Principales cambios en los requisitos esenciales

a) 4...Qb6 5.Bxf6 Qxf6 keeps the pawn structure intact, but continues to postpone development.

It was not easy to decide what to play here. 6.e4 is logical, remembering White’s first priority is to use his

development advantage. But after 6...Qxb2 7.Nbd2 g6 8.Rb1 Qxa2 9.Bxb5 Bg7 it doesn’t seem to offer more than compensation.

6.c3 is the safe choice, recommended by Summerscale and played in almost every game in the database. After 6...d6, I like the rare 7.Nbd2, leaving the e4-square free for at least another move. It stops Black from playing ...g7-g5, and a piece move could be more useful than a pawn move if the position opens up with 8.a4 b4 9.cxb4.

b) 4...d6!? is a reasonable move. Then 5.e4!? is an interesting attempt to fight for the initiative.

5.Bxf6 will be our main focus though, leading to a thematic structure, even though 5...exf6 is much better for Black than after 4...Bb7, since the bishop on c8 supports ...f6-f5.

6.e4 a6 7.a4 b4 8.Bd3 White has to put the bishop here to stop ...f6-f5. The following line is illustrative: 8...g6 9.Nbd2 Bg7 10.Nc4 0-0 11.0-0 Bb7!? What’s this? Wasn’t the bishop worse here? The difference is the placement of White’s bishop: d5 is weaker when White’s bishop blocks the d-file and Black has been doing okay after 12.Qd2 f5. An

improvement that suggests itself is 12.a5 since 12...f5 13.exf5 Bxd5 14.Nb6 forces Black to give up the light squares. c) We will see 4...Bb7 5.Bxf6 exf6 6.e4 a6 in one of the exercises.

6...c4 is more challenging, but Black’s queenside structure is not stable at all. White plays a2-a4xb5, Rxa8 and b2-b3. This could be done in many ways and since all are promising, I don’t see a point in choosing one.

d) 4...Qa5† was Stahlberg – Petrosian.

e) 4...Ne4 5.Bf4 (It’s not good to play like Stahlberg with 5.Nbd2. With the queen still on d8, Black wins a tempo on the knight after 5...Nxg5 6.Nxg5 e6.) 5...Bb7

The main move is 6.a4, but it’s not easy for White to get rid of the knight on e4 after 6...b4!. 6.e3!? isn’t common, but was played in Daniel Gurevich – Ray Robson, Spice Cup 2015. White’s plan is 7.c3, threatening the pawn on b5. After 7...Qa5 8.Nbd2! Bxd5 9.Nb3 Bxb3 10.axb3 he wins back the pawn and ends up in a position with control over the light squares. Robson played the logical 6...Qa5† 7.c3 Nf6 but 8.d6! gave White an initiative and later a fine scalp.

B) 3...e6 4.Nc3

White’s choice is a matter of taste and 4.c4 works for those who aren’t afraid of the Blumenfeld: 4...b5

4...exd5

4...b5 challenges White’s centre. It’s time for action: 5.e4! b4 6.dxe6! and Black has three alternatives. a) 6...bxc3 7.exf7† Kxf7 8.e5 which wins back the piece with an attack.

b) 6...fxe6 7.Nb5 Nxe4 is a typical pawn sacrifice. Black is far behind in development after 8.Bf4 Na6 9.Ne5 Nf6 10.Qf3 and I don’t think Black will ever manage to castle.

c) 6...dxe6 7.Qxd8† Kxd8

This is recommended in Dangerous Weapons: The Benoni and Benko by Richard Palliser. He writes that White’s set- up fails to impress, and he doesn’t even find a way to equalize. However 8.Ne5! makes Nc3-b5 stronger if Black defends the pawn, and 8...Rg8 9.Nb1 gives a structural advantage with equal material.

5.Nxd5 Nxd5 6.Qxd5 Nc6!

A move recommended in Attack with Black by Valery Aveskulov (2012). It prepares to chase the queen quickly with 7...d6 and 8...Be6, but without running into 6...d6 7.Ng5 Qe7 (7...Qf6? 8.Nxh7! is embarrassing) 8.Bf4! when White threatens to take on d6 and Black’s position collapses after 8...Nc6 9.0-0-0 or 8...h6 9.Ne4.

6...Be7 was Garry Kasparov’s choice in a simultaneous display. He managed to play ...d6, ...Nd7-b6 and ...d6-d5. 7.e4 was Dautov – Miezis, but better is 7.Bf4!, a move that’s only been played in one serious game. Black has no way to keep control over d6, for example 7...Nc6 8.0-0-0 0-0 9.Bd6.

7.e4 d6

7...Be7 is a clever move order that avoids the concrete Ng5-lines, as well as Bf4-d6. 8.Bc4 0-0 9.0-0 d6 10.Qd3 is similar to the main line, but without White winning one or two tempos. However, even so Black has no way to challenge the d5-square.

8.Ng5

The knight will be forced back to f3, but White and Black will not lose the same number of tempos. We will count after White’s twelfth move.

8.Be2 was recommended in A Killer Chess Opening Repertoire (Summerscale and Johnsen, 2010) but the text move is stronger.

8...Qe7

8...Qc7 would be more natural but allows White to develop smoothly. The text move blocks the bishop on f8, but there is a tactical point after 9.Bc4 f6! 10.Nf7 Nb4 when White can’t defend both c2 and e4.

9.Bb5!

The Serbian grandmaster Dragan Kosic told me that this move was his invention. White forces Black to put the bishop on d7.

9...Bd7 10.Bc4 Nd8

This time 10...f6? 11.Nf7 Nb4 12.Qxb7 loses for Black, which is the idea behind Bb5-c4. 11.0-0 h6 12.Nf3 Nc6

The Ng5 manouevre led to both knights losing two tempos each, and the bishops one tempo each (when Black has played ...Bd7-e6). Black will lose a second tempo with the queen, and is at the same time deprived of the option of putting it on b6. And remember that White’s queen doesn’t lose an additional tempo – it was on d5 already before Nf3- g5.

Add that Black had to spend a tempo on ...h7-h6 and it’s clear that White has two or three reasons to be happy. 13.Qd3N

13.Bf4 was played by Dragan Kosic against me in Budapest in 2015. Up to this point I had been following my preparation, but that didn’t make me appreciate the position. However, now I should have played 13...Be6 14.Qd3 Bxc4 15.Qxc4 Qe6 16.Qd3 0-0-0! with decent chances. The rook on a1 has to defend a2, ...Qf6xb2 is a possibility and Black also has ...g5-g4.

13...Be6 14.Bd5

It will not be convenient for Black to castle long after this move. 14...Qd7

Normal development would be 15.Bf4 followed by Rad1 and c2-c3, but White has another interesting possibility as well.

White centralizes the rooks and may consider Nd2 followed by Nc4 or Qg3. It’s also possible to take back on d5 with the e-pawn if Black’s knight doesn’t have a good retreat square.

Exercise 1

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 c5 3.d5 b5 4.Bg5 Bb7 5.Bxf6 exf6 6.e4 a6 7.a4 b4 8.Nbd2

Black to move

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Exercise 2