Yup.
We've already voted Rg6 and mate next move.
Is the Sicilian meant for chess experts only?
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Dec 8, 2023
0
#1143
AngryPuffer wrote:
blacks game started to fall apart after 13.Bg5+
In fact, Bxg5+ is perfectly playable. It was Nf7 that pitched the game (Bb7 was the "please kill me" move, but the game was already lost after Nf7 anyway).
blueemu wrote:
AngryPuffer wrote:
blacks game started to fall apart after 13.Bg5+
In fact, Bxg5+ is perfectly playable. It was Nf7 that pitched the game (Bb7 was the "please kill me" move, but the game was already lost after Nf7 anyway).
yes it is, but i think its what led black to lose in the longrun due to an open g file and a exposed black king
Dec 8, 2023
0
#1145
AngryPuffer wrote:
blueemu wrote:
AngryPuffer wrote:
blacks game started to fall apart after 13.Bg5+
In fact, Bxg5+ is perfectly playable. It was Nf7 that pitched the game (Bb7 was the "please kill me" move, but the game was already lost after Nf7 anyway).
yes it is, but i think its what led black to lose in the longrun due to an open g file and a exposed black king
When I post the game in a few days (should really wait until it's over, forced mate or not) I'll point out the line (after Bxg5+) that is considered almost equal for Black.
It's not for the faint of heart, though. The positions Black ends up in are no sight for a sober man, but they are survivable if you know what you are doing.
That Knight on e5 is a monster.
Dec 8, 2023
0
#1146
I may be mixing up lines, but I think the last time I had the White side of the 13 ... Bxg5+ line, I underestmated Black's resources and wound up losing. It all looks so hopeless to have to defend, but Black always has a little more left in the tank than you think they will.
Maybe I should join that team. I love vote chess and would love to find a team that's up for the most critical Sicilian lines.
Dec 8, 2023
0
#1147
I'm sure some fresh blood would be welcome.
It's interesting that I was playing razor-sharp theoretical Najdorf lines back in the 1970s...
A game I played nearly 50 years ago... - Chess Forums - Chess.com
... and I'm still playing those exact same razor-sharp theoretical Najdorf lines half a century later. Haven't even changed my opening repertoire.
Dec 9, 2023
0
#1148
I've just realized...
The only FIDE-rated tournament I ever played in was half a century ago, in 1974. I was totally outclassed, losing seven games, drawing one and winning one.
... drawing one and winning one. BOTH were Sicilian Najdorfs. One as White, one as Black.
Gamificast wrote:
I have become a better player over the past few years, but I still shy away from Sicilians due to the massive amount of theory and preparation required.
I believe that my record with the Sicilian is worse than with my other preferential moves against 1. e4. This is despite the fact that I have read that 1... c5 is Black's best scoring response to White's 1. e4. So does this mean that you need to be of a certain skill level to play 1... c5 successfully?
Yes, of course it does. The Sicilian can be tactically very sharp but mainly it's very positional. In the open lines, black has an extra central pawn in return for development, which obviously demands posiitional skill which beginners haven't developed yet. Then, there are many different ways in which white can avoid the open lines. Finally, each open line has quite a number of dangerous replies.
...t does anyone know the line where black tries to go for a queenside castle?.
Here's a game of mine against Robert Hamilton, who later peaked at 2349 FIDE (that's a genuine FIDE rating, not online).
very often in the Richter-Rauzer and Bg5 najdorf castling kingside is too dangerous for black so he leaves his king in the center or goes queenside. that says something about how dangerous the Bg5 mainlines can be...
I've got a very nice Sicilian Najdorf just finishing now that I want to show you people. It's an ongoing vote-chess game (72 hours per move), and it's all over but the crying (we have a forced mate next move) but our opponents seem to be playing it out all the way to mate so it should be officially over in another eight days or so. I'll post it then.
As White, we sac'd a Pawn to open up the center. The Black King got squeezed out of the center early, and had to castle K-side because his Q-side bolt-hole wasn't ready. Carnage ensued.
this game?
blacks game started to fall apart after 13.Bg5+