Submarines + The Greenhorn Opening Trap
By 30 Dec 11 on
6997 views | 6 edits | Last edit on 26 Mar 12
I’m still looking for an RHP guy to build me a chess piece out of snow.
Living on a part of the planet that has no snow is ‘snow’ excuse.
Build me a chess piece out of sand.
(you can just imagine some lonely RHP lad going to a beach full of
bathing beauties ignoring them and building a chess sand castle.)
And I know all about loneliness.
In 1985 Britain was considering sending a single manned flight to Mars.
They were worried that the effect of 3 months alone in a tiny capsule would
be enough to drive anyone mad, so they asked for 30 volunteers to spend 3 months
submerged in a one man submarine to see what effect being alone in a cramped space
would have on an astronaut.
The 30 submarines were launched from Plymouth in April 1981 and yours truly was
in submarine no.19. (being a Beatles fan I was allowed to paint my one yellow.)
As you would expect it was lonely but I found torpedoing whales and listening to
Japanese fishermen gleefully scooping up the bits was a great way to pass the time.
I was the only one to return. the other 29 subs were never seen or heard of again.
They are still out there, 29 submarines, each one piloted by a lonely mad person.
So they now reckon a single manned flight to Mars is possible providing the astronaut
can spend his time torpedoing whales on the way. I was glad to have helped.
And now this:
Rocking the Ramparts by Larry Christiansen.
A collection of games some well known, some not quite so well known.
All with the theme of Rocking the Ramparts of the enemy King.
Of course Karpov v Spassky, Leningrad 1974 is in there. No good chess book is
without this game, but in this case move 24.Nb1 is only given one ‘!’ and no note!
I guess Larry like me has figured that because every writer and his dog has used this
game at one time or other there is no need for the notes.
I found this mistake on page 228 quite amusing.
In the section under ‘Instructive Combinations and Inspirational Attacks.’
Larry writes:
“Most of these battles have been heavily analysed over the years, but I think
I may have found a few new points to most of them.”
And the very next game is:
He’s not kidding, he has found something new.
Bird was White in this game and Morphy was Black.
We looked at this very game on here a few weeks back.
Morphing Morphy
That well timed entertaining error aside not a bad book.
One attacking example involves John Nunn (one of my chess heroes) and
Craig Pritchett (one of my chess mates.)
Nunn - Pritchett, England 1985.
We join the game with White to play.
Two examples from RHP of the same theme.
One with White doing the deed.
Danno12 - Tukumnieks RHP 2005
And now one with Black.
nowherelands - Aspasia RHP 2009
After the opening moves: 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5
A common Black move is this position is 4…Nbd7 and is mistakenly called by
many players the Elephant Trap. It goes likes this.
However 4…Nbd7 is not an Opening Trap. It is a perfectly valid move and if White
should not blunder and refrain from winning the d-pawn then there is no visible
harm to the Black position.
The correct criteria for setting an opening trap is that the trap setting move must
contain an element of risk should your opponent not fall for it.
(That is why all the good writers tell you not to set them....I on the other hand...)
On RHP the position after 4…Nbd7 has arisen over 890 times.
42 White players have blundered and taken the d-pawn.
The remaining 850 games are split 50-50 giving a clear indication that 4…Nbd7 is
playable and not unsound.
A proper opening trap must have a flaw.
The correct way to go for this trap (it needs a new the name…The Greenhorn)
is to face the loss of the d-pawn should White spot the flaw.
Instead of 4….Nbd7 The Greenhorn Trap is 4…..Bd6!?
The trap now goes:
Should White spot the hole in the trap he can safely win the d-pawn.
This is the element of risk that all opening traps should carry.
Should it fail then the setter will be material down or have wasted time
to the detriment of his position.
We have seen that 42 players have fallen for the so called Elephant Trap.
On RHP 4…Bd6 has been played only three times and this position after the moves:
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bd6 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Nxd5
Has been seen only once!
A chief principle of an opening trap is that is must be relatively unknown.
That one game was stammer - AJAXO RHP 2004 and here.
Black missed 6…Nxd5. He played instead 6….Be7 and the games was drawn on move 63.
Game 369789
So get out there and give the Greenhorn a try.
(wheel it out in some blitz games first - post your effects in the Blog thread).
We end with a fresh Assassin Pawn Mate.
usmc7257 - stuspark RHP 2011
Now remember Black’s 6th move. 6…Bb4-c5.
It’s my job to try and figure out what is going on in the player’s mind.
I wonder if he was setting White a trap by trying to tempt him into 7.Nxe5 with White
going for the ‘Pawn Fork Trick.’.
7.Nxe5 Nxe5 8.d4.
Here it is unsound because Black has 8…Nxc4.
It’s a possible explantion for 6...Bc5. In this position.
On RHP White has dropped a piece with 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 and 5.d4 no fewer that 39 times.
It’s a known blunder.
siciliano - smoore3000 RHP 2007
The player Telboy2 has twice as White lost a piece this way….……..and won both games.
The thread linking this blog is Thread 144224
Living on a part of the planet that has no snow is ‘snow’ excuse.
Build me a chess piece out of sand.
(you can just imagine some lonely RHP lad going to a beach full of
bathing beauties ignoring them and building a chess sand castle.)
And I know all about loneliness.
In 1985 Britain was considering sending a single manned flight to Mars.
They were worried that the effect of 3 months alone in a tiny capsule would
be enough to drive anyone mad, so they asked for 30 volunteers to spend 3 months
submerged in a one man submarine to see what effect being alone in a cramped space
would have on an astronaut.
The 30 submarines were launched from Plymouth in April 1981 and yours truly was
in submarine no.19. (being a Beatles fan I was allowed to paint my one yellow.)
As you would expect it was lonely but I found torpedoing whales and listening to
Japanese fishermen gleefully scooping up the bits was a great way to pass the time.
I was the only one to return. the other 29 subs were never seen or heard of again.
They are still out there, 29 submarines, each one piloted by a lonely mad person.
So they now reckon a single manned flight to Mars is possible providing the astronaut
can spend his time torpedoing whales on the way. I was glad to have helped.
And now this:
Rocking the Ramparts by Larry Christiansen.
A collection of games some well known, some not quite so well known.
All with the theme of Rocking the Ramparts of the enemy King.
Of course Karpov v Spassky, Leningrad 1974 is in there. No good chess book is
without this game, but in this case move 24.Nb1 is only given one ‘!’ and no note!
I guess Larry like me has figured that because every writer and his dog has used this
game at one time or other there is no need for the notes.
I found this mistake on page 228 quite amusing.
In the section under ‘Instructive Combinations and Inspirational Attacks.’
Larry writes:
“Most of these battles have been heavily analysed over the years, but I think
I may have found a few new points to most of them.”
And the very next game is:
He’s not kidding, he has found something new.
Bird was White in this game and Morphy was Black.
We looked at this very game on here a few weeks back.
Morphing Morphy
That well timed entertaining error aside not a bad book.
One attacking example involves John Nunn (one of my chess heroes) and
Craig Pritchett (one of my chess mates.)
Nunn - Pritchett, England 1985.
We join the game with White to play.
Two examples from RHP of the same theme.
One with White doing the deed.
Danno12 - Tukumnieks RHP 2005
And now one with Black.
nowherelands - Aspasia RHP 2009
After the opening moves: 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5
A common Black move is this position is 4…Nbd7 and is mistakenly called by
many players the Elephant Trap. It goes likes this.
However 4…Nbd7 is not an Opening Trap. It is a perfectly valid move and if White
should not blunder and refrain from winning the d-pawn then there is no visible
harm to the Black position.
The correct criteria for setting an opening trap is that the trap setting move must
contain an element of risk should your opponent not fall for it.
(That is why all the good writers tell you not to set them....I on the other hand...)
On RHP the position after 4…Nbd7 has arisen over 890 times.
42 White players have blundered and taken the d-pawn.
The remaining 850 games are split 50-50 giving a clear indication that 4…Nbd7 is
playable and not unsound.
A proper opening trap must have a flaw.
The correct way to go for this trap (it needs a new the name…The Greenhorn)
is to face the loss of the d-pawn should White spot the flaw.
Instead of 4….Nbd7 The Greenhorn Trap is 4…..Bd6!?
The trap now goes:
Should White spot the hole in the trap he can safely win the d-pawn.
This is the element of risk that all opening traps should carry.
Should it fail then the setter will be material down or have wasted time
to the detriment of his position.
We have seen that 42 players have fallen for the so called Elephant Trap.
On RHP 4…Bd6 has been played only three times and this position after the moves:
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bd6 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Nxd5
Has been seen only once!
A chief principle of an opening trap is that is must be relatively unknown.
That one game was stammer - AJAXO RHP 2004 and here.
Black missed 6…Nxd5. He played instead 6….Be7 and the games was drawn on move 63.
Game 369789
So get out there and give the Greenhorn a try.
(wheel it out in some blitz games first - post your effects in the Blog thread).
We end with a fresh Assassin Pawn Mate.
usmc7257 - stuspark RHP 2011
Now remember Black’s 6th move. 6…Bb4-c5.
It’s my job to try and figure out what is going on in the player’s mind.
I wonder if he was setting White a trap by trying to tempt him into 7.Nxe5 with White
going for the ‘Pawn Fork Trick.’.
7.Nxe5 Nxe5 8.d4.
Here it is unsound because Black has 8…Nxc4.
It’s a possible explantion for 6...Bc5. In this position.
On RHP White has dropped a piece with 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 and 5.d4 no fewer that 39 times.
It’s a known blunder.
siciliano - smoore3000 RHP 2007
The player Telboy2 has twice as White lost a piece this way….……..and won both games.
The thread linking this blog is Thread 144224
