Central Pawn Duos ALWAYS worth something

I recall Peter Kappler a computer scientist residing in Austin, Texas USA, who was also a strong A player in the United States Chess Federation , stating that central pawn duos were evaluated separately by all evaluation functions that were worth their salt.

The following game played at the internet chess club hosted in the United States is an excellent example of why.

Pozarek decided to disconnect and forfeit rather than resign like a gentleman in the following position. He was apparently very afraid  of Black's passed a pawn while not giving any value to the his own passed pawn duo at d5 and e5.

Black would probably try Bb3, clearing the a file for the advance of his a pawn, in the diagrammed position and Pozarek would play the natural Bf5 check pushing the Black King to f7 when the pawn advance d6 would be the strongest move.

Pozarek, quit by disconnection because he did not notice the drawing deflection resource Bg6 ! The Bishop is immune to capture, otherwise the d pawn will queen. Moves like this are also called attraction sacrifices in this case attracting the King away from the square of the pawn!

Pawn Clinging Variation Open Catalan

I have to confess that I possess close to contempt for chess players who try to "win pawns out of the opening" as though they were playing checkers. I guess the reason is that I too was overly materialistic when I first became hooked on the royal game.

The following position played by Aracaju out of Brazil at the Internet Chess Club is an example of Black trying to win a pawn and hang on to it at the neglect of his development. It strikes me as a tad too greedy, but some chess players do not mind dragging themselves through a sewer line for an extra pawn even if it means ignoring opening principles.

One can observe that Black has made four pawn moves to consolidate "his advantage" constructing a structure comprised of pawns at a6, b5,c4, and c6. His only developed piece is his b7 Bishop stuck behind said pawn structure!

With White to play, b3 is a logical and sensible move chipping away at the potentially over extended pawn formation.

How to Continue in this Benoni

It is fairly well known among chess players that the guy who contributed a lot to the theory of the Benoni was plagued by abject depression and studied chess to distract him from his debilitating melancholy.

Zarod, playing at the ICC out of the Netherlands, is also a Benoni devotee and I hope a more cheerful and happy type than the aforementioned troubled soul.

In the diagrammed position, White exchange off his c1 Bishop in order to secure a protected passed pawn at d5 and a strong square at c4 for his horse. Black's play is usually on the queen side which makes a5 a good idea for White which also secures the b6 square as a strong point for his itinerant knight or peripatetic steed as Amarillo NM Gary Simms would proclaim.

With Black to move, then machine gives Nh5 as the best try and Black responding with a5. Positionally, Black would like to get his horse to the blockading square d6, but the Rook at e8 blocks the path to that square.

Some hard core Benoni defense players prefer b6 combined with Rb8 tempting White to place his Knight on e3 to avoid the tempo pawn hit with b5.

My Maine Chess Experience

I want to express my sincere thanks to the chess players of the Great State of Maine! Was there on sabbatical from my theoretical research at a University and had the very good fortune to play at many of the clubs throughout the state.

I found the same type of personalities as you see in Northern California despite the drastic cultural differences  between the two states. The person from Maine which I will likely never forget was Brian Cobb, a positional chess player with almost no tactical ability. If you let him play slowly, he will squeeze you to death like the Boa Constrictor Anatoly Karpov. He will not accept gambit pawns usually and can not compete with even an average skilled tactical player. Brian is bad about disconnecting in losing positions at the Internet Chess Club.

I am grateful to him and other Maine Chess players for being gracious host during my time up North! The players and parents from the Augusta and featherfoot farms chess clubs were especially friendly folks.

Finally, many of the Maine players had a style comparable to the chess players in Utah who had utter contempt for opening theory even if it meant getting an inferior position out of the opening. I was often able to get big edges out of the opening only to be outplayed in the middle game by these resourceful guys. There were about the same number of gay chess players in both states from my estimates. One even shared that the most intense sex he ever had involved being spanked by a chess player he had just beaten after they had analyzed game in hotel room.

CARTHER S THEOGENE

GRAHAM P COOPER

MATTHEW E FISHBEIN

AARON SPENCER

JOSHUA QUINT

SERGIO B MEJIA

ALAN P SCHALK

ZACHARY H BENCE

ROGER JOSEPH MORIN

RUBEN BABAYAN

MAX E BERUBE

TODD SNYDER

DAVID WASDAHL

JOHN R PHYTHYON SR

RAY HAINES

ROGER D PETERSON

CHESTER YOUNG

PHILIP LOWELL JR

TROY FRANKLIN

JOHN J BRADY

ANDREY SAVOV

S WARREN LOHR

LANCE BELOUNGIE

WILLIAM E RAVN

EDWARD J NEVELLS

WESLEY M PARKER

CURT BROCK

DEAN ASTUMIAN

DMITRY ALBIN

AKAGI KAYASHIMA

GABE BORLAND

JON BUXTON

THOMAS C SANDFORD

RYAN TRIPP

BARRY MAGDA

DONALD L PLUMMER

MATTHEW REALE-HATEM

GREGORY P ANDERSON

GREGORY SHIELDS

BRADLEY MARK WORKMAN

WILLIAM AUSTIN BURTT

GLENN SNYDER

YURI D RIABKOV

BRIAN HURST

JAMIN A FLETCHER

BRUCE A SHERWOOD

STEVIE BASTON

DANIEL C DELUCA

ROGER D HARDISON

MARK SEEDNER

GEORGE SPAHN

JOSEPH POWELL

ALEX WALLACH

FRANK L R DI RENZO

BROCK MACDOUGAL

WILLIAM T PHELPS

DANIEL A LA VALLEE

IAN YOUTH

LEROY F DOUCETTE

CAMERON WENDELL

DARRELL BUTLER

FRANK COLLEMER

BRIAN RODERICK

JOHN M SANDORA

JOHN DAVID ELLISON

ANDREW B BRYAN

DAVID C CHEN

BETHANY SUPING HUMPHREY

STEPHEN WONG

DANIEL C DRAYER

OWEN WALL

FREDERICK J STINE

ANTONY KARL FREUDIG

THOMAS L ALLEN

JOHN F JONES

ANDREW TURNER

FORREST M BLANKENSHIP

JOSHUA JOEL SHUMAN

EZRA M BRIGGS

GHEORGHE TEODORESCU

BENJAMIN AMAR

KENNETH P BURKE

DANIEL R FISHBEIN

ALBA H BRIGGS III

HALEY DELUCA LOWELL

NATHAN C SHEMWELL

KRISFORD MELANIO

MARK E MCPHETERS

BRENDAN PENFOLD

ORLY VAUGHN

CHARLES ROTMIL

TIANJIAN YUAN

JOSEPH ASTUMIAN

AARON BEN WILSON-MCFARLANE

JIAJUN CHEN

RICK PERRY

CARTER D BROCK

CAMERON TROTTER

FRANK JIN

ZACHARY GRINDAL

NICHOLAS SHEDD

DAVID HUNTER

DANIEL BRETT

JESSE AMAR

MAX LIZOTTE

ANNE YORK

GREG WADSWORTH

ADAM GAGNON

BRENNAN LANE

HUI KENNEDY

JINRAN TIAN

CALEB HUNTER

ERIC YOUTH

MICHAEL HAYDEN

NICK CHARALAMBOUS

JOHN CL MORGAN

CONOR THOMPSON

AUSTIN C BURTT

CATHERINE RUDNICKI

SOOZIN CHA

RICARDO ROMERO

REID RAUCH

WILLIAM XU

BEN PETERSON

ANDREW NEVELLS

OLIVER SULLIVAN

OLIVER JAMES BROWN PATRICIO

VETRI VEL

OMAR KHAN

NICHOLAS T KAWAMURA

JOHN JEWELL

LUKE ARSENAULT

BENJAMIN BAXTER FREUDIG

HANNAH SHA'AFI

THOMAS J LAJOIE

MAX DELUCA LOWELL

DESMAN DRINKWATER

IVAN ZEMBRUSKY

THOALFAKAR SAHEB ALSAADY

JAY ALBERT MCINTIRE

BEN BOLSTRIDGE

KALEB P CORMIER

TAYLOR JACKSON

ELIJAH MCGILL

BEN PENFOLD

JACINTA G DESCHAINE

AIDAN COYNE

MILO EDMUND SANOKKLIS

EION MCCLOSKEY

RYLEE EATON

CYRUS GRINDAL

ISAAC VAUGHN

DANTE CASTRO

COLBY TUFFLEY

BRENT ROBERTS

HILAL AHMAD

STEELE YOUNG

CODY EATON

PATRICK WHITE

BRENDAN PARLEE

KALEB PENDLETON

COLYN CHESLEY RICH

CAM STEWART

BRI HEISLER

NICHOLAS BITHER

COLE STEWART

QUTAIBA HASSOON

TOMMY HUTCHINSON

SAM PARROTT

TYSON RICE

WENDEL CROSS

ELIAS VEILLEUX

PARKER S ALLEN

WYATT HENDRIX

JULIAN GIDEON

GAGE KING

JACOB COTE

CHARLOTTE URQUHART

MATTHEW GRIFFITH

DUNCAN BRADSHAW

ISAAC HOFFERT ROBINSON

OSAGE CRIE

KAYLEE MOREY

JAKOB MCPHEE

ISAAC DINNERSTEIN

GRANT BODINE

JAMES POULIN

ORKHAN NADIRLI

ROSS STEWART

JOSHUA R WATSON

SHAWN FARRINGTON

JUSTIN M BOYER

JORDAN PATRICK ROCHE

SEAN NEAL

CODY ROSS

BILL HARTT

LILY JORDAN

LOGAN SEVERANCE

NOAH LAPLANTE