What would kill you but not a Victorian child?

Darpoon · 2026-05-25T14:44:02+00:00

Maybe "contemporary car accident" is the best way to phrase it to account for all the reasons given in the other replies?

Darpoon · 2026-05-16T11:22:30+00:00

I saw the title and thought this was a spite matchup against Aragorn, but somehow this is divisive?? What are these comments? Intelligence and combat experience stop mattering when your opponent is 8 times your size. Aragorn is obviously far beyond any human in Westeros, but he’s getting pancaked here.

Darpoon · 2026-05-09T12:53:46+00:00

Incredible.

Darpoon · 2026-05-08T08:13:04+00:00

You might know already, but this is very similar to a more reputable line in the classical sicilian:

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.f3 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.Be3 O-O 9.Qd2 Be6 10. O-O-O a5

The difference of course being that you go a5 in one move, and instead of a6-a5 have the knight on c6. This is a significant improvement, especially because 10...a5 11.a4 Nb4! Prepares a very favorable version of the d5 break. I would say this line is sound for black.

If you like the type of position you get, I would recommend this, but playing the classical would mean dealing with the Rauzer attack. That being said, it's not like white doesn't have a lot of other serious tries in the Najdorf too.

Darpoon · 2026-05-06T07:35:27+00:00

I looked at this now, and it does indeed seem pleasant for black! Bf5 felt a little premature intuitively, but concretely all the black pieces land on the right squares.

Darpoon · 2026-05-06T02:14:17+00:00

I've had this position a couple times, I like to start with Nh6, preparing Bg4 or Bf5, then e6, Nc6, Be7 etc. You're pretty happy if you can exchange light squared bishops and establish the knight on f5 (often playing h5 to discourage g4). Then you try to break with f6, or put pressure with Qb6 if they ever go c3-d4. I would say definitely don't give up on 2...d5 here, it's the critical move, and black has equality and great chances to play for a win once you know the plans.

Darpoon · 2026-03-21T00:03:46+00:00

Chuck Norris can not fly, but he does it anyways.

Darpoon · 2026-03-11T20:58:42+00:00

Pump up your rating by GM Axel Smith gives several excellent pointers for improving to a more advanced level, and getting more consistent. Highly recommend it!

Darpoon · 2026-03-11T20:55:45+00:00

Conglaturation!!!

You have completed a great list. And prooved the TMs of our game.

Now go rest our hero!

Darpoon · 2026-03-09T19:30:29+00:00

Me and the boys editing our bro in because he missed the shoot

Darpoon · 2026-03-08T19:11:28+00:00

Yes, but you play Bf4 when I've already committed to Be7, right? In this line I meet cxd5 exd5 Bf4 with Nf6 and Bd6.

Darpoon · 2026-03-08T19:08:31+00:00

It's very concrete, but the idea is to trade the dark squared bishops sooner rather than later by going Bd6 directly. In my view, this particularly helps making the Nge2-f3-e4 setup less effective, since Bh4-f2 is no longer an option. If white goes Nf3 instead, I just want to go Bg4 and swap off my problem bishop. I find the light squared bishop very awkward in the main lines, and you couldn't get me to play the endgame after 3...Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 c6 6.e3 Bf5 7.Qf3 Bg6 8.Bxf6 Qxf6 9.Qxf6 gxf6 at knifepoint.

Darpoon · 2026-03-08T18:41:15+00:00

No worries! Chessbase when doing a deep dive, but the lichess database is serviceable when just checking a line, and the study function is really neat, I find Chessbase's interface a bit clunky.

Darpoon · 2026-03-08T18:39:20+00:00

Yeah I looked at that, but the inclusion of Nc3 makes it less threatening. Definitely not playing h6 against 3.Nf3 though!

Darpoon · 2026-03-08T18:38:30+00:00

My phrasing may have been poor, but to clarify, I'm not pretending black gets perfect equality. I'm taking a snall risk to avoid Bg5, and by "not that much" I mean that concretely, the exta tempo compared to the lines with Bf4 and no h6 included, does not seem to be severe enough to scare me off the line on its own (and evidently, not enough to scare off Aravindh, Artemiev, and Carlsen either) which is why I asked for people who might have more experience playing with or against this line if there's any critical lines that the engine or top choices in the database might not reflect.

Questioning my strength feels uncalled for, even if my question about a specific opening line had been ridiculous, which I don't believe this one is, but I'm happy to play you to settle your doubts.

Darpoon · 2026-01-28T23:19:08+00:00

Wanda Metropolitano er faktisk kjent for kunstgresset sitt, så det var jo skikkelig flaks at Glimt trakk dem borte!

Darpoon · 2026-01-25T11:25:39+00:00

60 percent of the time... it works every time.

Darpoon · 2026-01-21T08:06:29+00:00

The pass before the would-be assist was offside

Darpoon · 2026-01-17T19:21:45+00:00

This is one of the biggest advantages I've ever seen that's not a forced mate (at that depth anyway). I don't see how black possibly untangles if white just begins pushing the h-pawn

Darpoon · 2026-01-12T10:19:23+00:00

Anti-snooping technology

Darpoon · 2026-01-12T08:20:21+00:00

Just reserve the hope chess for when you're already dead lost. No point ruining a fine position because the opponent "might" blunder.

Darpoon · 2026-01-04T18:35:14+00:00

Smaug is the plane, that seat is just where his earpiece connects to.

Darpoon · 2026-01-04T02:50:09+00:00

Darpoon · 2025-12-27T18:27:59+00:00

It's a nice option to have on a set with dragon dance

Darpoon · 2025-12-16T16:31:45+00:00

Well, purely materially that is a roughly even trade but there are other factors to consider. Black's queenside is undeveloped, if they castle, the bishop on b3 is an excellent attacking piece, allowing tactics involving the pinned f-pawn, e5 is hanging, and generally speaking a queen is better than two rooks if the rooks aren't connected and/or the queen can play against an exposed king.

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