Category: Alekhine’s Defense

ZOOM 001: Zero Hour for Operative Opening Models

Together with Steffen Zeuthen, the late Bent Larsen authored this enterprising book, which adopts an academic approach to an opening system which can be played with both colors.ZOOM 001: Zero hour for operative opening models
The so-called ZOOM 001 model, is the grunfeld defense, played with either color, no matter what the opponent attempts to play. Surprisingly, this turns out to be entirely viable and often transposes into many other openings. The book begins with an introduction that reads like the back of a Dr. Bronner’s soap bottle. “The basic theme is: Pressure against d4! Please do not forget that!” The first few pages are bullet points- all of which begin with “ZOOM 001 is…” For instance: “ZOOM 001 is a minimax system- once you have grasped the basic ideas your chess becomes powerful, logical, coherent, flexible, dynamic, – well, funny.”

“ZOOM 001 is a masterfile for thinking. ZOOM 001 is pattern-recognition.”

Then we are told that “Chess is by nature a game built on communication – a language marked by aggression – a discussion.”

The book argues that the basic structures of the Caro Kann, Scandinavian, Alekhine’s defense, and French defense all overlap in the ZOOM 001 system.

“And in the Alekhine defense you will find many of the Grunfeld ideas repeated. It is rather interesting to know that the Grunfeld Indian Defense was born in the 20′s – and so was Alekhine’s defense! – and both GMs were very pleased playing each other’s defense!! A provocative defense – interchangeable ideas – A LANGUAGE – a way of thinking, a powerful way of discussing!!!”

That’s not a typo, it’s a triple exclam. The whole book reads like something hastily written by someone high on stimulants. It’s perhaps the most hilariously bombastic text I have ever read that manages to actually make some coherent points here and there. It breaks up the opening “patterns” into 8 “sub-models,” lettered A-H, and offers a massive game collection ordered accordingly, with the first half being ZOOM 001 with black and second half ZOOM 001 with white. By choosing this approach, the authors hope to leave behind previous opening names which seek to hide the fact that many identical positions appear in the ECO under different codes, and instead focus simply on recurring patterns and themes. There is no question that the half of the book dedicated to the Grunfeld with black is an interesting, if out-dated game collection. Nor is there any doubt that the simple 1.d4, 2.Nf3, 3.g3 opening is entirely playable. But I have to say, if the Grunfeld has the reputation of being a fighting defense, full of vigor, piece activity, and interesting counter-attacking lines- than the same system with white seems a bit stilted, a little less dynamic. In any case, Larsen loved to play stilted systems with white- such as his 1.b3/english/reti/KIA systems, so it comes as no surprise to see his name on the cover of a book that advocates such a solid if simple setup for white. Honestly, I have to say the book is a fantastic game collection and I would recommend picking up a copy if you find one somewhere that isn’t insanely overpriced.

Alekhine’s Defence, The Brooklyn Variation

The Brooklyn Variation of the Alekhine’s Defense is reached after the moves 1.e4 Nf6, 2.e5 Ng8?! The first time I played this against a friend who was a patzer, his response was “is that move even legal?” Realizing that I had essentially given him 3 move odds, he was honestly uncertain whether returning to the starting position violated the rules of chess. While the move 2…Ng8 doesn’t violate the rules of chess, it certainly violates almost every opening principal there is. Therefore, the Brooklyn Variation of Alekhine’s Defense is an ugly stepchild variation of an ugly stepchild opening. Naturally, it is therefore no surprise that it is pretty difficult to come by any reliable “theory” on the line. Even Graham Burgess’ text on the Alekhine doesn’t give it a single note game.

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Coffee Shop Edition

As you guys know, I like to swing by Varieties coffee shop on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to get a few games in with Cameron. It’s on Driggs Avenue near Russel and we usually play till 4ish, If you’re ever in Greenpoint stop by for a game. I usually have a clock and sometimes some strong players show up as well. To be honest though, the real attraction is the phenomenal triple ristretto espresso they pull from an old school La Marzocco machine (espresso equivalent of a Ferrari.) It rivals Grumpy’s or El Beit’s as the best in the city.

In any case, this afternoon there were a handful of games, and unfortunately I didn’t transcribe the one which I lost, so you will have to settle for checking out this one which I managed to win after a serious blunder. I like this game fragment because it features a thematic hypermodern idea that I like to call the double battery. The game begins as an Alekhine’s defense, however, after white plays c4, it takes on the flavor of a symmetrical English. Keeping in mind that white’s pawn break in that opening is d4, I maneuver my knights to c6 and e6 in order to firmly clamp down and eventually occupy that square. This outpost gave me enough control of the center that I was able to achieve my beloved little pattern- the double battery- which exerts enormous force over the board.

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Challenging the Sicilian with 2.a3!?

The Bulgarian chess publisher “Chess Stars” has put out some fantastic literature. Their opening series according to Anand/Kramnik are well known and sought after, and their book entitled “getting an edge against the grunfeld” is one of the most in depth and impressive high level books I own. Unfortunately, there are a few of their books that are so rare and hard to find that they practically don’t exist. “Challenging the Sicilian with 2.a3!?,” by Alexei Bezgodov is one of them.

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