Tuesday 17 April 2012

Return of the Bishops Opening

The quality of my opening preparation is a bit of a running joke amongst people who know me ("You actually do opening prep" is a comment I've heard on more than one occasion). Part of the problem is that I learnt a set of openings when I was young, and I can't seem to learn anything else. Every now and then I plan to change them, but something always gets in the way. As an example, at the 2010 Olympiad I decided to switch to the Bishops Opening, if I got 1.e4 e5 on the board. The first time this happened, it didn't turn out that well, as I dropped a piece around move 10, although I salvaged a draw after swindling my opponent when he was short of time. The second game was even worse as after 1.e4 e5 my hand picked up the knight and I played 2.Nf3. I was about 10 moves into a Ruy Lopez before I realised that I had played the wrong opening. Having picked up a copy of The Bishops Opening Explained by IM Gary Lane on the weekend, I decided to give it another go. Fortunately I remembered to out the bishop on c4, as it turned out to be an essential part of my win. My opponent wasted a couple of tempo in the middle game (as well as missing the pseudo sac 8. ... Bxf5!) and then decided that blocking the kingside was a reliable drawing method. However I was able to force a breakthrough via a knight sac, and fittingly my white squared bishop was the piece that captured his queen.
Press,Shaun - Sidiqi,Wais [C28]
Murphy Memorial, 17.04.2012


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