Play Chess Openings: Bond Wins Snyder Anti-Sicilian 2.b3

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Bond Wins Snyder Anti-Sicilian 2.b3

Jocelyn Bond provides us with a Sicilian Defence in the 4th round game, second game vs his second opponent Normand Corneau, in the Championnat club d'échecs de Jonquiere in Canada. As he notes: "In the second game I won too as black in only 14 moves... Big opponents to come!!"

Back in the 1970s, the Snyder Sicilian (1.e4 c5 2.b3) was well-known as the favorite line of master Robert M. Snyder in a book he wrote and promoted. The line is fine, but Snyder was not fine. He is a convicted sex offender about whom America's Most Wanted had done an episode scheduled for October 24, 2009. That episode was pre-empted by the baseball playoffs and apparently never aired. Robert Snyder fled the United States and was captured in Belize. USCF had this note about his capture.

The variation 1.e4 c5 2.b3 is one of many Anti-Sicilian lines that are fully playable for White. Like most opening lines, it leads to equality. Whatever opening you play, if you play it all the time, you will score better than those who play it only once in a while. In the game below, White misses tactics. We all make tactical mistakes and lose sometimes.

Corneau-Bond, Championnat club d'échecs de Jonquiere (4), 04.07.2012 begins 1.e4 c5 2.b3 Nc6 3.Bb2 d6 4.Bc4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.a4 e6 7.Nf3 d5N 8.exd5 [8.Bd3!?=] 8...exd5=/+ 9.Qe2+ Be7-/+

10.Nxd5? [Better is 10.Bd3-/+ ] 10...Nxd5-+ 11.Bxg7 Rg8 12.Bf6 Rg6 [12...Nxf6 13.0-0 Bh3-+ Oops. I dream of the gain of the White queen and didn't see that the bishop is in the air.] 13.Bh4?? [13.Bxe7 Ncxe7 14.Ne5-+] 13...Re6 won the queen. 0-1 [Notes by Bond/Deep Fritz]