The Traxler Counter Attack
13.06.2004 When you get to know him, Boris Alterman is an amicable, peace-loving fellow – not the uncompromising militarist he appears to be when you see the title of his recent online lectures (Fried Liver Attack, Morphy Attack, Max Lange Attack). Today he shows us another hyper-aggressive opening. Visit GM Alterman's lecture and simultaneous exhibition.
Boris Alterman writes: "After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3
Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5
the Czech chess player and problemist Karel Traxler discovered a daring move.
Black completely ignores the threats against f7 and simply plays 4…Bc5!
This looks like a horrible blunder, but is there a point that we are underestimating
behind this move?
When we look at 4.Ng5 more carefully we can see the obvious problem –
by playing Ng5 White has crossed the red line – don’t move the
same piece twice in the opening. So, taking advantage of this inaccuracy, Black
is developing his pieces in gambit style.
The Traxler counterattack has been the subject of scrutiny by amateur chess
players for decades, but nowadays professional should pay attention too, because
4.Ng5 is becoming pretty common even in serious tournaments."
GM Boris Alterman's Radio
ChessBase lectures begin at 21:00h CEST (European Central time =
server time, which translates to 17:00h GMT, 3:00 p.m. New York, 05:00
a.m. Sydney (on Monday). Other time zones can be found at the bottom
of the page. You can use Fritz or any Fritz-compatible
program (Shredder, Junior, Tiger, Hiarcs) to follow the lectures, or
download a free trial client. |
GM
Boris Alterman is 34, and lives in Israel. He was born in Kharkov,
Ukraine, where he started playing chess at the age of 7. His career highlights
include earning the IM title in 1991 and the GM title in 1992.He is the winner
of the following Open and GM tournaments: Haifa 1993; Bad Homburg 1996; Rishon
LeZion 1996; Beijing 1995 and 1997; Munchen 1992. His hobbies include computers
and swimming, his favourite food is Chinese, he speaks fluent Russian, Hebrew
and English.
Boris has worked for and against Garry Kasparov. In 1999 he assisted the world
champion in his spectacular Microsoft match Kasparov vs The World, and was
also part of the team that built up the web portal Kasparov Chess. In 2003,
on the other hand, he was part of the Deep Junior team that gave Kasparov a
run for his money in the New
York match.
Boris Alterman will hold his lectures on Sundays at 21:00h Server time
and a simultaneous exhibition on Mondays at 21:00h server time (in the "Simultaneous
Exhibitions" room).
Here are the world-wide starting times for Alterman's lectures.
The simuls are at the same times one day later.
* indicates that the place is currently observing daylight saving time (DST)
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