What's Hot- Feb '00
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In the chess world the Year 2000 has started with the news that Garry Kasparov is still dominant and he proved this with an impressive victory at the very strong tournament in Wijk aan Zee. What you won't find are many reports on how lucky he was! His game against Nigel Short is a good example that an understanding of the general ideas behind the openings is much more important than memorising variations. |
In the game Short - Kasparov, White plays the Closed Sicilian to avoid Black's infamous theoretical preparation. It is a triumph that should inspire anyone who wants to play standard developing moves and delay the struggle to the middlegame. Short later lets his advantage slip and Kasparov holds on to the draw. If the Closed Sicilian is good enough against the best player in the world then try it with confidence against anyone.
In the game Conquest - Cvitan, White tries a slightly different approach on move nine with an early Nh3 to help create dynamic play on the kingside. This theme is also considered in Yudasin - Dzhandzhava where white plays a quick f4-f5 and gambits a pawn.
Finally, Lazic - Ilincic, restores some pride for Black by using a different set-up than Kasparov and White soon goes wrong.
All the games are fully annotated.
You can send me your queries and games to the usual e-mail address, garylane@chesspublishing.com.