Instruction / Tournament Preparation
d5!? GM Benjamin advised me that this was best. 7. Bg5 [7. cxd5 Ne4 8. Qc2 exd5 9. e3 Bf5 10. Bd3 Bg6 11. Ne2 Nd6 12. 0-0 Bxd3 13. Qxd3 Nd7 is around equal.] 7. ... dxc4 8. Qxc4 b6 9. Nf3 Ba6 10. Qa4 c5 11. dxc5 bxc5 12. Rd1 Qb6 13. Rd2 Nc6 14. Bxf6 gxf6 15. Qg4+ Kh8 16. Qh4 Kg7 17. Qg4+ During our preparation session Kapil Chandran rejected this line because of this drawing possibility. Would a higher rated player force a draw?) 5. ... c5 with White’s knight on f3 this is a good idea. 6. dxc5 Na6 7. c6!? (7. a3 Bxc3+ 8. Qxc3 Nxc5 9. b4 Nce4 is about equal.) 7. ... bxc6 8. e3.
16. Bc1 Kg7 17. Qd2 Rh8 18. f4 Black has a long tough defensive task ahead.
16. Nf5 The f5-knight is too tough to deal with.
16. ... Qf6 17. Re3 Ng5 18. Rg3 exd4 19. cxd4 cxd4 20. Bxd6 Re8 21. f4 Ne6 22. e5 Qd8 23. Nxh6+ Kh8 24. Nxf7+ Kg8 25. Bh7+ Kxf7 26. Qg6, mate.
Our last game is between my New York
student Amir Moazami and the very strong Texas player Jeffery Xiong. We did a lot of work at home and I thought Amir played the opening phase well. Black neutralized White with an Exchange sacrifice and reached a solid position.
Scheveningen Variation (B82) Amir Moazami (FIDE 1946, USA) FM Jeffery Xiong (FIDE 2236, USA) World Youth Chess Championships 2012, Under 12 Open (3), 11.10.2012
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 It’s very surprising that this position
hasn’t been seen too much in practice. 8. ... d5 9. a3 Bxc3+ 10. Qxc3 Ne4 11. Qc2 Qa5+ 12. Nd2 Nxd2 13. Bxd2 Qb6 14. Bd3 f5 15. b4 e5 16. 0-0 Nc7 17. cxd5 e4 18. Bc4 cxd5 19. Bb3 Bb7 20. Rfd1 Ne6 21. Qb2 Rae8 22. Qe5 Jinshi Bai (2284)-Chandran (2096)/World Youth Cham pion ships, Under 12 Open White had a big advantage.
5. Nf3 d6 6. e4 0-0 7. a3 Bxc3+ 8. bxc3 Qe7 9. Bd3 e5 10. h3 h6
Worrying about the pin, Black missed a
good opportunity while White’s king is still in the middle. 10. ... exd4 11. cxd4 Nxe4! 12. Bxe4 Bf5 (12. ... f5! I believe this puts Black clearly on top.) 13. Nd2 Bxe4 14. Nxe4 Rfe8 15. f3 f5.
11. 0-0 Nb8?!
Joanna wants to blockade the center, but does it take too much time? 12. a4 c5 13. Ba3 Nbd7 14. Rfe1 b6 15. Nh4!
8. … Be7 These positions can get tricky for Black:
8. ... b5?! 9. a4! b4 10. Na2 a5 11. c3 bxc3 12. Nxc3 and Black’s queenside is blown out while White has a big lead in development.
9. Kh1 Nbd7 10. f4 0-0 11. Nf3!? 11. Bd2 b5 (11. ... Nc5 12. b4 Nxd3 13.
cxd3 White can play on the queenside with a slight edge.) 12. b4!? Stopping ... Nc5 and bottling Black up gives White a slight edge. After 12. ... Bb7 13. Nb3.
15. .... Nh7? Absolutely forced is 15. ... g6. And after
40 July 2013 | Chess Life
11. ... Nc5 12. e5 dxe5 13. fxe5 Nfd7 14. Bg5! Qd8
White gets a winning position after 14.
A real surprise as Jeffery usually plays the Najdorf. 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Nc3 The other main line is 5. Bd3 Bc5 6. Nb3
Be7, which I find to be a tough variation for White to deal with.
5. ... Qc7 6. Bd3 Nf6 7. Qe2 d6 8. 0-0 Sicilian Defense,
... Bxg5?? 15. Bxh7+ Kxh7 16. Nxg5+ Kg6 17. Nxf7 Rxf7 18. Qg4+ Kh6 19. Rxf7 Qxe5 20. Raf1 Qg5 21. Qxg5+ Kxg5 22. b4 Ne5 23. Rxg7+ Kh6 24. Rc7 Ncd7 25. Ne4.
15. Bxe7 Qxe7 16. Ne4 b5 17. Nfg5
17. Nd6!? A tough choice—material or cramping Black? 17. ... h6 18. Nh7!? Nxd3!?
A good, practical decision. Black gives a small amount of material for safety.
19. Nxf8 N3xe5 20. Nxd7 Bxd7 21. Qf2 Bc6 22. Qc5 Qxc5 23. Nxc5 Bd5 24. Nd3
24. b4!? White might have a tiny edge, but a draw would be normal. 24. ... Nc4 25. b3?
Not respecting Black’s active play. 25. Rfe1. White is about to be in trouble:
25. ... Ne3! 26. Rf2 Rc8 27. Nb4 27. Rc1!? was forced.
27. ... Bb7 28. Re1 Nxg2! This simple combination ends the game.
29. Rxg2 a5 30. Nd3 Rxc2 31. Nf4 Rxa2 32. Kg1 Bxg2 33. Nxg2 a4 34. bxa4 bxa4, White resigned.
And Black’s mass of pawns won. A few years ago at a chess camp one of
the kids referred to me as “that openings guy.” Getting out of the opening in one piece—especially with black—is a real chore. Even “super grandmasters” can be in trouble before move 15. Working on the openings that fits one’s style is a must, but trying new positions is best for learning and improving. When I was a young player I was a
tactical player who only used 1. e4. GM Jonathan Tisdall felt that playing 1. d4 with the resulting positional-play aspects to be very impor tant. I have to agree; a chessic version of a “switch hitter” so to speak. (see our cover story for an example of this by one of our great players. ~Ed.) Most time consuming, but worth it. Prac - tic ing on the Internet is a stress-free way to improve one’s game. Play and analyze, know your rook endings and most impor - tantly, have fun and enjoy!
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76