To begin with today, something a bit different: a study which Grandmaster John Nunn sent me recently in connection with one I've been working on myself. Sadly, it closely (though not exactly) anticipates what I wanted to achieve. The solution is at the end.
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Over the past month, I've been looking at the Bryntse ganbit, a line in which White sacrifices two pieces for a queen and crucially much the better structure. Very unusually for gambit play, he doesn't start with a significant lead in development and Black's most challenging responses try to disrupt White before he can get organized. However, if White succeeds then with well anchored minor pieces and an extra pawn or two then the pieces and rooks may well outperform the queen and rooks since queens are only really effective when they have something to attack and if everything is anchored there isn't anything.
In general when assessing a chess position the main elements are material, structure and energy. In gambit play you sacrifice material and sometimes structure too normally in order to gain a preponderance of energy — a lead in development. While sometimes, conversely you are prepared to lag in development in order to get the better structure putting an obligation on the opponent to “do something” immediately or at least before you can get fully organized and enjoy your positional advantage at your leisure.
The tension between structure and energy persists throughout the game of course and I'm reminded of a slightly agonizing loss of mine way back in Lone Pine 1978 the tournament where I got my final IM norm. I had a suspicion I might have used it here before and indeed when I checked, I had done so in October 2016 but here it is again fairly briefly with the critical position highlighted.
In the second game, Kiriakos Vlahos (pictured), a strong Greek player who lived for years in England and used to play for the King's Head, sent me this a good while ago and with its transformation of energy into a murderous king hunt it seems a good moment to use it.
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