recommend it all.
The refutation seems to be 6 Nxd5! (6 exd5? Re8! would totally justify Black's play) 6 ... Ng4 7 f5! ! (rather than 7 Nh3? c6 8 Nc3 Qh4+ 9 Kfl Nf2 10 Qe1 Bxh3 1 1
D a n gerous Wea p o n s : 1 e4 e S
gxh3 Qxh3+ and Black i s winning, D.Kuchta-A.Kohut, Warsaw 1 999) 7 .. . Nf2 8 Qh5 and now:
Diagram 8 (W)
Diagram 9 (B)
a) 8 .. .Kh8 9 Nf3 b5 (or 9 ... Nxh1 1 0 Ng5 h6 1 1 f6 and there is no good defence to White crashing through with 1 2 fxg7+ Kxg7 1 3 Nxf7 Rxf7 14 Qxh6+ Kg8 1 5 Nf6+) 10 Ng5 h6 1 1 f6 Qd7 12 fxg7+ Kxg7 13 Nxf7 1 -0 P.Delekta-D.Dumitrache, Cappelle Ia Grande 1992.
b) 8 ... Nxh1 loses to 9 Bg5 Qd6 10 f6 Bxg1 - what else? - 1 1 Ne7+ Kh8 12 Nxc8! Qc6 (or 1 2 ... Rxc8 13 fxg7+ Kxg7 14 Qxf7+) 13 Ne7 Qb6 14 fxg7+ Kxg7, and now 15 0-0-0 looks good enough, but much more fun is 1 5 Bh6+ Kh8 1 6 Qg5! Qf2+ 17 Kd1 Qfl+ 18 Kd2 Qf2+ (or 18 ... Be3+ 19 Qxe3! - but not 19 Kxe3?? Qf2 mate - 19 ... Qxa1 20 Bg7+) 19 Kc3 Qd4+ 20 Kb3 Qb6+ 21 Ka4
(Diagram 9).
White's king is quite safe on a4; the same cannot be said about Black's on h8!
6 Bxf4
Played almost without exception, but is it White's best move?
6 d4?! Bb4 7 e5 Ne4 8 Qf3 d5! is clearly good for Black. But I think 6 Nf3!? deserves serious consideration, if only because in some lines White can play d3-d4 followed by 0-0, only recapturing on f4 when his king is safely tucked away. After 6 ... c6 7 d4 (7 e5 is met by the typical counter 7 ... d5!, and now 8 Bb3 Nh5 or 8 exf6 dxc4 9 d4 Re8+ 1 0 Ne2 Bd6 1 1 fxg7 Qe7 looks promising for Black), I actually think Black should go for 7 ... Bb6 (7 .. . Bb4 8 e5 d5 9 Bd3 Ne4 10 0-0 may be playable, but there's no doubt that White is active). For example, 8 Bxf4 (8 e5 is met by 8 ... d5 9 Bd3 Nh5 10 0-0 f6) 8 ... d5 (8 ... Nxe4!? 9 Nxe4 d5 10 Qe2 dxc4 1 1 0-0-0 Be6 is also possible) 9 exd5 cxd5 10 Be2 (if 10 Bd3 Bg4!, or 1 0 Bb3 Re8+ 1 1 Ne2 Qe7!) 1 0 ... Ne4 1 1 0-0 Nc6 with a roughly equal position.
F i g h t i n g t h e Pse u d o K i ng's G a m biteers
6 ... c6 (Diagram 10)
Diagram 10 (W)
Diagram 11 (W)
7 d4!?
White must make another difficult choice here:
a) 7 Nf3 dS 8 Bb3 (8 exdS Re8+!) 8 ... Bg4 looks comfortable for Black.
b) 7 Bb3 dS 8 d4 Bb4 was studied in the illustrative game Miellet Bensan-Mitkov. Instead 8 eS Bg4 9 Qd2 NhS 10 d4 Bb4 looks better for Black - White has again been left with his light-squared bishop bashing its head against a brick wall. c) 7 eS dS! 8 Bb3 transposes to the previous note, and 8 exf6 is answered by 8 ... Qxf6!.
7
. . .Bb4 8 es
White can also decide to gambit the e4-pawn. 8 Qf3 Nxe4 (or even 8 ... d5!) is not the way to do this, but there are a couple of interesting tries:
a) 8 Nf3 Nxe4 9 0-0 and now the safest approach for Black is probably 9 ... Bxc3 10
bxc3 dS 11 Bd3 BfS.
b) 8 Nge2 Nxe4 9 0-0 dS!? (9 ... Bxc3 10 Nxc3 Nxc3 1 1 bxc3 dS 12 Bd3 offers White
compensation) 10 Nxe4 dxc4 1 1 c3 Be7 1 2 N2g3 QdS leaves White's pieces massing on the kingside, but Black plans ... Be6 and ... Nd7 and it's unclear whether White has enough compensation or not.
8 ..
.d5! (Diagram 11)
I prefer this to 8 ... Ne4 9 Qf3 dS 10 exd6! Nxc3 1 1 bxc3 Bxd6 12 Ne2, which might be a bit better for White.
Dangero u s Wea p o n s : 1 e4 e S
This compares favourably to Miellet Bensan-Mitkov because White's l ight
squared bishop is a whole lot happier on d3 than on b3. That said, I still think this position is fine for Black.
9 exf6 is a critical alternative: 9 ... dxc4 10 fxg7 (or else Black simply captures on f6 with the queen) 1 0 ... Re8+ 1 1 Kf2! ( 1 1 Nge2? loses to 1 l ...Bg4) 1 1 ...Qf6 ( 1 l ...c5!?) 12 Qd2 with a very complex and I think dynamically equal position. White obviously has problems to solve regarding his king, and Black is quite active. On the other hand, Black has permanent weaknesses on the kingside. One possible continua tion is 12 ... Bg4 13 Nf3 Nd7 14 Rhe1 Kxg7 with a roughly level position.
9 exd6 can be answered by the surprising zwischenzug 9 ... b5
(Diagram 12),
Diagram 12 (W)
Diagram 13 (W)
which forces White to commit his bishop at a time when he doesn't really want to: 10 Bb3 is met rather obviously by 1 0 ... Re8+! intending 1 1 Nge2 Bg4!, while 1 0 Bd3 can be answered by 10 ... Nd5!.
9 ... Ne4 10 Nge2
10 Bxe4 dxe4 1 1 Nge2 Bg4 promises Black counterplay on the light squares, for example after 12 0-0 Bxc3 13 bxc3 QdS. Even so, perhaps this is a better bet for White than 10 Nge2 because he soon has to capture on e4 in any case.
10 ... Qh4+1 11 g3
The only option, as 1 1 Bg3 Nxg3 12 Nxg3 f6! blows open the position to Black's advantage.
11 ... Qh3 (Diagram 13) 12 Bxe4
This looks best. Black was threatening ... Bg4, and 12 a3 could be answered by 12 ... Qg2!.
F i g h t i n g the Pse u d o Ki ng's G a m biteers
12 ... dxe4 13 Qd2 Bg4 14 0-0-0 Nd7
With good play for Black, who has possibilities such as ... Bf3, ... Bxc3, ... QhS, and ... Nb6 followed by ... NdS or ... Nc4.
B) 1 e4 e5 2 Bc4 Nf6 3 d3 Bc5 4 Nc3
o-o5 Bg5 (Diagram 14)
Diagram 14 (B)
Diagram 15 (W)
This is the second most likely move Black must be prepared to face. It's easy to see its attraction: Black has castled early and so the pin on the knight becomes more effective - breaking it with ... h6 and ... gS clearly entails more risk now. Even so, I don't think Black has too much to worry about if he knows what he is doing.
5 ... h6 6 Bh4
Capturing on f6 is possible in many similar positions where White subsequently gains time on the queen with NdS (see Line C), but here it makes less sense. After 6 Bxf6 Qxf6 7 Nf3 Black simply prevents NdS by playing 7 ... c6!, and following 8 0-0 bS 9 Bb3 aS it is White who must look to equalize.
6 ... c6! (Diagram 15)
It's vital to play this move early: it prevents NdS, sets up the possibility of ... d7-dS and also offers the dark-squared bishop a route to c7 via b4 and aS in the event of Na4.
6 ... d6 is playable but riskier because it doesn't address these issues. That said, 7 Na4 Bb4+ 8 c3 BaS 9 b4 Bb6 1 0 Nxb6 axb6 1 1 Qf3 Be6! 1 2 Bxf6 Qxf6 1 3 Qxf6 gxf6 14 Ne2 Nd7 1S Kd2 fS! was fine for Black in A.Kogan-I.Sokolov, Canada de Calatrava (rapid) 2007. If White goes for 7 NdS!?, this should be met by 7 ... Nbd7! (7 ... gS 8 Bg3 NxdS 9 BxdS looks better for White, who has the option of h2-h4). Then 8 Ne2
Da ngerous Wea pons: 1 e4 e S
c6 9 Nxf6+ Nxf6 1 0 0-0 Bg4, and 8 Nf3 c6 9 Nxf6+ Nxf6 1 0 0-0 Bg4, both seem okay for Black.