The Monkey's Bum is a variation of the Modern Defense, a chess opening. Although it may also be loosely defined as any approach against the Modern Defense involving an early Bc4 and Qf3, threatening "Scholar's mate", it is strictly defined by the sequence of moves:
The Monkey's Bum was discovered and championed by IM Nigel Povah in the 1970s during a wave of popularity of the Modern Defence. In 1972, after Keene and Botterill published their book The Modern Defence, Povah began looking for a response to the opening. He happened across the game Ljubojević–Keene, Palma de Mallorca 1971, which started 1.e4 g6 2.d4 d6 3.Bc4 Bg7 4.f4 Nf6 and eventually ended in a draw. Intrigued by Ljubojević's early Bc4, Povah began investigating a rapid assault on f7 with 3.Qf3. When he showed the first few moves to Ken Coates, a friend at Leeds, Coates declared, "If that works then I'm a monkey's bum!" The name stuck. The Monkey's Bum first appeared in print five years later in the British Chess Magazine. Povah wrote an article on the theory of the Monkey's Bum, in which he stated that although he had never yet lost with the variation, it was still "in its infancy".
Analysisedit
In playing the Monkey's Bum, White's idea is to gain active piece play by a sacrifice of the d4-pawn, much like the Smith-Morra Gambit. In practice however, such compensation proves tenuous in the Monkey's Bum proper, as evidenced by the following game:
A much more popular and respected approach against the Modern Defense is the Monkey's Bum Deferred. It has been employed by such notable grandmasters as John Nunn, Sergei Rublevsky and Judit Polgár. It is distinct from the Monkey's Bum proper in that the attempt to create the "Scholar's mate" threat with Bc4 and Qf3 only occurs after White has developed their queen's knight. A typical sequence of the Monkey's Bum Deferred is 1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 c6 4.Bc4 d6 5.Qf3 (see diagram). Usually White will castle kingside and undertake an attack by means of the pawn thrust f2–f4.
The following spectacular game is probably the most famous success of the Monkey's Bum Deferred and forced it to be considered with respect by the chess world:
Povah, Nigel (August 1977). "Monkey Business with 2♗c4 against the Modern Defence". British Chess Magazine. 97 (8): 350–53.
External linksedit
(chesscenter.com)
Polgár vs Shirov, Amsterdam, 1995 (chessgames.com)
January 01, 1970
modern, defense, monkey, monkey, variation, modern, defense, chess, opening, although, also, loosely, defined, approach, against, modern, defense, involving, early, threatening, scholar, mate, strictly, defined, sequence, moves, abcdefgh8877665544332211abcdefg. The Monkey s Bum is a variation of the Modern Defense a chess opening Although it may also be loosely defined as any approach against the Modern Defense involving an early Bc4 and Qf3 threatening Scholar s mate it is strictly defined by the sequence of moves Modern Defense Monkey s Bumabcdefgh8877665544332211abcdefghMoves1 e4 g6 2 Bc4 Bg7 3 Qf3 e6 4 d4 Bxd4 5 Ne2 Bg7 6 Nbc3ParentModern Defense 1 e4 g6 2 Bc4 Bg7 3 Qf3 e6 4 d4 Bxd4 5 Ne2 Bg7 6 Nbc3 The Monkey s Bum Deferred is a more respected variation in which White develops their queen s knight before playing Bc4 and Qf3 Contents 1 Origin 2 Analysis 3 Monkey s Bum Deferred 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksThis article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves Origin editThe Monkey s Bum was discovered and championed by IM Nigel Povah in the 1970s during a wave of popularity of the Modern Defence In 1972 after Keene and Botterill published their book The Modern Defence Povah began looking for a response to the opening He happened across the game Ljubojevic Keene Palma de Mallorca 1971 which started 1 e4 g6 2 d4 d6 3 Bc4 Bg7 4 f4 Nf6 and eventually ended in a draw Intrigued by Ljubojevic s early Bc4 Povah began investigating a rapid assault on f7 with 3 Qf3 When he showed the first few moves to Ken Coates a friend at Leeds Coates declared If that works then I m a monkey s bum The name stuck The Monkey s Bum first appeared in print five years later in the British Chess Magazine Povah wrote an article on the theory of the Monkey s Bum in which he stated that although he had never yet lost with the variation it was still in its infancy Analysis editIn playing the Monkey s Bum White s idea is to gain active piece play by a sacrifice of the d4 pawn much like the Smith Morra Gambit In practice however such compensation proves tenuous in the Monkey s Bum proper as evidenced by the following game Nigel Povah Shimon Kagan Birmingham 1977 1 e4 g6 2 Bc4 Bg7 3 Qf3 e6 4 d4 Bxd4 5 Ne2 Bg7 6 Nbc3 Nc6 7 Bf4 Ne5 8 Bxe5 Bxe5 9 Qe3 d6 10 0 0 0 Bd7 11 f4 Bg7 12 g4 a6 13 h4 b5 14 Bb3 a5 15 a4 bxa4 16 Nxa4 h5 17 e5 Nh6 18 exd6 Nxg4 19 Qc5 c6 20 Nd4 Bxd4 21 Rxd4 0 0 22 Nb6 Rb8 23 Nxd7 Qxd7 24 Ba4 Qb7 25 b3 Qb6 26 Qxb6 Rxb6 27 Rc4 Rd8 28 Bxc6 Rxd6 29 Bf3 Ne3 30 Ra4 Rb4 31 Rxa5 Rxf4 32 Bb7 Rb6 33 Ba8 Nf5 34 Kb2 Nxh4 35 Ka3 Nf5 36 c4 Nd4 37 Rb1 Nc2 38 Ka2 Nb4 39 Kb2 Rb8 40 c5 Nd3 0 1Monkey s Bum Deferred editabcdefgh8 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 877665544332211abcdefghAfter 1 e4 g6 2 d4 Bg7 3 Nc3 c6 4 Bc4 d6 5 Qf3 A much more popular and respected approach against the Modern Defense is the Monkey s Bum Deferred It has been employed by such notable grandmasters as John Nunn Sergei Rublevsky and Judit Polgar It is distinct from the Monkey s Bum proper in that the attempt to create the Scholar s mate threat with Bc4 and Qf3 only occurs after White has developed their queen s knight A typical sequence of the Monkey s Bum Deferred is 1 e4 g6 2 d4 Bg7 3 Nc3 c6 4 Bc4 d6 5 Qf3 see diagram Usually White will castle kingside and undertake an attack by means of the pawn thrust f2 f4 The following spectacular game is probably the most famous success of the Monkey s Bum Deferred and forced it to be considered with respect by the chess world Judit Polgar Alexei Shirov Donner Memorial Amsterdam 1995 1 e4 g6 2 d4 Bg7 3 Nc3 c6 4 Bc4 d6 5 Qf3 e6 6 Nge2 b5 7 Bb3 a5 8 a3 Ba6 9 d5 cxd5 10 exd5 e5 11 Ne4 Qc7 12 c4 bxc4 13 Ba4 Nd7 14 N2c3 Ke7 15 Nxd6 Qxd6 16 Ne4 Qxd5 17 Bg5 Ndf6 18 Rd1 Qb7 19 Rd7 Qxd7 20 Bxd7 h6 21 Qd1 1 0See also editList of chess openingsReferences editPovah Nigel August 1977 Monkey Business with 2 c4 against the Modern Defence British Chess Magazine 97 8 350 53 External links editBritish Championships 2000 chesscenter com Polgar vs Shirov Amsterdam 1995 chessgames com Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Modern Defense Monkey 27s Bum amp oldid 1167298991, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
