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Archive for March 16th, 2010
#645 Tutorial Postponed
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010Left Hook Grand Prix Videos
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
Matt Pullin put together a great two-part series on what I like to call the Left Hook Grand Prix against the Sicilian. I think he pinpoints some of the critical Black defenses, though he says he has played it from both sides. Since my most recent Left Hook outing at USATE, I have been moving toward a different repertoire as White, including the Open Sicilian and even the Smith Morra (gasp! — more on that in upcoming articles anticipating IM Marc Esserman’s Smith-Morra lecture at the KCC on April 15th). The Left Hook is a lot of fun in blitz, though, but I suspect it will become less fun now with everyone following Pullin’s excellent recommendations! For those who want to learn more about the line, here is a complete webliography:
- The Left Hook Grand Prix with a3
- The Left Hook Grand Prix Revisited
- More Left Hook Grand Prix Games
- Fun with the Left Hook Grand Prix
- Killer Games
- Grand Prix with a3
- Billy Colias Plays the Grand Prix
Note: Colias played against the line as Black…. - Grand Prix Attack, Explained
- Grand Prix Attack Bibliography (Updated)
I think Pullin is right that White might prefer the center gambit 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.a3 e6 6.d4!? over the wing gambit 6.b4!? — though that does raise the question of why 5.a3 in the first place. If anyone can suggest a better waiting move after 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 looking to meet 5…e6 with 6.d4! I’d like to hear it. The move 5.Be2 does not look like much, as Welling – Ree 1984 and Romanishin – Polugaevsky, Tilburg 1985 demonstrate. Maybe 5.h3 is worth a go, as in Novikov – Korotylev, Moscow 2007. I would also mention Nigel Davies’s fun Gambiteer II, which covers the reverse line 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 f5 4.Bg2 Nf6 5.e3 d5! which I have had great success with as Black.
Hat tip to Katar for alerting me to these videos.
Rijeka: Nepomniachtchi, Cmilyte lead into final
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010After nine round Ian Nepomniachtchi was sole leader in the open group, with 7.5/9, followed by no less than seven other players on 7.0/9 and a further eleven on 6.5/9. So what would they all do? Nepomniachtchi drew in 14 moves, and two of his main rivals in 16. Thank heavens for the women, where the top boards brought in decisive results. The hero and leader was Lithuanian IM Viktorija Cmilyte.
Domination by the bishop
Tuesday, March 16th, 201018-year-old Niclas Huschenbeth showed great fighting spirit in coming from
number 16 in the starting list to take the German championship title. Karsten Müller has selected and analysed
one of the endgames of the new champion for ChessBase Magazine
Online. This endgame is further proof that the young player from Hamburg
prefers to fight out his games till the very last minute since during the
tournament he turned down six offers of draws from his opponents. Here too he scored the full point with black,
although White had drawing chances. But at the end of the game the domination by the
bishop can be seen clearly.
Amber: Carlsen back in business, with second 2-0 victory
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010The third round started with a misunderstanding: Magnus Carlsen wanted to key in a move in the blindfold game but found 1.e4 already on the screen for his opponent Peter Svidler. Magnus did not know he had black! But never mind, after a shot of orange juice he went on to demolish Svidler 2-0. Aronian also did a 2-0 round against Jan Smeets. Ivanchuk leads overall. Round three report.
Rijeka: Nepomniachtchi, Cmilyte take the sole lead
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010Tournament leader Baadur Jobava beat top seed Zoltan Almasi, but then lost to nineteen-year-old Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, who is now in the sole lead. In the women’s section Polish GM Monika Socko lost her game and the lead to Lithuanian IM Viktorija Cmilyte. There are some interesting news tidbits from Silvio Danailov in the Europe Echecs video interviews by GM Robert Fontaine.