We would like to publish a column celebrating the life and mourning the death of FM Alex Dunne. Alex was the longtime US Chess Correspondence Chess director and author of this column. Alex was a teacher, mentor, and friend to many. If you have any games with Alex or stories about Alex, please send them along as soon as possible. You may email them to Click here to show email address or Click here to show email address. Your assistance is greatly appreciated.
“Chess is a miniature version of life. To be successful, you need to be disciplined, assess resources, consider responsible choices, and adjust when circumstances change.” ― Susan Polgar
Symmetry vs. Asymmetry in the Opening – The Open Sicilian
Choosing an opening repertoire presents challenges, one of which is the nature of the pawn structures that are common to the variations chosen. My choice for a repertoire for the white pieces is unique, and possibly fodder for another column. In this column I would like to talk about repertoire choices for the black pieces.
My opening approach with Black tends toward symmetry, i.e., I tend to respond to 1. d4 with 1. …d5, 1. c4 with 1. …c5, and 1 .Nf3 with 1. …Nf6. However, I no longer respond to 1. e4 with 1. …e5. Try as I might, I cannot make it work. There are many double e-pawn variations I truly enjoy playing: the Spanish, the Chigorin, the Breyer, and the Marshall Attack. I should mention the Two-Knights Defense and the Scotch Game, as well. However, I can’t seem to hold up well against the gambits, particularly the King’s Gambit. The last time I played 1. …e5, I got very much the worst end of a King’s Gambit Declined, and only luck saved me. So, against 1. e4 I choose asymmetry.
For a long time, I focused on the Caro-Kann (1. …c6) and the French (1. …e6), both of which I still enjoy, but I find it easier to win against good players when I play 1. …c5, the Sicilian Defense. Of course, I find it easier to lose to them as well! Once I reached that conclusion, the next big decision was: how to respond to the Open Sicilian (1. e4, 2. Nf3 and 3. d4)? The Najdorf Variation is exciting, but the theory changes with every tournament these days. The Sveshnikov is popular but has never appealed to me. The Rossolimo seems to be a favorite with attacking players lately, so I avoid 2. …Nc6. My most recent focus has been on 2. …e6 and the Four Knights variation.
General wisdom among chess players is that in the Open Sicilian, shorter games tend to be won by White, while longer games tend to be won by Black. Once the center is opened (e.g., 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4), White has a slight lead in development and a half-open central file, as well as the only center pawn standing. Black, on the other hand, has one more central pawn, and therefore more options in the center. In my youth I loved playing the White side of these positions; these days I prefer playing the Black side. That may have something to do with the fact that I have been spending more time on the endgame.
This month’s column looks at games played in different variations of the Open Sicilian. In our first game, Daniel Brenneman plays the Hyper-Accelerated Fianchetto variation (2. …g6), a line which puts no immediate pressure on the e4-pawn. John Chirillo responds by seizing space with 5. c4, the dreaded Maroczy Bind. A tactical mistake on Black’s part starts a series of exchanges that end up in White’s favor. Black gives up his d-pawn in an attempt at counterplay, but it backfires a few moves later.
In our second game Juan Jose Montero essays the Sveshnikov variation (1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5) against Andrzej Rozko. White selects a positional continuation that grabs space in the center and on the queenside, leaving the kingside for Black. After trading queens, the players pursue pawn attacks on opposite wings. The game is roughly even until White’s 29th move, after which White appears to lose the thread of the game (a feeling with which I am all too familiar). White’s last move hangs a pawn and proves to be the final straw.
Our third game sees Joseph Hawkins build a Dragon structure (with pawns on the d6- and g6-squares and the dreaded “dragon bishop” on g7) against Robert TeVrucht. The play remains even, with Black gaining the bishop pair while White posts a knight on d5 and starts going after Black’s king. Black had a continuation that would have kept the position even after trading off some pieces, but instead he allowed White to get his knight to b6, controlling c8. Ten moves later Black moves a bishop, allowing a knight fork that wins the exchange without diminishing the kingside attack.
In our fourth and final game James Stack plays the Four Knights variation against Martin Jarabinsky. The game follows recent theory for quite a while, but Black misses an opportunity to simplify on move 30, and then gives White a passed d-pawn two moves later. Between the passed d-pawn and the rook on the seventh rank, Jarabinsky can give up his queen for a rook without letting up the pressure. That 37th move must have been fun to play!
If you have a particular opening you wish to explore, send your games with that opening to Click here to show email address, with or without analysis. I will collect additional games to fill up a column.
Until next month — good chess!
Robert Irons
News From the Front Office
In Passing….
Harold C. Wallach of Dagsboro, Delaware passed away on January 26, 2022. His correspondence rating was 1991.
Orvis Wesley Taylor of Owasso, Oklahoma passed away on December 31, 2022. His correspondence rating was 1841.
Postage Rate Increase Effective January 22, 2023
1st class letter $.63
1st class postcard $.48
Recent Event Winners
John W. Collins Memorial Quad
20C11, Logan Ripley, 5–1
20C12, Dr. Barry Walker, 5½–½
21C08, Allen Woollen $25, 6–0
Walter Muir E-Quad
22W06, Errol Acosta $25, 6–0
22W18, John Chirillo & Mark Scott $12.50, 5–1
22W, Patrick Gordon-Davis, 5–1
Victor Palciauskas
22VP07, Charles Jacobs, 5–1
22VP08, Charles Jacobs, 5–1
Categories
Archives
- December 2024 (16)
- November 2024 (18)
- October 2024 (35)
- September 2024 (23)
- August 2024 (27)
- July 2024 (44)
- June 2024 (27)
- May 2024 (32)
- April 2024 (51)
- March 2024 (34)
- February 2024 (25)
- January 2024 (26)
- December 2023 (29)
- November 2023 (26)
- October 2023 (37)
- September 2023 (27)
- August 2023 (37)
- July 2023 (47)
- June 2023 (33)
- May 2023 (37)
- April 2023 (45)
- March 2023 (37)
- February 2023 (28)
- January 2023 (31)
- December 2022 (23)
- November 2022 (32)
- October 2022 (31)
- September 2022 (19)
- August 2022 (39)
- July 2022 (32)
- June 2022 (35)
- May 2022 (21)
- April 2022 (31)
- March 2022 (33)
- February 2022 (21)
- January 2022 (27)
- December 2021 (36)
- November 2021 (34)
- October 2021 (25)
- September 2021 (25)
- August 2021 (41)
- July 2021 (36)
- June 2021 (29)
- May 2021 (29)
- April 2021 (31)
- March 2021 (33)
- February 2021 (28)
- January 2021 (29)
- December 2020 (38)
- November 2020 (40)
- October 2020 (41)
- September 2020 (35)
- August 2020 (38)
- July 2020 (36)
- June 2020 (46)
- May 2020 (42)
- April 2020 (37)
- March 2020 (60)
- February 2020 (38)
- January 2020 (45)
- December 2019 (35)
- November 2019 (35)
- October 2019 (42)
- September 2019 (45)
- August 2019 (56)
- July 2019 (44)
- June 2019 (35)
- May 2019 (40)
- April 2019 (48)
- March 2019 (61)
- February 2019 (39)
- January 2019 (30)
- December 2018 (29)
- November 2018 (51)
- October 2018 (45)
- September 2018 (29)
- August 2018 (49)
- July 2018 (35)
- June 2018 (31)
- May 2018 (39)
- April 2018 (31)
- March 2018 (26)
- February 2018 (33)
- January 2018 (30)
- December 2017 (26)
- November 2017 (24)
- October 2017 (30)
- September 2017 (30)
- August 2017 (31)
- July 2017 (28)
- June 2017 (32)
- May 2017 (26)
- April 2017 (37)
- March 2017 (28)
- February 2017 (30)
- January 2017 (27)
- December 2016 (29)
- November 2016 (24)
- October 2016 (32)
- September 2016 (31)
- August 2016 (27)
- July 2016 (24)
- June 2016 (26)
- May 2016 (19)
- April 2016 (30)
- March 2016 (36)
- February 2016 (28)
- January 2016 (32)
- December 2015 (26)
- November 2015 (23)
- October 2015 (16)
- September 2015 (28)
- August 2015 (28)
- July 2015 (6)
- June 2015 (1)
- May 2015 (2)
- April 2015 (1)
- February 2015 (3)
- January 2015 (1)
- December 2014 (1)
- July 2010 (1)
- October 1991 (1)
- August 1989 (1)
- January 1988 (1)
- December 1983 (1)