The Winawer Report (TWR), Issue 01 January 1, 2002 Entire contents Copyright © 2002 by John C. Knudsen, all rights reserved. *-*-*-*-*-*-*-* To subscribe: http://www.correspondencechess.com/knudsen/ To unsubscribe: http://www.yourmailinglistprovider.com/unsubscribe.php?Winawer Public archive: http://www.yourmailinglistprovider.com/pubarchive.php?Winawer *-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Contacts Editor/Publisher: ICCF IM John C. Knudsen knudsenjohnc@hotmail.com Assistant Editor/Publicity: Rick Massimo mahlesh@home.com Book Review Editor: John Pugh John.Pugh2@btinternet.com WebWatch Editor: Paul J. Comeau xshakespearessonx@hotmail.com *-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Submissions: Reader submissions are always encouraged! TWR welcomes articles and games submitted free of charge, and proper credit will be given on all accepted submissions. For articles, plain text (with a margin of 40-50 characters) is preferred. For the games contained therein, PGN or Chessbase format is preferred. For articles, please submit in English. Email submissions to the editor, who will respond promptly. *-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Advertisements: Small text advertisements with URL or email address are welcomed - contact the editor for rates. *-*-*-*-*-*-*-* SPAM Policy: You are receiving this newsletter because you subscribed to it - TWR does not practice SPAM. *-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Table of Contents Welcome To TWR - What It Is All About Laboratory Recent Games in PGN Book Corner Don't Underestimate The WRG! An "Underdog" Has His Day WebWatch *-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Welcome to TWR - What It Is All About Welcome to The Winawer Report (TWR) - and Happy New Year! The purpose of TWR is to bring quality content to Winawer Warriors and those who oppose them. The idea came to me one day when reading yet another Winawer book that was slanted to one side or the other! The best approach to mastering an opening system is the "honest" approach. One should try to find the best play for both sides. Reader involvement is critical for the success of this newsletter. It's natural to hesitate to share secrets with others - especially when you don't know who is subscribing to this list. On the other hand, by sharing your ideas and moves here, you might get exactly the kind of feedback you need to be better able to use the ideas/moves in your own games. Annotated games and theoretical pieces are particularly desired, as are stories about your Winawer adventures, tips on useful web sites to visit, books to purchase, etc. You don't have to be a master player to benefit from this, or to share your experiences or knowledge. Every contributor will receive proper credit - but don't forget to include your full name and email address when you send me something! Over-the-board players are most welcome to contribute here - I'm primarily a correspondence player, but there will be no slant in favor of correspondence chess. The French Winawer is the important thing. Your feedback is important to the future of TWR. Just send me an email with your thoughts. I would also like to welcome aboard Rick Massimo as Assistant Editor/Publicity, John Pugh as Book Review Editor and Paul J. Comeau as WebWatch Editor. Best Wishes and Enjoy! John John C. Knudsen knudsenjohnc@hotmail.com Editor Laboratory By John C. Knudsen The complicated positions which come about in the Winawer are fascinating - there is plenty of room for experimentation for the innovative player. The Poisoned Pawn variation - sound for Black or too risky? I honestly do not know. I do know that it can be loads of fun to play! Here is a recent game from the 25th CC World Championship semifinals (2d Email WC SFs) which features a genuine theoretical novelty for Black on move 18. Willigen,J (2363) - Knudsen,J (2485) [C18] WC25SF15 2001 ICCF Email, 02.08.2001 [John C. Knudsen] 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.Qg4 Qc7 8.Qxg7 Rg8 9. Qxh7 cxd4 10.Ne2 Nbc6 11.f4 Bd7 12.Qd3 dxc3 13.Rb1 d4 14.Nxd4 Nxd4 15.Qxd4 Nf5 16.Qf2 Bc6 17.Rg1 0-0-0 18.Bd3?! Rxd3!?N 19.cxd3 Qd8 20.Rb4? [The wrong approach, but an understandable one. 20.Qc2! virtually ensures a draw, but the temptation is to punish Black for sac'ing the Exchange.] 20...Qxd3 21.Qe2 Qd5 22.Qc4 a5! 23.Qxd5 exd5 24.Rb3 d4-+ The Queenside pawn- roller comes first. 25.g4 b5 26.Kf2 Ne7 27.f5 Kc7! The King walk is a critical element of Black's plan. 28.h4 Kb6 29. Bg5 Nd5 30.Rbb1 Kc5 31.Rbe1 b4 32.e6 fxe6 33.axb4+ axb4 34.fxe6 b3 35.Bc1 b2 36.g5 bxc1Q 0-1 If you have a theoretical novelty that you would like to share with our readers, please send it along! Recent Games In PGN Here are 265 higher level Winawer games from 2001 in PGN format, ECO codes C15-C19: http://www.correspondencechess.com/knudsen/twr/twr01db.zip Here are the annotated games and other games from this issue in PGN: http://www.correspondencechess.com/knudsen/twr/twr01a.zip ----------------------------------- ***Please visit our advertisers*** ----------------------------------- Correspondence Chess News (CCN): http://ccn.correspondencechess.com Subscribe to CCN-Plus: http://ccn.correspondencechess.com/ccnplus.htm The Annual Correspondence Chess Yearbook (CCYB): http://correspondencechess.com/yearbook/ The printed book, Essential Chess Quotations, from iUniverse: http://www.correspondencechess.com/knudsen/quoteb.htm Chess coaching services: http://www.correspondencechess.com/knudsen/coaching.htm ----------------------------------- Book Corner By John C. Knudsen I imagine that I have just about every book there is on the Winawer. These are my favorites: Play The French (IM John L. Watson). Pergamon. ISBN 0 08 026929 X (1st edition). John Watson's original ideas and analysis are awe-inspiring and worth their weight in gold. I just have the 1st edition, but get your hands on any edition if you can find it... French Winawer (GM Neil McDonald). Everyman Chess. ISBN 1-85744-276-8 Clarity of thought is the hallmark of this book. It is skimpy in its coverage of some areas (for example, the WRG!), but it is an excellent overall battle manual. Highly recommended. What are your favorite references/recommendations? Contact the Book Review Editor with details. Don't Underestimate The WRG! By John C. Knudsen Every Winawer player must be prepared to meet the Winckelmann-Reimer Gambit (WRG), championed by the strong correspondence player Thomas Winckelmann and also played by Wolfgang Reimer in the late '80s and the '90s. As is usual with these sorts of things, what got me interested in the WRG was a crushing defeat: Henderson,G (2055) - Knudsen,J (1985) [C15] corr, ASPCC vs. APCT Match, 1997 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.a3 Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 dxe4 6.f3 exf3 7.Nxf3 Nf6 8.Bd3 Nbd7 9.0-0 0-0 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bh4 c6 12. Qd2 Qa5 13.Rae1 Nd5 14.Re4 Qxc3 15.Qc1 Qa5 16.Rg4 Kh8 17.Bg5 f5 18.Bxh6 1-0 It is probably not a good idea to play 6...exf3 against the WRG - it is asking for trouble. I have studied the WRG quite a bit in the last few years, and here are a couple of recent games, which show a more mature approach to the practical problems which arise... Winckelmann,T (2494) - Knudsen,J (2485) [C15] WC25SF15 2001 ICCF Email, 07.08.2001 [John C. Knudsen] This is an interesting experiment in WRG theory, played against its "creator". 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 dxe4 6.f3 e5 [Huebner's move. 6...c5 is preferred by most players.] 7.Bb5+!? [7.Be3 Bf5 8.Rb1 b6 9.Ne2 exf3 10.Ng3 Be6 11.Qxf3 Bd5 12.Qh5 Nd7 13.dxe5 g6 14.Qe2 Qe7 15.Qd2 Bb7 16.Bb5 0-0-0 17.0-0 Nxe5 18.Qe2 f6 19.Ba6 Kb8 20.Bxb7 Kxb7 21.Ne4 Kb8 22.Nc5 Rd5 23.Na6+ Kb7 24.Nb4 Ra5 25.Bd4 c6 26.c4 Nh6 27.Nd3 Nf5 28.Bc3 Ra4 29. Bb4 Qe6 30.c5 Qc4 31.Qf2 Nxd3 32. cxd3 Qd5 33.cxb6 axb6 34.Rfe1 Rha8 35.Bc5 b5 36.Rbc1 Rg4 37.Rc3 h5 38. h3 Rg3 39.Re7+ Nxe7 40.Qxg3 Nf5 41. Qe1 Qe5 42.Qxe5 fxe5 43.Kf2 Rd8 44. Kf3 Rd5 45.Ke4 h4 46.Bf2 Kc7 47.Be1 Kd6 48.Bf2 c5 49.Rc2 Ng3+ 50.Bxg3 Rd4+ 51.Ke3 hxg3 52.Rb2 Kc6 53.Rc2 Rf4 54.Rb2 b4 0-1 Schulze,M-Knudsen, J/IECG Master Class 2001 (54)] 7...c6 8.Bc4 exd4 9.cxd4! [better than 9.Qxd4 Qxd4 10.cxd4 Bf5 11.g4 Bg6 12.Nh3 exf3 13.0-0 Nf6 14.Bg5 Nbd7 15.Rae1+ Kf8 16.Rxf3 Re8 17.Rxe8+ Kxe8 18.Re3+ Kd8 19.Nf4 Re8 20.Rxe8+ Kxe8 21.Nxg6 hxg6 22.h3 Ne4 23.Bf4 Ndf6 24.Bd3 Nc3 25.Be5 a5 26.Kf2 Ke7 27.Bf4 b5 28.Bc1 Ke6 29.Ke3 Nfd5+ 30. Kd2 f5 31.Ke1 a4 32.Bb2 Ne4 33.c4 Nf4 34.Bf1 bxc4 35.Bxc4+ Kd6 36.Bc1 Nxh3 37.Bf7 Nhf2 38.Ke2 Nxg4 39.Bxg6 Kd5 40.Bf7+ Kd6 41.Kf3 g5 42.Bg6 Ke6 43.Be8 c5 44.dxc5 Ne5+ 45.Kg2 Nd3 46. Bxg5 Nxg5 47.Bxa4 Nxc5 48.Bc2 f4 49. a4 Kd5 50.a5 Kc6 51.a6 Nxa6 52.Be4+ Kd6 53.Ba8 Nc5 54.Kf1 Nce4 55.Kg1 Ke5 0-1 Waard,J-Anilkumar,N/BFCC email 1999/MegaCorr2 (55)] 9...Qh4+!N [A significant improvement. Much better than 9...Qe7 10.Qe2 Bf5 11.Rb1 b5 12.Rxb5 cxb5 13.Bd5 exf3 14.Bxf3 Bxc2 15.Bxa8 Bd3 16.Qe3 Qxe3+ 17.Bxe3 Nf6 18.Kd2 Be4 19.Bxe4 Nxe4+ 20.Kd3 f5 21.Nf3 0-0 22.Rc1 Re8 23.Ne5 a6 24.g4 Nd6 25.gxf5 Nxf5 26.Rc7 Ne7 27. Bd2 h6 28.h3 Kh7 29.Ke4 Nbc6 30.Bc3 Nxe5 31.dxe5 Kg6 32.Bb4 Ng8 33.Rc6+ Kg5 34.Rxa6 Kh4 35.Rg6 Nf6+ 36.Kf5 Nd5 37.Rxg7 1-0 Goldt,R-Wagner,B/ corr 1998/MegaCorr2 (37)] 10.g3 Qe7 11.Qe2 Bf5 12.a4 [12.Bd2!? Winckelmann. 12...b6!? is also unclear (12 ...exf3!? is unclear; both are better than 12...Nf6?!) ] 12...Nf6 [In this line, fast development of the minor pieces is critical for Black!] 13.Ba3 Qc7 14.fxe4 Qa5+ 15.Kf2 Nxe4+ 16.Kg2 Nd7 17.Nf3 [This line needs further testing, but not in something as important as the World Championship semifinals. Although White probably has some compensation for the pawn, Black most likely stands a little better here, with a pull after 17...Ndf6.] ½-½ I believe the WRG is better than its reputation, and that it is ideally suited for OTB play, when your opponent will probably not be as well booked up as you are. Get your hands on Winckelmann's games and you will score many wins as White in blitz or in 30/60 minute games. For correspondence players, things are a little more stable. The notable theoreticians (McDonald, Harding, etc.) all recommend the "Huebner" antidote (6...e5), and I agree. Another fertile field for exploration. An "Underdog" Has His Day This little gem was submitted by Harold Bearce, hbearce2000@yahoo.com. It is from the ICCF Jubilee Email Open. Watch out for those 1800 players! Dibley,S (1800) - Holscher,P (2242) [C16] EM/J50/P045 ICCF Email, 01.09.2001 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 Qd7 5. Bd2 b6 6.Bb5 c6 7.Ba4 Ne7 8.Nge2 Ba6 9. a3 Bxc3 10.Bxc3 0-0 11.Bb4 Rc8 12.Ng3 Qd8 13.Bd6 c5 14.dxc5 bxc5 15.f4 Nd7 16. Bxd7 Qxd7 17.Qg4 Ng6 18.f5 exf5 19.Nxf5 Qe6 20.h4 Rc6 21.0-0-0 Rxd6 22.exd6 Be2 23.Qg5 Bxd1 24.Rxd1 f6 25.Qg4 Qe5 26. Kd2 Qf4+ 27.Qxf4 Nxf4 28.Ke3 g5 29.g3 d4+ 30.Ke4 Ng6 31.Kd5 gxh4 32.gxh4 d3 33.cxd3 Kf7 34.Rf1 h5 35.Ng3 Nxh4 36. Nxh5 Kg6 37.Nxf6 Nf5 38.Ng4 Kg5 39.Rg1 Kf4 40.d7 1-0 WebWatch By Paul J. Comeau xshakespearessonx@hotmail.com A search on Google for the Winawer French comes up with 436 sites. This may seem quite daunting at first, but I’ve taken it upon myself to present you some of the best of these sites. I have personally visited and explored all the sites listed below. I did not have the time to try every feature on every website listed, but I present you with the highlights from each site, and those things that I feel made the site worth my visit. Content and ease of use were the two items that that I considered most important when picking these sites. I have tried to find sites that do more than present lists of variations of the French Defense, but that actually discuss the Winawer variation in some detail. When a site varies from these criteria, I have made a note in my description and have explained why I feel that they are worth notice. IECC Thematics http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Midfield/1264/thematics.html IECC Thematics is an email chess tournament site that plays themed tournament games based around particular openings. Players chose from a number of endorsed openings, including several French lines, including the Classical, Exchange, Winawer and MacCutcheon, as well as a range of others. Players play matches of two games against their opponents, one as White and one as Black, from the point where the standard opening leaves off. The site offers many special features and events, including a rating board for members, tournament organization, a game archive storing all member games played on the site since 1995, and numerous other features. An interesting site for those who play the Winawer to jump in and play tournament games with just that opening. The Tournament Director and webmaster is Lucian Gavriletanu and he can be reached at lynx@petrom.ro for any questions that their help pages cannot answer. Chess World http://chess.htmlplanet.com/index.html Chess World is a very nice looking website devoted mainly to three openings: the French, the Reti Opening and the Budapest Defense. They offer a newsletter, a games archive, a problems page and a link to their online Chess Store www.chessexpressstore.com. They have just upgraded their server and when I last visited the page many of the archived games were still not restored and functioning properly, but the rest of the site's content is up for browsing and has plenty of useful material. The one down side to the site was that clicking on any link automatically brought up three irritating pop-up windows which had to be hunted down and closed or they would slow down my dinosaur PC. Those who have programs that prevent pop-ups should not have this problem when visiting this site. The webmaster can be contacted at amanasso@umich.edu, but Chess World also maintains a scripted contact form that can be easily filled out and submitted. This site is one to look for in the future because it can only get better. All Platform Chess by File Library http://www.filelibrary.com/Contents/Multi-Platform/88/78.html This page is a simple download site, but the sheer number of games they have available for download is enormous! Their Zip file of games played with the Winawer includes a whoping 8,215 games in PGN format! The games themselves vary in quality from novice games to master games, but they all demonstrate use of the Winawer in practical play. The maintainers of the APCFL can be contacted at: www@filelibrary.com with any questions or comments. If you run or know of any sites out there that you believe we should review, please drop an email to xshakespearessonx@hotmail.com and it will be done in an upcoming issue.