| May-27-14 | | jerseybob: Ray Keene, in this game and many others, makes the Pirc seem very appetizing, almost enough to lure this long-time Najdorfer over to the Dark Side(I said almost). Keene analyzes this game in the 1970 BCM, pp.21-22, and after move 22 includes the cryptic comment, "At this point in the game I met Leonard Barden in the tournament room, and he informed me that W.S. Browne had achieved the grandmaster norm at San Juan. This explains my hesitancy over the next few moves." Ray, could you take us back to '69 and expand on that? |
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May-27-14
 | | Domdaniel: <jerseybob> Be careful ... the Pirc was indeed appetizing (and sharp) in the 1970s, but subsequent theoretical finds have tended to favour white. Which accounts for much of the decline in the Pirc's popularity.
It's still playable, of course: but you need to know what you're doing. |
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| May-27-14 | | jerseybob: Domdaniel: That may be so, but my beloved Najdorf is also more dangerous. In fact, attacks in all openings have so sharpened in recent years, even in the so-called positional openings, that NO defense seems safe any more! |
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May-27-14
 | | perfidious: If Black is going to play 5....0-0 6.Bd3 Nc6, 7.0-0 Bg4 8.e5 sets plenty of problems as well with less risk. In a 1977 simul, Edmar Mednis crushed me after 7....e5 8.fxe5 dxe5 9.d5 Ne7 10.Nxe5, though I do not recall the remainder of the game. |
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May-27-14
| | Domdaniel: <jerseybob> -- < attacks in all openings have so sharpened in recent years> -- I reckon that's true. One of my first opening books, in the 1970s, was Pachman's 'Semi-Open Games'. Back then, various Sicilian and French lines, along with the Caro-Kann, Pirc, Modern, and Scandinavian (etc.), all seemed like good double-edged defences to 1.e4. (I still play the French, btw).
But now many of these lines have faded away at top levels -- even the once dominant Sicilian has become less popular. Most elite players now seem to meet 1.e4 with 1...e5 and the dreaded Berlin. |
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| May-27-14 | | jerseybob: perfidious: I'm not wild about those Nc6 lines for black; c6 seems more gritty and Pirc-ish. And this post is giving me a deva vu. |
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May-28-14
| | perfidious: <jerseybob> If I were to play 5....0-0 at all, 6.Bd3 Na6 might well be my choice, but in my opinion, 6.Be2 is another line which is not without poison, despite Fischer vs Korchnoi, 1962, which served as a deterrent to White players for more than two decades. |
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Kibitzing
sac: 31...Rxe2