1.Nf3 Irregular
1.Nf3 c5 2.c3!?
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| This position goes back to at least 1925, occurs 1,577 times in ChessBase's 2026 Mega database, and has been played, as White, by Barcza, Stahlberg, Keene, Hort, Ivanchuk, Conquest, Harikrishna, Rapport, Aronian, Short, So and Carlsen |
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Most of those players have had decent results with it, so what is going on? Presumably one of the main points of 2.c3!? is that a later d4 cxd4 can be met by cxd4, keeping two pawns in the centre. The text also opens the d1-a4 diagonal, although it is too early to know whether that will prove useful. However, for what it is worth, after 2.c3!?, Stockfish18 and Dragon1 reckon Black has completely equalised.
2...d5 3.e3!?
Another strange-looking move, but it is the top choice of the engines, along with 3.d4.
3...Nf6 4.b3!? Nc6 5.Bb2
The first move of White's I managed to predict, and it is the first move not in Mega26. Alexandr Fier (2499) - José Fernando Cubas (2447), Mário Covas (Santos, Brazil) 2007, went 5.Bb5 Qb6 6.c4 a6 7.Ba4 Bd7 8.0-0, with equal chances, according to the engines (1-0, 32 moves).
5...e5 6.d3
It is too late for d4, according to the engines, which reckon 6...cxd4 gives Black at least the upper hand after both 7.exd4 e4 and 7.cxd4 Bb4+ 8.Nbd2 (8.Bc3 Qa5) exd4 9.exd4 Ne4.
6...Bd6 7.Be2 e4 8.Nfd2 0-0 9.Na3?!
The engines strongly dislike this, preferring 9.dxe4 dxe4 10.Nc4 Bc7 11.Qxd8 Rxd8 12.h3, although they agree that leaves Black with at least a slight edge.
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| How should Black proceed? |
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9...Bf5
Best, according to the engines, is 9...exd3 10.Bxd3 Qe7, threatening to win a piece with ...c4. A sample line runs 11.Nc2 Ne5 12.Be2 Bf5, when Black is ahead in space and development.
10.Nf1?!
Falling further behind in development. However, after 10.dxe4 Nxe4!? 11.Nxe4 Bxe4 the engines reckon Black has a positionally won game.
10...Qe7
Threatening to win a piece with 11...exd3 12.Bxd3 Bxd3 13.Qxd3 c4. But even stronger, according to the engines, is 10...exd3 11.Bxd3 Bxd3 12.Qxd3 c4!? 13.bxc4 Ne5.
11.Nc2 Ne5 12.dxe4 dxe4 13.Ng3 Bg6 14.0-0
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| Now both sides have castled, how large is Black's advantage? |
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Black's extra space and more-active development add up to an advantage worth nearer a rook than a minor piece, according to the engines.
14...Rad8 15.Qb1!?
The engines reckon 15.Qc1 is a tad better.
15...h5 16.Rfd1
Not 16.h4? Nfg4 etc.
16...h4 17.Nf1 Nfg4 18.c4
Possibly better is 18.h3, although the engines reckon 18...f5!? is a strong reply.
18...Qg5 19.Rd5
This is the engines' second choice, at least for a while, but their main line runs 19.Bxg4 Qxg4 20.h3 Qe2!? with a large advantage, eg 21.Rd2 runs into 21...Nf3+! 22.gxf3 Bh2+!, when 23.Kxh2 Rxd2 24.Nxd2 Qxf2+ 25.Kh1 exf3 26.Qf1 Qxd2 results in Black regaining the sacrificed piece, with a two-pawn advantage. That is not by any means an easy line to see in advance, but even without 20...Qe2!? Black has a substantial edge.
19...Nf6 20.Qd1?!
White should probably just give up the exchange, albeit with no compensation.
20...Nxd5 21.Qxd5
21.cxd5 is not necessarily any better, according to the engines.
21...Nf3+ 22.Bxf3 Bxh2+!? 0-1
After 23.Nxh2 Rxd5 24.cxd5 exf3 25.Nxf3 Qxd5 Black has queen and pawn for two knights.
I could imagine that the titled players who used 2. c3 did so with the intention of transposing into something else. That would be either a position where White plays d4 and c3 or a reversed Slav or similar. Thus suggesting that 3 or 4 d4 is mandatory to prevent Black setting up the c5, d5, e5, Nc6 structure which his first few moves were in no position to disrupt.
ReplyDeleteYou can wonder how a player who plays the opening in such a passive style can ever win games and maintain a respectable rating. Perhaps he relies on opponents over reaching.
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As far as I could tell from my preparation, he normally plays the Colle - respectable, if not dynamic. What he played in this game was almost certainly taking a 'quiet' opening too far. Perhaps, since it was round one, he had done no prep, but feared, quite rightly, that I would have done, and so decided to get me out of book early.
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