To specially reward those of you who really value my e4-e5 site by subscribing to it, I have introduced another new feature. Subscribers are hereby invited to send me at any time their own particular requests regarding opening lines (stemming from 1 e4 e5) which they would like to see analysed in extra detail on this site. From the subscribers' requests which come in by e-mail to MrMo@ChessPublishing.com, I'll choose (at least) one every month and do a special feature on it. That's what Y.E.S. P.L.E.A.S.E. is all about: Your Extra-Special Pet Lines Extensively Analysed. Super-Effective!!

For example, game G12.23 is dedicated to David Blackburn, who is a really big fan of the Two Knights Defence for Black, and Tom Neal will be pleased to see the Arkhangelsk Variation in action against the Ruy Lopez in game G13.66.

Clearly, I may not be able to answer all requests immediately, but I can promise you that none of them will be ignored. All subscriber requests will be answered as quickly as possible to the very best of my ability.

I look forward to receiving your topics by e-mail, and I thank you for your continued interest in this site.

With Very Best Wishes,

Paul Motwani.

Announcement

The e-pawn emperor's next e4-e5 'monthly update' will be posted on this Internet site towards the end of March, and in the meantime he will, as always, reply personally to as many e-mail messages as possible which come to MrMo@ChessPublishing.com.

Right now, though, there's a tasty new collection of fresh games, puzzles, and other treats to bring you endless hours of enjoyment in a mega bumper-size February update. So let's swiftly move up a gear or two to tackle the first challenge coming rapidly towards us...

Mr Mo's February 2001 Bonus Brainteaser

The opening of the game J.Jovanovic-J.Bokan in a Yugoslavian Team Championship at Kragujevac 2000 was a Ruy Lopez, 3...f5 Schliemann Variation, which led to the following position after White's 19th move, a pawn-capture with 19 Re1xe6:

Black's response was a pinning move that might seem to win, but can you find White's reply which made Black resign at move 20!? A solution will appear on this site at the end of March.

New Index of Openings

Solution to Mr Mo's January 2000 Bonus Brainteaser

The brainteaser was as follows:

The opening of the game R.Molander-A.Ornstein at the Rilton Cup tournament in Stockholm, Sweden 2000, was a King's Gambit which led to the following position after White's 17th move:

Black then proceeded to win very swiftly in a devastating way which you are invited to find.

Solution:

Black found 17...Rxg2+!!, which wins instantly because of 18 Kxg2 Bh3+ 19 Kxh3 Qxe4 or 18 Kf1 Bc4+ or 18 Qxg2 Qh4+ 19 Kf1 Bc4+.

The Birthday Game

This regular feature puts the spotlight on a player of the past or present whose birthday was or still is a day in the current month. For example, GM Sergei Tiviakov (born in Russia on 14.2.1973, but now resident in The Netherlands) is a truly world-class 'February birthday' player, and for our game G12.24 I've chosen his very emphatic victory from the Rotterdam 2000 Dutch Championship as White in the Giuoco Piano against GM Erik van den Doel.

Would YOU like to star in The Birthday Game? If so, please send an e-mail to MrMo@ChessPublishing.com sometime between the 1st and 15th day of the month preceding your birthday month, and include the following information to be considered by Mr Mo: your name, date & place of birth, and one of your own games starting with 1 e4 e5 (or another acceptable move-order such as 1 e4 Nc6 2 Nf3 e5 or 1 e4 d6 2 d4 Nf6 3 Nc3 e5). Although annotations are not strictly necessary (since Mr Mo will always analyse the game too), your own personal notes would certainly be most welcomed. Please do mention where and when the game was played, and also state the players' names (together with ratings, if applicable).

Don't be shy-let us celebrate YOUR birthday too!

By the way, since James Bond is about the same age as myself- we both 'arrived on the scene' in 1962, as my delivery doctor knows like 007's Dr No!- I'll conclude this section with 'Happy Birthday' in 007 different languages that I've had at least some exposure to:

Happy Birthday (English)

Shengri kuai le (Mandarin)

Heureux Anniversaire (French)

Gelukkig Verjaardag (Dutch)

Herzliche Wünsche zum Geburtstag (German)

Buon Compleanno (Italian)

Felicidades (Spanish)

Thanks

Special thanks this month to subscriber Sonny Kamberi of Dallas, Texas, and to Belgium's Jonas Verheyden and Nico Verheyen (not related!), all of whom recently sent me very useful information which certainly enhances the quality of this e4-e5 Internet site.

Dedication

This seventeenth update (since the initial launch material in September 1999) is dedicated to Belgium's Jonas Verheyden, who also stars as our newest Hero of the Month.

New Highlights

Tons of fresh mouth-watering goodies await us, including a double dose of Ruy Lopez games in the dynamic duo G13.66-G13.67, where you'll also find other handy supplementary bonuses.

Still, the main flavour coming through this month's menu is Italian, as you'll see from the spicy sextet of games G12.23, G12.24, G12.25, G12.26, and G12.27...I know, that's only five, but there's a really close relative in the Bishop's Opening of game G2.8! The King's Gambit always provides lots of excitement too, and that reputation is enhanced by games G4.29-G4.30. If you can't sleep after so much drama, then the Four Knights Game of G11.10 will keep you busy all (k)night!! In general, the action-packed battles are made even more irresistible by the presence of related challenging puzzles, which can also be seen in the section called "Puzzle Paradise".

And the feast is still far from over yet...! Further courses include the very select stimulating material that appears in the Reflection Zone, but only subscribers can access that section and all the juicy annotated games too.

M.O. Moves

It's a personal choice, but for me three of the Most Outstanding Moves from the games within this month's update material are the sizzling sacrifice 13...Qxg3+!! in game G12.23, and the equally stunning 9...Nf3+!! which was a nightmare for White in G11.10!

Rewind Reward

The key idea here is that (although in general we focus on recent happenings) it still pays off to study some memorable older material. For instance, this month's M. O. Moves were actually played early in the last century, but the games being selected again now are still highly instructive (and entertaining too!).

February 2001 Hero Puzzle

The challenge is to do as well as Jonas Verheyden by finding how White plays and wins from the following position thought up in 1982 by Italian composer M.Travasoni:-

The solution will appear in next month's 'update', but meanwhile enjoy all the goodies awaiting you now on this site...

Solution to January 2001 Hero Puzzle

The puzzle was as follows:

Two of my favourite creative chessplayers are IM Roddy McKay and GM Oleg Romanishin. Which one is the older of the two, and by how much?

Answer:

Last month's Birthday Game and Hero of the Month features contained the key information that GM Oleg Romanishin and IM Roddy McKay were born on 10.1.1952 and 11.2.1952 respectively. So it can readily be seen that Romanishin is 32 days older.

Motto of the Month

The previous launch and update material laid the foundations for further enjoyable adventures with 1 e4 e5 as our chosen starting point. This month, the fresh games feature a feast of inspiring attacking play in which the victors are very well-rewarded for their courageous actions. So, my chosen motto this time comes from the legendary Bruce Lee, whose following statement encourages us to be brave instead of holding back:

"Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by not fearing to attempt".

Codename Olivetto

The title sounds like a James Bond assignment, but it's actually much less dangerous! At the special request of subscriber Livio Olivetto, from July 2000 onwards all new main or complete games on this e4-e5 site have been labelled with an ECO code from the range C20-C99, to match the particular opening variations featured. The codes provide an extra means of identifying games containing one's own favourite opening lines, and so the codes are being given in the Index of New Games. Some people may like to construct, for their own personal use, a complete index of games according to ECO codes, but since I know that many readers would find its appearance to be rather abstract, I shall leave it as a project to be done at home only by people who are really big fans of ECO codes!