Tag: Nick Conticello

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.


7 Ways to Smash the Sicilian

January 30th, 2011 · · -, Book Review, Games 2 comments - Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Yuri Lapshun and Nick Conticello, two members of the Marshall Chess Club where I work part-time, have assembled an incredibly instructive game collection organized in an interesting way. The table of contents to this book gives you a very accurate idea of what to expect:

Chapter 1 The Knight Sacrifice on d5
Chapter 2 The Knight Sacrifice on e6
Chapter 3 The Bishop Sacrifice on e6
Chapter 4 The Knight Sacrifice on f5
Chapter 5 The Knight Sacrifice on b5
Chapter 6 The Bishop Sacrifice on b5

Naturally, these ideas are not brand new and many of them are even rote theory at this point. However, this book’s contribution isn’t to theory, but to instruction. By assembling all of these games in one place and according to this unique format, Lapshun and Conticello have authored a manual on how to attack the Sicilian with thematic sacrifices. Playing through some of the games, I’m inspired to get on FICS and see what I can do. The book reads like a greatest hits volume of sacrificial attacks on the sicilian that leaves me wondering who would play an opening that begs to be so viciously attacked? 7 Ways to Smash the Sicilian is highly recommended for the e4 player who wants to rip his opponents to shreds in the middle game. It’s hard to select a decent game that would be representative of this volume, so I’ve grabbed these two almost at random.