This has recently changed, in part due to some work I've done with my son. He seemed quite enamoured of the Kan variation and as a result I had done a little reading on the system. I also had a look at the Taimanov system as they seemed to be related.
So when I sat down to play a game at Belconnen Chess Club last week I decided to play the Taimanov. Sadly for me I'd only done a superficial reading of the theory and assumed that the Kan and the Taimanov were a lot closer than they really were. As a consequence the following horror show occurred.
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd 4.Nxd4 a6 5. c4 Qc7 Now so far I've played a Kan. 6.Nc3 Ne7 But know I shift into Taimanov territory, with the idea of playing Nb8-c6xd4 and following up with Ne7-c6 7.Be2 Nbc6? (D)

8.Ndb5! Of course it is now clear something has gone wrong. It turns out that I either play the Kan (with Qc7) or the Taimanov (with Ne7,Nbc6) but not both. 8. ... axb5 9.Nxb5 Qa5+ 10.Bd2 Qb6 11.Nd6+ Kd8 12.Nxf7+ Ke8 Now White can force a draw with 13. Nd6+ Kd8 14. Nf7+ but why not take the rook. 13.Nxh8 Qxb2 14.O-O?! g6 Surprisingly I now have some play in this position as I'm picking up the knight, and White's pawns are under pressure. However I still don't like my position, especially with the c8 bishop struggling to get active.
At this point the story has a happier ending, although not for my opponent. After a few more moves he decided that my king looked exposed enough to launch an attack but in doing so miscalculated and dropped the a1 rook. With an unexpected material advantage I quickly organised a defence and won without further difficulty!
1 comment:
So the sicilan actually works!
Of course you need to look
at the hedgehog after c4 ...
Post a Comment