Monday, June 30, 2008

1. c4 Nh6?


As usual my curiosity for Knight openings and defenses sent me to the little gem 1. c4 Nh6? . I believe they refer to a Knight on the rim in the opening to be a Drunken Knight. A past UON stirred the interest of this opening for me. What's interesting is yes the Knight is on a typically bad square, yes it will be threatened with capture from the c1 Bishop, and yes it will have to move before or at the beginning of the middlegame. These are all usually bad things, right? For below 2000 ranked players, I don't think so. In fact I think this Knight offers some very interesting ideas.

1. With a Knight on h6 it can ,at some point in the game, post out to f5. Penetrating deep into the enemy center, attacking e3 and d4. I like how in hypermodern openings the Knights attack the center with out actually occupying it. What's interesting to me, is that a Knight at f5 does the same thing but penetrates deeper. Maybe not sound for the opening but may make for interesting play in the middlegame.

2. With the push of the pawn from f7 to f6, a nice little nook can be made for the Knight at h6. From here it influences a good section of the center, doesn't allow a capture or trade of the Knight and keeps it more toward the 'action'. This has been played many times before and usually follows the kingside fianchetto. Although the pawn blocks the Bishop at g7, with the right tactics many possibilities can occur. Discovered attacks with the Bishop maybe?

3. After 1... Nh6 2... g7, the Knight is protected by the Bishop at f8. So if there is a trade with the Bishop at c1 then there is no loss. You gain the Bishop pair, develope a piece, and attack a central diagonal. Sounds ok to me.

With the knowledge of these positions I will test it out at chess.com in their live room. I don't encounter c4 that much in the opening so I'm going to run another engine tournament tonight with 1.e4 2. Nh6. They'll be 1 min games since I'm interested in the openings and how the final games look as the engines do their 'book learning'. Maybe do a 1.d4 tournament tomorrow.

The tournament I ran over the weekend saw 288 5 min games by three engines in a round robin tournament. The PGN for all 288 games can be found here: http://www.lockism.com/engine/c4Nh6.pgn . The results looks as such:
.
c4nh601 2008
Rybka 2.3.1 32-bit 60.0 - 36.063.0 - 33.0** 123.0/192
HIARCS 11.1 UCI 36.0 - 60.057.0 - 39.0 ** 93.0/192
Deep Shredder 10 UCI 33.0 - 63.039.0 - 57.0 ** 72.0/192
.
Below are final three wins for Black in the tournament.
.
[Event "c4nh601"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2008.06.29"]
[Round "92.3"]
[White "Deep Shredder 10 UCI"]
[Black "Rybka 2.3.1 32-bit"]
[Result "0-1"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "rnbqkb1r/pppppppp/7n/8/2P5/8/PP1PPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "142"]
[EventDate "2008.06.27"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[Source "Doezer"]

1. d4 g6 2. e4 Bg7 3. Nc3 O-O 4. h4 d6 5. h5 Ng4 6. Be2 Nf6 7. Be3 Nc6 8. Qd2Ng4 9. Bxg4 Bxg4 10. f3 Bd7 11. Bh6 Bxd4 12. Nge2 Be5 13. Bxf8 Qxf8 14. hxg6fxg6 15. O-O-O Qf7 16. Nd5 a5 17. Kb1 Rc8 18. Rdf1 a4 19. f4 Bg7 20. Qd3 e6 21.Ne3 Nb4 22. Qd2 Na6 23. e5 a3 24. b3 Bc6 25. Nc3 Nc5 26. Qe2 Rf8 27. Qc2 Qe728. Ng4 b6 29. b4 Nd7 30. b5 Bb7 31. c5 Nxc5 32. Ka1 Nd7 33. Nh6+ Bxh6 34. Rxh6dxe5 35. g3 Nc5 36. Qc1 Nd3 37. Qc2 e4 38. Rfh1 Rf7 39. Qa4 e3 40. R1h2 Qc5 41.Rc2 Nb4 42. Rhh2 Nxc2+ 43. Rxc2 Rd7 44. Nb1 Qf5 45. Nc3 Qd3 46. Rc1 e2 47. Nxe2Qxe2 48. Qxa3 Qxb5 49. Qc3 Qa4 50. Qb3 Qd4+ 51. Qb2 Qxb2+ 52. Kxb2 Rd2+ 53. Rc2Rxc2+ 54. Kxc2 Bd5 55. Kc3 Bxa2 56. Kb2 Bd5 57. Ka3 e5 58. fxe5 h5 59. Kb4 g560. Kc3 h4 61. gxh4 gxh4 62. Kd3 h3 63. e6 h2 64. e7 Kf7 65. Kc3 Kxe7 66. Kd3h1=Q 67. Kd2 Qf3 68. Kc2 Qe3 69. Kb2 Qd2+ 70. Kb1 b5 71. Ka1 Qc1# 0-1

[Event "c4nh601"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2008.06.29"]
[Round "96.1"]
[White "Rybka 2.3.1 32-bit"]
[Black "HIARCS 11.1 UCI"]
[Result "0-1"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "rnbqkb1r/pppppppp/7n/8/2P5/8/PP1PPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "186"]
[EventDate "2008.06.27"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[Source "Doezer"]

1. Nc3 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Qxd4 Nc6 4. Qe4+ Qe7 5. Qf4 Nb4 6. Kd1 c6 7. Nf3 d5 8.a3 Ng4 9. Be3 Nxe3+ 10. fxe3 Na6 11. cxd5 cxd5 12. g3 Nc7 13. Rc1 g6 14. Nd4Bg7 15. Bg2 Be5 16. Qh6 Be6 17. Nf3 f6 18. Nxe5 fxe5 19. Rf1 O-O-O 20. Ke1 Kb821. Qh4 Qxh4 22. gxh4 Rd6 23. Rf6 Rhd8 24. Rd1 a6 25. Kf2 Ka8 26. Kg3 Ka7 27.h3 Rb6 28. b4 Rbd6 29. Rd2 Ka8 30. Rf1 R6d7 31. Na4 Re7 32. Nc5 Bg8 33. a4 Bf734. Nd3 Be8 35. a5 Ka7 36. Nc5 Bb5 37. Rf6 Bc4 38. Rc2 Nb5 39. Kf2 Rc8 40. e4Nd4 41. Rc1 Rc6 42. Rf8 Nxe2 43. Rxc4 dxc4 44. Kxe2 b6 45. Na4 bxa5 46. bxa5 c347. Kd1 Rd7+ 48. Kc1 Rd2 49. Rf7+ Kb8 50. Bf3 Ra2 51. Rf8+ Kc7 52. Nb6 Kd6 53.Rd8+ Ke6 54. Bg4+ Kf7 55. Rd7+ Kf8 56. Rd5 Kg7 57. Nd7 Rc4 58. Nxe5 Rxe4 59.Bd1 Re1 60. Rd7+ Kf6 61. Nd3 Ra1+ 62. Kc2 Rexd1 63. Rd6+ Kf5 64. Rxa6 Rh1 65.Kxc3 Rxh3 66. Kc4 Rxh4+ 67. Kb5 Rd4 68. Nc5 Rd8 69. Nb7 Rb1+ 70. Kc6 Rc1+ 71.Kb5 Rb8 72. Rb6 h5 73. Nd6+ Ke6 74. Rxb8 Rb1+ 75. Kc6 Rxb8 76. Ne4 Kf5 77. Nd6+Kf4 78. a6 h4 79. a7 Ra8 80. Nf7 Rxa7 81. Nd8 Ra6+ 82. Kb5 Rf6 83. Nb7 h3 84.Nc5 h2 85. Nd3+ Kg3 86. Kb4 h1=Q 87. Kc5 Rc6+ 88. Kd4 Qh4+ 89. Ke3 Qg5+ 90. Kd4Qd8+ 91. Ke4 Re6+ 92. Ne5 Qd6 93. Ke3 Rxe5# 0-1

[Event "c4nh601"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2008.06.29"]
[Round "96.3"]
[White "Deep Shredder 10 UCI"]
[Black "Rybka 2.3.1 32-bit"]
[Result "0-1"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "rnbqkb1r/pppppppp/7n/8/2P5/8/PP1PPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "146"]
[EventDate "2008.06.27"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[Source "Doezer"]

1. d4 g6 2. Nc3 Bg7 3. e4 d6 4. Nf3 O-O 5. Be2 Nc6 6. d5 Nb4 7. O-O Ng4 8. Ng5Nf6 9. Be3 c6 10. Rb1 Na6 11. b4 h6 12. Nf3 Ng4 13. Bd4 cxd5 14. cxd5 Bd7 15.Qd2 h5 16. Bxg7 Kxg7 17. a4 Rc8 18. Nd4 h4 19. Ndb5 h3 20. gxh3 Nf6 21. Nxa7Ra8 22. Nab5 Bxh3 23. Rfc1 Rh8 24. a5 b6 25. Nd4 bxa5 26. Nc6 Qd7 27. bxa5 Nc528. Qe3 Ng4 29. Qd4+ f6 30. Na4 Nxa4 31. Qxa4 Nxh2 32. f3 Rh5 33. a6 Qe8 34.Rb7 Rg5+ 35. Kf2 Qh8 36. Rxe7+ Kf8 37. Qa1 Qh4+ 38. Ke3 Rg3 39. Qb2 Qg5+ 40.Kd3 Nxf3 41. Rc3 Bc8 42. Bxf3 Rxf3+ 43. Kc4 Bxa6+ 44. Kb3 Qf4 45. Re6 Bd3 46.Nb4 Bxe4 47. Rxf3 Qxf3+ 48. Kc4 Bxd5+ 49. Nxd5 Qg4+ 50. Kd3 Qxe6 51. Qxf6+ Qxf652. Nxf6 Kf7 53. Nd5 g5 54. Ke2 g4 55. Kf1 Ra3 56. Nb4 Rb3 57. Nc6 Rb2 58. Kg1Ke6 59. Nd8+ Kf5 60. Nc6 d5 61. Nd4+ Ke4 62. Ne6 d4 63. Ng5+ Kf4 64. Ne6+ Ke365. Ng5 d3 66. Kh1 d2 67. Kg2 d1=Q+ 68. Kg3 Qg1+ 69. Kh4 Rh2+ 70. Nh3 gxh3 71.Kh5 Qg7 72. Kh4 Kf4 73. Kh5 Qg5# 0-1

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