The full game can be seen at N4 but here I want to concentrate on how Black, despite playing natural-looking moves, got a lost position, according to Stockfish15, after just six moves.
The game began with 1.Nc3, which occurs 23,950 times in ChessBaase's 2022 Mega database.
Black has a wide choice of replies. A Sicilian fan, for example, might well choose 1...c5, while a double-e pawn player can be happy with 1...e5, especially if White continues 2.e4.
However I chose 2.Nf3 which, according to Mega22, was first played by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1804.
His opponent replied 2...d6 but my opponent preferred the more popular 2...Nc6.
Now 3.e4 Nf6 would be a Four Knights, but I kept the game in independent lines with 3.d4, after which 3...exd4 4.Nxd4 brings about a position in which Black already has to be careful.
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| How should Black proceed? |
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The plausible 4...d5?! was played against me last month by Jiří Řehák (1749 Fide) in the fifth round of the Czech Seniors Open Championship, but after 5.Bf4 Black is in trouble. The engines suggest 5...a6, which is the commonest continuation in Mega22, but 6.e4 leaves White better. The game saw 5...Nxd4 but 6.Qxd4 gave White a positionally won game, according to Stockfish15 (Komodo13.02 allows White 'only' the upper hand).
The plausible 4...d5?! was played against me last month by Jiří Řehák (1749 Fide) in the fifth round of the Czech Seniors Open Championship, but after 5.Bf4 Black is in trouble. The engines suggest 5...a6, which is the commonest continuation in Mega22, but 6.e4 leaves White better. The game saw 5...Nxd4 but 6.Qxd4 gave White a positionally won game, according to Stockfish15 (Komodo13.02 allows White 'only' the upper hand).
A better try is 4...Bc5, but 5.Nf5!? gives interesting play, eg 5...Qf6 was met by 6.g4!? in Rudolf Bräuning (2305) - Jura Bibik (2230), Württemberg Championship (Schramberg) 1993, continuing 6...Bb4!? 7.Bd2 Nge7, when the engines reckon 8.a3 Ba5 9.Nxe7 Nxe7 10.e4 would have been completely equal (the game was drawn anyway in 27 moves). A more conventional approach would be 6.e4, when Anatoly Karpov is among those who have continued 6...Nge7. After the further moves 7.Ne3!? d6 8.Bd3 the engines suggest 8...Ne5, which goes back to Louis Paulsen - Adolf Anderssen, Match Game Four (Leipzig) 1876. That game continued 9.0-0 c6 10.Kh1 Bxe3?! 11.Bxe3, after which the bishop-pair and the slightly awkward placing of the black queen seem to give White an edge.
My game saw Black's most popular continuation, 4...Nf6, to which I replied 5.Bg5. Black broke the pin with 5...Be7?!, which is probably a mistake although it has been played by Yuri Vovk (2545), Yuriy Kryvoruchko (2710) and Samuel Sevian (2654). The problem for Black is what to do after 6.Nf5.
Komodo13.02 approves of the game continuation 6...0-0, but after 7.Nxe7+ Qxe7 8.Nd5 Black's kingside gets smashed open.
Stockfish15 reckons ...0-0 leaves White positionally winning, and instead suggests 6...h6!?, but 7.Nxg7+ Kf8 8.Bxf6 Bxf6 9.Nh5 leaves Black with insufficient compensation for a pawn.
Going back to the position after Bg5, the engines suggest 5...Bb4!?, when 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Qd4 gave White a slight edge in Joel Benjamin (2575) - John Nunn (2585), Lloyds Bank (London) 1987, according to Stockfish15, although Komodo13.02 reckons the position is equal. That game continued 7...Be7 8.e4 0-0 9.Bd3 h6 10.Bh4 d5 11.e5 Ng4 12.Bxe7 Qxe7 13.f4 f6 14.0-0 fxe5 15.fxe5 Rxf1+ 16.Rxf1 Qxe5 17.Qxe5 Nxe5 18.Re1 Nxd3 19.cxd3, when White probably had enough for a pawn (1-0, 97 moves).
There are lots of alternatives along the way for both sides in these lines, but it is fair to say 1.Nc3 e5 2.Nf3 leads to original and interesting play that is not easy to navigate over the board.
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