[Note that Jon Speelman also looks at the content of the article in video format, here embedded at the end of the article.]
When I was getting established as a chess player all those years ago, I became known for pushing my rook’s pawns more than other people. This was probably partly an homage to Bent Larsen, whose best-games book I read and reread as a kid — but I also just liked it. Decades later, when our lord and master AlphaZero espoused this with such enthusiasm and artistry I was delighted.
The other big push of the knight’s pawn was much less common in my own games and in general. Of course, it was common in the Yugoslav Attack against the Dragon, and there was the Benko Gambit — well away from both kings. But an early g2-g4 was extremely rare until Paul Keres introduced it against the Sicilian Scheveningen, and then decades later Alexei Shirov [pictured], after working with Alex Shabalov, launched it against the Semi-Slav.
Today it’s become so common that when I watch Shakhriyar Mamedyarov play, I’m almost tempted to bet with myself when the bayonet will be deployed. It features in lines of the Queen’s Gambit Declined and in some English/Reti types of position. And against the Sicilian, they nowadays sometimes play g4 before a black knight has even considered grazing the pastures on f6.
In the games analysed below, I’m looking at a selection of games with an early g2-g4, and I finish with an example from the British Championship of Black playing 3...g7-g5: an idea which totally discombobulated his opponent.
We begin with the stem game of the Keres Attack against the Scheveningen, followed by the stem game of g4 against the Semi-Slav. I had to have at least one example by Mamedyarov and have added one, albeit just a blitz game. To finish, Richard Pert’s game from the British.
Select an entry from the list to switch between games
