Center Squares: A
small but growing collection of chess knowledge essential to your
understanding and growth as a chessplayer, bringing together several past
articles along with this week's newest addition to Center Squares...Perpetual
Check.
Perpetual Check: We have
updated and added new material to our article on this defensive technique
that can help save an otherwise lost position, or gain you a draw at an
essential point in a match or tournament.
Review: The
Blackmar-Diemer Gambit Keybook II, by Rev. Tim Sawyer, reviewed by Andy Howie. The BDG arises after 1.d4 d5 2.e4!? dxe4
3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3, and it is definitely not for the weak of
heart! Warning: the reviewer has clearly been bitten by the BDG-bug
-
further reading could be hazardous to your f-pawn!
Chessville's Daily Message: An interesting daily
inspirational message from the fine folks at
Inspire, the
World's Most Popular Quotations List. Look for it on our home page!
Chess and Politics - A Recap: Last week we gave
our opinion about mixing
chess and politics. We invited you to stop by the Chessville Discussion Forum & participate in our poll on
the subject.
Click here to check out the response - you might be surprised, or will
you?
TheBlackmar-DiemerGambitKeybook II By Rev. Tim Sawyer,
Reviewed by Andy Howie
If you like your
openings slow, closed and unexciting then this book will do nothing for
you. Stop reading now and go on to the next review!
If, like myself, you
like to make your opponent sweat from the word go, let me welcome you into
the magical world of the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit.
The BDG
stems
from the following moves: 1.d4 d5 2.e4!? dxe4
3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3.
From this position, all
merry heck can break loose. The main aim
for White is to get the light-squared bishop to c4 or d3
and castle kingside. This leads normally to
fatal pressure on the f6 and g6 pawns and a quick decisive victory.
My OTB opponents this
year have found that this theory holds quite well and many of them have gone
down in 25 moves or less! The author, who is a great exponent of the
opening, has the following to say in the introduction:
“The Blackmar-Diemer Gambit is not a boxing jab; it is a
knockout punch - and White gets to throw the first punch!Stop playing for
the endgame; play to end the game! Be a winner. Play the Blackmar-Diemer
Gambit!"
Read the rest of Andy's completely unbiased (uh-huh!)
review now! (Warning and Disclaimer: the reviewer has clearly been bitten by the BDG-bug
-
further reading could be hazardous to your f-pawn!)
Center Squares
Most chessplayers know that control of the center squares on
the chessboard is often a prerequisite to winning the game. It is one
of the classical ideas behind the opening phase of the game. Center
squares is also often a meeting area in the center of a city's business
district, a Plaza, if you will, where friends can meet, and the weary can
rest for a while. You might even find a chess table or two there!
This collection of short articles , written for the novice
to intermediate player, will provide you with the
knowledge you need to take control of your own games. Together they
can form the foundation of a solid, self-directed course of study for those
wanting to improve. Taken individually, each is an interesting and
informative essay on the particular subject covered.
We hope you find these articles useful as you work to
improve your understanding of this game we all love. Read our initial
offerings at
Center Squares.
New York Masters Game of the Week With Analysis by IM Greg Shahade
April 8th, 2003
Participant List for 51st NY Masters:
GM Jan
Ehlvest
FM
Lew Eisen
GM Leonid Yudasin
NM Rafal Furdzik
GM Alex Wojtkiewicz
FM Boris Privman
IM Jay Bonin
NM Yaacov Norowitz
FM Lev Milman
NM Peter Aravena
FM Alan Stein
Qualifier – Joe
Lux
FM Danny
Shevelev
Filler – Jonathan
Corbblah
Can
anyone dethrone king Ehlvest? With 4 consecutive
first place victories, he just needs a victory this week to tie
Stripunsky’s record of being NY Masters champion
for 5 consecutive weeks.
Stripunsky wouldn’t be in attendance to stop
Ehlvest, as due to heavy traffic he was unable
to make it to the tournament until midway through the 2nd round!
Stripunsky was not the only victim of traffic, as Pascal Charbonneau tried
to drive from Maryland, but faced a similar traffic jam.
Perhaps they were in the same traffic jam and could have played each other
during that time?
Wojtkiewicz moved to 3-0 after knocking off Jay Bonin and now it was up to
Ehlvest and Yudasin to see who would join
Wojo at the top. I know that Yudasin REALLY
wanted to beat Ehlvest, as
Ehlvest has been UNSTOPPABLE thus far in the NY Masters, as he has
won the first 4 times he has played. In head to head NY Masters
matchups thus far, Ehlvest
is up 3-0 against Yudasin. Yudasin is NOT an easy player to have a 3-0 score
against, that much I assure you. A fourth consecutive victory over Yudasin
should be enough to give him his 5th consecutive title.
(3)
Ehlvest,J (2705) -
Yudasin,L (2666) [E20] 51st New York Masters New York
(3), 08.04.2003
Yudasin is going for a risky pawn
sacrifice on just move 8! He’s hoping that Ehlvest’soffsides knight and weakened king position
(because of the move f3) will give him sufficient compensation…
See the
entire game, and follow along on a JavaScript board.
The Mad Aussie's Chess Trivia
From Graham Clayton
English Opening Origins: The English Opening
was first seen in international play as far back as 1843, when Howard
Staunton used it during his match against the French player Pierre
Saint-Amant.
Unorthodox Chess Opening Discussion: In the course of his
1858 match with Paul Morphy, Adolf Anderssen as White played 1.a3 as his
opening move, scoring +1, -1, =1 from the 3 games.
Editor's Note: Richard Morris, on the
Unorthodox Chess Openings list, adds this information about 1.a3:
"The idea behind 1. a3, Anderssen's Opening, is to play a Black opening with
a move in hand for White. a3 is a useful move in most of them.
The drawback is that if Black answers with a kingside fianchetto, a3 usually
becomes irrelevant. It may be best to play a3 at some point later than
the first move. For example 1. c4 e5 2. a3 and White is playing a
Sicilian Defense with an extra move."
IM Eric Schiller, also on the
Unorthodox Chess Openings list, responds: "If
you search databases for White formations against Black's kingside
fianchetto you find very, very few lines with a3, because it IS irrelevant
and a waste of a move. That doesn't mean that White will lose of course. It
basically throws away White's advantage of the first move. Black should not
get over-confident or cocky, it isn't such a big deal. But any standard
formation will benefit from White's lack of ambition."
Boards, sets, bags, combo sets, clocks, computers,
software, videos, travel sets, t-shirts, more! Check out
Cajun
Chess today for fantastic deals on the chess equipment you want and
need.
Chess In Chicago
Update: A few weeks ago we brought you the story of Chicago 1st-Grader
Sam Schmakel,
the boy-wonder of Chicago Chess. CIC now reports that Sam has finished
2nd in the K-4 Division of the 2003 Chicago CPS MVP Tourney, another giant
step in Sam's evolving chess-success story. Congratulations Sam!
RusBase Part Two - New Additions for
1976, 1983
RUSBASE is a project to record all
important chess tournaments and matches held in Russia. Incredible resource
for all chessplayers!
Tell us about your favorite site that you would like us to
keep an eye on for you. Write:
Newsletter@Chessville.com
Position of the Week: Solution
Brilliancy Prize
Byrne,R - Fischer,R
US Championship, 1963
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 c6 4.Bg2 d5 5.cxd5 cxd5 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.e3
0-0 8.Nge2 Nc6 9.0-0 b6 10.b3 Ba6 11.Ba3 Re8 12.Qd2 e5 13.dxe5 Nxe5 14.Rfd1
Nd3 15.Qc2 Nxf2 16.Kxf2 Ng4+ 17.Kg1 Nxe3 18.Qd2 Byrne later wrote "As
I sat pondering why Fischer would choose such a line, because it was so
obviously lost for Black, there suddenly came 18...Nxg2. This dazzling
move came as the shocker...the culminating combination is of such great
depth that, even at the very moment at which I resigned, both Grandmasters
who were commenting on the play for the spectators in a separate room
believed that I had a won game!" 18...Nxg2 19.Kxg2 d4 20.Nxd4 Bb7+
21.Kf1 (Diagrammed Position)
21...Qd7 In a hall adjacent to the playing room, Grandmaster
Rossolimo was commenting on the games for a large audience, and had been
completely mystified by this game. At this point, in fact, he told his
audience that there was obviously nothing left for Fischer to do but give
up. Suddenly, the messenger came with the next report, and announced
that Byrne had resigned! White Resigns. Fritz thinks
White's best (which he says is still losing big-time) is 22.Nf3 Qf5 23.Qf4
Qxf4 24.gxf4 Bxc3 25.Ne5 Bxa1 26.Rxa1 Rad8. Another try is 22.Kg1 Qh3
23.Nd5 Bxd5 24.Nc2 Bb7 25.Re1 Bxa1 26.Rxa1 Qh5 27.Re1 Qf3 28.Rxe8+ Rxe8 when
White is so absolutely busted, Fritz gives as his best move here the dismal
29.Ne3. Fischer in his My 60 Memorable Games wrote that Byrne's
resignation was a "bitter disappointment." He'd hoped for 22.Qf2 Qh3+ 23.Kg1
Re1+!! 24.Rxe1 Bxd4 "with mate to follow shortly."; Fischer also gives
22.Ndb5 Qh3+ 23.Kg1 Bh6 "and the curtain comes down."
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