| Jul-15-12 | | chess defense: Passer which could not be stopped...or a piece to be given with no compensation..win for white was evident.. |
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| Jul-15-12 | | messachess: I guess this is classic Leko: highly polished, finely crafted (like his glasses I would think) play leading easily to a won end game. Of course, he played for the world championship once (and almost won.) I feel compelled to look up his record against the most dynamic top players. I think both he and Morozevich had there careers up-ended by some kid from a little country where it snows a lot. |
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Jul-15-12
 | | Eyal: According to the round-report on the official site, Leko thought that 11...Bg4 is a serious strategic mistake - the bishop gets either exchanged for the knight (as in the game) or misplaced on g6, White gets very strong control over the center, and Black is very passive. (Interestingly, Houdini's evaluation jumps in favor of White, close to +1, only after 17...Bxf3.) 10.d4 is rather new/unusual - the more common way to play is Nf1; perhaps this move confused Gustafsson, who was thinking that if White played d4 without h3 then Bg4 should be appropriate, as in the line <6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 O-O 9.d4 Bg4>. But here the situation is different since White is better developed - in particular, there's already a knight on d2, so Bxf3 isn't effective as a response to 12.h3. |
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Jul-15-12
 | | rannewman: Eyal, this is very common idea for white in this kind of postion (you can see it alot in spanish and italian opennings, espiacly when coupled with d3) and you will find ...bg4 labled as a mistake in almost any opening book. the idea is that after Ng3 bg6 white will also have Nh5, forcing the bishop back again while gaining control over f5. |
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Jul-16-12
 | | Shams: <rannewman> Um, <Eyal> is a strong master and knew all that decades ago. |
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| Jul-16-12 | | thomastonk: I agree that 11.. Bg4 is a mistake, but it was not too late to play 12.h3 Bd7. The idea of Bg4 looks much better after 11.. exd4 12. cxd4 Bg4, since White cannot close the centre like in the game. I think this position should be equal. |
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Jul-16-12
 | | perfidious: As an addendum to <eyal's> insightful remarks, Black will often play ....Bg4xf3 when he can follow up with ....Bg5 to exchange the dark-squared bishops and leave White with a feeble piece which has nothing more to do than guard e4. For a classic example of what can happen when Black plays ....Bh5, have a go at this (Capablanca vs Bogoljubov, 1922), though as Dvoretsky (I think) wrote, Black was equal in the middlegame. |
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