Viktor Moskalenko

The Perfect Pirc-Mod ern

Stra te gic Ideas & Pow er ful Weap ons

New In 2013 Contents

Fore word by Vassily Ivanchuk ...... 7

In tro duc tion by the Au thor ...... 9

Chap ter 1 - The Austr ian Attac k: Introduction ...... 13

Chap ter 2 - The Austr ian Attac k: 5...c5 ...... 18

Chap ter 3 - The Austr ian Attac k: 5...0-0 ...... 50

Chap ter 4 - The Flex ib le Move 4.Ãe3 ...... 126

Chap ter 5 - The Dy namic Attac k 4.Ãg5 ...... 173

Chap ter 6 - White’s Fianchetto: 4.g3 ...... 199

Chap ter 7 - The Clas sical 4.Àf3...... 216

Chap ter 8 - Amadeus – Miscel la neous Ideas ...... 232

In dex of Vari a tions ...... 243

Ex pla na tion of Sym bols...... 246

Index of Names ...... 247

Game Index ...... 254

Bib li og ra phy ...... 255

5 Fore word by Vassily Ivanchuk

Dear Readers!

You are in ter ested in chess, and accord ingl y, you cannot pass by such an impor tant aspect of the game as the the ory of the openings . Admit - tedly, Jose Raoul Capablanca ad vised play ers to begin by studying the endgame , but it is hard to imagine how we can sur vive into an ending , without at least some ele men tar y idea of ope- ning prin ciples . This is espe ciall y true in our day, when practi cally ev ery player can absorb diff erent opening varia tions with the greatest speed, by an adroit use of textbooks and the computer . The present book is de voted to the Pirc and Moder n Def ences, although in many books (es- peciall y So viet ones!), the Pirc is given the name of the mas ter from Kustan, Anatoly Ufimtsev. The author gives detailed cov era ge of var ious lines of this opening . Although in the main, the book is aimed at highly-quali f ied play ers, I think it will also be useful to the av era ge ama teur… As well as the main stra te gic plans, the author also draws at - ten tion to traps and non-standard tacti cal tricks. And now to the opening itself . When playing the Pirc Def ence, the black player does not aim to equal ize the po si tion. He tries to ob tain compli ca ted play, and even in vites the dan ger of a dir ect at tack on his king. But playing such po si tions, and mak - ing full use of one’s (often far from ob vi ous) resources, requir es great skill, de velop - ing which is very valua ble for play ers of all lev els.

Viktor Moskalenko has alr eady writ ten a number of books, on var i ous open ings. One can think of the Nimzo-Indian with 4.f3 in his book Rev o lu tion ize Your Chess, the French Def ence and the Buda pest . By way of illus tra tion, the author uses many of his own games, with very inter esting anno ta tions – not just regard ing chess, but also from the psyc holog i cal point of view. Conse quentl y, this is not just an opening book, but it is also useful for fur ther study of cer tain middlegame and even endgame posi tions . In addi tion, you can also become famil iar with the par ticu lar meth od ol ogy of ana lys ing em ployed by Viktor Moskalenko, which will undoubt edly help you to master not just the Pirc and Moder n Def ences, but also to system a tize and perf ect your under stand ing of the key points of other openings . I wish you success!

Vassily Ivanchuk

7 In tro duc tion

Sur prise your op po nent with the Per fect Pirc-Mod ern! In the be ginning of the 20th centur y, hyper -moder nism made its appear ance in chess. Since then, many chess play ers have finall y disco v ered its ‘dark side’ (the dynamic style); the chess game proved to be richer than it had been thought to be bef ore, and it be gan to change, from classi cal chess to a more activ e and unpr edict a ble game. As a conse quence of this de velop ment, new openings were tested. In some of them, the in fluence on the centr e was ex erted from a distance .

This book is about two such systems: the Pirc and the Mod ern De fence.

Pirc 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Àf6 Moder n 1.e4 g6

TsLdMl.t TsLdMlSt jJj.jJjJ jJjJjJ_J ._.j.s._ ._._._J_ _._._._. _._._._. ._.iI_._ ._._I_._ _._._._. _._._._. IiI_.iIi IiIi.iIi rNbQkBnR rNbQkBnR

9 The Perf ect Pirc-Mod ern

Both systems have long since esta b lished themselv es as a univ ersal opening weapon for the crea tive player. The failur e of many at tempts to refute Black’s def ence outright with a quick oc- cupa tion of the centr e and a straight as sault (such as the Austr ian Attac k with f2-f4) prove that it is still very much alive and kicking . All main lines for White and Black are cov ered in this book, as well as some rare op tions.

The main ope ning re sources and pawn struc tures

White: * maintain his centr e and de velop * at tack in the centr e (e4-e5) * at tack on the kingside (h2-h4) * a typi cal at tacking set-up with pieces is f3/Ãe3/©d2/Ãh6 etc.

Black: * usuall y prepar es ...e7-e5 * the univ ersal set-up with ...c6-b5 * the moder n set-up with ...a6-b5 * sometimes the Sicil ian Dragon structur e appears after ...c7-c5 * Benoni structur e: ...c7-c5 and White replies d4-d5 * King’s In dian: ...e7-e5, and White’s d4-d5 * : ...e7-e5 * Philidor: ...e7-e5 and ...exd4

This list of options shows the great flexi bil ity of the com bat ive Pirc-Mod ern De - fence. Many times we can see motifs from the Sicil ian, the Benoni and certain other openings, and also transpo si tions, in a single game. During my study for this book I have disco v ered a huge number of pow erful ideas for both sides; sur prising new plans, and even some unex plor ed but at trac- tive systems .

The Perfect Player From the begin ning , White can choose to go for forced and aggr essiv e lines, and he can also choose among many posi tional plans, trying a diff er ent playing style ev ery time. How ever, most of the time the charac ter of the posi tions and the play in the Pirc-Mod ern is ultra-d ynamic . This factor enabled me to collect many great and memo ra ble games for the book, for both White and Black. As usual in my books, I have tried not to be too heavily influ enced by computer lines and to off er ma te rial mainly based on healthy concepts instead. One of the strong points of the best play ers is that they allo w us to learn how to play with a solid basis . After that we can learn how to use comput ers to our benefit.

10 In tro duc tion

“One of the secr ets of success now ada ys is to use comput ers in your fa vour and not let comput ers rule your thinking ability”, said Grandmas ter Boris Gelfand in his video in ter view No body’s in vin ci ble, no body’s im mune to mis takes, bef ore playing his World Cham pi on ship match against Vishy Anand. Nowa da ys, the Pirc-Modern remains in the reper toire of many play ers as a nice dynamic option in must-win sit u a tions with black. On the other hand, it is also played by super grand masters such as Ivanchuk, Grischuk, Kramnik and Nakamura: they also know perf ectly well how to use the ‘activ e side’ of their chess talent. This perspec tiv e allo ws them as it were to take the chess game into a new dimen sion. The perf ect Pirc-Mod ern player doesn’ t need to have a phenom e nal memor y combined with some wishful thinking . He should first of all get the feel of this fasci - nat ing opening , and then use his fighting spirit!

Viktor Moskalenko, Bar ce lona, De cem ber 2012

Vasja Pirc (1907-1980).

11 The Perf ect Pirc-Mod ern Chap ter 2 The Austrian Attack: 5...c5 TsLdM_.t jJ_.jJlJ ._.j.sJ_ _.j._._. ._.iIi._ _.n._N_. IiI_._Ii r.bQkB_R

Opin ion (2001-2009): ‘In the Austr ian Attac k, we can be conf i dent in rel ying on the move 5...c5!. Black has sharp lines after 6.Ãb5+ that lead to good posi tions . And we have plans and ideas of how to play the posi tion after 6.dxc5. This prepa ra tion is suff i cient for playing at any level’ – accord ing to grandmasters Lev Alburt and Alex - an der Chernin, in their en thu si as tic (Amer i can) story Pirc Alert!

Sta tis tics (2012): How ever, the to tal of games in the da ta bases with 5...c5 is 5,082, compar ed to 5...0-0 ì 11,382! The score is vir tu ally the same. Ob jectiv ely, this ultra-d ynamic Sicil ian/Benoni thrust is not a typi cal early open- ing move in the Pirc, but it is mainly aimed against the possi b le at tack e4-e5. Black pref ers to put imme di a te pressur e on the d4-pawn, after which White has at least four orig i nal ar gu ments: A) Force the play: 6.Ãb5+ or 6.e5. B) Just play nor mal posi tional moves: 6.d5 or 6.dxc5.

Game 2 – The Main Line: 6.Ãb5+ Up to this day, White mostly uses this dynamic check. Now: 6...Ãd7 7.e5 Àg4 8.e6 Ts.dM_.t jJ_LjJlJ ._.jI_J_ _Bj._._. ._.i.iS_ _.n._N_. IiI_._Ii r.bQk._R

18 Chap ter 2 - The Austrian Attac k: 5...c5

When Yasser Seirawan in tro duced the fan tas tic move 8...fxe6 in the 1980s (even if 8...Ãxb5!? 9.exf7+ ®f8! is also inter esting for Black), which earned him a quick draw with Gyula Sax and a prize for the best nov elty of that year, the vari a tion be gin ning with 5...c5 be came fash ion- able. Throughout his tory (and I am writ ing in 2012), besides a few forced lines with a maxi - mum level of complex ity , White has also de vel- oped some inter medi a te plans on moves 7 and 8 to simplify the line: 7/8.Ãxd7, 7.h3, or 8.Àg5. In our main game, super grandmas ter Alex an - der Grischuk impr oved the main line by ex- A Pirc hero: legend ar y Ameri ca n grand mas ter Yasser Seirawan. changing the queens: Ts._M_.t jJ_.j._J ._.jN_J_ dNj._._. ._.l.iS_ _._._._. IiIq._Ii r.b.k._R

12...©xd2!, and after that he just played the endgame as a posi tional master piece. See sev eral amazing posts on the Internet by the winner . KEEP IN MIND: In this varia tion, exc hanging the queens is a basic neces sity Bfor Black!

í Sergey Karjakin because the right def ence is almost n Al ex an der Grischuk identical: Mos cow ch-RUS 2011 (4) 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Àf6 3.Àc3 g6 4.f4 TsLdM_.t Ãg7 5.Àf3 c5!? jJ_.jJlJ Recentl y, in two games against Karjakin, ._.j.sJ_ Ivanchuk castled on both occa sions (see _Bj._._. Part 2, Austr ian Attac k 5...0-0), while ._.iIi._ the text is the second main move. _.n._N_. 6.Ãb5+ This move reminds me of Taimanov’s IiI_._Ii check in the Four Pawns Benoni! Also, r.bQk._R

19 The Perf ect Pirc-Mod ern

6...Ãd7! namic, but forced play follo ws: 17.Ãf4 6...Àfd7?! is too passiv e: 7.dxc5! dxc5 ©d4+ 18.©xd4 Ãxd4+ 19.®g3 e5 8.e5Ç – Black gets a bad pawn structur e. 20.Õhe1 Ãe6! 21.Õxe5 Ãxe5 22.Ãxe5 Ãxd5 23.Ãxb8 Ãxc6 24.Õd1 ®e7ì. TRICK: 6...Àbd7? al lows 7.e5! EWhite to exploit the big hole The planned at tack begins . on e6: 7.e5 Àg4 8.e6! fxe6 7.Ãxd7+ is a rather harmless option 9.Àg5Ê 0-0í 10.Àxe6 ©a5 here, since Black gets excel lent play after 11.Àxg7 Àdf6 12.h3 Àh6 ei ther of two equiv alent an swers: 13.dxc5!å; A) 7...Àfxd7. This solid reca p ture is the most commonl y played move, GWEAPON: How ever, 6...Àc6!?, mostly in order to avoid compli ca tions an idea intr oduced in 1980 by with e4-e5. 8.d5 (if 8.Ãe3 0-0 9.©d2 the young English man Peter Àc6 10.0-0-0 ©a5ÿ). Wells (now a grandmas ter), is a pro voc a tive de fence, es pe cially Ts.dM_.t suited to play ers who enjo y an jJ_SjJlJ extr emely sharp struggle: ._.j._J_ T_LdM_.t _.jI_._. jJ_.jJlJ ._._Ii._ ._Sj.sJ_ _.n._N_. _Bj._._. IiI_._Ii ._.iIi._ r.bQk._R _.n._N_. anal y sis di a gram IiI_._Ii As a general rule, after exc hanging the r.bQk._R bishops (f1xc8) and ad vancing his d-pawn, White will not get much out of anal y sis di a gram this posi tion. A) 7.dxc5 is not strong enough: 8...b5!? is a typi cal Benoni gam bit, but 7...©a5 (7...0-0!? 8.0-0 Ãe6¤) 8.Ãd2 not the only option here. 0-0¤, as occur red in Motwani-McNa b, GWEAPON: I would recom - London 1989, and, more recentl y, in mend the nat ural plan: 8...0-0 Alsina Leal- Peralta, Catalunya tt 2012; 9.0-0 Àa6 10.©e2 ©b6! B) 7.d5!? a6 8.Ãa4 (8.Ãe2!? is the (better than 10...Àc7 11.a4!) solid Benoni alter na tive) 8...b5 9.dxc6 11.®h1 Àc7ÿ with the idea and now 9...©c7!? (9...©b6!? is simi lar ; to exc hange the queens af ter 9...bxa4!? is also unclear : 10.e5 Àg4 ...©a6, Zambrana-Mor ovic 11.0-0 0-0 12.h3 Àh6 13.Àd5 Ãe6 Fernandez, Asuncion 2010. 14.c7 ©d7º) 10.e5! (10.Ãb3 c4º) 10...dxe5 11.fxe5 Àg4 12.©d5 bxa4 9.Àxb5!? (9.©e2 b4 10.Àd1 ©b6 11.0-0 13.©xc5 Àxe5 14.Àd5 Àxf3+ 15.gxf3 ©a6! 12.©e1 Àb6 13.Àf2 (13.Àe3 ©e5+ 16.®f2 Õb8! threat ening À8d7ÿ Livshits-Grischuk, Rishon Le Ziyon 17...Õb5. The po sition remains quite dy- blitz 2006) 13...À8d7 14.a3, Shirov-

20 Chap ter 5 The Dynamic Bishop At tack 4.Ãg5

Pirc: 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Àf6 3.Àc3 g6 4.Ãg5 Moder n: 1.e4 g6 2.d4 Ãg7 3.Àc3 d6 4.Ãg5

TsLdMl.t TsLdM_St jJj.jJ_J jJj.jJlJ ._.j.sJ_ ._.j._J_ _._._.b. _._._.b. ._.iI_._ ._.iI_._ _.n._._. _.n._._. IiI_.iIi IiI_.iIi r._QkBnR r._QkBnR

The main charac ter istic of this set-up, which can be obser ved from the first moves, is that White initiates a sharp bat tle for the central initia tive. * Thanks to the bishop on g5, the pawn ad vance e4-e5 will al ways be most ef fectiv e. * One of the ad vanta ges of Ãg5 is the possi bil ity of quick queenside castling .

Di rec tions Game 22 pro vides an insight into the key posi tions of 4.Ãg5: 4...Ãg7 (4...h6 5.Ãxf6!?) 5.©d2 (also, 5.©e2!? and the tricky 5.e5) 5...h6 6.Ãh4 0-0 (6...g5) 6.f4. This game also includes the Moder n order as a weapon against 4.Ãg5. Games 23-26 contin ue the discus sion on the sharpest varia tion: 5.f4!?

HGame 22 – Key Posi tion s and Puzzle: 4.Ãg5 Our main game was played by two exper ts on both sides. Black won this short the o - ret i cal duel eas ily. On move 18 he was already close to haul ing in the deser ved full point.

í Mikhail Kobalia TsLdM_St n Gennady Kuzmin jJj.jJlJ Mos cow 2002 (4) 1.e4 d6 ._.j._J_ _._._.b. GWEAPON: Keep in mind that ._.iI_._ the Moder n Def ence move or- _.n._._. der is far more flexi b le against at tacks with Ãg5, for exam ple: IiI_.iIi 1...g6!? 2.d4 Ãg7 3.Àc3 d6 r._QkBnR 4.Ãg5 anal y sis di a gram

173 The Perf ect Pirc-Mod ern

7.f5! – this line is impor tant in Game 4...h6!? (4...a6!?; or 4...c6!? 23) 7.exf5 (7.e5!?) 7...Ãxf5 8.Ãd3Ç. 5.©d2 b5 6.a3 Àd7 7.f4 Àb6 5.©d2 8.b3 ©c7 9.Àf3 a6 10.Õc1?! The most popu lar move (1995 games = c5!ÿ Ortega Hermida- Perez 62,4%). White pre vents 5...c5 (after Candelario, San Agustin 2012) 6.dxc5 ©a5 doesn’ t pin the Àc3) and pre- 5.Ãh4 (5.Ãe3 makes little sense pares queenside castling . How ever, in view in the light of what we have seen of Black’s simple ans wer, this set-up is less in Chapter 4) 5...Àc6!? (5...a6 logi cal here than Ãe3/©d2 in Chapter 4. 6.f4 g5!?N is an un ex plored gam - bit idea) 6.d5 Àd4 (6...Àb8!? G WEAPON: With 5.©e2!? 7.©d2 c6ÿ) 7.©d2 c5 8.Àd1!? White can follo w an as yet un - ©d7!?N (White was very solid ex plored, stra te gi cally ag gres- af ter 8...Ãd7 9.c3 Àb5 10.f4Ç in sive plan (65 games = 69,2%). Vallejo Pons- Korobov, Aix- les- Bains Ech 2011) and now: TsLdM_.t jJj.jJlJ ETRICK: 9.c3? ©g4! ._.j.sJ_ _._._.b. 9.Àe3 g5 10.Ãg3 f5ÿ. and the posi tion ._.iI_._ is al ready at trac tive for Black. _.n._._. 2.d4 Àf6 3.Àc3 g6 4.Ãg5!? This sharp bishop sor tie is the first key IiI_QiIi idea of this chap ter. r._.kBnR 4...Ãg7 anal y sis di a gram GWEAPON: After 4...h6 White 5...h6 6.Ãxf6!? (the same idea is also can play the stra te gic exc hange valid in Game 24) 6...Ãxf6 7.e5! Ãg7 5.Ãxf6!? (5.Ãh4 is the com- 8.0-0-0 0-0 9.f4 with attac king possi bil i - mon con tin u a tion) 5...exf6. ties in the centr e and on the kingside, Vega Gutierrez-Reizniece , Aviles Ech-jr 2000. TsLdMl.t jJj._J_. H PUZ ZLE: 5.e5 is a known tricky ._.j.jJj line (1013 games = 61,6%). _._._._. ._.iI_._ TsLdM_.t _.n._._. jJj.jJlJ IiI_.iIi ._.j.sJ_ r._QkBnR _._.i.b. ._.i._._ anal y sis di a gram _.n._._. In this typi cal ‘Trompowsky’ po si tion (with doub led black f-pawns) White IiI_.iIi maintains slight but quite anno ying r._QkBnR pressur e: 6.f4 (6.Ãd3!?) 6...f5 (6...Ãg7 anal y sis di a gram

174 Chapter 7 The Classi cal 4.Àf3

‘Piece pressur e against White’s centr e has al ways been considered one of Black’s most reli a ble methods of play in the classi cal Pirc.’ – Marin.

Pirc: 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Àf6 3.Àc3 g6 4.Àf3 Moder n: 1.e4 g6 2.d4 Ãg7 3.Àc3 c6!? Ãg7 5.Ãe2 0-0 6.0-0 4.Àf3 (Game 33)

TsLd.tM_ TsLdM_St jJj.jJlJ jJ_JjJlJ ._.j.sJ_ ._J_._J_ _._._._. _._._._. ._.iI_._ ._.iI_._ _.n._N_. _.n._N_. IiI_BiIi IiI_.iIi r.bQ_Rk. r.bQkB_R

The de velop ing move Àf3 is so nat u ral and frequent that its motifs requir e no expla - na tion. And we have alr eady seen it in many lines of the 150 At tack (Chapter 4, Games 15 and 17). In or der to en rich the book (and your reper toire), this chapter will off er diff er ent ideas for Black to face Àf3, mainly from my own practi cal and ana l yti cal expe r i ence. This has at least one good fea ture: the off ered lines led to mem ora ble successes and opening disco v er ies by the author . So, dear reader, they might of fer something for you as well!

Di rec tions Game 31 – Chigorin’s pro voca tive retr eat 6...Àc6 7.d5 Àb8. Game 32 – The popu lar plan 6...Ãg4, follo wed by ...Àc6 and ...e7-e5. Game 33 – The ‘uni versal Pirc set-up’ with an early ...c7-c6; here with the Moder n or der. Game 34 – The un usual line 6...c5 7.d5, which transposes to another pop u lar opening, named the Schmid Benoni (A43).

216 Chapter 7 - The Clas si cal 4.Àf3

Game 31 – Chigorin’s Knight Retr eat 6...Àc6 7.d5 Àb8 T_Ld.tM_ jJj.jJlJ ._Sj.sJ_ _._._._. ._.iI_._ _.n._N_. IiI_BiIi r.bQ_Rk.

A Bit of His tory We all know the famous Chigorin Def ence: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Àc6!. How ever, another pro voking idea with 6...Àc6!? in the Pirc Def ence was also first played by the same Rus sian grand mas ter Mikhail Chigorin. In our days, nobod y knows if this was a co- in ci dence or cau sal ity. Anyw ay, although I didn’ t know much about that story, an inter esting set-up came to my mind in 1990, bef ore a game against a super-solid grandmas ter .

í Valery Loginov n Viktor Moskalenko TsLd.tM_ Balassagyarmat 1990 (6) jJj.jJlJ 1.Àf3 ._.j.sJ_ My opponent’s main choice on the first _._I_._. move. But after ._._I_._ 1...g6!? I was quite happy when the response _.n._N_. 2.e4 IiI_BiIi appear ed on the board. r.bQ_Rk. 2...Ãg7 3.d4 d6 4.Ãe2 Àf6 5.Àc3 0-0 6. 0-0 Àc6!? The first key posi tion. I was going to A prov oca tiv e move, played origi nall y by contin ue in King’s In dian style with the famous Russian grandmas ter ...e7-e5. Mikhail Chigorin! – though he got it on 8.Ãg5 the board via the move order 5...Àc6 The stem game of this line shows 6. 0-0 0-0. Chigorin’s plan: 8.Àe1?! c6!? (the main 7.d5 alter na tive to ...e7-e5) 9.f4 Àbd7 Oth erwise Black will push ...e7-e5: 7.h3 10.Àd3 cxd5 11.exd5 Àb6â. This was e5; 7.Ãe3 e5. played more than a hundr ed years ago, 7...Àb8! in Leonhardt- Chigorin, Karls bad 1907.

217 The Perf ect Pirc-Mod ern

©b4ÿ etc., Diogo-V assallo Barroche, Matosinhos 2012. 8...h6 GWEAPON: Again, 8...c6!? (in- stead of ...e7-e5) 9.©d2 (9.h3 Àbd7!? etc., playing like Chigorin) 9...cxd5 10.exd5 Ãg4º Petrushin-Khalifm an, Podolsk 1992. 9.Ãe3 GWEAPON: A recent exam ple saw 9.Ãf4 e5!? 10.dxe6 Ãxe6 11.©d2 ®h7 (11...g5!? Rus sian grand mas ter Mikhail 12.Ãe3 Àg4 13.Ãd4 Àe5=) Chigorin (1850-1908). His ul - 12.Àd4 Ãd7 13.Õad1 Õe8 tra-pro voc a tive move ...Àc6!? re- turns in the Pirc Def ence! 14.f3 Àc6 15.Àxc6 bxc6 16.Ãc4 Ãe6 17.Ãxe6 Õxe6= Sipila-Ehlv est, Riga 2012. GWEAPON: For instance , 8.Ãe3 9...e5!? e5!? (for 8...Ãg4 see Game 32; Al ter na tively, 9...c6 is still pos si ble: thanks to Chigorin, the main 10.©d2 ®h7 11.h3!? Àbd7 etc. move here is 8...c6!? 9.©d2 Stevic- Smirin, Sibenik 2005. Ãg4!? 10.Õfe1 Àbd7 11.Õad1 10.dxe6 cxd5 12.exd5 Àb6 13.Ãd4 Oth erwise we will have a King’s In dian Õc8ÿ, T. Hansen-Gelashvili , with out c2-c4. Khanty-Ma nsiysk ol 2010) 10...Ãxe6 11.Àd4 Ãd7 9.dxe6 Ãxe6 10.Àd4 Ãd7. Ts.d.tM_ Ts.d.tM_ jJjL_JlJ jJjL_Jl. ._.j.sJ_ ._.j.sJj _._._._. _._._._. ._.nI_._ ._.nI_._ _.n.b._. _.n.b._. IiI_BiIi IiI_BiIi r._Q_Rk. r._Q_Rk. anal y sis di a gram Finall y I get my desir ed opening posi - This position is simi lar to the main tion: Black again has a Philidor struc- game, where ...h7-h6 was included. ture, which we have alr eady seen in the 11.f3 Àc6 12.Àxc6 bxc6!? 13.©d2 previ ous chapter against White’s Õe8 14.Õfe1 ©b8 15.b3 Ãe6 16.Õad1 fianchetto (Games 28 and 29).

218