In 1983 the French Laurent Fignon won his first tour the France. At that time I was only 7 years old. In the next weeks me and my younger brother biked around the house of our parents while shouting Fignon. 6 years later our idol failed miserably in a nail-biting time-trial at the last stage of the tour by relinquishing his first place at the American Greg LeMond. At the finish line it became clear he lost the tour by only 8 seconds. That was and still is the smallest gap ever between the first 2 finishers in the tour the France. Laurent didn't want to be updated about the time-differences during the time-trial but he clearly regretted that decision afterwards.
After that I never had anymore idols. I believe idols are most likely something for younger children as they still have huge expectations and dreams of their own life. Also at chess we see this phenomenon today. Some players hunt for signatures and photographs of top-players see e.g. this Chessbase-article of last year about Daniel Dardha belgian champion at 13. We see Daniel on pictures with Magnus Carlsen and Garry Kasparov. I guess today it is rather Daniel himself being asked to pose with his young fans (or sometimes not so young anymore).
If you ask any random chessplayer which world-champion made the biggest impact on chess then most likely you will get the answer the person whom was/ is world-champion at the time he/she started to play chess. For some players this will be Robert Fischer. For others it is Magnus Carlsen, Vladimir Kramnik, Garry Kasparov or Anatoly Karpov. Of this last worldchampion I still have a nice picture, made in 2004 at which I am also on. This picture was made rather unexpectedly. At that time I played for the the French team Lille and we were going to start with the finals of the top seize (highest division of the French interclub) organized by Belfort. In advance each team was invited at the town-hall and at this special occasion Anatoly was guest of honor. Our team-captain didn't miss the unique opportunity to put us all together for a picture. Initially I thought I lost the picture but fortunately my father was still able to find it back on his old computer.
We see Anatoly in a nice suit standing in the middle. At the very left we have a still very young Tigran Gharamian becoming that same year international master, a few years later in 2009 grandmaster and in 2018 even champion of France. It was a very interesting and enjoyable period for me. Once I hope to come back and play again maybe with my son Hugo.
In Belfort I played a few boards away from greats like Kramnik and Anand but I don't have any pictures of that. It is a missed opportunity although I am neither the person to play paparazzi. Anyway I don't think it is wise to idolize people which doesn't mean that a nice picture can't be fun.
That was also the case when I last got the unexpected chance to meet the worldrecord-holder of blindfold-chess Timur Gareev just before the lockdown started at the krokustournament of Gent. I suspect that I was the only one recognizing him at the tournament but internationally he is a very known person in chess circles. In 2016 he improved the worldrecord blindfold-chess to 48 boards simultaneously which gave him a place in the guinnessbook of records. However there is more to tell about this very interesting personality. I am thinking about playing chess while skydiving or the mad-race at the American championship of 2019 (of which you can still view the funny images at twitter). So I was very pleased when he not only wanted to play some chess (a bulletgame which of course I lost - no surprise as one day earlier he won the Rapid of Cappelle La Grande in front of some strong grandmasters - but which everybody in the room enjoyed as after mutual promotions we were suddenly playing with 4 queens on the board) but also agreed for some pictures like the one below together with me.
I would've enjoyed more and longer games but I understood he was just passing through so he had other priorities. Anyway only 2 day ago I was already lucky to play a long and even official game against another idol/ grandmaster.
Only recently I mentioned that I had bought and studied the book the Modernized Dutch. Well the author of the book, the French grandmaster Adrien Demuth participated at Cappelle La Grande. I hoped to meet him at the board and indeed this happened in the last round.
That morning I wondered if it would be ok to let him sign his own book just before the game to maybe get more easily a draw from the grandmaster but in the end I thought this would look somewhat too childish. However during the game at move 20 suddenly the grandmaster proposed himself a draw (beside the rules of the tournament allow only after move 20 to propose a draw). What to do as that was exactly what I wished for in advance? Indeed I refused the proposal but only after 20 minutes of reflection despite that I had only 1 move see chessbomb.
[Event "Open Cappelle La Grande 9de ronde"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2020"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Brabo"]
[Black "Demuth, A"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C60"]
[WhiteElo "2251"]
[BlackElo "2500"]
[PlyCount "49"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 g6 {(Adrien plays many systems including
the one chosen in this game. I had till midnight prepared answers for all of his
systems I had found in the database.)} 5. O-O {(First c3 and later 0-0 can lead
to very different positions. In my preparation I got lost in the complications
and even during the game I was still having doubts. Probably this caused Adrien
to think that I was not familiar with the opening which obviously wasn't
correct.)} 5... Bg7 6. c3 Nge7 7. d4 exd4 8. cxd4 b5 9. Bc2 d6 10. h3 O-O 11.
Re1!? {(In my notes of 2013 I had first Nc3 which is indeed more accurate. I
couldn't remember it during the game as I had checked hundreds of moves while
not studying them by heart. Fortunately black doesn't take advantage of it.)}
11... Bb7?! {(Nb4 is here much stronger.)} 12. Nc3 Rc8 13. Bf4!? {(I want to
transpose to my analysis of 2013 but white has interesting alternatives like h4,
Ne2 ... which maybe are even a little stronger.)} 13... Na5 14. Qc1 {(I managed
to transpose. In 2013 I recommended Qc1 but Leela prefers Bd3.)} 14... c5 15. d5
{(A novelty and an amelioration on the still known Bh6. This was of course
still part of my analysis made in 2013.)} 15... Nc4 16. Bd3 Ne5 17. Nxe5 dxe5
18. Be3 f5 {(In my blog-article "Fashion" I had evaluated exactly this
position as white having a clear advantage. Meanwhile Adrien realized that he
felt into a piece of my opening-preparation/ knowledge.)} 19. f3 Qc7?! {(Black
wants to keep the queen-side flexible but this only aggravates the problems so
c4 was necessary.)} 20. Be2 f4 {(In Cappelle La Grande you can only propose a
draw after 20 moves which Adrien did here promptly. I can only play 1 move here
but I still spent 20 minutes as it is not everyday that you can make a draw with
a grandmaster rated 250 points higher. In the end I managed to convince myself
that I would regret afterwards the draw by not at least trying to win such nice
position which is probably technically already won. This was the first time that
I refused a draw from a grandmaster in my career.)} 21. Bf2 g5 22. a4 b4 23. Nb1
Ng6 24. Nd2 Rf7 25. d6 {(The remaining part of the game was covered in my
article "Swindles part 2" so I stop here as it is also not relevant anymore
for this article.)} 1/2-1/2
I guess this long hesitation probably costed me a half point. Obviously I refused the draw not without a good reason. I had prepared the game the evening before till midnight and that allowed me to use some piece of analysis till move 18 which I had published on my blog in 2014 see my article fashion. Indeed analyzing your own games for many hours, will sooner or later be profitable especially when your opponent doesn't follow your blog.
I don't like to worship chess-idols or even more generally spoken any idols but that doesn't mean you can't have some richer experiences by meeting some people. Eventually we do control for a big part our own lives. Life is a big adventure but you still need to dare things to make it interesting.
As we won't be able to play chess for many months, it is important to do something useful with the freed time. So one of the very first things I did when the lockdown started, was selecting an interesting book to read. I didn't need much time for it as I already follow for several years the blog of the Australian grandmaster David Smerdon so I knew in advance that his new book The Complete Chess Swindler could never be a wrong choice.
Originally the author had the intention to give an anthology of the most beautiful and fantastic swindles in the history of chess. However while writing his book David discovered that it was possible to create a manual to teach people finding swindles in their games. I think the book is an admirable effort but I don't expect that having read the book, has made of myself a much better swindler. Anyway for me this book is in the first place a very nice collection of swindles and some good stories which makes the book very enjoyable to read.
Besides this doesn't mean that no other players can learn something from this book. I fully agree with the author that endgame-technique/knowledge is on the top of the list of skills a swindler must have. On my blog I gave a dozen examples in several articles about endgames in which I was able to steal half or even full points. Playable endgames are achieved in only a small number of games but in those few games I see many players could make a lot of improvement in that domain.
The last in the list of skills is sportsmanship or rather the lack of it. It is clear to me that the author was having doubts about to include it or not to the book. He also mentions in the book that he only inserted the swindles which are still legally allowed. Maybe 1 of the most funny ones is the toilet-swindle. You notice that your opponent is wiggling on his chair and most likely needs to go to the toilet. However your opponent has also very little time left on his clock while on the other hand you still have loads of it. Therefore to maximize his discomfort you start to play very slowly or even not all anymore for a longtime. This leaves your opponent with a very difficult choice between wet pants, losing on time or keep on suffering and trying to survive till the end of the game. Well you wan't believe me but such choice I had to make in the last Open Cappelle La Grande in round 5 against the Bulgarian grandmaster Radoslav Dimitrov. I don't know why I deserved such treatment but in a position which is a dead-draw my opponent let his clock run down on purpose for 38 minutes (readers wanting to check this, can still read today the clock at whites 67th and 68th move on chessbomb).
[Event "Open Cappelle La Grande 6de ronde"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2020"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Dimitrov, R"]
[Black "Brabo"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/k7/8/K7/P7/3N4/4p3/8 b - - 0 67"]
[ECO "A01"]
[WhiteElo "2510"]
[BlackElo "2251"]
[PlyCount "36"]
67... Kb7 {(Only now white realized that a win became impossible. By taking the
black a-pawn, black can now get much quicker to the white a-pawn. Instead of
accepting the draw, white let his clock run down for 38 minutes likely with the
intention to use the toilet-swindle.)} 68. Kb5 Ka7 69. Kc4 Ka6 70. Kb4 Kb6 71.
Ne1 Ka6 72. Nc2 Kb6 73. Kc3 Ka5 74. Kb3 Ka6 75. Nb4+ Ka5 76. Nd3 Ka6 77. Kb4 Kb6
78. a5+ Ka6 79. Ka4 Ka7 80. Kb5 Kb7 81. a6+ Ka7 82. Ka5 Ka8 83. Kb6 Kb8 84. a7+
Ka8 85. Ne1 {(With a knight on d4 white could allow the promotion as then he
would be on time for delivering mate at c7. Stalemate is a nice conclusion of
this game. )} 1/2-1/2
Everybody in the playing-hall saw it was a draw, even my daughter Evelien rated 1400 elo had seen it and almost felt asleep at a board a bit further. Anyhow I didn't want to give him a half point so I squeezed my balls and tried to manage the pressure. Finally Radoslav ended the game with stalemate having a big grin on his face. I had suffered enough. Some grandmasters are really weird people. Besides that evening we still had to play a second game so I didn't understand what there is to gain by wasting a full hour this way.
However except skills which we should or shouldn't have, psychology probably plays even a bigger part in swindles. The domain of the swindles starts when normal moves won't help you anymore to save a game. The author categorized the swindles into 4 types depending on which weakness was exploited: rush, hubris, fear and control. Most of the examples shown are prepared by the author as exercises as they consist of one concrete idea. Beside also a remarkable collection of biggest swindles are annotated in the book of which one side has a clearly lost position for many moves but in the end can still surprisingly reverse the result. To emphasize the size of the miracles, the author added to each of those games an evaluation-profile of the game generated by the engine.
Only 2 years ago I wrote in my article Swindles part 1 that such swindles are very rare in my games but last year it seemed like the gods of chess had a special interest taken in my games. Not in 1 but in a several games many incredible things happened. I guess the game I discuss below is maybe the most insane one of them all and for sure got a lot of spectators thrilled till the end. I start when we just passed move 40 and get an extra 30 minutes each. I am totally lost. The defeat was unavoidable but how was this possible against a player rated 500 points lower? How did I manage to get into such troubles? Ok, the opening didn't go smoothly but it was in the middle-game that my opponent ripped my position apart. Other players drummed around as it is not everyday you can enjoy such upsets.
[Event "Open Brasschaat 6de ronde"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019"]
[Round "?"]
[White "De Cuyper, Y"]
[Black "Brabo"]
[Result "0-1"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "7k/1b2r2p/pp1bNn2/3pNp2/1P1P4/P3PPP1/5K2/1BR5 w - - 0 43"]
[ECO "A80"]
[WhiteElo "1770"]
[BlackElo "2269"]
[PlyCount "56"]
43. Bxf5 {(White is 2 pawns up and has also the attack. In other words I am
completely lost. I seriously considered to resign but how was this uberhaupt
possible against somebody rated 500 points lower.)} 43... a5 44. Nd8 Kg7 45.
Nxb7 Rxb7 46. Rc6 Be7 47. Bc8 Ra7 48. Rxb6 {(It is too late to bother about the
pawns which are dropping.)} 48... axb4 49. axb4 Ra2+ 50. Kf1 Nh5 51. g4 Ng3+ 52.
Ke1 Bh4 53. Rb7+ Kf8 54. Rxh7 {(This is number 4 but now I finally get some
counterchances.)} 54... Nf5+ 55. Rxh4 {(My opponent started to get very nervous
here. The exchange-sacrifice is still winning but it complicates things. In the
playing-hall there was also noise as somebodies mobile ringed and other people
started to talk loudly about their game which had just ended. It was very
disturbing.)} 55... Nxh4 56. e4?? {(Only now white throws away the win but with
only 5 minutes on the clock it is not simple anymore.)} (56. b5 {(First Kf1 is
also possible and likely just transposes.)} 56... Rc2 57. b6 Ng2+ 58. Kf1 Nxe3+
59. Kg1 Rxc8 60. b7 Re8 61. b8=Q Rxb8 62. Nd7+ Ke7 63. Nxb8 Kd6 64. Na6 Nc2 65.
Kf2 Nxd4 +- {(A tablebase-win but in practice things could go differently.)})
56... Ng2+ 57. Kf1 Ne3+ 58. Kg1 Rb2?? {(However with this natural move I also
commit a mistake. Dxe4 and Rg2+ were correct.)} 59. exd5?? {(White misses a
brilliant win with b5. The b-pawn is sacrificed to activate the king. After that
white can with accurate play slowly push the mass of pawns.)} 59... Nxd5 60. Nc6
Kf7 61. Bd7 Kf6 62. b5 Kg5 63. Ne5 Ne3 64. Nd3 Rd2 65. Nf2 Rxd4 66. Bc6 Rc4 67.
Ne4+ Kf4 68. Kf2 Rc2+ 69. Ke1 Kxf3 70. g5?? {(The final minute, you want to push
back black without losing a pawn and then disaster strucks.)} 70... Re2# 0-1
In the game I more or less execute what David advises in his book. When you are lost then it is important to complicate the game at all costs and often king-safety can hereby play a crucial role. I noticed white's king was standing alone so I made sure some open lines were created at all costs. Suddenly I was able to create some threats and white panicked. The exchange-sacrifice wasn't necessary. It is still winning after it but it gets much harder to find the right moves. In the end white even collapsed as he was running out of time. White thought by pushing his pawn that he could divert my pieces but missed a surprising mate. In the game I already sensed this would happen after I took his pawn on f3.
Less outspoken but with much more at stake happened in the most recent round of the Belgian interclubs so just before the federation decided to stop the championship and later even to nullify all the results. Again we are at move 40 and I have a completely lost position. Many players already resigned better positions see e.g. resigning. Also my opponent the Belgian FM Hendrik Ponnet was confident about the outcome and had a stroll after the hectic moves just before the time-control. However I guess he relaxed too much at that moment as he allowed completely unnecessary counter-play in the next moves. Hubris is maybe not the right term here but for sure he lost focus.
[Event "Interclub Deurne - KGSRL"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2020"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Brabo"]
[Black "Ponnet, H"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "3r1r2/1b5p/p7/2b1pkp1/2B2p2/1PP5/1B4PP/3RRK2 w - - 0 41"]
[ECO "B06"]
[WhiteElo "2296"]
[BlackElo "2288"]
[PlyCount "46"]
{(Black not only has an extra pawn but also his pair of bishops is working
fantastically. On top white's king is stranded in the center where the
hostilities will start any moment. The decision is just a matter of a few more
moves. Kibitzers were sure the game was finished including my opponent Hendrik
as I have no counterplay at all.)} 41. b4 {(However even the most ugly positions
possess often something good which is here a pawn-majority on the queen-side. So
logically I try to use this last asset but normally this shouldn't cause any
real problems for black.)} 41... Bb6 42. b5 axb5 43. Bxb5 e4 44. Ba3 Rf7 45. c4
f3?? {(Black built up with some strong play a clearly winning position but in
his last moves Hendrik relaxed a bit too much and now white has created
counterplay. Black is still winning but the path has become narrower. F3 is the
wrong pawn-push.)} 46. c5 e3 47. gxf3 Rxd1 48. Rxd1 Bxf3 49. Be2 Bxe2+ 50. Kxe2
Bc7 51. Kxe3 Bxh2 52. Kf3?? {(I missed a few times an instant draw but now I
have to make a difficult decision. Is the c-pawn strong or should I try to
defend with my king on the weak wing as the standard rule says? I make the wrong
choice so c6 was mandatory.)} 52... g4+ 53. Kg2 Be5 54. Bb4 Ke6?! {(Both players
were again playing on increment but this time we both knew that this game would
decide the match. Not surprisingly mistakes were unavoidable. Here Rb7 wins for
black.)} 55. Be1 Ra7 56. Rd2 Ra3 57. Bf2?! {(I immediately regretted this move
as of course I had to use the c-pawn to create counter-play which can only with
Rc2.)} 57... Rc3 58. Re2 Kf5 59. Ra2 h5 60. Re2 Bf4 61. Ra2 g3 62. Be1 {(I
realized that Bg1 would be very easy to answer. Suddenly I noticed Be1 so I
thought why not try it as a last trap.)} 62... Rxc5?? {(Black's rook is attacked
but also the c-pawn isn't defended anymore. That pawn annoyed black for many
moves already and then you miss that by taking the pawn you don't protect the
g-pawn anymore sufficiently.)} 63. Bxg3 {(Almost everybody looked at each other
as what happened here. I escaped miraculously.)} 63... Bxg3 {(This draw gave us
a very valuable match-point in our relegation-battle which later was nullified
due to the corona-crisis.)} 1/2-1/2
Hendrik had to win the game twice. At the end of the game the tension rose as it became clear our game would not only decide the match but probably even play a crucial role in the very nerve-wracking relegation-battle which was ongoing this year in second division. If I would make a draw then we would win the match and have good odds to assure our spot in 2nd division in the last 2 matches of the season. However I once more got into problems in the game and the crowd around our board started to grow as the climax was getting nearby. With literally a few moves away from the defeat, I decided to gamble. My opponent had very little time left on his clock so I tried a last trick by giving up my last pawn and it worked. The c-pawn annoyed Hendrik for so many moves that he took it when he thought I just was chasing his rook. However by doing that he dropped his important g-pawn after which a dead-draw rook-endgame occurred. It was an incredible swindle which allows us today to look forward with some satisfaction to battle next year again in second division.
As I was in the last 2 exciting swindle-games each time the hero, it is therefore fair to also be once the anti-hero. Such game I experienced in the last round of Cappelle La Grande against the French grandmaster Adrien Demuth. Some players told me that I missed a IM-norm due to it but what value do IM-norms have when your own rating dropped below 2250 fide. In the game I had during many moves a clearly won position. Also in this game we see how black with a direct attack on my king tries to brake my control of the game and finally manages to do this as I panic when having little time on my clock. In the endgame I got close a second time to the win but then it is already technically difficult. Finally the grandmaster had little effort to find the draw by liquidating to an endgame with an exchange less but which is rather easy to defend.
[Event "Open Cappelle La Grande 9de ronde"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2020"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Brabo"]
[Black "Demuth, A"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2r3k1/1bq2rbp/p5n1/2pPp1p1/Pp2Pp2/5P1P/1P1NBBP1/R1Q1R1K1 w - - 0 25"]
[ECO "C60"]
[WhiteElo "2251"]
[BlackElo "2500"]
[PlyCount "146"]
{(Black's opening was a fiasco and he has now a strategically completely lost
position. Black has two useless bishops. White has a dangerous protected passed
pawn and will on the long term swipe the queen-side. Black has zero
counter-play.)} 25. d6 {(This already wins material but after the game my
opponent told me that probably it would've been more practical to play it more
quietly. The engine doesn't consider this a mistake at all but we humans play of
course a different kind of chess.)} 25... Qxd6 26. Bc4 Nh8 {(A grandmaster is
allowed to play such moves. The idea is after white takes the rook that the
knight covers the critical square d6. Also it frees g6 for the queen to start a
direct attack on the white king via the g-file.)} 27. Rd1 Qg6 28. Nb3 h5 29.
Nxc5 {(The exchange doesn't run away and meanwhile I destroy the queen-side. I
did however notice that I couldn't avoid some heavy tactics anymore which isn't
exactly fun when you are slowly running out of time.)} 29... g4 30. hxg4 hxg4
31. Nxb7 Rxc4 (31... gxf3 32. Bxf7+ Kxf7 33. Rd7+ Ke6 34. Rd6+ +- {(This I had
calculated in the game but it costed me some precious minutes.)}) 32. Qxc4 gxf3
33. Qf1 {(However this is pure panic after which the win gets technically much
more difficult. If I had more time then I likely had discovered the maneuver
Qc4-c8-h3 which is much stronger.)} 33... Rxb7 34. Rd8+?! {(My last moves
weren't the best but only now the win gets jeopardized. Bc5 and Be1 are stronger
so the queen gets the possibility to take back at f3.)} 34... Kh7 35. Rd3 Nf7
36. Bh4 Qxe4 37. Qxf3?! {(Leela chooses for the stronger Rxf3.)} (37. Rxf3! Rb6
38. Re1 Qf5 39. Rh3 Rh6 40. Qf3 b3 41. Kf1 a5 42. Qd5 Rh5 {[%eval 139,16]})
37... Qxf3 38. gxf3 e4 39. fxe4 Bxb2 40. Rb1 Bg7 41. Be1 a5 42. Rd5?! {(Kf1 is
considered as critical but even then black has good chances to draw.)} (42. Kf1!
Rb8 43. Rd7 Kg6 44. Ra7!? b3 45. Ra6+ Kh7 46. Ke2!? Ng5 47. Rxa5 Nxe4 {[%eval
76,17]}) 42... Re7?? {(During the game I wondered if b3 doesn't work. Black
wasn't playing his best tournament obviously.)} (42... b3! 43. Bxa5 b2 44. Kf2
Rb3 45. Bc7 Ra3 46. Bxf4) 43. Rxa5 Rxe4 44. Bxb4 Bd4+ {(Just like earlier in
the game black again uses his pieces to attack my king and also this time he
manages to confuse me.)} 45. Kf1 f3 46. Be1? {(Of course I want to avoid f2 but
this isn't winning anymore which I could still do but only via some accurate
moves starting with Rb3.)} 46... f2 47. Bxf2?! {(The engines choose Bd2 but I
don't think white has still realistic winning-chances with it.)} 47... Rf4 48.
Rh5+ Nh6 {(This self-pin is necessary and I had detected it a bit too late.)}
(48... Kg6?? 49. Rh2 Bxf2 50. Rxf2 Rxa4 51. Rb6+ Kg7 52. Rb7 +- {(I had set up
this trap but a grandmaster won't miss this.)}) 49. Rh2 Bxf2 50. Rb7+ Kg6 51.
Rxf2 Rxa4 {(Black escaped to a tablebase-draw. )} 52. Rb6+ Kg5 53. Rb5+ Kg6 54.
Rg2+ Rg4 55. Rb6+ Kg7 56. Ra2 Rg6 57. Ra7+ Nf7 58. Rb3 Rf6+ 59. Ke2 Re6+ 60. Kd3
Rd6+ 61. Ke4 Re6+ 62. Kd5 Rd6+ 63. Kc5 Rf6 64. Rg3+ Rg6 65. Rf3 Rf6 66. Rxf6 {(I
wanted my king closer before I exchanged rooks but I didn't manage. If the
knight is stranded in a corner then sometimes it is won. Here black has little
problems to avoid such scenario.)} 66... Kxf6 67. Kd5 Ng5 68. Ra1 Kf5 69. Rf1+
Kg4 70. Rf8 Kg3 71. Ke5 Nf3+ 72. Ke4 Ng5+ 73. Ke3 Kg4 74. Rf4+ Kh5 75. Ra4 Kg6
76. Kf4 {(This was the last time that black thought for several minutes. He had
still sufficient time to find a good setup.)} 76... Kf6 77. Ra6+ Ne6+ 78. Ke4
Ke7 79. Ke5 Nc7 80. Rd6 Ne8 81. Rh6 Kd7 82. Ra6 Nc7 83. Rd6+ Ke7 84. Rh6 Kd7 85.
Rg6 Ne8 86. Rg1 Nc7 87. Rd1+ Ke7 88. Rd2 Ne8 89. Rh2 Kd7 90. Rh7+ Kc6 91. Re7
Nc7 92. Rg7 Ne8 93. Rg6+ Kd7 94. Re6 Nc7 95. Rb6 Ne8 96. Rb7+ Nc7 97. Rxc7+ Kxc7
{(Like this I avoided to propose a draw as I wasn't in the mood for that
anymore.)} 1/2-1/2
Such swindles demand creativity (26... Nh8!!??) but also perseverance of defending inferior endgames. I personally think this is much more interesting than just 1 idea. One last tip of the book I think is still useful to share. When you want to create a swindle then first try to figure out if there is a move which your opponent really likes to play. Then look to what your position still can offer. Try to find a move which uses this last trump card and at the same time doesn't seem at first sight to prevent the move your opponent wants to play. The book but also our own practice proofs such approach often let you swindle successfully.
In my previous article I tried to prove that the 7....Qe8 system in the Leningrad isn't solid enough to play regularly against strong players. I finished the article by mentioning some alternatives but I didn't go into details about what I prefer and how I would study it. In this article I will elaborate about the choices I made without giving away too much as many of my future opponents also read this article.
I very quickly decided to which system I would switch. Today most strong players prefer 7...c6 so I thought it was logical to do the same as that would most likely give the best chance to get a playable position with black. Besides I don't share any big secrets with this statement as since Open of Cappelle La Grande 2020 you can already find one of my games in the database with 7...c6 (more about it in a later article). However when I had made the decision last year, I discovered that there existed no recently published book or dvd from the Leningrad with 7...c6. How can I quickly study an opening when in the most recent megadatabase there are already more than 7000 games with 7...c6 only? How do you extract from such huge size of games what you need to know?
Well I try to ask an expert of course. I mean figuratively as I don't ask real questions but I look at his/ her games. So the first thing I did, was finding an expert. Chessbase can help you with it as today it is easy to discover which strong players have played a specific opening multiple times. However when I went through those mastergames I noticed most were blitz and rapid. Most +2700 players play the opening only in fast games. It sounds to me dubious to build a standard-repertoire based on somebody else rapid and blitz-games. In the end I was forced to create my own filters to investigate who is a real expert.
For me the ultimate expert is a +2700 exclusively choosing to play one opening. Unfortunately such player doesn't exist. I even didn't find a +2500 player willing to play at all costs the Leningrad with c6. Some players vary between openings and regularly include the Leningrad with c6 but nobody above +2700 elo. Till last year I considered David Anton Guijarro as the biggest expert but since he broke the 2700 barrier he only plays it anymore in quick games or as an exception. Nowadays I think the strong French grandmaster Maxime Lagarde deserves the honor of biggest expert in this system. Nonetheless I have to add it is not the only system he plays in the Leningrad and often I get the impression that he plays the opening without much study. The famous quote of Korchnoi is probably valid here too: I don't study, I create. Such approach is definitely not scientific.
I didn't learn much of those games. Fortunately I also possess an up to date correspondence-database. In that database I did find a number of strong players (+2400 ICCF) very regularly playing the Leningrad with c6. Some of them never even lost a game with it which is very good news knowing everybody uses engines very extensively in correspondence chess. So this also means that the system is likely not refuted yet. In below table I give a list of the experts of this opening in correspondence-chess with their title, current iccf-rating and score with this opening based on my database.
I limited the list to players having minimum 10 games played with the opening but any recently played game of a +2300 correspondence-player is definitely interesting to study as everybody uses the best engines and databases to select their moves.
Now we know the experts but we still need to define which lines we want to study. This can be expanded infinitely. However you should not forget that you still need to remember everything as otherwise it makes little sense to do all the efforts. I think it therefore is important to start with the most played lines. Once again I used for that my 100 master-games-rule which I introduced in my article studying openings part 2. However this time I worked from the front to the back instead of the back to the front. Below screenshot explains it better.
So for each of the moves having more than 100 master-games in the database which means in above position: 8.d5, 8.b3, 8.Rb1, 8.Qc2, 8.Re1 en 8.Qb3 I checked the games of the experts. Often there was unanimity but sometimes also divisive. I didn't want to make a random choice so when I had doubts, I created a separate speed-analysis focused on the 2 or 3 retained moves. To get a good idea of the pluses and minuses of each move I let Stockfish play dozens sometimes even hundreds of shortened blitzgames against itself (see computers achieve autonomy).
I repeated this process for the next move. Again I looked at my openingbook to know which moves are played in more than 100 master-games and again for each of them I decided via the experts or eventually some speed-analysis how I would answer each of them. After that I again repeated this process for the next move and the next move till there were no more moves of which 100 mastergames exist. This sounds very complex but in the end I only had 7 lines with a maximum depth of 4 moves. I still didn't know much yet about the new system.
Next I expanded my study systematically by looking at moves played in less than 100 master-games. First I treated all the moves played in at least 50 master-games. Later I decreased the number to even 30 master-games. The tree of variations grew from 7 to 12 with a maximum depth of 5 moves so still not a lot. However don't underestimate the work to create such tree. Meanwhile I already spent 1 month at it so I want to emphasize that it is always better to first buy a recent book/dvd about a new opening if this is available.
So when in August 2019 a new book about the Leningrad with c6 was announced by Thinkers Publishing, I didn't hesitate to buy it. The French grandmaster Adrien Demuth had written based on its own tournament-experience a very voluminous book of almost 500 pages about the Dutch with as central core the Leningrad with c6. Just like other books from this relative young publisher, the book got as label modernized so the title chosen was logically The Modernized Dutch Defense.
This title is surely deserved. The book is full of original analysis with a few exceptions. Coincidence or not but those few overlaps contain exactly the same wrong evaluations which I already discovered in the book of Malaniuk and which I mentioned earlier in my article the Leningrad part 1. If those mistakes could've been avoided then I would've been fully satisfied about my purchase.
So I finally have now a complete manual about the Leningrad with c6 but what should I do with my own made analysis? I noticed Adrien often chooses other lines. Well that was an easy decision. I still don't variate enough in my repertoire see e.g. my recent article surprises part 3 so why not keep them both in my repertoire. The first time I use my own analysis and the next time I follow the recommendation of the book. Besides this doesn't mean I have to know both by heart at the same moment. Twice the same line never happens in standard games on the same day.
Anyway most lines in the book I had never checked before so in those cases I didn't need to make a choice. On the other hand I also didn't want to study by heart almost 500 pages of analysis. A tip at chesspub told me to focus only at the bold printed moves and then create your own book via chessable but then I remembered that I have installed chess position trainer on my PC see part 1 and part 2. Contrary to chessable I don't need to be online for it. That is no luxury which I experienced during Cappelle La Grande. I had less than 1 hour to prepare in the tournament-room where no wifi was available. Of course you can circumvent this by setting up your own hotspot via your smartphone but then you lose again precious minutes without mentioning the extra costs. Players wishing to work with chessable during a flight are completely helpless.
I still feared it would be a lot of work to convert the bold printed moves into pgn but in the end it went rather smoothly as I ignored some chapters (I play something else or I considered the lines very rare). In a bit more than 2 hours I was done with it. My original analysis based on 25 moves expanded with 133 new moves. On Chess Position Trainer it takes me a bit more than a half hour to execute all the moves once correctly so this seems to be for me a limit for the time being. I think it is a nice balance between quantity and quality. I am pretty sure about that as even the not so well-known line recommended by Sim Maerevoet in the article ideas part 2 wasn't forgotten (as this was covered in the bold printed moves of the book).
In short when I started using Chess Position Trainer in 2017, I was skeptic about the possibilities of the software. Meanwhile I've adapted my view about it although I imagine that I use the software differently to what the developer had in mind. Finally I also want to add that recently I was able without a hitch to transfer my complete repertoire to a new PC with Chess Position Trainer. The license-key allows you to use it 3 times and even after several years this was still valid.
Since 12th of March I haven't left my house anymore except for the few times I needed to buy food and drinks. I strictly follow the regulations of the government which are necessary to slow down the pandemic although I do miss playing chess at a real board. I hear the same kind of sounds in the mails of other players as playing online can never compensate the social interactions in a club. We are getting detoxed of chess. I expect some players will decide after things have normalized again that they can live perfectly without chess and will never return anymore. Playing chess demands a huge investment of time which some people will prefer to use for other activities. A crisis always creates new views.
Meanwhile we are week 7 and I haven't bored myself yet at home. Besides having more time for my wife, kids and the household, I also spent plenty of hours at removing the backlog of analyzing my own games. At March 12 there were still 12 of my standard games not yet analyzed. Currently I am working at my penultimate one. It concerns a mainline of the French Winawer which I hadn't studied for 5 years so I have a lot of work at catching up the theory.
2 computers are almost non stop generating analysis for this job. On one of them Leela is running. On the other one it is Stockfish as I like to double-check all my analysis. Yes my analysis are top notch. Besides I am not talking just about the engines which are analyzing for many hours. Tablebases (maximum of 7 pieces) are often consulted for the endgames. For the opening I check not only all the standard games played by the masters but also correspondence games and even games played between engines. Especially in this last category of games I see a drastic increase of interesting discoveries. Hereby I like to call my readers for help finding the most recent engine-games played at chess.com as I am very interested to download them.
However this also means that I expect others to put a lot of effort in their published analysis. Contrary to a reaction of Richard on my previous article I personally find the language or the didactic aspects of an article not critical. A writer must for me run the extra mile in his analysis. If I spend time to read an analysis then my primary goal is to win time and not to lose it due to correcting errors. As a consequence books are for me very quickly outdated. Sometimes people are offering me some old opening-books for free but then I always tell them that those are not helping me in my analysis.
Unfortunately I discovered last year that this is also the case for my book about the Leningrad. I talked earlier about some mistakes in the analysis of the book see part 1 but that wasn't critical as we were just discussing some sidelines. However a couple of months later I discovered that the mainline also has serious defects which I couldn't ignore anymore. I want to use the Leningrad more than just an excellent weapon of surprise. That is only possible if the mainlines are solid and can't be refuted.
The book of Malaniuk was published in 2014 but already in 2015 some important ameliorations were found for white which more or less degrade the book as a footnote of the chess-history. I put a lot of efforts into saving the opening but eventually I had to admit that black is always slightly worse out of the opening and will suffer a lot to make a draw against best play. As I haven't played yet any important games in this line, I use as proof instead some recent games of the Polish international master Piotr Nguyen whom is an expert in this opening and even planned to publish a book about it see this tweet. In the years before 2014, Piotr achieved some solid results with the opening but after it things became much more difficult. I start with the line which I played myself last year against the Belgian FM Adrian Roos.
[Event "Chigorin Memorial 24th"]
[Site "St Petersburg"]
[Date "2016.10.18"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Jumabayev, Rinat"]
[Black "Nguyen, Piotr"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A87"]
[WhiteElo "2609"]
[BlackElo "2418"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2016.10.15"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 175 Extra"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.12"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2016.12.12"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
1. d4 f5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. g3 g6 4. c4 Bg7 5. Nc3 O-O 6. Bg2 d6 7. O-O Qe8 {(The
Polish international master Piotr Nguyen is an expert in this opening and till
now he achieved some solid results. However this game shows what happens if a
strong professional can prepare for it. Once the element of surprise disappears
things become grim for black.)} 8. b3 {(I suspect b3 is not the only critical
line but I haven't made any thourough analysis of other lines.)} 8... e5 9. dxe5
dxe5 10. e4 Nc6 11. Nd5 {(Last year I met Ba3 by the Belgian FM Adrian Roos but
that was clearly some improvisation as I got with black very quickly the better
chances. Nd5 is without doubt stronger.)} 11... Qd7 {(In the book of the
Ukrainian grandmaster Vladimir Malaniuk this move is recommended. It is
definitely the most popular one.)} 12. exf5 gxf5?! {(The mainline continues with
e4 but also then black has some problems.)} (12... e4! 13. Ng5 (13. Nh4 {(This
move was played for the first time in 2015 so 1 year after the book of Malaniuk
was released.)} 13... gxf5 14. Nf4 Qxd1 (14... Ng4 15. Rb1 Qxd1 16. Rxd1 Bd4 17.
Rd2 Bc3 18. Rc2 Be5 19. Bb2) 15. Rxd1 Nh5 16. Rb1 Nxf4 17. Bxf4 Nd4 18. Rd2
Ne6 19. Be3) 13... gxf5 14. Rb1 {(Also this important discovery was only made
in 2015.)} 14... h6 (14... Nxd5 15. cxd5 Nd4 16. Be3 Qxd5 17. Qh5 h6 18. Nxe4)
15. Nh3 Nxd5 16. cxd5 Nb4 17. Ba3 a5 18. Nf4 Rd8 19. Ne6 Qxe6 20. dxe6 Rxd1 21.
Rfxd1 Bxe6 22. Rbc1 {(In some recent correspondence-games black managed to
defend this position but it is no fun.)}) 13. Nh4?! {(I expect white had seen
this move in his preparation of the game so still wanted to play it but Ba3 is
even stronger.)} (13. Ba3 Re8 14. Bb2 Nxd5 15. cxd5 Nb4 16. a3 Nxd5 17. Nxe5
Bxe5 18. Bxd5+) 13... Qf7?! (13... e4!) 14. Ba3?! (14. Bb2!) 14... Re8?!
(14... Rd8! 15. Nxf6+ Qxf6 16. Qh5 e4 17. Rad1 Be6) 15. Nxf6+ Qxf6 16. Qh5 Be6
17. Bb2 Qf7 18. Qxf7+ Kxf7 19. Bxc6 bxc6 20. Rfe1 Bf6?! 21. Bxe5 Bxh4 22. gxh4
{(Opposite coloured bishops when rooks are still on the board always favor the
attacker which is here clearly white.)} 22... Rg8+ 23. Kf1 a5 24. Re3 a4 25.
Rae1 axb3 26. axb3 Rg4 27. Bxc7 Rag8 28. Bg3 R8g6 29. Rd3 Rf6 30. f3 Rg8 31. Bf4
Rfg6 32. Ke2 Rg2+ 33. Ke3 Bxc4 34. Rd7+ Kg6 35. Kd4 Bxb3 36. Ree7 Rg1 37. Rd6+
1-0
A couple of recently played correspondence-games still show some hope for black as black was able to draw but it wasn't fun at all. Besides black must be ready to cope with several annoying white tries which sounds for me impractical for playing in a standard game especially against a well prepared opponent. Just like the Polish master I had a look at the alternatives but I don't think 8...Pa6 is better than 8...e5 which below game demonstrates clearly.
[Event "Chigorin Memorial 24th"]
[Site "St Petersburg"]
[Date "2016.10.23"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Huzman, Alexander"]
[Black "Nguyen, Piotr"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A87"]
[WhiteElo "2577"]
[BlackElo "2418"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2016.10.15"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 175 Extra"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.12"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2016.12.12"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
1. Nf3 f5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 g6 4. O-O Bg7 5. c4 O-O 6. d4 d6 7. Nc3 Qe8 8. b3 Na6
{(The same tournament and the same opening so black chooses for his back-up. It
doesn't help him. Later in 2018 Piotr also tried 8...c6 in vain. Personally I
don't see why you would play 8...c6 if you can already play it a move earlier so
postponing the difficult decision of where to install the queen.)} 9. Ba3 {(My
analysis were based on 9.Bb2 which looks no walk in the park either for black.
Ba3 is however more popular as I guess most players prefer to avoid e5.)} (9.
Bb2 e5 10. dxe5 dxe5 11. e4 f4 12. Ba3 Rf7 13. Qe1 Nh5 14. h3) 9... h6 10. Qd3
g5 11. e4 fxe4 12. Nxe4 Qh5 13. Rae1 Bf5 14. Nxf6+ Rxf6 15. Qe3 Bh3 16. d5 Raf8
17. Bxh3 Qxh3 18. Nd4 {(White achieved a winning position with very simple
moves.)} 18... g4 19. Ne6 Rf3 20. Qe4 R8f7 21. Nxg7 Kxg7 22. Bb2+ Kf8 23. Qe6
Kg8 24. Qc8+ Rf8 25. Qd7 R3f7 26. Rxe7 Nc5 27. Rxf7 Nxd7 28. Rg7+ {(You don't
see very often a windmill especially not on this level.)} 28... Kh8 29. Rxd7+
Kg8 30. Rg7+ Kh8 31. Rxc7+ 1-0
After making those analysis I tried to contact the Dutch grandmaster Roeland Pruijssers as he recently published a dvd about this line but he didn't reply to my mails. Anyway I think the chance is very slim that the dvd will add something to my elaborated analysis. Again maybe a reader has more information about the dvd and is willing to react below this article.
Last year I achieved with black a good position against Adrian and even generated winning chances. So the dvd of Roeland can obviously be used to just add an extra weapon in your repertoire to surprise 1 or 2 opponents but I don't think it will work each time against everybody.
In the meantime I also discovered that 7...Qe8 is already for some time not anymore the most popular line of the Leningrad. Today 7...c6 is the main choice of the strongest players. Lately I also learned about the 7....e6-line thanks to the superfinal of the TCEC season 17 between Leela and Stockfish. It appears we then get some sort of crossover between the Leningrad and the Stonewall. Maybe that fits to my repertoire as I have more than 2 decades of experience with the Stonewall. Black had to defend in both games but managed to make a draw each time. I like the one Leela playing the black pieces the most as she managed to equalize convincingly.
[Event "TCEC Season 17 - Superfinal"]
[Site "https://tcec-chess.com"]
[Date "2020.04.09"]
[Round "9.1"]
[White "Stockfish 20200407DC"]
[Black "LCZero v0.24-sv-t60-3010"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A81"]
[WhiteElo "3851"]
[BlackElo "3840"]
[PlyCount "209"]
[EventDate "2020.??.??"]
1. d4 f5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. O-O O-O 6. c4 d6 7. Nc3 e6 {(I am
familiar with Qe8, Nc6 and c6 but e6 was for me new. In the superfinal of
TCEC-season 17 a nice mix of old and new openings was prepared.)} 8. Re1 Ne4 9.
Qc2 d5 {(Also Stockfish went for a crossover of the Stonewall with the Leningrad
in the return-game. Adrien Demuth, the author of the book "The Modern Dutch"
is no fan of it but it isn't easy to crack those kind of pawnstructures.)} 10.
Bf4 c6 11. e3 Nd7 12. Rac1 Qe7 13. b3 Re8 14. Be5 Nxe5 15. Nxe5 Bd7 16. Ne2 Rac8
17. c5 Ng5 18. f4 Nf7 19. Nd3 g5 20. h3 Kh8 21. Qc3 Rg8 22. Bf3 Bf6 23. Kf2 Ra8
24. b4 Rg7 25. a4 Rag8 26. Rh1 Be8 27. a5 a6 28. Rcg1 Nd8 29. Qb2 Qf8 30. Kf1
Qe7 31. Kf2 Qf8 32. Rh2 Qe7 33. Qa1 h5 34. fxg5 Rxg5 35. h4 R5g6 36. Nef4 Rh6
37. Rhg2 Kg7 38. Rf1 Kf8 39. Qe1 Bf7 40. Qd1 Rgh8 41. Kg1 Ke8 42. Ne5 Qc7 43.
Nfd3 Kf8 44. Qe2 Kg8 45. Qf2 Be8 46. Be2 Nf7 47. Qf4 Nxe5 48. Nxe5 Qg7 49. Kf2
Bd8 50. Rfg1 Bc7 51. Ke1 R8h7 52. Kd2 Kh8 53. Rf2 Bxe5 54. Qxe5 Qxe5 55. dxe5
{(Black has achieved full equality by exchanging the right pieces. The rest of
the game is just waiting till a draw can be claimed based on the 50
moves-rule.)} 55... Rg7 56. Bf3 Bd7 57. Ke2 Rgg6 58. Rff1 Rh7 59. Kf2 Rg8 60.
Rd1 Rg6 61. Rh1 Kg8 62. Kg2 Rh8 63. Be2 Kg7 64. Kf2 Kh6 65. Bf3 Rhg8 66. Rhg1
Be8 67. Rc1 Rh8 68. Rcd1 Bd7 69. Rd4 Ra8 70. Rd2 Rag8 71. Rd3 Rd8 72. Rdd1 Rdg8
73. Be2 R6g7 74. Rd4 Rg6 75. Bd3 Ra8 76. Bf1 Rgg8 77. Rh1 Kg7 78. Be2 Kh6 79.
Rdd1 Rac8 80. Ra1 Rcf8 81. Rhd1 Rg6 82. Kg2 Rfg8 83. Kf2 R6g7 84. Rg1 Rg6 85.
Ra3 R6g7 86. Rb3 Kg6 87. Kg2 Re7 88. Rd3 Kh6 89. Kf2 Rg6 90. Ke1 Re8 91. Rd4 Rh8
92. Bf3 Rb8 93. Kf2 Rbg8 94. Be2 R6g7 95. Rg2 Rg6 96. Bd1 Ra8 97. Kg1 Rgg8 98.
Kh2 Rac8 99. Rg1 Rb8 100. Kg2 Rg7 101. Kf2 Rbg8 102. Be2 Be8 103. Bf3 Bd7 104.
Rdd1 Rg6 105. Be4 1/2-1/2
So there exist other moves next to the 7....Qe8-line. For the moment I don't want to discuss yet the other lines. I am still learning and discovering. Currently I can't complain about the Leningrad as I scored 2 wins and 3 draws with it in my standard games but I doubt that this percentage can be maintained when my opponents start to see my Leningrad games appearing in the databases. I hope by making a lot of analysis and preparing many ideas that I can stay ahead of my future opponents.
