© Copyright 2000 by Pafu All rights to THE BEGINNER’S GAME are reserved by the author. No person is authorized to copy, store electronically, or distribute by any means, any portion of this publication without prior written permission by the author. The author is the sole inventor, writer, editor, and publisher of the complete contents of THE BEGINNER’S GAME. All rights to original concepts and terminology in this publication are re- served by the author. Any reference to these concepts should make reference to this publication. Cover design and drawings by Pafu First printed in Italy by LiRiCo in Yr.0 (AD. 2000) All inquiries should be directed to www.beginnersgame.com THE BEGINNER’S GAME was first published by the author as ISBN 88-900519-5-7 Printed in Victoria, Canada National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data Pafu. The beginner's game ISBN 1-55212-650-1 1. Chess. I. Title. GV1446.P34 2001 794.1'2 C2001-910369-7 Suite 6E, 2333 Government St., Victoria, B.C. V8T 4P4, CANADA Phone 250-383-6864 Toll-free 1-888-232-4444 (Canada & US) Fax 250-383-6804 E-mail [email protected] Web sitewww.trafford.com TRAFFORD PUBLISHING IS A DIVISION OF TRAFFORD HOLDINGS LTD. Trafford Catalogue #01-0051 www.trafford.com/robots/01-0051.html 1098765432 Preface to The Beginner’s Game Read this book carefully and you will master the game of chess. If you are new to chess, you will learn to play fast! In a few minutes you will play the opening moves of the game as well as anybody. In a few hours, you will play with confidence well beyond the opening. In the few weeks it will take you to go thru this book, from a complete beginner you will become a solid player, able to confront even the strongest opponents, and offer them a tough game. If you already play chess, then take this book seriously, because it challenges all of chess opening theory and practice. This system is better than anything you play now, or have ever played. You are challenged to put your favorite opening, or any opening for that matter, against this system. After the opening, you will have no advantage. In the ensuing game, against an opponent of equal strength, your chances of winning will prove to be less than his. Try this system and you will be convinced of its validity. It is incredibly strong: On defense it is practically invulnerable. On offense it generates multitudes of dangerous attacks. Games that result from play with this system are of the highest quality, technically and artistically. This completely new and radically different system has a most remarkable property: in most games, with white or black, the same openings can be played out in standard form, regardless of what your opponent does. He simply cannot prevent you! And anything he plays, any conceivable opening, does not prove better than your standard game. It is a startling claim, but all the evidence accumulated to date firmly supports it - it is the best system that has ever been found for playing the game of chess. Not only that, it is quite possibly the best system that exists, the optimal way to play the game. It is a wonderful and inspiring discovery. It is something incredibly simple, in the midst of incredible complexity, a true jewel of great and eternal beauty. And it was there all along, passed over by hundreds of millions of people, until someone who was looking for it found it. It is the greatest discovery ever made in chess, one that will change forever the way the game is played. And in the sense that chess has always been one of the most important of all human intellectual pursuits, it is in fact one of the greatest discoveries in human history! Read on! Great Are Thy Gifts Lord He Who Loves You Lives TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface . 3 1. Introduction . 7 2. The Beginner’s Game . 13 3. Continuing Play After the Opening . 26 4. The Beginner’s Game in Action . 31 5. Early Attacks on the Beginner’s Game . 69 6. Playing Against the Beginner’s Game . 86 7. The B-system Definition . 93 8. B-System Variants . 97 9. Playing the B-System . 107 10. Why Wasn’t It Found Before? . 113 11. How It Was Found . 117 12. Can it be Refuted? Is It Optimal? . 122 13. What Happens Now to Chess? . 125 14. Games Section . 127 Beginner’s Games . 129 Early Attacks . 147 Close Variants . 167 Distant Variants . 184 15. Concluding Remarks . 208 Appendix: Move Notation . 210 Acknowledgments . 211 Introduction 7 1. Introduction: The Easiest and Best way to Play Chess Ever Found! A truly amazing and most unexpected discovery has been made: a new system of playing chess that is absolutely the simplest imaginable! It is incredibly easy to learn: even those who have never played before can master the basic opening in a matter of a few minutes. In a few hours anyone can learn a large number of strong related variants, and develop a good sense of how to play during and after the opening, at least thru the first 12 - 15 moves. It is, with absolute certainty, the best system ever found for those learning to play the game of chess. At the same time, this system is one of the strongest that has ever been seen, even for serious chess at championship level! In a thousand games played at master level this system has proved its worth, compiling an impressive record of wins against every imaginable style of opponent play. Given the ease with which it can be learned, It is therefore the quickest way to improve for everyone who already play chess, whatever their current level of expertise. This system is totally new, it has never been presented or described before this publication. It is not an improvement or a development of any existing method, but a brand new, amazingly strong, and easy to play system, based on simple rules for playing the chess opening. This system is unbelievably strong, both on defense and offense. It has a number of remarkable properties rarely seen before in chess openings, that make it truly unique. Among these are that it can be played by both white and black indifferently, and that the openings can be carried out in most cases in standard form, irrespective of how the opponent plays. The basic opening is called the Beginner’s Game, and the set of related variants on the opening is called the B-system. They all respect the same simple set of rules for opening play that distinguishes them from openings used before. Together, they challenge all of classical chess opening theory and practice, and in the hands of a competent player, emerge victorious. Suitable for Beginners, Intermediate, and Advanced Players Alike If you have never learned to play chess before, consider yourself fortunate - you have been spared years of drubbing by everyone better than you, while you struggled to learn the complex labyrinth of chess openings. Instead you can memorize in a few minutes the Beginners Game, which guarantees you a successful opening. The author has taught the Beginner’s Game to people with no familiarity with chess (and even an aversion to learning to play!) and seen them playing quite well after a few games. A beginner can now play the openings like a professional! For intermediate players, this system is a godsend. From the occasional to the serious club player, all have most difficulty with the openings. It is there that the better players take most advantage of them, wrecking their plans, and putting them at a disadvantage after only a few moves. Using their knowledge of the openings, better players push their adversaries away from the more familiar lines, present difficult tactical situations and traps, force disadvantageous exchanges, and in general, disorient and discourage their adversaries. Most occasional players do not have the time or interest to study the openings, so condemning themselves to mediocrity. Do they really have to digest the entire body of opening theory to play well? It's just a game, right? The chess opening can be immensely complicated and unbelievably difficult. Until now it has generally been assumed that the only way to succeed in this phase of the game is by laborious study and meticulous imitation. This system frees you from that drudgery, allowing you to master the chess opening in the least time imaginable. It is enough to follow a few simple rules, keep in mind a few useful examples, and develop your own experience. With these, you will pass intact thru this most difficult and dangerous phase of the game. And you will do it by deploying according to plan, and without allowing your adversary to develop any advantage. Advanced players, including professional chess players, will be amazed by this system of openings. It is truly exceptional, having properties that distinguish it from anything known previously in chess. These unique properties give a player of the system a real advantage over any rival of comparable strength. You play your game, not your adversary's. You control the nature of the game, closed or open, quiet or full of risks, where and when attacks are made, all the characteristics of play. You will also be able to anticipate the middle game well past the usual limits, extending your preparation deep into the game. In addition, you are sure to find among the great diversity of variants in this opening system many that suit your preferred style of play.