Young Talents

My impression is that young players who have grown up exclusively on "computer" diet seem to miss something important.

I won't speak of chess culture, such as knowledge of classics and so on. This is also obvious sometimes, but it's more difficult to determine. I'll talk about a more concrete issue and this is good knowledge of so-called old, or forgotten lines. Sometimes even tricks.

My own approach when studying openings has always been such that I need to understand the development of a certain line, from its beginnings to present-day. This means checking the old games by the masters, no matter how old they may be (sometimes even going back to Morphy!) then observing how the line developed over the decades. When studying like this and asking yourself questions why something has/hasn't been played, you can pick up almost all you need to know, inlcuding tricks and move-orders. This is more time consuming, but it's also more thorough.

After going over the whole lifetime of the variation I feel I know it - from where it came and where it is now. In a way, just like with people, when you know their history you understand them better.

I think that this is not how young players study openings today. They seem to rely too much on modern games and engine suggestions. I have noticed this also in their preparation for concrete opponents - they don't check older games and in my own practice I have used this to my advantage by employing lines I have used many, many years ago.

To give you a concrete example, here's a game between a seasoned Grandmaster and a 15-year old (at the time) Grandmaster. White has played the Sozin against all Sicilians all his life. Black plays the Najdorf as his main defence against 1.e4 - this fact makes what happened in the game even more surprising.

Golubev-Mendonca, Titled Tuesday of 30 March 2021

White's last move was 7.0-0 (instead of the more usual 7.Bb3) and it's aimed precisely against the line with ...Nbd7. Therefore it's unbelievable that the Indian prodigy played 7...Nbd7?

After 8.Be6! fxe6 9.Nxe6

White is winning and he won in 28 moves.

This has been known for decades. And yet the young Grandmaster fell for it, in spite of playing only the Najdorf against 1.e4 for many years now. This only points to inadequate and limited study of the opening, checking only what is popular today.

Some of these young talents manage to patch up the gaps in their knowledge. Then they have a chance to go far. But this is not always the case.

So all is not lost when playing young talents. Just dig up some old stuff and let them fall for the old tricks.

With this, all the remains for me is to wish you a Happy New Year and to thank you for being readers and supporters of this newsletter. I hope I have managed to improve your chess understanding, or even at least to have brought you some joy while reading my ramblings. I hope to do better in 2025 so we can all “grow the game.”

P.S. This week’s video features another forgotten opening set-up. Anatoly Karpov was a legendary champion (in case somebody has forgotten) and his set-up against the London System and the Torre Attack was both universal and practical. Check it out for a nostalgic end of the year!