April '00 Update
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Quality and service have been on my mind quite a bit lately. For one thing, the April instalment of Daring Defences has been pushing perilously close to looking like the May issue, and that is not my idea of good service.
On the other hand, some of the delay has been out of my hands as a series of computer mishaps repeatedly torched my data, finally ending when my machine made the smart choice and committed suicide before I could throttle it myself.
In these digital times one really has to be careful, and luckily precautionary measures just meant delays rather than being thrown back to the typewriter age. But one is never prepared for a tool that insists, repeatedly, on causing trouble. And this too is a service issue - if I had chosen to pay a bit more for the assurance of reliability, then I would have speedy assistance instead of a support policy that consists of being mailed a hammer so I could bash my computer to bits myself.
This has a bearing on Chesspublishing as well - at least I think so. Although I can only be completely sure of what service my readers want if they tell me, I can at least conscientiously perform the dirty work - sifting through piles of games in search of theoretical novelties or unusually educational tussles. But there are times when the question of quality control enters into this job as well.
Quite often, a high percentage of the games in this section are fought out in what we can (euphemistically) call the trenches. There are not a lot of household names who are daring defenders - this is more a place for people who like a thrill, take some risks, and prefer an element of gambling rather than the dull percentages. So, sometimes, there are some pretty ragged games here, by some pretty scrappy players. It seems to me that this is one of those months.
One can argue that a lot of the rather unpredictable goings-on that occur in this instalment give a taste of what one can expect to encounter at non-super-my-name-starts-with-a-K-and-ends-in-ov/nik tournaments. In any event, I have chosen to emphasize the strategic points of many of this month's games, rather than dwell on theoretical details, to try to put some of these occasionally irrational games into perspective.
Benko (JT)
Turning to that most respectable of gambits, the Benko, we do see some muscular grandmasterly types (actually, this month's selection of games features a lot of famous names - Kasparov, Petrosian, Salov - but all of these guys are lighter versions).
In DD348 Korchnoi rolls out his current favourite system against Finnish Benko stalwart Salmensuu. This line has been reasonably popular lately, and Korchnoi makes it look like an uphill struggle for black, though it seems to me he rushed things a bit and black should have escaped. Why anyone would play a gambit against Korchnoi baffles me completely. When one thinks back over some of the punishment he has risked to grab little morsels, handing him a pawn as black ...
The other highlight of the section is the brawl between Spraggett and Kogan. This is in the fashionable line of the fianchetto variation (which I continue to go on about) and black takes a very direct approach. The game ended in a lot of violence and a repetition of moves. My feeling is that black still has not demonstrated a reliable way to combat this variation, and he was most likely in big trouble objectively.
Kruppa - Kasparov (S. not G.) brought back some memories. This system with an early fianchetto of White's dark squared bishop has a lot of logic behind it and it also resembles the type of positions reached in the line above. This line never caught on but is worth noting. If I remember correctly, some Benko aficionados prefer to play ...g6 very early, and discouraging this system could well be one of the reasons.
Other Games:
Budapest (JT)
The Blumenfeld produced no game of real interest, but there were some interesting Budapests and a startling number of Fajarowiczs. The Fajarowicz did not get on the scoreboard, though Gregoir - Schrevens was not at all bad for black. The other two were mismatches and the happy gambiteers lost in gruesome fashion. A real hardcore devotee might find the games in the notes more cheering, as improvements (I would not go as far as saying solutions) do exist.
The Budapest proper produced its usual tactical cutie involving rampaging rooks. Kahn was bluffing a bit but one has to appreciate someone who can attack with such non-stop abandon. Durando - Duda was of minor theoretical interest, with white finding a bruising way of handling a line that is already considered to be very doubtful for black.
Other Games:
English Defence (JT)
Which brings us to the continuingly popular English Defence. Here we do see some respected names on both sides of the position. The adventures of Bricard in Reykjavik raise some interesting questions. It seems that a couple of big-fisted players were happy to debate a highly obscure sideline against the English D, see DD350 and DD351. Although White emerged with a plus score, the theoretical debate really has just begun here, and Sokolov can consider himself very fortunate to have escaped. What is most intriguing to me is that two hard-hitting professionals could not find a more objectively testing way to play against this opening, but that may just be a sign that non-theory grows in appeal these days.
In DD344 Yermolinsky and Blatny debated one of the more critical lines, and black revealed a new idea in one of the quieter gambit continuations (yes, there is a scale of gambits in this branch of the English, from quiet to deafening). White always looked to have the better of it, but was pestered enough to eventually release his grip.
Sakalauskas - Sulskis is a drastic and entertaining game. White makes a lot of strategic concessions to entomb black's light-squared bishop, and comes under a slow but fierce attack that really should have ended in a flashy win for black, but ... it appears that the infamously hideous head of time pressure derailed his logical train of thought.
Other Games:
Old Indian (JT)
Only one game of interest from the various lines of the Old Indian, but a thought provoking game that has great educational value. Epishin swaps queens early and makes what is widely accepted to be a harmless line look rather poisonous. DD369 is worth examining for either side of this variation. Also worth checking out is DD371 for an example of some cheap tactics involving the unveiling of queens on the c-file in the Old Indian.
Other Games: