Magic Line Download
Aili Peal
I thought I had finally discovered a cure-all to the mainline Stafford gambit that's made waves on youtube, but as soon as I felt like I found lines where black can't possibly get enough play, the biggest Stafford exponents of this so-called "magic line" seem to have found improvements that still give black chances. The line I am discussing here begins after 8...Qh4!:
There are certainly many alternatives for both players throughout this analysis. One extremely interesting game between Jonathan Schrantz and Stockfish occurred after 11. dxc5 Be6!! 12. Qd4 Ne5! and he was able to get a draw ( =Qp75rbkIAYU). Another interesting game between IM Eric Rosen and IM halfnatty on lichess went 15. Nd2? O-O-O 16. Qa4?? Rxe2 and black won immediately ( =68H5DnAVQwo). I inserted my only game in this line into the above analysis, where we both made mutual blunders on move 14 and 18 just to highlight some of the ways this can go horribly wrong ( =qcfifxkyC8A).
Looking forward to people's feedback on these positions. Did I miss any important tries for black? Are there easier ways forward for white? Throughout this line, Stockfish says +5 or more, but Leela seems to like black's chances a lot more... needless to say, it's all incredibly complicated.
I think ! is far too generous for 8...Qh4?! worsening an already dubious line. 9. g3 Qf6 as you have then 10. Bf3! (10. f3?! objectively and ?? practically. Voluntary stripping the King before any piece coordination) bringing the light squares fully under control with a long term attack, able to retreat to g2, breaking the Black Queen's last hope of penetration to the White King along the f file, and letting White play natural moves from then on. The energy drains quickly with the lifeless but necessary 10...Bb6 (10...h4?? The idea is buried. 11. Bxg4 with zero structural damage) followed by more bruising punches: 11. h3! forcing a spite-sacrifice 11...Nxf2?? or the objective 11...Nh6. White consolidates 12. Be3, Black races to catch up 12...Be6, but development completes easily with 13. Nd2 O-O-O 14. Qe2. Two last false attempts at aggression (14...g5?! 15. e5 Goodnight!, 14...h4? 15. g4 I said Goodnight!) (or slower positional improvements, none of which force anything) and pawn melees in the center favor White but nearly perfect is 15. O-O-O (against all moves, even sacrificing the a2 pawn because of b3! trapping the bishop) and Black can shrug at a totally failed gambit. Computer evaluation +3.7 and there's virtually no branching.
but I'd agree with the comments by Pablo, it is not worth your time and it is a dubious gambit, just play either Nc3 and get a playable game, there are much more to learn that just some second hand gambit, unless you just want to play blitz and have no ambition to be better OTB player.
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Hazel Findlay has repeated Ron Kauk's highly aesthetic Magic Line 8c+ (5.14c) 35m line at Vernal Falls in Yosemite National Park. After one month of sessions working the line, Hazel ticked her project on her last day before leaving the Valley. Hazel's ascent is only the second redpoint ascent after Ron's son Lonnie Kauk made the first ascent placing gear on lead in November 2018. Ron's 1996 ascent was made using pre-placed gear, also known as a pinkpoint ascent.
Originally graded 5.14b, Lonnie upgraded the line to 5.14c last year, which translates to 8c+ sport climbing on gear, or around E10 in British trad grading. Hazel worked the moves last November following Lonnie's first redpoint ascent, and planned a return after a year of dedicated training to attempt the line with Maddy Cope. Despite a finger injury and breaking footholds - of which there are few - Hazel managed to time her ascent to perfection. On Instagram, she wrote:
'Today I climbed Magic Line fourth try of the day, on the last day of the trip with the pressure on and an emotional roller coaster of (more) breaking foot holds, a sore finger, numb feet and wind-blown water from Vernal Falls. But I worked hard for this one. I knew as soon as I tried it very briefly in November 2018 that if I was ever going to climb one very hard (for me) single pitch this would be it. Just because it was so beautiful to look at, so fun to move upwards on and in such a magical place. So I trained properly with the help of @davidmason85 all summer and I committed myself to these 35 metres for the whole valley season. It was stressful getting heartbreakingly close twice but in reality doing it on the last day of the trip meant that this route was the perfect challenge for me, testing me right to the end. To give you an idea of how hard this route was for me - the lower boulder crux is the hardest boulder problem I've ever done. Of course it's nice to bask in send-glory but really the process is where I'll take the value from and there's no chance this route hasn't made me a better climber/person. Thanks to the Kauks for inspiring me especially Lonnie.'
This year, Hazel has worked her way through some of the USA's hardest single-pitch - or extended pitch - crack lines, ticking the 70m splitter crack Concepcion 5.13 in Moab, Utah (UKC news) in May. Magic Line is Hazel's hardest route to date, adding to her list of two E9s (Once Upon a Time in the South West and Chicama) and two 8cs (Fish Eye and Mind Control), alongside four free ascents of El Capitan (the Pre-Muir Wall, Golden Gate, Freerider and the Salath Wall).
Hazel Findlay has been climbing for 25 of her 31 years, and started out trad climbing on the limestone sea cliffs of Pembrokeshire. She dabbled in competition climbing - she was the British junior champion six...
NOVEMBER 14, 2018: The crash and din of water smashing into rock echoed down the valley in a low thrum. Mist scattered in the wind, chilling the breeze. To the east, Lonnie Kauk hung on the granite, the first joints of his middle and index fingers snug in a narrow crack.
I was so overwhelmed with this beautiful place that I woke up early every day and stood in the valley, and all I could do was turn around in a big circle. I felt like this valley was protecting me, keeping all the bad things out and all the good things in.
Every day during the school year, we walked a couple of miles to get to the classrooms by Yosemite Falls. The path took us through Camp 4. Tourists and rock climbers would camp out there for months. Sometimes they would wander over and look around at our village.
When I was older, I remember going to the Yosemite Valley Lodge. A lot of the climbers from Camp 4 went to the lounge at night to hang out and talk. I was shy, but my sister knew a lot of people. It was there in 1975 that I met Ron Kauk.
Lucy Parker: Ron and I got together, and I got into climbing with him. I mostly did toprope climbing; it was just for fun. We also did a lot of running, up Yosemite Falls Trail and on Half Dome. I loved to train and run the loop around the Valley floor.
The possibility of making a living as a climber had just started to emerge. Ron began appearing on television: once in a car commercial and later in a special episode of Wide World of Sports, where he free climbed Lost Arrow Spire during a live broadcast.
Lonnie Kauk: I went over to attempt my first climb. The wall arched back by forty-five degrees, and there were these really small holds. I tried to do a couple moves, but obviously I fell right away.
The year 1990 marked the centennial of Yosemite National Park. That summer, Julia and Lucy Parker helped the AICMC organize the first annual Traditional Walk, which traced the ancient paths of the Mono Lake Paiute, the Miwok and the Ahwahneechee of the Yosemite.
Lonnie Kauk: I wanted to learn how to place gear, so I bugged my dad to teach me. We went up the Regular Route on Fairview Dome. It was kind of like when I was a little kid going bouldering with him. Maybe a week later, Bachar asked me if I wanted to solo Fairview Dome with him. Soon enough, there we were, without ropes.
In 2008 Lonnie ascended another Ron Kauk classic, Peace, with fellow climber Katie Lambert. Located in Tuolumne Meadows, the route follows 250 feet of steep slab on the Medlicott Dome, where a black streak dashes up the wall. On hot afternoons, the granite seems to glow like embers.
Katie Lambert: Peace was such an iconic route for my generation of climbers. I grew up with a photo of Ron on this route at my gym back in Louisiana. The striking line inspired my imagination of what could be possible. It was in many ways the impetus for me to move to Yosemite.
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