Friday 30 June 2017

Is the Bird the Word?

Magnus Carlsen seems to be on a one man mission to make every opening playable again. His latest adventure involved playing 1.f4 against Vladimir Kramnik at the GCT Rapid, and winning with it. There is a theory that he was defending the honour of Bent Larsen after a comment by Kramnik earlier in the year, but going on his post game tweet, it may also be the influence of 'Family Guy' at play.
While this may be a bit of fun at rapidplay, I'd still be astonished if it ever gets played in say a World Championship match. It's just a little committal at this level, with Black having a few paths to easy equality. However if 1.f4 does hit the board, one reply I'd suggest not be tried is 1. ... f5, as the following game shows (Of course some readers will spot that is simply a reversed From Gambit, which has claimed a number of victims).

Sorbun,Cristinel (2075) - Uta,Adeline Ramona [A02]
Mos Craciun op Romania, 2000


No comments: