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Crimes & Punishment

Crimes & Punishment

spassky
| 4 | Opening Theory

If your opponent commits chess "crimes", they need to punished.  Sometimes the "trial" is long and the execution takes place in the endgame.  Sometimes the crimes are misdemeanors and, if your opponent plays well after the crime, they are expunged from his record for good behavior.  But if the crimes are numerous and serious, your opponent should be summarily executed right in the opening.  Ignorance is no excuse for the laws of chess.  Especially for a player rated 2100.

So what were White's crimes?  First, he didn't castle when he had the chance and let his king get checked and forced to move.   Second, he put all of his pawns on black squares and did not adequately defend the light squares.  Third, he spent time chasing a meaningless pawn and moved a critical white-square defender to do it.  And he committed all of these crimes in the first 14 moves.  The law (Black) doesn't take to kindly to such wanton disregard of positional rules.  “On the chessboard, lies and hypocrisy do not survive long” (Emanuel Lasker).  The next time you play, try to be the cop, not the crook. 
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