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| Aug-27-11 | | Gejewe: It took some time for me to reply, because I have not been around on this site for quite a while. Sometimes there is not much time for chess, other priorities can intervene etc. :-( Answering your question, I am not aware of new information or games, except for the Olympiad game between Michael Adams and Magnus Carlsen in 2010 which has been discussed on Chessgames.com
It seems that Carlsen was quite ok. after the opening but got careless. You can check this on the page of that particular game.
And yes, I remember to have provided the history part for the first edition of the book a few years ago, mutual chess friend John Donaldson acting as an intermediate. Unfortunately, after having submitted this text I never heard anything - nor did I get a (more or less promised) copy of the new book. Forgotten in the euphoria of having the book finished and published ? ;-) |
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| Sep-15-11 | | parisattack: Hello <Gejewe>
The primary author passed away soon after the North Sea was published. It was a bit chaotic and - long story - most of the copies of the book vanished. I have a few here and will email John D for your address and dispatch a copy to you ASAP; my apologies. And, yes, Carlsen was OK in that game! |
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| Sep-19-11 | | parisattack: <Gejewe> Email that John D had for you bounced. Perhaps you could send him current, ask to FWD to me, please? |
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| Oct-11-11 | | Gejewe: <parisattack> Thanks for your reply and your efforts to get me a copy after all. I really appreciate it. But I only just noticed your messages, have not been at this site lately,partly due to a chessvacation in Oslo last week and some other things to do :-).
One minute ago I have mailed John Donaldson, he has probably given you an old adress at work -that ceased to exist in 2011. He always sent emails to both my email adresses! John can also provide you my postadress now. |
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| Oct-12-11 | | TheFocus: <Gejewe> <parisattack> has not been in here since Oct. 1, so I will e-mail him that you have responded, and will forward your post. Glad to help out. |
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| Oct-13-11 | | Gejewe: <TheFocus> Thanks very much. Mailcontact with <parisattack> is realised now. |
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| Oct-13-11 | | TheFocus: <Gejewe> Great. <paris> e-mailed me that he sent you a copy of the book. |
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| Apr-14-12 | | wordfunph: <Gejewe: <wordfunh> No, Jules is about a decade older, has been a journalist most of his life.> <Gejewe> thank you. |
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| May-13-13 | | Caissanist: <Gejewe>: What do you think of the opening to today's game J L Hammer vs Wang Hao, 2013 ? Not quite as dadaesque as some of your opening experiments, but nonetheless not something you see often at this level--certainly not successfully! |
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| May-17-13 | | Gejewe: <Caissanist>: The manoeuvering in the opening, particularly from the white knights, is remarkable to say the least. But it is funny that after the opening a perfectly "normal" position has arisen. Hammer commented on the weird g3.. on the tournament site, which provokes dangerous action from black's side. I can recommend you to look at that video, it has some very interesting insights.
By the way I just missed this game, having spent mai 8-12 in ..Stavanger playing in a 6 round Swiss - a side event that had different playing times from the elite tournament. The big guys were playing at about 15 minutes by bus. And players at the open had free entry ! Great fun, I can assure you. |
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| Aug-02-13 | | EvanTheTerrible: Mr. Welling, you appear to have an extremely versatile and exciting opening repertoire. Do you mind sharing how you prepare? |
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| Aug-11-13 | | Gejewe: <EvanTheTerrible> The word "repertoire" might be a bit out of place here. It felt like wasting time, stuffing my memory up with mainlines, and being constantly alert on new developments. Many chessplayers seem to think that constantly repeating state of the art grandmaster theory is "real" chess. At a certain level you have to, you need very sophisticated preparation, otherwise there is no chance for any advantage. But nowadays even Magnus Carlsen shows it does not have to be that way.. :-)
Of course I have studied the most important openings, but not in the detail that many others have. It is very important to grasp the ideas, to know what to do in a given situation, about good and bad sides. Because it also teaches you to build up your position, and about general strategy.
For me it was important to get a reasonable position and a fighting game from the opening, and not spending more than a reasonable amount of time on opening preparation (I would rather skip it). There are many ways to do that, f.e. 1.e4 e6 2.d3..,
1.e4 d5 that often leads to Caro Kann structures at little risk - just two examples. On top of that, I was attracted by original strategists, such as Mike Basman, Max Ujtelky or Duncan Suttles. These players expand the boundaries of correct chess, well at least up to a certain level. Ujtelky's Hippo system has even been played by strong grandmasters, suggesting that flexibility might compensate for a lack of space ?! And then there are chessthinkers like Hugh Myers, trying do use wellknown information in an original way with moveorder ideas, or colours reversed ideas. Imagine Grob's 1.g4.., which is interesting but a bit marginal, after which 1..d5 2.Bg2 (2.h3) 2..c6 3.h3 e5 is solid and good, not exactly giving white a target for his dynamics. Hugh suggested 1.d3.., which can be played as a Kings Indian or Pirc defense with colours reversed, but even as a Grob after 1..c5 2.g4!? as the move ..c5 is not part of the best defensive setup(s) which makes it a better try than the original version.
In my younger years I have played first moves like 1.Nh3 or 1.Na3 but you will see on closer inspection that the positions "normalized" after a few moves, and these first moves became part of a better known structure (such as a reversed Leningrad Dutch Basman-variation, or reversed Kings Indian with ..Na6 ) It is just a matter of toying with moveorders, colours, and (known) ideas.
Part of it was improvisation, that is why I do not talk of a "repertoire". Nowadays, I am still no fan of mainlines, but there are many ways to play the opening without the necessity of excessive knowledge. Which is my way, and less improvisation because when you get older as a chessplayer, you do not have unlimited energy anymore, and should not waste it ! |
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| Dec-16-13 | | dit890le: great games, Mr. Gejewe |
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| May-15-14 | | PJs Studio: Gejewe. That you have played 19 of the 20 legal first moves as white I find impressive, artistic, bold and very brave. I've never done anything other than the standard four! e4 d4 c4 and Sf3. So hats off to you Sir! |
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| Aug-15-14 | | graywyvern: i have scanned "Knightmare-1" here:
http://www.pearltrees.com/#/N-fa=98... thanx to Javant Biarujia in Melbourne for his assistance! |
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| Aug-19-14 | | spikester2848: You sir, are officially one of my top favorite players! I aspire to play Chess just like you - artistic, bold, and inspiring. |
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| Mar-14-16 | | mulde: Is Gerald Welling the gentleman, after whom the variations with a white b3 in the Alekhine's Defence were named : "Welling variation"?
For example,
1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.b3
or
1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.c4 Nb6 4.b3 |
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Mar-14-16
 | | perfidious: <mulde> None other. |
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| Mar-14-16 | | Gejewe: <mulde> After 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.b3 was an idea to control e5 with pieces and my analysis during a correspondence event started with 3..d6 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.Be2 Nf4 6.d4.. (leaving g2 in the air but I believed the complications to be favourable) and 3..g6 4.Bb2 Bg7 5.Qf3!? resulted in some interesting positions so I gave it a try. This old analysis (more than 35 years old) was later printed by Hugh Myers in his M.O.B and as a result of that Eric Schiller named 3.b3.. "Welling variation" in the Alekhine book he wrote with Lev Alburt.
Later I found out that 3.c4 Nb6 4.b3.. has been researched and played by Tartakower, and used in experimental games by Santasiere, and later Ljubojevic. But nothing about the direct 3.b3.. , though it is too generous to name an openingmove after a player who spent one afternoon of analysis and a correspondence game to it..?! |
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| Mar-18-16 | | Ron: Hello IM Welling. Have you been following the World Champion Candidates? Topalov, it appears, created a new opening line here: Topalov vs A Giri, 2016
As a player of offbeat openings, what do you think? I have a higher opinion of Topalov's move then others. I hereby name it: Indian Defense, Topalov Attack. I plugged in that position and played a game from it. That game started: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. h4 d6 4. Nc3 Bg7 5. e4 b6 6. Nf3 Bb7 7. Bd3 O‑O 8. Bd2 Nbd7 9. Qe2 e6 10. O‑O‑O c5 11. Kb1 cxd4 12. Nxd4 Ne5 13. Bc2 Qc7 14. b3 a6 15. f4 Nc6 16. Nxc6 Bxc6 17. h5 b5 18. hxg6 hxg6 19. f5 exf5 20. exf5 b4 21. Nd5 Bxd5 22. cxd5 Nxd5 I would say small advantage for White. The game ended in a draw. |
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| Mar-30-16 | | Gejewe: <Ron> Hi Ron
Not in the Easter period, when I was abroad without internet access (that can be refreshing once in a while ) but yes, I have seen the Topalov-Giri game earlier in the tournament. Surprising decision from Topalov in a way, but not "shocking".
In recent years these h4.. moves in the opening (that used to be the exclusive domain of a handfull brave - or foolish - chessplayers) have gained a certain respectability. More than 50 years ago, in the Sochi tournament of 1963, Vassily Smyslov was tackled by Alexander Zaitsev who continued after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 with the direct 4.h4!?. Smyslov played the thematic counterthrust 4..c5 and after 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.dxc5 Nxc3 7. Qxd8+ Kxd8 8.bxc3 Bg7 9.Kd2 Bf5 10.f3 Nd7 11.e4 Be6 12.c6 bxc6 13.Ne2 Bc4 14. Kc2 Kc7 15.h5 e5 16.Be3 Be6 17.Nc1 a5 18.Nb3 f5 19.Nd2 f4 20.Bf2 g5 21.Bc4 Rhe8 22.Bxe6 Rxe6 23.Nc4 black had slipped into the less agreable position and eventually lost. It is funny that Botvinnik took note of this in his "secret" notebooks (published fairly recently as part of his matchbooks) and his analysis concentrated on 4..c6, concluding however a slight edge for white. In case of 4..Bg7 white plays 5.h5 Nxh5 6.cxd5 and 6..c6 might then by countered in gambitstyle by 7.e4 cxd5 6.e5 as played by Mike Basman around 1980. There have also been games with 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.h4!?, but here again not many practical examples. I remember a nice example from a Russian yearbook, and fortunately it can be found on chessgames.com as wel :Konstantin Klaman-Vladimir Liavdansky
Leningrad-ch 1963
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 O-O 5.h4 c5 6.d5 d6 7.Be2 e6 8.h5 exd5 9.cxd5 b5 10.hxg6 fxg6 11.e5 dxe5 12.Bxb5 Ba6 13.a4 Bxb5 14.axb5 Nbd7 15.Nf3 Nb6 16.Ng5 Qd7 17.Be3 Rfc8 18.Qe2 c4 19.Rd1 Rab8 20.d6 h6 21.Nge4 Nxe4 22.Nxe4 h5 23.g4 hxg4 24.Rh4 Qf5 25.Rxg4 Nd7 26.Rd5 Qe6 27.Nc3 Rb7 28.Rxc4 Rf8 29.Rc7 Rbb8 30.Qc4 Rf7 31.Ne4 1-0 Early h4.. thrusts were thus known long before this era. The direct idea of "can-opener" strategy against black's kingside provokes interesting battles. In recent years the creative British grandmaster Simon Williams is known to spice up his play against Kingsindian setups with an occasional early h4.. He is the current flagbearer, and when I am not mistaken he has also played it after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6. Nowadays, in a time where concrete chess is getting more and more prominence at high levels, and where 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.h4!? has already been seen in games between topplayers, it is refreshing, but not a total surprise to see Topalov trying to sidestep Giri's preparation and at the same time spicing up the game with 3.h4!?. Giri was very clever in transposing the game into a kind of Benkogambit instead of a "normal" Kings Indian setup and playing over the game it is clear that approach gave him the psychological initiative (and eventually the advantage). |
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| Jun-26-19 | | redlance: Look forward to your new book later this year!!! |
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| Jun-23-20 | | issakhalid: In his book playing 1.e4,john shaw sent me here saying you were a master in offbeat lines,i was not disappointed!! |
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| Jul-25-20 | | redlance: Gerard,love the book!!! I like the MCO style in the back as well.That makes it easier to learn the complete system.I think Hugh Myers would have loved the book as well. |
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| Feb-28-22 | | parisattack: Hi, Gerald -
It appears you don't visit here anymore...many old regulars have left over the past couple of years. But I am enjoying your new book on Michael Basman - U Cannot Be Serious! I have some comments at length but will hold them, see if perchance you check in here. |
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