TL4545: Another round, another Bird....

Note to self....if you intend to play Bird's Opening, then you had better learn more about From's Gambit and how to defeat it !

In this Team League game, as an antidote to avoiding the Scandinavian that my opponent plays with regularity, ( and to cover a lack of preparation )  I opted for 1.f4, and just as in my previous outing I meet 1...e5 : From's Gambit.

Some statistics:

In my Master-games database f4 scores 47% for white, not exactly great.

However, in Team League (TL), it scores 56% which is actually pretty good ! A total of 333 TL games started with f4 and only 36 went down the path of Black's reply of e5 and From's Gambit, so for me to end up with two in a row is quite unfortunate !

Onto the game...

...Continue reading...

T45 Round 4 - A Bird in the House

I admit, I wasn't really prepared for this...work and other issues prevented me from really applying and preparing myself, so right up to the last minute I was unsure of what to play, but eventually ( and judging by post-match chat, correctly ) I avoided my usual 1.e4 and went for 1.f4 : Bird's Opening.

...Continue reading...

Blitz Blues - Take 2

Probably my fastest Blitz win -- 9 moves !

After an expected pawn fork with 7...d5 he took the 'wrong' piece.

No need to guess what happened...9. Nf6 double-check and mate !!

Blitz Blues : Take 1

Blitz....so many opinions and I have to say that I agree with most of them.

Blitz is nowhere near "real chess", but it is fun and very addictive, and because it often gives you a roller-coaster ride of winning,losing, winning, losing etc, it can be hard to give up !

Here's one from today, I'm Black...

Dutch ( well, at least from my viewpoint, not sure about White's ), and it's Bg5, but I am not afraid :)

I get out of that, but make a basic mistake,. Even though I 'see' the threat, I play the wrong move and go down a piece: its only move 16 !

It takes me until move 35, but I am back in it !

So, I am into an endgame...and quite honestly should have lost at this point, but it is blitz and a quick and wrong decision by White allows me to carry on...

..to reach the first offer of the rook, which I decline...

 Looking at this now, there is no reason to decline the exchange, but I remember thinking that my king should be nearer ? No idea why...

This next offer I accept...

 ..and yes, you are correct, the resulting exchange gives me the same position as the previous ( in endgame terms ) but I feel much better. My king is in front of his pawn...it is a draw !!

So, we go all the way to the 8th rank, but I know its a draw ...

 ..the last move ( of 76 !!).  My brain tells me its a draw, I know its a draw, but what do I play ? Of course, its blitz, so I play the wrong, Kg8 and lose...so very frustrating, but it is only blitz !

Ah, well, I enjoyed it.

What should White play ?

A blitz game...

As White I reached the following position...

...and played the second best move Bxf6, instead of the better Nxf6+.

However I still had a chance next time around after Qd7.

What should White play ?

Highlight solution between brackets
[20. Bxg7 Qxg7 21.Nf6+ 22. Kf7 23. Nxe8 Qxg3 24. Nxd6+]

GM Gambit !

Not that I play it as White, but I think its great to see a Grandmaster play an opening as romantic as the King's Gambit.

Currently there is a series of matches being played involving 5 of the Netherlands most promising "youngsters" against invited GMs.

These include Yasser Seriwan (author of many training books), Lubomir Ftacnik (opening analyst and most recent book "Sicilian Defence")  and Nigel Short ( no longer the strongest English GM, but in good form since the Staunton Memorial last year ). As well as two lesser known invitees Sebastian Siebrecht and Dennis de Vreugt.

The format is a match of 4 games and Short's first game against  (Chessbase's World Cup commentator ) Anish Giri was the King's Gambit Accepted which Giri continued with the relatively rare 3...Ne7. No quick GM draw here, but a fine 59 move game finishing in a Rook and pawns ending.

In a surprise second game, as Black, Short played the Benoni Defence against Giri's d4, and although it also was drawn Giri said of it "'I thought, he never plays the Benoni so he knows nothing about it except maybe for something he prepared. I thought I was ok but he had 21.. d5! after which I am worse or maybe even lost. If I could have played a move like Qf3 my position would be fine. So Nigel played a very good game but he just missed Qh6."

So what does Short play today ? The Veresov, of course, what could be more natural !

However, the first win from the 'promising youngsters' came from Lisa Schut, beating Siebrecht on the White side of a Sicilian Paulsen, to gain her second ever win over a GM. She apparently didn't know the variation with 7...Nc6 but played well and with 16. f4 produced a slight error from Seibrecht who went down fighting.

A first report is here ( in Dutch and with a very 'Bridget Jones' looking Lisa Schut ) and the games are relayed live here .

More information on the match here. The last games will be played tomorrow at the Max Euwe Centre.