The following game was contained in the Mechanic’s Institute Newsletter, which can be located @ https://www.milibrary.org/chess. I urge you to surf on over and check it out if you are unfamiliar with the Mechanic’s Institute Chess Room. The weekly MIN is FREE and can and will be in your inbox if you drop them an email. You will find Paul Whitehead’s annotations to this game there. I have decided to publish the short game because there is much to be learned from this game. For instance, the player behind the Black pieces surely must have learned that if one is contemplating playing a sharp opening like the Dutch, he better be well prepared because the Dutch is not the kind of opening to “wing it.” A player simply MUST KNOW some lines in order to survive the opening. I would like to add that before any future Grandmaster plays any opening he simply MUST LEARN THE OFFBEAT LINES FIRST! There is a superb book for just this situation, which will, hopefully, be reviewed in the near future on this blog:
James Reilman vs Bradley Matthews
April Quads Mechanics’ Institute
A84 Dutch defence
1.d4 f5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Bg5 h6 4.Bxf6 gxf6 5.e3 h5 6.Be2 e6 7.Bxh5+ Ke7 8.Nc3 c6 9.d5 cxd5
10.cxd5 e5 11.d6+ Ke6 12.Qd5# 1-0
1.d4 f5 2.c4 (The most often played move has been 2 g3, with the ChessBaseDataBase containing 8954 games in which the g-pawn move has been attempted. With it White has scored 59% against an ELO avg opponent rated 2437. It is the move of Deep Fritz 13 @depth 29. Stockfish 14 @depth 52 will play 2 Nf3, a move that has scored 56% against 2406 rated opposition in 5006 games. 2 Bg5 is the choice of Stockfish 14.1 @depth 53. There are 1895 games with the move in the CBDB and it has scored 58% versus 2407 opposition. The move in the game, 2 c4, has been played in 4240 games versus 2415 rated opposition and it has scored 56%) 2…Nf6 (SF 11 plays this move, but SF 14 will play 2…d6, and so should you any time White plays the d4/c4 combo against the Leningrad Dutch, as I have previously written on this blog) 3.Bg5 (Houdini likes 3 g3; SF 14 prefers 3 Nc3; and SF 14.1 plays 3 Nf3. In order we find 2112 games with Nc3; 1513 with Mf3; and 1237 with 3 g3) 3…h6? (You will not find this move in the CBDB, or 365Chess. If you do not know why, you will momentarily…Stockfish 14.1 will play 3…Ne4, and so should you) 4 Bxf6 gxf6 5.e3 h5 6.Be2 e6 7.Bxh5+ Ke7 8.Nc3 c6 9.d5 cxd5 10.cxd5 e5 11.d6+ Ke6 12.Qd5# 1-0
Martin Sebensky (1900) vs Ladislav Sipeky (1952)
Event: SVK-chT2A 0607
Site: Slovakia Date: 01/13/2007
Round: 7.3
ECO: A84 Dutch defence
1.d4 f5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Bg5 Ne4 4.Bd2 e6 5.Nc3 Nxd2 6.Qxd2 b6 7.d5 Bb4 8.dxe6 dxe6 9.Qxd8+ Kxd8 10.O-O-O+ Ke7 11.Nb5 Na6 12.Nf3 Bb7 13.e3 Bd6 14.Nxd6 cxd6 15.Be2 e5 16.Nd2 Rac8 17.Kb1 Nc5 18.f3 Rhd8 19.Nb3 Nxb3 20.axb3 a5 21.Rd2 Rc7 22.Rhd1 Rcd7 23.g4 fxg4 24.fxg4 h6 25.h4 Be4+ 26.Ka2 d5 27.cxd5 Bxd5 28.Bc4 Bxc4 ½-½
Armchair Warrior 