today i had the opportunity to glance through "Grandmaster Repertoire 11: Beating 1.D4 Sidelines" by the famous GM Boris Avrikh. I was delighted to see some great analysis on the Blackmar Diemer gambit. It is so good to see that such a recognized chess player takes the time to look at this so called inferior opening. The bottomline of his analysis is that Black is better when playing the corretc lines. But he is quick so say that the opening complications are not to be underestimated. Guess we already knew that :-)
In any case, GM Avrukh suggests the trusted O'Kelly defense 5...c6 and comes up with some in depth analysis. I havent had to opportunity to go through all of it, but it sure seems he points out some of the weak spots in white's armory.
Thnaks Boris for giving our opening this much prime time coverage !!!
Showing posts with label GM analysis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GM analysis. Show all posts
Sunday, September 13, 2015
Monday, September 16, 2013
Grandmaster 's feedback
I got an interesting comment from GM David Smerdon from Australian. His exact words are :
"I stumbled across this blog when searching for a refutation to the BDG for a book I'm writing on the Scandinavian Defense. The more I went through these posts, the more impressed I was with the analysis - and no refutation was to be found! Nice job :)"
I am glad to hear that this GM likes my blog. Even more that he realises that there is no refutation to be found !
So David - when do you start playing the Blackmar Diemer yourself ?
"I stumbled across this blog when searching for a refutation to the BDG for a book I'm writing on the Scandinavian Defense. The more I went through these posts, the more impressed I was with the analysis - and no refutation was to be found! Nice job :)"
I am glad to hear that this GM likes my blog. Even more that he realises that there is no refutation to be found !
So David - when do you start playing the Blackmar Diemer yourself ?
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Blackmar Diemer ?... Never heard of.
Last saturday I was playing an open tournament in Belgium - seven rounds of fast chess - each player gets 25' of time. In the first round I got paired to GM Petr Velička. As expected, I got crushed. He played an unusual move in my beloved Scandinavian defense, I sacrificed a pawn ( which he happily accepted ) for development, but never saw it back. Finally, with only s few minutes left on the clock, I decided to play my last card and sacrificed a piece to bring his king in the open. Again, he did not hesitate, took the piece and rebuffed my last attack.
Between rounds, I asked GM Petr Velička on his opinion on the Blackmar Diemer. He said "What, I don't know this opening". I re-asked, and said "You know, the Blackmar Diemer, the opening in which white sacrifices his f3 pawn." Again he answered "Never heard of such an opening." So I showed him the initial moves 1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3. "Never seen that" he confirmed once again, Unfortunately, after being beaten to death in our game, I realised that I was not in a position to question the chess knowledge of my GM opponent. So I asked him what he would do in this position. He was kind enough to look at the position for 15 minutes or so and we analysed 4...exf3 5.Nxf3 Bg4 6.h3 Bxf3 7.Qxf3 c6 8.g4 e6 9.g5 Nd5 10.Bd3 Bd6 (diagram).
I said I wrote a book on it, maybe he would be interested... ? "I dont read books." he said firmly and commented "Look's okay" as he dashed off, as our next round was about to start
Now I understand how Diemer must have felt when he got standard replies back from the leading chess players when trying to sell the Blackmar Diemer... But it also shows that we need to market our opening more and grasp every opportunity to show the lines to "serious" chess players. Maybe, maybe, we will get them interested.
PS. I noticed another FIDE master in the tournament with a book on the Smith Morra. Maybe there is a slight chance they get into gambit play again... Let's hope.
Between rounds, I asked GM Petr Velička on his opinion on the Blackmar Diemer. He said "What, I don't know this opening". I re-asked, and said "You know, the Blackmar Diemer, the opening in which white sacrifices his f3 pawn." Again he answered "Never heard of such an opening." So I showed him the initial moves 1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3. "Never seen that" he confirmed once again, Unfortunately, after being beaten to death in our game, I realised that I was not in a position to question the chess knowledge of my GM opponent. So I asked him what he would do in this position. He was kind enough to look at the position for 15 minutes or so and we analysed 4...exf3 5.Nxf3 Bg4 6.h3 Bxf3 7.Qxf3 c6 8.g4 e6 9.g5 Nd5 10.Bd3 Bd6 (diagram).
I said I wrote a book on it, maybe he would be interested... ? "I dont read books." he said firmly and commented "Look's okay" as he dashed off, as our next round was about to start
Now I understand how Diemer must have felt when he got standard replies back from the leading chess players when trying to sell the Blackmar Diemer... But it also shows that we need to market our opening more and grasp every opportunity to show the lines to "serious" chess players. Maybe, maybe, we will get them interested.
PS. I noticed another FIDE master in the tournament with a book on the Smith Morra. Maybe there is a slight chance they get into gambit play again... Let's hope.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Master analysis on Belka-Neumeyer lines
In a previous post ( New exciting Belka-Neumeyer line ) I discussed a line of the Belka-Neumeyer gambit, occuring after 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.e4 dxe4 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 Bf5 6.Ne5 e6 7.g4 Be4 8.Nxf7 Kxf7 9.Nxe4 Nxe4 10.Qf3+ Nf6 11.Qxb7 Nxg4 12.Qf3+ Nf6 13.Qxa8 Nd5
I indicated that white could settle matters with 14.h4. I showed this move to an IM friend the other day. This master analysed the position for some time and indicated that black was better ! Of course, I was astonished, but my IM friend was formal - he would most likely draw this position with black in an over-the-board-game as he suggested 14...Qf6 or 14...Be7.
He explained to me that white has given away the initiative for the exchange in a wide open position and white will have to choose very precise defending move for the remainder of the game - not the kind of stratgey the Blackmar Diemer gambiteer likes.
Returning home after this bitter lesson, I realised my IM friend was more than right. The Blackmar Diemer gambiteer should strive for the initiative and force black in a difficult position, at the expense of material ! The suggested line just does the opposite !!!
It is really good to get some IM or GM reality check from time to time when analysing gambit lines !
I indicated that white could settle matters with 14.h4. I showed this move to an IM friend the other day. This master analysed the position for some time and indicated that black was better ! Of course, I was astonished, but my IM friend was formal - he would most likely draw this position with black in an over-the-board-game as he suggested 14...Qf6 or 14...Be7.
He explained to me that white has given away the initiative for the exchange in a wide open position and white will have to choose very precise defending move for the remainder of the game - not the kind of stratgey the Blackmar Diemer gambiteer likes.
Returning home after this bitter lesson, I realised my IM friend was more than right. The Blackmar Diemer gambiteer should strive for the initiative and force black in a difficult position, at the expense of material ! The suggested line just does the opposite !!!
It is really good to get some IM or GM reality check from time to time when analysing gambit lines !
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Grandmaster's refutation
Some time ago, I was playing last board in the Belgian teamcontest. My team and the opponents' were struggling at the bottom, fighting for every point to avoid being transfered to a lower league. Anyway, our opponents had strenghtened themselves with the services of GM Vladimir Baklan, with a rating of 2620 number 166 in the world.
Our first board got crushed by this famous GM, and so did I on board 8, loosing a complicated Leningrad Dutch.
After the game, at the bar, I cornered GM Baklan and tried to sell him my book "Attack with the Blackmar Diemer". He is from Ukraine, so I started the discussion on Ignatz Von Popiel, a polish-ukrainian player. At least I got his attention.
He knew quite well about the Blackmar Diemer, and showed negative feelings about our gambit, indicating that the initiative did not outweigh the pawn.
We grabbed a board and he quickly showed me what he would play. Since he showed the line so quickly, I believe this was lingering in the back of his head, maybe even once prepared.
Guido De Bouver - GM Vladimir Baklan
offhand analysis
1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 Bf5 6.Ne5 c6 7.g4 Bg6
Here my famous opponent paused and said "and where is the white initiative ?"
I proudly played 8.h4 ( for sure he would understand my initiative now... )
His response 8...Nbd7 was played equally fast.
Luckily I remebered the refutation 9.Qe2 !!!
Now my GM opponent's attitude started changing. He started playing several moves, only to take them back after a short analysis. He then concluded with "Ok, white does have some compensation". What he actually meant was that black is lost in this line, eg
9...Nxe5 10.dxe5 Nd5 11.h5 Nxc3 12.bxc3 Qa5 13.Bb2 and white is better.
9...Nb6 10.h5 Bxc2 11.Qxc2 Qxd4 12.Qf5 and white is better
9...h5 10.Nxg6 fxg6 11.Bg5 and white is better once again
9...Qa5 10.h5 Be4 11.Nc4 winning
After the offhand analysis, my GM said that he might have to consider 5...g6 instead of 5...Bf5. But analysing the lines, no, enough. Of course I would never be able to win a game against him in one of the above "won" positions. But still, it only shows that the Blackmar Diemer is a serious chess opening, with white having a clear compensation for the sacrificed pawn.
Our first board got crushed by this famous GM, and so did I on board 8, loosing a complicated Leningrad Dutch.
After the game, at the bar, I cornered GM Baklan and tried to sell him my book "Attack with the Blackmar Diemer". He is from Ukraine, so I started the discussion on Ignatz Von Popiel, a polish-ukrainian player. At least I got his attention.
He knew quite well about the Blackmar Diemer, and showed negative feelings about our gambit, indicating that the initiative did not outweigh the pawn.
We grabbed a board and he quickly showed me what he would play. Since he showed the line so quickly, I believe this was lingering in the back of his head, maybe even once prepared.
Guido De Bouver - GM Vladimir Baklan
offhand analysis
1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 Bf5 6.Ne5 c6 7.g4 Bg6
Here my famous opponent paused and said "and where is the white initiative ?"
I proudly played 8.h4 ( for sure he would understand my initiative now... )
His response 8...Nbd7 was played equally fast.
Luckily I remebered the refutation 9.Qe2 !!!
Now my GM opponent's attitude started changing. He started playing several moves, only to take them back after a short analysis. He then concluded with "Ok, white does have some compensation". What he actually meant was that black is lost in this line, eg
9...Nxe5 10.dxe5 Nd5 11.h5 Nxc3 12.bxc3 Qa5 13.Bb2 and white is better.
9...Nb6 10.h5 Bxc2 11.Qxc2 Qxd4 12.Qf5 and white is better
9...h5 10.Nxg6 fxg6 11.Bg5 and white is better once again
9...Qa5 10.h5 Be4 11.Nc4 winning
After the offhand analysis, my GM said that he might have to consider 5...g6 instead of 5...Bf5. But analysing the lines, no, enough. Of course I would never be able to win a game against him in one of the above "won" positions. But still, it only shows that the Blackmar Diemer is a serious chess opening, with white having a clear compensation for the sacrificed pawn.
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