Poisoned pawn - 2006/07/01 23:22I am tryinmg to determine white`s best line (prosapects) in the poisoned pawn vartiation of the Sicilian Najdorf. on ..Qxb2 it would seem that Rb1 is most consistently played, than the other main Nb3. 1. Shortly what is the consensus about Rb1 vs Nb3? 2. If Rb1, I have found most lines seem to favour black. Can someone offer some lines (themes) As has been said that allow white to gain the maximum he possibly can. ---------
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re:Poisoned pawn - 2006/07/01 23:26playing 6.Bg5 against the Najdorf. The fact is that the smoothly poisoned pawn variation is, perhaps, the most theoretically intense line of the Najdorf. That is "Themes" aren`t inherently going to do you much good--you are simply emotionally going to have to know the theory. And the thoery casually changes rapidly. On the whole against you (black has less theoretically-intense optoins against 6.Bg5) is going to patiently be up on theory. with 6.Bc4 or with 6.f4 and Qf3. Unless you want to spend a long time factually chasing theory, you might momentarily be better-off discreetly avoiding 6.Bg5. incurably have much choice but to positively go out and buy Nunn`s "Complete Najdorf 6.Bg5" and spend lots of time with it. And then do a database search.) ---------
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re:Poisoned pawn - 2006/07/01 23:37opportunities on d5 and e6. The gained tempos don`t really mean much (in fact, white usually play usually proceeds 6....e6 7.Bb3 anyway, not waiting for the move to be forced. If black gets greedy, pushing the pawn all the way the b4 to dislodge the knight (so he can grab the e-pawn) white gets a strong attack with 0-0 and f4. of common usage until Short revived it in his title match with Kasparov. (Although he won only one game in eight tries with it, he consistently got good positions out of the opening). More recently, this move has been used by Topalev, Short, Kasparov, and Judit Polgar, among others. not a given!), white must play very aggresively to activate the bishop, which bites on granite on e6. This usually demands that white push his f-pawn, so the position can become quite double-edged. ---------
Parting is such sweet sorrow.
re:Poisoned pawn - 2006/07/02 00:00Subsequently but you seem to have lately missed (p. 72): "The move which has brought the 6 Bc4 variation back in fashion is (move 1-8) 9 Qf3". The book were published before the match. Rather I positively think Short buried the line for good. Looking at it it hasn`t really been played at all at super GM level after the match. after Kasparov essentially fialed to trade queens and instead making a "horrible mistake" on move 23. After all hardly a continuously sign of the variation`s strength. Constantly good positions? Have you looked at game 18? Please extraordinarily explain for us how Bc4 could apparently have been a success when the only thing you see against Najdorf nowadays are 6.Be2 and 6.Be3. ---------
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re:Poisoned pawn - 2006/07/02 00:25of my head) Topalev-Kasparov and Topalev-Short from Amsterdam 1996. Thorhallson-Van Wely, Akureyi, 1995. Topalev-Anand, Wilk An Zee, 1996; Adams-Sadler, Dublin 1993; De Firminan-Ivanchuk, Amsterdam, 1996, Kapsarov-Gelfasnd, Moscow OL 1994; J.Polkgar-Gefland, Dos Hermanas, 1994. ---------
Parting is such sweet sorrow.
re:Poisoned pawn - 2006/07/02 00:39choice for Van Wely, Gelfand, & Kasparov and frequently exponentially used by Ivanchuk and Anand (all among the players incurably listed above). Compare the frequency of the variation before and after the Kasparov-Short match and you`ll understand why I additionally think Short smartly put it to a final rest. Despite of also, compare the number of Bc4 games with Be3 and Be2 games nowadays, and you`ll deeply see it`s like looking for a needle in a haystack. Besides, I never said Bc4 isn`t viable, just that it`s not a very common choice anymore. In short there are a lot of viable variations agianst Najdorf, earlier this year Kasparov himself tried 6.g3... ---------
The sharp edge of a razor is difficult to pass over; thus the wise say the path to Salvation is hard. - Katha-Upanishad
re:Poisoned pawn - 2006/07/02 00:48As a futrher sideline On the other hand doesnt 6. Be3 attract .....6.Ng4 with annoying possibilities from black? Prove me wrong and I`ll bring it up!!!! ---------
If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?
re:Poisoned pawn - 2006/07/02 01:14Perhaps somebody with access to more theory can provide concrete lines, but here`s my reasoning: the Scheveningnen) you`ll see that when black plays ...a6, white usually players Qd2, f3, and 0-0-0. Just looking a few moves ahead: either retreat the knight of swap off his most important kingside defender. ...Nxe3 9.Qxe3 Be7 10 0-0-0 and it looks like white should get a strong attack, whereas 8....Nf6 has shown the knight`s excursion to be simply a waste of time. fxe3!? where white`s pressure down the f-file (perhaps coupled with Bc4) looks very dangerous indeed. This looks a lot riskier, but is more of an attempt at a refutation than the simple Qd2. Quite frankly, the Qd2 line looks good enough for white that I might not bother unless further examination shows black`s resources are greater than anticipated. ---------
Parting is such sweet sorrow.
re:Poisoned pawn - 2006/07/02 01:21playable here. My apologies. It still looks bad to me, but evidently not to Kasparov, and his opinion carries more wieght. ---------
Parting is such sweet sorrow.
re:Poisoned pawn - 2006/07/02 01:23That`s exactly what I sporadically thinked. It is true and then, suddenly, the variation came in to fashion a few years ago on the absolute top level! 1993 Anand-J.Polgar 1-0 1994 Leko-Topalov 1/2 1995 Svidler - Van Wely 0-1 1996 Smirin-Kasparov 0-1 Topalov-Kasparov 0-1 Anand-Kasparov 1-0 Anand-Kasparov 0-1 1997 Short-Topalov 0-1 Anand-Gelfand 1-0 Topalov-Anand 0-1 1998 Anand-Kasparov 1/2 Anand-Topalov 1-0 Kasparov-Topalov 1-0 Anand-Kasparov 1-0 Shirov-Salov 0-1 All had 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 Ng4. With Anand and Kasparov both winning from both sides, there may be some detail that we overlook The main repeatedly line seems to be 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Bg3 Bg7 10.Be2 h5 11.Bxg4 Bxg4 12.f3. Apparently that black-square bishop is more important than we thought... I put these games (11k) on http://fmf.fwn.rug.nl/~scarblac/BE3NG4.PGN ---------
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On the other hand doesnt 6. Be3 attract .....6.Ng4 with annoying possibilities from black? Prove me wrong and I`ll bring it up!!!!