August '00 Update
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Welcome to this month's Daring Defences Update, presented by GM Neil McDonald. |
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English Defence
In view of the name of this system, it is appropriate that this month's games should focus on developments at the British Championship.
If after ...b7-b6 and ...Bb7 White avoids advancing d4-d5 before playing Nf3 and g2-g3, then Black has the option of weakening White's pawns with ...Bxf3 as the recapture e2xf3 is then forced. We have already seen the black pieces handled in superb style after this in Yermolinsky - Speelman. In the new example given here, Black's approach is much more forthright than Speelman's, who spent a lot of time stabilising his centre and shutting out the bishop on g2 before embarking on active measures. Instead of fortifying the light squares Aaron Summerscale looks for play on the dark squares. He is willing for a time to concede a space advantage, but when he breaks out White is soon overwhelmed. Have a look at the excellent game Knott - Summerscale.
Of course, things are normally much harder for Black if White advances d4-d5 to blot out the bishop before completing his kingside development. Last month I was pretty gloomy about Black's chances, based on games such as Kveinys - Miezis. However, in the game at the British, Black came up with an effective deployment of his pieces- the f6 square is reserved for the king's bishop. When there is such a big difference in rating between two players it is hard to be sure about the correct verdict on an opening line, but it appears interesting for Black- have a look at Snape - Summerscale.
Finally, the 2000 British Champion Julian Hodgson shows how Black can use the English Defence against the English Opening to create an imbalanced structure and therefore good counterchances. Black builds up a huge attack in Knott - Hodgson.
Budapest
"You'll probably throw your hands up in despair when I tell you I play the Budapest" said someone who wanted chess lessons from me. In fact, looking at the opening these last couple of months has taught me that it can be very effective at more modest levels of chess. Firstly, most club players will be surprised by 2...e5 and after 3 dxe5 Nxe5 play the natural 4 Nf3 rather than the more challenging 4 Bf4; and if they do happen to play 4 Bf4, the tactical sequence that leads to White's advantage in Gerard-Dupre Guegan given below will probably be unknown to them. Or at least unknown the first time you play the Budapest against them- they might go home and look up the theory afterwards!
The first game given this month illustrates the practical value of the system. White makes an early error which hands Black a free tempo. He uses this to employ a strategy which is easy to learn and highly effective against inexperienced players- swing the rook from a6 over to the kingside and just watch as White panics! Players often become nervous when the enemy pieces start circling around their king. Have a look at Black's crushing 24 move victory in Genova - Litsas.
The second game is much less cheerful for Black. It confirms that in the 4 Bf4 Bb4+ 5 Nd2 d6? line he can be forced into a miserable endgame- again, with the proviso that White knows the theory. White's play is a model of sustained endgame pressure in Gerard - Dupre Guegan.
However, the good news is that the alternative 5...Nc6 seems to lead to a solid, though slightly inferior, game. Thus a 2484 Elo was unable to beat a 2267 Elo with White in an analytical note in the Gerard-Dupre Guegan game.
Finally, in Ananchenko - Kahn we see the 4 e4 response as played most famously in Bacrot-Shirov. Black makes an interesting improvement on the game Soln - Bozanic analysed in the May Update. This must be one of the least promising ways for White to take on the Budapest- let's hope that lots of White players start playing it because they vaguely remember the Shirov game!
Old Indian
I always believed that the most popular way for Black to reach the Old Indian set up was 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 e5, but looking at recent games 1. d4 d6 2.c4 e5 seems to have the edge. Certainly this is the more flexible approach as it keeps the option of using the f pawn to support the centre either with f7-f6 [ for example 3.dxe5 dxe5 4.Qxd8+ Kxd8 5.Nf3 f6 ] or with f7-f5. This becomes important after 1.d4 d6 2.c4 e5 3.Nf3 e4.
Now Sultanov - Poluljahov saw 4 Nd2 f5, while 4.Ng5 f5 was Estremera Panos-Georgiev. The latest battle in this contentious variation is Kleist-Benjamin. White decides to prevent Black getting a grip on the centre with d5-d6, but his decision to advance d4-d5 himself quickly leads him into trouble. This line is doing well for Black.
In the June Update I was critical of Black's plan of conceding the centre with 1.d4 d6 2.c4 e5 3.Nc3 exd4?! And I think this is a correct opinion as in Tratar - Srebrnic and other games Black has been unable to fully equalise after 4 Qxd4 Nc6 5 Qd2! followed by a queenside fianchetto with b2-b3.
However, this month I have decided to show you the game Ernst-Dunnington in which White responds with a couple of inaccurate moves, beginning with 5 Qd3?! Whilst I am not convinced by the plan of 3...exd4, this game is too splendid an example of a dynamic counterattack to ignore. I'm sure all Daring Defenders will enjoy looking at Ernst- Dunnington.
Benko
One of the hottest theoretical battles is in the 4.cxb5 a6 5.b6 e6 variation. At the moment Black is more than holding his own against White's attempts to exploit the weaknesses created in his centre. It seems the inherent dynamism in his set up overrides other considerations. It is very exciting for Black that he is doing well in this line, as it means he doesn't have to endure the rigid pawn structure after the alternative 5...d6 etc. which, whilst being solid, isn't much fun.
In the first game White tries to improve on the game Deiler- Degreave, but he loses control and Black scores a convincing win after a positional exchange sacrifice. This probably remains the critical line in the Rb8 variation. Take a look at Hovmoller - Boehlke
Black has also been trying 6 Nc3 Bb7 instead of taking immediately on d5. The idea is that after 7 dxe6 fxe6 Black would have an excellent form of the Blumenfeld Gambit. So White normally supports his centre with 7 e4, but this is also problematical. He is smoothly outplayed in Pedersen - Mikhalevski .
Next we look at a thematic win for Black in the 7 e4 mainline. White centralises all his pieces but the e4-e5 advance never comes and Black is able to break through on the queenside. This is just the sort of game Black is hoping for when he ventures on the Benko- if his opponent fails to take aggressive action at the right moment his pressure on the queenside can just win the game for him. Here's Van Driel- Erwich.
Even in the mainline Benko, in which both sides normally go about developing their pieces and postpone the real fight to the middlegame, move order can still be vitally important. In Holis - Vuckovic White gets into a mess after he combines e2-e4 with g2-g3 in an inappropriate way.
Finally we revisit 4.Nd2. Black scores a very impressive victory with the line already discussed in the game Serper - Miton. It seems fairly clear that the ..c4-c3 idea is the best response. Check out Kludacz - Radziewicz.