The Rauser with 15 Bd4

I will follow a 5-minute game I played on 6/26/20 vs. ICC player michaeloliver.

1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cd 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 g6 6 f3 Ng7 7 Be3 0-0 8 Qd2 Nc6 9 0-0-0 Historically 9 Bc4 has been most popular, but 9 0-0-0 is now slightly more comon, with 9 g4 a distant third. All three moves score aournd 59% for white, so the choice is a matter of taste.

9...d5 And here 9...d5 is prefered to 9...Nxd4 and 9...Bd7. 9...d5 scores sightly better for black, and has the advantage of leading to more interesting lines.

10 exd5 The usual move, but black must be prepared to deal with either 10 Qe1 or 10 Kb1.

10...Nxd5 11 NxN bc 12 NxN 12 Bd4 is much more popular for white, and scores better. 12 NxN actually scores better for black, but it is hard for white to pass up the chance to win a pawn!

12...ed 13 Qxd5 Qc7 Stockfish has an unusual-looking suggestion here: 13...Rb8!? 14 QxQ Bxb2+ 15 Kb1 Bd4+ 16 Kc1 BxB+ 17 Qd2 BxQ+ 18 KxB with an edge to black. Instead of 14 QxQ, Stockfish suggests 14 b3 Qc7 15 Qc5 Qb7 16 Qd5 Qc7 17 Qc5 drawn.

14 Qc5 Qb7 15 Bd4 This move actually scores better for black, compared to the other moves of 15 Qa3 and 15 b3.

15...Bf5 16 BxB Rfc8 17 Rd8+!? Usual is 17 Qc3, while ICC player vacation played 17 QxR+ in all three games against me.

17...RxR 18 Bc3 Rac8 19 Qe3 (better is 19 Qe5) Be6? Carelessly throwing away my huge advantage. Black had 19...Qb4!!, the idea being that 20 BxQ allows mate in three. 19...Qd5 is also good, with a three-point edge for black.

20 Qe5 Bxa2?? 21 Qg7# 1-0

A Yugoslav Dragon

Few opponents these days play the Yugolav as white against the Dragon, but I got to play one today from a player rated 200 points higher than me.

e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Bc4 Nc6 9. Qd2 Bd7 10. h4 Qa5 11. g4 Rfc8 12. Bb3 Ne5 13. h5 Nc4 14. Bxc4 Rxc4 15. Nb3 Qc7 16. Bh6?

White has blundered. Correct for black now is 16...Rxc3!, the idea being that white cannot take 17 bxc3 because of 17...Nxe4! 18 fxe4 Bxc3+, winning white's queen. But if 17 Qxc3, then black simply trades queens on c3 and takes the Bishop on h6.

16...Bxh6? 17 Qxh6 Rxc3 18. bxc3 Qxc3+ 19. Ke2 Bb5+(?) Stockfish prefers 19...Nxg4.

20. Kf2 Qxc2+ 21 Kg3? (missing 21 Qd2) gxh5? 21 g5?? (Black now has a forced mate) Nxe4+ 23. fxe4 Qd3+ 24. Kf2 Qe2+ 25. Kg3 Qg4+ 26. Kf2 Qe2+ 27. Kg3 Qe3+ 28. Kh2 Qf4+? (Missing 28...Qf2+ 29.Kh3 Bd7+ 30.Qe6 Bxe6#) 29 Kh3 Bd7+? Stockfish says it is no longer forced mate!

30. Kg2 Qxe4+ 31. Kf2 Qf4+ 32. Ke2 (Stckfish prefers 32 Ke1, sayting that after 32 Ke2 black again has forced mate) Bb5+ 33. Kd1 Qf3+ 34. Kc2 Rc8+ 35. Kb2 Qc3+ 36. Ka3 Rc4!37. Rac1 Ra4#

Good Riddance to Chris Cuomo

CNN has cut ties with Chris Cuomo, who was anchoring the 9:00 P.M. time slot.

I have despised Cuomo ever since he did an awful interview with Dennis Rodman, at the time Rodman was in North Korea on a good will basketball trip. Cuomo brutally chastised Rodman for not doing more to seek the release of an American citizen being held by the North Korean government, as if Rodman could accomplish more than the whole U.S. State Department!

To make matters worse, every other CNN anchor started congratulating Cuomo for a "great interview", when in fact it had been atrocious. I went on the CNN website to see if others were as offended as I was, and, to my shock and surprise, the responses were uniformly anti-Rodman, who had done nothing wrong other than to try to forge some ties with an isolated country.

Cuomo is a hate-filled, obnoxious human being, and my hope is to never see him again.