Grand Prix Attack - f7 pin

I find that, when playing the Grand Prix Attack as White, having the Bishop aiming at f7 is a very useful lever and establishes a pin.  In my recent online game, my opponent eventually dealt with the Bishop, but by then I had a slight initiative and managed to get a Queen and Rook battery. 

FIDE online chess arena   

Grand Prix win with King's assistance

It is worth noting here that, when Black overstretched I was able to get move the King into the game by covering the f3 square on move ? ...   It's definitely true to say that slightly less experienced players tend to forget that their King is both a defensive and an attacking piece ... !  So, always look at King moves and consider these seriously before moving your other pieces out of place ... 

    

Grand Prix Attack - easily winning

The Grand Prix Attack can be a very tricky opening to deal with for the uninitiated.  Here is the end position when I was White and it was my move ...  My opponent resigned on the spot ... 

Actually - I was convincingly losing this game as early as move 10 according to the engine !!!  

The e5 pawn turned out to be a challenging unit for Black to deal with - and all my piece swooped down on the Kingside ...

Here is the full game .. 

   

Probability of this game having ever have been played before?

Fun Fact:  In summary, the likelihood of a chess position after 23 moves for both White and Black having occurred before is for all practical purposes zero. The number of possible games and positions is so vast that every game played is essentially a unique creation.

I find this quite astonishing! 

Grand Prix Attack - The DEADLY TRIANGLE ...

The Grand Prix Attack can be really lethal when played properly ... 

From researching the web, I can see that chessdoctrine.com has some excellent resources on this opening.  

I would say that, if you like to win games quickly with an "all out attack", then this is the opening for you!

Essentially, the Grand Prix Attack (GPA) is known as a 'closed Sicilian'.  The reason for this is that instead of White playing 2. Nf3 3.d4 they instead elect to play 2.Nc3 and 3.f4, keeping the 'd' file closed which is a much like a King's Gambit where Black has played c5 and not e5. 

The themes for the attack itself are as follows: 

Theme 1) Queen moves from to h4:  (Queen moves from d1 to e1 to achieve this) to attack Kingside 

Theme 2) White responds to Black's pawn triangle (normally Black fianchetos his Bishop in front of his castled King) by advancing his 'f' pawn and often sacrificing it on f5 ... to clear his dark squared Bishop for an exchange with Black's dark squared Bishop.  If he can, he moves his Bishop to h6 to get the exchange in ...     

Theme 3) White Knight hops to g5!

 

   

And there you have White's deadly Triangle of Bishop, Knight and Queen!!

I think that this is a pattern worth remembering an even happened in a bullet game played by
Magnus Carlsen himself .. 

I should write emphasise here that if you manage to get your White pieces into this configuration, it doesn't mean you've won - but as Black - it can be a nightmare to deal with ... Here's Carlsen's game - albeit a bullet one some years ago ... 

Theme 4:  Sac the exchange (the exchange sacrifice is the final theme to remember ... ) 

Hint:  Can find the checkmate after the Black King moves to his final available square .. ??

Good Luck with the GPA!! 

Grand-Prix Attack - Black's Careless Advance

Don't advance your pawns too quickly in the grand prix attack, or you will overstretch - which is what happened to Black here ... 

Two Grand Prix Attacks, one as White, one as Black

 Today I wanted to practice my chess.  I like 'attacking chess', so the Grand Prix Attack for me is perfect!  The time control was 10 mins each.  Here is the first game with me playing as White on http://new.chess24.com

   

My Grand Prix Attack!

Unlike the previous post featuring the Carlsen game, my Grand Prix Attack as White was not contested by a Grand Master thankfully :) However, I remebered the basic pattern that Carlsen used -> I.e. the triangle of Queen, Bishop and Knight ... ! In fact, I even sacrificed my Knight without realising it, but given that this was a bullet game I think that I can be forgiven ... In this game Black probably made the mistake of closing the position after 10. ..d4.