Jon Speelman: Castles by the trees and Fluffy Ducks

Queen Elizabeth's Oak

[Note that Jon Speelman also looks at the content of the article in video format, here embedded at the end of the article.]

I'm starting today with a position which Jonathan Mastel showed me a fortnight ago. This was at "Folk by the Oak", the annual one-day folk festival at Hatfield House a few miles north of London, which is named after the oak tree which Queen Elizabeth was supposedly sitting by when she was informed that Queen Mary had died - and so she had ascended to the throne.

That oak has died but been replaced by another which my wife and I were sitting quite near to, seeking shade on the very hot Sunday of the World Cup final.

Jonathan often goes there separately, and we met up for some of the time and chatted during the many intervals. He had seen this diagram on another site where it wasn't flagged up as being especially surprising, though there is a lovely sting in the tail.

Jonathan left me with the position and wandered off for a while, and I got some of the solution but not all of it. To begin with, I thought that White must be in trouble since Rb4 certainly doesn't help, but then I realised that White can set up a mating threat. I wasn't immediately sure whether the rook should go to d7 or e7 since I did then find the defence which almost draws. But of course, if Re7, then Black can immediately draw with checks.

Understanding Middlegame Strategy Vol.14 Reversed Colour Systems – Benoni, Blumenfeld and Benko Gambit

You will learn how Black's dynamic piece activity and structural counterplay more than compensate for White's extra tempo in the colour-reversed setups.
The Benoni family of openings has toppled world champions, decided match games under the highest pressure, and rewarded those brave enough to play them with some of the most electrifying chess imaginable. In this Fritztrainer, Grandmaster Ivan Sokolov -  continuing his successful series "Understanding Middlegame Structures" - takes you deep inside the complexities of the Colour-Reversed Benoni, the Colour-Reversed Benko Gambit, and the Colour-Reversed Blumenfeld Gambit.
Free sample video: Introduction
Free sample video: Colour Reversed Banoni - Game 1

So I'm giving you the first move, which is 1.Rd7. See what you can do with it, and the complete answer is in the .pgn below.

This new, young tree stands on the spot where tradition says Elizabeth I learned of her accession as Queen on 17 November 1558 | Photo: Alex-David Baldi

Continuing with rook endings, I don't think I've shown this here before. It's White to play - he must deal with the back rank in some way since the passive 1.Rb1 will surely lose. The obvious choice is between 1.g3 and 1.h3. What is your first reaction, and which one do you think actually is correct? (Obviously this is far too complicated to be analysed remotely accurately from the diagram, but you may realise why one of these two moves might fail.)

This is from the Bundesliga a couple of years ago. Black's most obvious choices are ...Ke5 or ...Kg5. Which would you play?

The glorious Fluffy Duck

Decades ago, when he was proprietor of the British Chess Magazine, Murray Chandler produced a one-off spoof - not the BCM. Sadly I can't find my copy at the moment, but it included articles such as "Blunder of the year" and this wittily insulting diagram.

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This compact course is designed specifically for practical play. Instead of overwhelming you with endless theory, it focuses on the critical lines, typical plans, and recurring tactical ideas.
Looking for an opening that gets your opponents thinking on move one? Grandmaster Andy Woodward has relied on 1.b3 for years in blitz and bullet, using it to defeat strong masters and grandmasters who underestimated its hidden venom. While many players dismiss the opening as harmless, they often find themselves caught in unfamiliar positions, tactical traps, and uncomfortable middlegames. This compact course is designed specifically for practical play. Instead of overwhelming you with endless theory, it focuses on the critical lines, typical plans, and recurring tactical ideas that matter most when the clock is ticking.
Free video sample: Introduction
Free video sample: King's Indian Setup

This was an opening line purportedly played in games between vegetarians such as Mastel and myself.

A couple of months ago, my son and his wife went to Amsterdam for a weekend and very kindly brought me back a bottle of Advocaat. Half a century ago at the European Junior in Groningen (one of the worst tournaments of my life) we sometimes used to drink snowballs – advocaat and lemonade - at a time when, if memory serves, the lemonade cost more than the booze. When I opened the bottle, bereft of lemonade, I found some orange juice in the fridge and added it later to discover that this cocktail, sometimes with the addition of gin and/or vermouth, is a "Fluffy Duck".

We already of course have the Dragon and the Monkey's Bum - and the Fluffy Duck is self-evidently a terrific name for a chess opening which ideally should look wimbly but carry a hefty potential (alcohol fuelled) punch.

My first thought was 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.a3, which has been tried by many top players, but regrettably this is apparently the Gunsberg Variation. So I wondered about 4.h3 instead which has also been tried by many of the top guys and I think may not yet have been named, though apparently it was popularised by Anish Giri (who appropriately is Dutch).

Anyway, I wonder whether readers have other suggestions for the glorious Fluffy Duck, so I am opening up the comments below for your suggestions.

Select an entry from the list to switch between games

Master Class Vol.20 - Bent Larsen

In this video course experts examine the games of Bent Larsen. Let them show you which openings Larsen chose, where his strength in middlegames were, how he outplayed his opponents in the endgame & you’ll get a glimpse of his tactical abilities!
Bent Larsen (1935–2010) was the greatest chess player in Danish history, and for a time, the second-strongest player in the Western world behind Bobby Fischer. Between 1954 and 1971, he won the Danish Championship six times, and achieved numerous international tournament victories throughout his career. 
Free video sample: Introduction to Bent Larsen by Peter Heine Nielsen
Free video sample: Introduction to the Opening Section

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