Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening
Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
Winning Quickly at Chess: Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening - Volume 1: Indian Defenses
- Chess Tactics, Brilliancies & Blunders in the Chess Opening
by Carsten Hansen
1 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
Winning Quickly at Chess: Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening - Volume 1: Indian Defenses
Copyright © 2017 by Carsten Hansen
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Printed in the United States of America
First Printing, 2017
ISBN 978-1-5207-08829
CarstenChess 207 Harbor Place Bayonne, NJ 07002 www.WinningQuicklyatChess.com
2 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
Foreword
Chapter 1 - The King’s Indian Defense
Chapter 2 - The Grünfeld Indian Defense
Chapter 3 - The Queen’s Indian Defense
Chapter 4 – The Nimzo-Indian Defense
Chapter 5 - The Catalan, The Blumenfeld & Bogo-Indian
Books in the Winning Quickly at Chess Series 3 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
Foreword
Thanks for picking up this book. I sincerely hope you will enjoy reading the book as much as I have writing it.
We all dream of winning our games fast, using excellent opening preparation, flashy tactics and then mate our opponents. However, it rarely goes like that. Usually, the games average around 40 moves, contain enough blunders on both sides to have both you and your opponent horrified after the game. However, what I have found is that many games, even amongst the strongest players, contain errors and mistakes, some quite significant ones, as soon as the players depart the theory that is known to them.
This book, the first volume in a series of eight, aim to take a look at some of those games, but only the ones that are of 15 moves or shorter. Of course, for a game to end within 15 moves, one of the players has to have made one or more serious mistakes. I have left out games where a piece is threatened and the player forgot to move it, touched the wrong piece or such things. However, I have included games that include typical mistakes, even if they seem banal.
As for the games, they are typically between players with a rating of at least 2350 and often well more than that; you will find games by players rated above 2700 in this book. Furthermore, I have included some older games, but where the players would most certainly have been
4 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 rated above 2350 if rating had existed at that time.
The openings covered in this volume are:
● The King’s Indian Defense ● The Grünfeld Indian Defense ● The Queen’s Indian Defense ● The Nimzo-Indian Defense ● The Catalan Opening ● The Blumenfeld Gambit ● The Bogo-Indian Defense
In opening encyclopedia terms these openings have the Chess Informant Opening code of D70 through E99.
Should you have any comments, corrections or compliments, please do not hesitate to send them to [email protected]
Good luck and enjoy!
Carsten Hansen Bayonne, NJ January 2017
5 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
Chapter 1
The King’s Indian Defense The King’s Indian Defense is a very combative opening. Black signals his intentions immediately: he wants to play for a win, preferably in a kingside attack. This, of course, is not something White should let his opponent get away with. Complications are likely to ensue rather rapidly. The opening was part of the repertoire of nearly top grandmaster in 1950s or 1960s. It has since had its ups and downs but is still a trademark defense for Azeri Grandmaster Teimur Radjabov.
Game 1 R.Ponomariov (2727) – J.Ivanov (2431) Villarrobledo 2009
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nf3 g6 4.g3 Bg7 5.Bg2 0–0 6.0–0 c6 7.b3 Nbd7 8.Bb2 e5
The main lines are 8...Qc7 and 8...Re8.
9.dxe5 dxe5 10.Nxe5 Ng4
10...Nxe5 11.Bxe5 Qxd1 12.Rxd1 Re8 13.f4 Ng4 14.Bxg7 Kxg7 15.Nc3 Ne3 16.Rd2 Bf5 and Black has some compensation for the pawn, but not enough, Kurajica-Barlov, Yugoslavia 1984.
11.Nxd7 Bxb2 12.Nxf8 6 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
What is Black's best move: 12...Qa5 or 12...Qxf8? And what is the likely follow-up in each case?
12...Qa5
The text move is a losing mistake. After 12...Qxf8 13.Nd2 Nxh2 14.Kxh2 Bxa1 15.Qxa1 Qh6+ 16.Kg1 Qxd2 the chances are about even.
13.Qd2 Qxd2 14.Nxd2 Bxa1 15.Nxg6 Ending up two pawns down, Black resigned. 1–0
Game 2 D.Del Rey (2380) – L.Bronstein (2425) Buenos Aires 1993
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Bg5 Ne4 5.Bf4 c5 6.e3
Or 6.Qc2 Qa5+ 7.Nbd2 Nxd2 8.Bxd2 Qb6 9.e3 d6 10.Bc3 cxd4 11.Nxd4 0–0 12.Be2 Nc6 with chances to both sides, Berkovich-Yandemirov, Alushta 1993.
6...Qa5+ 7.Nc3
White has also tried 7.Nbd2 cxd4 8.exd4 Nc6 9.Be3 0–0 10.a3 d5 11.cxd5 Nxd2 12.Qxd2 Qxd5 13.Be2 Na5 14.Rd1 Bd7 and Black has taken control of the game, Galojan-Sanikidze, Yerevan 2004.
7 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
7...Nc6 8.Qd3 Nxc3 9.bxc3
9.Qxc3 is my computer's favorite move but after 9...Qb6 10.0–0–0 0–0 only Black can be better.
9...d6 10.Bg3 0–0 11.Be2
How should Black proceed?
11...cxd4 12.exd4 e5!
Incredibly, White is all of a sudden in serious trouble.
13.0–0 Bf5 14.Qe3??
Now White loses without any further ado, but 14.Qd1 Qxc3 leaves Black with a clean pawn up.
14...exd4 15.cxd4 Rae8 Losing a piece, White decided it was time to resign. 0–1
Game 3 M.Oleksienko (2559) – A.Smith (2448) Lvov 2010
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 e5 4.dxe5 Nh5 5.Nh3 Nc6 6.Nc3 Nxe5 7.Bg5!? 8 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
This hardly counts as a refutation, but it does lead to positions with interesting pawn structures/weaknesses on both sides:
Another option is 7.e4 Bc5 (7...d5 8.Qxd5 Qe7 9.Nf2 c6 10.Qa5 Bg7 11.Be3 0–0 12.Be2 Qf6 13.0–0–0 Nf4 with some compensation for the pawn, Zawadzki-Luther, Oberwart 2005) 8.Bg5 f6 9.Bd2 d6 10.Nf4 Nxf4 11.Bxf4 Be6 12.Qb3 (12.b3 0–0 13.Qd2 f5 is quite comfortable for Black but better than the game continuation) 12...0–0 13.Na4 Bd4! (I think White had failed to consider this move along with Black's follow-up; Black is now clearly better) 14.Rd1?! (14.0–0–0!? c5 15.Nc3 a6 16.Nd5 was the lesser evil, having the king stuck in the center hardly helps White) 14...c5 15.Nc3 f5 16.Bg3 fxe4 17.Nxe4 b5! 18.Qxb5? Rb8 19.Qa6
What is Black's best move?
19...Rxb2! 20.Be2 Rxe2+ 21.Kxe2 and White resigned at the same time, 0–1, Mensch-Szeberenyi, Budapest 2002.
7...f6
Or 7...Be7?! 8.Bxe7 Qxe7 9.Nd5 Qd8 10.Qd4 d6 11.f4 c6 12.Nc3 c5 13.Qe3 Bxh3 14.fxe5 Be6 15.0–0–0 0–0 16.Qh6 (16.exd6!? b6 17.g3 is clearly better for White) 16...Bxc4?! (also 16...Qh4 17.g3 Qxc4 18.e4 Qb4 19.Be2 is very good for White) 17.g4 Ng7
9 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
How should White best continue?
18.e3! (18.Rxd6! Qc7 19.e3 is just as good) 18...Bxf1 19.Ne4! f6 20.Rxd6 (20.Rhxf1! Ne8 21.g5 f5 22.Nf6+ Nxf6 23.gxf6 is even stronger) 20...Qxd6 21.Nxd6 fxe5 22.Qg5 Ne8 23.Nf5, and Black called it a day, 1–0, Khismatullin-Isajevsky, Kazan 2006.
8.Bc1 d6
What is best: Play 8…d6 to chase the knight before capturing on c4 or capture on c4 immediately?
If Black wanted to take the pawn on c4, now was the right time: 8...Nxc4 9.e4 Nb6 (9...Ne5 10.f4 Nf7 11.Be3 leaves White with decent compensation for the pawn thanks for Black's oddly placed knights) 10.a4 d5 (or 10...a5 11.Be3 Bb4 12.Bxb6 cxb6 13.Qb3 with ample
10 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 positional compensation for the pawn) 11.a5 Nd7 12.Nxd5 c6 13.Ndf4 with slightly better chances for White.
9.Nf2 Nxc4??
This mistake must have happened because Black simply played too fast and having made the decision to capture on c4 ahead of playing...d7– d6.
10.Qa4+ And Black resigned. 1–0
Game 4 E.Gausel (2570) – J.Hodgson (2485) Oslo 1994
1.Nf3 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 g6 4.Nc3 Bf5 5.Ng5 Bg7 6.e4 Bg4 7.f3
White has also played 7.Be2 and although fine for White, Black has scored 100% against in a handful of games.
7...Bc8
In another grandmaster game, Black played 7...Bd7.
8.f4 0–0 9.Be2 e5?
What is wrong with this move? 11 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
Black should have played 9...c5
10.dxe5 dxe5 11.Qxd8 Rxd8 12.fxe5 Ne8 13.0–0
Black does not have a satisfactory way to meet the threat against the f7 pawn, for instance, 13.0–0 Be6 14.Nxe6 fxe6 15.Bg5! followed by Bg4 with a large advantage for White. 1–0
Game 5 G.Welling (2369) – M.Hebden (2521) Caleta 2005
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.Nf3 0–0 5.Bf4 c5 6.d5 d6 7.Qd2 b5 8.cxb5 a6 9.e4 axb5
Or 9...Qa5 10.bxa6 (10.b6!? looks like the best move for White) 10...Nbd7 11.Be2 Bxa6 12.Bxa6 Qxa6 13.Qe2 Rfb8 14.Bc1 Nb6 15.Qxa6 Rxa6 with a wonderful Benko Gambit position for Black, Ragnarsson- Mortensen, Reykjavik 1997
10.Bxb5 Qa5 11.Be2 Ba6
Here White played 12.0–0 and resigned at the same time. What did he suddenly discover to cause the resignation?
The resignation was quite premature, but after 12.0–0 Nxe4 13.Nxe4 12 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 Qxd2 14.Nfxd2 Bxe2 15.Rfe1 Bd3 16.Nc3 Ra7 Black is playing a Benko Gambit where Black has won the pawn back and has the bishop pair. 0–1
Game 6 E.Tomashevsky (2555) – R.Khusnutdinov (2354) World Championship U18 (Belfort) 2005
1.Nf3 g6 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d4 Bf5 5.Nd2 e5 6.d5 Bh6
Black has 6...a5 available as well, e.g. 7.e4 Bd7 8.a4 Bh6 9.h4 Na6 10.Nb3 Bxc1 11.Qxc1 c6 12.Qd2 Qb6 13.Ra3 Ng4 14.h5 Nb4 15.hxg6 fxg6 and Black has the initiative, Werner-Glek, Germany 2005.
7.g3
White can also try 7.e3: 7...0–0 8.Be2 Qc8 9.h3 a5 10.g4 Bd7 11.Nf3 Bg7 12.e4 Na6 13.Be3 Nc5 14.Qc2 Ne8 and White has more space and better chances, Krush-Blatny, Kansas 2003.
7...0–0
Or 7...a5 8.Bg2 (8.c5!?) 8...Na6 9.Nb3 Bxc1 10.Rxc1 b6 11.0–0 0–0 12.e4 Bd7 is fine for Black, Komarov-Grimberg, Massy 1993.
8.Bg2 Na6 9.a3 Qc8 10.h3
13 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 Now Black played 10...Nh5, intending to meet 11.g4 with 11...Nf4. What did Black miss?
10...Nh5? 11.g4 Nf4 12.Bf1!
After this retreat, Black cannot save both the bishop on f5 and the knight on f4 which has no escape squares, e.g. 12...Bd7 13 e3.
12...Nc5 13.gxf5 Qxf5 14.b4 And Black resigned. He is just a piece down without compensation. 1–0
Game 7 R.Cusi (2375) – M.Vucic (2387) San Francisco 1999
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 Nc6 4.Bg2 g6 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.d4 d6 7.0–0 0–0 8.d5 Ne7 9.e4 Ne8 10.Ne1 f5 11.Nd3 fxe4
The more common move order to arrive at our med position below is 11...Nf6 12.Bg5 fxe4 13.Nxe4
12.Nxe4 Nf6 13.Bg5
What happens if Black kicks the White bishop with 13...h7–h6?
13...h6
14 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
Black has a couple of more frequently played alternatives:
13...Nxe4 14.Bxe4 Bh3 (or 14...Bf5 15.Qe2 h6 16.Bxe7 Qxe7 17.Bxf5 gxf5 18.Nf4 Rf6 19.Rae1 Qf7 20.Ne6 and White's beautiful knight on e6 promises him an advantage, Barnaure-Sofronie, Predeal 2006) 15.Re1 Bf6 16.Bxf6 Rxf6 17.f4 exf4 18.Nxf4 Bd7 19.Qb3 with a clear positional plus for White, Bruzon Batista-Jimenez Fraga, Havana 2013.
13...Nf5 14.Re1 (or 14.Kh1 h6 15.Nxf6+ Bxf6 16.Bd2 Qd7 17.Bc3 Qg7 18.Qb3 with a tiny plus for White, Epishin-J.Polgar, Las Palmas 1994) 14...h6 15.Nxf6+ Bxf6 16.Bd2 Kh7 17.Bc3 Bd7 18.c5 and White has grabbed hold of the initiative, Karpov-J.Polgar, Las Palmas 1994. In our main game, Black probably forgot that he had to play...Nf5 before...h7–h6.
14.Nxf6+ Of course! Black has to recapture with the bishop and the h6–pawn falls. Therefore Black, in disgust, chose to resign. 1–0
Game 8 P. Moeller Nielsen – B.Jacobsen Randers 1970
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.c4 0–0 5.Nc3 c6 6.0–0 Qa5 7.d4 d6 8.Bg5
This line is quite rare. Instead, 8.e4 and 8.h3 are played very frequently.
8...Qb4
8...h6 9.Bxf6 Bxf6 10.Rb1 Bg7 11.b4 Qc7 12.b5 Nd7 13.Qa4?! (13.Qd3!? Nb6) 13...Nb6 14.Qb3 Be6 15.d5 cxd5 16.Nxd5 Bxd5 17.cxd5 Qd7 18.Rfc1, and draw agreed, ½–½, on Garcia Palermo-Piscopo, Turin 2006; it is clear that Black cannot be dissatisfied with the outcome of the opening.
8...Be6 9.d5 Bd7 10.Qd2 Rc8 11.Bxf6 Bxf6 12.Ne4 Qxd2 13.Nxf6+ Kg7 14.Nh5+ gxh5 15.Nxd2 cxd5 16.Bxd5 Bc6 17.Bg2 Bxg2 18.Kxg2 Nd7 19.Rfc1 with an endgame that is marginally better for White, but the players continued for a long time before settling for a draw, Wu Wenjin-
15 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 Ye Jiangchuan, Yongchuan 2003.
9.Qd3
Time to make some calculations: Black figured that if he now played 9...Bf5, and White then continued with 10.e4, he would be able to play 10...Nxe4 11.Nxe4 d5 winning back the piece with a good position. Is that a correct calculation or did he miss something?
9...Bf5?
9...Be6!? can also be considered for Black, e.g. 10.b3 d5 11.Ne5 Rd8 with a very playable position for Black.
10.e4 Nxe4?? 11.Nxe4 d5 12.cxd5
Also 12.Qd2! wins for White.
12...cxd5 13.Qc3 Sneaking out of the pin thanks to the threat against Black's queen; after 13...Qxc3, White, of course, recaptures with the knight on e4. Thus, Black resigned. 1–0
Game 9 T.Nalbandian (2478) – A.Khudyakov (2365) Alushta 2003
16 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0–0 5.0–0 d6 6.c4 Nbd7 7.Nc3 Re8 8.e4 e5 9.h3 exd4 10.Nxd4 Nc5 11.Re1 Qe7
This move is quite unusual. Black has tried many different moves in this particular position. The main line is 11...a5 which has been played in well over 1000 games in my database. A relatively recent game continued 12.Qc2 c6 13.Be3 Qc7 14.Rad1 Be6 15.b3 Rad8 16.f4 Bc8 17.Bf2 h5!? with chances to both sides, Korobov-Bachmann, Moscow 2016, a game which Black won in the end.
12.Bg5
How should White respond to 12...h6?
12...h6?
12...c6 would have been the logical move, after which Black should not be any worse.
13.Nd5 And Black resigned, which is ridiculously early, but simple one move blunders like Black's 12th move can cause that kind of reaction. After 13.Nd5 Qd8 14.Nxf6+ Bxf6 15.Bxh6 and Black has very little compensation for the lost pawn. 1–0
Game 10 M.Najdorf – H.Rossetto Mar del Plata 1956
17 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nf3 g6 4.g3 Bg7 5.Bg2 0–0 6.0–0 Nbd7 7.Nc3 e5 8.e4 Re8 9.h3 c6 10.Be3 exd4 11.Nxd4 Nc5 12.Qc2 a5
Black frequently plays 12...Qe7 here as well.
13.Rad1
The main line. The alternatives are 13.Rfe1 and 13.Nb3.
13...a4
How should White continue?
Black normally proceeds with 13...Qe7, for instance 14.Rfe1 a4 (14...h5 15.f3 Bd7 16.Bf4 b6 17.Nde2 Nb7 18.Na4 Ra6 19.Qd3 promises White the better chances, M.Petrosyan-Grigoryan, Yerevan 2016) 15.f3 Nfd7 16.Bf2 Ne5 17.b3 axb3 18.axb3 Ra3 19.Nb1 Ra8 20.Nc3 Ra3 21.Nb1 Ra8 22.Nc3 Ra3 and draw agreed, ½–½, Ghosh-Kovalev, Pune 2014.
14.Nxc6!
Black's 13th move is a very common mistake, having been played at all levels in more than 30 games in my database.
14...bxc6
14...Qb6 15.Nd4 Bd7 16.Ndb5 Bxb5 17.Nxb5 Rad8 (or 17...Red8 18.b4
18 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 axb3 19.axb3, and Black resigned, 1–0, J.Horvath-Hebesberger, Aschach 2008) 18.b4 axb3 19.axb3 Qa5 20.Nxd6 Rxd6 21.Rxd6 Ncxe4 22.Rd3, and while the grandmaster playing Black was an exchange and a pawn down right here, he eventually managed to salvage a draw against his much lower-rated opponent, Gauglitz-Vogt, Salzwedel 1982.
15.Bxc5 And Black resigned. 1–0
Game 11 O.Almeida Quintana (2484) – H.Herraiz Hidalgo (2456) Havana 2002
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 0–0 5.Nf3 c6 6.h3 d5 7.e5 Ne4 8.Bd3 Bf5
This is an extremely rare line. The normal move is 8...Nxc3 9.bxc3 dxc4 10.Bxc4 c5 11.0–0 Nc6, and here White has several things to choose between:
a) 12.a4 cxd4 13.cxd4 b6 (13...Bf5!?) 14.Be3 Bb7 15.Rc1 Rc8 16.e6 f5 17.d5 Na5 18.Ba2, and White is clearly in command, Levin-Piscopo, Gallipoli 2012.
b) 12.Re1 Na5 13.Bd3 cxd4 14.cxd4 Be6 15.Qe2 Rc8 16.Bg5 Qd7 17.Rad1 h6 18.Bf4 Bd5 and Black is by no means any worse, Bischoff- Kempinski, Germany 2002.
c) 12.Ba3 cxd4 13.cxd4 Na5 14.Bd3 Be6 15.Be4 Nc4 16.Bb4 a5 17.Bc5 Rc8 18.Bxb7 Rc7 19.Be4 Bd5 20.Qe2 Nxe5 21.Nxe5 Bxe5, Black has won the pawn back in Li Chao-Mamedov, Ningbo 2011, and now White should have opted for 22.Bxg6 Bh2+ 23.Kxh2 hxg6 24.Kg1.
9.Qc2 Na6 10.a3 Qa5
19 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
How does White deal with the threat of...Nb4?
11.0–0!
White simply ignores the "threat", thus inviting Black to go ahead. This should have caused Black some alarm and made him take the time to realize White White couldn't be bothered to deal with the threat.
11...Nb4?
Instead, Black should have played 11...Nxc3 12.Bxf5 dxc4 13.bxc3 gxf5 14.Rb1 b5 15.Qxf5 with a significant advantage for White.
12.axb4 Qxa1 13.g4 Bd7??
After 13...Nxc3 14.gxf5 dxc4 15.Bxc4 b5 16.fxg6 bxc4 17.gxh7+ Kh8 18.bxc3 Black saves his queen, but the position is terrible if not lost.
Also 13...dxc4 14.Bxe4 Bxe4 15.Qxe4 Qa6 is obviously not desirable for Black.
14.Be3!
Black faces severe material losses after 14.Be3 Qa6 15.cxd5 Qb6 16.Bxe4 Qxb4 17.Ne1 which doesn't look worth playing on. 1–0
20 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 Game 12 T.Gareev (2584) – D.Paunovic (2435) Figueira da Foz 2015
1.d4 d6 2.c4 g6 3.e4 Bg7 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Be2 0–0 6.Bg5 Na6 7.f4 c5 8.d5 Qa5 9.Qd2 e6 10.Nf3
An interesting alternative for White is 10.dxe6, for instance 10...Bxe6 11.Nf3 Bg4 (11...h6!?) 12.0–0 Nc7?! (12...Rae8!?) 13.f5 Nd7 14.Qxd6 Bxf3 15.Qxd7 Bxe2 16.Nxe2 Bxb2 17.Rad1 with a large, possibly winning advantage for White, Tukmakov-Barbero, Wijk aan Zee 1991.
10...exd5 11.cxd5 c4?!
The main line is 11...Re8 12.0–0 Bg4 (or 12...c4 13.Kh1 b5 14.e5 Nd7 15.e6 fxe6 16.dxe6 Ndc5 17.e7 and White is already significantly better, Rusev-Erdogdu, Svilengrad 2005) 13.e5 Nd7 14.e6 fxe6 15.h3 Bxf3 16.Bxf3 Bd4+ 17.Kh1 Nc7 18.dxe6 Nxe6 19.Bxb7 Rab8 20.Bd5 Kh8 with chances to both sides, Sergienko-Cherniaev, Tula 1998.
12.0–0 Nc5 13.e5?!
Now Black made the calculation that if he plays 13...Nce4, then after 14.Nxe4 Qb6+ 15.Kh1 Nxe4, he would have a good game; what did he miss?
White should have given preference to 13.Bxf6 Bxf6 14.e5 Qb6 (14...dxe5 15.fxe5 is even worse) 15.Kh1 Bg7 16.Bxc4 Bg4 17.Rae1 with a clear plus for White.
21 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
13...Nce4??
Black's best is 13...Qb6! 14.Bxc4 Nce4+ 15.Qd4 Nxg5 16.fxg5 Qxd4+ 17.Nxd4 Ng4 and Black is no worse, for instance: 18.Ne6! Nxe5 (18...fxe6 19.dxe6 Kh8 20.Rxf8+ Bxf8 21.Rf1 Bg7 22.Rf7! Nxe5 23.Re7 Bxe6 24.Bxe6 leaves White with the better chances - this line obviously was computer assisted!) 19.Nxf8 Nxc4 20.Nxh7 Kxh7 21.Rxf7 Kg8 22.Rc7 Nxb2, and Black should be fine.
14.Nxe4 Qb6+
This check was necessary because the queen was hanging and 14...Qxd2 is met by recapture with either of the knights and White is a piece up.
15.Nf2! This little knight retreat was overlooked by Black who therefore resigned on the spot. 1–0
Game 13 L.Basin (2350) – Y.Balashov (2540) Uzhgorod 1988
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0–0 6.Bg5 h6 7.Be3 c5 8.dxc5 Qa5 9.Bd2 Qxc5 10.Nf3 Nc6 11.0–0
Or 11.h3 Nd4 12.Nxd4 Qxd4 13.Qc2 Be6 14.0–0 Qc5 15.Be3 Qa5 16.Rac1 Rfc8 17.b3 Nd7 with a typical Maroczy Bind minor plus for White, but Black's position is completely solid, Uhlmann-Gligoric, Amsterdam 1971.
11...Be6
Black has also tried the immediate 11...Nd4, e.g. 12.Nxd4 Qxd4 13.Qc2 Qe5 14.Kh1 Qc5 15.Be3 Qa5 16.Qd2 h5 17.f3 Rd8 18.a3 Bd7 19.b4 Qc7 20.Rac1 with a comfortable advantage in space for White, Tarjan-Vukic, Novi Sad 1975.
12.Nd5
22 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
We have seen above that Black often plays an idea involving...Nd4, can he play it here as well?
In another game, White tried 12.Be3 Qa5 13.Nd4 Nxd4 14.Bxd4 Rfc8 (14...Rac8 15.b3 Nd7 is perfectly okay for Black) 15.b3 b5?! 16.Nxb5 Nxe4 17.Bxg7 Kxg7 18.Bf3 and White is clearly better, Lombard-Wagman, Reggio Emilia 1975.
12...Nd4?? 13.Bb4! Ouch! Black doesn't lose the knight, he loses the queen! After 13.Bb4 Nxf3+ 14.gxf3 the queen can only retreat to c6 or c8, in each case White plays 15.Nxe7+ forking the king and queen. 1–0
Game 14 L.Krizsany (2415) – T.Likavsky (2400) Slovakian Team Ch 2001
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0–0 6.Bg5 Na6 7.Qd2 e5 8.d5 Bd7
A rare, but not necessarily bad line for Black. Instead, the main lines that have been played far more frequently are 8...c6, 8...Qe8, and 8...Nc5.
9.f3
The alternatives are:
9.h4 Nc5 10.f3 Qe8 (10...Na4 11.Nxa4 Bxa4 12.g4 Qe7 13.Nh3 Rfe8 14.Nf2 Qf8 15.h5 h6 16.Be3 with a strong initiative for White, 23 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 Movsziszian-Knuth, Bad Wildbad 1993) 11.b4 (11.Bd1!?) 11...Na6 (11...Na4!?) 12.a3 Nh5 13.g4 Nf4 14.Rc1? (14.Nh3!? is a much better alternative) 14...f5 15.h5 fxg4 16.fxg4 Ng2+ 17.Kd1 Ba4+ 18.Nxa4 Qxa4+ and Black is already on the verge of winning, Kula-Muse, Berlin 1991.
9.Bd1 Nc5 (9...c6 10.dxc6 Bxc6 11.f3 Nc7 12.Nge2 Ne6 13.Be3 Nh5 14.Bc2 Nhf4 15.0–0 Qg5 and Black is doing fine, P.Short-Aguera Naredo, Bunratty 2014) 10.Bc2 a5 11.Nge2 Qb8!? 12.0–0 Qa7 13.h3 c6?! (13...a4!?) 14.dxc6 Bxc6 15.Bxf6 Bxf6 16.Qxd6 Ne6 17.Nd5 Bxd5 18.cxd5 Rfd8 19.Qa3 with a better game for White, Farago-Alvir, Austria 2009.
9...h6
This is a common idea for Black in these where White has set himself up in this fashion with Bg5, Qd2, f3; Black intends to meet 10.Bxh6 with 10...Nxe4 11.Nxe4 (or 11.fxe4) 11...Qh4+ and then 12...Qxh6. However, in this case, Black missed something, can you spot what?
In another master game, Black tried 9...c6 10.g4 (10.dxc6 Bxc6 11.Rd1!? can also be considered for White) 10...cxd5 11.cxd5 Qa5 12.Nh3 Rfc8 13.Nf2 h6 14.Be3 h5 15.h3 Nc5 16.Rb1 Qd8 17.0–0 Nh7 18.b4 Na6 19.Rfc1 with a small, but clear advantage for White, De Souza-Milos, Santos 2008.
10.Bxh6 Nxe4 11.Nxe4 Qh4+ 12.g3 Qxh6 13.Nf6+! And Black resigned. A nasty miss. After 13.Nf6+ Kh8 14.Qxh6+ Bxh6 15.Nxd7 Rfd8 16.Nf6, the knight returns home and White is up a piece. Black has undoubtedly seen 13.Qxh6 Bxh6 14.Nf6+ Kg7 15.Nxd7 Rfd8 and the knight has nowhere to 24 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 go but 16.Nxe5 dxe5 and Black has ample compensation for the pawn on account of his lead in development. 1–0
Game 15 S.Johannessen – M.Tal Reykjavik 1964
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 0–0 5.f4 d6 6.Nf3 c5 7.dxc5 Qa5 8.Bd3 Nfd7
This is a somewhat rare continuation. The normal move is of course 8...Qxc5
9.Bd2
This was the normal move until Ljubojevic introduced the rook sacrifice 9.cxd6!?. In the stem game, play continued as follows: 9...Bxc3+ 10.bxc3 Qxc3+ 11.Qd2 Qxa1 12.dxe7 Re8 13.e5 Nc6 14.0–0 Nd4 15.Bb2?! (15.Ng5!? Nc5 16.Ba3 Ncb3 17.Qf2 Qc3 18.Qh4 h5 19.Ne4 leaves White with devastating attack, Gretarsson-Van der Wiel, Leeuwarden 1995) 15...Nxf3+ 16.gxf3 Qxa2 17.f5 Nc5 18.f6 and while it is not clear that Black should be any worse at this point (in fact my computer claims he is clearly better) the black position is tricky to play and he eventually lost an interesting game, Ljubojevic-Van der Wiel, Wijk aan Zee 1986.
9...Nxc5 10.Bc2
25 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
The alternatives are:
10.Qe2 Nc6 11.Nd5 Qd8 12.Bc3 Bxc3+ 13.Nxc3 Bg4 14.Rd1 e5 15.Qe3 Nd4 with a pleasant position for Black, Kavalek-Bednarski, Bucharest 1966.
10.Be2 Nc6 11.Nd5 Qd8 12.Qc2 Bg4 13.Bc3 Bxc3+ 14.bxc3 Na5 15.Ne3 Bxf3 16.Bxf3 Rc8, and Black has the upper hand, Danov-Jansa, Wijk aan Zee 1971.
10...Qb4
10...Nc6!? 11.a3?! (11.Nd5!?) 11...Qa6 12.Nb5 Bg4 13.Rb1 Nd4 14.Nbxd4 Bxd4 15.Qe2 Rac8 16.h3 Bxf3 17.gxf3 Na4 and Black has the clearly better chances, Gorbatov-Bologan, Novgorod 1995.
11.Bb3?!
If White tries to punish Black for his queen adventure with 11.Nd5, Black should be able to get away with some pawn grabbing: 11...Qxb2 (or 11...Qxc4 12.b3 Nd3+ 13.Bxd3 Qxd3 14.Nxe7+ Kh8 15.Qb1 Qxb1+ 16.Rxb1 Na6 17.Nxc8 Rfxc8 and Black has nothing to worry about) 12.e5 (12.Nxe7+ Kh8 13.Rc1 Be6 14.Nd5 Nbd7 is fine for Black) 12...Nc6 13.a3 Bf5 14.Bxf5 gxf5 15.Bc3 Qb3 16.Qxb3 Nxb3 17.Rb1 Nc5 18.exd6 Bxc3+ 19.Nxc3 exd6 and Black obviously has no problems.
11...Qb6
26 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 White now calculated 12.Qe2 Nxb3 13.Nd5 Qd8 14.axb3 with an active and attractive position for White. What did he miss?
12.Qe2?! Nxb3 13.Nd5??
This was obviously the idea behind White's previous two moves. He should have settled for 13.axb3 Qxb3 14.Nd5 Nc6 and White does not have full compensation for the pawn.
13...Qa6!
The pawn on a2 is pinned. Now White is just lost.
14.Rd1 Qxa2 15.Nc7 Na6 And Black resigned. He will end up with a rook for two pieces and a couple of pawns. 0–1
Game 16 V.Malaniuk (2545) – S.Matveeva (2380) Frunze 1987
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f4 0–0 6.Nf3 c5 7.dxc5 Qa5 8.Bd3 dxc5?!
8...Qxc5 is the normal move.
9.e5 Ne8?!
This is too passive. The normal move is 9...Nfd7 10.Qe2 (or 10.h4 Nc6 11.Bd2 Ndb8 12.h5 Qd8 13.Be3 Nd4 14.Ng5 Bf5 15.Nge4 Nbc6 16.g4 was Gabriel-Klundt, Bad Wiessee 1998, and now 16...Bxe4 17.Bxe4 Qc8 would have left both sides with a share of the chances. White could consider 16.h6!? a possible improvement) 10...Nc6 11.Be3 Nb6 12.0–0 Bg4 13.Nb5 Nd7?! (Black should have played 13...Na4 14.b3 a6 15.bxa4 axb5 16.axb5 Nd4 17.Bxd4 cxd4 18.h3 Bxf3 19.Qxf3 b6 with some compensation for the pawn) 14.Be4 Rac8 15.Rfd1 Rfd8 16.a3 b6? 17.h3 Bf5 18.Bxf5 gxf5 19.Qc2 and White is close to winning, Bogut-Radovanovic, Sibenik 2016.
10.0–0 Nc6 11.Be3 Bg4 12.Be4
White is already dominating.
27 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
12...Rc8 13.h3 Bxf3 14.Qxf3 f6
How should White best continue?
15.Qg4! Here Black decided to resign. After 15.Qg4 f5 16.Bd5+ Kh8 17.Qh4 and Black is basically without a decent move, which was enough for Black to call it a day. 1–0
Game 17 O.Rodriguez Vargas (2470) – J.Magem Badals (2485) Spanish Team Championship (Linares) 1991
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f4 0–0 6.Nf3 Na6 7.e5 Nd7 8.h4 c5 9.e6?
This is a tempting option, but ultimately not very good. Instead 9.d5 dxe5 10.h5 exf4 11.Bxf4 Nf6 12.hxg6 fxg6 13.Qd2 Bf5 with chances to both sides is preferable as in Vasquez Schroder-Solleveld, Esbjerg 2005.
9...fxe6 10.h5 cxd4
28 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
11.Ne4?
White plows ahead with an optimistic attack. He should have played 11.Nxd4 Ndc5 12.hxg6 hxg6 13.Be3 which is fine for White and also acceptable for Black after 13...e5.
11...Nf6!?
Black has a strong response in 11...e5! 12.hxg6 hxg6 13.Nh4 Qe8 and Black is doing rather well.
12.Neg5 h6 13.hxg6 hxg5 14.Nxg5 e5!
Or 14...Qa5+ 15.Bd2 Qf5 and Black is winning.
15.fxe5 Qa5+ White attack is over and the material down the drain. 0–1
Game 18 A.Hambleton (2463) – A.Shabalov (2557) Philadelphia 2013
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 0–0 6.Be3 Nc6 7.Nge2 a6 8.Qd2 Na5 9.Nc1 Nd7 10.Be2 c5 11.0–0
Or 11.Nb3 Nxb3 12.axb3 cxd4 13.Bxd4 Bxd4 14.Qxd4 Nc5 and Black has already equalized, Laznicka-Shabalov, Arlington 2014.
29 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 11...cxd4
Of less relevance is 11...Nc6, e.g. 12.Nb3 b6 (12...cxd4 takes the game in the direction of a Maroczy Bind, but clearly Black wasn't interested in that) 13.Rfd1 Bb7 14.d5 Ncb8 15.Bh6 Nf6 16.Bxg7 Kxg7 17.a4 with a comfortable plus for White, Fathallah-A.L'Ami, Cardiff 2016.
12.Bxd4 Ne5 13.b3
13.Qd1 g5 14.Nd5 Naxc4 15.b3 e6 16.bxc4 exd5 17.cxd5 f5 18.exf5 Bxf5 and Black has equalized, Barus-Shyam, Jakarta 2013.
13...Nac6 14.Be3
How should Black continue?
14...Qa5! And White resigned! The problem for White is that after 14...Qa5, there is no way of stopping the threat of...Nxf3 followed by...Bxc3, winning a pawn. Of course, resigning because you are losing a pawn is a bit drastic, but clearly White felt his day had already been ruined and having to defend a pawn down as White against a grandmaster was not his idea of fun. 0–1
Game 19 A.Moiseenko (2559) – I.Zaitsev (2444) Moscow 2002
30 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 g6 4.e4 Bg7 5.f3 0–0 6.Be3 Nc6 7.Nge2 Bd7 8.Qd2 e5 9.d5
9...Nb4
This is a relatively rare line. Black in our main game has also tried another knight move on several occasions: 9...Na5 10.Ng3 (or 10.Nc1 b6 11.b4 Nb7 12.Rb1 a5 13.a3 Nh5 14.Nd3 Nf4 15.g3 Nxd3+ 16.Bxd3 f5 17.exf5 gxf5 with chances to both sides, Ionescu-I.Zaitsev, Bucharest 1993) 10...b6 11.b4 (11.Bd3 is another interesting option for White: 11...Nb7 12.0–0 a5 13.b3 Ne8 14.Bc2 Qe7 15.Rae1 Nd8 16.Kh1 Kh8 17.a3 Nf6 18.Nb5 Ne8 19.Bd3 with a comfortable game for White, Dragomarezkij-I.Zaitsev, Minsk 1993) 11...Nb7 12.Rb1 a5 13.a3 Ne8 14.Bd3 f5 15.exf5 gxf5 16.Bg5 Bf6 17.Bxf6 Qxf6 18.0–0 Ng7 19.f4 and White is clearly in command of the game, Vyzmanavin-I.Zaitsev, Podolsk 1992.
10.g4
White has also had success with 10.0–0–0!?, e.g. 10...a5 11.h4 a4 12.Kb1 a3 13.b3 Nh5 14.g4 Nf4 15.Nxf4 exf4 16.Bd4 Be5 17.Bxe5 dxe5 18.c5 c6 19.h5 g5 20.Na4 with a very uncomfortable position for Black, Kogan-I.Zaitsev, Soviet Union 1971.
10...a5
Alternatively, Black has tried 10...h5 11.gxh5 (11.g5!? Ne8 12.0–0–0 looks pretty good for White as well) 11...Nxh5 12.Ng3?! (12.0–0–0!? is better) 12...Nf4 13.a3 a5 14.Rb1 Na6 15.b4 axb4 16.axb4 was played in 31 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 Amidzic-Yanvarjov, Moscow 1991, and now 16...Qh4 is very nice for Black.
11.Ng3 Qe7 12.0–0–0 Ne8 13.h4 Bf6 14.Qh2 Kh8
And here Black resigned at the same time! How should White continue to justify Black's resignation?
14...Kh8 15.g5 Bg7 16.h5, and here Black has to play 16...h6 to stay in the game and this is, of course, a clear sign that things are pretty dire for Black. One possible continuation is 17.Kb1 a4 18.a3 Na6 19.Bh3 Nc5 20.Bxd7 Nxd7 21.gxh6 Bf6 22.Rdg1 Nc5 23.hxg6 fxg6 24.Nf5 Qh7 25.Ng7 and Black's position is quite horrible. 1–0
Game 20 M.Suba (2560) – I.Madl (2350) Zuerich 1987
1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.e4 d6 5.d4 Bg7 6.dxc5 Qa5 7.Nd2 Qxc5 8.Be2 0–0 9.0–0 Bd7
Black has some alternatives available as well:
9...a6 10.Nb3 Qc7 11.Be3 Nbd7 12.Qd2 b6 13.f3 Re8 14.Nd5 Qd8 15.Rfd1 Bb7 16.Rac1 Rc8 when White has more space and the slightly better chances, but Black's position is solid and playable, Drabke- Iordachescu, Saint Vincent 2004. 32 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
9...Be6 10.Kh1 (or 10.Nd5 Re8 11.Nb3 Qc8 12.f3 Nfd7 13.Rb1 b6 and White is once more marginally better, but Black has no need to be undue worried) 10...Nbd7 11.Rb1 a6 12.f4 b5 13.Nd5 Bxd5 14.cxd5 Qe3 15.Rf3 Qd4 16.Rd3 Qf2 and Black has already taken control of the game, Suba- Hickl, Graz 1987.
10.Nb3 Qc7 11.Be3 Na6 12.f3
Now Black played 12...Nc5; why was that a mistake?
12...Nc5??
Black should have played 12...b6 13.Nd4 Nc5 14.Rc1 Rac8 15.Ndb5 Qb7 16.Qd2 a6 17.Nd4 Na4 and Black has more or less equalized.
13.e5!
Now White is winning!
13...Nxb3
Or 13...Ne8 14.Nd5 Qd8 15.Nxc5 dxc5 16.Bxc5 Bxe5 17.Bxe7 Qb8 18.f4 and White is winning.
14.exf6 Nxa1 15.Nd5 And Black understandably resigned. 1–0
33 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 Game 21 Z.Dollah (2448) – J.Vakhidov (2396) Bandar Seri Begawan 2012
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 0–0 5.e4 d6 6.Qc2 e5 7.dxe5 dxe5
How does Black respond if White plays 8.Nxe5?
8.Nxe5?
On my database, I found a game White White instead tried the safer and more logical 8.Bg5 although Black here too has no problems: 8...h6?! (8...Nc6!? is probably best) 9.Rd1 Qe8 10.Be3 Na6 11.h3 c6 12.Qd2 Kh7 13.g4 Nd7 with a complicated position with chances to both sides, Petran-Markus, Hungary 2011.
8...Nxe4! 9.Nxe4 Bxe5 10.f4?
Black is already quite comfortable prior to this move, but once White weakens his position like this, Black is close to winning and he doesn't even need to try very hard.
10...Bg7 11.Ng3?! Nc6 12.Qd3?!
I guess White is just not that into development.
12...Re8+ 13.Kd1
34 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 13.Be2?? is of course met by 13...Qxd3.
13...Bg4+ 14.Kd2 Nb4 And White resigned; even if he gives up the queen he will soon be mated. 0–1
Game 22 G.Flear (2460) – R.Cifuentes Parada (2530) Wijk aan Zee 1988
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nf3 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.e4 0–0 6.Be2 c6 7.0–0 a6 8.e5 dxe5 9.Nxe5 Be6 10.Be3 b5?
This is awfully ambitious and not terribly good. Instead 10...Nbd7 has been tested in a game by top grandmasters: 11.h3 (11.f4!? Qc7 12.Bf3 looks like a possible improvement) 11...Rc8 12.Nf3 b5 13.c5 Nd5 and Black is doing fine, Vallejo Pons-Kamsky, Khanty-Mansiysk 2005.
11.b3 Qa5 12.Rc1 Rd8 13.Bf3
13...Nfd7
Or 13...bxc4 14.bxc4 Nfd7 15.Bxc6 Nxe5 16.Bxa8 Nxc4 17.Bf3 Nxe3 18.fxe3 with a large advantage for White.
14.Bxc6
Possibly Black failed to consider the capture with the bishop,
35 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 although the knight capture is still better for White: 14.Nxc6 Nxc6 15.Bxc6 Rac8 16.Bd5 bxc4 17.bxc4 Nb6 18.Bxe6 fxe6 19.Qg4 Qf5 20.Qxf5 exf5 21.c5 and White has a clear plus.
14...Nxc6 15.Nxc6 With Black losing an exchange on top of the pawn there is little point in continuing the game against a fellow grandmaster. 1–0
Game 23 D.Kryakvin (2529) – J.Pechac (2511) Pardubice (rapid) 2015
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0–0 6.Be2 Bg4 7.Be3 Nfd7 8.d5 c5 9.0–0 a6 10.a4 Qa5
10...a5 11.Qd2 Qb6 12.Nb5 Nf6 13.Qc2 Na6 14.h3 Nb4 15.Qb1 Bxf3 16.Bxf3 Nd7 with more or less even chances, although I prefer White with his more space, Kovacevic-Gutman, Bad Woerishofen 2011.
10...Bxc3 is a provocative idea that is seen in some openings and works from time to time, but of course Black has to be very careful when handing over his fianchettoed dark-square bishop: 11.bxc3 Qa5 12.Qc2 Ne5? (12...Bxf3 13.Bxf3 Nf6 is more in keeping with the idea of...Bxc3. White will find it hard to make use of his pair of bishops unless the position gets opened up) 13.Nxe5 Bxe2 14.Nxg6 (not winning a pawn, but this is a poor exchange of pawns for Black, immediately devaluing the idea behind...Bxc3) 14...hxg6 15.Qxe2 Qxc3 (Black got his pawn back, but now the dark squares are really weak) 16.Bh6 Rd8 17.Bd2 Qg7 was played in Siebrecht-Hoelzl, Budapest 1994, and here White should have played 18.Rfb1 Nd7 19.Ra3 with a large advantage.
11.Qd2 Qb4!? 12.Qc2 Bxf3 13.gxf3
36 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
White has to recapture on f3 with the pawn to keep the pawn on c4 protected. However, how does White meet Black's "piling-on" move, 13...Nb6?
13...Nb6
Black should have retreated with 13...Qa5; the text move just illustrates that Black has lost his sense of danger.
14.a5!
Go ahead, please. Eat my pawn if you like...
14...Nxc4 15.Bxc4 And Black resigned. The queen is trapped after 15...Qxc4 16.Ra4. 1–0
Game 24 H.Clara (2420) – T.Paehtz Sr (2430) German Bundesliga 1990
1.c4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0–0 6.Nf3 e5 7.Be3 h6 8.0–0 Na6 9.Re1
The more common choices are 9.Ne1, 9.dxe5, and 9.h3.
9...Ng4 10.Bc1 exd4 11.Nxd4 Qh4 12.Bxg4 Bxg4
37 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
What should White play? Nf3 or f3?
13.f3??
White should have played 13.Nf3 Qd8 (Black has two good alternatives in 13...Qh5 and 13...Qf6) 14.h3 Be6 15.Nd5 Nc5 16.Nd4 Bd7 with more or less equal chances, Karavade-Sengupta, Parramatta 2009.
13...Bxd4+ Oops, White cannot recapture on d4 because it would leave the rook on e1 unprotected. 0–1
Game 25 J.Jorczik (2389) – A.Raykhman (2362) Munich 2010
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0–0 6.Nf3 e5 7.Be3 Qe8 8.dxe5 Ng4 9.Bg5 Nxe5 10.Nd4
Or 10.0–0 Nxf3+ 11.Bxf3 Qe5 12.Be3 Nc6 13.Rc1 Be6 14.Nd5 Qxb2 15.Nxc7 Rad8 16.Nxe6 fxe6 17.Rb1 Qxa2 18.Rxb7 Qxc4 was played in Svane-Saric, Griesheim 2016, and now 19.Bg4 would have left White with the somewhat chances thanks to Black's “weakfish” pawns and White's pair of bishops.
10...Nbc6
38 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
How should White best continue?
Black normally plays 10...Be6, after 11.Nxe6, then Black has two ways to recapture the knight:
11...Qxe6 12.Nd5 Na6 13.c5 dxc5 14.0–0 c4 15.f4 Nd3 16.Bxd3 cxd3 17.Qxd3 Nc5 18.Qc4 Qxe4?? (Black should played 18...Nxe4! 19.Rfe1 f5!, and now the tempting 20.Ne7+ is in fact a mistake (20.Rac1 c5 is better, but still very good for Black) 20...Kf7, guarding the queen and leaving White with massive issues to retrieve the knight, e.g. 21.Qxc7 Bd4+ and all of a sudden Black is having a lot of fun: 22.Kh1 (22.Kf1 Nd2#) 22...Nf2+ 23.Kg1 Nd1+ 24.Kf1 Qa6+ 25.Re2 Bb6 26.Qc1 Ne3+ 27.Ke1 Ba5+ 28.Kf2 Ng4+) 19.Qxc5 and Black resigned, 1–0, Musat-Pavlidis, Skopje 2015.
11...fxe6 12.0–0 Nf7 13.Be3 c5 14.f4 Nc6 15.Bd3 a6 16.Kh1 Rb8 17.Rb1 Nb4 18.Be2 Nc6 19.Qd3 Nd4 and Black appears to have equalized, Inarkiev-Saric, Gjakova 2016.
11.Ndb5!
The c7–pawn is Black's Achilles heel and guarding proves incredibly difficult.
11...f6 12.Be3 Rf7
The first wave handled.
13.Nd5 Qd8
39 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
The second wave handled...
14.f4!
Ouch! Nowhere for the knight to go while keeping the c7–pawn guarded.
14...a6 15.Nbxc7 And Black resigned, he is already lost. 1–0
Game 26 S.Holm (2395) – E.Geller Lugano Olympiad 1968
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0–0 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.Qd2 c6 8.Nf3 e5 9.0–0 exd4 10.Nxd4 Nc5 11.f3
How should Black continue?
11.Qf4 Qe7 12.Rad1 Qe5 (12...Re8 13.Bf3 a5 14.Rfe1 a4 15.h3 Qe5 16.Qc1 Qe7 17.Qf4 Ncd7 18.Qd2 Qf8 19.Nc2 h6 20.Be3 Nh7 was played in Petursson-Kasparov, Reykjavik 1988, and now 21.Bf4 would have promised White the better chances) 13.f3 Ne6 14.Nxe6 Bxe6 15.Kh1 Rfe8 16.Rxd6 Nd7 (In ChessBase Magazine, Avrukh gives 16...Qxf4 17.Bxf4 Nh5 18.Be3 Be5 19.Rdd1 Nf4 20.Bxf4 Bxf4 21.g3 Be5 as playable for Black) 17.Qxe5 Bxe5 18.Rd2 Nb6 19.c5 Bxc3 20.bxc3 Na4 21.Bf6 Nxc5 22.Rfd1 with at best a marginal advantage for White, Grischuk-Svidler, 40 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 Sochi 2005.
11...Nfxe4 And White, quite prematurely, resigned at this point despite having only lost a pawn. If you ever to think that nobody would "fall into" these traps or make the mistakes shown in this book, this example is a reminder that it can happen. Geller who played Black in this game had the opportunity to play 11...Nfxe4 three times in games in 1968! Since then a handful of grandmasters and international masters have let their opponent play 11.f3 and been punished by 11...Nfxe4. In total, I have 34 games on my database where White fell for this trick.
To get a better picture of what could happen then let's take a look at some relatively recent grandmaster games that featured this opening trick: 11...Nfxe4! 12.Nxe4 Nxe4 13.fxe4 Bxd4+ 14.Qxd4 Qxg5 15.Qxd6 Rd8 (15...Qe3+ 16.Rf2 Be6 17.Qd3 Qxd3 18.Bxd3 Rfd8 19.Rf3 Rd4 20.Rc1 Rad8 with a very uncomfortable endgame for White that he nevertheless managed to save, Stefansson-Baburin, Tromso 2014) 16.Qa3 Rd2 17.Rfe1 Be6 18.Qc3 Rad8 19.c5 R8d4 20.b3 Rxe4 21.Bf3 Red4 and White is completely busted, Agdestein-Bacrot, Tromso 2013. 0–1
Game 27 D.Chuprikov (2422) – A.Areshchenko (2470) Alushta 2002
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.d4 0–0 6.Be2 Nbd7 7.0–0 e5 8.Be3 c6 9.h3 exd4
Or 9…Qe7 10.Re1 exd4 11.Bxd4 Ne5 12.Be2 Nfd7 13.Rc1 Bh6 14.Rc2 Nc5 15.Bf1 f5 16.Nxe5 dxe5 17.exf5 Bxf5 18.Rxe5 Bxc2 19.Rxe7 Bxd1 20.Bxc5 Bc2 21.Rxb7 Rf7 22.Rxf7 Kxf7 with two pawns for the exchange, White should not be worse, Hutters-Baburin, Copenhagen 1994.
10.Bxd4 Qe7
10...Re8 11.Qc2 Nc5 12.Nd2 Ne6 13.Be3 Nd7 14.Rad1 Nd4 15.Bxd4 Bxd4 16.Nf3 Bg7 17.Rxd6 Qe7 18.Rfd1 Nc5 19.e5 Bf5 20.Qd2 Bxe5 21.Nxe5 Qxe5 and draw agreed, ½–½, I.Almasi-C.Horvath, Budapest 2015.
11.Bd3
41 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
11.Nd2 Nc5 12.Re1 b6 13.Bf1 Ne6 14.Be3 Nh5 15.Nf3 Be5 16.g3 Bb7 17.Bg2 Qf6 18.Rc1 Nhg7 19.Qd2 Rad8 20.b3 Qe7 with a position that is almost identical to those from the Fianchetto King's Indian. The chances are about even although I will always prefer White in this type of position because it seems easier to play, Kosic-Vajda, Roszke 2011.
11...Ne5 12.Re1 Nh5
Here White played 13.Bf1, why was that a large mistake?
13.Bf1 Nxf3+ 14.gxf3 And at this point White resigned at the same time. This may seem premature, but once you analyze the situation then you quickly realize that White's position is hopeless: 14.gxf3 Qg5+ 15.Kh2 Qh4 16.Bg2 Be5+ 17.Bxe5 dxe5 18.Qe2 Be6 and White is completely busted. 0–1
Game 28 P.Keres – S.Johannessen Stockholm 1967
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0–0 6.Be2 e5 7.Be3 Nbd7 8.0–0 c6 9.h3 Qe7
The more common move is 9...exd4 10.Nxd4 Re8 11.Qc2 Qe7 12.f3 d5 13.cxd5 cxd5 14.Ncb5 dxe4 15.Nc7 exf3 16.Rxf3 Ne5 17.Rff1?? (White
42 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 should have played 17.Bf2 Nxf3+ 18.Bxf3 Bd7 19.Nxa8 Rxa8 with about equal chances) 17...Nc6! 18.Nxc6 Qxc7 19.Nd4 Qxc2 20.Nxc2 Bf5 21.Rxf5 gxf5 with a winning position for Black, Moiseenko-Fressinet, Dubai (blitz) 2014.
10.Re1
The normal moves for White are 10.d5 and 10.Qc2.
10...a6 11.Rc1 Re8 12.c5 exd4?!
12...dxc5 13.d5 (for some reason, my computer doesn't object to White losing a pawn after 13.dxc5 Nxc5 14.Qc2 a5 calling it equal) 13...Qd6 14.dxc6 Qxc6 15.a4 and White has good positional compensation for the pawn; the weak light squares in Black's position, particularly on d5, offer White excellent play.
13.cxd6 Qxd6 14.Bxd4
Can Black win a pawn with 14...Nxe4? If not, what is the refutation?
14...Nxe4 15.Bxg7 Black resigned, realizing that 15.Bxg7 Qxd1 (15...Kxg7 16.Nxe4 Qxd1 17.Bxd1 leads to the same position) 16.Bxd1! Kxg7 17.Nxe4 and White has just won a piece. 1–0
Game 29
43 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 A.Voinov (2428) - A.Kremenietsky (2353) Krasnoyarsk 2007
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 0–0 5.e4 d6 6.Be2 e5 7.0–0 Na6 8.Be3 Qe8 9.Re1
Two other minor options are 9.d5 and 9.h3.
The main line is 9.dxe5 dxe5, and now one line runs 10.h3 Nh5 11.c5 Nf4 12.Bxa6 bxa6 13.Nd5 Nxd5 14.Qxd5 Bd7 15.Rfe1 Bc6 16.Qc4 a5 17.Bd2 a4 with chances to both sides, Wojtaszek-McShane, Emsdetten 2016.
9...exd4
A better choice is 9...Ng4, for instance, 10.Bg5 exd4 11.Nxd4 Qe5 12.Nf3 Qc5 13.Bh4 Be6 14.Nd2 Ne5 with fairly even chances, Bauer- McShane, Germany 2003.
10.Bxd4 Nb4?
How should White continue?
Black should have opted for 10...Qe7 11.Bf1 Bg4 12.h3 Bxf3 13.Qxf3 c5 14.Nd5 Nxd5 15.exd5 Qd8 16.Bxg7 Kxg7 17.Qc3+ Kg8 as in Guichard- Diamant, Malakoff 2010, and now 18.a3 intending b2–b4 would have left White with a small, but clear advantage.
11.e5! dxe5 12.Bc5 Nc6 13.Nb5 e4?? 44 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
This is tantamount to a resignation. After the better move, 13...Qd8, White is still clearly better after 14.Bxf8 Qxf8 15.Nxc7 Rb8 16.Nd5
14.Nxc7 exf3 15.Nxe8 And Black resigned. 1–0
Game 30 D.Ayupov (2398) – E.Vorobiov (2540) Kazan 2006
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nf3 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.e4 0–0 6.Be2 Nbd7 7.0–0 e5 8.Re1 c6 9.Bf1 exd4 10.Nxd4 Re8 11.Nc2 Ne5 12.f3 Be6 13.b3
13.Ne3 looks normal, but doesn't do anything for White: 13...Qb6 (13...a6 14.a4 Nh5 followed by...Bh6 and perhaps...c6–c5 to claim the dark squares) 14.Kh1 Rad8 15.Rb1 Nh5 16.Qc2 a5 17.Bd2 Rf8 18.Na4 Qc7 19.b4 axb4 20.Rxb4 was Gruenberg-Vogt, Berlin East 1980, and now 20...Ra8!? would have left Black with a comfortable position.
13...Nh5 14.Nd4 Qa5
If White were now to play 15.Nce2, how does Black best continue?
Black has also tried the more aggressive-looking 14...Qh4, e.g. 15.Be3 h6 16.Qd2 Kh7 17.Rac1 Rad8 18.Be2 Bc8 19.Bf1 Be6 20.a4 a6 as in
45 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 Moehring-Golyak, Leipzig 1977, and now 21.Nxe6 Rxe6 22.Ne2 would have left White with a tiny edge.
15.Nce2?
White should have played 15.Nxe6 Rxe6 16.Bd2 Rae8 17.Rc1 a6 18.a4 Qd8 19.Be3 Nd7 20.g4 Nhf6 21.Bg2 Qa5 22.Ne2 Nc5 23.Kh1 (23.Rb1!? would have offered White better chances of an advantage) 23...h6 with chances to both sides, Ilic-Arsovic, Dimitrovgrad 2003.
15...Nd3! Winning an exchange. White didn't need to resign here, but considering Black is a grandmaster, there wasn't too much point in continuing the game. 0–1
Game 31 D.Adla (2509) – R.Paramos Dominguez (2408) Spanish Team Championship 2011
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0–0 6.Nf3 e5 7.0–0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Ne1 Nd7 10.f3 f5 11.g4 Nf6 12.Kh1
What did White miss?
The more common alternatives are:
12.Nd3 c6 13.Be3 Kh8 14.a4 b6 15.Kh1 Bb7 16.Nf2 Rc8 17.Rc1 Ba8
46 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 18.Rc2 a6 19.b3 b5 20.axb5 axb5 with chances to both sides, Ftacnik- Bacrot, Hamburg 2015.
12.Be3 c6 13.b4 Kh8 14.a4 Qd7 15.h3 h5 16.g5 f4 17.gxf6 Bxf6 18.Bf2 Qxh3 19.Nd3 Nf5 20.Qd2 Ng3 21.Bxg3 Qxg3+ with a draw by perpetual check, ½–½, L'Ami-Nisipeanu, Wijk aan Zee 2010.
12.Ng2 f4 13.h4 c5 14.Kf2 Rf7 15.Ke1 a6 16.a4 b6 17.Kd2 Bd7 18.Kc2 Rb8 19.Bd2 Nc8 20.b3 Na7 with chances for both players, Borges Mateos- Escobar Forero, Toluca 2009.
12...fxg4 13.fxg4 Nxg4! And White resigned which is wildly premature, but he was undoubtedly disgusted by his simple oversight. After 13...Nxg4 14.Nd3 (14.Bxg4?? is, of course, not possible because it leaves the rook unprotected 14...Rxf1+; 14.Rxf8+ Qxf8 nor 15.Bxg4?? Qf1#) 14...Rxf1+ 15.Qxf1 a6 without full compensation for the pawn. 0–1
47 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
Chapter 2
The Grünfeld Indian Defense Of all the openings, we are covering in this volume, the Grünfeld Indian Defense is the most dynamic of all. Black often allows White to build an apparently solid, broad center. In return, Black gets dynamic piece play which along with assaults on the center promises Black adequate chances. It has been the defense of choice of both Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov as well as numerous other top grandmasters.
Game 32 E.Neiman (2350) – Y.Pelletier (2470) Cannes 1997
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.Be3 0– 0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.0–0–0 e5 10.d5 Nd4 11.Nb5 Nxb5 12.Bxb5 Bd7 13.Qb4
The main line is 13.Be2 c6 14.dxc6 Bxc6 15.Nh3 Qxd2+ 16.Rxd2 h6 17.Nf2 with a small plus for White whose pieces are somewhat better coordinated, Ward-Arakhamia Grant, Caleta 2005.
Another option is 13.Bd3 c6 14.dxc6 Qc7 15.Kb1 bxc6 16.Ne2 Be6 17.Qc2 a5 as played in Raeva-Zinchenko, Rethymnon 2011, and now 18.h4 would have left White with the somewhat better chances.
13...a5 14.Qc5 Nc8
48 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
What is best for White: to exchange on d7 or play Ne2?
Black is naturally not interested in repeating moves with 14...Na4 15.Qc4 Nb6 16.Qc5.
15.Ne2??
White should have exchanged, although after 15.Bxd7 Qxd7 16.Kb1 Nd6 Black is doing fine.
15...b6 White loses a piece because after 16.Qc4, Black has 16...Nd6. 0–1
Game 33 G.Andruet (2430) – A.Bofill Mas (2410) Groningen 1988
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nb4 7.Ne2
49 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
How should Black continue?
In a similar line, Grandmaster Romanishin has "fallen into the same trap" twice, I suspect both times on purpose: 7.Nf3 Bxd4 8.0–0 N8c6!? (8...Bg7 is less accurate: 9.Qa4+ N4c6 10.Rd1 Bd7 11.Nc3 0–0 12.Qa3 Qc8 13.Bg5 f6 14.Be3 with excellent compensation for the pawn in Romanishin-Zaichik, Lvov 1987) 9.Nxd4 Qxd4 10.Nc3 Be6 11.Nd5 Qxd1 12.Rxd1 0–0–0 and White has almost full compensation for the pawn thanks to his pair of bishops, active pieces and Black's awkward knights, Romanishin-Mikhalchishin, Dortmund 1991.
The two main moves are 7.d5 and 7.a3.
7...Bxd4!
Accepting the offered pawn is often the best way to refuting a gambit.
In another game in this line, Black decided against (or possibly overlooked) winning the pawn but was soon punished: 7...e5?! 8.d5 c6 9.Nbc3 cxd5 10.Nxd5 Nxd5 11.exd5 0–0 12.0–0 f5 13.Be3 Nd7?! 14.Qb3 Nf6 15.Rfd1 Rf7 16.Rac1 h6?? (16...Qe8 in order to be to answer 17.d6 with 17...Be6) 17.d6! (Now there is no stopping White's invasion) 17...Qe8 18.Rc7 e4? (18...Be6 19.Qxb7 is better but obviously also pretty terrible for Black) 19.Re7 Qf8 20.Nf4! and Black resigned, 1–0, there is no answer against the threat of Nxg6, Mochalov-Henrichs, Pardubice 2007.
8.Qb3?
Now White makes his troubles a lot worse. He could actually have 50 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 obtained decent compensation for the pawn with 8.0–0 Bg7 9.Qa4+ N4c6 10.Rd1 Bd7 11.Nbc3 0–0 12.Be3 (12.Qa3!?) 12...Qc8 13.Qc2 Bh3 14.Bh1 Ne5 with chances to both sides, Deak-Zezulkin, Kobanya 1992.
8...N8c6 9.a3?? Be6 10.Qd1
Black has two very good moves in this position, find both of them.
10...Bxb2 And White resigned. After the text move, The alternative was 10...Nd3+ 11.Qxd3 Bxf2+ 12.Kd2 Bc4 13.Qxd8+ Rxd8+ 14.Kc2 Bd3+ 15.Kb3 Bxe2 also leaving Black two pawns up, but with a very vulnerable white king in the mix. 10...Bxb2 11.Bxb2 Nd3+ 12.Kf1 Nxb2 13.Qc2 Qd3 was possible leaving Black two pawns up. 0–1
Game 34 M.Grabarczyk (2506) – O.Brendel (2389) European Championship (Ohrid) 2001
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4
6.Nc3 Nb6 7.e3 0–0 8.Nge2 e5 9.d5 c6 10.e4 cxd5 11.exd5 Bf5 12.0–0 Na6 13.b3 Nb4 14.a3 Na6 15.h3 Nc8 16.g4 Bd7 17.a4 Nb4 18.Be3 a5 with equal chances, Markowski-Zhigalko, Bad Wiessee 2011.
6...Nb6 7.Ne2 e5 8.d5 0–0 9.0–0 c6 10.Nbc3 cxd5 11.exd5 Na6
11...Bf5 12.b3 Qd7 13.Be3 Na6 14.a4 Rfd8 15.a5 Nc8 16.Ra4 Nd6 with 51 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 chances to both sides, Danielian-Khotenashvili, Chakvi 2015.
12.b3 f5 13.Ba3 Rf7 14.Qd3
Now Black made following calculation: 14...Be6 15.Rad1 Rd7 intending...e5–e4, winning the crucial pawn on d5. What did Black miss in this calculation?
14...Be6 15.dxe6!! White sacrifices the queen and Black resigned and probably not without a long thought. After 15.dxe6 Qxd3 16.exf7+ Kxf7 17.Rad1 Qc2 18.Bxb7 White is winning, for instance, 18...Nb4 19.Rc1 Rb8 20.Bxb4 Qb2 21.Rb1 Qd2 22.Rfd1 Qg5 23.Bg2 with a rook, two minor pieces, and a much safer king. 1–0
Game 35 V.Borovikov (2595) – L.Langner (2401) Pardubice 2005
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.g3 d5 5.Bg2 dxc4 6.Qa4+ Nfd7 7.Nbd2
This line is a specialty of Grandmaster Oleg Romanishin who has played it a bunch of times.
The main lines are 7.Qxc4 and 7.0–0 but the text move scores far better for White.
52 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 7...Nc6
The alternatives are 7...a6 and 7...c5
8.Nxc4
The big question is: Can Black get away with taking the pawn on d4?
8...Nxd4
Black should stay away from the pawn and focus on the development and king safety instead: 8...0–0, and now:
9.0–0 Nxd4 10.Nxd4 Bxd4 11.Bh6 Bg7 12.Bxg7 Kxg7 13.Rfd1 c6 (or 13...Qe8 14.Bxb7 Bxb7 15.Qxd7 Ba6 16.Qd4+ f6 17.b3 e5 18.Qc5 and White has a nice positional plus, Gelashvili-Molner, Las Vegas 2013) 14.Qa3 Re8 15.Rac1 Qc7 16.b4 Qb8 17.b5 cxb5 18.Qb2+ Nf6 19.Qxb5 Be6 20.Bxb7 a6 21.Qb1 Bxc4 22.Rxc4 Ra7 was played in Khalifman-Esen, Nakhchivan 2012, and now 23.Rb4 Qe5 24.e3 would have left White nurturing a tiny plus based on his long-range bishop vs knight with pawns on both wings as well as marginally better-coordinated pieces.
9.Be3 a6 (9...e5 10.dxe5 Ndxe5 11.Nfxe5 Nxe5 12.Rd1 Qe7 13.0–0 Bd7 14.Qc2 Bf5 15.Qc1 c6 16.Nd6 Be6 17.Bc5 and White has the initiative, Bauer-Shipov, ICC 2003) 10.Na5 Nb6 11.Nxc6 Nxa4 12.Nxd8 Rxd8 13.b3 Nc3 14.Rc1 Nb5 15.a4 Nxd4 16.Nxd4 Bxd4 17.Bxd4 Rxd4 18.Rxc7 Rb8 19.Rxe7 Be6 20.0–0 Rb4 and Black has equalized, Ekstroem- Kozul, Charleville 2000. 53 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
9.Nxd4 Bxd4 10.Bh6!
This is the problematic line for Black; at the cost of only a pawn for White, Black's king is stuck in the center and his development is highly problematic.
White has also had success with 10.Na5 which threatens both the pawn on b7 and the bishop on d4: 10...c6? (10...c5 11.Nxb7 Bxb7 12.Bxb7 Rb8 13.Bg2 0–0 14.0–0 favors White, but is playable for Black) 11.Nxc6 Bxf2+ 12.Kxf2 bxc6 13.Bxc6 Bb7 14.Bxb7 (14.Qd4! is even stronger) 14...Qb6+ 15.Be3 Qxb7 16.Rhd1 Rd8? 17.Qxa7 Qb5 18.a4 Qe5 19.Qd4 Qf5+ 20.Kg1 e5 21.Qd6 and Black resigned, 1–0, Bocharov-Shomoev, Krasnoyarsk 2003.
10...c6?
Relatively best is 10...Rb8 11.0–0 b5 12.Nd6+ cxd6 13.Qxd4 with a clear advantage for White.
11.Rd1 Bf6?!
How should White best continue?
The lesser evil was 11...Bc5 12.b4 b5 13.Qa3 Bxf2+ 14.Kxf2 bxc4 15.Qc3 f6 16.Qxc4 with only a clear advantage for White.
12.Qa3! Qc7 13.Qe3!
54 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 This was the idea behind White's previous move: he now threatens Nd6+ and Black is hopelessly lost. The rest is pure desperation from Black...
13...Ne5
Or 13...e6 14.Nd6+ Ke7 15.0–0! and Black is basically without moves, for instance (15.Qa3 c5 16.Ne4 is also very good) 15...Rd8 16.Ne4 Qe5 17.Qa3+ c5 18.Rd2 and Black's position collapses completely. If you are not sure, try to analyze it yourself!
14.Bf4!
This wins a piece because 14...Nxc4 15.Bxc7 Nxe3 is answered by 16.Rd8#!
14...Be6 15.Bxe5 Black resigned. 1–0
Game 36 G.Sargissian (2611) – T.Sanikidze (2364) Yerevan 2004
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 c6 5.Nc3 d5 6.Qb3 0–0 7.Bg2 b6 8.0–0 Ba6?!
This looks logical because it forces White to make the decision to exchange on d5 which leaves the bishop on an open diagonal. The problem, however, is that the bishop is not particularly well-placed on that diagonal and Black will have problems developing the remaining pieces.
9.cxd5 cxd5 10.Bg5!?
The alternatives for White are:
10.Ne5!? e6 11.Bf4 Nfd7?
55 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
How should White best continue?
(11...Bb7!? is more solid) 12.Nf3 (12.Nxd5! exd5 13.Nxf7 Rxf7 14.Bxd5 looks very good for White) 12...Bc4 13.Qc2 Qe7 14.Rfc1 Rc8 15.Nb5 Rc6 16.Nc7 e5 17.Bg5 f6 18.Nxa8 fxg5 19.dxe5 Nxe5 20.Nd4 with clearly better chances for White, Postny-Akshayraj, Rethymno 2012.
10.Nb5?! doesn't do anything to help White, in fact, it throws White's advantage away: 10...Nc6 11.a4 Ne4 12.Rd1 Na5 13.Qd3 Bb7 14.Bf4 a6 15.Na3 Qd7 16.b4 Nc6 17.Ne5 Qf5 18.Nxc6 Bxc6 and Black has a good position, Bitelmajer-Hobaica, Buenos Aires 2008.
10...e6 11.Rfc1 Bb7
How should White continue?
56 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 Black can also consider 11...Nc6 12.Nxd5 Qxd5 13.Bxf6 Qxb3 14.axb3 Bxf6 15.Rxa6 Rac8 which, although better for White, is playable for Black. Now we will see how White hones in on all the weak squares on Black's queenside.
12.Nb5! Nc6 13.Ne5! Na5 14.Qa3
14.Qb4!? also looks good, but the text move, of course, prepares b2– b4.
14...Rb8? 15.b4
15.Nd6 is also pretty disgusting for Black, e.g. 15...Ba8 16.Ng4 threatening Nh6+ and Black has a hard time making a decent move.
15...Qe8?? Black played this blunder and resigned at the same time, but the alternative is not much better: 15...Nc4 16.Qxa7 Qe8 17.Nxc4 dxc4 18.Nd6 and White is winning. 1–0
Game 37 R.Kasimdzhanov (2565) – A.Cherniaev (2465) Wijk aan Zee 1998
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0–0 5.0–0 d5 6.c4 dxc4 7.Na3 c3 8.bxc3 c5 9.Bb2 Nc6 10.e3 Qa5
The main line is 10...Bf5, and now one line goes 11.Nd2 Bg4 (11...Qc8 12.e4 Bg4 13.f3 cxd4 14.cxd4 Bh3 15.Rc1 Bxg2 16.Kxg2 with a pleasant plus for White, Eljanov-Grandelius, Stavanger 2016) 12.f3 Be6 13.Qe2 Rc8 14.Rfd1 Qb6 15.Ndc4 Qa6 16.Bf1 b5 17.Nd2 c4 18.Nc2 Qa4 19.Rdc1 Bd7 with chances to both sides, Lemos-Caruana, Caleta 2011.
11.Nd2 Nd7
The alternative is 11...cxd4 12.cxd4 Bg4 (12...Qb4 13.Nac4 Be6 14.Qb3 Qxb3 15.axb3 Rfd8 16.Ne4 Nxe4 17.Bxe4 f5 18.Bg2 Rab8 19.Rfc1 with a slightly better game for White, Panno-Chiburdanidze, Aruba 1992) 13.f3 Be6 14.Rf2 Rfd8 15.Nb3 Qb6 16.Nc5 Bxa2 17.Na4 Qb3 18.Qxb3 Bxb3 19.Nc5 Be6 20.Nxb7 Rdb8 21.Nc5 and White's position is somewhat preferable, Ardiansyah-Shyam, Jakarta 2012.
57 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 12.Qe2 Qa4 13.Nb3
White can also consider 13.Qb5!? Qxb5 14.Nxb5 Rd8 15.Ba3 cxd4 16.cxd4 with pressure against Black's queenside.
13...b6 14.Rfd1 Ba6??
Black threatens White's queen, but he missed something simple...
Black should have played 14...Bb7 15.c4 cxd4 16.exd4 Rac8 with about equal chances although the queen is placed a little odd on a4.
15.Bxc6 White ignores the threat to the queen and wins material. After 15.Bxc6 Bxe2 (15...Qxc6 16.Qxa6 is the problem for Black) 16.Bxa4 Bxd1 17.Rxd1 with two minor pieces for the rook. 1–0
Game 38 S.Gligoric (2600) – K.Langeweg (2425) Amsterdam 1971
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bg5 Ne4 5.Bh4 c5 6.e3 Qa5 7.Qb3 Nc6 8.Nf3 cxd4 9.exd4 Bg7??
58 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
This turns out to be a big mistake. What is the refutation of Black's 9th move?
The alternatives are:
9...Nxc3 10.bxc3 Be6 11.Be2 Bg7 12.0–0 0–0 13.c5 b6 14.Bb5 Bd7 15.Bxc6 Bxc6 16.Bxe7 Rfe8 17.Rfe1 with an extra pawn and better chances for White, Taimanov-Filip, Wijk aan Zee 1970.
9...e5 10.cxd5 exd4, and now:
11.Bc4 dxc3 12.0–0 Bg7 (12...Qb4?? 13.dxc6 Qxb3 14.axb3 bxc6 15.Rfe1 f5 16.Bf6 wins for White, Sallay-Honfi, Budapest 1973) 13.dxc6 0–0 14.cxb7?! (Now Black has no problems; the more precise 14.Be7 is also interesting 14...Nc5 15.Qa3 Qxa3 16.bxa3 Ne6 17.Bxe6 Bxe6 18.cxb7 Rab8 19.Bxf8 Kxf8 where the bishop pair and c-pawn provide Black with decent compensation for the exchange) 14...Bxb7 15.Qxb7 cxb2 16.Rab1 Nd6 17.Qd5 Nxc4 18.Qxc4 Rfc8 19.Qd3 Qxa2 and Black's passed pawns on the queenside more than compensated for the sacrificed piece, Lajthajm-Nabaty, Sarajevo 2012.
11.Bb5 dxc3 12.0–0 Bg7 13.Rae1 0–0 14.Rxe4 cxb2 15.dxc6 Bf5 16.cxb7 Bxe4 17.bxa8Q Rxa8 18.Ng5 b1Q 19.Rxb1 Bxb1 20.Qxf7+ Kh8 21.Ne6 Qe1+?? (21...Qc3 is fine for Black) 22.Bf1 Qe5 23.Bd8 and Black resigned, 1–0, Lajthajm-Rabrenovic, Kragujevac 2013.
10.cxd5 Nxc3 11.bxc3 Bxd4 12.Rc1! This is the refutation of Black's 9th move. He now loses a piece. 1–0 59 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
Game 39 V.Golod (2555) – L.Valdes (2396) San Salvador 2003
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bf4 Bg7 5.e3 c5 6.dxc5 Qa5 7.Rc1 dxc4 8.Bxc4 Qxc5??
What is White's best move?
The main line is 8...0–0 after which one recent grandmaster game went as follows: 9.Nge2 Qxc5 10.Qb3 Qa5 11.0–0 Nbd7 12.Rfd1 Nc5 13.Qb5 Qxb5 14.Nxb5 Be6 15.Bxe6 Nxe6 16.Be5 Rfc8 17.Ned4 Nxd4 18.Nxd4 with equal chances, Matlakov-Li Chao, Novi Sad 2016.
9.Nb5!
After this move, Black is lost. Not only does White protect his bishop on c4 and threaten on c7, he further threatens the nasty Bxf7+. Rather surprisingly, in the more than 30 games I found on my database with Black playing 8...Qxc5, there were several examples of even very strong players missing out on this opportunity: 9.Bb3 0–0 10.Nf3 Nc6 11.0–0 Qa5 12.h3 Bf5 13.Qe2 Ne4 14.Nd5 e5 15.Bh2 Be6 and Black has equalized, V.Georgiev-Djukic, Porto Carras 2011. 9.Qb3 0–0 10.Nb5 Be6 11.Ne2 Bxc4 12.Rxc4 Qf5 13.0–0 Nc6 14.Ned4 Nxd4 15.Nxd4 Qd5 16.Nb5 was played in Meins-Farago, Fuerth 2002, and here 16...Rac8 would be the simplest equalizer.
60 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 9...Qb4+ 10.Kf1 And here Black resigned in our main game. Here are a couple of grandmaster encounters where Black fought on a bit longer: 10.Kf1 Na6 (10...0–0 11.a3 Qa5 12.b4 Qa6 13.Nc7 Qxa3 14.Nxa8 Nc6 15.Ne2 and Black is simply a rook down, Aleksandrov-Nedev, Rethymnon 2003) 11.a3 (and now the queen is trapped) 11...Qxb2 (or 11...Qa5 12.Nc7+ Nxc7 13.Bxc7 Bg4 14.Bxa5 Bxd1 15.Rxd1 leaves Black a piece down) 12.Rb1 Qxb1 13.Qxb1 0–0 14.Nf3 Bf5 15.Qa2 Nc5 16.Ne5 e6 17.f3 and White soon won, Leitao-Van Wely, Antwerp 1998. 1–0
Game 40 Xu Yinglun (2463) – S.Vidit (2644) Al-Ain 2015
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Qa4+ Qd7 8.Qb3 c5
Why is this move a mistake?
The main line is 8...0–0 9.Nf3 (also 9.Be3 has been tried, for instance 9...b6 10.Rd1 Bb7 11.f3 Nc6 12.Bb5 Qc8 13.Ne2 Na5 14.Qb4 e6 15.0–0 Ba6 16.Nc1, and draw agreed, ½–½, I.Sokolov-Dorfman, Montpellier 2015) 9...c5 10.d5 e6 11.Bc4 exd5 12.Bxd5 Na6 13.Be3 Nc7 14.Bxc5 Nxd5 15.exd5 Re8+ 16.Be3 b6 17.0–0 Ba6 18.c4 Bxa1 19.Rxa1 Rac8 20.Nd2 and White has compensation for the exchange but no more than that, Bologan-Sutovsky, Poikovsky 2014.
9.Bb5! 61 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
Now White just wins material.
9...Nc6 10.d5 c4
10...Rb8 11.Qc2 0–0 12.dxc6 bxc6 13.Bc4 Qg4 14.f3 Qh4+ 15.g3 Qf6 16.Bd2 with a winning position for White, Volkov-Mikhalevski, ICC 2002.
10...Qg4 is simply met with 11.dxc6 and although Black will get a couple of pawns for the piece after 11...0–0 12.Be2 Qxe4 13.Be3 Qxc6 14.Nf3 it obviously isn't enough.
11.dxc6 Qd3 12.Ne2!?
The text refutes Black's idea, but in fact, 12.cxb7+! is even better 12...Kf8 13.bxc8Q+ (13.bxa8Q also wins but the other move is simpler) 13...Rxc8 14.Ne2 Qxe4 15.Qb4 and White is up two pieces.
12...0–0 13.Bxc4 Qxe4 14.Bd5 Qd3 15.Qc4 And the fun is over; Black resigned. 1–0
Game 41 M.Steinbacher (2370) – V.Akopian (2535) Groningen 1990
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e3 Bg7 6.Bc4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 c5 8.Qf3
This looks like the move of a simpleton. The normal move is 8.Nf3 0– 0 9.0–0 Nc6 (or 9...Qc7 10.Qe2 Nc6 11.Ba3 Na5 12.Bb5 b6 13.Rac1 Bb7 14.e4 e6 15.Qe3 Rac8 with equal chances, I.Sokolov-Xiu, Jakarta 2012) 10.Ba3 Na5 11.Bd3 b6 12.dxc5 Bb7 13.Qe2 Qc7 14.cxb6 axb6 15.Rab1 Rfc8 16.Rfc1 was Khismatullin-Salem, Khanty-Mansiysk 2013, and now 16...Nc6 would have left Black with excellent compensation for the pawn.
8...0–0 9.Ne2 Qc7 10.Bd5?!
White plays in a very bizarre fashion as if he has just learned how the pieces move, yet he is rated 2370. 10.Bd3 e5 11.0–0 would be about equal.
62 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
10...Nd7 11.Bb3 Nf6
11...e5!? just looks better for Black, punishing White for his random opening moves and lack of development.
12.e4 cxd4 13.cxd4 Bg4 14.Qg3 Qa5+
How should White respond to Black's queen check? Qc3 or Bd2?
15.Bd2
Well, this is definitely not the way to do it!
White should have opted for 15.Qc3 Qxc3+ 16.Nxc3 Rac8 17.Bd2 Nd7 18.Nd5 Rfe8 19.e5 with approximately equal chances although White's position appears a little extended.
15...Qxd2+! After 15...Qxd2+ 16.Kxd2 Nxe4+ 17.Ke3 Nxg3 18.hxg3 (18.Nxg3 Rad8 is possibly even worse) 18...Bxe2 19.Kxe2 Bxd4 Black is simply up two pawns. 0–1
Game 42 A.Aleksandrov (2578) – A.Kocheev (2391) Belarus Championship (Minsk) 2014
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Bd2 Nb6 63 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
The more common continuation is 5...Bg7 6.e4 Nb6
6.e4
Can Black take the offered pawn on d4?
6...Qxd4
This is not a bad move, but White does receive compensation for the pawn through a lead in development. 6...Bg7 7.Be3 0–0 is the main line.
7.Qc2
Honestly, it doesn't look like White is getting much in return for the pawn, but Black has had plenty of problems dealing with White's rapid mobilization with Rd1, Be3, and Nf3.
7...Qc5
How should White continue?
The alternatives are:
7...Nc6 8.Be3 Qd8 9.Rd1 Bd7 10.Nf3 Bg7 11.Be2 0–0 12.h4 Qc8 13.h5 Bg4 and Black should have no problems, although White does have compensation for the pawn, Mamedyarov-Safarli, Nakhchivan 2016.
7...Qd8 8.Rd1 Nc6 9.Bb5 Bd7 10.Bf4 Bg7 11.Bxc6 bxc6 12.Nf3 0–0
64 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 13.Be5 and White clearly has sufficient compensation for the pawn, Kuzubov-Vocaturo, Benasque 2016.
7...c6 8.Nf3 Qd8 (8...Qg7 9.a4 e5 10.a5 N6d7 11.Bc4 h6 12.0–0 Be7 13.Rfd1 0–0 14.Be3 when Black's original, but clumsy piece coordination provides White with adequate compensation for the pawn, Khismatullin- Salem, Sharjah 2014) 9.Rd1 N8d7 10.Bf4 Bg7 11.Nb5 (11.a4!? is also very uncomfortable for Black) 11...e5? (Now Black gets himself in very serious problems. After 11...0–0 12.Nc7 e5 13.Nxa8 exf4 14.Nxb6 axb6 Black's position is not that bad) 12.Bg5 f6 13.Nd6+ Kf8 14.Bd2! Qe7 15.Bb4 c5 16.Ba3 (Black's position is completely busted) 16...f5? 17.Be2 (Also 17.exf5 e4 18.Qxe4 Qxe4+ 19.Nxe4 gxf5 20.Nd6 looked pretty devastating for Black) 17...f4 18.h4 h6 19.h5 Qe6 20.hxg6 Qxg6 21.Nh4 (Black's position is like a bucket with too many holes) 21...Qf6 22.Ndf5 Kg8 23.Rd6 Qf7 24.Ng6, and Black resigned, 1–0, Ragger-Krasenkow, Warsaw 2013.
8.Be3 Qa5
There are no other squares for Black that works.
9.b4!!
White is winning!
9...Qxb4 10.Rb1 Qa5
10...Qd6 11.Nb5 is, of course, horrible for Black as well.
11.Rb5 Qa3 12.Bc5 And Black resigned. The queen only has the a6 square available, but then 13.Rxb6 ends the show. 1–0
Game 43 Y.Razuvaev (2495) – L.Gutman (2395) Rostov on Don 1976
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 0–0 8.Ne2 b6 9.h4 Bb7
9...Nc6 is the theoretical main line.
65 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
10.Qd3 e5
10...Qd7 11.h5 b5 12.Bxb5 Qg4 13.Ng3 c5 14.hxg6 hxg6 15.Bh6 Bxh6 16.Rxh6 Qg5 17.Qd2 Qxd2+ 18.Kxd2 leaves White a pawn up with the initiative in hand, Tolush-Simagin, Leningrad 1951.
11.h5 Qf6 12.hxg6
White has an even stronger option in 12.f4!, for instance: 12...exd4 13.e5 Qf5 14.Qxf5 gxf5 15.h6 Bh8 16.Rh5 and White is winning.
12...hxg6
Black should have played 12...Qxg6 13.Ng3?! (13.d5! looks counterintuitive, cutting off the reach of the light-square bishop on c4, but more importantly is shuts down the bishops on b7 and g7, leaving Black with very little counterplay) 13...exd4 14.cxd4 Re8 15.Be3 Nc6 16.Rh5 h6 17.Rf5 Re7 18.e5 Rd8 with a sharp position with chances to both sides, Cooper-Cooley, Chester 1979.
13.Qh3 Rc8 14.Qh7+ Kf8
How should White best continue?
15.dxe5 And Black resigned. He has no good reply to the threat of 15.dxe5 Qxe5 16.Bh6 followed by Qh8+. 1–0
66 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
Game 44 A.Mikhalchishin, (2535) – O.Romanishin (2590) Soviet Championship (Frunze) 1981
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.Nc3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 c5 8.Be3 Qa5 9.Qd2 Nc6 10.Rb1 cxd4 11.cxd4 0–0 12.d5
The normal continuation is 12.Qxa5 Nxa5 13.Bd3 Bg4 14.0–0 (or 14.Ke2 Rad8 15.d5 f5 16.Rhc1 e6 17.h3 Bxf3+ 18.gxf3 fxe4 19.fxe4 exd5 20.Rb5 dxe4 21.Bxe4 b6 22.Rc7 where White's bishop pair provides excellent compensation for the sacrificed pawn, Matlakov-Bok, Moscow 2015) 14...Rfd8 15.d5 e6 (15...Bxf3 16.gxf3 e6 17.Bg5 f6 18.Bd2 b6 19.Bxa5 bxa5 20.Bc4 looks somewhat similar to the main line, but here the black bishop on g7 is passive whereas in the other example it is active, thus White has a small but clear advantage in this position, Ragger-Sutovsky, Skopje 2015) 16.Bd2 b6 17.Bxa5 bxa5 18.Ba6 Rd6 19.Bb7 Rad8 20.h3 Bxf3 21.gxf3 Bd4 22.Kg2 Kg7 23.Rfd1 Be5 with equal chances in the endgame, Zhao Zong Yuan-Jumabayev, Danzhou 2016.
12.Bd3 usually (at least in the games I looked at) transposes to lines after 12 Qxa5 above.
12...Bc3 You are probably wondering how a strong grandmaster like Mikhalchishin can make a mistake like this, losing the queen in one move. The answer is that he played without thinking! Often in these lines, the white rook is on c1 which of course prevents the bishop from going to c3. 0–1
67 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
Game 45 H.Steingrimsson (2410) – S.Beshukov (2495) Gausdal 1994
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bg5 Ne4 6.cxd5 Nxg5 7.Nxg5 e6 8.Qa4+ Bd7 9.Qb3 Qxg5 10.Qxb7 Bxd4
10...0–0 has also been played a bunch of times.
11.Qxa8 0–0
12.Qb7?
The retreat of the queen looks like the right thing to do, but it is the beginning of White's troubles. The alternatives are: 12.e3 Qe5 (12...Bxe3!? 13.fxe3 Qxe3+ 14.Be2 Na6 15.Qb7 Nc5 16.Nd1 Nd3+ 17.Kf1 Qf4+ 18.Kg1 Qd4+ leads to a draw by repetition) 13.Rc1 exd5 14.Qb7 Nc6 15.Ne2 (or 15.Be2? Bb6 16.Qa6 d4 17.exd4?! Nxd4 18.0–0 Re8 (18...Bc6! leaves Black with a nasty initiative) 19.Rfe1 (19.Bd3 Bc6 20.Ne2! Qd5 21.Rxc6 Nxe2+ 22.Bxe2 Qxc6 gives Black an ongoing plus on account of holding the initiative while having opposite colored bishops) 19...Qg5 20.h4 Qxh4 21.Rf1 Re5 22.Rce1 Nxe2+ 23.Nxe2 Rh5 with mate in a couple of moves, 0–1, Esserman-Mikhalevski, Miami 2007) 15...Bxb2 16.f4 Qf6 17.Rc2 Ba3 18.Qxc7 Qe6 19.Rxc6 Bxc6 20.Qe5 Qxe5 21.fxe5 Rb8 and Black is much better in the endgame, Forintos- Groszpeter, Hungary 2000.
68 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 12.Rd1!? is likely White's best: 12...Bb6 (Or 12...Bxc3+ 13.bxc3 Ba4 14.h4 Qf5 15.Rc1 Nc6 16.Qb7 Rb8 17.Qa6 Rb1 18.Qxa4 Rxc1+ 19.Kd2 Rb1 20.dxc6 Qxf2 when my computer assesses this as about equal, probably spotting some perpetual check or repetition of moves somewhere in the future) 13.e3? (This is a terrible idea, instead 13.Qb7! Bc8 14.Qxb8 Ba6 15.Qxf8+ Kxf8 16.dxe6 Qf5 leaves both sides with their share of the chances) 13...Na6 14.h4 Qg4 15.dxe6 Rxa8 16.exd7 Rd8 17.Bxa6 Rxd7 is clearly better for Black, Nguyen Duc Hoa-Priasmoro, Penang 2015.
12...Qf6 13.Nd1 Bb6
Now White played 14 e3, intending to meet 14...Ba5+ with 15 Ke2. What did he miss in this calculation?
14.e3
White has also tried 14.Rc1, but 14...Qe5! refutes this move (14...Qg5? has been played in a grandmaster game, but it throws away Black's advantage: 15.e3 exd5 16.Rxc7 d4 17.Rc2 Qa5+ 18.Rd2 dxe3 19.fxe3 Bc6 20.Qe7 Re8 21.Qf6 was Fyllingen-L.B.Hansen, Stavanger 1991, and now 21...Qxa2 22.Qc3 Qb1 23.Kf2 Qe4 would have provided Black excellent compensation for the exchange; Black could alternatively consider 14...Bc8 15.Qxb8 Ba6 16.Qxf8+ Kxf8 with better chances for Black) 15.e3 exd5, threatening...Qd6 followed by...Bc6 with a large advantage for Black.
14...Ba5+ 15.Ke2 Bc8! The refutation of White's Ke2 idea. The threat of 16...Ba6+ costs White the queen. 0–1
69 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
Game 46 S.Mamedyarov (2607) – V.Belov (2549) European Championship (Istanbul) 2003
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bg5 Ne4 6.cxd5 Nxg5 7.Nxg5 c6
This is Black's sharpest option, involving a pawn sacrifice. 7...e6 is the solid alternative.
8.dxc6
What happens if Black now plays 8...Qxd4?
8...Qxd4??
The text move is a rather bizarre, probably spontaneous, decision by a strong grandmaster. The main line is 8...Nxc6 9.d5 (on 9.e3 Black answers 9...e5 10.d5 Qxg5 11.dxc6 0–0 12.h4 Qe7 13.Nd5 Qd6 14.c7 which has been played several times including Volkov-Romanishin, Sovata 2001, but White probably has the better chances) 9...Ne5 10.e3 0–0 11.Be2 e6 12.Nge4 exd5 13.Qxd5 Bf5 (or 13...Qb6 14.Qb3 Qa5 15.0–0 Be6 16.Qxb7 Rab8 17.Qe7 Rxb2 and Black is doing fine, Chatalbashev-Sarno, Saint Vincent 2000) 14.Rd1 Qh4 (Black should probably have tried 14...Qxd5 15.Rxd5 Rad8 16.Rd2 Rxd2 17.Kxd2 b5! with excellent play for the pawn) 15.0–0 Rad8 16.Qxb7 Rb8 17.Qxa7 Rxb2 18.Ng3 Ng4?! (18...Be6!?) 19.Bxg4 Bxg4 20.Rd4! and White has consolidated his advantage, Piket-I.Sokolov, Rotterdam 1997. 70 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
9.Qb3!
The double threat against f7 and b7 decides the game.
9...0–0 10.cxb7 Bxb7 11.Qxb7 Rd8 12.Nge4! With White having avoided the last trick (12.Rd1?? Qxc3+! 13.bxc3 Bxc3+ 14.Rd2 Bxd2+ 15.Kd1 Bxg5+ 16.Kc2 Nd7 17.e3 Rac8+ and Black wins the queen back with interest), Black decided enough was enough and duly resigned. 1–0
Game 47 N.Dobrev (2426) – D.Lalev (2412) Bulgarian Team Championship (Sunny Beach) 2005
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 d5 5.Bg5 dxc4 6.e3 Be6 7.Ne5 Nd5
What happens if White plays 8.Bxc4?
8.Bxc4??
Black's 7th move is a bit tricky because 8.Bxc4 seems like such an obvious move, yet it loses almost immediately. As we will see below, it has claimed several other victims, all rated 2340 or above! Therefore, White has to play 8.Nxc4 c5 (8...0–0 9.Rc1 Na6 10.e4 Nxc3 11.bxc3 f5 12.exf5 Rxf5 13.h4 Qf8 14.Qd2 Qf7 15.Ne3 Ra5 with a pleasant game for Black, Adly-Salem, Dubai 2011) 9.Ne4 cxd4 10.Ncd6+ Kf8 11.Nxb7 Qb6 71 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 12.Nbc5 h6 13.Bh4 Nd7 14.exd4 Nxc5 15.Nxc5 Qb4+!? (15...Nf4! is possibly even stronger) 16.Qd2 Bf5 and Black has taken charge of the game, Rajkovic-Drazic, Kragujevac 2009.
8...Nxc3 9.bxc3 Bxc4 10.Nxc4 Qd5
Oops! The double threat against White's knight on c4 and the bishop on g5 wins a piece.
11.Ne5
In other games, White has tried:
11.Qg4 (intending 11...Qxc4 12.Qc8#) 11...f6! and White resigned, 0– 1, Schirm-Luecke, Germany 1993. 11.Qb3 b5 12.Na3 Qxg5 13.Nxb5 Na6 14.Qa4 c6 15.Nd6+ exd6 16.Qxc6+ Ke7 17.Qb7+ Ke6 18.Qxa6 Qxg2 and Black soon won, Kluger-Liebert, Rimavska Sobota 1977.
11.Qf3 Qxc4 12.Qxb7 Nc6 13.Qxa8+ Kd7 14.Qb7 Rb8 and White's queen is trapped, Safin-Serebro, Simferopol 1989.
11...Bxe5 12.dxe5 Qxg2 13.Qa4+ Nc6 And with both rook on h1 and bishop on g5 hanging, there is little point in continuing: White resigned. 0–1
Game 48 P.Petran (2379) – F.Portisch (2385) Budapest 1999
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 d5 4.e3 g6 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.Qb3 0– 0 8.Be2
Or 8.Nxd5 cxd5 9.Bd2 Nc6 10.Bc3 Rb8 11.Qa4 Bg4 12.Be2 Qd6 13.h3 Bxf3 14.Bxf3 e6, and a premature draw was agreed upon, ½–½, Tratar- Solak, Nova Gorica 2011.
8...Qb6
72 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
Black makes the calculation: 9.Nxd5 Qxb3 10.axb3 cxd5 and 9.Qxb6 axb6 10.Nxd5 cxd5, both should be about equal. But what did he miss?
In an old game in this line, Black instead played 8...Nxc3 9.bxc3 c5 10.0–0 Nc6 11.Rd1 Na5 12.Qb5 cxd4 13.cxd4 Bd7 14.Qb4 b6 15.Ba3 Nc6 16.Qd2 and White has the upper hand, Dubinin-Belavenets, Kiev 1938.
9.Nxd5 Qxb3 10.Nxe7+!
The intermediary check! Black missed that. The only now is that the knight has no way of returning home.
10...Kh8 11.axb3 Be6
Black's last hope, but sadly there are many ways for White to end up with a winning advantage:
12.Bc4 Black resigned. No point in continuing: 12.Bc4 Bxc4 13.bxc4 Re8 14.Nxc6 Nxc6 15.0–0 simply leaves White two pawns up. Two other moves are also plenty convincing 12.e4 Re8 13.d5 or 12.Ng5 Bf6 13.Nxe6 fxe6 14.Nxg6+ hxg6 15.h4 and White is of course completely winning. 1–0
Game 49 G.Bogdanovich (2375) – M.Sher (2500) Copenhagen 1996
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 g6 4.c4 Bg7 5.Nc3 0–0 6.Qb3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 73 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 Nc6 8.Ne5!? Nxe5 9.dxe5 Nd7
Or 9...Ng4 10.f4 c6 11.a4 Rb8 12.h3 Nh6 13.0–0 Bd7 14.Rd1 Qc8 15.Kh2 Kh8 16.e4 is very uncomfortable for Black, Gulko-Wolff, New York 1988.
10.Bxf7+
White can also try 10.e6 fxe6 (10...Nc5 11.exf7+ Kh8 is fine for Black) 11.0–0 (11.Bxe6+ Kh8 12.Ne4 Ne5 13.Bxc8 Nd3+ 14.Ke2 Qxc8 15.Qxd3 is of course much better for White, Mikenas-Gusev, Gorky 1954, but 13...Qxc8 is fine for Black) 11...Nc5 12.Qc2 Qd6 13.Rd1 Qe5 14.f4 Qf6 15.e4 b6 16.e5 with a clear advantage for White, Vescovi-Oliveira, Guarulhos 2006.
10...Kh8 11.e6
As tempting as the text move is, it is not the best. White should have played 11.Bc4 Nxe5 12.0–0 Nxc4 13.Qxc4 c6 14.Rd1 Qa5 15.Bd2 Qf5 16.Qe2 Be6 with equal chances, E.Paehtz-Khotenashvili, Bilbao 2014.
11...Nc5 12.Qc4
How should Black best continue?
12...b6!
Black can also play 12...Bxe6, but the text move is certainly better: 13.Qxc5 Bxf7 14.0–0 Qd6 15.Qxd6 cxd6 16.Bd2 Rfc8 17.Rfc1 Rc6 with a
74 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 pleasant position for Black because of his bishop pair, Fenollar Jorda- Cruz, Ibiza 2013.
13.Ke2??
This move seems so spectacularly stupid. I can't even pretend to explain which thoughts went through White's head when making the decision to play this move. The better move, 13.0–0, is of course also pretty bad for White. After the text move, however, he is completely lost.
13...Ba6 14.Nb5 c6 15.a4 Nxa4! 0–1
Game 50 A.Galliamova (2515) – S.Dvoirys (2591) Russian Championship (Samara) 2000
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 0–0 7.Bf4 Bf5
The main alternatives are 7...c6 and 7...Na6.
8.Qxc7 Nc6 9.Qxb7
The alternatives are:
9.Qxd8 Rfxd8 10.e3 Nb4 11.Kd2 (or 11.Rc1 Nfd5 12.Bg3 Rac8 and I doubt White will be able to hang on to his extra pawn) 11...Ng4 12.Bc7?! Nxf2 13.Bxd8 Rxd8 14.Rg1?! Bh6 15.Ne5 Ng4 16.Nxg4 Rxd4+ 17.Ke1 Nc2+ 18.Kf2 Rxg4, and White resigned a bit prematurely, 0–1, in Gomez- Salem, Ho Chi Minh City 2012; one possible continuation is 19.Nd5 Re4 20.Bd3 Nxa1 21.Rxa1 Re5 with a large advantage for Black.
9.e3 Qxc7 (9...Nb4!? 10.Rd1 Nfd5 11.Qxd8 Rfxd8 12.Nxd5 Nxd5 13.Be5 Rac8 14.Bxg7 Kxg7 15.Be2 Rc2 16.Rd2 Rc1+ 17.Bd1 Ra1 18.0–0, and draw agreed, ½–½, Likavsky-Popovic, Germany 2007) 10.Bxc7 Nb4 11.Rc1 Rfc8 12.Be5 Ne4 13.Bxg7 Kxg7 14.a3 Nd5 15.Bd3 Nexc3 16.Bxf5 gxf5 17.bxc3 Rxc3 18.Rxc3 Nxc3 and Black has no problems in the endgame, Gretarsson-Darini, Istanbul 2012.
9...Nxd4 10.0–0–0?
75 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
White's text move looks flashy and clever, but, in fact, it is a huge mistake. How can Black take advantage of White's carelessness?
White instead should have played: 10.Nxd4 Qxd4 11.e3 Qc5 12.Qb5 which is assessed as slightly better for White by Ftacnik in ChessBase Magazine, but when tested in a high-level e-mail game, Black didn't have too any problems: 12...Ne4 (12...Rfc8!? 13.Rd1 Ne4 is perfectly acceptable for Black) 13.Qxc5 Nxc5 14.Nd5 e6 15.Ne7+ Kh8 16.Nxf5 exf5 (16...Bxb2 17.Rb1 Bc3+ 18.Ke2 exf5 19.g4!? Ne6 is about equal) 17.Bc4 Rac8 18.Bd6 Bxb2 19.Bxf8 Bxa1 20.Bxc5 and draw agreed, ½–½, Schrancz-Hart, email 2000.
10...Ne4!!
10...Ng4 doesn't do much for Black: 11.Nxd4 Bxd4 12.e3 Qb6 13.Qxb6 Bxb6 14.Rd2 Rfd8 with compensation for the pawn, but not more than that.
11.Nxe4
The alternative is not much better: 11.Nxd4 Bxd4, and now:
12.Nxe4 Rc8+ (or 12...Bxe4 13.Qxe4 Bxb2+ 14.Kxb2 Qxd1 15.Qb4 Rfd8 16.e4 Rac8 when preventing mate will cost White serious material losses) 13.Kb1
76 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
How should Black best continue?
(13.Nc3 Qa5 14.e4 Bxc3 15.Kb1 e5 16.exf5 Rb8 wins for Black) 13...Be3!! - taking advantage of White's back row - 14.Qb3 Bxe4+ 15.Ka1 Bxf4 and Black is a piece up.
12.e3 Nxc3 13.Rxd4 (or 13.bxc3 Qa5 14.Rxd4 Qxc3+ 15.Kd1 Rad8 16.Qxa7 Qc2+ 17.Ke1 Ra8 and it is game over for White) 13...Qa5 14.Qa6 Nxa2+ 15.Kd1 Bc2+ 16.Kxc2 Rac8+ 17.Qc4 e5!, picking up some extra material & hammering an extra nail in White's coffin, who now decided to resign, 0–1, Miljkovic-Popovic, Vrnjacka Banja 2005.
11...Bxe4 12.Qxe4
If you didn't see 10...Ne4, it could possibly be because you had missed
77 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 what Black's strongest move in this position is; can you see it now?
12...Nb3+! 13.axb3
Or 13.Kc2 Rc8+ 14.Kxb3 Qxd1+ 15.Ka3 Rc5, and preventing mate will cost White a lot of material, e.g. 16.Qb4 Bxb2+ 17.Kxb2 Rc2+ 18.Ka3 Qd5 19.Qb3 Qa5+ 20.Qa4 Rxa2+ and White will soon get mated anyway.
13...Rc8+ 14.Qc4
14.Kb1 Qxd1+ 15.Ka2 Rc5 is also soon over: 16.Bd2 Rfc8 17.e3 Rc1 18.Bxc1 Rxc1 19.Qa8+ Bf8 20.Ka3 Ra1+ 21.Kb4 Qd6+ 22.Kb5 a6+
14...Qb6 15.Nd2
15.Qxc8 Rxc8+ 16.Kb1 Qxb3 17.Rd2 Bxb2 18.Rxb2 Qd1+ 19.Ka2 Qa4+ and Black is completely winning.
15...Qf6 Unable to stop the devastating 16...Qxb2+, White resigned. 0–1
Game 51 U.Von Herman (2357) – M.Stangl (2479) German Bundesliga 2001
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 0–0 7.Bf4 Na6 8.e4 c5 9.d5 e6 10.0–0–0?!
This move looks aggressive and attractive, but, in fact, it is just a poor move that hands the initiative to Black. The main lines are:
10.Be2 exd5 11.exd5 Nb4 12.0–0 Nfxd5 13.Rad1 Be6 14.a3 Nxc3 15.Rxd8 Bxc4 16.Rxf8+ Bxf8 17.Bxc4 Nbd5 18.Be5 Nb6 19.Bxf7+ Kxf7 20.Bxc3 Be7 with chances to both sides, Khotenashvili-Lagno, Huai'an 2016.
10.d6 Nh5 (or 10...e5 11.Bxe5 Nb4 12.Rd1 Be6 13.Qxc5 Nc2+ 14.Kd2 Nd7 15.Qc7 Nxe5 16.Qxd8 Raxd8 17.Kxc2 Ng4 18.Rd2 Bh6 19.Re2 Rxd6 20.h3 Nf6 21.g4 Nd7 22.e5 Rb6 and Black has compensation for the pawn, but not more than that, Piket-Kasparov, Wijk aan Zee 2000) 11.e5
78 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 Nxf4 12.Qxf4 f6 13.Qd2 fxe5 14.Bb5 Bd7 15.Bxd7 Qxd7 16.0–0 Nb4 17.Rad1 Nc6 and with the knight on the way to d4, Black is doing rather well, Biolek-Petr, Havlickuv Brod 2015.
10...exd5 11.exd5 Re8 12.h3
White has also tried 12.a3 which deters Black from playing...Nb4, but otherwise looks wrong: 12...Bd7 13.Bd3 Rc8 14.Kb1 Nc7 (Black is getting ready to play...b7–b5) 15.d6 Ne6 16.Be5 Nd4 17.Nxd4 Rxe5 18.Nf3 b5 19.Nxb5 was played in Goh Koong Jong-Li Chao, Singapore 2006, and now 19...Rd5! would have left Black with a large advantage.
12...Bd7 13.Be2
How should Black continue?
White should have given preference to 13.Be5!?, although 13...b5! 14.Nxb5 Bxb5 15.Qxb5 Nb4 is not easy for White to deal with, for instance 16.Qc4 Rxe5! gives Black a nasty initiative: 17.Nxe5 Nfxd5 18.a3 Bh6+ 19.f4 Na2+!! 20.Kb1 Ndc3+ 21.bxc3 Nxc3+ 22.Qxc3 Qxd1+ 23.Ka2 Rd8 24.Nd3 Bg7 and Black is doing well.
13...b5 14.Qb3 c4 15.Qa3 Qb6 And White resigned. After 15...Qb6 White really doesn't have any good moves, e.g. 16.Qd6 (or 16.Be3 Rxe3!) 16...b4 17.Qxb6 axb6 and White loses a piece. Black could also play 15...b4!, for instance, 16.Qxa6 bxc3 17.Bxc4 cxb2+ 18.Kb1 Bf5+ 19.Bd3 Ne4 And White is finished. 0–1
79 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 Game 52 V.Chuchelov (2595) – V.Mikhalevski (2610) Belgian Team Championship 2010
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Qb3 dxc4 5.Qxc4 Bg7 6.e4 0–0 7.Be2 Nc6 8.Nf3 Bg4 9.d5 Na5 10.Qb4 c6
Why is this move a mistake?
A couple of alternatives are:
10...c5 11.Qxc5 Rc8 12.Qb4 Rxc3 13.Qxc3 Nxe4 14.Qe3 Qxd5 15.h3 Bc8 16.0–0 Nc6 17.Rd1 Qe6 18.a3 Nd6 19.Rb1 Nf5 20.Qd3 Qa2 with some, but not full compensation for the exchange, Macieja-Safarli, Nakhchivan 2013.
10...Bxf3 11.Bxf3 c6 12.0–0 Qb6 13.Qa4 Nd7 14.Rd1 Rfd8 15.g3 h5 16.Bg2 Ne5 17.Rb1 Ng4 18.Qc2 Bd4 19.Rd2 Rac8 and Black has equalized, Donchenko-Erdos, Biel 2014
11.e5
Simple and effective, the guard of the bishop on g4 is threatened and there is no way for Black to get rid of the bishop on g4 without losing material. The game Nyback-Sammalvuo, Finland 2009 ended here.
11...c5 12.Qf4
White doesn't let himself get distracted.
80 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
12...g5
12...Nxd5 13.Qxg4 Nxc3 14.bxc3 Nc6 15.Qe4 and Black might as well have resigned at this point, but he struggles on a bit longer: 15...Qa5 16.0–0 Rfd8 17.Rb1 Qc7 18.e6 f5 19.Qh4 Bxc3 20.Ng5 h5 21.Bxh5 gxh5 22.Qxh5 Bg7 23.Qf7+ Kh8 24.Rb3, and with a mate on the immediate horizon, Black finally decided to resign, 1–0, Kaufman-Troff, Arlington 2011.
12...Bxf3 13.exf6 Bxg2 14.fxg7 Re8 15.Rg1 Bxd5 was Antoshin- Nezhmetdinov, Sochi 1965, and now 16.Be3 was the best move.
13.Qxg5
This is where Edouard-Cernousek, 4NCL team tournament 2011, ended.
13...Bxf3 14.exf6 exf6
Did White mess himself up in a winning position or is he still winning?
15.Qg3! Still winning! The decisive threat is 16.Bh6. Therefore, Black resigned at this point. 1–0
81 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
Chapter 3
The Queen’s Indian Defense
In the beginning of the 20th century, Aron Nimzowitsch developed a number of revolutionary opening ideas. The Queen’s Indian Defense is one of the major ones. It is a solid opening that initially allows White to grab a space advantage but Black normally has fully adequate chances and thus the opening has featured in the repertoires of countless World Champions and Grandmasters since its introduction.
Game 53 L.Christiansen (2620) – A.Karpov (2725) Wijk aan Zee 1993
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.a3 Ba6 5.Qc2 Bb7 6.Nc3 c5 7.e4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Nc6 9.Nxc6 Bxc6 10.Bf4 Nh5 11.Be3 Bd6
82 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
What did the former World Champion miss?
The main lines are 11...Qb8 and 11...Bc5.
12.Qd1 Black has no way to guard both the bishop and knight. 1–0
Game 54 A.B.Abdulla (2477) – R.Shetty (2350) New Delhi 2006
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.a3 Bb7 5.Nc3 d5 6.Qa4+ c6 7.cxd5 exd5 8.Bg5 Be7 9.e3 0–0 10.Bd3 This line is main stream theory which while looking perfectly fine for Black has scored healthily in White's favor.
10...Nbd7
Black's alternatives are 10...Ne4, 10...c5, and 10...h6.
11.Ne5
83 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
Now Black made the calculation: 11...Nxe5 12.dxe5 Nd7 and since 13.Bxe7 Qxe7 is in Black's favor, White will have to play 13.Bf4 to keep the e-pawn protected, but then 13...Re8 intending 14...Bf8 looks pleasant for Black. What did he miss in this calculation?
This move is not so common but has been seen in grandmaster games. The more popular choices for White are 11.Rd1 (which has been played by Kramnik) and 11.0–0 which is the main line.
11...Nxe5
11...Qc7 12.Nxd7 Qxd7 13.0–0 h6 14.Bh4 Rfd8 15.Rfc1 c5 16.Qxd7 Rxd7 17.dxc5 bxc5 18.Ne2 g5 19.Bg3 Ne4 and Black has equalized, Jobava-Beliavsky, Khanty-Mansiysk 2005.
12.dxe5 Nd7??
This is the real error. Black should have played 12...Ne4 13.Nxe4 (13.Bxe7 Qxe7 14.Nxe4 dxe4 15.Qxe4 g6 16.0–0 c5 17.Qf4 and White is a pawn up for the time being) 13...Bxg5 14.Nd6 Qc7 15.Rd1 Be7 16.Nxb7 Qxb7 17.0–0 Rad8 18.f4 leaves White with some tiny measure of the initiative, Disconzi da Silva-Molina, Rio de Janeiro 2004.
13.Qh4 And Black resigned. There's no good way to guard against both mate and the threat to the bishop. 1–0
Game 55 84 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 V.Malaniuk (2504) – A.Bove (2369) Milan 2011
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 b6 4.Nc3 Bb7 5.a3 d5 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Bf4 c6 8.e3 Be7 9.Ne5
White has also tried 9.Be2 Nbd7 10.h3 0–0 11.0–0 Re8 12.Ne5 Nxe5 13.Bxe5 Nd7 14.Bh2 Bf6 15.Rc1 Nf8 16.b4 Rc8 17.Qb3 with a somewhat better game for White, Santos Santos-Aguera Naredo, Burgos 2003.
9...0–0 10.Bd3 g6 11.h4! Nh5 12.Bh6 Ng7 13.h5 Bd6?
How should White continue?
Black's last move is a big mistake, but he is in major trouble already. Even against the better move, 13...Bf6, he will get destroyed: 14.Qg4 Bc8 15.Qg3 Bxe5 16.dxe5 Qe8 17.Qh2 and Black has no good answer to 18.Bxg7 followed by 19.hxg6 and 20.Qxh7.
14.hxg6 fxg6 15.Bxg7 And Black resigned at the same time. After 15.Bxg7 Kxg7, White plays 16.Rxh7+ with a mate in a few moves. 1–0
Game 56 A.Korotylev (2435) – S.Kiselev (2545) Moscow 1996
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.a3 c5 5.d5 Ba6 6.Qc2 exd5 7.cxd5 g6 85 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 8.Nc3 Bg7 9.g3 0–0 10.Bg2 d6 11.0–0 Ng4
The more commonly seen main lines are 11...Re8, 11...Nbd7, and 11...b5.
12.Re1
Now Black played 12..Nd7 to be able to play...Nge5 and recapture with the knight on d7; what had he missed?
12.Bg5 Qc7 13.Rfe1 Ne5 14.Nxe5 Bxe5 15.Ne4 f5 16.Nd2 Qg7 17.Rab1 Nd7 18.Qa4 Bb7 19.Nc4 with a clear positional advantage for White, A.Petrosian-Tompa, Bagneux 1982.
12...Nd7 13.Qa4 Loose pieces.... 1–0
Game 57 B.Jobava (2651) – V.Kramnik (2743) Dortmund 2006
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.Nc3 Bb7 5.a3 d5 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.Bd2 Nf6 8.Qc2 c5 9.dxc5 Bxc5 10.b4
White has also played 10.Rd1 Qc8 11.Bg5 Nbd7 12.e3 0–0 13.Be2 a6 14.0–0 Be7 15.Rd2 h6 16.Bh4 Nc5 with chances to both sides, Dobrev- Rusev, Sofia 2008.
86 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 10...Be7 11.e4
11.e3 is completely harmless: 11...0–0 12.Bd3 Nc6 13.Ke2?! Rc8 14.Rhd1 Qc7 15.Rac1 Qb8 with a good position for Black, Larrua Gonzalez-Garcia Pantoja, Havana 2009.
11...Nc6 12.Bf4
Or 12.Bd3 Qb8 13.0–0 Ng4 14.Rfe1 Bd6 15.g3 0–0 16.Rac1 Rc8, and Black has equalized, Sieciechowicz-Staniszewski, Polanica Zdroj 2009.
12...0–0 13.Rd1 Qc8 14.e5
The knight on f6 is threatened. What is Black's best move?
White should have tried something different, for instance, 14.Bd3 Nh5 15.Be3 Bf6 16.Ne2 Ne5 although Black hardly has any problems in this line.
14...Nxb4!!
Instead of moving the other knight, Black creates a counterthreat of his own.
15.axb4 Ne4 This may seem like an early resignation, but obviously, Jobava didn't need proof that Kramnik had calculated this to the end. One sample line is 15...Ne4 16.Rd3 Bxb4 17.Bd2 Qc5! 18.Re3 (or 18.Qb3 Nxd2 19.Nxd2 Rac8 is even worse) 18...Rfd8 19.Bd3 Nxc3 20.Bxh7+ Kf8 21.Bxc3 Rac8 and Black is clearly better.
87 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 0–1
Game 58 P.Van der Sterren (2445) – I.Farago (2495) Albena 1983
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.a3 Ba6 5.Qc2 Bb7 6.Nc3 c5 7.e4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 d6 9.Be2 Be7 10.0–0 0–0 11.Rd1 Nbd7 12.Ndb5
White utilizes the fact that Black has yet to play the typical...a7–a6. 12.Be3, however, is the normal move.
12...Qb8 13.Bf4
White continues to target Black's soft pawn on d6. How should Black best meet the threat?
If White continues in a more normal fashion, such as 13.a4 a6 14.Nd4 Rc8 15.b3 then Black has 15...d5! with equal chances.
13...e5! This is the problem for White, the bishop gets chased away, while the pawn also takes away the retreat-square from the knight on b5, so 13...e5 14.Bg5 a6 15.Bg4 Rd8 and White loses a piece. 0–1
Game 59 A.Zubov (2473) – S.Zavgorodniy (2453)
88 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 Nikolaev 2001
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 b6 5.Bg5 Bb7 6.e3 d6??
A common type of mistake, even Capablanca once made a mistake like this. On my database, there are more than forty(!!) examples of this particular mistake being played, but amazingly only in half(!!) of them, White played the correct move.
7.Qa4+
The grandmaster behind the white pieces in another game played 7.a3?? Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 c5 9.Bd3 Nbd7 10.Qc2 h6 11.Bh4 g5 12.Bg3 Qe7 and draw agreed, ½–½, Marin-Ionescu, Calimanesti 1992. Maybe this was a prearranged draw.
7...Nc6 8.d5
Black loses a piece but he tries to shake it up a bit, maybe hoping to shake White up. However, he is not easily rattled...
8...exd5 9.cxd5 Nxd5 10.Bxd8 Nxc3 11.bxc3 Bxc3+ 12.Nd2 Bxa1 13.Ba6 Game over. 1–0
Game 60 S.Sethuraman (2538) – J.Krejci (2529) Moscow 2013 89 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 b6 5.Bg5 Bb7 6.Nd2 h6 7.Bh4 d6
Naturally, Black's text move hasn't been played too many times. Black is not lacking alternatives: 7...c5, 7...Bxc3 (if Black wants to play a...d7–d6 set-up, this is possibly the way to go, first exchange on c3 and the...d7– d6), 7...0–0, and 7...Nc6.
8.Qa4+
We have seen this check several times now.
8...Nc6 9.d5 Bxc3 10.bxc3 The pin hurts just as much after the exchange on c3. 1–0
Game 61 W.Uhlmann – B.Andersen Tel Aviv Olympiad 1964
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Qc2 Bb7 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 d6??
90 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
The main line that has been played hundreds of times is 7...g5 8.Bg3 Ne4 with sharp play and chances to both sides. Note that 7...d5 8.Qa4+ Nc6 9.Ne5 is not a problem for Black because of 9...Qd6
8.Qa4+
Rather surprisingly, only in three out of thirteen games did White play 8.Qa4+ at this point!
8...Nc6 9.d5 And here the Danish International Master resigned. In a grandmaster encounter, Black was too embarrassed to resign this early and fought on for a while longer 9.d5 exd5 10.cxd5 Nxd5 11.Bxd8 Nxc3 12.bxc3 Bxc3+ 13.Nd2 Bxa1 14.Bh4 0–0 15.e3 (There is honestly no reason for Black to continue this game other than pride) 15...Ne5 16.f3 Bc3 17.Be2 b5 18.Qc2 b4 19.0–0 Ng6 20.Bf2 d5 21.Nb3 a5 22.Nc5 Bc6 23.Be1 d4 24.exd4 Bxd4+ 25.Bf2 Bc3 26.Na4 Bxa4 27.Qxa4 Rfd8 28.Rd1 and Black finally gave up, 1–0, Markos-Podolchenko, Ohrid 2009. 1–0
Game 62 P.Murdzia (2477) – R.Swinkels (2478) German Bundesliga 2011
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 Bb7 6.Nd2 h6 7.Bh4 Nc6 8.e3 d6
The main line is 8...Bxc3.
91 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 Also 8...Ne7 9.f3 Nf5 10.Bf2 c5 11.dxc5 Bxc5 12.e4 Ne3 13.Qb3 0–0 with a pleasant position for Black in Feller-Carlsen, Cap d'Agde 2008.
9.Qc2 e5 10.d5 Nb8??
A mistake like the one in the previous game.
Black should have played 10...Bxc3 11.Qxc3 Nb8 12.Bd3 c6 13.dxc6 Bxc6 14.0–0 with no more than a slight advantage for White.
11.Qa4+ Nbd7 12.Bxf6 Qxf6 13.Qxb4 Qg6 14.Qa4 And Black is just a piece down without any compensation. 1–0
Game 63 T.Abergel (2512) – V.Colin (2425) Aix Les Bains 2007
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.e3 c5 4.Bd3 b6 5.0–0 Bb7 6.c4 Be7 7.Nc3 cxd4 8.exd4 d5 9.cxd5 Nxd5 10.Ne5 0–0 11.Qh5
The alternatives tend to lead to more or less the same position as our main game move; they are 11.Qg4 Nf6 12.Qh4 and 11.Qf3.
11...Nf6 12.Qh4
Or 12.Qh3 Qxd4 13.Re1 Bc5 14.Re2 Nc6 15.Nb5 Qxe5 16.Rxe5 Nxe5 and with a rook, a knight, and a pawn for the queen, Black should have 92 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 enough and the chances are about even, Gelashvili-Kleiman, New York 2011.
12...Nc6
If Black is okay with a draw then 12...Ne4 is an option, e.g. 13.Qh5 (or 13.Qh3 Qxd4 14.Bf4 Nf6 and draw agreed, ½–½, in Lputian-Shirov, Fuegen 2006) 13...Nf6 repeating the moves.
13.Bg5 g6??
Black seems to cover his bases thoroughly. How should White now best proceed?
Black has to be super careful at this point. The alternatives for Black are:
13...h6?? 14.Bxf6 Bxf6 15.Qe4 g6 16.Nxc6 Qc7 17.d5 Rfe8 18.Nb5 and White is winning, Bernal Moro-Navara, Pardubice 2004.
13...Nxe5 14.Bxf6 Nxd3 15.Bxe7 Qc7 16.Bxf8 Rxf8 17.Nd1 Rd8 18.Ne3 and White is up an exchange for some compensation, Sambuev-Cordova, Havana 2014.
14.Ba6! White is winning. Capturing the bishop is of course out of the question: 14...Bxa6 15.Nxc6 followed by Nxe7+ and Bxf6. Therefore, Black resigned. In some other games, Black continued tolerated the embarrassment and fought for a bit longer: 14.Ba6 h6 (or 14...Nxe5 15.dxe5 1–0, Ree- 93 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 Piket, Breda 2001) 15.Bxh6 Nd5 (or 15...Nxe5 16.Bxb7 Nfg4 17.Qh3 Qxd4 18.Bxa8 Rxa8 19.Rad1 and White is winning, Halkias-J.Polgar, Warsaw 2010) 16.Qh3 Nxc3 17.bxc3 Bxa6 18.Nxc6 Qd6 19.Nxe7+ Qxe7 20.Bxf8 Rxf8 21.Rfe1 Bc4 22.Qh6 and Black resigned, 1–0, Yusupov-D.Gurevich, Minneapolis 2005. Many other strong players, including grandmasters and international masters, have fallen victim to this trick, so it is worth remembering. 1–0
Game 64 W.Browne – B.Nickoloff (2390) Boston 1988
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Nbd2 b6 5.a3 Bxd2+ 6.Qxd2 Bb7 7.e3 0–0 8.Be2 Ne4 9.Qd3 f5 10.0–0 Rf6
The alternatives are:
10...a5 11.Nd2 d6 12.f3 Nf6 13.Nb1 Nbd7 14.Nc3 Qe7 15.b3 e5 with more or less equal chances, Kozul-Cebalo, Bled 1995.
10...Nc6 11.Nd2 Qh4 12.f3 Nf6 13.b4 Rae8 14.Bb2 d6 (14...a6!?) 15.b5 Nd8? was Grivas-Pavlovic, Ano Liosia 1995, and now 16.c5! would promise White a clear advantage.
11.b4
11.d5 Rh6 (or 11...d6 12.Qc2) 12.b4 d6 13.Bb2 Nd7 14.g3 c5 15.Nh4 Rc8? (Black should have played 15...g5! 16.Nf3 Qe7 17.Rad1 with a sharp position where both sides have chances) 16.f3 Nxg3 17.hxg3 Qg5 18.Kg2 Rxh4 19.dxe6 with a clearly better chances for White, Saric-Tsolakidou, Skopje 2016.
11...d6 12.d5 Qe7?
94 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
How should White best continue?
Black should have played 12...Nd7.
13.Bb2
White could also play the immediate 13.Nd4!? exd5 14.cxd5 Ba6 15.Qc2 Bxe2 16.Nxe2 with a large advantage for White.
13...Rf8 14.Nd4 And Black resigned, which sounds crazy but after 14.Nd4 exd5 15.cxd5 Ba6 16.Qc2 Bxe2 17.Qxe2 Nf6 18.Qc4 and Black has a positional toilet of a position. 1–0
Game 65 W.Browne (2525) – M.Ashley (2355) Philadelphia 1991
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Nbd2 Bb7 6.Bg2 c5 7.e4
This variation is full of traps and tricks which can be difficult to navigate. It is being examined closer in chapter 3 of my book Miniatures in the Queen's Indian: 4 g3.
7...Nxe4? 8.Ne5 Nc3
95 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
Black threatens the queen and the bishop on g2. What did Black miss?
8...d5 is discussed in our next main game. Obviously 8...Nd6 9.Bxb7 Nxb7 10.Qf3 isn't of much hope for Black either.
9.Qh5 g6 10.Qh3 This is the move Black missed. Both the bishop on b7 and the knight on c3 are hanging. He will lose a piece and resigned on the spot. 1–0
Game 66 R.Skytte (2416) – N.Nikcevic (2429) Budapest 2014
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Nbd2 c5 6.Bg2 Bb7 7.e4 Nxe4 8.Ne5 d5
96 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
How should White best punish Black for his pawn picking?
8...Nc3 was covered in our previous main game. The text move is better, but the troubles are not smaller.
9.cxd5! exd5
9...Nxd2 10.Qa4+ Nd7 11.Bxd2 Bxd5 12.Bxd5 exd5 13.0–0 f6 14.Rfe1 fxe5 15.Rxe5+ Be7 was played in Goldin-Smirin, Moscow 1989, and now White could win with 16.Rae1 0–0 17.Rxe7 Nf6 18.Bg5.
10.Qa4+! Ke7
Or 10...Nd7 11.Nxe4 dxe4 12.Bh3 (the reason why White played the exchange on d5 before giving the check on a4) 12...b5 13.Qxb5 Bc8 14.Qc6 Rb8 15.Nxf7 and Black faces heavy material losses.
11.Nxe4 dxe4 12.dxc5 Qd5
Or 12...Qe8 13.c6 (13.Qd4 may be even stronger) 13...Nxc6 14.Qxe4 Nxe5 15.Qxb7+ Kf6 16.0–0 Rb8 17.Qe4 g6 18.Re1 Bd6 19.Qh4+ and Black resigned, 1–0, Chernin-Podolchenko, Ohrid 2009. This game is covered in more detail in my book Miniatures in the Queen's Indian: 4 g3.
13.Bf4 f5
Everything loses, e.g. 13...Nd7 14.Rd1 (or 14.c6 Nxe5 15.cxb7 Nd3+ 16.Kf1 Qxb7 17.Bxe4 and White will end up with an extra piece) 14...Nxc5 15.Rxd5 Nxa4 16.Rd7+ and Black resigned, 1–0, Disconzi da Silva- 97 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 Giardelli, Curitiba 2009.
14.Bg5+ And with a mate in two looming, Black resigned. 1–0
Game 67 U.Von Herman (2407) -R.Huebner (2599) German Championship (Altenkirchen) 1999
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Nbd2 c5 6.e4 cxd4 7.Bg2 Nc6 8.e5 Ng4 9.0–0 Rb8 10.Re1 Bc5
What is the point behind this move?
Another move for Black is 10...Qc7 11.Ne4 Ngxe5 12.Nxe5 Nxe5 13.Bf4 f6?! (Now White grabs the initiative; Black should have played 13...d3! 14.Rc1 Be7 15.Qh5 d6 16.c5! bxc5 17.Nxc5 d2! 18.Bxd2 dxc5 19.Bf4 0–0 20.Bxe5 Bd6 with equal chances) 14.Qh5+ Kd8 15.Ng5! Bd6 16.Rxe5!? (16.Bxe5 fxe5 17.Nf7+ Ke7 18.Nxd6 Qxd6 19.Rxe5 is actually the better option) 16...Bxe5?? (Black should have played 16...fxe5! and after 17.Nf7+ Kc8 18.Nxd6+ Qxd6 19.Bxe5 Qc5 20.b4 Qxb4 21.Bxb8 Kxb8 22.Qe5+ Kc8, Black is actually doing fine) 17.Nf7+ Ke7 18.Nxe5 fxe5 19.Bxe5 d6 20.Bxg7 Qc5 21.Qh4+ Kd7 22.Bxd4 Qxc4 23.b3 Qc2 24.Bxh8, and Black resigned, 1–0, Czerwonski-Lubczynski, Guben 2008.
11.h3 Ne3! And White resigned, which is of course wildly premature. Nevertheless, the frustration is understandable, having missed such a move.
98 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 After 11...Ne3 12.fxe3 dxe3 13.Kh2 exd2 14.Nxd2 Be7 15.Ne4 0–0 Black is up a pawn without any discernible compensation for White. 0–1
Game 68 P.Petran (2440) – A.Adorjan (2525) Szirak 1985
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 d5 6.Bg2 dxc4 7.Ne5 Bb4+ 8.Bd2 cxb3 9.Nc6
We are clearly at a crossroad in this position. How should Black answer the threat to the queen and bishop?
The better line for White is 9.axb3 Bxd2+ which despite the computer's verdict of approximately equal chances has scored very well for Black.
9...b2!
Black doesn't do anything about the threata but creates a fresh threat of his own.
10.Nxb4
Or 10.Nxd8 bxa1Q 11.Bxb4 Nd5 and Black is winning.
10...bxa1Q 11.Bc3 Qxc3+ 12.Nxc3 c6 Black is simply up a rook.
99 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 0–1
Game 69 P.Vezzosi (2351) – L.Kritz (2609) Conegliano 2008
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 b5 6.Bg2 bxc4 7.Ne5 Bb4+ 8.Kf1
The most common continuation is 8.Bd2.
8...d5 9.bxc4 0–0 10.c5 Nfd7 11.Nd3?
The safest choice for White is probably 11.Nf3 c6 12.Qa4 Ba5 13.Bg5 f6 14.Bd2 Bc7 and Black has the somewhat better prospect.
11...Bxd3 12.Qxd3 Nxc5
According to the computer, 12...Qf6 is the better move, but it is hard to argue with the success Black experienced in the main game. White cannot avoid losing a pawn: 13.Bb2 Bxc5 14.Nd2 Nc6 15.Nb3 Bb6 16.Bf3 Rad8 17.Kg2 e5 18.dxe5 Ndxe5 19.Qb5 was played in Kovaljov-Shishkov, Tallinn 2008, and now 19...Qe6 leaves Black with an extra pawn and a clear advantage.
13.dxc5?
Another mistake. White should have played 13.Qc2 Ncd7 and Black is 100 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 simply a pawn up.
13...Qf6 14.a3?
Another bad mistake; maybe White had anticipated 14...Qxa1 15.axb4 with perhaps some compensation, but unfortunately for White, Black has a simple solution that kills White's illusions.
14...Bxc5 Threatening mate and the rook on a1. 0–1
Game 70 P.Tregubov (2615) – L.Ravi (2391) Ubeda 2000
1.d4 e6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Nbd2 Bb4 6.e3
This move is only featured once in my database. The much more frequently played options are 6.Qc2, 6.Qa4, 6.Qb3, and 6.a3.
6...0–0 7.a3 Bxd2+ 8.Qxd2 Nc6 9.b4 Bb7 10.Bg2 e5?
101 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
This is an odd, rather simple calculation error. The better alternatives are 10...d6 11.Bb2 a5 and 10...a5 11.b5 Ne7, in both cases with a decent position for Black
11.d5 e4 12.dxc6 exf3 13.cxb7 And here Black resigned, realizing that after 13.cxb7 fxg2 14.bxa8Q gxh1Q+, White can recapture on h1 with the queen. 15.Qxh1. 1–0
Game 71 M.Euwe – E.Colle Karlsbad 1929
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.d4 e6 3.c4 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Bxd2+ 7.Nbxd2 d6 8.0–0 0–0 9.Re1 Nbd7 10.Qc2
The most common move for White is 10.e4, e.g. 10...e5 11.d5 c6 12.Nf1 Nc5 13.N3d2 b5 14.cxb5 cxd5 15.exd5 a6 16.Nb3 Na4 17.bxa6 Rxa6 and Black has excellent play for the pawn and eventually won against his 300 points higher rated opponent, Kotanjian-Matevosian, Jermuk 2014.
10...e5?
102 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
Why is this move a mistake?
Some alternatives:
10...Qe7 11.Rac1 Rfe8 12.a3 g6 13.e4 e5 14.d5 Rf8 15.Nb1 Nh5 16.Nc3 Ng7 17.Nh4 Nf6 18.Bf1 Nfh5 19.Be2 with a slightly better game for White, Zatonskih-Oberhofer, Caleta 2012.
10...c5 11.e4 cxd4 12.Nxd4 Ne8 13.Rad1 Rc8 14.b3 a6 15.Qb2 Rc7 16.Nf1 Qa8 leaves with a Hedgehog-type position where the chances are about even; White has more space, but Blacks' position is solid with dynamic counterplay, Prokop-Prokes, Prague 1927.
11.Nxe5
White could also have picked up a pawn with 11.dxe5 Nxe5 12.Nxe5, but after 12...Bxg2 13.Nxf7 Qe7 14.Kxg2 Rxf7 Black at least has some counterplay in return for the pawn.
11...Bxg2 12.Nxd7! Bh3
Or 12...Nxd7 13.Kxg2 and Black is just a pawn down for nothing.
13.Nxf8 Being an exchange and a pawn down this early on, Black decided enough was enough. 1–0
Game 72 103 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 V.Gagarin (2424) – E.Fucak (2353) Oberwart 2001
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Nc3 0–0 8.0–0 Na6 9.Re1 c5
Black's best option is, e.g. 9...Ne4 10.Rc1 (or 10.d5 Nac5 11.Nd4 Bf6 12.Nxe4 Nxe4 13.Bb4 Nc5 14.e4 e5 15.Nf5 d6 16.Bc3 a5 and Black had equalized, Pelletier-Romanishin, Athens 2005) 10...f5 11.d5 Bf6 12.a3 c6 13.dxc6 dxc6 14.Qc2 c5 15.Red1 Nxd2 16.Rxd2 Qe7 17.Ne1 Rad8 18.Rcd1 Bxg2 19.Nxg2 Nb8! 20.Nf4 Nc6 and Black has a comfortable position, Postny-C.Horvath, Bol 2015.
10.e4 d5?
When playing this move, Black undoubtedly had calculated the following line: 11.exd5 exd5 12.cxd5 Nxd5 13.Nxd5 Bxd5 14.dxc5 Nxc5 with an active and attractive position for Black. But can you spot what Black missed?
Black should have played 10...cxd4 11.Nxd4 d6 12.Ndb5 (12.Qe2!?) 12...Qc8 13.Rc1 Rd8 14.Qe2 Nc5 15.h3 a6 16.Nd4 Qb8 with a hedgehog position that is fully playable for Black, Serrer-Belichev, Budapest 1999.
11.exd5 exd5 12.cxd5 Nxd5?? 13.Nxd5 Bxd5 14.Qe2!
And the penny drops, both the knight on a6 and bishop on e7 are attacked.
104 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 14...Nb4 15.Bxb4 And Black resigned. 1–0
Game 73 S.Karjakin (2686) – F.Bindrich (2469) European Championship (Dresden) 2007
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 b6 3.g3 Bb7 4.Bg2 e6 5.d4 Be7 6.Nc3 0–0 7.Qc2 c5 8.d5 exd5 9.cxd5 Nxd5?!
This is playable, but clearly not the best, in fact, he is playing with fire accepting this pawn sacrifice. The alternatives are:
9...Bxd5 is the way to go about if Black insists to taking the pawn: 10.Nxd5 Nxd5 11.Nh4 Nb4 12.Qd2 N8c6 13.Nf5 Bf6 14.0–0 Na6 15.Rd1 Nc7 16.g4 d5 17.g5 Nd4 18.Nxd4, and here a draw was agreed upon, ½– ½, in Sargissian-Adams, Merida 2008. Black clearly has solved his opening problems.
9...d6 is less risky: 10.0–0 Na6 11.e4 Nb4 12.Qb1 c4 13.Bd2 Rc8 14.Nd4 Re8 15.Ncb5 and White has the upper hand, Roiz-Polgar, Netanya 2009.
10.Qe4 Nb4
Black's best move is 10...f5, for instance 11.Qc4 b5 12.Qb3 (12.Qxb5?! Nb6 13.Be3 Na6 14.0–0 Nc7 15.Qb3+ d5 16.a4 Rb8 appears to hold up fine for Black, Lahno-Dzagnidze, Tbilisi 2012) 12...c4 13.Qxb5 Nb6 14.Be3 Na6 15.0–0 Bf6 16.Bxb6 Qxb6 17.Qxc4+ leaves White with the upper hand according to Krasenkow.
11.Qxb7 N8c6 12.Bf4 g5
105 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
If the bishop retreats, then Black plays 13...Rb8 trapping the queen. What should White play?
Relatively better, but not by much is 12...Nc2+, for instance, 13.Kd2 Nxa1 14.Rxa1 Bf6 15.Rd1 Bxc3+ 16.bxc3 Qf6 17.Bh3 d5 18.Bg5 and White has a winning advantage, Gajewski-Hernandez Carmenates, Calvia 2006.
13.0–0–0! gxf4 14.a3 And here Black decided, somewhat prematurely, to resign. After 14.a3 Na5 15.Qxd7 Qxd7 16.Rxd7 Nbc6 17.gxf4 White has both the better-placed pieces and an extra pawn to work with, which Black felt would be more than enough for his 200– points higher rated opponent. 1–0
Game 74 S.Hautot (2366) – G.Van der Stricht (2369) Antwerp 2013
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Be7 6.0–0 0–0 7.d5 exd5 8.Nh4 c6 9.cxd5 Nxd5 10.Nf5 Nc7 11.e4 d5 12.Re1 Bb4
106 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
White was threatening 13.exd5 after which the bishop on e7 would be threatened by both White's rook on e1 and the forward knight on f5. Therefore, Black decided to create a counterthreat of his own. However, he missed something...
The two main alternatives are:
12...Bf6 is the most popular move and now one grandmaster game went 13.e5 Be7 14.Qg4 g6 15.Nh6+ Kg7 16.Nf5+ Kg8 17.Nh6+ Kg7 18.Nf5+ with a draw by repetition, ½–½, Korobov-Durarbayli, Tromso 2013. However, Black can consider playing his king to h8 instead of allowing the repetition.
12...dxe4 13.Nc3 Ne6 14.Qg4 Nd7 15.Nxe4 Ne5 16.Nh6+ Kh8 17.Nxf7+ Nxf7 18.Qxe6 Bb4 with chances to both sides, Shomoev- Tiviakov, Sochi 2007.
13.Qd4! A nasty surprise for Black. The bishop on b4 is threatened and so is a mate on g7. With no proper way to meet this, Black resigned. 1–0
Game 75 J.Lechtynsky (2475) – E.Prandstetter (2440) Bratislava 1983
1.Nf3 e6 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Be7 6.0–0 0–0 7.d5 exd5 8.Nh4 c6 9.cxd5 Nxd5 10.Nf5 Bc5 11.e4 Qf6
107 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 Black has also played 11...Ne7 a bunch of times including the stem game of this variation: 12.Nxg7 Kxg7 13.b4! Bxb4 14.Qd4+ with better chances for White, Polugaevsky-Kortschnoj, Buenos Aires 1980.
12.Bd2
White has tried 12.Nxg7 and 12.Qg4 as well.
12...Ba6 13.Re1
Now Black played 13...Bb4 figuring that if White plays 14.exd5 then Black has 14...Bxd2 threatening both the rook and knight. What did Black in this calculation?
13...Bb4?? 14.exd5 After 14.exd5 Bxd2 (There is no way out 14...Qxf5 15.Bxb4 also loses) 15.Ne7+ is the move Black had missed when playing his 13th move. Now Black is just losing a piece. 1–0
Game 76 B.Jansson (2395) – Y.Rantanen (2350) Ribe 1973
1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Nf6 4.Bg2 Be7 5.0–0 0–0 6.d4 b6 7.Nc3 Bb7 8.Ne5 c5 9.cxd5 cxd4 10.Qxd4 Nxd5
Black has also tried 10...Bc5 11.Qh4 exd5?! (Here Black should have played 11...Nxd5!?) 12.Bg5 Be7 13.Rad1 h6 thus far Castagna-Rizo, Siegen 108 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 1970.
How should White continue?
14.Nxd5 Bxd5 15.Bxh6 gxh6 (or 15...Ne8 16.Qg4 Be6 17.Rxd8 Bxg4 18.Rxe8 Rxe8 19.Nxg4 Na6 20.Bxa8 Rxa8 21.Bc1 and White is simply up by two pawns) 16.Qxh6 Qd6 17.Qg5+ Kh8 18.Rd4 Nbd7 19.Nxd7 Qxd7 20.Bxd5 and White is winning easily.
11.Nxd5 Bxd5 12.Bxd5
Perhaps uncomfortable with the prospect of an isolated pawn on d5 without accompanying piece activity, can Black consider 12...Bc5, for instance, 13 Qd3 Qxd5 14 Qxd5 exd5 with equality?
12...Bc5??
109 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 Black should have played 12...Qxd5 13.Qxd5 exd5 14.Rd1 Rd8 15.Bf4 f6 16.Nf3 Nc6 17.Rac1 Bc5 and White has at best a tiny advantage, but it is very close to being completely equal, Banas-Husek, Detva 1977.
13.Qxc5! And Black decided that he had enough, having missed this simple continuation. Hard to blame him for that. 1–0
Game 77 B.Tadic (2485) – J.Radlovacki (2387) Serbian Team Championship (Sombor) 2009
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3 b6 4.Bg2 Bb7 5.0–0 Be7 6.c4 0–0 7.Re1 d6 8.Nc3 Ne4 9.Qc2
What happens after 9...Nxc3?
9...Nxc3?
Black's best move is 9...f5 10.Nd2 (10.d5 can also be considered) 10...d5 11.cxd5 exd5 12.Qb3 Kh8 13.Nf3 c5 14.dxc5 Bxc5 and Black has the initiative, Kallai-Prasad, Biel 1998.
10.Ng5!
This idea should hopefully be part of your hand/eye coordination at this point. Black loses material because of the threats to h7 and the bishop on b7. 110 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
10...Bxg5 11.Bxb7 Bxc1
A couple of international masters have tried 11...Nxe2+ after getting caught in this variation, but this is no better than the text move: 12.Rxe2 Bxc1 13.Bxa8 Bg5 14.Qa4 (or 14.Bg2 Bf6 15.Rd1 Qc8 16.b4 c5 17.bxc5 bxc5 18.d5 exd5 19.Bxd5 and has a technical won position, Kunte- Sharbaf, Kish 2005) 14...Bf6 15.Rd1 a5 16.Bc6 g6 17.a3 d5 18.cxd5 exd5 19.Rc2 Qd6 20.b4 axb4 21.axb4 with a position that White should win without too many problems, Zakhartsov-Meskovs, Guben 2014.
12.bxc3 And here Black, somewhat prematurely, resigned. 1–0
Game 78 J.Rodgaard (2350) – I.Varasdy (2350) Copenhagen 1986
1.c4 e6 2.Nf3 b6 3.g3 Bb7 4.Bg2 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.d4 0–0 7.Nc3 Ne4 8.Qc2 Nxc3 9.Qxc3 Bf6 10.Rd1 c5 11.Qc2 cxd4
How should White best respond to this move?
The main line runs 11...Nc6 12.Be3 Qe7 13.Rd2 Rfd8 14.Rad1 d6 15.h4 h6 16.Qa4 a6 17.dxc5 bxc5 with chances to both sides, Ftacnik- Vovk, Slovakia 2016.
12.Ng5! 111 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
Again that simple trick. This particular accident in this line has happened several times in master games: Vadasz-Dely, Zalaegerszeg 1969 & Janosevic-Pachman, Venice 1967 and Arun Prasad-Panchnathan, Edinburgh 2009. In the first of these games, Black immediately resigned, whereas Black in fought on for some time in the other two. I can imagine that the noted opening theoretician Pachman must have been extra embarrassed to fall into this trap.
12...Bxg5 13.Bxb7 Bxc1 14.Bxa8 1–0
Game 79 E.Bayer (2360) – R.Junge (2370) German Bundesliga 1989
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 b6 3.d4 e6 4.Bg2 Bb7 5.0–0 Be7 6.c4 0–0 7.Nc3 Ne4 8.Qc2 Nxc3 9.Qxc3 d6 10.Qd3 c5
This is a typical blunder that has been seen many, many times. How should White continue?
Black has a few moves to choose between:
10...c6 11.b3 Nd7 12.Bb2 d5 13.e4 a5 14.Rfe1 a4 15.Nd2 a3 16.Bc3 dxc4 17.bxc4 Nc5 18.Qe3 Na4, Black is trying to inject life into the position to play for a win, but White is doing quite fine in this position, D.Paulsen-Spassky, Germany 1985.
112 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 10...f5 is the main line: 11.Qe3 Qc8 12.Ne1 Bxg2 13.Nxg2 Nc6 14.d5 Nd8 15.Qd3 Bf6 16.Rb1 a5 with a normal position for this variation, the chances are about even, Fridman-Atalik, Lake George 2005.
11.Ng5! Bxg5 12.Bxb7 And White wins an exchange for no compensation. 1–0
Game 80 A.Lytchak (2375) – O.Biriukov (2407) St Petersburg 1999
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3 b6 4.Bg2 Bb7 5.c4 Be7 6.0–0 0–0 7.Nc3 Ne4 8.Qc2 Nxc3 9.Qxc3 c5 10.Be3 d6 11.Rad1 Nd7 12.Bh3
White wants to be able to recapture on d4 with the knight without allowing an exchange of the light-square bishops. The alternatives are:
12.dxc5 bxc5 13.Bf4 Nf6 14.Qc2 Qb6 15.Ng5 Bxg2 16.Kxg2 Rfd8 17.Rd2 Qb7+ 18.f3 d5 19.cxd5 exd5 with chances to both sides, although Black's pieces look far better coordinated than White's, Raznikov- Yemelin, Skopje 2013.
12.Ne1 Bxg2 13.Nxg2 Nf6 14.b3 Rc8 15.Qd3 Qc7 16.Bg5 cxd4 17.Qxd4 Rfd8 18.Rc1 Qb7 19.Ne3 h6 20.Bxf6 Bxf6 and Black has obviously solved his opening problems, Bronstein-Spassky, Belgrade 1964.
12...Qc7 13.b3 Nf6
113 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 How should Black meet 14.Bf4?
14.Bf4?? cxd4 White just dropped a center pawn without compensation and therefore tossed the towel in the ring. 0–1
Chapter 4
The Nimzo-Indian Defense In the previous chapter, we met the Nimzowitsch’s Queen’s Indian, but the opening that refers to him directly is the Nimzo-Indian which is a highly provocative idea. Black hands White a space advantage in the center as well as, often at least, the pair of bishops. In return, Black will often have the superior pawn structure and dynamic counterplay. It is a strategically complex opening that offers both sides their share of the chances as well as plenty of opportunity to go wrong.
Game 81 R.Milovanovic (2415) – A.Shneider (2465) Werfen 1989
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 d5 5.a3 Be7 6.e4 c5 7.cxd5 exd5 114 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 8.e5 Nfd7 9.Nxd5
9.f4 cxd4 10.Nb5 Nc6 11.Nxd4 Bc5 12.Nxc6 bxc6 13.b4 Bxg1 14.Rxg1 Qb6 15.Rh1 0–0 and Black already has a comfortable game, Dolana- Tarlev, Alba Iulia 2016.
9...cxd4
9...Nc6 10.f4 Nxd4 11.Nxe7 Qxe7 12.Nf3 0–0 13.Be3 f6 14.Bxd4 cxd4 15.Bc4+ Kh8 16.0–0 Rd8 was played in Mamedyarov-E.L'Ami, Rabat 2015, and now 17.exf6 Qe3+ 18.Kh1 Nxf6 19.Ng5 Rf8 20.Qc2 is very dangerous for Black.
10.Qc2?!
10.Nxe7 Qxe7 11.f4 Nc6 (11...f6 12.Nf3 fxe5 13.Bc4 Nc6 14.0–0 e4 15.Bd5 Nf6 16.Bxc6+ bxc6 17.Nxd4 0–0 18.Be3 and White has the better pawn structure and chances, Beliavsky-Spassky, Linares 1990) 12.Nf3 0– 0 13.b4 a5 14.b5 Ncxe5 15.fxe5 Nxe5 16.Kf2 d3 17.h3 Nxf3 18.gxf3 Qh4+ 19.Kg2 Bf5 with a complicated position where Black's lead in development and much safer king has full compensation for the piece, Timofeev-Tomashevsky, Dagomys 2009.
10...Nc6 11.Nxe7 Qxe7 12.f4 f6
Here White likely made the calculation: 13.Bd3 fxe5 14.Bxh7 exf4+ 15.Kf1 with complications and decent chances for White, however, what did he miss?
115 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 13.Bd3??
White should have played 13.e6!? Qxe6+ 14.Kf2 Qd6 15.Nf3 0–0 16.Bd3 Kh8 17.b4 and he is not in bad shape.
13...fxe5 14.Bxh7 Qh4+ And with White losing a piece, he resigned. 0–1
Game 82 V.Petkov (2558) – M.Nikolov (2529) Marseille 2013
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 b6 5.Qb3 c5 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 Nc6 8.d5 Na5 9.Qc2 Nxc4
Black decides to pick up a pawn which in the case of this line is a very dangerous undertaking. The safer choice is 9...d6
10.0–0–0 g5
Removing the pin from Black's knight on f6 seems like a good idea. In other games, Black has tried 10...Bxc3 which is not without dangers either: 11.Qxc3 exd5 (or 11...Na5 12.e4 0–0 13.e5 Ne4 14.Qe3 g5 15.Qxe4 exd5 16.Rxd5, and Black resigned, 1–0, Peng-Janssen, Wijk aan Zee 1997) 12.Rxd5 Na5 13.Rd6 Qc7 14.Rxf6 d5 15.Qe3+ Kf8 16.Bg3 and Black resigned, 1–0, Miles-Kalesis, Chania 1997.
11.Bg3 exd5
11...g4 will be covered in our next main game.
12.Nxd5 Nxd5
116 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
How should White continue?
13.Qxc4
The alternatives are also pretty good for White:
13.Qe4+ Ne7 14.Qxa8 Nc6 15.e3 Nxb2 16.Qxc6! (However, not 16.Kxb2?? because of 16...Qf6+ 17.Kb1 0–0 and Black is fine) 16...Nxd1 17.Qd6 Qe7 18.Kxd1 and White should win.
13.Rxd5 b5 14.e4 Bb7 15.Bxc4 bxc4 16.Re5+ Kf8 17.a3 Ba5 18.Rf5 with a winning position for White.
13...Ne7
Or 13...Nf6 14.Bd6 Bb7 15.Ne5 Rh7 16.f3 and Black's position looks ridiculous.
14.Bd6 Bb7 15.Ne5 Rf8
117 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
Black resigned! The final position deserves a diagram, Black is a pawn up, but completely tied down. A possible continuation was 15...Rf8 16.Qg4 a6 17.e4 b5 (otherwise White will play Bc4) 18.h4 Rg8 19.hxg5 Nc8 (or 19...hxg5 20.Qf3) 20.Nxf7 and Black is toast. 1–0
Game 83 Cs.Horvath (2512) – E.Weinzettl (2401) Austrian Team Championship 1999
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Qb3 c5 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 Nc6 8.d5 Na5 9.Qc2 g5 10.Bg3 Nxc4 11.0–0–0 g4
118 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
How should White best continue?
11...exd5 was discussed in the previous main game.
12.Bh4!!
The pin is just lethal. However, White could also get a large advantage with 12.dxe6! and now: 12...0–0 (12...gxf3 13.exf3 Nxb2 14.exd7+ Bxd7 15.Kxb2 c4 (or 15...0–0 16.Bh4 Bxc3+ 17.Qxc3 Ne4 18.fxe4 Qxh4 19.Rxd7 and White is a piece up) 16.Bh4 Be7 17.Bxc4 and White is winning because the black king will never safety, e.g. 17...0–0? 18.Qg6+) 13.exf7+ Rxf7 14.Ne5 Nxe5 15.Bxe5 Bxc3 16.bxc3 and White threatens Qg6 and Rd6 with a total collapse of Black's position.
12...gxf3 13.Ne4 And Black's position is completely falling apart. 1–0
Game 84 J.R.Capablanca – E.Colle Budapest1929
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qb3 Bxc3+
This capture is a bit premature. Normally Black plays either 4...Nc6 or 4...c5.
5.Qxc3 Ne4 6.Qc2 d5 7.Nf3
The year prior to our main game, Nimzowitsch himself faced 7.e3 a couple of times: 7...c5 8.dxc5 (or 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Bd3 Qa5+ 10.Kf1 0–0 11.dxc5 Nc6 12.Bxe4 dxe4 13.Bd2 Qa6+ 14.Ne2 Bg4 15.Bc3 Qc4 and Black has a good game, Tartakower-Nimzowitsch, Bad Kissingen 1928) 8...Nc6 9.Nf3 0–0 10.Bd2 Qe7 11.Rc1 Qxc5 12.cxd5 Qxc2 13.Rxc2 exd5 14.Bb5 Bd7 15.Bxc6 was seen in Rubinstein-Nimzowitsch, Bad Kissingen 1928, and now 15...Bxc6 16.Nd4 Rfc8 would have been the lesser evil, although this too is better for White.
7...0–0 8.e3 Nc6
One year later, Colle tried 8...b6 9.cxd5 exd5 10.Bd3 Bb7 11.0–0 Nd7
119 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 12.Bd2 c5 13.dxc5 Ndxc5 14.Bb4 Rc8 15.Nd4 Qf6 and Black had a satisfactory position, Araiza Munoz-Colle, San Remo 1930.
9.Be2 Re8 10.0–0
Can Black play 10...e5, breaking open the center?
10...e5
The solid 10...a5 is probably the way for Black to go instead of the text move.
11.cxd5 Oops, Black loses a piece, e.g. 11.cxd5 Qxd5 12.Bc4 and the knight on e4 can no longer remain protected. 1–0
Game 85 R.Stern (2476) – K.Landa (2596) German Bundesliga 2007
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qb3 c5 5.dxc5 Nc6 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bxf6 Qxf6 8.Nf3 b6
This is an important juncture for this variation; in addition to the text move, Black has several alternatives to choose between:
8...Bxc5 9.e3 b6 10.Bd3 Bb7 11.Ne4 Bb4+ 12.Ke2 Qe7 13.a3 Bc5 14.Nxc5 Qxc5 15.Qc3 0–0 16.Rhd1 a5 with equal chances, Zhou Jianchao- 120 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 Bu Xiangzhi, Wuxi 2016.
8...0–0 9.g3 b6 10.cxb6 Bb7 11.Bg2 Bxc3+ 12.bxc3 Na5 13.Qb4 Nc6 14.Qb3 Na5 15.Qb4 Nc6 16.Qb3 with a draw by repetition, ½–½, Drozdovskij-K.Szabo, Rijeka 2010.
8...Bxc3+ 9.Qxc3 Qxc3+ 10.bxc3 b6 11.cxb6 axb6 12.e3 Ke7 13.Be2 Ra4 14.0–0 Ba6 15.Nd2 Ne5 16.Rfb1 Nxc4 17.Bxc4 Bxc4 18.Nxc4 Rxc4 19.Rxb6 Rxc3 20.Rb2 Rhc8 21.h4 Rc1+ and draw agreed, ½–½, Varga- Z.Almasi, Kazincbarcika 2005.
9.cxb6 axb6 10.e3
White possibly was familiar with the Varga-Almasi game above and expected Black to exchange on c3 now. Black, however, had something else in mind - can you see what?
10...Ra3! White resigned in sheer shock of having overlooked Black's strong move. However, considering that this was played in the team tournament the German Bundesliga, White could have continued a bit for the team. However, after 10...Ra3! 11.Qd1 (11.bxa3?? Bxc3+ is of course much worse) 11...Rxc3! (11...Bxc3+ 12.bxc3 Qxc3+ 13.Nd2 0–0 is also better for Black) 12.Nd2! (White may not have seen this move when he resigned, otherwise he would likely have played on) 12...Rxe3+ (the rook was trapped so Black gets as much bang for his buck as possible) 13.fxe3 Qxb2 14.Rb1 Qxa2 15.Ra1 Qb2 16.Rb1 Qe5 17.Rb3 0–0 and while Black has tremendous compensation for the exchange and is much better, White can continue to fight. 0–1 121 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
Game 86 H.Enevoldsen – B.Larsen Copenhagen 1954
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.a3 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 c5 6.f3 d5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Bd2?
How should Black best continue?
The text move is just a mistake. Instead White has some other moves to consider:
8.dxc5 is the main line. This variation has been played over 1000 times in my database. Some very recent grandmaster games continued as follows: 8...Qa5 (or 8...f5 9.e4 fxe4 10.Qc2 Nd7 (10...e3 11.Bd3 Nd7 is one of many alternatives for the players) 11.fxe4 N5f6 12.Nf3 Qc7 13.Be3 Ng4 14.Bd4 e5 15.Qb3 exd4 16.cxd4 Qf4 and Black has the better chances although there is plenty of play in this position, Ganguly-Ni Hua, China 2016) 9.e4 Ne7 10.Be3 0–0 11.Qb3 Qc7 12.Nh3 e5 13.Nf2 Nec6 14.Nd3 Na5 15.Qd5 Nbc6 16.Qd6 Qxd6 17.cxd6 Rd8 18.Nb4 Rxd6 19.Nd5 with slightly better chances for White, Shirov-Oparin, Moscow 2016.
8.Qd3 cxd4 9.cxd4 b6 10.Qb5+ Bd7 11.Qb2 0–0 12.e4 Ne7 13.Bd3 Ng6 14.Ne2 Qh4+ 15.g3 Qh3 16.Kf2 gave White the better chances, Sadorra- Wang Hao, Beijing 2008.
8...cxd4 122 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
Or 8...Nc6 9.e4 Nde7 10.Be3 Qa5 11.Qd2 0–0 12.Bd3 Rd8 13.Ne2 b6 14.Ra2 Ba6 15.Bxa6 Qxa6 with a comfortable position for Black, Raicevic- Eingorn, Moscow 1986. However, I'm not sure why grandmaster Eingorn didn't like to win the d4–pawn...
9.cxd4 Qh4+ 10.g3 Qxd4 11.e4?
White should have given preference to 11.Qc1 Nc6 12.e4 Nf6 when he has some, but not full compensation for the pawn.
11...Ne3 12.Qc1? Qxa1! And White resigned. 0–1
Game 87 A.Aleksandrov (2615) – A.Volzhin (2505) Minsk 1997
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0–0 5.Bd3 c5 6.a3 Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 Nc6 8.Ne2 e5 9.0–0 e4
The main line is 9...d6 where Black is choosing a set-up that resembles the Huebner Variation (but there White's knight on f3 instead e2): 10.Ng3 Nd7 11.f4 Nb6 12.fxe5 dxe5 13.d5 Na5 14.Qh5 g6 15.Qxe5 Naxc4 16.Bxc4 Nxc4 17.Qe4 b5 with a sharp position and chances to both sides, Flores-Jobava, Doha 2016.
10.Bc2
123 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
10...b6
In addition to the text move, Black has also tried:
10...d5 11.cxd5 Qxd5 12.Rb1 Bg4 13.Qd2 Rfd8 14.Ng3 h5?! (Very optimistic but ultimately not very good. Instead, 14...Na5 15.f3 Nc4 16.Qf2 exf3 17.gxf3 Bh3 18.Rd1 would have left White with a much smaller share of the advantage) 15.f3 exf3 16.gxf3 h4 17.fxg4 hxg3 18.hxg3 Nxg4 19.Qe2 Nf6 as seen in De Souza-Slipak, Sao Paulo 1997, and now 20.Qh2 or 20.e4 both would have provided White with a large advantage.
10...Na5 11.Ng3 Re8 (Black should have played 11...Nxc4 12.Nxe4 Nxe4 13.Bxe4 d5 14.Bd3 cxd4 15.exd4 Be6 with more or less equal chances) 12.f3 Nxc4 13.fxe4 d6 14.Qf3?! (Here White missed a wonderful opportunity: 14.e5 dxe5 15.Nh5 Nxh5 16.Bxh7+ Kxh7 17.Qxh5+ Kg8 18.Qxf7+ Kh8 19.Qxc4 - the geometry of the combination is enticing) 14...Be6 15.Qf4 Qa5 16.e5 dxe5 17.dxe5 Nd7 18.Qh4 Nf8 and Black had the upper hand, B.Nielsen-J.Enevoldsen, Herning 1947.
11.f3 exf3 12.Rxf3 Re8 13.Qd3 Ba6 14.Ng3 d5
124 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
How should White continue?
Things are not that easy for Black, for instance, 14...Rc8 15.Bd2 Na5 16.Qf5 (16.Rxf6!? Qxf6 17.Qxh7+ Kf8 18.e4 gives White excellent compensation for the exchange) 16...Bb7 17.Rf2 Nxc4 18.Nh5 with a tricky situation for Black.
15.Rxf6! And Black resigned on the spot. After 15.Rxf6 Qxf6 (15...gxf6?? 16.Qxh7+ Kf8 17.Nf5 with mate on the next move) 16.Qxh7+ Kf8 17.Nh5! (17.Nf5 is met by 17...Ne7) 17...Qh6 18.Qxh6 gxh6 19.cxd5 Ne7 20.e4 and White should be winning. 1–0
Game 88 P.Neuman (2365) – S.Tatai (2385) Budapest 1998
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0–0 5.Nf3 b6?!
This line is quite problematic for Black.
6.e4!
Now White grabs the initiative.
6...d5 7.e5 Ne4 8.Bd3 Bb7 9.0–0 Bxc3 10.bxc3 h6 11.Ne1
125 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 The text move is quite rare. The two more commonly seen moves are:
11.cxd5 exd5 12.c4 Na6? (Black should have played 12...Nc6, although after 13.Ba3 Ng5 14.Nxg5 Nxd4 15.Qb2 dxc4 16.Bh7+ Kh8 17.Be4 Bxe4 18.Nxe4, he does not have enough for the piece) 13.Rb1 c5 14.cxd5 f5 15.d6 Nb4 16.Bc4+ Kh8 17.Qb2 and Black is completely busted, Hoang Thanh Trang-H.Hunt, Istanbul 2000.
11.Ba3 Re8 12.Bxe4 dxe4 13.Nd2 Nc6 14.Rab1 f5 15.exf6 Qxf6 16.Rfe1 Na5 17.Bb4 and White is clearly better, Koneru-Nakhbayeva, Tashkent 2013.
11...Qh4?!
Black should have opted for 11...f5 12.f3 Ng5 13.Ba3 Re8 14.Qe2 and White's chances are definitely preferable.
12.g3 Qh3
How should White continue?
The alternative wasn't too pretty either: 12...Qe7 13.f3 Ng5 14.cxd5 exd5 15.h4 Ne6 16.f4 with a clear advantage for White.
13.cxd5 exd5 14.f3 And Black resigned. In Getz-Chavannes, Lillehammer 2013, Black played on a bit longer: 14.f3 Ng5 15.Bf5 Qh5 16.h4 Ba6 17.Rf2 Ne4 18.fxe4 g6 19.Bh3 dxe4 20.Qxe4, and only now choose to resign. 1–0 126 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
Game 89 M.Mozharov (2459) – A.Shomoev (2577) St Petersburg 2011
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0–0 5.e4 d6 6.e5 dxe5 7.dxe5 Ng4 8.Nf3 Nc6 9.Bf4 Nd4 10.Qe4
White should also consider 10.Qd2, e.g. 10...f6 11.0–0–0 c5 12.h3 (or 12.Bd3 Bd7 13.exf6 Qxf6 14.Bg5 Qf7 15.h3 Nxf3 16.Bxh7+ Kh8 17.hxg4 Nxd2 18.Bg6+ Kg8 19.Bxf7+ Rxf7 20.Rxd2 and White has the somewhat better chances in the endgame, Bernasek-Svoboda, Czech Republic 2016) 12...Nxe5 13.Nxe5 fxe5 14.Bxe5 Bd7 15.Bxd4 cxd4 16.Qxd4 Qg5+ 17.Qd2 Qf6 18.Qc2 Bc6 19.f3 Bxc3 20.Qxc3 Qxc3+ 21.bxc3 and on account of Black's isolated e-pawn White has the slightly better chances, Fodor- Polak, Austria 2014.
10...c5 11.h3 f5 12.Qd3 Nxf3+ 13.Qxf3 Qd4
Here White saw that after 14.hxg4 fxg4 15.Qd3 Qxf4 16.Qxh7+ Kf7 17.Qh2 Qd4 18.Rc1 Rd8 19.Qh5+ Kg8 20.Qh8+ Kf7 21.Qh5+, there is a draw. After 14.Qg3, 14...Nh6 isn’t possible and 14...g5 15.Bxg5 Qxe5+ 16.Qxe5 Nxe5 17.0–0–0 Bxc3 18.bxc3 b6 19.Rg1 intending f2–f4 and g2–g4 would leave White with the better chances. However, can you spot the move that White overlooked in the above calculation?
The alternative is 13...Nh6 14.Be2 (or 14.Bxh6 gxh6 15.Rd1 Qc7
127 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 16.Qf4 Rd8 17.Be2 Rxd1+ 18.Bxd1 Qg7 19.Bf3 with slightly better chances for White, Abbasov-Ibrahimov, Baku 2010) 14...Nf7 15.h4 Qc7 16.0–0–0 Bxc3 17.Qxc3 Bd7 18.g4 and White has a strong initiative, Karpov-Almasi, Monte Carlo 2001.
14.Qg3 Nxf2 White resigned which is completely understandable after 14...Nxf2 15.Qxf2 Bxc3+ 16.Ke2 Qxc4+ and White is completely busted. 0–1
Game 90 P.Johner – L.Steiner Berlin 1928
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 d6 5.e4 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 0–0 7.Bd3 e5 8.Ne2 Qe7 9.0–0 c5 10.f4 Nfd7 11.Ng3 Re8 12.Nf5 Qf8 13.fxe5 dxe5 14.Qf2 Nb6
How should White best continue?
Black should have played 14...f6 15.d5 Nb6 which despite being uncomfortable for Black nevertheless is still playable.
15.Nh6+ Black resigned on the spot, because after 15.Nh6+ gxh6 (or 15...Kh8 16.Nxf7+ Kg8 17.Qg3 and Black is completely busted) 16.Bxh6 and it is over for Black. White could also gain a large advantage with 15.Ba3 (or even the immediate 15.Nd6) 15...N6d7 16.Nd6 Re6 17.Qxf7+ Qxf7 18.Nxf7 with and extra pawn and much better chances for White. 1–0 128 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
Game 91 K.Spraggett (2560) – J.Hebert (2395) Montreal 1985
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Qc2 Bb7 6.a3 Bxc3+ 7.Qxc3 0–0 8.g3 c5 9.dxc5 Ne4 10.Qc2 Nxc5
Another option is 10...bxc5, e.g. 11.Bg2 f5 12.0–0 Nc6 13.Rd1 Qe7 14.b3 d6 15.Bb2 e5 16.e3 Nd8 17.b4 with a tiny positional plus for White, Socko-Burg, Lisbon 2014.
11.Bg2 Be4 12.Qc3
Or 12.Qd1 a5 13.Bf4 Nc6 14.Bd6 Re8 15.0–0 a4 16.b4?? (An incredible blunder) 16...axb3 17.Bxc5 b2! (The move White had overlooked) 18.Bd6 bxa1Q 19.Qxa1 Qf6 20.Qc1 Nd4 21.Nxd4 Bxg2 22.Kxg2 Qxd4 23.Qf4 Qxf4 24.gxf4 Rec8 and Black is winning, Gilyazov- Usmanov, Sochi 2016.
12...d5
Black has also tried:
12...Nc6 13.Be3 a5 14.0–0 Qf6 15.Qxf6 gxf6 16.Rad1 Rfd8 17.Rd6 Rab8 18.Rfd1 a4 19.Bf1 Na5 20.Nd2 with a slight positional plus for White, Kaposztas-I.Farago, Hungary 1996.
12...Qf6 13.Qxf6 gxf6 14.Bh6 Rc8 15.Rc1 Nc6 16.b4 Nb3 17.Rc3 Nbd4 18.Kd2 was Dokhoian-Smagin, Yerevan 1988, and now 18...Ne5 would have been about equal.
13.Bg5
129 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
What is Black's best response?
White last move is a losing mistake. He could have opted for a couple of other moves:
13.0–0 Nc6 14.cxd5 Qxd5 15.Be3 Na4 16.Qc1 Na5 17.Rd1 Qb7 with a pleasant position for Black.
13.Be3!? Nc6 14.Rd1 and now Black has the option of 14...Na4 15.Qb3 Nc5, repeating the moves.
13...d4! White resigned! Facing 13...d4 14.Qd2 f6 it is no surprise that he did, e.g. 15.Bh4 g5! (15...Nb3 16.Qf4 Bc6 17.Rd1 is less convincing) 16.Rd1 Nb3 17.Qb4 Bc2 and Black is winning. 0–1
Game 92 J.Lokvenc – L.Pachman Prague 1943
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 Nc6 5.Nf3 d6 6.e3 e5 7.d5
7.a3 Bxc3+ 8.Qxc3 Bg4 9.dxe5 dxe5 10.b4 Qe7 11.b5 Bxf3 12.gxf3 Nd4 13.Bg2 Rd8 14.Bb2 0–0 15.Kf1 and White's pieces are beginning to come to life, Cu.Hansen-Wilhelmi, Germany 1998.
7...Ne7??
130 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
We have seen this type blunder several times now. It has to be said that in one of the games with this exact position, White missed the winning move and played 8.Bd3 instead...
He should have played 7...Bxc3+ 8.Qxc3 Ne7 9.Be2 0–0 10.b3 a5 11.0– 0 Ne4 12.Qc2 Nc5 13.Nd2 Bf5 14.e4 Bd7 15.Bb2 Ng6 and Black already has a comfortable position, Zimmerman-Rashkovsky, Oberwart 2000.
8.Qa4+ 1–0
Game 93 Y.Pelletier (2603) – M.Carlsen (2528) Biel 2005
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 d5 5.cxd5 c5?!
A sharp, but not very sound, gambit that the future world champion tried out a few times.
6.dxc5!?
Accepting the pawn sacrifice with 6.dxc6 should naturally be examined as well: 6...Nxc6 (or 6...Qxd4 7.cxb7 Bxb7 gives Black interesting compensation for the sacrificed pawns) 7.e3 e5 8.dxe5 Nxe5 9.Be2 0–0 10.Nf3 Nxf3+ 11.Bxf3 Bg4 12.Bxg4 Nxg4 13.f3 Ne5 14.0–0 Rc8 15.Qb3 Bxc3 16.bxc3 Qc7 17.e4 Rfd8 18.Be3 Nc4 19.Bc1 Qc5+ and draw agreed, ½–½, Laznicka-Cvek, Brno 2006.
131 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 6.Bg5 Qxd5 7.Bxf6 gxf6 8.dxc5 Qxc5 9.Rc1 Nc6 10.Nf3 Bd7 11.e3 (11.g3 Bxc3+ 12.Qxc3 Qxc3+ 13.Rxc3 Ke7 14.Bg2 Rac8 was about equal in Bareev-Topalov, Monte Carlo 2005) 11...Rc8 12.Be2 Bxc3+ 13.bxc3 0–0 14.0–0 Rfd8 15.Qe4 Be8 16.Qh4 Kg7 with chances to both sides, Johannessen-Carlsen, Sandnes 2005.
6...Nxd5
The alternatives are:
6...Qxd5 7.a3 leaves White a pawn up.
6...exd5 7.Bg5 Nc6 8.0–0–0 Bxc3 9.Qxc3 d4 10.Qa3 h6 11.Bh4 g5?! (11...Qe7 12.Nf3 Be6 is possibly a better idea, although not entirely convincing) 12.Bg3 Ne4 13.e3 f5 14.f3 Nxg3 15.hxg3 Be6 was played in Sumets-Matnadze, Palma de Mallorca 2009, and now 16.Ne2 Qf6 17.Nxd4 would have been very close to winning for White.
7.Bd2 Bxc5 8.Nxd5 Qxd5 9.e4
Or 9.Rc1 Nd7 10.b4 Bb6 11.e4 Qh5 12.Nf3 0–0 13.Be2 (13.Bf4!?) 13...Nf6 14.Ng5 Ng4 15.Rf1 h6 (With 15...f6 16.h3 fxg5 17.Bxg4 Qg6, Black could have obtained the somewhat better chances) 16.h3 hxg5 17.hxg4 Qh2 18.Bxg5 Bd7 19.Qd3 Bc6 20.Qh3 Qxh3 21.gxh3 Bxe4 is marginally better for Black, L'Ami-Carlsen, Schagen 2005.
9...Qd4?!
As Pelletier points out in his notes, the black queen is too exposed on d4. He should have settled for the safer 9...Qd6 10.Rc1 Nd7 11.Nf3 0–0 12.e5 Qb6 (12...Qe7?! 13.Bd3 h6 14.a3 a5 15.0–0 leaves White with a decent-sized initiative - Pelletier) 13.Bc3 is slightly better for White according to Pelletier.
9...Qc6 10.Rc1 Be7 11.Qd3 Qd7 12.Qg3 0–0 13.Nf3 (Pelletier) and White has a nice lead in development and better chances.
10.0–0–0 Nd7
10...Qxf2? is simply met by 11.Nh3 Qd4 12.Bg5 and Black loses the queen.
132 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 11.Bb5
Here Carlsen played 11...0–0. Why was that a mistake?
According to Pelletier, White could also consider 11.f4!?, for instance 11...0–0 (or 11...Be7 12.Bc3 Qe3+ 13.Kb1 0–0 14.Nh3 Qc5 15.Be2 with better chances for White) 12.Nf3 Qf2!? 13.Kb1 and White has the better chances.
11...0–0??
A ridiculous blunder by the future world champ. The alternatives were:
11...a6 12.Be3 Qe5 13.Bxc5! Qg5+ 14.Kb1 axb5 15.Bb4 with a large, probably winning advantage for White.
11...Qe5 12.Nf3 Qc7 13.Kb1!? a6 14.Bxd7+ Bxd7 15.Rc1 Rc8 16.Be3 Bd6 17.Qd3 Bc6 18.Nd4 0–0 19.Nxc6 bxc6 20.Qxa6 which is assessed as somewhat better for White by Pelletier, Black definitely has some compensation for the pawn although it probably isn't enough.
11...Qd6 12.Bc3 Qe7 13.Bxg7 Rg8 14.Bc3 a6 15.Bxd7+ Bxd7 16.Nf3 and Black does not have enough for the pawn.
12.Bc3!
Black cannot adequate guard the knight on d7 and therefore loses a piece. He continues for a few more moves before resigning. 133 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
12...Qxf2 13.Qxf2 Bxf2 14.Bxd7 Be3+ 15.Kc2 1–0
Game 94 Wl.Schmidt (2410) – C.Balogh (2562) Warsaw rapid 2007
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 d5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 c5 7.dxc5 d4 8.Qg3 0–0 9.b4
The main line is 9.Bh6 Ne8 10.h4 (10.Nf3 is probably White's best move: 10...Nc6 11.0–0–0 b6 12.e3 bxc5 13.exd4 Rb8 14.Bf4 and White has the clearly better chances, Ki.Georgiev-Gyimesi, Porto Carras 2011) 10...Nd7 (or 10...f6 11.h5 Nc6 12.Nf3 e5 13.e4 a5 14.Nh4 a4 15.Bd3 Qa5+ 16.Bd2 Qxc5 and Black has an excellent position, David-Trent, Liverpool 2008) 11.h5 Qc7 12.Rh3 f5 13.Qxc7 Nxc7 14.Bg5 e5 15.Be7 Re8 16.Bd6 Ne6 17.Rd1 Nexc5 18.f4 exf4 19.Nf3 d3 with a messy position and chances to both sides, Morozevich-Akopian, Heraklio 2007.
9...a5 10.b5 Nbd7 11.Bb2? e5 12.Rd1?
White's two last moves are not good at all. How should Black continue to best take advantage of them?
12...Ne4! 13.Qf3 Ndxc5
White's position is absolute rubbish: he is well behind in 134 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 development and can do little to improve his situation. In addition, Black threatens 14...a4 followed by ...Qa5+.
14.e3 d3
Or 14...a4 15.Bd3 Qa5+ 16.Ke2 Nxd3 17.Rxd3 Nc5 18.Rd2 Be6 and Black is winning.
15.Bc1 Be6 And here White resigned. There is to way to protect the c4–pawn. 0–1
Game 95 L.Van Wely (2629) – D.Bunzmann (2596) German Bundesliga 2000
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 c5 5.dxc5 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 Ne4!? 7.Qxg7
The main line is 7.Qa3 Nc6 8.Nf3 a5 9.Bd2 Qe7 10.g3 Nxc5 11.Bg2 b6 12.0–0 Bb7 13.Rfd1 d6 14.Bg5 Qc7 with chances to both sides, S.Ernst- Feygin, Netherlands 2008.
7...Qa5+ 8.Kd1 Nxf2+ 9.Kc2 Rf8 10.Be3 Nxh1 11.Nf3
Another possibility for White is 11.Nh3 f6 12.g3 Na6 13.Bg2 Nxc5?? (Black should have opted for 13...Nb4+ 14.Kb1 Rf7 15.Qg8+ Rf8 with a likely draw by repetition) 14.Bf3 Qa4+ 15.b3 Nxb3 16.Bh5+ Kd8 17.Qxf8+ Kc7 18.axb3 Qxa1 19.Qc5+ Kd8 20.Qf8+ Kc7 21.Qc5+ Kd8 was Forintos- Petran, Budapest 1983, and now 22.Bd4 wins on the spot: 22...Qa2+ 23.Kc1 e5 24.Nf4 exd4 25.Qf8+ Kc7 26.Nd5+ Kc6 27.Qxf6+ d6 28.Nb4+.
11...b6
Black has also tried 11...d6 12.Ng5?! (12.g4! is much better, offering White the better chances) 12...e5 13.g4?! Bxg4 14.Bg2 Nc6 15.Bxh1? 0–0– 0 16.Bxc6 bxc6 17.Nxf7 Bf5+ 18.Kb3 was played in Hammond-Webb, Birmingham 2000, and now 18...Be6 wins for Black.
12.Ne5 f5
135 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
How should White continue?
13.Bg5!
Now Black cannot escape mate
13...Qxc5 14.Qxh7! And with a mate in just a few moves, Black resigned. 1–0
Game 96 L.Aronian (2648) – J.Hjartarson (2640) Reykjavik blitz 2004
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 c5 5.dxc5 Qc7 6.Nf3 Bxc5 7.g3 a6 8.Bf4 Qb6 9.0–0–0 Nc6
Some alternatives for Black are:
9...Qa7 10.e3 Be7 11.g4 Nc6 12.g5 Nh5 13.Bd6 b6 14.Ne4 0–0 15.Ng3 g6 16.Qe4 Nxg3? (16...Ng7 is considerably better) 17.hxg3 Bxd6 18.Rxd6 and Black is completely tied up with few chances of improving his position, Aronian-H.Olafsson, Reykjavik 2004.
9...Bxf2 may look tempting, but it's a time eater that sends Black way behind in development and into trouble: 10.Kb1 Be3?? 11.Na4 (11.c5! Basically wins on the spot: 11...Qxc5 (11...Bxc5 12.Na4) 12.Bxe3 Qxe3 13.Nd5! Nxd5 14.Qxc8+ Ke7 15.Qxh8) 11...Qa7 12.c5 Bxf4 13.gxf4 Nc6 136 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 14.Rg1 Nb4? (Even the better option 14...0–0 is pretty ugly for Black: 15.Qc3 Kh8 16.e3 with an unplayable position for Black) 15.Qc3 Nbd5 16.Rxd5 Nxd5 17.Qxg7 Rf8 18.Ng5 f6 19.Nxh7 Rf7 20.Qg8+ and with nothing more than a few moves left before mate, Black resigned, 1–0, Dao Thien Hai-Csom, Budapest 1994.
10.Na4 Qa5 11.Nxc5 Qxc5 12.Bd6
12.Be3 Qa5 13.Qb3 b5 14.c5 Ng4 15.Bg2 Nxe3 16.fxe3 b4 17.Qc4 Bb7 18.Kb1 Rc8 19.Rd6?! (19.Qd3!?) 19...Ne7 20.Rc1 Nf5 with an excellent position for Black, Rajlich-Berczes, Budapest 2005.
12...Qxf2 13.Kb1
Now Black played 13...b5 to give his pieces some air to breathe. What did he miss?
13...b5?? 14.cxb5 axb5 15.Bc5 The queen is trapped and therefore Black resigned. 1–0
Game 97 C.Amura (2365) – R.Hernandez Onna (2430) Merida 1997
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 c5 5.dxc5 Bxc5 6.Nf3 Qb6 7.e3 a6 8.b3 Qc7 9.Bb2 b6 10.Be2 Bb7 11.0–0 Ng4!?
137 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 This is a tricky, but interesting option. The alternative is 11...Be7 12.Rad1 b5?! (12...d6 heading for a standard hedgehog position is perfectly fine for Black) 13.cxb5 axb5 14.Qd2 b4 15.Nb5 Qb6 16.Bd4 Qa5 17.Bxf6 gxf6 18.Nd6+ Bxd6 19.Qxd6 with big lead in development and clearly better chances for White, Onischuk-D.Gurevich, San Diego 2004.
12.e4 Nc6
What is Black's threat?
13.h3 And White resigned at the same time, probably realizing her fate just as she dropped the pawn on h3. The right move is 13.g3 Nge5 14.Qd2 0–0 15.Na4 d6 16.a3 a5 17.Ne1 f5 18.Nxc5 (White should have played 18.exf5 although 18...Rxf5 looks enticing for Black) 18...dxc5 19.f4 Rad8 20.Qc1?! Ng4 21.e5?! Nd4 22.Bd1? Qc6 23.Nf3 Qe4 24.Bxd4 cxd4, and White resigned, 0–1, which is early, but understandable: his position is horrible. Valles-Miralles, Switzerland 2015. 0–1
Game 98 M.Sjoberg (2475) – A.Ornstein (2440) Stockholm 1993
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 c5 5.Bd3 Nc6 6.Nf3 Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 d6 8.0–0 0–0 9.Ng5 h6 10.f4?!
Optimistic and ultimately not very good. 10.Ne4 has been played at 138 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 least a dozen times but is also okay for Black.
10...hxg5 11.fxg5 Ne8 12.Qh5 g6 13.Qh6
How does Black meet White's threat of Rf4–h4 (or Rf3–h3)?
13...e5
Black tries to prevent White's rook lift by taking away both f4 and h3 from White's rook but misses a more immediate threat. Instead Black should have played 13...Qe7 and after 14.Rf4 then 14...f5 15.Qxg6+ Qg7 16.Qh5 e5 17.Rh4 Ne7 and White's attack is going nowhere.
14.Bxg6! Of course, Black cannot recapture because of Rxf8 mate. 1–0
Game 99 V.Babula (2582) – B.Kurajica (2534) Istanbul Olympiad 2000
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0–0 5.Bd3 d6 6.Nge2 c5 7.0–0 Nc6 8.dxc5
The main lines are 8.a3 and 8.Qc2.
8...Ne5!?
139 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 An interesting gambit response to White's tame 8th move.
9.a3
One of the more interesting questions is why White didn't accept Black's pawn sacrifice? After 9.cxd6 Bxd6 10.f4 Nxd3 11.Qxd3 Bc5 12.Rd1 Bd7, Black probably has pretty decent compensation for the pawn: Black's pieces (once the bishop goes to c6 and with rooks on d- and c- files) are excellently coordinated, whereas their white counterparts are somewhat disorganized with some flaws in the pawn structure as well.
9...Bxc5 10.b4 Bb6 11.Bb2
White should have opted for 11.f4 Nxd3 12.Qxd3 Qe7 13.Na4 Bc7 14.Bb2 and White's chances are by no means worse.
11...Nfg4 12.Nf4?
How should Black best continue? (Calculate the follow-up after White's most natural responses as well)
12.Nd4 would have been the way to go, keeping Black's initiative somewhat under wraps, e.g. 12...Qh4 13.h3 Nxd3 14.Qxd3, but after 14...Ne5 15.Qe2 Bxd4 16.exd4 Qxd4 17.Ne4 Qd3 Black nevertheless still has the better chances.
12...Qh4! 13.h3?
Or 13.Nh3 Nxd3 14.Qxd3 Ne5 and Black wins a pawn. 140 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
13...Nxf2!
Of course, 13...Nxe3 14.fxe3 Bxe3+ 15.Kh1 Bxf4 16.Ne2 Bh6 also wins for Black.
14.Qe1
How should Black best continue?
14...Qxf4! Game over! Black wins material. 0–1
Game 100 A.Cherepkov (2425) – A.Anastasian (2475) Leningrad 1990
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 b6 5.Nge2 Bb7 6.a3 Bxc3+ 7.Nxc3 d5 8.Be2
8.cxd5 is more common, but the text move is also okay.
8...0–0 9.0–0 Nbd7 10.b4 e5?!
Black plays to equalize immediately, but opening the game for White's bishop isn't without its dangers. The alternative 10...dxc4 11.Bxc4 c5 also offers White a small plus.
141 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
11.dxe5 Nxe5 12.cxd5 Nxd5 13.Nxd5 Bxd5 14.Bb2
Now Black played 14...Nc4; can you spot what Black has missed in his calculations?
14...Nc4??
The better move is 14...Re8 although 15.Qc2 is clearly better for White.
15.Bxc4 All of a sudden, Black noticed that after 15.Bxc4 Bxc4 White has 16.Qg4 with the double threat on g7 and c4. 1–0
Game 101 E.Bareev (2560) – L.Zsinka (2420) Naestved 1988
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 b6 5.Nge2 Ne4 6.Qc2 Bb7 7.Ng3
After this move, Black should not have any problems. The main line is 7.a3. Other moves of interest are 7.f3 and 7.Nf4.
7...Qh4 8.Bd3 f5 9.0–0 Bxc3 10.bxc3 0–0 11.Ne2 Rf6 12.Bxe4?
142 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
Find the two wins for Black.
White’s only chance to stay in the game was 12.f3 Rh6 13.h3 Ng3 14.Nxg3 Qxg3 15.e4 Rxh3 16.Bf4 Qxf4 17.gxh3.
12...Bxe4!
The most obvious choice, but Black can also win with 12...Rh6! 13.f3 (or 13.h3 Bxe4 14.Qd1 Bxg2) 13...Qxh2+ 14.Kf2 fxe4 15.f4 d5 with a won position for Black.
13.Qd1?! Bf3! After the text White will have to give up the queen to prevent mate. 0–1
Game 102 B.Damljanovic (2573) – B.Maksimovic (2418) Serbian Team Championship (Sombor) 2009
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 b6 5.Nge2 Ba6 6.a3 Bxc3+ 7.Nxc3 d5 8.b3 Nc6 9.Be2 Na5
143 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
How should White best continue?
Black should have played 9...0–0 10.a4 (or 10.0–0 dxc4 11.bxc4 Na5 12.Qa4 Qe8 13.Nb5 Qd7 14.Rb1 Rac8 15.Bd2 c6 16.Nc3 c5 17.Qxd7 Nxd7 18.Nb5 Bxb5 19.Rxb5 a6 20.Rbb1 cxd4 21.Bxa5 d3 22.Bxd3 bxa5 and draw agreed, ½–½, Yusupov-Istratescu, Switzerland 2008) 10...dxc4 (10...Qd7 11.0–0 Rfd8 12.Bb2 dxc4 13.bxc4 Na5 14.Nb5 c6 15.Na3 c5 and Black has more or less equalized, Hillarp Persson-Shengelia, Reykjavik 2015) 11.Ba3 Re8 12.b4 Bb7 13.Bxc4 e5 14.d5 Ne7 15.Qb3 Nf5 16.Bb5 (16.0–0!?) 16...Re7 17.Rd1 was Nisipeanu-Berger, Barcelona 2012, and now 17...a6 18.Bc6 Bxc6 19.dxc6 Qc8 20.b5 Qe6 21.Qc2 Ree8 would have been about equal.
10.b4! Black loses a piece. In our main game, Black chose to resign at this point. In another game, Mertanen-Tolonen, Tampere 1999, Black continued a while longer: 10.b4 Bxc4 (or 10...Nxc4 11.Qa4+ whereas both 10...Nc6 and 10...Nb7 are both met with 11.b5 trapping the bishop) 11.bxa5 Bxe2 12.Qxe2 and Black is just a piece down. 1–0
Game 103 S.Geirnaert (2441) – N.Capone (2426) Wachtebeke 2016
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0–0 5.Bd3 d5 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Nge2 c5 8.a3 cxd4 9.axb4 dxc3 10.Nxc3 Nc6
Or 10...Bg4 11.f3 Be6 12.Kf2 d4 13.Ne2 Nc6 14.Bb5 Nd5 15.Nxd4 Ndxb4 16.Nxe6 fxe6 17.Qxd8 Rfxd8 18.Ke2 Kf7 19.Bd2 where the bishop 144 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 pair should promise White a tiny edge in the endgame, Aleksandrov- Belikov, Spasskoe 1996.
11.b5 Nb4!?
Black usually plays 11...Ne5 at this point, e.g. 12.Be2 (or 12.0–0 Bg4 13.Be2 Re8 14.h3 Bxe2 15.Nxe2 Qd7 16.Nd4 Ne4 with chances to both sides, Tregubov-Ghaem Maghami, Doha 2016) 12...Be6 13.Qd4 Qb8 14.b3 Ng6 15.0–0 a6 16.Bb2 Rd8 17.Rfd1 h6 18.h3 Ne7 19.Qb4 and White is comfortably in comannd of the game, Aleksandrov-Megaranto, Jurmala 2014.
12.b3??
White intends Ba3, pinning the knight, expecting to force 12...Nxd3+ 13.Qxd3 with positional pressure against Black's a-pawn and nice on the dark squares. But which resource for Black did White overlook?
White should have given preference to 12.Bb1!? for instance 12...a5 13.Qd4 Be6 14.0–0 and while White's bishops presently look arranged somewhat clumsily, the bigger issue is that Black's knight on b4 will find it difficult to report for action. Or 12.0–0 Nxd3 13.Qxd3 with a small plus along the lines of what he was hoping for.
12...d4! 13.exd4 Qxd4 White undoubtedly had originally intended 13...Qxd4 to be met by 14.Bxh7+, winning the queen, but now realizing that after 14...Kxh7 15.Qxd4 Black plays 15...Nc2+ leaving him a piece up. 0–1
145 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
Game 104 I.Sokolov (2641) – I.Khenkin (2652) Belgian Team Championship 2010
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0–0 5.Bd3 d5 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Nge2 Re8 8.Bd2 Bd6 9.Rc1 a6
Or 9...c6 10.f3 a5 11.0–0 Na6 12.Qe1 Nc7 13.Kh1 Ne6 14.Qf2 c5 15.Nb5 Bf8 16.dxc5 Nxc5 with chances to both sides, I.Sokolov-Fluvia Poyatos, Barcelona 2012.
10.0–0 b5
Another option for Black is 10...Nbd7 11.Ng3 b6 12.Qf3 (12.Nce2?! is worse 12...c5 13.dxc5 bxc5 14.Bc3 Ne5 15.Bb1 Bb7 and Black has already taken control of the game, Shimanov-So, Las Vegas 2015) 12...Bb7 13.Nf5 Bf8 14.Qh3 g6 15.Nh6+ Kg7 16.e4 dxe4 17.Bc4 Re7 18.Bg5 with a good initiative for White in return for the pawn, Martinovic-Palac, Porec 2014.
11.Nf4 Bb7 12.Qf3 Ne4 13.Be1 Qg5 14.a4 b4
What is White's best move?
Black should instead have played 14...c5!?, e.g. 15.axb5 cxd4 16.bxa6 Nxa6 17.Nb5 dxe3 with good game for Black.
15.Ncxd5 And Black resigned. After 15.Ncxd5 Bxd5 16.Nxd5 Qxd5, 146 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 White plays 17.Bc4!, forcing 17...Bxh2+ 18.Kxh2 Qd7, but after 19.Bd3 f5 20.Bxb4 with a positional toilet of a position for Black and in addition, White is up a pawn. 1–0
Game 105 A.Lilienthal – C.Kottnauer Moscow-Prague match (Moscow) 1946
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 0–0 7.Bd3 d5 8.cxd5 Qxd5 9.Nf3 Nc6
Black's two main options at this point are:
9...cxd4 10.exd4 b6 11.c4 Qd6 12.0–0 Bb7 13.Bb2 Be4 14.Bxe4 Nxe4 15.d5! Nc5 16.Nd4 and White has the initiative and better chances, I.Sokolov-Stefansson, Reykjavik 2013.
9...b6 10.0–0 Ba6 11.Re1 Bxd3 12.Qxd3 Qe4 13.Qb5 Rc8 14.a4 Nc6 15.Ba3 Nd5 16.Rac1 a6 17.Qf1 Na5 18.Nd2 Qg6 19.e4 Nf4 20.g3 and White has the somewhat better chances, Gulko-Georgiev, Leon 2010.
10.e4
Can Black get away with capturing the pawn? How should White follow-up?
10...Nxe4 147 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
Or 10...Qh5 11.e5 Nd5 12.g4 (12.Bd2!?) 12...Qh3 (12...Qxg4 13.Rg1 is very dangerous for Black) 13.Ng5 Qh4 14.Bxh7+ Kh8 15.Bc2 f5 (Black may be able to get away with 15...Nxc3 16.Qf3 cxd4 although it is highly dangerous) 16.gxf5 Nxc3 17.Qd3 cxd4 18.Nf3 Qh5 19.f6 gxf6 20.Rg1 was played in Santos-Badev, Singapore 1990, and now 20...fxe5 21.Rg5 Qf7 22.Rg3 Qf5 23.Qd2 Qf4 would have left the position on the board in a messy state, but White should have the somewhat better chances.
11.c4 Qf5 12.Qc2
White can also play 12.Qe2, for instance 12...Nc3 (12...Nxd4 13.Qxe4 Nxf3+ 14.gxf3 of course wins for White) 13.Qc2 Qg4 14.Qxc3 cxd4 15.Qb3 Qxg2
Both the knight and rook are threatened; how does White best solve this problem?
16.Rg1 (The text move is good and it wins, but it is in fact not the best move! Instead 16.Bxh7+! Kxh7 17.Rg1 wins Black's queen because 17...Qh3 is met by 18.Ng5+) 16...Qh3 (16...Qxf3 is of course met by 17.Bxh7+ winning Black's queen.) 17.Rg3 Qh5 18.Rg5 Qh3 19.Rg3 Qh5 20.Ng5 (After repeating the moves a couple of times, White gets on with it) 20...f5 21.Rh3 Qg4 22.Rxh7 Qg1+ 23.Bf1 f4 24.Rh8+, and with a mate in two looming, Black resigned, 1–0, Ezat-Shetty, Manama 2009.
12...Nxd4 13.Nxd4 cxd4 14.Bxe4 Qe5 15.f4 Having lost a piece, Black resigned. 1–0 148 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
Game 106 T.Ghitescu – R.Fischer Leipzig Olympiad 1960
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0–0 5.Bd3 d5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.0–0 dxc4 8.Bxc4 Bd6 9.Bb5 e5 10.Bxc6 exd4 11.exd4 bxc6 12.Bg5 Re8
12...h6 13.Bh4 Re8 14.Qc2 g5 15.Bg3 Bxg3 16.fxg3 g4 17.Nh4 Qxd4+ 18.Kh1 Be6 19.Rf4 Qe5 20.Raf1 Nh5 with a messy position an chances to both sides, Babula-Blatny, Ostrava 2014.
12...Bf5 13.Re1 Re8 14.Rxe8+ Qxe8 15.Bxf6 gxf6 16.Nh4 Bg6 17.Qd2 Qe6 18.Re1 Qg4 19.Nxg6 hxg6 20.Ne4 Kg7 21.Nxd6, and draw agreed, ½– ½, in Estremera Panos-Mastrovasilis, Leros 2009.
13.Qd3 c5
White had probably calculated 14.dxc5 Bxc5 15.Qc4 Bb6 16.Rad1 with some initiative for White, but can you see what he had overlooked?
Black has also tried 13...h6 14.Bh4 c5 15.Bxf6 Qxf6 16.Ne4 Qf4 17.dxc5 Bf8 18.Ng3 Bg4 19.Rac1 Rad8 20.Qc4 Qxc4 21.Rxc4 Be6 and despite currently being down a pawn, the bishop pair provides Black with the somewhat better chances, Michenka-Gipslis, Ostrava 1993.
14.dxc5??
149 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 In a later game, Ghitescu, as Black, faced 14.d5 Rb8 15.b3 h6 16.Bh4 Bg4 17.Rfe1 Bxf3 18.Qxf3 Be5 19.Rad1 Qd7 with chances to both sides, Moisieev-Ghitescu, Amsterdam 1967.
14...Bxh2+ Ouch! White resigned. 0–1
Game 107 M.Sadler (2535) – V.Loginov (2505) Budapest 1993
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0–0 5.Bd3 d5 6.Nf3 b6 7.0–0 Bb7 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Ne5 Nbd7 10.f4 c5 11.Qf3
The main line is 11.Bd2
11...cxd4
Both 11...Bxc3 and 11...Re8 have been tested in grandmaster games.
12.exd4 Ne4 13.Bc2 f6?
Black is fighting for the initiative, but he missed something; can you spot the problem for Black?
Black should have played 13...Rc8! with a good game, e.g. 14.Nxe4 dxe4, and now White cannot recapture on e4: 15.Bxe4?? Nxe5 16.dxe5 Qd4+ winning the bishop. 150 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
14.Nxd7 Qxd7??
Black had not yet spotted the problem with his previous move. If he had, then 14...Bxc3 15.Nxf8 Bxd4+ 16.Be3 with clearly better chances for White would have been preferable.
15.Nxe4 And now Black realized what was going on... if he recaptures on e4 then White has Qb3+ winning the bishop on b4. 1–0
Game 108 A.Lugovoi (2566) – Y.Balashov (2500) Russian Championship (Krasnoyarsk) 2003
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0–0 5.Bd3 d5 6.Nf3 b6 7.a3 Bd6?!
7...Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 is more accurate according to Kortchnoi.
8.e4 dxe4 9.Nxe4 Bb7?
Black should play 9...Nbd7 at this point: 10.0–0 Bb7 11.Nxd6 cxd6 12.Bf4 (or 12.Bg5 h6 13.Bh4 d5 was played in Kortschnoi-Timman, Horgen 1995, and now Kortchnoi gave 14.b3!? as best, claiming an advantage for White after 14...dxc4 15.bxc4 although Dautov believed 15...Qc7 16.Bg3 Qc6 would provide Black with adequate counterplay) 12...e5 13.dxe5 Bxf3 14.Qxf3 Nxe5 15.Qd1 Nxd3 16.Qxd3 d5 17.Rfd1 dxc4 18.Qxc4 Qc8 with at best an insignificant advantage for White in the shape of bishop vs knight with pawns on two wings, I.Sokolov-Wang Hao, Wijk aan Zee 2013.
10.Nxf6+!
Some strong players as White have tried a couple of other moves here, which goes to show that White's upcoming idea may not be that easy to spot unless you are aware of it:
10.Qc2 Nbd7 11.Bg5 h6 12.h4 Be7 which is fine for Black, although not without danger, Rabar-Nievergelt, Belgrade 1954, e.g. 13.Nxf6+ Nxf6 14.0–0–0 with a sharp position where both sides have their share of the chances.
151 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 10.Bg5 Be7 11.Qc2 Nxe4 12.Bxe4 Bxe4 13.Qxe4 Nd7 14.h4 Nf6 15.Qc2 c5 and Black should not worry unduly, Flear-Hawksworth, Southport 1983.
10...Qxf6
How should White continue?
The fact that 10...gxf6 11.Bh6 f5 12.Bxf8 Qxf8 13.0–0 is Black's best option shows how badly things have turned out for Black.
11.Bg5 Bxf3 12.Qd2! And Black resigned!! After 12.Qd2! Bf4 (12...Qxd4 13.Bxh7+ Kxh7 14.Qxd4 is of course much worse) 13.Bxf4 Bxg2 (If 13...Bb7 then 14.Bg5 just repeats the threat with even more devastating effect) 14.Rg1 Nc6 15.Rxg2, leaving White a piece up. In another game, a grandmaster playing Black against a 2000+ rated opponent fought the embarrassment and continued a while longer: 15...Nxd4 16.Qe3 Rfe8 17.0–0–0 e5 18.Bg5 Qe6 19.Qe4 g6 20.h4 c6 21.h5 Nb3+ 22.Kb1 Nc5 23.Qh4 e4 24.Be2 b5 25.hxg6 fxg6 26.Rh1 and having avoided losing a miniature, Black finally resigned, 1–0, Van Halderen- Lalith, Leiden 2012. 1–0
Game 109 A.Graf (2600) – M.Ghorbani (2391) Beirut 2000
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 b6 5.Bd2 Bb7 6.e3 0–0 7.Bd3 d5 152 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 8.0–0 Nbd7
How should White continue?
Black's alternatives are:
8...Bd6 9.cxd5 exd5 10.Qb1 a6 11.b4 Re8 12.a4 Nc6 13.b5 Na5 14.Rc1 Nc4 15.Be1 axb5 16.Nxb5 Bf8 with about even chances, Stern-Navara, Solingen 2016.
8...c5 9.a3 cxd4 10.exd4 dxc4 11.Bxc4 Be7 12.Bg5 Nbd7 13.Re1 Rc8 14.Ba2 Re8 15.Rc1 Nf8 16.Ne5 N6d7 17.Bxe7 Rxe7 with equal chances, Bosiocic-Zelcic, Sibenik 2012.
8...dxc4 9.Bxc4 Nbd7 10.Qe2 c5 11.Rfd1 cxd4 12.Nxd4 Qe7 13.Ba6 Bxa6 14.Qxa6 Bd6 15.Rac1 Nc5 16.Qe2 Rac8 is fractionally better for White according to my computer, but it looks quite equal to me, Ivanchuk-Kryvoruchko, Varadero 2016.
9.Nxd5
Black's previous move is a mistake, an incredibly common one. On my database, I had more than 80 examples of Black playing 8...Nbd7 at all levels of play. Incredibly, White frequently misses the opportunity to capitalize on it. The moves 9.Rc1 and 9.a3 are the most frequently seen misses.
9...Nxd5 10.cxd5 Bd6?
153 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 This only makes matters worse. Black should have played 10...Bxd2 11.dxe6 (or 11.Qxd2 Bxd5 12.Qc2 h6 13.e4 Bb7 14.Rad1 Rc8 15.Qa4 a6 16.b4 Qe7 17.Rfe1 Ra8 18.Bb1 and while White has more space, Black's position is solid and by no means any worse, Kortschnoi-Rahman, Mallorca 2004) 11...Bxf3 12.gxf3 Bxe3 (12...fxe6 13.Qxd2 Qh4 14.Qe2 e5 15.Bb5 Rad8 16.Bxd7 Rxd7 17.dxe5 Qg5+ 18.Kh1 Qxe5 is okay for Black, Stern-Von Herman, Kreuzberg 2014) 13.exf7+ Kh8 14.fxe3 Qg5+ 15.Kh1 Qxe3 16.Bc4 (White should have played 16.Rc1 Rxf7 17.Rxc7 Ne5 18.Rxf7 Nxf7 19.Be4 and although Black has some compensation for the pawn, White does have that extra pawn) 16...Nf6 17.Re1 Qf4 18.Qd3 Rad8 19.Rad1 Nd5 and Black wins back the pawn, Efimov-Leon Hoyos, Bratto 2008.
11.dxe6 fxe6 12.e4 e5 13.Ng5 Qf6 14.Bc4+
White had an even stronger option in 14.Nxh7! , e.g. 14...Kxh7 15.Qh5+ Kg8 16.Bc4+ Rf7 17.Bg5 g6 18.Qg4 Qg7 19.Qxd7 and White should win easily
14...Rf7
Or 14...Kh8 15.Nxh7!.
15.Nxf7 Black resigned. 1–0
Game 110 D.Chuprikov (2414) – D.Bocharov (2606) Voronezh 2009
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0–0 5.Bd3 d5 6.Nf3 c5 7.0–0 b6 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Ne5 Ba6 10.Nc6!?
154 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
The point behind White's move is of course that if Black recaptures on c6, then the protection of the bishop on a6 is removed. Black had to make some considerations at this point: 10...Nxc6 11.Bxa6 Qe7 12.a3 Bxc3 13.bxc3 with a typical pawn structure and piece distribution for this variation; 10...Qc7 is met by 11.Nxb4 cxb4 12.Nb5 Qe7 13.Bd2 with the somewhat better chances for White. Whereas after 10...Qd7 11.Nxb4 cxb4, White doesn’t have 12.N5 available and after 12.Ne2 Rc8 13.Nf4 Bxd3 14.Qxd3 a5 we have an interesting position. So, what did Black miss in the above calculation?
10.Bxa6 Nxa6 11.Ne2 (or 11.Qa4 Nb8 12.dxc5 bxc5 13.Rd1 Qd6 14.Nf3 Bxc3 15.bxc3 Nbd7 16.Ba3 Qe6 with chances to both sides, Khotenashvili-Hou Yifan, Lopota 2014) 11...Qd6 12.a3 Ba5 13.b3 b5 14.a4 b4 15.Bb2 Ne4 16.Rc1 Rac8 17.Qd3 f6 18.Nf3 is at marginally better for White, Peralta-E.L'Ami, Rabat 2015.
10.dxc5 bxc5 (10...Qe7 11.Bxa6 Bxc3 12.Nc6 Nxc6 13.bxc3 bxc5 14.Ba3 is assessed as equal by my computer, but I would rather play White with the pair of bishops in this position) 11.Bxa6 Nxa6 12.Nc6 Qc7 13.Nxd5 Nxd5 14.Qxd5 Rac8 15.Nxb4 cxb4 16.e4 Qc2 17.Be3 with a position where White's bishop is far superior to Black's misplaced knight on a6, Shen Yang-Tan Zhongyi, Xinghua 2014.
10...Qd7?? 11.Nxb8 The protection of the a6–bishop is removed with a simultaneous threat to the queen, as a result, Black loses a piece. 1–0
155 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
Chapter 5
The Catalan, The Blumenfeld
& The Bogo-Indian This last chapter features three different opening systems: The Catalan which is named so for being introduced in a tournament in Barcelona in 1929 by Tartakower. It is considered a solid way of playing for a win with White, but if Black captures on c4 and tries to hang on to the pawn, then complications arise immediately. The Blumenfeld gambit is considered unsound, but does appear from time to time in games by grandmasters and international masters. Finally, we have the Bogo- Indian which is named after Grandmaster Bogoljubow. It is considered incredibly solid, if a little passive, but has featured in the repertoires of many strong grandmasters.
Game 111 A.Rychagov (2541) – M.Novikov (2498) Tula 2004
1.c4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 c6 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.g3 dxc4 6.Bg2 Nbd7 7.0–0 Bb4 8.Ne1
This move is very unusual. The main line is 8.Qc2 and now 8...0–0 9.Rd1 Qe7 10.Ne5 Nb6 11.Ne4 Nxe4 12.Bxe4 h6 13.Nxc4 Nxc4 14.Qxc4 was somewhat better for White in Khalifman-Dreev, Plovdiv 2012.
8...0–0 9.Nc2 Ba5
156 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 Black could also have considered 9...a5, for instance, 10.Ne3 Nb6 and White faces some difficulties recovering the c-pawn.
10.a4
White play standard Slav moves, not considering that his knight on c2 is not exactly placed in the standard Slav position
10...e5!?
10...Qe7!? can also be considered.
11.d5?! cxd5 12.Nxd5 Nb6! 13.e4?
What is Black's best move?
White's position is already difficult. For instance, even after the better move, 13.Nxf6+, Black is much better: 13...Qxf6 14.Ne3 Be6 15.Qd6 Rac8 16.Bxb7 Rfd8 17.Qa3 Rc7 with a dominating position.
13...Nbxd5 14.exd5 Bg4!
The simple refutation of White's play.
15.f3 Bf5 White now loses the second pawn: 15...Bf5 16.f4 exf4 17.Rxf4 Bd3 18.Bd2 Nxd5 leaving it rather pointless to continue. 0–1
157 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 Game 112 Ni Hua (2662) – A.Adly (2631) Shenzhen 2011
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 dxc4 5.Qa4+ Nbd7 6.Qxc4 a6 7.Qc2 c5 8.d4 Be7 9.0–0 0–0 10.Rd1 Qb6
A more common alternative is 10...cxd4 for instance 11.Nxd4 Bc5 12.Nc3 Qe7 13.h3 Rd8 14.Nb3 Bd6 15.Be3 Rb8 16.Ba7 and the players started repeating moves before agreeing to share the point, Antoniewski- Papp, Slovakia 2015.
11.Nc3 cxd4
Black has tried a couple of other moves here:
11...Qa7 12.Be3 Ng4 13.Bg5 f6 14.Be3 and a draw agreed, ½–½, in Bilek-Ruf, Val Thorens 1989. But 14.Bc1 may be an improvement, for instance 14...Nxf2 (14...cxd4 15.Nxd4 e5 16.Nf5 Qxf2+ 17.Kh1 Bc5 18.h3 wins for White) 15.Kxf2 cxd4 16.Nxd4 e5 17.Nd5 Bc5 18.Qc4! with a somewhat better position for White.
11...Re8 12.e4 cxd4 13.Nxd4 Qa7 14.h3 Ne5 15.b3 Bc5 16.Be3 Bd7 17.Qb2 Rac8 with more or less equal chances, Bertok-Golombek, Opatija 1953.
12.Rxd4 Qc7 13.Be3 Nd5 14.Ng5 N7f6
What is White's best move?
158 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
Black should have opted for 14...Bxg5 although 15.Bxg5 Nxc3 16.Qxc3 Qxc3 17.bxc3 e5 18.Rb4 looks like a grim defensive task ahead.
15.Nxd5!! This is a pretty cool combination. Black can't take White's queen because of 15.Nxd5 Qxc2 16.Nxe7+ Kh8 17.Nxf7+! Rxf7 18.Rd8+ with a mate in a couple more moves. 1–0
Game 113 S.Telljohann (2375) – N.Kelecevic (2460) Biel 1994
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 e6 4.0–0 Be7 5.c4 dxc4 6.Qa4+ Nbd7 7.Qxc4 c5 8.d4 0–0 9.dxc5 Bxc5 10.Nc3 a6 11.Ne4
11.Qh4 Qe8 12.Rd1 Rb8 13.Bg5 b5 14.Nd4 Bb7 15.Nc6 (The more accurate choice for White is 15.Bxb7 Rxb7 16.Ne4 Nxe4 17.Qxe4 Rc7 18.Rac1 with some initiative) 15...Ra8 16.Ne7+ Bxe7 17.Bxb7 h6 18.Bd2 Ra7 and Black has equalized, Yakovich-Shomoev, Ramenskoe 2006.
11...Be7 12.Nxf6+
Or 12.Rd1 Nd5 13.Bg5 Bxg5 14.Nfxg5 h6 15.Nf3 b5 16.Qc6 (16.Qd4!? Bb7 17.Nd6 seems to promise something more interesting) 16...Rb8 17.Nd6 Rb6 18.Qxc8 Qxc8 19.Nxc8 Rxc8 with equal chances, Grabarczyk- Strzemiecki, Police 2014.
12...Bxf6 13.Rd1 Qa5 14.Bd2 Nb6?
159 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
Even without this move, Black's position would have been uncomfortable, e.g. 14...Qb5 15.Qxb5 axb5 16.Bb4 with nice pressure for White.
15.Qxc8! This refutation is so simple it hurts. Black resigned. 1–0
Game 114 A.Shvedchikov (2421) – N.Pushkov (2466) Senior World Championship (Arco) 2010
1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 c5 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.0–0 Nc6 5.d4 e6 6.c4 dxc4 7.Qa4 Bd7 8.dxc5 Bxc5 9.Qxc4 Qe7 10.Nc3
The immediate 10.Bg5 is the main alternative and one that scores very well for White.
10...Rc8
10...h6 makes a lot of sense, stopping White's chances of playing the annoying Bg5.
11.Bg5 h6 12.Bxf6 gxf6 13.Ne4
This makes a lot of sense, but 13.Rfd1 Na5 14.Qf4 Bc6 15.Rac1 Kf8 16.Nh4 h5 17.Bxc6 Rxc6 18.Ne4 is very unpleasant for Black, Lysyj- Kotanjian, Martuni 2009.
160 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 13...Bb6 14.Qd3
What will White's response be to 14...0–0 by Black?
14...0–0
Black should have played the much more solid and patient 14...Rc7 and now 15.Rac1 0–0 16.Qd2 Kh7 17.Rfd1 Rd8 looks decent for Black.
15.Qxd7 Of course! Black resigned. Exactly the same game was played in Frog (2421)-Vorobiov(2478), Moscow 2001, where Black also resigned at this point. After 15.Qxd7 Qxd7 16.Nxf6+ Kg7 17.Nxd7 Black is just down a piece. 1–0
Game 115 E.Kourousis (2354) – T.Hinks Edwards (2414) Czech Republic 2012
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.Bg2 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 a5 7.0–0 b5
161 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
How should White best continue?
8.a4 Bxd2
Or 8...c6 9.axb5 Bxd2 10.Qxd2 cxb5 11.Qg5 Ba6 12.Ne5 h6 13.Qxg7 Rh7 14.Nxf7 Qxd4 15.Nd6+ Qxd6 16.Qxf6 Raa7 17.Nc3, and Black is already completely lost, Sebenik-Franic, Pula 2009.
9.Nfxd2 Ra7
9...c6 10.axb5 Qxd4 11.Na3 Nd5 12.Ndxc4 Qxd1 13.Rfxd1 Ke7 14.Rac1 with a huge lead and a nearly winning position for White, David- Brunello, Kallithea 2008.
10.axb5 Qxd4 11.Qa4 Bd7 12.Nxc4
162 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 How does White react if Black plays 12...Nd5?
12...Nd5??
Black's position is pretty terrible already, e.g. 12...Qc5 13.Nc3 0–0 14.Rfd1 and White completely dominates.
13.Nd6+ This move wasn't possible before Black played 12...Nd5 because the queen covered the d6–square. Now Black had nothing better than to resign. 1–0
Game 116 V.Inkiov (2446) – V.Meijers (2496) San Sebastian 2008
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.Bg2 Nc6 6.Qa4 Bb4+ 7.Bd2 Nd5 8.Bxb4 Ndxb4 9.e3
Here 9.0–0 is the most common, e.g. 9...Rb8 10.Na3 0–0 11.Qb5 b6 12.Qxc4 Ba6 13.Nb5 Qd5 14.Qxd5 Nxd5 15.a4 Na5 16.Ne5 Rbd8 17.Nxa7 Nb4 18.Rac1 Rxd4 19.Rxc7 (19.Nb5 Bxb5 20.axb5 f6 21.e3 Rdd8 22.Nf3 Rf7 23.Bh3 Re7 is, if anything, only fractionally worse for Black, Kramnik- Nakamura, London 2011) 19...Bxe2 20.Rfc1 f6 21.Nec6 Naxc6 22.Nxc6 Nxc6 23.R7xc6 with marginally better chances for White, Anand- Kramnik, Bilbao 2010. Other alternatives include 9.a3, 9.Nc3, and 9.Na3.
9...b5 10.Qxb5 Nc2+
Here Black should have considered 10...Rb8, for instance, 11.Qa4 (11.Qxc4 is much worse 11...Ba6 12.Qc3 Nd3+ and Black is already winning) 11...Bd7 12.0–0 Nxd4 13.Qxa7 Nxf3+ 14.Bxf3 Nc2 15.Nc3 Nxa1 16.Rxa1 0–0 with much better chances for Black.
11.Kd2
163 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
How should Black continue?
11...Nxa1??
Black misses his opportunity and instead blunders. With 11...Bd7!! 12.Qc5 (12.Kxc2?? should, of course, be avoided because of 12...Nxd4+) 12...Nxa1 13.Na3 Rb8 14.Nxc4 Nb3+ and Black has the better chances.
12.Qxc6+
12.Ne5! would, in fact, have been more accurate, for instance, 12...0–0 13.Bxc6 a6 14.Qxc4 Rb8 15.b3 with a crushingly dominating position.
12...Bd7 13.Qxc4 c5 And Black resigned at the same time, somewhat premature, but Black is clearly worse. 1–0
Game 117 P.Arnaudov (2453) – J.Radulski (2586) Bulgarian Championship (Bankia) 2011
1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Nf6 4.Bg2 Be7 5.0–0 0–0 6.d4 Nc6 7.Nc3 dxc4 8.e3 Rb8 9.Nd2
The theoretical main line is 9.Qa4 and here 9...Nb4 10.Qxa7 Bd7 11.Ne5 Nfd5 (or 11...c6 12.Qa4 b5 13.Qd1 c5 14.dxc5 Qc7 15.a3 Nc6 16.Nxd7 Nxd7 17.a4 with somewhat better chances for White, Miton- Zherebukh, Haguenau 2013) 12.Qxb8 Qxb8 13.Nxd7 Qa7 14.Nxf8 Bxf8 164 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 15.Bd2 c6 16.b3 b5 17.bxc4 bxc4 18.a4 with two rooks vs queen in addition to the bishop pair White has the better chances, Miton-Lysyj, Warsaw 2013.
9...e5!?
Or 9...Na5 10.Qa4 b6 11.Rd1 Bd7 12.Qc2 c5 13.dxc5 Bxc5 14.Nde4 Nxe4 15.Nxe4 was Popov-Al.Karpov, Novosibirsk 2006, and here 15...Be7 16.Bd2 Qc7 would have been fine for Black.
10.Bxc6 exd4
Black also has the better chances after 10...bxc6 11.Nxc4 exd4 12.exd4 Ba6 13.b3 Bb4 14.Bb2 Re8 and Black has the upper hand.
11.Bb5
Trying to pick up the c-pawn. What has White missed when deciding to play this move?
11.exd4 bxc6 12.Nxc4 transposes to line with 10...bxc6 above.
11...dxc3 12.bxc3 Bh3 13.Bxc4
13.Re1?? loses on the spot to 13...Qd5.
13...b5 14.Be2 Bxf1 15.Qxf1 Nd5 And White had enough, throwing the towel in the ring. 0–1 165 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
Game 118 E.Bukic (2445) – M.Cebalo (2520) Portoroz 1994
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.d5 b5 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.Nc3 b4 8.Nb5 Qxb2 9.dxe6?
What is Black’s best move?
This may be tempting but Black has a great response available. Instead, White has a much better alternative available: 9.Rb1 Qxa2 10.Ra1 Qb2 11.Nc7+ Kd8 12.Nxa8 Na6 13.g3 and White has a large advantage.
9...Kd8! 10.Ng5??
Not sure what the idea with this move was; now Black is just winning.
Even after the much better move, 10.exd7 Black is doing fine: 10...Bxd7 11.Rb1 Qf6
10...hxg5 11.Rb1 Qe5 And Black is winning. 0–1
Game 119 M.Colpe (2386) - Li Chao (2751) 166 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 Graz 2016
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.d5 b5 5.Nc3?! b4 6.Na4 d6
Black has also tried:
6...Bb7 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bxf6 Qxf6 9.e4 d6 10.a3 Nd7 11.axb4 cxb4 12.Qd2 Rb8 13.Be2 Be7 14.0–0 0–0 with a position where White has the slightly better chances after 15.Nd4, Gagare-Wei Yi, Doha 2015.
6...exd5 7.cxd5 d6 8.e3 Be7 9.b3 0–0 10.Bd3 Nbd7 11.e4 Nb6 12.Nxb6 axb6 13.0–0 Ba6 14.Bb2 Nd7 15.e5 Nxe5 16.Nxe5 dxe5 17.Bxe5 was played in Gretarsson)-Szeberenyi, Budapest 2010, and now 17...Bxd3 18.Qxd3 Bd6 looks more comfortable for Black.
7.Bg5 Be7 8.Bxf6 Bxf6 9.a3 Na6 10.axb4 Nxb4 11.e4
How should Black best continue?
White should have given preference to 11.Nc3 exd5 12.cxd5 Qe7 13.e3 although Black obviously is quite comfortable in this position, e.g. 13...0–0 14.Bc4 Bf5
11...Qa5! 12.Nd2 Bxb2!!
This was the point behind Black's previous move. Now White's position collapses promptly.
13.Nb3 167 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
13.Nxb2 is, of course, met with 13...Qxa1 14.Qxa1 Nc2+ 15.Ke2 Nxa1, leaving Black an exchange and a pawn up.
13...Nc2+ 14.Ke2 Nd4+ And White resigned. There's not much point in continuing for White. 0–1
Game 120 D.Blagojevic (2499) – S.Gromovs (2365) E10 Amantea 2010
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.Nc3 b4 8.Nb5 Kd8 9.e4 g5 10.e5 Qg7 11.g4 Bb7 12.Qa4
Here Black resigned. But is that justified?
It is clear that Black's position is pretty ugly, but to resign is taking it one serious leap too far. After 12.Qa4, the only move is 12...a5 and after 13.0–0–0, Black now has to make a choice:
a) 13...f6 14.Nd6 Bxd6 15.exd6 Kc8 16.Qb5 Na6 17.Bg2 exd5 18.Rhe1 Qf8 19.Re7 and Black's position is disgusting to look at and very probably also losing, Malaniuk-Palatnik, Tallinn 1985.
b) 13...exd5 14.cxd5 d6 15.Nxd6 Bxd6 16.exd6 Nd7 17.Qb5 Bc8 18.Qc6 Ra7 19.Bd3 a4 20.Rhe1 a3 21.Ne5 Re8
168 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
What is White's best move?
22.Nc4 (With 22.Ba6!, White forces mate: 22...axb2+ 23.Kb1 Qh7+ 24.Kxb2 Bxa6 25.Qxd7+ Rxd7 26.Nc6+ Kc8 27.Rxe8+ Kb7 28.Rb8#) 22...Ba6 23.Bf5?? (Now White loses! Instead 23.Ne5!! would have won more or less on the spot) 23...axb2+ 24.Kb1 Rxe1 25.Rxe1 Qc3 26.Re8+ Kxe8 27.Bxd7+ Kf8, and White resigned, 0–1, Kinsman-Ward, Plymouth 1989.
c) 13...f5 14.gxf5 g4 15.f6 Qg8 16.Nd2 Needless to say, Black is completely lost, but let's see the rest of the game as well: 16...exd5 17.Bg2 Bc6 18.cxd5 Bxd5 19.Bxd5 Qxd5 20.Rhe1 Qe6 21.Ne4 Qxe5 22.Ned6 Qg5+ 23.Rd2 Bxd6 24.Nxd6 Qxf6 25.Qb5, and Black resigned, 1–0, Adorjan- S.Farago, Hungary 1987. 1–0
Game 121 T.Henrichs (2492) – D.Arngrimsson (2376) Icelandic Team Championship (Reykjavik) 2014
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Nbd2 0–0 5.a3 Be7 6.e4 d5 7.e5 Ne4?!
The text move looks tempting, but Black scores terribly in this line. The much more common move 7...Nfd7 is considered best.
8.Qc2 Nxd2
169 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 On several occasions Black has tried 8...f5 9.exf6 Nxf6 10.Bd3 Nc6 11.0–0 dxc4 (or 11...a5 12.b3 Qe8 13.Bb2 Qh5 14.Rfe1 Qh6 15.Nf1 with the better chances for White, Khalifman-Knaak, Germany 1998) 12.Qxc4 Qd5 13.b4 Bd6 14.Bb2 Qh5 15.Rfe1 Ne7 16.Nf1 Ned5 was seen in Candela Perez-Khamrakulov, Madrid 2011, and now 17.Ng3 Qe8 18.Ng5 leaves White with the better chances.
9.Bxd2 b6?!
While this move looks normal, after all, the bishop on c8 needs to be developed, but it is in fact not the right way to go about it. The alternatives are:
9...h6?! 10.c5 Nc6 11.Be2 Bd7 12.b4 a6 13.0–0 f5 14.a4 Na7 15.Rfb1 leaves White with an overwhelming position, Nguyen Huynh Minh-Ilincic, Budapest 2008.
9...dxc4 10.Bxc4 Bd7 11.Bd3 h6 followed by...Bc6 is likely Black's best option.
10.Bd3 h6
How should White best continue?
11.h4!
This move looks incredibly crude, but the situation is in fact rather straightforward: Black does not have any real defenders left on the kingside nor the possibility of bringing any over there, so now is the time 170 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 for White to strike.
My computer initially gives preference to 11.cxd5 exd5 12.b4 Bg4!? and the central counterpunch, 12...c5 can also be considered.
11...Re8
Black is trying to make room for either the bishop to go to f8 to help with the defense or for the king to be able to run away. However, neither plan works.
12.Rh3!
The obvious next step in White's plan.
12...Kf8
Or 12...Bb7 13.Bxh6! works just as well as in the game: 13...gxh6 14.Rg3+ Kf8 15.Qd2.
Black should have opted for 12...f5, although 13.exf6 Bxf6 14.Ne5 leaves Black with a toilet of position.
13.Bxh6! gxh6 14.Qd2! Bc5 And Black resigned at the same time. 14...Bc5 15.Qxh6+ Ke7 16.dxc5 Rh8 17.Qf6+ Kd7 18.Qxf7+ Qe7 19.Qxe7+ Kxe7 leaves White three pawns up. 1–0 Game 122 A.S.Hagen (2416) – J.Glud (2520)
171 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 Copenhagen 2012
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nf3 e6 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Qe7 6.Nc3 d6 7.d5 Bxc3 8.Bxc3 Nb8 9.Bg2
Also 9.dxe6 has been played on several occassions: 9...fxe6 10.Bg2 0– 0 11.0–0 Nc6 12.Nd4 Bd7 13.Rc1 e5 14.Nxc6 Bxc6 15.Bxc6 bxc6 16.Qd3 Qe6 and Black is not any worse, Loeffler-Lehner, Austria 1999.
9...0–0
An important alternative, that can lead to transpositions is 9...e5, for instance 10.Nd2 0–0 11.0–0 c6 (or 11...b6 12.b4 Bb7 13.Qb3 c6 14.Rfc1 Rc8 15.Bb2 Nbd7 16.e4 b5 17.dxc6 Bxc6 18.cxb5 Bxb5 19.a4 with a clear advantage for White, Naroditsky-Xiong, Saint Louis 2013.) 12.e4 Nbd7 13.b4 a5 14.a3 cxd5 15.exd5 b6 16.Re1 Qd8 17.Nf1 Ba6 18.Ne3 with a more pleasant position for White, Delchev-Dvirnyy, Cento 2011.
10.0–0 Nbd7 11.dxe6 fxe6 12.b4 e5 13.Nd2 e4
How should White continue?
Or 13...a5!? 14.a3 with a small, but clear positional plus for White.
14.Nxe4! To resign in this position is incredibly premature, but clearly for a player at grandmaster level to make such a simple mistake is frustrating. After 14.Nxe4 Nxe4 15.Qd5+ Rf7 16.Qxe4 Qxe4 17.Bxe4 White has a pawn extra and the bishop pair. 1–0 172 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
Game 123 M.Tratar (2494) – L.Gostisa (2423) Slovenian Championship (Otocec) 2009
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Qe7 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Nc3 d6 7.d5 Bxc3 8.Bxc3 Ne5?
Another alternative is 8...Nd8, for instance 9.Bg2 0–0 10.0–0 (or 10.Nd2 Re8 11.0–0 exd5 12.cxd5 Qxe2 13.Qxe2 Rxe2 14.Rfe1 Rxe1+ 15.Rxe1 Kf8 16.Bxf6 gxf6 17.Ne4 with a small but clear advantage in the endgame for White in Kharitonov-Kiriakov, Elista 1994) 10...Ne4 11.Bb4 a5 12.Ba3 e5 13.Nd2 Nc5 14.b3 Bg4 15.Bb2 f5 16.a3 Nf7 17.f3 Bh5 18.b4 Nd7 19.Qc2 f4 20.Qc3 Nf6 21.e3 with a small plus for White, Roiz- Umansky, Dos Hermanas 2003.
8...Nb8 was the topic of our previous main game, Hagen-Glud.
9.Nxe5 dxe5 10.Qa4+! Bd7 11.Qb3! exd5 12.cxd5 Ne4
White is clearly better after 12...0–0–0 13.Bg2 e4 14.0–0 Bf5 15.Rfd1.
13.Qxb7 Qc5
Black had calculated 13...Qc5 14.Qxa8+ Ke7 15.Qxh8 Qxf2+ 16.Kd1 Ba4+ 17.b3 (Not 17.Kc1 Qe3+ 18.Kb1 Nd2+ 19.Bxd2 Qe4+ 20.Kc1 Qc2#) 17...Nxc3+ 18.Kc2 Qc5 19.Qxh7 Ne4+ 20.Kb1 Nd2+ 21.Kb2 Qd4+ 22.Ka3 Nc4+ 23.Kxa4 Nb2+ with a draw by perpetual check. I know this line is long,
173 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 but once you get going it is not that difficult to calculate. However, Black missed something; can you see where he went wrong?
14.Qxa8+ Ke7 15.d6+! Ouch! After 15.d6+ cxd6 (or 15...Nxd6 16.Qxh8) 16.Qxe4 leaves White up a rook. 1–0
Game 124 A.Popovics (2423) – J.Ashwin (2473) Heviz 2012
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.d4 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 a5 5.Nc3 b6 6.g3 Ba6 7.b3 d5 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Bg2 0–0 10.0–0 Re8 11.Re1 Ne4
Another option for Black is 11...Nbd7 12.Rc1 (or 12.a3 Bf8 13.Bf4 c6 14.Ne5 Nxe5 15.Bxe5 Bb7 16.Qc2 g6 17.Qb2 Nh5 18.g4 Rxe5 19.dxe5 Nf4 20.Bf1 Qg5 and Black is much better, Siebrecht-Fridman, Schwetzingen 2013) 12...c6 13.Nb1 Bb7 14.a3 Bd6 15.Bc3 Ne4 16.Bb2 f5 17.e3 Qf6 18.Nfd2 Qh6 19.f4 Ndf6 with the better chances for Black, Birbrager- Bronstein, Soviet Team Ch 1967.
12.Nxe4 dxe4 13.Bxb4 axb4 14.Ne5 Bb7 15.Qd2??
In another master game, White played the better 15.e3 although Black grabbed the initiative after 15...Nd7 16.Nxd7 Qxd7 17.Qd2 Qd6 18.Rac1 Bd5 19.Bf1 Ra5 20.Bc4 h5 21.Bxd5 Rxd5 22.Red1 h4 and Black has the upper hand, Izeta Txabarri-Vehi Bach, Ampuriabrava 1997.
174 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 15...Rxe5 And White, of course, cannot recapture. 0–1
Game 125 K.Spraggett (2550) – V.Smyslov (2595) Candidates Tournament (Montpellier) 1985
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 a5 5.Nc3 0–0 6.e3 d6 7.Qc2 Nbd7 8.Bd3
Or 8.Be2 b6 9.0–0 Bb7 10.a3 Bxc3 11.Bxc3 with equal chances, Najdorf-Larsen, Mar del Plata 1982.
8...e5 9.0–0
Also 9.0–0–0 has been played in this position, although this is hardly a threat for Black either.
9...Re8 10.e4 exd4 11.Nxd4 c6 12.Rae1 Ne5 13.h3 Bc5 14.Be3
How should Black best continue?
Sensing no danger, White proceeds as if nothing is going on. He should have tried 14.Nb3 Ba7 (Black can win a pawn with 14...Be6 15.Nxc5 dxc5 16.Be2 Bxc4 17.Bxc4 Nxc4 but White receives decent compensation after 18.Bc1 Nd7 19.f4) 15.Be3 a4 16.Nd2 Nh5 17.Bxa7 Nf4 18.Be3 Nexd3 and Black has the upper hand.
175 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 14...Bxh3! White resignation is somewhat premature but probably made in disgust over having overlooked something this simple. One possible continuation is 14...Bxh3 15.f3 (15.gxh3 Bxd4 16.Bxd4 Nf3+ 17.Kg2 Nxd4 18.Qd1 looks even worse) 15...Nh5 (15...Bd7 is a solid and safe continuation that just leaves Black up a pawn) 16.gxh3 Bxd4 17.Bxd4 Nf4 18.Re3 Re6 19.Rf2 Rg6+ 20.Kf1 Qh4 with a nasty, possibly winning, attack. 0–1
176 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1 Books in the Winning Quickly at Chess Series:
Winning Quickly Series:
Winning Quickly at Chess: Ultra Miniatures Volume 1: Indian Defenses
Winning Quickly at Chess: Ultra Miniatures Volume 2: 1.d4 d5
Winning Quickly at Chess: Ultra Miniatures Volume 3: Flank Openings
Upcoming volumes:
Winning Quickly at Chess: Ultra Miniatures Volume 4: Dutch, Benonis & d-pawn Specialties (September 2017)
Winning Quickly at Chess: Ultra Miniatures Volume 5: Anti-Sicilians (October 2017)
Winning Quickly at Chess: Ultra Miniatures Volume 6: Open Sicilians (October 2017)
Winning Quickly at Chess: Ultra Miniatures Volume 7: Semi-Open Game (November 2017)
Winning Quickly at Chess: Ultra Miniatures Volume 8: 1.e4 e5 (December 2017)
Chess Miniatures Series:
Winning Quickly at Chess: Miniatures in the Sicilian Najdorf
Winning Quickly at Chess: Miniatures in the Queen’s Indian Defense: 4 g3
Winning Quickly at Chess: Miniatures in the Ruy Lopez: Main Lines (June 2017)
Upcoming Volumes: Winning Quickly at Chess: Miniatures in the King’s Indian Defense: Fianchetto Lines (September 2017)
177 Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening – Volume 1
Winning Quickly at Chess: Miniatures in the Slav Defense: Main Lines (December 2017)
Winning Quickly at Chess: Miniatures in the Scotch Game (January 2018)
Specialized Chess Tactics Series
Specialized Chess Opening Tactics - Volume 1: Budapest Gambit (September 2017)
For updates and free material, please visit www.winningquicklyatchess.com
Other books by Carsten Hansen:
The Sicilian Accelerated Dragon: Improve Your Results with New Ideas in This Dynamic Opening (with Peter Heine Nielsen, Batsford 1998)
The Gambit Guide to the English Opening: 1...e5 (Gambit Publications 1999)
The Symmetrical English (Gambit Publications 2001)
The Nimzo-Indian: 4 e3 (Gambit Publications 2002)
Improve Your Positional Chess (Gambit Publications 2004) - also available as e-book (Gambit Publications 2016) and in a Spanish- language edition Mejore su ajedrez posicional (Editorial La Casa Del Ajedrez 2008)
A Strategic Opening Repertoire (with John Donaldson, Russell Enterprises 2008) - also available as e-book (Russell Enterprises 2015)
Back to Basics: Openings (Russell Enterprises 2008) - also available as e-book (Russell Enterprises 2016)
The Sicilian Dragon: Move by Move (Everyman Chess 2016) - also available as e-book (Everyman Chess 2016)
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