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Chessville
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The Kennedy Kids
Unbeatable Defense While I was in school, a few years ago, I met a player who boasted that he had discovered the “unbeatable” defense. It withstood all attacks, he said grandly; and it routinely led to a counter-attack that always won. These claims impressed me greatly, and – since I had never learned about such a defense in any of my reading of “the books” – I was somewhat awed and frightened when I sat down to play against the mysterious player and his omnipotent defense. Matt – Anonymous 1.e4 d6 Going into some kind of Modern Defense? Was that his weapon? It can be played against anything. I didn’t know how to play against the Modern! 2.d4 b6 Or was he playing Owen’s Defense?? I didn’t know how to play against that universal defense, either. So I went on and developed a piece, aimlessly. I felt I was already doomed. 3.Nf3 h6
More shock: a “reversed” Grob Opening!? Clearly, Black plans …g5 and …g4 and then my game is already in ruins! My feeble next move put me in the position of being able to “castle into” the coming attack, and I was seriously demoralized – defeated already… 4.Bc4 f6 Oh… I see. It’s true what the Russians say: “Fear has big eyes!” Black’s “unbeatable” defense is, in reality, a sickly sort of Stonewall. Nonetheless, I played my next move out of sheer momentum. 5.Nc3 Bd7
Black captured the Knight – and then Resigned, as mate was then unavoidable. Refusing the Knight with 6…Qc8 (giving the king an escape square) would have lost a Queen and a Rook and some pawns after an instructive “windmill”: 7.Qh5+ Kd8 8.Nf7+ Ke8 9.Nxh8+ Kd8 10.Nf7+ Ke8 11.Nxh6+ Kd8 12.Nf7+ Ke8 13.Nxd6+ Kd8 14.Nxc8 Kxc8 15.Qf7
Well, you won’t find this “unbeatable” defense anywhere “in the book,” and for a good reason: it’s really no good. Sometimes I wonder, though if that wily chess pirate who challenged me just went back to playing his own defense, as if nothing had happened. Did his “unbeatable” defense still withstand all attacks, and continue to lead to counter-attacks that always won? Part of me hopes it still did. Index of Fiction at Chessville
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