
Learn From The Masters: Simagin... One Of The Most Underrated Players In Chess History?
That question could be up for debate... as I probably have many more "hidden treasures" out there to study!
Oh... I forgot... welcome to my blog! Again. That's right, you're back here! So... what's this blog about? Who on earth is Simagin?
Well, if you follow the comments section on my blog, you will note that one of my loyal followers is @simaginfan. Big shout out to you, he is a fantastic and unique chess guy, and I would encourage you to check out his blogs! Yes, they are super long, though in my opinion, he has all the makings of a professional chess writer.
Anyway, you might think @simaginfan is some random username... but it's not! Vladimir Simagin was a Russian talent who for some reason or another did not play much outside of the USSR. He did post good results against chess titans like Korchnoi and Petrosian. Feel free to check out his post where he commentates more on Simagin!
As you may notice, I am attempting a comeback at posting master games, in hopes that this (chess) amateur writer and the readers can learn a thing or two. How do I choose who to analyze? I have a list of famous chess players. I started with the world chess champions, and thanks to some helpful suggestions, I was able to add some more non-champion players. I randomly picked a number, and Mr. Simagin was indeed the player selected!
Here is how this post will be structured: We will look at the game with no notes or annotations. After the game is displayed, I will create separate diagrams highlighting key moments from the game. Wish me luck!:
The opening consisted of pretty standard stuff, however, I want to jump to what I think was the first interesting moment of the game after Black played 10... c5. It's a general principle in the Queen's pawn opening to meet c5 with d5. However, that type of move is not safe to play here without some caution due to the tension in the center.
The Benoni, for example, goes 1. d4, Nf6 2. c4, c5. In this position, 3. d5 is perfectly reasonable to play, because White is extremely solid in the center already. Let's dive into the ramifications of a premature d5:

