BtM 1: Is the Sicilian Defence Different?
June 1988, Position G
Black to play
Contributions are welcome in the comments box. I’ll reply with what the Masters have to say about their choice to anybody who suggests a move.
Scroll down when you’re ready to see what the Beat the Masters panel chose and the points scored for each move.
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I remember my friend Tom telling me that playing Open Sicilians was good for developing players back in 2008 around the time he wrote this blogpost. He was one of the best improved adult chess players in England that year, and I knew the idea originated from Rowson, so what he had to say was obviously worth listening to. Not that I did.
In my defence, my objection was partly practical. You might want to play Open Sicilians, but in club chess - at my level anyway - you’re far from guaranteed to get 2 Nf3 and 3 d4 after you answer 1 e4 with 1 ... c5.
I don’t know the answer to the question raised by the title of this post, but given that the nature of this blog is heavily influenced by Rowson, and my past chess improvement owing a great deal to the former British Champion turned philosopher, it seemed only fair to start with a Siclian position. The other fascinating thing about this position is the response it generated from the panel: nine Masters came up with six different moves between them and the guest computer that month came up with a seventh.
It’s Black to play. Have a go.
By the way, my intention is to include in each post a few comments about my choice of move and how I came to the decision. I can’t do that here, though, because I managed to misread the instructions and looked at the position from the wrong side.
Be advised - that’s very annoying. If you’re going to use any of these positions as study material, make sure you’ve got the board set up correctly, and make double sure you know who it is to play.
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POINTS
10: ... Kh7
9: ... Rc4
8: ... b5, ... e5
6: ... Nh7, ... Rec8
5: ... Rb8, ... Nc5
4: ... g5
MASTERS
1 ... Kh7: IM Davies, IM Norwood, IM Howell
1 ... e5: GM Plaskett, WIM S. Arkell
1 ... b5: GM Flear, IM Pein
1 ... Rc4: IM Kosten
1 ... g5: IM P. Littlewood
1 ... Rb8: IM Levitt
1 ... Nh7: IM Conquest
1 ... Nc5: IM K. Arkell
1 ... Rec8: Mephisto MM4
Bit of a Dragadorf position, not that it had been invented in 1988. If there aren't any working tactics, I'd be inclined to go with the computer, boringly double on the c file and await events.
ReplyDeleteHi Roger,
DeleteThanks for dropping by.
One interesting question for these positions - or any really, I suppose - is if you’re trying to find the best move you can or whether you’re trying to find the move you would play in the game where practical considerations such as clock managemente apply.
Both have value as training methods. I wonder how often it would make a difference if you allowed yourself 5/10/15/20 or 30 minutes for a given position.