Lessons From Tegernsee III

THERE is a well-known equalising combination in chess when Black uses the king's knight to capture a protected pawn on e4.

The point is that when White recaptures with the queen's knight, Black plays ...d5, forking the white knight and a white bishop on c4.

Here is a simple example arising after 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.Bc4.

Black's best continuation is the equalising combination that starts with 4...Nxe4!

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There are 8,357 examples of 4...Nxe4! being played in this position in ChessBase's 2024 Mega database.

After 5.Nxe4 d5 Black has equalised, and is at least slightly better if White continues with the most popular move in Mega24, 6.Bxd5?!

Trying to avoid this sequence with 5.Bxf7+?! Kxf7 6.Nxe4 leaves Black with the centre and the bishop-pair after 6...d5 7.Neg5+ Kg8.

Now consider the following position, which arose in my round-three game in the Senioren Cup after I played 8.a4.

There are 8,540 examples of this position from the Philidor in Mega24

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My 2159-rated opponent played 8...Nxe4?

This has has been played by people rated 2200+, but is a mistake, as our game continuation of 9.Rxe4 d5 10.Bxd5 showed.

As a matter of fact even 9.Nxe4?! is good enough for the upper hand, according to Stockfish16 and Komodo14.1, after 9...d5 10.Bxd5 cxd5 11.Nc3, eg 11...e4 12.Nxd5!

CONCLUSION: chess cannot be played on general principles and famous motifs alone - no matter how familiar a position may seem, calculation is required.