SC Week 5/5: Stean - Mestel (Half-Open Files)
"Complications not for complication’s sake, but to pre-empt the minority attack which would certainly have later come, had Black been given time to consolidate …."
Michael Stean
Notes and Observations
Another Unzicker - Fischer (Outposts/5) kind of game. Take on a (potential) permanent positional disadvantage but harass and distract to prevent the opponent from exploiting it.
A coincidence that Jon Speelman, who also liked the 4 … Nd7 Caro Kann, was also a fan of the … Qxd5 French Tarrasch? Most certainly not.
Building an opening repertoire based around pawn structure choices and preferences isn’t just possible (Weak Pawns/6), it seems to be outright desireable.
- A French opening with again the 2 vs 3 structure on the queenside with the black's c-pawn traded for white's d-pawn and black's d-pawn for white's e-pawn.
ReplyDelete- Big difference in this game compared with the previous one is that black was unable to move his a- and b-pawn forwards and play with his pieces on the queensside due to the white's big kingsinde attack
It was a fun game to play through. I wonder though how many - without the context of this chapter - would have thought that a theme of this game is (the prevention of) a minority-attack. I see the logic, but it also seems far fetched.
Hi Maxim, I had a similar thought about the game. It feels a little out of place in terms of the rest of the book.
DeleteI have leant more about chess in this one chapter about the minority attack, than in many hours elsewhere. Simple chess Excellent book and studies series which led me too it. A big Boycey thank you to abysmal depths of chess. 🙏👏👏
ReplyDeleteHello Boycey,
DeleteThanks very much for your comment. I'm glad you liked the book and these posts.