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by Albert H. Alberts |
Practice What You Preach!?
Explorations in
Man-Assisted
Machine Chess (MAMS) |
Coming out of splendid isolation after seven
years of intense study of computer chess. I joined a local Amsterdam chess
club, the Young Turks. Eight of us, only males thus far, and find
myself behind a board with real wooden pieces and clocks ticking away!
Monday nights. Guess it is about 40 years since I've done that.
From the barroom downstairs the tingling of glasses and soft conservation of the guests.
Good manners all around. No cursing. Shake hands. 30
minutes on the clocks. Do you mind if I smoke? The works.
And free opening drinks on the house. Yo.
So
what are you going to do Mr. Fritz Slayer?! Of course my
reputation as the author of two How To Fool
Fritz monographs – the second one on grandmaster level -
stating that all unsymmetrical openings aside
from 1.e4 e5 2.d4 d5 are theoretically won for WHITE precedes me.
What are we
going to have? Dazzling Morphy-Tal-Fischer brilliance? Is this
62-year old Forever-Young Rebel-Without-A-Cause Baby-Boomer Cold-War-Baby
going to practice what he preaches?
No!
At the moment
my score is 3½ out of 5 in the tournament, and it turns out that I am a far
better player with BLACK! It just so happens that I emerge, sort of, as
a Petrosian-like defender, suddenly lashing out in the late middlegame.
The style I loathed most in my books!
Not being
able to memorize more then the first 3-4 opening moves for White of my Grand
Hypersharp computer slaying repertoire, I blunder with White over and over
again. Lost a Caro-Kann (that AWFUL 1.e4 c6 move) within 14 moves!
Stagger Lee shot Billy, shot the boy so bad! I preach the audacious
tactical risk style, scorn the Russian school and collect a series of firm
wins with Black in the King's Indian like nothing happened!
The paradigm:
Against computers draw the game with Black and go home. Yeah,
that is what you thought! But give me the 1.e4 c5 Sicilian, about
which I agree with Alexander Aljechin (watch these double initial AA-people,
Amadeus Avogrado, Anthony Arduengo, legendary chemists like Stellwagen and I
believe Bent Larsen and I am a research chemist as well) is highly dubious
for Black but I retaliate this
white-boy-what-you-doing-uptown-chasing-all-these women-around.
They know it
and I face 1.d4 all the time. None of these
games are memorable of course.
So far only
one rule: eat greasy food beforehand. Got it from a book by Lamarck
Arc The Triomphe, a Russian saying. Eat grease before you go out for
the kill.
Waiting for
one of these fellows to come up with a French against my eternal 1.e4, let
me prepare a variation they can not refuse. Tarrasch style, mobility
for a pawn, and a piece later. Way-to-go. NEVER this ugly
Winawer Bb4-thingie and all pieces crowded around square c3.
All from the
HTTF-book but remember: in practice I will probably not be able to execute
it. Two games over within two hours, and plenty of time to succumb to
Sister Booze.

French Cuisine
- Tarrasch Supreme
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nf3 c5 4.Nbd2 a6
5.c4
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
With the typical Tarrasch signature, 5.c4
!? I picked up from a game Bronstein-Szabo, move four - and out
the books.
4...cxd4 6.exd5 exd5 7.Bd3 dxc4 8.Nxc4 b5
9.Ncd2 Qe7+
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
Saw that one coming. Black thinks
he can win a piece on e4 via the pin with Qe7 on the e-file.
The stem diagram.
Obviously a computer playing Black
expects White to play 10.Kf1, but no such thing. Raise the risk
with a piece sacrifice.
Two options:
10.Ne4 f5 11.0–0 fxe4 12.Bxe4 Bb7 13.Bxb7
Qxb7 14.Re1+ Ne7 15.Nxd4 Qd5 16.Qg4 Kf7 17.Bg5 Nd7 18.Bxe7 Bxe7 19.Nf5
Bf8 20.Rad1 Nf6 21.Re7+ Bxe7 22.Qxg7+ Ke6 23.Qxe7+ Kxf5 24.Rxd5+ Nxd5
25.g4+ Kxg4 26.Qe6+ Kf3 27.Qxd5+
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
White
up at +1.38 but that is probably not enough in an endgame with heavy
pieces.
But
from the stem diagram we can have a sacrifice of the bishop:
10.Be4 f5 11.0–0 fxe4 12.Nxe4
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
Now
that is how we like it. Black completely underdeveloped, his
king exposed and White having full mobility. After ...f5 by
Black, for White Qh5, Bg5 and Rad1/Ref1 are options, the c-file is
open.
The
only practical question is: how bad are the nerves going to
scintillate and will I be able to keep a straight face and hide
superfluous sweat in a tournament setting?
12...Bb7 13.Bg5 Qd7 14.Re1 Bxe4 15.Rxe4+
Be7 16.Nxd4 Nc6 17.Nxc6 Qxc6 18.Qf3 Rc8 19.Rae1 Qc5 20.Re5 Qd6 21.Re6
Qc5 22.Qb7 Rc7 23.Qa8+ Kf7 24.Bxe7 Rxe7 25.Rxe7+ Nxe7 26.Qxh8
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
Hah!
White over +3 and winning.
Then again,
this main line has numerous sidelines already refuted by the machine, but
how are you going to execute this with wood Mr. Alberts, and refute them all
by head-calculation with both queens on the board? And suppose my
noble opponent will not play...b5 but try and play it safe with Be7?
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nf3 c5 4.Nbd2 a6
5.c4 cxd4 6.exd5 exd5 7.Bd3 dxc4 8.Nxc4 Be7
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
9.0–0 Nf6 10.Nce5 Nbd7 11.Nxf7
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
Don’t just sit there. Do something!
The coffee-house player in action. A small crowd gathering
around the board.
11...Kxf7 12.Ng5+ Ke8 13.Ne6 Qb6 14.Re1
Nc5 15.Nxg7+
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
15...Kd8 16.Bf5 Bxf5 17.Nxf5 Ne6 18.Qe2
Re8 19.Qxe6 Qxe6 20.Rxe6 Kd7 21.Nxd4
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
White
having a healthy ending, over +1, but sitting behind a board you don't
know that, and this ending has to be executed with 30 minute rapido
time.
21...Bc5 22.Rxe8 Rxe8 23.Be3 Nd5
24.Nf5 Nxe3 25.fxe3 Bxe3+ 26.Nxe3 Rxe3 27.Rd1+
A rook ending that can be drawn.
Never mind.
I will do Nbd2 in all French lines and go c4 too. And I will probably
lose and no one will understand my intention. The price of fame.
To close out
the ceremonies of this month one more Tarrasch Supreme from the literature
by one of my all time heroes: Efwin Geller:
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 a6 4.Ngf3 c5 5.exd5
exd5 6.Be2 c4 7.0–0 Bd6 8.b3 b5 9.a4
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
In
Geller-Dreev, New York1990, Black went 9...Bb7?
9...Bb7(?) 10.bxc4 bxc4 11.Bxc4! dxc4
12.Nxc4
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
After
that 9...Bb7 was taken out of the books and replaced by 9...c3.
And
again: sacrifice a piece.
9...c3 10.axb5! cxd2 11.Bxd2
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
And
this is exactly what Tarrasch was teaching. Black has played
only ONE piece and made SEVEN pawn moves. White is fully mobile.
11...Bb7 12.bxa6 Nxa6 13.c4 dxc4 14.bxc4
Nc7 15.Qb3 Bxf3 16.Bxf3 Rb8 17.Qe3+ Ne6 18.d5 Qh4 19.g3 Qxc4 20.dxe6
Ne7 21.exf7+
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
And the room
trembles after all this Morphyan brilliance. White over +3 on the
virtual computer board but sweating like an ox in reality.
Wish me luck! Come see us some time!
Albert
Alberts
www.howtofoolfritz.com
Albert Alberts' Explorations in
Man-Assisted Machine Chess
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