Smerdon’s self-promotion
*** EDIT: The ’50 Moves’ guys have kindly decided to make the webinar FREE!! So register here.
Well, the attention my Nakamura/Mcshane post received was overwhelming, with my website getting over ten times the normal number of comments for an article – some constructive, some hilarious, and a couple of ‘bizarros’. The post got picked up by most major chess news sites as well. And all that from some back-of-an-envelope scribbles!
Of course, Naka had to go and win the thing and thus ‘disprove’ my arguments, as I feared! And he deserves a lot of praise for his guts and determination, particularly in the tie-break. His play in the final itself was outstanding. Still, just like someone who gets lucky on roulette, it doesn’t mean the decision was correct ‘ex-ante’, as we say. Some of the discussions were so fruitful that I went back and created a full mathematical model, although I’ve been too busy to type it all up. Also, it will be quite a boring read to most people, so I might just drop it in as an attachment in the near future.
One of the reasons I don’t have time is that, for readers who don’t already know, I have a ‘normal’ job. I work at the University of Amsterdam and am finally on the home straight towards finishing a PhD in economics. That doesn’t leave time for much chess, whether it be writing, playing or teaching.
However, I’m making an exception this Sunday, and – *warning* – this is where the self-promotion kicks in. The Aussie guys behind the 50 Moves Magazine approached me about doing a live ‘webinar’ for them on the topic of the Scandinavian, and particularly my 3…Bg4 repertoire. So that’s happening this Sunday from 7.30pm-8.30pm Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT). AEDT’s a bit confusing, but it’s just the current time in Sydney (+11 UTC) and you can check out how it works with your location here.
The time’s not very convenient for North/South Americans, I must admit, so I don’t want you to feel left out. You can see a free, low-quality version of a lecture on the Scandinavian I did quite a while ago below:
I won’t just talk about the Scandinavian, but will use it as a case study for how to choose a practical opening repertoire for part-time chess players, and other opening tips. The cost is AUD $15 FREE!!, and you can sign up here.
See you on Sunday!
I’d recommend slightly modifying your mindset first. 2.d3 is weak, but like many moves that aren’t the best, that doesn’t mean you should be out to ‘punish’ them. It’s exactly this mentality that Black tries to exploit by playing the Scandinavian with …Bg4 – hoping that White goes too far trying to punish us.
After 2.d3 the position is already equal. You can play 2…e5 with a reversed Philador’s Defence, but I prefer just to take on e4, swap queens and play the endgame with a slightly more comfortable position for Black.
Hello
I bought your book. People play 2d3 against me a lot what would you recommend to punish them?
Gustavo Woltmann loves learning about chess- Gustavo Woltmann