This position looks very familiar to me ..... I believe Qb3 or Ba3 are whites strongest moves here ?
How should White defend?
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Yup! Can anyone work out how White gets compensation after 1.Qb3 Bxa1?!
1. Bxf7 Kxf7 2. Qb3+ ... 3. QxB
or
1. Bxf7 Kf8 2. Ba3+ ( if KxB, Qb3+ then QxB ) (otherwise, Rc1)
Qb3! Bxa1?! Bxf7+ Kf8 Bg5! Ne7 Rxa1... gee it's tough... I'm having a hard time sealing off the win for Greco
Yes, 1.Qb3! Bxa1?! 2.Bxf7+ Kf8 3.Bg5! Ne7 4.Rxa1 is a win. Many modern players, even the occasional master, have fallen into this trap. Greco found a better finish with 4.Ne5...
Ne5, Bxd4, Bh5 (or g6 ) mate is threatened at f7 and if d5 Qf3+ is also winning
On move ten, I consider Bxf7+ and Rb1 but not Qb3. On move thirteen, I consider Rxa1 and Re1 but not Ne5. I'm playing over his games to sharpen my vision.
Greco is quite the trickster. I'm guessing, tactically, he would be expert-level although in other regards not so much. His opponents, on the other hand, were pretty poor.
likesforests wrote:
On move ten, I consider Bxf7+ and Rb1 but not Qb3. On move thirteen, I consider Rxa1 and Re1 but not Ne5. I'm playing over his games to sharpen my vision.
Greco is quite the trickster. I'm guessing, tactically, he would be expert-level although in other regards not so much. His opponents, on the other hand, were pretty poor.
Ahhh, damn, I was close to finding 4.Ne4! I knew that somehow Bg6! was another key move but I didn't see that Ne4 gave white time for Bg6!... a beautiful double attack on a square -- both N and B are en prise, but both attack the f7 square -- really sweet -- but then black has d5 (a defensive resource I did not overlook) ... so i don't feel too bad, as I said in the earilier post, "I'm having a tough time sealing off the win for Greco" ... it is a rather long line to the win, and Greco never gets material equality.
Thanks for sharing this, Loomis... beautiful attacking chess.
Greco is quite the trickster. I'm guessing, tactically, he would be expert-level although in other regards not so much...
Omg, I think you're mad! I think if you teleported Greco into a pure tactics situation, like doing the tactics trainer here... and gave him a half-an-hour to get used to the interface... he'd perform like a tactically inclined GM.
I have seen (played) this position in the Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit Traditional Line (C54). I think B-a3 is appealing too. If BxR then R-E1 is devastating. Only 10...d5 gives trouble but can be follwed with Q-e2 +.
JG27Pyth> Thanks for sharing this, Loomis... beautiful attacking chess.
likesforests, actually. We're different people despite the same first letter.
JG27Pyth> Omg, I think you're mad! I think if you teleported Greco into a pure tactics situation... he'd perform like a tactically inclined GM.
Maybe. His strength is something I'm curious about. I guess we can't know for certain since his losses aren't recorded and his opponents were weak. His ability must be between 2000 and 2500--because I don't spot some of his winning moves, but I immediately understand them upon seeing them. As I said, my guess is strong expert, but someone rated in the FIDE/USCF 2100-2400 range could probably wager a better guess. :)
jessegoldman I think B-a3 is appealing too. If BxR then R-E1 is devastating. Only 10...d5 gives trouble but can be follwed with Q-e2 +.
Nice line, Ba3 too. I rarely play the Italian Game so I know little of its theory. I do know that 8...Bxc3 is more respected nowadays than the greedy 8...Nxc3.
JG27Pyth> Thanks for sharing this, Loomis... beautiful attacking chess.
likesforests, actually. We're different people despite the same first letter.
errrr.... umm... by "Loomis" I meant "regular forum contributor who often puts up interesting positions and has a name that begins with L"
--- As for Greco's strength, I'm sorry I don't have time to discuss that in detail right now, but right after I finish convincing all of Bobby Fischer's fans that Kasparov is obviously the greater player, I'll get back to you ;)
What would be interesting, with both Greco and even more so with Morphy, would be to see how competitive they'd be against todays GMs. How much has general technique evolved -- how much of a difference does it make? It seems obvious to me that Morphy has the talent of an elite GM, but of course he doesn't have the opening book of a modern player, nor does he have all the technique and study that today's professional players have. Would Morphy -- step out of the teleportation chamber and beat a positional minded 2300 player? 2400? 2500? I tend to think he'd play very strong.
d4 is a prophalactic pawn here, and serves to forestall the black bishop from inseminating defeat into the white assault. The white bishops are awash in glory. The pageantry of Rock; the magesty of Roll. Rock and roll ! Specifically, the song this game brings to mind is Keeper of the Seven Keys by the Euroband named Helloween. The wine to drink with this game is Chablis, and the requisite hamburger to enjoy while looking on at this masterful movelist would be the Angry Whopper, but of course. Play on, beautiful dancers!
ILLYRIA wrote:
d4 is a prophalactic pawn here, and serves to forestall the black bishop from inseminating defeat into the white assault. The white bishops are awash in glory. The pageantry of Rock; the magesty of Roll. Rock and roll ! Specifically, the song this game brings to mind is Keeper of the Seven Keys by the Euroband named Helloween. The wine to drink with this game is Chablis, and the requisite hamburger to enjoy while looking on at this masterful movelist would be the Angry Whopper, but of course. Play on, beautiful dancers!
On the strength of this statement, I'm adding Illyria to my "Alternative Masters of Chess" list, alongside LemmyBongcloud and Timmaylivinalie.
Also, although great as Helloween's entire oevre may be, if you play #73 on the jukebox, the waitress cries -- watch...
ba3 would prevent white from castling
This is a position from one of Gioachino Greco's many games against the wily NN.