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
In my last club game, my opponent gifted me with a huge blunder! I think he was guilty of one major fault. He had one and only one plan in mind and he was intent on sticking to it regardless of anything else ... In fact he became so blinkered by his plan that he left a piece hanging and I cleaned up.
After making some horrible opening faux-pas (moving same pawn twice - what was I thinking?), I made an effort to concentrate and then he blundered by playing 12.g3?, therefore the game is not at all noteworthy. The technique I used to keep him from using the open d-file for either of his Rooks was correct though!
Here is my fourth game in the Portsmouth Chess Congress 2013 - a Sicilian Grand Prix Attack. I was banking on my opponent not knowing enough about this type of attack to deal with it - but I was naive. My attack never got going, he played 2...e6 and my heart sank :( I am always disappointed when players play 2...e6 because it usually means that they have played against the GP attack before and that they know that this is by far the strongest reply. For instance 2...d6 is often considered inferior and tempo losing.
Finally on move 26, I blundered dues to fatigue and it was all over ... :)
In my last club game I had the White pieces and played e4. My opponent elected to play the sicilian ... I played the closed variation with 2.Nc3, hoping to get a Grand Prix Attack. Interestingly my opponent elected to play 4...Nf6? which although not a blunder, seems not to be a 'book move'? I'm not sure what his intention was but I will be putting the game through Fritz at some stage ...
As the game progressed it it turned into a classic fight for the center and the e5 pawn became the focus. After some analysis in the curry house afterwards an IM colleague had a look at the game and noticed that Black can actually win a pawn but I can't see where? Another candidate game for Fritz!!
(I found out after the game that my opponent was graded almost 300 Elo points above me at 1840 Elo. This game had a sharp conclusion which led to uncertainty and served me well!)
As usual, any comments welcome ...
Chess Diagram 1 - Closed Sicilian - 2.Nc3
Note: I offered a draw in this position and it was duly accepted.
This was an interesting game - I thought my opponent wanted to play the Grand Prix Attack against my Sicilian - but he opted for 3.Nf3 instead of 3.f4 ... As it turned out we wandered unwittingly into a very sharp line that neither of us were 100% with!
I had the edge throughout the game, purely due to confidence rather than anything else ... Solid development moves were all that was required from Black - keeping the queen and Knights at bay and away from key squares!
"Chess is a form of intellectual productiveness; therein lies its peculiar charm, and intellectual productiveness is one of the greatest joys of human existence".
Dr Siegbert Tarrasch (1862-1934), The Game of Chess, 1936, translated by G.E. SMITH and T.G. BONE.
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