Good proposition, thanx (not sure if I can join a normal game though; I don't have a full version of Chessbase, so I can only enter Playchess in the room for guests).. but it'll have to wait as I'm currently ..ahem.. at work (you know.. working.. ). tbh I don't play much on-line nowadays, (was trying to focus on books and OTB in order to improve a bit), but I may join Playchess over the next days for a few games.. (orthodox easter holidays are just around the corner)..

Not quite sure I'm afraid as I haven't played many games. My actual international ELO is ~1820 (based on a handful of games) and my national ELO is ~400 points less (!). This year I was usually facing 1900-2200 opposition OTB with mixed to bad results, so I guess I can hold my own against 1900 and maybe against 2000 on a good day

..but 2450(!) - that's way over my head..

rossia wrote on 04/15/08 at 17:40:02:


Well good for you . Alas, I've only been playing the Leni for a year now and feels like I'm still going upwards on the learning curve..

I remember 2 Bg5, and 2 Nf3 and 3 Bg5, getting good citations in Batsford Chess Openings 2 (the latter line was given as "+=") but maybe improvements have been found for Black.   

There's apparently plenty of books written from Black's perspective against the Staunton Gambit, which is only good for equality, though I've generally had good results on the few occasions that I've tried it with White.

rossia wrote on 04/15/08 at 17:40:02:





I come here for the chess, but I stay for the comedy.

About 2.Qd3 d6?! 3.Nc3! see my thread which nobody has answered yet: http://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1202745399

So I prefer 2. ... d5 when black is fine.

Yes, here is the game:



Galego,L (2451) - Dias,P (2267) [A80]
Portuguese Masters Viseu (5), 16.02.2000
[Neil McDonald]

1.d4 f5 2.Qd3 d5 

Perhaps the best response to White's queen foray is to let him play e4, as it proves less dangerous than g4! For example
 
[2...d6!? 3.e4 (3.g4 still needs investigating. One possibility is 3...fxg4 4.h3 g3!? 5.fxg3 g6 etc.) 3...fxe4 4.Qxe4 Nf6 5.Qh4 Bf5 6.c3 e6 and Black was solidly placed in Lev-Soffer, Tel Aviv 1990.;
 
On the other hand, 2...g6 3.g4!? fxg4 4.h3 Nf6?! (4...g3! looks best.) 5.hxg4 Bg7 6.g5 Nh5 7.e4 d5 8.Bg2 Nc6 9.c3 was good for White in Alberdi-Hoang Thang Trang, Oviedo 1993.] 

3.g4!? 

Evidently Galego now prefers this to the more orthodox [3.c4 when after 3...e6 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.g3 c6 6.Bg2 Bd6 7.Nh3 0-0 8.0-0 b6 9.Re1 Ba6 Black had found a way to exploit the position of the white queen in Galego- Ochoa de Echarguen, Cuba 1992.] 

3...fxg4 4.h3 Nf6 

A common recipe for Black in such positions is to give back the pawn to stabilise the kingside. However, [4...g3 hasn't worked out particularly well for Black, e.g. 5.fxg3 (5.Qxg3!?) 5...Nf6 6.Nc3 c6 7.e4 with an edge for White in Sorensen-Mortensen, Copenhagen 1994.] 

5.hxg4 Bxg4 6.f3 6...Bh5!

(Be6? This isn't a very happy square for the bishop, which will have to move again and so allow White to build up his game with gain of time)

What about 1. d4 f5, 2.Qd3!?..

Do you guys have any experience on this with either the white or the black pieces?

I have something like 95% as white on this line playing on the chess servers up to 30 0 time controls but still reluctant to try it on the board..