November '01 Update
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This is a rather thin instalment, at least relatively speaking. There are few theoretical bombshells, certainly compared to recent months, and most of the action was in the dark alleyways of these already shadowy openings. First, a quick memorial: |
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The real, grim, news for DD this time is the premature passing of the king of the maverick defence, English GM Tony Miles. Just a week or so before his death Tony had been in touch about this site, and asking if there was something we might do to let him have a more active role than occasionally mailing in with reactions.
I still cannot believe it. Miles was always a witty and fiercely irreverent man, and his playing style made this abundantly clear. His total inability to respect the revered Soviet GMs and his pugnacious style and bold openings were a much needed injection of adrenaline into English and western chess. Off the board this disdain for pretension made Miles an affable fellow who was happy to relax with a pint and chatter with anyone.
I offer up three suggestions for the essential Miles Daring Defences. The first is his win over Farago with the English Defence, NOV01/06. I was present for this game and remember watching nearly slack-jawed as Tony dismantled the Hungarian GM with moves so energetic and brutal they almost seemed illegal.
Next, one can hardly leave out his incredible win over vintage Karpov with 1...a6, NOV01/01. If the Farago game gave off an almost rude energy, it is hard to describe the effect that Miles' win over the reigning champion with 1...a6 had - but I'm not sure that mooning Karpov would have had a bigger impact in terms of shock.
For the modern period, I refer readers to his win over Baburin in a lovely game that did much to stimulate interest in the Hippo, which was annotated earlier, see Baburin - Miles.
Bon Voyage, big Tone - we'll miss you.
GM Jonathan Tisdall
Benko
Epishin had a rather neat idea in the g3 line vs. the Benko but, NOV01/17, despite winning, it didn't really seem to work. At least, I cannot understand why Black was not fine at several critical points.
There are several other more conventional interpretations of this popular line this month, and Black seems to be struggling still in the rather classical responses. I had been looking forward to some further discussions of the more original tries from Black seen in earlier episodes (e.g. Epishin-Halkias).
Other Games:
Blumenfeld
Had time off.
Budapest and Fajarowicz
Not much to report here, two games where Black got into trouble unnecessarily, by not knowing, or caring, about existing theory. A scary thing to say in this section of the website, but as mentioned before, playing offbeat lines doesn't mean you get to skip school entirely - some lessons have got to be learnt.
Games:
The Albin
The Albin was quiet after the extravaganza in the previous instalment. The game, NOV01/07, is another advertisement for the ...Bg4 variations which seem more viable than the more popular castle long and shove the h-pawn approach.
English Defence (and other ...b6 lines)
The biggest pure novelty award goes to Loek van Wely who put a reasonably popular line to a critical test with a rather blunt new move. Lputian reacted resourcefully, but I think missed the only chance to really keep the line afloat - a very sharp game which deserves close scrutiny- NOV01/08.
This section also produced the nicest games. Speelman does an instructive job of squeezing the most out of a standard type of position for Black, NOV01/09, and the Hippo Nielsen-Bischoff, NOV01/10, is a great tussle, with a gorgeous variation that went unseen. Another important game for Hippo lovers was Dorfman-Miezis, NOV01/12. Black's idea is neat but may not stand up to closer examination. I have also included the memorial game Farago-Miles, NOV01/06.
Other Games:
1...Nc6
The lack of mainstream DDs is reflected by the continuing and almost total focus on the bizarre 1.e4 Nc6 2.Nf3 f5 line, which Finnish players in particular seem to have adopted. An overview of the truly insane lines where White tries to hold the f5 pawn is on offer for the curious.
The Games:
1...a6
Features in the classic memorial game Karpov-Miles, NOV01/01.
Please send feedback to the mailbag jt@chesspublishing.com