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Very Hot Topic (More than 25 Replies) Esserman "Mayhem in the Morra" (Read 173643 times)
Fromper
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Re: Esserman "Mayhem in the Morra"
Reply #128 - 03/05/13 at 19:30:31
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So I noticed a lot of talk in this thread about black declining the gambit with Nf6, which apparently is covered in this book. What about other ways of declining it? Does Esserman cover d5, d3, g6, etc instead of Nf6?

Also, I have the original edition of Langrock's Morra book, and I noticed references to a 2nd edition, which was apparently published during my 1.5 year break from chess. Is it worth the money to upgrade?
  

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Re: Esserman "Mayhem in the Morra"
Reply #127 - 01/29/13 at 07:31:51
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Dink Heckler wrote on 01/10/13 at 14:43:59:
Chess Today #4446 annotates (drawing on  Esserman's analysis) the game Weber (1862) - Meijers (2479) from Rd 1 of the recently completed Bad Zwesten Open (1-0, 24), which shows the dangers of trying to wing it as Black in the Morra. Meijers' wounds were salved somewhat, as his Swiss Gambit allowed him to win the tournament outright with 6/7  Smiley


Amazing that a GM did not know this line.
In fact I played Weber two days ago in a club game. That game went 1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3 Nc6 5.Nf3 d6 6.Bc4 e6 (of course) 7.0-0 Be7 8.Qe2 Nf6 9.Rd1 e5 10.Be3!? (maybe better than 10.h3, saving a tempo because Bg4 is no threat) 0-0 11.Rc1 Be6 12.Bb5?! (better might be 12.b4) Qa5 (Ng4!?) 13.Bd2 Qb6 14.Be3 Qa5 15.Bd2 Qb6 16.Be3 and drawn by repetition,
  
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Re: Esserman "Mayhem in the Morra"
Reply #126 - 01/10/13 at 15:30:46
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Dink Heckler wrote on 01/10/13 at 14:43:59:
Chess Today #4446 annotates (drawing on  Esserman's analysis) the game Weber (1862) - Meijers (2479) from Rd 1 of the recently completed Bad Zwesten Open (1-0, 24), which shows the dangers of trying to wing it as Black in the Morra. Meijers' wounds were salved somewhat, as his Swiss Gambit allowed him to win the tournament outright with 6/7  Smiley


I noticed that game in this week's TWIC.  Of course, the way Meijers played (starting on move 6) has been considered at least doubtful since forever.
  
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Dink Heckler
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Re: Esserman "Mayhem in the Morra"
Reply #125 - 01/10/13 at 14:43:59
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Chess Today #4446 annotates (drawing on  Esserman's analysis) the game Weber (1862) - Meijers (2479) from Rd 1 of the recently completed Bad Zwesten Open (1-0, 24), which shows the dangers of trying to wing it as Black in the Morra. Meijers' wounds were salved somewhat, as his Swiss Gambit allowed him to win the tournament outright with 6/7  Smiley
  

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Re: Esserman "Mayhem in the Morra"
Reply #124 - 11/01/12 at 13:11:10
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tp2205 wrote on 10/28/12 at 06:27:17:
Of course Esserman's book is very much written from White's point of view.

Do you have any concrete variation where Black's best options are hidden?


Not right now, but there almost every other line ends with something like 'this could be a continuation' and the first move for Black is awarded a question mark, while in the footnote to the move before that, it says, 'Black should have played' with equal chances.

One line I don't remember on top of my head was in the declined with ...Nf6, where White plays Qe2. Clearly Black's best option is not given in that line.
  
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Re: Esserman "Mayhem in the Morra"
Reply #123 - 11/01/12 at 03:59:48
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Quote:
There's a discution about this position in another thread.I don't have new Langrock (not yet) and Esserman but some months ago i've worked this one . Langrock give 10.Rd1 (by transposition ,see the other thread) but it's too stereotyded and 10.Nd4 immidiately gain a crucial tempo in view of the sacrifice on e6 and my conclusion was that black is in trouble!


Ok, so my computer hates it for white (after 10...Bb7). Could you please point me to the thread or give some more moves from the book ? If it turns out that -0.6 given by my H3 is in fact decent position for white I am instantly buying this book.
  
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Re: Esserman "Mayhem in the Morra"
Reply #122 - 10/28/12 at 06:27:17
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fling wrote on 10/27/12 at 21:32:10:
I finally bought the book. My first impressions:
I am not thrilled by the language for reasons already mentioned before. Tongue in cheek or not. The analysis seems very good but i still get the feeling something is missing or hidden from me in some lines.

I'll try to explain what i mean:
I have compared to Langrock 2ed e.g. Esserman often analyses a line and then seems to give suboptimal play for Black and in a small sidenote hidden somewhere states Black should try this or that which equalizes. Kinda similar to the feeling I get when looking at Taylor's work. Langorock instead seems upfront honest with what is good and bad for BOTH sides.

Nobody else that felt the same way?


I had that feeling about Flesch's book. (Transpositions which were leading nowhere, missing moves for Black).

I don't have Langrock 2 and so far I have only looked at the Siberian wilderness and that chapter looks fine as far as I can tell. The 6 ... Nf6 move order seems to be ok for Black and that is clearly stated: 'the battle rages fierce'.

Of course Esserman's book is very much written from White's point of view.

Do you have any concrete variation where Black's best options are hidden?
  
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Re: Esserman "Mayhem in the Morra"
Reply #121 - 10/27/12 at 21:32:10
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I finally bought the book. My first impressions:
I am not thrilled by the language for reasons already mentioned before. Tongue in cheek or not. The analysis seems very good but i still get the feeling something is missing or hidden from me in some lines.

I'll try to explain what i mean:
I have compared to Langrock 2ed e.g. Esserman often analyses a line and then seems to give suboptimal play for Black and in a small sidenote hidden somewhere states Black should try this or that which equalizes. Kinda similar to the feeling I get when looking at Taylor's work. Langorock instead seems upfront honest with what is good and bad for BOTH sides.

Nobody else that felt the same way?
  
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Re: Esserman "Mayhem in the Morra"
Reply #120 - 10/16/12 at 18:42:05
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Ah but that takes thought Wink To be honest I just don't understand what black is trying to do with 8.. d5 and the subsequent play.

I can't work out why open the center at this point, or play Bxc3 unprovoked, or some of the rest. I am of course likely simply showing my ignorance in places Smiley (Bg4 x f3 seems an especially odd waste of time.).

The Grivas lines after 8.. o-o seem much more like the sort of thing black would normally be trying to do in this sort of set up.
  
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Re: Esserman "Mayhem in the Morra"
Reply #119 - 10/16/12 at 12:22:57
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MartinC wrote on 10/16/12 at 11:41:26:
So black leaves his king in center, opens up said center and happily gives away the bishop pair in the process without any clear reason?

Hardly a surprise when said bishops/rooks end up catching the king Smiley


OK, good points, thxs. He snatches two pawns on the way only to find that "greed kills" in the end for the good reasons you have given. Like that. Still, concretely, where to improve? I need moves should I once try the "professionals choice" (or perhaps I shouldn't...).
  
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Re: Esserman "Mayhem in the Morra"
Reply #118 - 10/16/12 at 11:41:26
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So black leaves his king in center, opens up said center and happily gives away the bishop pair in the process without any clear reason?

Hardly a surprise when said bishops/rooks end up catching the king Smiley
  
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Re: Esserman "Mayhem in the Morra"
Reply #117 - 10/16/12 at 10:35:38
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If anyone on this threat would be interested in the chess content in Essermans book (rather than discussing his style of writing), I would be happy to know what people think about his suggestion in the critical line, which he calls "the professional's choice". It goes like this:

1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Nxc3 e6 5. Nf3 Nc6  6. Bc4 Bb4 7. O-O Nge7, when Esserman now suggests 
8. Qc2!?

I found lengthy analysis of this by Goeller in a review article on the book (attached in PGN). They end up with "a winning position" for white after 20 moves going as follows:
8... d5! 9. Rd1 Bxc3 10. bxc3! Qa5 11. exd5 exd5 12. Bd3 Bg4 13. Bf4 Bxf3 14. gxf3 Rc8 15. Rab1 Nd4 16. Qb2 Nxf3+ 17. Kh1 Qxc3 18. Qxc3 Rxc3 19. Rxb7 Nc6 20. Bd6

Any ideas on how to improve the game for Black from move 8 and beyond?


« Last Edit: 10/16/12 at 15:45:14 by Knightcut »  
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Re: Esserman "Mayhem in the Morra"
Reply #116 - 10/14/12 at 22:27:19
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I received my copy of the book just under a week ago.  To be honest, until recently I was never particularly enthusiastic about the Morra, but I've been having a lot of fun with it recently after learning about White's ways to liven up the play (rather than the stereotypical Qe2, Rd1 and put pressure on d6 etc).

As for the book, I find it very entertaining to read and certainly a good way to further enhance my recent enthusiasm for the line (particularly important is the fact that he offers some lines against 3...Nf6). 

Regarding the dubious comments re. manliness and women, for me he manages to get away with it because of the generally light-hearted tone of the book.  I generally find that sort of thing somewhat offensive if it is meant seriously, but just mildly uncomfortable otherwise- though I can understand others taking a different view.

Re. Esserman giving up the Morra, the Chesslive.de database doesn't have any games of his since 2011, suggesting that he may well have given up on competitive chess for the time being.
« Last Edit: 10/14/12 at 23:29:38 by SWJediknight »  
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Re: Esserman "Mayhem in the Morra"
Reply #115 - 09/30/12 at 00:38:26
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Markovich wrote on 09/28/12 at 13:29:43:
Saying that this is about style is avoiding the issue; which is the pointed content of much of this writing.  It's possible to write in a highly enthusiastic, voluble style and not engage in the nastiness that Esserman does is this work.  If all of this being allowed into print was really the result of your thinking that this was acceptable writing, and not, as I supposed, the result of a throwing up of hands in light of time and resource constraints, then I would question your taste.  Different people have different tastes, of course; I can only express my own. 

There appears to be no point in pursuing this discussion any further, so I don't think I will.  I value this book, just not the writing in it.


Fair enough. Perhaps there has been the equivalent of a 'personality clash' here, whereby Esserman's writing style has somehow resonated with you in a particularly unpleasant way. I see it as quirky and interesting, and I still don't see any reason to call it nasty, but I suppose we'll just have to agree to differ, and allow other readers to make up their own minds.

Despite our disagreement, I do appreciate your objectivity in praising the quality of the chess analysis.
  
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Re: Esserman "Mayhem in the Morra"
Reply #114 - 09/29/12 at 20:50:20
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Bibs wrote on 09/29/12 at 11:47:49:
For more gratuitous sexism, we present Adrian Mikhalchishin:

http://ankara2012.fide.com/en/component/content/article/1-news-en/182-game-of-th...

"Mens resigne is such situations,but girls can not do it for psyhological reasons <sic>. 35...Nxg6 36.Qxa1 Qg7 37.Bd4 Kh7 38.d7 Qe7 39.Bxe5 Nxe5 40.Qxe5 1–0"

Tw@t.
And to think he is a women's coach. 

Off topic (but when was the last post discussing the Morra gambit?), but Black played a variation which has been refuted quite spectacularly (a double gambit) on this forum: http://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1292017017/46#46
  
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