Can Black Be More Aggressive?

FOR Black to play an early ...d5 in double e-pawn openings is often a risky undertaking.

For example, after the moves 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.0-0, the normal continuations are 5...d6, 5...Nd4 and 5...0-0.

Even so 5...d5? has been tried by a 2575, Suat Atalik. He was lucky, in my view, that his unrated opponent replied with the insipid 6.Nc3?!

Much better, according to Stockfish14.1 and Komodo12.1.1, is 6.exd5!? (6.Nxe5 is also strong), when 6...Qxd5 7.Nc3 Qd6 8.Bxc6+ bxc6 9.Nxe5! leaves Black in a dreadful mess, despite having the bishop-pair. The alternative recapture, 6...Nxd5, simply loses a pawn to 7.Nxe5.

However the situation was much less clear in my round-five game in Alicante, which began 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.h3!?, an unpopular continuation but one which has been tried by grandmasters.

The full game, in which I had black, can be seen at https://beauchess.blogspot.com/2021/12/alicante-round-five.html but here I am concentrating on the opening, which continued 5...Nd4 6.Nxd4 Bxd4 7.c3 Bb6 8.0-0 c6 9.Ba4, reaching the following position:

How should Black proceed?

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There are two games in ChessBase's 2022 Mega database that arrived at the diagram.

In one a 2218 played 9...h6, while in the other a 1943 played my choice, 9...d6.

More ambitious, clearly, is 9...d5!?, but is it sound?

A) 10.exd5 is an obvious try, when 10...Qxd5 11.Bb3 Qd6 12.Re1 0-0 seems satisfactory for Black, although the engines very slightly prefer White. Black could also reply 10...Nxd5, when Black is ready to castle next move. White could try to stop, or at least delay, castling with 11.d4!? exd4 12.Re1+, but after 12...Be6 there seems nothing better than 13.cxd4, after which Black is free to castle and has a good IQP position in which the isolani is firmly blockaded.

B) 10.Bg5?, trying to take advantage of the absence of ...h6, loses a pawn to 10...dxe4, eg 11.dxe4 Qxd1 12.Rxd1 Nxe4, when not only is there no threat of Rd8# but White has to do something about the threatened f2 pawn.

C) Komodo12.1.1 suggests 10.Qe2, but Black can coolly reply 10...0-0 as 11.exd5 can even be met with 11...Nxd5!?, according to the engines, as 12.Qxe5 Re8 gives Black a lot of compensation for a pawn. If Black does not fancy sacrificing a pawn, 11...Qxd5 12.Bb3 Qd6 seems satisfactory.

D) Stockfish14.1 suggests 10.Nd2, but there seems nothing wrong with 10...0-0. If 11.Re1 Re8 12.Nf3, a simple answer is 12...Bc7, but 12...Qd6 also looks fine.

CONCLUSION: The decision on whether to play ...d5 before castling in double e-pawn openings is rarely an easy one. The safest option is often to play ...d6 and follow up with ...d5 after castling. But delaying ...d5 can mean it is no longer possible, in which case White may well get a central space advantage. As is usually the case, each position must be judged on its specific characteristics, and frequent playing of such positions will increase understanding.