|
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
Definition for Full Metal Jacket -
n : a lead bullet that is covered
with a jacket of a harder metal (usually copper)
 |
 |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
It all started in Josh Bloomer's basement. Or maybe
it didn't.
Josh Bloomer is a
Colorado Springs
chess-master half my age. He was sound asleep. You need twice
the sleep when you're young because your dreams are still growing. I
was fooling around on his computer and I invented an exciting new Chess
Defense. That's what I do. Give me an animal name, I match it
with some Chess moves.
 In
the main line I keep all eight of my pawns and I have to give up a knight
for three of White's pawns.
I chose the name based on a misunderstanding. I
thought Stanley's Kubrick's movie Full Metal Jacket meant the machine gun
or Gatling gun or automatic rifle or whatever the weapon is was full of
bullets, fully loaded. I found out later Full Metal Jacket meant the
bullet had an extra metal casing.
It was very difficult to entice my opponents into my
opening. So far I have tried dozens of times in slow games but only
succeeded in blitz games.
Another huge difficulty in the Unorthodox Chess World is
that our ideas are all scattered over time and languages and little clubs
and forgotten pamphlets. It is common in the
Unorthodox Chess Openings group at Yahoo Groups for someone to mention
a new idea and have the other members, kindly or indignantly, tell them
the history of their "new" concept. [Editor: Another repository of
UCO knowledge lies here.]
I fully expect someone to step forward and say my idea is
the Iguana Defense from Guatemala or the Edvins Kengis Defense from
Latvia, mentioned in an obscure, out of print, booklet before the war.
 I
mentioned my idea to Grandmaster Larry Christiansen during a joint ICC
webcast off the air and he said, "Oh, yeah, that thing." I feel
psychically certain someone has examined this before although he has not
stepped forward yet.
Before I show you the opening I want to tell you the rest
of the story.
Although I couldn't get my opening in a slow tournament
game I did stumble onto other similar situations where I had all my pawns
versus five pawns and a minor piece. I did reach some positions
where I had all eight pawns versus all eight pawns for a very long time.
I call these "Full Metal Jacket" games. Tom Bourie once gave me a
Chess set with bullets embedded in the pawns to make them heavier.
The time has come to stop blathering and show you actual
moves:
1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.c4 Nb6
IM Dave Vigorito calls 3 c4 Nf4 4 d4 Ng6 5 h4 e6 6
h5 Nh4 7 g3 Nf5 8 g4 Nh4 9 f4 The Squirrel, to make fun of Life
Master Jack Young's many inventions.
I reached this position as White in dozens of blitz games
with the Father-Son Double Colorado Chess Champions Dr. Mikhail Ponomarev
and his son Philipp. I also got a draw on the black side in a slow
rated game with Renard Anderson, an ex-Senior Master, in slow tournament
play. That's a story for another day.
4.d4 d6 5.f4
       
 
       
...is the very popular Four Pawns Attack to Alekhine's
Defense. According to Siberian-born Philipp Ponomarev there is no
'k' in the pronunciation of Alekhine's name; it is pronounced Al-yo-hin.
The Full Metal Jacket is the mirror image of the Four
Pawns Attack:
1.d4 Nc6 2.d5
Why can't I get anyone to push their pawn on me?
Why? Why? Why?
2...Ne5 3.e4 e6 4.f4
Now I can sac a piece with:
4...exd5!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
1987 Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket
Gunnery Sergeant Hartman [giving a speech to the
graduating recruits]:
Some of you will not come
back.
But always remember this: Marines die.
That's what we're here for.
But the Marine Corp lives forever.
And that means YOU live forever. |
 |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.fxe5 Qh4+ 6.Ke2 Qxe4+ 7.Be3 Bc5 8.Qd3 Qxe5 9.Nf3
Qxe3+ 10.Qxe3+ Bxe3 11.Kxe3
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1987 Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket
Gunnery Sergeant Hartman:
Why is Private Pyle out of his bunk after lights out? Why
is Private Pyle holding that weapon? Why are you not stomping
Private Pyle's guts out?
|
 |
| |
|
Private Joker:
Sir, it is the private's duty to inform the senior drill
instructor that Private Pyle has a full magazine that is locked and
loaded, Sir!
|
 |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can play better from here but the way I play it is ...d6, ...Nf6, ...Be6, ...a6, ...Kd7, ...c5, ...b5, ...Kc6, ...Rhb8
and go for a queenside pawn storm. Chocolate Rain.
By extrapolation any game where one side keeps all or most
of his pawns for a very long time I call a Full Metal Jacket game.
Before we get to the games let's analyze the Opening a
bit:
White can refuse to take the knight:
1.d4 Nc6 2.d5 Ne5 3.e4 e6 4.f4 exd5 5.exd5 Ng6
6.Qe2+ Qe7 7.Nc3 Qxe2+ 8.Ngxe2 Nf6 9.Be3 Bd6 10.g3 Ne7
With some endgame advantage for White. No human has
played this way but future carbon-based life forms will. Some people
love sucking the joy out of a room.
Some blitz opponents try to sac a rook and trap my queen
but this idea fails miserably. This is similar to my 10 year old son
Devon's favorite opening, which he calls the Rook Trick, and with which he
won two games in the 2009 Colorado State Scholastic Championship:
1.e4 e5 2.Qh5 g6 3.Q:e5+
or Jack Young's Raccoon:
1.e4 e5 2.f4 h5!! 3.fe?? Qh4+ 4.g3 Q:e4+
1.d4 Nc6 2.d5 Ne5 3.e4 e6 4.f4
exd5 5.fxe5 Qh4+ 6.g3 Qxe4+ 7.Kf2 Bc5+ 8.Be3 Qxe3+ 9.Kg2 Qf2+ 10.Kh3 d6+
11.e6 Bxe6+ 12.Qg4 Qxf1+ 13.Kh4 Bxg4 14.Kxg4 h5+ 15.Kh4 g5+ 16.Kxg5 Qf6
If you're not careful the plan works -
1.d4 Nc6 2.d5 Ne5 3.e4 e6 4.f4 exd5 5.fxe5 Qh4+ 6.g3
Qxe4+ 7.Qe2 Qxh1 8.Nf3 b6 9.Bf4 a5 10.Nbd2 Ba6 11.c4 Bb4 12.0-0-0 Bxd2+
The theory of the Full Metal Jacket was explained simply and eloquently by
the immortal words of Franklin K. Young:
Whenever a point of junction is the vertex of a
mathematical figure formed by the union of the logistic symbol of a pawn
with an oblique, diagonal, horizontal, or vertical from the logistic
symbol of any kindred piece; then the given combination of two kindred
pieces wins any given adverse piece.
-- The Major Tactics of Chess, Boston, 1898,
pg. 147
FRANKLIN KNOWLES YOUNG: (born Oct-21-1857, died Dec-19-1931) United States
of America. Franklin Knowles Young was born in Boston, MA, USA and
died in Winthrop, MA, USA. He was a US author who tried to apply
battlefield principles to the chessboard in a number of books. The
masters of his time ridiculed his work for this.
13.Bxd2 Bxc4 14.Qf2 Bxa2 15.Bd3 Qxd1+ 16.Kxd1
And I think White's queen and bishop and greater activity
might count for more than my undeveloped rooks and four pawns.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.d4 Nc6 2.d5 Ne5 3.e4 e6 4.f4 exd5 5.fxe5 Qh4+ 6..g3
Qxe4+ 7.Qe2 Qxh1 8.Nf3 b6 9.Bf4 a5 10.Nbd2 Ba6 11.c4 dxc4 12.0-0-0 c3
13.Qe4 cxd2+ 14.Bxd2 c6 15.Bxa6 Qxd1+ 16.Kxd1 Rxa6 17.Ng5 Ra8 18.Qc4 Nh6
19.e6 fxe6 20.Nxe6 Ra7 21.Nxf8 Rxf8 22.Qe4+ Kf7 23.Bxh6 gxh6 24.Qxh7+ Ke8
25.Qxh6
White's pawns look harder to stop than mine.
A beautiful redheaded pianist, ICC handle Scordatura, a
very aggressive, fearless chessplayer, tried over and over one afternoon
in 2005 to trap my queen in Full Metal Jacket blitz, and she won her share
of games. Scordatura gave me a feel for the line which was brand new
at the time.
Unsurprisingly I can improve big time.
1.d4 Nc6 2.d5 Ne5 3.e4 e6 4.f4 exd5 5.fxe5 Qh4+ 6.g3
Qxe4+ 7.Qe2 Qxh1 8.Nf3 b6 9.Bf4 Ba6 10.Qxa6 Qxf3 11.Nd2 Bb4
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
1987 Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket
Gunnery Sergeant Hartman:
Because I am hard you will not like me. But the more you
hate me the more you will learn. I am hard but I am fair.
|
 |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
I like this better than moving my Queen to hang onto my
exchange.
12.c3 Bxc3 13.bxc3 Qxc3 14.Rd1 Ne7
I have a rook plus a Full Metal Jacket for two bishops.
I can castle kingside quickly if I want to.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Here is a losing line you should avoid, but White is
almost guaranteed to mess this up in a blitz game. It might be fun
to see how poorly he navigates the mind numbing complications:
1.d4 Nc6 2.d5 Ne5 3.e4 e6 4.f4 exd5!! 5.fxe5
Qh4+ 6.Ke2 Qxe4+ 7.Be3 Bc5 8.Qd3 Qxe5 9.Nf3 Qxb2 10.Bxc5!! Qxa1
11.Qe3+!! Kd8 forced 12.Ne5!! d6
forced 13.Nxf7+!! Kd7 forced 14.Nc3!!
...and now everything wins for White but some people crack
up under the pressure of too many wins - I do that all the time in the
Fishing Pole.
14...Nf6 15.Kd2!! Re8 16.Bb5+!!
forced
c6 forced 17.Qf4!! Qxc3+ 18.Kxc3 forced Ne4+ 19.Kb2!! dxc4 20.Bd3
...and although I almost have my Full Metal Jacket,
anybody can win this for White.
Material Balance - buried rook & three pawns for a queen.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can also pretend you don't want to trade queens but
you might end up confusing yourself.
1.d4 Nc6 2.d5 Ne5 3.e4 e6 4.f4 exd5!! 5.fxe5 Qh4+ 6.Ke2
Qxe4+ 7.Be3 Bc5 8.Qd3 Qxe5 9.Nf3 Qe6 10.Nc3 Nf6 11.Re1 0-0 12.Kd1 Bxe3
13.Rxe3 Qb6 14.Ng5 g6 15.Rf3 Ng4
Double Fishing Pole, and Black wishes he would have traded
queens by now.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can confuse White with many different approaches.
1.d4 Nc6 2.d5 Ne5 3.e4 e6 4.f4 exd5!! 5.fxe5 Qh4+
6.Ke2 Bc5
With all kinds of fascinating scenarios:
7.Qe1 Qg4+ 8.Kd2 de 9.c4 e3+ 10.Kc2 d5!!
-
11 B:e3? Bf5+!! 12 Kb3/c1/c3 Qe4!! ...and the threat
of ... Qc2 checkmate wins back the piece.
-
11 B:e3? Bf5+!! 12 Kd2 d4!! the additional threat of
... Bb4+ wins back the piece.
-
11 B:e3? Bf5+!! 12 Kd3 Q:c4+ wins the house.
The point is the potential for rapid debacles are there.
7.Qe1 Qg4+ 8.Kd2 de 9.c4 e3+ 10.Kc2 d5!! 11.exd6
11...Bf5+!!
11...Ne7! is fun too.
12.Kb3 forced Qe4!!
12...0-0-0, ...Ne7, ...a5
13.a4 forced Ne7!!
13...Rd8, ... 0-0-0, ... c6
14.Na3 0-0
...is clearly a nightmare for White.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
1.d4 Nc6 2.d5 Ne5 3.e4 e6 4.f4 exd5!! 5.fxe5 Qh4+
6.Ke2 Bc5 7.Qe1 Qg4+ 8.Kd2 de 9.c4 e3+
And now:
A. 10.Kc2 d5!! 11.exd6 en passant, forced.
11...Bf5+!!
1. 12.Kc3? 0-0-0!! Or 12...Qe4!! wins.
2.
12.Kb3! Forced. 0-0-0!! (...b5!)
...and I only have a pawn for my piece but White has only
developed his king!
B. 10.Kc3 a5!!! (10...d5!!, ...Ne7!, ...Qd4+) 11.Qe2 Forced.
11...Qd4+ (11...Qf4, ...Nh6, ...Qe4, ...d6) 12.Kc2 d5!! (...d6!, ...Q:e5!)
With clearly more than enough for a piece.
How much of this stuff do you want me to take a look at?
OK, I'll go on.
1.d4 Nc6 2.d5 Ne5 3.e4 e6 4.f4 exd5!! 5.fxe5 Qh4+
6.Ke2 Bc5 7.Qe1 Qg4+ 8.Kd2 de 9.Qg3
It may be OK to allow a trade of queens with 9.Qg3 d5, ..
d6, ... Q:g3, ... Nh6, ... e3+ 10 Kh1 Nh6 or try to hide with
9...Qf5 and now 10.Q:g7 loses to 10...Q:f1 11.Q:h8 Kf8 but
10.Ne2 Ne7 11.Qxg7 Rg8 12.Qf6 d6 13.Qxf5 Bxf5 14.exd6 0-0-0
...trades Queens anyway.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
|
Oogway: One often
meets his destiny
on the road he
takes to avoid it.
-- Kung Fu Panda
|
 |
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Another idea in the main line:
1.d4 Nc6 2.d5 Ne5 3.e4 e6 4.f4 exd5!! 5.fxe5 Qh4+
6.Ke2 Bc5 7.Qe1 Qxe4+ 8.Kd1 Qxe1+ 9.Kxe1 Ne7
With middle game type compensation in the endgame.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
1.d4 Nc6 2.d5 Ne5 3.e4 e6 4.f4 exd5!! 5.fxe5 Qh4+ 6.Ke2
We don't have to play 6...Q:e4+ or ...Bc5, we can try
6...de 7.Be3 d5 8.Q:d5? Bg4+!! wins.
6...dxe4 7.Be3 d5 8.g3 Bg4+ 9.Kf2
And now:
A. 9...Bxd1 10.gxh4
0-0-0 11.Bxa7 Bg4
or ... Nh6, and I must admit being puzzled why Fritz rates
me even a piece down.
B. If that doesn't hold up I can try:
9...Qh5 10.Be2 Nh6 11.Nc3
0-0-0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
One of the unique features of the Full Metal Jacket is
that White and Black can agree to a private dance and chase each other
around the world if they both agree to it.
1.d4 Nc6 2.d5 Ne5 3.e4 e6 4.f4 exd5 5.fxe5 Qh4+ 6. Kd2
Qh6+ 7.Ke1 Qh4+ 8.Kd2 Qf4+ 9.Ke1 Qh4+ 10.Kd2 Qh6+ 11.Kc3 Qc6+ 12.Kb3 Qb6+
13.Kc3 Qc6+ 14.Kd2 Qh6+ 15.Ke2 Qh5+ 16.Ke1 Qh4+
This would be a very risky Grandmaster draw because both
sides can betray each other. Going as far as c3 is safe but
venturing out to b3 is over the top.
1.d4 Nc6 2.d5 Ne5 3.e4 e6 4.f4 exd5 5.fxe5 Qh4+ 6. Kd2
Qh6+ 7.Ke1 Qh4+ 8.Kd2 Qf4+ 9.Ke1 Qh4+ 10.Kd2 Qh6+ 11.Kc3 Qc6+ 12.Kb3 Qb6+
13.Kc3
At this point I have better options than just checking on
c6:
A. 13.Kc3 Qb4+ 14.Kd3 Bc5 15.Qf3 B:g1 16.c3
(16.R:g1? Qc4+ recovers the rook.) Qxe4+ 17.Qxe4+ de+ 18.K:e4 Bc5 with an
extra pawn.
B. 13.Kc3 Qb4+ 14.Kd3 Bc5 15.Nc3 de+ 16.Ke2 Forced.
16...d5!! 17.Q:d5? Bg4+ 18.Ke1 Rd8 19.Bb5+ c6 20.B:c6+ bc
21.Q:c6+ Kf8 wins.
C. 13.Kc3 Qb4+ 14.Kd3 Bc5 15.Nc3 de+ 16.Ke2
Forced. 16...d5!! 17.Ke1 Be6, ... Ne7, ... c6 with more than enough for
the piece.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Where else can we cut into the perpetual check dance?
After:
1.d4 Nc6 2.d5 Ne5 3.e4 e6 4.f4 exd5 5.fxe5 Qh4+ 6. Kd2
We can try:
6...Q:e4
or 6...de
or 6...Qg5+ 7.Kc3 Q:e5+ 8.Qd4 Bb4+ 9.Kd3 Forced.
9...de+ 10.Q:e4 Q:e4+ 11.K:e4 Nf6+ 12.Kf3 b6 or ... d5. Roughly
equal.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
That was a rough sketch of the Full Metal Jacket Opening.
In Part 2 of this article, we'll look at some FMJ games.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Full Metal Jacket - Part 2
|
Brian is also the author of
How to Play Chess
Like an
Animal
a "magical introduction to Chess
with 30
Chess openings
named after animals..." |
Free videos
are available
at youtube.com,
search TimmyBx Search:
Timmybx
Brian Wall Chess
Sagacious00004
esp.
- Shattering the Scheveningen Pt 1, Pt2
- The Larimar of Laramie Pt 1, Pt2
- Fork Trick Pt 1, Pt2
- Rashid Rashid Pt 1, Pt2
|
Visit Brian at
his newest website, or at:
http://www.walverine.com/
and/or join
his Yahoo Group.
|
Return to: Off the Wall
More
Unorthodox Chess Openings
Other Chessville Columnists
More
Annotated Games
|
