The Strongest Move

After having written two articles on the subject last spring, I should have found the strongest move here, even though it was a blitz game.

White to move

I did find the best move here, however.

White to move

Had this next position appeared in the game, I likely would have missed the strongest response, playing instead another move that also wins, but in more moves.

White to move

It mystifies me that I again missed the best move here below because it had been my intent a move earlier. As a consequence, my advantage began to slip away.

White to move

But, my opponent missed the critical reply.

Black to move

This next move was easy to find.

White to move

If you wish to see the whole game with annotations, this link should get you there.

Try, Try, Again

Reading chess books is an almost daily activity for me, but finishing one is rare. In 2021, my embrace of ebooks, especially Everyman Books in Chessbase format, altered an old pattern. Prior to 2021, I could count on my fingers the number of chess books that I had read from cover-to-cover. The first four months of that year, I ran out of digits. This was not due to amputation, but rather to finding that I could look at every move in every chess game in a book much faster and with more enjoyment by viewing it on my computer screen.

Nevertheless, I still have not played through every game in any issue of Chess Informant, even though I have been getting the ebook version since Informant 113, and the ebook and print edition together since 124. In "Determination" (2016), I wrote about my resolve to go through all of Informant 128. I failed.

A couple of days ago, I worked through all of the games classified ECO A that were published in the games section of Informant 152. I ran through the games quickly in two sittings and made few notes in the print edition. I noted in the margin next to Mamedyarov -- Keymer, Berlin 2022 152/22 that the game contained "interesting imbalances".

Starting the B section, I am moving slower. The first game in the section, Ali Marandi -- Hungaski, Saint Louis 2022 152/30 sent me to The Week in Chess for more games with 4.b4 against the Scandinavian. I went through 28 of the 141 games in that database this morning, then a few more in ChessBase Mega 2020. Emanuel Lasker appears to have been the first player to try the move, employing it in two simuls in 1905 and 1908. The only prior game published in Informant with 4.b4 was a rapid game played on chess24, Nakamura -- Firouzja 144/24, which White won in 16 moves.

After relishing the tactical blow that ended Maurizza -- Pelletier 152/35, I took a moment to create this post. Now, it is time for me to resume the effort to succeed where I have failed so many times in the past.

Blast the Position Open

In this position from Amin -- Samhouri, Doha 2011 (Chess Informant 113/29), White found that the position met the requirements for a strike in the center. Bassem Amin annotated the game for Informant. This game illustrates how things might go terribly wrong quickly for Black in the Scandinavian Defense.

White to move