[Next]
- White: John Coffey
- Black: Fidelity Mach III 2265
- Speed chess game.
[Next]
- This is the Sicillian Defense as we
- have already seen.
[Next]
- A normal developing move.
[Next]
- Naturally I try to take my opponent
- out of book. So I threaten to
- get the better center with ...
[Next]
- It is more normal to see this on move
- 2. With this sequence, I avoid the
- book line of 2. c3 d5. And I want to
- play a gambit where it is important
- that the a4 to e8 diagonal be open.
[Next]
- This prevents 4. d4 and challenges
- the e4 pawn that can no longer be
- protected by Nc3.
[Next]
- Although a passive position, it
- furthers development and tempts Black
- to fall for 4. .... Nxe4 5. Qa4+
- forking the king and knight. I
- am surprised at how many good players
- have fallen for this trap, even in
- tournaments.
[Next]
- It also seems logical that Black
- would block the a4-e8 diagonal and
- thus renew the threat on the e4 pawn.
[Next]
- It is amazing that people sometimes
- now fall for 5. .... Nxe4?? 6. d5
- which will win the e4 knight after
- Nb8, Qa4+.
[Next]
- Black can win a pawn if he opens the
- a5 to e1 diagonal.
[Next]
- Capturing this way is the only way to
- get some compensation for the fact
- that the e4 pawn will drop.
[Next]
- And it does.
[Next]
- White pressures the knight. If
- it moves then White wins the e4
- knight with Qa4+.
- So what should Black do
- now?
[Next]
- This prevents the white queen check
- on a4.
[Next]
- No good is putting a piece on d2
- because the d5 pawn would drop.
[Next]
- Black wants to give White an isolated
- weak pawn on c3.
[Next]
- No good is 9. .... Qxc3+ 10. Bd2
- where the c6 knight dies for three
- pawns. I have no idea how White
- recovers his material if Black plays
- Nd8 or Nb8. Perhaps White's extra
- development and open lines are
- compensation.
[Next]
- A nice solid place for the knight.
[Next]
- In effect White offers yet a third
- pawn. I began playing this gambit
- line when someone played it against
- me at the 1990 Indiana State Chess
- Championship.
[Next]
- There goes another pawn. (See the
- book BCO2 for 10. .... dxe5.)
[Next]
- I develope for free. (Well, not
- exactly for free.)
[Next]
- Black is up two pawns but he has
- given White some open lines and extra
- developement to work with.
[Next]
- Unfortunately the opening manual BCO2
- ends here with a mere "+=",
- indicating the chances are slightly
- better for White. At first I
- found that hard to believe because
- Black is about to capture his third
- pawn. This gambit is what
- Grandmaster Soltis calls "The one
- pawn, two pawn, three pawn, and
- possibly four pawn gambit." .
- His book "The New Sicillian
- Gambits" gives more detailed analysis
- of this opening.
[Next]
- I am unsure of what would happen if
- Black doesn't capture this third
- pawn. He doesn't have to be so
- cooperative and can play a6 instead
- which I think gives White a difficult
- game. But I have had some
- masters look at this position and
- express the opinion that Black is
- going to have a very hard time
- developing his pieces.
[Next]
- This is my idea to offer a fourth
- pawn. If he takes a2, White can get
- a very good attack after Bb5+.
[Next]
- The computer tries to play it safe.
[Next]
- This is a surprisingly strong
- sacrifice that breaks into the king
- position.
- If now 14. .... Bd7. 15. Qb3
- (threatening Rxd7!) and now Rc8 or
- Rd8 then Rxd7! gives a strong
- attack.
[Next]
- Taking the rook loses by force.
[Next]
- The check forces Black on the
- defensive. If now 15 ... Kd8 then
- 16. Ba5+ Kc8 17. Qe8 mate!
[Next]
- The computer is smart enough to see
- that it shouldn't move its king, so
- it puts the queen back where White
- can ....
[Next]
- ... pin it.
[Next]
- Black defends the queen. It
- would now be tempting to play Bxd7+
- but look at how much material White
- has given up to get to this position.
- Just taking the queen doesn't
- really give White any advantage as he
- would not be ahead in material.
- So what should White do
- now?
[Next]
- 17. Rc1!!
- Threatening 18. Rxc8+! as just taking
- the queen is inadequate as I
- sacrificed too much material to get
- to this position.
[Next]
- The computer sees that Rxc8 is bad
- for it, so it offers to give up its
- queen to try to defend itself.
- What should White do
- now?
[Next]
- Again just taking the queen is
- inadequate. Instead White
- removes pieces that defend the enemy
- king.
[Next]
- Not much choice here.
[Next]
- Getting the queen with check.
[Next]
- Nowhere else to go.
[Next]
- A check that only gives Black one
- defensive move.
[Next]
- White has forced mate here, but most
- people I show it to miss it.
- See if you can find the
- mate!
- See the next diagram if you need a
- hint.
[Next]
- Note that Qb8+ doesn't mate because
- the king can escape by way of d7 to
- e6. So what move does mate?
[Next]
- The rook is pinned so the queen can
- come here safely. Now White
- threatens
- mate by taking with either piece.
[Next]
- This stops mate from Qxc7+.
[Next]
- Check.
[Next]
- Making the king move toward the edge
- of the board.
- What is the next
- move?
[Next]
- Again forcing the king toward the
- edge of the board .....
[Next]
- ... where it is easier to mate him.
[Next]
- Moving a little closer.
[Next]
- The corner is the last place the king
- wants to be when pieces are attacking
- him.
[Next]
- Mate. Also Qxa7 mate works too.
- Notice that White has very few
- pieces left. He gave most of
- them up to attack the king!