The editor of the Atlantic Chess News, Steve Ferrero,
gave us a heads up on this game. A strong amateur is
playing “chess pirate”— using a dubious opening to try
and get the edge right off the bat.
Chess Gems
by Peter J. Tamburro Jr.
n q Ä
The old chestnut Balasubramanian pulled out was the
Tennison Gambit, which had a brief spell of popularity in
the late 1800s.
The easiest way to meet this gambit is 3...Nc6 4.Nxe4 Nf6
5.Nbc3 Nxe4 6.Nxe4 Bf5 7.Ng3 Bg6; although, we would
love to see someone try 3...Qd4 4.d3 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bg4
6.Be3 Bxd1 7.Bxd4 Bxc2 8.dxe4 h6 9.Rc1 hxg5 10.Rxc2
Nc6 11.Bb5 0–0–0 12.Be3 (12.Bxc6 Rxd4) 12...Nd4.
There is an old chess saying, “He who takes the queen
knight pawn, sleeps in the streets.”
Well, there are still people taking the b-pawn and still
sleeping in the metaphorical chess streets.
Andrei Grekh proves the value of the old wisdom to Valery
Grinev at the Third Geller Memorial Open held this month
in Odessa in Ukraine.
Black, in the game, could also have gone with 4...Be6
5.Qh5 Nc6 6.Bb5 Bd6 7.Nbc3 Nf6. Instead, he opted for
sharper play.
The opening is very old time, too. White grabs his space
advantage in the Advanced Caro-Kann with a style we
haven’t seen in a while. Yes, the Advanced Caro-Kann is
played a lot, but those familiar with it will notice White’s
rather ancient attitude.
White had his pitfalls to avoid, too. On move seven, 7.Na4
Bxf2+ 8.Kxf2 Qd4+ 9.Ke1 Qh4+ 10.g3 Qe4+ would have
been embarrassing.
We were not too fond of 7…e4 and even less so of
10…exd3ep, which just helped White’s development.
Better would have been 10…Bb6. However, one really
dubious move was 11…c6. A more energetic try would
have been 11...Qe7 12.Be3 0–0 13.0–0–0 Ng4 14.Bxc5
Qxc5 15.Rhe1 Rae8.
Maybe Black picked up on that, too, and felt he could get
away with taking the b-pawn, and after attacking the rook
on b7 with Nc5, he could then gobble up the h-pawn on
the other side of the board after the rook moved from the
knight attack.
White had a great move up his sleeve: 20.Nb5! Black’s
queen is attacked. There is a mate threat on d7 and White
can even plant the knight on d6 with check. What a
disaster in just one move!
The final nail in the coffin was 13…Qc8?? To get any play
at all, Black had to play 13...Qe7 14.Nd6+ (14.Qxe7+
Kxe7 15.Na3 Nb4 16.g3 Nxd3+ 17.cxd3 Ng4) 14...Bxd6
15.Bxa6 (15.Qxa8+ Kf7) 15...Bd7+ 16.Be2 Rb8 17.Qxa7
Rxg2, and it’s still a fight.
Don’t take that queen knight pawn!!
Andrei Grekh (2355)
Valery Grinev (2242)
Thus, White’s choice of openings unsettled Black. We
hope our readers will take note, so this disaster will not
befall them when they’re Black.
rd
3 Geller Memorial Open, Odessa Ukraine 2007, ECO B12
Caro-Kann Defense – Advance Variation
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Be3 e6 5.Nd2 Nd7 6.f4 c5
7.Ngf3 Bg4 8.Be2 Ne7 9.O-O Nf5 10.Bf2 Rc8 11.c3 Qb6
12.h3 Bxf3 13.Nxf3 Qxb2
Adit Balasubramanian (2181)
Geoffrey Herman (1973)
th
9ss 108 US Open, Cherry Hill, Rd. 7, TL 40/2 SD/1, Aug. 3, 2007,ECO A06
Tennison Gambit
1.e4 d5 2.Nf3 dxe4 3.Ng5 e5 4.Nxe4 f5 5.Nec3 Be6 6.Na3
Bc5 7.Qf3 e4 8.Qg3 Nf6 9.Nab5 Na6 10.d4 exd3ep
11.Bxd3 c6
14.g4 Ne7 15.c4 dxc4 16.Bxc4 cxd4 17.Rb1 Qa3 18.Nxd4
a6 19.Rxb7 Nc5 20.Nb5 Black Resigns
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12.Qxg7 Rg8 13.Qxb7 Qc8 14.Qxa6 cxb5 15.Bxb5+ Kf7
16.Qxc8 Bxc8 17.Bc4+ Be6 18.Bxe6+ Kxe6 19.g3 Ng4
20.O-O Rab8 21.b3 Bd4 22.Bb2 Rbc8 23.Rae1+ Kf7
24.Nb5 Bxf2+ 25.Rxf2 Nxf2 26.Nd6+ Black Resigns
19