Semi-Slav Noteboom variation (4 part series)

Dutch player Daniël Noteboom (1910-1932) is one of the unsung rising stars of the early 1930s. He gained notoriety with an impressive début at the 1930 Chess Olympiad, scoring 11.5/15. But after playing at Hastings 1931/32, he tragically died of pneumonia in London. Aged only 21, it was a brief but tragic end to what looked a promising career.

His trademark was to play aggressively, and he left his legacy to the game with a wild and complex variation (with many gambit lines) in the Semi-Slav Defense: 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 c6 4 Nf3 dxc4 5 a4 Bb4 6 e3 b5 8 axb5 Bxc3 9 Bxc3 cxb5 10 b3 Bb7 - commonly known as the Noteboom Variation, that still packs a lethal punch for an unsuspecting opponent.