A Benko Gambit

Here is a recent game played on chessbase againt a higher-rated player. It illustrates how white needs to play against the Benko, which is to always be on the alert to defend against black's queen-side pressure. The problem for white is that if black gains back his gambit pawn, he almost always gets the better game. So caution is essential for white.

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. e3 I continue to believe in this move as the best for white. To me black's best reponse is now 5...axb5, but my opponent chooses a different path.

5...g6 6. bxa6 Bxa6 7. Bxa6 Nxa6 8. Nf3 d6 9. Nc3 Bg7 10. O-O O-O 11. Nd2 Qc7 12. Nc4 Rfb8 13. Qe2 Nb4 14. Rd1 Qb7 15. e4 Nd7 16. Kf1 Stockfish doesn't like this move, claiming that white has now lost his advantage. However, the important thing is to have a coherent plan, and I felt like this fit in with my ideas of how to best defend against black's queen-side pressure. The computer simply does not appreciate how helpful white's king will be if and when he can get to the c2 square.

16...Qa6 17. Bg5! f6 18. Be3 Nb6 19. Nxb6 Qxe2+ 20. Kxe2 Rxb6 21. a3 Nc2 22. Ra2 Nxe3 23. Kxe3 Rab8 24. Rd2 I have successfully defended my weak pawn on b2, and now white's plan is obvious: push the passed a-pawn! Stockfish has now restored my half-point advantage, black's problem being that his 17th move blocked in his bishop.

24...Rb3 25. Kd3 f5 26. f3 Bd4 27. a4 Bg1 28. h3 Rc8 29. Kc2 c4 30. a5 Ba7 31. a6 Rcb8 32. g4 f4 33. h4 h6 34. h5 g5 My concept has now become clear. I have fixed all but one of his pawns on dark squares, and all but one of my own pawns on light squares. In this type of position, my knight is hugely better than his woeful bishop. Plus, I still have my extra pawn.

35 Rd1! The start of an inspired plan to reposition this rook to b1, thereby freeing up my other rook to go to a4. Note that this rook maneuvering would not be possible if my king hadn't gone over to the queen-side to help out in guarding the b2 pawn.

35...Kg7 36. Rb1 Kf6 37. Ra4! Rc8? (R3b6) 38. Rxc4! Rxc4 (Rxc2+) 39. Kxb3 Rc8 Black's position has completely collapsed. The rest is mop-up.

40. Ra1 Ke5 41. Ra4 Rb8+ 42. Rb4 Rc8 43. Rb7 Rb8 44. Rxb8 Bxb8 45. Nb5 e6 46. dxe6 Kxe6 47. a7 Bxa7 48. Nxa7 and black soon resigned. 1-0

Emerson famously said that "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds", while Oscar Wilde followed this up with "Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative". However, my point here is that in chess it is important to play with a plan. Not that you shouldn't periodically re-evaluate your plan, but to play without any plan at all is so bad that it is contemptuously called "swimming".

Why the Adulation of Tiger Woods?

I watched Tiger over the weekend at The Masters and am fascinated by his amazing comeback, while at the same time being a bit befuddled by all the attention paid to him by the media. The answer to why this attention is simple: we the public are interested in Tiger. I had never even heard of the eventual winner (and supposed #1-ranked player in the world) before this weekend. There simply is nobody else who I and many others want to watch other then Tiger, hence the media gives us what we want.

The real question here is why we Americans idolize our sports heroes so much. Golfer Ben Hogan had a ticker-tape parade for him in 1953 after, like Tiger, coming back to play golf following a near-fatal car accident, in which his car had a head-on collision with a Greyhound bus which was trying to pass another vehicle on the two-lane highway (and many thanks to President Eisenhower for his vision in creating the interstate highway system).

I see no Nobel Prize winners on the ticker-tape parade list, nor anyone who has distinguished himself/herself in the arts, literature, or the sciences. Nor are any of these fields represented on our coins and currency.

Compare this to Australia, which on its currency has a poet (Banjo Paterson), a businesswoman (Mary Reibey), a social reformer (Edith Cowan), a minister (John Flynn), a writer (Mary Gilmore), an opera singer (Nellie Melba), and two Aborigines (Gwoya Tjungurrayi and David Unaipon). The contrast between the values of that culture and ours could not be more stark.

The people on the seven denominations of U.S. currency still in circulation are all from the world of politics. And even more striking, four of the seven are known for their war "exploits"--Washington, Jackson, Grant, and Lincoln. As a people we venerate our war heroes and our sports heroes, rather than those people making actual positive contributions to society.

MLB Predictions for 2022

After a stress-filled offseason, Major Leaguie Baseball is set to open the season this week, so here are my annual predictions.

AL East: Rays, Blue Jays, Yankees, Red Sox Orioles

This divison is hard to predict, for there are four teams with the potential to win it all. The poundits are picking the Blue Jays to win it, due to some high-profile free agent signings. My approach is to mistrust these free agent signings, since the pressure on these guys is so great that in their first season with their new teams they often fail miserably. I have no great love for the Rays, but they are a team which consistently over-performs its roster. The Yankees have their usual turmoil, this time with players who refuse to be vaccinated.

AL Central: White Sox, Twins, Guardians, Tigers, Royals.

Not much controversy here. The pundits tend to prefer the Tigers for third, but I have to go with my home-state Guardians.

AL West: Astros, Mariners, Angels, A's, Rangers

The Mariners are one of my favorite teams, due to the awesome setting of their stadium in downtown Seattle. I am predicting they will nose out the Angels for second. The pundits all have the rebuilding A's last, but they are a team which has consistently out-performed its roster, so I am betting they will nose out the Rangers for fourth.

NL East: Braves, Phillies, Mets, Marlins, Nationals

The pundits pick the Mets for second, but I am dubious. There seems to be no coherency to this organization. It throws money at free agents, rather than having a clear plan for building a winning organization. And its pitchers have been notoriously brittle in recent years. The Nationals have disappointed me for years, seemingly wasting what should have been their golden years. Now, their time has come and gone, and I am rooting for the Marlins to at least finish fourth.

NL Central: Brewers, Cardinals, Cubs, Reds, Pirates

I asm proud of correctly predicting last year that my home-state Reds would beat out the fading Cubs for fourth, but the Reds are shedding payroll and will drop back to fourth this year. The Cardinals are one of those teams that often over-perform their roster, aided by the best fan base in baseball, but I have to go with the Brewers for first. They have been learning how to win and buildig up their dominance in recent years, and I look forward to their upcoming success this year.

NL West: Dodgers, Padres, Giants, Rockies, Diamondbacks

I have a soft spot in my heart for the Padres, hence I'm picking them for second over the Giants. Same with the Rockies over the D-Backs for fourth.