MCC Openings Group 10/08/2011

From a competitive perspective in chess there is definitely something lacking in short draws. It is as if the fight is about to begin, but both players have decided to call it off for the day. However, from an openings perspective, short draws can be quite interesting, at least some short draws. Some short draws see new moves, and then that game may be suddenly cut off. A flurry of research may then take the new move a bit further, and further practical tests may be seen.

Other short draws can be examined by players who aren't familiar with a certain opening. That is what we looked at tonight, a recent game that was cut short on move 11 in a position full of interest. Of course, this sort of short draw leads us to examine early middlegame positions which is generally good for our chess. If the positions are unusual, or different to what we normally play, then it may broaden our horizons and offer new experiences.

A look at this opening, the Trompowsky, saw most of us at the group tonight out of our theoretical knowledge, but 8..Qd8 looks bad after 9.d6. We then added the moves 9..Qb6 10.Qe2+ Kd8 and played some games from this position.

In this position, 11.Na3 was the move of choice so as to answer 11..Bxd6 with 12.Nc4. Frank Lekkas tried to sacrifice his queen and got very good play with his pieces against me in some games, but that might be more to do with my lack of defensive skills against Frank's excellent attacking abilities rather than anything regarding the position :)