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.
Depression does find its way into the tormented minds of many Caissia Devotees. A nice guy and family man named Mark Diesen battled melancholy in away that few close to him thought could manifest in suicide. Shocked to this day at that 11 year old event that seems as awful now as it did then.
ReplyDeleteAnna Arnone (Rolling Meadows, IL)
Jerry Ross (Kent, OH)
David Flynn (Nottingham, England)
Jeff Kastner, Trish Paakkonen along with other Galveston Texas residents, Floyd Boudreaux,chris Wong all really loved the guy.
Atheism is a common vantage point among chess players, so it is hard to say things like God rest his soul. I still don't know why he did it and miss him!
Oh yeah, does anybody know PhilipofBrazza? The asshole is around an 1800 player who wrote a quick memorial of Diesen at some online club and then published a lucky win he had against Mark on Black Side of a center counter defense in blitz chess. Rating difference of 500 points.
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