B) 4...Nf6
This is the "most interesting" way, according to Botterill in Open Gambits, although it is less popular in Mega20 than 4...d3 or 4...d5.
White normally replies 5.e5, reaching a position that more-usually arises from a Ponziani move-order, viz 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.e5.
Bologan's recommendation in one of the Ponziani sections of his Black Weapons is 5...Nd5, which has been played by Magnus Carlsen but is not even worth considering, according to Botterill, who recommended 5...Ne4 6.Qe2 f5 7.exf6 d5. After that the main line runs 8.Nbd2 Qxf6 (after Botterill's recommendation of 8...d3 9.Qe3 Bc5 10.fxg7 Rg8 11.Nd4, the engines reckon White is quite a bit better whatever Black plays, although the position is complicated) 9.Nxe4 dxe4 10.Qxe4+ Qe6 11.Bd3 dxc3 12.0-0 Qxe4 13.Bxe4, which the engines reckon is slightly better for White. However, as in many of these lines a final verdict cannot really be given as there is much for both sides to investigate.
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| Position after 5...Nd5 |
Chinese Team Championship (Hangzhou) 2018
6.Qb3!?
More popular is 6.cxd4, but the text is more dynamic and quickly leads to a position in which Black often falls into a positional trap.
6...Nb6 7.cxd4 d5?!
"The main reason why White scores very well [with 6.Qb3] is that moves like 7...d5 and 7...Bb4 are … popular" - Bologan.
If a grandmaster, and twice champion of China, can play ...d5, then so can many of our opponents. It is dodgy because Black should be attacking White's spearhead pawn on e5.
Bologan recommended the "Phildor Undermining" 7...d6, and after 8.Bb5 gave the interesting 8...Be7!? (the main line in Mega20 runs 8...Bd7 9.0-0 Be7, when 10.exd6 seems to give White an edge whichever way Black recaptures) 9.d5 a6 10.Ba4 Nxa4 11.Qxa4 b5 12.Qe4 Na5. This was tried the year after his book came out in a game in which a white 2257 drew with a black 2305.
8.Bb5 Bd7 9.0-0 a6 10.Bg5!? Be7 11.Bxc6 Bxc6 12.Bxe7 Qxe7 13.Nbd2 0-0
By straightforward means, White has gained an edge - a large one, according to Stockfish10. Black's bishop is bad and White has pressure down the c file. However, the game was eventually drawn.
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C) 4...d3?!
Calling this move dubious may seem a bit strong, especially as it has been played by grandmasters, but the engines actually call it a mistake.
Black spends a tempo, the main purpose of which is to stop White capturing on d4 with the c3 pawn. Black also hopes that preventing White developing his queen's knight to c3 will prove an irritant. But the knight can be usefully developed via d2, and the pawn on c3 reduces Black's chances of forcing simplifying exchanges. Botterill's judgment was that White has "slightly the better prospects because he has more space."
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| Position after 4...d3?! |
Serbian Team League 2005
5.Bxd3 d6
If 5...Bc5, then Nimzowitsch's 6.b4!?, as played in a win over Spielmann in 1905, gives White much the better game, according to the engines.
6.h3
The engines prefer 6.0-0!?, and if 6...Bg4, which 6.h3 is designed to stop, then 7.Qb3 Bxf3 8.Qxb7 Nge7 9.gxf3, when they reckon White has the upper hand despite a weakened king's position.
6...Nf6 7.0-0 Be7 8.Nd4 0-0 9.f4!?
Velimirović played 9.Nd2 in games against Keres and Donner in the 1966, and Ivkov 10 years later, beating Donner and drawing with the other two.
The engines want White to swop on c6.
9...Re8
This is the most-played move here, but the engines prefer 9...d5!? or 9...Nxd4!?
10.Nd2 Bf8 11.Qc2
By transposition we have also reached the position in Velimirović's games against Keres and Donner, which saw 11...g6 12.N2f3, and now Keres's 12...Bg7 is probably better than Donner's 12...Bd7, but in both cases Velimirović seems to have been better.
11...Nh5!? 12.N2f3 g6 13.Nxc6!?
Often players are reluctant to make this exchange because, although Black's queenside is weakened, he gets more influence in the centre.
13...bxc6 14.f5!?
Part of an interesting plan to sac the exchange, although the engines reckon the simple 14.g4 is stronger.
14...Ng3 15.fxg6 hxg6 16.Bg5!?
He could have changed his mind about sacrificing the exchange by playing 16.Re1, which the engines reckon favours White.
16...f6 17.Bh4
Both players are now committed.
17...Nxf1 18.Rxf1 g5?!
The engines prefer 18...Be7, when Stockfish10 gives White an edge but Komodo10 rates the position even.
19.e5!
Muratović must have missed this as it appears to be clearly winning for White in all lines.
19...dxe5
If 19...gxh4, then 20.Bh7+ Kh8 21.Qg6, eg 21...Bg7 22.Ng5! fxg5 23.Rf7 Rg8 24.Qh5, and mate cannot be stopped.
20.Bc4+ Kh8
Perhaps the best try is the engines' 20...Be6, when 21.Qg6+ Bg7 22.Bxe6+ Rxe6 23.Nxg5! fxg5 (or 23...Rd6 24.Qh7+ Kf8 25.Bf2!) 24.Qxe6+ Kh8 25.Bg3 is level on material, but Black has six isolated pawns, a bad bishop and an exposed king.
21.Qg6 Be6
Not 21...gxh4? 22.Qg8#.
22.Nxg5! fxg5 23.Rxf8+
The combinations keep coming.
23...Rxf8 24.Qh6+ Kh8 25.Bxe6+ Rf7 26.Qg6+ Kh8 28.Bxf7
Threatens 29.Qh6#.
28...Qd1+ 29.Kh2 Qd6 30.Be6 1-0
If 30...Qf8, then 31.Bxg5 etc.
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D) 4...d5
Although 4...dxc3 is more popular in Mega20, I believe this is the move one should expect at club level.
After 5.exd5 Qxd5 6.cxd4 Bg4 (6...Bb4+ is nearly always a harmless transposition) 7.Nc3 (7.Be2 usually comes to the same thing) Bb4 8.Be2, we reach a position of great historic interest.
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| Position after 8.Be2 |
London League Division One 2018-19
8...Bxf3
I include one of my games, not purely out of vanity or because it was particularly well played, but to show how theoretical best-play in the 4...d5 variation has become common knowledge even among club players.
The text was first played by Capablanca against Marshall at Lake Hopatcong (New Jersey) 1926.
9.Bxf3 Qc4
Not 9...Qxd4?? 10.Bxc6+.
Capablanca's idea is to forestall easy castling by White, obliging White to exchange queens, after which the isolated d pawn is more likely to be an endgame weakness than a middlegame strength.
10.Bxc6+
Marshall insisted on a middlegame by playing 10.Be3!?, but after 10...Bxc3+ 11.bxc3 Qxc3+ 12.Kf1 (12.Be2!? Qd5 is nothing for White) Qc4+ 13.Kg1 Nge7 (all nine games in Mega20 saw this move, although Stockfish10 slightly prefers 13...Nf6!?), the players agreed a draw following 14.Rc1 Qxa2 15.Ra1 Qc4 16.Rc1.
10...bxc6!?
Bologan reckoned this is better than 10...Qxc6 because "the blockade of the d5 square is worth doubling the c pawns."
11.Qe2+ Qxe2 12.Kxe2 0-0-0 13.Be3 Ne7 14.Kd3!?
The main move, 14.Rhd1, was seen in Aldo Camilleri (196 ECF) - Spanton (167 ECF), Central London League 2018-19. It continued 14...Rhe8 15.a3 Ba5 16.Rac1 Nf5 17.Na4 (Stockfish10's choice) Nxd4+ 18.Kf1 Nb3 19.Rxd8+ Rxd8, when 20.Rxc6 Kb7 21.Rc2 would have been equal (and the game was drawn anyway).
The text is recommended by Karsten Müller and Martin Voigt in Danish Dynamite (Russell Enterprises 2002). The point is that the king is headed for c4, which Bologan reckoned is White's "main trump" after 13...Ne7.
14...Bxc3!?
Bologan reckoned Black had to play 14...c5 "if he wants to equalise in a relaxed manner." I rejected it because of 15.Kc4 cxd4 16.Bxd4, missing that Bologan's 16...Nc6 equalises. However, my novelty seems good enough.
15.bxc3 c5 16.Kc4 cxd4 17.Bxd4 Nc6 18.Rhe1
Not 18.Bxg7? Rhg8 with ...Rxg2 to come.
18...Nxd4 19.cxd4 Rhe8 20.Rad1 ½–½
(To be continued)
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