The Baltic Trap + When h-pawns Dream

davaniel sent in a picture of him and the Baltic Opening at the Baltic Sea.
So I give you a trap from the Baltic Opening.

An h-pawn dream
(Actually from a skittles game played by me Black played 20...Qxe7 and I lost.)

Some games from the tournament I just played in.

Blog 4

The Baltic Trap is one I could see people fall into, simply because all the bad white moves are logical, and the early ...Bxb1 is a neon sign that says "Clown on board" and would lower the white player's sense of danger.

However, my favorite part of the blog is the picture of the plaque in front of the Paul Keres Chess Club. I didn't expect that at the end, and it made me pause a bit. The Bastford two-book collection of his greatest games is an excellent read, and a tremendous influence on anyone who reads them. A truly great player.

Hi Paul.

I've just added another Keres picture. Him on the 5 Kroon Note.
He is the only player to appear on a national currency.

I have the best games of Keres but in one volume. It was originally released
as a paperback with all the games. Then the publishers realised they could make
more money splitting it into two...Marketing.

Originally posted by greenpawn34
Hi Paul.

I've just added another Keres picture. Him on the 5 Kroon Note.
He is the only player to appear on a national currency.

I have the best games of Keres but in one volume. It was originally released
as a paperback with all the games. Then the publishers realised they could make
more money splitting it into two...Marketing.

Hi GP

Nc3, also known as Dunst-Sleipner, which I play a lot of.

I've got a hard-back of' 'The early games of Paul Keres', edited by Harry Golombek. This is one of the first books I bought, nearly 40 years ago, and until recently, I'd forgotten I had it!

There is a great game, excellently notated, of Keres with white against Capablanca, in the 1938 AVRO tournament in Holland. Capablanca didn't have great results with the French defence in that particular tourney; Keres won in 38 moves. I enjoy your blogs immensely; keep 'em coming!

Mike

Originally posted by greenpawn34
davaniel sent in a picture of him and the Baltic Opening at the Baltic Sea.
So I give you a trap from the Baltic Opening.

An h-pawn dream
(Actually from a skittles game played by me Black played 20...Qxe7 and I lost.)

Some games from the tournament I just played in.

Blog 4

You said, "Every opening has at least one trap concealed within it.
(Trust me on this. Show me an opening and I’ll show you it’s opening trap
with an excellent chance of someone on RHP falling for it.) "

So, I challenge you, out of curiosity and for my own benefit to show me a trap or traps in the Catalan Opening.

Danke.

Catalan Trap

Originally posted by TimmyBx
Catalan Trap
[pgn] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 dxc4 5. Nbd2 c5 6. dxc5 Bxc5 7. Bg2 Bxf2+ 8. Kxf2 Ng4+ 9. Kf1 {(9. Ke1 Ne3) (9. Kg1 Qb6+)} 9... Ne3+ *[/pgn]

Ugh, ugly play from white. I particularly dislike 5.Nbd2 and 6.dxc5

Thanks very much for the example!

Originally posted by greenpawn34
davaniel sent in a picture of him and the Baltic Opening at the Baltic Sea.
So I give you a trap from the Baltic Opening.

An h-pawn dream
(Actually from a skittles game played by me Black played 20...Qxe7 and I lost.)

Some games from the tournament I just played in.

Blog 4

glad to see you back was getting withdraw symptoms without your blog, one of your best yet. 🙂

Hi Underpromote.

"...show me a trap or traps in the Catalan Opening."

Hmmmm...... A Trap in the Cat.

If my memory serves did not Korchnoi set a cat trap as White v Ikvov in 1964.
I remember it well as The Beatles were at No1. with 'Can't Buy Me Love.'

Korchnoi - Ivkov USSR v Yugoslavia 1964.


Vic played 7.Ne5! Which fits the trap criteria about breaking at least one opening rule.
Here we see a GM moving a Knight twice in the opening before the other has developed.


If Black should nick the d-pawn with 7...Nxd4 then 8.e3 wins material.
(7...Qxd4 meets 8.Nxc6) Ivkov played 7...Bd7.

Has anyone on RHP taken the bait?

We welcome to the Chess Forum.

petromichelaki - queenknightrook RHP 2008



Can an RHP lad send in a picture of them playing the Catalan in Catalonia.

Originally posted by greenpawn34
Hi Underpromote.

"...show me a trap or traps in the Catalan Opening."

Hmmmm...... A Trap in the Cat.

If my memory serves did not Korchnoi set a cat trap as White v Ikvov in 1964.
I remember it well as The Beatles were at No1. with 'Can't Buy Me Love.'

Korchnoi - Ivkov USSR v Yugoslavia 1964.

[fen]r1bqkb1r/pp3ppp/2n1pn2/2p5/2pP4/5NP1/PP2P ...[text shortened]... P lad send in a picture of them playing the Catalan in Catalonia.

I think this could actually be quite useful, really like this, thanks greenpawn.

I just love when a thread on the "Only Chess" forum is actually about chess...

What if black retreats his knight to c6 again? After QxQd8, black can reply NxQd8... I can imagine that Bxc6 should be played, but it seems that there are ways for black to get out of there, e.g. Bd7.

Originally posted by tvochess
What if black retreats his knight to c6 again? After QxQd8, black can reply NxQd8... I can imagine that Bxc6 should be played, but it seems that there are ways for black to get out of there, e.g. Bd7.

fails to Nxc6

Originally posted by greenerpawn
fails to Nxc6

And how then does white gain material? Nc6 Nxc6 is followed with bxc6 and both players just lost a knight.