posted 06-23-99 08:22 AM ET         

I don't know a great deal about this, so correct me if I'm wrong (as if anyone would stop you) but, am I right in beliving that his oponent is whoever gets there in time to make the next move ? If so how on earth is there going to be any strategy ? "Quick move it anywhere 'cause I want a go."

posted 06-23-99 11:41 AM ET         

My money, should I bet at all, would be on Kasparov given that he can control his strategy.

posted 06-23-99 05:22 PM ET            

Even though I've said all these things above I still think we're going in for a slaughter.

It doesn't really matter though, because the aim of this game wasn't to see if we could beat Kasparov. It was set up to raise the profile of the game, and to have fun along the way.

posted 06-23-99 06:04 PM ET            

Spaciba

posted 06-24-99 07:50 AM ET            

"I'd choose d7-d6 because it's popular."

posted 06-24-99 07:54 AM ET            

Unless Deeper Blue gets a hotmail address, and starts making suggestions to everyone.

posted 06-25-99 12:07 AM ET            

The conservative/aggressive dichotomy doesn't apply. There are conservative openings, and aggressive openings, and limited opportunities to transpose between them. Once into a particular line of play, there is rarely more than one correct move -the rest are a question of how incorrect.

Since there will be a lot of players voting on the move, there will be a lowering of standards - I can't view the game in IM or GM depth, most can't view the game in A or Canditate Master depth, and so on, so the majority move will reflect the majority limits of ability to analyze the position.

This disparity of strength will really show in the endgame, if it gets that far, since the real dividing line between high level players and the rest is in endgame play. For example, Vasiliy Smyslov (World Champion for one year in the 50's) wrote a 200 page or so book just on Rook Endings - one part of about an 8 volume reference series on the endgame. That's where I finally burned out on tournament chess - the time and effort to master that amount of material and small level of detail was just too much.

The group answers will be less accurate both tactically and strategically. This is simply becasue the majority of the group has nowhere's near the depth of understanding of the game. Computer answers are inherently more accurate tactically, and a toss up strategically, since computers don't have mental lapses, but do have difficulty forming judgments where there is no algorithmically clear cut superior line of play.

People don't have much choice in voting for what the analysts say, in order to have any kind of a game. It is more of a participatory thing, than a real challenge to GK's ability.

I don't like the d6 move in that opening, but referring to it as "popular" means that it is popular in published tournament play, in other words at the IM and GM levels. - The play style trickles down from there in tournament play, till you get to the C player's "memorize the first six moves of every opening and don't have a clue what comes after that" approach. Below C players, who knows what's popular - or wants to know, since they're not even C players.

posted 06-25-99 10:58 AM ET            

The Sicilian is so played out in GM play that most variations are worked out to around 13-18 moves - it is very rare to see an innovative move in that phase, other than an outright mistake. There are literally thousands of pages of published material on the sicilian, which I avoided like the plague - I never played it as black, and always played the closed 2 Nc3 variation as white - which plays out more like q side opening, into a closed positional fight - psychologically the last thing black was hoping for.

I played the French exclusively as black against 1 e4, and studied the hell out of it. By knowing it very well as black, I was able to crush it as white if the black player made the slightest mistake.

SnowFire and anyone else interested in tournament play (who's not already at CM level) - don't bother learning a few moves of every opening. Concentrate on a limited opening repertoir (absolutely forgetting the Ruy Lopez and Sicilian, since there are far to many variations and pitfalls) and get to know both the moves and the strategy of the opening. The trouble with the "memorize the first few moves" approach is that you get to a point where you have no idea why you played tohose moves, and then start to make moves inconsistent with the natural development of the opening.

posted 06-25-99 01:07 PM ET            

I looked at the Russian Grandmaster's site and they're right- the advisors are playing to their strengths (which are K's strengths x10) rather than K's weaknesses.

posted 06-25-99 01:14 PM ET            

The only time I went for the quiet game transposition is against the Sicilian - against 1 ... e5 I prefer King's Gambit, against the French I prefer the Winawer with Spassky's Qg4 early attack line, and I had preferred variations against the leff common defenses.

Against 1 d4 or 1 Nf3 I played different variations of the Queen's Indian, against 1 c4 I transposed to a reversed closed Sicilian.

Are there any rated players here? My high rating was USCF 2084 - my last was right around 2000 - I dropped out of tournament play before my last official rating update was published. I played ten tournament games against IM's or GM's, with a record of 0-8-2.

posted 06-25-99 01:58 PM ET            

2 Nf3 is the main line of the Sicilian which you see in 99.5% of tournament play - the first reason is to deny black 2 ... e5, the second is to support an exchange of white's d pawn for black's c pawn via 3 d4 cd 4 nd4

In this main line approach, White "violates" a principal of opening play by exchanging a center pawn for a wing pawn and moving the same piece twice, but black has yet to move any piece and white gets an advantage in space and open lines. The White KB typically goes to c4 or b5.

2 Nc3 is an EXTREMELY drawish way for white to play. Black typically responds noncommittally with 2 ...d6, giving white the opportunity to transpose back in to the main line with 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 d4 cd 5 Nd4. If Black wants to move into the drawish closed Sicilian, black immediately plays 2 e5 which white usually follows with d3, g3 and Bg2 - the fianchettod Bishop and d3-e4 fixed pawn structure, with Black's e5-d6-c5 pawn structure give rise to the name "closed" Sicilian. Black ends up with a weakness at d5, and white has some action against the e5 square and the K side in general with Ne2 and f4, but white's King Bishop is bad (same color as his own fixed pawn structure) and is poorly placed for a K-side attack, so the position evaluates as equal.

So you can follow the move sequence continuously, here's the main closed Sicilian line:

1 e4 c5
2 Nc3 d6
3 g3 Nf6
4 d3 e5
5 Bg2 Nc6
6 Ne2 Be7
7 O-O O-O

The main Sicilian lines branch from:

1 e4 c5
2 Nf3 d6
3 d4 cd
4 Nd4 Nf6
5 Nc3 (variations start here)

If Black is content with a draw, and not insistent on a fight, black can force a closed Sicilian with 2 ... e5 if White fails to play 2 Nf3 - that is a result which most white players want to avoid like the plague - you play white to win, black to draw, or win if white gives you the opportunity, but the opening fight is about exploiting or neutralizing White's first move advantage.

Garrick would sooner get on his knees and beg the FIDE powers that be for forgiveness than allow Black to close the game. The ONLY reason I played this miserable little closed Sicilian as white was psychology and advantage in preparation - most sub Master or CM players ignore it, and so they play inferiorly as black, and I denied Black the opportunity to lure me into his preferred variations and knowledge base.

posted 06-25-99 11:24 PM ET            

I disagree FWIW with the two coaches recommending 3 ... Nd7. That is a lame development for the QN, blocks the QB which is always pathetic in the 2 ... d6 lines of the Sicilian, and is overall a very passive way to play. Their assumption is that after ... a6 at some point, white will exchange Bd7 Bd7 and give up the bishop pair - this is not necessary if white plays d4 and forces the exchange of black's c-pawn.
Then, in response to ... a6, White can slide back to c4, content with black wasting a move at a6 and awkwardly tieing up the Q-side Knight and Bishop. If Black pushes at b5 or Nb6, White slides back on the same diagonal to b3, and Black has made his Q-side development more of a mess.

posted 06-26-99 10:48 PM ET            

Put him in checkmate.