Back To The Drawing-Board?

I HAVE been trying an unusual line against the Petrov: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.c4!?

Position after 5.c4!?

It is recommended by Larry Kaufman in The Chess Advantage In Black And White (McKay, 2004).
He writes: "It is closely related to the slightly more fashionable 5.Nc3, as both moves can lead to doubled c pawns, but it has the advantage that White is only obliged to permit the doubling when Black plays ...Nc6 first, after which the knight is poorly placed in relation to a white pawn on c3, or when he plays ...c6, which permits White to annoy the d6 pawn."
My first two outings with the line were correspondence games in which I beat a 1332 and drew with a 2458. More recently I have played it in four over-the-board games, winning all four.
Admittedly those four games were against opponents I would have been expected to beat, but nevertheless I had no reason to be dissatisfied with the line.
Then came the following correspondence game:
Spanton (2260 - England) - Nick Flew (2000 - Wales 2)
Carlos Flores Gutiérrez Team Tournament (ICCF) 2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.c4!? Nc6

All my previous games, except for the draw against Noire, featured 5...Be7. That is the most popular move in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database, but it allows 6.d4, which is not the end of the world for Black but does give White good central control.

6.Nc3!? Nxc3 7.dxc3

This is the main line but also possible is 7.bxc3!? followed by a quick d4 with the idea of central control.

7...g6!?

Kaufman only covers 7...Be7 and 7...Bg4. The text is slower but, based on this game at least, seems perfectly playable, in which case it is hard to see what the line offers White.

Spanton (2158) - Eric Noire (2458), IECG World Championship Semi-Final 2007, went 7...Bf5!? 8.Nd4 Nxd4 9.Qxd4!? Qe7+ 10.Be3 Qe5 11.0-0-0 Be7 12.Bd3 Qxd4 13.Bxd4 Bxd3 14.Rxd3 f6 (½–½, 30 moves).

8.Bg5 Be7 9.Bh6!?

This was played in all seven Mega20 games to reach this point.

9...Bf8 10.Be3

Gawain Jones (2640) - Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2804), Tata Steel A (Wijk aan Zee) 2018, saw 10.Bg5 Be7 11.Bh6 Bf8 12.Bg5 ½–½.

10...Bg7 11.c5!?

This may be new. 11.Qd2 is the known continuation.

11...dxc5 12.Qxd8+ Nxd8 13.Bxc5

White's position looks promising at first glance as Black has trouble castling kingside, but this proves a minor inconvenience.

13...a6 14.Bc4 Be6 15.Bb3 Bxb3 16.axb3 Ne6 17.Be3 0-0-0 18.0-0

Opposite-side castling with a half-open a file would lead to a sharp game with queens on, but here the game fairly quickly peters out.

18...Rd5 19.b4 Rb5 20.Nd2 Bf6 21.g3 Rd5

We played a further 15 moves, but the equilibrium never looked like being disturbed, which is rather disheartening from a white perspective.

Admittedly this was a correspondence game, and it would not be so easy (for either player) to play as accurately OTB, but it seems I will need to find a radical wrinkle if I wish to continue playing 5.c4!? with serious prospects of a gaining an advantage against a prepared opponent.

New Spice (part six)

AFTER 1.d4 d5, the most-popular move at club level is probably 2.Nf3, rather than immediately playing the Queen's Gambit with 2.c4.
White might be planning to play c4 later, but often 2.Nf3 is a prelude to the Colle or, more commonly these days, the London System.
Black usually replies with something standard such as 2...Nf6 or 2...e6.
But Black can take advantage of the lack of immediate pressure on his centre by putting immediate pressure on White's centre with 2...c5.
This has been played by many grandmasters, and scores a very healthy 50% in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database - only 2...c6, with 48%, comes close to matching this.
Despite its success, the move is not something White sees often - it is only sixth-most popular in Mega20.
The first question to consider is whether White can get an advantage by accepting what is effectively a Reversed Queen's Gambit.
A) 3.dxc5!?
Vladimir Kramnik is among those who have played this move, and many of the old masters, including Pillsbury, Lasker, Alekhine, Capablanca and Flohr, tried it from time-to-time, so it should be taken seriously. Black's most-popular response is 3...e6, after which White can try to hold on to the extra pawn.
Yury Piskov (2550) - Magaram Mogomedov (2450)
Capelle-la-Grande 1994
4.b4!?
It is well-known that for Black to try to play this way in the Queen's Gambit proper, ie 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e3 b5?!, is doubtful, but the question is whether the addition of 2.Nf3 makes a significant difference.
4...a5 5.c3 axb4 6.cxb4 b6
Black continues to pressurise White's queenside. It is not even a sacrifice as 6.cxb6?! Bxb4+ 7.Bd2 Qxb6 was good for Black in Ignatz von Popiel - Georg Marco, Trebitsch Memorial (Vienna) 1915, although the game was eventually drawn.
7.e4!?
This move, which is the choice of the analysis engines Stockfish10 and Komodo10, seems to have been grandmaster Piskov's new idea in keeping, at least for a while, the extra pawn.
The main alternative is probably 7.Bb2, the point being that Black cannot follow-up 7...bxc5 8.bxc5 with 8...Bxc5?? as that loses to 9.Bxg7. Instead Svetlana Petrenko (2207) - Khanim Balajayeva (2130), EU women's championship (Chakvi, Georgia), 2015, continued 8...Nf6 9.e3 (9.Qc2 Qa5+) Bxc5 10.Bd3 0-0 11.0-0 Nbd7, when Black had a slight edge thanks to her extra central pawn and pressure against a2.
7...bxc5 8.Bb2

How should Black proceed?

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8...cxb4!?
This looks greedy, and Piskov must presumably have had this position on the board in his preparation, but it works out well.
9.Bb5+ Bd7 10.Bxd7+ Qxd7
White now played a move, after which the game was agreed drawn, but what was the move?
Mega20 has 11.Be5??, but that does not just look weird, it is an outright blunder as 11..dxe4 is winning for Black, eg 12.Nfd2 (12.Qxd7+?? loses a piece to 12...Nxd7) Nc6 13.Bb2 f5, when Black is two pawns up.
11.Ne5 makes more sense, although the engines reckon Black has an edge after 11...Qb5 or 11...Qb7.
At any rate, White's 4.b4!? was not a great success.
**********
A less-popular, but less-weakening, way to try to hold on to the pawn is 4.Be3.
Admittedly this blocks the e2 pawn, but White can develop his light-square bishop via g2, from where it may exert pressure on Black's centre in conjunction with the pawn-thrust c4.
Most popular now is 4...Na6, but the engines like a move played by Spanish international master Juan Mellado Trivino: 4...Nf6!?
The idea is to calmly get on with development, and fight for the central squares.
Igors Rausis (2520) - Mellado Trivino (2465)
Mondariz (Spain) 1998
5.c3!?
Threatening to tighten his hold on the pawn with b4.
A serious alternative is 5.c4, which can be met by 5...Na6 (other moves are clearly possible), whereupon 6.Nc3 Bxc5 7.Bxc5 Nxc5 led to draws in Predrag Nikolić (2605) - Yasser Seirawan (2610), World Cup (Barcelona) 1989, and Chao B Li (2703) - Jinshi Bai (2568), Chinese Team Championship 2018.
5...a5
The engines prefer 5...Be7 or 5...Qc7, not worrying about b4. For example, after 5...Be7 6.b4, they give 6...0-0 7.Nbd2 Qc7 8.g3, when both Stockfish10's 8...e5 and Komodo10's 8...Ng4 look promising.
6.c4!
The engines like this sudden switch to a more-aggressive use of the c pawn.
6...Na6 7.Nc3 Nxc5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Nxd5 Qxd5 10.cxd5 exd5
White has given Black an isolated queen's pawn, and must have a slight edge, but the weakness seems well-defendable.
11.0-0-0?!
Trying to generate quick pressure on the isolani, but White's king proves vulnerable, despite the absence of queens.
11...Bf5! 12.Bxc5
'Normal' development starting with 12.g3? runs into 12...Nb3+! 13.axb3 Rc8+ 14.Bc5 Bxc5 15.Kd2 Bxf2, with a winning advantage for Black.
12...Bxc5 13.e3 Rc8 14.Bd3
Not 14.Kd2? Bb4+ 15.Ke2 Rc2+ 16.Nd2 Rxb2 etc.
14...Bxe3+ 15.Kb1 Rc1+ 16.Rxc1 Bxd3 17.Ka1 Bxc1 18.Rxc1 Ke7 19.Rc7+ Kd6 20.Rxb7
White has restored material equality, but after …
20...Rc8
… Black had activated his rook, to go along with his more-active king and minor piece, and he went on to win in 51 moves.
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B) 3.c3
Grabbing the pawn on c5 and trying to hold on to it tends to not work out very well.
At club level, especially if White wants to play the London System, 3.c3 is common. Black usually replies 3...e6 or 3...Nc6. The former is slightly more popular, and has been played by Magnus Carlsen, so it seems a good place to start.
Wesley So (2815) - Magnus Carlsen (2832)
Chess.com Speed blitz (2017)
4.Bf4
Entering the London is overwhelmingly the first choice, and is especially likely at club level.
4...Bd6!?
Black has a wide choice at move four, but I have chosen to concentrate on the text as it was Carlsen's choice, and has the added advantage of being less well-known than the more-popular 4...Nc6 and 4...Nf6.
5.Bg3
White helps Black's development if he plays 5.Bxd6 Qxd6, and anyway London System players are usually reluctant to give up their dark-square bishop without very good cause.
However, 5.e3 is a known idea in these sorts of positions, as 5...Bxf4 6.exf4 gives White good central control. Nimzowitsch, who had a strong positional feel, met 5.e3 with 5...Nc6, when he had this position in 1920. That game ended in a draw, but 5...Nc6 is Stockfish10's choice, and it puts the onus back on White to decide what to do about the face-off between the dark-square bishops. Delaying a decision further with 6.Nbd2!? is problematic as White ends up with doubled pawns and an isolani after 6...Bxf4 7.exf4 cxd4.
5...Nf6 6.e3 0-0 7.Nbd2

How should Black proceed?

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7...Qc7!?
An interesting moment. Both players have been making normal moves, and it would not have been a surprise to see 7...Nc6. But then the engines like the reply 8.Bb5!?, and so does Carlsen - he has played it six times as White. Carlsen must rate the move highly because he stuck with it despite losing the first two of those six games.
After 8.Bb5!?, the main line runs 8...Ne7!? 9.Bd3!?, which the engines reckon is nothing special, but White scores very well in Mega20. Black's second-most popular move is the provocative 8...a6!?, whereupon 9.Bxc6 bxc6 10.Qa4 is a little tricky to meet.
8.Bd3 Nbd7
Note that 8...Nc6?!, which at first glance might seem more palatable now White has spent a tempo on Bd3, runs into 9.dxc5.
9.e4?!
Opening lines in the centre when you have not castled, but your opponent has, is something most club players would shy away from. So knows not to do that, as a general rule, but must have thought he had found an exception.
Later in the same tournament, on the same day, the players reached the same position, and this time So played the normal 9.0-0. The game continued 9...b6 10.e4 Bxg3 11.hxg3 dxe4 12.Nxe4 Bb7 with a fairly equal position, which was eventually drawn.
It therefore seems the point of playing e4 early may be to deny Black the equalising option ...Bb7. But Black has other ways to at least equalise.
9...cxd4!
The immediate ...dxe4 is also reasonable as, after 10.Nxe4, Black has 10...Nxe4 11.Bxe4 Nf6 with what looks like equality.
10.cxd4 dxe4 11.Nxe4?!
It seems that gaining a tempo by flicking in the zwischenzug 11.Rc1 is better, but the position is still good for Black.
11...Nxe4 12.Bxe4 Nf6 13.Bd3 Qa5 14.Ke2
Not 14.Qd2?? Bb4, and if 14.Nd2, then Black has several pleasant options including 14...Rd8 15.0-0 Bxg3.
14...Rd8 15.Bh4!?
The engines suggest immediately getting queens off with 15.Qd2 Qxd2+ 16.Kxd2, but prefer Black after 16...b6.
15...Bd7 16.Bxf6 gxf6 17.Qd2 Qxd2+ 18.Nxd2 f5
White has succeeded in ensuring he is not the only one with a structural weakness, and he has got queens off, but Black's bishop-pair is strong (0-1, 38 moves).
**********
C) 3.e3
After 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 c5, the move 3.e3 is very popular at all levels.
It is particularly suitable for Colle players, but is the end of the line for London System players as white's dark-square bishop gets shut in.
Black's most-popular replies are 3...Nc6 and 3...Nf6. There are more games with the former in Mega20, but the latter scores a better percentage, was Anand's choice when he reached this position, and is frequently played by former Russian champion Sergey Volkov.
It also fair to say that while one can be fairly certain the king's knight belongs on f6, it is possible the queen's knight might want to go to d7 or a6, rather than to c6, if, for example, White plays dxc5.
Sergey Kayumov (2450) - Djurabek Khamrakulov (2524)
Uzbekistan Championship (Tashkent) 2009
4.b3
White is setting up a Colle-Zukertort, a sub-system of the Colle that has largely supplanted the regular Colle, which would normally see c3 being played here.
After 4.c3, the well-established main line runs 4...e6 5.Bd3 Nc6 6.Nbd2 Bd6!? (a more-aggressive posting of this bishop than is normally advisable if White had played Bg5) 7.0-0 0-0 8.dxc5!? (White plans e4, but he does not want to be saddled with an isolated d pawn after ...cxd4, so first he captures on c5) Bxc5 9.e4.
Black's moves have been easy to find so far, but here it is useful to know that the main move is 9...Qc7, fighting for the e5 square and supporting the possible manoeuvre ...Nh5-f4, after which White usually plays 10.Qe2, reinstating the threat to play e5.
Now the main move is 10...h6, but I like the engines' choice of 10...b6!?, which is also popular with grandmasters. White now usually follows through with his threat by playing 11.e5, when 11...Ng4! allows White to play a Greek Gift sac, but it works out to Black's advantage: 12.Bxh7+ Kxh7 13.Ng5+ Kg8 14.Qxg4 Qxe5 - material is level and the black king's position has been slightly weakened, but Black dominates the centre and has the bishop-pair.
Accordingly, in several games White has resisted sacrificing on h7 and instead played 12.b4 Be7 13.Re1 f6 14.exf6 Bxf6, when Black's central pawn-duo is probably a strength rather than a weakness - Black has won all four games to reach this position in Mega20.

Position after 4.b3 - how should Black proceed?

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4...cxd4!
More popular is 4...Nc6, but the text is recommended by Larry Kaufman in The Chess Advantage In Black And White, and scores a better percentage in Mega20.
The point is that 4.b3 freed the b2 square for White's dark-square bishop. But if White replies to 4...cxd4! with 4.exd4, which he nearly always does, the bishop will be blocked by its own pawn fixed on d4.
If White avoids this by playing 4.Nxd4?!, then 4...e5 5.Nf3 Nc6 gives Black a classical centre that is not easily undermined.
5.exd4 Nc6 6.Bb2
Nearly always played - the point is that although the bishop is blocked by the fixed d pawn, it can support a knight going  to e5.
6...Bg4 7.Be2 e6
Kaufman recommended 7...Bxf3!?, the idea being to "thwart White's strategy of [playing Nbd2 and] bringing a knight to e5." However, White can get around this by playing Nbd2 at move six, after which a transposition to this game is likely.
8.0-0 Bd6 9.Nbd2
The game reached this position by a different move-order (it began 1.Nf3 c5), but for clarity's sake I have used the most-frequent sequence.
9...0-0 10.Ne5
White has succeeded in planting a knight on e5, but it is far from clear this does him any good.
10...Bxe2 11.Qxe2 Qb6!?
More popular is 11...Rc8, but it may be the rook is better left for the moment on a8, where it supports pressure down the a file. Indeed, the engines like 11...a5 12.a4 Qb6, marginally favouring Black.
12.Ndf3 Rad8
The engines reckon Black is better after 12...a5.
13.Rad1 Nd7 14.Rd3 h6 15.Nxd7!?
This may seem strange at first glance, but the move is quite liked by the engines, although they prefer 15.Nxc6.
White could have tried 15.a3, preventing a knight fork on b4 and so freeing the white queen's rook. The engines then give 15...Ndxe5 16.Nxe5 Qa6, with ...Rc8 and play against White's slightly rickety queenside pawns to come.
15...Rxd7 16.c4 Bb8 17.c5!?
The engines agree this is a good time for White to push past (with tempo).
17...Qc7 18.a3 b6 19.b4 bxc5 20.bxc5
The engines prefer the double-edged 20.dxc5, continuing 20...e5 21.Nh4 d4 22.Qg4 g6 23.Re1 with an edge for White.
20...Re8 21.g3 f6 22.Rad1 Na5 23.Nh4 Nc4 24.Qh5 Rdd8 25.Bc1 Qf7
This offer to exchange queens relieves the pressure on Black's position, and the game was drawn after 46 moves.
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D) 3.c4
This is White's most-popular continuation. It is also the sharpest, which means it will not appeal to all 1.d4 players - certainly not at club level, at any rate.
Black's usual response is 3...e6, but after 4.cxd5 exd5 5.g3, the game is transposing to the heavily theoretical Schlechter-Rubinstein System against the Tarrasch.
I am recommending the engines' choice, 3...dxc4, which has a better percentage score in Mega20.
Péter Lukács (2465) - Zoltán Németh (2355)
Hungarian Championship 1989
4.e3
The main move, but 4.d5!?, not worrying about quickly getting the pawn back, is also popular. I then like the engines' choice, 4...Nf6, which has been played by Alexei Shirov and other strong GMs. The next few moves are well mapped out for both sides, viz: 5.Nc3 e6 6.e4 exd5 (Capablanca once, in a very unlike-Capablanca move, gave up a knight by 6...Nxe4?! 7.Nxe4 exd5, giving him three pawns and the centre for a piece, but he lost) 7.e5!? (this has been played by Kasparov and Karpov, but Capablanca, now on the white side, preferred 7.exd5).
After 7.e5!?, Black usually plays 7...Nfd7, but also popular, and much preferred by the engines, is 7...Ne4!? Then the main line goes 8.Qxd5 Nxc3 9.Qxd8+ Kxd8 10.bxc3, and now I am recommending a speciality of the Spanish grandmaster Jordi Magem Badals: 10...Nc6 11.Bxc4 Be6 12.Bxe6 fxe6 13.Ng5 Ke7. Magem Badals has had this position four times (in Mega20), beating players rated 2653 and 2545, and drawing with players rated 2490 and 2468.
Alexandr Fier (2653) - Magem Badals (2564), Barcelona Casino 2009, continued: 14.f4 h6 15.Ne4 Kd7 16.Be3 b6 17.Ke2 Be7 18.Rhf1 Rhd8 19.Rf3 Ke8 20.Raf1 Rd5, which the engines reckon is level, although Magem Badals went on to win.
4...cxd4 5.Bxc4!
The most-precise move. Often seen is 5.exd4, but then 5...Be6!? proves annoying. The main line runs 6.Nc3 Nf6 7.Ne5 Nc6 8.Nxc6 bxc6 9.Qa4 Qd7 10.Bxc4 Bxc4 11.Qxc4 e6 12.0-0, when the engines reckon Black is at least equal.

How should Black proceed?

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5...Qc7!
Gaining a tempo on the bishop. Try to avoid what happened in a 1997 Finnish game between two unrateds: 5...dxe3?? 6.Bxf7+ 1-0.
6.Qb3 e6 7.exd4 Nc6!?
More popular is 7...Nf6, but the text, which introduces the threat of ...Na5, may be better, although often the two lines transpose.
8.Nc3 Nf6 9.0-0 Bd7
Now ...Na5 is a serious threat as White cannot avoid an exchange of minor pieces by interpolating a check to the black king.
10.Bd3 Be7 11.Be3 0-0 12.Rac1 Rfd8
A later game, Mikhail M Ivanov (2457) - Mihajlo Stojanovic (2522), Verona 2006, saw 12...Rad8?!, which may be a case of the wrong rook, although Black did go on to win.
13.a3 Be8 14.Rfd1 Ng4
The more-conventional 14...Rac8 also seems fine.
15.Qc2 g6!?
Better may be 15...h6.
16.Qe2 Nxe3 17.fxe3
Black, with his bishop-pair, is slightly better, according to Stockfish10, but Komodo10 prefers White. The game was decided when a surprising tactical error gave Black a pawn to go with the bishops.
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CONCLUSIONS
When White plays the non-forcing 2.Nf3, after 1.d4 d5, Black can immediately fight for the initiative with 2...c5. This will put many whites on the back foot, leading them to play passively.
If White knows some theory, a sharp tussle can ensue, with play that should suit the tactically orientated player.

New Spice (part five)

TIME for some new spice for Black.
After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3, Black has two pawn-thrusts that aim to seize the initiative, even at the cost of a pawn.
The better-known is 3...f5!? - the Latvian Gambit, around which a lot of theory has grown up.
The other is 3...d5!? - the Elephant Gambit, which is less-often seen but, for what it is worth, is much more to the taste of the analysis engines Stockfish10 and Komodo10.
Both gambits have been tried by grandmasters, but only the Elephant has a GM for whom it is a major part of his repertoire (defined as a "frequent player" in ChessBase's Mega database).
Pavel Skatchkov has 28 Elephant Gambits in the 2020 edition of Mega, scoring +13=7-8.
That is impressive enough, but arguably he has done even better than those numbers suggest as his first four Elephant Gambits in the database were losses when he was still rated below 2300.
Here he is in action against Swiss grandmaster Florian Jenni.
Jenni (2519) - Skatchkov (2506)
Champions Challenge (online blitz) 2007
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5!?
Unlike the Latvian, where 2...f5!? weakens the black kingside and is a strictly non-developing move, the Elephant opens a diagonal for Black's light-square bishop and leaves the black f pawn on its starting square.
3.Nxe5!?
This has its high-level adherents, but is nowhere near as popular as 3.exd5.
3...Bd6
Howard Staunton preferred 3...Qe7, but twice lost with that move against John Cochrane.
4.d4 dxe4 5.Nc3!?
More popular is 5.Nc4, but then 5...Nf6 6.Nxd6+ Qxd6 7.Be2 0-0 8.0-0 Nc6 9.Be3 Nd5 10.Nd2?! (10.c4 seems better) f5 (the engines reckon Black is better after 10...Nxe3 11.fxe3 Qh6) 11.c4? (11.Bc4 is better) Nxe3 12.fxe3 Qxe3 gave Black a strong game in Nikolai Kobanov (2472) - Skatchkov (2486), World Blitz Championship (Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia) 2013 (0-1, 32 moves).
5...Bxe5 6.dxe5 Qad1+ 7.Kxd1 Bf5
Three years earlier, Skatchkov had played 7...Nc6, beating a much-lower rated opponent in a game played with a more-normal time-control.
8.Nd5 Na6 9.Bxa6!?
This looks so natural, especially at blitz, but the engines prefer 9.Bb5+ or 9.Bg5.
9...0-0-0 10.Ke2
The engines reckon White has a slight edge after 10.Bc4!? c6 11.Ke2 cxd5 12.Bb3.
10...Rxd5 11.Bc4 Rc5 12.Bb3 Ne7 13.Be3 Rxe5 14.Bd4
The engines marginally prefer this to winning the pawn back with 14.Bxf7, after which they give 14...Bg4+ 15.Ke1, when it is difficult for White to get coordinated, but the engines reckon White's bishop-pair gives equality.
14...Bg4+ 15.Ke3
By inserting Bd4, White has made it possible to keep his rooks connected, but nevertheless the engines prefer 15.Kf1!?, with equality thanks to the menacing white bishops.
15...Nd5+
This is the problem with advancing the king - Black gets a tempo to block the action of White's light-square bishop.
16.Kd2 Rg5 17.h3
The engines prefer 17.Rae1, but after 17...Be6 18.Rhg1 Rd8 the e pawn cannot be taken because of threats down the d file, so White is obliged to play 19.Kc1. Then 19...Nf4 20.Bxe6+ Nxe6 21.Bc3 Nc5 sees Black keep his extra pawn, although he has trouble with coordination.
17...Be6

How should White proceed?

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18.Bxd5!?
Giving up the bishop-pair is rarely an easy decision, but Jenni is seeking salvation in opposite-coloured bishops. However, after …
18...Rxd5 19.Ke3 f6
… he did not restore material equality with 20.Kxe4!? because then the king's precarious position gives Black strong tactical chances, eg 20...Re8 21.c3 Rg5.
20.Bc3 Rhd8 21.g4
Good for Black is 21.Kxe4 Bf5+ followed by ...Bxc2.
21...Bf7 22.h4 h5 23.Rag1 hxg4 24.Rxg4 Rf5 25.Rh3 g6 26.Rxe4 Bd5
26...Bxa2!? looks possible as 27.b3? simply wastes a tempo: Black replies 27...Bb1 and picks up the c2 pawn. Also no good for White is 27.Ra4 Re8+ 28.Kd3 Bd5 29.Rxa7 Kb8 and 30...Rxf2.
27.Re7 Bxa2
Clearly Black has lost a tempo on 26...Bxa2. The engines reckon 27...Rf8 gives Black a tiny edge.
28.Rg3 g5 29.hxg5 fxg5 30.Re5?!
30.Be5 is a complete equaliser as 30...Rd7 is met by 31.Re8+
30...Rd5 31.Rxd5 Bxd5 32.b3 b6 33.f3 Bd5 34.Kd4 Kb7 35.Rxg5 c5+
Having battled back to an almost-certain draw, Jenni now produced a blitz howler.
36.Ke3?? Rxg5 0-1
Note that one of the peculiarities of this game is that, although the Elephant Gambit is a gambit by Black, it was Black who was a pawn up for much of the time.
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After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5!?, White usually plays 3.exd5.
Black's choice mainly lies between the traditional 3...e4 (by far the most-popular move), the more-modern 3...Bd6 and the somewhat strange ...Qxd5.
Grandmaster Skatchkov only plays 3...e4, as far as I can discover, which is probably as good a recommendation as any other.
White's best reply is generally acknowledge to be 4.Qe2, but that does not mean everyone plays it.
Second in popularity is 4.Nd4, after which the main line runs 4...Qxd5 5.Nb3 Nf6 6.Nc3 Qe5 7.Be2, with advantage to Black, according to Stockfish10, but level according to Komodo10.
There are 48 games in Mega20 where 4.Bb5+?? was played, including by one player rated over 2300, but White is losing a piece after 4...c6 5.dxc6 bxc6.
Much more reasonable is 4.Ne5, when the main line runs 4...Qxd5 5.d4 exd4 6.Nxd3 Nf6 7.Nc3, with an equal position, according to the engines.
But there is no doubt 4.Qe2 is normal, which Black usually meets with 4...Nf6, after which there comes a major parting of the ways.
Pavel Ponkratov (2469) - Skatchkov (2506)
Champions Challenge (online blitz) 2007
5.Nc3
This was Kasparov's choice and is White's most-popular move, but 5.d3 has been recommended in two books that many players of the white pieces will have, so I will look at that in a separate game.
5...Be7 6.Nxe4 Nxd5!?
More popular is 6...0-0, but Skatchkov played the text in all six of his games that reached this point in Mega20. The engines agree with him - just.
7.d3
The main move, but plenty of other moves have been tried. It is probably fair to say most white players, let alone most white club players, will be long out of book by now.
7...0-0 8.Qd1!?
This is obviously retrograde, but the idea is to get the queen off the sensitive e file, develop the light-square bishop and castle short, while keeping White's extra pawn.
Note that 8.g3?, trying to speed kingside castling, runs into 8...f5 9.Nc3 Bb4 with ...Re8(+) to come, and if 9.Ned2, then the immediate 9...Re8 is strong.
White could also think about castling long. 8.Bd2 Re8 9.0-0-0 f5 10.Nc3?? Nxc3 11.Bxc3 Bg5+ was a disaster for White in Boris Smirnov (2187) - Ivan Frolov (2309), Cheliabinsk (Russia) IM tournament 2016 (0-1, 20 moves), but the engines' suggested novelty 12.h4!? is very unclear.
Another preparatory move for long castling is 8.Be3, but 8...f5 is a tricky move to face, eg the engines continue 9.Ned2 Re8 10.0-0-0 Nc6 when, if anything, they prefer Black.
8...c5!?
8...Nc6?! was played in Sergei Movsesian (2721) - Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2703), World Blitz Championship (Moscow) 2010, but White simply played Be2 and castled on the next move, after which it was difficult to see what compensation Black had for his pawn-minus (1-0, 65 moves).
More popular is 8...f5, but after 9.Ng3 Re8, then again Be2 followed by 0-0 seems good for White.
9.Be2 Nc6 10.0-0 Bf5
10...f5 was played in Petrov (-) - Skatchkov (2250), Moscow Open 1995. That game continued 11.Nc3 Nxc3 12.bxc3 Bf6 13.Bd2, when Black has good compensation for the pawn, according to the engines. Skatchkov played the very aggressive 13...g5, and after 14.Qc1?! (the engines reckon 14.d4 is better) would have had a good game if he had played the consistent 14...g4. Instead he tried 14...Qe8, and it was only after 15.Re1 that 15...g4 came. That was met with 16.d4 Kh8 (not 16...gxf3? 17.Bc4+ etc) 17.Bb5 with an excellent position for White (1-0, 28 moves).
11.Re1 Bg6!?
This may be a little slow. The engines want Black to get on with development with 11...Qc7 or 11...Re8, albeit slightly preferring White.
12.Bf1 Qd7 13.c3 h6 14.Qb3 Kh8?!
The engines prefer 14...Rad8, or even an immediate 14...f5!?
15.Bd2
The engines like levering open the centre with 15.d4!?
15...b6?
One of the ideas of ...Kh8 was, as is often the case, to play ...f5, and this should have come now, according to the engines, before White has time to strike in the centre.
16.Rad1 Rae8 17.Bc1
17.d4 is strong, according to the engines, eg 17...cxd4 18.Bb5.
17...Bd8 18.Ng3 Bc7?
Missing the danger on the d file. Much better is 18...Rxe1 to get White's queen's rook off the d file, and, if White keeps it there by playing 19.Nxe1, then 19...Na5 or 19...Bf6.
19.Rxe8 Rxe8 20.d4 cxd4
The engines prefer 20...Na5, albeit with a large advantage for White after 21.Qb5 Qxb5 22.Bxb5 Rd8 23.Ne5.
21.Nxd4 Rd8 22.Nb5 Bxg3 23.hxg3
Black is in trouble on the d file, and anyway has no compensation for his missing pawn (1-0, 67 moves).
**********
After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5 3.exd5 e4 4.Qe2 Nf6, the move 5.d3 is recommended by Larry Kaufman in The Chess Advantage In Black And White, and by Eric Schiller & John Watson in Survive & Beat Annoying Chess Openings.
Michail Kutumov (-) - Skatchkov (2370)
Krasnodar (Russia) 1997
5...Qxd5

How should White proceed?

*****
*****
*****
*****
*****
6.Nbd2
This is the most-popular move in Mega20, but Kaufman and Schiller/Watson give an exclamation mark to 6.Nfd2, which is only fourth-most popular, but was Paul Keres's choice in a 1943 game. Skatchkov has faced 6.Nfd2 four times in Mega20, with each game continuing 6...Nc6 7.Nc3 Qa5.
Two of them then saw 8.Ndxe4, after which Skatchkov's 8...Be6!? gives near equality, according to the engines, despite Black being a pawn down. Black need not fear 9.Nxf6 as he will castle long, whereupon the half-open g file works in his favour.
More challenging for Black seems to be 8.Nb3, when both of Skatchkov's games, which were played in 2004, continued 8...Qb4 9.Bd2 Be6 10.Nxe4, when the engines believe White has the upper hand. Skatchkov drew both games, but they were against opponents rated more than 180 elo lower (admittedly one of the games was only drawn because Skatchkov fell for a stalemate trick).
A possible improvement for Black, or at least an interesting practical try, is 8...Qa6!? (the engines' suggestion of 8...Qe5 is well-met by 9.dxe4), which seems to be a novelty. My idea is that after 9.dxe4, which the engines reckon is best, Black plays 9...Qxe2+ 10.Bxe2 Be6.
Then Stockfish10 quite likes 11.0-0 for White, which can be met by 11...0-0-0. Stockfish10 comes to prefer 10.Be3, which is also Komodo10's choice, which can also be met by 11...0-0-0, when White is more-or-less obliged to castle kingside (or play f3 and Kf2).
Either way, we have a game of opposite-side castling, giving practical chances for both sides. There is no doubt the engines prefer White, which is usually the case in the early stages of an Elephant Gambit, but it is the type of position Skatchkov, for one, thrives in - a feel for playing on both sides of the board is crucial.
In any event, if White knows about (or finds at the board) 6.Nfd2, and later plays 8.Nb3, then 8...Qa6!? may be Black's best practical try.
6...Nc6 7.Nxe4 Be6 8.Nxf6+ gxf6 9.Be3
Black's kingside has been smashed, but his king will find safety on the queenside, and the half-open g file will prove useful if White castles kingside.
9...0-0-0
This is a tricky position for White. He is a pawn up and has the better pawn-structure, but Black has a sizeable lead in development (he has castled and has a queen, rook, bishop and knight developed; White has not castled and, although he has three pieces developed, he will need to spend a tempo opening a diagonal for the king's bishop).
10.g3?!
Stockfish10 gives 10.a3!? Kb8 11.d4 Bc5 11.c4!? Qd6 13.0-0-0, when White has got his king to relative safety, but at the cost of contracting a backward d pawn. Black has good compensation for his pawn-minus, according to both engines.
Komodo10 gives 10.c3 Rg8 11.d4!? h5!? 12.Qd2, claiming a slight edge for White, although Stockfish10 reckons the position is equal.
10...Ne5 11.Bg2 Bb4+ 12.c3
Forced, as a king move loses to 12...Bg4.
12...Nxd3+ 13.Kf1 Bc5 14.Nd4 Qc4 15.Nxe6?!
The engines' 16.Kg1 seems to give equal chances.
15...fxe6 16.Bxc5 Qxc5 17.Be4
Attacking the knight and freeing g2 for the white king.
17...Qc4 18.b3?
Not 18.Kg2?? as 18...Nf4+ wins the white queen.
Perhaps best is 18.Re1!?, and if 18...Nxb2, then 19.Bxb7+! Kxb7 20.Rb1 with good chances to equalise as 20...Qc3? runs into 21.Rxb2+ Ka8 (forced) 22.Qe4+. However, the engines reckon 18...Rhe8 19.Bxd3 Rxd3 20.Kg2 e5 is slightly better for Black.
18...Qxc3 19.Kg2?
The engines give 19.Rb1, albeit claiming Black has a winning advantage.
19...Nf4+! 0-1
If 20.gxf4, then 20...Rhg8+ 21.Kf1 Qxa1+ is curtains.
**********
CONCLUSIONS
The Elephant Gambit is a rare bird that has considerable surprise value.
White usually goes a pawn up - he almost has to if hoping for an advantage in the opening - at the cost of lagging in development, and therefore ceding the initiative.
Computers sometimes seem to revel in this type of play for White, but most humans, especially at club level, are better off with the initiative.
Many of the old masters played the Elephant Gambit, including Staunton, Bird, Paulsen, Anderssen and Lasker.
Even today it is occasionally ventured by grandmasters, and is a mainstay in the repertoire of Russian GM Pavel Skatchkov.
It would add spice to almost anyone's play against 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3.

New Spice

NONE of us has much idea when normal over-the-board chess activities will resume.
Some people are trying to make up for this by playing online more, but it is not the same thing.
A lot of players will, I am sure, be using their enforced absence from the board as an opportunity to spruce-up opening repertoires.
Now is a good time to remove some of the stodge and try to inject new spice into our favourite lines.
On the other hand, if we have managed to last this long without theory-laden sharp lines, why change now?
As a compromise, I am planning to put forward a number of sharp lines, often gambits, but lines which, while respectable, do not require memorising loads of theory.
For example, after 1.e4 e5 it is all-too-easy to suggest 2.f4. That would certainly add spice to most repertoires, but it requires a detailed theoretical knowledge.
Similarly, after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 it is a simple matter to suggest continuing 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 - the Scotch Gambit.
But the Scotch Gambit has been deeply analysed for literally hundreds of years.
So instead, in part one of this series, I am starting with the Göring Gambit: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.c3!?
It is named after German master Carl Göring, although authors vary as to why, with some saying he introduced the line into master play, although the date of this varies.
In fact the gambit was played back in the 1840s by Howard Staunton, whose lead was followed in the 1850s by Alexander Meek and in the 1860s by Louis Paulsen and Albert Merian.
Other masters also experimented with it before the first known outings, largely unsuccessful, in the 1870s by Göring.
Be that as it may, the gambit's heyday came, long after those masters were dead, in the late 1950s and 1960s when it notched wins for the likes of Tal, Gufeld, Velimirović, Ribli, Ljubojević and, in Britain, Penrose and Levy.
The commonest response to the gambit is to accept with 4...dxc3, but Black's best results percentage-wise in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database come when it is declined with 4...d5.
I will also cover the two other main ways of declining the gambit, namely 4...d3 and 4...Nf6.
A) 4...dxc3
When George Botterill wrote Open Gambits (Batsford 1986), he felt obliged to admit he could not describe the Göring as "playable."
That verdict was effectively echoed by Larry Kaufman in The Chess Advantage In Black And White (McKay Chess Library, 2004), who recommended Black accepts the gambit as it "does not give White enough lead in development to fully offset the pawn sacrificed."
But then along came an even stronger author, Viktor Bologan, who in Bologan's Black Weapons In The Open Games (New In Chess, 2014) said he wanted to recommend acceptance but had found a sideline where he "wasn't able to find any advantage for Black."
After 4...dxc3, White can offer a second pawn with 5.Bc4!?, but I want to look at what I think can be called the main line, 5.Nxc3.

Position after 5.Nxc3

In some ways the position reminds me of the Morra Gambit in the Sicilian, except that in the diagram Black has a pawn on c7 instead of e7.
For White this is both good news (Black has less central influence) and bad news (Black is not so far behind in development, as he has opened a diagonal for his dark-square bishop).
From this it can be argued that the Morra is better than the Göring for White in the short term, but White's prospects in the long term are better in the Göring.
Jacob Yuchtman - Mikhail Tal
USSR Championship (Tbilisi) 1959
5...Bb4
Theoreticians are unanimous, as far as I can discover, in recommending this continuation for Black. Indeed Kaufman gives it in The Chess Advantage without comment.
The main alternative is 5...d6, after which 6.Bc4 is obvious and good, and the main line continues 6...Nf6 7.Qb3 Qd7! (7...Qe7 8.0-0 is embarrassing for Black in that the analysis engines Stockfish10 and Komodo10 reckon best now is 8...Qd7).
After 7...Qd7!, Whites overwhelmingly play 8.Ng5, but I am putting forward the calmer choice of the engines, namely 8.Qc2!?
This was played in a game in 2000 by German teenager Leonid Kritz - then a 'mere' 2424, but three years later a grandmaster.
The idea is that White does not need to rush matters. He has four development tempi - the knights, the queen and the light-square bishop - and has more space.
Black effectively only has two development tempi in that, while he has developed three pieces, it will take him an extra tempo to develop his light-square bishop as the c8-h3 diagonal is blocked by the black queen.
So 8.Qc2!? supports the e pawn and takes the string away from ...Na5, which would be an effective answer to 8.0-0.
A natural continuation after 8.Qc2!? is 8...Be7 9.0-0 (Kritz played 9.Bf4?! in his 2000 game and only drew) 0-0 10.Rd1!?, when the engines reckon Black's best is 10...Qe8!?, after which White's compensation is clear for all to see.
6.Bc4 d6 7.0-0
7.Ng5!? is little-played but liked by the engines at least as much as the text.
7...Bxc3
Black usually captures on c3 as soon as the knight is unpinned. Indeed Kaufman reckons Black's most precise move-order is 6...Bxc3+!? 7.bxc3 d6 so as to avoid White playing 7.Qb3, instead of 7.0-0, the idea being to meet ...Bxc3 with Qxc3.
8.bxc3 Nf6
The game reached this position by a different move-order: 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Bb4 6.Bc4 Nf6 7.0-0 Bxc3 8.bxc3 d6.
Botterill recommended 8...Bg4 9.Qb3 Bxf3 10.Bxf7+ Kf8 11.gxf3 Ne5 12.Bxg8 (Stockfish10 prefers 12.Bd5!?) Rxg8 13.f4 Nf3+ 14.Kg2 Nh4+ 15.Kh1 Qd7. This is a long line but, as Botterill points out, is largely forced. Known continuations are 16.f5 and 16.c4, both aimed at keeping the black queen out of h3. But the engines reckon White can ignore this threat by playing 16.f3!! The point is that 16...Qh3 is met by 17.Rf2, eg 17...b6 18.Qd5 Re8 19.Qh5 h6 20.c4 with a winning attack against the black king. For that reason, instead of 16...Qh3, the engines suggest 16...Qc6, but Black's pieces are uncoordinated, and White is winning (Stockfish10) or at least much better (Komodo10) after 17.Qe6 or 17.Bd2.
9.e5!
Alekhine played 9.Ba3 in a 1919 win over Isakov, but Penrose came unstuck with the same move against Smyslov in 1958. The text was given by Alekhine as an improvement.
9...dxe5
Kaufman recommended 9...Nxe5 10.Nxe5 dxe5, after which the engines reckon best play is 11.Qxd8+ (Kaufman only covers 11.Qb3) Kxd8 12.Bxf7 Kxe7 13.Bb3 Be6 14.c4, as seen in Yuchtman - Semyon Furman, also in the 1959 USSR Championship, but eight rounds later. The position is unclear (Stockfish10 likes Black, but Komodo10 thinks the position is equal). In the game, White's bishop-pair and Black's somewhat-exposed king helped lead to a quick draw, although both sides could easily have played on.
10.Ng5 0-0!?
Black is two pawns up, so Tal offers the exchange to get his king to safety.
11.Ba3 Qxd1 12.Raxd1 Bf5
Not 12...Rd8? 13.Bxf7+ Kh8 14.Bb3 Re8 (best) 15.Nf7+ Kg8 16.Nd6+ etc.
13.Bxf8 Rxf8 14.Rfe1 h6 15.Nf3 Bg4 16.Rb1
The engines give 16.Bb5!? e4 17.Bxc6 bxc6 18.h3 Bh5 19.g4 Bxg4 20.hxg4 exf3 21.Rd3 Nxg4 22.Rxf3 with advantage to White, even though Black has three pawns for the exchange.
16...e4 17.Nd4 Ne5 18.Bf1 c5 19.Nb5 c4?!
The engines reckon White is only slightly better after 19...Rd8.
20.f3 Bxf3!?
Tal must have planned this combination as 20...Be6?! 21.fxe4 leaves White much better.
21.gxf3 Nxf3+ 22.Kf2 Ng4+ 23.Kg3 Nxe1 24.Rxe1 f5 25.Bxc4+
White has emerged from the complications with a bishop for three pawns. The position is unclear, but the engines prefer White.
25...Kh7 26.Be2 Ne5 27.Kf4 Ng6+ 28.Ke3 f4+ 29.Kd4
29.Kxe4?! f3 30.Nxa7 (any bishop move loses the rook) fxe2 31.Rxe2 is at best equal for White.
29...Kh8?
Tal was presumably worried about a possible pin on his knight after later pushing the e pawn, but correct is a move such as 29...Nh4, with equal chances according to the engines. The text is a mistake because it gives the white rook a tempo to get out of the potential skewer on the e file.
30.Rg1 Nh4 31.Kxe4 Re8+ 32.Kd3
Now Black only has two pawns for the bishop, and only one is a passer (1-0, 40 moves).
(To be continued)

Filling Holes In A Repertoire (part two)

AFTER 1.b4, Black's commonest reply is 1...e5, which is usually met by 2.Bb2.
The main line, which has been recommended in, for example, Larry Kaufman's The Chess Advantage In Black And White, continues 2...Bxb4 3.Bxe5, when White has exchanged a flank pawn on b4 for a central pawn on e5.
This, other things being equal, should favour White, but Black argues the tempo that will be gained by hitting the white bishop on e5 is more important.
The argument seems to be valid, but there is no doubt this is a plan the vast majority of 1.b4 players will be ready to meet.
I am recommending a different plan, based on blunting the white dark-square bishop with 2...f6!?
This was popular with the old masters, including Steinitz, Pillsbury, Réti and Colle, and is still played by grandmasters today.
Another way of doing this is to start with 2...d6, but my recommendation has the advantage that it obliges White to spend a tempo dealing with the threat to his b pawn.
Or does it? Actually, no, because the replies 3.b5, 3.a3 and 3.e4!? are almost equally popular for White.
The good news is Black can meet all of them with 3...d5, in each case with similar ideas in mind.
A) 3.e4!?
This was seemingly Tartakower's invention, and it served him well.
The idea is that after 3...Bxb4, White plays 4.Bc4, highlighting Black's weaknesses on the kingside light squares. Games against Réti and Colle continued 4...Ne7 5.f4 d5 6.exd5, when Stockfish10 and Komodo10 slightly prefer Black, but the position is easier for White to play, and Tartakower won both games.
Instead I am suggesting 3...d5, aiming to deny the white light-square bishop the c4 square.
After 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Nc3, Black can play 5...Qf7.
White now really does need to do something about the en prise b pawn.

Position after 5...Qf7

Antun Deris (2030) - Miroslav Zufic (2444)
Velika Gorica (Croatia) 2013
6.a3 Be6
Far from being weak on the kingside light squares, Black has them well-covered. Indeed it is White who has problems developing his light-square bishop to an active square.
7.Nf3 Nd7 8.Be2 0-0-0!?
Zufic is confident of outplaying his lower-rated opponent, who has not much choice but to castle on the opposite wing to Black, which will tend to increase the value of every move.
9.0-0 g5 10.d3?!
This move does not really accomplish anything. White should either have got on with it on the queenside or, perhaps more promisingly, tried to counter Black's kingside flank attack by opening the centre. The engines suggest 10.Qe1!?, and if, as in the game, 10...Ne7, then 11.d4, eg 11...g4 12.Nh4 Ng6 13.d5!? Nxh4 14.dxe6 Qxe6 15.Rd1, although White's bishop-pair and open lines probably do not make up for his pawn-minus.
10...Ne7 11.a4 Ng6 12.b5 g4 13.Nd2 h5
The key difference in the game, it seems to me, is that Black has more pieces threatening the white king than White has threatening the black king. Even so, the game finishes surprisingly quickly.
14.Nde4!?
The engines' 14.a5 may be better, but this is far from clear.
14...Nf4 15.Bc1 Rg8
The engines prefer 15...Qg7.
16.Bxf4!?
Exchanging an unmoved piece for an enemy piece that has reached your fourth rank is usually a good deal, but here the downside is that Black gets another pawn poised to break-up the white king's position.
16...exf4 17.f3 f5 18.Nf2 Bg7!?
A distraction from the kingside attack. Black's advantage remains large, but more consistent was 18...g3 or 18...Qg7.
19.Qd2 Bd4 20.Rb1 Be3 0-1
Material is level, for the moment, but White's position is hopeless, eg 21.Qe1 g3 etc.
********************************************************************
B) 3.b5
This is White's most-popular move, after 1.b4 e5 2.Bb2 f6, in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database. It is how Alexei Sokolsky played the position.
Natural and good is 3...d5, which is almost always met by 4.e3.
Normal now is 4...Be6, but I am recommending a lesser-known move that has nevertheless attracted the attention of strong players, including Vasja Pirc, Andrei Kovalev and Viktor Kupreichik, namely 4...c5!?
The first point is that 5.bxc6?! helps Black by removing the somewhat-cramping b5 pawn, and enables Black to start developing his queenside smoothly with 5...Nxc6.
More popular, and more sensible, is 5.c4, but Black can reply 5...d4, locking in the white dark-square bishop, at least for quite some time.
The most-popular move (just) is also the one that has tended to be favoured by stronger players: 5.d4, attacking the black centre in a more-forceful way.

Position after 5.d4

Karsten Volke (2480) - Viktor Kupreichik (2515)
Boleslavsky Memorial (Minsk, Belarus) 1994
5...exd4!?
Two rounds earlier in the same tournament, Volke - Andrei Kovalev (2530) saw 5...Nd7!? 6.Nc3?! cxd4 7.exd4 Bb4 8.dxe5 Nxe5 9.Qd4 Bxc3+!? 10.Qxc3 Bf5, with what the engines reckon is a roughly level position (but 0-1, 65 moves). However, White can probably improve on this at an early stage by opening the long dark-square diagonal for his b2 bishop with 6.dxe5 Nxe5 7.Nf3, which was played three years later by Jan-Joost Lindner in a win over the engine Goldbar in a tournament at The Hague.
6.exd4 c4!?
Kupreichik has found a different way to keep the long dark-square diagonal closed, while also restricting White's light-square bishop.
7.Nc3
Nc3 seems to be better in this position than at move six in the game against Kovalev.
7...Bb4 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qf3 a6 10.g3?!
Trying to find a more-active square than e2 for the white king's bishop. The engines prefer 10.Ne2.
10...Bf5 11.Bh3 Be4
The engines reckon Black has an edge after 11...Bxc3+!? 12.Qxc3 Ne7.
12.Qe2 axb5?
Black cannot afford to ignore the pin on his light-square bishop.
13.Kf1?
White can safely win a piece after 13.f3, for example 13...f5 14.fxe4 dxe4 15.Qd2.
13...Bxc3 14.Bxc3 Ne7 15.f3 Bf5 16.Bxf5 gxf5
Black is a pawn up but has multiple weaknesses (½–½, 30 moves).
******************************************************
C) 3.a3
Once again I am recommending occupying the centre with 3...d5, after which whites overwhelmingly play 4.e3.
The main move for Black is 4...Be6, which was met by Capablanca in 1927 by 5.d4, but that has been largely superseded at the highest levels by 5.Nf3.

Position after 5.Nf3

Paweł Jaracz (2465) - Marta Michna (2365)
MK Café Cup (Koszalin, Poland) 1998
5...Bd6
It might seem strange for Black to develop both bishops before moving either knight, but the squares e6 and d6 are obvious places for the bishops, and it is possible the knights will be best developed via e7 and d7.
6.c6!?
The engines like this apparent-novelty, which leads to sharp play.
The main line can probably be thought of as being 6.d4 e4 7.Nfd2 Ne7 8.c4 c6 9.Nc3, reaching a position that favours Black, according to Stockfish10, but is equal according to Komodo10.
6...dxc4!?
After 6...c6,the game might proceed in a similar way to the previous note, but the text ensures original play.
7.Qc2 b5 8.d3!?
This is a major improvement, according to the engines, on a previous game that reached this position five years earlier, via a heavy transposition, and saw 8.a4?!, when 8...Nc6, threatening ...Nxb4, would have been strong for Black.
8....Bf5 9.e4 cxd3 10.Bxd3 Bd7 11.Nc3 a6
Black has an extra pawn, but it is backward on a half-open file and White has a large lead in development. The engines slightly prefer Black (very slightly in Komodo10's case).
12.0-0 Ne7
Premature is 12...c5?, eg 13.bxc5 Bxc5 14.Nd5 Bd6 15.a4 with a strong initiative.
13.a4!?
Aggressive, and it is Komodo10's choice, but Stockfish10 prefers 13.Rfd1.
13...Nbc6!
Not 13...Bxb4? 14.axb5, eg 14...a5 15.Bc4, when Black has long-term problems with the king.
14.axb5 Nxb4 15.Qe2 Nxd3 16.Qxd3 axb5 17.Nxb5 Rb8 18.Nxd6+ cxd6
A semi-forcing sequence has led to a position in which Black's extra pawn is still backward on a half-open file, but there are opposite coloured bishops and White maintain a lead in development.
Black now threatens the white bishop, and to play a skewer with …Bb5.
19.Qc2?
This answers both threats, but a much better way to do this is 19.Rfb1, which gets another piece into play.
19...Be6 20.Ra6?
The engines give 20.Ba3, but with a large advantage for Black after 20...0-0 21.Qd2 Rb6.
20...Qc8!
There is no adequate answer to this. The game finished:
21.Qxc8+ Bxc8 0-1

Boring Chess?

IT is far from uncommon for people today to complain that the Berlin Defence (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6), or rather the variation of this defence dubbed the Berlin Wall (5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 Nd6 7.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nxf5 8.Qxd8+), is boring chess.
It could be counter-argued that there is no such thing as a boring game of chess - only boring people who do not understand some games.
Be that as it may, I was reminded of a time not so long ago when another double-e pawn opening, the Petrov Defence (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6), was all the rage at the elite level and similarly faced accusations of being boring.
What prompted my memory was flicking through an old copy of Chess Life, the magazine of the US Chess Federation, from April 2003.
Grandmaster Michael Rohde devoted his Game Of The Month column to Topalov - Anand from Wijk aan Zee 2003, while fellow grandmaster Robert Byrne devoted his 65th Square column to Bologan - Kasimdzhanov from Pamplona 2002.
Both games were Petrovs, and both featured White sacrificing a bishop on h6, but there the coincidences ended  - Black won the former game, White the latter.
You can easily find the games online, and both are included with notes in ChessBase's 2019 Mega database.
Looking at my own practice, I see the Petrov has occurred in 26 games - in some I was Black, but mostly White - with just seven of the games ending as draws.
Here is a correspondence example against the German player Reinhard Sperrer.
Spanton - Sperrer
IECG Cup Preliminaries 2005
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.c4!?
This strange-looking move was recommended by international master (now grandmaster) Larry Kaufman in his famous 2004 repertoire book The Chess Advantage In Black And White. But I am fairly sure I did not buy the book until quite some time after it came out, so I must have got the idea of 5.c4!? from somewhere else (I also used it two years later in the IECG World Championship Semi-Final against IECG international master Eric Noire, drawing in 30 moves). Kaufman says 5.c4!? "is closely related to the slightly more fashionable 5.Nc3 as both moves can lead to doubled c pawns."
It has been tried by some famous players, including Leko and Karjakin, and in Mega19 has a better scoring-percentage than the more-popular alternatives d4, Nc3, Qe2 and d3.
5...Be7
The commonest reply - Noire preferred 5...Nc6.
6.d4 0-0
First played, it would seem, by Blackburne in a win against Winawer in 1880, although in that game White transposed his fifth and sixth moves.
7.Bd3 Nf6 8.h3
My main analysis engines Stockfish10 and Komodo9 prefer 8.0-0, which is slightly more popular in Mega19 and was chosen by Yangyi Yu (2759) in a Chinese Championship blitz game last year. But give the engines long enough and they switch to 8.Nc3, with the text becoming Stockfish10's second choice.
8...Nc6 9.a3
Defending against …Nb4, but also preparing possible further queenside expansion with b4. The two most-recent Mega19 games, one featuring a 2466 and the other a 2581, saw 9.Nc3.
9...d5 10.Nc3 dxc4
The engines' choice, and probably the most-combative line as an IQP usually leads to sharp play.
11.Bxc4 a6
Stockfish10 prefers 11...h6, while Komodo9 gives 11...Bd6, in each case with a slight edge to White.
12.0-0 Bf5 13.d5
I see from my notes I seriously considered five moves here, including the engines' choice 13.Re1, without being especially happy with any of them.
13...Na7
Stockfish10 reckons this gives Black equality. The idea, at least the way my opponent plays it, is to re-route the knight via c8 to either blockade my IQP on d6 or to attack it from b6. The drawback is that this takes time in an open position.
14.Re1 Nc8 15.Bg5 Re8 16.Bd3!?
A controversial choice. Stockfish 10 reckons the coming exchange gives Black a slight edge, but Komodo9 reckons it is White who gets a slight edge.
16...Bxd3 17.Qxd3
White has developed all his pieces, except for the queen's rook. Meanwhile Black still has to redevelop his queen's knight, as well as getting his queen's rook into play, the latter being unlikely until after his queen finds a good square.

Black to make his 17th move, and start to catch up in development

*****
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17...Nb6?!
This puts pressure on d5, but that is easily parried by White developing his queen's rook to its obvious square. There is a danger the knight will be out of play if White can generate kingside threats.
The engines prefer 17...h6, which I see from my notes I was planning to meet with 18.Bh4, with what I thought was a slight edge. Stockfish10 more-or-less agrees, although at first it goes with Komodo9's suggestion of 18.Be3.
18.Rad1 Qd7?!
Black keeps developing, but this lets my king's knight come to e5 with tempo. The engines again prefer ...h6, but believe White to be on top after 19.Bh4.
19.Ne5 Qd6
Retreating the queen to d8 or c8 was a lesser evil, according to the engines, but is certainly unappetising.
20.Qf5 h6?
The engines give 20...Rf8, when my notes only have the line 21.Nc6!? bxc6 22.dxc6 Qc5 23.Re5 Qxc6 24.Rxe7 Ne8 25.Bf4 "with the upper hand." However, the engines seem to improve Black's play with 22...g6!? 23.Qxf6 Bxf6 24.Rxc5, when White is a pawn up, and Black has two isolanis, but there is a lot of play left.
21.Bxh6!
The same sacrifice as in the two grandmaster games in Chess Life.
21...gxh6?
The sacrifice should be declined, but then Black is a pawn down and with the worse position.
22.Ne4 1-0
Black resigned because 22...Nxe4 loses to 23.Qxf7 Kh8 24.Ng6+, while 22...Qd8 fails to a rook lift along the third rank.

Capablanca's Anti-Gambit Weapon

TURNED out for Battersea in division one of the London League against Wimbledon last night.
Ian Heppell (182) - Spanton (171)
Göring Gambit
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.c3 d5
George Botterill in Open Gambits (Batsford, 1986) stated: "Although it is really stronger to accept the gambit, over the board the gambit is declined more often than not, which is quite understandable if Black has not come fully prepared for all the complicated tactical play that may result from acceptance."
One problem with 4...dxc3 is that White has two almost equally popular replies in 5.Nxc3 and 5.Bc4, with both moves scoring more than 60% in ChessBase's 2019 Mega database.
A repertoire book recommending acceptance is Larry Kaufman's The Chess Advantage In Black And White (McKay, 2004). He wrote: "Black can equalise by 4...d5, but I think he should try for more. Like its cousins the Morra Gambit and the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit, the Göring Gambit does not give White enough lead in development to fully offset the pawn sacrificed. That's why these gambits are almost never played by top grandmasters."
Perhaps he should have added "in modern times," because the list of strong players who have essayed 4.c3 includes Staunton, Paulsen, Blackburne, Anderssen, Tarrasch, Nimzowitsch, Lasker, Reti, Schlechter, Tal, Stein, Bronstein, Spassky, Ribli and Ljubojevic. The list since Kaufman's book was published is rather less impressive but includes several 2500+ players.
In a more recent repertoire book, Bologan's Black Weapons In The Open Games (New In Chess, 2014), Viktor Bologan rejects 4...dxc3, writing: "I was very interested in capturing the pawn (and another if White continues with 5.Bc4). However, I wasn't able to find any advantage for Black in one sideline."
It should be noted that as well as 4...d5, Black has two other important ways of declining the gambit, viz 4...d3 and 4...Nf6.
5.exd5 Qxd5 6.cxd4 Bg4 7.Be2 Bb4+ 8.Nc3 Bxf3
First played, as far as is known, by Capablanca against Marshall at Lake Hopatcong, 1926. The idea soon becomes clear.
9.Bxf3 Qc4
Preventing early castling by White.

How should White react?

10.Bxc6+
Marshall preferred 10.Be3, when Capablanca grabbed a pawn after all by 10...Bxc3+ 11.bxc3 Qxc3+. The game was quickly drawn after the further moves: 12.Kf1 Qc4+ 13.Kg1 Nge7 14.Rc1 Qxa2 15.Ra1 Qc4 16.Rc1.
Much more popular than 10.Be3 is to seek an immediate queen-exchange by 10.Qb3, but the text is most popular.
10...bxc6
Blacks originally played 10...Qxc6, but Bologan says "it very quickly became clear the blockade of the d5 square is worth doubling the c pawns."
11.Qe2+ Qxe2+ 12.Kxe2 0-0-0 13.Be3 Ne7
Bologan writes: "It's easier for White than for Black to lose this position. Why is this so? Mostly because White (often) fails to play his main trump - installing his king on c4."
14.Kd3
IH in the postmortem said this is recommended in a book he has, although he could not recall the title. Judging from Bologan's comments, the book is probably Danish Dynamite. Even so, 14.Kd3 is only fourth-most popular in Mega19.
IH said his only loss with the text came against grandmaster Oleg Korneev, and that was due to a blunder late-on.
14...Bxc3!?
This seems to be a novelty.
Bologan says 14...c5 must be played "if (Black) wants to equalise in a relaxed manner." However, my move also seems satisfactory.
15.bxc3
15.Kxc3 Nd5+ gives the knight a fine central outpost.
15...c5 16.Kc4 cxd4 17.Bxd4 Nc6
Protecting the a7 pawn as the g7 pawn is effectively taboo.
18.Rhe1
Not 18.Bxg7? as Rhg8 leaves the bishop without a useful square, eg 19.Bf6 Rd6 20.Bd4 (20.Bh4?? Rg4+) Nxd4 21.cxd4 Rxg2 with much the better game for Black.
IH regretted not playing 18.Be3, which at least keeps the game going.
18...Nxd4 19.cxd4 Rhe8 20.Rad1 ½–½
Updated statistics
Battersea 2018-19
Event...Colour...Grade...Opponent's Grade...Result
CLL.........B..........167...….........196..............…D
LL...…….B...…...167...………..159...………….D
CLL...…..B...…...167...………..161...………….W
CLL...…..B...…...167...………..190...………….D
LL...…….W...…..167...………..161...….………W
CLL...…..W...…..167...………..148...………….D
CLL...…..W...…..167...………..165...………….W
CLL...…..W...…..167...………..160...………….D
CLL...…..W...…..167...………..159...………….D
LL...…….B...…...167...………..168...………….D
LL...…….W...…..171...………..159...………….W
CLL...…..B...…...171...………..198...……….….L
CLL...…..B...…...171...………..169...…………..L
CLL...…..B...…...171...………..196...…………..L
LL...…….B...…...171...………..182...…………..D
Overall this season for Battersea I have scored +4=8-3 for a grading performance of 175.
In season 2017-18 I scored +10=8-9, also for a grading performance of 175.