Chessville UCO Opening Instruction - Polish-Sicilian Gambit - by Clyde Nakamura - The Search for Dragons and Mythical Chess Openings

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The Search for Dragons
& Mythical Chess Openings
by Clyde Nakamura

Polish-Sicilian Gambit

Over sixteen years ago I had played a Sicilian Defense (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3) in a 5-minute blitz game and on the spur of the moment had played the move 2…b5 a new gambit move in the Sicilian Defense. I played the 2…b5 move because I wanted to see the look of surprise on my opponent’s face. Yes, the b-pawn drops.

I believe this b-pawn gambit is a very good line of the Sicilian to play in a blitz or fun game because it avoids all the main lines of the Sicilian.

You cannot play the White side like you normally do in a regular main line Sicilian Defense. If White is not careful, Black can get an initiative by playing d5, which is one of the key moves in the Sicilian to free Black's game. And White has to watch out for Black’s rolling pawn mass down the middle of the board.

White can decline the b-pawn gambit by playing 3.d4 and after 3…cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6, Black can transpose into a main line Sicilian Defense Najdorf line.

Polish-Sicilian Gambit

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 b5

I actually defeated International Master Kong Liang Deng in a 5 min. blitz game at the Fan Shop in Pearl City, Honolulu, Hawaii over 12 years ago. Yes my Polish-Sicilian Gambit took him down in front of a lot of spectators. Unfortunately I do not have the score for that game. In this article I will just review a few annotated games so that you can see how to play the Black side of this gambit. [Editor: Since Clyde is demonstrating play for the Black side, he has elected to show the remaining diagrams from Black's perspective; contrary to convention, the black pieces will be moving up the diagram, and the white pieces down.]

ChessMaster 3000 – Clyde Nakamura 10/92

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 b5 {Polish-Gambit}

3. Bxb5 Qb6 4. Nc3 e6 5. O-O Bb7 6. d3 Nf6 7. Bg5 Na6 8. Ne5 Rd8 {White threatens Bxf6 then N or B takes at d7 winning the pawn}

9. Nc4 Qc7 10. e5 h6 11. Bxf6 gxf6 12. exf6 Rg8 {attacking the g2 square}

13. g3 Qf4 14. Na5 Bf3 15. Ne2 Qh4 16. Nc4 Rg5 17. Nf4 Qxf4 (17... Bxd1 18. Ng2 Qh3 19. Raxd1 {-+ 5.47 Deep Fritz 8})

18. Qc1 [diagram]

h g f e d c b a

Position after 18.Qc1

18...Qh4 {White is now in deep trouble} 19. Qxg5 (19. Qe3 Qxh2+ 20. Kxh2 Rh5+ 21. Kg1 Rh1#) 19... Qxg5 20. Bxa6 Qxf6 21. Rfe1 (21. Rae1 Bg7 22. c3 Kf8 23. Re3 Bd5 24. Rfe1 Rb8 25. R1e2 {-+ 8.48}) 21... Bc6 22. Ne5 Ba8 23. Bb5 Bd6 24. f4 Bxe5 25. Rxe5 Ke7 26. c3 d6 27. Re2 Qf5 28. Rae1 Qd5 29. Re4 Kf8 30. c4 Qxd3 31. R4e3 Qc2 32. R3e2 Qf5 33. Rd2 Qg4 34. Re3 h5 35. a3 h4 36. b4 cxb4 37. axb4 d5 38. cxd5 Rxd5 39. Be2 Qg7 40. Rc2 Qa1+ 41. Kf2 Rd8 42. Rd3 Rxd3 {-+ 10.20 Deep Fritz 8} 0-1

Reid – Clyde Nakamura 2/2/97 5 min. Blitz

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 b5 3. Bxb5 Qb6 4. Nc3 Bb7 5. d3 {White has to guard both the e pawn and the Bishop at b5 and White has an indirect weakness on the b2 square if White moves the B at b5.} Nf6 6. Bc4 e6 7. O-O Be7 8. Qe2 O-O 9. e5 {I do not believe that this e5 pawn move is good for White because Black can play f6 trading the central pawn for the flank pawn.} Ne8 10. Ne4 Nc6 11. c3 Qc7 12. Bf4 Rc8 13. Rad1 f6 14. exf6 Qxf4 15. fxe7 Nxe7 16. Ned2 (16. Nfg5 Nf6 17. Nxe6 dxe6 18. Bxe6+ Kh8 19. Bxc8 Rxc8 20. f3 Ng6 21. Rde1 Bd5 22. b3 {+- 1.43}) 16... Kh8 17. Qe3 Qg4 18. h3 Qh5 19. Qe5 Rf5 20. Qe2 (20. Qg3 Ng6 21. Rfe1 Nf4 22. Qg4 Bxf3 23. Nxf3 Nxh3+ 24. gxh3 Qxg4+ 25. hxg4 Rxf3 26. Kg2 Rf8 {+/- 0.81}) 20... Nf6 (20... Ng6 {-/+ 1.13}) 21. Kh1 (21. d4 cxd4 22. Bd3 Ra5 23. Nxd4 Rg5 24. f3 Qxh3 25. Ne4 Bxe4 26. fxe4 d6 27. Rf3 Qg4 {+/= 0.37}) 21...Rf8 (21... Ng6 22. Ne4 Nf4 23. Qc2 Nxg2 24. Ng1 Qg6 25. Kh2 d5 26. Nd6 Nf4 {-+ 2.01}) 22. Qe3 (22. Ng1 Qg6 23. Ngf3 Qh5 {=}) 22... Ng4 23. Qe2 Bxf3 24. Nxf3

h g f e d c b a

Position after 24.Nxf3

24...Rxf3 25. Qxf3

(25. Kg1 Ne3 26. fxe3 Rxf1+ 27. Rxf1 Qxe2 28. Rxf8+ Ng8 29. e4 d5 30. exd5 exd5 31. Bxd5 Qe3+ 32. Rf2 Qxd3 33. Bf3 Nf6 34. Kh2 Kg8 {-+ 5.86 })

25... Rxf3 26. Kg1 Rxh3 27. g3 Rh1+?

({Yes I missed} 27... Rxg3+ 28. fxg3 Qh2#)

28. Kg2 Rh2+ 29. Kf3 Nf5 30. Ke4 Nxf2+ 0-1

CKA (2053) – Evilone (1969) Internet Chess Club 10/18/07 Game 5 min.

{B27: Sicilian: 2 Nf3, unusual Black 2nd moves} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 b5 3. d4 cxd4 4. Bxb5 Bb7 5. Qe2 e6 6. O-O Nf6 7. Bg5 (7. e5 Bxf3 8. Qxf3 Nd5+/-) 7... Be7 8. e5 Nd5 9. Bxe7 Qxe7 10. Qd2 O-O 11. Nxd4 (11. Qxd4 f6 12. Qe4 fxe5 +/-) 11... f6 +/= 12. exf6 Qxf6 13. Nc3 Nf4 14. f3 {Covers e4} d5 15. Rae1 (15. Nde2 Nxe2+ 16. Bxe2 Nd7 +/-) 15... e5 16. Nde2 d4 {Black gains space} (16... Qb6+ !? 17. Kh1 Ne6 +/=) 17. Bc4+ (17. Ne4 Qb6 18. Nxf4 Rxf4 19. Bc4+ Kh8 +-) 17... Kh8 +/- 18. Ne4 Bxe4 19. fxe4 Nd7 20. Rf3 (20. Nxf4 !? exf4 21. Rf2 +/-) 20... Nxe2+ 21. Qxe2 Qg6 (21... Qb6 {!? must definitely be considered} 22. Rb3 Qc5 +/-) 22. Ref1 +/- Rf6 23. Rxf6 Nxf6 24. Bd5 Rd8 25. h3 (25. c4 !? +-) 25... h6 +/- 26. Qa6 Qg5 27. Qe6 (27. Qd3 +/-) 27... Qe3+ (27... Nxe4 28. Rf5 Qe3+ 29. Kh2 Qg3+ 30. Kg1 Qe1+ 31. Kh2 =)

28. Kh1 {?? not a good decision, because now the opponent is right back in the game} (better is 28. Kh2 Qg5 29. Rf3+/-)

28... Nxe4=/+ 29. Bxe4 Qxe4 30. Qe7 Rg8 31. Qxa7 (31. Rf7!? =/+ might be a viable alternative})

31... Qxc2-/+ 32. Qb6? (better is 32. Qa5 e4 33. Qf5 -+)

32... d3-+ 33. Qf2 {?? an oversight. But White was lost anyway.} (33. Qe3 Rd8 34. Qb6 -+)

33...Qxf2 34. Rxf2 e4 35. Kg1 e3 36. Rf3 Re8 37. Kf1 e2+ 38. Ke1 [diagram]

h g f e d c b a

Position after 38.Ke1

(38. Kg1 {does not help much} e1=Q+ 39. Rf1 d2 40. a4 Qxf1+ 41. Kxf1 d1=Q+ 42. Kf2 Qe1+ 43. Kf3 Re3+ 44. Kg4 Qg3+ 45. Kh5 Re5#) 38... d2+ {! an unexpected blow} 39. Kxd2 {Decoy to d2} e1=Q+ 40. Kd3 (40. Kc2 {doesn't get the cat off the tree} Rc8+ 41. Rc3 Qe2+ 42. Kc1 Rd8 43. Kb1 Rd1+ 44. Rc1 Qe4+ 45. Ka1 Rxc1#) 40... Qe2+ (40... Qe4+ 41. Kd2 Rd8+ 42. Kc1 Qc4+ 43. Rc3 Qf1+ 44. Kc2 Qd1#) 41. Kc3 (41. Kd4 {cannot change destiny} Qe4+ 42. Kc5 Re5+ 43. Kb6 Qg6+ 44. Rf6 Qxf6+ 45. Kc7 Re7+ 46. Kc8 Qf8#) 41... Qxg2 (41... Rc8+ 42. Kd4 Rc4+ 43. Kd5 Qe4+ 44. Kd6 Qc6+ 45. Ke7 Re4+ 46. Kf8 Qe8#) 42. Rd3 (42. Rf4 {cannot undo what has already been done} Qg3+ 43. Rf3 Qxf3+ 44. Kd4 Re4+ 45. Kc5 Qf5+ 46. Kd6 Re6+ 47. Kc7 Qf7+ 48. Kc8 Re8#) 42... Qc6+ (42... Rc8+ 43. Kd4 Qxb2+ 44. Kd5 Qb5+ 45. Ke6 Re8+ 46. Kd6 Qe5+ 47. Kc6 Rc8+ 48. Kb6 Qc5+ 49. Ka6 Rc6+ 50. Kb7 Qb5+ 51. Ka8 Ra6#) 43. Kd2 Qg2+ (43... Qb6 44. Rc3 Qxb2+ 45. Kd3 Qe2+ 46. Kd4 Qe5+ 47. Kc4 Rc8+ 48. Kb3 Qxc3+ 49. Ka4 Rc5 50. a3 Qc4#) 44. Kc3 = {here I lost on time – it is mate in 9 moves according to Deep Fritz 8} (44. Kc3 Rc8+ 45. Kd4 Qxb2+ 46. Kd5 Qb5+ 47. Ke6 Re8+ 48. Kd6 Qe5+ 49. Kc6 Rc8+ 50. Kb6 Qc5+ 51. Ka6 Rc6+ 52. Kb7 Qb5+ 53. Ka8 Ra6#) 1-0

Nenengko (1879) – Evilone (1949) Playchess.com 7/4/05 Game 5 min.

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 b5 {The Polish-Sicilian Gambit.} 3. Nxb5 {the other move 3.Bxb5 could have been played.} Qb6 4. Nc3 e6 {To prevent the N at c3 from posting at d5.} 5. Nf3 Bb7 {I plan to increase the pressure on the e4 pawn.} 6. d3 Nf6 7. Be2 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. Rb1 d5 {Black got in the d5 pawn break which frees his game. This is one of the key goals in the Sicilian Defense.} 10. exd5 exd5 11. Bg5 h6 12. Bh4 Nbd7 13. h3 Bd6 {I did not like the pin on my B at e7.} 14. d4 c4 15. b3 Qa5 {Playing 15...cxb3 was not good because then White can play Rxb3 with an attack and open lines to my queen side.} 16. Na4 {I had to jettison my c pawn otherwise I will lose some pawns.} cxb3 17. axb3 Bc6 18. Ra1 Qc7 {This is a good move because after I play g5 I can pick off the B that will be at g3 and also pick up a pawn.} 19. c4 g5 20. Bg3 Bxg3 21. fxg3 Qxg3 22. Ne5 {This is a real tricky position. What does black play?} Bxa4 {The B at c3 was hanging and not doing much except guard the pawn at d4. I might as well get rid of it.} 23. Rxa4 Nxe5 {There was that other possibility where White could have played dxe5 but even Fritz8 said that Rxf6 was okay.} 24. Rxf6 Ng6 {The N is headed for either the h4 or f4 squares where I can threaten checkmate. } 25. Bf3 Nf4 26. Kh1 Kg7 27. Raa6 [diagram]

h g f e d c b a

Position after 27.Raa6

27...Rae8

{Fritz8 said that I should have played this on the previous move. The line I played was actually better than what Friz8 suggested - White cannot now drop his R back to protect his back rank because the R at f3 hangs. The threat of Re1 check winning White's Q is too much so my opponent resigned.}

0-1

Amto12 (1922) – Evilone (1923) Playchess.com 7/5/05 Game 5 min.

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 b5 {The Polish-Sicilian Gambit. The b pawn hangs.} 3. Bxb5 Qb6 4. Bc4 e6 5. O-O Bb7 6. Re1 Nf6 7. d3 Be7 8. Nc3 O-O 9. e5 Ne8 10. Ne4 f6 11. exf6 Nxf6 {It is like I am in the Twilight Zone. The Black pawn position is very similar to the Blumenfeld Counter Gambit except you have an open d file instead of a half open e file and there is a white pawn at b5.} 12. Nxf6+ Bxf6 13. Ne5 d5 14. Bb3 Bxe5 15. Rxe5 c4 {A very strong move. It attacks both the B at b3 and the pawn at f2. If 16.dxc4 then White mates in 3.} 16. Be3 d4 {One of White's B now drops.}

17. Bxc4 dxe3 18. Rxe6 exf2+ 19. Kf1 {A very dangerous situation. I cannot move my Q anywhere without dropping it. The Black discovered check is very strong. I have to give back a piece with a B sac.}

19...Bxg2+ 20. Kxg2 Qb7+ 21. Re4+ Kh8 22. Qg4 Qxb2 23. Rf1 Nc6 24. Bd5 Rac8 25. Bxc6 Rxc6 26. Qd7 Rg6+ 27. Kh3 Qf6 28. Re8 {White gets mated in all lines.} (28. Re5 Qf3+ 29. Kh4 Rh6+ 30. Rh5 Rxh5#) (28. Rg4 Qf3+ 29. Kh4 Rh6+ 30. Kg5 Qf6#)

28...Qf3+ 29. Kh4 Rh6+ 30. Kg5 [diagram] 30...Qf4# 0-1

h g f e d c b a

Position after 30.Kg5

Conclusion

The Polish-Sicilian Gambit is an interesting gambit opening because it is not easy for the White side to defeat this gambit. It is well suited for a blitz or a fun game because the lines do not resemble normal Sicilian Defense lines. White has to think outside of the box to play against this gambit!

On a Monday night several months ago I was at Liliha Square in Honolulu at an informal chess club and I torched both Chet Gionson (Hawaii State Co Champion 2006 and about 2100–2200 in strength) and my student Fred with my Polish Sicilian Gambit (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 b5) in 5-minute blitz games.

If White declines taking the pawn at b5 then Black can transpose back into a regular Sicilian Najdorf line with a6.

For a long time I had thought that the Polish Sicilian Gambit was unsound. But the more I played it, the more I realized it really closely resembled a Blumenfeld Counter Gambit (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.d5 b5).

Polish-Sicilian Gambit

h g f e d c b a

Reid-Nakamura after 16.Ned2

Blumenfeld Counter Gambit

h g f e d c b a

Mont-Renaud-Nakamura after 7.e3

The first position was from my game with Reid in a Polish-Sicilian Gambit game and the position on the right is from a tournament game where I had played a Blumenfeld Counter Gambit against Jordy Mont-Renaud. You notice that the Black pawn configurations for both positions are identical. Black has the half open f-file and a fianchettoed bishop at b7.

Now I am not sure if the Polish-Sicilian Gambit is unsound. Although the Black pawn positions above are identical, the dynamics of both gambits are different. I am still not sure if the black queen belongs on the b6 square in the Polish-Sicilian Gambit Accepted line. The theory of this gambit is really still in its infancy. There still needs to be more analysis and games on this gambit to really reach a final conclusion on whether it is playable in a tournament game.