ALTHOUGH starting to build a centre with 4.c3 after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 d6 is very logical, the most-popular move in ChessBaase's 2021 Mega database is 4.d4.
This is the same move as is commonly played against the Hungarian Defence: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Be7.
Sergei Tiviakov (2695) - Mihail Marin (2564)
Porto Mannu (Italy) 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 d6 4.d4
Marin reckons 4.c3 is more consistent "from the strategic point of view."
4...exd4
More popular in Mega21 is 4...Bg4, which I will cover later, but the text is the choice of Stockfish12 and Komodo11.01.
5.Nxd4 g6!?
A rare move that is the speciality of Argentine grandmaster Leonardo Tristan.
The main line runs 5...Nf6 6.Nc3 Be7 7.0-0 0-0, after which David Sedgwick (2095) - Spanton (2115), Isle Of Man 1998, saw 8.Nxc6!? bxc6 9.f4 Bb7 (the engines like 9...d5!?) 10.Qe1 Re8 with what the engines reckon is a slight edge for Black (½–½, 28 moves).
6.Nc3 Bg7 7.Be3 Nf6 8.f3 0-0
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| Position after 8...0-0 |
9.Nxc6!?
This is Stockfish12's choice.
Magnus Carlsen (2972) - Leonardo Tristan (2540), Chess.com Internet Blitz 2017, went 9.Qd2 Ne5 10.Be2 a6 (Tristan later switched to 10...d5!?, which is preferred by the engines) 11.0-0 (11.0-0-0!?) c5!? 12.Nb3, when the backward d pawn proved a long-term liability for Black (1-0, 43 moves).
9...bxc6 10.0-0 Re8 11.Re1 Be6 12.Bb3 Qb8!?
Marin: "Black has a solid position but has little space, which requires from him a very rational positioning of his forces. Black plans ...a5 and ...Qb4, aiming to force the exchange on e6 by a further advance of the a pawn to a4."
13.Qd2 Qb4
Marin calls this a "micro-mistake," saying he should have played 13...a5.
14.Ba4 Qb7
Marin says 14...Bd7 is not only passive but takes away the d7 square from the black knight. If Black had played 13...a5 rather than 13...Qb4, then the continuation14.Ba4 Qb7 would save a tempo on the game.
15.Ne2 a5
It is not clear that ...a5 is any longer particularly useful, so perhaps 15...Nd7!? is an improvement.
16.Bd4 Bd7
It is too late for repositioning the knight as 16...Nd7? drops a pawn to 17.Bxg7 Kxg7 18.Qc3+ etc.
17.c4?!This helps justify Black's 15th move by making Qb4 attractive. The engines prefer 17.b3, one point being 17...Qb4 can be met by 18.c3.
17...Qb4 18.Qc2 Nh5!?
Exchanging dark-square bishops often helps Black when White, as here, has set up a Maróczy Bind.
19.Bxg7 Nxg7 20.c5!? Ne6
20...dxc5!? is playable, but it would be wrong to think of Black then being a pawn ahead in a practical sense.
21.cxd6 cxd6 22.Rad1 Rad8 23.Nc3 Nc5 24.Kh1
Not 24.Rxd6?? as 24...Nxa4 wins a piece.
24...Re6
Marin says he should have taken the chance to play 24...d5! One point is that 25.exd5?? loses material to 25...Bf5.
25.Re2 Be8?!
The engines strongly dislike this. They prefer 25...Rde8, and if, as in the game, 26.Red2, then 26...f5, when the weakness of White's back rank comes into play.
26.Red2 d5 27.Rd4
27.exd5 is certainly no improvement - again the weakness of White's back rank is crucial.
27...Qb7 28.Qd2
Marin says 28.Nxd5 cxd5 29.Qxc5 Bxa4 30.Rxa4 Qxb2 31.h3 gives White a large advantage. Komodo11.01 agrees; Stockfish12 reckons the position is equal.
28...Re5 29.exd5 Nxa4 30.Rxa4 cxd5 31.Rxa5 Qb4 32.Ne2! Rb8 33.Qxb4 Rxb4 34.Rd2 Bb5 35.Ng1 Re1
White's pieces have lost coordination, but he is a pawn up and has connected farside passed pawns. Stockfish12 reckons White is winning; Komodo11.01 gives White just a slight edge.
36.Ra8+ Kg7 37.Rb8 d4 38.h3 d3 39.b3 Rc1 40.a4!?
This seems better than 40.Rxd3 Bxd3 41.Rxb4 Rc2 42.a4 Bf1, when Black has at least a draw by repetition.
40...Rxb3 41.Rxb5 Ra3 42.Kh2 Raa1 43.Rxd3 Rxg1 44.Rd7
After sharp play White is a pawn up but the engines agree his advantage is small.
44...Rgb1
A general rule in such endings is that the side with the extra pawn wants no rooks on the board or all four - two tend to be drawish.
45.Kg3
Marin says 45.Ra5 runs into 45...Rd1, when 46.Rda7 avoids an exchange but is hopeless from a winning perspective.
45...h5
There seems no need to immediately exchange on b5, so Black sets up what is often an ideal defensive formation on the kingside.
46.h4 Kf8 47.Rd6?!
This allows Black to extinguish White's small winning chances. Better is 47.Rxb1 Rxb1 48.Rd4, when the game continues.
47...Rgb1
Black threatens 48...Ra2.
48.Rdb6 ½–½
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