ReViewing Chess: French, Winawer, Other Black 4th Moves, Vol. 69.1

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A he will be forced to sacrifice a pawn with 8. Ruy Lopez - Steinitz Defence Deferred 6. White can frustrate Black's plan with the annoying h4-h5. The other option is to change the nature of the position with 7. Aioriian,Levon ; Yandemirov,Valery '. Sochi tt 4 ;1. Otherwise, he can continue with the classical 6. Jose Raul Budapest 6. Wh1 85 Chess Open inn Essentials - Volume Victor Varna 01 8 1. However, the immediate The two variations are similar, in that they both aim for more active play, even if by nature this involves taking more risks than with the Closed Spanish.

Both bishop moves have good and bad points, and it is therefore difficult to decide which of the two is better: The bishop on b7 allows This robs the b 7-bishop of much of its effectiveness and avoids a lot of theory. However, the critical line remains 7. White's centre is impressive, but it also runs the risk of collapsing.

For this reason White usually reinforces the centre. The problem is that White, not having played: The modern treatment involves a direct 6. At this point the most popular move is S. Now Black sacrifices a pawn with A strategically and tactically rich position for both sides: Leipzig m 4 gS l'4. Adolf Paulsen,Louis " " Fischer. Schlechter,CarI Buenos Airei 12 " ;"1.

White is better off. In view of the weak e4-pawn and his more active pieces it is safe to say that Whlte's two minor pieces are stronger than Black's rook and two pawns. Siegbert Tarrasch dogmatically declared it to be the only way for Black to obtain a good position. However, though it has always had many supporters, the Open Spanish has never been as popular as the Closed.

Its most illustrious modern advocate is the Russo-Swiss champion Viktor Kortchnoi. Attempting to open the e-fUe is without doubt a good idea with an adversary's knight on e4. The Riga Variation, though sometimes played, is undoubtedly favourable for White: Wxh2 90 So Black is virtually forced to weaken his queenside. The d4-square is often occupied by the f3 -knight. In addition the move lLlf3-d4 clears the way for White's kingside pawn majority and the pawn advance f4-fs can be devastating. Needless to say, Black has his resources.

His pieces are active, the eS-pawn is weak, and his counter play against f2 could become unpleasant, especially after.. At this point White can choose between three main alternatives: White does not vacate the c2-square for his bishop for now, but instead immediately attacks the outpost on e4. As a result, the thematic move has always been considered to be d5-d41? White clears the d I-square for his rook in order to apply immediate pressure on the dS -pawn. It received its most famous seal of approval with Kasparov's famous victory over Anand in the World Championship.

The idea is to vacate the f3-square for the white queen, with the threat of tLlxf7. Taking the undefended knight with ';lYd8xg5 The line previously thought to be safer, Now Black, as is often the case in the Spanish, has to decide whether to place the bishop solidly on e7 or aggressively oneS.

Ruy Lopez - Open Variation C1 i. This is the most played, and probably the move which is most in the spirit of the Open Spanish, even if it is not necessarily the strongest reply.

Livre connexe : Reviewing Chess French Winawer Other Black 4th Moves Vol 69 1 English Edition

The price you pay to apply pressure on f2 and have an active position, is that it facilitates the common white manoeuvre tbbl-d2-b3: Black can only obtain adequate counterplay by opening the f-file: Black's pressure is such that White usually concedes a pawn to open up the game with Wg 1, and now the endgame that follows after This is presumably because it is easier to push a mass of passed pawns forward than to achieve a harmonious coordination of White's minor pieces.

The most played of the three alternatives in modern times. Black does not fear conceding the loss of his dark-squared bishop. It pays not to be too dogmatic. At times it is okay to give up the dark-squared bishop. I, after which there is no further counterplay on a lDb3, leaves White with the advantage after Nowadays it is very rare, but this is a question of fashion, not objective inferiority, given that there are no known refutations.

At this pOint, in the past the critical variation, which contains an incredible hidden Black sacrifice, was IS. Black, who must play actively, threatens White occupies this square first with The question now is: The answer is The strange make-up of the opposing forc es is something that you do not see every day: Who is better off? This line was first played in , and no one is really any the wiser after more than 60 years!

There is an interesting story relating to this variation: The theory until the move However, Isaac Boleslavsky was the first to appreciate the potential of Two years later in , a radio match was organized as part of the end-of-war celebrations: The convincing win by the Soviets came as a great surprise: On second board Vasily Smyslov found himself facing Samuel Reshevsky.

In their first game Smyslov had the white pieces, and Reshevsky allowed him to employ this very variation, which was so well known to the Soviet players and completely unknown to the Americans. As a result Smyslov was able to beat his formidable opponent with unusual ease. This demonstrates how slowly news of chess developments spread in the days before the Internet. It is understandable that White would want to seek an advantage without all these fireworks.

Nova Gorica ] 2S Alexander Ponomariov,Ruslan ,'; Metger,Johannes. Grischuk-Anand, Wijk aan Zee 2S. Ac2 " f5 Wg1 b4 ' 37JU In addition to the main continuation 6.

The game is characterized by a slow positional struggle with opportunities for both sides; at times transposing to the Anti-Archangel, or the Anti-Marshall, in which White plays the solid d3. White defends e4 with the queen so the rook can have the dl-square, thus making the pawn moves to c3 and d4 more effective.

This plan is highly logical and dangerous, and Black's best way to counter would seem to be to play in the spirit of the Marshall: At this point, 9. Therefore White falls back on 9.

White has some kingside prospects, while Black has good central control. It seems to go against common sense to take on c6 after having lost a tempo with the retreat to a4. However, in comparison with the exchange on the 4th move, the situation is different. The consequence of this is that Black also has to lose tempi in order to harmonize his position. It should be stressed that the percentage of draws with this variation is unusually high, and thus it could be an optimal choice for white players against stronger opponents.

Apart from the rare I To head into the so-called Closed Spanish with Black sacriHces the eS-pawn for a strong attack against the white king. The story goes that Marshall kept the idea of this pawn sacriHce secret for years, saving it up for a future encounter with Capablanca. He played it against him New York in the hope of ruining the young Cuban's growing reputation.

However, Capablanca met the prepared variation with sangfroid. He found the best moves over the board, 'refuting' the surprise weapon and winning. The refutation was so convincing that the original move of the American player II Almost one hundred years of attempting to refute the Marshall have not borne fruit.

Indeed, the results of hundreds of games demonstrate that the Marshall Attack is one of Black's best systems. Certainly the fordng nature of the line, in which a good memory is more important than creative play, is not to all black players' tastes. It also does not appeal to some because there are various lines in which White can force an early draw. As a consequence, this aggressive gambit is ironically seen by many professional players as a good way to get a draw against players of their own strength, while preferring the Closed Spanish when looking for a win against weaker players.

However, we should take one step back: Among these is Garry Kasparov, who after The most traditional Anti-Marshall line begins with 8. During the s, the most popular response to the a4 pawn advance was If instead Black prefers the positions ariSing from the closed systems and does not like the Anti-Marshall systems, he will usually play Kasparov's move White's win rate was good.

However, also in this case opinions have changed, and the alternative move Another quick look at some of the subtle psychology that occurs in practical modern chess: However, if Black likes the pOSitions that arise by employing Anti-Marshall lines , he can set off a smokescreen by beginning with The dS-knight is en prise and needs to be either moved or defended, after which the white rook will be exposed, which facilitates Black's counterplay. When the variation was first introduced, Ruy Lopez - Marshall Attack It has been used since the end of the s - after Marshall first played his attack it took some twenty years to find the best move!

In our age of the Internet and Fritz it could take as little as 20 minutes! This is not often played, but the results with it are encouraging. For years, at this point people have almost exclusively played White seeks counterplay on the queenside, and now, after However, the general opinion is that the positions are dynamically balanced. Recently, in the diagrammed position the move The idea is to get rid of the intruder on h3 with the follow-up.!: Black prevents this with This pawn cannot be captured, because after Here White makes an energetic exchange sacrifice with Black can either accept this or refuse with After either of these options the position is difficult to assess.

Even after this short introduction you have probably already realized that the Marshall is alive and kicking. It is therefore fully understandable why many white players try to avoid it altogether. New York 19 I 8 1. O-O Ae7 6Jle1 bS Viswanathan Cap d'Agde rapid 3 1. Vasily Sudak 9 1. Ruslan Anand, Viswanathan Linares 14 1.

Let's stop to look at the real reasons for White's last move, given the worrying fact that so many opening books do not explain the thinking behind it. However, the real reason is highly tactical. The most natural would appear to be the immediate 8. So as not to lose the bishop, the gambit continuation lO. It gives some compensation, but probably not enough. Now we can understand in what sense 8. It is worth mentioning the interesting possibility to get off the beaten path by proceeding to a direct occupation of the centre with 9.

Black already threatens 1O However, White has resources with which he can liven up the game. This can be done in two ways: At this point Black concedes the centre, in order to attack it next with It gains space and closes the centre, giving Black a free hand on the flanks. This is the most solid and the most popular move: White wishes to prevent This is the initial position of the Closed Spanish, the most popular system of all the open games and a chapter of fundamental importance in the history of chess openings.

The number of arrows in the diagram shows the unusually high number of moves which can be played by Black, which is testimony to how flexible his position is. The subsequent game is usually characterized by heavy manoeuvring, with possible complications being played out at a later stage in the game. Now we will have a quick look at Black's options, in ascending order of popularity: White cannot support the pawn chain widl c3-c4, as he can in other variations, and must therefore take on c6.

D Black's intention is gaining space on the queenside and also exchanging off White's light-squared bishop. Here also, the idea is to play Sometimes the knight goes to b6 with The knight is certainly better placed on b6 than on as. Black's two last moves were non-developing and White profits from this with the thematic At this point Black usually responds with U8-e8 but if the truth be told, White's mobile centre seems to be more of a strength than a weakness. Here we have a set-up which tries to prevent the manoeuvre li: It should now be noted that if White plays If Black does not want the draw that would occur if he repeats the move After the usual Black usually responds with the violent Here, White can choose between two very different plans: White defends the e4-pawn, but above all prepares d4-d5 followed by b2-b3 and c3-d, to keep the pawn chain intact when Black attacks its head with White's centre will collapse, after which the b7 -bishop becomes active and Black's mass of centre pawns can begin to march down.

Black's problem is the safety of his king: The manoeuvre tLlh2-g4, the l:! Some of the best examples are to be found in the historic Kasparov-Karpov matches. We are yet to hear the last word on these variations, but OIl the whole the results favour White. The knight is heading for d7 to give support to the eS-pawn and if the bishop is developed to b7, it will be immediately active.

Furthermore, the way is cleared for the c-pawn. Breyer's move is not as popular now as it was in the s, when it was played at the highest level by the likes of Spassky and Karpov. However, it still has its supporters: Kramnik, Beliavsky and Mamedyarov, just to name some notable advocates. That said, Black's position is both solid and flexible and tournament results have been satisfactory for the second player. However, it is not necessarily the best. Black immediately begins to become active on the queenside, which would appear to be the most natural plan.

But on as, the knight remains sidelined for a while and more often than not Black's pieces are less harmoniously coordinated in comparison to other variations of the Closed Spanish. Black cannot take twice on b4, because after For the simple reason you would lose a pawn, as after the exchanges on d4 the bishop on c2 is unprotected. Ab1-d3 tLlcS-a5 Noteworthy is the 'knight's tour' made by this black knight: Leon Ech-tt 9 , 1.

Semi-Open Games Minor defences after 1. A word of warning: This is a lesson learnt the hard way by a World Champion, Anatoly Karpov, in a game against the late Tony Miles in The English grandmaster was an aficionado of minor systems, and to the dismay of Karpov as well as purists the world over, he won their encounter using the following minor defence: In addition, with the pawn advance a2-a4, there are also attacking possibilities on the queenside. However, the solidity of Black's position should not be underestimated.

Even more provocative is Basman's idea 1. In general it pays not to be dogmatic. However, the lost tempo and, more importantly, the weakening of the kingside seems to be a bit beyond the pale. Therefore, with correct play, these defects should guarantee White a clear advantage. M, the position quickly transposes to the English Defence.

This defence was champio ned by the great Aaron Nimzowitsch, and thus carries his name. Its ambitious objective is to apply pressure to White's d4-pawn, but in practice this doesn't usually happen. Placing the two centre pawns side by side is the most natural and ambitious response for White. However, the type of player who opts for The orthodox continuation is d7-d5 You should note that Minor Defences after l.

However, a good move would be S. Here, however, things are not so simple: M, White gets a nice centre with prospects of further expansion with c2-c4. At least, that is what opening manuals have blindly repeated for years and years. However, recent practice has demonstrated that this assessment is a little superficial and that there are structural elements present which are favourable for Black: In addition, we have a 4: It is no surprise that you have the same pawn structure as in the Caro-Kann and the Rubinstein Variation of the French - which are both solid positions par excellence.

However, this plan seems too ambitious to be realistic. Another choice is S This waiting move is generally preferred. It reserves the options of moving the queen's bishop to f5 or g4 and opens an escape route for the queen. The position is now practically that of a Caro-Kann where Black has lost some tempi, and he will lose ano ther with a further queen move. On the other hand, White's knight is more passive on c3 than on e4. Moreover, by following this virtually forced sequence Black has avoided the dangerous Advance Variation oftheCaro-Kann. With the idea of d4-d5. White has the adva IItage.

Gata Wijkaan Zee 1 " 1. A f4 gS First made famous by the later World Champion Alexander Alekhine in , it is based on a startling concept, which at the time bordered on heresy: Jc6, the d4-pawn becomes the target. Now White must decide whether to gain further space in the centre or content himself with a quieter approach. It should be noted that instead of supporting the centre with the f-pawn, it has recently become very popular for White to adopt the quiet alternative 5.

But let's return to 5. How do we evaluate such a position? Is White, with his imposing centre, ready to start a mating attack? Or is his centre a house of cards that is about to collapse? In practice, both of these events occur, and this is why we are looking at some of the most complex and exciting variations in opening literature. Usually Black aims to put d4 under immediate pressure with S. Play in this line is quiet and the variations are characterized by slow manoeuvring.

Now Black can choose from the following alternatives: This is ambitious but premature. This line is not forced, but it gives an idea of the complexity of these variations. This being the case, it is not a surprise that the percentage of draws in these lines is very low. Nonetheless, years of practical experience, as well as statistics produced by hundreds of games, show that White wins more or less the same percentage of games as he would by employing any other opening. This line was very fashionable in the Os following its adoption by Fischer in his World Championship match against Spas sky.

Today, however, it is seldom used. And now, White gains a promising position with either the aggressive 7. At this point Therefore recently, Black has shown a preference to prepare Ie 1 S But it leaves the door open to the complications that ensue after 6. White can also choose not to play h3, but it is generally a useful move. But, aware of this , White replies Alekhine Defence However, the doubling of the f-pawns makes it difficult to break with f4-f5, and Black's position usually proves surprisingly robust.

Af4 ' Nakamura,Hikarn e6 lS. However, the difference is that in the Modern the knight is absent from f6, or it develops to this square later on. When White pushes his pawn to c4, the game resembles the Qneen's Pawn Opening: Here we have a very elastic defence. Black almost ignores what White does and develops on his own account with a wide number of plans to choose from.

This makes the Modern an ideal defence for those among you that don't want a system for which you need to learn a lot of established theory. Black sometimes chooses not to make the classical pawn move ". However, usually Black does proceed with He can push his pawns to eS or to cS, or otherwise to c6-bS or a6-bS.

Black may decide to develop the b8 -knight to d7 or to c6, and the g8-knight to f6 or e7. White is not urgently required to defend e4 as in the Pire, and therefore, he too has a wide variety of approaches available to him. As a result of all this, it is very diffIcult to systematically examine this chameleonic defence. However, it is more common to play 3. White supports the centre and takes the bite out of a possible However, this is not a developing move and White must content himself with a minuscule advantage in the centre.

However, for players who enjoy a slow manoeuvring struggle it could be the right choice. Or otherwise to continue in a less directly challenging way. The only drawback of the natural development of the knight to c3 is that it facilitates a counterattack by Black with However, he usually opts for the interesting plan 4.

The following line is not forced, but reveals a lot about the position: Usually Black postpones castling short, which could lead to a re-entry in the Pirc. This would not be a bad thing, if it did not give White the chance to use a simple plan of attack: For this reason, Black prefers to respond with c7-c6 Now Black can play 4. In these variations, more so than in the others, the player with the better strategic skill will win. Not counting tactical mishap along the way, of course. Barcelona 9 1. O-O-O tZld7 " Jb1-c3 g7-g6 gressively, or he can instead opt to begin with slow manoeuvring.

In ascending order of popularity, the most common options are: Now White solidly develops: However, first Black plays This is not to suggest that the Pirc has proved itself to be superior to the King's Indian: It should be said that White can also choose not to play 3. In both these cases Black can decide not to fianchetto his f8 -bishop and instead respond in the centre with As in the Modern Defence, Black concedes the centre in hopes of undermining it at a later stage. Therefore this is an ambitious defence and, as a result, rather demanding to play. For his part, White can react ag If Black now takes on d4, h e allows his opponent active piece play.

Therefore this is a position which inspires differing assessments, depending on the taste of the commentator and ranging from equality to a small advantage for White. On the other hand, this takes a tempo, and it is not clear if all this is worth it. Black, who may not appreciate the presence of the bishop on gS, can give it a kick with However, here it is not clear either if this is positive or negative, given the lost tempi and the weaknesses on the kingside.

White can now continue with: It is difficult to judge which is more dangerous: White's kings ide attack, or Black's on the queenside. JfS-h5 By chasing the bishop we are heading for a complex middlegame, e. Here also, it is better to postpone castling. Wg1-h1 White has a good centre, but Black has sufficient counterplay. The Austrian Attack 0 c7-c6! Black is correct to immediately seek counterplay on the queenside. The resulting positions are complicated and they offer both sides chances. This plan is very dangerous and Black must respond by advancing a pawn to e5 or c5: This pawn advance is inspired by tactical considerations: If White wants to play more aggressively, he chooses S.

Weakening Black's control of the e6-square. If White takes the queen, Black gives perpetual check on f2 and e3. Therefore White usually relies on At this point there are two variations to consider: Black maintains equality notwithstanding his exposed king. For years this was thought to be a simple error because of 9.

The king is safer here than on f8! Let's return to 6. As a result, Black usually prepares for the first with For his part, Black can move his c6-knight to b4 or to d4; in both cases with satisfactory results. In Benoni fashion, Black now seeks counterplay on the queenside, which is Pire Defence facilitated by the absence of the white pawn on c4 and because the knight on b4 harasses the bishop on d3.

Yet at the same time, the manoeuvre 'fVel-h4 with the idea offS, jLh6 and liJgS can be very dangerous and practical results would appear to favour White. Classical Variation E 4. The latter tends to lead to the 4. However, a specific line exists in which White chooses a solid plan that starts with h 2-h3. An example is the variation S These generally involve putting White's centre under pressure either with..

Alternatively, Black can search for play on the queens ide with The variations below are indicative for each of the three different approaches. Thus we arrive at positions which are typical of the Franco-Benoni. White doesn't have any immediate threats, so Black can choose b etween iit. With the idea of 'ub3, leaving White with a small but insidious initiative, E3 c7-c6 Iadl with that small advantage which is always nice to have, but against correct play does not guarantee anything substantial.

Black could react with A h3 dS Robert ReykjavikWchm 17 1. And if we look a little closer, w e notice that the e4-pawn is the strategic linchpin around which all semi-open openings are based. Let's have a look at the various starting pOSitions. When Nimzowitsch wrote during the s that the Caro-Kann Defence is the refutation of l. Nimzowitsch knew that if you want to rock the boat you need to exaggerate somewhat. The proof that Nimzowitsch did not fully believe his pronouncement is demonstrated by the fact that he continued playing l. What he really meant was that it isn't compulsory to answer l.

In this sense I.. The e4-pawn, unlike its colleague to the immediate left, is unpro with I However, now White often advances the pawn to e5, keeping the centre closed. In the Closed French, it is a good thing that the c8-bishop cannot speak, as it has plenty to grumbleabout; after I.. Presented in this light, the Caro-Kann appears to be a perfect defence. Here White's options are limited by the fact that the e4-pawn is threatened. In the Caro-Kann, after The remaining option is to defend the Chess Opening Essentials - Volume 1 pawn with 3.

In real life, things are not so simple: Furthermore, in the main line, even though the absence of the e-pawn takes some of the sting out of White's play, it is also true that in the ensuing long positional battle White obtains a spatial advantage anyhow, and a comfortable position. This might not be so easy to convert into a win, but it is also true that the risks oflosing are minimal. As a result, the Caro-Kann has gained a reputation as a very solid defence suitable for positional players.

All this is true, but beware if your opponent chooses 3. A Here White intends, after the thematic 2. If Black plays the more accurate 4. This is not as academic as it may seem: A1 You will be dealing with one of the sharpest and most complex lines found in all opening theory! In order to avoid the risk of not being able to recoup the pawn, Black usually captures on d5 right away. For as much as we study or prepare for a particular type of game, sooner or later we will be confronted with unpredictable and ever-changing situations which require us to think for ourselves. Specialized preparation is all very fine, but by cultivating a more general awareness we develop mental.

Once we admit that it is impossible to know everything about everything, we can reach a suitable compromise by learning a little about everything, and everything about a little. However, Black could also play the solid 7. All of this should suffice to convince us that opening theory is a coherent whole and not a group of segmented compartments, as is commonly believed.

It is for this reason that, in order to have a full grasp of what you are doing, you should have a general understanding of ope- 2. But more frequently it features in 1. Jf3 followed by a kingside fianchetto and e4: The game assumes the character of a Chess Opening Essentials - Volume 1 slow positional battle with chances for both sides, and tactics are postponed until the middlegame.

The idea behind White's move order is that if Black mechanically plays along the lines of the main line Caro-Kann with This move implicates that Black is completely willing to give up the two bishops, as White often plays the equally natural 4. Black has a solid centre and has freed himself of the bad light-squared bishop. A slow strategic battle will follow with chances for both players. So we have finally come to the most common line, which, as we said, is 2. However, Black is better off profiting from the knight's placement on f3 by playing the natural developing move Caro-Kann Defence White must decide what to do about his e-pawn.

Ignoring the curious 3. Gothenburg Ech-tt 6 1. Let's return to Now White can play several moves. However, this has been revealed to be a somewhat blinkered analysis. Recently we have come to realize that the loss of two tempi With this poisonous move, White gains space on the kingside and threatens to seriously harass the f5-bishop. Caro-Kann - Advance Variatian Black's most common move is h7-h5 At this point White responds with the committal 5.

If Black now takes on c4, he gains control of the key dS-square, but at the same time he gives White the important e4-square. If Black dithers, White will have the usual initiative on the queenside. White's results are fairly good and it is strange that this variation is not played more often, especially considering that there is not too much theory to study. At this stage, all sorts of moves have been tried, among which However, the most popular move by far is still e7-e6 4.

White seeks to harass the g6-bishop with tt: However, this takes several tempi and Black responds thematically in the centre: Now Black gives the bishop some breathing space by advancing his h-pawn, or by capturing on d4. To give you an idea of the complexity of the variations that ensue, you only need to look at this line: Even if the 4.

Fugen tt 5 Speaking of uncharted waters, this was played in by Garry Kasparov. His distinguished patronage is reason in itself to take this strange move seriously. Predictably, in the following years this variation became very fashionable and many of the top players in the world are now exploring its deeper mysteries. The idea of 4. Leko,Peter Brissago Wch m Recapturing with the c-pawn usually leads to the Panov-Botvinnik Attack. However, we would like to make note of the move which helped Fischer obtain his famous victory against Petrosian in the USSR vs Rest of the World match in The diagrammed pOSition has the characteristics of a Queen's Gambit, with the difference that there is no black pawn on c7 and no white pawn one2.

It is difficult to say Results are similar to those of the Queen's Gambit. White has the slightly better statistical performance that is his colour's privilege. It is true that the This subtle delaying strategy is common in many lines of the Rubinstein Variation 4. It is, therefore, no surprise that there are many transpositions from the Panov-Botvinnik Attack to the NimzoIndian when Black plays As said, a common transposition is to the Semi-Tarrasch l.

ItJb1-c3 Here Black has three options: White seeks to exploit his queenside pawn majority - a typical but risky approach in many lines of the PanovBotvinnik Attack. White has achieved his strategic objective, but his delayed development gives Black excellent chances of counterplay based on an This reserves the greatest amount of options. Black applies pressure to the centre and leaves the diagonal open for the bishop on c8.

Each option results in a complicated game for both players. Paradoxically for such an aggressive line, after the almost forced sequence 7. This opinion held sway in spite of the doubled pawn on f3, because of White's queenside majority and Black's badly coordinated pieces not to mention the isolated pawns on d5 and a7. In reality, hundreds of games have demonstrated that Black equalizes easily. The percentage of draws is unusually high: A f3 'iWbS A e1 l2'lxe5 Amsterdam 3 ' Vladimir Moscow 9 , 1t.

Id2 cS Smeets,Jan ' WcS w g5 Jd4 h d4 1S. Ve4 " ': The aggressive continuation Over the last 20 years the pseudo refinement 3. Given that nine times out of ten Black continues by taking on e4, this move does not make a big difference. Unless, of course, Black intends to play one of the In that case ttJd2 proves to be more precise than ttJc3 given that, as in some lines of the Modern Defence, White keeps the option of supporting the centre with c3.

However, you need to contemplate the wisdom of discouraging a variation Its reputation oscillates from 'dubious' to 'interesting'; B ItJgS-f6 Black allows the creation of an ugly doubled pawn, which has the virtue of controlling e5, the usual outpost for White's pieces in the Caro-Kann.

Yet, it does have the advantage of being solid: There is a very high percentage of draws with this line and for Black, it is difficult to win. White can continue quietly, aiming for a slightly favourable endgame. Or he can play the more aggressive 6. Black enjoys better control of the centre, he has his eye on the g-file, and in some variations he succeeds in advancing his e-pawn to es.

Black will usually develop the cS-bishop to fs or, less often, to g4; the knight goes to d7 and the queen is moved to c7 or as. However, Black's real problem is not his pawn structure - the active placement of his pieces makes this academic - but the much more urgent dilemma of his king's future. Kingside castling without the g7 -pawn seems unsafe; and after Black castles queenside, White's pawn advance there should be quicker than Black's pawn march on the kingside.

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White has several different plans. However, the most common, and probably also the strongest, has proved to be the waiting move 6. White delays tUf3, as he does not wish to encourage He waits for 6. It is true that after As a result, the plan of preparing for the kings ide fianchetto 7. Caro-Kann - Main line By doing this White aims to consolidate his king after castling, and in the case of opposite-side castling the g2-bishop becomes a dangerous weapon.

This has recently been called the Smyslov Variation, while in some of the older manuals it is referred to as the Nimzowitsch Variation. Besides Smyslov, anotller famous and devoted practitioner was, and still is, Anatoly Karpov. For many, his continued support is the reason why this variation enjoys its current popularity. Black does not directly attack the knight on e4, but it 'threatens to threaten' on the next move with.. Now White has to decide what to do with his knight on e4 in the next two moves. Practice has shown that neither to defend it, nor to exchange it with the one on f6, nor to m ove it to g3, gives White any serious opportunities to gain an advantage.

Strangely, the best square has proven to be g5 1, and the knight can be moved there either immediately or after the preliminary 5. Black cannot try to rid himself of the knight's ominous presence here right away because of various tactical resources centred around e6 or f7. First he must continue to develop, and after the knight - depending on the variation - returns from g5 to f3 or to e4, White maintains an unpleasant initiative. However, the system is a hard nut to crack and it is well suited to black players who are not worried about the prospect of defending cramped but solid positions.

Black first defends the e6-pawn. Instead, the move However, things are not as terrible as was thought before the advent of chess computer programs. For example, after As a result, many variations that had been uncritically accepted for decades have had to be subsequently re-evaluated. Here Black's c8-bishop looks ugly However, the g I-knight is hardly happy to find his fellow knight sitting onn.

Black attempts to free his game. With time, the main line has become Iadl b6, Black concludes his development and the game is balanced. In prac- tice White's attack proves to be winning. To take on e4 with the queen. To make this p ossible, Black must defend c6 or force the white queen to leave e4.

For this reason, Black usually prefers the alternative However, in Karpov stunned the chess world with the sensational n ovelty White has slightly more possibilities thanks to his space advantage, but Black's position is solid and without weaknesses. An incredible move which, by defending the rook on h8, puts the white queen in peril with the simple threat of Enthusiasm for Karpov's idea waned a little when it was discovered that after Obviously, however, most white players are looking for an objective advantage, and thus prefer the more solid This is the old main line. It suffered a slump in popularity at the end of the 20th century because of the success of the Smyslov Variation.

In the age of the computer and the Internet, in which new moves are available within seconds of being made, the following phenomenon turns up: An example of this is a move that we will look at soon: This move was even classified as a blunder in the old opening manuals. It would appear that as a result of these developments there will soon be nothing left to discover in opening theory: However, fortunately for us, history has demonstrated that this is far from being the case, and that there still exist large areas that have yet to be explored, and much from the past that need to be reassessed in the light of what we know now.

Even if one day we do manage to sift through everything there is to be known about chess, human memory is such that the old saying 'Everything new is something forgotten' will prove itself to be as true as ever. Returning to where we left off, White almost always proceeds with 5. White can choose from many plans, whereas Black's scope for development is restricted. Usually White continues with 6. The advantage of the two bishops after the possible exchange of the f4-knight for the g6-bishop is only academic.

This is because in the closed positions that are typical of these variations it is not rare that a knight is more effective than a bishop. The sacrifice of a knight or bishop on e6 in these variations is interesting but not really sound. On the other hand, the idea of advancing the f-pawn is a double-edged sword, because if the subsequent advance to f5 becomes impossible, the pawn on f4 will become a pronounced positional weakness; for starters, just have a look at the poor bishop on c 1.

White normally seeks to profit from the position of the g6-bishop to gain space on the kingside with 6. Here we corne to another point relevant to our previous discussions about the development of opening theory. For decades in this position Black automatically played 7. Recently, it has become fashionable to ignore this threat, and play Wk'e2, with the idea of White seems to have gained a tempo compared to variations of the old main line: However, the latter may in fact not be the case.

In certain variations of the Petroff Defence also, the black knight is better on f6 than on e4, where it facilitates White's development. The resulting positions are typical of the Caro-Kann: Experience gained from thousands of games demonstrates that the best move for White is either of the following two: ILlf3-e5 And here Black generally plays ILld7-b6 to defend f7 indirectly, given that Indeed, a white pawn on eS limits Black's mobility, also in a possible endgame, and the g3 -knight can immediately become very active on e4.

White now mostly continues with Caro-Kann - Main Line The Ethnographic Report , a piece of photo-ethnography that attempts to capture historical sites relevant to the ongoing sectarian conflict. Raphael is also the author of the internationally best-selling volume chess series, ReViewing Chess Its distinction from standard chess books is that the series aims to be an operationalization of studies in done in the cognitive sociology of memory and pedagogy; each volume contains a slightly varied introduction and games of chess in the specified opening variation presented in diagram form.

The series was intended to enable beginners to try and simulate tournament conditions; a feature not available in other books at the time of publication. His general research interests revolve around the interplay of issues in the sociology of law, security and cognitive sociology. Are you an author? Help us improve our Author Pages by updating your bibliography and submitting a new or current image and biography. Learn more at Author Central. It's a new year and still a best seller with 10 books on the list this hour!!!

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