Jul-12-04
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| IMlday: The Incredible Defence, introduced to Canadian praxis by Duncan Suttles.
Doug Bailey was the type of aggressive player who would think for long periods if he thought there was a chance of refuting his opponent's opening. He comes close here, but after 10..Nf6! White should be satisfied to draw with the unusual pendulum 11.Nf7+
Ke8 12.Nd6++ Kd8 13.Nf7+.. But he hated short draws, hence rushed 11.Qh4?
As the game goes Black is simply better. After 18..d7-d5 Black has the centre and White has three awkward minor pieces. Somewhere i leafed through an 'uncommon openings' book and found the endgame evaluated as slightly better for White! Actually White would have needed very exact play to hold the game even theoretically, while in practical reality he was well behind on the clock. This was a big money game, last round of the Canadian Open, board one. |
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| Sep-19-04 |
| Eggman: This defence is aptly named. To think, after move 7, that Black would wind up winning this ... well, it's simply incredible! Surely after 8.Be3, White is in the driver's seat? Can the principle of development in open positions be wrong? Perhaps White tried to win too quickly, trading a developed piece for an undeveloped one (8.Bxd8?!) and then decentralizing (9.Ng5?!)? |
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Sep-19-04
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| IMlday: Agreed 8.Be3 was better. White is in the 'driver's seat'--but where is he driving?
The position isn't quite 'open' yet perhap.. ?? |
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| Sep-19-04 |
| Knezh: A question: why is black better after 0-0-0 or better yet, 0-0? |
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| Sep-19-04 |
| Eggman: Knezh, at what point in the game are you suggesting that White should have castled Queenside? |
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| Sep-19-04 |
| Eggman: <<The position isn't quite 'open' yet ...>> Yes, I suppose that's true. It's what's sometimes known as a "fixed center", though surprisingly there doesn't seem to be a common term for it. Pachman in "Modern Chess Strategy" discusses this type of position under the heading "partly-blocked center" and Kmoch would have called it a "half-open formation" of the "ram" type ("ram" referring to the pawns rammed against each other at e4 and ...e5). But anyway, being so far behind in development, can Black really survive if White completes his development and aims for the advance f4? Apparently you must have thought so to play so provocatively, Mr. Day. |
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| Sep-20-04 |
| Eggman: ... as I look at it, it seems that Black is holding as long as he maintains a pawn at e5. It occurs to me that "extreme" examples like Black's play here are quite educational! |
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Sep-20-04
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| IMlday: I think of the endgame pawn structure here as opposite side majorities. In such cases it is usual that a pair of B's will outperform a B & N. With his N stuck at a4 (note: it has no moves)
White cannot avoid the N trade. But Black benefits from patience since after White moves his f- and c-pawns the Bishop pair is even more powerful. At move 26 Black adds another advantage, the passed pawn, to advantages like control of the e-file and the active power of the King (compared to White's hiding in the corner.) 32.g4!?--maybe desperation or a trap. He solves the back-rank mate and on 32..Bxg4(?) 33.Rb7 suddenly White threatens mate with c4-c5. But after the trade at e5 and ..Kc7 White has more targets and his pawns start to fall. The rest is fairly easy; he manages to get opposite B's but it is too late.
Since Black's primary endgame advantage derived from the Bishop pair that is another argument against 8.Bxd8 in the opening. Definitely a strange game--it looks like something between Zukertort and Steinitz in the 1800's! |
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Sep-20-04
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| Gypsy: <Definitely a strange game--it looks like something between Zukertort and Steinitz in the 1800's!> I reckon you made Steinitz proud! It is most remarkable how splendid had White position looked after 8 moves and how gloomy it got by move 18. Btw, unless I am missing something, the final trap <32.g4?! Bxg4 33.Rb7> looks more dangerous than it realy is. Afer <33...Bf3+ 34.Kf1 Rxe5 35.fxe5+ Ke6> Black is in a fine shape. (Of course, if 35.Rd7+?! then 35...Ke6 and not 35...Kxd7? 36.Nxe5+ & 37.Nxf3.) After, say, <36.Rxa7 Be2> White has two overwhelming problems to deal with -- (i) how to keep black d-pawn from marching and (ii) how to keep white king safe. |
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| Sep-20-04 |
| Knezh: <Eggman> move 13. |
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| Dec-22-05 |
| SvenBartels: 7.Nd5 Dd6 8.Bf4! exf4 9.e5 Qc5 10.b4 Qxd5 11.Qxd5 c6 12.Qd2 cxb5 13.Dxf4 is maybe not an immediate win, but White is certainly much better. I also wonder whether 8.Nd5 works, e.g. 8....Ne6 9.Nxe5 Nxg5 10.Qh5+ g6 11.Qxg5 Bh6 12.Nxd7!. After 8.Nd5 there are many other lines which all appear to be winning for White, but maybe Black can escape somewhere |
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| Dec-22-05 |
| SvenBartels: In general I am not convinced that it is good idea for Black to play the Ruy Lopez Qe7/Nd8-variation without c6 - the game Vogt-Bricard demonstrates this quite drastically |
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Dec-22-05
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| IMlday: <SvenBartels> Yikes! 7. d5  d6 8. f4!! looks like it busts the Incredible! I won't be trying that again. |
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