Opening Lanes

Opening Lanes
Gary Lane


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Opening Lanes is based in large part on readers' questions.
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Yes, I have a question for Gary!
Do Not Think Like a Grandmaster
It seems a great idea to study and follow the chess openings of
the best players in the world but few people have the nerve to
whisper the truth. Some of them are just impractical at club level
and opening books should come with a warning such as Beware
the Dragon Sicilian will make you obsessed and wreck your
chess career.
Patricia Llaneza (Spain) is the latest victim of
trying to emulate the stars of the chessboard and
ending up disillusioned. I'd like to know if there
is any way to avoid draw when you are black in
the following variation of the Spanish: 1 e4 e5 2
Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 Be7 6 Re1 b5
7 Bb3 d6 8 c3 0-0 9 h3 Bb7 10 d4 Re8 11 Ng5 Rf8
12 Nf3 and so on. Supposedly, Black does not
mind accepting draw but what if he does? Is it so
easy for white? Some say that, if you want to win
with black, you play Sicilian but you should be
able to fight for a victory with 1...e5 as well.
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I can understand your frustration at being led into a
draw that you didnt realise existed. I had exactly
the same experience some time ago in a weekend
tournament when a lower rated player started
repeating moves as White and then gleefully
abandoned his chair to fetch the arbiter, so he
could claim that we had repeated the position three
times. I was not exactly pleased at the time but
White was well within his rights to steer the game
towards a draw and this will always be a problem
with 9Bb7, so my advice is abandon the line
immediately. It is fine for the elite players to draw
as Black but for just about everyone else it will
cause lots of problems. Therefore, I suggest you
keep faith with defending against the Ruy Lopez
but choose another line. For instance, you seem to
prefer main lines therefore the Karpov Variation
might be worth investigating.
Herman Van Riemsdijk-I van Morovic
Fernandez Cali 2001
1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 Be7
6 Re1 b5 7 Bb3 d6 8 c3 0-0 9 h3 Nd7
This line is usually
referred to as the
Karpov Variation due
to the fact that Anatoly
Karpov played it four
times in his 1990 world
championship match
against Kasparov.
Basically, the plan is to
support the e5-pawn
with Bf6, which tends to increase the pressure
on Whites d4-pawn. The knight on d7 will emerge
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on b6, where it will try to restrict White queenside
activity. I had a look at line stemming from
9Bb7 10 d4 but moves such as 10h6 and
10Na5 are not particularly convincing for
Black.10 d4 Nb6 11 Nbd2 Also possible is 11 Be3
to support the d-pawn and occurred a few rounds
later in the same tournament. For example:
11exd4 12 Nxd4 Na5 13 Bc2 c5 14 Nf3 Nac4
15 Bc1 Bf6 16 Nbd2 Re8 17 Nxc4 Nxc4 18 Nd2
Nb6 19 Nf1 Bb7 with roughly equal chances and
the game was eventually drawn, A.Abreu-
I.Morovic Fernandez, Cali 2001. 11Bf6 12 d5
Na5 An interesting response is 12Nb8 intending
to manoeuvre the knight to c5 via d7. It works well
in the following game: 13 Nf1 N8d7 14 Ne3 Nc5
15 Bc2 Bd7 16 b4!? (it gets rid of the knight on c5
but more seriously weakens the c3 pawn)
16Nca4 17 Qd3 Rc8 18 Rb1 c6 19 dxc6 Rxc6
20 Nd5 with equal chances, E.Paljusaj-Z.Zufic,
Pula 2000) 13 Bc2 c6
The standard way to
chip away at Whites
central pawns. It is a
good idea for Black to
open lines for his
pieces although he has
to be careful that White
does not stamp control
over the d5-square. 14
dxc6 Nxc6 15 Nf1 Be6
16 Ne3 Rc8 17 Bb3 Na5 18 Nd5 Nxd5 19 Bxd5
Qc7 20 b3 Bxd5 20Qxc3? is one pawn Black
should avoid because after 21 Bd2 Qc7 22 Rc1
Qb6 23 Bxe6 fxe6 24 Bxa5 Qxa5 25 Qxd6 the
position is good for White. 21 Qxd5 Nc6 Once
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again 21Qxc3 is dubious upon 22 Bd2 Qc7 23
a4! when White has bright prospects on the
queenside. 22 Ba3 Rfd8 23 Re3 Qa5 24 Bb2 Ne7
25 Qd3 d5!
Black has achieved the
aim of advancing the d-
pawn, which will allow
him to dispose of the
backward pawn and
activate the rooks. The
game concluded: 26 a4
Qb6 27 axb5 axb5 28
Qe2 b4 29 c4 d4 30
Rd3 Ng6 31 Rdd1 Nf4
32 Qd2 Ne6 33 Ne1 Nc5 34 Qc2 Ra8 35 Rxa8
Rxa8 36 Nd3 h6 37 Nxc5 Qxc5 38 Kf1 Bh4 39
g3 Be7 40 Ra1 Rxa1+ 41 Bxa1 Qc8! A nice move
that targets the pawn on h3 and gives Black an
extra move allowing the queen to occupy the
important a-file. 42 Kg2 Qa8 43 Qb1 f5 44 f3
fxe4 45 fxe4 d3 46 Kf3 Qf8+ 47 Kg2 Or 47 Ke3
Bg5+ 48 Kxd3 Qf3+ 49 Kc2 Qe2 mate. 47Bc5
48 Qf1 d2 0-1
Nick Zehenr (USA) is like all of us who enjoy
playing friendly games but not if we lose all the
time. He writes I play the Alapin against the
Sicilian. I know what the main lines are 2...d5 or
2...Nf6. But my friend who is a 1600 plays
2Nc6. He crushes me ever time after playing
e6 and d6. The NCO does not have any lines
about it or other opening books. Please help I am
tired of getting beat.
The Alapin, which is also well known, as the c3
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Sicilian is a useful opening because the simple but
effective idea of creating a pawn centre is useful at
all levels. In your case 2Nc6 is a side-line that
can transpose to other openings. I suspect that once
you are aware of a few possibilities you will able
to fight back. For instance:
Leonid Kernazhitsky-Silvio Ursic Zalakaros 1997
1 e4 c5 2 c3 Nc6
This is how Nicks
opponent manages to
avoid main-line theory
but with correct play it
should be harmless and
can even lead to ruin. 3
Nf3 The standard
move, which is bit of a
sit and wait policy. The
reason is that now
3d5 4 exd5 Qxd5 5 d4 transposes to a well
known line and so does 3Nf6 4 e5 Nd5 5 d4. 3
d4 is also perfectly acceptable when a lot of games
continue 3e6 4 Nf3 d5 5 e5 transposing to the
Advance French. Personally, I prefer the move
played in the main game.
3d6 4 d4 cxd4 5 cxd4 e6 I am guessing that the
combination of e6 and d6 will be similar to
your friendly encounters. 6 Nc3 White already
has a pleasant edge with a pawn centre and a space
advantage. 6a6?! 7 d5 A theme of this line is
that White generally advances his d-pawn to
dislodge the queens knight from its good square.
7Nce7 8 Qb3 e5 9 Be3 f6?! 9b5!? should be
considered. 10 Bb6 Qd7 11 Nb5!
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When Black is
struggling it is so
important for White to
finish the job off
before he can catch up
with development. If
11axb5 then 12
Bxb5 Nc6 13 Rc1
gives White a strong
attack but in the
circumstances it is Blacks best chance to survive.
11Kf7 12 Nc7 Rb8 13 Rc1 1-0 Black rightly
resigned in view of the threat 13 Ba7.
One of the reasons why you might have trouble
finding any information in the books is because it
can also occur via a different move-order:
Garry Kasparov-F.Wurtz Colmar simul 1998
1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 c3 Nc6 We have now reached
the position that can happen in the Alapin. The
usual move here for Black is 3Nf6 and the right
way to punish such passive play is demonstrated
by Kasparov. 4 d4 cxd4 5 cxd4 e6 6 Nc3 Bd7 In
the game A.Dunnington-R. Terfve, Huy 1991,
Black tried 6Be7 and White kept faith to a
standard idea of knocking the c6 knight of its
perch with 7 d5. There followed: 7Ne5 8 Nxe5
dxe5 9 Bb5+ Bd7 (9Kf8 looks ugly but is
essential) 10 dxe6! (the starting point of a clever
combination by the Englishman) 10fxe6 11
Qh5+ g6 12 Qxe5 Nf6 13 Qxe6 Bxb5 14 Nxb5
Qa5+ 15 Nc3 Rd8 16 0-0 with a clear winning
advantage. 7 Bd3 Qc7 8 0-0 a6 9 d5!
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Once again in a game
featuring this line
White takes steps to
oust the queens knight
from c6. It is worth
noting that Kasparov
sensibly develops his
kingside before
advancing his d-pawn
to give himself more
attacking options. 9Nce7 10 Be3 Nf6 11 Rc1
The big threat is 12 Nb5 with a discovered attack
on the black queen. 11Qd8 12 Qe2 Instead 12
Qb3 b5 13 Rfe1 is also good for White. 12Rc8
13 dxe6 Bxe6 14 Nd5 Qd7 The critical line is
14Nfxd5 15 exd5 Bxd5 16 b4 but who would
want to give Kasparov plenty of opportunities to
attack? However, the text is a sign of panic
because Blacks position quickly collapses. 15
Rxc8+ Qxc8 16 Nxf6+ gxf6 17 Nd4
The doubled f-pawns
weaken Blacks
kingside and now
White moves the
kings knight out of the
way to allow the queen
to infiltrate on the
kingside. 17Bd7 18
Qf3 Bg7 19 Rc1 Qd8
20 Nf5 0-0 21 Nxg7
Kxg7 22 Qh5 Rg8 23 Qh6+ Kh8 24 Qxf6+ Rg7
25 Bh6 Qg8 I dont blame Black for not resigning
in a completely lost position because it is an
honour to play Kasparov. However, having played
in a couple if simultaneous displays against him I
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can assure you that one gentleman who carried on
to the end in the face of overwhelming odds to try
for stalemate received such looks of disgust from
Garry that most mortals would have turned to
stone. 26 Bxg7+ Qxg7 27 Qxe7 Be6 28 Qd8+
Qg8 29 Qxd6 Bh3 30 Qf6+ Qg7 31 Qxg7+ Kxg7
32 gxh3 1-0
Here is another example that features a trap that a
number of players have fallen for:
Aljosa Grosar-I van Bilic Croatian Team Ch
2000
1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 c3 d6 4 d4 cxd4 5 cxd4 Bg4
Black pins the knight to put pressure on the central
pawns. 6 d5
The idea of d4-d5 to
force the queens
knight to move from a
good square should be
normal by now but in
this case it is often
played to lure Black
into a brilliant trap.
6Ne5? At first
glance it seems a good
idea to increase the pressure on the pinned knight.
Probably the best move is 6Bxf3 although after
7 Qxf3 Ne5 8 Bb5+ Nd7 9 Bf4 White has the
better chances due to a lead in development. For
example: 9a6 10 Bxd7+ Qxd7 11 0-0 Nf6 12
Rc1 Rc8 13 Nd2 g6 14 Nc4 Qd8 15 Bd2 Nd7 16
Qc3 Ne5 17 Nxd6+ 1-0 S.Hatzl-F. Krumphals,
Murek 1996. 7 Nxe5! Bxd1 If 7dxe5 then 8
Qxg4 leaves White a piece up. 8 Bb5+
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White did not give up
his queen for no reason
because now Black
must do the same
leaving him in an
awful position.
8Qd7 9 Bxd7+ Kd8
10 Nxf7+ Kxd7 11
Kxd1 1-0
After looking at these games I hope that Nick will
soon be sending me his latest win in the line.
Mark Morss (USA) is suffering from a lack of
confidence in his favourite line, which happens to
us all at some point. He writes For a long time,
I've used the Schliemann (Jaenisch) Defense to the
Spanish: 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 f5 Many
"refutations" have been published but it seems that
Black can always weasel his way to a playable
game. I recently used it against a strong opponent
in the final section of the 13th U.S.
Correspondence Championship, and obtained a
draw. But lately I've become convinced that one
line really does refute the Schliemann, or at least,
the main line, 4 Nc3 fxe4 5 Nxe4 d5 6 Nxe5
dxe4 7 Nxc6 Qg5 8 Qe2 Nf6. Now 9 f4 is
favored by all the books, but the sternest test is 9
Nxa7+! Bd7 10 Bxd7+ Nxd7 (weak is
10...Kxd7 11 Qb5+) 11 f4! The books give
11...Qc5 12 Nb5 Qxc2 as leading to a "slight"
advantage for White, but 13 d4! Bb4+ 14 Kf2
Qxe2+ 15 Kxe2 O-O-O 16 Be3 leads to a very
safe, pawn-up ending for White. Black may have
drawing chances, but I doubt that his struggle will
be easy. For a while I thought that 12...O-O-O
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(instead of 12...Qxc2) was a way of energizing
Black's game, intending 13 c3 Qd5 (with the idea
of ...Nc5) or 13 Nc3 Nf6 14 Nxe4 Qxc2 with
counterplay for Black in both cases. I shared this
idea with a chess friend, and he later reached the
position after 12...O-O-O 13 Nc3 Nf6 in an email
game. His opponent then produced 14 a4! and
won crushingly. White's threat to run the a-pawn
is quite powerful, it turns out. Since I am at a loss
to know how to handle this line, I do not play the
Schliemann any more. I wish I could find the
answer to this, since this defense is, in many
respects, a logical and thoroughgoing reply to the
Spanish. I would be most interested to hear what
you have to say on the subject of 9 Nxa7+ Bd7 10
Bxd7+ Nxd7 11 f4!.
There will be some of you wondering what all the
fuss is about so here is one of the important games
in the line:
Marcin Kaminski-Luc Henris Pardubice 1996
1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 f5
The Schliemann or
Jaenisch Gambit is
renowned as a great
opening for club
players who want to
fight the Ruy Lopez
with an aggressive
system. 4 Nc3 fxe4 5
Nxe4 d5 6 Nxe5 dxe4
7 Nxc6 Qg5 8 Qe2 Nf6
9 Nxa7+ 9 f4 is the usual move and it has a good
record. For example, I saw the following game
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when I took part in a Belgian team match played
by the player in the main game who is a Belgian
international. That went 9Qh4+ 10 g3 Qh3 11
Ne5+ c6 12 Bc4 Bc5 13 d3 Ng4 14 Nf7 Bf2+ 15
Kd1 e3 (the worrying thing is that this is a normal
position for Black who looks to me to be clinging
on to his slim chances of surviving) 16 Qf3 Nf6 17
f5 Nd5 18 Bxd5 cxd5 19 Nd6+ Kd7 20 Nxc8
Raxc8 21 Qxd5+ Ke8 22 Ke2 Qg4+ 23 Qf3 Qa4
24 b3 Qd4 25 Ba3 Qc3 26 Qd5 Qd2+ 27 Kf3 e2 28
Qe4+ Kd7 29 Qd5+ Ke8 30 Qe4+ Kd7 31 Qd5+ -
H.Froeyman-L.Henris, Belgian Team Ch 1999.
It will come as no surprise that Luc has since being
playing other lines against the Ruy Lopez. This is
probably why 9 Nxa7+ has not been properly
examined because the general opinion that Black is
in trouble either way. 9Bd7 10 Bxd7+ Nxd7 11
f4
This is the move that
Mark cant stand. It is
fairly logical because
the f-pawn is advanced
in a number of lines. If
you look in the books
the game quoted is
D.Thomas-M
Boskovic, USA, 1975,
which is why nobody
has concentrated on it because Black is rewarded
with a spectacular victory. There followed: 11
Qxe4+ Kd8 12 Qxb7? Rxa7 13 Qxa7 Qxg2 14 Rf1
Bc5 15 Qa6 Re8+ 16 Qe2 (16 Kd1 allows
16Qf3+) 16Rxe2+ 17 Kxe2 Qe4+ 18 Kd1
Qf3+ 19 Ke1 Nf6 20 d3 Ng4 21 Bg5+ Kd7 22 Bh4
Nxh2 23 Rg1 Qf7 0-1. 11Qxf4 has been tested
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when 12 d4 Qf5 13 Nb5 0-0-0 14 Rf1 gives White
the superior chances. 11Qc5 12 Nb5 Qxc2 The
suggestion 120-0-0 looks nothing special due to
the fact that he does not have a big lead in
development or any obvious tactical traps. Indeed,
13 Nc3 Nf6 14 a4 (14 Nxe4 Qxc2) 14Bd6 15
Rf1 Rhf8 16 a5 intending a6 looks fine for White.
13 Nc3 I agree that 13 d4 is awkward for Black
after 13Bb4+ 14 Kf2 Qxe2+ 15 Kxe2 0-0-0 16
Be3 when only White has winning chances in the
ending. 130-0-0 Perhaps 13Nc5!? deserves
investigation. 14 Qxe4! It makes sense for White
to enter an ending where he has two pawn pawns.
The game concluded: 14Qxe4+ 15 Nxe4 Nc5 16
Nxc5 Bxc5 17 Kd1 Rd4 18 Rf1 Re8 19 b3 Rde4
20 Bb2 Re2 21 Rc1 Bb4 22 Rc2 Rxg2 23 Be5 c6
24 d4 Rxc2 25 Kxc2 g6 26 f5 gxf5 27 Rxf5 Rf8
28 Rxf8+ Bxf8 29 Kd3 Kd7 30 a4 Ke6 31 Kc4
Be7 32 b4 Kd7 33 b5 Bf8 34 b6 Bh6 35 a5 Kc8
36 d5 cxd5+ 37 Kxd5 Be3 38 Kc4 Kd7 39 a6
bxa6 40 b7 Ba7 41 b8Q Bxb8 42 Bxb8 1-0
It is difficult to suggest an improvement apart from
looking at one of the other lines such as the
popular 5Nf6.
Finally, a father is having problems beating his
son. Alexey Vyskubov (Finland) writes: I play
chess with my 9-year-old son and he plays some
strange variation: 1 e4 e5 2 f4 exf4 3 g3. I cannot
find this position in chess games databases so I
suppose it shouldn't be good for white. But
actually it's not bad; especially after 3fxg3 hxg3
-- white can make use of the semi-open h-file. I
don't study chess (I just read some books and play
with reasonably good chess players), so I cannot
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find the right way of playing for black in this
position.
It is good to hear that your son is already playing
attacking chess. The opening after 2 f4 is called
the Kings Gambit and in various books you will
find games played by great players, which would
be a useful way to improve by playing over the
examples. After 1 e4 e5 2 f4 exf4 3 g3 3 Nf3 is the
usual move to prevent 3Qh4+. 3fxg3 4 hxg3
White is already in
trouble because the
extra pawn sacrifice
with 3 g3 is dubious at
the highest level.
Although, the rook is
an able to operate on
the semi-open h-file it
is usually also good
after castling kingside
when it can operate on the f-file.
My advice to beat your son is to buy a small chess
programme and keep it running in another room,
then consult it every couples of moves! Just
remember the old saying, if you cant beat them,
cheat.
Copyright 2001 Gary Lane. All Rights Reserved.
This column is available in Chess Cafe Reader format. Click
here for more information.
Gary wants your questions on openings!! Send it
along and perhaps it will be answered in an
upcoming column. Please include your name
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and country of residence. Yes, I have a question
for Gary!


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