Vegas and Chess, Makes Sense A true American classic – this year’s edition of the Bill Goichberg North American Open (at Bally’s Hotel, Las Vegas) was very hard fought in all seven rounds. White to play. The computer points out the elementary tactic 16. Hxg5 Bxf5 19. Gxf6 Bxf6 with a big edge to white.
For whatever reason, I played my move fast, never bothering to look for anything. A sign of first-round laziness? At least I was well ahead on time at this point. I had some vague notions of Bishop back to f1 and clearing the c-file. Bxa8 Qxa8 and black has good compensation. No reason for this retreat. Nd2 h5 is all right.
A continuation of a second-best idea. The obvious reflex denying the f4 square, 21. Gives white a pleasant edge. Nd1 Nothing wrong with the solid 23. — the game move somehow works out after a pair of knights comes off the board.
Nxf6 Rxf6 25. Now white breaks through and should be winning. But since both players are in time trouble, black more than white, crazy adventures await. Cxd6 cxd6 27. After the game, I thought this move was terrible giving black all kinds of chances, but it’s actually correct and the fastest win. A more practical move is 30. Qe4 with domination.
Black can barely move. Bxh3 Bxh3 32. A huge lemon.
Consistent is 32. Locking out the bishop on h3. Qf6 (note that 32 Rf4 is met by an unusually nice combination: 33. Rc8+ Rxc8 35. Rxc8+ Bf8 36.
Position after 39.Rgf6 40. At least I saw this one on the last move of the time control. White wins now. Nd7 The black bishop “sight” to d7 was blocked by the pawn on g4. Kf2 1-0 It was very strange how the two behind the scenes combinations that occurred in the analysis both involved the star move Bxe5!!
Stay tuned, I will post Rounds 2, 4, 5, and 7. Round 2 FM E. Ginsburg To prepare for my half-point bye in round 3, I had this virtually unplayed game in Round 2. G3 Bb4+ The best winning attempt here is 3c5. Bg2 O-O Somehow 7Ne4 and then the Qe7-b4+ follow-up didn’t look very impressive. I have seen this line a lot (I was always white) in ICC blitz versus eastern-bloc GM’s. It’s a very solid system.
Cxd5 cxd4 11. Seems good, with the idea to pop into b4. The game is about even. 1/2 – 1/2 Round 3 During my bye-round, the following reversal of fortune occurred. Naroditsky – GM S.
Kidambi (2616) Black may have been hexed in this game due to the fact I have never heard of him although he has a high rating. 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Nxf6 Nxf6 7.Bc4 Bf5 8.O-O e6 9.c3 Bd6 10.Qe2 Qc7 11.h3 O-O 12.Nh4 c5 13.Nxf5 exf5 14.Bd3 g6 15.Bg5 Rfe8 16.Qd2 Ne4 17.Bxe4 fxe4 18.dxc5 Bxc5 19.Rad1 Re6 20.Be3 Rd6 21.Qe2 Bxe3 22.fxe3 Rad8 23.Rd4 Rxd4 24.cxd4 f5 25.Qd2 Rc8 26.Qb4 b6 27.Qb3 Kg7 28.Qe6 Rf8 29.Kh1 Rf6 30.Qe8 Rc6 31.d5 Rc2 32.Rd1 Qg3 This obvious move places white into an unbreakable zugzwang and it is hard to fathom that black did not win, much less lost. 33.Qe7 Kh6 34.Qf8 Kh5 35.Rg1 Rd2 36.Qf7 h6 37.b4.
Black to play and avoid winning Black is completely winning. But, I am guessing he had not much time left. Even so, what follows is a complete botchery. 37a5 preserves the zugzwang situation.
The even simpler solution 37Qxe3 was also completely winning. White cannot make any threats. 38.d6 Rd2 39.d7 Qd6? It was safe to play 39Qxe3 and black should win.
Maybe mutual time-trouble. Qg7 was equal. The text aims for a cheapo but should lose. OK probably time-trouble. I was drinking and gambling at the Bellaggio and didn’t witness this debacle. Eliminates all cheapoes and wins easily. 41.Rxf5+ Oops.
Black must have felt sick, given he had iron-clad zugzwang a few moves ago. 41Qxf5 42.g4+ How embarrassing. Black totters on a few moves.
42Kh4 43.gxf5 Kxh3 44.Qxg6 Rd1 45.Qg1 Rxg1 46.Kxg1 a5 47.bxa5 bxa5 48.f6 1-0 Round 4 M. Ginsburg – H. Liou Dutch NIC SOS Special 1. Qd3 I saw this in a New in Chess “SOS” supplement; the game in question occurred in the “B” section of the German Bundesliga. 2d6 As the NIC states, Leningrad players are reluctant to play the strongest move in the position, 2.d5. Now, white gains enormous white square pressure with the game sequence. Be6 This unhealthy retreat signals black already has problems.
White was threatening the crude Bxf6 and Qe4. Bxf6 gxf6 I would prefer 8exf6 to try to keep white’s plus to manageable proportions. Rxh7 Rxh7 10. O-O-O Na6 13. This move cutoffs black’s queen from the kingside for the time being.
Qb5+ The smoke clears and white is left with a huge advantage due to light square control. How many Dutch games have been lost due to black not being able to observe the squares he weakened on move 1? I recommend readers get the tournament book San Antonio 1972 and read Petrosian’s comments to Petrosian-Larsen.
Ncxb5 Kd8 19. Ne6+ Bxe6 20.
Bxe6 Black is now totally paralyzed. Making matters worse, but it was very bad anyway.
The ill-fated bishop gets trapped shortly. Nb6 A complete rout.
I would resign as black now. Fxg5 fxg5 30. Nf7+ Nxf7 35. Exd5 exd5 42.
Rb3 1-0 Round 5 I could not overcome the solid Hungarian I. Ginsburg King’s Indian g3 line 1. O-O Bf5 As successfully played in Schroer-Benjamin, USCL 2009. White in my game plays more strongly. Keeping the balance.
Nxa4 Bxa4 16. Bxg7 Kxg7 21.
Nxe5 Black survives the dangerous attempt 22. (23Rc7 is all right is black is careful: 24. Wins nicely – I saw that during the game; but 26Re8 holds) 2624. Fxe5 fxe5) 22 dxe5 23. Rxc8 Rxc8 27. Correct is 27 Rxc1! Qxc1 e6 = 28.
Rxc8 Bxc8 29. Sets a great trap. (correct is 29 b6! Bxc8 Qxc8 33. And black has big problems. Qxb6 axb6 32.
Kf2 is very good for white as black cannot round up the e6 pawn) 31. Qd8 suddenly wins! Dxe6 Bxe6 31.
Bh3 1/2-1/2 Round 6 Interestingly, in othe Round 6 action, Friedel played what appeared to many to be a ludicrous variation of the 2 Knights – but it worked and his opponent, NM Zierk, blundered and lost. It looks very bad for black and I think its days are numbered. Ginsburg – FM J. Dean Main line Tarrasch Defense 1. GM Portisch Special GM Lajos Portisch’s excellent treatment, I believe covered in one of Kasparov’s My Great Predecessors volumes.
When the Queen is chased by the knight, the knight winds up not having a happy home. Similarly, if the black knight on f6 chases the B/e3, it also does not have a happy home after the bishop moves away. Bf4 White looks better here. The Black knight on c4 is very unstable and that is one of the my points of 12.
Rad1 Qc8 Black has problems. The most normal move, 15 Rc8 16.
Nxe6 fxe6 17. Be5 leaves white with a simple plus.
Nxe6 fxe6 17. It’s always right to kick the advanced knight with 17. (obvious) 17 Nd6 18.
Nxe4 dxe4 23. Bxe4 and white is much better. This move completely escaped my attention. White is still better, but not as much. Another significant inaccuracy. Nc4 and only NOW 21.
Qd3 leaves white with a plus. I totally bothced it. Black is fine. The center pawns are mobile. Black’s only problem is a severe lack of time. Practically speaking with black having less time, white should play 22.
Bd2 Rac8 but of course Black is all right. Qxf5 Nxf5 24. Any reasonable queen rook move is equal. Unfortunately, black was in severe time trouble already.
Iru malargal serial yesterday. This move loses a pawn and the game. Bf4 Be5 27Rd8 28. Bxd6 loses for black in the long run.
Although there are bishops of opposite colors, too much material remains. It’s similar to Yermolinsky-Naroditsky North American Open 2009 except there white fell into a last-ditch stalemate trick and Naroditsky saved it! Bxe5 Rxe5 29.
Bxe4 Nxe4 31. Rexe4 Black has no chances in the single rook ending. Rxe4 Rxd5 33. A6 Black resigned. 1-0 The move 40. Also wins: 40Ra2 41.
Rxb6 and wins. In the game, black can try a last-gasp 40 b5! Suggested by Siddharth Ravichandran (rating=2489) after the game as drawing – and indeed this is a great try! Position after 41. nice interference theme. (analysis) Also in Round 6, this amusing error-fest: Zierk – Friedel 2 Knights, Refuted Silly Ulvestad Line 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 I would pay more attention to Karpov’s legendary logic here and try 3Bc5. 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 b5(?) Very illogical!
Good in the 1800s, maybe. 6.Bf1 h6 (might as well, 6Nd4 leads to a bad game too) 7.Nf3? I don’t want to be a wet blanket, but the fairly obvious 7. Results in a big edge for white.
This was shown in other examples recently. 7Qxd5 8.Nc3 Qe6 9.Bxb5 Bb7 10.O-O O-O-O 11.Re1 Bc5 12.Qe2 Nd4 13.Nxd4 Bxd4 14.Nd1 Nd5 15.Bc4 Qg6 16.Bxd5 Bxd5 17.Ne3 Bxe3 18.fxe3 Qxc2 19.d4 Qe4 20.b3 Rhe8 21.Bb2 Re6 22.Qd2 Bb7 23.Rac1 Rdd6 24.Rf1 Rf6 25.Rfe1 Rc6 26.dxe5 Rxc1 27.Bxc1 Rg6 28.Re2 Rc6 29.e6 Rxe6 30.Qc2 Rc6 31.Qb2 Qd3 32.Rf2 Ba6 33.Bd2 Rc2 34.Qd4 Rxd2 0-1 Round 7 Lev Milman – M. Ginsburg Sicilian Scheveningen 1.
F4 Bd7 A rare sideline. Qe1 Conventional thinking has 10. Nb3, avoiding exchanges, as white’s best bet. Qe3 Qa5 Black is threatening is all right. Nxd5 Qxd5 17. 17 Qb5 is more accurate. Bxc6 bxc6 20.
Bc3 Qb7 and black has equal chances. Bxc6 bxc6 22. Places black in a passive situation. 21 h6 Here, best was 21 a5! With equal chances. Bxc6 bxc6 23. With a draw offer.
But this move is a blunder. A blunder in return. Surprisingly, white can take. Bb6 Rd7 and now the amazing resource 26. The f7-point collapses. White can preserve something with 26.
Rf3 Rd7 (26 Qxa2?? Bg1) 26 Qc5 27. Judging from white’s reaction, he might have missed this. Qxe3 Bxe3 29. With a draw offer. When I made my 29th move, I thought black was much better because of the white weak pawns.
However, white’s 30th generates plenty of activity and it’s in fact equal! For example, 30Bxc3 (30 cxb5 31. Rxc3 cxb5 (31 Rc8 32. 1/2 – 1/2 Tournament Postscript – The Cheater’s Clock Gambit For completeness, here is amusing cheating I heard about in the skittles room. In a lower section, someone had 28 minutes left versus 28 seconds left in sudden death in a complicated position. The person with 28 seconds left simply pressed the clock without making a move. Rattled, the person with 28 minutes left upon returning to the board assumed the guy with 28 seconds left had made some kind of move and made a move in return.
The guy with 28 seconds left then called the TD and said “I get 2 more minutes on my clock because he made 2 moves in a row.” In the absence of witnesses, the TD upheld this ludicrous “gambit”. The guy with 28 seconds left got 2 more minutes on his clock and that was enough for him to win the game. This kind of stuff can only happen in American Swisses. Well, that’s not strictly true. After all, a many time US Champion did exactly the same thing in a US Championship round-robin invitational. But we won’t get into that.
Reviewed by Paul Kane Knight on the Left: 1.Nc3 by Harald Keilhack, October 2005, ISBN 3-931192-29-6 Knight on the Left: 1.Nc3 is a translation of Harald Keilhack’s original German work, revised and updated to August 2005. It carries the subtitle “Studies of an Unorthodox Chess Opening”, and this seems significant. For while the author is clearly an advocate for 1.Nc3 he is by no means a blind believer in the efficacy of all the lines and systems that can follow from it; he draws attention to the opening’s difficulties where this is warranted.
For a practical chess player, the crucial question to ask of a book such as this is: Can 1.Nc3 form the basis of an opening repertoire which is viable for White and testing for Black? Keilhack makes a good case that it can.
Just under 100 pages are devoted to the Van Geet Attack, which arises after: 1.Nc3 d5 2.e4 d4 3.Nce2 e5 4.Ng3 (4.f4 is also interesting). This is the independent 1.Nc3 line that has been most explored and it leads to intriguing, interesting middlegames, some of which may feel familiar to those who play the Nimzowitsch Defence with. E5 (1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 e5) or the Black Knights’ Tango. It holds up well.
Especially impressive in Keilhack’s consideration of this line is Section 8: “Strategic elements of the Van Geet Attack”. A substantial section (25 pages), it presents a detailed examination of 10 key middlegame themes. This is an innovative approach and a model for other opening authors to follow.
After 1.Nc3 d5 2.e4 Black can respond with 2. C6, when one line given is 3.Qf3 (Goldman’s interesting move, rather than 3.d4 or Fischer’s old favourite 3.Nf3).
If Black plays 2. E6, the author gives 3.Nf3 as one possibility (and of course 3.d4 transposes into a normal French); and there are other moves available to Black (e.g. Nf6 is an Alekhine’s Defence).
Keilhack writes that “the ‘perfect’ 1.Nc3 player needs an especially good general opening knowledge, due to the many transpositional possibilities”; and this is one of the strengths of 1.Nc3, its relation to other “respectable” openings. The transpositions that can occur are many and varied – e.g. 1.Nc3 can easily lead to either the Veresov (1.Nc3 d5 2.d4) or the Vienna (1.Nc3 e5 2.e4) – but Keilhack’s study focuses mainly on independent lines for White. As a rule, he gives a choice of two or three White systems, different in style, for each serious Black response. The opening is illustrated with 99 main games, and there are myriad other complete games in the notes.
There are victories on the White side by such well known players as Timman, Gulko, Larsen, Nimzowitsch (his victory against Alekhine at Semmering 1926) and Charousek, as well as games by many aficionados of 1.Nc3 (or “1.Nc3 riders”, in Aasum’s phrase). The most impressive games, to my mind, are those of the correspondence grandmaster Ove Ekebjaeg – a player new to me -and Larsen’s two games against Gheorghiu and Calvo from the 1960s are pretty superb too. But many of Ekebjaeg’s strategic victories, displaying subtle technique, are rather long, so here is something snappier, a miniature by the Estonian master Aarne Hermlin: 1.Nc3 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 2.d5!?
Is a worthwhile gambit to try, since 3.Nxe5 d4 4.Ne4? Qd5 wins a knight. 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Now we get a kind of open game (such as a Scotch) without e4 or with e4 deferred. Nf6 5.Bg5 Bb4 is the “main line”, if there is such a creature here, and now 6.Qd3!? Is interesting and virtually unexplored. 5.Nf5 In the analogous Scotch line 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Nf5 Black gets good counter-play with Steinitz’s 5. The same move just loses a pawn here.
G6 6.Be3 Bf8!? Nd4 Bg7 8.Nd5 Nge7? Nf6 should probably be played. Now Black is lost. With the threat of 10.Nxc6; if 9. Nxd4 10.Bxe7 Bxd4 10.Qxd4!
Nxd4 11.Nf6+ Kf8 12.Bh6# 11.Nf6+ Kh8 12.Ng4+ (12. Nxd4 13.Bf6+Kg8 14.Nh6#) and Black resigned. Hermlin-Kaunonen, Karhula 2000. Naturally, there are several offbeat lines that one might be extremely reluctant to play in a serious competitive game: 1.Nc3 c5 2.g4 or 1.Nc3 c5 2.Ne4 (Zvonimir Mestrovic’s provocative move) come into this category, for me. The latter is surely the chess equivalent of “extracting the urine”, and its sole purpose is probably to wind the opponent up. Certain other unusual suggestions, however, intrigue and tease the mind.
One such is 1.Nc3 g6 2.h4; another is 1.Nc3 d5 2.e3 e5 (2. C5 3.Nf3 would be a Black Knights’ Tango reversed, I guess) 3.
Leading to this position. The great attraction of 3.Qh5!
Is that it is a hypermodern move: its purpose is not to mate on f7 but to exert pressure on Black’s centre pawns from along the fifth rank. It is an extremely neat idea, even though Black can probably equalize with 3. 4.Nxd5) 4.Bb5 Qd6. The book has been translated, by Keilhack himself, into a lively, idiomatic English prose that is more readable, engaging and didactic (in the best sense) than about 80% of chess books written by native English authors. The author’s strengths include a very definite voice and a wide chess culture, and he has fascinating and insightful things to say about UCO theory (the general unreliability of many judgments of positions and variations) and chess strategy (he seems almost to treat 1.Nc3 as a touchstone of modern chess, especially in the light of John Watson’s 1999 work Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy). He has a fine eye for beauty and “interestingness” in chess (sometimes the same thing) and there are digressions discussing a number of other openings. The English language does defeat Keilhack on a few occasions – e.g.
“not to harmless” on p.339 (“too” not “to”) and “within or outwith” on p.365 (“outside” not “outwith”) – but the sense and meaning of his writing is always clear. The author writes that he didn’t wish to name the opening after, or attribute it to, a particular player, and so his book’s chosen title, Knight on the Left: 1.Nc3, is meant as a neutral one.
But the word “left” has its connotations too: left-wing (revolutionary, socialist), sinister; and perhaps Keilhack has inadvertently added to the opening’s cult status. “Crime is but a left-handed form of human endeavour”, a character in The Asphalt Jungle by William Riley Burnett remarks. And as for Aasum’s talk of “1.Nc3 riders”, well, maybe we’ll come to think of these players (and ourselves, if we come to play it) as outlaws too. This is very much a superior opening book. It is intellectually stimulating, a rare virtue, and it presents a thorough survey of 1.Nc3, demonstrating that it gives realistic prospects of a White advantage. A comprehensive list of research materials used by the author – including books, periodicals, databases and internet sources (web pages and newsgroups) – rounds off the book nicely.
About the reviewer: Paul Kane lives and works in Manchester, England. He welcomes responses to his reviews and you can reach him.
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Articles by Michael David Wojcio (posted June 8, 2005) New Jersey Knockouts 2008 Coverage of the home team in the US Chess League, with annotated games:. 10. 9. 8. 7.
6. 5. 4. 3. 2.
1 New Jersey Knockouts 2007 Coverage of the home team in the US Chess League, with annotated games:. 10. 9. 8.
7. 6.
5. 4. 3. 2. 1 Profiles.
Consultation games. Essays & Reviews Essays and Book Reviews by our members are invited for this section. by Michael Goeller. (CJA 'honorary mention' for Best Review 2007). Chess as a Safe House for Learning. Lectures Games and ideas presented in master lectures. by SM Yaacov Norowitz.
by NM Scott Massey. by NM Yaacov Norowitz. by Steve Stoyko Lecture notes on an essential motif.
by NM Scott Massey October 20, 2005 talk on assessment criteria in the context of a Steinitz game. by NM Scott Massey October 6, 2005 lecture on the tournament that signaled the beginning of the Soviet chess hegemony. by FM Steve Stoyko April 21, 2005 talk on Steve's best games. by NM Scott Massey November 2004 talk on Bobby Fischer and his two best games. Tournaments (plus ) 2006 NJ Open (September 2-4, 2006) Blog coverage of the event can be found, and. (January - March 2007) (January 12 - March 9, 2006) 2006 US Amateur Teams East (February 18-21, 2006) The Kenilworth Chess Club sent two teams to the annual USATE tournament, with the A-Team finishing a respectable 21st out of 272 teams.
Read blog coverage, and. 2005 Kenilworth Classic Rated G-30 (October 21-28, 2005) Pictures from and (January 13 - April 14, 2005) Over half of the games from the championship, complete with notes and available in multiple formats (including HTML, PGN, Text file, Word, PDF, and on a Java-board you can play through online). Some of the better games include:. (12). (11). (11). (9).
(10). (2).
(2) The Kenilworth Chess Club A team won 'Best NJ Team,' and several other players from the club competed. Pictures, files, and links are posted online. Team Matches. (June 2006). (Sept.
2006). (Sept. 2006). (Nov. 2006) Best Games Annotated 'best' games from club members. History Articles and photos from the past., by Michael David Wojcio (June 08, 2005).
(April 29, 2005). Lake Hopatcong 1923 and 1926 Articles and photos from the historic NJ tournaments. by Michael Goeller.
by Michael Goeller. Favorite Books All club members are invited to submit an annotated list of their favorite chess books. Kenilworth Chess Club Quarterly A quarterly collection of all games posted to chess blog.: May-August, 2005, Part One.: May-August 2005, Part Two. Instruction. Annotated Games Selected annotated games from our archives. by John Moldovan. by John Moldovan.
Opening Articles Theory and analysis from our members. Sicilian Defense.
1.e4 c5 2.f4 d5 3.Nf3 dxe4 4.Ne5!?. Two Knights Sicilian, Parts, and. by Steve Stoyko Lecture notes on nine Stoyko games beginning 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d3. 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3!? Cxd4 4.Qxd4 - see blog post for.
Caro-Kann. 1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Ne5!. (, ). Scandinavian.
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.Nf3! 4.Bb5+. Pirc / Modern. 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Bc4 Bg7 5.Qe2 Nc6 6.e5.
1. Ke1. French Defense. French Defense Repertoire, Parts and. 1.e4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Nf3. Open Games (1.e4 e5).
Free download pass4sure registry hack programs fake. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5!?. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6?!. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.exf5!. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d4. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Bb4. 1.
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nf3. 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 b5!?. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nd4.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Ne7!?. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nxe4?!. Featuring 1.e4 e5 2.f4 Nc6 3.Nf3 f5!?. 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 Bb4!?. 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nxe4 4.Qh5 Ng5.
Nimzovich and Alekhine (1.Nc6 or 1.Nf6). 1.
1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.Nc3. Queen's Gambit.
by Michael Goeller and FM Steve Stoyko. See also the note regarding. Black 1.d4 d5 Repertoire by FM Steve Stoyko Lecture notes on the Lasker Defense and related lines for Black, with various supplements by Michael Goeller.: The Lasker Defense Intro.: The Lasker Defense.: White Alternatives.: The QGD Exchange.: The Catalan and Others.
(42 games). Black Knights Tango and 1.d4 Nc6!?. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nf3 d6 4.Nc3 e5. Indian Defenses (1.d4 Nf6).
Links related to 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ne4. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 Bf5!?. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Bd2!?. Various Queen Pawn Attacks. and. Repertoire Suggestions. Complete links to online material related to a Giuoco Piano repertoire.
An open Sicilian repertoire with an early f4 for White, based on web sources. by Michael Goeller An opening repertoire built around e4, Nf3, Nc3 as White or Nc6, Nf6, e5 as Black. Middlegame Articles and puzzles on strategic and tactical themes. Endings Articles and puzzles on the endgame. From a by FM Steve Stoyko. Six puzzles to test your tactics. Some come from by our members.
We welcome member contributions of favorite books, games, opening analysis, remembrances, and anything else that would interest our members and other chessplayers. Please send submissions or ideas to our webmaster, Michael Goeller. Materials prepared as PGN files are most desirable.
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½ Unlike many of my critical brethren, I do not view Michael Bay as the devil incarnate. I think the man has definite talent and is one of the finest visual stylists working in the realm of film.
I've enjoyed about half of the Transformers franchise and don't consider it the end-all-be-all of modern American cinema. Transformers: The Last Knight is exactly what the detractors have railed against from the start: a cacophonous ejaculation of incomprehensible nonsense. The charge has often been made against Bay's long filmography that his stories are unintelligible, but Transformers 5 proves to be the new measuring point for incensed incredulity.
This isn't only the worst Transformers entry in a seemingly never-ending franchise (thanks product placement, merchandising, and toy sales) but an early contender for worst film of 2017. Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg) is hiding out with other Autobots in a South Dakota junkyard awaiting the return of Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen). Prime ventured into space to find the remnants of the Autobot home world, Cybertron. Once found, he's brainwashed by the Cybertron goddess Quintessa (Gemma Chan) into being her servant. She's after an ancient staff that will prove to be the key to restarting Cybertron. It was last seen on Earth during the Dark Ages and rumor has it was given to Merlin.
Cade is enlisted by a centuries-long secret society to help find the staff before the evil forces at bay get hold of it. It feels like the Transformers 5 writers were on a week-long cocaine bender when they cobbled together this impenetrable narrative. Let me give you but a taste of the confusing, muddled, and overall mind-numbing plot as it exists. The Transformers franchise has had its ups and downs.
How far up and how far down is up to you, because I think this is one of the most divisive franchises out there today. Look, I enjoyed the original live-action film quite a bit. The second isn't good, the third one was a little better, but ever since the original cast left, this franchise has been digging itself an even deeper hole.
I didn't have any hopes going into this film, other than the fact that I was hoping for it to be the best one in the franchise. I don't hope to dislike a film and for the most part, I find almost all of these movies tolerable, but Transformers: The Last Knight isn't only the worst film in the franchise, it's one of the worst films I've seen in a very, very long time.
I have very few positives to say about this movie, so this may seem like more of a rant, but let's dive right in. With a story crafted by four writers, there will always be conflict as to what fits into a film.
Personally, I believe that a film should have no more than two writers, due to the fact that the term 'too many cooks in the kitchen' is referenced far too often. The premise of this film is all over the place. The opening to this movie tells the audience that the Transformers have been here since the ancient times, which makes no sense in continuity with the first film, but that's another story. Optimus has his own story on his planet, which the film hardly ever focusses on, and characters/locations from previous films are shown/referenced to show that you're still watching the same franchise.
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With the addition of Anthony Hopkins unravelling the history of the Transformers, this film just becomes a giant bore, making you wish for an awesome climax, which also never happens. The conclusion to the previous film had Optimus leaving Earth in search of his creator. This small aspect of the last instalment is the only thing that gave any kind of promise to this one being interesting. That being said, they pretty much abandon that for the majority of the movie, rarely ever showing what Optimus is up to until the third act. Sure, sometimes saving the best for last works, but when the most interesting thing happening in the movie forces you to wait and then lets you down in the third act, what was the point of the movie anyways?
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I can't stress enough how disappointing and hilariously executed the plot twists are throughout this film. Without spoiling anything, the big plot twist that reveals who the last remaining knight is, is the most I've chuckled at a movie in a while. The film asks you to suspend your disbelief, even for the standards of a Transformers movie, and it was at that point that I lost complete interest, which is really saying something, because it was the most interesting aspect about the movie that ends up ruining the movie. We all know if this film makes a lot of money (which it probably will) we're going to see more movies, but in terms of quality, Transformers: The Last Knight is the final nail in the coffin for me. It's one thing when a movie fails to deliver on the one thing that the previous instalment promised, but another thing entirely when the film at hand seems to be adding addition sub plots in order to pad out the run time. From bad humour (again), to cool action that you need to wait two hours to see (again), to the build up of Optimus being the villain, only to completely thrown that away for a twist that is meant to be taken seriously, but ends up being hilarious, this movie is the definitive death of the franchise that has already been dead in the water many times. Look, I'm sure some people may find enjoyment out of this movie, but I would have to ask why that is.
From horrible dialogue, to an insanely convoluted premise, to the best characters hardly ever being present, to a climax that is too ridiculous to take seriously, Transformers: The Last Knight is officially the first Transformers movie that I absolutely hate. So take this as an even bigger warning, because when people were tearing apart the second and third instalments of this franchise, I was one of the first to defend them for being dumb fun popcorn flicks, and as bad as Transformers: Age of Extinction was, at least it felt like a continuation of the franchise. With everything this movie tries to accomplish, it also makes itself the most distant from the series.
Aside from maybe one or two chuckles and a couple of cool battle sequences, Transformers: The Last Knight is the worst film I've seen in all of 2017. It's easily the worst in the franchise and I can't stress enough to not spend your money on this movie. This film is so drawn out that I fear even kids will be bored out of their mind.
Most films don't need reboots, but if they want to make more Transformers movies, please start from scratch, because there is no coming back from this atrocity.
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