Non-stop Spanish: C60-C99

C60-C99: "Non−stop Spanish"
Written by GM Paul Motwani
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When a 16th−century Spanish priest named Ruy Lopez studied the moves 1 e4 e5 2
Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 back in 1561, he could scarcely have realised that the opening named after
him would become almost the most important one in the entire galaxy of chess systems!
Some openings are honoured by having their own exclusive ECO code, but you
know it's something really special when it's awarded multiple codes. And since the Ruy
Lopez or "Spanish Opening" single−handedly takes up all the forty (!) codes from C60 to
C99 inclusive, it's clearly a mega−star that you'll want to meet.
Go for it!
All the games given in blue can be accessed via ChessPub.exe, simply head for their
respective ECO code.
Contents
1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5

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3...a6
3...¤f6 4 0-0 ¤xe4 (4...¥e7 "A touch of cramp in the camp" [C66] 4...¥c5 "Playing to win
with the Classical Berlin" [C65]) 5 d4 ¤d6 "The Berlin Wall is back!" [C67]
3...¤d4 "What a stunning Bird!" [C61]
3...f5 "Flying f−pawn" [C63]
3...¥c5 "Black bishop in a hurry" [C64]
3...¤ge7 "Cosy in the Cozio Defence" [C60]
4 ¥a4
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4 ¥xc6 dxc6 5 0-0 f6 (5...¥g4 "Bishop takes knight and starts a fight!" [C68]) 6 d4 "Lots of
tricks after 5...f6" [C69]
4...¤f6
2
4...d6 5 c3 ¥d7 (5...f5 "The Siesta re−awakens!" [C74]) 6 d4 "He who castles could get
hassled!" [C75]
4...b5 5 ¥b3 ¤a5 "The Chase" [C70]
5 0-0
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5 £e2 ¥e7 (5...b5 6 ¥b3 ¥c5 "Why not give the Worrall a whirl!?" [C77]) 6 c3 "Let the d−
pawn decide: defence/counterattack?" [C86]
5 d4 "Early d4 defused?" [C84]
5 d3 b5 6 ¥b3 ¥e7 7 0-0 0-0 8 ¤bd2 d6 9 c3 ¤a5 10 ¥c2 c5 11 ¦e1 ¦e8 12 ¤f1 h6 (12...¥f8
"Stepping into the boots of the giants" [C90]) 13 h3 "Behind closed lines" [C93]
5...¥e7
5...¤xe4 6 d4 b5 7 ¥b3 d5 8 dxe5 (8 ¤c3 "A real e−opener!" [C80]) 8...¥e6 "Open fire on
the Spanish!" [C82]
5...b5 6 ¥b3 ¥b7 "Under the winning wing of the Archangel" [C78]
6 ¦e1
6 ¥xc6 dxc6 "On second thoughts, I'll take it!" [C85]
6...b5
6...d6 "A rare route" [C87]
7 ¥b3
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3
7...d6
7...0-0 8 c3 (8 d4 "Central line at move nine" [C91] 8 h3 "Afraid of Frank's fiery gambit!?"
[C88]) 8...d5 9 exd5 ¤xd5 10 ¤xe5 ¤xe5 11 ¦xe5 "The Marvellous Marshall
Attack" [C89]
8 c3 0-0 9 h3 ¤a5
9...¤b8 "Want to be a Breyer player!?" [C95]
9...¦e8 10 d4 ¥b7 "Heavyweight Battles" [C92]
10 ¥c2 c5 11 d4
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11...£c7
11...¦e8!? "Full marks for Mark's 16...Nxe4!! novelty!" [C96]
12 ¤bd2 cxd4
12...¦d8 "Chigorin Chief" [C97]
13 cxd4
"Last but not least" [C99]
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4
"Cosy in the Cozio Defence" [C60]
Last updated: 04/04/02 by Mr Mo

Our 'C60 book' introduces us to the Ruy Lopez, 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 , which is often
also referred to as the 'Spanish Opening', or simply 'The Spanish'. It is named after a
Spanish priest who analysed the opening in 1561 (a star year in Spain's history,
because it was also then that King Philip II declared Madrid to be the national capital
city).Ruy Lopez could scarcely have realised that his opening would become firmly
established among the most important ones in the entire galaxy of chess systems!
The moves 2 Nf3 and 3 Bb5 are apparently so simple, yet highly purposeful fast
developing moves which exert pressure (directly and indirectly) against Black's
central e5−pawn, while also clearing the way for White to castle kingside.
Nowadays, the most popular response to the Spanish Opening is 3...a6, and we'll be
meeting it plenty in every code from C68 to C99! In the first two of those thirty−two
codes, White gives up his attacked 'Spanish bishop' at b5 by playing 4 Bxc6, the
Exchange Variation. But after the 'normal' recapture, 4...dxc6, it's now well known
that the obvious−looking 5 Nxe5 capture is not impressive, since Black has 5...Qd4!.
That simple but very important point explains why 3...a6 is possible and popular.
Still, certain players as Black do not like to face White's better fifth moves such as 5
0-0/5 Nc3/5 d4 in the Exchange Variation. That's at least one reason why it can be
handy for Black to have a sound alternative to 3...a6 against the Ruy Lopez.
In the current 'book', we're about to consider the rare but interesting Cozio Defence,
3...Nge7. One clear point of this move is that if for any reason White soon captures
the c6−knight, then Black will be able to recapture with his other knight, thereby
keeping his pawn structure completely intact. Now, doesn't that already make us feel
nice 'n cosy in the Cozio!?
1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 ¤ge7

It's true that the Cozio Defence leaves Black's f8−bishop blocked in (temporarily at least),
but it can often be fianchettoed via the moves ...g6 and ...Bg7 soon. In fact, while
we're considering that method of development, let's now also examine an immediate
...g6 at move three.
Reader's Challenge Puzzle C60P1: After the moves 3...g6 4 d4 (4 0-0 ¥g7 5 c3 d6 6 d4 ¥d7 7
dxe5 ¤xe5?! 8 ¤xe5! dxe5 9 £b3! ¦b8 10 ¦d1 also worked very well in the game
Shaposhnikov,E−Bryzgalin,K/Russia 2002, published in full on our Internet site.)
4...exd4 5 ¥g5 ¥e7 6 ¥xe7 £xe7 7 0-0 ¤f6 8 ¥xc6 dxc6 9 £xd4 c5 10 £e5 ¥e6 (Of
course 10...£xe5 11 ¤xe5 is possible too, but not then 11...¤xe4?? in view of 12 ¦e1) 11
¤c3
5
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in the game J.Becerra−N.Velez, Cuba 1992 (mentioned here as an extra bonus), can you see
why it's wrong for Black to now castle on either side? Look out...here comes an
answer! If Black castles kingside or queenside at move 11, then the simple reply
Nd5! wins instantly for White in both cases. Quite stunning and surprising, so let's
really see it: 11...0-0-0 (11...0-0 12 ¤d5 ¤xd5 13 exd5 costs Black his pinned bishop) 12
¤d5! ¤xd5 13 exd5 again wins the pinned bishop, or more in the case of 13...¦xd5?
14 £xh8+
4 d4
The most direct option for White, but let's also consider a few alternatives, the second of
which happens to be the most threatening to Black.
1) If 4 c3 , then to reiterate a key idea behind the Cozio Defence, Black may play 4...a6
without in any way fearing 5 ¥xc6 because he is ready to recapture at c6 with a
knight, thereby avoiding doubled c−pawns.
2) 4 ¤c3 g6 (Extra bonus: In a 1938 correspondence game D.Benjafield−C.Wippell played
in Australia, the different path taken was 4...a6 5 ¥a4 b5?! 6 ¥b3 (Black should not
have made the white bishop move to b3, for the f7−pawn now feels frail and
frightened!) 6...h6?! (Black could better have stopped White's threatened Ng5 by
playing 6...Ng6.) 7 d4 d6 8 a4 (The simple capture 8 dxe5 is also very bad news for
Black.) 8...b4 9 ¤d5 ¥g4 10 ¤xe5!! ¥xd1? (Winning the opponent's queen, but losing the
game! However, 10...Nxe5 11 f3 is also good for White.) 11 ¤f6+ gxf6 12 ¥xf7#) 5 d4
¥g7 (An interesting alternative is 5...exd4 6 ¤d5!? ¥g7 7 ¥g5 h6 8 ¥f6) 6 ¥g5! f6?!
(6...exd4 7 ¤d5 transposes to the line of the previous note, whereas the actual move
played leaves Black exposed and very vulnerable on the a2−g8 diagonal.) 7 ¥e3 a6 8
¥a4 b5 9 ¥b3 d6 10 ¤d5 ¤a5? (It's quite understandable that Black wants to
eliminate his opponent's dangerous b3−bishop, but as the great GM David Ionovich
Bronstein once stated, "The most powerful weapon in chess is the next move", and
here White has it...) 11 dxe5! ("A shot in the centre" is how Amatzia Avni described
this potent capture.) 11...dxe5 (11...¤xd5 12 £xd5
or 11...¤xb3 12 exf6!
or 11...fxe5 12 ¥g5 are grim alternatives for Black) 12 ¥h6!!
6
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(What a cracker!! IM Douglas Bryson often likes to quote the famous saying "Chess is
ninety−nine per cent tactics", and certainly there is never any shortage of practical
examples to illustrate just how important it is for a chessplayer to be able to spot
tactics quickly. White has done so here, and one further brilliant move on his next
turn would have won him the game.) 12...¢f8 (Black is not helped either by 12...¥xh6
13 ¤xf6+ ¢f8 14 £xd8+
or 12...¤xb3 13 ¥xg7) and now13 ¤b6!! would have beautifully finished Black off in the
encounter Levenfish,G−Tartakower,S/Carlsbad 1911, because after the forced
13...Qxd1+ 14 Rxd1, Black is lost in view of the dual threats 15 Rd8# and 15 Nxa8.
Unfortunately, Levenfish did not in fact play the stunning 13 Nb6!! to crown his
earlier work in this game, and instead the actual course of events resulted in a draw
at move 74.
3) 4 0-0 is clearly OK too, but not exactly terrifying for Black.
4...exd4 5 ¤xd4 g6
5...¤xd4 6 £xd4 ¤c6 is also playable, but the great Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine
(the man in Black's shoes here) tended to avoid such early simplification, and instead
favoured more complicated lines posing tougher problems for his opponents to deal
with.
5...¤g6 6 0-0 ¥c5 7 ¥e3 (If 7 ¤f5 0-0 , then Black may try for ...d5 to undermine the e4−
pawn protecting White's f5−knight.) 7...¥xd4!? 8 ¥xd4 £g5 9 ¤c3??
7
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(At first sight this looks more natural than freeing Black's game further by 9 ¥xc6 dxc6 , but
amazingly, 9 Nc3 is actually a losing blunder!!) 9...¤xd4! 10 £xd4 ¤h4! Putting
White's royal couple in deadly double trouble. White resigned facing the threat of
...Qxg2#, and also in view of 11 g3 Nf3+ followed by 12...Nxd4. That was 0-1 in
Kosztolanczi,G−Csapo,Z/Hungarian Team Championship 1993.
6 ¥g5?!
The bishop will be needed on e3 to support White's d4−knight when Black plays ...Bg7.
6 ¤c3 ¥g7 7 ¥e3 gives a much more harmonious position than White gets in the actual
game.
6...¥g7 7 c3 h6 8 ¥h4 0-0 9 0-0 ¤xd4

Alekhine doesn't mind exchanging knights now, because afterwards he can quickly target
the weak pawn that White is about to have at d4.
10 cxd4 c6 11 ¥c4
The next note explains what White was hoping for in now placing his bishop on the a2−g8
diagonal.
11...g5 12 ¥g3
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12...d5
If the c4−bishop were to stand instead on a4, then 12...£b6 would be very strong for Black
with a double attack against b2 and d4, but in the given situation, White has the
serious tactical resource 13 ¥d6 ¦e8 14 £f3
13 exd5 ¤xd5
Threatening 14...Nb6, putting White in double trouble at c4 and d4.
14 ¥e5 ¥e6 15 ¤d2?

Apparently White did not yet sense the danger, or else he would have preferred to exchange
off bishops at g7 right now, followed immediately by eliminating Black's powerful
d5−knight, and then activating his own knight to c3 with some chances of
neutralising the enemy pressure.
15...f6 16 ¥g3 £b6

A fresh reminder about the tender spots at b2 and d4.
17 ¦e1 ¦fe8 18 ¤e4?
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White's follow−up ideas of Nc5/Nd6 are too optimistic, because as his knight currently
stands at e4, it's about to be hit by a fatal case of "f for forward" from Black!
Gritty defence with 18 ¤b3 was necessary.
18...f5! 19 ¤c5
After 19 ¤d6 f4 20 ¤xe8 ¦xe8 it's "Bye bye bishop on g3"!
19...¥f7 20 ¥d6
Saving the bishop, but...
20...£xb2 ...
Oh dear, the poor pawns are starting to drop off!
21 ¥xd5 ¥xd5 22 ¦b1 £xd4 23 ¦xb7 £g4!

Not only threatening mate at g2, but also exploiting the fact that White cannot exchange the
queens because his first rank is simply too weak.
24 f3
24 ¦xe8+ ¦xe8 25 £f1 ¦e1! 26 £xe1 £xg2# corroborates the points made in the previous
note
as does 24 g3 £h3 25 ¦xe8+ ¦xe8 26 £f1 ¦e1! 27 £xe1 £g2#
24...¥d4+ 25 ¢h1
10
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25 ¢f1 ¥c4+ 26 ¤d3 ¦xe1+ 27 ¢xe1 £xg2 is also "curtains" for White.
25...¥xf3!
A typically elegant finish from Alekhine, and White now resigned in view of 26 Rxe8+
Rxe8 27 gxf3 Re1+! 28 Qxe1 Qxf3#. That was 0-1 in the game Grigoriev,N−
Alekhine,A/Soviet Championships, Moscow 1920.
SUMMARY:
After 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5, we have seen that the quiet−looking Cozio Defence,
3...Nge7, can quickly erupt into fireworks. That ought to keep us cosy!
11
"What a stunning Bird!" [C61]

"What a stunning Bird!", the title of this 'C61 book', could refer to someone who's
extremely beautiful, but I hope you'll settle instead for seeing some really attractive
wins involving 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 Nd4, which is Bird's Defence to the Ruy
Lopez or "Spanish Opening". Way back in the 19th century, that bold third move for
Black was employed very successfully on a number of occasions by England's
Henry Edward Bird (14.7.1830-11.4.1908), and it's well−covered in GM Glenn
Flear's recent 144−page Everyman book, "Offbeat Spanish": a highly readable
paperback which examines all of the most important alternatives to 3...a6 in the Ruy
Lopez.
Now, without further ado, let's see how 'The Bird' can get White in a flap!
1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 ¤d4

Bird's Defence is actually playable, but one can understand why it's often (wrongly) ignored
and not very popular, because Black's sole developed piece moves for the second
successive time and is about to be swiftly exchanged off.
4 ¤xd4
White's most obvious response, but let's also consider another alternative.
4 ¥c4 ¥c5 5 ¤xd4 (If 5 ¤xe5? £g5! , then White will not be celebrating after 6 ¤xf7 in view
of 6...£xg2 7 ¦f1 £xe4+ 8 ¥e2 ¤f3# Ouch!) 5...¥xd4 (Not 5...exd4? because of 6 ¥xf7+!
¢xf7 7 £h5+ , which illustrates the key idea behind White's earlier 4 Bc4.) 6 c3 ¥b6 7
d4 £f6!? 8 ¥e3 ¤e7 9 0-0 0-0 10 f4?! (This particular case of "f for forward" is a bit
too ambitious here, and Black now seizes the opportunity to land a couple of sharp
blows against White's big pawn−centre...) 10...exd4 11 cxd4 (11 ¥xd4 d5 12 ¥xd5 ¦d8
puts White's bishops under enormous pressure.) 11...d5!
12
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12 ¥xd5 (12 exd5 ¤f5) 12...¤xd5 13 exd5 ¦e8 14 ¦e1?? (14 ¥f2 £xf4 (or 14...Re4) is certainly
not pleasant for White, but at least that would be more bearable than the forthcoming
"earthquake" on the e−file...) 14...¦xe3 15 ¦xe3 ¥xd4 16 £f3 ¥g4 17 £f2 (17 £xg4
¥xe3+ 18 ¢h1 £xb2 is total carnage too.) 17...£b6! White gets an unwelcome
reminder of the phrase "Pin and win"! 0-1 Fontaine,A−Motwani,P/Brussels,
Belgium 2001.
4...exd4
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One could argue that Black's opening has left him behind in development with a damaged
pawn−structure too, but on the 'plus' side he is stopping White's remaining knight
from emerging easily to c3, and it's also possible to effectively recover some time
soon by attacking the b5−bishop with ...c6−−−although in the current game White's
"Spanish bishop" is about to move away first...
5 ¥c4
Alternatively, 5 0-0 £h4?! (5...¥c5 is better.) 6 d3 ¥c5 7 ¤d2 ¤e7 8 e5! ¤g6 (After 8...0-0 9
¤e4 ¥b6 10 ¥g5 Black's queen is trapped
a severe penalty for venturing out too early.) 9 ¤e4 ¥e7
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10 ¤g3! (A clever retreat, by which White threatens to trap Black's queen in a new way
with 11 Nf5.) 10...¤xe5 11 ¤f5 £f6 12 ¤xe7! ¢xe7 (If 12...£xe7 then the fatal pin
13 ¦e1 threatens to win the black knight with f2−f4.) 13 ¦e1 ¢d8 (13...¢f8 14 £e2 is
equally bleak for Black.) 14 £h5! (Menacing 15 Bg5 or 15 Qxe5, and there's no
decent answer to that deadly duo of threats.) 14...h6 15 £xe5 1-0 was a super−fast
and efficient White win in McShane,L−Costagliola,M/London 1997, by England's
young Luke McShane, who has since become an International Grandmaster.
5...¤f6
5...¥c5? walks into the trap 6 ¥xf7+! ¢xf7 7 £h5+ , winning the loose c5−bishop.
6 £e2?!
6 e5 d5! 7 exf6 (or 7 ¥b5+ ¤d7) 7...dxc4 is fine for Black
But perhaps White should prefer simply 6 0-0 , intending 6...¤xe4?! 7 ¥xf7+! (7 ¦e1 d5)
7...¢xf7 8 £h5+ , when "theory" holds that 8...g6 (8...¢g8 9 £d5# needs no
comment!) 9 £d5+ is uncomfortable for Black.
6...¥c5! 7 e5
Black was actively inviting 7 ¥xf7+ ¢xf7 8 £c4+ , since 8...d5 9 £xc5 dxe4 is excellent
for him.
7...0-0
Based on the simple yet important tactical point that 8 exf6?? loses to the pinning winning
reply 8...Re8.
8 0-0 d5!
Ukrainian GM Vladimir Malaniuk, playing Black here, conducts the opening phase−−−and
indeed the entire game−−−with enormous energy. White's very plausible−looking 6
Qe2?! earlier is shown to be dubious (at least).
14
9 exf6 dxc4
Not 9...¦e8?? because of 10 £h5 dxc4 11 £xc5
10 fxg7
10 £xc4 ¥d6! 11 fxg7 (11 £xd4?? ¥xh2+ 12 ¢xh2 £xd4) 11...¦e8 would transpose to the
actual game.
10...¦e8 11 £xc4
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11...¥d6! 12 d3 £h4 13 f4
13 h3 ¥xh3 14 gxh3 £xh3 15 f4 ¦e2 is "curtains" for White
as is 13 g3 £h5 (if 13...£h3 , then White should activate his knight to d2 instead of making
the capture 14 £xd4? , thereby allowing 14...£xf1+! 15 ¢xf1 ¥h3+ 16 ¢g1 ¦e1#) 14 £xd4
¥h3 , with crushing threats including 15...Qf3.
13...¦e2
The arrival of this black rook deep in White's camp creates unanswerable new threats
including 14...Bh3 or 14...Rxg2+ 15 Kxg2 Bh3+ 16 Kg1 Qg4+.
14 ¤d2 ¥h3!
15
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15 gxh3
15 g3 £h5 16 ¦f2 is also hopeless for White in view of 16...¦e1+ 17 ¤f1 ¦xf1+ 18 ¦xf1
£e2 (threatening mate at f1 or g2) 19 ¦f2 £e1+ 20 ¦f1 £xf1# .
15...£xh3
With a fresh double threat of mate at g2 or h2.
16 ¦f2 ¦xf2 17 ¢xf2 £xh2+

White's king is fatally exposed and devoid of desperately−needed defenders, since his
queen, rook, bishop and knight are all too far away to help.
18 ¢e1 £g1+ 19 ¢e2 ¥xf4 20 ¤e4

What else, really?
20...£g2+ 21 ¢e1
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16
21 ¤f2 ¦e8+
or 21 ¢d1 £f1# also bring White to a swift end.
21...¥g3+! 22 ¤xg3
22 ¢d1 £f1+ 23 ¢d2 ¥f4# makes a pretty finish.
22...£xg3+ 23 ¢f1 ¦e8

GM Sergey Zagrebelny, playing White here, now resigned facing 24...Re1#, and 24 Bd2
fails to help in view of 24...Qf3+ 25 Kg1 Re2. That was a pulverising case of 0-1 in
Zagrebelny,S−Malaniuk,V/Tashkent 1987.
SUMMARY:
After 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5, Bird's 3...Nd4 system is very interesting indeed, because
Black immediately disturbs the calm control that White enjoys getting in so many
other lines within the Ruy Lopez. So, how about trying it yourself!? You know what
they say a bird in hand is worth...
17
"Flying f−pawn" [C63]

After 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5, our 'C63 book' brings us a case of the flying f−pawn! Yes,
Black will be playing 3...f5, the ambitious but risky Schliemann Defence.
1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 f5

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The Schliemann Defence is an ambitious but risky response to White's Ruy Lopez. We
might also note that Black is basically a tempo down compared with what WHITE
gets in the line 1 e4 e5 2 Nc3 Nf6 3 f4 of the Vienna Game (see the 'C29 book').
4 ¤c3
One might expect 4 d4 , given that 3...d5 is the 'mirror image' move in the above−
mentioned analogous line of the Vienna Game, but in the Schliemann Defence there
is the following very sneaky and important tactical detail: after 4...fxe4 5 ¤xe5
¤xe5 6 dxe5 c6! , if White moves his attacked 'Spanish bishop' from b5, then Black
has 7...Qa5+ followed by 8...Qxe5.
4...¤d4?!
The '?!' tag is given by GM Glenn Flear in his excellent Everyman book entitled "Offbeat
Spanish", in which he provides detailed coverage of all Black's main options against
the Ruy Lopez (except for 3...a6, since the purpose of the book is to examine useful
alternatives).
Extra bonus: The 'main path' here is 4...fxe4 5 ¤xe4 d5 6 ¤xe5 dxe4 7 ¤xc6 £g5 8 £e2
¤f6 (If 8...£xg2 , then a plausible and pretty line is 9 £h5+ g6 10 £e5+ ¢f7 11 ¤d8#) 9
18
f4 ("Theory" does indeed regard this as best, but White soon makes a serious error at
move 11.) 9...£xf4 10 d4 £d6 and then 11 ¤xa7+? (Correct is 11 ¤e5+ c6 12 ¥c4)
11...c6 12 ¤xc8
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12...£b4+! 13 ¥d2 £xb5 14 c4 (After 14 £xb5 cxb5 15 ¤b6 ¦a6 , White's troubled knight still
fails to escape.) 14...£xb2 15 0-0 ¦xc8 16 £e3 ¥b4 17 ¥xb4 £xb4 18 c5 0-0 19
¦ab1 £c4 0-1 was the game E.Tsuboi−G.Batista, Taca 1999.
5 ¥d3!?
A noteworthy move from Russian GM Semyon Dvoirys, especially since this idea does not
appear in "Nunn's Chess Openings" (NCO) or in GM Glenn Flear's aforementioned
book, which instead concentrates on five other 5th−move options, namely 5 Ba4/5
Bc4/5 Nxd4/5 Nxe5/5 exf5.
5...fxe4 6 ¤xe4 d5?

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A very natural−looking move, but it loses!
7 ¤xd4! dxe4
19
7...exd4 8 £h5+ is similar to the actual game, and equally terrible for Black.
8 £h5+ g6
8...¢d7 9 £xe5 exd3 10 £e6# was another quick way for Black to exit.
9 £xe5+ £e7 10 ¥b5+! ¥d7 11 £xc7

Why should White take any risks with 11 Qxh8 Nf6 when he can instead safely go two
pawns ahead by capturing at c7, causing Black to resign immediately!? 1-0 in
Dvoirys,S−Mihailidis,A/Ano Liosia Open, Greece 2000.
SUMMARY:
We have seen that the Schliemann Defence is full of tricky tactics for White and Black. So,
both sides must know the important theoretical lines thoroughly, otherwise...it's sure
and sudden death...unless you're feeling very lucky!
20
"Black bishop in a hurry" [C64]

After the moves 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5, our 'C64 book' introduces us to the Classical
Defence, 3...Bc5, which is a clear case of "Black bishop in a hurry"!
1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 ¥c5

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4 0-0
4 c3 is a logical alternative, preparing d2−d4 to challenge Black's c5−bishop and central
e5−pawn, but of course there are a number of reasonable responses available,
including 4...¤f6 (or 4...¤ge7 4...£f6)
By the way, 4 ¤xe5? might work in the case of 4...¤xe5 because of the fork 5 d4(but
4...£g5! leaves White in double trouble at e5 and g2.)
4...¤ge7
4...¤d4 5 b4!?
21
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occurred in the game Emms,J−Payen,A/London v Paris match 1994, which is published

fully on our Internet site(while the more standard 5 ¤xd4 can be met by 5...¥xd4 or the
capture 5...exd4, the latter producing a position that can also be reached via Bird's
Defence−−−see the 'C61 book'. )
Alternatively, 4...¤f6 stars in our 'C65 book'.
5 ¤xe5
Personally, I would much prefer 5 c3
5...¤xe5 6 d4 c6 7 ¥e2 ¥d6 8 dxe5

8 ¥f4?? loses to 8...¤f3+ followed by 9...Bxf4.
8...¥xe5 9 ¤d2
9 f4? allows 9...£b6+
9...¥c7!
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22
If 9...0-0? , then 10 ¤c4 is very unpleasant for Black.
10 b3 0-0 11 ¥b2 d5 12 ¥d3 ¤g6

Black is more than comfortable, and he even has some initiative on the kingside. He went
on to win at move 28 in the GM−clash Fressinet,L−De Vreugt,D/Olympic Capital
Young Masters 2000, and the game is published in its entirety on our Internet site.
SUMMARY:
After 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5, the Classical Defence, 3...Bc5, is a very dynamic response
for Black against the Ruy Lopez. Therefore, White should not meet it timidly. My
personal feeling is that an early c3, aiming for a rapid d2−d4 central advance, is
required.
23
"Playing to win with the Classical Berlin"
[C65]

In answer to the Ruy Lopez, 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5, the earlier 'C64 book' showed that
the 3...Bc5 Classical Variation is one of Black's interesting dynamic options.
Another very popular response is 3...Nf6, especially following super−GM Vladimir
Kramnik's enormous success with the Berlin Defence (see the 'C67 book'). So, how
about a cracking combination of those two systems!? The variation 3...Nf6 4 0-0
Bc5 is called...yes, you've guessed it...the Classical Berlin!
1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 ¤f6

This was Vladimir Kramnik's favourite response to Garry Kasparov's Ruy Lopez in the year
2000 Brain Games Network World Championship match.
And that simple developing move is now a highly fashionable way to vary from the no.1
alternative route, namely 3...a6 .
4 0-0
4 d3 would rule out 4...Nxe4 for Black, but instead 4...¤e7!?
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sets the sneaky trap given after the following variation... (4...d6 5 c3 g6 6 ¥g5 ¥g7 7 ¤bd2 0-0 8
¤f1 ¥d7 9 ¤e3 h6 10 ¥h4 £e8! in the game Krasenkov,M−Yuldashev,S/Istanbul
Olympiad, Turkey 2000, illustrated a noteworthy idea which unpins the f6−knight
24
and so prepares to play ... Nh5 followed by ...Nf4 and/or ...f5 in the near future.)
...and the trap is that 5 ¤xe5?? loses to 5...c6 6 ¥c4 £a5+ followed by 7...Qxe5.
4...¥c5
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Now we have the Classical Berlin Variation which offers Black fast, active development,
whereas 4...¤xe4 would be the pure Berlin Defence, in which a really popular path
nowadays is 5 d4 ¤d6 6 ¥xc6 dxc6 7 dxe5 ¤f5 8 £xd8+ ¢xd8 . In the absence of
queens, both players can then aim to test their own skills in endgame technique,
probably without having to first endure a really sharp middlegame battle−−−see the
'C67 book' for deeper details on that 'story'.
5 c3
This very natural move prepares the central advance d2−d4, but let's also consider a couple
of alternatives here.
1) 5 ¤xe5 ¤xe5 6 d4 a6 (If 6...¤xe4 , then White may play 7 £e2 as in the GM−clash
Short,N−Parker,J/4NCL, England 2002.) 7 ¥e2 (7 ¥a4 b5! 8 ¥b3 ¥xd4 9 £xd4 d6
produces a well−known position in which Black's activity and threats such as ...c5−
c4 fully compensate him for missing a dark−squared bishop) 7...¤xe4 8 dxc5 ¤xc5
9 £d4 d6 10 f4 ¤g6 (10...¤e6? loses material to 11 £e3 ¤c6 12 f5) 11 £xg7 (If 11 f5 ,
then the g6−knight leaps back to a nice outpost at e5, and Black stays a pawn ahead
too.) 11...¥f5 (This situation is assessed as being unclear on page 326 of 'Nunn's
Chess Openings', but in the current game White very quickly goes astray.) 12 ¤c3
(12 g4 is the most critical possibility, and then 12...£e7!? merits investigation, since it
attacks White's e2−bishop and also prepares to play ...0-0-0 followed quickly by
...Rdg8.) 12...£h4 (Black's threat is 13...Ne6 to trap the white lady on g7.) 13 ¤d5
¤e6 14 ¤f6+? (White should have retreated his queen to f6 or c3.) 14...¢d8! 15
£xf7
25
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15...¤d4! (With this powerful blow, Black uncovers his bishop to prevent 16 Qd7#, and he
simultaneously threatens ...Nxe2+ or ...Rf8 or ...Be6 followed by ... Nf5.) 16 ¥c4
¦f8 17 £d5 £xf6 (Black has a decisive material advantage.) 18 £xb7 ¢d7 19 ¥d2
¦fb8 20 £d5 ¥e6 0-1 Szuk,B−Resika,N/Budapest 1999.
2) 5 d3 ¤d4!? (I like this energetic leap forward, which directly attacks White's loose b5−
bishop, and threatens to soon do so again via the useful move ...c6.) 6 ¤xd4 ¥xd4 7
c3 ¥b6 (Black has a superior version of what he would get in the line 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3
Nc6 3 Bb5 Bc5 4 0-0 Nd4 5 Nxd4 Bxd4 6 c3 Bb6 7 d4, which, however, was still
OK for him in the super−GM clash M.Kobalija−M.Adams at the 1999 F.I.D.E.
World Championship knock−out tournament in Las Vegas, mentioned here as an
extra bonus.) 8 ¥g5?! (This pinning move may actually be a serious error here,
because White's bishop on the kingside can be quickly harassed there by advancing
black pawns.) 8...h6 9 ¥h4 (9 ¥xf6 £xf6 is fabulous for Black too.) 9...c6 10 ¥c4 d6
11 ¤d2 g5! (Black correctly decides to 'go for it' using his galloping g−pawn!) 12
¥g3 h5 13 h4 (If 13 h3 h4 14 ¥h2 , then 14...g4 threatens to trap White's troubled bishop
with 15...g3.) 13...¥g4 14 £b3 £d7 15 hxg5? (This move allows Black's h−pawn to
surge forward with devastating effect on White.) 15...h4! 16 ¥h2 (If 16 ¥xh4 ¦xh4 17
gxf6 , then 17...0-0-0 followed by ...Rdh8 is crushing.) 16...¤h7 17 d4 (White tries
desperately to do something active.) 17...h3
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26
18 dxe5 (18 g3 leaves White's poor h2−bishop totally incarcerated without a glimmer of
daylight.) 18...¤xg5 19 exd6 (19 g3 dxe5 20 £c2 £xd2! 21 £xd2 ¤f3+ is another
nightmare for White.) 19...hxg2 20 ¦fe1 (White could also end the suffering quickly
with 20 ¢xg2 ¥f3+ 21 ¤xf3 £h3+ 22 ¢h1 £xf3+ 23 ¢g1 ¤h3#) 20...¥f3 (Menacing
21...Nh3#.) 21 ¤xf3 ¤xf3+ 22 ¢xg2 £h3+ White resigned, rather than allow
23...Qxh2#. That was 0-1 in Howell,D−McMahon,D/Bunratty Open, Ireland 2000.
5...0-0 6 d4 ¥b6 7 ¥g5

Black did not panic about the possibility of his opponent playing 7 dxe5 because White's e−
pawn is threatened with 7...¤xe4 .
However, 7 ¦e1 d6 is a major alternative that leads us to:
a) 8 ¥xc6 bxc6 9 dxe5 dxe5 10 £xd8 ¦xd8 11 ¤xe5 ¤xe4! , targeting the frail f2−pawn,
and exploiting the sensitivity of White's back rank because of course 12 ¦xe4??
walks into 12...¦d1+ 13 ¦e1 ¦xe1#
b) 8 a4 a5 9 h3 h6 10 ¥xc6 bxc6 11 dxe5 dxe5 12 £xd8 ¦xd8 13 ¤bd2 (13 ¤xe5 ¤xe4!
echoes the tactical theme of the previous note.) 13...¤d7! (This not only defends the
e5−pawn, but also prepares to soon play ...Nc5, homing in on White's weak squares
at b3 and d3.) 14 ¤c4 f6 15 ¥e3?! (White should consider 15 ¤xb6
or 15 b4 with an approximately level position.) 15...¥xe3 16 ¦xe3 ¤c5 (Now Black's knight
becomes tremendously strong, and a real pain to White.) 17 ¤fd2 (White is clearly
struggling to find any truly constructive plan.) 17...¥e6 18 h4 (Ditto the previous
note!) 18...¦d7 19 ¦a3 ¦b8 20 g3?
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(20 ¦e2 is more tenacious.) 20...¦xb2! Bulgaria's GM Krum Georgiev, playing White here,
now resigned because after 21 Nxb2 Rxd2 his b2−knight would be trapped. That
was 0-1 in Georgiev,K−Mitkov,M/Istanbul Olympiad, Turkey 2000
c) 8 h3 8...h6 9 ¥e3 ¥d7 (White was setting the trap 9...¤xe4?? 10 d5! ¤e7 11 ¥xb6 axb6 12
¦xe4 , but Black knows plenty of tricks too, for now he's menacing 10...Nxd4!, and
then 11 cxd4 Bxb5 or 11 Bxd7 Nxf3+ or 11 Nxd4 exd4.) 10 ¥a4 (White wants to
have his light−squared bishop protected (by the queen) instead of remaining loose on
b5.) 10...¦e8 11 ¤bd2 exd4 12 ¤xd4 ¤xd4 13 ¥xd7 £xd7 14 ¥xd4 (If 14 cxd4? ,
then this time Black really can safely grab the e4−pawn (c.f. earlier notes at move
nine).) 14...¦e6! This classy multi−purpose move protects the f6−knight, frees the
27
e8−square for the a8−rook, and prepares to later swing the rook now on e6 over to
g6, with attacking ideas against the white monarch on g1. Black then stood very well
in the game Stefansson,H−Sokolov,I/Kopavogur rapid, Iceland 2000.
7...d6
7...h6 (as in the game Psakhis,L−Parker,J/Isle of Man 1999) is OK too, based on the
important tactical point that if 8 ¥xf6 £xf6 9 ¥xc6 , then after 9...£xc6 White's
"threat" of 10 ¤xe5 is nullified by 10...£xe4
8 a4
White should not try to win a pawn via 8 ¥xc6 bxc6 9 dxe5 dxe5 10 £xd8 (Note, too, 10
¤bd2 £d6 11 £c2 ¤h5! with the sneaky ideas of ...Qg6 and ...Nf4 to attack on the
kingside, & also 12 ¤c4 £e6! intending 13...f6 if White captures the e5−pawn.)
10...¦xd8 11 ¤xe5 , since 11...¥a6 12 ¦e1 ¤xe4! leaves him in double trouble at f2
and g5, and reiterates the tactical theme of line 'A' in the notes back at move 7.
8 £d3!? is a multi−purpose move worth considering seriously as White, and its merits are
explained in the summary at the end of our 'C65 book'.
8...a5 9 ¦e1 h6 10 ¥h4

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10...exd4!
This capture is well−timed, because now if 11 cxd4, then White's d4−pawn will find itself
under severe pressure when Black plays ...Bg4, perhaps preceded by ...g5.
11 ¥xc6
It's also worth noting that if White had not made the earlier advance a2−a4, then instead of
Black now automatically recapturing at c6, he could first play the sneaky ...dxc3
threatening to trap the a1-rook with ...cxb2.
28
11...bxc6 12 ¤xd4 ¦e8
Threatening ...g5 followed by eating the e−pawn.
13 ¤d2
13 ¤xc6 £d7 14 ¥xf6 £xc6 works out very well for Black, once again because of his
attack against e4.
13...c5 14 ¤c2
This seems rather passive, and instead White could consider 14 ¤f5
14...g5!
Black's energetic play will be well−rewarded in this game.
15 ¥g3 ¥b7 16 f3
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16...d5!
The relentless pressure continues to plague the poor white e−pawn.
17 e5 ¤h5
Black stands superbly here, and he went on to win 20 moves later in the game Lanka,Z−
Sokolov,I/European Team Ch., Batumi 1999.
SUMMARY:
Super−GM Ivan Sokolov has done much to show that Black can really play to win with the
Classical Berlin. Now, from White's point of view, one needs to be prepared, with a
strong testing line fully ready to be employed. I would suggest that 8 Qd3
(mentioned briefly back at move eight) is one of the best options available, as it
29
defends the e4−pawn while also preparing further harmonious development with
Nbd2 and avoiding pinning problems from ...Bg4.
30
"A touch of cramp in the camp" [C66]

In answer to the Ruy Lopez, 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5, the late great Wilhelm Steinitz
(1836-1900
World Champion 1886−94) favoured the response 3...d6 as he actually enjoyed sitting in
solid cramped positions! However, one advantage of the related move−order 3...Nf6
4 0-0 d6 is that it avoids the dangerous line 3...d6 4 d4 Bd7 (4...b5 is of course
possible) 5 Nc3 Nf6 6 Bxc6!? Bxc6 7 Qd3, when White threatens to soon castle
queenside.
Here in our 'C66 book' we'll even find ...d6 being delayed until move five, but to be honest,
there's still a touch of cramp in the black camp!
1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 ¤f6

3...d6 would be the Steinitz Defence, but Black basically transposes to it a couple of moves
on from now.
4 0-0
4 d3 d6 (An interesting alternative is 4...¤e7!? planning ...Ng6 soon, and setting the trap 5
¤xe5? c6 with the simultaneous threats of ...cxb5 or ...Qa5+.) 5 c3 g6 6 0-0 ¥g7 7 d4
¥d7 8 ¦e1 0-0 9 ¤bd2? (A very plausible−looking move, but it is bad for tactical
reasons, as GM Viktor Mikhalevski is about to demonstrate...) 9...¤xd4!
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10 cxd4 (10 ¥xd7 ¤xf3+ 11 ¤xf3 ¤xd7 simply leaves White a pawn down for nothing
as does 10 ¤xd4 exd4 11 ¥xd7 ¤xd7) 10...¥xb5 11 dxe5 dxe5 12 ¤xe5 ¦e8 13 ¤xf7? ¢xf7 14
£b3+ (White had clearly planned this when playing his previous move, but he must
31
have missed Black's next one...) 14...£d5! White resigned because he will remain a
piece down, unless he prefers to be checkmated by 15 exd5 Rxe1+ 16 Nf1 Rxf1#.
That was 0-1 in the game Berkvens,J−Mikhalevski,V/Essent Open, Hoogeveen,
Holland 2000.
4...¥e7
Super−GM Vladimir Kramnik likes the line 4...¤xe4 5 d4 ¤d6 6 ¥xc6 dxc6 7 dxe5 ¤f5 8
£xd8+ ¢xd8 known as the Berlin Defence, and he has shown repeatedly that he
feels comfortable as Black in that position where his king is quite safe without
queens on the board−−−see the 'C67 book' for more details on that 'story'.
Alternatively, 4...d6 5 d4 ¥d7 6 ¤c3 ¥e7 leads us to:
a) 7 ¥g5!? exd4 8 ¤xd4 0-0 (Black could exchange two pairs of minor pieces via 8...¤xd4 9
£xd4 ¥xb5 10 ¤xb5 but he would still be somewhat cramped, whereas in contrast
White might even increase his own spatial advantage with c2−c4.) 9 ¥xc6 bxc6 10
£d3 (Another possibility is 10 £f3 with ideas of e4−e5 and Nxc6. Also, 10...¤g4?
would fail because of 11 ¥xe7 £xe7 12 ¤xc6! , intending 12...¥xc6 13 £xg4) 10...¤g4 11
¥xe7 £xe7 12 f4! (White immediately utilises his kingside pawn−majority while
also preventing ...Ne5.) 12...f5 13 ¦ae1! (Black probably hoped for 13 exf5 £e3+ 14
£xe3 ¤xe3 with good play.) 13...fxe4 14 ¤xe4 (Black is in big trouble, facing threats
like Ng5 followed by Rxe7 or Qxh7#.) 14...£h4 15 h3 ¤f6 (15...¤h6 16 ¤g5) 16 ¤g5
(Black now has too many threats to contend with, since White may strike at e6, e7,
h7, along the a2−g8 diagonal,...and the list goes on. Meanwhile, the black queen is
seriously out of play at h4.) 16...d5 17 ¤ge6 ¥xe6 (17...¦fc8 18 ¤f5 is already "the
end" for Black.) 18 ¦xe6 c5 19 ¤f5 £h5
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20 ¦xf6!! Black resigned in view of 20...Rxf6 21 Qxd5+ winning the a8−rook, or 20...gxf6
21 Qg3+! Kf7 (21...Qg6 22 Ne7+) 22 Qg7+ Ke6 and then, for example, 23 Qe7+
Kxf5 24 g4+. That was 1-0 in the game Reti,R−Sterk,K/Vienna 1910
b) 7 ¦e1 7...0-0? (Black should first have eliminated White's d4−pawn.) 8 ¥xc6! ¥xc6 9
dxe5 dxe5 10 £xd8 ¦axd8 11 ¤xe5 ¥xe4 12 ¤xe4 ¤xe4 13 ¤d3! (Infinitely better
than 13 ¦xe4?? ¦d1+) 13...f5 14 f3 ¥c5+
32
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-tr-trk+(
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4-+-+n+-+$
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15 ¤xc5! (Black was hoping desperately for 15 ¢f1? , when 15...¥b6! gets him out of
trouble.) 15...¤xc5 16 ¥g5 ¦de8 (16...¦d5 17 ¥e7 ¦e8 18 c4 is also hopeless for Black.)
17 ¥e7 Winning at least rook for bishop. So... 1-0 in Green,E−Gibbons,R/New
Zealand Ch. 2000.
For 4...¥c5 , the Classical Berlin Defence, see the 'C65 book'.
5 ¦e1
Clearly threatening to win a pawn with Bxc6 followed by Nxe5.
5...d6
We have transposed to the Steinitz Defence, since the same position can be reached via the
move−order 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 d6 4 0-0 Nf6 5 Re1 Be7.
I have seen players rated over 2400 forgetting in 'blitz' games to adequately protect the
pawn on e5, and automatically choosing something routine like 5...0-0? . There is
hope for us all!
6 d4
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1tRNvLQtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
33
White may prefer to further prepare the central d2−d4 advance by first playing 6 c3 , and
then 6...0-0 7 h3 (Evidently White wants to prevent the pinning move ...Bg4, but two
successive "quiet" pawn−pushes on moves six and seven are too timid for my liking,
and in the game being considered here Black soon takes over the initiative.)
7...¤d7!? (Black not only bolsters his e5−pawn in anticipation of d2−d4 coming
soon, but he also clears the way for his f−pawn to advance at the right moment (after
some further preparatory moves).) 8 d4 ¥f6 9 ¥e3 a6 10 ¥f1 (10 ¥a4 b5 11 ¥b3 would
transpose to a position pertaining to the 'C92 book', where Black can continue
comfortably with 11...¤a5) 10...g6 11 d5?! (By releasing the tension in the centre,
White makes it much easier for Black to concentrate fully on building up an attack
on the kingside soon. Instead, the simple developing move 11 ¤bd2 looks better.)
11...¤e7 12 c4 (So, White hopes to attack on the queenside, but in reality Black's
forthcoming assault on the opposite wing will be much more potent because the
target there is the white KING!) 12...¥g7 13 ¤c3 h6! (A precise move, not allowing
White to play Ng5 and Ne6 after ...f5 happens on Black's next turn.) 14 ¤d2 f5 This
case of "f for forward!" gets Black's kingside attack into full fling. The remaining 20
moves of the IM−clash Mannion,S−McKay,R/Scotland 1993, can be found on our
Internet site.
6...exd4
6...¥d7 is another way to avoid loss of material, since if 7 ¥xc6 ¥xc6 8 dxe5 dxe5 9 £xd8+
¦xd8 10 ¤xe5 , Black has 10...¥xe4 , but still, beware of the Green−Gibbons game
given in the notes back at move four.
7 ¤xd4 ¥d7 8 ¥xc6 bxc6

8...¥xc6 9 ¤f5!? 0-0 10 ¥g5! ¦e8 11 ¤c3 ¥f8 12 £f3 threatens 13 Nh6+! gxh6 14 Bxf6
Be7 15 Qg3+ Kf8 16 Qg7#.
9 ¤c3 0-0
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5+-+-+-+-%
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1tR-vLQtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
34
10 £f3!
I recall being shown this move by International Master Craig Pritchett at a Scottish junior
training session more than 20 years ago. Craig also mentioned a possible follow−up
idea of 11 e5, to continue after 11...dxe5 with 12 Nxc6 Bxc6 13 Qxc6. Then Black
no longer possesses a bishop pair, but White has preserved a structural advantage
due to his opponent's isolated queenside pawns. Alternatively, in the game
Almasi,Z−Horvath,C/Hungarian Ch. 1995, super−GM Zoltan Almasi chose a
different plan, preferring to avoid the exchanges that would result from playing e4−
e5, and instead just kept Black cramped by following up with simple strong moves
like Bg5 & Rad1. The remaining 30 moves of that encounter can be found on our
Internet site, but I can confirm for you here that although Black lost, at least he did
not fall for the trap 10...Ng4? 11 Nxc6! Bxc6 12 Qxg4.
SUMMARY:
The Steinitz Defence is certainly solid, but personally, its cramped nature would not suit
my own tastes nowadays.
35
"The Berlin Wall is back!" [C67]

In answer to the Ruy Lopez, 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5, one of Black's most popular systems
nowadays is the Berlin Defence 3...Nf6 4 0-0 Nxe4, intending 5...Nd6 in response to
5 d4/5 Re1/5 Qe2. The ...Nd6 move is really the key idea in this opening, because it
'hits' White's proud 'Spanish bishop' at b5, and that also explains why earlier on
Black deliberately omits playing ...a6 in the Berlin Defence: he positively wants the
white bishop to be still standing at b5 so that it will be attacked when ...Nd6
happens−−−as is going to be the case any moment now here in our 'C67 book'...
1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 ¤f6 4 0-0 ¤xe4

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The Berlin Defence was one of Vladimir Kramnik's most effective weapons against Garry
Kasparov in their Brain Games Network 2000 World Championship match.
5 d4
Currently, this is White's most fashionable response by far, but let's also consider a
perfectly natural alternative.
5 ¦e1 ¤d6 leads us to
a) 6 ¤xe5 and then:
a1) 6...¤xe5 7 ¦xe5+ ¥e7 8 d4!? (8 ¤c3 sets the trap 8...¤xb5? 9 ¤d5! 0-0 10 ¤xe7+ ¢h8 11
£h5! (threatening 12 Qxh7+! Kxh7 13 Rh5#), and a very possible abrupt finish is
11...g6 12 £h6 d6 13 ¦h5! gxh5 14 £f6#) 8...f6 (8...0-0 9 ¥d3 ¥f6 10 ¦e1 is not entirely
comfortable for Black because his knight is awkwardly placed at d6, and of course
there's the obvious yet important tactical point that 10...¥xd4 allows 11 ¥xh7+ ¢xh7 12
36
£xd4 , still with the better position for White.) 9 ¦e1! ¤xb5 10 £h5+ g6 11 £xb5
(Yes, Black has the traditional 'advantage' of the 'bishop pair', but here his position is
rather exposed and feeling the draught coming in along the e−file and the open
diagonals a2−g8 & h6−f8.) 11...c6?! (Probably Black should have castled here,
while he still had the chance to do so.) (11...0-0 12 ¥h6 ¦f7 looks playable, but not
12...Re8?? on account of 13 Qd5+ Kh8 14 Qf7.) 12 £b3 d5 13 c4! ("c for charge!")
13...¢f7 (13...0-0 14 cxd5 cxd5 15 ¤c3 costs Black a pawn
as does 13...dxc4 14 £xc4 £d5 15 £xd5 cxd5 16 ¤c3) 14 ¤c3 dxc4 15 £xc4+ ¢g7 16 d5!
(Aiming to prise open more lines before Black can get organised.) 16...cxd5 (16...c5
instantly turns White's unit at d5 into a powerful passed pawn, which quickly begins
to look deadly after 17 ¥f4) 17 ¤xd5 ¥f8 (17...¦e8 loses to 18 ¤c7) 18 ¤xf6!! (What a
stunner!!) (18 ¤c7 does the job too, especially in the case of 18...¦b8 19 ¤e8+)
18...£xf6
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5+-+-+-+-%
4-+Q+-+-+$
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1tR-vL-tR-mK-!
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(18...¢xf6 19 £h4+ is a fatal skewer.) 19 ¥d2 With the simple yet deadly threat of 20 Bc3,
and White soon won in the game De Vere,C−Steinitz,W/Dundee 1867
a2) 6...¥e7 7 ¥d3 (Pointing towards the kingside where Black will soon castle.) 7...¤xe5 8
¦xe5 0-0 9 ¤c3 c6 (With the benefit of hindsight, it's possible that this extremely
plausible−looking move may actually be an error! Certainly, even at this very early
stage, we have already reached a crucial moment in the game, and here Black
decides to stop White's knight from leaping forward to d5, but one could also well
consider the idea of rapid development with ...b6 and ...Bb7.) (Reader's Challenge
Puzzle C67P1: If 9...¥f6 10 ¦e3 , then can you discover why 10...c6
37
XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwq-trk+(
7zpp+p+pzpp'
6-+psn-vl-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-sNLtR-+-#
2PzPPzP-zPPzP"
1tR-vLQ+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
would be a fatal error? Look out...here comes the answer right here right now! White wins
almost immediately with 11 ¥xh7+! , because after 11...¢xh7 12 £h5+ ¢g8 13 ¦h3 Black
can only avert mate at h7 or h8 by playing 13...¥h4 , which of course simply allows
14 ¦xh4) 10 £f3 g6 11 b3! ¤e8 (Black could not allow 12 Ba3 followed by Rae1.) 12
¥b2 d5 13 ¦ae1 ¥d6 14 ¦5e2 ¥d7 15 ¤d1! (The knight heads towards the kingside
while also clearing the long a1-h8 diagonal for White's fianchettoed bishop to exert
its power.) 15...£g5 16 h3 f6 (The little line 16...¤g7 17 ¥f6 explains why Black
wanted to cover the f6−square.) 17 ¤e3 £f4 (17...¤g7 18 ¤g4 ¤h5 19 g3 is also
difficult for Black because of White's control of the e−file and pressure against f6.)
18 £xf4 ¥xf4 19 ¤g4 (With follow−up ideas such as Re7 or Rxe8 and then Nxf6+.)
19...¥xg4 20 hxg4 White enjoys a sizeable advantage in the endgame here because
of: his e−file control; potential pressure later towards the exposed h7−pawn; the
looseness too of the f6−pawn; possessing a powerful bishop−pair in an open
position. Furthermore, it's very difficult to find meaningful active counterplay for
Black, and the result 1-0 occurred 29 moves later in the GM−clash Reinderman,D−
Timman,J/Wijk aan Zee 1999, which is published in more detail on our Internet site
b) In contrast, the timid unforced capture 6 ¥xc6?! instantly granted Black a very
comfortable game with 6...dxc6 7 ¤xe5 ¥e7 in the encounter Wuts,H−
Motwani,P/Eksakt Weekender, Tilburg 2001, which is published in its entirety on
our Internet site.
5...¤d6
This is a key move in Black's whole system, and he utilises the fact that because he did
NOT previously drive White's 'Spanish bishop' away from the b5−square with 3...a6,
he can now challenge the white bishop via a sneaky knight−retreat.
As an extra by the way, if I had never before seen the position after White's fifth move and
was asked to come up with an instant suggestion for Black, then 5...¥e7 to block the
e−file and safeguard the monarch on e8) would probably come to mind. Indeed, the
continuation 6 £e2 ¤d6 7 ¥xc6 bxc6 8 dxe5 ¤b7 was quite popular among masters
in the 1980s, but it has been out of the limelight since then, so it could be a good
surprise weapon if someone decided to reactivate it... The situation after 8...Nb7 has
always struck me as a funny−looking position. However, it is also quite solid, and
38
Black may follow up with ...0-0 and ...Nc5−e6, then react near the centre with
...f6/...f5 or ...d5.
6 ¥xc6
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A dangerous−looking alternative is 6 dxe5!? ¤xb5 7 a4 , but then:

a) 7...¤bd4 8 ¤xd4 ¤xd4 9 £xd4 d5 10 exd6 ("Nunn's Chess Openings" also mentions 10
¤c3 c6 , which seems very solid too for Black.) 10...£xd6 was already highly
comfortable for Black in the game Papatheodorou,T−Kapnisis,S/Greek Team Ch.,
Athens 2000
b) A more risky line is 7...d6 , because White can stir up some complications with 8 e6!?
instead of 8 axb5 ¤xe5 9 ¦e1 ¥e7 (9...¥e6 10 ¤d4 followed by f2−f4 puts Black in
big trouble.) 10 ¤xe5 dxe5 11 £xd8+ ¢xd8 12 ¦xe5 ¥e6 , which was again very
comfortable for Black in the game E.Rozentalis−P.Motwani at Hastings on New
Year's Day 1997, and the rest of the moves can be found within the notes to a
McDonald−Motwani battle published on our Internet site.
6...dxc6 7 dxe5 ¤f5

Alternatively, 7...¤e4!? 8 £e2 ¥f5 (8...¤c5 has also occurred in practice, but GM Glenn
Flear, in his excellent Everyman book entitled "Offbeat Spanish", points out that 9
¥e3 ¥g4 10 ¤c3 £e7 11 ¦fe1 £e6 12 h3 "yields White a comfortable edge".) 9 ¥e3 (A
sharp alternative is 9 ¦d1 £c8 10 ¤d4 ¥c5 , after which Flear shows that 11 g4? is an
error because of 11...¥xg4! 12 f3 ¥f5 13 fxe4 ¥g4 14 £f1 ¥xd1 15 £xd1 £h3 followed by
...0-0-0 with a powerful initiative for Black. ) 9...£e7 (Flear demonstrates that 9...¥e7
10 ¤d4 is uncomfortable for Black
but he suggests 9...¥c5 10 ¥xc5 ¤xc5 11 ¤c3 ¤e6 12 ¦ad1 £e7 as being "rock−solid".) 10 ¤a3
g5 11 ¤c4 ¥g6 12 ¤d4 ¥g7 13 ¦ad1 0-0-0?
39
XABCDEFGHY
8-+ktr-+-tr(
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This plausible−looking move loses to a stunning tactic... 14 ¤xc6! bxc6 15 ¤a5 Black has
no decent defence to the main threat of 16 Qa6+, and so Ukrainian GM Vladimir
Malaniuk resigned in the game Machulsky,A−Malaniuk,V/Alma−Ata 1989.
8 £xd8+
An important deviation is 8 £e2 (planning 9 Rd1) 8...¤d4! 9 ¤xd4 £xd4 and then:
a) 10 h3!? (Preventing ...Bg4) 10...¥f5 11 ¤c3 (Black was planning 11 ¦d1 £e4) 11...¥c5?
XABCDEFGHY
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(The losing move!) 12 ¥e3! £b4 (Of course 12...£xe5 13 ¥xc5 is also hopeless for Black.) 13
a3! £xb2 (13...£a5 14 b4
or 13...£b6 14 ¤a4 take Black to 'dead ends' too.) 14 ¤a4 £xc2 15 £xc2 ¥xc2 16 ¤xc5 b6
17 ¦ac1 was winning for White in Froeyman,H−Duhayon,Y/Belgian Interclubs
2000
b) 10 ¦d1 10...¥g4! 11 ¦xd4 ¥xe2 followed by ...Bh5−g6 is pleasant for Black.
8...¢xd8
40
XABCDEFGHY
8r+lmk-vl-tr(
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6-+p+-+-+&
5+-+-zPn+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-+-+N+-#
2PzPP+-zPPzP"
1tRNvL-+RmK-!
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I have considerable experience of sitting in Black's shoes looking at the same position given
in the diagram, and, even against grandmaster opposition, to−date I have only ever
lost one game from it (against super−GM Michael Adams at the 1989 NatWest
British Speed Chess Championships), but my results include a draw in 1988 against
super−GM Vishy Anand (see page 41 of my first book, "H.O.T. Chess", for the
complete game). Because of having doubled c−pawns, Black's queenside pawn
majority is not as important as White's useful extra central pawn. However, the e−
pawn is on its own in enemy territory and can turn out to be a weakness. Indeed,
sometimes Black's monarch later advances to e6 to threaten the pawn on e5, a fact
which confirms that it can actually be quite useful NOT to have castled if queens are
absent in the middlegame, because then one's king is likely to be in much less
danger. Furthermore, Black has a strong pair of bishops that have plenty of scope. In
short, I think that after 8...Kxd8 the future looks safe and sound yet not at all dull.
9 ¤c3
Alternatively, 9 c4 is an attempt to seize space before continuing with piece−development,
but it gives Black a target to attack, and the d3 and d4 squares become potential
outposts. The GM clash S.Kindermann−Z.Almasi, Horgen 1995 (mentioned here as
an extra bonus), continued 9...¥e6 10 b3 a5 11 ¤c3 ¥b4 12 ¤e4 a4 with a very
pleasant position for Black.
Another possibility is 9 ¥g5+ ¥e7 (Also good is 9...¢e8 intending ...h6 soon, to challenge
the g5−bishop, but of course that little pawn move must be delayed slightly in the
case of 10 ¦d1 , threatening mate at d8.) 10 g4 ¤h6 11 h3 (11 ¥xh6? gxh6 12 h3 h5! is
very bad news for White.) 11...¤g8! (A clever retreat, allowing Black to play ...h5
next.) 12 ¢g2 h5 13 ¢g3 ¤h6! (Back again with a purpose! White's g4−pawn is
feeling the heat.) 14 ¥xe7+ (14 gxh5 ¤f5+ is awful for White.) 14...¢xe7 , with an
excellent position for Black in the game Kovac,B−Meszaros,T/Hotel Lippa IM
tournament, 2001.
9...h6
I, too, have played this move which avoids trouble with Ng5/Bg5.
41
9...¥d7 is also perfectly possible, intending 10 ¤g5 Be8(or 10 ¦d1 ¢c8 11 ¤g5 ¥e8 , and
indeed this latter set−up has become quite popular recently, especially through the
efforts of Vladimir Kramnik in several games.)
Alternatively, 9...¢e8 is a reasonable waiting move that says to White 'I want to see what
you're doing next', but experience has taught me that the return to e8 also has
constructive points. For instance, if Black later plays ...Be6 and White is able to
respond by moving a knight (usually) to d4, f4 or g5 to make the capture Nxe6, then
after the reply ...fxe6 it is often good to follow up with ...Kf7, protecting the kingside
pawns and newly−born e−pawn. A popular continuation is 10 h3 (as g2−g4 is the
follow−up idea) and then:
a) 10...¥b4!? 11 ¤e4 (11 ¥d2 ¥xc3! 12 ¥xc3 c5! is at least equal for Black. This is typical of
what White should avoid. Black's light−square control renders the white kingside
majority rather useless and, because of the e5−pawn being on a dark square, Black's
remaining bishop is much more effective than White's.) 11...¥e6 12 c3 (Or 12 ¥d2
¥d5!) happened in the GM−clash Rowson,J−Miles,A/Redbus Knockout, London
2000, and then instead of 12...¥f8?! (12...¥e7 should be preferred. Then it's not at all
easy to prove a White advantage, and indeed after, say, 13 g4 ¤h4 14 ¤xh4 ¥xh4 15 ¥g5
¥xg5 16 ¤xg5 , Black stands superbly with 16...¥d5)
b) 10...¤e7 11 ¦e1 ¤d5 12 ¤e4 was a little better for White in the game Timman,J−
Ferguson,M/Kilkenny Masters 1999
c) 10...a5!? (Gaining some space on the queenside, where Black has his pawn majority.) 11
g4?! (This is consistent with White's last move, 10 h3, but there is a tactical
drawback which is quite hard to foresee now because it only shows itself clearly
several moves later.) 11...¤e7 (Of course the knight was virtually forced now to
retreat from f5 to e7, but even when that is not the case, Black often plays the
manoeuvre ...Nf5−e7−g6 to pressurise the pawn on e5 and allow the light−squared
bishop to 'see' beyond e6.) 12 ¢g2 h5 13 ¢g3 ¤g6 14 ¤e4 (If 14 ¥g5 , then 14...f6!
XABCDEFGHY
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15 exf6 ¥d6+ 16 ¢g2 hxg4 17 hxg4 gxf6 18 ¥xf6 ¤f4+ 19 ¢g1 ¥xg4! 20 ¥xh8 ¥xf3 (menacing
...Nh3#) 21 ¦fe1+ ¢f7 can lead to 22 ¥d4 ¦g8+ 23 ¢f1 ¥g2+ 24 ¢g1 ¤h3#!) 14...¥e7 was
more than satisfactory for Black in the GM−clash McDonald,N−Motwani,P/Eksakt
Masters, Tilburg 1996.
10 h3
42
Sometimes White can consider following up with the bold space−gaining push g2−g4, but
he or she must be careful about Black hitting back with ...h5 after ...Ne7, as
happened in the aforementioned McDonald−Motwani game.
An important alternative is 10 ¦d1+ , after which one must avoid 10...¥d7? on account of
11 g4! ¤e7 12 e6 fxe6 13 ¤e5 because Black is then in deadly double trouble at d7
and f7.
10...¥d7 11 b3 ¢c8
Vladimir Kramnik's exemplary games have really popularised the plan of Black taking his
king to the queenside with ...Kc8, ...b6 and ...Kb7, but alternatively it's still
considered reasonable to adopt a set−up involving ... Ke8 and ...Be6 (see the earlier
notes at move nine) or the more active development ...Bf5/...Bg4 when given the
chance.
After 11...a5 12 ¥b2 , the rather rash 12...b5?! was a loosening advance which made the
c5− and c6−squares in Black's camp very sensitive, vulnerable points in the game
Kalezic,B−Vajda,S/"Lasker" GM−tournament, Budapest 2001, although no
technique was required to win when 13 ¦ad1 ¤e7??
XABCDEFGHY
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6-+p+-+-zp&
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14 e6! 1-0 happened, with Black resigning in view of 14...fxe6 15 Ne5 Nd5 16 Nf7+. This
trap basically mirrors the one that occurred in the variation given back at move ten.
12 ¥b2 b6 13 ¦ad1 ¤e7

In the Berlin Defence, the general idea of retreating ...Nf5−e7 is well−worth noting for
Black, because from the e7−square the knight can subsequently go to g6 or c6 (after
pushing ...c6−c5) in order to exert pressure against White's far−extended e5−pawn.
14 ¦d2 c5 15 ¦fd1 ¥e6 16 ¤e2

Playing Black here in a cool, calm, composed manner, super−GM Vladimir Kramnik does
not fear the check 16 ¦d8+ , because after 16...¢b7 17 ¦xa8 ¢xa8 18 ¦d8+ ¢b7 ,
the move ...Nc6 shall soon eject White's rook from the eighth rank, since if it tries to
stay there with Re8, it will promptly find itself trapped by ...Bd7!
43
16...g5
This very vigorous case of g for "go for it!" not only prevents the opponent's intended Ne2−
f4, but also gives Black the possibility of soon playing ...Bg7 and ...Nc6/...Ng6 to
exert pressure, as mentioned before, against White's e5−pawn.
17 h4 g4 18 ¤h2 h5 19 ¦d8+ ¢b7 20 ¦xa8 ¢xa8 21 ¦d8+ ¢b7 22 ¤f4 ¤g6

23 g3
23 ¤xe6 fxe6 24 ¦e8 ¥e7 would not worry Black either.
23...c4!
Setting a devilish trap...
24 bxc4?? ...
and super−GM Viswanathan Anand falls straight in!
24...¤xf4 25 gxf4
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25...g3!
The galloping g−pawn gets its goal!
26 ¤f1
White would lose his rook after 26 fxg3 ¥c5+
26...gxf2+ 27 ¢h2 ¥xc4

There would be no joy for White in continuations like 28 e6 Bxf1 29 Bxh8 Be2 30 Rxf8
f1=Q 31 e7 Qf2+ followed by mate on Black's next move, and so instead Anand
44
resigned. That was 0-1 in Anand,V−Kramnik,V/Game 3/10, ChessClassic match
2001.
SUMMARY:
The 'C67 book' is rich with ideas for White & Black, and careful study of them ought to
reap lots of points in real games.
45
"Bishop takes knight and starts a fight!"
[C68]

Here in our 'C68 book', after the moves 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6, White plays the
Exchange Variation 4 Bxc6. In other words, it's that bishop takes knight which starts
a fight!
1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 a6 4 ¥xc6

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4...dxc6 5 0-0
It's a well−known but important detail that 5 ¤xe5 does not trouble Black because of
5...£d4
5...¥g4
Besides this pinning move, Black has several other respectable options for us to consider.
1) 5...¥d6 6 d4 exd4 (6...f6?! 7 dxe5 is simply bad for Black in view of 7...fxe5 8 ¤xe5! ,
intending 8...¥xe5 9 £h5+) 7 £xd4 f6 8 c4 (Alternatively, 8 ¥e3 ¥e6 9 c4 (another plan,
and probably a better one, is to leave the c4−square free for White's b1-knight to get
there via d2) 9...c5 10 £d3?? ¥xh2+ saw White resigning because of 11 ¢xh2 £xd3 in
H.Barber−M.Hebden, Bunratty Open 2000, mentioned as an extra bonus, as is the
encounter D.Parr−G.Lane at Paignton 1993, which went 8 b3 £e7 (preventing 9 Ba3)
46
9 ¤bd2 ¤h6 10 ¤c4 ¥c5 11 £d3 ¤f7 12 ¥b2 0-0 13 ¦ad1 ¥g4 14 ¦d2? ¦ad8 15 £e2 ¤g5! 16
¦xd8 ¦xd8 17 ¦e1 ¥xf3 18 gxf3 b5! , and White resigned in view of 19 ¤e3 ¦d2! 20 £xd2
¤xf3+ , a fatal fork.) 8...c5 9 £c3 ¤e7 10 ¥e3 0-0 11 ¤bd2
XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwq-trk+(
7+pzp-sn-zpp'
6p+-vl-zp-+&
5+-zp-+-+-%
4-+P+P+-+$
3+-wQ-vLN+-#
2PzP-sN-zPPzP"
1tR-+-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
11...£e8! (A noteworthy multi−purpose move, because Black's queen exerts her influence
towards both wings of the board and the white e−pawn too.) 12 ¦fe1 ¤c6 and Black
had a very fine position in the game Pujos,S−Hebden,M/Lausanne Master Open,
Switzerland 2000.
2) 5...£d6 6 ¤a3 (White deliberately develops his queen's knight on the wing here because
he immediately threatens 7 Nc4.) 6...b5 (Another common line is 6...¥e6 7 ¤g5 or 7
Qe2 with ideas of Nc4/Rd1 & d2−d4.) 7 c3 c5 8 ¤c2 ¥b7 9 d4 (France's GM Eric
Prie has enjoyed success with 9 ¦e1!? when White retains options of following up
with the flank attack a2−a4 or the central advance d2−d4, depending on how Black
reacts first.) 9...¤f6?! (Black should prefer simply 9...cxd4 10 cxd4 exd4 , probably
followed quickly by ...0-0-0) 10 ¦e1 cxd4 11 cxd4 ¥e7 12 ¤xe5 ¤xe4 13 f3! ¤f6
14 b3! (White plans Ba3, sending a deadly X−ray through Black's queen to the e7−
bishop, which is also feeling the heat from the e1-rook.) 14...¤d5 (14...b4 quickly
loses a pawn to 15 ¤c4 £d8 16 ¤xb4) 15 ¥a3! £d8
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wqk+-tr(
7+lzp-vlpzpp'
6p+-+-+-+&
5+p+nsN-+-%
4-+-zP-+-+$
3vLP+-+P+-#
2P+N+-+PzP"
1tR-+QtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
(If 15...b4 then 16 ¤xb4!! ¤xb4 17 ¤c4 triumphs for White because of 17...£d8 18 ¥xb4 winning
Black's pinned e7−bishop.) 16 ¤b4!! A beautiful move, which leaves Black without
any satisfactory response to White's main threats of 17 Nbc6 or 17 Nxd5 followed
47
by Bxe7. So... Black resigned, since he must lose material in lines like 16...Nxb4 17
Bxb4 Bxb4 18 Nc6+ or 17...0-0 18 Nc6 Bxc6 19 Bxe7 Qd5 20 Bxf8. That was 1-0
in the game Rozentalis,E−Nickoloff,B/North Bay 1994.
3) 5...¤e7 6 ¤xe5 £d4 7 ¤f3 (7 £h5 is more challenging, but Black certainly gets his fair
share of the play via 7...g6 8 £g5 (threatening 9 Qf6) 8...¥g7 9 ¤f3 (or 9 Nd3 f5!?)
9...£xe4 10 ¦e1 £b4) 7...£xe4 8 ¦e1 £g6 9 d4 ¥g4 10 ¤e5?! (Black was already very
comfortable, but after White's slightly panicky last move to force the ladies off the
board, the two black rooks both soon get to enjoy open files in the resulting
queenless middlegame!) 10...¥xd1 11 ¤xg6 hxg6 12 ¦xd1 0-0-0 13 ¤c3 ¤f5 and
Black was doing very well in the game Tonoli,J−Motwani,P/Strombeek−Bever rapid
tournament, Belgium 1999.
For 5...f6 , see the 'C69 book'.
6 h3 h5 7 d3
White naturally avoids 7 hxg4? hxg4 8 ¤xe5?? £h4 9 f4 g3
7...£f6 8 ¤bd2 ¤e7 9 ¦e1 ¤g6 10 d4

10 hxg4? hxg4 11 ¤h2 is answered by 11...¥c5! , intending 12 ¤xg4 £h4 13 ¢f1 ¤f4 and
White's king is doomed.
10...¥d6 11 c3?!
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+k+-tr(
7+pzp-+pzp-'
6p+pvl-wqn+&
5+-+-zp-+p%
4-+-zPP+l+$
3+-zP-+N+P#
2PzP-sN-zPP+"
1tR-vLQtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
"Theory" recommends 11 hxg4 hxg4 12 ¤h2 ¦xh2 , when 13 £xg4 (but not 13 Kxh2?
allowing 13...Qxf2) followed by Nf3 may give White an edge.
11...¤f4!
The black troops are advancing quickly towards White's king.
12 ¦e3
The attempt to "go safe" with 12 ¤f1 fails simply to 12...¤xh3+ 13 gxh3 ¥xf3
48
Also, 12 hxg4 hxg4 13 ¤h2 loses to 13...¦xh2 14 ¢xh2 £h4+ 15 ¢g1 0-0-0 16 g3 £h3 17
gxf4 ¦h8
12...£g6!
Menacing 13...Bxh3 or 13...Nxh3+.
13 hxg4 hxg4 14 ¤h2

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+k+-tr(
7+pzp-+pzp-'
6p+pvl-+q+&
5+-+-zp-+-%
4-+-zPPsnp+$
3+-zP-tR-+-#
2PzP-sN-zPPsN"
1tR-vLQ+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
14...¦xh2! 15 ¢xh2 ¢e7 16 ¢g1 ¦h8 17 ¤f1

It's really difficult to suggest anything better. Black's attack is just too strong, and note that
White's dormant pieces on a1 and c1 are far from being able to help their troubled
king.
17...£h7
17...£h5 would let White fight on a little longer with 18 ¦h3
18 ¤g3
Allowing a pretty finish, but 18 f3 would not have helped either, because 18...g3 19 ¤xg3
£h2+ 20 ¢f1 £xg3 leaves White defenceless against the threats of ...Qxg2+ or
...Rh1#.
18...£h2+ 19 ¢f1 £h1+!
49
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-tr(
7+pzp-mkpzp-'
6p+pvl-+-+&
5+-+-zp-+-%
4-+-zPPsnp+$
3+-zP-tR-sN-#
2PzP-+-zPP+"
1tR-vLQ+K+q!
xabcdefghy
White resigned on account of 20 Nxh1 Rxh1#. That was 0-1 in the very energetic and
attractive game Schnabel,R−Pokorny,Z/Krkonose Open, Czech Republic 2000.
SUMMARY:
One sometimes hears that the Ruy Lopez Exchange Variation, 4 Bxc6, leads to dull games,
but our 'C68 book' has given us a much livelier account to consider! In the main
featured game, it's possible that White's very plausible−looking 11th move should be
branded with at least a '?', because after the error there, the opponent powers through
to a speedy Black victory in seemingly unstoppable fashion. Even Russia's super−
GM Sergey Dolmatov once lost in a virtually identical manner as White, and so the
tricks and traps involved there are clearly well−worth knowing!
50
"Lots of tricks after 5...f6" [C69]

Our 'C68 book' introduced the Ruy Lopez Exchange Variation, 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6
4 Bxc6, and after 4...dxc6 5 0-0 we examined a number of important paths. Here in
the 'C69 book', we'll soon also see that there are lots of tricks after 5...f6 !
1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 a6 4 ¥xc6

This game was played around the time when Bobby Fischer's great successes with the
Exchange Variation led to a huge surge in its popularity.
4...dxc6 5 0-0
A simple but important point is that 5 ¤xe5 can be answered strongly by 5...£d4
5...f6
One of many satisfactory options, and for others see our 'C68 book'.
6 d4
XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwqkvlntr(
7+pzp-+-zpp'
6p+p+-zp-+&
5+-+-zp-+-%
4-+-zPP+-+$
3+-+-+N+-#
2PzPP+-zPPzP"
1tRNvLQ+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
6...exd4
6...¥d6 is not to be recommended because of 7 dxe5 , planning 7...fxe5 8 ¤xe5! ¥xe5 9
£h5+
51
However, 6...¥g4 is perfectly playable, with the possible continuation 7 c3 (Another well−
established line is 7 dxe5 £xd1 8 ¦xd1 fxe5 9 ¦d3) 7...¥d6 (7...exd4 8 cxd4 ¥xf3 9 £xf3 £xd4
10 ¦d1 gives White ample play for one sacrificed pawn.) 8 ¤bd2 £e7 9 ¤c4 0-0-0 10
£e2 leading to an interesting struggle in the game Rausis,I−Berzinsh,R/Bern 2000,
which is published in full on our Internet site.
7 ¤xd4 c5
7...¥c5?? 8 £h5+ reiterates the tactical point of the first variation given in the notes at
move six.
8 ¤b3 £xd1
This is generally considered to be 'normal', but note the following very sneaky alternative...
I've seen 8...¥e6!? 9 £f3 c4
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wqkvlntr(
7+pzp-+-zpp'
6p+-+lzp-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+p+P+-+$
3+N+-+Q+-#
2PzPP+-zPPzP"
1tRNvL-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
10 ¦d1? happen before, and then Black won quickly after 10...£c8! which left White facing
the deadly duo of 11...cxb3 and 11...Bg4.
9 ¦xd1
If given the chance, White would like to play Bf4 next. It would be horrible for Black to
have to respond with ...c6, after which the manoeuvre Na5−c4 would create a
terrible threat of Nb6, then exploiting the absence of a black pawn at c7.
9...¥d6
Nowadays, "theory" advocates the line 9...¥g4 10 f3 ¥d7 followed by ...0-0-0.
10 ¤a5!
Strong, and extremely irritating for Black. White threatens 11 Nc4, which cannot be
stopped by 11...Be6 in view of 12 Nxb7. It's true that 11...b5 is possible, but that
advance would have a very loosening effect on Black's queenside, while White's
52
knight at a5 would then enjoy an outpost there with no danger of being attacked by
any black pawn.
10...¥g4?
Black has a trick in mind, but the problem is that he's going to be the victim!
11 f3 0-0-0?
XABCDEFGHY
8-+ktr-+ntr(
7+pzp-+-zpp'
6p+-vl-zp-+&
5sN-zp-+-+-%
4-+-+P+l+$
3+-+-+P+-#
2PzPP+-+PzP"
1tRNvLR+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
11...¥c8 is necessary to defend b7, but 12 ¤c4 ¥e7 13 ¥f4 is still miserable for Black.
12 e5!
Black resigned in the game Hort,V−Shelandinov,A/Havana 1967, on account of 12...fxe5
13 fxg4 or 12...Bxe5 13 Rxd8+ Kxd8 14 fxg4. Presumably he had hoped for 12 fxg4
Bxh2+ 13 Kxh2 Rxd1, with some chances.
SUMMARY:
In the Ruy Lopez Exchange Variation, 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Bxc6, our 'C69 book'
has provided us with noteworthy ideas, tricks and traps after 4...dxc6 5 0-0 f6. I wish
you lots of success putting them into practice in your own games.
53
"The Chase" [C70]

After the moves 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4, in some ways it's quite logical for
Black to keep pursuing White's "Spanish bishop" by 4...b5 5 Bb3 Na5, but of course
there is always the danger that the precious time spent on that "chase" will prove to
be highly costly...
1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 a6 4 ¥a4 b5 5 ¥b3 ¤a5

XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwqkvlntr(
7+-zpp+pzpp'
6p+-+-+-+&
5snp+-zp-+-%
4-+-+P+-+$
3+L+-+N+-#
2PzPPzP-zPPzP"
1tRNvLQmK-+R!
xabcdefghy
In this so−called 'Norwegian Variation', much precious time is spent to pursue and
eliminate White's powerful light−squared bishop, but the price is high for Black
because in the process he falls behind in terms of piece−development.
6 0-0
6 ¤xe5 ¤xb3 7 axb3 £g5 is not impressive for White.
The sacrificial line 6 ¥xf7+?! is frowned upon too because of 6...¢xf7 7 ¤xe5+ ¢e7
followed by ...Qe8.
A third path is 6 d4 exd4 7 £xd4 ¥b7 8 ¤c3 ¤e7! , intending 9 0-0 ¤xb3 10 axb3 d5! 11
e5?! c5!! after which 12 £xc5?? ¤f5 leaves White's queen looking extremely
embarrassed.
6...¤xb3
Black could first play 6...d6 , since the white b3−bishop cannot run away.
7 axb3 d6 8 d4 f6
54
Black wishes to maintain his central pawn at e5.
9 ¤h4
Menacing 10 Qh5+.
9...¤e7
Another line is 9...£d7 10 ¤c3 , and then 10...£g4? is bad because of 11 £xg4 ¥xg4 12
¤xb5!
10 ¤c3
The threat of 11 Nxb5 echoes a tactical point from the previous note.
10...¥e6?!
"Theory" prefers 10...£d7 followed by ...Bb7.
11 ¥e3 g5
Black probably now only expected the retreat 12 Nf3, because 12 Qh5+? loses to 12...Bf7,
but the ingenious Bobby Fischer (playing White here) had something else in mind...
12 £f3!!
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wqkvl-tr(
7+-zp-sn-+p'
6p+-zplzp-+&
5+p+-zp-zp-%
4-+-zPP+-sN$
3+PsN-vLQ+-#
2-zPP+-zPPzP"
1tR-+-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
12...¥g7
12...gxh4 13 £xf6 puts Black in double trouble at e6 and h8.
13 dxe5 dxe5
13...gxh4 14 exf6 0-0 15 fxe7 £xe7 leaves Black a pawn down.
55
14 ¤f5 ¥xf5
14...¤xf5 15 exf5 ¥d7 16 ¦fd1 is also horrible for Black.
15 exf5 0-0 16 ¦fd1 £c8 17 ¥c5 ¤xf5?

Black could have tried to hang on longer with 17...¦e8 , but against a player of Fischer's
class it would be too much to hope for 18 ¥xe7 ¦xe7 19 ¤xb5?? e4
18 ¥xf8 ¥xf8 19 ¤d5

More deadly than 19 Nxb5.
19...¢g7
XABCDEFGHY
8r+q+-vl-+(
7+-zp-+-mkp'
6p+-+-zp-+&
5+p+Nzpnzp-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+P+-+Q+-#
2-zPP+-zPPzP"
1tR-+R+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
19...¥g7 20 £xf5 £xf5 21 ¤e7+ ¢f7 22 ¤xf5 was another way for Black to exit.
20 g4
Black resigned, since any knight−move from him would be answered instantly by 21
Qxf6+. That was 1-0 in the game Fischer,R−Walker,R/US Junior Ch., 1957.
SUMMARY:
The Norwegian variation is perhaps playable, but Black must play very precisely just to
reach the middlegame alive, after spending so much precious time chasing White's
"Spanish bishop" early in the opening.
56
"The Siesta re−awakens!" [C74]

Our 'C74 book' introduces the lively line 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 d6 5 c3 f5!?,
known as the Siesta Variation, but it certainly does not allow either player time to
take a nap!
1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 a6 4 ¥a4 d6 5 c3 f5

XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwqkvlntr(
7+pzp-+-zpp'
6p+nzp-+-+&
5+-+-zpp+-%
4L+-+P+-+$
3+-zP-+N+-#
2PzP-zP-zPPzP"
1tRNvLQmK-+R!
xabcdefghy
This counter−attacking system for Black is called the Siesta Variation. Notice how quickly
it unsettles even the late great GM Richard Réti in a game given below.
6 exf5
This is generally considered to be 'best', but let's also consider a plausible alternative.
6 d4 fxe4 7 ¤g5 (White could play for a draw (but objectively not more) in the tricky
tactical line 7 ¤xe5 dxe5 8 £h5+ ¢e7 9 ¥xc6 bxc6 10 ¥g5+ ¤f6 11 dxe5 £d5! 12 ¥h4! ¢e6
(or 12...Kd7 13 Qg5) 13 ¥xf6! gxf6 14 £e8+ ¢f5 15 £h5+ ¢e6 16 £e8+ and so on)
7...exd4 (Black of course avoids 7...¤f6? , not because of 8 d5 b5, but rather on
account of 8 dxe5 dxe5 9 ¥xc6+ bxc6 10 £xd8+ ¢xd8 11 ¤f7+ ¢e8 12 ¤xh8) 8 ¤xe4 ¤f6!
(8...d5 9 £h5+ is hazardous for Black
as are other non−developing moves such as 8...dxc3 ) 9 ¥g5 (If 9 £xd4 , then 9...£e7) 9...¥e7
57
XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwqk+-tr(
7+pzp-vl-zpp'
6p+nzp-sn-+&
5+-+-+-vL-%
4L+-zpN+-+$
3+-zP-+-+-#
2PzP-+-zPPzP"
1tRN+QmK-+R!
xabcdefghy
(9...£e7? is met by 10 0-0 , intending 10...£xe4? 11 ¦e1) 10 £xd4? (White should first have
captured the c6−knight, because now he won't get another chance...) 10...b5
(Suddenly White's pieces at a4 and d4 are in double trouble.) 11 ¤xf6+ gxf6 12 £d5
bxa4 13 ¥h6 (White is a piece down, and the same would have quickly been true
also after 13 £xc6+ ¥d7 followed by ...fxg5.) 13...£d7 (Not 13...¥d7?? 14 £h5#!) 14 0-0
(14 ¥g7 £e6+ 15 £xe6 ¥xe6 16 ¥xh8 ¢f7 is also pretty hopeless for White, as he loses
his h8−bishop.) 14...¥b7 (The great Jose Raoul Capablanca, playing Black here,
doesn't bother to prevent 15 Bg7, because White will still have a fatal material
deficit even if he wins the h8−rook for a bishop.) 15 ¥g7 0-0-0 soon resulted in
victory for Black in the superstar clash Réti,R−Capablanca,J/Berlin 1928.
6...¥xf5 7 0-0
7 d4 is met by 7...e4
7...¥d3 8 ¦e1 ¥e7

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wqk+ntr(
7+pzp-vl-zpp'
6p+nzp-+-+&
5+-+-zp-+-%
4L+-+-+-+$
3+-zPl+N+-#
2PzP-zP-zPPzP"
1tRNvLQtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
9 ¥c2
58
This is the most popular option.
Instead, 9 ¦e3 can be answered energetically by 9...e4 , intending 10 ¤e1 ¥g5 with sharp
play.
9...¥xc2 10 £xc2 ¤f6

I'm almost sure that I spotted some top GM playing 10...g5!? quite recently, and since it's
certainly not mentioned in "Nunn's Chess Openings" (NCO), it could be a good
surprise weapon for a while at least.
11 d4 £d7
11...e4 is also possible, because if 12 ¤g5 d5 13 ¤e6? then 13...£d7 puts the e6−knight in
trouble in view of 14 ¤xg7+? ¢f7
12 ¥g5
NCO gives the calm alternative 12 dxe5 dxe5 13 ¥e3
Extra Bonus: Another noteworthy possibility is 12 ¤g5!?
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+k+-tr(
7+pzpqvl-zpp'
6p+nzp-sn-+&
5+-+-zp-sN-%
4-+-zP-+-+$
3+-zP-+-+-#
2PzPQ+-zPPzP"
1tRNvL-tR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
which was played in the game G.Sax−K.Evertsson, Rilton Cup, Sweden 1999. The sneaky
ideas behind that move include 12...0-0 (12...exd4 13 ¤e6 prevents Black from castling
on either side
while 12...h6?? 13 £g6+ is already "Game Over".) 13 d5! ¤xd5?? 14 £xh7#
12...0-0-0 13 dxe5 dxe5 14 ¤bd2

Of course not 14 ¤xe5?? because of 14...¤xe5 15 ¦xe5 £d1+
14...h6 15 ¥e3
15 ¥xf6 gxf6 greatly strengthens the e5−pawn for Black, and freely grants him an open g−
file too.
59
15...¦hf8
gave White and Black balanced yet interesting chances in the super−GM clash Polgar,J−
Timman,J/Malmo, Sweden 2000, published in full on our Internet site.
SUMMARY:
If you're feeling sleepy, then please pick another day to play the lively Siesta Variation!
We've seen from the many tricks and traps in our 'C74 book' that this opening has
great point−scoring potential, and I wish you lots of success and enjoyment with it.
60
"He who castles could get hassled!"
[C75]

In our 'C74 book', we met the lively Siesta Variation, 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 d6
5 c3 f5. Instead, the 'C75 book' covers different fifth−move options, but the action−
level remains as high as ever!
1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 a6 4 ¥a4 d6 5 c3

Logically preparing the central advance d2−d4, but let's also consider some other options.
1) 5 0-0 is an obvious alternative, and then 5...¥d7 6 c3 ¤ge7 (Of course 6...¤f6 is also
playable, but in the game being considered here Black has in mind another special
configuration for his pieces on the kingside.) 7 d4 ¤g6 8 ¦e1 (Extra Bonus: White
preferred to close the position in the centre via 8 d5 in the 1991 encounter J.Van der
Wiel−N.Short at Amsterdam, where the continuation was 8...¤b8 9 c4 ¥e7 10 ¤c3 0-0
giving Black a slightly cramped but playable game.) 8...¥e7 9 ¤bd2 h6 10 ¤f1 ¥g5
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wqk+-tr(
7+pzpl+pzp-'
6p+nzp-+nzp&
5+-+-zp-vl-%
4L+-zPP+-+$
3+-zP-+N+-#
2PzP-+-zPPzP"
1tR-vLQtRNmK-!
xabcdefghy
11 ¤e3 (Black's 10th move was a very noteworthy idea which would have given him a
really fabulous position in the case of 11 ¤xg5?! hxg5 because then his control of the
f4−square is great news for the future of the g6−knight, and the black h8−rook
points menacingly towards the exposed h2−pawn adjacent to White's king.)
11...¥xe3!? 12 ¥xe3 0-0 13 ¤d2 (13 £d2? is bad for White due to 13...¤xd4!
(threatening ...Nxf3+ or ...Bxa4)
and 13 d5 ¤ce7 followed soon by ...f5 is also excellent for Black.) 13...¦e8 14 ¥c2 ¤f4 15
¥xf4 (15 g3 £f6!? is an interesting alternative.) 15...exf4 16 £f3 £g5 led to an
61
interesting struggle in the game Oim,T−Keres,P/Parnu 1971, published in full on our
Internet site.
2) 5 d4 b5 6 ¥b3 ¤xd4 7 ¤xd4 exd4 8 £xd4?? walks into the famous 'Noah's Ark' trap
given just ahead (but of course it can be avoided with 8 ¥d5
or the gambit−approach 8 c3!? , for example) 8...c5 9 £d5 ¥e6 10 £c6+ ¥d7 11 £d5 c4
3) White can also avoid such nightmares with 5 ¥xc6+ bxc6 6 d4 , but naturally Black still
has perfectly reasonable options such as 6...exd4 (or 6...f6 )
5...¥d7
5...¤f6 is playable too, but of course after 6 d4 one must avoid the pitfall 6...¤xe4??
because of 7 d5 b5 8 ¥c2 , putting the black knights in double trouble.
6 d4 ¤ge7 7 ¥e3 ¤g6

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wqkvl-tr(
7+pzpl+pzpp'
6p+nzp-+n+&
5+-+-zp-+-%
4L+-zPP+-+$
3+-zP-vLN+-#
2PzP-+-zPPzP"
1tRN+QmK-+R!
xabcdefghy
8 h4!
This aggressive advance is possible now since White cleverly did not castle kingside earlier
on because he anticipated the arrival of a black knight on g6.
8...h5 9 g3
White secures his h−pawn so that the f3−knight will be free to move, as happens very soon
in the game.
9...¥e7 10 d5
White already stands well on the kingside, so now he starts to gain space and make progress
on the opposite wing too.
10...¤b8 11 ¥xd7+ ¤xd7 12 ¤fd2!
62
If White can follow up with a sequence like c4, Nc3, b4, Nb3 and c5, then he will have an
ideal set−up on the queenside.
12...¤f6
12...0-0? allows the lady on d1 to get a free tasty snack at h5.
13 f3
White easily prevents 13...Ng4.
13...0-0 14 c4 c5 15 ¤c3
This developing move is completely natural, but White can also consider 15 a3 , intending
16 b4. In the actual game, he instead decides to stop Black's b−pawn from jumping
far.
15...£d7 16 a4
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-trk+(
7+p+qvlpzp-'
6p+-zp-snn+&
5+-zpPzp-+p%
4P+P+P+-zP$
3+-sN-vLPzP-#
2-zP-sN-+-+"
1tR-+QmK-+R!
xabcdefghy
16...a5?
It is quite understandable that Black wanted to prevent his opponent from clamping down
on the queenside with 17 a5, but 16...b6 would at least have kept some fluidity
among the black a− and b−pawns. Now, however, the queenside is locked, and so
White can happily concentrate on the other flank, where his potentially mobile f−
and g−pawns may later advance to generate an attack.
17 £e2 ¢h7 18 0-0-0 ¦h8

Because his position is so cramped, Black can do little more than shuffle pieces around near
the back rank.
19 ¤f1!
63
This knight moves for the third time already, and it is not stopping yet because the e3−
destination is a great square from which to support a later advance g3−g4. Of course,
White's bishop can co−operate in this plan simply by vacating the e3−square as soon
as possible.
19...¢g8 20 ¥d2 ¤e8 21 ¤e3 ¤f8 22 b3

This move is not strictly necessary because White's position on the queenside was already
secure, and so it was possible to proceed immediately on the other wing with 22 f4
for example.
22...g6
Some people might criticise this move by saying that it creates an extra target for White to
attack, but Black's congested passive position is so unpleasant that it would hardly
be tenable after any other moves either.
23 f4 ¥f6 24 ¦df1 £e7

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+nsnktr(
7+p+-wqp+-'
6-+-zp-vlp+&
5zp-zpPzp-+p%
4P+P+PzP-zP$
3+PsN-sN-zP-#
2-+-vLQ+-+"
1+-mK-+R+R!
xabcdefghy
25 f5!
White confidently seizes more space, knowing that he can still prise open lines for attack
when he chooses to do so.
25...¤g7 26 ¤b5 b6 27 fxg6 fxg6 28 g4!

With White's pieces in optimal positions, this is the time for a decisive breakthrough.
28...¥xh4
28...hxg4 29 ¤xg4 ¥xh4 30 ¤h6+ ¢h7 31 ¤f7 ¦g8 32 ¥g5 is nightmarish for Black.
64
The same is true of 28...£d8 29 £f3 ¤e8 30 ¦hg1 (threatening 31 gxh5) 30...hxg4 31
¤xg4 ¢g7 32 ¤c7!? ¤xc7 33 ¤xf6 , with overwhelming threats such as 34 Bg5 or
34 h5 or 34 Nh5+!.
29 ¤xd6 £xd6 30 ¦xh4 ¤d7 31 gxh5 ¦xh5 32 ¦xh5 ¤xh5

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-+k+(
7+-+n+-+-'
6-zp-wq-+p+&
5zp-zpPzp-+n%
4P+P+P+-+$
3+P+-sN-+-#
2-+-vLQ+-+"
1+-mK-+R+-!
xabcdefghy
33 ¤f5!
Black resigned because of lines like: a) 33...gxf5 34 Qxh5 f4 35 Rg1+ Kf8 36 Qh8+ Ke7 37
Rg7+ Kf6 38 Qh6#. b) 33...Qc7 (after 33...Qf8 34 Nh6+ the f1-rook would be flying
down to f8!) 34 Ne7+ Kg7 35 Qg4 or 34...Kh7 35 Rf7+ Ng7 36 Qh2#. That was 1-0
in the super−GM clash Topalov,V−Yusupov,A/Novgorod 1995.
SUMMARY:
We saw from the main featured game, and also the first variation in the notes at move five,
that he who castles could get hassled! Of course that's not unique to this particular
opening 'book', but it's worth emphasising the point that one should always be very
careful about castling when the opponent has the possibility to throw a fierce pawn−
storm in the direction of one's king.
65
"Why not give The Worrall a whirl!?"
[C77]

After 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6, most people castle almost 'automatically'
with White, but here in our 'C77 book' we'll see that 5 Qe2 not only makes an
interesting and refreshing change, but also there can be really positive benefits
resulting from omitting (or at least delaying) castling.
1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 a6 4 ¥a4 ¤f6 5 £e2

XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwqkvl-tr(
7+pzpp+pzpp'
6p+n+-sn-+&
5+-+-zp-+-%
4L+-+P+-+$
3+-+-+N+-#
2PzPPzPQzPPzP"
1tRNvL-mK-+R!
xabcdefghy
Officially, the Worrall Attack, named after Thomas Herbert Worrall (1807-1878), is 5 0-0
¥e7 6 £e2 , but there can be advantages for White in omitting castling, because
sometimes he may decide to push forward his g− &/or h−pawns, as actually happens
later in this featured game.
5...b5 6 ¥b3 ¥c5

GM Mark Hebden, for one, prefers 6...¥e7 , after which Black won't have to worry about
any pin on his f6−knight if White later plays Bc1-g5.
7 c3 0-0
Alternatively, 7...d6 8 h3 (This move seems rather timid. In general, White need not fear
the pin ...Bg4 because he can challenge it afterwards with h3, and if Black replies
66
...Bh5, then White may continue with the well−known manoeuvre d2−d3, Nb1-d2−
f1, followed by g2−g4 and/or Ng3.) 8...¥e6 9 ¥c2 (Black would really welcome 9
¥xe6 fxe6 since he then gets lots of central control with his cluster of pawns in and
around the middle of the board. Also, after castling kingside a black rook on f8
would enjoy having the use of a partly−open f−file.) 9...0-0 10 b4?! (Another wing−
pawn move which does not help White's development. In fact, it leaves him very
open to being 'hit' with ...Bc4 later.) 10...¥b6 11 a4?! (Consistent with his last move,
but here it really was imperative for White to concentrate on trying to catch up in
terms of piece development.) 11...d5! (This simple strong move exemplifies the
classic idea of answering an opponent's play on a flank with a reaction in the centre
of the board.) 12 axb5 (12 d3? dxe4 13 dxe4 ¥c4 14 £d1 £xd1+ wins a pawn for Black
because of 15 ¢xd1 ¥xf2 or 15 Bxd1 Nxe4.) 12...axb5 13 ¦xa8 £xa8 14 exd5 ¥xd5
15 ¤a3 (White's position is in such a critical state that even the pawn−grab 15 Qxb5
would bring no pain relief, and one crushing demonstration is the following
plausible and very logical flowing line for Black: 15 £xb5 e4 16 ¤h4 ¤e5 17 0-0 ¦b8 18
£a4 £xa4 19 ¥xa4 ¥c4 20 ¦d1 ¦a8 21 ¥c2 ¥d3 22 ¥xd3 ¤xd3 23 ¦f1 ¦a1 winning one
piece−−−at least!) 15...e4 16 ¤h2
XABCDEFGHY
8q+-+-trk+(
7+-zp-+pzpp'
6-vln+-sn-+&
5+p+l+-+-%
4-zP-+p+-+$
3sN-zP-+-+P#
2-+LzPQzPPsN"
1+-vL-mK-+R!
xabcdefghy
16...¤e5 (Black's pieces are flooding uncontrollably towards White's disorganised camp.)
17 ¤g4? (This loses almost instantly, but in fact White's position was already
beyond repair.) 17...¤fxg4 18 hxg4 ¤d3+ White resigned in view of 19 Bxd3 exd3
20 Qxd3 (for a fleeting moment White gets to dream about mate at h7, but as GM
David Ionovich Bronstein once said, "The most powerful weapon in chess is the next
move", and here it's Black who has it...) 20... Re8+ 21 Kd1 (21 Kf1 Bxg2+)
21...Qa4+ 22 Nc2 (22 Qc2 Bb3) 22...Be4 23 Re1 Qxc2+! 24 Qxc2 Bxc2+ 25 Kxc2
Rxe1, and Black has emerged with an extra rook. So, 0-1 in the encounter
Robertson,I−Motwani,P/Dundee 1995.
8 d3 d6
8...h6 would prevent the move Bg5 which happens next, but instead White might consider 9
h3!? planning the aggressive push g2−g4−g5.
9 ¥g5 ¥e6 10 ¤bd2 £e7?!
67
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-trk+(
7+-zp-wqpzpp'
6p+nzplsn-+&
5+pvl-zp-vL-%
4-+-+P+-+$
3+LzPP+N+-#
2PzP-sNQzPPzP"
1tR-+-mK-+R!
xabcdefghy
11 ¥d5!
Now both of Black's knights are feeling the strain.
11...¥xd5 12 exd5 ¤b8 13 ¤e4 ¤bd7 14 ¤h4!

Creating possibilities of White soon increasing the pressure with Nf5 &/or Qf3.
14...h6
14...g6 stops White from playing Nf5 immediately, but instead the aforementioned idea of
Qf3 would be really painful for Black's pinned f6−knight.
15 ¤f5 £d8 16 ¥h4

Amazingly, this all happened six years earlier, in the 1995 super−GM clash S.Tiviakov−
Z.Almasi at Wijk aan Zee, where Black also got slaughtered!
16...¢h8
A lovely variation is 16...¢h7 17 £f3 ¦g8 (hoping to play ...g5 next, but first it's White's
turn to move...) 18 ¤xh6!! ¢xh6 19 £h3! ¢g6 20 ¤g3! , after which Black has no
decent defence to the terrible threat of 21 Qf5+ Kh6 22 Bg5#.
17 g4
g for "go for it"!
17...g6
Desperation, since Black can find no other way to even touch White's super−strong knights
firmly entrenched at their powerful posts.
68
18 £f3!
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wq-tr-mk(
7+-zpn+p+-'
6p+-zp-snpzp&
5+pvlPzpN+-%
4-+-+N+PvL$
3+-zPP+Q+-#
2PzP-+-zP-zP"
1tR-+-mK-+R!
xabcdefghy
18...g5
White's crushing queen−move was armed with the crucial point that after 18...gxf5 19 £xf5
¢g7 Black gets finished off by 20 ¤xf6 ¤xf6 21 g5
19 ¥xg5!
Super−GM Evgeny Vladimirov, playing Black here, resigned in view of 19...hxg5 20 h4,
when his hopelessly exposed king has zero chance of surviving lines like 20... Nxe4
21 hxg5+ Kg8 22 Qh3, followed shortly by mate at h7 or h8. That was 1-0 in the
game Paehtz,T−Vladimirov,E/Lausanne Master Open, Switzerland 2001.
SUMMARY:
You've seen what it can do...so, why not give The Worrall a whirl YOURSELF!?
69
"Under the winning wing of the
Archangel" [C78]

After 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 b5 6 Bb3, the dynamic developing
moves 6...Bb7 and 6...Bc5 are examined in tremendous detail in the Everyman book
"Archangel and New Archangel" by IM Krzysztof Panczyk and GM John Emms,
and those exciting lines also make for an action−packed 'C78 book' right here!
1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 a6 4 ¥a4 ¤f6 5 0-0 b5 6 ¥b3 ¥b7

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wqkvl-tr(
7+lzpp+pzpp'
6p+n+-sn-+&
5+p+-zp-+-%
4-+-+P+-+$
3+L+-+N+-#
2PzPPzP-zPPzP"
1tRNvLQ+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
This is really the Arkhangelsk Variation, but it's now often called "The Archangel", and
that has a good powerful feel to it−−−provided you're on the right side of its winning
wing!
6...¥c5 is a close relative that's now referred to as "The Modern Archangel", which leads us
to:
a) 7 c3 d6 (7...¤xe4?! 8 £e2 leaves Black in serious difficulties, because if the knight retreats
from e4, then 9 d4 will cause double trouble at c5 and e5.) 8 d4 ¥b6 (Black calmly
retreats his attacked bishop without disturbing the position of his central e5−pawn.)
9 a4 (9 dxe5 ¤xe5 10 ¤xe5 dxe5 11 £xd8+ ¢xd8 12 ¥xf7 ¦f8 is excellent for Black, and
after, say, 13 ¥d5 ¤xd5 14 exd5 ¥b7 he will not only regain the unit which he sacrificed
temporarily, but will also enjoy the advantage of having one extra long−range
bishop in comparison to White, whose "Spanish bishop" is already "history"!)
9...¦b8 (Black could also have met the threat of axb5 simply by moving his c8−
bishop to b7 or g4.) 10 axb5 axb5 11 ¤a3! 0-0 (After 11...¥a6 it's true that Black has
70
defended his b5−pawn, but 12 ¦e1 leaves the bishop looking rather misplaced on a6,
without any real future there.) 12 ¦e1 (After 12 ¤xb5 exd4 (Note that 12...Nxe4? 13
Bd5 is a double (k)nightmare for Black!) 13 cxd4 ¥g4 Black has at least some
compensation for one sacrificed pawn, as he is exerting a fair bit of pressure against
his opponent's position around the centre, but super−GM Viktor Bologan still
reckons that 14 ¦a4! may favour White.) 12...¥g4 13 d5?! (As was indicated in the
previous note, the most testing course by far occurs when White boldly captures the
b5−pawn. Instead he has unwisely opened up the a7−g1 diagonal for Black's dark−
squared bishop, now pointing menacingly towards the white monarch.) 13...¤e7 14
£d3 (White's f3−knight is no longer pinned, but his queen is about to experience
fresh problems at d3...) (14 ¤xb5 ¥xf2+ 15 ¢xf2 ¦xb5 is also very pleasant for Black.)
14...¤d7! (Threatening ...Nc5, and at the same time clearing the way for Black's f−
pawn to fly forward.) 15 ¤d2 f5 ("f for forward" frightens its foes!) 16 ¥c2??
(Under severe pressure, White misses his opponent's main threat...) 16...¥xf2+!
XABCDEFGHY
8-tr-wq-trk+(
7+-zpnsn-zpp'
6-+-zp-+-+&
5+p+Pzpp+-%
4-+-+P+l+$
3sN-zPQ+-+-#
2-zPLsN-vlPzP"
1tR-vL-tR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
...which wins instantly because of 17 Kxf2 fxe4+: a deadly discovered check. So, poor
White (rated 2390) resigned. That was 0-1 in the game Zhao Zong Yuan−
Chapman,M/Zonal Tournament (Oceana), 2001
b) 7 ¤xe5 7...¤xe5 8 d4 ¥xd4 9 £xd4 d6 (Now Black threatens to win material via the
advance ...c5−c4.) 10 c3?! (10 f4 is more aggressive than White's rather timid choice
in the game.) 10...c5 11 £e3 0-0 12 f3 (As was mentioned before, f2−f4 could have
been played two moves ago, but here now it would leave the white e4−pawn very
vulnerable to a quick attack involving ...Bb7 and ...Re8 soon. So instead White
decides to support his central pawn and at the same time stop Black from playing ...
Neg4.) 12...¦e8 13 ¦d1 ¥e6 14 ¥c2 £c7 15 £f2 (White is losing more precious
time moving his awkwardly−placed queen, which was obstructing the c1-bishop.)
15...h6 (This is mainly a prophylactic measure to prevent White from playing Bg5,
but it's also useful for Black's king to have a flight square at h7 in case of potential
'back−rank' problems.) 16 ¤d2 d5! (Black has the better−developed position, and so
he opens up the centre to his own advantage.) 17 exd5 ¥xd5 18 ¤f1 £c6! (Black is
piling on the pressure at the frail f3−point in the neighbourhood of White's king.) 19
¤e3
71
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+r+k+(
7+-+-+pzp-'
6p+q+-sn-zp&
5+pzplsn-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-zP-sNP+-#
2PzPL+-wQPzP"
1tR-vLR+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
19...¥xf3! (This sacrifice was really asking to be played, and Black's energetic follow−up
ensures that it works.) 20 gxf3 ¤xf3+ 21 ¢f1 ¦xe3! (This second sacrifice
eliminates one of the few pieces able to defend the area near White's king.) 22 £xe3
(22 ¥xe3 ¤g4 23 £e2 ¦e8 is hopeless for White, all the more so because of 24 ¦d3 c4)
22...¤xh2+ 23 ¢g1 ¤f3+ 24 ¢f1 (24 ¢g2 ¤h4+ 25 ¢g3 £g2+ 26 ¢xh4 £g4# is short
and sweet for Black.) 24...¦e8 25 £f4 ¤e1! (Clearing the way for Black's queen to
invade at g2 or h1.) 26 ¦d2 (26 ¦xe1 £h1+ is equally fatal for White's bare king.)
26...£h1+ White resigned in view of 27 Kf2 Qg2#. That was 0-1 in the game
Trifunovic,M−Petronic,J/Serbian Championship 2000.
7 ¦e1
Let's also consider some more direct options for White here.
1) 7 c3 is generally regarded as being the 'acid test', and that's at least partly because of the
super−sharp critical line 7...¤xe4 8 d4 ¤a5 (Another violent variation is 8...exd4 9 ¦e1
d5 10 ¤g5
while a quiter route is 8...¥e7 ) 9 ¥c2 exd4 10 b4 ¤c4 11 ¥xe4 ¥xe4 12 ¦e1 d5 13 ¤xd4
threatening 14 f3, and 13...¥e7? is insufficient due to 14 f3 ¥g6 15 ¤c6 : an
important tactical point at the end of a long sequence. Of course, Black could have
deviated right at the start of it simply by not capturing the e4−pawn at move seven.
Alternatively, almost at the opposite end of the given sequence, there is the highly
theoretical and complicated piece−sacrifice 13...c5 14 bxc5 Bxc5 15 f3 0-0 16 fxe4
dxe4, intending follow−up moves like ...Qd5 & ...b4 to undermine the position of
White's pinned d4−knight.
2) 7 d4 ¤xd4 8 ¤xe5? (White might also play 8 ¤xd4
or 8 ¥xf7+ . The latter occurred in the 1987 correspondence game S.Salvador−M.Ferrer, in
which the continuation (given now as an extra bonus) was 8...¢xf7 9 ¤xe5+ ¢g8
(Simple, safe, sensible, and strong.) 10 £xd4 c5 11 £d1 £e8! 12 ¥f4?? (A plausible−
looking move, which unfortunately for White loses almost instantly!) 12...¤h5! 13
¤d3 £xe4 0-1. White resigned in view of 14 f3 £d4+ 15 ¢h1 ¤xf4) 8...¤xb3 (There
goes White's proud "Spanish bishop"!) 9 axb3 ¤xe4! (GM Glenn Flear, playing
Black here, has no fear about grabbing the e4−pawn even though his king is still
sitting at e8, because he has correctly evaluated that he'll easily manage to get in the
72
two further moves required in order for the monarch to actually castle kingside.) 10
¦e1 ¥d6 11 £d4 0-0!
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wq-trk+(
7+lzpp+pzpp'
6p+-vl-+-+&
5+p+-sN-+-%
4-+-wQn+-+$
3+P+-+-+-#
2-zPP+-zPPzP"
1tRNvL-tR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
12 ¤c3? (Accelerating White's demise, but in fact 12 ¦xe4 ¥xe4 13 £xe4 ¦e8 is also winning
for Black
as is 12 ¤d3 c5 13 £e3 c4) 12...¥c5 0-1 in Maclean,D−Flear,G/Oxford 1979.
3) 7 ¤g5 d5 8 exd5 ¤d4! gives Black a great position rather easily.
4) To conclude the list of main seventh−move options for White, 7 d3 is always possible,
but rather like 7 Re1, it doesn't directly threaten the mighty Archangel.
7...¥c5 8 ¤xe5?
The capture on e5 is OK in a well−known similar position (see variation 'B' in the notes
back at move six) where the b7−bishop is still on c8 and, more importantly, where
the e1-rook is still on f1 to protect the frail f2−pawn−−−which Black soon targets in
the current game.
White should prefer 8 c3 , logically preparing d2−d4 to challenge Black at c5 and e5.
8...¤xe5 9 d4
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wqk+-tr(
7+lzpp+pzpp'
6p+-+-sn-+&
5+pvl-sn-+-%
4-+-zPP+-+$
3+L+-+-+-#
2PzPP+-zPPzP"
1tRNvLQtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
73
9...¤fg4!
White is suddenly in double trouble at h2 and f2 as Black threatens ...Qh4 or ...Qf6.
10 dxc5?
Still in shock from Black's last move, White fails to put up much resistance. He was further
discouraged by the fact that 10 ¥f4 £f6 11 ¥g3 does not help because of 11...¥xd4!
, intending 12 £xd4 ¤f3+ 13 gxf3 £xd4
10...£h4
White is lost.
11 h3 £xf2+ 12 ¢h1 £g3

I was really tempted to play 12...¤f3 in view of the lovely possibility 13 ¦f1? (13 ¦e2
or 13 ¥xf7+ are less clear for Black.) 13...£g1+! 14 ¦xg1 ¤f2#
13 hxg4 ¤xg4 14 ¥xf7+

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+k+-tr(
7+lzpp+Lzpp'
6p+-+-+-+&
5+pzP-+-+-%
4-+-+P+n+$
3+-+-+-wq-#
2PzPP+-+P+"
1tRNvLQtR-+K!
xabcdefghy
14...¢f8
Black's imminent victory would be ruined with one careless move by 14...¢xf7?? which
allows 15 £xd7+
15 ¢g1 £h2+ 16 ¢f1 £h1+ 17 ¢e2 £xg2+ 18 ¢d3 ¤f2+

With this fourth successive check, Black simply "cashes in" to net White's queen. So... 0-1
in Fontaine,A−Motwani,P/Brussels 2000.
74
SUMMARY:
It's in the nature of the Archangel and Modern Archangel that they tend to produce lively
exciting decisive games rather than peaceful draws. In other words, one side will
normally go quickly to Heaven!
75
"A real e−opener!" [C80]

The Open Ruy Lopez is 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 Nxe4, and we're
about to encounter some relatively rare yet interesting responses to it, here in our
'C80 book'. My thanks to England's Norman Stephenson for providing some of the
annotations to the main featured game.
1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 a6 4 ¥a4 ¤f6 5 0-0 ¤xe4

XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwqkvl-tr(
7+pzpp+pzpp'
6p+n+-+-+&
5+-+-zp-+-%
4L+-+n+-+$
3+-+-+N+-#
2PzPPzP-zPPzP"
1tRNvLQ+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
"Open Ruy Lopez" is the name of this system for Black, and it's also the title of GM Glenn
Flear's excellent Everyman book (published in the year 2000) elucidating the
subtleties of this opening using many illustrative annotated games.
6 d4
This is generally regarded as the 'main path', but let's also consider an important alternative.
6 ¦e1 (This uncomplicated move may look too simple to be dangerous, but the following
game played in an Olympiad is quite an eye−opener or, given the file involved, I
could say "e−opener"!) 6...¤c5 7 ¤c3!? (A tricky move, and Black now falls
straight into White's trap...) 7...¤xa4?
76
XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwqkvl-tr(
7+pzpp+pzpp'
6p+n+-+-+&
5+-+-zp-+-%
4n+-+-+-+$
3+-sN-+N+-#
2PzPPzP-zPPzP"
1tR-vLQtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
(7...¥e7 is safe) 8 ¤xe5! ¤xe5 (8...¤xc3 loses to 9 ¤xc6+ ¥e7 10 ¤xe7! ¤xd1 11 ¤g6+ £e7 12
¤xe7 because Black's knight is trapped, whereas White's is not 8...¥e7 does not solve
Black's problems, since White has 9 ¤d5! .) 9 ¦xe5+ ¥e7 10 ¤d5! (Probably Black
had missed this move.) 10...0-0 (10...d6 loses to 11 ¦xe7+ ¢f8 12 £f3 , intending
12...¥e6 13 ¦xe6 or 12...f6 13 Qh5.) 11 ¤xe7+ ¢h8 12 £h5 d5 (Allowing a sudden
and pretty finish, but White also wins after 12...g6 13 £h6 d6 with 14 ¦h5! gxh5 15 £f6#)
13 £xh7+! Black resigned because of 13...Kxh7 14 Rh5#. That was a super−fast 1-0
in Voronova,T−Phuong,V/Istanbul Olympiad, Turkey 2000.
6...b5 7 ¥b3 d5
7...¥e7!? is a rare alternative that brought Black an emphatic victory in the game
Sammalvuo,T−Norri,J/Helsinki, Finland 1995, which is published in full on our
Internet site.
8 ¤c3!?
XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwqkvl-tr(
7+-zp-+pzpp'
6p+n+-+-+&
5+p+pzp-+-%
4-+-zPn+-+$
3+LsN-+N+-#
2PzPP+-zPPzP"
1tR-vLQ+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
A little−known gambit invented by Puc (not even mentioned in Ray Keene's 1992
"Complete Book of Gambits"). It is potentially very dangerous for Black, but at the
same time the main problem for White is that after 8...Nxc3 9 bxc3 (as happens
77
shortly), the pawn−structure is such that the white bishop at b3 can hardly move
from there.
The 'main road' is 8 dxe5 ¥e6 and then:
a) 9 ¥e3 ¥c5 (In his aforementioned Everyman book, Glenn Flear writes "The safest move
here is 9...¥e7 and then he backs up that statement with games and analysis
demonstrating why 9...Bc5
and 9...¤c5 are more difficult for Black.) 10 £e2 (Flear shows that 10 ¥xc5 10 £d3
and 10 ¦e1 are all promising alternatives for White.) 10...¥xe3 ("Nunn's Chess Openings"
prefers 10...¤e7 which bolsters Black's d−pawn (in case of White playing Rd1, for
example), and also creates some possibilities of getting in the advance ...c7−c5.) 11
£xe3 ¤a5 12 ¤c3! ¤xc3 13 £xc3 ¤c4 (There was no time for 13...¤b7?? (intending
14...c5) because of 14 £c6+
Also 13...¤xb3 would have given White the very pleasant choice of replying 14 axb3 with
pressure towards a6, or 14 cxb3 with powerful pressure towards c7.) 14 ¥xc4 bxc4
15 b4! (A fine positional move by GM Oleg Korneev, who plans to simply plant his
knight on the d4−square without being harassed by ...c5 from Black.) 15...0-0 16
¤d4 £d7 17 a4 ¦fe8 18 ¦fe1 ¦ab8 19 h3 ¦b6 (Black is struggling to find any
constructive plan here. He perhaps hopes to manage ...Bf5 followed by ...Rg6, but
White quickly ends such ideas.) 20 a5 ("Back you go!" says the a5−pawn to the b6−
rook.) 20...¦bb8 21 £d2 (Korneev has, I'm sure, already thought of the follow−up
manoeuvre Ra1-a3−g3, but he disguises it more than the immediate 21 ¦a3 would
have done.) 21...¦ec8 22 ¦a3! c5 23 bxc5 ¦xc5 24 ¦g3 ¥f5? (Black's position was
pretty dire anyway, but his actual move accelerates the finish.) 25 £f4! (Black must
have been hoping for 25 £h6 ¥g6) 25...¥e6 (25...¥g6 26 e6! £c7 27 exf7+ ¥xf7 28 ¦xg7+!!
¢xg7 29 ¤f5+ wins for White in view of 29...¢g6 30 £h6+ ¢xf5 31 g4# or 29...Kg8 30
Qd4 Bg6 31 Nh6#, for example.) 26 £h6 g6
XABCDEFGHY
8-tr-+-+k+(
7+-+q+p+p'
6p+-+l+pwQ&
5zP-trpzP-+-%
4-+psN-+-+$
3+-+-+-tRP#
2-+P+-zPP+"
1+-+-tR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
27 ¤f3! (The knight is heading right to g5, and Black has no defence.) 27...¦f8 28 ¤g5 f6
29 ¤xh7! Black resigned in view of 29...Qxh7 30 Rxg6+ Kh8 31 Qxf8+. That was
1-0 in the game Korneev,O−Martinez Lizarraga,M/Madrid Open, Spain 2000
b) 9 c3 9...¥c5 10 ¤bd2 0-0 11 ¥c2 ¤xf2 is the Dilworth Attack...yes, that's
right...invented by Norman Stephenson's opponent (help!!) in the main game that
we're returning to now.
78
8...¤xc3 9 bxc3 e4
This move is the obvious way for Black to try to refute White's gambit.
Alternatively, 9...¥e7 just aims for safety, but after 10 dxe5 ¥e6 11 ¤d4! the danger is not
over for Black.
10 ¤g5
White now has threats of playing f3 &/or sacrificing his knight at f7 to draw the opponent's
king out into the open, and so Black must respond with care.
10...f5
Let's also examine some alternatives.
Norman Stephenson wrote: "My only other experience of this line was as White v. Bernard
Kooiman in the 3rd Round of the Teesside Week−End Congress of August 1964 −
organised by Richard Moore and myself over that Bank Holiday (when was it that
my old friend Stewart Reuben said that he invented Week−End Congresses in
England?!) which went 10...¥e6 11 f3 exf3 12 £xf3 , and White had ample play in
return for the one sacrificed pawn".
10...f6 11 ¤h3 ¥xh3 12 £h5+ g6 13 £xh3 f5 14 f3 also leaves Black with plenty to think
about.
GM Glenn Flear recommends 10...¥f5 11 f3 e3! as a sensible way for Black to return his
extra unit in order to secure a good, safe position.
11 f3 ¥e7?
NOT a case of "better−late−than−never"!
12 fxe4!
XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwqk+-tr(
7+-zp-vl-zpp'
6p+n+-+-+&
5+p+p+psN-%
4-+-zPP+-+$
3+LzP-+-+-#
2P+P+-+PzP"
1tR-vLQ+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
12...¥xg5
79
This loses , but Black did not have the option of capturing at e4 because White's knight
would have immediately delivered a fatal fork at f7.
13 ¥xd5 ¥d7 14 £h5+ g6 15 £xg5

White has a decisive positional and material advantage.
15...¦f8 16 exf5 £f6

Nothing else helps either.
17 ¦e1+
Black resigned in view of 17...Kd8 18 Qxf6+ Rxf6 19 Bg5. That was a pulverising 1-0 win
in the game Stephenson,N−Dilworth,V/Durham v. Cheshire County Match, England
1964.
SUMMARY:
Our 'C80 book' has confirmed that certain rare lines are not only interesting, but also
potentially quite deadly, and so they must really be taken seriously. I wish you lots
of enjoyment and success if (or may I say "when"!?) YOU put them into practice!
80
"Open fire on the Spanish!" [C82]

Amongst the world's top players, Holland's super−GM Jeroen Piket has one of the most
interesting opening repertoires, which includes numerous very well−prepared
alternative weapons with Black against the famous Ruy Lopez, 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3
Bb5, otherwise known as "The Lopez" or "The Spanish". Today in our 'C82 book',
the talented young Dutchman treats us to a most instructive 32−move win that he
notched up in his national team championship on 26 February 2000. The quick 0-1
result and the choice of Open variation, 3...a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 Nxe4, indicate that
we have a clear case of 'open fire on the Spanish'! Without further delay, it's time
now to pick up tricks from Piket!!
1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 a6 4 ¥a4 ¤f6 5 0-0 ¤xe4

We previously met the Open Ruy Lopez in our 'C80 book'.
6 d4
6 ¦e1 ¤c5 7 ¥xc6 (7 ¤c3!? featured in the aforementioned 'C80 book', where Black should
have played 7...Be7, but instead erred immediately with 7...¤xa4? , and got smashed.)
7...dxc6 8 d4 ¤e6 is not dangerous for Black.
6...b5 7 ¥b3 d5
Extra Bonus: If 7...exd4?! 8 ¦e1 d5 , then 9 ¤c3! is powerful for White, especially in the
case of 9...dxc3 10 ¥xd5 ¥b7 11 ¥xe4 ¥e7 (not 11...£xd1?? because of 12 ¥xc6+ , a
deadly DOUBLE check.) 12 £e2 , which left Black's king very uncomfortably
placed on the e−file in the encounter R. Polaczek−J.Gunnarsson, Reykjavik 1990.
8 dxe5 ¥e6
81
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wqkvl-tr(
7+-zp-+pzpp'
6p+n+l+-+&
5+p+pzP-+-%
4-+-+n+-+$
3+L+-+N+-#
2PzPP+-zPPzP"
1tRNvLQ+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
9 c3
This is undoubtedly one of the 'main roads' for White here, but there's at least one other
major highway for us to look at now.
1) 9 ¤bd2 ¤c5 10 c3 ¥g4 (If 10...¤xb3?! 11 ¤xb3 , then White is getting a grip on key dark
squares including c5 and d4
but instead a reasonable and well−known option for Black to stop his opponent from
blockading the d−pawn is the immediate advance 10...d4 ) 11 ¥c2 £d7 (11...¤xe5? 12
£e1 lands Black in hot water.) 12 ¦e1 ¦d8 (12...¥e7 is preferred in the excellent 1995
Cadogan (now called "Everyman") book "The Open Spanish" by super−GM Mikhail
Krasenkov, who explains that it's useful to keep the d8−square free in case Black
wants to play the manoeuvre ...Nd8, ...Nb7 and ... c5 (assuming that the c5−knight
has also moved, probably to e6). Sometimes the middle ...Nb7 part of the manoeuvre
is not required, and a black steed may stay for a while on d8 if support is needed for
another knight at e6.) 13 ¤b3! (If 13 ¤f1 , then Black is ideally placed to play 13...d4!)
13...¤e6 14 £d3?! (Krasenkov recommends 14 a4 with queenside pressure
or 14 h3 ¥h5 15 ¥f5 since Black does not now have the important aforementioned manoeuvre
...N(c)d8 to support his e6−knight.) 14...¥h5! (With the simple good idea of ...Bg6.)
15 ¤fd4 ¤cxd4 16 cxd4 ¥g6 17 £e2
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-trkvl-tr(
7+-zpq+pzpp'
6p+-+n+l+&
5+p+pzP-+-%
4-+-zP-+-+$
3+N+-+-+-#
2PzPL+QzPPzP"
1tR-vL-tR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
82
17...a5! and the b3−knight protecting White's d−pawn was about to be hit by ...a4 in the
game Spangenberg,H−Salas,C/Buenos Aires zonal, Argentina 2000, which is
published in more detail on our Internet site.
2) We met 9 ¥e3 ¥c5 10 £e2 in the game Korneev−Martinez Lizarraga in our 'C80 book',
and clearly the variation 9 Qe2 could transpose to the same thing via 9...Bc5 10 Be3.
9...¥e7 10 ¤bd2
This route is referred to as "The Main Road" by GM Mikhail Krasenkov in his
aforementioned excellent 1995 book "The Open Spanish" (published by Cadogan,
now called Everyman), but of course Krasenkov also thoroughly examines
numerous other alternative paths for White and Black, particularly on moves 9-10.
10...¤c5 11 ¥c2 ¥g4

This pinning move transposes to what Krasenkov calls the "Berlin variation", and naturally
White must respond to the threat of 12...Nxe5. Another point is that there is now a
useful retreat at the e6−square for Black's c5−knight if it gets attacked by b2−b4.
12 ¦e1 £d7 13 ¤f1

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+k+-tr(
7+-zpqvlpzpp'
6p+n+-+-+&
5+psnpzP-+-%
4-+-+-+l+$
3+-zP-+N+-#
2PzPL+-zPPzP"
1tR-vLQtRNmK-!
xabcdefghy
13...¦d8
Black 'overprotects' his d5−pawn in advance of White playing Ne3.
14 ¤e3 ¥h5
14...¥xf3? 15 £xf3 ¤xe5 16 £g3 ¤g6 17 ¤f5 subjects Black to unbearable pressure, and
we see him crumbling quickly in lines like 17...0-0 18 ¦xe7! ¤xe7 19 £xg7#
15 ¤f5
83
GM Glenn Flear considers the line 15 b4! ¤e6 16 g4 ¥g6 17 ¤f5 0-0 (or 17...h5 18 h3) 18 a4
to be a tougher test for Black.
15...0-0 16 b3
16 ¤xe7+ ¤xe7 has often occurred in practice, and it's worth noting that the sacrifice 17
¥xh7+? ¢xh7 18 ¤g5+ completely fails for White because of 18...¢g6
16...¦fe8
Now all of Black's pieces are working very harmoniously together.
17 ¤xe7+ £xe7 18 ¥a3

18 ¥xh7+? ¢xh7 19 ¤g5+ £xg5! is simply bad for White.
18...a5!
18...¥xf3? 19 £xf3 ¤xe5?? loses to 20 £e3
19 ¦c1 b4 20 cxb4 axb4 21 ¥b2

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-trr+k+(
7+-zp-wqpzpp'
6-+n+-+-+&
5+-snpzP-+l%
4-zp-+-+-+$
3+P+-+N+-#
2PvLL+-zPPzP"
1+-tRQtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
21...d4!
Black has clearly seized the initiative, and so perhaps White's earlier plan of b3 followed by
Ba3 must be regarded as being dubious.
22 ¥b1
22 ¥xh7+? ¢xh7 23 £c2+ d3 24 £xc5 d2 25 ¤xd2 ¦xd2 26 £xc6 ¦xb2 leaves White a
piece down.
22...¦d5
84
Supporting the c5−knight while also ganging−up on White's weak e5−pawn.
23 £c2 d3 24 £c4 ¥xf3 25 gxf3 ¦ed8

Simple, strong, cool play from Piket.
26 ¦cd1 ¤d4
The start of a speedy deadly invasion by the black steeds into White's camp towards the
exposed monarch on g1.
27 ¥xd4 ¦xd4 28 £b5 £g5+ 29 ¢h1 £h5!

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-tr-+k+(
7+-zp-+pzpp'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+Qsn-zP-+q%
4-zp-tr-+-+$
3+P+p+P+-#
2P+-+-zP-zP"
1+L+RtR-+K!
xabcdefghy
30 ¢g2
Black was planning 30 £xc5 £xf3+ 31 ¢g1 ¦g4+ 32 ¢f1 and Black's queen then has a
choice of three ways to deliver immediate mate.
30...¤e6
Heading for the f4−square, with the message "Good night, White!".
31 ¦e3 ¤f4+ 32 ¢h1 £g5

White throws in the towel, seeing that he is totally lost after 33 Rg1 Qxg1+! 34 Kxg1 d2.
That was 0-1 in the game Jens,J−Piket,J/Dutch Interclubs, Hengelo 2000.
SUMMARY:
The Open Ruy Lopez has a very dynamic character and offers plenty of prospects for both
sides to play for a win.
85
"Early d4 defused?" [C84]

After the moves 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6, here in our 'C84 book' we'll focus
mainly on White playing d2−d4 on move five or six. However, it appears that such a
direct approach can be comfortably neutralised if Black knows how to handle it.
Still, the following material makes for an interesting change from the more common
'main lines' of the Ruy Lopez.
1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 a6 4 ¥a4 ¤f6 5 d4

XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwqkvl-tr(
7+pzpp+pzpp'
6p+n+-sn-+&
5+-+-zp-+-%
4L+-zPP+-+$
3+-+-+N+-#
2PzPP+-zPPzP"
1tRNvLQmK-+R!
xabcdefghy
This is often referred to as the "Centre Attack", but let's also consider some other options.
1) 5 0-0 can lead us to:−
a) 5...¤xe4 6 d4 ¥e7!? (Instead of the 'normal' 6...b5 7 ¥b3 d5 , Black has picked the rarer
Walbrodt Variation.) 7 ¥xc6?! (Black did not fear 7 d5 ¤b8
or 7 dxe5 0-0 , intending 8...Nc5 in both cases
but still White's actual move played seems rather tame in comparison to 7 ¦e1 , which is
recommended in GM Mikhail Krasenkov's excellent book "The Open Spanish"
(published in 1995 by Cadogan, now called Everyman). Nevertheless, the whole line
is still playable for Black with 7...f5 .) 7...dxc6 8 £e2 ¥f5 9 dxe5 0-0 10 ¥e3 (10 ¦d1
£e8 11 ¤d4 ¥g6 , intending ...c5 or ...Bc5, is also very comfortable for Black.) 10...c5
11 ¦d1 £e8 12 c4 £c6 13 ¤bd2 ¦ad8 The position is more than OK for Black, and
in the super−GM clash Anand,V−Piket,J/Melody Amber Rapid 1997, Holland's
Jeroen Piket soon executed the plan of ...b5 followed by ...Be6 and indeed went on
to win at move 43
b) 5...b5 6 ¥b3 ¥b7 (The Arkhangelsk Variation is one of the most ambitious responses to
the Ruy Lopez, and Black scored really well with it in our 'C78 book'.) 7 d3 ¥e7 8
86
¤c3 (Alternatively, White could have chosen a set−up with Nbd2 and c3, for
example.) 8...0-0 9 ¤d5 ¤a5! (An excellent energetic reaction from Ukrainian GM
Vladimir Malaniuk in Black's shoes here.) 10 ¤xe7+ (10 ¤xe5 ¤xb3 11 axb3 ¤xd5 12
exd5 ¥xd5 simply favours Black, who then possesses the advantage of having a
bishop−pair in an open position.) 10...£xe7 left White with equality (at best) after
his timid opening in the game Salov,V−Malaniuk,V/Tallinn 1981, which is
published in full on our Internet site
c) 5...¥e7 6 d4 b5 7 ¥b3 exd4?! (7...d6 transposes to the GM−clash Lobron,E−
Hort,V/Dortmund 1982, and keeps more solidity in Black's position by stopping the
disruptive e4−e5 thrust which White plays next. ) 8 e5 ¤e4 9 ¥d5 ¤c5 10 ¤xd4 ¥b7
11 ¤f5! (White initiates a potent attack on the kingside, where Black has very few
pieces defending.) 11...¦g8? (11...0-0 was necessary. Then 12 £g4 g6 is obviously
unpleasant for Black, but at least he's still alive and kicking.) 12 £h5 ¤xe5 13 ¥xb7
¤xb7 14 £xh7 ¢f8
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wq-mkr+(
7+nzppvlpzpQ'
6p+-+-+-+&
5+p+-snN+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2PzPP+-zPPzP"
1tRNvL-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
15 ¤h6! With the crisp tactical point 15...gxh6 16 Bxh6+, forcing mate in at most two more
moves. So... 1-0 in the game Petronic,J−Savic,M/Yugoslavian Championship 2000.
2) 5 ¤c3 The late great Dr Siegbert Tarrasch (5.3.1862-17.2.1934) thought this to be the
strongest move here, but nowadays immediate castling is generally preferred.
Although I have actually tried 5 Nc3 myself some years ago, it now seems to me that
White gets an unimpressive version of the Four Knights Game, because in the case
of 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Bb5, one can surely do better than the timid
retreat 5 Ba4 after 4...a6?! (which just asks for 5 Bxc6 to be played). It might be
overly harsh to label the move 5 Nc3 with a '?!', but I'm really tempted! Still, you
may like to check out the game Verlinsky,B−Levenfish,G/Soviet Championships,
Moscow 1924, published in full on our Internet site. Interestingly, it bears a strong
resemblance to the aforementioned Salov−Malaniuk encounter.
5...exd4 6 0-0 ¥e7 7 ¦e1

White prepares to play e4−e5 without allowing the reply ...Ne4, but let's also consider what
happens after an immediate push of the e−pawn.
The variation 7 e5 ¤e4 8 ¤xd4 leads us to:
87
a) 8...¤xd4 9 £xd4 ¤c5 10 ¤c3 ¤xa4?! (An instructive error. Basically, there are (at least)
two good reasons why 10...0-0 is a better move:− (i) White's light−squared bishop
cannot escape anyway, and so Black should postpone its capture and thereby retain
extra flexibility
(ii) It's possible that if White soon plays Bf4, then Black may want to consider ...Ne6
followed by ...Nxf4 to eliminate the opponent's dark−squared bishop−−−which turns
out to be a lethal weapon in the actual game being given here.) 11 £xa4 0-0 12 ¥f4!
¦b8 (White's twelfth move effectively pinned down Black's d−pawn, since 12...d6 13
exd6 ¥xd6 14 ¦ad1 is not pleasant to face
and of course 12...b5? would simply have lost a pawn to 13 ¤xb5) 13 ¦ad1 b5 14 £b3 ¥b7 15
¤d5! ¥c5 (White would have welcomed 15...¥xd5 , because after 16 £xd5 Black's d−
pawn would be doomed.) 16 £g3! (Creating terrible threats such as 17 Nf6+, 17
Bg5, and 17 Bh6.) 16...¢h8 17 ¥g5 f6 (17...£e8 loses to 18 ¤xc7
but 17...£c8 would hold out for a bit longer.) 18 exf6 gxf6
XABCDEFGHY
8-tr-wq-tr-mk(
7+lzpp+-+p'
6p+-+-zp-+&
5+pvlN+-vL-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-+-+-wQ-#
2PzPP+-zPPzP"
1+-+R+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
19 ¤xf6! ¦xf6 20 ¦xd7! £f8 (20...£xd7 21 ¥xf6+ £g7 22 £xg7# was one possible swift finish,
but another is...) 21 £e5 Black resigned, unable to save his poor pinned rook. That
was 1-0 in the game Martin,A−Rayner,F/Guernsey 1988
b) 8...¤xe5?? is a blunder on account of 9 ¦e1 ¤c5 10 ¦xe5 ¤xa4 11 ¤f5
c) But a sensible path for Black is 8...0-0 9 ¤f5 d5! 10 ¤xe7+ (or 10 ¥xc6 bxc6) 10...¤xe7
7...b5 8 ¥b3
Alternatively, 8 e5 ¤xe5 9 ¦xe5 (Extra Bonus: 9 ¤xe5 bxa4 10 £xd4 0-0 11 £xa4 ¦b8! with
options including ...Rb4 or ...Rb6−e6, was pleasant for Black in an encounter
P.Romilly−P.Motwani at the Dundee Open some years ago.) 9...d6! 10 ¦e1 (10 ¦xe7+
£xe7 11 ¥b3 c5 is very strong for Black.) 10...bxa4 11 ¤xd4 ¥d7 12 £f3 0-0 13 ¤c6
¥xc6 14 £xc6 d5 (The current position has been reached in a number of previous
tussles between other players. Black's active possibilities outweigh the structural
defect of the doubled isolated a−pawns.) 15 ¥g5?! ¦b8 16 £xa6 ¦xb2 17 £xa4 h6!
18 ¥c1 (A sad retreat, but 18 ¥h4? ¦b4 is even worse for White.) 18...¦b4 19 £a6
¥d6 20 h3 ¤e4 21 £e2 ¥c5 (More convincing than 21...¦xb1 22 ¦xb1 ¤c3 23 £d3 ¤xb1
24 ¥b2) 22 ¥e3 (22 ¦f1 fails to 22...¤g3) 22...d4! 23 ¥xh6
88
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-wq-trk+(
7+-zp-+pzp-'
6-+-+-+-vL&
5+-vl-+-+-%
4-tr-zpn+-+$
3+-+-+-+P#
2P+P+QzPP+"
1tRN+-tR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
23...d3 24 £g4 ¥xf2+ 25 ¢h2 (25 ¢h1 ¤g3+ and White loses his queen.) 25...¥g3+ 26 ¢g1
£d4+ 0-1 was the game Namyslo,H−Motwani,P/Cappelle la Grande Open 1996 .
8...d6 9 ¥d5
9 ¤xd4?? loses by force to 9...¤xd4 10 £xd4 c5 followed by ...c4.
9...¤xd5
9...¥d7 10 ¤xd4 ¤xd5 11 ¤xc6 ¥xc6 12 exd5 ¥b7 13 £e2!? (A very noteworthy idea,
because White's attack towards the e7−bishop effectively prevents Black from
castling now, and if he grabs the d5−pawn...) 13...¥xd5
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wqk+-tr(
7+-zp-vlpzpp'
6p+-zp-+-+&
5+p+l+-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2PzPP+QzPPzP"
1tRNvL-tR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
14 £h5! (...then this happens! Suddenly White is threatening 15 Qxd5 or 15 Bg5 without
allowing ...f6 because of a pin along the h5−e8 diagonal.) 14...¥c4 (14...¥e6? is bad
because of 15 ¦xe6 g6 16 ¦xe7+ £xe7 17 £d1
Reader's Challenge Puzzle C84P1: A fun line for White is 14...c6 15 ¤c3 g6 and now a
beautiful move which you are invited to find. Look out...here it comes! 16 ¤xd5!! ,
intending 16...gxh5?? 17 ¤f6+ ¢f8 18 ¥h6#) 15 ¥g5 (Black may have hoped for 15 b3 g6
followed by ...Be6 to relieve the e7−bishop currently under terrible pressure.) 15...g6
16 £f3 (Not 16 ¦xe7+?? £xe7) 16...¥e6 17 ¥xe7 ¢xe7 (Black has no choice, since
89
17...£xe7?? allows 18 £xa8+) 18 ¤c3 (White has a very dangerous initiative due to his
lead in development combined with attacking possibilities against Black's king,
which can no longer castle.) 18...¦b8 (18...¢f8?? 19 ¦xe6
and 18...£d7?? 19 ¤d5+ ¢f8 20 ¤xc7 £xc7 21 £xa8+) 19 ¦ad1 h5 20 ¤e4 ¢f8 (20...¢d7 21 ¤c5+
was another headache for Black.) 21 ¤xd6! £e7 (White was intending 21...cxd6 22
¦xe6) 22 ¤xf7 £xf7 23 ¦xe6 £xf3 24 gxf3 White has gone from being a pawn down
to having an extra unit, and he's about to gobble another one at a6 or g6. That was
quite sufficient for him to win after some further moves (which are not of special
interest to us here) in the game Michalek,J−Sosna,J/Extraliga, Ostrava 2000.
10 exd5 ¤e5 11 ¤xd4

11 ¤xe5 dxe5 12 ¦xe5 0-0 leaves White facing the very simple strong threat of 13...Bf6.
11...¥d7
11...0-0 is also perfectly OK in view of 12 f4 ¤g6 13 ¤c6 £d7 14 f5 ¤e5 , intending 15
¤xe5 dxe5 16 ¦xe5 ¥f6 , when it's clear that White's pawns on the 5th rank are both
likely to fall soon.
12 ¤c3 0-0 13 ¥f4 ¤g6 14 ¥g3 ¥f6 15 £d2 £b8!?

XABCDEFGHY
8rwq-+-trk+(
7+-zpl+pzpp'
6p+-zp-vln+&
5+p+P+-+-%
4-+-sN-+-+$
3+-sN-+-vL-#
2PzPPwQ-zPPzP"
1tR-+-tR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
This move not only carries ideas of playing ...Qb6, but it also sets a sneaky trap...which
White falls headlong into!
16 ¤e4??
A very plausible−looking move, but unfortunately it loses by force.
16...¥xd4 17 £xd4 f5
A fresh winning example of "f for forward"!
90
18 ¤g5 f4 19 ¥h4 ¤xh4
White resigned, being a piece down and unable to get it back with 20 Re7 because of the
fork 20...Nf5. That was 0-1 in the game Chereches,M−Karolyi,T/17th Spring
Festival, Budapest 2001.
SUMMARY:
After what we have just witnessed, we may have to conclude that the early d2−d4 ideas can
be defused with careful handling, but if Black makes a wrong move...
91
"On second thoughts, I'll take it!" [C85]

Back in our 'C68−C69 books', we met the Ruy Lopez Exchange Variation 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3
Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Bxc6, but in every code from C70 to C99 inclusive White instead
plays 4 Ba4. However, the current 'C85 book' is something special, because after
4...Nf6 5 0-0 Be7, the move 6 Bxc6 shows White capturing at c6 after all. It's as if
he's saying "On second thoughts, I'll take it!". Seriously, though, one could well ask
"What is the point of retreating the bishop to a4, only to play Bxc6 two moves later
than it could have happened?!". Well, the point is that after 4 Bxc6 dxc6 5 0-0,
Black has plenty of ways to defend his e5−pawn, and perhaps top of the list is 5...f6
(which gets a 'book' all to itself in code C69). In contrast, after 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 Be7
6 Bxc6 dxc6 7 d3, the solid ...f6 move is no longer immediately available to defend
the threatened black e5−pawn. And since 7...Bg4 8 h3 Bh5 9 g4 or 8...Bxf3 9 Qxf3
is at least somewhat better for White (due to superior pawn structure), one of the few
remaining reasonable options for Black is the retreat 7...Nd7. The precious tempo
used there does not advance Black's piece−development, and so it becomes clearer
that White can justify the time involved in playing 4 Ba4 followed two moves later
by 6 Bxc6. For more on this unusual 'story'...just stay tuned in right here!
1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 a6 4 ¥a4 ¤f6 5 0-0 ¥e7 6 ¥xc6

XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwqk+-tr(
7+pzppvlpzpp'
6p+L+-sn-+&
5+-+-zp-+-%
4-+-+P+-+$
3+-+-+N+-#
2PzPPzP-zPPzP"
1tRNvLQ+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
White could of course have captured the c6−knight two moves ago, but instead he waited
until Black committed himself to the moves ... Nf6 and ...Be7, which mean that for
the moment ...f6 is no longer possible to protect the central e5−pawn. The 6 Bxc6
line really can be threatening, especially if the opponent is not fully prepared to meet
it, and the list of exponents who have enjoyed success on the White side includes
92
GMs Mark Hebden, Alexander Shabalov, Sergei Tiviakov, "Mr Mo" (!), and even
Garry Kasparov. In the current main featured game, Sweden's Harry Schussler
employs the 6 Bxc6 weapon very skilfully too!
6...dxc6 7 d3
An interesting deviation is 7 £e1 ¥e6 (Black avoids 7...£d6 8 d4! , intending 8...exd4?? 9 e5
7...¤d7 8 b3 0-0 9 ¥b2 ¥d6 10 d4 exd4 11 ¤xd4 ¦e8 12 ¤f5! ¥e5 13 ¤c3 ¤c5 14 ¦d1 £g5 15
f4! ¥xf4 16 h4 £g4 17 ¤xg7! led to an emphatic White win in the GM−clash Blatny,P−
Goldin,A/USA 2002.) 8 b3 (8 ¤xe5 £d4) 8...¤d7 9 ¥b2 f6 10 d4 ¥d6 (Black is
determined to maintain a central pawn at e5.) 11 ¤bd2 (11 c4 c5 is OK for Black
as is 11 dxe5 fxe5 followed quickly by ...0-0, especially to make full use of a freshly−opened
f−file.) 11...0-0 12 £e2 £e8 13 dxe5 fxe5 14 ¤g5 b5 (Black prevents his opponent's
queen or the d2−knight from landing at c4 after Nxe6, for example.) 15 h3?! (It's not
clear that this move serves any truly constructive purpose.) 15...¥f7! (Black
'threatens' to keep his light−squared bishop (by next shifting it to g6), and so White
decides to capture that piece on the coming move. However, we'll see that this action
helps Black to achieve a rapid doubling of rooks on the f−file.) 16 ¤xf7 ¦xf7 17
¤f3 £e7 (Simple chess. Black stops Nf3−g5 while also preparing to play ...Raf8
himself.) 18 c4?! (This leaves a "hole" at d4 in White's camp. Instead, he should
have considered the manoeuvre Ne1-d3, which would have helped to relieve the
high pressure that he's about to experience along the f−file very soon...) 18...¦af8 19
¦ad1 ¤c5! 20 £e3 (It's already too late for 20 ¤e1 because of 20...¦f4 , intending 21 f3
¤xe4!
Another important tactical point is that if 20 b4 ¤e6 21 c5 , then Black has 21...¦xf3! 22 cxd6
cxd6 23 £d2 ¤f4! 24 £xd6 £g5 25 g3 ¦xg3+ 26 fxg3 £xg3+ 27 ¢h1 £g2#) 20...¦f4 21 ¤d2
¤e6! (Not only homing in on the aforementioned "hole" at d4, but also creating the
terrible threat of 22...Bc5.) 22 £g3 ¦8f6 (The storm of black pieces is heading ever−
closer towards White's trembling king and queen.) 23 ¢h1 ¦g6 24 £e3 £g5 25 £g3
(25 g3 loses faster to 25...¥c5 , intending 26 £e2 ¦h4!) 25...£h5 (Black's position is so
overwhelming that he correctly seeks much bigger gains than he would get from
25...£xg3 26 fxg3 ¦xg3) 26 £h2
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+k+(
7+-zp-+-zpp'
6p+pvln+r+&
5+p+-zp-+q%
4-+P+Ptr-+$
3+P+-+-+P#
2PvL-sN-zPPwQ"
1+-+R+R+K!
xabcdefghy
93
26...¦xf2! 27 ¦xf2 £xd1+ 28 ¤f1 ¤f4 (Black's numerous threats now include 29...Bc5 or
29...Nd3 or 29...Rxg2 30 Rxg2 Qxf1+ 31 Qg1 Qf3.) 29 g3 ¤d3 30 ¦f5 ¦f6 Now
White cannot avoid further heavy losses of material. So... 0-1 in the game Rechel,B−
Motwani,P/Groningen Open, The Netherlands 1990.
7 £e2 is sometimes played too, but I recall super−GM Michael Adams saying to me several
years ago that he reckons 7...c5! is absolutely fine for Black. Two key points are:−
(i) It counters the idea of Rd1 then d2−d4 by White
(ii) 8 ¤xe5 can be well−answered by 8...£d4
7...¤d7
7...¥g4 8 h3 should promise White at least some advantage after 8...¥xf3 (8...¥h5 9 g4) 9
£xf3 because of his superior pawn−structure.
8 ¤bd2 0-0 9 ¤c4 ¥f6

If 9...f6 , then a key move for White is 10 ¤h4 with ideas of Nf5 &/or f2−f4, and one
possible continuation is 10...g6 (10...¤c5 looks more solid, and sometimes Black later
carries out the manoeuvre ...Ne6−d4, although White did quickly stop that via 11 ¤f5
¥xf5 12 exf5 in the super−GM clash Ivanchuk,V−Kramnik,V/Melody Amber
Blind/Rapid 2002.) 11 ¥h6 ¦f7 12 f4 exf4 (12...f5 merits consideration (as the h4−
knight is then threatened from e7), but in the game being considered here Black may
well have feared 13 fxe5!? ¥xh4 14 e6) 13 ¦xf4 ¤f8 (13...g5 creates a horrible hole at f5,
which White would instantly exploit with 14 ¤f5! , intending 14...gxf4?? 15 £g4+ ¢h8
16 ¥g7+ ¢g8 17 ¤h6#) 14 ¦f1 ¥e6 (The advance 14...f5 again merits attention, as at
move 12 earlier.) 15 ¤e3 a5?! (Black appears to be playing without a truly
constructive plan.) (15...f5 is a bit late now, because 16 exf5 attacks the e6−bishop and
is not appealing for Black.) 16 ¤f3 a4 17 £e1 b5 (Charging forward, but where are
Black's pawns really going!?) 18 d4 ¥d6 19 £c3 £e8 20 a3 ¥d7 21 e5! ¥e7 22 d5!
(In contrast, it's very clear that the advances of White's central pawns spell 'BIG
TROUBLE' for Black!) 22...fxe5 23 dxc6 ¥f5 (If 23...¥xc6 24 ¤xe5 ¥f6
XABCDEFGHY
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7+-zp-+r+p'
6-+l+-vlpvL&
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4p+-+-+-+$
3zP-wQ-sN-+-#
2-zPP+-+PzP"
1tR-+-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
, then 25 ¦xf6! eliminates a crucial defender of Black's dark squares, after which 25...¦xf6 26
¤3g4 ¦e6 27 ¤xc6 £xc6 28 £g7# makes a logical conclusion.) 24 ¤d5 ¤e6 (24...¥d6 25
94
¤g5) 25 ¤xe5 ¥c5+ 26 ¥e3 ¥xe3+ 27 £xe3 Black resigned, already one pawn down
in a hopeless position, and facing further loss of material on account of 27...Rf8 28
g4 Bxc2 29 Nf6+. That was 1-0 in the GM−clash Hort,V−Westerinen,H/Orebro
1966.
10 ¥d2
White's bishop is heading for the c3−square, to apply more pressure against Black's e5−
pawn.
10...¦e8 11 ¥c3 ¦e6

I don't like the look of this move, although I quite understand it. Black wants to soon place
his queen on e7 behind the rook so that his attacked e5−pawn will be, in the words
of Nimzovich, "over−protected". However, the rook at e6 quickly turns out to almost
trapped there.
12 £d2 £e7 13 ¤e3! g6

Stopping the annoying threat of 14 Nf5, but White's nimble knights have other possibilities
too...
14 ¤g4 ¥g7 15 ¤g5 ¦d6 16 f4

Suddenly White's forces are charging forward with increasing momentum.
16...exf4 17 ¥xg7! £xg5

XABCDEFGHY
8r+l+-+k+(
7+pzpn+pvLp'
6p+ptr-+p+&
5+-+-+-wq-%
4-+-+PzpN+$
3+-+P+-+-#
2PzPPwQ-+PzP"
1tR-+-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
Did Schussler miss that move, leaving two of his pieces simultaneously "en prise"?
18 ¦xf4!
There's your answer: NO!
95
18...£c5+
18...¢xg7 19 ¦xf7+ ¢xf7 20 £xg5 is "the end" for Black.
19 d4 ¢xg7 20 ¦xf7+! ¢g8

20...¢xf7 21 £f2+ ¦f6 22 ¤xf6 £d6 is also hopeless for Black, because White can simply
play 23 Nxd7+ or first e4−e5.
21 ¦g7+!
XABCDEFGHY
8r+l+-+k+(
7+pzpn+-tRp'
6p+ptr-+p+&
5+-wq-+-+-%
4-+-zPP+N+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2PzPPwQ-+PzP"
1tR-+-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
Black now resigned in view of 21...Kxg7 22 Qh6+ followed by dxc5, or 21...Kh8 22

Rxh7+! Kg8 (22...Kxh7 23 Qh6+) 23 Rg7+ Kh8 24 Qh6#. That was a pulverising 1-
0 win in the game Schussler,H−Karklins,A/New York Open 1987.
SUMMARY:
We have seen that the 6 Bxc6 line can be quite deadly, and even more so if Black is
unprepared to meet it, or if one makes the mistake of thinking that White's
innocuous−looking capture has no punch behind it!
96
"Let the d−pawn decide:
defence/counterattack?" [C86]

We have already met the moves 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 Qe2 previously in
our 'C77 book', where Black reacted with an early ...Bc5. Here in the 'C86 book'
we'll find him instead choosing ...Be7, which at first sight appears to be 'quieter', but
looks can be deceptive...
1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 a6 4 ¥a4 ¤f6 5 £e2

This makes a refreshing change from White castling almost 'automatically' here.
5...¥e7 6 c3
If 6 ¥xc6 dxc6 7 ¤xe5 , then Black plays 7...£d4
6...b5
Black realises that after White's last move, there was a real threat of Bxc6 followed by
Nxe5.
7 ¥b3 0-0 8 0-0

Now, Black has an important choice to make: should he continue with ...d6 (solid, but a bit
defensive) or ...d5 (a more aggressive counterattacking option)? Let's let the d−pawn
decide!
We should note that White could have acted immediately with his own d−pawn by playing
8 d4 , after which 8...d6 9 0-0 ¥g4 looks best.
8...d5
97
XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwq-trk+(
7+-zp-vlpzpp'
6p+n+-sn-+&
5+p+pzp-+-%
4-+-+P+-+$
3+LzP-+N+-#
2PzP-zPQzPPzP"
1tRNvL-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
The only difference between the current position and that of the Marshall Attack (see the
'C89 book') is that there White has Re1 instead of Qe2.
Alternatively, 8...d6 9 ¦d1!? (9 d4 ¥g4 10 ¦d1 is more common, but GM Aleksa Strikovic,
playing White here, prefers to first prepare the d2−d4 advance without yet definitely
committing himself to it.) 9...¥e6 (If 9...¥g4 , then instead of 10 d4, White may go for
10 h3 ¥h5 11 d3 planning Nbd2 followed by Nf1 then g4 and/or Ng3 to trouble Black's
light−squared bishop.) 10 d4 ¥xb3 (Practically forced, since White was threatening
11 dxe5 as well as the lethal fork 11 d5. Although 10...exd4 11 cxd4 ¥xb3 12 axb3
transposes to the actual game, Black would also have to reckon with other White
possibilities such as 11 Bxe6.) 11 axb3 exd4 12 cxd4 d5 (Black tries to challenge
White's strong position in the centre.) 13 e5 ¤e4 14 ¤c3 ¤xc3 (Ideally Black would
have preferred to maintain his centralised knight by playing 14...f5 , but there is a
king−size tactical problem after 15 exf6 ¤xf6 the cheeky check 16 £e6+ wins the
unprotected c6−knight.) 15 bxc3 (White's spatial advantage may not be so large, but
nevertheless the position is uncomfortable for Black, also because he has no really
active possibilities now.) 15...£d7 16 ¥g5 ¥xg5 (16...h6 may represent an
improvement, because if 17 ¥xe7 ¤xe7 then Black would be ready to generate at least
some play by advancing ...a5−a4. An obvious yet very important detail in that plan is
the queen protecting the b5−pawn, so that even if Black's a−pawn moves forward
from a6, White will still not be able to play Qxb5.) 17 ¤xg5 (Even though all but
one pair of the minor pieces have disappeared from the board, Black still feels
pressure from having to guard against White playing moves such as Qd3 or e6, and
the headaches are not helped by the fact that the exposed a6−pawn needs protection
too.) 17...f6 (If 17...£f5 18 h4 then there is the threat of 19 g4, which would gain
precious space and time for White without any real risk to himself.) 18 exf6 ¦xf6 19
£d3 ¦g6 (An ultra−talented attacking player like super−GM Alexei Shirov, here in
Black's shoes, would probably not relish the idea of defending the endgame after
19...£f5 20 £xf5 ¦xf5 21 ¤e6
but it must also have been rather frustrating for him that White can meet 19...¦f5 with 20
¤xh7! because of 20...¢xh7 21 g4 (this also answers 20...g6)) 20 f4 ¦f8? (This lets
White's a1-rook crash through at a6, with disastrous consequences for Black.) 21
¦xa6 ¦xf4 (21...¤b4 22 cxb4 ¦xa6 23 £xh7# is a quick way for Black to end his own
suffering.) 22 ¦a8+ ¤d8
98
XABCDEFGHY
8R+-sn-+k+(
7+-zpq+-zpp'
6-+-+-+r+&
5+p+p+-sN-%
4-+-zP-tr-+$
3+PzPQ+-+-#
2-+-+-+PzP"
1+-+R+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
(22...¦f8 23 ¦xf8+ ¢xf8 24 ¤xh7+ ¢f7 25 ¦f1+ is also utterly hopeless for Black.) 23 £h3!
Oops! Black is suddenly in the deepest double trouble at d7, h7, and in fact he is
'dead' lost because of 23...Qxh3 24 Rxd8+ Rf8 25 Rxf8+ Kxf8 26 Nxh3, with an
extra knight for White. So... 1-0 in the game Strikovic,A−Shirov,A/Val Maubuee
1990.
9 d3
9 exd5 ¤xd5 10 ¤xe5 ¤xe5 (10...¤f4!? 11 £e4 ¤xe5 is also known to "theory".) 11 £xe5
¥b7 followed by ...Re8 &/or ...Bd6/...Bf6 gives Black excellent active piece−play in
return for his one sacrificed pawn.
9...¥b7
It's also possible for Black to remain flexible a bit longer regarding the development of his
light−squared bishop, because here 9...¦e8 is a constructive alternative, yet not too
committal.
10 ¦e1 ¦e8 11 ¤bd2 ¥f8 12 a3 h6

A useful prophylactic move to prevent Ng5 or Bg5 by White later, and it's also possible that
the flight square at h7 could come in handy for Black's king.
13 h3
13 ¥a2 has in fact been played before, and looks like a more logical sequel to White's
previous move.
13...£d7 14 ¤h2 ¦ad8 15 ¤g4 ¤xg4 16 hxg4 d4 17 ¥c2?

Believe it or not, this is the losing move!
17...¥c8!
99
XABCDEFGHY
8-+ltrrvlk+(
7+-zpq+pzp-'
6p+n+-+-zp&
5+p+-zp-+-%
4-+-zpP+P+$
3zP-zPP+-+-#
2-zPLsNQzPP+"
1tR-vL-tR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
Winning the g4−pawn, because if White tries to save it...
18 f3? dxc3 19 bxc3 ¤d4! ...

then this happens! White resigned in view of 20 Qd1 Nxc2 21 Qxc2 Qxd3 or 20 cxd4
Qxd4+ 21 Kh1 Qxa1. That was 0-1 in the game Moor,R−Jenni,F/Young Masters
tournament, Switzerland 2001.
SUMMARY:
From about 'unlucky' move number 13 onwards, the main featured game was not the best
advert for the merits of the 5 Qe2 line, but take another look back at move eight to
see how Strikovic struck down super−GM Shirov. Clearly, there are plenty of
chances for both sides here.
100
"A rare route" [C87]

After 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 Be7 6 Re1, White threatens Bxc6
followed by Nxe5, but in 'blitz' games I have often seen even experienced players
castling automatically as Black, forgetting about the aforementioned threat. Of
course, it could have been stopped by 6...b5, which is undoubtedly the 'main way',
but here in our 'C87 book' we'll see a relatively rare route, namely 6...d6.
1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 a6 4 ¥a4 ¤f6 5 0-0 ¥e7 6 ¦e1 d6

XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwqk+-tr(
7+pzp-vlpzpp'
6p+nzp-sn-+&
5+-+-zp-+-%
4L+-+P+-+$
3+-+-+N+-#
2PzPPzP-zPPzP"
1tRNvLQtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
A rare route.
Of course 6...0-0?? loses a pawn to 7 ¥xc6 dxc6 8 ¤xe5
But 6...b5 is the 'usual way' to avert the problem of Bxc6 and Nxe5.
7 c3
White prepares the advance d2−d4, because 7 d4 b5! 8 ¥b3?! (8 dxe5 is relatively best here,
but still not impressive.) 8...¤xd4 9 ¤xd4 exd4 10 £xd4?? loses to 10...c5 followed
by ...c4.
However, 7 ¥xc6+ bxc6 8 d4 exd4 9 ¤xd4 ¥d7 10 £f3! , with ideas of playing e5 then
Nxc6, is a logical alternative path to the one taken in the main featured game.
7...¥g4
7...b5 8 ¥b3 would transpose to the 'normal main line'(but 8 ¥c2 may represent an
improvement for White, because Black can no longer gain any time with ...Na5
when there is no bishop at b3 to be threatened!)
101
8 d3
Super−GM Viswanathan Anand, playing White here, now decides to delay pushing his d−
pawn to d4, because the f3−knight (which would normally assist a central advance)
has been pinned by Black's last move.
8...¤d7
In some lines Black may be able to achieve the manoeuvre ...Nc5−e6 to fight even harder
for control of the d4−square, and ...f5 could become a possibility too.
9 ¥e3! ¥xf3
9...¤c5? 10 ¥xc5 dxc5 11 ¥xc6+ bxc6 12 h3 is terrible for Black, because 12...¥xf3
(12...¥h5 costs a pawn to 13 g4 ¥g6 14 ¤xe5) 13 £xf3 leaves him with a very crippled
structure on the queenside.
Quite understandably, Black may have not liked the look of 9...0-0 10 ¤bd2 because then it
is no longer possible to exchange material with 10...Bg5 (which occurs in the actual
game), and so the black pieces would remain rather congested. However, it is also
true that giving up a bishop for a (shorter−range ) knight constitutes at least a small
concession, which again leaves White with an undeniable, enduring edge at the end
of the opening phase in this battle.
10 £xf3 ¥g5 11 ¤d2 0-0

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wq-trk+(
7+pzpn+pzpp'
6p+nzp-+-+&
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4L+-+P+-+$
3+-zPPvLQ+-#
2PzP-sN-zPPzP"
1tR-+-tR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
12 ¥c2
Reader's Challenge Puzzle C87P1: White rejected the move 12 d4 , but why? Look
out...here comes the answer! 12...exd4 13 cxd4 ¤xd4! 14 ¥xd4 ¥xd2 puts Black a
pawn ahead.
12...h6 13 ¦f1!
102
White shifts a rook back to f1 because he knows that, to be consistent with the move
10...Bg5, Black must soon exchange bishops on e3, and after the reply fxe3 the f1-
rook will be ideally placed on an open file.
13...¤b6?!
The black knight on b6 performs no really positive function there, and instead it looks more
purposeful to play 13...g6 with the idea of ...f5 soon afterwards.
14 ¦ad1
White is ready to advance d3−d4 now that the d2−knight has been protected again (and that
point is emphasised by the solution to the earlier Reader's Challenge Puzzle C87P1).
14...¥xe3 15 fxe3!
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wq-trk+(
7+pzp-+pzp-'
6psnnzp-+-zp&
5+-+-zp-+-%
4-+-+P+-+$
3+-zPPzPQ+-#
2PzPLsN-+PzP"
1+-+R+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
A logical sequel to White's 13th move. In the super−GM clash Anand,V−

Short,N/Dortmund 1997, White soon followed up with moves like Qg3, Rf3, Rdf1,
and Bb3 to put Black under tremendous pressure on the kingside in general, and at
f7 in particular. The result 1-0 came at move 48, and you can see the game published
and annotated in full on our Internet site.
SUMMARY:
The 6...d6 move in the game Anand−Short must be playable, of course, but personally the
resulting positions are a bit too passive and cramped for my liking.
103
"Afraid of Frank's fiery gambit!?" [C88]

After 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 Be7 6 Re1 b5 7 Bb3 0-0, many players
are afraid (with good reason) to play 8 c3 as White because of 8...d5: the Marshall
Attack, a bold pawn−offer introduced in tournament−play at New York in 1918 by
the adventurous American Frank James Marshall (1877-1944). A common
continuation (see the 'C89 book' for full details) is 9 exd5 Nxd5 10 Nxe5 Nxe5 11
Rxe5 c6 12 d4 Bd6 13 Re1 Qh4, and the attack against h2 is a key idea for Black.
That explains why 8 h3 is worth considering as one of White's "anti−Marshall" lines,
but even then our 'C88 book' will show that Black can still try to generate dangerous
active play...
1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 a6 4 ¥a4 ¤f6 5 0-0 ¥e7 6 ¦e1 b5

Black mustn' t forget that White was threatening 7 Bxc6 dxc6 8 Nxe5−−−but I've seen it
happen!
7 ¥b3 0-0 8 h3
XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwq-trk+(
7+-zppvlpzpp'
6p+n+-sn-+&
5+p+-zp-+-%
4-+-+P+-+$
3+L+-+N+P#
2PzPPzP-zPP+"
1tRNvLQtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
The Marshall Attack, 8 c3 d5 , was mentioned above in the introduction to our 'C88 book',
but see code C89 for a full account of that fiery gambit!
Alternatively, 8 a4 is quite a popular "Anti−Marshall" system which stops Black from now
playing ...d5 because he must respond to the threat of axb5, and 8...¥b7 is a sensible
way of doing so.
104
Another option is 8 d4 , but after 8...d6 White must react to the threats of ...Nxd4 or ...Bg4,
and a likely continuation is 9 c3 ¥g4 , transposing to a line that is covered in the
'C91 book'.
8...¥b7 9 c3
I would prefer the following alternative.
"Nunn's Chess Openings" (NCO) gives 9 d3 as the other major option, and indeed I would
seriously consider playing it sooner, at move eight, and omit h2−h3 altogether.
9...d5!
So, after all Black is still playing a type of Marshall Attack, and arguably an improved
version: he has the bonus developing move ...Bb7, whereas White's only 'extra' is
h2−h3 compared with the 'normal Marshall'.
10 exd5 ¤xd5 11 d4
NCO mentions that 11 ¤xe5 ¤xe5 12 ¦xe5 ¤f4 favours Black (because his knight
threatens to land at d3 or g2, with serious consequences for White).
11...exd4 12 ¤xd4
NCO assesses the situation after 12 cxd4 ¥f6 as being equal, although personally I'm not
too enamoured with White's position, particularly because of the isolated d4−pawn.
However, presumably NCO considers 12 Nxd4 to be even less attractive, since it
doesn't get a mention! Certainly, it allows Black's c6−knight to capture at d4 on the
coming move, and then the c7−pawn soon springs forward into action. Tracing back
into the previous moves, I'm forced to conclude that White's earlier combination of 8
h3 and 9 c3 is just too timid.
12...¤xd4 13 £xd4
Black is about to gain time by attacking the lady at d4, but the alternative 13 cxd4 would
leave White saddled with an ugly isolated d−pawn.
13...¥f6
Of course 13...c5 was possible too, but one advantage of GM Grigory Kaidanov's chosen
move is that he can follow it up quickly with ...Re8 to challenge the e1-rook, which
is one of White's few developed pieces.
14 £g4
105
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wq-trk+(
7+lzp-+pzpp'
6p+-+-vl-+&
5+p+n+-+-%
4-+-+-+Q+$
3+LzP-+-+P#
2PzP-+-zPP+"
1tRNvL-tR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
14...¦e8 15 ¦d1 £d6 16 a4 ¦ad8

Black's army is now fully mobilised with tremendous activity and harmony. The rest of the
game Men,B−Kaidanov,G/Cardinal 1992, can be found on our Internet site.
SUMMARY:
We have seen that if White wants to avoid the Marshall Attack, then he must not choose a
timid way of doing so, because otherwise he'll be subjected to an equally dangerous
attack...and without getting even one pawn as comfort while he defends himself!
106
"The Marvellous Marshall Attack" [C89]

After 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 Be7 6 Re1 b5 7 Bb3 0-0 8 c3, we'll be
meeting the move 8...d6 in practically all of the codes from C90 to C99, but first we
have a special treat... Starring here in our 'C89 book' is the ultra−bold 8...d5, a
pawn−offer introduced into tournament−play at New York in 1918 by the
adventurous American Frank James Marshall (1877-1944). The principal point of
his "Marshall Attack" is that Black sacrifices a pawn in order to speed up his own
development and seize the initiative. This dangerous weapon has claimed many
White victims, and the long list is still growing! Even in the highest echelons of
world chess, England's Michael Adams (affectionately known as "Mickey")
regularly and successfully employs the marvellous Marshall Attack against other
super−GMs. In doing so, he not only proves that 8...d5 can work against the best of
the best, but also shows that this particular Mickey is certainly no mouse!!
1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 a6 4 ¥a4 ¤f6 5 0-0 ¥e7 6 ¦e1 b5

Black mustn't forget that White was threatening 7 Bxc6 dxc6 8 Nxe5−−−but I've seen it
happen!
7 ¥b3 0-0 8 c3 d5
XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwq-trk+(
7+-zp-vlpzpp'
6p+n+-sn-+&
5+p+pzp-+-%
4-+-+P+-+$
3+LzP-+N+-#
2PzP-zP-zPPzP"
1tRNvLQtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
Here it is, the marvellous Marshall Attack! Black sacrifices a pawn in order to speed up his
own development and seize the initiative. This dangerous weapon has claimed many
White victims, and the long list is still growing!
107
9 exd5
A fascinating possibility is 9 d4!? and then 9...exd4 (9...¤xe4 is also reasonable, as 10 dxe5
¥e6 transposes to a line of the Open Variation
whereas 9...dxe4 10 ¤xe5 ¥b7 11 ¤d2 ¥d6 12 f4 looks to favour White.) 10 e5 ¤e4 11 cxd4
produces a situation very similar to one that arises after 12 moves in the game
Mordue−Hebden of our 'C91 book', but the differences there are: 1) White has the
extra move Be3 while Black's bonus is ...Bg4
2) Hebden played ...d6 earlier before ...d5, and so in the current case Black has saved one
precious tempo with his d−pawn.
9...¤xd5 10 ¤xe5 ¤xe5 11 ¦xe5 c6

At this stage it may look as if Black is simply a pawn down without much compensation to
show for it, but with attacking moves like ...Bd6 and then ...Qh4 coming very soon,
White really must proceed with extreme care.
12 d4
This is White's most common choice, but let's also consider a couple of alternatives.
1) 12 ¥xd5 is the Kevitz Variation, after which the play may continue with 12...cxd5 13 d4
¥d6 14 ¦e3 (14 ¦xd5?? loses simply to 14...¥xh2+ 15 ¢xh2 £xd5) and now 14...£c7!? is
a highly noteworthy possibility (that's actually not given in "Nunn's Chess
Openings", which instead concentrates mainly on the line 14...£h4 15 h3 , when it's
clear that one idea behind White's 14 Re3 was to support the h−pawn on its arrival at
h3, so that ...Bxh3 sacrifices will not work for Black) and then 15 h3 ¥f5 16 ¤d2
¥h2+! (Designed to displace the white king onto a less desirable square than its
present one.) 17 ¢h1 ¥f4 18 ¦e1 ¦ae8 (In return for one pawn sacrificed earlier,
Black has a lead in development
good attacking prospects on the kingside
and a powerful bishop−pair in an open position.) 19 ¤f1 ¥d6! (Black correctly avoids
exchanging one of his prized bishops at this stage.) 20 ¥g5 £d7! 21 £d2
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+rtrk+(
7+-+q+pzpp'
6p+-vl-+-+&
5+p+p+lvL-%
4-+-zP-+-+$
3+-zP-+-+P#
2PzP-wQ-zPP+"
1tR-+-tRN+K!
xabcdefghy
108
(Black was clearly planning to sacrifice a bishop at h3, and yet it was already extremely
difficult for White to properly counter Black's simple threat, since 21 £f3 would have
walked into 21...¥e4) 21...¥xh3! in the game Mithrakanth,P−Yurtaev,L/Goodricke
Open, Calcutta 2000, led to a smashing win for Black, which is given in greater
detail on our Internet site.
2) 12 ¦e1 ¥d6 13 d3 (Instead of 13 d4 , White only pushes his d−pawn one square forward
to have extra control of the central point at e4.) 13...£h4 14 g3 (Of course 14 h3?
would allow the destructive sacrifice 14...¥xh3) 14...£h3 15 ¦e4 £f5 (15...¥f5?? loses
instantly to 16 ¦h4
but the best move according to "Nunn's Chess Openings" is probably 15...¤f6 , intending 16
¦h4 £f5 followed perhaps by ...g5 or ...Qg6 and ...Bf5/...Bg4.) 16 ¤d2 £g6 17 ¦e1!
occurred in the super−GM clash Anand,V−Adams,M/Dortmund, Germany 2000,
which is published in full on our Internet site. Although Black lost that game, he
obviously did NOT fall for the trap 17...£xd3?? 18 ¥c2 .
12...¥d6 13 ¦e1
Another beautiful game took the route 13 ¦e2 £h4 (A noteworthy alternative is 13...¥c7!? ,
threatening 14...Qd6 15 g3 Bg4.) 14 g3 £h3 15 ¤d2 ¥f5 16 a4 ¦ae8 (It's typical of
the Marshall Attack that Black gets fast active development as compensation for his
one pawn sacrificed earlier.) 17 ¦xe8 ¦xe8 18 axb5?
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+r+k+(
7+-+-+pzpp'
6p+pvl-+-+&
5+P+n+l+-%
4-+-zP-+-+$
3+LzP-+-zPq#
2-zP-sN-zP-zP"
1tR-vLQ+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
(This plausible−looking move actually loses by force! White should have played 18 ¤f1 )
18...¤f4!! (This must have come as a terrible shock to White.) 19 gxf4 (19 £f1 loses
instantly to 19...¦e1) 19...¥xf4 20 ¤f3 (If 20 ¤f1 , then 20...¥e4 is crushing.) 20...£g4+
21 ¢f1 (21 ¢h1 ¥e4 is another "dead end" for White.) 21...¥d3+!! What a stunner!
White resigned in view of 22 Qxd3 Qh3+ 23 Kg1 Re1+! 24 Nxe1 Bxh2+ 25 Kh1
Bg3+ 26 Kg1 Qh2+ 27 Kf1 Qxf2#. That was 0-1 in the GM−clash Kotronias,V−
Adams,M/Chalkidiki, Greece 1992.
13...£h4 14 g3
109
14 h3? allows Black to blast the cover around White's king with the simple sacrifice
14...¥xh3 and if 15 gxh3 then 15...£xh3 threatens 16...Bh2+ 17 Kh1 Bg3+ 18 Kg1
Qh2+ 19 Kf1 Qxf2#.
14...£h3 15 ¥e3
Let's again examine a couple of alternatives here.
1) 15 ¤d2? perhaps looks plausible, but in fact it virtually loses by force to 15...¥g4 16 f3
(16 ¤f3 £h5 17 ¢g2 ¦ae8 18 ¥d2 ¦xe1 19 ¥xe1 ¤f4+! 20 gxf4 £h3+ 21 ¢g1 ¥xf3 also takes
White to a "dead end".) 16...¥xg3!
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-trk+(
7+-+-+pzpp'
6p+p+-+-+&
5+p+n+-+-%
4-+-zP-+l+$
3+LzP-+Pvlq#
2PzP-sN-+-zP"
1tR-vLQtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
17 hxg3 (If 17 ¦e2 , then Black's choice of paths to victory includes 17...¤e3 18 ¦xe3
(Otherwise the white queen is lost.) 18...£xh2+ 19 ¢f1 £f2#) 17...£xg3+ 18 ¢h1 ¤f4
19 ¦e2 ¦ae8 (Of course 19...¥xf3+ is more than sufficient too.) 20 ¥xf7+ (A desperate
lunge from White in an already hopeless position.) 20...¢xf7 21 £b3+ ¥e6 22 £d1
¥d5 23 ¤e4 (23 ¦xe8 £g2#
or 23 ¦h2 ¦e1+ were other ways for White to exit.) 23...£xf3+ 24 ¢g1 ¤xe2+ 0-1 in the
game Quinn,D−Hussain,N/Istanbul Olympiad, Turkey 2000.
2) 15 ¦e4 g5 (White can always hope for (a miracle with) 15...¥f5?? 16 ¦h4 , which would
seriously embarrass the lady on h3!) 16 £f3 (Black prevented 16 Rh4 while also
laying the trap 16 ¥xg5 £f5 , which would have left White's loose rook and bishop in
double trouble
but 16 £e2!? is a move that is starting to receive more attention in practice, and we'll be
returning to it later...OK, right now! That's because it occurred in the super−GM
clash Ponomariov,R−Anand,V/Linares 2002, where the continuation was 16...f5 17
¥xd5+ cxd5 18 ¦e6 f4!! , a stunning novelty that unfortunately netted 'only' a draw for
Black after a further ten moves (which are published with detailed analysis on our
Internet site)
in contrast, 16 £f1?! fared badly in the game Korchnoi,V−Silver,J/Santa Monica 1977, as
Black won in 21 moves which again are all given on our site.) 16...¥f5 17 ¥c2
("Nunn's Chess Openings" (NCO) also mentions the tricky alternative 17 ¥xd5 cxd5 18
¦e3 ¥e4 19 ¦xe4 dxe4 20 £f6 and goes on to give the important resource 20...£g4! ,
which provides some vital protection for Black's g5−pawn while simultaneously
110
creating the possibility of ...Qd1+.) 17...¥xe4 18 ¥xe4 £e6 (18...h6?? 19 ¥f5 echoes
the final words of the notes given after Black's 15th move
and 18...g4? 19 £f5 ¤e7?? 20 £g5+ ¤g6 21 ¥g2 reiterates the theme.) 19 ¥xg5 f5 20 ¥xd5 (This
move does not appear in NCO, which instead assesses the line 20 ¥d3 h6 as being
'equal', but personally I like the look of Black's position with a useful surplus rook
for bishop, also because White's extra pawns at d4 and g3 are currently going
nowhere, and his pieces on a1 and b1 are still sleeping.) 20...cxd5 21 ¤d2
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-trk+(
7+-+-+-+p'
6p+-vlq+-+&
5+p+p+pvL-%
4-+-zP-+-+$
3+-zP-+QzP-#
2PzP-sN-zP-zP"
1tR-+-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
21...f4! This energetic case of "f for forward" is basically a temporary pawn sacrifice
designed to expose White's king by disturbing the protective g3−pawn. Black was
soon well on the way to victory in the super−GM clash Topalov,V−
Adams,M/Sarajevo 2000, which is published in full on our Internet site.
15...¥g4
Alternatively, 15...¦a7!? is an interesting and noteworthy move which carries the simple,
strong, logical idea of soon doubling Black's rooks on the e−file with ...Re7 and
...Rfe8. Success came quickly in the game Zaragatski,I−Plachetka,J/Mitropa Cup,
Saint−Vincent 2001, which is published in full on our Internet site.
16 £d3
16 f3? allows Black to demolish White's position with 16...¥xg3 , which is basically a
'repeat' of what happened in the aforementioned Quinn−Hussain game.
16...¦ae8
111
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+rtrk+(
7+-+-+pzpp'
6p+pvl-+-+&
5+p+n+-+-%
4-+-zP-+l+$
3+LzPQvL-zPq#
2PzP-+-zP-zP"
1tRN+-tR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
Black continues to marshal fresh forces into the attack, since 16...¥f3 comes to nothing
here because of 17 £f1
17 ¤d2
Now 17 £f1?! would be inaccurate, because although Black's queen should then shift by
playing 17...£h5 , the threat of ...Bh3 is more annoying for White's queen.
17...¦e6 18 a4 £h5
This move gets highly recommended in the January 2000 Reflection Zone on our Internet
site.
In contrast, 18...f5 comes under heavy fire in that Reflection Zone, but you might still enjoy
checking out Black's quick victory in the GM−clash Renet,O−Nunn,J/European
Team Ch., Haifa 1989, given in full on our Internet site.
19 ¥d1?
This very plausible−looking idea (to exchange off the light−squared bishops) actually loses
by force to a stunning tactical blow which GM Grigory Kaidanov is about to
deliver...
19...¤xe3! 20 fxe3
What else? 20 ¦xe3 leaves the d1-bishop "en prise".
20...¥xg3!!
112
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-trk+(
7+-+-+pzpp'
6p+p+r+-+&
5+p+-+-+q%
4P+-zP-+l+$
3+-zPQzP-vl-#
2-zP-sN-+-zP"
1tR-+LtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
21 ¤f1
It's too late now, but White sees that 21 hxg3 loses to 21...¦h6 22 ¥xg4 £h1+ 23 ¢f2 ¦h2#
21...¥xe1
With a massive material advantage for Black. So... White resigned. That was 0-1 in the
game Shulingkamp,M−Kaidanov,G/New Orleans Open 1992.
SUMMARY:
We have just witnessed several games in which strong players lost quickly with only single
errors against the Marshall Attack, and I am reminded of a previous occasion when
Vassily Ivanchuk, a truly world−class star, famously stated that White is struggling
to equalise against 'The Marshall'! Time will tell if that verdict is correct or not, but
for the moment the move 8...d5, found by the late great American Frank James
Marshall (1877-1944) and introduced by him at New York in 1918, is looking like a
formidable weapon for Black to use.
113
"Stepping into the boots of the giants"
[C90]

We've been on a long yet exciting journey through the world of 1 e4 e5 (which spans all the
codes from C20 to C99 inclusive), and here we are now in the 'C90 book' at the start
of our final ten codes. By entering this last phase, we are really stepping into the
land of the giants, because from now on all the lines pertain to the Closed Ruy
Lopez. It's renowned for producing tough battles with heavyweight manoeuvring,
but we'll also witness some 'quick kills' to satisfy all who love an adventure full of
action!
1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 a6 4 ¥a4 ¤f6 5 d3

XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwqkvl-tr(
7+pzpp+pzpp'
6p+n+-sn-+&
5+-+-zp-+-%
4L+-+P+-+$
3+-+P+N+-#
2PzPP+-zPPzP"
1tRNvLQmK-+R!
xabcdefghy
GM John Emms recommends this move as a simple, sensible approach for White, who
thereby avoids the Open variation 5 0-0 Nxe4, and of course Black must now
respond to the threat of 6 Bxc6 followed by Nxe5.
Let's also take a look at 5 0-0 ¥e7 6 ¦e1 b5 (6...0-0?? would be a careless blunder, losing a
pawn to 7 ¥xc6 dxc6 8 ¤xe5) 7 ¥b3 d6 (Now that Black's e5−pawn no longer requires
protection from the c6−knight, a threat is 8...Na5 to eliminate White's precious b3−
bishop.) 8 a4!? ¦b8 (Here Black had to meet White's threat of 9 axb5, and 8...¥g4
was another way to do so. ) 9 axb5 axb5 10 c3 0-0 11 d4 and then 11...exd4 (A
simple yet important point is that after 11...¥g4?? 12 d5 the attacked c6−knight has no
escape, and indeed Black got caught out by that trap in the game Martin
Gonzalez,A−Mundet,J/Spanish Championship, Barcelona 2000. ) 12 cxd4 ¥g4 13
114
¤c3 ¥xf3?! (With this unforced capture, Black gives up a valuable bishop for a
(shorter−range) knight.) 14 gxf3 (Of course White avoids 14 £xf3?? ¤xd4 , but in fact
he is more than happy to open up the g−file in the game itself, where Black's king
rapidly comes under heavy fire. ) 14...¤d7 15 ¥e3 ¤b4?! (Dreaming of a follow−up
...c5 advance that never materialises.) (Instead, 15...¢h8 looks better to unpin the f7−
pawn which is currently fixed fast by the white bishop bearing down towards the
black king. ) 16 £e2! (Forcing Black to now passively defend the b5−pawn.) 16...c6
17 ¢h1 ¢h8 18 f4 (Pushing forward while also clearing a way for White's queen to
land at f3, g4 or h5 if required.) 18...f5 (Black tries his best to react vigorously, but
the 'down side' of the move just played is that it allows...) 19 ¥e6 (Pouncing on the
fresh weakness at e6.) 19...fxe4 20 ¤xe4 ¤d5 (20...d5 would have left the knight at
b4 stranded there. ) 21 f5 (Black might have hoped for 21 ¥xd5 cxd5 22 ¤c3 ¤f6 23
¤xb5 £b6) 21...¤xe3 22 fxe3 d5 23 ¦a7! ¤b6
XABCDEFGHY
8-tr-wq-tr-mk(
7tR-+-vl-zpp'
6-snp+L+-+&
5+p+p+P+-%
4-+-zPN+-+$
3+-+-zP-+-#
2-zP-+Q+-zP"
1+-+-tR-+K!
xabcdefghy
24 ¦g1!! (The pressure from White's rooks hitting the g7−pawn (directly or otherwise) is
now so great that the attack will be decisive even without any further assistance from
the e4−knight.) 24...dxe4 25 £g4 g5 (Or 25...¥f6 26 ¦xg7 , after which Black has no
decent defence against 27 Rxh7+ Kxh7 28 Qh5#. ) 26 fxg6 (With a multitude of
terrible threats including the immediate 27 g7#.) 26...¢g7 27 gxh7+ Black resigned,
without waiting to be mated on White's next move. That was 1-0 in the game
Kobalija,M−Dervishi,E/European Individual Ch., 2001.
5...b5 6 ¥b3 ¥e7 7 0-0 0-0 8 ¤bd2 d6

Now that the e5−pawn is well−protected, Black threatens 9...Na5 to eliminate the "Spanish
bishop", but White's next move provides a retreat square at c2, while also preparing
the central advance d3−d4.
9 c3 ¤a5 10 ¥c2 c5 11 ¦e1 ¦e8

Of course there are numerous playable alternatives here, and we'll examine a sample.
1) 11...¤c6 12 ¤f1 and then:
a) 12...d5!? (Black's previous move prepared this bold action in the centre because the
knight−retreat from a5 to c6 gave necessary protection to the e5−pawn.) 13 exd5
115
£xd5 14 £e2 (Perhaps White should prefer 14 ¥b3 , intending 14...£d6 15 ¤g3)
14...¥b7 15 ¥b3 (Of course not 15 ¤xe5?? ¤d4 16 cxd4 £xg2#) 15...£d7 16 ¤xe5?! (It
might have been more prudent for White not to grab the e5−pawn, because this
capture opens up fresh lines which result in Black's pieces becoming extremely
active and dangerous.) 16...¤xe5 17 £xe5 ¦fe8 18 ¥e3 ¥d6 (Suddenly Black has a
huge concentration of piece−power pointing menacingly in the general direction of
the opponent's king, but White can consider himself to be at least slightly fortunate
that there is no black pawn waiting on h6−−−since the g5−square is currently the
sole place where the troubled white queen can get even temporary refuge.) 19 £g5
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+r+k+(
7+l+q+pzpp'
6p+-vl-sn-+&
5+pzp-+-wQ-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+LzPPvL-+-#
2PzP-+-zPPzP"
1tR-+-tRNmK-!
xabcdefghy
19...¦e5 and Black went on to win in powerful fashion in the game Beshukov,S−
Vajda,L/European Club Championship 2000, which is published in full on our
Internet site
b) 12...¦e8 13 h3 h6 14 ¤g3 ¥f8 (Preparing to play ...d5 if given the chance.) 15 d4 cxd4
16 cxd4 exd4 17 ¤xd4 ¤xd4 18 £xd4 ¥e6 followed by ...Rc8 is fairly balanced.
2) 11...¥g4?! (On the kingside, this bishop soon turns out to be an easy target for White's
army to attack.) 12 h3 ¥h5 13 ¤f1 ¤c6 14 ¤g3 (White has completed the
manoeuvre Nb1-d2−f1-g3 which is very well−known in Ruy Lopez games, and here
an added bonus is that it's now causing big problems for Black's h5−bishop.)
14...¥xf3 (14...¥g6 15 ¤h4 is also excellent for White.) 15 £xf3 £d7 (15...¦e8 16 ¤f5
¥f8 17 ¥g5 is also very unpleasant for Black, who then faces the terrible threat of 18
Nh6+! gxh6 19 Bxf6 followed by 20 Qg3+.) 16 ¤f5 (Menacing 17 Bh6! Ne8
(17...gxh6 18 Qg3+) 18 Bxg7! Nxg7 19 Qg4, with the deadly dual threats of 20
Qxg7# or 20 Nh6+ and 21 Qxd7. Unfortunately for Black, his next move really does
nothing to stop this!) 16...¥d8?
116
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-vl-trk+(
7+-+q+pzpp'
6p+nzp-sn-+&
5+pzp-zpN+-%
4-+-+P+-+$
3+-zPP+Q+P#
2PzPL+-zPP+"
1tR-vL-tR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
17 ¥h6! gxh6 (17...g6 is necessary, though clearly still insufficient because of 18 ¥xf8 17...¤e8
18 ¥xg7! ¤xg7 19 £g4 echoes a tactical point from the previous notes.) 18 £g3+ ¤g4
19 £xg4+ ¥g5 20 ¤xh6+ Black resigned on account of 20...Kh8 21 Qxd7 or
20...Kg7 21 Qxg5+ Kh8 22 Qf6#. That was 1-0 in the game Munn,W−
Jeffrey,A/Glasgow Congress 1965.
12 ¤f1 ¥f8 13 ¤g3

At the end of the manoeuvre Nb1-d2−f1, it's sometimes not easy to decide whether to play
Ng3 or 13 ¤e3 , but here the latter move would have allowed Black to strike out in
the centre with 13...d5 , whereas after 13 Ng3 White's e1-rook could cause trouble
for the e5−pawn which is weakened if Black plays... .d6−d5.
13...g6 14 ¥g5 ¥g7

14...h6 is possible of course, but after the g5−bishop retreats to e3 or d2, White's queen
would soon move to d2 or c1 to combine forces with the bishop attacking Black's
h6−pawn.
15 £d2 ¥b7 16 h4
117
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wqr+k+(
7+l+-+pvlp'
6p+-zp-snp+&
5snpzp-zp-vL-%
4-+-+P+-zP$
3+-zPP+NsN-#
2PzPLwQ-zPP+"
1tR-+-tR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
16...h5
and in the game Nunn,J−Howell,D/Mind Sports Blitz Tournament 1999, the battle went on
for another 50 moves (!) which can be found on our Internet site.
SUMMARY:
Our 'C90 book' contains some really interesting material, and a personal favourite of mine
is the sneaky move 8 a4!? in Kobalija−Dervishi. As we saw, Black resigned a mere
four (!!) moves later in the related game Martin Gonzalex−Mundet. So, can I assume
that YOU will also be trying out the same idea!?
118
"Central line at move nine" [C91]

The Ruy Lopez or Spanish Opening, 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5, is undoubtedly one of the
most famous openings for White, but not everyone gives it top marks. I recall
Scotland's IM Mark Condie telling me many years ago that England's Grandmaster
Mark Hebden considered "the Lopez" to be just good for Black! One supporting line
of argument was that after 3...a6, White must either part with a precious bishop in
the Exchange Variation 4 Bxc6 dxc6, or make the usual retreat 4 Ba4 and allow
Black to gain more time and space by playing ...b5 at some suitable moment.
Nowadays the debate continues unabated, as hordes of players around the world
keep choosing to start their opening battles on Lopez territory. There are numerous
big stars among the loyalists of the White and Black sides, and of course the latter
line−up has a certain GM Hebden within its top ranks. Here in our 'C91 book' he
stars in the main featured game, played at Birmingham in the UK's Four Nations
Chess League on Saturday 22 January 2000.
1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 a6 4 ¥a4 ¤f6 5 0-0 ¥e7 6 ¦e1 b5

The blunder 6...0-0?? simply loses a pawn to 7 ¥xc6 dxc6 8 ¤xe5
7 ¥b3 0-0 8 d4
White may well have feared the Marshall Attack, 8 c3 d5 , which starred in our 'C89 book',
but of course there are other ways to avoid it (see code C88).
8...d6
Safer for Black than 8...exd4 9 e5
9 c3
119
XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwq-trk+(
7+-zp-vlpzpp'
6p+nzp-sn-+&
5+p+-zp-+-%
4-+-zPP+-+$
3+LzP-+N+-#
2PzP-+-zPPzP"
1tRNvLQtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
The same position is more often reached via the move−order 7...d6 8 c3 0-0 9 d4, although
that central line at move nine is still much less common than 9 h3, which we'll meet
in codes C92 to C99 inclusive.
9 dxe5 ¤xe5 is very comfortable for Black.
9...¥g4 10 ¥e3
This is a main line, but personally I would prefer the alternative given now.
The other principal route here is 10 d5 ¤a5 11 ¥c2 c6 and then:
a) 12 h3 ¥h5?! (Also inferior for Black is 12...¥d7?! 13 ¤xe5! dxe5 14 d6 , as in a game
P.Motwani−I.Robertson some years ago in Scotland
but instead 12...¥xf3! 13 £xf3 cxd5 14 exd5 ¤c4! planning ...Nb6 gives good play with pressure
against White's d5−pawn. ) 13 dxc6 £c7 14 ¤bd2 ¤xc6 15 ¤f1 ¦ac8 16 ¤g3 (The
manoeuvre Nb1-d2−f1-g3 is very well−known in the Ruy Lopez, and here the fact
that it also hits the h5−bishop shows why Black's 12th move was inaccurate.)
16...¥g6 17 ¤h4 ¦fd8 18 ¤hf5 d5 19 exd5 ¤xd5 20 £f3 ¥f8 21 ¥g5! (Inducing a
weakening response from Black.) 21...f6 22 ¥b3! ¥f7 23 ¦ad1 (With typically
energetic play, Grandmaster Leonid Zakharovich Stein (as White here) increases the
pressure on his opponent, and stubbornly refuses to retreat the bishop from g5.)
23...¤b6
XABCDEFGHY
8-+rtr-vlk+(
7+-wq-+lzpp'
6psnn+-zp-+&
5+p+-zpNvL-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+LzP-+QsNP#
2PzP-+-zPP+"
1+-+RtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
120
24 ¤h6+! (Regarding this and similar sacrifices, Stein once noted: "They can sometimes be
refuted in the post mortem analysis, but during the game, never.") 24...gxh6 25 ¥xf6
(Here, GM Eduard Gufeld and Master Efim Lazarev wrote: "White's sacrifice had a
positional character: he would not immediately and radically tip the balance of
forces in his favour. His goal was to destroy the pawn cover around the black king.
This would allow White to launch a powerful attack.") 25...¥xb3 (Gufeld & Lazarev
give the variation 25...¤c4 26 £g4+ ¥g6 27 ¥xc4+ bxc4 28 ¥xd8 ¤xd8 29 ¦d7 £c5 30 ¦ed1
with strong pressure) 26 £g4+ ¥g7 27 ¦xd8+ ¦xd8 (In the case of 27...¤xd8 28 axb3 ,
Black's big worries include Rxe5/Nf5/Nh5, and even after 28...¢f8 29 ¤h5 ¥xf6 30
¤xf6 it's still extremely difficult to cope over the board with White's attack and
constant threats. ) 28 ¥xd8 £xd8 29 axb3 (Now threatening 30 Qe6+.) 29...¢h8 30
¦d1 £e8 31 ¤h5 ¥f8 32 ¦d6! (A decisive invasion.) 32...¤c8 33 ¤f6! Black
resigned, in view of 33...Nxd6 34 Qg8#. That was 1-0 in the game Stein,L−
Rodriguez Gonzalez,J/Havana Olympiad 1966
b) Extra Bonus: Personally, I last faced this system as Black on Scottish soil in the
encounter T. Barrett−P.Motwani at the 1994 Oban Premier, where White erred
immediately with 12 ¥g5? , losing a pawn to 12...¤xd5! 13 ¥xe7 ¤xe7
10...exd4
10...¤xe4 11 ¥d5 puts Black's knights in double trouble.
11 cxd4 d5
Another path is 11...¤a5 12 ¥c2 ¤c4
12 e5 ¤e4 13 h3
13 ¤bd2 allows 13...¤xd2 14 £xd2 ¥xf3 15 gxf3 ¥b4
13...¥h5 14 ¤c3
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wq-trk+(
7+-zp-vlpzpp'
6p+n+-+-+&
5+p+pzP-+l%
4-+-zPn+-+$
3+LsN-vLN+P#
2PzP-+-zPP+"
1tR-+QtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
121
14...¥b4!?
"Nunn's Chess Openings" (NCO) does not mention this possibility, and instead the book
simply gives 14...Nxc3.
15 ¦c1
15 ¥xd5 ¤xc3 16 bxc3 £xd5 is also excellent for Black.
15...¥xc3 16 bxc3 ¤a5 17 ¥c2 f5!

Now Black's threats include ...f4 or ...Nxc3 without allowing White the response Bxh7+
followed by Rxc3.
18 exf6 £xf6
Black has a dream position!
19 ¥d3 ¤c4
Black wants to gain even more than he could get via 19...Bxf3.
20 ¥e2 ¦ae8
The pressure on White is now unbearable, and his position caves in rapidly.
21 ¦f1?
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+rtrk+(
7+-zp-+-zpp'
6p+-+-wq-+&
5+p+p+-+l%
4-+nzPn+-+$
3+-zP-vLN+P#
2P+-+LzPP+"
1+-tRQ+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
21...¤xe3 22 fxe3 ¤g3 23 ¦f2 ¦xe3

Netting a very precious pawn, and threatening to win a rook too with 24...Rxe2 25 Rxe2
Bxf3 26 gxf3 Nxe2+ 27 Qxe2 Qg5+ then 28...Qxc1.
122
24 £d2 £h6
24...¦xe2 also wins, as in the previous note.
25 ¥d3
White resigned without waiting to see 25...Rxd3 26 Qxd3 Qxc1+. That was 0-1 in the game
Mordue,T−Hebden,M/4NCL, Birmingham 2000.
SUMMARY:
GM Mark Hebden's 14...Bb4!? is a particularly noteworthy idea in the main featured game,
while the details given at move 10 provide tasty food for White.
123
"Heavyweight Battles" [C92]

C92 is one of those codes in which I always get the impression that the battles are
'heavyweight'. Read on, and decide for yourself.
1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 a6 4 ¥a4 ¤f6 5 0-0 ¥e7 6 ¦e1 b5 7 ¥b3 d6 8 c3 0-

0 9 h3
This is White's most common choice in practice, to prevent the pin 9...Bg4.
9...¦e8
XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwqr+k+(
7+-zp-vlpzpp'
6p+nzp-sn-+&
5+p+-zp-+-%
4-+-+P+-+$
3+LzP-+N+P#
2PzP-zP-zPP+"
1tRNvLQtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
There are numerous options here, and a major alternative is given now.
9...¤d7 (This solid system, which reinforces the central e5−pawn in anticipation of d2−d4
coming, has been employed by superstars such as Michael Adams, Anatoly Karpov,
Nigel Short, and Peter Svidler who's playing Black in most of the reference games
given now.) 10 a4 (Extra Bonus: 10 d4 ¥f6 11 ¥e3 ¤a5 12 ¥c2 ¤c4 13 ¥c1 ¥b7 14 b3
¤cb6 15 ¥e3 ¦e8 16 d5 ¥e7! (A dual purpose move which makes way for ...f5 while
also protecting Black's d6−pawn in preparation for playing ...c6.) 17 ¤bd2 c6 18 c4
cxd5 19 cxd5 f5! 20 exf5 ¤xd5 21 ¤f1 ¦c8 gave Black a very fine position in one Anand−
Svidler super−GM encounter.) 10...¥b7 11 d4 ¥f6 12 axb5 (Further Bonus: The
super−GM battle B.Gelfand−P.Svidler, Biel 2000, deviated with 12 ¤a3 , but Black
was doing fine again after 12...exd4 13 cxd4 ¦e8 14 axb5 axb5 15 ¥f4 ¤a5! (Hitting White's
b3−bishop and uncovering an attack from b7 towards the exposed e4−pawn.) 16 ¥c2
b4) 12...axb5 13 ¦xa8 £xa8 14 d5 (It would have been difficult for White's d−pawn
to remain longer at d4, because 14 ¥e3 ¤a5 is unpleasant
124
as is 14 ¥c2 exd4 15 cxd4 ¤b4) 14...¤a5 15 ¥c2 ¤c4 16 b3 ¤cb6 17 ¥a3
XABCDEFGHY
8q+-+-trk+(
7+lzpn+pzpp'
6-sn-zp-vl-+&
5+p+Pzp-+-%
4-+-+P+-+$
3vLPzP-+N+P#
2-+L+-zPP+"
1+N+QtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
17...¥e7! (Echoing an important idea from the aforementioned Anand−Svidler encounter.)

18 £e2 ¥a6 (Threatening 19...b4.) 19 ¥d3 c6 20 dxc6 £xc6 21 ¥b4 (White needs to
protect his c3−pawn so as to free the b1-knight.) 21...¤c5 , and Black then had a
highly satisfactory harmonious position in the GM−clash DeFirmian,N−
Svidler,P/North Sea Cup, Esbjerg, Denmark 2000, which is published in full on our
Internet site.
10 d4 ¥b7 11 ¤bd2
Players who only want a quick draw sometimes opt for 11 ¤g5 ¦f8 12 ¤f3 ¦e8 13 ¤g5 ,
which may lead rapidly to a three−fold repetition of position by 13...¦f8 14 ¤f3 ¦e8
11...¥f8 12 d5
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wqrvlk+(
7+lzp-+pzpp'
6p+nzp-sn-+&
5+p+Pzp-+-%
4-+-+P+-+$
3+LzP-+N+P#
2PzP-sN-zPP+"
1tR-vLQtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
Special Bonus: The most popular alternative is 12 a4 , and then the continuation in the
game C.Storey−K.Sasikiran, 1999 British Championship, was 12...h6 13 ¥c2 (White
protects his e4−pawn again, so that the d2−knight can be free to move to f1.)
13...exd4 14 cxd4 ¤b4 15 ¥b1 c5 16 d5 ¤d7 17 ¦a3 c4 18 ¤d4 £f6 19 ¤2f3
125
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+rvlk+(
7+l+n+pzp-'
6p+-zp-wq-zp&
5+p+P+-+-%
4PsnpsNP+-+$
3tR-+-+N+P#
2-zP-+-zPP+"
1+LvLQtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
19...¤c5!? (Black ignores the threat to his b5−pawn, and instead concentrates on quickly
getting a knight to the d3−square in the heart of White's camp.) 20 axb5 axb5 21
¤xb5 ¦xa3 22 bxa3 ¤bd3 23 ¦e3 £a1! 24 ¥d2 (Threatening 25 Bc3, but Black's
queen finds a simple, strong answer.) 24...£b2! 25 ¤c3 (25 ¥c3?? £xf2+) 25...¥a6 26
¤d4 g6 (Instead of pausing to capture White's a3−pawn, Black presses on constantly
with improving his own position.) 27 ¥xd3 cxd3 28 ¤f5? (White desperately tries to
make a dent on the opponent's powerful position, but Black remains cool, calm, and
in control.) 28...¤b3! 29 ¤b1 ¤xd2 30 ¤xd2 ¦c8! 31 £g4 £xd2 and White soon
resigned. Personally, I have always felt that the 12 a4 choice lets Black generate
tremendous piece−activity starting with 14...Nb4, and so I really do prefer the
alternative 12 d5.
12...¤b8
Black plans to reactivate the knight to d7, but let's also consider a couple of alternatives.
1) 12...¤e7 13 ¤f1 h6 (Played mainly to prevent Bg5.) (Extra Bonus: 13...¤g6 14 ¤3h2 ¤d7
15 a3 ¤c5 16 ¥a2 ¤f4 17 c4 c6 18 cxb5 cxb5 19 ¥b1 a5 20 h4! was also pleasant for White in
the super−GM battle V.Topalov−Je.Piket, Wijk aan Zee 1996, and Black could not
play 20...£xh4? because of 21 g3 ¤h3+ 22 ¢g2 , after which a black knight drops off
the board.) 14 ¤3h2 (Echoing an idea seen in the Topalov−Piket game.) 14...c6 15
¤g4 ¤xg4 16 hxg4! (White can later utilise the open h−file and the new g−pawn to
hammer at Black's h6−pawn by playing g4−g5.) 16...cxd5 17 exd5 ¤c8 (Now
Black's queen can "see" the g5−square and is hoping to stop White from advancing
there, but Russia's super−GM Sergey Dolmatov (playing White here) produces a
positionally crushing sequence of moves, starting with the simple yet very powerful
plan of re−routing his f1-knight to a really strong central position at e4.) 18 ¤g3
¤b6 19 ¤e4 ¦c8 (19...f6 might have stopped 20 g5 , but the resulting light−square
holes appearing at e6 and g6 would be horrible for Black.) 20 g5 (Mission
accomplished.) 20...hxg5 21 ¥xg5 £d7 22 £h5! (Threatening 23 Nf6+! gxf6 24
Bxf6 Bg7 25 Qg5.) 22...f5
126
XABCDEFGHY
8-+r+rvlk+(
7+l+q+-zp-'
6psn-zp-+-+&
5+p+PzppvLQ%
4-+-+N+-+$
3+LzP-+-+-#
2PzP-+-zPP+"
1tR-+-tR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
23 ¥e3! (This bishop−move not only attacks Black's loose knight, but also frees the g5−
square for White's own knight to leap there.) 23...¤xd5 24 ¤g5 g6 (Sadly for Black,
he has no other way of stopping White's queen landing at h7.) 25 £xg6+ ¥g7
(25...£g7 26 £xf5 is also hopeless for Black.) 26 ¦ad1 (Ouch! Black's pinned knight is
about to cost its owner material.) 26...¦c4 27 ¥xc4 bxc4 28 f4! (White aims to prise
open more lines so that his superior pieces can get at Black's king.) 28...¦e7 (28...exf4
loses quickly to 29 ¥d4) 29 fxe5 f4 (29...dxe5 30 ¥c5 ¦e8 31 £h7# is another way for
Black to exit.) 30 e6 £c6 31 ¥d4 Black resigned. That was 1-0 in the super−GM
clash Dolmatov,S−Ibragimov,I/Dortmund 1992.
2) 12...¤a5 may seem more natural for a moment, but after 13 ¥c2 the threat of 14 b4 is
really unpleasant for Black.
13 ¤f1 ¤bd7 14 ¤g3

The manoeuvre Nb1-d2−f1-g3 is a very well−established way for White in the Ruy Lopez
to get his queen's knight over to the kingside to assist with attacking possibilities
there.
14...¤c5 15 ¥c2 c6 16 b4 ¤cd7 17 dxc6 ¥xc6

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wqrvlk+(
7+-+n+pzpp'
6p+lzp-sn-+&
5+p+-zp-+-%
4-zP-+P+-+$
3+-zP-+NsNP#
2P+L+-zPP+"
1tR-vLQtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
127
18 ¥b3
The "Spanish bishop" is once again pointing menacingly in the direction of Black's king,
and White is threatening to win speedily with 19 Ng5 Re7 20 Nf5.
18...¤b6?!
When writing about a certain 1987 game mentioned on page 111 of his excellent "Easy
Guide to the Ruy Lopez" (published in 1999 by Everyman), GM John Emms
actually points out that Black should play 18...h6 to prevent White from pinning the
f6−knight with 19 Bg5, but it appears that he simply forgot about it here.
19 ¥g5! h6 20 ¥xf6
Eliminating Black's f6−knight helps White to gain control of the juicy outpost at d5.
20...£xf6 21 ¤h2!
Planning Ng4 to harass Black's queen, and after reaching the g4−square, there is also at
least the possibility that White's nimble knight may continue with Ne3−d5 to reach
the aforementioned outpost at d5.
21...g6
Extra Bonus: In playing 21...g6, GM John Emms deviates from the game V.Tseshkovsky−
G.Timoshchenko, Sverdlovsk 1987, where 21...¤c4 22 ¤g4 £e6 23 ¤e3 ¦ad8 24
£e2 d5 25 ¦ad1 ¦d7 26 exd5 ¥xd5 27 ¦xd5!
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+rvlk+(
7+-+r+pzp-'
6p+-+q+-zp&
5+p+Rzp-+-%
4-zPn+-+-+$
3+LzP-sN-sNP#
2P+-+QzPP+"
1+-+-tR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
27...¦xd5 28 ¤xc4 bxc4 29 ¥xc4 already left Black in a hopeless situation.
22 ¤g4 £e7 23 £f3!

A storm of white pieces is gathering on the kingside, and Black must meet the threats of 24
Nf6+ or 24 Qe3.
128
23...¤d7 24 ¦ad1
Menacing 25 Rxd6! Qxd6 26 Qxf7+ Kh8 27 Qg8#.
24...¦ac8?
24...¥g7 is more tenacious.
25 ¦xd6!
Black cannot touch the rook, because that would allow White to deliver mate as given in
the notes after his 24th move, and meanwhile 26 Rxg6+ is threatened.
25...¢g7
XABCDEFGHY
8-+r+rvl-+(
7+-+nwqpmk-'
6p+ltR-+pzp&
5+p+-zp-+-%
4-zP-+P+N+$
3+LzP-+QsNP#
2P+-+-zPP+"
1+-+-tR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
26 ¤xh6!!
Big Bogdan Lalic (the GM playing White here) lands another big punch near Black's king.
26...£xd6
26...¢xh6 loses instantly to the fork 27 ¤f5+
27 ¤hf5+ gxf5 28 ¤xf5+ ¢h8

The alternatives would merely have prolonged Black's suffering for a few more moves.
29 £h5+! ¢g8
If 29...¥h6 , then 30 ¤xd6 obliterates Black. So instead he prefers to be checkmated
quickly.
30 £xf7+
129
A faster and more picturesque finish involving White's "Spanish bishop" is 30 ¥xf7# !
30...¢h8 31 £g8#
That was 1-0 in the GM−clash Lalic,B−Emms,J/London League 1999.
CONCLUSION:
I think even Muhammad Ali would agree that our 'C92 battles' are indeed 'heavyweight'!
130
"Behind closed lines" [C93]

The moves 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
d3 would produce a position that is reached via a different move−order in the main
featured game coming up in our 'C93 book'. It's a Closed Ruy Lopez (as opposed to
an open variation with an early ...Nxe4 by Black), and so initially both players
manoeuvre behind closed lines. But you won't have to wait long for fireworks to
erupt!
1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 a6 4 ¥a4 ¤f6 5 d3

Now Bxc6 followed by Nxe5 is a real threat, but Black's next move stops it easily.
5...b5 6 ¥b3 ¥e7 7 0-0 d6 8 c3

White gives his b3−bishop a possible retreat to c2 in case it gets attacked by ...Na5.
8...0-0 9 ¦e1
XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwq-trk+(
7+-zp-vlpzpp'
6p+nzp-sn-+&
5+p+-zp-+-%
4-+-+P+-+$
3+LzPP+N+-#
2PzP-+-zPPzP"
1tRNvLQtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
9...¤a5 10 ¥c2 c5 11 ¤bd2 ¦e8 12 ¤f1 h6

A prophylactic move with which Black prepares to play ...Bf8 without allowing White the
pinning reply Bg5.
13 h3
131
Personally, I would prefer 13 ¤g3 , certainly not worrying about 13...¥g4 because then 14
h3 would put an unpleasant challenge to Black's precious light−squared bishop.
13...¥f8 14 a3
Another rather timid−looking pawn−move from White.
14...¤c6!
Black's queen's knight gets out of the way before it can be hit by b2−b4, and from its new
position at c6 it gives extra protection to the e5−pawn, thereby increasing the
likelihood of achieving a successful ...d6−d5 break in the centre soon.
15 d4?!
Since White had already moved his d−pawn earlier on, he should not have used another
tempo to push it again so soon, without proper preparation first. The position around
the centre now opens up to Black's advantage.
15...cxd4 16 cxd4 exd4 17 ¤xd4 ¤xd4 18 £xd4 ¥b7 19 b4?

Another pawn−move that White can ill−afford.
19...¦c8 20 ¥d3
XABCDEFGHY
8-+rwqrvlk+(
7+l+-+pzp-'
6p+-zp-sn-zp&
5+p+-+-+-%
4-zP-wQP+-+$
3zP-+L+-+P#
2-+-+-zPP+"
1tR-vL-tRNmK-!
xabcdefghy
20...¥xe4!
netted Black a permanent precious pawn (based on 21 Bxe4 Rc4) in the game Mahdi,K−El
Taher,F/Dubai Open 2001, which is published in full on our Internet site.
SUMMARY:
We'll need to wait for fresh developments in our 'C93 book', but the above game certainly
made for an interesting start.
132
"Want to be a Breyer player!?" [C95]

A number of subscribers to our Internet site have sent me e−mail messages specifically
about the Ruy Lopez, Breyer variation 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 Nb8, because they wondered if it still viable
nowadays when not many really top players seem to be choosing the Breyer as
Black. Well, some time ago I already answered the query with a definite "Yes"
backed up by 'evidence', and now in the main featured game of our 'C95 book' that
positive response is corroborated by a rather strong fresh Breyer supporter...Garry
Kasparov!! So check out the cool moves for Black of the world's highest−rated
player as he faces super−GM Judit Polgar, the no.1 lady chess star on our planet.
1 e4 e5
Garry Kasparov almost always answers 1 e4 with 1...c5 but here he's enjoying a change (for
the better!!).
2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 a6 4 ¥a4 ¤f6 5 0-0 ¥e7 6 ¦e1 b5 7 ¥b3 d6 8 c3 0-0 9 h3
9 d4 is of course also perfectly playable, even though it does allow 9...¥g4 as happened in
our 'C91 book'.
9...¤b8
XABCDEFGHY
8rsnlwq-trk+(
7+-zp-vlpzpp'
6p+-zp-sn-+&
5+p+-zp-+-%
4-+-+P+-+$
3+LzP-+N+P#
2PzP-zP-zPP+"
1tRNvLQtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
The principal idea behind the Breyer Variation is that Black will reactivate his queen's
knight to d7, where it will not obstruct the queen's bishop which he intends to
fianchetto at b7.
133
10 d4 ¤bd7 11 ¤bd2 ¥b7
This is sensible, but watch out for the following shocking 'alternative' which really has
happened...more than once!
11...¦e8?? (Perhaps Black mistakenly thought that this move is OK because (amazingly)
GM Boris Spassky also made the same blunder in 1993! What's equally astonishing
is the fact that Spassky's equally world−famous opponent, a certain GM Judit
Polgar, responded with the 'automatic' 12 Nf1, thereby missing the instant win which
White gets in the current game!!) 12 ¥xf7+!
XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwqr+k+(
7+-zpnvlLzpp'
6p+-zp-sn-+&
5+p+-zp-+-%
4-+-zPP+-+$
3+-zP-+N+P#
2PzP-sN-zPP+"
1tR-vLQtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
12...¢h8 (If 12...¢xf7 , then 13 ¤g5+ followed by 14 Ne6 wins the suffocating black queen.)
13 ¥xe8 White has an overwhelming material advantage, and the result 1-0 soon
appeared on the scoresheets in the game Fluvia Frigola,J−Delgado Pico,L/Paretana,
Spain 2000.
12 a4
Another line is 12 ¥c2 ¦e8 , as in the super−GM clash Leko,P−Kramnik,V/Melody Amber
(Rapid) 2002.
12...c5 13 d5
"Nunn's Chess Openings" (NCO) gives 13 ¥c2 ¦e8 and points out that the same situation
would be reached via the move−order 12 Bc2 Re8 13 a4 c5.
13...c4!
This case of 'c for charge!' gains time by hitting the white 'Lopez bishop', and also clears
the attractive c5−square for Black's 'Breyer knight' to land there on his next move.
14 ¥c2 ¤c5 15 ¤f1 £c7
134
Black would ruin his own pawn structure by capturing on a4. For example, after 15...¤xa4?
16 ¥xa4 bxa4 17 ¦xa4 £c7 White could move either of his knights to d2 followed
by picking off the c4−pawn.
16 ¤g3 ¦fb8 17 ¤f5

Completing the manoeuvre Nb1-d2−f1-g3−f5 which is so common for White in games
involving the Ruy Lopez.
17...¥f8 18 £e2
XABCDEFGHY
8rtr-+-vlk+(
7+lwq-+pzpp'
6p+-zp-sn-+&
5+psnPzpN+-%
4P+p+P+-+$
3+-zP-+N+P#
2-zPL+QzPP+"
1tR-vL-tR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
18...¥c8!
Black continues to regroup his pieces in a highly instructive way.
19 g4 ¥d7
Now White really does have to reckon with the possibility of Black capturing the a4−pawn.
20 axb5
If 20 a5? , then 20...¤b7
20...axb5 21 ¥g5 ¤e8 22 ¤d2 ¦a7! 23 ¥e3 ¦ba8 24 ¦xa7 ¦xa7

OK, it's not so serious for White, but nevertheless a small triumph for Black who's
succeeded in gaining control of the open a−file.
25 f4 ¦a2 26 ¦b1 g6 27 ¤h4 exf4 28 ¥xf4 ¥g7 29 ¤hf3?
135
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+n+k+(
7+-wql+pvlp'
6-+-zp-+p+&
5+psnP+-+-%
4-+p+PvLP+$
3+-zP-+N+P#
2rzPLsNQ+-+"
1+R+-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
29 £e3 would have prevented what Black does next...
29...¥xc3! 30 ¤xc4
30 bxc3 ¦xc2 is the tactical point supporting Black's last move.
30...¥g7 31 ¤e3 ¦xb2 32 ¦xb2 ¥xb2

and Black then clearly had the upper hand in the super−GM battle Polgar,J−
Kasparov,G/Expo Blitz Internet match, Hungary 2000.
SUMMARY:
The Breyer Variation still looks as sound and reliable as ever, and it just needs some more
players (like YOU, perhaps!?) to take it up...
136
"Full marks for Mark's 16...Nxe4!!
novelty!" [C96]

I'm tempted to say "Go straight to move 16!", but then you'd miss lots of goodies on the
way! However, you really must see GM Mark Hebden's stunning novelty,
16...Nxe4!!, which definitely gets full marks!
1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 a6 4 ¥a4 ¤f6 5 0-0 ¥e7 6 ¦e1 b5 7 ¥b3 d6 8 c3

Although this move is absolutely standard, it's good to understand that it serves the dual
purpose of preparing the central advance d2−d4 while also allowing White to
preserve his precious "Lopez bishop" by playing Bc2 if it gets attacked with ...Na5.
8...0-0 9 h3
For 9 d4 ¥g4 , see the 'C91 book'.
9...¤a5 10 ¥c2 c5 11 d4 ¦e8!?

XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwqr+k+(
7+-+-vlpzpp'
6p+-zp-sn-+&
5snpzp-zp-+-%
4-+-zPP+-+$
3+-zP-+N+P#
2PzPL+-zPP+"
1tRNvLQtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
This is GM Mark Hebden's pet line, but of course many other moves are possible here, and
we'll examine an interesting sample.
1) 11...¤d7 12 dxc5 dxc5 13 ¤bd2 ¥b7 14 ¤f1 ¤c4 15 ¤g3 (15 b3 ¤d6 is what Black
wants, so instead White concentrates on improving the positioning of his own
pieces.) 15...¤d6 ("Nunn's Chess Openings" mentions 15...g6 16 ¤h2 , perhaps to be
137
followed by Qf3.) 16 £e2 ¦e8 17 ¦d1! (Black has three pieces located on the d−file,
which makes it a promising place for a white rook to be.) 17...£c7 18 b3 ¦ad8
(18...c4 certainly merits consideration. White is not absolutely forced to reply 19 b4 ,
but if he does so, then Black would be glad to still have a rook on a8 adding weight
to the advance 19...a5) 19 a4 c4 20 b4 a5?! (The ...a5 advance is less appropriate now
than in the previous note.) 21 ¥a3 axb4 22 ¥xb4 ¥c6 23 axb5 ¥xb5 24 ¥a5 Ouch!
Now Black must have really been wishing that he had not moved his rook from a8 to
d8, and White went on to win in the GM−clash Ehlvest,J−Bykhovsky,A/Reykjavik
Open, Iceland 2000, which is published in full on our Internet site.
2) Extra Bonus: 11...£c7 12 ¤bd2 ¤c6 13 dxc5 dxc5 14 ¤f1 ¥e6 15 ¤e3 ¦ad8 16 £e2 c4
17 ¤f5 ¦fe8 18 ¤3h4!? ¢h8 19 ¤xe7 £xe7 20 £f3 ¤d7 21 ¤f5 £f8 22 ¥e3 ¤c5?
(this highly plausible−looking move loses to a brilliant tactical blow from White...)
23 ¤xg7!!
XABCDEFGHY
8-+-trrwq-mk(
7+-+-+psNp'
6p+n+l+-+&
5+psn-zp-+-%
4-+p+P+-+$
3+-zP-vLQ+P#
2PzPL+-zPP+"
1tR-+-tR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
23...¢xg7 24 ¥h6+ ¢xh6 25 £f6+ 1-0 was the game L.Kavalek−A.Karpov, Caracas 1970,
where Anatoly Karpov resigned rather than letting his king be mated very quickly
after 25...Kh5 26 g4+ Bxg4 27 hxg4+ Kxg4 and then, for example, 28 Kh2 followed
by Rg1+.
3) 11...¥b7 Personally, I used to play this system too as Black, but I didn't feel completely
comfortable when White responded by blocking out the b7−bishop with the push 12
d5 , which can be seen in the super−GM clash Kasparov,G−Grischuk,A/World Cup
of Rapid Chess, Cannes 2001, published in full on our Internet site.
12 dxe5 dxe5 13 ¤xe5 ¥b7

Black's concept is that, in return for one sacrificed pawn, he has some lead in development
and good play along the central files, with pressure towards the e4−pawn in
particular.
14 £f3
"Nunn's Chess Openings" gives 14 ¤d2 ¥d6 15 ¤ef3 £c7 16 b3 ¦ad8 17 ¥b2 as slightly
better for White, but Black certainly does have actively−placed pieces to compensate
at least partly for his one−pawn deficit.
138
14...¥f8 15 ¥f4
An interesting line is 15 ¤g4 ¤xe4 (Perhaps Black must settle for 15...¤xg4 followed by
16...Re6, and again he still has some compensation for the one unit he sacrificed
earlier.) 16 ¦xe4 ¥xe4 17 ¥xe4 ¦xe4 18 £xe4 £d1+ 19 ¢h2 £xc1 20 £xa8 £xb2 ,
but White is winning after 21 ¤e5! which threatens 22 Nd7 or 22 Qd5
15...¦e6 16 ¤g4 ¤xe4!!

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wq-vlk+(
7+l+-+pzpp'
6p+-+r+-+&
5snpzp-+-+-%
4-+-+nvLN+$
3+-zP-+Q+P#
2PzPL+-zPP+"
1tRN+-tR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
Full marks to Mark Hebden for this amazing novelty at move 16!! Just a few weeks before
this game, he had lost to GM Murray Chandler at the British Championships where
he played 16...¤c4 , but clearly some very fruitful homework happened after that!
17 ¥xe4
Here 17 ¦xe4 would be answered by 17...f5!
17...f5 18 £g3!
White adjusts well after the shock of his opponent's novelty at move 16, and now it's
Black's turn to keep cool and find an answer to the main threats of 19 Bc7 or 19
Nh6+.
18...¦xe4!! 19 ¤h6+
19 ¦xe4 £d1+ is also fine for Black.
19...¢h8 20 ¤f7+ ¢g8
139
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wq-vlk+(
7+l+-+Nzpp'
6p+-+-+-+&
5snpzp-+p+-%
4-+-+rvL-+$
3+-zP-+-wQP#
2PzP-+-zPP+"
1tRN+-tR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
21 ¤h6+
A little frustrating for White that he has nothing better than producing a repetition of
position, but that really is true because 21 ¦xe4 £d1+ is fine for Black.
And 21 ¤xd8? ¦xe1+ 22 ¢h2 ¦xd8 leaves White facing the terrible threat of 23...Rdd1.
21...¢h8 22 ¤f7+ ¢g8 23 ¤h6+

DRAW AGREED. That was ½-½ in the game Naumann,A−Hebden,M/Golombek
Memorial, Paignton, England 2000.
SUMMARY:
Our 'C96 book' would be well−worth reading even if there was nothing else other than GM
Mark Hebden's stunning 16...Nxe4!! novelty, which basically confirms that, in the
great Royal Game, there are still lots of beautiful moves just waiting to be
discovered...
140
"Chigorin Chief" [C97]

In our main featured game below, the position occurring after White's 11th move has
happened in almost countless past battles, and all the more so because there is a very
wide choice of 11th−move options for Black. GM Mark Hebden's 11...Re8!? pet line
starred in code C96, but here in our 'C97 book' we'll focus on the 11...Qc7 Chigorin
Variation, which is 'the chief' in terms of its frequency in practice.
1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 a6 4 ¥a4 ¤f6 5 0-0 ¥e7 6 ¦e1 b5 7 ¥b3 d6 8 c3 0-

0 9 h3 ¤a5 10 ¥c2 c5 11 d4 £c7
XABCDEFGHY
8r+l+-trk+(
7+-wq-vlpzpp'
6p+-zp-sn-+&
5snpzp-zp-+-%
4-+-zPP+-+$
3+-zP-+N+P#
2PzPL+-zPP+"
1tRNvLQtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
12 ¤bd2 ¦d8
Anatoly Karpov chose 12...¤c6 in a game which I included as a bonus in our 'C96 book'.
13 b3
13 ¤f1 cxd4 14 cxd4 exd4 15 ¤xd4 d5 16 e5 ¤e4! has been scoring well for Black
recently.
13...cxd4 14 cxd4 ¤d7

"Nunn's Chess Openings" mentions 14...¤c6 15 ¥b2 exd4 16 ¤xd4 ¤xd4 17 ¥xd4 ¥e6 18
¦c1 and I fully agree with the assessment that White stands slightly better, because
he has the superior pawn−structure and his pieces exert some pressure towards
Black's kingside, in particular.
141
15 ¤f1 exd4 16 ¤xd4 ¥f6 17 ¥b2 ¤b6
Black would like to follow up quickly with ...d5, but White's next move prevents it.
18 ¦c1!
XABCDEFGHY
8r+ltr-+k+(
7+-wq-+pzpp'
6psn-zp-vl-+&
5snp+-+-+-%
4-+-sNP+-+$
3+P+-+-+P#
2PvLL+-zPP+"
1+-tRQtRNmK-!
xabcdefghy
Threatening 19 e5 followed by 20 Bxh7+ and 21 Rxc7.
18...£d7
18...d5? 19 e5! reinforces the tactical point of the previous note.
19 ¤e3
The knight has executed a manoeuvre Nb1-d2−f1-e3 which is well−known in the Ruy
Lopez and often very powerful too, because from the e3−square the strong steed
may soon leap forward to d5, f5, or g4 as in the current game.
19...¥b7 20 ¤g4 ¥g5 21 ¤f5!

Suddenly White has a winning attack even though his opponent has not played any really
terrible moves that one would instantly label as "blunders". However, a golden
lesson which can be gleaned from this game is that it's extremely dangerous for
Black to have both of his knights doing little over on the queenside−−−far from the
king at g8, who badly needs some protection.
21...f6
If 21...¥xc1 , then White's choice of juicy alternatives includes the simple capture 22 £xc1
which basically leaves Black facing unstoppable threats at g7.
22 f4!
142
"f for forward" finishes off another foe! Here White's simple yet devastating idea is to
deflect Black's g5−bishop away from defending the f6−pawn.
22...¥xf4
What else?
23 ¤xf6+!
XABCDEFGHY
8r+-tr-+k+(
7+l+q+-zpp'
6psn-zp-sN-+&
5snp+-+N+-%
4-+-+Pvl-+$
3+P+-+-+P#
2PvLL+-+P+"
1+-tRQtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
23...gxf6
That was an offer Black could not refuse−−−even if he wanted to!
24 £g4+ ¢f8
IF we imagine the d8−rook to instead be on f8, THEN 24...Bg5 loses prettily to 25 Qxg5+!
fxg5 26 Nh6#.
25 £xf4 £f7 26 ¤xd6

Black's position is caving in. So it's time to resign. That was a pulverising case of 1-0 in the
game Hracek,Z−Romanov,O/Czech Open, Pardubice 1998.
SUMMARY:
The Ruy Lopez is sometimes regarded as leading to long drawn−out manoeuvring games,
but that hardly applies to the hack−attack we've just witnessed from Grandmaster
Hracek. More of the same, please!
143
"Last but not least" [C99]

It's a case of last but not least, as we enter the final part of our exciting e4−e5 expedition
which began way back in the 'C20 book', and concludes here in C99. Of course, it's
really just the beginning! That's because our 'books' will constantly be updated with
the latest episodes of our continuing adventures in the ever−eventful world of 1 e4
e5.
1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 a6 4 ¥a4 ¤f6 5 0-0 ¥e7 6 ¦e1 b5 7 ¥b3 d6 8 c3 0-

0 9 h3 ¤a5 10 ¥c2 c5 11 d4 £c7 12 ¤bd2
We met all this before in our 'C97 book', but there Black continued with 12...Rd8 in the
game Hracek−Romanov.
12...cxd4 13 cxd4 ¦d8!?

XABCDEFGHY
8r+ltr-+k+(
7+-wq-vlpzpp'
6p+-zp-sn-+&
5snp+-zp-+-%
4-+-zPP+-+$
3+-+-+N+P#
2PzPLsN-zPP+"
1tR-vLQtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
This is NOT in fact a new twist for Black within Chigorin's Defence, but it is certainly
capable of working at the highest level, and in the current game it appears to really
catch super−GM Alexander Grischuk off−guard, as he rapidly gets into dire straits
with White.
14 ¤f1
If White senses danger on the d−file, then he may try 14 d5 ,but the very plausible
continuation 14...¥d7 15 ¤f1 ¦dc8 16 ¥d3 ¤b7 , planning ...Nc5, ...b4 & perhaps
...a5 too, looks highly satisfactory for Black.
144
Perhaps best is 14 b3 , transposing to the aforementioned Hracek−Romanov game, and
indeed after 14...¤c6 15 ¥b2 exd4 16 ¤xd4 ¤xd4 17 ¥xd4 ¥e6 18 ¦c1 £a5 19
¤f1! ¦ac8 (19...£xa2?? 20 ¦a1) 20 ¤g3 g6? (much better and more solid is 20...¤e8 ,
intending 21 ¤f5 ¥f8) 21 ¤f5! White was already almost winning in the clash
Dervishi,E−Estrada Nieto,J/Aosta, Italy 2002.
14...exd4 15 ¤xd4
15 ¥f4 would stop Black from playing ...d5 on the next move, but instead he has other
perfectly good alternatives such as 15...Nc4 or 15...¤c6 followed by ...Qb6.
15...d5 16 e5 ¤e4
"Nunn's Chess Openings" stops at this point by giving the assessment of "unclear position",
but in fact it's very easy for White to tumble quickly downhill from here if he doesn't
tread with the utmost care.
17 ¥f4
17 f3?! ¥c5! is precarious for White.
And 17 ¥xe4? dxe4 18 ¦xe4 ¥b7 is almost suicidal for the owner of the poor pinned d4−
knight.
17...¥c5
Black already has a magnificent active "dream" position! The opponent must contend with
several highly unpleasant threats including ...Nc4
...Qb6
... Bxd4, and of course the last of these would now win a piece because of ...Qxc2 after
White's Qxd4.
18 ¤e3 £b6 19 ¤b3 ¤xb3 20 ¥xb3 ¥e6 21 £d3 a5 22 f3?

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-tr-+k+(
7+-+-+pzpp'
6-wq-+l+-+&
5zppvlpzP-+-%
4-+-+nvL-+$
3+L+QsNP+P#
2PzP-+-+P+"
1tR-+-tR-mK-!
xabcdefghy
145
22 a3 is a safer pawn−move to make, because White's actual move leaves him in double
trouble on the g1-a7 diagonal, since the dynamic duo of Black's queen and c5−
bishop are located there−−−bearing down heavily towards the now−exposed white
king.
22...a4 23 ¥c2 g5!

A power−packed case of g for "go for it!".
24 ¥h2 ¥f5! 25 £e2

I can tell you that Black went on to win this game at move 53, but in fact he could have
wrapped things up very speedily now with 25...Bxe3+! 26 Qxe3 d4 followed by the
deadly discovered check 27...d3+ after White's attacked queen moves off the g1-a7
diagonal. So, we've witnessed the most interesting part of this super−GM tussle,
Grischuk,A−Bologan,V/Enghien−les−Bains, France 2001, and I'll stop here by
wishing you lots of exciting Ruy Lopez adventures as White or Black in your own
personal games.
Oh, by the way, 25 fxe4 ¥xe4 26 £e2 gives Black the choice of capturing directly at c2, or
first exchanging pieces at e3. In either event, White would not be smiling.
CONCLUSION:
Play attacking chess, and do keep smiling!
146

Non-stop Spanish: C60-C99

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Written by GM Paul Motwani

1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5

All rights reserved ChessPublishing.com Ltd

Last updated: 04/04/02 by Mr Mo

1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 ¤ge7

6...¥g7 7 c3 h6 8 ¥h4 0-0 9 0-0 ¤xd4

14 ¥e5 ¥e6 15 ¤d2?

15...f6 16 ¥g3 £b6

17 ¦e1 ¦fe8 18 ¤e4?

21 ¥xd5 ¥xd5 22 ¦b1 £xd4 23 ¦xb7 £g4!

Last updated: 04/04/02 by Mr Mo

1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 ¤d4

16 ¦f2 ¦xf2 17 ¢xf2 £xh2+

18 ¢e1 £g1+ 19 ¢e2 ¥xf4 20 ¤e4

22...£xg3+ 23 ¢f1 ¦e8

Last updated: 04/04/02 by Mr Mo

1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 f5

5...fxe4 6 ¤xe4 d5?

A very natural−looking move, but it loses!

9 £xe5+ £e7 10 ¥b5+! ¥d7 11 £xc7

Last updated: 04/04/02 by Mr Mo

1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 ¥c5

occurred in the game Emms,J−Payen,A/London v Paris match 1994, which is published

5...¤xe5 6 d4 c6 7 ¥e2 ¥d6 8 dxe5

10 b3 0-0 11 ¥b2 d5 12 ¥d3 ¤g6

Last updated: 12/04/02 by Mr Mo

1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 ¤f6

5...0-0 6 d4 ¥b6 7 ¥g5

8...a5 9 ¦e1 h6 10 ¥h4

Last updated: 04/04/02 by Mr Mo

1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 ¤f6

7 ¤xd4 ¥d7 8 ¥xc6 bxc6

Last updated: 04/04/02 by Mr Mo

1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 ¤f6 4 0-0 ¤xe4

A dangerous−looking alternative is 6 dxe5!? ¤xb5 7 a4 , but then:

6...dxc6 7 dxe5 ¤f5

12 ¥b2 b6 13 ¦ad1 ¤e7

14 ¦d2 c5 15 ¦fd1 ¥e6 16 ¤e2

17 h4 g4 18 ¤h2 h5 19 ¦d8+ ¢b7 20 ¦xa8 ¢xa8 21 ¦d8+ ¢b7 22 ¤f4 ¤g6

26...gxf2+ 27 ¢h2 ¥xc4

Last updated: 04/04/02 by Mr Mo

1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 a6 4 ¥xc6

7...£f6 8 ¤bd2 ¤e7 9 ¦e1 ¤g6 10 d4

13 hxg4 hxg4 14 ¤h2

14...¦xh2! 15 ¢xh2 ¢e7 16 ¢g1 ¦h8 17 ¤f1

18...£h2+ 19 ¢f1 £h1+!

Last updated: 04/04/02 by Mr Mo

1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 a6 4 ¥xc6

Last updated: 04/04/02 by Mr Mo

1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 a6 4 ¥a4 b5 5 ¥b3 ¤a5

15 exf5 0-0 16 ¦fd1 £c8 17 ¥c5 ¤xf5?

18 ¥xf8 ¥xf8 19 ¤d5

Last updated: 04/04/02 by Mr Mo

1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 a6 4 ¥a4 d6 5 c3 f5

7...¥d3 8 ¦e1 ¥e7

9...¥xc2 10 £xc2 ¤f6

12...0-0-0 13 dxe5 dxe5 14 ¤bd2

Last updated: 04/04/02 by Mr Mo

1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 a6 4 ¥a4 d6 5 c3

6 d4 ¤ge7 7 ¥e3 ¤g6

10...¤b8 11 ¥xd7+ ¤xd7 12 ¤fd2!

17 £e2 ¢h7 18 0-0-0 ¦h8