The full game can be seen at M6 but here I want to concentrate on the opening, which I generally take as lasting until one player has connected rooks.
Queen's Pawn Game
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.h3
The main point of this unusual move, which nevertheless occurs 159 times in ChessBase's 2022 Mega database, is to prevent Black playing the Chigorin-style ...Bg4.
I prepared a quick ...Bd6 with 3...e6, but the main move in Mega22 is 3...Bf5 (3...Nf6 is also popular), and then either 4.c3 or 4.Bf4.
The highest-rated player to reach the position after 3...e6 chose 4.Bf4, but my opponent preferred the apparent-novelty 4.Ne5?!
After 4...Nxd5 5.dxe5 the analysis engines Stockfish15 and Komodo13.02 like 5...Bd7 or 5...Ne7, but I challenged the e5 pawn immediately with 5...f6.
The engines reckon 6.e4!? gives a roughly equal position, but the game saw 6.Bf4 fxe5 7.Bxe5 Nf6.
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| Black is slightly better, according to the engines |
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After 8.g3!? - 8.e3 may be a tad better - 8...Bd6 9.Bxd6 the engines agree my recapture with 9...Qxd6 is a little superior to 9...cxd6.
My opponent continued 10.Bg2!?, which I am fairly sure was an oversight, but is liked by the engines along with 10.Nd2.
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| How should Black proceed? |
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Winning a pawn with 10...Qb4!? is objectively best, according to the engines, but Black also has an edge after the more-conservative 10...e5, 10...Bd7 or 10...0-0.
The game continued 11.Nd2 Qxb2 12.0-0 0-0 13.a4, when I prepared ...Bd7 with 13...Rb8.
After 13.e4 Qd4 14.Qe2, White had connected rooks and the middlegame can be thought of as having started.
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| How would you assess the position? |
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White has the better bishop, and the black queen is a little awkwardly placed. But White also has two isolated queenside pawns and does not have enough compensation for a pawn, according to the engines.
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