French Exchange
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Bd6 5.c4 Qe7+!?
This has been played by grandmasters, but putting the queen on a central open file early on entails risk.
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| How should White respond? |
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6.Be2
There is no need to worry about losing a pawn, although some strong players have preferred 6.Be3.
6...dxc4 7.0-0 Nf6
Hardly surprisingly, there are no games in ChessBase's 2025 Mega database with 7...b5? After the reply 8.Re1, Black has problems.
8.Bxc4 0-0
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| Now both sides have castled, how would you assess the position? |
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It may look like a typical opening position with an isolated queen's pawn, but in this one White will gain time threatening the black queen.
9.Re1 Qd8
More-or-less forced as after 9...Qd7?! White will pose problems with Bg5, and development of the black queen's bishop will be obstructed.
10.Nc3 Bg4 11.Bg5 Nbd7?!
The engines much prefer 11...h6, meeting both 12.Bh4 and 12.Be3 with 12...Nc6.
12.Qd3
Even stronger, according to the engines, is 12.h3, meeting 12...Bh5 with 13.g4!? Bg6 14.Ne5.
12...c6 13.Ne5
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| How should Black proceed? |
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13...Qc7
Not 13...Be7?? 14.Nxg4 Nxg4 15.Bxe7, and if 13...Bh5? then 14.g4! is good as 14...Bg6 runs into 15.Nxg6 hxg6 16.Qxg6!?
14.f4
Stockfish17 gives 14.Nxg4 Nxg4 15.Qf5!?, when 15...Nxh2? can be met by 16.Ne4, and 15...Bxh2+ by 16.Kh1 Ngf6 17.g3!? Bxg3 18.fxg3 Qxg3 19.Rg1, when Black has no bishops left to worry the exposed white king.
Dragon1 suggests 14.h3 Be6 15.Nxd7 Qxd7!? (15...Nxd7 16.Bxe6 fxe6 17.Rxe6) 16.Bxf6 Bxc4 17.Qxc4 gxf6 18.Ne4 with a strong attack.
14...Be6!?
The engines fluctuate between continuations, but eventually more-or-less settle on 14...a5!?, a possible continuation being 15.Rac1 Be6!? 16.Bxe6 fxe6, which is similar to the game.
15.Bxe6 fxe6 16.Rac1
With this move-order 16.Re3 my be an improvement.
16...a6 17.g3 Rae8
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| How should White proceed? |
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18.Ne4?
The engines much prefer either 18.a3!?, eg 18...Nb6 19.Rc2 Nbd5 20.Nf3!?, or 18.Bxf6!?, when both 18...Nxf6 and 18...gxf6 can be answered by 19.Nf3!?, and 18...Rxf6?! by 19.Ne4.
18...Bb4?
The threat to e1 is easily met, after which the bishop is hanging. The engines reckon 18...Nxe4 19.Qxe4 Bxe5 20.dxe5 Nb6 gives Black a slight edge - the isolated e6 pawn is masked, and the white bishop is very restricted, albeit controlling d8.
19.Red1?!
The engines give 19.Bxf6!? gxf6 20.Nxd7 Qxd7 before moving the king's rook, although they cannot decide whether it should go to e3, e2 or d1.
19...Nxe4 20.Qxe4 Nf6
This lets White swop off the restricted bishop, so perhaps 20...Nb6 or 20...Bd6 is better.
21.Bxf6 gxf6 22.Nf3 Qd6 23.Kg2 Qd5 24.Qxd5
The engines slightly prefer 24.Qb1!?
24...exd5 25.a3 Ba5 26.b4 Bb6 27.Re1 Re4 28.Rxe4!? dxe4 29.Nd2 Bxd4
Black may have an edge after 29...f5!?, according to the engines.
30.Nxe4 Bb2 31.Rb1 Bxa3 32.Rb3
Both 32.Nd6? and 32.Nc5? fail to 32...a5.
32...Bc1 33.Kf3 Kg7 34.Rb1 Ba3 35.Rb3
It was probably worth trying 35.Nc5!?, when Black more-or-less needs to find 35...Re8 (35...Rd8?? 36.Ne6+ etc), although then the engines reckon Black should hold, eg 36.Nd3 a5!? 37.bxa5 Re7.
35...Bc1 ½–½
You'd probably have won very quickly if you'd played 10.Rxe8 winning a queen!
ReplyDeleteCan you not copy and paste from ChessBase to avoid typos like that, at least on the moves that were played in the game, if not the variations?
Corrected - thanks.
DeleteThe problem with copying and pasting from ChessBase is that it results in what I regard as a very ugly format, especially if annotations are included.