GameKnot -- Chess Forum

Play Online Chess, Free Chess Online, Online Games, Board Games

Chess Forum
[ mod this thread ] << - < - > - >>

From

Message

bucklehead

12/06/2005
11:50:26
[ report this post ]

Subject: Making a high-handed claim to posterity

Message:
OK, here's the deal. Ever since ccmcacollister started digging up the moldy remains of the great 19th-century masters of the attack (that is, when he started trying to bring back the Center Game, 1 e4 e5 2 d4), I've been answering the challenge with the unusual, Petrov-themed 2...Nf6. As I've seen the virus Craig has unleashed go on to pollute the blitz-o-sphere, I've scored several successes with this line, and even sent Craig a little analysis at which he nodded politely.

So I've gone though the free databases out there and found perhaps 100 games within a universe of ~2 million. The line (1 e4 e5 2 d4 Nf6) appears to have no ECO code, no obvious champion (I so far have found no repeat players from the black side), and--and to me this is the most important--Bill Wall's opening names list at -> www.geocities.com has no entry for the sequence.

I THEREFORE CLAIM IT AS MY OWN, AND IT SHALL BE HENCEFORTH KNOWN AS THE "PETERSON DEFENSE."

I know it's not a "novelty" in any real sense, and indeed it's very likely to transpose into a 3 d4 Petrov very quickly. But I wanted to be "first past the post," for posterity's sake, and make my claim here.

I stand atop this mountain of ego and await the attacks of anyone who would cast me down.

(PS: I've already been cast down once, after discovering that 1 f4 e5 2 fxe5 d6 3 Nf3 dxe5 4 Nc3, a From Gambit Declined I spent very much time studying, was rightly named by a CC IM, Keith Hayward, who'd played and analyzed it far more extensively than I ever could have. So I won't be too disappointed this time...)

ionadowman

12/06/2005
12:02:37
[ report this post ]

You might lay claim...

Message:
...to 1.e4 e5 2.d4 Nf6 as a particular move order, but I wonder if indeed it has an independent significance? Are there viable ways to avoid transposing into other well known lines? What does 3.dxe5 do?

bucklehead

12/06/2005
12:18:23
[ report this post ]

3...dxe5 is the common response

Message:
1 e4 e5
2 d4 Nf6
3 dxe5 Nxe4

This is also an unnamed line. There are some transpositional opportunities, most notably the aforementioned 3 Nf3, along with 3 Bc4, which transposes into a variation of the Bishop's Opening. I don't know of any other early major transpositions, though I'm sure there are a few more.

But there is some scope for originality here. I find the 3 dxe5 Nxe4 line to be interesting, but there is also the possibility of 3 Bg5 and something altogether weird.

ionadowman

12/06/2005
15:22:04
[ report this post ]

...

Message:
After 1.e4 e5 2.d4 Nf6 3.dxe5 Nxe4, 4.Qd5!? looks like fun. 4...Nc5 5.Bc4 Ne6 etc. White seems to have plenty of play, but patient players might enjoy the challenge of playing Black here. There may be some affinities to the Alekhine Defence. A very provocative line, but there doesn't seem to be much scope for White to set up the big centre that can be a feature of the main Alekhine lines. As Black has effectively sacrificed several tempi, such gains from striking at White's advanced Q might not be sufficient to restore the balance, I feel. Food for thought... ?:-///

tag1153

12/07/2005
09:55:10
[ report this post ]

lol at your ego!!!!!!!

Message:
Good one bucklehead. In an attempt to cash in on your sudden celebrity, I hereby claim the following opening as MY own, and name it 'Drunken Bald Man Attack':

1.*takes a swig* a4/any
2.*takes another* a5/any
3.*hiccups* h4/any
4.*throws up* h5/any
5.*talks to self* a2/any
6.*resigns after passing out*

I know that some positional issues arise due to the condition of the board after move #4, but I use this surprise tactic to catch my opponent off guard. I've been playing this opening for months, and have yet to score a win. I'm not sure why. Maybe some analysis from bucklehead and his database would be helpful. Gotta go now, Happy Hour just started.......

DrunkenBaldMan

alberlie

12/07/2005
10:29:18
[ report this post ]

you mean like...

Message:
1. a4! (With a solid space advantage on the queen side)
1. ... e5?! (Black already struggeling to keep the balance, yet thereby rushing things on the kingside...)
2. a5 !? (...and already white is attacking!)
2. ... Nf6 ?! (...wasting a precious tempo on a dubious developing move where defensive measures on the queen side were direly needed!)
3. h4!! (Having created weaknesses on the queenside, breaking through with a devastating attack on the kingside...)

Now, white must be winning...
:o))

tag1153

12/07/2005
10:37:34
[ report this post ]

ahhhhh........

Message:
.......my first disciple!!!!!!! I'm glad to learn that others see the merits of this unusual opening:)

bucklehead

12/07/2005
12:59:37
[ report this post ]

No. Really.

Message:
OK, so I may have exploded in a burst of ego...but am I wrong? I mean, I'm not claiming that this is a novelty or a forced win for black or anything...my thing about the Center Game is that, in pretty much any reference work I've seen, black's 2...exd4 is listed as "the only move that makes sense" or some other nonsense.

2...Nf6 seems solid enough to me, with enough independent interest after 3 dxe4 or 3 Bg5 to warrant some investigation. The immediate transposition into a Petrov with 3 Nf3 seems like black has already drawn some blood by forcing the game away from an immediate open center with marauding queens, and instead compels white to change gears and retool the plan. It isn't immediately refutable, and it doesn't appear to create any long-term weaknesses in the way another 2nd move such as ...f6 might.

I simply don't understand why this hasn't received any attention. I mean, if I'm missing something, explain it to me. I think this is playable, it's a first cousin to some pretty solid defenses, and it puts white off his game right from the start. What's the reason history has ignored it? And why does something like the Sodium Attack (1 Na3) have a name, but this very natural sequence doesn't appear to?

alberlie

12/07/2005
13:27:58
[ report this post ]

2. Qh5

Message:
The Nakamura System... maybe only good and very bad moves get a name...

Why would you let the opportunity go by to play exd4 Qxd4 Nc6 Qsomewhere Nf6? That must be at least equal for black?

gfweiss

12/07/2005
19:18:57
[ report this post ]

Peterson Defense

Message:
I like your spunk bucklehead, but why name it the Peterson Defense and not the Bucklehead Defense? :)
geo

ccmcacollister

12/07/2005
21:09:25
[ report this post ]

alberlie

Message:
Because Qxd4 is an error , albeit book, but Nf3 instead produces a killer Goring/Danish Gambit intro, that even the mighty Mattafort of opening fame had not seen. (maybe thats My claim to opening fame.!?) }8-))

ccmcacollister

12/07/2005
21:12:27
[ report this post ]

ouch!

Message:
Forcible horn removal there ... that hurts!
Just to add ... prevents the Nakamura too!
}8-)
ah, thats better.

ionadowman

12/08/2005
11:31:10
[ report this post ]

alberlie reminds me...

Message:
...of a Blitz opening we used to play now and then (though we called it "lightning", or "five-minute" on account of its time control). This opening was called the "Rookoffsky" for some reason. It went like this: 1.any a6 2.any h6 3.any a5 4.any h5 5.any, by this time Black probably has to deal with his f7 square, so... e6 6.any a4. To be sure, 'any' really means 'almost any', as it is possible for White to force some other response, or to block the BK a-pawn from reaching a4. But the positions Black got were surprisingly resilient, however demanding of defensive skill! I must try it on GK blitz sometime
Cheers,
Ion

Post a reply to this message:

[ Log out | Contact us | Site map | Rules and Policies ]