Tag: Alexei Shirov

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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Naka Wins!

January 30th, 2011 · · -, Games No comments - Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I loved his last game too- starting out with a KID move order and then playing e6 to go for a sharp Benoni, even offering an exchange sacrifice for several moves that Hao never accepted. I was somewhat surprised at the draw agreement on move 22, but I guess that’s common for the last round of a tournament where neither party has anything to gain from playing on.

In any case, what an incredible performance for Naka, finishing +5. When was the last time an american won an elite tournament so convincingly? A good point made by mig over at chess dirt was that with Nakamura putting up such an impressive score, it will force Kramnik and similiar players to reevaluate their approach to these tournaments if they ever expect to win them again. I hope he is right.

Another impressive performance in the tournament was Giri, with his convincing victory against Carlsen and strong performance otherwise, he is a rising contender at the tender age of 16.

Dissappointingly, Shirov finished dead last. I want to go back over some of his games, in particular the Cambridge Springs games he played, and try to find where he went wrong. Not that I expected him to win the event, but finishing behind Smeets is a result I wasn’t expecting from him.

What’s next for Naka? Now he will be firmly entrenched in the top ten at number 7 in the world rankings. While I’m a huge fan of Kamsky’s, I secretly think that Naka perhaps would have a better shot in the upcomming candidates matches now after this performance in Wijk.

Maybe next cycle Naka…

Below, find all 13 games Naka played in Tata-

Shirov Played the Cambridge Springs Twice in Wijk aan Zee so far, with Abysmal Result

January 27th, 2011 · · -, Cambridge Springs, Games, Queen's Gambit, Queen's Gambit Declined 3 comments - Tags: , , ,

Recently I wrote a post on the Cambridge Springs here, detailing ideas for black in this system as well as some simple traps that are part of its appeal to club players. While I haven’t even started playing the opening myself, something about it is romantic and fascinates me, which is why I was thrilled to see the ruthless attacker shirov use it twice this week in Wijk aan Zee. During both games, I followed them live holding my breath as he pressed on the queenside and seemed to get interesting positions. In both games, the move 11.Bc4 is played by white, which seems to give black some problems in this variation. Interestingly, the moves 11.a3 and 11.Be2 are recommended by Panczy and Ilczuk in their text on the Cambridge Springs, but 11.Bc4 isn’t mentioned, which leads me to believe that its relatively new if not untested. In any case, I thought it was my duty to post these games here. If anyone spots any improvements for black, please leave a comment.

Magnus Spanked; Nakamura Leads in Wijk aan Zee

January 17th, 2011 · · Games No comments - Tags: , , , , , , , ,

With the first few rounds of Tata (formerly Corus) behind us, there are some unexpected outcomes already in Wijk aan Zee. Love him or hate him, Nakamura is putting up an incredible performance against the world’s elite and leads after the third round with 2.5/3. Today, he managed a win against Shirov in a sharp Ruy Lopez with Bc5. The story of the day though is Anish Giri’s absolute spanking of the wunderkind Magnus. Giri produced a miniature against the world number 1 in fewer than 25 moves with the black pieces. The game was a Grunfeld, in which Carlsen deviated early as he has been doing lately, likely to avoid theory, trying the move 11.Qd2 to sidestep well known forcing lines. The result was a better position for black and the world number 1 toppling his king on move 22. It’s hard to resist the opportunity to take some kind of jab at him concerning his priorities lately, so I will hold my tongue for the moment and see how he does against the rest of the field as the tournament unfolds. An interesting question the FEB guys pondered was whether he would rather win the tournament but lose when he faces Anand, or beat Anand but lose the tournament overall. From the looks of his game today, he will have to work considerable harder to accomplish either. Below, find the three decisive games of the day.

Ideas in the Sicilian Rossolimo: Part I 4.Bxc6

December 5th, 2010 · · -, 3.Bb5(+), Anti-Sicilian, Games, Openings, Sicilian Defense 2 comments - Tags: , , , , , , ,

For anyone who plays the Sveshnikov Sicilian, or other Sicilians with 2…Nc6, a knowledge of the Rossolimo variation is crucial. The 3.Bb5(+) anti-Sicilians are extremely popular, and it’s impossible to play 1…c5 without encountering them. In this 3 part series, I’m going to look at some games and try to find some themes and ideas for both sides in this variation. The three posts will revolve around positions where white plays (1) Bxc6 (2) c3 and/or (3) 0-0. Naturally, many of these lines transpose, and so I will look for games that reflect ideas unique to these positions.

The great thing about the Rossolimo from white’s perspective is that the variations tend not to be as forcing as some other lines of the Sicilian, and so white can play a maneuvering game and decide upon piece placement and long term positional plans. The following game illustrates an idea for white that I rather like. It’s a stylish knight maneuver that clamps down on the center, played by our hometown hero Yudasin. I’m not sure whether he was the first to play this idea or not, but this was the first game I found with this knight maneuver when searching for ideas for white. While Kramnik is able to draw here, I think that Yudasin’s idea of Nd2-c4-e3 is worth its weight in gold, particularly in a blitz game where black might not have the time to reckon with the activity of this wonderfully placed knight.

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

November 10th, 2010 · · -, Openings, Philidor defense 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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Novel Idea in the Ruy Lopez, Breyer Shirov – Mamedyarov, Tal Memorial

November 8th, 2010 · · -, Ruy Lopez, Ruy Lopez Breyer 2 comments - Tags: , , , , , , ,

Earlier this week, I wrote a post on the Ruy Lopez Breyer games that Anand and Carlsen have been playing recently. So, when Mamedyarov uncorked a lovely novel idea against shirov yesterday at the Tal Memorial in Moscow, I had to post it here. In the game, the new idea involves the pawn sacrifice 17…b4! This breaks up white’s queenside pawns, and black will get excellent play with his queenside rook along the open file and 4th rank. The rook swings into action and crosses along the fourth rank all the way to the kingside of the board, where it harasses white’s king for the rest of the game. A lucid and fascinating concept from the Azerbaijani – comments by chessvibes-

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