Sample Games: White plays 8.e4!
GM Petr Kiriakov, then a 15-year-old candidate master, was the youngest contender in the tournament.
White loses the opening battle but then fights very well to save the game in an evidently lost ending (not easy though) a pawn down. A very important game for my gambit, too.
The league is a long-term round-robin commitment. In playing sharp adventurous lines in these computer era days, you should be aware in particular of strong home preparations. My opponent knew for sure that the gambit is an option. And he knew well my game vs. Lapshun. The question was if he knew my later game vs. Hayes. It turned out that he had not. Cliff is very good about home work. My 8th move certainly caught him in surprise. And after the 10th move, like David Hayes, he realized that things were going not the way White pictured.
This game with Doug Stenclik proved more convincingly than my previous one with David Hayes that even after 9.Qxd5 White has serious problems. Certainly he should not lose yet but his game must be extremely accurate not to get in trouble shortly. We need some more practice here.
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