In a Chess tournament replete with myriad short draws there were players who played to win by moving the f-pawn two squares with the opening move after white opens with 1 d4, or 1 c4, or 1 Nf3, etc. This signifies the Dutch Defense. Unfortunately, both games ended in a draw, as do most Chess games these daze. Even more disconcerting was what is written after the opening moves of 1 d4 f5 in the Xie vs La Manna game at Lichess.com, where one finds after 1…f5, “Inaccuracy. Nf6 was best.” The oracles have determined what constitutes best play in the opening and such a risky move is now frowned upon. The programs have made the openings homogeneous. Where is the fun in that? It has made play at the top level boring. The time has come to chose random openings prior to the round. Think of it, no more being booked up like Zook the Book (https://alt.chess.narkive.com/V3QAMUqo/my-wikipedia-biography-of-bernard-zuckerman).
No more having to memorize the opening moves deep into the middle game, or even into the endgame. If Chess is to survive it will have to either use random openings chosen prior to the game or some kind of randomized Chess such as what has come to be called “Fischer Random Chess,” or even better, Armchair Warrior Random Chess (https://xpertchesslessons.wordpress.com/2022/11/01/armchair-warrior-random-chess/).
Farai Mandizha (2359) vs Djurabek Khamrakulov (2490)
2022 New York Fall Invitational GM B (Long Island City, NY), 13.11.2022
Rd 8
1.d4 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 g6 4.c3 c6 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.Qb3 e6 7.O-O O-O 8.Bf4 d6 9.Qa3 Ne8 10.Nbd2 Rf7 11.e4 h6 12.exf5 exf5 13.h4 Be6 1/2-1/2
Michael Shepherd vs Paul J Benson (2011)
Event: Monarch Assurance 9th
Site: Port Erin Date: 10/22/2000
Round: 9
ECO: A81 Dutch defence
1.d4 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 g6 4.c3 c6 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.O-O d6 7.Nbd2 Nbd7 8.e4 Nxe4 9.Nxe4 fxe4 10.Ng5 Nf6 11.Nxe4 Nxe4 12.Bxe4 O-O 13.Bg5 Qc7 14.Re1 e5 15.dxe5 Bxe5 16.Bh6 Re8 17.f4 Bg7 18.Bd5+ Kf8 19.Qd4 cxd5 20.Qf6+ Qf7 21.Rxe8+ Kxe8 22.Re1+ Kf8 23.Qd8+ 1-0
https://www.365chess.com/game.php?back=1&gid=670748&m=10
Bryan Xie (2133) vs Andrea La Manna (2297)
2022 New York Fall Invitational IM C (Long Island City, NY), 13.11.2022
Rd 8
1.d4 f5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bg5 d5 4.Bxf6 exf6 5.e3 Be6 6.Bd3 Qd7 7.Qf3 Nc6 8.a3 Ne7 9.Nge2 c6 10.h3 h5 11.O-O-O Nc8 12.Rhg1 Nd6 13.Nf4 Bf7 14.g4 hxg4 15.hxg4 g5 16.Nfe2 O-O-O 17.Rh1 Rxh1 18.Rxh1 fxg4 19.Qxf6 Qe7 20.Qxe7 Bxe7 21.Rh7 Kd7 22.Ng3 Bg8 23.Rh2 Be6 24.Rh7 Rf8 25.Nd1 Nf5 26.Nxf5 Bxf5 27.Bxf5+ Rxf5 28.Rh2 Bd6 29.Rg2 g3 30.fxg3 g4 31.Nf2 Bxg3 32.Nxg4 Bd6 33.Nf2 Rf7 34.Nd3 Kc7 35.Kd2 b5 36.b4 Re7 37.Rg6 Rh7 38.Kc3 Re7 39.Kd2 Rh7 40.Nc5 Re7 41.Kd3 Rh7 42.Rg8 Re7 43.Ra8 Kb6 44.Rh8 Kc7 45.Rg8 Bxc5 46.dxc5 Kb7 47.Rg4 Kc7 48.Kd4 Kb7 49.e4 dxe4 50.Rxe4 Rh7 51.Ke5 Kc7 52.Rg4 Re7+ 53.Kf6 Re2 54.Rg7+ Kc8 55.Rxa7 Rxc2 56.Ke6 Rd2 57.Rh7 Rd3 58.Rg7 Rd1 59.Ra7 Rd3 60.a4 bxa4 61.Rxa4 Rd4 62.Ra7 Rd1 63.Rg7 Rd4 64.Rh7 Rd1 65.Rh3 Kc7 66.Ke5 Rd5+ 67.Ke4 Rd1 68.Rd3 Rb1 69.Rd4 Rb2 70.Kd3 Rb1 71.Kc4 Rc1+ 72.Kb3 Rb1+ 73.Kc2 Rh1 74.Rg4 Rh3 1/2-1/2
https://lichess.org/broadcast/2022-new-york-fall-invitational–im-c/round-8/ITeocPRQ
1.d4 f5 2.Nc3 (c4) Nf6 3.Bg5 d5 4.Bxf6 exf6 5.e3 Be6 6.Bd3 Qd7 7.Qf3 (a3) Nc6 8.a3 (Nge2) Ne7 (0-0-0) 9.Nge2 (h4) c6 (0-0-0) 10.h3 (Nh5) h5 11.O-O-O (h4) Nc8 12.Rhg1 (Nf4) Nd6 13.Nf4 Bf7 14.g4 hxg4 (fxg4) 15.hxg4 g5 (fxg4) 16.Nfe2 O-O-O 17.Rh1 Rxh1 18.Rxh1 fxg4 (Be6)
Drazen Muse (2328) vs Sandro Safar (2240)
Event: 29th TCh-CRO Div 1b 2021
Site: Mali Losinj CRO Date: 09/25/2021
Round: 1.4
ECO: A80 Dutch
1.d4 f5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bg5 d5 4.Bxf6 exf6 5.e3 Be6 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.a3 Qd7 8.Qf3 Ne7 9.Nge2 c6 10.h3 h5 11.O-O-O b5 12.Rdg1 Rh6 13.Nf4 Bf7 14.Be2 Nc8 15.g4 Nb6 16.gxf5 a5 17.e4 b4 18.Nb1 O-O-O 19.axb4 axb4 20.Ng6 Bd6 21.e5 Bxg6 22.Rxg6 Rxg6 23.fxg6 fxe5 24.Qxh5 Qc7 25.Qg4+ Kb7 26.dxe5 Bxe5 27.Qxb4 Bd6 28.Qb3 Re8 29.Re1 Bf4+ 30.Kd1 Re4 31.Nc3 Rd4+ 32.Bd3 Bg5 33.Qa2 Nc4 34.Re8 Na5 35.Ne2 Rb4 36.c3 Rb6 37.Qxa5 Bd8 38.Rf8 Qd6 39.Rf7+ Bc7 40.b4 Qe5 41.Qc5 Qh2 42.Qe7 Kb8 43.Rf8+ Ka7 44.Rc8 Rb7 45.Qc5+ Bb6 46.Qxc6 Qh1+ 47.Kd2 Qa1 48.Qe8 Qb2+ 49.Kd1 Rc7 50.Qa4+ 1-0
https://www.365chess.com/game.php?back=1&gid=4307799&m=20
Dedicated to Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam and everyone at New In Chess magazine, still, according to the website, The premier chess magazine in the world.
Armchair Warrior 