| Jun-23-14 | | Pulo y Gata: There's a deceptive simplicity to White's win here. He just accepted the gambit and proceeded to play logically and won-making Black's opening seem suspect. Black just wasn't able to get much activity for the gambit. The Benko, when it works, it works almost always marvelously. When it doesn't, you feel like you're always behind a crucial tempo or two to fully equalize. |
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| Jun-23-14 | | Pulo y Gata: Maybe 16...d5 was ill-timed because black was reduced to passivity after e5-f4. 16...Ne5 is an option, planning to drop the N to f7 in case of 17.f4 and preparing the central push. |
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| Jun-23-14 | | SugarDom: Yup. As a matter of fact, Iskuba understood the position better than Shankland. According to Iskuba, it is thematic for black to plant a rook on b8 pressuring the b-file. On 13... Rfb8, black would have equalized with active queenside play. It means that Shankland's home cooking was not deep enough to beat a super GM. |
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| Jun-23-14 | | Shams: A promising young American player is bested by an even more promising young American player. |
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| Jun-23-14 | | chemgeek: 13...e6 strikes me as anti-thematic. It creates weaknesses on d6 and e6 that are immediately exploited. 13...Rfb8 followed by maneuvering Nf6 to a better position, with a future possible ...c4 in the air to fix b2 looks more strategic. |
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| Jun-23-14 | | 1d410: Sam Shankland must have been out of his mind to try this opening against such a highly rated player. |
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| Jun-23-14 | | Edmontonchessclub: <ld410: Sam Shankland must have been out of his mind to try this opening against such a highly rated player.> Why do you say that? The Benko Gambit is a highly respected opening among GMs. Nakamura vs Ponomariov, 2011
F Hager vs Leko, 1992
V Papin vs Jakovenko, 2011
K Aseev vs Khalifman, 1995
And here's one by Wesley So's coach:
I Miladinovic vs Zsuzsa Polgar, 1990 |
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| Jun-23-14 | | Shams: The Benko is near and dear to my heart but it is a rare guest against the world elite. (The Naka - Ponomariov game was rapid.) |
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| Jun-23-14 | | Pulo y Gata: Highly respected might be a bit of a stretch, but I agree that it's a sound opening with its risks and rewards. Even Carlsen plays it 'occasionally', which is the operative word at the highest level. |
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| Jun-24-14 | | Edmontonchessclub: Alright, but "Shankland must have been out of his mind to play the Benko against Wesley So" was also a stretch. |
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| Jun-24-14 | | Pulo y Gata: Ed, I was tempted to answer that post, too, but I thought it didn't deserve any. But hey! ;-) |
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| Jun-24-14 | | mysql: <It means that Shankland's home cooking was not deep enough to beat a super GM.> Isn't Shankland a super GM too? |
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| Jun-24-14 | | Shams: <mysql> <Isn't Shankland a super GM too?> Nope. 2632 on the latest rating list.
http://ratings.fide.com/card.phtml?... |
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Jun-24-14
 | | perfidious: In the early days of FIDE ratings, 2632 would have got Shankland a spot in the top ten, back when Fischer was 2785, followed at a respectful distance by such titans as the man he defeated for the title. Even at the start of 1980, when Tal attained 2700 for ever so brief a time, only Karpov ranked ahead of him--and that by very little. No point in having a website for 2700+ players in those days. |
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| Jun-25-14 | | Howard: Still remember Tal's brief flirt with a 2700 rating, on January 1, 1980. But he lost over 100 points in 1980, with a possible reason being the deaths of his mother and brother that year. For the record, Ivanchuk became only the FIFTH player to achieve a rating of 2700 or higher. This was in mid-1991 after he won the elite Linares tournament ahead of the two K's. He was thus ranked 2nd in the world, thus demoting Karpov to "only" third place in the world. But, of course, 2700+ ratings are all too common now. |
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| Jun-26-14 | | 1d410: Yes, my posts deserve comments. Shankland rolled over for Wesley So on this one, why not try the gruenfeld or something respected and draw when you're playing someone better than you are. |
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| Jun-26-14 | | Shams: <1d410><Yes, my posts deserve comments.> That's the sort of thing that, if true, typically requires no pointing out. When you claim it you give off the opposite impression. That being said your comment on this page amused me: Carlsen vs Le Quang Liem, 2014 <why not try the gruenfeld or something respected and draw when you're playing someone better than you are.> I'm just speculating here, but I suspect Wesley So has looked at the Grunfeld Variation too. One does not simply draw Top 20 players at will, young man. |
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| Jun-26-14 | | Junbalansag: Wesley So an American player? He is Filipino. I hope he stays Filipino. |
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| Jun-26-14 | | Shams: <Junbalansag> I just wrote that to needle his rabid fanbase. But yeah, he lives here, studies here and has apparently decided to play for the USA too. Bit of a shame for Pinoy chess; even I can see that. Of course you should still claim him as your own. |
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| Jun-26-14 | | Pulo y Gata: I thought he's chinese. |
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| Jun-27-14 | | torrefan: He is not a Chinese. He is an OFW--Overseas Filipino with a Witch. |
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| Jun-28-14 | | john barleycorn: one for <torrefan>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zuhk... |
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| Dec-31-14 | | johnkr: Key decision is White's offer to trade Queens with 12 Qe2. In the Benko often Black can trade Qs and go into an ending a pawn down provided he can get pressure on a/b files. But it does look like White keeps some advantage. After 12 Qe2 Nbd7 13 a4! is clever because Black no longer can easily jump to b4 with Na6-Nb4. After 13 a4 intending R-a3, Black is just tied down by the constant threat of a4-a5-a6. So White is better. The g3 variation against Benko is probably why the top guys no longer play the Benko. |
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Kibitzing
