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I received a copy of Jonathan Tait's 'A Disreputable Opening Repertoire' and I intend to look at some of his suggestions over the next few months, without giving too much of his analysis away, I hope. The preface starts: 'A highly adventurous repertoire designed to meet 1 e4 with 1...e5 and take the initiative!' Jonathan is an important contributor to the ChessPub Forum, and there is considerable discussion of his latest book on this thread.

Download PGN of May ’22 1 e4 e5 games

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Vienna Game, Steinitz Gambit 3 f4 exf4 4 d4 [C25]

One of Jonathan's preferences is to answer 2 Nc3 with 2...Nc6, instead of the more common 2...Nf6, and he writes: 'With 2...Nf6, sure, 3 f4 d5! is a routine equalizer; but after 2...Nc6 3 f4 exf4! it's White who must think about equalizing.' Interesting, I'd never thought of it like that, but he is probably right.

After 1 e4 e5 2 Nc3 Nc6 3 f4 exf4 the move 4 d4 is the Steinitz Gambit, and as we have never considered this before here (only looking at the most popular 4 Nf3) except for a few lines in Micawber's K G Declined Forum Survey from 2008, and it is actually rather common (over 460 games according to ChessBase) I decided to have a look at a few games from this last month.











Black's strongest is now 4...Qh4+, forcing 5 Ke2 when the white king will wander around a bit, see the analysis in Cherniaev, A - Naumkin, I.


King's Gambit Accepted, Bonsch-Osmolovsky Variation 3 Nf3 Ne7 4 d4 d5 5 Bd3 [C34]

I like to look at Nepomniachtchi's White games as it is intriguing to see how a really strong player approaches the King's Gambit, and I am rarely disappointed. Nepomniachtchi, I - Hansen, E started 3 Nf3 Ne7 4 d4 d5, and now 5 Bd3!?:











We haven't looked at the Bonsch-Osmolovsky Variation for a long time, so it is interesting to see what Nepo had prepared for it.



Ponziani 3...Nf6 4 d4 Nxe4 5 d5 Bc5 [C44]

The piece sacrifice 5...Bc5! was played by Falkbeer in 1855 and by Chigorin in 1879, but I first became aware of it a long time ago when I saw it mentioned by Bronstein in his 200 Open Games!











If White is really accurate he might be able to draw, but the practical problems are considerable - I have 100% with Black in quick games. This would be enough to put me off ever playing the Ponziani, see the analysis in Plotkin, M - Mista, A.



Giuoco Piano 4 c3 Nf6 5 d4 exd4 6 e5 d5 [ C54]

Bizarrely, Robson, R - Aronian, L actually started life as a Berlin Spanish and then transposed directly into a Giuoco Mainline.











Here Victor has already examined 15...Nf5 and 15...Ng3, but here Black played the most common 15...Nd2, instead, and followed-up with an interesting and relatively new setup.



Two Knights 4 d4 exd4 5 e5 d5 6 Bb5 Ne4 7 Nxd4 Bc5 8 Be3 0-0 [C56]

I decided to look at this line when I saw in Tait's work that my preferred system with 5...Ng4 was actually now looking a bit dubious.

Matlakov, M - Ohanyan, E features the line with 7...Bc5 8 Be3 0-0, offering White a pawn, or two, in return for development:











We haven't really considered the critical 12 Qxd5, taking a 2nd pawn, before. Black normally regains both the pawns and objectively the line is very drawish, however, after the game's 16 Nd5 I did notice that there was always a point in the game where Black would have to find a far from obvious only move, so it looks like White can play to win while keeping a draw in hand.


Two Knights 4 d4 exd4 5 e5 d5 6 Bb5 Nd7 7 0-0 Be7 [C56]

I think that this 6...Nd7 line is a good alternative to the rather drawish mainline with 6...Ne4 we've just seen. Following 7 0-0 Be7 8 Bxc6 bxc6 9 Nxd4 Black plays the odd 9...Nb8!, 'undeveloping' one of his only two developed pieces:











Black has the bishop pair and can often expand in the centre with ...c6-c5, when the knight can 'redevelop' to the more active c6-square. Have a look at the analysis in Najer, E - Robson, R.



Schliemann or Jaenisch Gambit 4 d3 Nf6 [C63]

Jonathan Tait recommends the Jaenisch Gambit against the Ruy Lopez. According to Tait, over the board a scan of the past ten years in the TWIC database puts 4 d3 on 53%, well ahead of the mainline 4 Nc3, no doubt because it is easier to play and avoids lots of memorisation.

As luck would have it I noticed a couple of games in the KomodoDragon - Stockfish dev15 computer match that featured 4 d3 Nf6!? (instead of the 'normal' 4...fxe4) deferring the exchange on e4, and this is also Jonathan Tait's recommendation:











Both games were drawn which suggests that Black's play is perfectly viable.



Until next month, Tony.

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