Sat.Aug.24th

hi all,

yesterday Davids C & S came, and Branko, Phillipa & Ross, Jeddah, Ilan & me.  Photo shows Ilan & David in early stages of an early and vigorous dispute over the centre of the board.  Their opening seems to have been the Italian Game / Gioco Piano, in the three knights variation.  David could have played 5...h6 to keep Ilan's knight off g5, but instead he's gone for 5...d5, forcing Ilan to play 6.Pxd5.

Phillipa & Jeddah played an interesting game, Phillipa having looked into the Queen's Gambit, a large subject which is defined by her second move.  From there, a lot is possible, not so?   Jeddah was, as ever, distressed and offended by this whole business of known opening-sequences.  Much was said on Phillipa's unsporting behaviour; and Jeddah's second move gave her angst for the rest of the game.

I don't really know about those moves that they played after Jeddah's 2...Be6?, but they ended up with something like the above sequence.  Jeddah has found a good way of developing her black-sq bish, in spite of the bad placement of the other.  She is terribly weak on c7, and sure nuff that's where Phillipa goes, with Nb5 or d5, I forget which.  Black's usual ways of dealing with the Queen's GAmbit includes Pe6 and Bb4, or Pc6 & Pe6 & Nf6.

I was going to suggest that we again go to Yasser Seirawan's book on openings, which we can get from the library, and this is a possibility.  Mostly,though, I think we're ready to start looking at middle games, or end games.  We've spent some time onthe basic  check-mates to be encountered inthe end-games, but we could also look at things like pawn-structures, and king-development, and preferred pieces.  Middle games are hardest to discuss!