Becoming GM...without reading chess books...

From New In Chess Magazine n° 6 - 2017

In the interview GM Eric Hansen wasn't asked how his chess improvement happened...chess software? a trainer? chess videos? no chess study at all but pure talent only? 
We are curious...

"The Elshad System" by FM Igor Nemtsev

Following a previous post on the subject, we are happy to report that now it is available a Forward Chess Interactive ebook on the Elshad Opening System, written by FM Nemtsev

The ebook contains analysis of the opening 1.d4 c6 2.c4 d6 followed by Nd7, h6 and g5, from the Black's point of view. Material is sorted into 5 chapters: 1) lines with e4 and f4. 2) lines with g3, Bg2. 3) the classical line e4, Nf3, Be2, 0-0. 4) White plays long 0-0-0. 5) the other lines. This repertoire is really ok for blitz & rapid games mostly. The system has been developed by the player Elshad Mamedov.
Here's the author's preface:

The original book was published in Russia in 2016:

CONCLUSIONS:

The ebook is highly recommended to the UCO player for his blitz & rapid games.

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PS At last, if you know the russian language, you may even watch this videos on the opening: by FM Nemtsev 

More on the du Chattel Opening System

A game played in Feb. 2017 by players rated around elo 2400

And this is the position after Black's 5th move:

FM De Santis' new book on 1.b3

There is a brand new book dealing with 1.b3 
Its author is FM Alessio De Santis, winner of a lot of Chess Tournaments. He has obtained three IM norms.
The book (270 pages) is written in italian language but it has algebraic notation. Price € 19,98 + shipping.
We really like this book because De Santis knows the matter having played 1.b3 many times.
A magnificent work, a labour of love!
The book can be purchased here or here

Front Cover

Back Cover

The Elshad Opening

Position after 5...g5

IM Basman in action - Dec. 2016

At the end of Dec. 2016 IM Basman won a Fide Rated tournament.

http://www.ljcc.co.uk/results.htm 
https://ratings.fide.com/tournament_details.phtml?event=148167
Possibly this game is from the same event:

IM Basman on Chess Teaching (probably Dec. 2016)

About GM William Lombardy

In this video you can see Magnus Carlsen winning easily against a chess player via a proxy child with a hidden earpiece.

At 52" (also at 1'22") you can see GM William Lombardy watching the game 

Apart from Lombardy's own chess merits, according to Wikipedia:

•  he was the only World Junior Champion to win the title (year 1957) with a perfect score; 
•  he won three individual Gold medals between the Men's Chess Olympiads and the World Student Team Tournament (Under 26 Years Old)

Lombardy offered a meaningful support to Bobby Fischer during the 1972 match

As a 2016 ChessBase article reported that GM Lombardy was facing serious financial problems, please know that his chess autobiography is available through his website: http://williamlombardychess.com/books/

and on the same site he offers private chess lessons

An instructive game

A very interesting game. Notes in english and italian language by the italian national master Andrea Murgia. Many thanks to Andrea for sharing it with us.

St. George Adventures

The Australian expert and chessfriend Kevin Sheldrick sent us a nice a St George game he played against  IM Dale. 
As you will see Sheldrick had a won position but in time trouble he missed the right move.. 

Reversed Hippo or White Hippo (Part 9)

Light notes by Stockfish 8

Reversed Hippo or White Hippo (Part 8)

Light notes by Stockfish 8

Reversed Hippo or White Hippo (Part 7)

Light notes by Stockfish 8

Reversed Hippo or White Hippo (Part 6)

Reversed Hippo or White Hippo (Part 5)

Light notes by Stockfish 8

Reversed Hippo or White Hippo - (Part 4)

Light notes by Stockfish 8

Reversed Hippo or White Hippo - (Part 3)

Light notes by Stockfish 8

Reversed Hippo or White Hippo (part 2)

Light notes by Stockfish 8

Reversed Hippo or White Hippo?

Have you ever thought of playing the Reversed Hippo or the Hippo as White?
Well...a few strong players did. And in this and the next posts, we will show a few games by IM Jens Ove Fries Nielsen, GM Pavel Blatny, WGM Marta Michna, IM Aleksandar Wohl and the late FM Bernd Feustel 

Advantages

• surprise weapon;
• probably no published articles/books on this opening;

Disadvantages

• As White moves first, it has the obligation to be active and attack. Playing the White Hippo...you play as you were Black;

As the above mentioned adventurous players will demonstrate, the White Hippo is playable and they won many games with it.

Is it worth a try?

Ok let's start with Jens Ove Fries Nielsen vs. Joerg Hickl where a fully grown White Hippo was shown

For the light notes we were assisted by Stockfish 8

Jens Ove Fries Nielsen wins the 26th Erfurter Schachfestival.

At the end of 2016 IM Jens Ove Fries Nielsen won the 26th Erfurter Schahfestival.
It was quite a strong tournament, as you can see from the starting rank:

This is the final ranking crosstable:

And what follows is a typical Fries Nielsen game :-) as you can see from the original position arisen after a few moves 

A few considerations about Unorthodox Chess Openings

As soon as I gave up playing Unorthodox Chess Openings in Fide Rated Chess Tournaments, I started to gain elo points and I lost less games. Hard to admit but it happened.
Still I believe that some UCOs, such as 1.g4 or 1.e4 Nh6  are FULLY playable but they are impractical. I mean that they require an enormous amount of attention & energy to keep a balanced position...and as soon as you (the UCO player) make a slightly inferior move, the position risks to precipitate rather quickly...
For instance, this is not the case of the Colle System where you can obtain decent middlegame positions without risking too much.
As I am getting older, I get tired more easily and I do not feel comfortable to invest so much energy in the opening, although it is so much fun to play UCOs!
BUT in my opinion UCOs are FANTASTIC in rapid, blitz & bullet games/tournaments where the reduced time control & surprise effect may support the UCO choice.
Please consider that this is my opinion & experience...NOT the absolute truth.

Chess Tactics

Last week I participated in a Fide Rated chess tournament where I saw the following exciting combination on one of the boards. Please note that as I tried to remember it by heart, it is possible that the position shown in the diagram was not the exact position, so I will not mention the players' names.

Black to move:

Black played 1....Nxc4+ it followed: 2.dxc4 Qc3+ 3.Kd1 Rh1! (Stockfish prefers 3...Rh3 but the text is spectacular for the audience) 4.Qxh1 Qa1+ wins the Queen and the game.