Mostly I stuff up beyond the 10th move somewhere. However the tradition of the "Car Crash Opening" is that the end must come on or before the 10th move. So here is the third classic car crash opening played by me where each move I played is a perfect instruction on how not to play the Chess960 opening.
SP390: Black and the problem with the traditional move E5.
White has played the awkward move Ne3 which immediately reflexes black into the brainless move 1....e5?!. The problem with 1....e5?! is the issues that are highlighted by the yellow arrows. The e5 square will come under heavy attack by white's minor pieces and after white plays the space gaining move b4, any attempts to defend the e5 square are in themselves undermined. Black's alternative play is then e5-e4 but this is ineffective and wastes development time as well. The other alternative is to back up e5 with f6/d6, but this is too passive against white's strong centre play d4.
Here is the game as it unfolded:
Here is the game as it unfolded:
1. Ne3 ... White plays an awkward move to begin
1. ... e5?! Black deploys the pawn straight into the line of fire and also doesn't deal with the space gaining move b4.
2. Nd3!? ... Nc6?! The e5 pawn cannot be defended by minor pieces because the square comes under too much fire. It must either be defended with a pawn backup, or advanced. However advancing the pawn does not reap any rewards because white's knight can redeploy to the safe square f4 which also unblocks the d-pawn.
3. b4! ... e4 The threat white is making is to biff white's c6 knight. Black plays e4 but this is a non-developing move and allows white to play the knight to the safe square Nf4 which also assists white's center development.
4. Nc5?! ... White plays into an ineffective square.
4. ... Nf6?! A seriously flawed traditional chess move. F6 is too weak because of Bb2xNf6/gxf6/Qxf6.
5. Bb2 ... Be7? The game is already over for all practical purposes! A reflex move but it is too late to prevent Bxf6 because the e7 bishop comes under attack from white's e3 knight. The following sequence is unavoidable:
6. Nf5 ... d5
7. Nxe7+ ... Nxe7
8. Bxf6 ... gxf6
9. Qxf6 ... Ng6
10.Qd8+ and black cannot prevent Qxd5!
5. Bb2 ... Be7? The game is already over for all practical purposes! A reflex move but it is too late to prevent Bxf6 because the e7 bishop comes under attack from white's e3 knight. The following sequence is unavoidable:
6. Nf5 ... d5
7. Nxe7+ ... Nxe7
8. Bxf6 ... gxf6
9. Qxf6 ... Ng6
10.Qd8+ and black cannot prevent Qxd5!
Aaaggh. Crash! (Good fun)
I suspect that there are more often opportunities for opening queen mayhem in chess960 than in chess1. It might be best to free your queen up early even if only to counter the opposing queen.
ReplyDeleteBTW I finally dug out a real chess set to go through the moves in your post. It works much better than my imagination. I think I'll go back and review everything.
Maybe Black can play ...f6 and ...Nf7.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of developing the knight sideways. If I understand the idea you are thinking:
ReplyDelete1.Ne3 f6 2.Nd3!? Nf7 3.b4!? e5 {now black's pawn is nicely supported at the expense of an open line to the king}
It's definitely a workable idea. The question I ask is where is the knight on f7 going to go next? The e5 square is taken and the d6 square is probably going to be occupied by the other knight (unless you put it c7!?)
Chess960, good twisted fun.
Thanks