Deadly, Dangerous, Decisive Damiano's Defense Defeats Drei Denizens
During World Open

During the just concluded World Open in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania
near Philadelphia, I defeated three more players with Damiano's
Defense.

None of my opponents took the pawn. Needless to say, after 1. e4 e5 2.
Nf3 f6 3. Nxe5 fxe5 Black would be a knight ahead.

The most interesting game was my game against Deepak Aaron, age 13, of
Madras, India, who is the grandson of famous International Master
Manuel Aaron of India and who is also the nephew of Arvind Aaron, a
well-known chess journalist.


[Event "World Open - Under 2200"]
[Site "Valley Forge, Pennsylvania"]
[Date "2007.07.02"]
[Round "05"]
[White "Marshall,Calvin"]
[Black "Sloan,Sam"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C40"]
[WhiteElo "2021"]
[BlackElo "1934"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6 3.Bc4 Ne7 4.d4 d5 5.exd5 e4 6.Nfd2 f5
7.Nc3 c6 8.a4 cxd5 9.Bb5+ Nbc6 10.Qh5+ g6 11.Qg5 Bg7 12.Nb3
O-O 13.Be3 Nb4 14.O-O-O a6 15.Be2 h6 16.Qg3 g5 17.f4 exf3
18.Qxf3 f4 19.Bg1 Bf5 20.Bd3 Nxd3+ 21.cxd3 b5 22.a5 Qc8
23.Re1 Bg4 24.Qf1 Nc6 25.Kb1 Qd8 26.h3 Bf5 27.Bf2 b4 28.Na2
Nxa5 29.Nac1 Nxb3 30.Nxb3 a5 31.Nc5 a4 32.Ne6 Bxe6 33.Rxe6
a3 34.Qe2 axb2 35.Qxb2 b3 36.Rf1 Qb8 37.Re7 Rc8 38.h4 Rc2
39.Rfe1 Rxb2+ 40.Kxb2 Qb5 41.Rd1 Qb4 42.Kb1 Qc3 0-1

[Event "World Open Championship"]
[Site "Valley Forge, Pennsylvania"]
[Date "2007.07.03"]
[Round "07"]
[White "Idris,Syeed M"]
[Black "Sloan,Sam"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C40"]
[WhiteElo "1971"]
[BlackElo "1934"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6 3.d4 d5 4.dxe5 dxe4 5.Qxd8+ Kxd8 6.Nfd2 f5
7.f3 e3 8.Nc4 f4 9.g3 g5 10.h4 b5 11.Nca3 Bb7 12.Be2 Be7
13.hxg5 Bxg5 14.gxf4 Bxf4 15.Nxb5 Nc6 16.N1c3 Nxe5 17.Ne4
Ne7 18.Nd4 Bxe4 19.fxe4 Kd7 20.Rh3 Rag8 21.Bxe3 Bxe3
22.Rxe3 Rg1+ 23.Bf1 Rf8 24.Nf5 Nxf5 25.exf5 Rxf5 26.O-O-O+
Ke7 27.Bd3 Rxd1+ 28.Kxd1 Rh5 29.Bxh7 Kd6 30.Bd3 c5 31.b3
Rh1+ 32.Kd2 Ra1 33.a4 c4 34.Rxe5 Kxe5 35.Bxc4 Kd4 36.Bb5
Rh1 37.c3+ Kc5 38.b4+ Kd5 39.Be2 Rh2 40.a5 Rh6 41.Kc2 Rh2
42.Kd3 Rh3+ 43.Kd2 Rh2 44.b5 Kc5 45.c4 Rg2 46.Ke3 Rg3+
47.Kd2 Ra3 48.a6 Kd4 49.Bf1 Ra2+ 50.Ke1 Ke3 51.Kd1 Ra1+
52.Kc2 Rxf1 53.Kc3 Rc1+ 54.Kb4 Kd4 0-1

[Event "World Open Championship"]
[Site "Valley Forge, Pennsylvania"]
[Date "2007.07.04"]
[Round "08"]
[White "Aaron,Deepak"]
[Black "Sloan,Sam"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C40"]
[WhiteElo "1978"]
[BlackElo "1934"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6 3.Bc4 Ne7 4.Nc3 c6 5.d3 d5 6.Bb3 Bg4 7.h3
Bh5 8.Bd2 d4 9.Ne2 Bxf3 10.gxf3 Qd7 11.Ng3 c5 12.f4 Nbc6
13.f5 Nc8 14.Qh5+ Kd8 15.O-O-O b5 16.f4 Nb6 17.Be6 Qd6
18.fxe5 Nxe5 19.Ne2 a5 20.Nf4 c4 21.dxc4 Nbxc4 22.Bc3 Kc7
23.Rxd4 Qc5 24.Bxc4 Kb6 25.Ne6 Qe7 26.Bd5 Rc8 27.Rd2 Rxc3
28.bxc3 Qa3+ 29.Kd1 Qxc3 30.Rf1 Bb4 31.Rff2 Rc8 32.Bb3 a4
33.Nf4 Qa1+ 34.Ke2 Bxd2 35.Nd5+ Ka5 36.Kxd2 axb3 37.axb3
Qd4+ 38.Ke1 Qxe4+ 39.Qe2 Qxd5 40.c4 Nd3+ 41.Kd2 bxc4 42.b4+
Nxb4+ 43.Kc3 Qd3+ 0-1

On Jul 6, 6:06 pm, samsloan wrote:

Deadly, Dangerous, Decisive Damiano's Defense Defeats Drei Denizens
During World Open

During the just concluded World Open in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania
near Philadelphia, I defeated three more players with Damiano's
Defense.

Nice. Nice wins, Mr. Sloan.


None of my opponents took the pawn. Needless to say, after 1. e4 e5 2.
Nf3 f6 3. Nxe5 fxe5 Black would be a knight ahead.

Let me just double check that, to be su

Um, Nxp, that's a pawn (or one point) for White. Then PxN,
that's a piece (three points) for Black. Yep: you would be a
Knight ahead, alrighty. Good thing nobody went in for that
dreadful line.


The most interesting game was my game against Deepak Aaron, age 13, of
Madras, India, who is the grandson of famous International Master
Manuel Aaron of India and who is also the nephew of Arvind Aaron, a
well-known chess journalist.

[Event "World Open - Under 2200"]
[Site "Valley Forge, Pennsylvania"]
[Date "2007.07.02"]
[Round "05"]
[White "Marshall,Calvin"]
[Black "Sloan,Sam"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C40"]
[WhiteElo "2021"]
[BlackElo "1934"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6 3.Bc4 Ne7 4.d4 d5 5.exd5 e4 6.Nfd2 f5
7.Nc3 c6 8.a4 cxd5 9.Bb5+ Nbc6 10.Qh5+ g6 11.Qg5 Bg7 12.Nb3
O-O 13.Be3 Nb4 14.O-O-O a6 15.Be2 h6 16.Qg3 g5 17.f4 exf3
18.Qxf3 f4 19.Bg1 Bf5 20.Bd3 Nxd3+ 21.cxd3 b5 22.a5 Qc8
23.Re1 Bg4 24.Qf1 Nc6 25.Kb1 Qd8 26.h3 Bf5 27.Bf2 b4 28.Na2
Nxa5 29.Nac1 Nxb3 30.Nxb3 a5 31.Nc5 a4 32.Ne6 Bxe6 33.Rxe6
a3 34.Qe2 axb2 35.Qxb2 b3 36.Rf1 Qb8 37.Re7 Rc8 38.h4 Rc2
39.Rfe1 Rxb2+ 40.Kxb2 Qb5 41.Rd1 Qb4 42.Kb1 Qc3 0-1

[Event "World Open Championship"]
[Site "Valley Forge, Pennsylvania"]
[Date "2007.07.03"]
[Round "07"]
[White "Idris,Syeed M"]
[Black "Sloan,Sam"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C40"]
[WhiteElo "1971"]
[BlackElo "1934"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6 3.d4 d5 4.dxe5 dxe4 5.Qxd8+ Kxd8 6.Nfd2 f5
7.f3 e3 8.Nc4 f4 9.g3 g5 10.h4 b5 11.Nca3 Bb7 12.Be2 Be7
13.hxg5 Bxg5 14.gxf4 Bxf4 15.Nxb5 Nc6 16.N1c3 Nxe5 17.Ne4
Ne7 18.Nd4 Bxe4 19.fxe4 Kd7 20.Rh3 Rag8 21.Bxe3 Bxe3
22.Rxe3 Rg1+ 23.Bf1 Rf8 24.Nf5 Nxf5 25.exf5 Rxf5 26.O-O-O+
Ke7 27.Bd3 Rxd1+ 28.Kxd1 Rh5 29.Bxh7 Kd6 30.Bd3 c5 31.b3
Rh1+ 32.Kd2 Ra1 33.a4 c4 34.Rxe5 Kxe5 35.Bxc4 Kd4 36.Bb5
Rh1 37.c3+ Kc5 38.b4+ Kd5 39.Be2 Rh2 40.a5 Rh6 41.Kc2 Rh2
42.Kd3 Rh3+ 43.Kd2 Rh2 44.b5 Kc5 45.c4 Rg2 46.Ke3 Rg3+
47.Kd2 Ra3 48.a6 Kd4 49.Bf1 Ra2+ 50.Ke1 Ke3 51.Kd1 Ra1+
52.Kc2 Rxf1 53.Kc3 Rc1+ 54.Kb4 Kd4 0-1

[Event "World Open Championship"]
[Site "Valley Forge, Pennsylvania"]
[Date "2007.07.04"]
[Round "08"]
[White "Aaron,Deepak"]
[Black "Sloan,Sam"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C40"]
[WhiteElo "1978"]
[BlackElo "1934"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6 3.Bc4 Ne7 4.Nc3 c6 5.d3 d5 6.Bb3 Bg4 7.h3
Bh5 8.Bd2 d4 9.Ne2 Bxf3 10.gxf3 Qd7 11.Ng3 c5 12.f4 Nbc6
13.f5 Nc8 14.Qh5+ Kd8 15.O-O-O b5 16.f4 Nb6 17.Be6 Qd6
18.fxe5 Nxe5 19.Ne2 a5 20.Nf4 c4 21.dxc4 Nbxc4 22.Bc3 Kc7
23.Rxd4 Qc5 24.Bxc4 Kb6 25.Ne6 Qe7 26.Bd5 Rc8 27.Rd2 Rxc3
28.bxc3 Qa3+ 29.Kd1 Qxc3 30.Rf1 Bb4 31.Rff2 Rc8 32.Bb3 a4
33.Nf4 Qa1+ 34.Ke2 Bxd2 35.Nd5+ Ka5 36.Kxd2 axb3 37.axb3
Qd4+ 38.Ke1 Qxe4+ 39.Qe2 Qxd5 40.c4 Nd3+ 41.Kd2 bxc4 42.b4+
Nxb4+ 43.Kc3 Qd3+ 0-


One problem I noticed was that in order to get these
guys out of their books, you had to take a lot of risk.
Now, I'm not against taking risk if the returns are worth
it, but isn't there some other way which averts the lost
positions and still attains the same objective? For
example, in the last of these three (Drei) games, you
came mighty close to getting checkmated before exiting
the starting gate! That's an awful lot of risk, in order to
win one game against someone your own strength
(i.e. rating). But then, maybe you are so strongly
tilted toward tactical slugfesting that you have little
real choice?

-- help bot

Very good Señor Sloan. A big aplauso for the wins. Now please go to
the Pinochio thread you started. A pregunta awaits you.

One problem I noticed was that in order to get these
guys out of their books, you had to take a lot of risk.
Now, I'm not against taking risk if the returns are worth
it, but isn't there some other way which averts the lost
positions and still attains the same objective? For
example, in the last of these three (Drei) games, you
came mighty close to getting checkmated before exiting
the starting gate! That's an awful lot of risk, in order to
win one game against someone your own strength
(i.e. rating).

Exactly, an huge risk, because even a comparatively weak (but well
prepared) player can beat a GM as black. This opening is in trouble,
as far as I know.

Regards

On Jul 6, 6:06 pm, samsloan wrote:
Deadly, Dangerous, Decisive Damiano's Defense Defeats Drei Denizens
During World Open

During the just concluded World Open in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania
near Philadelphia, I defeated three more players with Damiano's
Defense.

None of my opponents took the pawn. Needless to say, after 1. e4 e5 2.
Nf3 f6 3. Nxe5 fxe5 Black would be a knight ahead.

And soon a king behind. Old Sam has never met an unsound opening he
didn't like. For those interested in the refutation of the Damiano
"Defense" I recommend dowloading Tim McGrew's "Gambit Cartel" columns
from the ChessCafe.com archives:

http://www.chesscafe.com/archives/ar...ambit%20Cartel

On 7 Lug, 15:24, Taylor Kingston wrote:
On Jul 6, 6:06 pm, samsloan wrote:

Deadly, Dangerous, Decisive Damiano's Defense Defeats Drei Denizens
During World Open

During the just concluded World Open in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania
near Philadelphia, I defeated three more players with Damiano's
Defense.

None of my opponents took the pawn. Needless to say, after 1. e4 e5 2.
Nf3 f6 3. Nxe5 fxe5 Black would be a knight ahead.

And soon a king behind. Old Sam has never met an unsound opening he
didn't like. For those interested in the refutation of the Damiano
"Defense" I recommend dowloading Tim McGrew's "Gambit Cartel" columns
from the ChessCafe.com archives:

http://www.chesscafe.com/archives/ar...ambit%20Cartel

Thanks for this link. A very useful opening survey!

On Jul 7, 11:19 am, "Curious George" wrote:
Why did you forget to mention or post your 9th round game, Sam, where you
got toasted playing g4 against a 14-year-old girl?

C. George

I will have you know that she is 17. Perfectly legal.

And yes, it is true. I was paired against this fabulously beautiful
girl for my last round game. Her picture is on page 32 of the July
Chess Life.

This was the money game, as the winner would get a $500 prize as a tie
for 11th through 20th. This, no doubt, was part of Goichberg's
conspiracy to deprive me of a top prize.

I certainly did not give her the game. I tried my best to beat her,
not for any other reason than I needed the money.

So, I lost.

I recommend putting her on the cover of Chess Life. She would project
a great image of chess and bring in ooodles of boys who will want to
join the USCF just to meet her. She would be much better than that
divorced middle-aged mother whose photo keeps appearing in Chess Life
for some unknown reason.

I am not sure how good she is. I do not want to take any credit away
from her but I played an exceptionally bad game, with bad moves on
move 6, 7 and 8 and several more later on. On the other hand, I had
been playing bad moves throughout the tournament and still I had
managed to recover and win almost every game, thereby being in
contention for a prize.

Here is the game:


[Event "World Open Championship"]
[Site "Valley Forge, Pennsylvania"]
[Date "2007.07.04"]
[Round "09"]
[White "Sloan,Sam"]
[Black "Mateer,Armanda R"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "1934"]
[BlackElo "1939"]

1.g4 e5 2.d3 Bc5 3.Nc3 d5 4.h3 c6 5.e4 Qh4 6.Qe2 Bxg4 7.Qd2
d4 8.Nd1 Nd7 9.Bg2 Bxd1 10.Qxd1 Bb4+ 11.Kf1 h6 12.a3 Ba5
13.b4 Bc7 14.Rb1 Ne7 15.c4 dxc3 16.Be3 Bb6 17.Nf3 Qf6
18.Kg1 Ng6 19.Kh2 Ndf8 20.Rg1 Ne6 21.b5 c5 22.Rc1 Ba5 23.b6
axb6 24.Qa4+ Ke7 25.Bh1 Nd4 26.Bxd4 cxd4 27.Qb5 Rhc8 28.Rg3
Rc5 29.Qa4 Nf4 30.Qc2 Rb5 31.Rb1 Rxb1 32.Qxb1 Rc8 33.Ne1
Ne2 34.Rf3 Qg5 35.Bg2 Qc1 36.Qb3 f6 37.Bf1 Qxe1 38.Bxe2 c2
39.Rg3 Qxf2+ 40.Rg2 Qf4+ 41.Rg3 c1=Q 42.Kg2 Qxg3+ 43.Kxg3
Qg1+ 44.Kf3 Qe3+ 0-1

On Jul 7, 3:43 am, Antonio_Espinosa
wrote:
One problem I noticed was that in order to get these
guys out of their books, you had to take a lot of risk.
Now, I'm not against taking risk if the returns are worth
it, but isn't there some other way which averts the lost
positions and still attains the same objective? For
example, in the last of these three (Drei) games, you
came mighty close to getting checkmated before exiting
the starting gate! That's an awful lot of risk, in order to
win one game against someone your own strength
(i.e. rating).

Exactly, an huge risk, because even a comparatively weak (but well
prepared) player can beat a GM as black. This opening is in trouble,
as far as I know.


But even apart from the opening itself, the p-f6 beginner's
blunder, Mr. Sloan took massive risks in trying to play a
wildly double-edged game. In particular, in his third game
-- the one I was mainly taking about before -- he survived
the early opening intact, but then proceeded to allow his
opponent to get an easily won game, which of course he
piddled away, whereupon the indomitable Sam Sloan
launched a violent and decisive counterattack. But the
whole thing comes across as desperately striving to "look
brilliant", since it is all so embarrassingly unsound. Here's
the rub: is anyone really going to buy that such a win was
brilliant, rather than haphazard and lucky? A few, perhaps.
But who cares what THEY think? :D

-- help bot

"Curious George" Why did you forget to mention or post your 9th round
game, Sam, where you got toasted playing g4 against a 14-year-old girl?


He only lost because he was slapping sammy under the table while he was
zoning in on her perky young breasts.