The Sniper!
Robert signalled that it is time to talk about the sniper. What's the idea behind the opening?
The sniper in the move order as I want to play it, starts with the moves 1. ... c5 2. ... g6 3. ... Bg7. It's a hyper modern opening, and the idea behind that type of opening is commonly known as "give white the pawn center and invite him to overextend, then attack the center from the flanks".
The sniper is coined and elaborated by FM Charlie Storey. He made a DVD about it. It was picked up by GM Ron Henley too, who made a series of videos about it.
Storey noticed that if you have the mentality to play for a win with white and for a draw with black, you always end up as second or third in a tournament, at best. If you want to win a tournament, you must play for a win with black too.
So he "invented" the Sniper. General ideas:
- play for a win with black
- play for an unbalanced position
- minimize risk
- try to get the pawn majority in the center
- work towards an endgame once you get the majority in the center
- use 1. ... c5 2. ... g6 3. ... Bg7 against anything except 1.b3 and 1.b4
- search for messy positions without theory
- since black has less space, to trade a piece is a good idea
- in certain cases you go for the Hyper Accelerated Dragon
- there's little chance to get checkmated before move 25
Sorry, typical "senior moment": I went backward through your posts and found where you discussed trying a new opening (HAD - HyperAccelerated Dragon) against 1. e4, with (possibly) a different opening (the Sniper) against other preliminary moves. That would remove from consideration several of the variations I gave.
ReplyDeleteCan I assume that 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. d4 Bg7 is your chosen opening sequence under consideration as the Sniper against the typical Open Sicilian move sequence?
Your assumption is correct.
Deletee4 and d4 is referred to as the dynamic duo. Or Batman and Robin. The third move being:
Nc3 - Manchester United variation
Nf3 - Arsenal variation
c4 - Chelsea variation
f4 - Manchester City variation
h4 - Leicester variation
Further you have the Pterodactyl attack, the Diplodocus, the Bermuda Triangle (where pieces tend to disappear in an inexplicable way) and the Botvinnik setup.
My stockfish tells me that
ReplyDelete1.e4 c5
2.Nf3 g6
3.d4 Bg7
is very bad because of
4.dxc5
If you like lets make some computer moves?
Then I play the HAD
Delete1.e4 c5
2.Nf3 g6
3.d4 cxd4
Storey goes to great lengths to computer check all the variations he advices.
ReplyDeleteHe couldn't get
1.e4 g6
2.Nf3 Bg7
3.d4 c5
to work. Since black simply loses a pawn with little or no compensation. Notice how he uses a different move order. He advices to transpose to a Pirc by 3. ... d6. It is a harmless Pirc, since white has already played 2.Nf3, so the dangerous f4 is avoided.
I played the Pirc in the past with (too) little success. So I decided to change the initial move order and transpose to a HAD. Which requires the same state of mind as the Sniper, to my belief. At least for how I intend to play the HAD.
Given your decision to change variations to HAD [1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. d4 cxd4], the following information may be moot. It is interesting that several Black players decided to risk this variation. With this approach to the opening, transpositions RULE!
ReplyDeleteChess Tempo Information
Main line:
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. d4 Bg7
Related Openings:
Pterodactyl Defense/Western/Rhamporhynchus (B06)
1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nf3 c5 4.dxc5 Qa5+
Pterodactyl Defense/Western/Anhanguera (B06)
1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nf3 c5 4.Be3 Qa5+
Pterodactyl Defense/Western/Pterodactyl (B06)
1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nf3 c5 4.c3 Qa5
Pterodactyl Defense/Western/Siroccopteryx (B06)
1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nf3 c5 4.Bc4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Qa5+
Modern Defense/Improved Maroczy (B06)
1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nf3 c5 4.c4 Qb6
Sicilian Defense/Hyperaccelerated Pterodactyl (B27)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 Bg7
Sicilian Defense/Hyperaccelerated Pterodactyl/Exchange Variation (B27)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 Bg7 4.dxc5 Qa5+ 5.Nc3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Qxc3+
Chess Tempo Database shows the following Candidate Moves stats:
Significant levels:
4. c4 = 1878 games (W=39.7%; D=39.2%; B=21%)
4. c3 = 1053 games (W=38.2%; D=35.4%; B=26.4%)
4. Nc3 = 973 games (W=33.7%; D=33.1%; B=33.2%)
4. d5 = 588 games (W=42.9%; D=33.5%; B=23.6%)
4. dxc5 = 545 games (W=37.6%; D=33.2%; B=29.2%)
“Noise levels”:
4. Be2 = 24 games (W=20.8%; D=37.5%; B=41.7%)
4. Bc4 = 16 games (W=25%; D=25%; B=50%)
4. Be3 = 6 games (W=33.3%; D=33.3%; B=33.3%)
4. g3 = 4 games (W=100%; D=0%; B=0%)
4. Bg5 = 1 game (W=100%; D=0%; B=0%)
GM Stockfish evaluates the possibilities:
D42 +0.94 4.dxc5 Nf6 5.Nc3 O-O 6.Be3 b6 7.Bd3 bxc5 8.Bxc5 d6 9.Be3 Nbd7 10.O-O Bb7 11.Rb1 Qc7 12.Re1 Nc5 13.Bd2 a5 14.h3 Rfc8 15.Qe2 Nfd7 16.Bg5 Nb6 17.Nb5 Qd8 18.b3 a4 19.c4 Nbd7 20.Bc2 Ne6 21.Be3 axb3 22.axb3
D42 +0.90 4.d5 d6 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.Bc4 O-O 7.a4 Na6 8.O-O Nc7 9.Bf4 Nh5 10.Be3 e6 11.dxe6 Bxe6 12.Be2 Nf6 13.Ng5 Qe7 14.Nxe6 Qxe6 15.Re1 Rad8 16.Bf1 Ng4 17.Bf4 Bd4 18.Bg3 Ne5 19.Qe2 Ng4 20.h3 Ne5 21.a5 g5
D42 +0.67 4.c3 cxd4 5.cxd4 Nf6 6.Bd3 d5 7.e5 Ne4 8.Nc3 Bf5 9.O-O Nc6 10.Re1 Nxc3 11.bxc3 Qd7 12.h4 Bg4 13.Qb3 Na5 14.Qb4 Nc6 15.Qb1 Bxf3 16.gxf3 e6 17.Qb2 O-O 18.Rb1 f6 19.f4 Rf7 20.exf6 Bxf6 21.Qe2 Bxh4 22.Qxe6 Bf6 23.Qxd7 Rxd7 24.Kg2 Rf7
D42 +0.58 4.c4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nc6 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Nc3 O-O 8.Be2 d6 9.O-O Bd7 10.Qd2 Nxd4 11.Bxd4 Qa5 12.f3 Rfc8 13.Rad1 Bc6 14.Rb1 Qb4 15.Be3 Nd7 16.Rfc1 a6 17.h4 h5 18.a3 Qa5 19.b4 Qc7 20.Nd5 Qd8 21.Bf2 a5 22.b5 Bxd5 23.cxd5 Rxc1+ 24.Rxc1
D42 +0.37 4.Nc3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nc6 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 O-O 8.Bb3 d6 9.f3 Bd7 10.h4 h5 11.Qd2 Na5 12.O-O-O Nxb3+ 13.cxb3 Rc8 14.Kb1 Re8 15.Bh6 Bh8 16.Bg5 Qa5 17.Nc2 Be6 18.Rhe1 Bg7 19.Bxf6 exf6 20.Nd5 Qxd2 21.Rxd2 a6 22.Nf4 Rc6 23.Nxe6 fxe6 24.Nd4
D42 +0.27 4.Be3 Nf6 5.Nc3 cxd4 6.Nxd4 O-O 7.Qe2 Nc6 8.O-O-O d6 9.f3 Nxd4 10.Bxd4 Be6 11.Kb1 Qa5 12.Qb5 Qxb5 13.Nxb5 Rfc8 14.Nxa7 Nxe4 15.fxe4 Bxd4 16.Rxd4 Rxa7 17.b3 Kg7 18.Kb2 Rc5 19.a4 Bd7 20.Rb4 Bc6 21.Bd3 Ra8 22.Ra1 h5 23.h4 Re5 24.Rd1 Rc8 25.g3
D42 +0.10 4.Be2 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nc6 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Nc3 O-O 8.O-O d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxd5 Nxd4 11.Bxd4 Qxd5 12.Bxg7 Qxd1 13.Rfxd1 Kxg7 14.c3 Be6 15.f4 Rac8 16.a3 Rc5 17.h4 Rfc8 18.Kf2 R8c7 19.Rd4 h5 20.Rad1 Bf5 21.Rb4 b6 22.Rdd4 e5 23.fxe5 Rxe5 24.Bf3 Be6
D42 0.00 4.Bc4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Qa5+ 6.c3 Nf6 7.Nd2 O-O 8.O-O Nc6 9.Re1 Nxd4 10.cxd4 d5 11.exd5 Nxd5 12.Nf3 Rd8 13.Bd2 Qb6 14.Qa4 Qd6 15.Qb3 Be6 16.Rac1 Qb6 17.Qxb6 axb6 18.h3 Nc7 19.Bf4 Nd5
I made an attempt (laughable, at best) to play the Black side of a Modern Defense. Obviously, this is NOT my usual response to 1. d4; I prefer 1. … Nf6 with a “wait and see” attitude toward whatever structure White has planned. For “comic relief”, here’s the BIZARRE game I played against Stockfish at level 4 (5 min + 3 sec) on lichess.com. NOT the “recommended” way to play the Modern Defense! (And, NO, “All's Well That Ends Well” does NOT apply.
ReplyDelete[Event "Casual Blitz game"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/wPtlvRPA"]
[Date "2020.12.04"]
[White "lichess AI level 4"]
[Black "CrazyBob"]
[Result "0-1"]
[UTCDate "2020.12.04"]
[UTCTime "14:53:23"]
[WhiteElo "1700"]
[BlackElo "1326"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[TimeControl "300+3"]
[ECO "A40"]
[Opening "Modern Defense"]
[Termination "Normal"]
[Annotator "lichess.org"]
1. d4 g6 { A40 Modern Defense } 2. h4 Bg7 3. h5 h6 4. g3 g5 5. f4 f6 6. Nc3 d6 7. a3 Bf5 8. Bg2 c6 9. e4 Bh7 10. Bd2 Nd7 11. f5 Nf8 12. Qg4 Qc8 13. O-O-O e6 14. d5 cxd5 15. Nb5 Ke7 16. Re1 e5 17. Qd1 d4 18. Kb1 a6 19. Bf1 axb5 20. Nf3 Qe8 21. g4 Nd7 22. Bxb5 Qd8 23. Qc1 Kf8 24. Rh2 Ne7 25. Bb4 Nc5 26. Ree2 Bg8 27. Rhf2 Bf7 28. Nd2 Kg8 29. Qd1 Kh7 30. Nc4 Be8 31. Bxe8 Rxe8 32. Rf3 Nc6 33. Nd2 Bf8 34. Ref2 Qb6 35. Nc4 Qb5 36. Qe2 Nxb4 37. axb4 Qxb4 38. c3 dxc3 39. Nxd6 cxb2 40. Qxb2 Qxb2+ 41. Rxb2 Bxd6 42. Kc1 Rac8 43. Re3 Nd3+ 44. Kb1 Nxb2 45. Rb3 Nc4 46. Rxb7+ Rc7 47. Rb3 Nd2+ 48. Ka2 Nxb3 49. Kxb3 Rb8+ 50. Ka4 Ra7# { Black wins by checkmate.} 0-1
You found the two core ideas of the opening: with a majority in the center, a flank attack from the opponent can never succeed, and mate ends the game.
Delete