Robert Ris' Fast and Furious: A tricky opening: 1.Nc3

by Johannes Fischer
6/25/2020 – This week Robert Ris takes a look at the Van Geet Opening, 1.Nc3!?. This tricky opening is named after the Dutch International Master and Grandmaster of Correspondence chess Dick van Geet (pictured), who played 1.Nc3 regularly and analysed the move in depth. "Fast and Furious" is available from 17:00 UTC (19:00 CEST / 15:00 EDT) on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here. | Photo: Jac. de Nijs / Anefo / CC BY-SA 3.0 NL

Pattern recognition is an important tool in modern chess, as it helps you to understand better the characteristics of a position. Particularly when you have been confronted with a surprise opening system played by your opponent, it helps when you can just

Dick van Geet

In Over-the-Board play Dirk (Dick) van Geet (March 1, 1932 - April 29, 2012) was an International Master who became Dutch Junior Champion in 1952 and later played several times in the prestigious and strong Hoogoven tournament.

In correspondence chess Van Geet was even stronger and managed to become a Grandmaster. Among his notable successes are his first place in the "NBC-Volmac" tournament that was played from 1983 to 1986, and his first place in the ICCF-tournament "40 Jahre BdF" that took place from 1986-1992.

Van Geet's specialty was the move 1.Nc3!? which brought him a number of remarkable wins, in OTB-play and in correspondence chess. Here are two examples:

 
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1.Nc3 Nf6 2.f4 d5 3.d3 c5 4.e4 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Nxe4 6.dxe4 Qxd1+ 7.Kxd1 Bd7 8.Nf3 Bc6 9.Bd3 Nd7 10.Re1 f6 11.f5 b5 12.b3 Kf7 13.a4 b4 14.Bc4+ Ke8 15.c3 Nb6 16.Bb5 Bxb5 17.axb5 bxc3 18.Kc2 e5 19.Be3 Bd6 20.Ra6 Ke7 21.Kxc3 Rhb8 22.Rd1 Nc8 23.Nd2 Rxb5 24.Nc4 Bc7 25.Rc6 Kf8 26.Rd7 Bb6 27.Rb7 h6 28.Nxb6 axb6 29.Bxh6 gxh6 30.Rxf6+ Kg8 31.Rg6+ Kf8 32.Rxh6 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Van Geet,D-Aasum,A-1–01990A03corr
 
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1.Nc3 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 d5 5.Bg5 Nc6 6.e4 dxe4 7.Nxc6 Qxd1+ 8.Rxd1 bxc6 9.a3 e5 10.Nxe4 Nd7 11.Be2 f6 12.Bh5+ Ke7 13.Be3 f5 14.Nd6 g6 15.Bf3 e4 16.Bd4 Rg8 17.Be2 Nb6 18.Bc5 Kf6 19.Ne8+ Kf7 20.Bxb6 Kxe8 21.Bc4 Rg7 22.Rd8+ Ke7 23.Ba5 g5 24.0-0 Bb7 25.Rfd1 Rxd8 26.Bxd8+ Ke8 27.Bf6 1–0
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Van Geet,D-Oechslein,R-1–01986A46FRG jub40 corr8692

In his show Robert Ris takes a look at this opening and recommends how to play against it. He writes:

Although the move 1.Nc3 is rarely seen at top level, the Van Geet opening remains a popular choice for games with shorter time controls. Club players also still seem to enjoy this flexible move, as an unprepared Black player could easily be tricked with move-orders because at several moments both sides have possibilities returning to familiar 1.e4 and 1.d4 territory. However, Black shouldn't take matters too easily. The late Dick van Geet played some very interesting miniatures with his favorite move. He once gave a lecture at my local club in Amstelveen, showing us some of his trickery weapons. As a 10 year old boy I felt pretty impressed with all his ideas, but now I'm able to demonstrate you the best way for Black to handle this off-beat opening system.

But first a warm-up exercise: Black has tried to get rid of the pressure on the knight on f6 by moving it to h5. Can White exploit the position of the knight on the rim?

 

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Johannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".

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