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Fianchetto Variation with 6...Bf5 [E60]
I should state from the outset that the unusual lines we are going to look at depend on two distinct move orders, namely 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 0-0 5.Bg2 d6 6.Nc3 and 6.0-0. A lot of the time there’s no real difference between them, but here there is. With the 6.Nc3 Bf5 version Black will have to meet 7.Nh4 with 7...Bc8, with 6.0-0 Bf5 he can meet 7.Nh4 with 7...Be4:
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which happened in Werle, J - Van Foreest, J. White got confused enough to find himself in a poor position, something that happens a lot in this line.
Werle might have seen that 7.Nc3 can be met by 7...Ne4:
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Werle might have seen that 7.Nc3 can be met by 7...Ne4:
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There are several ways to play this position for White, for example 8.Nd5 is quite playable as in Srihari, L R - Alekseenko, K, though White should play 10.Qc2 instead of 10.Nh4. There’s also 8.Nh4 which forces 8...Nxc3 9.bxc3 Bc8, when in Ragger, M - Shevchenko, K showed a very dangerous plan for White commencing 10.f4:
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I suspect that Olexander Bortnyk, a frequent flyer with Black in this line, knows the right way to proceed with his 10...Nc6. Shevchenko’s outing might have ended in tears had White played 15.Bxd4 instead of his 15.cxd4.
An inferior but popular move for White is 10.e4:
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as in Eichler, C - Rapport, R. White’s centre only looks imposing and his c4 pawn is frequently a target.
I checked the history of 6...Bf5 and found that Oleg Romanishin had played it back in the 1980s. Both Rafael Vaganian and Uwe Boensch then played 7.b3, but after 7...Qc8 8.Bb2 Romanishin played 8...Bh3 against Vaganian (Vaganian, R - Romanishin, O) and the more provocative 8...Re8 against Boensch (Boensch, U - Romanishin, O). I think these different choices boiled down to Romanishin’s level of satisfaction with mere equality, it wasn’t computer prep as that wasn’t a thing back then.
Fianchetto Variation with 6...a5 [E60]
If White chooses 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 0-0 5.Bg2 d6 6.Nc3 instead of 6.0-0 then Black will need to meet 6...Bf5 7.Nh4 with 7...Bc8. I guess this might be considered a tacit draw offer because White can repeat with 8.Nf3 Bf5 9.Nh4, though playing the King’s Indian tends to be a pugnacious choice. In Bok, B - Hakobian, A White drove the bishop back with 7.Nh4 and then met 7...Bc8 with 8.0-0. After the further 8...a5 9.Nf3 we got the 6...a5!? variation with White then castling:
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There was some more repetition shenanigans with 9...Bf5 10.Nh4 Bc8 with White now refusing to repeat by going 11.h3. Finally it was Black who turned down a repetition after the further 11...Nc6 12.Nf3 Bf5 13.Nh4 and now 13...Bd7, going on to win a very messy game. This shows why this line is a great blitz weapon, White may get tempted to try for some big advantage and wasted time on the clock.
In So, W - Praggnanandhaa, R Black played the immediate 6...a5 and after 7.0-0 Bf5 8.Nh4 Bc8 varied from the Bok - Hakobian game with 9.b3. This looks solid enough but did not give Black too much trouble, in fact Pragg was at least equal in the early middle-game.
As with the lines from last month’s update, these 6...Bf5 and 6...a5 concoctions do not make White’s life very easy, especially because they’ve been so little explored. For elite players they may be useful weapons in blitz and rapid play, but the rest of us might use them all the time!
It remains for me to wish you a Happy New Year! See you next month! Nigel Davies
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