choices, choices - davies20.pdf

8/14/2019 Choices, Choices - davies20.pdf

1/6

Let's Take A Look

Let's Take A

Look...

Nigel Davies

We invite you to submit games to be considered by Nigel in this column. Fo

games submitted, please provide the following information: (1) Names of bo

players; (2) Ratings of both players; (3) When and where the game was play

(4) The time control used in the game; and (5) Any other information you th

would be helpful for us to know. Please submit the games (in PGN or CBV

format if possible) to: [email protected]. Who knows, perhaps yo

will see the game in an upcoming column, as Nigel says to you, "Let's take a

look..."

Choices, Choices

After my recommendations against 1 d4 (Semi-Slav if youre young andtalented, Queens Gambit Declined Tartakover Variation for the rest of us) a

number of readers wrote in to ask for my suggestions against 1 e4. I guess I

might be one of the best GMs to ask, against 1 e4 Ive played and lost with j

about every defence thats walked or crawled. Having racked up miserable

results with the Pirc, Modern, French, Caro-Kann, Sicilian and Alekhines

Defences I guess I could be called an expert on trying to make good choices

Only with 1e5 have things been more respectable, and the pity is that I on

discovered the suitability of this move in the twilight of my career

Anyway, thats enough of my problems; lets take a look at the issues facingyou. The first thing to bear in mind is that you dont have the same problem

with those pesky transpositional Flank Openings by which people get conne

out of their favourite Grnfeld or Nimzo-Indians. This gives you much more

choice, which can either be good or bad. Basically I think you should look a

one of four major approaches:

a) If youre young and beautiful then the Sicilian Dragon is an option

player who takes this route should play both the standard (1 e4 c5 2 N

d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 g6) and Accelerated (1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 N

3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 g6) forms. This, in fact, is what Dragon specialists

such as Sergei Tiviakov and Boris Alterman do, the reason being tha

Accelerated gives them a solid stand-by if the standard Dragon is hav

a theoretical crisis.

I do not tend to recommend other lines of the Sicilian because of eith

the difficulty of handling them or move order problems. If, for examp

you want to play the Najdorf theres a problem with 2 Nc3 after whic

2d6 3 f4 leads to a dangerous form of the Vinken System. A Drago

player, on the other hand, can just meet 2 Nc3 with 2 Nc6.

le:///C|/cafe/davies/davies.htm (1 of 6) [9/12/2004 5:09:50 PM]
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://c%7C/cafe/index.htmhttp://c%7C/cafe/Reviews/books.htmhttp://c%7C/cafe/board/board.htmhttp://c%7C/cafe/endgame/endgame.htmhttp://c%7C/cafe/skittles/skittles.htmhttp://uscfsales.com/


2/6

Let's Take A Look

b) If youre old, ugly and like endgames then keep four pawns on the

kingside and a half-open d-file. Defences that achieve this in many li

include Caro-Kann (1 e4 c6), the Alekhine (1 e4 Nf6), the Scandinav

(1 e4 d5) and the Rubinstein French (1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 dxe4 4 N

and now 4Bd7 has much to be said for it).

The four kingside pawns (e6, f7, g7 or g6 and h7) tend to give positio

great defensive strength whilst you can get counterplay on the d- and

files. These structures are examined in Stephan Zeuthens book, Zoom001.

c) Players who are good at planning, defence and counterattack

(relatively few such beasts exist at amateur level) would do well to p

the French (1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5), but not the Rubinstein Variation which

a quite different character. There are many players who only play the

French against 1 e4, the most outstanding specialists being Smbat

Lputian and Wolfgang Uhlmann.

Please note that I never recommend the French for very young playerthe closed positions do not lend themselves to the development of the

tactical ability. So this is for the over 16s only.

d) If you want to play correct and principled chess then 1e5 is the

move to play. Defend the Closed Spanish (1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a

Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 Be7) if you like manoeuvring games or the Open (1 e4

2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 Nxe4 6 d4 b5 7 Bb3 d5 or 3N

4 0-0 Nxe4 5 d4 a6 6 Ba4 b5 7 Bb3 d5) if tactics are more your thing

One further possibility is to play the Petroff Defence with 1 e4 e5 2 N

Nf6

Have I failed to mention your pet defence? There are, unfortunately, a numb

of openings to which I have to give the thumbs down.

What should you avoid? Well do not, under any circumstances, get seduced

having the Latvian Gambit (1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 f5) as your main weapon as Black

Youll spend all your time trying to keep the wretched thing alive and risk

being drawn into some of the weird Latvian Gambit cults that exist in

cyberspace and elsewhere. Do not play the Pirc or Modern Defences as this

cultivates an unhealthy disrespect for space. Do not play 1a6 or 1h6. An

if you must wear a baseball cap then have the peak pointing forwards.

What about the various Sicilian lines such as the Sveshnikov, Kalashnikov e

Well the problem here is the same as with the Semi-Slav, do you really have

youth, good nerves, unlimited time for study and a fantastic memory. If you

tick all these boxes then by all means go ahead. If you cant youll end up us

loads of time trying to learn the theory and even if you get a good position

youre likely to get shot down in the complications. A mans got to know hi

limitations



3/6

Let's Take A Look

This months game features a very sensible choice in the Petroff Defence. It

simple and direct enough for most amateurs to understand and can become

exciting if White tries hard to refute it. Its also worth bearing in mind that it

can frustrate the hell out of higher rated players, as I found out recently in on

of my own games.

Pena,Aquilino(1875) - Helfst,Matt(1359)

Petr off Defence C42

ICC (60 minute game), 2004

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nf6

The move that characterises this defence, which was named after the Russia

Master, Alexander Petroff. Rather than defend his e-pawn with 2Nc6 or e

2d6, Black counterattacks Whites pawn on e4.

3 Nxe5

I was faced with the Petroff at the Liverpool Congress a few weeks ago, andlearned about some of the issues on a first hand basis. The game Davies -

Evans, Liverpool 2004 continued 3 d4 Nxe4 4 Bd3 and now 4Nc6!?

appeared, a tricky move which I'd never seen before and caused me to think

quite some time.

After due consideration I blustered on with 5 0-0 (Neither 5 d5 Nf6 6 dxc6 e

nor 5 Bxe4 d5 6 Bd3 e4 seemed very promising to me) 5...d5 6 c4 Bg4 7 cxd

Qxd5 8 Re1 f5 9 h3 Bh5 10 g4 Bg6 (10...Bb4 worried me during the game, b

White can play 11 Re3 exd4 12 Re2 with what appears to be good play) 11 g

Bxf5 12 Qe2 (12 Bxe4 Bxe4 13 Nc3 did not appeal to me after 13...Bxf3 14

Nxd5 Bxd1 15 Nxc7+ Kd8 16 Nxa8 Bh5 as the knight on a8 is trapped)

12...Nd6 13 Nc3 Bxd3 14 Qxd3 Qc4 15 Nxe5 Qxd3 16 Nxd3+ Kf7 17 Ne5+

Nxe5 18 dxe5 Nf5 19 Nd5 (In retrospect it would have been better to play 1

e6+ Ke8 20 Nb5 with more interesting play than the game) 19...Nd4 20 Rd1

Nf3+ 21 Kg2 Nxe5 22 Nxc7 Rc8 23 Nb5 a6 24 Nd6+ Bxd6 25 Rxd6 Rhd8 2

Rxd8 Rxd8. In this endgame White was equal at best, though I later manage

bamboozle a win.

3...d6

Beginners often make the mistake of playing 3Nxe4 after which 4 Qe2 giv

Black a problem. Not that this is completely clear after 4Qe7 5 Qxe4 d6, b

Black is struggling to equalize.

4 Nf3 Nxe4 5 d3

If White must put his queen on e2 then its better to do it immediately. Ive

played 5 Qe2 several times myself; motivated partly by the thought that Pau

Morphy, Emanuel Lasker and Boris Spassky all played it and partly that my

opponents would probably hate the position more than me. By move 6 of my



4/6

Let's Take A Look

Liverpool game I was in fact wishing Id played it this way.

5...Nf6 6 Qe2+?!

A pointless check that misplaces the queen; a much better move is 6 d4, with

transposition into an Exchange French after 6...d5.

6...Be7 7 Nc3 0-0 8 Bd2 d5 9 0-0-0 Re8

Showing up the problem with Whites 6t

move, where can Whites queen go? She

finds refuge on d3 but that proves to be j

temporary. And meanwhile White is losi

oodles of time.

10 d4 Bb4 11 Qd3 Bxc3 12 Bxc3 Ne4 1

Be1 Bf5 14 Qb3 b6

Good, calm play. Theres no pointsacrificing the b-pawn as Black has an

excellent game without indulging in hero

15 Nd2 Nc6 16 Nxe4 Rxe4 17 Bc3

An awkward way to defend the d4-pawn, but 17 c3 would further expose

Whites king.

17...Qd6 18 f3?

Not only does this invite Blacks rook in

the powerful e3-square, it loses a pawn o

the spot. A better move is 18 Bd3 after

which 18...Re6 19 Bxf5 Qf4+ 20 Bd2 Qx

21 Be3 Rae8 puts White under serious

pressure, though his position may still be

tenable.

18...Re3?!

Not bad, but 18...Nxd4! 19 Rxd4 (19 Bx

Qf4+) 19...Qf4+ 20 Kb1 (20 Rd2 Re1#)

20...Rxd4 21 Bxd4 Qxd4 leaves Black a pawn up for nothing.

19 Bb5 Na5 20 Qb4 Qg6 21 Rd2??

And this is losing. White should play 21 Bd2 in order to evict Blacks rook.

21...c6



5/6

Let's Take A Look

Again not bad, but this is not the most precise way to play it. Its better to ke

Whites bishop out of the a6-square with 21...a6 after which 22 Ba4 Nc4 lea

White completely hamstrung.

22 Ba4

22 Ba6! was mandatory in order to stop ...Nc4, though admittedly this is

unpleasant for White after 22...Rae8.

22...Nc4!

Putting White in all sorts of trouble; Blac

is about to launch his queenside pawns

forward and theres nothing White can d

get his pieces out of the way. Both his qu

and light-squared bishop are in danger of

being trapped and there is no way to esca

completely unscathed.

23 Rf2 a5 24 Qb3 Rae8 25 Rd1 Qg5

Changing the direction of the attack to

Whites c2-pawn; 25...Bd7 intending 26

would also have been very effective.

26 Kb1 Re2 27 Rxe2 Rxe2 28 Re1 Nd2+! 29 Bxd2 Qxd2 30 Rc1 b5

Certainly this is more than enough, but 30...Re1! would have been somewhaquicker.

31 Bxb5 cxb5 32 a4 b4

White could really have saved himself the rest.

33 Qxd5 Bxc2+ 34 Ka2 b3+ 35 Qxb3 Bxb3+ 36 Kxb3 Qxc1 0-1

Recommended Reading

Zoom 001: Zero Hour for Operative Opening Modelsby Bent Larsen & StefZeuthen (Dansk Skakforlag, 1979) a really excellent book which is out of

print in English.

Winning with the Frenchby Wolfgang Uhlmann (Batsford 1995) the maes

presents 60 of his games.

The Petroff Defence: Current Chess Opening Theory for the Advanced Play

by Artur Yusupov the Petroff book by one of the best experts.



6/6

choices, choices - davies20.pdf

Documents