For this game we are using the rule of "no opening books or databases allowed", as well as the obvious rules of no outside assistance from engines or other humans. So please remember to keep your posts in spoilers
To the spectators, enjoy the show! To chessterfish, good luck!
I will take white if the post number of this post is even, and black if the post number of this post is odd...
My one and only edit of this thread: Post #30075481. I'm black. Fire when ready, chessterfish!
+ev
I haven't played much competitively in a while, but backstory is I'm actually a 1.d4 player. I knew I'd be playing bjj for a while now so I've had a chance to see what lines he likes to take in advance. I'm expecting 1...e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 (intenting to play the 4 knights if I go Bc4) 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 b5 6. Bb3 Bb7 which he posted in chess bbv thread I believe where he did well against a high rated player. I intend to play 7. d3 after which I think deviates from his game. I have played the ruy lopez a lot....as black, but I always seemed to like the trappy sidelines so this is kind of new to me. In his game in a similar position he played 7...Bc5 over 7...Be7 I believe, either way I'm going 8. Nc3 and hopefully I've prepared well enough for this line. Glad I'm white because otherwise I was expecting a guicco piano (sp?). Also he probably thinks I'm just levelling here with a big spoiler as if I've solved chess or something
Last edited by chessterfish; 11-28-2011 at 05:28 PM.
Reason: added board
Nothing to see here. I'll play the two-knights defense against the Italian game, and I'll play the archanglesk against the Ruy (unless he plays the exchange Ruy... boo exchange Ruy). Or I'll just lose horribly against the King's gambit, if he goes that route, which he very well may if he reviewed my *LAST* Malkovich game. I suppose there are other possibilities too, but why bother speculating at this point? I'm an e5 player, so I'll play e5
Explanation in post 1, its also clearly best imo. I've adjusted my thinking since playing poker and maybe after reading a book by Hans Berliner (correspondence player I liked a game of vs Yakov Estrin playing the 4 knights defence)(I don't remember the title). The gist of it was he was playing logical moves in the opening rather than choosing a line because it had x trap in it or it suited his style of play or anything else.
Yay! Normal openings! I mean I guess he could still do something marginally weird here, but I'm comfortable against the Scotch and anything else "weird" is easy enough for me to work out over the board.
I am hoping he doesn't go for the exchange variation, just because I have this nagging tendency to forget that I do actually have to re-defend the e5 pawn at some point (even if it isn't immediately hanging), and so I end up dropping it instead. If Ba5 then Nf6 0-0 b5 Bb3 Bb7 is most likely, with Bc5 coming soon. Often I get the chance in this variation to rip open the center and my two bishops become monsters, although if he actually plays main lines that won't happen. The alternative if he plays it right is that I can get good queenside play, so long as I can keep the king safe, which is entirely feasible... but can get a little tricky in some lines. We'll see where he takes it, I guess.
As black I used to play the modern steinitz defence a fair bit, but after 4. Ba4 Nf6 or b5 are best. Hopefully we deviate from the other malkovic game at some point lol.
explanation in my first post, I'm expecting 5...b5 next. Other options are 5...Nxe4 which would mess up my preparation a bit because the 6. Re1 line is the only one I have ever played, but I'm confident he's playing 5...b5 here
I know Be7 is the "main" line here, and some day I need to experiment with some of those lines. The Nikachu/Noir_Desir opening definitely got me interested in them. This is the line I prefer, though, and I'm much more comfortable with it, so now is not the place to deviate into something I don't know anything about.
6...Bb7 next, after that I'm doing 7. d3 and I'm unsure of what he plays from then on, but I looked at 7...Bc5 and 7...Be7 lines before the game. I'm expecting 7...Bc5 because its similar to what he did in the game I'm referring to in my first post, but I think 7...Be7 is better. I'm playing 8. Nc3 either way. I'm not aware of the "book" moves here but I looked at a cool line after 7...Bc5 which went 8. Nc3 something 9. Nd5 and I could sack on c7 if he retreated the f6 knight to d7 because the Queen was covering the g5 square, so I could play Ng5 if he went Qxc7. I really need to try and remember what I looked at lol (will cross that bridge if it comes up, which I doubt it). Either way my assessment of the position we're about to get is that 7. Be7 was better but I might be wrong. Pretty sure I have to play a4 at some point, anyway I'm just rambling and probably making no sense and this is an easy move. I'll have to start thinking soon
Putting the bishop on the long diagonal. It adds a little immediate pressure on the e4 pawn, so white will need to play Re1 or d3. My pipe dream plan is to follow with Bc5 and get both bishops pointing toward the kingside, and then work to open up the center on my terms and turn them into monsters. The downside is that opening up the center on my terms will be tough because white can seize the initiative there with a Re1/c3/d4 plan. If he plays c3 (after Bc5) then I have to play an immediate d6 (for a long time I thought I could get away with delaying it, but a great deal of trial and error finally convinced me I can't). Then after d4 I have to retreat the bishop, probably to b6. This is a little cramped and uncomfortable, and I can't take on d4 because then the two central pawns are way strong, and this is why I think it's white's best line, (and also the main line afaik, without checking a database to be sure). That doesn't mean it's bad for black though, there are options for queenside counterplay with Na5 ideas, and I think there are some a5 lines that are pretty solid too, although I've never tried them or analyzed them, so I won't make any attempt to play them here. I think Ivanchuk has used those variants a bit, though, if I'm remembering right?
If white goes with d3 instead of Re1 then that makes my task a little bit easier, as c3/d4 would waste a tempo, so I have a better chance to go about trying to rip the center open like I really want to. However the main line in that variant (which I've only played once, in a correspondence game where I did have access to databases) allows white to trade off one of my bishops, so it doesn't actually lead to my dream positions unless white errs. I have no idea how well chessterfish knows the white side of the Archangelsk, so I don't know if I have much hope of him making a mistake. Probably no more chance of that than there is of me erring, since move order is rather critical in several of these lines, and while I have a fair idea of the overview plans from here, I'll be out of book memorization within a move or two. Overall I like this line against the Ruy because I think it leads to relatively dynamic and exciting positions with a lot of play for both sides. It's certainly not a "solution" to the Lopez, and white is fine if he plays well, but not really much, if any, better than in the main lines, and white usually isn't quite as familiar with the resulting positions. Also, both sides have the opportunity to lose quickly to a devastating kingside attack if they make a mistake, and that's always fun
Two Plus Two
Linear Mode
