Greenpoint Chess and Go Club

Hilarious game and worth all 271 moves: Rybka (Computer) vs Hikaru Nakamura.

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Shabalov Attack

SHABALOV’S 7 G4!?

The Shabalov Attack is an all out attempt for the full point against the Meran-Semi Slav.  Following the moves 1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 Nc3 e6 5 e3 Nbd7 6 Qc2 Bd6 7 g4!?, black is faced with the difficult question of whether to accept the “gambit.” The g4 pawn thrust is a common attacking move in many Sicilian systems for white: the Keres attack, the Yugoslav attack, and the English attack, only to name a few.  However, the move is rarely seen in Queen’s pawn games.  With 7 g4!?, white is threatening to boost black’s knight from its comfortable home on f6 and steamroll on with an early kingside initiative.  In his book “The Meran System,” Steffan Pederson offers four logical replies to the tactical gauntlet implicit in 7 g4: (1) 7…h6(2) 7…dxc4 (3) 7…Nxg4 (4) 7…Bb4, with Nxg4 being the critical reply.

After 7…Nxg4, 8 Rg1 f5(suggested by Kasparov) black is behind in development , though white’s uncoordinated pieces nearly compensates for this.  A suggested line leading to equality following this move continues: 9 h3 Ngf6 10 Rxg7 Ne4 11 Bd2 Qf6  (here, black can also try to exchange rooks with 11…Kf8, releasing some of the tension in the position- this move is more to my taste than the text move.) 12 Rg2 Nf8 13 0-0-0 Ng6 14 Be2 (consider 14 Kb1 Bd7 15 Ka1 ? a6? 16 cxd5 Nxc3 17 Bxc3 exd5 18 Bd3+-) Bd7 15 Rdg1 0-0-0 16 Be1 Kb8 17 Kb1 Ka8 18 Ka1 Qe7 with equal chances Soffer-Wells, Budapest 1994.
Perhaps the best way to answer the Shabolov attack is to follow what Shabalov himself does when faced with his own idea.  In the following game, Shabalov reaches equality easily.  7…h6 8 Rg1 Qe7 9 h4 dxc4 10 e4 e5 11 g5 Nh5 12 Bxc4 exd4 13 Nxd4 Nb6 14 Be2 Nf4 15 Be3 h5 16 0-0-0 g6 17 Kb1 Bd7 =   Nakamura-Shabalov Foxwoods 2007.
The move 7…Bb4 is recommended by Pederson, and seems to be at once a fighting and positional response to the Shabalov.  The Bishop develops to a logical square, where it pins the knight and raises the tension in the center to a fever-pitch.  This gives black enough counter play to parlay white’s kingside initiative.   Personally, 7…h6 seems more natural, and I feel more comfortable in the positions that arise following that move.  However, the adventurous may prefer the sophisticated 7…Bb4.

After spending some time revisiting From's Gambit, I thought I'd be prepared to play 1 f4 against my roommate. However, instead of playing either the Lasker variation (4…g5) or the Mestel variation (4…Nf6), Greg played 4…Bg4! Faced with this suprise variation and given Greg's strength, I crumbled in 17 moves (download this embarrassing game in PGN format).

Since Taylor doesn't mention this variation in Bird's Opening, I decided to do a little research. ChessGames.com only has seven 4…Bg4 games in their database: two wins for White, four wins for Black and one draw.

So I plugged the position into Fritz 9, ran infinite analysis and it gave the following two lines:

Unclear, but with a 0.38 advantage to White: 5 e3 Qd7 6 Be2 Nc6 7 0-0 0-0-0 8 Na3 Nf6 9 Nc4 Be7 10 d3

Equal, with a 0.24 advantage to White: 5 e4 Nf6 6 d4 Nxe4 7 Bd3 Nf6 8 Qe2+ Be7 9 0-0 0-0 10 Nbd2 Re8

There is only one 5 e3 game at ChessGames.com, Albin vs Marshall, and Marshall wins (though they don't play the line recommended by Fritz). Since Marshall is the only player represented twice in ChessGames.com collection of seven 4…Bg4 games, I've decided to call this the Marshall variation.

The move that I want to play, 5 g3, Fritz sees as equal, but with a very slight edge to Black. So for now, 5 e3 seems to best way to respond.

Clearly, more research remains to be done on this line…

Related tags: birds, froms-gambit, gambits

Two ChessGames.com game collections that feature Bird's Opening:

• Bird's Opening Game Collection
• Bird's Opening (A02-A03): A Reappraisal

From Bird's Opening by Timothy Taylor. Everyman Chess. 2005.

From's Gambit is a blunt attempt to refute Bird's Opening.

After 1 f4 e5 2 fxe5 d6 3 fxd6 Bxd6, White's only good move is 4 Nf3. 4…g5 is the Lasker Variation and 4…Nf6 is the Mestel Variation.

Lasker Variation

According to Taylor, this variation is not sound. It's a succession of one move threats that leave holes in Black's position.

After 4…g5, White plays Bent Larsen's 5 g3, which meets the mate threat. 5…h5 is too slow with the knight out: 5…h5?! 6 d4 f6 7 Qd3 h4 8 Qg6+ Kf8 9 Kxg5! J. Horvath-P. Velvart, Hungarian Women's Championship 1993.

5…g4 is the usual move to remove the defending knight. The main line continues: 6 Nh4 Ne7 7 d4 Ng6 8 Nxg6 hxg6 9 Qd3! This defends against the threats and maintains White's advantage. The other main try for Black is 6…Be7 7 Ng2, which is better for White. The position is uncomfortable, but Black doesn't have enough compensation for the pawn.

Illustrative game: Timothy Taylor (2297) vs Julio J Becerra-Rivero (2552). HB Global Chess Challenge 2005. Bird Opening: From Gambit. Lasker Variation (A02). 1-0. http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1339115

Related tags: birds, froms-gambit, gambits

White to move and mate in two

Add a comment to this post with your solution. Please list all variations.

Related tags: chess-problem

Bird's

From Bird's Opening by Timothy Taylor. Everyman Chess. 2005.

The Classical Bird

Basic setup: 1. f4 d5 2. Nf3 g6 3. e3 Bg7 4. Be2 Nf6 5. 0-0 0-0 6. d3 c5.

White's main idea: To advance the e-pawn to e4. Then the two pawns lined up on e4 and f4 dominate the center, facilitate kingside attacking chances and secure an advantage.

Black can counter by in some positions by advancing the d-pawn to d4, when White's e-pawn is unable to slip by. Black can also also play e7-e5.

According to Taylor, 7. Nc3 to reinforce e3-34 looks promising; he cannot recommend the popular 7. Qe1, because it is too early to commit the queen. Black is able to equalize easily.

John Redmond (2210) vs Sabrina Chevannes (2074). 4NCL 2007-8 2008. Bird Opening: Classical Bird (A02). 1-0. http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1500887. This follows Taylor's Game 8 7…d4 note b closely. Sabrina doesn't take Taylor's advice, though, and plays 9…bxc6, doubling her pawns and giving the advantage to John with 10. e4.

White's Queenside Fianchetto

Avoid this line: "There are only two ways White can get an edge, and both require cooperation from Black."

Alekhine's Defense

From Starting Out: Alekhine's Defence by John Cox. Everyman Chess. 2004

Main Line (Classical and Modern variations)

1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3

With 4. Nf3, White neither commits to maintaining the pawn on e5 (4. c4 Nb6 5. f4) or to its exchange (4. c4) and waits to see how Black plays.

Main Line Modern variation

1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 dxe5 5. Nxe5

Main Line Modern variation Kengis system

1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 dxe5 5. Nxe5 g6

If White plays 6. Bc4, the Kengis is non-theoretical and simple; the difficulty is learning to play the resulting positions well. Black is solid, but what are the positive ideas?

Black should try to exchange a minor piece: if possible a knight for the one on e5 or the light-squared bishop for the one on b3, but bishop for knight will do.

Trap: After 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 dxe5 5. Nxe5 g6 6. Bc4, Black cannot play 6…Bg7?? or 7. Nxf7 Kxf7 8. Qf3+

Related tags: birds, alekhines-defense