"Taylor Kingston" wrote in message
...
On Nov 25, 2:11 pm, "Chess One" wrote:
"Taylor Kingston" wrote in message
A difficult line to be sure, but it can't be all that bad. The list
of those who have essayed it as Black reads like a "Who's Who" of 20th
century chess: Fischer, Korchnoi, Bronstein, Geller, Gligoric, Euwe,
Portisch, Najdorf, Panno, Stein, Hort, Ribli, Mecking, Hübner, Timman,
Nunn, Tukmakov, Savon, Kasparov et al.

**Of course it is not bad if you have great skill and knowledge. But my
specific interest, as above, is if anyone here actually plays it [or has
it
played against them regularly] and then how bad is it? What if you are a
1600-1700 player, eg, do you get away with it, or do you get into awful
trouble because of white's advanced development? As a Sicilian 'punch' I
would suspect it would have been more popular, but even after several
hundred correspondance games, no-one choses it, not 1400 nor 2800
opponenets. PI

Speaking from my own experience of about 35 years of USCF-rated
play, I recall very few if any club or correspondence players of my
acquaintance who played the poisoned pawn line. I'm referring both to
games I observed and games I played. The opportunity seldom arose in
my games, since I only played the Najdorf once as Black (back in 1973)
and tended not to allow it when playing White.

**Yes - ain't it interesting. I wonder why anyone rated less than 1700 plays
the Sicilian at all [against anyone higher rated] since it is hard to find
anyone who knows the first 12 moves of any variation, and who does not
confound one system with another. I still confound my Pelikan, and indeed,
so did Yelena Dembo in our game, since she switched a move order on which I
failed to pounce]

**What always amazes me is the bi-monthly 'argument' presented in newsgroups
that 'chess is dead' while, on the contrary, most people can't get out of
the opening, except for the grace of god and a lucky rabbit's foot -
nevermind exhaust the non-learned aspects of the middle game, where you
actually get to think for yourself.

**I tried a few experiments in a moderated newsgroup [containing master
players] asking people if they knew the first 12 moves of the Traxler, eg?
And indeed if they would play it? They didn't know that, or mainline
Schliemann/Ruy, Max Lange [no wonder George K had so much fun with it!] nor
even the Blackmar Diemer/Vienna var. I thought maybe these were too obscure
so tried Benko and [Mod]Benoni. Only with the ModB could some players go 12
moves, but couldn't do it in the Czech Benoni.

Perhaps Fischer's calamity with it in the 11th game of the 1972 WCh
match scared club players off. However, it may simply not have been
fashionable in my clubs; perhaps others have seen it often.

**To the degree that chess openings are fashion, then that may be a
justifiable 'perhaps', since by my own researches if you can't play 12 moves
of it [or even 8!~] then do club players chose openings like they are some
magic-bullet to penetrate the target, and so as to borrow a lot of the cache
of 'playing like Fischer'. That, at least, is psychologically a likely
factor, and [laugh] as good a choice as any.

//Phil Innes