Category: Defence

September 16, 2016 Matthew Sadler No comments exist

A little while back I analysed the double-edged idea …c5-c4 in Queen’s Gambit Declined structures (https://matthewsadler.me.uk/chess-for-life/c5-c4-dogma/) and explained the conditions necessary to make this a viable plan for Black. At the recent Baku Olympiad, Nigel Short won a fascinating game in this structure against his young 2746-rated Chinese opponent:   Li,Chao b – Short,Nigel D…

August 18, 2016 Matthew Sadler No comments exist

In 1928, Bogolyubow played 2 matches against Euwe in Holland for the title “Champion of FIDE” (see http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/fide.html for Edward Winter’s excellent Chess Notes entry on the story behind this title) Bogolyubow won both 10 game matches 5,5-4,5 after very tough fights. In the first match, Bogolyubow only managed to nose ahead after winning the…

March 15, 2016 Matthew Sadler 14 comments

While playing through Alekhine’s “Collection of Best Games”, my attention was caught by this position from Alekhine-Reti Vienna 1922.   It’s a famous position of course, but I couldn’t escape from the feeling I’d seen this diagram in another old book: I had an image in my head of how it looked on the page…