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Very Hot Topic (More than 25 Replies) C18: The nameless 7...Qa4 variation of the Winawer (Read 33003 times)
MNb
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Re: The nameless ...7. Qa4 variation of the Winawer
Reply #28 - 07/10/11 at 20:39:30
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Alas, I would have loved to play 32...bxa4 at the end the game, but because of 30.axb5 it was against the rules.
  
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Re: The nameless ...7. Qa4 variation of the Winawer
Reply #27 - 07/10/11 at 19:56:09
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MNb wrote on 10/01/10 at 20:29:11:
When I faced 3.Nc3 no less than four times in the CL I decided to try the Portisch Variation (Lady sings the blues) twice. A few months ago one game ended in a draw. As I was very busy with school I simply forgot to put the game score here.

Kukula,Pawel - MNb
CB/2010/C2, 2010
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Qa5 7.Bd2 Qa4 8.Nf3 b6 9.c4 Ba6 10.cxd5 Bxf1 11.Kxf1 exd5 12.g3 Ne7 13.Kg2 0–0 14.c3 Qc6 15.Bg5 Ng6 16.a4 Nd7 17.Re1 f6 18.exf6 Nxf6 19.Bxf6 Rxf6 20.Ne5 Nxe5 21.Rxe5 Raf8 22.f4 Rf5 23.Rxf5 Rxf5 24.Ra2 Rf6 25.Re2 Re6 26.Re5 Rxe5 27.fxe5 cxd4 28.cxd4 a6 29.Qb3 b5 30.axb5 axb5 31.h4 Qc4 32.Qd1 b4 33.e6 Qc6 ˝–˝

Again I never felt in danger, but also short of winning chances.


8.Nf3 got White nowhere is this game and at the end Black would have been a little better if he had played 32... bxa4.

To me it seems obvious that the Portisch Variation is the best name for 6... Qa5. I wouldn't take Moskalenko's Black Queen's Blues too seriously. I think he's just trying to juice up the text a bit to make his books more interesting for marketing purposes.
  
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Re: The nameless ...7. Qa4 variation of the Winawer
Reply #26 - 07/05/11 at 14:57:49
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JEH posted the link to this thread after I commented in another thread that "How to Open a Chess Game" is one of my all time favorite books.  The Portisch variation was my inspiration to try the French Defense for the first time over 35 years ago (mostly Kan Sicilians before that time) and the following game was my first foray in a tournament game.  While not theoretically valuable due to some early inaccuracies, it was an example to me of the practical value of the unusual (at the time) queen move which threw my much higher rated opponent off track.  

White A. Todd
Black WSS

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Qa5 7. Bd2 Qa4 8. Qg4 Ne7 9. Qxg7 Rg8 10. Qxh7 cxd4 11. Be2 Nbc6 12. f4? dxc3 13. Bxc3 Qxf4 14. Nh3 Qf5 15. Qxf5 Nxf5 16. Kf2 d4 17. Bd2 Nxe5 18. Rhe1 Ng4+ 19. Bxg4 Rxg4 20. Nf4 Bd7 21. h3 Rg8 22. g4 Nd6 23. Ne2?? Ne4+ and White Resigned

  
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MNb
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Re: The nameless ...7. Qa4 variation of the Winawer
Reply #25 - 10/01/10 at 20:29:11
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When I faced 3.Nc3 no less than four times in the CL I decided to try the Portisch Variation (Lady sings the blues) twice. A few months ago one game ended in a draw. As I was very busy with school I simply forgot to put the game score here.

Kukula,Pawel - MNb
CB/2010/C2, 2010
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Qa5 7.Bd2 Qa4 8.Nf3 b6 9.c4 Ba6 10.cxd5 Bxf1 11.Kxf1 exd5 12.g3 Ne7 13.Kg2 0–0 14.c3 Qc6 15.Bg5 Ng6 16.a4 Nd7 17.Re1 f6 18.exf6 Nxf6 19.Bxf6 Rxf6 20.Ne5 Nxe5 21.Rxe5 Raf8 22.f4 Rf5 23.Rxf5 Rxf5 24.Ra2 Rf6 25.Re2 Re6 26.Re5 Rxe5 27.fxe5 cxd4 28.cxd4 a6 29.Qb3 b5 30.axb5 axb5 31.h4 Qc4 32.Qd1 b4 33.e6 Qc6 ˝–˝

Again I never felt in danger, but also short of winning chances.
  
The book had the effect good books usually have: it made the stupids more stupid, the intelligent more intelligent and the other thousands of readers remained unchanged.
GC Lichtenberg
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Re: The nameless ...7. Qa4 variation of the Winawer
Reply #24 - 05/28/10 at 18:40:43
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Reverse wrote on 05/28/10 at 03:59:00:
after about 5 mins of talking about his current plans.


thanks for video link   Smiley

Select: "Live Kasparov : calling Kasparov in Moscow"

from 06:26 to 07:26 (if you want to skip the intro)

  
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Re: The nameless ...7. Qa4 variation of the Winawer
Reply #23 - 05/28/10 at 03:59:00
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So I made the trek to St. Louis, Missouri in the USA for the championship. What an incredible experience! All those US players were very friendly and the staff at the club was incredible. 

Anyway, I was able to speak to Nakamura's second about there opening choice. They had spent 18 hours! preparing over two days for that game. This game took place after the rest day. The Qa4 move, was something they didn't spend much time on. In fact Nakamura said he only knew of the game Kasparov - Anand; he was following this game, however Anand didn't play h6 like shulman did. The interesting part is that during the game KASPAROV called the live broadcast and commented on the game, after about 5 mins of talking about his current plans. 

here is the link to the website. the kasparov interview is among a bunch of other videos that can be selected on the right of the video viewer.

http://saintlouischessclub.org/videos
  
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Re: The nameless ...7. Qa4 variation of the Winawer
Reply #22 - 05/26/10 at 09:54:29
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It should also be mentioned that Viktor Moskalenko devotes a 24-page chapter of The Flexible French to the 7...Qa4 blockade.  Moskaleko  focuses on complete thematic games, with excellent coverage not, however, intended to be encyclopedic. He credits the variation to Portisch and  Hook, including photographs of both men in the chapter, but with typical enthusiasm and ingenuousness names  the variation the "Black Queen Blues," with a picture of Ella Fitzgerald! (?!). I suppose we are fortunate that the French Defense as a whole is not represented by Aimé Césaire.
Undecided 
« Last Edit: 05/26/10 at 20:47:04 by ReneDescartes »  
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Re: The nameless ...7. Qa4 variation of the Winawer
Reply #21 - 05/25/10 at 16:33:28
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Shulman's win was down to an oversight by Naka (23.Rh2??) in a position that was close to equal.  Perhaps the opening played a part in the loss, but we shouldn't get too excited by it.  Naka got a pretty comfortable game out of the opening.
  
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Re: The nameless ...7. Qa4 variation of the Winawer
Reply #20 - 05/25/10 at 13:35:58
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Accolon wrote on 05/24/10 at 16:39:25:
Great game by Schulman yesterday. Maybe Kamsky had prepared that line for his match vs. Topalov. Schulman was part of his team. Topalov chose 3.Nd2 though.


[Event "ch-USA Quads"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2010.05.23"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Nakamura,Hi"]
[Black "Shulman,Y"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2733"]
[BlackElo "2613"]
[EventDate "2010.05.22"]
[ECO "C18"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Qa5 7. Bd2 Qa4 8.
Nf3 Nc6 9. h4 cxd4 10. cxd4 Nge7 11. h5 Nxd4 12. Bd3 h6 13. Kf1 Nxf3 14.
Qxf3 b6 15. Qg3 Ba6 16. Qxg7 Bxd3+ 17. cxd3 Rg8 18. Qxh6 Qd4 19. Re1 Qxd3+
20. Kg1 Rc8 21. Bg5 Qf5 22. f4 Rc2 23. Rh2 Qd3 24. Qf6 Rxg5 25. Qxg5 Qd4+
26. Kh1 Qe3 0-1


11.c4 might be an improvement although after 11...Qd1 12.Rd1 dc4 13.Bc4 Nd5 Black shouldn't be any worse.

My recommendation would be 11.Bd3 Nd4 12.Rb1, aiming for an improved version of Nakamura's sacrifice. Need to Fritz it, though. 
  
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Re: The nameless ...7. Qa4 variation of the Winawer
Reply #19 - 05/25/10 at 13:33:58
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According to Monokroussos 23.Rh2 was a blunder. Still Black was already slightly better.

http://www.thechessmind.net/storage/chess-posts/usch2010_rd9.htm
  
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Re: The nameless ...7. Qa4 variation of the Winawer
Reply #18 - 05/24/10 at 21:52:14
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@Accolon: 

I just looked at the game...according to chessbase website, Nakamura played the opening quickly...maybe that's why I don't understand Nakamura did'nt play the 8.Qb1 or 8.Rb1 moves while Shulman played with classical "french" style.

9...cxd4!? leads directly to Kasparov's gambit variation, where I don't know the move 9...h6 (9...Ndf5!? is one system biven by Watson) but 14...b6! is very clear cut strategy from Black

  
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Re: The nameless ...7. Qa4 variation of the Winawer
Reply #17 - 05/24/10 at 16:39:25
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Great game by Schulman yesterday. Maybe Kamsky had prepared that line for his match vs. Topalov. Schulman was part of his team. Topalov chose 3.Nd2 though.


[Event "ch-USA Quads"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2010.05.23"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Nakamura,Hi"]
[Black "Shulman,Y"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2733"]
[BlackElo "2613"]
[EventDate "2010.05.22"]
[ECO "C18"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Qa5 7. Bd2 Qa4 8.
Nf3 Nc6 9. h4 cxd4 10. cxd4 Nge7 11. h5 Nxd4 12. Bd3 h6 13. Kf1 Nxf3 14.
Qxf3 b6 15. Qg3 Ba6 16. Qxg7 Bxd3+ 17. cxd3 Rg8 18. Qxh6 Qd4 19. Re1 Qxd3+
20. Kg1 Rc8 21. Bg5 Qf5 22. f4 Rc2 23. Rh2 Qd3 24. Qf6 Rxg5 25. Qxg5 Qd4+
26. Kh1 Qe3 0-1
  
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MNb
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Re: The nameless ...7. Qa4 variation of the Winawer
Reply #16 - 04/02/10 at 01:42:21
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Hook after Qg4 always played ...Kf8, while Portisch preferred ...g6 - and the latter already did so in the 50's.
  
The book had the effect good books usually have: it made the stupids more stupid, the intelligent more intelligent and the other thousands of readers remained unchanged.
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Re: The nameless ...7. Qa4 variation of the Winawer
Reply #15 - 04/01/10 at 22:39:49
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6...Qa5 has also been called the Hook variation if I'm not mistaken. I have no idea whether Bill Hook played it before Portisch, but the great Lajos was certainly the stronger player of these two.
  
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Re: The nameless ...7. Qa4 variation of the Winawer
Reply #14 - 04/01/10 at 13:18:21
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The Great Lajos's name would be on a lot of variations if he had all the credit that was due to him.  But maybe if we agree here to call this the Portisch Variation, some writers and editors will take notice.
  
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