Category: sidelines

The Cocksure Cochrane Gambit

October 3rd, 2011 · · -, 1. e4 e5, Games, Openings, Petroff Defense, 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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The Pribyl Defense

March 29th, 2011 · · -, Annotated Games, Games, New York Chess, Openings, sidelines, uncommon No comments - Tags: , , , , , ,

The following game is amusing for a number of reasons. First of all, it is the only time that my fellow Marshall Chess Club compatriot Ed Frumkin has defeated FM Asa Hoffmann in tournament chess, and he did it with Hoffmann’s favorite opening, 1.Nc3. Secondly, we see the Pribyl tackled head on with a king-side pawn avalanche that effortlessly opens lines and decimates black’s position.

Having said that, I rather like the Prybil. First of all, no one has heard of it, and most people will immediately take it as an inferior Pirc, which it probably is. However, the benefit of the Prybil lies not so much in its surprise value, but in its ability to transpose into other favorable systems, often into a kind of French with the light square bishop outside the pawn-chain. The following game-annotations are by Mr. Frumkin himself. Enjoy!

Claude Frizzell Bloodgood

November 18th, 2010 · · -, Annotated Games, Games, Openings, sidelines No comments - Tags: , , , ,

The life of Claude Frizzel Bloodgood would make a fantastic hollywood script, complete with murder, intrigue, escape from prison, and …. chess.

As a player, he preferred offbeat openings such as the Grob, the Blackburne gambit, and the Nimzo-Larsen, and even authored books on those variations. He was sentenced to death in 1970 for strangling his stepmother in a fight about inheritance. While awaiting death, he played thousands of correspondance chess games simultaneously, with the state of Virginia picking up the postage tab.

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