Alek Lenderman Plays The Bird

Alek Lenderman

has been playing well recently. I was, therefore, surprised to see him open with the Bird because it is not one of his usual opening choices. If one plays an opening regularly one obtains a “feel” for the typical positions. This is one of those times you will see a very good player struggle when out of his usual element. His opponent, Deimant Cornette,

is an IM, in addition to holding the WGM title. Why are there separate titles for women?

Lenderman, Aleksandr GM 2600 (USA) – Cornette, Deimante IM 2477 (LTU)

GAMMA Reykjavik Open 2018 round 08

1. f4 (No matter where you look this move has not scored well. I have employed it on numerous occasions and obtained interesting positions. Adam Caveney, while living in Atlanta, played the move exclusively on his way to becoming a National Master) d5 2. Nf3 c5 (When playing the Leningrad Dutch system with colors reversed I invariably answer by moving my Queen pawn forward one square, as mentioned previously in this blog. I would do the same here) 3. g3 (3 e3 is the original way of playing the Bird.) Nc6 4. Bg2 (Houdini and Komodo at the CBDB show 4 d3, but Stockfish shows the game move. Yet the SF program used at ChessBomb shows 3 g3. Go figure…) g6 (The Stockfish program at depth 44 at the CBDB plays this move, but the SF program at the Bomb plays 4…h5. Komodo plays either the game move or 4…Nf6. Your choice.) 5. O-O (The first choice of human players. Houdini and Komodo at the CBDB play 5 d3; the SF program at Da Bomb plays 5 Nc3) Bg7 6. d3 e6 (6…Nf6 is the first choice of Komodo, and most often played, but the Fish has other ideas, such as 6…b6 or Nh6) 7. e4 (Although an obvious move and almost always played, Stockfish at the CBDB prefers 7 Na3.) Nge7 (The main move, although Houdini has 7…Nh6, a move not in the databases, rated higher. By a transposition of moves we have reached the position from a game between Morozovich (2711) v Dubov (2661) at the 69th Moscow Blitz 09/06/2015. Dubov played 7…Nf6 and won. See game below) 8. c3 (Komodo prefers 8 e5) O-O (Fish likes 8…b6) 9. a4 (A rarely played move. Fish says 9 e5; Dragon says 9 Na3; nocaB says, Qe2! “When in doubt, always play Qe2!”) b6 (Komodo’s choice; Fishy prefers 9…h5, or dxe4. Rb8 is also possible. See Grunberg v Popescu 1998 below for 9…a6) 10. Na3 Bb7 (Fishly & Houey like 10…h5. See King v Hausner 1992 below for 10…dxe4) 11. Qc2 (The Dragon & the Fish say 11 e5. See Haakert v Landgraf 2003 below for 11 Bd2) Rc8 (Boldly going where no man has gone previously. For 11…Qd7 see Haakert v Oechslein 1999 below; for 11…a6 see Mozes v Borsi 1993 below) 12. Rd1 (In this type of position it is more common to play 12 e5, or if the rook is to be moved, Re1) Qd7 13. Be3 (It has become obvious Lenderman has no intention of ever playing e5) Nd4 14. Bxd4 cxd4

15. c4? (Iffy play by white has allowed a small advantage for black. This move tends to exacerbate an already tenuous position. Once again, e5, or even Nb5, were better choices) dxe4 16. dxe4 Rfd8 17. Qd3 Qxa4? (Pawn grabbing. Simply 17…e5 retains the advantage. Now the game is about even, Steven.) 18. Nb5 Qb4 (Now taking the pawn is correct, (18… Qxc4) 19. Rxa7 Rd7 20. b3 (Alek simply refuses to play e5, which he should do now) Nc6 21. Ra4 Qc5 22. Kh1 (I don’t mean to beat a dead horse…Yes, I do! Play e5!) Ra8 (22…e5!) 23. Rxa8+ Bxa8 24. e5 (I do not believe it. Finally!) Nb4 25. Qd2 d3 26. Ng5 h6 (26… Bxg2+ first) 27. Ne4 Bxe4 28. Bxe4 Bf8 29. Kg2 Nc2

30. Kf3? (Oh no, wrong way Mr. Bill! With this move Lenderman lets go of the rope with both hands. 30 Kh3!) f5 31. Ba8 Qc8 32. Bd5 exd5 33. e6? (Not that it mattered, but why not take the pawn with 33 Qxd3?!) dxc4 34. exd7 Qc6+ 35. Kf2 Bc5+ 36. Kf1 Qh1# 0-1

Morozevich, Alexander (2711) v Dubov, Daniil (2661)
Event: 69th Moscow Blitz
Site: Moscow RUS Date: 09/06/2015

1. e4 c5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. d3 Nc6 5. f4 e6 6. Nf3 d5 7. O-O Nf6 8. e5 Nd7 9. c4 Nb6 10. Qe2 O-O 11. Nc3 f6 12. exf6 Bxf6 13. Kh1 Bd7 14. Bd2 Nd4 15. Nxd4 cxd4 16. Nd1 dxc4 17. dxc4 Bc6 18. Bxc6 bxc6 19. Nf2 c5 20. Rae1 Qd7 21. b3 Rfe8 22. Nd3 Rac8 23. Qe4 Qc6 24. g4 Qxe4+ 25. Rxe4 Nd7 26. Be1 h5 27. gxh5 gxh5 28. Rf3 Kh7 29. Bf2 Kg6 30. Rxe6 Kf5 31. Rd6 Nb6 32. Rh3 h4 33. Kg2 Be7 34. Rh6 Ke4 35. Re6+ Kf5 36. Re5+ Kg6 37. Kf3 Nd7 38. Re6+ Kf7 39. f5 Bf6 40. Bxh4 Rxe6 41. fxe6+ Kxe6 42. Bg3 Rf8 43. Rh5 Bg5+ 44. Kg2 Be3 45. Rd5 Re8 46. Rd6+ Ke7 47. Ra6 Ra8 48. h4 Nf6 49. Nxc5 Nd7 50. Nd3 Rg8 51. Kf3 Rf8+ 52. Ke2 Rg8 53. Bf4 Bxf4 54. Nxf4 Nc5 55. Rxa7+ Kd6 56. b4 Re8+ 57. Kf3 Re3+ 58. Kg4 Ne4 59. Ra6+ Kd7 60. Ra5 Nf2+ 61. Kf5 d3 62. Rd5+ Kc7 63. h5 Rf3 64. Ke5 Re3+ 65. Kf5 Rf3 66. h6 Nh3 67. h7 Rxf4+ 68. Kg6 Rh4 69. Kg7 Nf4 70. Rc5+ Kd6 71. Rc8 Ne6+ 72. Kf6 d2 73. c5+ Kd7 0-1

Grunberg, Mihai (2390) v Popescu, Daniel Dorin (2365)
Event: ROM-chT
Site: Sovata Date: 1998

1. f4 g6 2. Nf3 Bg7 3. g3 c5 4. Bg2 Nc6 5. O-O e6 6. e4 Nge7 7. d3 O-O 8. c3 d5 9. a4 a6 10. e5 Rb8 11. Nbd2 b6 12. Qe2 Qc7 13. Re1 Rd8 14. g4 Bd7 15. Nf1 Na5 16. Be3 Nec6 17. Bf2 Bf8 18. f5 exf5 19. Ng5 Be6 20. Bg3 fxg4 21. Nxe6 fxe6 22. Qxg4 Re8 23. Nd2 Bh6 24. Nf3 Nd8 25. Ng5 Bxg5 26. Qxg5 Nf7 27. Qf6 Qd8 28. Bh3 Qd7 29. Re2 Nc6 30. Rf1 Rb7 31. Ref2 Ncd8 32. Qh4 Qe7 33. Rf6 Qf8 34. Bf4 Qg7 1-0

Haakert, Juergen (2414) v Landgraf, Siegfried (2106)
Event: EU-chT Seniors 5th
Site: Dresden Date: 02/27/2003

1. g3 g6 2. f4 Bg7 3. Nf3 c5 4. Bg2 Nc6 5. O-O d5 6. d3 e6 7. c3 Nge7 8. e4 O-O 9. a4 b6 10. Na3 Bb7 11. Bd2 Qd7 12. Rb1 Rad8 13. Re1 dxe4 14. dxe4 Ba6 15. Nb5 Bb7 16. Be3 a6 17. Na3 Qc7 18. Qc2 Na5 19. Nd2 Rd7 20. Ndc4 Nxc4 21. Nxc4 b5 22. Na3 b4 23. Nc4 a5 24. Rbd1 Rfd8 25. Rxd7 Rxd7 26. cxb4 axb4 27. Rd1 Rxd1+ 28. Qxd1 Nc8 29. b3 Ba6 30. Bf1 Bxc4 31. Bxc4 Bf8 32. Kf2 Ne7 33. Bb5 Nc8 34. Qd7 Qxd7 35. Bxd7 Nd6 36. Bc6 c4 37. e5 cxb3 38. exd6 b2 39. Be4 1-0

King, Daniel J (2505) v Hausner, Ivan (2410)
Event: BL2-W 9192
Site: Germany Date: 1992

1. g3 g6 2. Bg2 Bg7 3. e4 c5 4. f4 e6 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. c3 Nge7 7. O-O d5 8. d3 O-O 9. a4 b6 10. Na3 dxe4 11. dxe4 Ba6 12. Nb5 Qxd1 13. Rxd1 Rad8 14. Be3 Nc8 15. e5 Rxd1+ 16. Rxd1 Rd8 17. Rxd8+ Nxd8 18. Nd2 Bb7 19. Bxb7 Nxb7 20. Kf2 Kf8 21. Ke2 Ke8 22. Ne4 h6 23. Kd3 Kd7 24. g4 Kc6 25. b4 Bf8 26. bxc5 Bxc5 27. Bxc5 Nxc5+ 28. Nxc5 Kxc5 29. Nc7 a5 30. Nb5 Ne7 31. Nd6 Nd5 32. f5 gxf5 33. gxf5 exf5 34. Nxf5 h5 35. Nd6 Nc7 36. c4 Kb4 37. Nxf7 Kxa4 38. Nd8 Kb3 39. e6 a4 40. e7 a3 41. Ne6 Ne8 42. Nd4+ Kb2 43. Nc2 a2 44. h4 Nd6 45. Na1 Ne8 46. Kd2 1/2-1/2

Haakert, Juergen (2205) v Oechslein, Rainer (?)

Event: Bundesliga 8081
Site: Germany Date: 1981

1. g3 g6 2. Bg2 Bg7 3. f4 d5 4. Nf3 c5 5. O-O Nc6 6. d3 e6 7. c3 Nge7 8. a4 O-O
9. Na3 b6 10. Qc2 Bb7 11. e4 Qd7 12. Be3 Rac8 13. Bf2 Rfd8 14. Rfd1 e5 15. exd5
Nxd5 16. fxe5 Nxe5 17. Nxe5 Bxe5 18. d4 cxd4 19. Bxd4 Qe7 20. Qf2 Ba8 21. Bxe5
Qxe5 22. Rd4 Nc7 23. Re1 Qc5 24. Rxd8+ Rxd8 25. Qxc5 bxc5 26. Bxa8 Rxa8 27. Re7
Nd5 28. Rb7 a6 29. Nc4 Re8 30. Kf2 Re6 31. a5 g5 32. Kf3 g4+ 33. Kf2 h5 34. Nd2
f5 35. Nb3 Ne3 36. Nxc5 Nd1+ 37. Kf1 Rc6 38. b4 Nxc3 39. Rb6 Rc7 40. Nxa6 Rc4
41. Nc5 Nd5 42. Rb8+ Kh7 43. a6 f4 44. gxf4 h4 45. a7 Rc2 46. Re8 g3 47. hxg3
hxg3 48. a8=Q g2+ 49. Kg1 1-0

Mozes, Ervin v Borsi, Imre

Event: HUN-chT
Site: Hungary Date: 1993

1. f4 d5 2. Nf3 c5 3. d3 Nc6 4. g3 g6 5. Bg2 Bg7 6. O-O e6 7. c3 Nge7 8. a4 O-O
9. Na3 b6 10. Qc2 Bb7 11. e4 a6 12. Be3 Rc8 13. Bf2 Na5 14. Rfd1 Qc7 15. e5 Qb8
16. d4 c4 17. Nd2 Bc6 18. Ra2 Qb7 19. Rda1 Nb3 20. Nxb3 Bxa4 21. Nc5 Bxc2 22.
Nxb7 Bb3 23. Nd6 Ra8 24. Naxc4 Bxa2 25. Nd2 Nc8 26. Nxc8 Rfxc8 27. Rxa2 b5 28.
Nb3 b4 29. Nc5 bxc3 30. bxc3 a5 31. c4 Rab8 32. cxd5 Rb1+ 33. Bf1 exd5 34. Rxa5
1-0

Deimante Daulyte Interview (https://chessrex.com/blog/?p=459)

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