Lessons From Transylvania

IN round one of the Brașov International I had white against a 2263.

The full game can be seen at B1 but here I want to look at a key point in the opening.

The game began 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.Bd2, the last move apparently being first played in 1927 by Efim Bogoljubow. Easily the main reply in ChessBase's 2022 Mega database is 5...Ne7.

After the further moves 6.a3 Bxc3 7.Bxc3 b6, White often plays 8.Bb5+ to make it difficult for Black to arrange an exchange of light-square bishops.

I preferred 8.Nf3, which was also Boris Spassky's choice in a 2001 game. The idea is that after 8...Ba6 White misplaces the black queen's knight with 9.Bxa6, forcing 9...Nxa6.

Spassky continued 10.0-0 but I preferred to hit the knight immediately with 10.Qe2, after which 10...Nc7 leaves the knight rather prospectless, so 10...Nb8!? is probably better.

How should White proceed?

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I played 11.dxc5?! bxc5 (Black now has more central pawns than White) 12.Qb5+?!, but 12...Nd7 left the white queen sticking out like a sore thumb.

The diagrammed position appears three times in Mega22, with all three games seeing 11.0-0. The highest-rated clash, Angel Espinosa Aranda (2336) - Sandro Pozo Vera (2474), La Roda (Spain) 2009, continued 11...0-0 12.Rad1 Qc7 13.Bd2 Nbc6 with a roughly equal position (0-1, 58 moves).

Stockfish15 suggests 11.h4!?, but reckons the position is even. Komodo13.02 reckons 11.h4!? and 11.0-0 are of equal value, but give White no edge.

CONCLUSION: Bogoljubov's line against the Winawer has a modern reputation of not posing Black any particular problems, and this game does nothing to gainsay that. Perhaps 8.Bb5+ is the starting point for something that will challenge Black more. If nothing else, keeping light-square bishops on the board should lead to a more complex middlegame.