Artikelnummer
LODRUAO
Autor
Alapin's Opening
47 Seiten, kartoniert, Chess Enterprises, 4. Auflage 1997, Erstauflage 1984
Final vergriffen
The last decade has seen frequent adoption and popularity of openings once considered unsound. Alapin's Opening is a line yet to be re-discovered. Grandmaster Andy Soltis notes that it was "never refuted and frequently successful" in the hands of its father, Semyon Alapin, one of the strongest Russian players of his day. Thus, we have yet another way to take your opponent out of his "book". And the opening is playable if you know what you are doing.
Very few chessplayers have actually heard of Simon Alapin except in some obscure footnote. It is quite unfortunate because he was one of the strongest Russian players of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Alapin was born November 7, 1856 in Vilna. His full name was Semyon Zinovievich Alapin. He was an independently wealthy man whose hobby was chess. He scored first place with Chigorin at St. Petersburg 1878-9 and drew a match with Schlech-ter in 1899. He played in Berlin 1897 and finished 6th in a field of twenty. It was in this tournament that he uncorked his 2 Ne2!? He also played in Vienna (Wien) 1898 and was active up until the end of the second decade of the 20th century.
Alapin was a bit eccentric, but a genius at innovating and creating tactical complications in the opening and middle game. He contributed to the theory of the French Defense and suggested, for a short time, 3...Bb4? in the Ruy Lopez.
Alapin played chess until the end of his life on July 15, 1923.
This pamphlet is an attempt to catalogue into one manuscript all of the published lines and opinions on the moves 1 e4 e5 2 Ne2!?, now known as Alapin's Opening. It is certain that there had been others who played 2 Ne2 prior to Alapin doing so. In fact, Section III shows that the move was considered playable as early as 1864 by some who were familiar with more standard openings. However, Alapin was by far the most talented player to give serious consideration to this seemingly illogical move. It was probably first played by Alapin in 1893 in a correspondence game with Lange. From then on, over the next decade and a half, he played it against such opponents as Suchting - Berlin 1897 - and the great Rubinstein - Vienna 1908. The amazing thing about this feat is that in all the games, Alapin stood better or equal well into the opening! He got into some trouble against Rubinstein only because he experimented, seeking an improvement on move 10, by deviating from his previous line of play. The simple fact is that from all of my analyses and editing of Master's opinions, one point seems clear. 1 e4 e5 2 Ne2 is not that bad a move!
How can this be? As one Master put it, "Chess is a game of understanding, not memory." Most of us were taught that there were certain principles of development that should not be violated. That knights belong on c3, f3, c6 and f6 and that they must be placed there at once. This is not necessarily true. It is important for each player to strive for control of the center squares, but this can be done in various ways, as Nimzowitsch has shown. In some lines of the Alapin the aim is to post a White knight on f4 where it controls d5. Then on Nbc3 White has control over an essential center square. However, the drawback in this idea is that it takes White two moves to get a knight to f4, thus giving Black more time to develop. Black, however, must know not only how to develop, but why. He must understand that since White has slightly changed his development plan, the overall board position and strategy must be slightly altered. As Chernev has said, "Chess is not a game to be played mechanically." We must understand exactly what White is striving for by 2 Ne2 if we are to attempt to refute it.
Since I am not a Grandmaster, most of this manuscript was based on opinions given by Grandmasters and Masters. Whenever I listed their opinion it is followed by a bracket with a coded reference to the original source. However, there are some places and lines which I have given that were the result of home analysis, fellow Candidate Master opinions, and that which was considered to be the most probable move. I have chosen to omit a good number of the lines which transpose into other openings (such as the Scotch Game, Vienna Game and the Keres' Variation of the Sicilian). A note for American players; in some places the spellings are slightly different concerning players, places, etc., due to my following the source of that particular material. For example, Wien (Vienna), Levinfis (Levinfish), etc.
I am sure that there are mistakes within the analysis of such an obscure line. I would be truly grateful if such mistakes were brought to my attention. I am also interested in seeing all games, whether master or beginner, postal or over-the-board. Please write in care of the publisher.
I hope you will have as much fun playing the Alapin as I have had in preparing this manuscript.
Good luck!
Very few chessplayers have actually heard of Simon Alapin except in some obscure footnote. It is quite unfortunate because he was one of the strongest Russian players of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Alapin was born November 7, 1856 in Vilna. His full name was Semyon Zinovievich Alapin. He was an independently wealthy man whose hobby was chess. He scored first place with Chigorin at St. Petersburg 1878-9 and drew a match with Schlech-ter in 1899. He played in Berlin 1897 and finished 6th in a field of twenty. It was in this tournament that he uncorked his 2 Ne2!? He also played in Vienna (Wien) 1898 and was active up until the end of the second decade of the 20th century.
Alapin was a bit eccentric, but a genius at innovating and creating tactical complications in the opening and middle game. He contributed to the theory of the French Defense and suggested, for a short time, 3...Bb4? in the Ruy Lopez.
Alapin played chess until the end of his life on July 15, 1923.
This pamphlet is an attempt to catalogue into one manuscript all of the published lines and opinions on the moves 1 e4 e5 2 Ne2!?, now known as Alapin's Opening. It is certain that there had been others who played 2 Ne2 prior to Alapin doing so. In fact, Section III shows that the move was considered playable as early as 1864 by some who were familiar with more standard openings. However, Alapin was by far the most talented player to give serious consideration to this seemingly illogical move. It was probably first played by Alapin in 1893 in a correspondence game with Lange. From then on, over the next decade and a half, he played it against such opponents as Suchting - Berlin 1897 - and the great Rubinstein - Vienna 1908. The amazing thing about this feat is that in all the games, Alapin stood better or equal well into the opening! He got into some trouble against Rubinstein only because he experimented, seeking an improvement on move 10, by deviating from his previous line of play. The simple fact is that from all of my analyses and editing of Master's opinions, one point seems clear. 1 e4 e5 2 Ne2 is not that bad a move!
How can this be? As one Master put it, "Chess is a game of understanding, not memory." Most of us were taught that there were certain principles of development that should not be violated. That knights belong on c3, f3, c6 and f6 and that they must be placed there at once. This is not necessarily true. It is important for each player to strive for control of the center squares, but this can be done in various ways, as Nimzowitsch has shown. In some lines of the Alapin the aim is to post a White knight on f4 where it controls d5. Then on Nbc3 White has control over an essential center square. However, the drawback in this idea is that it takes White two moves to get a knight to f4, thus giving Black more time to develop. Black, however, must know not only how to develop, but why. He must understand that since White has slightly changed his development plan, the overall board position and strategy must be slightly altered. As Chernev has said, "Chess is not a game to be played mechanically." We must understand exactly what White is striving for by 2 Ne2 if we are to attempt to refute it.
Since I am not a Grandmaster, most of this manuscript was based on opinions given by Grandmasters and Masters. Whenever I listed their opinion it is followed by a bracket with a coded reference to the original source. However, there are some places and lines which I have given that were the result of home analysis, fellow Candidate Master opinions, and that which was considered to be the most probable move. I have chosen to omit a good number of the lines which transpose into other openings (such as the Scotch Game, Vienna Game and the Keres' Variation of the Sicilian). A note for American players; in some places the spellings are slightly different concerning players, places, etc., due to my following the source of that particular material. For example, Wien (Vienna), Levinfis (Levinfish), etc.
I am sure that there are mistakes within the analysis of such an obscure line. I would be truly grateful if such mistakes were brought to my attention. I am also interested in seeing all games, whether master or beginner, postal or over-the-board. Please write in care of the publisher.
I hope you will have as much fun playing the Alapin as I have had in preparing this manuscript.
Good luck!
| EAN | 0931462239 |
|---|---|
| Gewicht | 100 g |
| Hersteller | Chess Enterprises |
| Breite | 13,8 cm |
| Höhe | 21,6 cm |
| Medium | Buch |
| Erscheinungsjahr | 1997 |
| Autor | Dennis Druash |
| Sprache | Englisch |
| Auflage | 4 |
| ISBN-10 | 0931462239 |
| Jahr der Erstauflage | 1984 |
| Seiten | 47 |
| Einband | kartoniert |
07 Section I The cautious moves 2...d6; 2...Nc6; 2...Bc5
07 Section I-A 1 e4 e5 2 Ne2 d6
10 Section I-B 1 e4 e5 2 Ne2 Nc6
12 Section I-C 1 e4 e5 2 Ne2 Bc5
15 Section II The Sicilian 2...c5; and transposition lines with c5
1 e4 e5 2 Ne2 c5!?
17 Section III The Center Counter, 2...d5
20 Section IV-A The Counter Attack, 2...Nf6
21 Sectionn IV-A 1 e4 e5 2 Ne2 Nf6 3 f4 ef (including 3...d6)
23 Section IV-B 1 e4 e5 2 Ne2 Nf6 3 f4 Nxe4
26 Section IV-C 1 e4 e5 2 Ne2 Nf6 3 Nbc3
28 Section IV-D 1 e4 e5 2 Ne2 Nf6 3 d3
30 Section V Unusual Black Responses, 2...f5, and 2...Qh4?
30 Section V-A 1 e4 e5 2 Ne2 f5
32 Section V-B 1 e4 e5 2 Ne2 Qh4?
41 Appendix
46 Games Index
07 Section I-A 1 e4 e5 2 Ne2 d6
10 Section I-B 1 e4 e5 2 Ne2 Nc6
12 Section I-C 1 e4 e5 2 Ne2 Bc5
15 Section II The Sicilian 2...c5; and transposition lines with c5
1 e4 e5 2 Ne2 c5!?
17 Section III The Center Counter, 2...d5
20 Section IV-A The Counter Attack, 2...Nf6
21 Sectionn IV-A 1 e4 e5 2 Ne2 Nf6 3 f4 ef (including 3...d6)
23 Section IV-B 1 e4 e5 2 Ne2 Nf6 3 f4 Nxe4
26 Section IV-C 1 e4 e5 2 Ne2 Nf6 3 Nbc3
28 Section IV-D 1 e4 e5 2 Ne2 Nf6 3 d3
30 Section V Unusual Black Responses, 2...f5, and 2...Qh4?
30 Section V-A 1 e4 e5 2 Ne2 f5
32 Section V-B 1 e4 e5 2 Ne2 Qh4?
41 Appendix
46 Games Index