MNb wrote on 10/02/09 at 03:44:43:


Maybe Christoph's book is a practical joke.  But what was this Dutch conspiracy?

dmp4373 wrote on 10/03/09 at 10:46:38:


Information on book releases from Amazon.com is often not reliable. But if you really need to know, you might want to consider contacting the publisher directly (there is an email on their website), rather than posting in an open forum unrelated to the publisher. 

Some jokes, if that is what they appear be, are in bad taste. That is my opinion.

Markovich wrote on 10/01/09 at 17:04:43:

Gambit wrote on 10/02/09 at 03:07:24:

Do many BDG-eers have problems recognizing a joke? LDZ obviously does. Is there a relation between loving the BDG and lacking a sound sense of humour? Diemer never realized he was the victim of a Dutch practical joke on grand scale.

Antillian wrote on 10/01/09 at 14:46:05:


No, Gambit alone has pre-ordered the entire run, and plans to sell it on the street corner, marked up by 25%.

dmp4373 wrote on 10/01/09 at 14:25:02:


Gambit and like minded BDG devotees have clearly  preordered the entire print run.

Gambit wrote on 09/22/09 at 11:15:34:


No, I don't - as the email came back to you I did not receive it. Some more easy logics might bring you to the hypothesis that you might have typed my address incorrectly. I'll send it to you again.

MNb wrote on 09/22/09 at 03:43:11:


I can try sending it again. Or don't you remember that I sent it to you and the email  came back to me for some reason?

Stigma wrote on 09/20/09 at 16:59:49:


As a matter of fact, being a fan of Summerscale's "Killer Chess Opening Repertoire" I played a number of d-pawn specials, though you will hardly find much games as most of them are not available on the Internet.

As for the BDG update, there are contract issues regarding my book that still need to be resolved; I asked my publisher about doing the update, but haven't gotten an answer yet.

Will keep you posted.

SWJediknight wrote on 09/21/09 at 22:01:27:


You can't be serious, SWJedi! I have played against 4...c6, 5...g6, 5...Bg4, 5...Bf5 and 5...e6 for many years. I have a good positive score against all these lines.

It sounds like you are talking about the case where Black knows how to play the defense; however, in most cases, this is not so. You think that in over-the-board tournament games Black is going to know the latest BDG theory? Not really! More to the point, the Black player will be very surprised to see a BDG!

The lines with 5...g6, the Bogoljubow Defense, have a weakness: Bg7!
Exchange the little bastard with a timely Bh6, and Black's position is in trouble!

1 d4 d5 2 e4 de4 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 f3 ef3 5 Nxf3 g6 6 Bc4 Bg7 7 00 00 8 h3! c6 9 Qe1 Nbd7 10 Qh4 Nb6 11 Bb3 Nbd5 12 Bd5 cxd5 13 Bh6! Bf5 14 Ng5!

is one possible line. Notice how the h3-pawn guards the key g4-square?

The lines with 5...Bg4, the Teichmann Defense simply give White a big edge in development and an attack. For instance:

5...Bg4 6 h3 Bh5 7 g4 Bg6 8 Qf3 c6 9 g5 Nfd5 10 Nxg6 hxg6 11 00 gives White a strong attack and a lead in development. Also possible is 11 Rf1

5...Bg4 6 h3 Bxf3 7 Qxf3 c6 and now:

8 Qf2, the Cieselski Variation

8 Be3, the Classical Variation

8 g4!, the Seidell-Hall Attack

In these lines, White has the 2 Bishops and open files, similar to the King's Gambit Accepted.

Now, I agree with you that the Euwe Defense, 5...e6, is extremely passive. White gets an edge there, since the Bc8 is shut out.

Regarding the pesky 4...c6 / 5...c6 lines, I suggest you read David Flude's earlier post here. He states that antidotes have been found.

Keep in touch.

Since neither the Danish nor the Goering, White's center-pawn gambits after 1.e4, offer full comp, it would be a little bit surprising if the Blackmar-Diemer offered full comp.  I don't say it's not possible, but it would be surprising.

TonyRo wrote on 09/21/09 at 17:04:58:


Check out earlier posts here!

It is good to see that Christoph Scheerer has come up with antidotes to the 4...c6 and 5...c6 lines in the BDG. Now the old adage that Bobby Fischer once said still holds true:

"A gambit's refutation lies in its acceptance."

In other words, only by accepting the gambit can you attempt to refute it.


I look forward to buying a copy of Scheerer's book. Also, I would write a book myself about the BDG if there is a market for it!

dmp4373 wrote on 09/20/09 at 05:53:01:


I agree, but at least the last 2 months have seen a Tromp and Colle update, and now a BDG. It would be nice to see a Torre update next, perhaps? 

It's certainly good news that Christoph is interested in doing a BDG update. But what about after that? You can't have a BDG update every month; Mnb and the other anti-BDG crazies would have a heart attack!

The d-pawn Specials universe covers a lot of different openings. It would be nice if a wide variety of them were reported on with some regularity. If you play the London System this site has been a gold mine and you've more than got your money's worth. If not...

TonyRo wrote on 09/18/09 at 18:38:44:


Christoph is interested in doing it.

Can we get an "update update" Tony? Any idea as to who will be doing the next d-pawn specials update?

Lusty Zionist chess girls? 

I guess I should have properly vetted him before recommending he be appointed d-pawn specials Czar.

I would like to add one more thing and I mean no disrespect to Eric Prie by writing this. He's given extensive coverage of the London (which he plays), but what a breath of fresh air it is to finally gets some news on the Colle and hopefully other d-pawn openings.

The BDG is a line prone to biased analysis- from both sides- so I think we would need someone with a reasonably unbiased view on the opening.

And I don't think LDZ is unbiased, somehow...

I agree that Christoph Scheerer sounds a good choice given that he's just written a book on the line.

Could he be trusted to not write some drivel about Zionism, girls in chess, lustiest Zionist chess girls on ICC, or something? Doubt it.

Commendable enthusiasm, but you cannot have an 1800 or whatever he is dishing out nonsense to paying customers.

While his ardour is commendable, his playing strength and bizarre rants suggest  he may not be an ideal choice for all.

At least an IM please. FMs no stronger than me, so a proper title ideally. Someone who plays this stuff. 

Palliser? Always a reliable guide who does his research. Welling - an interesting, imaginative player but does he punt this? Scheerer - a oneoff BDG would be tolerable, but not too much please? One cannot and should not always pander to the lowest level of taste. Even Channel 4 took off Big Brother finally.

If Scheerer/Wisnewski is not available you might try Gerard Welling.

The newly minted auteur should be master level at least, tho.....no?

dmp4373 wrote on 09/15/09 at 14:42:46:


Need I say the name?  I refrain from doing so lest I conjure his appearance here.

I second Christoph Scheerer

Christoph Scheerer is probably done with the manuscript of his new BDG book and is also a member here under the handle of IM Christoph Wisnewski. When I was trying to think of someone qualified to take on a BDG update, his name was the only one I could think of!