Traps, Tricks & Mistakes: Good Preparation
Nairobi Chess Club (NCC) develops a wide program of activities for its members. Among others, the program includes tournaments, lessons, and game review from recent local competitions.
During the month of May, 2023, the topic of all the lessons was the Sicilian Defence, Dragon Variation. Members of NCC presented various sound lines on that particular variation.
On May,6th, Willy Simons brought as an example the game Karpov-Korchnoi, from the final of the Candidates 1974. The game featured the so-called Yugoslav Attack. Despite Korchnoi being an expert in that opening, Karpov uncorked a novelty and won the game in only 26 moves.
By that time no one was using computers for analyzing and preparing games. So, this game serves as an example of deep opening preparation. It’s worth mentioning that Karpov didn’t prepare an unusual line, but an attacking one where his opponent had extensive experience.
Karpov’s own explanatory comments from his book “My Best Games” accompany the game below:
Coming well prepared for a game has advantages. Karpov points out one of them in his comments, which is to save time for the middle game where the main fight takes place.
While both players were blitzing for the initial 18 moves, Korchnoi needed 36 minutes of deep thought before taking a decision for his 19th move. It was because of the surprise caused by Karpov’s 19.Rd3 novelty.
If you enjoy chess but are unable to attend a local club, then join our virtual Chess.com club. On our site, we regularly play online tournaments and team matches. There is also Blitz every last Saturday in the month. More than 820 members enjoy that chance and new players join every week. There are new tournaments for the coming months that need players! Join now! Limited slots!
