English Chess Forum

Just a piece of advice to those players interested in this variation: get rid of your ligth sq bishop in this variation and you'll be fine! Whilst exploiting the good knight bad bishop ending is always a neat way of beating the French and the Kings Indian, there are other positions where the "bad" ...

I see that you avoid replying to the point about the positional fundamentals and the issue with results. Having played for fifty years at around a 2000 standard, I'm now under-impressed with dogmatic thinking about supposed positional fundamentals. Engines have shown us that moves and plans conside...

Er... I''m not sure I follow your logic here. Nobody cares if our game looks old fashioned if the position is good and positionally sound. In the hands of Capablanca, the Exchange variation could look like a forced win for White. More to the point, the technical plans for White are known even by lo...

Today's opening - a Wing Gambit of sorts. 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. O-O Bg7 5. Re1 e5 6. b4 Nxb4 7. Bb2 a6 8. a3 axb5 9. axb4 Rxa1 10. Bxa1 d6 11. bxc5 Ne7 12. Qe2 b4 13. Qc4 Qa5 * It appears to have been already a known idea in the 1960s, although I only have Adam Ashton on record of English...

Nigel : and people would be complaining much less about draws." They would be complaining instead that White's winning percentage was too high. Think of all those defences where Black sacrifices a pawn for equality such as the Benko and Marshall. Stalemate being a draw underpins those that King and...

- what's the single longest think during a world championship game? Game 5 in 1993 is a contender. That's where Short came up with a novelty in the Nimzo in which best play may have been a forced repetition. It occupied most of the first hour slot on the Channel 4 coverage for good measure. But I'd...

Nonetheless, 1993 is the correct answer. The 1993 match had a move rate of 40 moves in two hours, followed by 20 moves in one hour. At the end of the six hour session there would have been an adjournment with the rest of the game played at 20 moves an hour. In practice they always managed to finish...

The Classic has proved that there’s a big potential live audience for chess events in London. It's a slight cheat that there's a week long chess festival running alongside, particularly with the trick that their rounds start half an hour after the games in the theatre. But I agree that "tourists" w...

David Sedgwick wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 11, 2018 8:04 am

Agon have now been organising World Championships and Candidates Tournaments for five years.

Ignoring the large hall where the Open takes place, how does the size of the venue compare to the Foyer, Theatre, VIP room and commentary room familiar to many of us from the London Classic?

Fabiano played into such a passive position. chessbomb stockfiah gives four moves for Black at move 21, none of which are Bxh5, all with an evaluation of better for Black 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. d3 Bg7 6. h3 Nf6 7. Nc3 Nd7 8. Be3 e5 9. O-O b6 10. Nh2 Nf8 11. f4 exf4 12. Rxf4 B...

Would someone mind putting a board up and updating it on here? According to chessbomb, this is the story so far. 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. d3 Bg7 6. h3 Nf6 7. Nc3 Nd7 8. Be3 e5 9. O-O b6 10. Nh2 Nf8 11. f4 exf4 12. Rxf4 Be6 13. Rf2 h6 14. Qd2 g5 15. Raf1 Qd6 * I was struck by so...

soheil_hooshdaran wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 08, 2018 2:33 pm

GM Grivas claims White's (Karpov's) pieces are.

The game shows the White minor pieces staying put and White charging up the board with the f and g pawns to open up lines to the Black king. Not an obvious strategy by any means, which is perhaps why Grivas put it in the book.

soheil_hooshdaran wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 08, 2018 9:25 am

How can advancing the pawns bring victory?

It's a Benoni type of position. One of the usual plans is to charge up the middle with pawns. Is that what happens in the game? Admittedly the Knight on e4 is in the way at the moment.

Martin Crichton wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 08, 2018 8:49 am

I had not considered that he might have had an accomplice

The 4NCL arbiters had put up signs excluding parents from the toilets immediately outside the playing area. I gather this was in response to an incident somewhere else. Presumably parents who were also playing were excepted.

carry the day means to bring victory. But I cann't fathom it. As you suggest, the phrase could have been written My pieces are standing well, so I think that my pawns should bring victory. or, if the context is right My pieces are standing well, so I think that advancing my pawns should bring victo...