Tag: early deviation

The Philidor with g6!?

August 18th, 2011 · · -, Games, Openings, Philidor defense 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.


Kamsky-Topalov: Game 1

May 5th, 2011 · · -, Games, Najdorf, Openings, Sicilian Defense No comments - Tags: , , , , ,

Wow! So, today was the first game of the 2011 World Championship Candidates Matches being held in Kazan. All four games were draws, though two were exciting games to watch. Naturally, as an American, I’m cheering for my fellow Brooklynite Gata Kamsky. This morning at 7am New York time when I was frying and egg and making coffee I was shocked by the first few moves of their game. In a standard Sicilian Najdorf, Kamsky played 6.a4!? and then followed it up with 7.a5! GM Danielsen describes some of the ideas behind this wacky sideline over at Chessdom. Kamsky was just coming off from his win at the U.S. Championship and was in full form for this battle with Topalov. Topalov won a match a couple of years ago against Kamsky as you may recall, but since then Kamsky seems to have gotten sharper while perhaps Topa has fallen off his game a bit- so this match could easily go either way. I can’t wait for 7a.m. tomorrow morning when the battle resumes and Topa will have white.

Here is the first game in its entirety. Kamsky missed a couple of wins as outlined by GM Danielsen over at Chessdom, though the most surprising one to me was when Kamsky played 17.b3, when 17.Bb3 gives white a chokehold on the position, as it threatens Ba4 and thus allows white the push the black queen around and place his pieces actively on the queenside of the board.

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.