In The King’s Gambit I mentioned that the Wagenbach Variation – 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 h5 – was first played by Jonathan Tait and that Mr Wagenbach was mainly a correspondence player. I have since learned (from Mr János Wagenbach) that neither of these things are true. Mr Wagenbach played it first – in blitz games […]
The King’s Gambit – Wagenbach Variation Read Post »
While looking at the 2014 leaflet, I noticed that with 1.e4 it is Black who decides what the opening is called, while with 1.d4 this is not the case as frequently (Catalan v Queen’s Gambit, Nimzo/QID/Catalan). Obviously we have a Scotch/Italian/Ruy Lopez issue, but I cannot really think of any other 1.e4 opening where it
Observation of the day (lunch break pocket philosophy) Read Post »
Bamber – Greet, Glasgow 2014 Here is a game from a local league match against one of Scotland’s top female players, who also happens to be a world-class triathlete. Recently Quality Chess has published some excellent titles on the French Defence. I was heavily involved in editing both of them, and could not resist giving
Beating the Exchange French Read Post »
I know I had promised to put up Part II of Ray’s question, but I have been hit by a wave of energy over the last few days and have spent it all on ENDGAME PLAY, which looks like it will be ready for publication around the 30th April or something like that. I might
The following game is just fun – any instructional value is accidental. Most modern players have great faith in their analytical engine, but it’s worth recalling that even 3400–rated monsters are not all-seeing. For sharp opening lines, a good database is just as essential as a strong engine. While browsing through a recent TWIC I
Databases, Engines and Over-the-Horizon Killer Sacs Read Post »
Some months ago we had a question on the blog (quoted below in italics) and I wanted to come back to it for a while, I was just really stressed out and on auto-pilot (yes this is also why I have not completed Endgame Play; I did not want it to be a bad
How to avoid going into suicidal complications – Part 1 Read Post »