Thursday, December 31, 2009

Maybe Next Year

As I write this the new year has arrived in London, and as far as I know, the promised new book, "The Blackmar-Diemer Gambit: A Modern Guide to a Fascinating Chess Opening," from Everyman Chess, has not. The Everyman website still has the book due in the USA in December. However, a reader recently informed me that he had heard from Everyman that "This title is now looking like a March publication."

So, maybe next year. Or by the time you're reading this, maybe this year. Maybe 2010.

And maybe next year this year, 2010, I'll get back to more frequent postings on these pages.

Thank you for reading this. May the new year bring you and yours the best of everything.

No maybe about that.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Two Draws in the Alapin-Diemer

An Alapin-Diemer Gambit turned up in today's TWIC. White's offer of the f-pawn is met by its old nemesis, e7-e5. Two draws in this line for you:

A B C D E F G H
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
A B C D E F G H
Knoop, W (2059 - Van de Griendt, JW (2352)
1/2-1/2 (TCh-NED 2009-10) 9/26/2009
[#] 1.d4 e6 2.e4 d5 3.Be3 dxe4 4.Nd2 Nf6 5.c3 Nc6 6.f3 e5 7.dxe5 Nxe5 8.Nxe4 Qxd1+ 9.Rxd1 Nxe4 10.fxe4 Be6 11.b3
[11.Bd4 Nc6 12.Bb5 a6 13.Bxc6+ bxc6 14.a3 O-O-O 15.b4 Bb3 16.Rd2 Re8 17.Re2 Bc4 18.Re3 Bd6 19.g3 f5 20.Ne2 Be5 21.Kd2 Bxe2 22.Rxe2 Bxd4 23.cxd4 fxe4 24.Rhe1 Rhf8 1/2-1/2 Hashemi,A-Liepold,S/Bayern 2003/EXT 2004]
11...a5 12.Nf3 Nxf3+ 13.gxf3 Be7 14.Rg1 Bh4+ 15.Bf2 Bxf2+ 16.Kxf2 O-O 17.c4 Rfd8 18.Be2 Kf8 19.Ke3 Rxd1 20.Rxd1 Ke7 21.f4 [1/2-1/2]

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Good Enough for Alekhine

Here's a BDG that showed up in this week's TWIC. It's a line that you don't see that often--although Alekhine once played it in a simultaneous exhibition (see the second game).

A B C D E F G H
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
A B C D E F G H
Morcom, H. - Brooker, Chris H
1-0 (Guernsey Open) 10/21/2009
[#] 1.e4 d5 2.d4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Bf5 4.f3 exf3 5.Qxf3 Bc8 6.Bc4 Nf6 7.Nge2 c6
[I found an old game of mine in this line that went 7...g6 8.Bg5 Bg7 9.O-O-O O-O 10.h4 h5 11.Rdf1 Nbd7 12.Nf4 c6 13.Nxg6 Re8 14.Nf4 e6 15.Nxh5 Kf8 16.Nxg7 Kxg7 17.Ne4 1-0 Purser,T-Rene/skittles, Robins CC, GA Sept 1991]
8.h3 e6 9.O-O Be7 10.Be3 O-O 11.Kh1 Nbd7 12.Rad1 Nb6 13.Bd3 Nbd5 14.Bg5 h6 15.Bc1 Nb4 16.Bc4 Nbd5 17.a3 b6 18.Bd3 Bb7 19.Ne4 Nxe4 20.Qxe4 g6 21.Bxh6 Nf6 22.Qe5 Re8 23.Rf2 Qb8 24.Rdf1 Kh7 25.Bg5 Qxe5 26.dxe5 Nd5 27.Rxf7+ Kh8 28.Bh6 Kg8 29.Bxg6 Rf8 30.Bxf8 Rxf8 31.c4 Ne3 32.Bh7+ Kh8 33.Rxf8+ Bxf8 34.Rxf8+ Kxh7 35.Rf7+ Kh6 36.Rxb7 Nxc4 37.Rxa7 Nxb2 38.Ra6 Nc4 39.Nd4 Kg5 40.Nxe6+ Kf5 41.Nd4+ Kxe5 42.Nxc6+ Kd6 43.Nb4 Kc5 44.Ra8 Kb5 45.h4 Ne3 46.h5 Ng4 47.Rg8 Nf6 48.Rg6 Nh7 49.h6 Ka5 50.Rg7 Nf6 51.h7 [1-0]

A B C D E F G H
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
A B C D E F G H
Alekhine, Alexander - Blount, L.
1-0 (28 Board Simultaneous, Providence, Rhode Island) 12/23/1923
[#] 1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Bf5 4.f3 exf3 5.Qxf3 e6 6.Qxb7 Nd7 7.Bb5 Ngf6 8.Bg5 Be7 9.Bxf6 Bxf6 10.Bxd7+ Kxd7 11.Nf3 Qb8 12.Qxb8 Raxb8 13.O-O-O Ke7 14.Rhe1 Rhd8 15.Ne5 Rb6 16.Na4 Rbd6 17.Nc5 Bxe5 18.dxe5 Rxd1+ 19.Rxd1 Rxd1+ 20.Kxd1 f6 21.exf6+ gxf6 22.b4 Kd6 23.Kd2 Kd5 24.Nd7 Kc4 25.a3 e5 26.Nxf6 e4 27.g4 e3+ 28.Kxe3 Bxc2 29.h4 Kb3 30.g5 Kxa3 31.h5 Kxb4 32.Nxh7 a5 33.g6 a4 34.Nf6 a3 35.Nd5+ Kb3 36.g7 a2 37.g8=Q a1=Q 38.Nb6+ Kb2 39.Nc4+ Kc1 40.Qg1+ Bd1 41.Qe1 Qa2 42.Qc3+ Qc2 43.Qa1+ Qb1 44.Qa3+ Kc2 45.Qd3+ Kc1 46.Qd2# [1-0]