The main line, which has been recommended in, for example, Larry Kaufman's The Chess Advantage In Black And White, continues 2...Bxb4 3.Bxe5, when White has exchanged a flank pawn on b4 for a central pawn on e5.
This, other things being equal, should favour White, but Black argues the tempo that will be gained by hitting the white bishop on e5 is more important.
The argument seems to be valid, but there is no doubt this is a plan the vast majority of 1.b4 players will be ready to meet.
I am recommending a different plan, based on blunting the white dark-square bishop with 2...f6!?
This was popular with the old masters, including Steinitz, Pillsbury, Réti and Colle, and is still played by grandmasters today.
Another way of doing this is to start with 2...d6, but my recommendation has the advantage that it obliges White to spend a tempo dealing with the threat to his b pawn.
Or does it? Actually, no, because the replies 3.b5, 3.a3 and 3.e4!? are almost equally popular for White.
The good news is Black can meet all of them with 3...d5, in each case with similar ideas in mind.
A) 3.e4!?
This was seemingly Tartakower's invention, and it served him well.
The idea is that after 3...Bxb4, White plays 4.Bc4, highlighting Black's weaknesses on the kingside light squares. Games against Réti and Colle continued 4...Ne7 5.f4 d5 6.exd5, when Stockfish10 and Komodo10 slightly prefer Black, but the position is easier for White to play, and Tartakower won both games.
Instead I am suggesting 3...d5, aiming to deny the white light-square bishop the c4 square.
After 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Nc3, Black can play 5...Qf7.
White now really does need to do something about the en prise b pawn.
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| Position after 5...Qf7 |
Velika Gorica (Croatia) 2013
6.a3 Be6
Far from being weak on the kingside light squares, Black has them well-covered. Indeed it is White who has problems developing his light-square bishop to an active square.
7.Nf3 Nd7 8.Be2 0-0-0!?
Zufic is confident of outplaying his lower-rated opponent, who has not much choice but to castle on the opposite wing to Black, which will tend to increase the value of every move.
9.0-0 g5 10.d3?!
This move does not really accomplish anything. White should either have got on with it on the queenside or, perhaps more promisingly, tried to counter Black's kingside flank attack by opening the centre. The engines suggest 10.Qe1!?, and if, as in the game, 10...Ne7, then 11.d4, eg 11...g4 12.Nh4 Ng6 13.d5!? Nxh4 14.dxe6 Qxe6 15.Rd1, although White's bishop-pair and open lines probably do not make up for his pawn-minus.
10...Ne7 11.a4 Ng6 12.b5 g4 13.Nd2 h5
The key difference in the game, it seems to me, is that Black has more pieces threatening the white king than White has threatening the black king. Even so, the game finishes surprisingly quickly.
14.Nde4!?
The engines' 14.a5 may be better, but this is far from clear.
14...Nf4 15.Bc1 Rg8
The engines prefer 15...Qg7.
16.Bxf4!?
Exchanging an unmoved piece for an enemy piece that has reached your fourth rank is usually a good deal, but here the downside is that Black gets another pawn poised to break-up the white king's position.
16...exf4 17.f3 f5 18.Nf2 Bg7!?
A distraction from the kingside attack. Black's advantage remains large, but more consistent was 18...g3 or 18...Qg7.
19.Qd2 Bd4 20.Rb1 Be3 0-1
Material is level, for the moment, but White's position is hopeless, eg 21.Qe1 g3 etc.
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B) 3.b5
This is White's most-popular move, after 1.b4 e5 2.Bb2 f6, in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database. It is how Alexei Sokolsky played the position.
Natural and good is 3...d5, which is almost always met by 4.e3.
Normal now is 4...Be6, but I am recommending a lesser-known move that has nevertheless attracted the attention of strong players, including Vasja Pirc, Andrei Kovalev and Viktor Kupreichik, namely 4...c5!?
The first point is that 5.bxc6?! helps Black by removing the somewhat-cramping b5 pawn, and enables Black to start developing his queenside smoothly with 5...Nxc6.
More popular, and more sensible, is 5.c4, but Black can reply 5...d4, locking in the white dark-square bishop, at least for quite some time.
The most-popular move (just) is also the one that has tended to be favoured by stronger players: 5.d4, attacking the black centre in a more-forceful way.
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| Position after 5.d4 |
Boleslavsky Memorial (Minsk, Belarus) 1994
5...exd4!?
Two rounds earlier in the same tournament, Volke - Andrei Kovalev (2530) saw 5...Nd7!? 6.Nc3?! cxd4 7.exd4 Bb4 8.dxe5 Nxe5 9.Qd4 Bxc3+!? 10.Qxc3 Bf5, with what the engines reckon is a roughly level position (but 0-1, 65 moves). However, White can probably improve on this at an early stage by opening the long dark-square diagonal for his b2 bishop with 6.dxe5 Nxe5 7.Nf3, which was played three years later by Jan-Joost Lindner in a win over the engine Goldbar in a tournament at The Hague.
6.exd4 c4!?
Kupreichik has found a different way to keep the long dark-square diagonal closed, while also restricting White's light-square bishop.
7.Nc3
Nc3 seems to be better in this position than at move six in the game against Kovalev.
7...Bb4 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qf3 a6 10.g3?!
Trying to find a more-active square than e2 for the white king's bishop. The engines prefer 10.Ne2.
10...Bf5 11.Bh3 Be4
The engines reckon Black has an edge after 11...Bxc3+!? 12.Qxc3 Ne7.
12.Qe2 axb5?
Black cannot afford to ignore the pin on his light-square bishop.
13.Kf1?
White can safely win a piece after 13.f3, for example 13...f5 14.fxe4 dxe4 15.Qd2.
13...Bxc3 14.Bxc3 Ne7 15.f3 Bf5 16.Bxf5 gxf5
Black is a pawn up but has multiple weaknesses (½–½, 30 moves).
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C) 3.a3
Once again I am recommending occupying the centre with 3...d5, after which whites overwhelmingly play 4.e3.
The main move for Black is 4...Be6, which was met by Capablanca in 1927 by 5.d4, but that has been largely superseded at the highest levels by 5.Nf3.
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| Position after 5.Nf3 |
MK Café Cup (Koszalin, Poland) 1998
5...Bd6
It might seem strange for Black to develop both bishops before moving either knight, but the squares e6 and d6 are obvious places for the bishops, and it is possible the knights will be best developed via e7 and d7.
6.c6!?
The engines like this apparent-novelty, which leads to sharp play.
The main line can probably be thought of as being 6.d4 e4 7.Nfd2 Ne7 8.c4 c6 9.Nc3, reaching a position that favours Black, according to Stockfish10, but is equal according to Komodo10.
6...dxc4!?
After 6...c6,the game might proceed in a similar way to the previous note, but the text ensures original play.
7.Qc2 b5 8.d3!?
This is a major improvement, according to the engines, on a previous game that reached this position five years earlier, via a heavy transposition, and saw 8.a4?!, when 8...Nc6, threatening ...Nxb4, would have been strong for Black.
8....Bf5 9.e4 cxd3 10.Bxd3 Bd7 11.Nc3 a6
Black has an extra pawn, but it is backward on a half-open file and White has a large lead in development. The engines slightly prefer Black (very slightly in Komodo10's case).
12.0-0 Ne7
Premature is 12...c5?, eg 13.bxc5 Bxc5 14.Nd5 Bd6 15.a4 with a strong initiative.
13.a4!?
Aggressive, and it is Komodo10's choice, but Stockfish10 prefers 13.Rfd1.
13...Nbc6!
Not 13...Bxb4? 14.axb5, eg 14...a5 15.Bc4, when Black has long-term problems with the king.
14.axb5 Nxb4 15.Qe2 Nxd3 16.Qxd3 axb5 17.Nxb5 Rb8 18.Nxd6+ cxd6
A semi-forcing sequence has led to a position in which Black's extra pawn is still backward on a half-open file, but there are opposite coloured bishops and White maintain a lead in development.
Black now threatens the white bishop, and to play a skewer with …Bb5.
19.Qc2?
This answers both threats, but a much better way to do this is 19.Rfb1, which gets another piece into play.
19...Be6 20.Ra6?
The engines give 20.Ba3, but with a large advantage for Black after 20...0-0 21.Qd2 Rb6.
20...Qc8!
There is no adequate answer to this. The game finished:
21.Qxc8+ Bxc8 0-1
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