| Oct-15-11 | | sevenseaman: Non-complication is a great tool. At times things can be made to look very simple! |
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Oct-15-11
 | | Phony Benoni: Is is logical to go for a Marcozy Bind set-up against the Dragon? The whole point of the Bind is to restrain Black's d-pawn, but that doesn't often advance in the Dragon anyway. Instead, the c-pawn turns out to be a worry on c4 and White feels compelled to protect it with 10.b3. But that opens up the long diagonal with a lot of pieces under fire from a particularly malevolent bishop, and it seems like White is always scrambling after that. Not 100% sure of the finish, but of the top of my head 30.Qb1 e3 31.Nf1 e2 looks like one unpleasant possibility. |
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| Oct-15-11 | | rilkefan: <30.Qb1 e3 31.Nf1 e2> I'd be tempted to play 31...Bxf3 - wonder if it works. |
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Oct-15-11
| | Phony Benoni: <rilkefan> After <30.Qb1 e3 31.Nf1>
click for larger viewIt looks like 31...Bxf3 is fine, since Black gets the piece back easily after 32.gxf3 Qxf3+ 33.Kg1 Qf2+. But White might be able to resist with 32.Nxe3. I'd still prefer 31...e2, which appears to win at least a piece by force: 32.Bxg7 exf1Q+ and 33...Kxg7, or 32.N-moves e1Q+ 33.Qxe1 Bxb2. It may be a matter of taste, and I won't be shocked if there's something even better for Black. |
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| Oct-15-11 | | Mikey00004: even better is 30... exf3 if
A. 31. gxf3 Bxf3+ 32. Nxf3 Qxf3+ 33. Kg1 Bh6 and white must go down a bishop to stave off mate
B. 31. Nxf3 Bxf3 32. gxf3 would result in same sequence so Qb1 is just losing. really once the postition got to 29... e4 it was won with correct play for black |
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| Oct-15-11 | | larkio: 12... b5! impressed me. I would never have noticed it, because b5 seemed too well defended. However, 15. Ncxb5 falls to 15... e5! and 16 ... Nxe4, deflecting the queen (the computer recommends 16 ... d5!!, but I dare not comment here), and 15. Ndxb5 is also bad on account of ...Nxe4. These sorts of deflections must be standard-issue for GMs like Hou, but for whatever reason this move stood out to me. Without that move, queenside counterplay would have been hard to achieve - but such a combination of strategic and tactical foresight is far beyond my grasp. Great game by Hou! |
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Oct-15-11
 | | kevin86: High pressure on the big diagonal proves deadly. |
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Oct-15-11
 | | playground player: I remember Yifan Hou for the greatest CG pun ever: "Hou Wears Short's Shorts." The game, Hou v. Short, can be found under Hou's "Notable Games." |
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| Oct-15-11 | | tarikhk: i can't decide if this pun is sexist or racist. |
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| Oct-15-11 | | whiteshark: <tarikhk> None of the two, at least that's my decision. :D |
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Oct-15-11
 | | scormus: <Phony Benoni: Is it logical to go for a Marcozy Bind set-up against the Dragon?>
IMO it is not. But I shouldnt be too critical, considering my own record against the hyper-accelerated, something like +0 -3 =0 before I decided to avoid playing 3 d4 against it. |
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Oct-15-11
| | scormus: The girl with the dragon move two? |
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Oct-15-11
| | Phony Benoni: <scormus> Looked up my record against 2...g6; turns out to be +2 -0 =0. Wasn't my fault, though. First game, after 3.d4, my opponent chose 3...b6. I got greedy with 4.Bc4 and he cooperated with 4...Bg7 5.dxc5 bxc5 6.Qd5. In the other game, I won despite playing both c4 and b3 in the opening. Do as I say, not as I do. |
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Oct-15-11
| | scormus: <... and he cooperated with 4...Bg7 ...> I might have fared better if I had more opponents like that. <+2 -0 =0> probably was a good idea to quit while you were ahead |
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Oct-15-11
| | Phony Benoni: Indeed. My overall record against the Sicilian is not good. Now that I think about it, the whole statement about playing the Maroczy Bind vs. the Dragon is probably too broad. In the more common lines with 2...d6, Black is probably not planning to waste a tempo with ...d5 unless White makes the idea irresistible. But one point of the Accelerated (2...Nc6 and 4...g6) and Hyper-Accelerated variations is to delay the push of the d-pawn. Tactical circumstances often arise where ...d5 in one move is desirable. So perhaps 6.c4 is all right, but as this game shows White can get involved in other difficulties as a result. |
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| Oct-15-11 | | SChesshevsky: Is this a common way for White to play this opening? It seems the Bishop doesn't look that great at d3 especially with giving up e5 for the Black Knight with a loss of time with 7.Ne2. It seems that once White loses control of the white squares with the Bishop gone and Black dominating the a1h8 diagonal White has got to be pretty much stuck with a tough defense. |
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Kibitzing
