The Chess Mind

Sitting alone, all by itself at the end of this week's issue of TWIC, was a corrected version of a game Epishin (2607) - Schoeneberg (2269) from the Porzellancup rapid about three weeks ago. The game began 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Rg1 (hmm, wonder what he's up to) 3...c5 4.c3 d5 5.g4. While this idea isn't losing for White, Black is probably a little better by this point. Further, White's Rg1 + g4 creates all kinds of possible long-term problems, and when Epishin slipped later his opponent crushed him. Epishin may be a very strong and experienced GM, but when you play junk even the white pieces, 300+ rating points and your opponent's age (Schoeneberg is 63 or 64) may not save you.

Here's the full game.