Unorthodox Openings Newsletter #37

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2 PCG Games 12/29/2020

Philidor Counter Gambit

Only_Entertain (Chess.com 1934) - JimWest (Chess.com 2017), Chess.com 12/29/2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.exf5 e4 5.Nfd2 Bxf5 6.Nc3 d5 7.Ne2 Nf6 8.c4 c6 9.Nc3 Bb4 10.Be2 O-O 11.O-O Nbd7 12.a3 Bxc3 13.bxc3 Qc7 14.cxd5 cxd5 15.c4 dxc4 16.Bxc4+ Kh8 17.Bb2 Ng4

18.g3 e3 19.fxe3 Nxe3 20.Qb3 Nxf1 21.Rxf1 Nb6 22.d5 Nxc4 23.Nxc4 Qc5+ 24.Ne3 Rae8 25.Re1 Bh3 26.Bc1 Rc8 27.Qb2 Qc3 28.Qxc3 Rxc3 29.Bb2 Rxe3, White resigns.

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Philidor Counter Gambit

Rin-chan (lichess 2191) - JimWest (lichess 2181), lichess 12/29/2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.dxe5 fxe4 5.Ng5 d5 6.c4 Bb4+ 7.Nc3 d4 8.a3 Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 e3 10.Nf3 exf2+ 11.Kxf2 dxc3 12.Bg5 Qxd1 13.Rxd1 Nc6 14.Bd3 Nge7 15.Rhf1 O-O 16.Kg1 Bf5

17.Bxe7 Nxe7 18.Nd4 Bxd3 19.Rxd3 Rxf1+ 20.Kxf1 Rd8 21.Ke2 c5 22.Nb5 Rxd3 23.Kxd3 Nc6 24.Kxc3 b6 25.e6 Kf8 26.Kd3 Ke7 27.Nc7 g6 28.Ke4 Kd6 29.e7 Kxe7 30.Kd5 Kd7 31.Ne6 Ne7+ 32.Ke5 Nc6+ 33.Kd5 Ne7+ 34.Ke5 a6

35.Nf8+ Kc6 36.Nxh7 b5 37.cxb5+ axb5 38.Ng5 b4 39.axb4 cxb4 40.Kd4 Kb5 41.Ne4 Ka4 42.Kc4 Ka3 43.Nc5 Nf5 44.Nd3 Ne3+ 45.Kd4 Nxg2 46.Ke4 b3 47.Ke5 Ne1 48.Nxe1 b2 49.Nf3 b1=Q 50.Kf4 Qf5+, White resigns.

"NY Times" Article on Walter Tevis

The author of The Queen's Gambit is featured.

From BDG with Lev

PLAYING EMAIL CORRESPONDENCE AGAINST A GRANDMASTER

By Lev Zilbermintz 

Nowadays most over-the-board tournaments have been cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic. This has led to a boom in online chess. Sites such as Internet Chess Club, chess.com, lichess.org, playchess,com have all experienced an increase in volume and membership. Prestigious tournaments such as the World Open have been held online at the Internet Chess Club, lichess.org and chess.com. Players use Zoom cameras to show that they were not cheating. Even so, all games are checked for fair play before prizes are awarded. 

Chess.com is a website that hosts email correspondence chess tournaments. In 2020, the computer has replaced the paper postcards that were common until the 1990s. In postal chess, the time limit is 3 days for 1 move. This means that players have plenty of time to look up games in databases, books or old magazines. In this way many moves repeat themselves in similar, but not identical, games. Thus, the result is that the better prepared player has an edge against his opponent. Nowhere is this more clear than in the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit. Many variations have been analyzed in-depth, 12-14 moves deep. However, the further one goes, the fewer games with that particular variation. It gets to the point where one has to look at somewhat similar, yet crucially different,  games for these moves. This is exactly what occurred in my correspondence game against grandmaster Evgeniy Sharapov of Ukraine.

WHITE: Lev Zilbermintz 

BLACK: GM Evgeniy Sharapov 

email correspondence,chess.com 

December 21 - 25, 2020 

3 days/ 1 move time control 

BLACKMAR - DIEMER GAMBIT 

Bogoljubow Defense 

Studier Attack 

1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 g6 (Bogoljubow Defense)

6.Bc4 Bg7 7.O-O O-O 8.Qe1 (Studier Attack)

The alternative is 8.h3!?. It is called the Delayed Studier Attack, Orlov Attack, or Studier-Zilbermintz Attack. Another option is the Long Bogo: 8.Bf4, followed by 9.O-O, 10.Qd2, 11.Bh6. 

8...Bg4 

The idea is to trade off the Nf3, and counter-attack in the center. Frequently White uses Qh4-Bh6-Ng5 theme to crack Black defense. Hence the text move. 

9.Qh4 Bxf3 10.Rxf3 Nc6 

A key game to know is Helin-Aerni, 8th Gibtelecom Masters 1/26/2010. That game continued 10.Be3 Bxf3 11.Rxf3 Qd7 12.h3 Rad8 13.Rd1 Nb4 14.Bb3, and Black later won. The importance of the game lies in the moves 12.h3 Rad8 as well as 13...Nb4 14.Bb3. These can be adapted to 13...Na5 14.Bd3.

11.Ne2 Qd7 

A second key game is Hall-Wells, London 1977. That game went 8.Qe1 Bg4 9.Qh4 Nc6 10.Ne2 Bxf3 11.Rxf3 Qd7 12.Bg5 Rad8 13.c3 Na5 14.Bd3 Rfe8 15.Raf1 Qc6 16.b4 Nc4 17.Kh1 Nb6 18.Rh3 +=, 1-0, 30. The importance of this game are the moves 10.Ne2 Bxf3 11.Rxf3 Qd7 12.c3 Na5 14.Bd3, which are seen in Zilbermintz-Sharapov. Also see the game Theo Hommeles-Bosman, which went 8.Qe1 Nc6 9.Qh4 Bg4 10.Ne2 Bxf3 11.Rxf3 Na5 12.Bd3, with motifs as in the main game. 

12.h3 

Usually 12.Rh3 is played. I wanted to keep the black queen off g4. Besides, the move can transpose to certain lines of the Studier-Zilbermintz Attack. 

12...Rad8 

As in Helin-Aerni, Gibtelecom Masters 1/26/2010. 

13.c3 Na5 14.Bd3 b6 

The game Zilbermintz-WacoKid, Internet Chess Club 15/0 Blackmar-Diemer Gambit Thematic 12/24/2020 went 14...c5 15.Bh6 Nc6 16.Ng3! Bh6 17.Qh6 Ne8 18.Raf1 cxd4 19.Ne4?! and drawn in 30 moves. Thus, the rest of the main game is a repeat of the previous one. The only difference is that the main game had 14.Bd3 b6 15.Bh6 c5, while the Internet Chess Club game had the immediate 14...c5 15.Bh6 Nc6 16.Ng3 Bh6 17.Qh6. 

15.Bh6 c5 16.Ng3 Bxh6 17.Qxh6 Ne8 18.Raf1 cxd4 

As in Zilbermintz-WacoKid, ICC 15/0 BDG Thematic 12/24/2020.

19.Rf4 e6? 

Here analyses focused on:

a) 20.Rxd4 Qe7 21.Rd8 Qd8 22.Bb5 Nf6; 

b) 20.Rh4 f5 21.Rd4 Qe7 22.Rd8 Qd8; 

c) 20.Bb5 Qb5 21.Rf7 Rf7 22.Rf7 Kf7 23.Qh7 Ng7 =++; 

d) 20.Nh5 f5;

e) 20.Bxg6!! 

It took awhile to figure out the variations. Then I noticed that 20.Bxg6!! wins the pawn and leaves Black without an adequate defense. Obviously 20...fxg6 loses to 21.Rxf8+ while 20...hxg6 21.Rh4! penetrates the flank and wins material or mates at some point. 

20.Bxg6!! 

The Ukrainian grandmaster resigned here. This was my first correspondence win over a grandmaster in the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit!

10/5 KID 12/26/2020

King's Indian Defense, Petrosian Variation

vodkoley (lichess 2281) - JimWest (lichess 2214), lichess 12/26/2020

1.c4 g6 2.Nc3 Bg7 3.d4 Nf6 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 O-O 6.Nf3 e5 7.d5 Nbd7 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bh4 g5 10.Bg3 Nh5 11.h4 Nxg3 12.fxg3 gxh4 13.Nxh4 Qg5 14.O-O Nc5 15.Nf5 Bxf5 16.Rxf5 Qe3+ 17.Kh2 Nxe4

18.Rf3 Nxc3 19.bxc3 Qg5 20.Qb3 b6 21.Raf1 f5 22.Qb5 e4 23.Rf4 Be5 24.Qd7 Bxf4 25.gxf4 Qg7 26.Qe6+ Kh8 27.Rh1 Rae8, White resigns.

15/10 KIA 12/25/2020

Petroff Defense, King's Indian Attack

JimWest (Chess.com 2002) - platinumdi (Chess.com 1896), Chess.com 12/25/2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d3 Nc6 4.g3 d5 5.Nbd2 Be6 6.Bg2 dxe4 7.dxe4 h6 8.O-O Bc5 9.c3 a5 10.a4 O-O 11.Qc2 Qe7 12.Nh4 Ne8 13.Nf5 Qf6 14.Nb3 Bb6 15.Be3 Bxe3 16.Nxe3 b6

17.Nd5 Qd8 18.Rad1 Qg5 19.h4 Qh5 20.Nc1 g5 21.hxg5 hxg5 22.Qe2 Qxe2 23.Nxe2 Kg7 24.f4 gxf4 25.gxf4 f5 26.fxe5 Nxe5 27.Nef4 Bxd5 28.Nxd5 fxe4 29.Rxf8 Kxf8 30.Bxe4 Rd8 31.Rf1+ Kg7 32.Rf5 Nf7 33.Rf2 Rd6

34.Ne3 Nh6 35.Rg2+ Kf8 36.Rg6 Rxg6 37.Bxg6 Nf7 38.Nd5 Kg7 39.Bh5 Nfd6 40.Kf2 Kh6 41.Bxe8 Nxe8 42.Ke3 Kg6 43.Kd4 Kf5 44.b4 Ke6 45.bxa5 bxa5 46.Kc5 Kd7 47.c4 Nd6 48.Ne3 Nb7+ 49.Kb5 Kc8 50.c5 Kb8

51.Nc4 Ka7 52.c6 Nd8 53.Nxa5 Ne6 54.Nb3 Nd8 55.Nd4 Nf7 56.Ne6 Nd6+ 57.Kc5 Ne8 58.Kb5 Nd6+ 59.Ka5 Ne8 60.Nd4 Kb8 61.Nf5 Ka7 62.Kb5 Nf6 63.a5 Ne8 64.a6 Kb8 65.Ka5 Ka7 66.Nd4 Nd6 67.Ne6 Ne8 68.Nc5 Nd6

69.Nb7 Ne8 70.Kb5 Nf6 71.Nc5 Nd5 72.Kc4 Ne7 73.Kb5 Nd5 74.Ne6 Kb8 75.Kc5 Ne7 76.Nxc7 Nc8 77.Nb5 Ne7 78.Kd6 Nc8+ 79.Kd7 Nb6+ 80.Kd8 Nc8 81.a7+ Ka8 82.Kc7 Ne7 83.Kb6 Nc8+ 84.Ka6, Black resigns.

"NY Times" Article on Oliver Boydell

[photo by Christian Rodriguez]

Oliver Boydell [pictured] is featured in this article.

Chess Narcs

International master Ken Regan is one of only a handful of chess narcs on the planet.

15/10 Center Counter 12/22/2020

Center Counter Defense

JimWest (Chess.com 2025) - passknight (Chess.com 2178), Chess.com 12/22/2020

1.e4 d5 2.d3 dxe4 3.dxe4 Qxd1+ 4.Kxd1 e5 5.c3 Bc5 6.f3 f5 7.Bd3 f4 8.Nd2 Be6 9.Bc4 Bxc4 10.Nxc4 Nc6 11.b4 Bxg1 12.Rxg1 b5 13.Na3 a6 14.g3 g5 15.gxf4 gxf4 16.Bd2 Kf7 17.Nc2 Nge7 18.Ke2 Nc8

19.a4 Nd6 20.axb5 axb5 21.Rxa8 Rxa8 22.Ra1 Rxa1 23.Nxa1 Nc4 24.Nb3 Ne7 25.Nc5 Nc8 26.Be1 Ke7 27.Bf2 N8b6 28.Kd3 Nb2+ 29.Kc2 N2a4 30.Nb3 Nc4 31.Nd2 Ne3+ 32.Bxe3 fxe3 33.Nb1 Nb2

34.Na3 c6 35.Kxb2 Kf6 36.Kc2 Kg5 37.Kd3 Kf4 38.Ke2, Black resigns.

10/5 Sicilian 12/21/2020

Sicilian Defense, Najdorf Variation

JimWest (lichess 2200) - Chess_TacTic (lichess 2024), lichess 12/21/2020

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Bb3 b5 8.f4 Bb7 9.f5 Nxe4 10.Nxe4 Bxe4 11.O-O e5 12.Ne2 Be7 13.Ng3 Qb6+ 14.Kh1 Bb7 15.Qg4 O-O

16.Bh6 g6 17.fxg6 hxg6 18.Qxg6+ Kh8 19.Qg7#.

15/10 PCG 12/20/2020

Philidor Counter Gambit

AAT9 (Chess.com 1997) - JimWest (Chess.com 2007), Chess.com 12/20/2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.Nc3 fxe4 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Ng3 e4 7.Ne5 Nf6 8.f3 Bd6 9.fxe4 O-O 10.exd5 Nbd7 11.Bc4 Nxe5 12.dxe5 Bxe5 13.O-O Qd6 14.Qd3 Bd7 15.Bd2 b5 16.Bb3 a5 17.a4 b4

18.Nf5 Bxf5 19.Qxf5 Nxd5 20.Qe4 c6 21.c4 bxc3 22.bxc3 Kh8 23.Bc2 g6 24.Bh6 Rxf1+ 25.Rxf1 Nxc3 26.Qc4 Qd4+ 27.Qxd4 Bxd4+ 28.Kh1 Bg7 29.Bd2 Nd5 30.Rf7 Nb4 31.Bb3 Rd8 32.Bxb4 axb4 33.Rb7 c5

34.h4 Be5 35.Kg1 Rd4 36.a5 c4, White forfeits.

Bach to the Future

According to Garry Kasparov, "Bach introduced many future themes."

15/10 KIA 12/18/2020

French Defense, King's Indian Attack

JimWest (Chess.com 1992) - rathnigamnagar (Chess.com 1861), Chess.com 12/18/2020

1.e4 e6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.g3 c5 5.Bg2 dxe4 6.dxe4 Nc6 7.Ngf3 e5 8.O-O Be7 9.Re1 Bg4 10.c3 O-O 11.Qc2 Qc7 12.a4 Rad8 13.Nc4 h6 14.h3 Bh5 15.Nh4 Rd7 16.Nf5 Rfd8 17.Nxe7+ Nxe7 18.Be3 b6

19.f4 exf4 20.Bxf4 Qc8 21.Ne5 Rd6 22.g4 g5 23.Be3 Nxg4 24.hxg4 Bxg4 25.Nxg4 Qxg4 26.Qe2 Qxe2 27.Rxe2 Ng6 28.a5 Ne5 29.axb6 axb6 30.b4, Black forfeits.

15/10 Latvian 12/17/2020

Latvian Gambit

JimWest (Chess.com 1987) - Breush (Chess.com 1860), Chess.com 12/17/2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5 3.d3 d6 4.Nc3 fxe4 5.dxe4 Nf6 6.Bc4 Nbd7 7.h3 Nb6 8.Bb3 h6 9.Be3 Bd7 10.Qd3 Bc6 11.O-O-O Qd7 12.Kb1 O-O-O 13.Rhe1 Nh5

14.Nd5 Ba4 15.Bxb6 axb6 16.Qc4 Bxb3 17.Nxb6+ Kb8 18.Nxd7+ Rxd7 19.Qxb3 Nf4 20.Nxe5, Black resigns.

15/10 KID 12/16/2020

King's Indian Defense, Four Pawns Attack

eltrax (Chess.com 1856) - JimWest (Chess.com 1981), Chess.com 12/16/2020

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f4 O-O 6.Nf3 c5 7.d5 e6 8.Bd3 exd5 9.cxd5 Re8 10.O-O c4 11.Bc2 b5 12.e5 dxe5 13.fxe5 Qb6+ 14.Qd4 Qxd4+ 15.Nxd4 Rxe5 16.Ndxb5 Na6 17.Bf4 Re8 18.Nd6 Rf8

19.Nxc4 Nb4 20.Ba4 Ba6 21.Bd6 Bxc4 22.Bxb4 Bxf1 23.Bxf8 Rxf8 24.Kxf1 Ng4 25.h3 Bxc3 24.bxc3 Ne3+ 25.Kf2 Nxd5 26.Rc1 Rc8 27.c4 Nb4 28.Rd1 Rxc4 29.Bb3 Rc7 30.Rd4 Nxa2, White resigns.

15/10 KID 12/15/2020

King's Indian Defense, Petrosian Variation

Sussasun (Chess.com 1965) - JimWest (Chess.com 1976), Chess.com 12/15/2020

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.d5 d6 4.Nc3 g6 5.e4 Bg7 6.Be2 O-O 7.Bg5 Nbd7 8.Nf3 h6 9.Be3 Nc5 10.Qc2 a5 11.b3 Ng4 12.Bxc5 dxc5 13.h3 Nf6 14.O-O Ne8 15.Ne1 f5 16.Bd3 Nd6 17.a4 fxe4 18.Nxe4 Bf5 19.Rd1 b6

20.Ng3 Qe7 21.Bxf5 gxf5 22.Nf3 e4 23.Rfe1 Qf6 24.Nh2 Qc3 25.Re2 Qxc2 26.Rxc2 f4 27.Nh5 Bh8 28.Ng4 Kh7 29.g3 fxg3 30.Nxg3 Rf3 31.Ne3 Bd4 32.Re2 Rg8 33.Kg2 Rgxg3+ 34.fxg3 Rxe3 35.Rxe3 Bxe3

36.Rf1 Bd2 37.Rf6 Kg7 38.Re6 e3 39.Kf3 Nf5, White resigns.

15/10 KIA 12/14/2020

Sicilian Defense, King's Indian Attack

JimWest (Chess.com 1968) - deanbui15 (Chess.com 1842), Chess.com 12/14/2020

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d3 g6 4.g3 Bg7 5.Bg2 b6 6.O-O Bb7 7.Nbd2 e6 8.c3 Nge7 9.Qc2 O-O 10.a4 f5 11.exf5 Nxf5 12.Nc4 d5 13.Ne3 d4 14.Nxf5 Rxf5 15.Nh4 Rf7 16.Bd2 Ne5

17.Bxb7 Rxb7 18.c4 Qf6 19.Bf4 Nf7 20.Ng2 g5 21.Bd2 Ne5 22.f4 gxf4 23.Bxf4 Ng4 24.Qe2 Qg6 25.Nh4 Qh5 26.Qxe6+ Kh8 27.Qe4 Rab8 28.Bxb8 Rxb8 29.Rf5 Qe8 30.Qxg4 Qe3+ 31.Kh1 Re8 32.Qf3 Qd2 33.Rf1 Qxb2

34.Rf7 Kg8 35.Rxg7+, Black resigns.

Bobby Fischer Gives Crash Course

Watch Bobby Fischer with Dick Cavett, Sandy Duncan, and Ralph Nader.

10/5 PCG 12/12/2020

Philidor Counter Gambit

Amekkau (lichess 2240) - JimWest (lichess 2207), lichess 12/12/2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.dxe5 fxe4 5.Ng5 d5 6.e6 Bc5 7.Bb5+ c6 8.Be2 Nf6 9.c4 O-O 10.O-O d4 11.Nd2 d3 12.Bg4 e3 13.Nf7 Qe7 14.fxe3 Bxe3+ 15.Kh1 Bxe6

16.Bxe6 Qxe6 17.Re1 Ng4 18.Qf3 Rxf7 19.Rxe3 Qxe3 20.Qxe3 Nxe3 21.Nf3 Nxc4, White resigns.

15/10 KIA 12/11/2020

French Defense, King's Indian Attack

JimWest (Chess.com 1960) - rem1112 (Chess.com 1789), Chess.com 12/11/2020

1.e4 e6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 Ne7 4.g3 Ng6 5.Bg2 c6 6.Ngf3 Be7 7.O-O Nd7 8.Re1 O-O 9.e5 Qc7 10.d4 c5 11.c3 cxd4 12.cxd4 b6 13.Nf1 Ba6 14.Bd2 Bxf1 15.Rxf1 Rac8 16.Rc1 Qb7

17.Qe2 Rxc1 18.Rxc1 Rc8 19.Rxc8+ Qxc8 20.Qd3 f6 21.Bh3 Kf7 22.exf6 gxf6 23.Qc3 Qc4 24.b3 Qxc3 25.Bxc3 Nb8 26.Ne1 h5 27.f4 h4 28.Nf3 hxg3 29.hxg3 f5 30.Bf1 Nc6 31.Bb5 Nb4 32.Bxb4 Bxb4 33.Kf2 Kf6

34.Be8 Ne7 35.Bd7 Bd6 36.Ng5 Bb4 37.Bxe6 Nc6 38.Bxd5 Nxd4 39.Bc4 Bc5 40.Kg2 b5 41.Bd3 a6 42.Nh3 a5 43.Nf2 a4 44.bxa4 bxa4 45.g4 fxg4 46.Ne4+ Kf5 47.Nxc5 Kxf4 48.Nxa4 Ke3 49.Nc5 Nc6 50.Bb5 Ne5 51.a4 Kd4

52.Nd7 Nf7 53.Kg3 Nd6 54.Be2 Nb7 55.Kxg4 Na5 56.Kf5 Kd5 57.Bb5 Kd6 58.Ne5 Kc5 59.Ke6 Nb3 60.Nd7+ Kb4 61.Kd5 Na5 62.Nc5 Ka3 63.Kd4 Kb4 64.Nd3+ Ka3 65.Kc5 Nb7+ 66.Kb6 Nd6 67.a5 Nc8+ 68.Kc7 Ne7

69.Bc6 Kb3 70.a6 Kc4 71.Ne5+ Kc5 72.a7 Nd5+ 73.Bxd5 Kxd5 74.Nc6, Black resigns.