Alterman on the Morra – Part 2

by ChessBase
4/25/2004 – After showing us how to meet the Sicilian with the Morra Gambit last week, tonight our GM trainer Boris Alterman explains how in the Morra you don't need to look after casual combinations but follow the main principles of the opening: fast development, control over the center. Tactical combinations will appear automatically! Listen to Boris in his audio lecture on Playchess.com.

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Boris Alterman writes: "My first coach taught me to play aggressively and energetically, not to fear sacrificing material for an attack. His lessons were so instructive and interesting that I didn't want to miss the sessions even when I was ill with fever. It was no surprise that as a young player I loved to play gambit systems.

Why do I recommend you to study aggressive and attacking openings? The reason could be easily explained: When you play gambit openings you learn the most important principles of opening strategy quickly: the importance of development, the timing for the combination, the meaning of initiative, utilizing development advantage and other important issues.

The topic of my first lecture was : Meet the Sicilian with the Morra Gambit! Part 1. In Part 2 on Sunday I will show that in the Morra Gambit you don't need to look after a casual combination. You have to follow the main principles of the opening as: fast development, control over the center and a tactical combination will bear itself!"

GM Boris Alterman's Radio ChessBase lectures begin at 21:00h CEST (European Central time = server time, which translates to 17:00h GMT, 3:00 p.m. New York, 05:00 a.m. Sydney (on Monday). Other time zones can be found at the bottom of the page. You can use Fritz or any Fritz-compatible program (Shredder, Junior, Tiger, Hiarcs) to follow the lectures, or download a free trial client.

GM Boris Alterman is 34, and lives in Israel. He was born in Kharkov, Ukraine, where he started playing chess at the age of 7. His career highlights include earning the IM title in 1991 and the GM title in 1992.He is the winner of the following Open and GM tournaments: Haifa 1993; Bad Homburg 1996; Rishon LeZion 1996; Beijing 1995 and 1997; Munchen 1992. His hobbies include computers and swimming, his favourite food is Chinese, he speaks fluent Russian, Hebrew and English.

Boris has worked for and against Garry Kasparov. In 1999 he assisted the world champion in his spectacular Microsoft match Kasparov vs The World, and was also part of the team that built up the web portal Kasparov Chess. In 2003, on the other hand, he was part of the Deep Junior team that gave Kasparov a run for his money in the New York match.

Boris Alterman is a consummate computer expert and an internationally feared computer killer. In 2000 he played a remarkable game against Deep Fritz in Holland, at one stage reaching the following historical position, which has come to be known as the "Alterman Wall":

Boris won the game against Fritz in 87 moves.

For those of you who have not been following our Chess Puzzle section for many years there's a charming little story involving Garry Kasparov and the young Boris Alterman. It was part of our Christmas Puzzle 1999.

Boris Alterman will hold his lectures on Sundays at 21:00h Server time and a simultaneous exhibition on Mondays at 21:00h server time (in the "Simultaneous Exhibitions" room).

Here are the world-wide starting times for Alterman's lectures.
The simuls are at the same times one day later.
Abu Dhabi Sun 23:00   Halifax * Sun 16:00   New Orleans * Sun 14:00
Addis Ababa Sun 22:00 Hanoi Mon 02:00 New York * Sun 15:00
Adelaide Mon 04:30 Harare Sun 21:00 Odesa * Sun 22:00
Aden Sun 22:00 Havana * Sun 15:00 Oslo * Sun 21:00
Aklavik * Sun 13:00 Helsinki * Sun 22:00 Ottawa * Sun 15:00
Algiers Sun 20:00 Hong Kong Mon 03:00 Paris * Sun 21:00
Amman * Sun 22:00 Honolulu Sun 09:00 Perth Mon 03:00
Amsterdam * Sun 21:00 Houston * Sun 14:00 Philadelphia * Sun 15:00
Anadyr * Mon 08:00 Indianapolis Sun 14:00 Phoenix Sun 12:00
Anchorage * Sun 11:00 Islamabad Mon 00:00 Prague * Sun 21:00
Ankara * Sun 22:00 Istanbul * Sun 22:00 Rangoon Mon 01:30
Antananarivo Sun 22:00 Jakarta Mon 02:00 Reykjavik Sun 19:00
Asuncion Sun 15:00 Jerusalem * Sun 22:00 Rio de Janeiro Sun 16:00
Athens * Sun 22:00 Johannesburg Sun 21:00 Riyadh Sun 22:00
Atlanta * Sun 15:00 Kabul Sun 23:30 Rome * Sun 21:00
Baghdad * Sun 23:00 Kamchatka * Mon 08:00 San Francisco * Sun 12:00
Bangkok Mon 02:00 Karachi Mon 00:00 San Juan Sun 15:00
Barcelona * Sun 21:00 Kathmandu Mon 00:45 San Salvador Sun 13:00
Beijing Mon 03:00 Khartoum Sun 22:00 Santiago Sun 15:00
Beirut * Sun 22:00 Kingston Sun 14:00 Santo Domingo Sun 15:00
Belgrade * Sun 21:00 Kiritimati Mon 09:00 Sao Paulo Sun 16:00
Berlin * Sun 21:00 Kolkata Mon 00:30 Seattle * Sun 12:00
Bogota Sun 14:00 Kuala Lumpur Mon 03:00 Seoul Mon 04:00
Boston * Sun 15:00 Kuwait City Sun 22:00 Shanghai Mon 03:00
Brasilia Sun 16:00 Kyiv * Sun 22:00 Singapore Mon 03:00
Brisbane Mon 05:00 La Paz Sun 15:00 Sofia * Sun 22:00
Brussels * Sun 21:00 Lagos Sun 20:00 St. John's * Sun 16:30
Bucharest * Sun 22:00 Lahore Mon 00:00 St. Paul * Sun 14:00
Budapest * Sun 21:00 Lima Sun 14:00 Stockholm * Sun 21:00
Buenos Aires Sun 16:00 Lisbon * Sun 20:00 Suva Mon 07:00
Cairo Sun 21:00 London * Sun 20:00 Sydney Mon 05:00
Canberra Mon 05:00 Los Angeles * Sun 12:00 Taipei Mon 03:00
Cape Town Sun 21:00 Madrid * Sun 21:00 Tallinn * Sun 22:00
Caracas Sun 15:00 Managua Sun 13:00 Tashkent Mon 00:00
Casablanca Sun 19:00 Manila Mon 03:00 Tegucigalpa Sun 13:00
Chatham Island Mon 07:45 Melbourne Mon 05:00 Tehran * Sun 23:30
Chicago * Sun 14:00 Mexico City * Sun 14:00 Tokyo Mon 04:00
Copenhagen * Sun 21:00 Minneapolis * Sun 14:00 Toronto * Sun 15:00
Darwin Mon 04:30 Minsk * Sun 22:00 Vancouver * Sun 12:00
Denver * Sun 13:00 Montevideo Sun 16:00 Vienna * Sun 21:00
Detroit * Sun 15:00 Montgomery * Sun 14:00 Vladivostok * Mon 06:00
Dhaka Mon 01:00 Montreal * Sun 15:00 Warsaw * Sun 21:00
Dublin * Sun 20:00 Moscow * Sun 23:00 Washington DC * Sun 15:00
Edmonton * Sun 13:00 Mumbai Mon 00:30 Wellington Mon 07:00
Frankfurt * Sun 21:00 Nairobi Sun 22:00 Winnipeg * Sun 14:00
Geneva * Sun 21:00 Nassau * Sun 15:00 Zagreb * Sun 21:00
Guatemala Sun 13:00 New Delhi Mon 00:30 Zürich * Sun 21:00

* indicates that the place is currently observing daylight saving time (DST)

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