march 1 2005

Master's word 

The game of the day almost led the bidon master to change places with his most brilliant "pupil-sic", Pierre in this case, so much his knowledge of opening (French defence) eclipsed that of the speaker. He regained the advantage in the middle of the game, rebutting Timman and some prestigious analysts. Any "honest man" should be able to tell in 30 seconds which famous game he is talking about. But not everyone knows that the 17th black move loses and the 21st white move lets the win slip away, even if it cannot be criticized from a practical point of view... A fine example, frequent in studies and problems, but rare in game, of an exchange between good and bad after a barely perceptible change (what I called the Mandler effect) . Another] game, where the white player has given a "stroke of the ball" (understand who can) to the black Chinese.

Master's diagrams