The Ruy Lopez, 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5, is such an important opening that it already features far more than any of the numerous other e4-e5 systems which have appeared on this site since its launch in September 1999. So, just for a change, we're now having one Lopez-free update this month! Still, you'll find plenty of other action-packed goodies as always. Please read on...and have lots of fun!

Introducing "Y.E.S. P.L.E.A.S.E."

Dear Readers,

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, games G5.5 and G5.6 are dedicated to Noel Aldebol, a Latvian Gambit follower. Also, game G12.30 should please David Blackburn, who has great interest in the Two Knights Defence.

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 August, 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 juicy July update. So let's swiftly move up a gear or two to tackle the first challenge coming rapidly towards us...

Mr Mo's July 2001 Bonus Brainteaser

The opening of the game R.Zelcic-V.Malaniuk at the 1992 Katowice Open tournament in Poland began as a Philidor Defence, which led to the following position after Black's 20th move:

Your challenge is to find GM Robert Zelcic's stunning 21st move which caused GM Vladimir Malaniuk to resign!

A solution will appear on this site around the end of August.

New Index of Openings

Solution to Mr Mo's June 2001 Bonus Brainteaser

The brainteaser was as follows:

The opening of the recent game F.De la Paz-A.Wohl at Cuba's 36th Capablanca Memorial tournament began as a Philidor Defence, which led to the following position after White's 7th move:

Unfortunately, IM Alex Wohl's next move (NOT involving any PAWN, and not actually putting anything "en prise") lost immediately to his opponent's reply, which then caused Black to resign!! Your challenge is to work out how the game finished.

Solution:-

The game finished 7...Re8?? 8 Bxf7+! 1-0, with IM Alex Wohl resigning on account of 8...Kxf7 9 Ng5+ Kg8 10 Ne6, trapping Black's queen.

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, super-GM Alexei Shirov (born in Riga, Latvia, on 4.7.1972, but now resident in Spain) is a truly world-class 'July birthday' player, and for our game G4.38 I've chosen his sizzling 17-move win using the irresistible Muzio Gambit to deadly effect as White against J.Lapinski at Daugavpils in 1990.

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 subscribers Noel Aldebol who recently sent me very useful information which certainly enhances the quality of this e4-e5 Internet site.

Dedication

This twenty-second update (since the initial launch material in September 1999) is dedicated to Noel Aldebol, who is an avid follower of the Latvian Gambit which features in games G5.5 and G5.6.

New Highlights

Tons of fresh mouth-watering goodies await us, including a double helping of King's Gambit games in the powerful pair G4.38-G4.39, where you'll also find other handy supplementary bonuses such as how to beat a World Champion in only 12 moves!! All is revealed in my chosen Game of the Month...

Another interesting contribution to this month's menu is made by young super-GM Ruslan Ponomariov punishing the Petroff Defence in G7.16, and fellow-Ukrainian GM Vladimir Malaniuk being even more merciless in G11.14 where he scorches the Scotch Four Knights! Looking for other deadly dynamic duos too? OK, check out games G5.5 and G5.6 in which two opponents facing Sweden's GM Jonny Hector take a lashing as White in the Latvian Gambit!

Understandably, if you can't sleep after so much drama...then the bold Two Knights Defence of G12.30 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 two of the Most Outstanding Moves from the games within this month's update material are Alexei Shirov's blistering bishop-move 15 Bd6!! that briskly finishes off the opposition in game G4.38, and White's stunning 21st-move sacrifice which induces immediate resignation from the shocked GM on the receiving end in Mr Mo's July 2001 Bonus Brainteaser.

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, games G5.5 and G5.6 from the 1980s show Sweden's GM Jonny Hector using the Latvian Gambit to great effect in two encounters which clearly happened many years ago, but those games being selected again now are still highly instructive (and entertaining too!).

Game of the Month

It's a personal choice, but for me the most absorbing game in this month's update material is G4.39: a case of a World Champion getting obliterated in a mere 12 moves!!

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 highly rewarded for having the courage to venture with an ultra-bold uninhibited creative style. So, my chosen motto this time comes from the late great American inventor, Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931), who stated "You see things and you say 'Why'? But I dream things that never were; and I say 'Why Not'?".

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!