Lessons From Bad Herrenalb

BEGINNERS are warned not to move the same piece twice in the opening.

Naturally it is taken as read that there are occasions where something has to be moved for a second time, a common example being when a white bishop on g5 is challenged by ...h6.

But this second tempo can be justified by the fact Black has spent on tempo on pushing the h pawn.

And this is the key point - moving a unit for the second time is often not a good idea if the move is only desirable.

The move usually needs to be justified by some action the opponent has taken, typically spending a tempo, or leaving something unguarded.

My round-one game at Bad Herrenalb reached the following position in a Réti after White played 6.d3.

This position occurs 215 times in ChessBase's 2024 Mega database

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The most popular continuations are 6...Be7 and especially 6...Bc5.

I preferred 6...e5!?, which has been played by grandmasters rated over 2700, including world champion Liren Ding, albeit 10 years.

At first glance the move looks good - Black gains space in the centre, supports the advanced d pawn and opens the c8-h3 diagonal for Black's light-square bishop.

But the move violates the beginners' rule against moving a piece, or in this case a pawn, twice in the opening.

Not only that, but it is at an early stage of the opening, when such offences are more likely to be serious, and it is Black who is breaking the rule, which is significant because White is a  tempo up by virtue of having the first move.

The position after 6...e5!? occurs 1,071 times in Mega24, but that is largely because the vast majority of those games reach the position with Black to move.

That makes a huge difference, with Stockfish16.1 and Dragon1 reckoning Black is at least equal.

But the position with White to move gets a very different assessment, with the engines giving White the upper hand.

In the game my opponent replied 7.a3, evidently hoping to get in 8.b4, which I stopped with 7...a5.

However it turns out Black's lost tempo means White can play the immediate 7.b4!?

The obvious point is that 7...Nxb4 can be met by 8.Nxe5, an exchange that clearly favours White.

The much less-obvious point is that 7...Bxb4 can also be met by 8,Nxe5!

After 8...Nxe5 9.Qa4+ White, one way or another, captures the black dark-square bishop, eg 9...Nc6 10.Bxc6+ bxc6 11.Qxb4 with the upper hand for White, according to the engines.

LESSON: moving a pawn or piece for the second time in the opening needs to be justified by something the opponent has done.