White: afms - thematic tournament, ChessWorld.net, 2018
Something I've always aimed for in the opening is to take opponents away from positions they know – without thinking – how to play. In the Jaenisch, for instance, a lot of players opt for 4 d3, aiming for a more "normal" game after 4...fxe4 5 dxe4 Nf6 6 0-0. In order to rob them of that, back in 1992 I began playing 4...Nf6 instead, and if 5 0-0 then 5...Bc5, refusing to exchange on e4 and offering a reversed King's Gambit should White decide (correctly) to capture on f5. GM Nigel Davies later proposed this for Black in his book Gambiteer II (Everyman 2007).
In truth, I've never done very well with it. OTB my score (1992-2018) is 54.3%: P23, W9, D7, L7. Not very impressive, even if most of those losses were to strong players: James Cobb, Fernand Gobet, Jeff Horner, and Gary Quillan (all now IMs). I've stubbornly stuck with 4...Nf6, trying to find improvements for Black as and when necessary. But I think it's time to throw it in the bin.
One critical position (which can be reached via several routes) arises at move ten.
Black has a 0% score from here in the database (with one of my own losses contributing to that). Essentially, White has a terrific reversed Schallopp (1 e4 e5 2 f4 exf4 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 e5 Nh5), where the gambit pawn is firmly defended. Yes, Black can obtain a nice-looking centre after ...d6-d5, but it's not going anywhere – and it's not even very secure since White can swipe at it with either c2-c4 or f2-f4 or both.
In the game below, my opponent went for a slow build-up before breaking on the kingside, and eventually mated me by promoting a tripled f-pawn: g2-g4-g5xf6-f7-f8Q. It's a matter of taste, I suppose. I'd have used the bishop myself.
I've posted twice recently (Games 32 and 33) about Grandmasters coming to the rescue in my openings, but I can't see any help being forthcoming in this one.
No comments:
Post a Comment