I Don't Know Butchy Instead...

For the person that has been grabbed by an opening trap, central in the Fried Liver, the Traxler, or the Poisoned Pawn version of the Najdorf, it doesn't matter how good you are, or what your principles are, Some things you know, and some you don't. That is one of the reasons to study openings.

In the last World Chess Championship, held in Amsterdam earlier this month, the ultimate game came down to previous world champion Shredder vs relatively new kid on the block Rybka. Rybka won. But it didn't need to be Rybka really, it could have been any ol' thing that could have used an opening book. Because Rybka was in a line that it had booked out through it is said 40 moves!! Shredder had fallen out of book around move 12. And it all came down to move 23 where blacks f pawn takes the apparently offered knight. This has been played apparently once before by grandmasters who took the pawn. All the engines will take the pawn. But the book writer for Rybka, and apparently a bunch of guys that play Freestyle chess have spent a lot of time evaluating the line, because it had previously been unclear. But the phrase that was the most telling was by the writer of the opening book, fxe4 loses by force.

I mean, holy cow. This is in the middle of one of the most technical, most ambitious of opening response to e4 by black. And an opening book, knowing what super-grandmaster strength engines will play, led shredder down a path of doom, where every engine, including Rybka, would lose the game by force.

For your amusement...

[Event "15th WCCC"]
[Site "Amsterdam"]
[Date "2007.06.18"]
[Round "11"]
[White "Shredder"]
[Black "Rybka"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6 8. Qd2 Qxb2 9. Rb1 Qa3 10. e5 dxe5 11. fxe5 Nfd7 12. Ne4 h6 13. Bh4 Qxa2 14. Rd1 Qd5 15. Qe3 Qxe5 16. Be2 Bc5 17. Bg3 Bxd4 18. Rxd4 Qa5+ 19. Rd2 O-O 20. Bd6 Re8 21. O-O f5 22. Qg3 fxe4 23. Qg6 Rd8 24. Rf7 Qc3 25. Bg4 Nf8 26. Bxf8 Qa1+ 27. Rf1 Qxf1+ 28. Kxf1 Rxf8+ 29. Rf2 Nc6 30. Bh5 Rxf2+ 31. Kxf2 Ne5 32. Qe8+ Kh7 33. Ke3 b5 34. Kf4 Bb7 35. Qe7 Bd5 36. Kxe5 a5 37. g4 e3 38. g5 hxg5 39. Qxg5 Kg8 40. Qxe3 Rf8 41. Be2 b4 42. Bd3 Rf3 43. Qg5 b3 44. Bg6 Rf6 45. Qh5 Rxg6 46. Qxg6 b2 47. Qe8+ Kh7 48. Qb5 Kh6 49. Qxb2 Ba8 50. Qc1+ Kh5 51. Qf4 Bd5 52. c4 Bc6 53. Qf7+ Kg4 54. Qxe6+ Kf3 55. Qxc6+ Ke3 1-0