Closed Sicilian

[Geoff Chandler]

My DB of Millions and Millions of short games and traps shows
nobody has 'yet' fallen for 5.Nge2 Nf3 mate.

I suspect that is because 4....Nd4 is still quite rare.

Good. I'll put it in the....

'Get Them Before Their Bum Get's Warm'. Chapter.

Mathew first spotted it so I'll called it "The Turner Trap."
(my imagination knows no bounds).

A perfect wee opening trap as it does not damage the Black position.

That will teach White for being such a crapper and not playing the Open Sicilian.
Black moves a piece twice in the opening, sets White a one move trap and gets away with it.

It reminds me of that old one in the Lopez.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nge7 4. Nc3 g6 5. d4 exd4 6. Nd5 Bg7 7. Nxd4
Bxd4 8. Qxd4 Nxd4 9. Nf6+ Kf8 10. Bh6 mate.

[Anthony Taglione]

Good players always appreciate a sparkling one-move combination.

[Ola Winfridsson]

Interesting. 6.f4 feels a tad premature, though. Do you have a results breakdown on those 70 games?

Overall white scored just 45% on 71 games. However in 26 games, white played Nce2 with a 54% score.

Many Closed Sicilian lines do badly for white in % terms. 1 e4 c5 2 Nc3 Nc6 only scores 49% in aggregate although 3 Bb5 scores 59%.

My guess is that that's because the Closed variation is much more demanding in terms of understanding than the Rossolimo and Moscow variations - the ideas there are easier to grasp and therefore comparatively simpler to play. Also, I find that it's very easy to get move-ordered in the Closed Sicilian.

[Peter Rhodes]

It was a weird turn of fate that after reading this article my opponent would play along these lines ...7Nd4.

After the Nd2 c3 plan he simply decided to retreat. The game continued nicely until I snatched a draw from the jaws of victory. I have terrible problems with concentration and missed a my opponents combination that was staring me in the face ! In fact one of the reasons I'm returning to chess is to improve my concentration. Rather embarassing really. After 4 years away from chess I'm still pretty rusty I guess.

[Site "Coulsdon"]
[Date "2010.03.08"]
[White "Rhodes, Peter"]
[Black "Khan, Qaiyum"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B23"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 e6 3. f4 a6 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. g3 g6 6. Bg2 Bg7 7. d3 Nd4 8. O-O Ne7
9. Ne2 O-O 10. c3 Ndc6 11. Qc2 d6 12. Bd2 b5 13. Rae1 Bb7 14. Nh4 Rb8 15. f5
exf5 16. exf5 f6 17. fxg6 hxg6 18. Nf4 Rf7 19. Nhxg6 Nxg6 20. Nxg6 Ne5 21. Bxb7
Rbxb7 22. Nxe5 dxe5 23. Be3 Qd5 24. c4 bxc4 25. dxc4 Qc6 26. Rd1 Rbd7 27. Qg2
e4 28. Qf2 Rc7 29. Rd5 Bf8 30. Qf5 Qe8 31. Qg6+ Bg7 32. b3 Qe7 33. Rf4 f5 34.
Rfxf5 Rxf5 35. Qxf5 a5 36. Bxc5 Rxc5 37. Rxc5 Bd4+ 38. Kf1 Bxc5 39. Qg6+ Kf8
40. Qf5+ Qf7 41. Qxf7+ Kxf7 42. g4 Kg6 43. h4 Kf6 44. Ke2 Kg6 45. Kd2 Kf6 46.
Ke2 Kg6 47. Kd2 Kf6 48. Ke2 1/2-1/2

[Anthony Taglione]

32. Rxf6. His rook is pinned.

[John Moore]

I doubt that Peter was looking to be told the winning move!

[Peter Rhodes]

heheh, no probs it's nice to get some feedback good or bad.

That move RxP would have solved alot of problems. Tbh it's the sort of thing I should be spotting if I am going to get any further. I'm usually "ok" tactically. This is a bad omen for uxbridge !!

[Anthony Taglione]

I used to call it chess blindness and it's a sad aspect of stopping for a while. Your play was much stronger than that of the opponent and you were handing him his just desserts. You lost your vision around that point, though, and walked into his bishop fork. It was a nice save after that.

I wish I had some good advice on how to clear it away and make the obvious be obvious once more. Mine feels as though it's slowly clearing.

I feel I've been helped by ploughing through these and I've only gotten as far as Bacrot.
http://www.wtharvey.com/index.html

Knowing that there's "something" in these positions helps to force one to look for it. Some days, though, the pieces might as well be random for me.

On another note, if I'm not being too presumptuous, it might be worth having your hormone levels checked. Thyroid imbalances can contribute to a difficulty with concentration and it's one that doctors are usually willing to test with little hassle.

[Peter Rhodes]

thanks Anthony,

I am due to see the doctor this week - so I'll mention it

[Nick Ivell]

I remember the late Bob Wade giving me some excellent advice before a clock simul against Smyslov in the mid-70s. His advice to defend against the Closed was twofold:

1. Whenever White threatens a deferred d4, play ...Nd4 - not before.
2. Whenever White threatens f5, Black plays ....f5 himself.

These are good rules of thumb. Clearly implied is that early doors ...Nge7 is safer than ...Nf6, so as to avoid the problems Geller ran into against Spassky in their candidates match. Anyone who plays the Closed should study this game. I still rely on it for my opening 'theory'!

Back to the simul.... In the event I got the white pieces, so never got the chance to put Bob's advice into practice.

[Phil Neatherway]

Nh6 is an alternative to Nge7 which I've tried occasionally. You follow up with f5, O-O, Kh8 and Be6 and play on the Queen side. It's worth a few minutes on the clock if nothing else.

[Nick Ivell]

Nh6 is an alternative to Nge7 which I've tried occasionally. You follow up with f5, O-O, Kh8 and Be6 and play on the Queen side. It's worth a few minutes on the clock if nothing else.

Interesting! I have never faced that idea.

I will say at the outset that I don't believe the Closed offers White more than equality. I only play it to avoid theory. I played Open lines as a junior but soon got discouraged by the amount of theory involved.

Was it Larsen who described open lines (3. d4) as 'anti-positional'? Well, I will take his word for it...

[Phil Neatherway]

It was Larsen who described 3. d4 as a cheap trick, commenting that he liked his centre pawns.

[Nick Ivell]

It was Larsen who described 3. d4 as a cheap trick, commenting that he liked his centre pawns.

I am sure Bent had his tongue in his cheek. Common sense suggests that White's lead in development gives ample compensation for the exchange of the central pawn.

Not that I will ever play open lines - way too lazy for that.

[Phil Neatherway]

There are so many anti-Sicilians these days - c3 lines, Bb5 lines and of course the Closed Sicilian, that perhaps it's worth playing d4 as a suprise weapon!