We had 12 for the first round of the Unusual Openings Tournament last night. Hilton, Stefan, Graham, Peter and William form the A grade and are taking part in a five night double round robin. The draw for the next five weeks is here. William took the bye for round one. In the B division we have 8 players that will run in two back to back five round Swiss System Tournaments. If anyone wants to join from next week they will retrospectively be given byes for rounds one and two. The B division crosstable is here.
The first Unusual Opening selected was the Fegatello Attack which Hilton correctly informed us also goes by the exotic name of the Fried Liver Opening. (The name derives from an Italian idiom meaning “dead as a piece of liver”). In the opening White sacrifices a knight for a superficially impressive attack on Black’s king. The first seven moves of the opening were played out on the board and then the players were left to fend for themselves
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Nxd5 6. d4 Be6 7. Nxe6 fxe6 (diag.)
The Fried Liver has been known for many centuries, the first known game score being from Rome in 1610. Because defence is harder to play than attack in this variation when given short time limits, the Fried Liver is considered dangerous for Black if using a short time control. In games with longer time limits Black has a better opportunity to refute the White sacrifice. As it turned out in the B division there were four white victories. In the A grade Peter had a win as white, and Stefan had a win as black.
Hamilton Chess Club 