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 G12.31 is dedicated to Noel Aldebol, who is clearly a big fan of the fascinating Koltanowski Variation. Also, Doug Schwetke will be pleased to see a really amazing counter-attacking idea for Black against 4 Ng5 in the Two Knights Defence starring in this month's Reflection Zone. The other goodies there include some discussion of Smyslov's 3 g3 system in the Vienna Game, especially for Craig Clawitter.

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 around the end of October, 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 September update. So let's swiftly move up a gear or two to tackle the first challenge coming rapidly towards us...

Mr Mo's September 2001 Bonus Brainteaser

Although this site primarily looks at openings stemming from 1 e4 e5, we should certainly not forget to keep our endgame skills in shape. And so for a wee change this month, consider the following position which arose after White's 43rd move in the game P.Motwani-P.Span, Tilburg 2001:

Your challenge is to determine: what should be the result of the game with best play from now on?

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

New Index of Openings

Solution to Mr Mo's August 2001 Bonus Brainteaser

The brainteaser was as follows:

The opening of the game K.Arakhamia-P.Motwani at the 2001 Scottish Championship was a Berlin Defence to the Ruy Lopez beginning with the moves 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 Nf6 4 0-0 Nxe4 5 d4 Nd6 6 Bxc6 dxc6 7 dxe5 Nf5 8 Qxd8+ Kxd8 9 Nc3 h6 10 Rd1+, which produced this position:

Black's legal options then included the trio 10...Bd7, 10...Ke8, 10...Ke7, but two of those three moves actually lose by force. Can you discover why?

Solution:-

I played 10...Ke8 because 10...Ke7?? would lose instantly to 11 g4, and a similar line is 10...Bd7?? 11 g4! Ne7 12 e6! fxe6 13 Ne5 which leaves Black in double trouble at d7, f7: much more convincing for White than 11 e6 fxe6 12 Ne5 Nd6!.

Revisiting Mr Mo's March 2001 Bonus Brainteaser

The brainteaser was introduced as follows.

The opening of the encounter P.Delekta-E.Geller in the 1992 Cappelle-la-Grande Open tournament was a Vienna Game with 3 Bc4 which led to the following position after White's 17th move:

You were then invited to find "the winning move which GM Efim Geller now played as Black", but a recent e-mail from Michael Callinan has shown that although Geller's 17...g6 won quickly after 18 Ng3? Qxg3!! 0-1 (with White resigning in view of 19 hxg3 g5 because there is then no decent answer to the threat of 20...Rh6#), White could actually have resisted much more tenaciously with a brilliant 18th move which just leaves the attacked knight at f5! Can you find the same very clever saving resource that Michael Callinan discovered?

Solution:-

White should definitely try 18 g4!!, the point being that if 18...gxf5, then he recaptures 19 gxf5 threatening 20 fxe6 or 20 Rg1. Sneaky stuff!!

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, Belarus's super-GM Alexei Fedorov (born on 27.9.1972) is a truly world-class 'September birthday' star, whose favourite opening really seems to be the ever-eventful swashbuckling King's Gambit! So, as a celebration in game G4.41 , I've decided to bring back the unforgettable 1851 Anderssen-Kieseritzky King's Gambit encounter which has, for a century and a half already, been called 'The Immortal Game'.

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

Extra-special thanks this month to Noel Aldebol, who recently sent me an attractive win involving the Koltanowski Variation featuring in game G12.31.

Thanks also to Craig Clawitter and Doug Schwetke, both of whom made helpful contributions which certainly enhance the quality of this e4-e5 Internet site.

Dedication

This twenty-fourth update (since the initial launch material in September 1999) is dedicated to Noel Aldebol, who recently sent me an attractive win involving the Koltanowski Variation featuring in game G12.31.

New Highlights

Tons of fresh mouth-watering goodies await us, including yet another Ruy Lopez game, G13.82 , in which Black sacrifices a rook and a bishop! By comparison, the single rook or knight sacrifices respectively in G9.22 , G3.19 may seem tame, but the latter one actually busted a major line back in 1969, and returns now as my chosen Game of the Month. Still, if your appetite really demands mega-level pounding, then I trust you'll be satisfied with the winner's investment of Q+2R+B to force mate at move 23 in the ever-eventful swashbuckling King's Gambit of game G4.41 !! The fascinating Koltanowski Variation makes a welcome return in G12.31 , and things also look bright for White in G6.13 as Philidor's Defence gets filled in! It's another White victory for the Vienna too in G3.20. However, Black strikes back with petrifying force as the Petroff Defence of G7.18 claims a super-GM victim in only 25 moves. History again repeats itself when 'The Scotch' takes a scorching in G9.21.

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...! If you can't sleep after so much drama...then a stunning Reflection Zone idea in the Two Knights Defence will keep you busy all (k)night(!!), 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 the queen-sacrifice 22 Qf6+! in game G4.41 and Gufeld's great 15 Nf6+!! in game G3.19 , my chosen Game of the Month. By the way, a trio of my own personal efforts involved successful sacrifices of a bishop in G3.20 , a rook in G9.22 , and then rook plus bishop in G13.82 !

Rewind Reward

The key idea here is that (although in general we focus on fairly recent happenings) it still pays off to study some memorable older material. For instance, game G3.19 from 1969 shows Georgian GM Eduard Gufeld busting a then major line with the aid of a stunning knight-sacrifice. That event clearly happened many years ago, but the game being selected again now is 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 G3.19 , in which Georgian GM Eduard Gufeld busts a once major line with the aid of a stunning knight-sacrifice.

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 most of the victors are rewarded very quickly for having the courage to venture with an ultra-bold uninhibited creative style, making every precious move really count. So, a really fine motto now is provided by the following wonderful words from Henry Miller: "Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognise it as such".

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!