After Nigel short lost to Caruana in the black side of a French Tarrasch, he slid back to 2nd place in Italy today. Vallejo-Pons stole the show and clear first with a sharp win against David Navara in a Ruy Lopez Exchange. Moro lost again, this time to Gashimov, leaving him in last place with only half a point after round 3, and Ivanchuk played the Dutch again, this time drawing against Onischuk easily after 26 moves.

In the most tactically exciting game of the day, Vallejo-Pons – Navara, it looks as though black could have walked away with a draw after repeating moves at move 16, when white’s queen can only shuttle back and forth. Sensing that his position was superior though, Navara took a risk and played on. Only a few moves later he was up an exchange and seemed to have come out of the opening with an advantage, but Vallejo-pons’ heavy pieces infiltrated and dealt a stylish tactical blow. This is probably the most entertaining game of the tournament so far.

Beating the Marshall in Blitz

December 12th, 2010 · · Games, Marshall, Openings, Ruy Lopez No comments - Tags: , , ,

I have a secret to confess. When I face the Marshall in a blitz game my strategy is to weather the storm and win on time. It may sound like a cowardly strategy, but it can be very effective. If you think about it for a moment, in the Marshall, black builds a massive attack at the expense of a pawn and will wind up draining tons of time racking his brain for that elegant “coup de grace” continuation. Meanwhile, if white makes strong defensive and simplifying moves very quickly, then black will soon be faced with the ultimatum of either delivering mate somehow or losing on time. Naturally, as your time advantage grows the merits of your position matter less and less. I offer the following blitz game as an example of this strategy in action:

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Naka wins in London

December 12th, 2010 · · Marshall, Openings, posts No comments - Tags: , , , ,

Nakamura beat Short today in the 5th round of the London Chess Classic in a remarkably tame Marshall Attack, while Carlsen won against Howell and the other games were draws. Nakamura is now one of the front-runners of the tournament, along with Mcshane and Anand. The Bilbao scoring system awards 3 points for a win and only 1 point for a draw, so it differs considerably from the normal chess scoring system, inducing players to fight for wins where perhaps they would otherwise have been content to draw.

Nigel Short played the Marshall Attack, and specifically chose a tricky sideline with 9…e4 (Herman Steiner variation) instead of the mainline 9…Nxd5. One of the themes of this line is black’s thorn pawn on f3. If white captures the pawn straight away with the queen, he falls into a massive attack which I have lost to in blitz. In this game, Nakamura allows the “thorn pawn” to sit there the entire game, never picking it up despite it’s annoying cramping presence. Naturally, he avoids picking it up because he knows that (1) he shouldn’t waste time picking up a dead pawn and (2) by leaving that pawn there it’s almost goading Nigel by pointing out the harmlessness of his plan. Check out the hot trap in the parenthetical.

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World Champion Crushes Carlsen in London

December 10th, 2010 · · posts, Ruy Lopez, Ruy Lopez Breyer No comments - Tags: , , ,

After Carlsen’s temper tantrum regarding the current world championship cycle, the chess world reacted with dismay and disappointment fearing that the young player had missed an opportunity to become the youngest world champion ever. Magnus had some leverage to negotiate considering his position as number one in the world rankings, though his demands were comically outside the realm of possibility and no other top player agreed with him. When interviewed on the subject, most players expressed confusion as to his decision.

With the uncertainty as to his participation in the upcoming candidates match looming over every game Magnus plays, his game against the current world champion today took on special significance. Once again, Magnus chose to defend the Ruy Lopez, Breyer variation. This defense has been the battle ground for the last few meetings between these two, though all of the previous games have ended in a draw. Today the wheels came off and Anand turned the screws down hard on Black’s position. Anand actually missed several clear winning lines, however, his position was so solid and black’s so unstable that he had no reason to rush. Once again, the video commentary by the full english breakfast crew was fantastic, as was the post mortem analysis which you can see here.

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Bloondies…why oh why…

November 30th, 2010 · · Games, posts, Ruy Lopez No comments - Tags: ,

I have been on a massive losing streak lately. I lost the last tournament I entered, not even placing in the money, and on all of the websites I play chess on I have been shedding ELO points so gratuitously that I should probably have some kind of tangible excuse such as illness: I don’t. Case in point, the following game is one of the most embarrassing loses I have suffered in months. After coming out of the opening with a clear advantage, a number of slow moves on my opponent’s part allowed me to double rooks on the seventh and quickly go into a won ending. How then did I manage to lose such a simple clean up operation? By trying to hold on to everything. One of the things I have been trying to work on lately is the concept that you have to give a little to get a little in the game of chess, and that sometimes trying to conservatively escape into your turtle shell in a won ending is a surefire way to lose your advantages.

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Yudasin v. Khalifman, Tilburg 1994, Sicilian Classical Richter Rauzer

November 28th, 2010 · · Classical, New York Chess, Openings, posts, Richter Rauzer, Ruy Lopez, Sicilian Defense, Worrall attack No comments - Tags: , ,


In this game, which took place in Tilburg in 1994, we see Khalifman on top of his game with the black pieces. The opening is a Sicilian, Richter Rauzer, where white opens the door for black to come crashing through on the queenside. The game is not short of tactical complications, and the first breakthrough comes with black’s uncompromising 17… c4! The attack that follows on the queenside is typical of opposite side castled positions where one attack coalesces before the other. Here, Khalifman is able to passively leave his queen hang in the breeze while conducting his attack with the spectacular 23…exd5.

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Beating the Philidor: Shirov’s 5.g4 gambit against the Philidor Defense

November 10th, 2010 · · Openings, Philidor defense, posts No comments - Tags: , , ,

It’s been a century since the philidor was a popular defense in top level chess, however, despite its reputation for passivity it still makes an occasional debut here and there in modern day tournament chess. Personally, I am not someone who seeks to punish my opponents for playing a less fashionable defense, and so i usually play the quiet lines with 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 5.Bb5… usually after 5…Bd7 I capture on c6 and play for a nagging long term advantage. However, some people like to try and blow their opponent off the board, and certainly the author of “Fire On Board” falls into that category. If the main lines against the philidor aren’t sharp enough for your taste, and you really want to throw the kitchen sink at the philidor, consider Shirov’s 5.g4 gambit as in the following game. The ideas behind this gambit are similar to the ideas behind Shabalov’s gambit in the meran semi-slav, but way crazier.

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Lasker’s ideas against the Open Ruy Lopez

November 9th, 2010 · · Open Ruy Lopez, posts, Ruy Lopez No comments - Tags: ,


Today I was flipping through a couple game collections, looking for some good games that show some ideas for black in our ongoing series in the Open Ruy Lopez, but came across the following three games where Lasker handles the white pieces. The first game I included because it demonstrates a nice, simple idea of chigorin’s that has fallen out of fashion, but is nonetheless a strong rejoinder. The second features the debut of a move which is now common theory, as well as a very famous king and pawn ending with a “reti-like” maneuver.