An Energdic a nd 1'ggre« ive

Syste m for Wh ite

I 2017
Russell Enterpri se s,
Inc. M ilford, CT USA
 by Alex Fish b e in

ISBN : 978 -1-9,p 270-74-\ (p rin t}

ISBN:978-1-94 1270-75 -2 (e B0ok)

O Copyri ght2017

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 Introduction
Th d,ffen,nce between the Scotch Gamb,1 and the Scotch Gam e (4.N 1«L~) is thu
Wh,te dela~ r«:aphmng the p1wn on d4 With 4.Bc.i. WhM d~lo ps qui ddy i nd
atlack>thef7•squan,, Bl1ck'sweake1tpo1nt,ntheopen ing. Blad'sructio n !o
Wh,te's ,mmed iate uuu lt ,n the center wil l determine the p•wn str ucture , and
thenWh itewi lltypicalJy(1 lth ou1hno11lw1y1)re11inthep1wn
Tfie most common , u pon1e toW'hite'1fou rthmoseis4 ... Nf6, tran s posing to the
Tw0 Kni1fits'Oefenu (1.e4e52Nf3Nc63Bc.i Nf64.d 4 exd4). Here,5.e\ in itiates
the Modun Attack, which forms the m1,n pa rt of 1his book The other re sponse is
4.. . Bc 5, 1ftuwhichWh1tee,thertr1nsposes totlieGiuocoPianowith 5.qor con
t inues ing1mbit1tylew,th5.o-o The second h1lfofthe book illu strates that the
gambit line S,O-Oit muchbetterfo,Wh,teth1n,ts reputation and 1!,o offersa
modun1ndposot,on1J1pp,01c.hforWh,te1fte,5.c3
While technicalJy the Scotch G1mb,1 usualJy 1ran1poon to the Two K,,ights' De-
fense or the G,uoco Piano, the Scotch Gamb,t mo...., order commots both ,ides to
conue<eand tharpplay, 1ndtheresult,n1 posouonsformastark contrnt tolhe
slow maneu,enng charactenzed by the d2-d3 hnu. Thi, bnng, us to the main
l>enefosoft heScotchG1mb,tforWh,1e
Whyyou ohouldplay the ScotchGambit
Toimprove,nchess,,tlS ,mportanttoplayopen,ngstliat developas ens e of in~ i•
t;,,e, an 1b,ltl)'tocalcul1tevaroatoons, and• sood feelin gfo rking.afety. I know
manyplayet1Wn<>dodnotreachthe,rfu!lpotent1all>euu>etheydidnotplay1ttad
ingsyttemt. Some v1ro1toons ,nthe En1hshOpenin1,for in >t1 nce,developyour
stroteg,calunseatthenpenseoftact•c• Tod1y,manylineseven1fter1.e4e5are
also very slow and po111,onal. Wh~e often pla~ di-<:13 even in the Ruy Lopez, and
lth,nkthoHopen,ng1aremoreappropnoteforJr1ndmuters,n theyalre1dyhave
thetact,alslcollsEarfy,nyo"rcheud,.,,.,lopment,h.,_,,er,youn~thetactici
TheModernAttackoftheTwoKn,1hts·andtheotherlin e> weanalyzeinthi,book
areconducoveforde....,lop,n1yourfeel,n1forthe,not,at1w.Withane1rfyd2-<:i4,an
immed,ate fi1ht for the center ensues. We will encounter situation, 1lre1dy in the
open ,ngwhereoneorbotli kon1scomeunder1ttad<. Youwill trainyourab,hty to
1eethrough comphut,ons At the Hme tJme, however, tl,e ope ningvanatoon, in
1h11 book hive no thortage of posotoon•I them e,. You will see weakne ne, of
1quares.pawnst,ucturesubtleues,andgood1ndb1d bi,hops
Youwi llfind tenchap ters,eachcoser ing•" gnificant bra nch oftheope ni ng. lnthe
first ch1 pter, we immed,ately delve onto the main lin e of the Modern Attld . The
next 1ever1I ch1pters exam ,ne othe rlinu that stan with the Scotch Gambit and
transpose ,ntothe Two l(n11hts' Defense Afte rthat,welook at two waystocon
linue,f Bl1dplay14.. B<5. F,nalJy,wemen tJ onsyotem,where8l1 ck doesn ot play
Mott chapters beg,n w,th a "theoret>eal oect1on ." Here, you will fi nd the move ••
quencesth1tlconsoderthebestforbothoodes,0<mootprincipled,inthatbrando
Thethe-oret>ea!sect,on11thereforedeso1nedtobe1stepahe1dofpubl;,hedthe<><y
o,game1,nth1tpat1,cu!arvanat>0<>.Youwillfindmyownsugge>tedplansthere,
ortubtle,mpronmentso<correcuons The theoret,ul>ectioncan , er,,euthe
ba,i,foryourownfurthe r re, earch
Afte r th e th eore t icol ,ection comes th e "illu,lfative ga me," sect io n. Each chapter
W< ll h • veafewrepre,e ntativega mes . We poy,pec io l otte ntiontotheopening,th e
tr•n,itio n from the openin g to the middl eg•m e, and typ iai l mid d le game p lan, . I ol
m o,t • lw•y, , h ow the e nti re g•m e; if the mid d le ga m e o, e nd ing i, not re levan t to
ou, th e m e, t hen I m•y , h ow it with few o r no co m m e nts. I h •ve tried to select
m o,t lyga me, of h ighq u a lityandp l•y,,dby ,trongpl•ye r,
Wh ot i,,peciolob ou t th i, book
l •madd res,ingthi,boo ktoa wid e • ud ie n ce: frominte rm ed i•te p laye r,toprofes
, ional, . Th e re will l,.,an • ly,is o f n riotion, o nddes cription,of,t rotegy.Myb•rfor
oll of my re co m m enda tion, i, ve ry hig h: I mu, t be willing to ploy them my self. I •m
a n acti ve pr• cl iai l p laye r,alifelong1.e4ploy,,r .. White,and l haveoftenp layed
1... e5 a, Bl• ck. You will see a few of my own games h e re . If• line does not work for
me, l can notrecom me nd ittooth er,
The refo re,thi, book offe r,• glimpse into acrea hv,e la bo,atory. ltwu a, much•
le •rning expe rien ce fo r m e u lhope it willb efor you . Each ch apte ri , inthe for m
of• rec ipe th•t I wou ld m a ke fo r myse lf. I hove tr ied to ovo id a comm o n p itfa ll in
re pe rtoire boob: illu ,trating your recom me nd•tio n with a bea utiful g•m e, whi le
le• vingth e best response byyouroppon e nt .. a n .. ide . lnth i,boo k,Black',most
important rep lies in the mosttopiai l vui•tio n, a,e clearlyvi,i ble (u , u a llyin th e
theoret ical section ) . Thi,book i, • p resentation,onp•per,ofthetheoryfi le inmy
dotab ..e,wh e re l take ,peci• l care notto miu the best move byafutureoppon ent
In this w•y, I have tri ed to achieve the highe,t degree of intel lectu• I hon esty. In
add iti on, a q uo rter of the selected games illu,trate whotnotto do a, Wh ite, a n d
how Bl• ck ca n win with purposefu l p l•y if Whi te mo ke, mistakes . For these re a
,on,, thi,book, hou ld ol ,ol,., u sefu l topeople plo)Ong1.e4e 5 with Bl• ck.ln fact,
becouse l e mph .. ize ,trate gica l the m e,overm e m orization , I hope thi, book ca n
imp rove you r c hes,eve n if you n everplaythi,ope ning fo reithercolor.
Thi,booki,al,o unu, uolinth at itu pdate, o n ope nin gthothubeen leftinth e
,h.dow, . Because of fash ion tre nd , , the Moder n Attack of the Two Knights '
Defense h .. never l,.,e n ve ry popu lar. Ith .. n ever b een p l•y,,d •t th e wor ld
champion ,hi p leve l. On ly • handfu l of grand m .. ter, play it regu larly fo, White . The
limited p,actice m •kesfor • ric h harvestforind e pend e nt ,tudy. Mo nyinteresting
lines d i,cus,ed h e re hove ,arely bee n p layed in se rious tourna ments . Som e of
th e m e njoyed the i, pe•k in pop u larity in the 19th century. I h ave updated the ir
ev• lu•tion , and you nowh • ve thest•teofthe artofa nimportontbra nc h oftheory.
The Mode rnAttack h ubeenfea t u red in , eve ra l re ce nt re perto ire booha,achap
te rbuth unotbee n , ubjectedtothorough o naly, i, - until now.Sti ll , muc h of my
work would 1,., almo,t im pouib le with out refe rring to th ese exc e llen t b ooh. Glenn
Flea r wrote a wond e rful book o n ope n game, in 2010, a nd it form ed • ,tarti ng
pointformytheoretica l research. ln t hel.. tco u pleofyea n,,omebranch e, we re
a nolyzedfurthe r,•n dlh • ve usedfourrece nt ,ou rces: Bo logon',BlackW,opon,
[Victor Bologa n), A Simple Ch,,, Op,ning R,pertoir< for White (S•m Collins), Play-
ing 1.,4 ,5 (Nilo loo, Nti~i,), a nd Th, Op,n Gam« wilh B/ack (M • rtin Lokander) . I
th•nkth e,e outhor, forpavingthewoy to a mu c hmoredeta iledano~i,
I hope th•t my book wi ll , evive interest in the Mod e rn Attackond other Scotch
G• mb it vu i•tio n , , h elp you bro•den you, ope ning repertoire, •nd e n h ance yo ur
unde r,tandingond,mo,timport•ntly,your e njoym e nt of c he u
Ju ly 20 17
C hap l<er 1

With 3.d4. Wh,te makes an immedi.-.te bid lo, the center With 4.84. Wh"e 1t11cb
thef7·pawn.w+,,ch,sdefendedonlyby t~king n.,.d,..,ct1pproachprovoltesan
,mmed11te confront.at,on in the centu Concrete play and tact,cs abound: both
,idnmuJtplayaccurately.
l1madevotuofucotm5.t1cticalpl1yintl,eopen,n1. Tact,calvision,houldbe
developed nrly,n yourchenlearning.1 am 1110 o p,oponentofclanica l chen.
w; , h i" emphu" on the center. It i> certain ly pon1ble to play a sloW<e, gam e wi! h
Wh,te. ,uch H the Ciuoco Pi1 ni»i mo ("very qu,et game") with 84, dJ and 14
wh,chhubeenal l ther1gel1tely.ButlthinkB0bbyF,sd,erwou ldh1,,.,w1n tedto
pl1y1ometh,ngahttlesh1,per,eventodl)".Magnu1C1rl1en, too,developed hi,
comb,natoon1lv.s,onbeforehehonedhi,,ubtleposotoon1lsense
Retum,ng to the d,1gr1mmed position,• drawback ofWhote's str1tea, i> that Blad
canquocldycounter1tt1dwith ... d5andfo«:et~tr1deofWh,te"sboshop[1tthe
co.,ofotherconceu,ons).Thi,resuh..in1strateg,callycomp!upout,on.whid,
,h,./irstchopte,e""m,nu
4... N/ti
Black need, to do something in the center, and 4 Nf6 is h,s mo>! co mmon
"'sponse Bl1 ckh .. tr1Mposedtothe4d4 var,1t,onofthe TwoKn ight>"Oefen10
Pe<>p!ewt.odonotplay3... Nf6,nresponsetoJ .B4bec1usetheyareconcerned
1bouth1v,ngto>1crilice1 p,,,wn ,nthe1Ngsv1ro1t,onare much h1pp,e,to play
I Nf6 hen,. Black is looking to push through d7-dS .. soon .. ponible. ch1l-
leng,n1thewhotebi,hop
Tlieotherm1,nmove.4 ... Bcs.isthesubJectofCh1pte"'6-9.0ther.le»popul1r.
movuwillbedi,cu»edinChapter2
Wh,te'1 altem1tivehere.5.o-o... covered,nChapte, s. lt leadstove,yconc,ete
playbutc1non lybe recommendedince,t1intournament,itu at ion,.bec1u1e it1 l-
low1 Black to equalize without much trouble Wit h ;.e5. Wh ite force, the block
kn,ghttomove1g1in.lnfact.itml)"needtomove1th,rdorfourthtimelaterinthe
open,nc Wh,tewill gain a lead ,n development. Howevu,thiscome> at• coll.
Wh,te will need to =hinge the lighHqua~ b,shop. ind Bl•ck win uert in/1.,ence
over1omelteylightsquu.,,
Black's ma,n idea: he fight> fo, control oftht, center. Tlie oth« two pl•y1blte
repl,u,s ... N141nd5 ... Ne4.uecovered,nChpte,4
6.BbS
Taeonlymove . 6. exf6dxc4 i1ve,yb•dforWh,te:hehunocom pen , aticnfo,the
6... N~
ln111ll,ng the lm,gh! in the center I cannot overemphu,ze how impcrtant the cen·
tert1,nth,sopening. Whitewill,pend ,.,.eralmovesdislodgingtheknightf<om
he,e Althoughnotentirely inthe,pmtofth,1system.6 ... Nd7i,1l,oponible1nd
,1covered,nCh1pter2
7. Be; " an ,mportant 1ltern1tove that " "'commt,nded by Ntirli,, among othe,1.
ind, "nt,I rteCently, w.. considered Block", 1u,ut teply. However, we illu,tra\e in
Ch1pte,3thattheonlyw1yforB1ackto~ghtforequa l,tytl,ere is1 tempc,aryp•wn
n c rili ce wit hveryfew c h a nce,to take overth e in iti at ive
No ot herm ove, a re worth con,iderin g.White n eed,tod evelopuquickly aspo ,
, ible . Fo rexo mple, after8.Nxc6bxc69.B d 3 Q e7 I (N e m e t h-Po ch e,, Budapes t20 16)
Whitei,olre ady expe riencing d iffic u ltywit h t he e-pa wn
A, a brief hi,to rica l d e tou r, I wa nt to m e nt io n t he fa mou, ga me Lichte nh e in
Mo rp hy (Ne w York 1857),whic h cont in ued : 9 ... Bc \ (in,tead of9 ...Q e7, whic hthe
com p ute r reco mmend , today) 10.Bxe 4 (h e re o nd loter, it mi gh t have been wiser to
castle) Q h4 I 11 .Qe > dxe4 12.BeJ Bg4 13.Q c4 Bxe3 14 .gJ Qd8 15.fxe3 Qd\+ 16.Kfa
Qf3+ 17.Kg1 Bh 3 18.Qxc6• KIB 19 .Qxa8+ Ke7 a nd White resign ed b eca use o f un
Afte rth i, gam e •nd a cou p le o f other games like t hi,, peop le d id no t ployth i,
ope ningfor Wh ite form o nyy,eo rs , because no body cou ld exploin whe re White h • d
go ne wro ng. The on ly pe rson who u n derstood , t ra tegywel l e n o ugh to ed ucate
peo p le about t h i, variot io n was Mo rp hy him self, bu t he prefe rred to ju,t let hi,
m oves do a ll t he ta lking . Th e m ove 8 .Bxc6 was n ot p la yed unt il a lm o>t4o year,
afte r the Morphy ga me
8... bxc69.o-0Bc5
9 .. . Be7 will be cove red in Chapt er 2
Thi, i,th e moin lin e of wha t i, calledthe "M ode rn Attac k." lt i, t he rnbject ofthi ,
lir,t c ha pte r. I , ta rt imm ediately w it h t he m a in variot io n becou,e I wa nt to give you,
t h e reade r, a goodsen seri ght •way o f b oth , id e,' plo n,a ndgive yo u afee ling for
t h e typical , trategiesin thi, ope n in g
We already have seve ra l im balonce>. White has a pawn m ajo rity o n t he kin g, ide
wi thch a nce. of o q u ickattockwit h f4 -f\( a nd l asrn m e yo u like to a tta ck if yo u p lay
1.e4 I) . Black',pownm ajor ityi, onth e q ueen,id e.H eh nd o ubledpown , the re b ut
can t ry to fo rm • po n ed pa wn in th e ce nte r. Blac k a l,o e njo y, t he two bi , h op ,
Block', moin pote nt ia l weokn en i, the cpq u a re, whic h he ca nno t d efe n d by a
pown . White wi ll t ry toocc u pythi,,q u a re withob i,h o porknight. Tocove ru pc\,
Block m ayneedto lock in h i,dark-,q uare bi,h o p , m a king it looklike a b ig pa wn
10.fj
Thi, an dth e next , evero l m oves • ll follow t he t he mewe already know: ligh t forth e
ce nte r. White want> to protect hi , • \-pa wn, re move t he bloc k kn igh t fro m e 4 , an d
be g inhi,kin gs id e expa n,io n. Bla ck wo nt,topu,hhi,ce ntro l pawn, w ith ...c\ •nd
10 .. . Ng5 '1.8"]
Move o rde r i, im portant. lf1 1.f4 Ne 4 12.Be3, t he n Blockplay, 12...Qb8 . After t1 .Be3
ho weve r, 11...Q b8 i, no t as effect ive beco use o f 12.Nd 2 (followedby1 3.N2b 3)
Blocki, pre p a rin g to advan ce wit h ...c5a nd .. .d4 qu ic kly. lf he ne glect,the ce ntra l
dark , quare>, he ri, k, d rifting into a very po nive po ,ition ; fo r example: 11 .. .0-0
12.f4 Ne 4 13.Nd2 Nxd 2 14 .Qxd2 f615.Nb3Bxe 3+ 16.Qxe3f.« 5 17.f.« 5Rxf1+ 18.Rxf1
light-,q uareb i, hop,ome•ironthe lo ngd ia gonol

Thi,i,themoinpo,itionofth eM odernAttack. Black', light -, qua re bi,hophasno
counterpa rta ndi,verydangerou,.However,hi, oth erp ieces are notdoing much
forthem ome nt.Thi, po, it io ni,dif!icu lttop l•y fo rboth,idesond i, relativelybal
I recommend t h i, move for W!iite. White h o ld, bock Blac h c-p• wn for now • nd
awaits furt he r developm e nt< . lthin kthi, i, the best woyto ach ieve a live ly gam e
wi thch • nce,for•nadvantage . Oth eroption,are
(•) 17 .Qd3 i, a logical move, p l•n ning f4-f5 which i, part of Wh ite', ,lfategy. How
eve r, after17 ... Qc8 l do not, ee chancesfora nadvantag e. White', be,ti, 18 .q

anced . Pl•ycanbeco me ,h•rp veryquic klyl (18.b4lcxb419.N,d4(Sm e rdon-Walli, , Sydn ey 20 15)leod, to•clearadva nt•ge fo,
Blockafte r 19 ... Rd8:ope ningupthebi, h oponb6 help,Bl• ck;18 .Nh4 i,al,oinef-
The m o , t solid and in my opi nion t he be,t move . Block comple te, hi, d evel fective : 18 .. .Qb719.f5Qd520.Rae 1c4andBlockstartshi,ployfir,t) 18 ... Bf5 19.Qc4
opment. Heho , several id ea,: (1)continue pu , hingthecentro l p•wn,c5andd4 d320.a4a521 .Bxc5Qa6
down t hemidd le;(2)ope rate onth e longdiagon• lw it hth elight-,quare bi , ho pa nd
thequeen:ond(J)unde rmineWhite',pawnon e5.l f White c•nrende r al l of t hese
p l• n,harmleu,h i,better pawn ,tru cture prnmi,e,anadvantage
A ,harp e rmove forB loc ki,16 ... Bc6, re taining t h eoptionto cutlequeen, ide . Thi,
ca n le •dtoco nfrontalionve ryquickly, as we,eeinga mes1 -3. 16 ... o-o i, leu co m
m o n , andthi,po,itionhasoccurredinonly•couple ofgamesattheprnfeu io no l
Thi, i, the dream po,itio n fo r White in thi, n riat ion . Bloc k',q u een, ide i,tota lly
bloded.H eh n lo , tth e battle fo r t he dark ,qua re, (e,pe ci a lfy c\) and h i,b i,hop
hnnou , efu l d ia gona l, . Th eknightca nnotbe d i,placedfro m c5 . ltdom in a te,th e
qu een , ide a nd looh into t h e ce nte r o l,o. I would n y that White effectively h n two
exlr• p•wn, here:one inthecente r a ndo ne al,oon t hequ ee n , id e. ~cau,eth e
black pown, wil l fo ll like ripe apple,. Th i, h appe n ed in Sm e rdon -M .Simutowe, and
we ,h al l ,ee thee ntire game in t h eillu,trativegame,,ectionofth i, ch apte r(game
Howeve r, t h i, do e. not mean that 11 ...0-0 i, a bod move . Block need , to conte>t
th e d4 -,quare wit h 12.f4Ne6, wliic hwe looka t ingame 8
12.f4 N~ ,3.Nd2 N1«b 14.Q xd2 C5
The o n ly m ove, beca u.eitcove " th e g2-,quore fro m a potent ia l attack a long the
d iagon• I. That d a nge r wu ~"I demon,trate d in Sve.hn ikov-Agzamov, Tuh kent
1984,wli e reafte r15.Nb3/d4 16.Bfa Bb5l 17.Rfe1 Qd5 18 .f\ (Wh ite hn no t ime to
uaptheb i,hop wit h a4and o 5~c.ou,e .. . Bc6 wi ll thre ate n mate) h6l 19.Kh1 IBc6
20.Bg 1 0-0-0B lack a lreadyh adabig, po" ib lywinn ingadva ntage
lnth i,game,the ta lented Uz~kgrondm a >ter(whotragica lfy d iedtwo ye a,.later)
convi ncing ly defea teda n oted,peciali,t in t hi,varia t io n.A,a,e.u lt, t hi, gam e be
cam e a blueprint on h ow to h • nd leth i, po,itio nwit h t h e blod piece.,and it led
eve ryon e to , hy a woyfro m t hi, linenWhite. lttoo k a wl,i le forpeop letorea lize
that it m oke. • b igd iffere ncewhe reth e kn ight ret re ats
A, I reca ll, Spa n i,hG M Fern a ndez Garcia ployed 15.Ne 2,which i,al,onota good
m ove, again>t mein New York 1987 . llo,t t h e ga m ea ny,;•y(andthe .core of t he
gam e wnal,o lo,t)
Wh ite really need , tocove r the longd iagon• l. 15 .Nf3 wa,fa>tplayed in 1987a nd
wa,,eenatth egra nd m nter levelon ly aquarte r-centurylater.
1\ ... Bf5 i, cove red in ga m e 4. For no w, we foc u , o n t he m o , t com m o n a nd prob
ably be , t pio n for Black, which i, to pus h the pown, in t he ce nte r and give t he
 a nd Black', pawn n c rifice i, enough fo r equality, o wing to hi, pa.,ed pawn
22.Qd4Rfd82J .Q e JBxc524.Qxc5d 2 25 .Rad 1 Bd326 .Rfa Be 227 .R>:d2 B1d328.gxf3 The battle lin es a re d,a wn . Wh ite',p la ni,cle a r: f4 -f5a nd , wit h a ny lu ck, a n attack
Qg6- with perpetua l c heck o n the kin g. White', next move, m•y be Qd3 an d Bg3- Block ha, hi, trump,: a
(b) 17.q i, not in the ,piritof thepo ,it io n: wit h hi, t wobi, hop,,ope n ing u pth e good light -,quare bi, hop a n d a flexib le pos itio n. If Blac k ca n time a ce nt ra l ad
ce nteri, w!i at Blac k w•nt,. 17 ... Bc6 18 .cxd4 Bicf3 (t here i, not hing w rong with ex van ce we ll, Wh ite', attac k ca n ba ckfi re. H owever, White ', po,ition seem, ea, ier to
c hangingo ne ofthe b i,hop , for a kn ig ht, ifth e oth er onei, active n ow and you p lay.
h•vebetter p•wn stru ct ure) 19 .gxf3ad 4 a nd Black i, better. The pla n of 16 .. .o-0, whi ch l t hin ki, b est fo r Black, i, rel•tive lyu ntested. We no w
(c) 17.c4 i, probably a pre ma t u re con ces, ion. Bl•ck no w hu a long-term pas, ed examin e ,ome il lu,t rat ive ga me, where Bl•ck avoid, castl ing kin g, id e, a nd ol, o
p•wn andthebi,hopcan co m eoutfro m b6u, ing o t her m ean, (• 5,C,) . St ill, t hi, gam e, where Bl•ck de l• y., moving hi, c- an d d -pawn, down
po,it io ni ,playableforWh ite
17... QcB
17 .. .f6 m•y be too early. White ca ncontin uew ith 18.• 4(ofte nagood m oveto inte r
pol ate, in o rde r to ma ke t he bl•ck bi,hop even m o re like a pawn ) 18 .. .• \ 19. Rae l
Bg4 20 .Bh4 with so m e inil i•tive. Anothe r move for Block i, 17.. . Bµ , whe n White
can •llo w t heexch a nge o nf3a nd looktoattac ko n th e g-fi le: 18 .a4 • 5 19.h 3Bxf3
20.gxf3Qd52 1.Qd3

Thi,po,itio ni, c riti c•l toth eeval uatio n of the Mod ern Atta ck. Let',car ry t hevui
ation • couplem oves furt h era nd d i, cu., t he ,trate gy.
('}Jones - l 'Am i
Wolvega 2014
TwoKnight<' Defense [C ,;6)
M• ny~a r<ago , l re•do Soviet bookth atfeat ured o collectionofl ig ranPetros ian',
lectu res. The quolity of the materi•I in the boo k was m ixed, but some lectu res
m ade • deep • nd lo,t ingimpres,iononme. lnoneofthem, Petrn,i on i>t• lkingto
a ,tu dent w!i ohaspreporedthe Bol e,lov,kyvariat io n ofth e S;cil;on Defense a,
Bloc k. The , t udent »y< h e has a collect io n of obo ut 20 games t hat he ,tud ied
Thesegame , illu,uateall ofB lach plo n,a ndthe, tud ent fee l, h ei,readytoploy
the lin e.Butthen,theninthwo dd champion,ay,
The b lackqueenondb i,hoponthelongd; ogo nol formapot e ntbattery.He is ol,o
lnaJJition lo1J,,,.,_finda 1wenty-.fintgam<, Botvinnjk-Bole,/av,ky. Tf,j,gomei,a lookingto co>tlequeen ,ide
da»ic example of how White , hould play. Boivinnik ,howed all ,1,, ,tmlegica/
drawbadc,ofB/ack',,1r11ctur<anddemon,troledway,forWliitelo,o/~1heen,u Gra ndmuter GawoinJones has been t he stro nge,t ploye rtoco m i,te nt lyp layth e
ingproblem,. Letthi,gameb«omelhefini inyourcolieclion, andther<maining Moder n Attack fo r Wh ite . The five -t ime Engli, h c hes, O lym pian typical ly looks for
20gam<>fo/low tl,er,aftec attacking ch an ceso ndtheini tiative.We wil l loter ,ee aco upleof h i, bestga mes in
thi , variation, but in th i, game h e re, thing, do not work out for h im, and 19.Qg,; i,
We follow the great man ', od vice h ere . The fast gam e in thi, book is a game be
tween two ,trong g,andmo>ter, in whic h Black im pl ement> •II hi, main ide a> in
Whiten eedstop rese nt th e queen , ide cutlingwith19.Bh4,uwe ,howinthenext
th i,variat io n:twob i,hop,, pawn, go ingdownthe center oftheboard, mating a t
gam e.A~erthetext, by contrast, Block ca n ,till ca, tlequeen ,ide, atthe co,tofa
tac kago in,tt hewhite king. ltese n end,incheckmoteontheboa rd.We will tryto
pown. The Frenchgrandmaste r ishappygioingu pthotpown,astheg-fi le willope n

1.e.je52.NfJNc63.lk4Nffi4.d4exd45.e5d56.Bb5Ne.j7.Nxd4Bd7ll.Bxc6bxc6
19... h6l20 .Qx,,7
9.o-0Bc5,o.fJNg511.Be3Bb612.f4Ne413.Nd2Nxd214.Q1«bc5 , 5.NfJd416.B&
20.Q h+ Qe+ 21.Q h3 wa, m o re circums pect
Bc6,7 ."4•s•8.fsQds
20 ... o-o-ol2,.QffiRhgl122.Bg34
 M•te i, coming in nine m ov,e, at mo.,_ What portion of t he board do t he two ad ja
ce ntb i, hop,contfo ll

Aqueen ucrifice to e ndthe game

38.RxfJB>IT)#o-1

(2) Pa p - l\bra movic

K,agujev• c2009
Tw0Knights " Defen« [C 56J
Thi,gamei,agoodillu,uationofwhatWhite , houlddow!ienBl•dtr i«tocutle
queen, ide

The bi , hop,n., leth e board.The po , ition •lre adyloobdreadfolfo,White

12 ...c5II i, a rel•tive ly new and important m ove t h at need,to bete ,ted more in
The q u een i• •p oorblockader, butit i, •l, o.ca ry tokee pitfa r fromt hedefen,e
practi ce. Afte, 13.Nb3 (',Vhi te ca n certain ly acce pt t he p•wn ucrifice with 13-fxg\
cxd414.Bxd4butafter14 ... Be6(Atab•yev -Kova lev, Budapest2017),or 14 .. .c6 , Black
Tryingtodeflectthe bl•d rook
likely ho , ,ul!icientco mpenntio n in t he fo rm of Wh ite', paw n weakne 5'es) 13 ...d4
14.Bf2Ne415.N1d2Nxd2 16 .Nxd20-0(Sikor, ky -Silva,corr. 2009)17.Nc,i
Reve,.ingcour«again an d t rying adespe rotecounte rattad
29 ... Rh830.Qg7Qd831.e6h432 .8"5 Rg813.QxfJhJ I

The po, it io ni,,imi la r tothemo in lineinthetheory«cti o n,bu t withthediffere nce

that Wh ite a lready ha , a ,olid b lockade o n c ~. Black", b i,ho p on b6 face, a
long-te,m proble m , but it wi ll al ,o not b e easy fo r White to brea k through on t h e
kin gsid e
Notth e m o , tprecisem ove orde r, beca u,eBl ack ca nnow ploy1 7 ...Qd7,co ntest ing
the fp quare . l p refe rt7 .f5, o ndif 17.. .Qd,;, 18.B h4 lwetra mpo,e
The Se rbian grandmuterMi,a Popi, •nexpe rtinthi,varia t io n, a ndhelind , th e
right pla n here . White'> pawn, will be a m e na ce to t h e block king, whic h i, ,tuck in
18 ... Kd7
N ow it i, muc h h a rder to castle queen ,ide, a nd castling king, ide i, really scary
(plusillogica l afterB1ock hasp loyed ... Bc6a nd .. .Q d\): 18 ...o-ol19.f6Qe 420.Ra e1
Qg6 21.fxg7 Rfe8 n.Bf6 w ith a winning po sition . Black t h erefore tri es to mt t h e
Gordi onknot wit h aform o f cutlingby ho nd.Anot he rtryi,1 8 ... h6(•nim portont
move in these po sition, ; with t he g\·>qua re cove red , Block can thi nk a bout
castli ng) t9.Qf4o-020 .QS3 Kh7and Block organizes a defe nse alth ough Whi te'>
position look, be tter. Finally, 18 .. .4 19.Kh1 d 320.cxd 3 Q xd3/ 21.Qb4I illu ,lfates
thed a n gerof theblack kingstayinginthe ce nter.
A, h arperan dpouib ly ,tro ngero pproochi, 19 .4Qx420.e6+ Kc821.Ne5Qd5
(R io , Parra-Pa n ch a not ho n, Bad a lona 2008), a nd now White s hou ld hove immedi
ately t rad ed off Black', more dange rou, b i,hop with n. Nxc6 Qxc6 23.«f7 Q<l\
24 .Q e 2 Qxf7 25.Qa6.._ Kd7 26 .f6 Rhg8 27.Qo4+ c6 28.Qo6 and Black ha, seriou,
prob lem,
19... Rae8 20.4 d><g 21 .Qxg Kc8
Blackh ntake n agooddeo l oftime tocostlebyhand . Wh iten owne ut rolizes on e of
Black',bi,hop>
22 ... Rd823.Roc1?I
Ab itof ohicc uphere,but a nin, tnJctiveon e. ln,teadoftryingto , implify,White
, houldployaga in,tth eblack dafk-~uarebi,hop:23-a44 (if 23 ...0 5,thenth e tactic
inthen e xtnotei , not anilabletoB lack,be ca u,etheb i, hopisnotprntectedby the
a-pawn) 24 .a \ Bxf2+ 2).Rxfa cxb3/ {2\ ... Rh e8 26.Re\ Q d3 27.Qxc4 Q<q 28 .bxq
W< th anextrapa wn fo rWh ite)26.Rc1
23 ... RheS 24.Bxc5 Qxc5~ 25.Qxc5 Bxc5~?
Correct wa, 2) .. . BxfJ 26.RxfJ Rxe5 I 27 .Q xb6 ub6 and White', advantage hu d isap
peared . Whi lethe bi,hoponb6i , alive , a lway, watc houtforthepinon th e g1 -a7
d ia go n• l a ndth etactic,itcan b,ing
 illogicaluwe m e nt ion edbefo re : ifB lackhad wa nted tocastleking ,id e, he , h ou ld
N owWhite i, apawnu pan dwin,q u ickly. have do ne it ,oo ner. Howeve r, it i, worthwhile to ,how t he the m a t ic refutatio n
27 .Rfc1Rq28.Kf2Kb&29.Ke3h630.R,<4g53,.Rb406J2.Nd4Kc833. Rxb7Kxb7 20.Ra e l (reinforcing t he powno n e5) 20 ... G4 l(or 20 .. .Rae U2 1. Bf6 l) 21.Bf6I
34. Nc6R~35.Nxd8+Rxd836.Re2Rd,37.e6fxe638.f6Kc839.Rfa1-o

(J) SloJ>"' - Schne,de,

Richord,o n(U TDG M) 20-07
TwoK nights " Defen« [C,;6)

9.o-0Bc510 .fJNg5n .f4

11. Be3 Bb61J.f4 Ne4 i, my prefe rred move o rd er.u expla ined in the theo ry sec

n ... N<412. lle3Bb613 .Nd2Nxd214.Qxd2c515.NfJd416.Bf2Bc6,7.~t

21...gxf6 22.Qh6I Kh8 23.Qxf6+ Kg& 24 .Kht Rfe8 25. e6 with mate coming) 20.Bg3
wi th a ,horp gam e wh e re I would rat h er have White (Po lekh a-Ko mlio kov. Se r
pukho v 20-04}

Here 19 ... h6 does not work a, we ll as in the Jon es -L'.Am i ga m e because after
20.Qg4Black,tillhu d iffi culty castlin g. H owever. 19 ...q i,m o reactive a nd prnb
ably bette rth a n thega m econtin u ation
20.BgJRhg8 21 ."40 522.R oe1 Kc623.e6
Whiteh a, im p le m e ntedhi, m ai nplon h ere and,tand, b etter.
23 ... fxe6
The coffect m ove o rder here . Now 17 .. .Qds 18.B h4 I t ra nspose, to ga m e 2 which i,
good fo rWhite,a,Blackca nno t ea,ily ca,t le. Themain idea i, that 17 ... Q d 7 (wh ich
i, pou ible after1 7.B h4 Ji, badhere b eca u , e of 18 .e6 I
17... BxfJ
Givingup the twobi,hop,butbrea kin gup White', king ,id e pawn,
18.gxfJQd5,9.Qg5
It i, importa nt to stop ca,tlin g. Another way to do it i, 19.Bh4 Kd7 (19 ...0-0 i,

A key move in these posit ion >. The pawn i> o n ii> w•y upward
a4Q,ca 432 .Rf2433. Rfe 2g34.Bf2Qc635.Re6
Starting a man eu,,., , wh ich le t > Bl•ck off the h ook Correct was }).Rd5 I a n d White i>
close to winning
35 ...Qd7 36 .Qf4 Ras 37.Q<,4+ Qd5 38.Qd3 Ql>5 39.Q~+ Qds 40.Qd3 Q g s+ 41 .Bg3
Qfs 42.R6e4 Qbs 43.Qd, Qd7 44.Qd3 Ql>5 4 5-Qd, Qd1 46.Qd3 Qbs 4 7.Qd1 Qd1
'/,- '/,
(4) G urevic h 0V - Polovod in
Tw0Knights"Defen,e [C56J
9.o -0Bc51o .fJ Ng511 .f4 N~ 12.Be3Bb6 13.Nd2 Nxd 2
1ti,worthpointingoutthat 13.. .c5 i, m o,t like lyju>ltotra n ,po,e.beca u, e 14.N4f3
Bf\ run, into 15.Nxe4 Bxe4 16 .Ng\ Bf5 17.e6 I fxe6 18. S4 Be4, •nd now 19.Qe2 0-0
20.Rae1 ,olidifie, the cen te,wi!hadv•ntaget0White
An important m ove. reco mmended by Bologa n as the main lin e for Black (in,tead
of the much m ore com mon 15...d4. which i, examin ed in the t heoretic.al ,e cti o n
a nd in gam e> 1-3) . Thi, game we a re looking at now i> the ste m game for the 15
Bf\ vui atio n (and,infact.theear liestgam e inth e d a ta basew ith 15.Nf3) . The line i,
rea,o nab le fo,B l•ck,but he hastopl•yprec i,e ly.
16.g
16.Bfa i,wea ker. G•w•in Jone,triedth i,ag•in,tThorfinn»o n (lce la nd 20 16).but
wi th Black not having surrende red t he e4 -~ ua re (on Nh4, ... Be 4 i> po»ible ),
White rullyneed,tostartpawn pl•y >oon e ro r ri,kgivingupthe in il i•l ive.A~er
16 .. .o-0 17.a4a5 18.Rad 1 Rb8 19.c4, Blackca n e it h erplay19 ...dxc4 (u inthegame).
or 19...d4 (l don"tlikethat,tru cturefo r White , with the prntectedp•»edpawnon
d4), inbothcase, wit h abetterpo , ition
16... o-o , 7 .b4I
Whiteneed,tocontestthe dark,quare.wh eneverB lac kpo , tpon e. t he ployin t he
ce nte r. Do n"tfo,ge tthat Blackdoe,havethetwobi,ho p,. andonce he castle,
theyc•nbecomepowerful
17... Qe]
17.. .cxb4 18 .cxb4Qe719.Nd4 look, , l;ghtlymore pleasantforWhite
18.bxc5Bxc519 .R•e1 Rad82o.Bxc5
There i> some thin g to be sa id for20.Nd 4II Bxd4 (virtu• lly forced, as 20 ... Bd7 21.f5 I 24 .eli Rxn~ 25.Rxfi Re B26.Qg5Qe7 27.Qes (DJ
cann ot be • llo wed ) 21.Q,d4 . Whenqueen,are o n t heboard , op po>ite-colo, b i,h 27 ...Qd6
o p>u>uallyfovo rthe a tta c king>id e.H ere , White has•king,ide p•wnm•jority. Otherwi >e White complete lydom in•l es in the center. becau >e Bl•ck c• nnot p lay
20 ... Qxcs~ {DJ

Slightlyinaccurate: eve ry te mpo i>im p o rta nt. After2 1.Nd4Be4 22 .Rfa Q b6(o r22
Rfe8 23.N bJ Qb6 24.Qd4. a nd th e e ndgam e after 24 .. .Q,d4

28.Q,cd6c:xd629.Re1
Thi,gam e i, agoodi llustrationofhowo ne mi,ta ke byB lac kca n leadtodread fu l

25.c:xd4 i> not toop le a n ntforBl•ck:th ec5-,quore i> impo rtant for b oth ,ides in
thi, line ) 23.f5 (23.Nb3.eyeingc\. i> pos, iblehe real, 0J 23 ... Rde824.Qf4c5B lack
hu , ufficie n t,esourcestodefe nd •ga in,tWhite'> kin g,ide att.ack, but I a m not
,urelwou ld w•nttopl•y t hi, posit ion fo r Black. The compu ter >ee>O.oo.b ut if a 4, .Rb2Kd642 .KfaR0343 .Nxg5 '/,-'/,
hu m• n pla ying Bl•ck were to ge t up from the board a nd s n eeze, he could mis, a Blockwas ve ry luckyto escape with adraw in t hi,ga m e
m ate ong7,o m ewh ere
(5) Smerdon - S imulowe,M .
Ga uten g2011
Wronginprin c iple:Blockdoes nothave e n o ughco mpe nsationforth e poued e
TwoKnights" Defen>e [C\6)
p•wn .Afte r2 1. .. Rfe822 .Nd4 Be4 Bl•ck has preve nted f4-f)forn owa nd i, doin g

9.o -0Bc51o.1J.e3
22 .Nd4fxe523 .fxe5Bc8
A,lightlyina ccuratemove ord er,a, we , ho ll , ee. 10.f3Ng5 11 .Be3i, correct
The p ublic e ne my1!' 1, th e light-,quore bi,hop.hasbeen >entpacking
ln ,teod, I prd"or10 ... Qe71nd now1fter 11.Re1 (not 11.f3 Nd6l 12.Bf2 Nf5) 11 ... 0-0
12.f3N1513.f4NU(!3 ... Ne6t4.c31>averyslightlyl>ettervero ionforB ladofaline
w• loo k ot in 1•me8) 14 Nd2 fs Black is okay.
If Blad tn<> to tunspou to the m11n l,ne wnh 10.. Bb6. then Ntirlis recommend,
an intere,t,ng oxcllance ucr.fice Ifie• 11 Ndill Nxd2 12 Q,u:h cs 13.Nb3 Bb5 (i3 ... d4
14.Bg5Qc815.c3h6168h4Qb7,s1 lsopossible)>4Bxc5Bxc5 15-NxqBxf116.Rxf1
0-017_(4 andthecomputudoes notm,ndWJ.,te"• po,ruon. but I like Black">
chanu• here, u he con sacn~ce a pawn to get good ploy fo, hi, rooks

12 ... Ne6 ,s an important alternat....,, wh,ch we eum,ne ,n game S

13.Nd2Nxcb
13... f<, 14.N~4 Dre-4 15-Qd2 Bb6 16Nb3 Q•7 17Qc3 as >S.Ncs •4 19.b4 does not (it11necesurytoprevent Rh6wh,drwouldturnthetable, Bl ockwouldbethe
sol.eBlocl<',darksquarep,oblem one attaclcinc) 21..KIB 22Qh3threaten,ngf5,.andtheend is near. 22 ...c5 (22 ... g6
14.Qxd2 23.Qh7 Keg 24Bc5 Bf5 25Rh1 11 w,nn,ng for White) 23.Bxc5- Ke5 2,4.Rae1 Qcll
Sometom<>Bladgoesfor1noppos,te-colo,b,.hop11'ructu,ehe,ewith 1,4 ... Bxd4 25.Rxe41Rc6 (25 .. dxe426Rd1)26.QhS-Kd727.e6-1-0 Sm erdon-Takawira (from
15.Bxd4Bf>,buta1lon1aoqueen1rem1,non,th,swilll>ed ifficuhforBlack.As w,e theumetournament)
h,,,., mentioned. oppo..ie..:olor b<1hop1 favor the 11de who can c,eate th,e at>
ogainstthe king. Fo r example: 16h3h5 171411 (an ,ntere,,.ng pawn H cri~ ce; al,o
po»iblei> 17.Rf3w,th1 comfon1blead-.nt1ge) 17 ... hJ<J.4 1S.hq4 Be-4 (Accepting
with15 ... Bxg419.fsQh,420.Qf41l1olooksdangerou1forBlack) 19.Q!i2R,g 20.Kfa
Re6 21.g5I

Black ,sm..chtoocooperat...,e1nth11game He 11 noteventryingtocontesth ..

= ak dark ~uare,_ Co rrect i, 15... Bb6 16.Qq (a l,o po" ible i, 16 .Nc5) 16 .. .Q e7
17.Nc5f>:e518.f>:e \ , till wit h a n edge to Wl,ite. I p refe r t he knight on c5 overthe
bi , h o po n c \ (whic hwe , h a ll , eein th e next go me) : if Black t rad e, ithei, ,l ightly
wor,e w ith no counte rp lay. Bl ack', be,t he re i, probab ly 18 ...a \, ,to pp in g White
from reinforcin gthe c pquare wit h 19 .b4 . Notethat 18 ... Rfe8ll1 9.Rae 1
19 ...Qxe5 ?llose , to 20. Rf8 + (t hi,h u h ap pe ned in tourno me ntgame,)
16.Q,ce3 fus 17.f>:es Rxfi+ 18.Rxfi ~7 19.Ncs Be6 20.g • S 21.a 4
The re ma ind er i, ju ,t th e co nse r,io n of o n o bv io u , od so nta ge, bu t it i, worth
looki ngat,ince t hi ,i,the , t ru ct u reyou ue a im ingfor in t hi ,va, iot ion (ob, o lute
co ntro l of c5) . Bl ac khnno ho pe
21 ... Re822.b4I
lmmed iote ly fo,mi n g o pa"edpownon t h equeen , ide
22 ... axb4 23.cxb4 h624.a5 Rb825.a6 Ra826.Ra, Bf527.Qf4 Be628.h3 Kh8 29.Ro3
Kh730.RgJ Rd831.Qd4Ra832.Qd3+ Kh833.Qg6Bg834.e6 Rf835.RfjRxfj36.gxfJ
Qh4 37.07 ~ h 38.Kh2 Q<e2+ 39.Kg3 Q e h 40.Kg2 ~ h 4, .Kg3 Q e h 42.K&4 QgH
(6 ) Shklovski - Golod
Ri , ho n l e Ziyo n 2000
Tw0K nights ' Defense [C56J
H ere i, a n illustratio n of wh at can ha ppen if Bloc k•c!ually m ake, a fi ght fo r t he
dark,quares(but withou t t he ...C\ • nd ...d4od so nce )
1.<4 e52. NfjNc63.1k4Nffi 4 .d4exd45.<5d56 .Bb5N <4 7.Nxd4Bd78.Bxc6bxc6
9 .o -0Bc510.fjNg5n.f4N <4 12. Be3o-o,3.Nd2Nxd21 4 .Qxd2ffi15.Nb3Bb6
Oo yo u move you r kn ighto,bi,h opto c5 IB0 t h hove t heirv irtues
16.Bc5I? becau , eoftheweakblackq uee n, ide)24 .Nd3Rf525.Qg3Qxg3 26 .hxg3Bg,i27 .Re 1
The advantageoftheb;,hopmove i, that if Bloc kuade..the kn ;ghtoccup ie. q th e e nd ingi,d,awn
pe,man ent ly. But th e pinned b i, h op requi,e. a lot of care . We ,aw 16 .QCJ (o, 19... Rxfl12o.Re1 Bh3I
16.N c5)intlienotet0Blach 15th moveofthepreviou,game N ow it i,gam e over.Be corefu lw ithth e b lackbi,hop,I
21.Re 2Bxc52.2.Qxc5
Whiteunde re.timote,h i, oppo ne nt",attock;ngchance ,anddoe,not live to tell O r 22.Nxc5Qc1+
the sto ry. Th e correct moveherei , 17.Qe3l.no t allowingBlac hnext idea . Afte, 2.2 ... Qg423.Qe3
17.. . Bf5 18 .Ra e 1 (defend ing the white queen andthe refo,e now attacking the b lack
qu een)Bxq19.N xc 5Bxe2 2o.QqBf52 1. b4 , White',po,iti o ni ,be tter, even apawn

17... fxe5!18.fxe5
lfWhite captu,e. the quee n . h ewin,th e exc hange, but both blackbi,hop,come
olive. an dwit hhi, ce ntro lpawnma,,Block willhave t he advontage

23 ... Bxg2I
The l"a e li grandmaster co ncl ud e. a beau tiful attack with a ,imple, but t he mat ic

24 .Rfa Bh3~ 0-1

(7)J>lachdka - B~gua ni
Moscow(o l) 1994
The queen i, he,e to inflict,o medamage
Tw0K night> " Defen,e [C56J
After witne ,s ing th e d e bacle t h at befell Wh ite in wa, t h e lut ga m e (even t hough we
White a l,eadyha,tobe ca utiou , . Afte, 19 .• 4(a nin,tructive m ove:Wh itethrea ten,
poi ntedoutwhe,ehe, h ouldh avevaried). itm ake, ,e n,e to lookat anothe, gam e
a4-a 5and Black cannot p l•ya7- a5) 19 .. . Rae 820.a5 Bh 321.Rf2 Rxfa 22 .Qxfa Bxc \
whereB lacki, e,sential lyobliviou ,toth edange,. Ju ,tfo,peaceofm ind
23. Nxc5 Rxe5 (ol,o in,tructive: Wh ite has lo,t t h e cent,ol pawn but i, >ti ll okay
Thi,va riatiMwi ll be di,cu,sed indeta il in Ch apter 3.Here,through , o m e libe rty
wi th m ove o , der (l etu,fo, giveth e pl•~" here; 19 94 i, olmo,tanc ienthi"o ry at
thi, point),we t ron,posetoth e no rmo l linewhe re Black do«notpu, hth e pa wn,
8.~Bd79.B><e6bxc610.o -o
10.Nd2 i,coffect h e re, uwe ,how in Cho pte r 3
10 ... 0 -0 n .fj Ng5 12.f4 Ne4 13.N d2 Nxd2 14.Qi«b Bb6 ,5.Nb3 Qe7 16.Q&
16.Ra el i,morelogical,i nv iew ofBloc k', lut m ove putting the q ueen o n that~ le
Afte rthetext,Blac kinturnm i.,e,a n opportunityfor16 .. .f6a ndchoo se,an alto
geth e rmeaning le.,move
16... Rfe8,7 .Bc5Qd818.o4Hi1g.a5B><e52o.Nxc5

Don 't ~ afraid of trad ing down to thi, e ndgame wit h th e kn ight d ominating t he
bi,hop . You wi ll w in it (rn m etim e, e""n if yo u ore o pawn down)

O r 34 .. . Ke73 5.Kg3g636.Kf4 Bf\ J7b4 Bc8 J8.S4 Kf7 39g5 h540.Ke3 Ke74 1.Kd4
Kf742.Nb3,followedby 43.Kq,andthe c6 -pawnwill fo ll . Thi , lineb«t illu ,t ra te ,
how weak th e b lock c-pawn, are if they ore securely blockad ed by t he kn i~ht

Ac celerating the end

39.e6Kf640.Kg4Kg641.gJa6
O r 41... Kf642.Kh5 w itha winn ing pa wn e n d ing
You rorely,ee , u ch ,ubmi.,ive ploy by Block in thi ,linethe«day,, even in b litz
gam e> . Of course, he ca nno t toke the e5-pa wn twice beca use the queen co me, in
(8)Pap - Vuckovic
20 ... Bfs 21 .Roe1 Qe, 22.g fxe5 23.Rxe5 Qfy 24.Rfe, h6 25.hJ Rxe526.Rxe5 Rf&
Kragujevac20 13
27 .Q e J Bc8 28.Re7 Qg6 29 .Kh2 Qd6 30.Qe5 Qxes 31 .fxe5 Rfy 32. ReS~ Rf8 31.Rxf&~
Tw0Knights'Defen« [C 56)
""" In thi,gam e, we look at wh at happen,when Blacktrie , to put the knight o n e6
Thi,setupi, better than it, reputat io n.We• l,oexo min e ,o m ed ilfe rentm oveo,
dersherefo,B lack, ,oth i,gam e i, im portantfo ryo u rtheoretico l ~le

9.o -0Bc510.fjNg511.Be3

BlackhHothercho,ceshcrewhichueimportanttoknow:
(a) n. Qe] 12 (4 Nu (1L.Ne6 13.q 0-0 uan•po•H to what we analyn below)
13.N,b,withthefollowinipoHibleline.fmmhere·
(a1J13.fs14N..,4ti<e41s.b4I Bb6 (1 ,;. .. Bxb416e61)16.4Q>:b417e6BcB1B.Rb1i,
unufeforBlack;
(•2) 'l Nxd2 14Q>:d20-o 1s.Nb3Bb616.Qc3f6 17Ncsfices18.ficesi• • po•ition
we uw in the com menu to game 5;
(a3)13 ... o-014-Nxe4dxe415.Qe2 l(an,mponanttacticalnuan ce)
Now ,f 1,;.. f6~ (1,;. .. Bb6 16.14 as 17 Bf2,. aloo 1ood fo,- White) 16.Q4- (No one
nodWh,teonlyget>toplayonthedarlcoquare11) 16.. J(h8 17.Nfsl Bxe3-18_N..,3
fxes 19 Q>:u Ru8 20.ti<eo;. and Block doH not tKover the pawn bee.au'" of the
(b) With the ma,n line move orde, 1l Bb6. Black can al,o reach the ... Ne6 setup
Tken,becau,eBlackha,n"tcuded, Wh1tecanl1unchanartackqui<:kly: 12.f4Ne6
13c3cs (1). ..0-o 14.fs Ncs 15.f6 g6 16.Qf) i, dange,ou,) 14.Nxe6 fice6 15.fso-o
16.f6 gsf6 17.Bh6f5 (17 ... Rf7I 18Qg4~ Kh! , 9.R>cf6I) 18. RfJ Kh~ 19.Bxfl! Qd !
 13 .. .Q<,8
Blockh nothe r option,
lf 13 .. . Bb6, the n again White needs to pu ,h the f-pawn : 14.f\ Nc5 15. f6 g616 .Qf3
a nddefend ingagain ,tthi , att•cki,not e ny.
13 ...Qe7I I i, quite rea,on obl e, a, Black need not fear Nd4-f5 fo r t he time be ing
14.Nf5?I Bxe3• 1\.Nxe J Qql 16.Qd2 Qb6 with .. .N e\ com ing . White can continue
wi th 14.Nd2Bb6 15. Re1 (pro phyl• cticag•in,t ... f;7- f6 oltho ugh Blackca n sti ll p l•yit;
1\.Nf50, 15.N2f3 a re al ,o pou ib le) 15...f6 (15 .. .c\ 16 .Nf\; 15... Nxd4 16.cxd4 Qb4
17.Nb3)16.N2f3withabattle inth e center

Lopez -P• nchanatlia n, Wnhingto n 2006, and afte r 20 .q, the ju ry is ,till out o n
w!ieth er Blackh n e noughcompen, atio n forthe exch a nge
12.f4 Ne6I?

Abbuov-Stude r, Budva 20\J now went 16 .. . Nxd4 and White ,hould have recap
turedwithtli e pawn,n ottheb i, hop

1\.N2fJ might be more in tere,ting: w ith Black focused o n the c5-,qua re White

A n ot ""-'Y popu la,, but important line . Bl•ck tries to contest t he darl: ,qu• re, could moveove rto the right

(e,pecio lly c5l)with hi, p iece,while• lsopreparingf7-f6 . Aron Nimzovi ch wou ld

h•verecom m end edthi, movewit hou taseco nd t hought : t hev• lue ofthe blockad 16.exf6Rxf617.Qd2i, prnbablynot ngood: 1 like the e-~le h e refor Black

ing kn ight,houldnotbe un de re,timoted

17.. .Qg6 18 .Nxe6 Bxe6 19.Bd4 looh bette r fo r White, but 17 ...Qe7 m •y be a way to
conte>t t he d arK,quare,

It moy moh ,e n,e to t hrow in 19 .•4 • I to ,ofte n up the b ishop • little a nd m a ke
Bloc kre ca ptu re with t h ec -pawn . Th i, con m ake adiffe re ncein a lotof vu ia t io n,,
becou,e ta king back with th e • -pawn ca n tu rn th e dou b led pawn, fro m a = ak ne"
into a stren gt h, es pec i• llyif t he b lack rook ga in, t he ho lf-ope n • -~le
19... Qg620.Ne2Re8
JO ... Ne621.Nbd4i,o l, o ro u gh lyeven
21.Nf4Qg522.Nd3N e623.Kh1 Qh4
23 .. .Q g4 would>tee r cl earof the fo llowingblu n de r.
25 ... Rxe5??
A blund e rwh ich,po il, o good , t rote gical battle.25 ...Q e7 i,eq uol:White",control
o f t he c5-, q uare can on ly b e mo into ined a t t he cost of a pown : 26 .b4 (26.Nxd7
Qxd727. Bxb 6cxb6 i, nothin g) J 6 ...Q xe 127.Bf2 Qf5 28.o4 a 629 .• 5Bxc5 30.Bxc \
Rxe1 +3 1. Q xe1w it h• lih lyd raw
26 .Nxd7Bxe327.Rxe3 1-o
Block p roba blym i.,ed 27 ...Qf428 .Rf3l a nd Wl,ite", m ote com e> tif>t. Th i, bock
Deviations from the Main Une

In t h is chapter,,,...., look a t rela t ively rare ~lte rnatives for Block o n the way to th e
m ain line of the Modern Att.ock. We ~re not in cl u d ing he re t he muc h more topica l
Be,; line, wliic h is the subj ect of Cha pter 3
(9) Savchen ko - Ma la niuk
Krnnodu2004
TwoK nights' Defen« [C ,ol
1.<4e52. NfJNc63 .d4=!44.Bc.4d6
Amove d«ignedtoavoid •ll theoryondju>t"get apositio n." I neve r recom mend
su ch on appro• c h with Bl•c k. You are lih lyto co ncede sp• ce, development, or

) ... g6 6.Nq Bg7 7.Be J Nf6 8.f30-0 is • m o re dynamic «tup for Block. Th e 1i
anchettoedbi, h opoffe r, m orepl•ythanth e p• s,iveb is hopone7 . Now Wh it e ho,
(19 ... Kf8wu correct, but it is >ti ll a bod posi !i o n for Block) and now t h e piece
a n umber of treatment,, and I lih the following way to p loy (in Mov«s ian
, ac rilice 20 .Bxc6 I Bxc6 21.Nd) Nxd5 22 .Qxg\+ Kf8 23 exd 5 Bo+ 24.Rd2 i, over
Y.Zato mkih, Bratislan 1995) , 9.Nxc6bxc610 .Qd2Be6t1 .Bb3Qe712.o-0-0II
whelm ing
6.NgNffi7.o--oo-o
Thi, i, the Hungarian Oefen,e, which ca n re,u lt from other m ove o rd e r, •• we ll. It
i,j u>t • plu , ontpo,itio n fo r Wh ite . Tu,nchwuu,uo llyrightoboutthece nte r
being a nadsa ntage; Block hu no pawn p laytocompe n,oteforitand no , erio u,
p iece p laytocombatth ecenter.
8 .Re1Nxd4
8 .. . Ne5 9 .Bf1 Re8 ,eem s m o re in th e spi rit of th i, vuiation; White wil l n eed to
we okenth e e-p•wnwithf4tokic koutthe kn ight.Alw•y•ma ke youroppon entpaya
pr ice l

12 ...• 513.BuBd7 14. Bh 6 l andWhite hnon initi• t ive in the ,ty le oftheYugo,l•v • t
tac k agai nst the Dragon . In the game, he ~uickly • c h iev« • deci ,ive •dv•ntage
14.. . Rfd815.Bxg7Kxg7 16.g+Qe517.h4 Qc518.h\g) 19.h6+Kg8
We learnq uicklyin life t hot• queenin t he cente ri,very we ll p l•ced ifitcannotbe 15.Bxe6I
attaded.B lacknow fi nd ,• w• yto a tl•ck it,butat•costoftime lnconjuncti o nwiththe nextmove,otim elyan d in,t, u ctivetr•n • fe rofadvantage,
9 ... Ng.110.Bf4 White t rode,in,paceforpawntarge t, intheopponent',camp
10.Nd5i,~tte r,b ut Wh ite i,tryingtobe fancy. 15... fxe616 .e5INg.117.=d6c:xd61&.h3Ne5,9 .Rod1Qb620.N a 4
10 ... Bf6n .Qd2Be6 12.Bb3B0513.Bg5 20.Qxd6Qxfa-'- 21.Kh , Nc62 2.Qxe6- Kh8 23.Qe2 i, foidy,tro igh tforword . (DJ
13.Bxe5 i,cle• ner,withadvan tage White i, a p•wn up. In t he gam e, he ol, o win , a p•wn •nd eve ntuolly th e g• m e. We
13 ... Bf6 pre,entth e re,tof t he gamewithou tco mm e nt, •• it i, faidylongand n o lo nger
Bloc k mi ,,e, • n opportun ity to co m p licate the g•m e with 13... Bxh 2+ •nd now bll,
into•pa" i"" po , ition 20 ... Qc6 21.Qxd6 Nf}~ 22.gxfj Q1<114 23.Q,ce6~ Kh8 24.Rd7
 Lanvaria t ion(Chapter7)

Whitei,likelytol,.,downon e o r twopawn ,he re.but with,u ch abig leadinking

Q,cc:2 25.Re2 QbH 26.Kg2 Rae! 27.Rf] Rg& 2&.Rxb7 h6 29.Re, Qd] 30.Qd7 Qg6+
31.Q&-4 Qo6 32.Ree7 Rei 33.K h2 Qd6+ 14.f4 Qd4 ]S.Qf] • 5 36.a3 Rfi 37.Kg, Rb,
38.Q<,4 Qd, 39.Kg] Qgi+ 40.Qg, Qc1 41.Re3 Rxb2 42.Rxb2 Q,cb2 43.Qds Qb,
44.Qx•s Qg,+ 45.Kf] Qfi 46.Qfs Qh1+ 47.Ke2 Rd8 ¢.Qc2 Q a1 49·"4 Q h , 50.05
Qa1 51.Re5 Qh1 s,.Qa 4 Q,ch3 53.Re&+ Rxe8+ 54.Qxe&+ Kh7 55.Q~+ Kh8 56.a6
Qhs+ 57.Q/J Ql>5+ 58 .Qd1 Qb6 59.KfJ Qc6+ 6o. Kg3 Qb6 61.fs h s 62.Qu Qd6+ In vie w of t he note to t he ne,:t move, a live lie r opt io n for White i, 6 .bxq Ba5
63 .f4h4+64.Kg4Qa365.Kxh4Qa166.Kg5Qg1+67.Q&41·0 (6 ... Bc5?7.Bd'7-,.Kxf78.Qd\+ i, atyp ica l trapforB lac k)7 .o-0

(•o ) Staunlon - Pope rl

Lo ndon. 1842
Scotch Ga mb it [C44J

Thi, i,a n imporlant lin e.a lthoughiti,unlikely tooc curinthe21"cent ury.ltwu

very popul a rinthelif"halfofthe 19th century. ,o l a mu,ingagamefrom thento
illu,trateit. Th i,partirn larga mewunot h offible.evenbymodern,tandard,
If you want to play the Modern Attack again" t h e Two Kn ight, w;t hout al lowing
th i, line (whic h fo,ce. you to ucrifi ce a pawn) then you can choose t h e move
order1.e4 e52 .Nf3 Nc6J .Bc4 Nf64 .d4 exd4 . He re. ifB lackplay, 3.. . Bc5 (the G iuo
coPiano). the n w;thour reperto ireyou will c hoo,eth eJobavavariation {4 .qNf6
le ad in gto apo,itionthat hu notbeen playedatahighlevel andneed,more
5.d4 exd4 6.e5d5 7.Be2; ,ee Cha pter 9) a nd will not have acce,.to thevonde r
resea rch. Wh ite'> ~tter d evelop ment a nd open lin e, give him compe nsat io n for
thepawn. The be,tmovehe reforBl• d h non ly been p l•~donce ;n t he databa, e
7 ... Bb6 (•fte r7 ... Nf6 8.Ba3d69 .e5 o, 7 ...d6 8.Qb3 Qe79 .e5th e a3-IBdiagon•I i,
prob lemat ical for Black) 8 .Ba3 (8 .Qb3/ Na5 is t h e point of Block'> last move) 8
Whitehasmuchmore,pa ce a ndgooddiagon•l ,forthe b i,hop,,b ut Bl•dha,no
= aknes, e,.Eve ntually,Blockmayneed toreturn t he p•wn wit h .. .d)
H e ca n a l,ob itethe ne,:t bu llet with 6 .. .o:b2 7.Bxb2 Nf68.0 3I Ba59.e5 Ng4to .h 3
Nh6w itha,tronginitiat ive forW hi te(Qe2andBd3forin,ta nce)
Howeser, Black hu • safe and sound contin u atio n h ere with 6 ... Nf6 7.b«J Bc5
8.e 5d5 l,andnow•fter9.«f6 d « 4 to.fxg7Rg8 11.Qxd8+ Nxd812 .Re 1- Ne613 Ba3
B,a3 14.N,a3Rxg7 15.Nxu1b6
(thi,ra re line h a, oc curred in correspond e nce c hes,) th e e ndgam e i, equa l: bot h
, ides have p•wn we akn e,se>, Wh;te i> better mobili,ed, but Bl•d hu t he b ishop
10.Qb3 Be6 {10 ...Q e7 ll.Bg\ Nf612 .Nq Be613.N d5) 11 .Bxe 6 &e612 .Qxe 6+ Qe7
13.Qb3 recovers t he pawnwithoplu,
10 .. . Nffi11.e5
A little pre m a t u re. Wh;te hu t ime to co m p lete t h e d evelopm e nt fast
14 .. . Re8 i, better, atta ckingthe b;,hopandtakingadsontageofWhite '> in•ccurate
p lay in t he ope ning
15.BgJ {D)
Whiteha,typ ica l compen, atio n forthe p•wn .H i, p ieces arebette r m obil ized
 2.2.Qg3I
Lo n g q ueen m ove. were a, h ard to , ee in 18.p u t he y are now. Wit h p in, a nd
fo rh, Wh ite w in , m•teria l
2.2 ... h6 23.f4 Q~ 24.Ne7+ Rxe7 2i,Rxe7 QHi 26.Qxg.1 Qxe7 27 .Qxg6 Q<,3 + 28.Kh1
Qxa3 29.Q~ QC} 30.h 3 Rc8 3, .11<13 Rd8 32.RfJ g6 33.lk.4 Rdh 34.Kh2 Q e1
3i.Qxg6+ Kh836 .Qxh6+ 1-o

(11)Fis h bein - Heu

PRO Che u lea gue(o n line)20 17TwoKn ight.'Defe n,e [C\6j

Thi, ga me wa, p l• yed in 1842. All o f Bl• ck', m ove., , tarting wit h m ove 7 • nd up
unti l now, are m y co mputer ', fir,t line, exce pt for 14 .. . NS4 a nd 19 ... N S4 he re. In
,pite o ft ha t, h e i,on ly equa l afte r1 9 ... Bxc7. Afte r t he text,h i, g•m e quickly go e,

An inte re,ting ideaby G M H eu, • p pa rently foundo verth e board,too - quite im

p reuive for • G/ 1\ form•! I He w• nt, to , top me from d e ve lop;ng my bi,hop

A re a,o nab le,but,om ewhatti m id,,e• ct io n.B l• ck',de la y in develop m e nt p robably

req u ire.• m ore aggreu ive re, pon,e. You r choice bemun the followin gtwoap
p ro• ch e.m • y d e pe ndo n how m a teri• li,tic yo u a re
(•) 10.Nq Nxc3 11 .bxq Be7 12 .e6 II fxe6 13.Qh\+ Kil! 14.Qg,i Qc815 .Re 1 Bf6 16 .Qf3
Ca n youlind t he best m ove he re fo r Wh ite wit ho ut readi ng fort herl Sta unto n fo und
Kf7 17. Bg\

wit h on in itiative t ha t likely m o re t ha n com pe n ,o te, fo, t h e , ac, i~ced pawn (fo r
exa m ple, ofter 17 ... RIB 18 .Bxf6 Bloc k mu , t pla y 18 .. . Kg8 , u 18 ... gxf6 / lo,e, im medi
ate ly to 19.Nf5 IJ, o,
(b) 10.C4 Qb6 11 .Nc3 Nxq 12.bxq Be7 13.Q f3 0-0 14.cxd5 cxd5 15.Q xd) Rad8
a ndthi, ti me , White i,a pownu p,but Block , h ouldbeob le to ho ldthi ,
10 ... Nxd2'1.Qxd2
11 .Bxd 2 Qxb2 12.Be3 Be7 13.e6 f<e6 14 .Qh\+ g6 15.Q e5 i, o n ly go od e no u gh to
n ... c,; 12 .Ne 2c613.f411<,714.4d415.Ng30-016.b3
We a rrive a t • po ,ition t h at i, typica l of thi, varia t io n: White ho , a pa wn m ojo ,ity
o n th e king, id e,w hile Block ho,th e twobi, ho p, a nd weak doubled paw n, . The
po,itio ni ,obout equo l,buto nyth in g con hoppe n(•nd , infa ct, doe, in thi, gom e )
An im porto nt ,ou rce ofcounte rp lay fo r Blac k: c hal le n ging t heb 3-pawn
ln con , i, tent wit h hi,previo u,m ove. 17 ... Re8 l 18.f5 (Wh ite need,toforce t heinu e
if 18.Ne4Bf5 19 .Nxc5 Rd8 i, a n0>ty pin,ondot he rw i,e 18 ... a4 i, t hreote ned ) 18
Qxe \ 19 .Rae \ Qf6 20 .Ne 4 Qh4 21. Bxc5 Bxc \ 22 .Nxc5 Rxe l 2J .Qxe l Qxe 1 24 .Rxe 1
Bxf525.Rd 1 Rd8 26 .Nb 7Rd727.N c5e nd , inad row
20.g4 l wo,co rrect, follo wedby 21. f5a ndB loc k n eed, to otte n d tothec5 -pown. Th e
20 ... Rf/'21 .N04 Qf822.Ng5 Rfs
N ow Blad lo , es • te mpo (22... Rf6 immed iate ly wo, bette r) . Tim e wa, ru nn in g lo w.
 After mut ual m ista kes (b ut m ore of th em by me), we have reached a po sition
wh ere Block co n win ea, ily: 37 ...hxs-4 38.Qh4- Kg7 39 .Q h 7- Kxf6ondthega mei ,
o,,.,,, a, t he re i, no checko nf1. ln >tead, withonly ofew seco nd , left , versu, my
minute,Robe ngivesmea n opponu nity to t urnthetob les

38.Rg\ll i,o nimmediote moteonth eh -~le . Blockconnottakethequ een, ond th ere

i, ol,o no c heck o n d\. On 38 ... Qf7, 39.Qxf6- Qxf6 40 .Rxh5- win,
J8 ... Qxg8 J9.Rxc8+ Kxg8 40.Qxd4 •1 41 .Qc.i+ Kg7 42.Qg Kg6 4J .QgJ+ Kh6
Nowthepo,itioni,drawn(• • lnid,th i,ga megoesth roughall three , esu lt>),ond
I cou ld h•ve , im p ly taken the pawn on •J with o n e.,y draw. But, still with m o re
tim e onthe clock, l wo, h opi n gto win - •nd wa,opprop, iately pun i,hedfo, pl•y
ing the clock more than the board (the two-secon d inc reme nt m ea n, you can' t

A tempting, b ut in correct combin a tio n . With 26.Qg2 I I co n consolidate a nd ga in e nter•tot• llylo,ingpo ,ition)

the upper hand . Black'> ,ook o n h 6 i> tra pped . Now, however, White will~ in seri

26 ... gxRi27 .Bxc<JBxc528.Nxc5Bxg429.b4 Rg6Jo.Kh1Qff1JI.Qfl.Kh832 .Rg1 Rg8

49.Qh7+?
The de ci , ive m i>t•ke. Wit h 49.QeS, White c•n sti ll hold . After my m ove ("patzer
>ees •check,gives•ch eck"), t heb l•ckkinge, c• pes,the rei,nope rpetu• l, a ndmy
ownkingi,in•m•tingnet
 Qb5,th en16 .Ne4Be717 .Bg5expo,es th e wea kn e Hofthed6-,quare
Robe rt HeH>howed muchbette rpo iseunde, preHu,e andde, e rved to win th;, 10.fjN c5 11 .f4Ne.j
see nwand excit;nggame ll ... o-oi,poHible : afte r12.f,;N e 4 l don'tquiteuu,tWh ite'satta cka fter13.Nc3
Bc,;,andthe refo,e l prefe r13 .Nb3ll,ob , e rvingthec,;-,qua re.Thi,po,itionhnnot
(12) Jones - Naidit<ch
Baku(ol)2016
TwoKnight<' Defen>e [C ,;6)
Th;,gamewa,a nnotated byGawainJoM>, and l refe r the inte re ,ted,eaderto h is
excel lent notes, pu bli,h edinCh,»maguine (Vo l. 81, No . BJ. He re, 1 m ll goove,
my recom mendation, in th e ope ning, the main strategical t heme, in the mid
dl egame,andthe critica l po;nt>ofthegame

9.o -o lle7
An important m ove: Black want> to ploy ...c,; mth o ut losing t ime with h;, bishop
goingtob6
On the immediate 9 ... c\, t he right react;on is to .Nb3 I (not 10.Ne 2 Bc6; now, how
ever,B1ackcannotplay10 .. . Bc6becau,eof11 .Na,;)to ...c611 .c4 l dx0412 .N3d2
12.1'5!?
Nxd2 13.Nxd2 Be6 14.Qu Qb6 15 .Qc>
Grandmaste r Ga wa in Jone > play, the mo , t aggreHive move. However, I don't like
White', position after 12 ... Bc5 he re (followed by 13...Qe7) . 12. Nd2I i, my pref-
ere nce.th e refore. Now afte r 12... Nxd2 Wh ite has a c hoice: 13 .Bxd2 c514.Ne2can
le adtointe re>ting complicatiomafte r14 .. .g6(on14 ...o-015.f,;f6ll 16. e6Bb517 .Rf3
White has a clea r advantage, Pap-Cior ne i, Dortmu nd 20 16) 15.04 llc616.Ng3 h 5
17.f,; h4 18.f>:g6 (18 .e6 II hxg3 19.exd7+ Qxd7 20.h3 0-0-0) 18 ... hxgJ 19.gxl']+ Kf8
2o. h 3Be621.Qc1 Kg7 22.f8Q+ Rxf823.Bh 6+ Kh824.Bxf8Bxf8andWhite ,etain,a
, t rongattack,although Blackmaybe abl e to>urvive . However,Blockcana l,oplay
14.. .f5wit h aclo,ed po,ition . Therefore, 13 .Qxd2is probablybetter,a,Jone,m e n
tions.Nowf4 -f5willbe ha rdtopreve nt

12 ...0-oi , againpoH ib le,and,inthi,po>ition,a>mention edearlie r, I recomme nd

and Black will n ot be able to keep all three tripled pawn, wh ile at the ,ame time
13 .Nb3ll,kee pingth eBlackbi,hopfromthe c5-,quare fornow. Thati,why l t h ink
comple t inghi,devel opment(Pap -Luinkn, Pa leoch o ra2012).Forexample,if 15
Block,hou ldp loy\2 ... Bc,; immediotely. Afte rthete,:t , Whitega in,th e uppe rhand 26R~ 27.Qh5 ffi 28.Q,ch6 Rh8 29 .Qg7 Qd8 30.Qfy 6ce5 31.ffi Bd6 32 .Bxg5 (DJ
The whiteking , ide pown,w illdec ide the gam e

13 .N"2Bl>514."4
14.No3,a,inSveshnikov-Fercec.Nov• Go,ica 199,;. lo o hbette r.
14... Bo615.NbqNxq,6 .bxqQd7,7.Rf20-o -018.Nf4I?
Thi, i, a pawn sacrifice which Black should occe pt . After 18 ...Qxf\ 19.Nd3 I Q e6
2o.Ba3Bxd321.cxd3Whitehasmorethan e nough compe n,ation.u Black", king
feel, uncomfortableonc8.butB 1ackcan prn bablydefe nd
18 ...g5,9.Nh5Rhg820 .Qg4Kb821.lkbK0822.Re1BC4

48 .Kg2Rbh149 .f!Q1 -o
A h igh-leve l game a ndagoodi llu , tratio n ofWhite',po«ibilities inthi,variatio n

('l)Tse,tlin - Yun~
Lening ra d1979
TwoKnigh ts " Defense [C,;6)
Whi le Black has~e nbu , yre po , itioninghi , king.White hasplacedhi,p ieceson
opt imol ,quares . Th e twobi,hop,are no t doing a nythingpartic u lody effectivefor
Bloc k. The refo re. Wh ite can ope n t he po , ition. a nd with t he two ,ooh ~hind th e
N ow if 9 ... Nxe).Whitep lay,10 .Bf4
e-a nd f-pa wn,. 23.e6 , ugg ests itself Thecomplica t io n, looktofavo,Wh ite : 23
9 ... Nb8

Howeve r.the te,:tmove i,a l, ogood . Wh iteha,oc learinitiative

23 ... Rb824.h3h625.QfJQc826.Ng}
Rathe rthanpu , hthe pa wn,.Wh itedecid estoattack Black', pown,with the queen
Bloc ki,notorganizedtocomfortab lydefendthe m
Of 111 tM ways 10 deviate from the main line, this IS undo1,1btedfy the mo,t o,iginal I prefer Wh,te. The doubled pawn on c6 moku it 1mponible fo, the black li1ht·
one. It was first played by Smejkal in 1969, but I •m pay,ng homage to my own p,Ht ,quoreb<,hoptooccupythelon1d,.3on1I
by showing a game played in the champ,on,h,p of my hometown, 1n the year when Among my favonte thing• in chess 11 ~nd,ng eumpln when a ,imilar idea occurs
1 em,grated from the~ to the United Sta\u (and the player pb,y,n1 Black wu one ,ntwocompletefyunrelatedopenmgs. ThoseofyouVfflOplaytheKinl(,lnd,•nDe·
fensemayre<:1llth,.po,ition,fromthe7. Nbd7v1r11t1on:
10.Nq
In con1unct1on with the nert mov,e, th i, ,. a good way to make ,1 hard for Blad to
untangleHow,,,,., ,, it,sunclearif rt i,enoughforan1dv1ntage
I recommend 10.c4, and after 10 ...0-0 11.Nc3 <S 12Nb3 d4 (U ...dxG4 1).Na \l)
13.Qf3lc614Ne4Nd71).Bf41)16.Rfe 114(Nopin·B0h1k,corr.2oo9)17.N bd2

He,e,BlackgivHuphi,pndeand1oy,lhel6n1'slnd,anb,.hop,with14... Bxc3,l>e·
c1usethenWli 1tewillhavenoacces1tothelongd,1gonal
Com,ngbacktoou r game
1o ... cs11.Ndb5c61 2.Nd6-o-Bxd61).ud6o-o14Bf4

Black,hould1cceptthes1c"ficew,thl6... Kq:7 17-ReSwilh compJicoticnsth1tue

Blackwcntht11me) 17.Qhs1Cq:71I.BgsBd619.Bh6'-Khll20.Bxfllllxf821.Rd
n.QfJQ<17
Prcbab!y nctbeot;11 ... Re!ismcren1tur1I
12.h3Rdll13.Re1Na614.e6
GM Mark T,e itl ,n wn a fierce att1c~on1 player, ind this move sign 11, a n asuult on
d, e blac kki ng
14 ... fxe61s.Nxe6Rd , 6.Nq:7I

Wh,te '1 cn!y I half-~wn down (rook and p-n vs the lw<> minor~••) . The 1t-
tack i, ,.,..,.,;ble The un1ttended blacl< kongt• ll•you that Bl1ck win h1w toccugh
The kn ight on a 6 (which, as you reca ll, ca m e fro m g8) is too far away to eve n uk
why itgotd i, p lacedfromit>rightfu l, pot
25 ...Qf7 26.Qg5+ Qg6 27.Qd8 Qd6 28.Qg5+ Kfy 29.Rd8 Qe7 30.Q~~ Kg8 31 .Rd7
Bc832.Qg,i+ BgJ33.Rx<7Bxg,i34.h><g4Bxb235 .Re8+ Kfy36.Ra8Nb437.Rx,qNxe2
38.Rxq~Kg81·0
C hapl<er]
 ll .. . Bo61 is ,om e o ld ond refuted anolys is: 12.N c3I (not immed iate ly 12.Bxa31 Qg\,
atro pthat,eve,al p loye r, hove falleninto)d41 3.Bxa3dxc3 14.Qxd3R, d3 1\.b4N e 6
16.Bc6 I Bu1 17.Rd 1 andWh itew in ,
,2 .Qxds

In this chapter,we focu s on 7 ... Bc \. This is a n im porta nt lin e, reco mmend ed by

severa l a uthors ,incl udingNti rlisinh is rece ntrepe rtoire book
For the m o m e nt, Black i, two pa wns down . He will recO\ler one of t h e m im m i
The correctresponse.B1oc kwastryingtotric kyouinto3.Nxc6, which i,n ot good ne ntly, a nd the nthe,trugglewillbe oroundth e , econdpawn
a,we, ee in Ga me 14 12 .. . Q e7

12 ...Qxd\ 13 .Bxd\ Rxb2 14 .Na3l, threatening 1\ .0-0-0 , i, o n extra pawn for White,
3 ... Bd7 isthe other m ove, a ndwe coverit exte n , ivelyi nthegame,,e cti o n a nd Block', compe n,a t io n i, insufficient (a lthou gh he moy be o bletod,aw with
(games 11-17) . It allow, White a bette rver> ion of the po , itio n> we saw in Chapte r 1 best d efe n,e)
The text i, o pown sacrifice. If Block p l•y•correct ly, h e can , egainth e pawn a nd
probablyg, aduolly equoliz e.However,in practice,ldo u btit i, an a ttro ct iveway to
p l•y.Block'spiece,ore notwe ll coo rdi notedandhehaspotentiol pawnweakn e,ses
o n the q u eens ide.White hastheinitiative inth e opening a nd scores we llh ere,even
if in theoryBla ck s hou ldbe oble toneu tfali zethe in it iohve
9 .Nxc6
With Blac k h•vin gnotp loyed .. . Bd7, 9 .Bxc6 ispre m ature,9 ...bxc6 10.o-0ondnow
10 ...Qe3 li, agoodmove
9 .. . bxc6,o.Bxc5 Nxc511 .Bxc6Rb8
 fol lo wedby Rb3,an dWh itewill re ga ina p iece wit h od so ntage
(b) 14 .. . Ne6 ?l doe, not wo,kbecou , e of 15.N4, a nd if 15.. . Rxc2 16 .Qd 3 tro p, th e

(c) Howeser, 14 ... Rb 6 imm ed iatelyi, a good a lte rnative: after 15.Qf3 Ne6 16 .Bd\
Q c \ (Wh ite', In t two m ove, we re forced ), Bl ack ,ho u ld be a b le to eq ualize with
p rec i,eploy.White', initiat ivei n t h i, line re lie, o n Blod', q ueen rook being a little
out of p lay • nd apo,,ibletarge tforth e w!iite p iece,.Block need, to wait a couple
o f m ooe, befo re re ga inin g th e pawn . Fo r «a m p le, 17.Ra d1 c6 18.B c4 Rb4 I (13
Qxe 5 i, nicerforWhite: t hebi,hop can retreat wi th the t hreatofN 4 } 19.Bd3 g 6I
(be tte r t ha n 19 .. .Q xe \ 20 .N 4 Q c \ 21. Nd6) 20 .Q g3 (20.Nb 1 Q xe \ i, eq u a l) 20
Rd3 .. .withe nou ghco u nte rploy.

An inte rest in g alte rnot iv,e to t he mo« common 14 .Nq , wh ich we enmin e in ga me
19 . lt i, agoodp, acticol t,y: , ome ofBlack',mo reobvio u , repl ie,do not wor1c ve,y

Bloc kh n ,evera l oth eropt ion,

(•) 14.. . RdS 15.Qf3 Ne6 t6 .Qq Rb 6 17.Rfd, I, with a promi, ing , ac, ifi ce of two
pi ece, fo r a rook : 17. .. Rxd 1+ 18 .Rxd 1 Rxc6 19.Qxc6Qxa3 20.QoS Qa6 21. Rb 1 NIB
2'.041

l \ ... Rxa2 16 .Rxa2 Bxa 2 (Bo,kovic-G olofre, Pa n -Am e rica n c h 2006) 17 .f4 i, mo «
p lea,antfor White:hi , pown,o n the king, ideare re ady to m ose , a nd Black h ua
we a k(even ifpa ,,ed ) pawnon t he a-fi le
16.Bb5 Nd7,7.Rad1 Nxe5 18.Qxe5 Q n 3,9.Bd3
White's p ieces are bettercentr• liz edand hei, •im inga tthe b lackking. Blac k',
~ueen , ide p•wn> a re • Im a litt le weak . The t rade of the C]-pawn for the 02 -p•wn
m•ynotturnouttobe a n eve ntradehe re,bec•useBl•ckcou ldthe n al,o losetli e
•7-pawn . However, Bl•cka,ndefend t he q -p•wn he re,•nd,witl, precisepl•y, he
TwoK nights' De fen« [C,;6)
Alth o ugh t h;, i> n ot • great g• me, it'> hard to resist includ ing a game by Ado lf
Anderue n here : hehe lped popu larizethe7 ... Bc5vari•lion,•nd,a fter•ll,hetaught

Thi, hu been known to b e bad for White ever ,ince anothe r And e rue n g•me
aga in,! Oufre,ne in Ro tte rdam 1861. A, we alre ady know, S.Be J i, t he co rrect move
8 ... Bx&+ 9.Kfi bxc6
9 ...Qh4 i>• l,opouib le,andthe rei,not h in ggoodth e refo,White e ilh e r.

Oon 't~temptedintothis:itg ioesyou,opponentthefa -,~uare,andth ere,ulting

positioni,betterfo,Bl•ck
S.0-00-0 1 i> • lson otgood for White : 9 .Nxc6 (on 9.Bxc6bxc610 .Be3Qe8; Bl•ck
hunvedakey tempobynot pl•yin g ... Bd7)9 ... bxc6 to .Bxc6Ba6

11.QdJ Bf\ 12 .Qf3Bd713 .e6 Bxe6 14 .Bxa 8 Q<a8 15.Nc3 i, al,obetterforBl•ck: he

hua p•wn a nd ottack fo r theexchange
Correct wn 11 .. .Qh4l 12.Bxd5(otherwisethe mate threa,.areoverwhe lm;ng) Bg,i
13 .Qe2Bb614.B«4Bd1 l 15.Bg\Bxc216.Bxh4Bxe4 withabetterending forBlack

12.g3Bxc,i-1 3.Kg2•ndWhiteainge tout, verymuchalive

12 ...d><e4
Nowthega meisover.

The keym ove he re . 10.o-0 in>teadtra ns poses toasub-optim• l moveord e rofthe

line from Cha pte r , (• llowing10 ... Qe7;seegam e 5)

10 ...Qh4 wn conside red good h ere until G•wa in Jones d e m o m t ra ted the refu
tat io n,whic hwe ,h• ll see inthenextgame
10 ...Qe7 looh tempt;ng (as it , ee m, th• t White ca nn ot defend the es p•wn), but it
Whitedidnotdevelopth e queen side in tim e
16.Ngcxb3+ 17.Ne2Bn118. Kfl. Rd2,9 .BIJ Bd4+ 20 .Kg3 Bxe221.Bx<e2bx0222.e6

(' 5)Sv~hnikov - Jokovenko

Haterinburg 2002
Tw0Knight>' Defen,e [C 56J

Runi• n gr•ndma>terEvgenySveshnikovwn one of the m a in early •dsoaitesof

the Modern Att•d for White. Hehn impired mony other p ractitione" with stro ng
opi nions that h e hu •lways been willing to share, n well n hig hly in stfuctive
games, includingthisoneag•instafuturewoddtop-~veplayer.
 Anoth er Sve>hnikov game, again,\ Ruiz (C• lvi a 2007), continue>: 12.Nb3 Bxe3? I
(Th i, exch •nge fit> in wit h White', p lan,, a, we h•ve •l ready seen) 13.Qxe 3 Re8
14.o-0Qb8 15.QqQb6 16.Nc5Bf5 17.b4a5 18 .03

Now \2.e6 1 (thi, typica l , hot d e>t roy, Black', p•wn stru cture ) 12 ...fxe6 13.N xc6
Bxc614.Q h \+ g61\ .QxqQxc\ 16.Bxq give>White a b;g advantage {Block doe ,
h•veacha nce toholdonford ear lifeinth e oppo, ite -co lorbishop end;ng,butwith
rook>ontheboarditmll notbe easy)
f;na lly, to .. .f\ i>al rnbadbeca u,e of n.e 6
n .Qxd2 (A patter n we hove ,een, but iti, never a bad idea to revi,it il} 18 .. .h619 .h3 Re b8
This line leads to po,itions ,imilar in nature to wh•t we ,aw in Ch• ple r '- White 20.g4Be621.Rab1ub422.Rxb4I Qa723 .Rxb8+Rxb8(a ga in, White ha>e»ent ially
mll gain control of th e c5-,qua re . Th e d ifferen ce i,thot t he pawn i, >ti ll o n fa. I twoextrop•wn>: a pa>sedpawn o nth equ een,ideandth e e-pawnal rn) 24.• 4Bc8
thinkthatu lo ng as Wh ite can protect (ortrode)th e e \pawn,thi,d iffe rencecan 25.R01Ba626.e6 I
o nly benefit White, becau,e h i, king i, safer with t he pawn at ho m e, a nd Black
doe, not hove the e4-,quare for hi , bi,hop. Pawn ,don't move backward , , a nd
Whitecanplayfa -f4 la ter ifne ce»a ry.

ll . .. Q e7 was p layed in Fi,hb e in -Nicely, New Jersey 2017 . Now, 12.Nb3 Bb6 13.Qq
0--0 14.0--01 (threaten ing 15.Bc5) 14 ... Rfe8 15.f4i, astab le edgefo rWhite . lnth e
gam e, I gotg,eedy, not wa ntingtop l•yf4andweaken myking,ide,andtfiedthe
immed;a,e 14.Bc5 Bxc5 15.Nxc5f6 16 .o-ofxe 117.Rae1, but now Black can equalize
wi t h 17...e4l 18.f3 Rae 81 19 .fxe4 Rxfi+ 20.Kxf1 dxe4 . Here White ha, , uffi c ient co m
pensation fo r t he pawn but not more, because h ecan n ot favo,ab ly , implifywith
 that t he pawn on fJ i, mu ch ~tte r for Wh ite than it would hove bee n o n f4. Th i, i,
th e main rea son that thi, wh o le >y>te m of .. . Be\ d e mand, more acti"" p lay by
Black, ,u chuthe pawnucrificewe di.cus, edinth e t heorypartandwil l demon
, t roteintwoofth eill u,trativegame,be low

(The blow com e > fro m t his side . The • -pawn i> a decoy.) 26 ... 804 27 .Q e3 f>:e6
28.Q xe6+ Kh8 29Nd7 Qd4 30.Re1 Rg8 31.Qg6 QCJ 32.Re3 Qa1+ 33 Kh2 Qf1 34.Rf3
Qe235.NIBQe436.Rf5, a nd Black,e, igned(1-0)

Even w i!h lim ited mote,io l, White hu • clear advantage w i!h hi, safe r king (owing
tothepawnonf3)ondotorgetong7,0> lon ga,the q ueen,re m oinontheboord

Blacki, tempted in to advancing a little on the king, id e, b utitwa> be tter to>tay

JO.QgJKg631 .hJ
Unlike it, counte rpart, the white king hu a p lace to hide. The white queen hu
m onyentry po ints:q,e5,e6, e8 - Block connotcove rthemall
31 .. .Qe7 32.Bc5 Qf6 JJ.Qxq Q><CJ J4.Q,cc6~ Kh7 J5.Qd7~
Bloc kuade,offthee5 -pawn, butth i,doe,notbringhimany luckbeca u , eheho ,
nota,get,on t heking,ide,withWhitehovinghe ld b ackthef-pown
14.exf6Qxf615.Nc5Bfs16.gQg617.fJ I Roe8,8.Bd4 Re7 , 9.Rae,
Withnoco unterplayand a brnkenquee n,ide,Bladfacesadil!icultdefen,e_Note
15... Kg6? 1o .. .Q h4 n.o-0Bb6
35 .. .Qg736.Qxd\Bb5 i,•muchtoughe,d efense, butitwou ldprobab lyn otcha nge 11 .. .0-0 i, more ca utiou s . Now after 12 .Nxe4 Qxe 4 13 .Re \ Qg6. Wh ite can choose
be tween t he interesting pawn , acri~ cepropo sed by Sam Col lin,, 14.e6ll.or14 .Ne6
Bxe6 15.Bxc5
Thi, i, no t the mo ,t obviou, move. but it win, imm edia tely. Black", piece, ore cut
off fro m the king
17 ...Qc238.Q<,7+ Kg639 .Q e8+ Kfs40.Bd61 -o
Bl•ck ca nnotdefe ndagain,t g4+followedby ac heck bytheb i,hoporquee no nthe
longdiagona l. Abeaut ifu l gamebySve.hnikov,whichheinclud edinhi,bookon
theFre nc hDefense(of• ll thing,l) toi ll u,uateb lockade in oppo,ite-colo,bi,hop
middlega me.. Ind eed, Evgeny Sve.hnikov hn taught u, a lot about ,trategic• I
theme,thatcom e up ina ll kind, ofopening,

(•6)Jones - H ebden
Kilkenny2011
Tw0Knights" De fen,e [C 56J
(Kurojca-Sm ejka l.Novi Sad1982 )withastableadvantage
In th i, theo retic• llyve ryimportant game, G•wainjone, practica lly c lo, e.on e of
thechaptersofthe ... Bc5 variatio n
We h•ve ,e enthi , idea before . If t he b lack pawn goe,to a5 , it will not be able to
recaptureth e bi,hoponb6
9 .Bxc6bxc610 .Nd2I
 An aesthetically pleasing move by the grandmaste r wh o would soon becom e
Nowcomes thekeymove B,iti>h c ha mpion . Th e thre at of 18.Rg} force, b lack to abandon a ny pion, of

13.e6I castlingkingside,andth e oppos ile ·co lor bis hops, uusual . strengthen the a ttack
Havingweake nedthe bishoponb6W<tlithep,ev iou, m ove.White ta kesadsantage Whitewill • lsoreg• inthesacrifi cedpawn
of the fact th a t Black has not castled. Th isi , a pawn sacrifice. but Block's lagging
deve lop me nt and weak da rk square, wi ll provide m ore th•n e nough compe n, ation
The compu te rnowfindsWhite"s last two move,ve,yqu ickly.but l don "tth ink t his
was th e case when t h is game was p l•yed. In ge n e ra l. eng ine , mad e great strid e, in
thi,d ecade in esa luatingth e po , itionin!he openi ng. a ndm a nysy, tem,th a t we re
con,ide redsound ju ,tafew year, ago requireane wlook
13 ... B~
13 .. .f>:e614.N4f3 Q g4 15.Bxb6 Nxd2 16.Qxd2 cxb6 (fo rming a n ew we akne,s on d6)
17.Ne \ i, bette r fo rWhite. butseemstobetheles,e revi l. While Blacki,bu,y
castling. White wi ll regain the pawn {likely on b6), keeping t he e\-squarefor th e
('7)Tolna i

TwoK nights'Defen« [C ,;6)

Th;, game i, an «a mple of how no, to pl oythi, var iat;o n w;th Wh ite . A, you h•ve
« en, l lind,u c hgamesu«fu l to,tud y.Aglimp« intoaroadbest not taken i,al
way, a good idea in che5', and when • clo5' ic•I p l•yer , u ch •• lajo, Po,foch
mee,.youatth e oth erend of th at ro ad ,iti,es peci• llyim tnJctive

White has accepted the pawn n c rilice a nd now learn, t hat it i, not •II • bout
pawn , . Bl ack co ntrol, the d -~le, a nd h i, pi eces a re mu ch m o re active. White', king
po,ition i, weak
18.Qd4 Qh6 19.Nc, Rod& 20.Qe.j Rd2I 21.b3 Bd5 22.Q<,1 Rd 8 23 .N"2 Q<,3+ 24.R&

12.g?
We ,•win t helutga m ethat12.•4l i,the correct m o,,.,h e re
12 ...o-013.fJNxd21 4 .Qxd2C5
Al,ogoodi, 14 .. . Rae8 1,;.f4f616.e6Bxd417 .Bxd4R>:e6and Whiteh ucompen
ntio n fort hepawn,butnotmore

16.N c\ Q e7 17.Nxd7 (17.Qxd\l R•d8 18 .Qxc4 Be6 19.Qb4 Rd,; ,how, the danger of
25.Nf4
thep;n)17 .. .Qxd718 .f4g ive , White,omepotent i•lking,;dechances,butB lac kha,
After 2,;.bx4Bxq26 .NS3Qxe1+27.Rxe1 Rxf2 28 .Kxfa Rxa2+29 .Kg1Whitecou ld
imprnvedhi,queen, idepawn , tru ct u re • ndha,, uffic ientp l• y.
,till defe nd ;n t he ending. Afte r t h e te xt, itgoe, downhill qu ic kly. th e , easo n fort h e 12 ... Ba6 re fi ne me ntinthe p,evio u , note

Kf833-g4Ke834.Rb,Rd70-1 Block's quee mide pown , ca n be ea, ily atta cked. Th erefo re, in spite of,i mplifi
Bloc k co n wolktheking toward the a -pawn : th e reare•lsootherwinning plo n, cat io n,,h e >ti ll hastobe a little careful

(•8)Noko mura - Oni,chuk

St.Louis (U Sch) 2015
Tw0K nigh t> " Defen,e [C 56J

16... Nd3
16 .. . Ne617 .f4Ba6 i, eq uol
17.Rxq11<e618.Bb3 a519.Ro7Bxb32o.oxb3Rxe521.N4Rb522 .Rb,N <0523.Nn5

TheU .S.ch ampion",u,e ofth i,va, iotion ina n impo,tont last-roundgam eledtoa
,moll re.urgence ofit, popu lor;ty_ Here. Na ka mu ra c h ooses o n unusuol m ove
ord er. 12.Qxd5 i,th emoinm0\le

12...Ba6 l 13.Re1 Rxb2 14.Qd4 Rxc2 15.NaJ Nb316 .•xb3 Rxc6 i, a reliab le poth to
equ• lity fo r Bl • ck. White has compensation fo, the pa wn, but not more . But even in
thega meWh;tehasvery littl e.if anything
13.Qxd5Qxd s
13 .. .Qe7tra n,pose, to the m• in line, fro m the theoretica l sectio n of t his chapter
(andthenextgame) . lf1 3... Rxc2 h ere. then 14.No 3and if14 ... Rq15.Nb\l - t h i,i,

A lon oft im e.23 ...g624 .g3Rfb8 h o ld, e u ily. However, h e reinl ie> t h e caut io na ry
ta le . Wh e nyo u , acrifi ce a pa wn in the ope ni ngforn o rea l p o ,iti on a l com pe nnt ion
otherthanthe p ro,pectof recove rin git inthee nd ing (•nd yo u rco m p ute r te ll,you
th•t yo uue ce rta into recove rit wi t h equality). t he pro ct ic•limplication, u e that
youa re p l• yin gfo ra draw on ly,whileyou , oppo ne nt i, p l• yin gfo rtwo re>ult,
Whiteh ucon,o li datedh isext ra p•wn .B l• ck,oo n co m m its a fat• l b lund e r.
26 ... R"2 27.Rd7 N><f2?28.Nd4N h3+ 29.Kh ,N& + 30 .Kg2 Nd1 + 3, .Nx"2H>
Ase,iou,move-o rder inacc urocy. Afte r t hi , , rega in in gthe p •wn w illco m e a t a co,t,
a,Bl•d ',piecesa,e not coo rd inated . ln <te•d
(•) 14 ... Rxe2 1,;.Qd4 Ne 6 16.Qd3Rb 2 17.Nd5Qc,; 1S.R• c1• nd Black h a,n ot,olved
h i,proble m ,yet
(b) 14 .. RdBI i, probab ly best. No w, 15.Q f3 (1 5.Qc 4 II Ba6 16Bb\ (1 6. Nb5II) 16
R, e2 17.Bxa6 Nu6 is• h • ir be tte r fo r Wh ite, bec• use of t he wea kc -p•wn, b ut p ro b
ablyn ote no u gh fo r anytl, in gbi g)1 \ ... Ne 61

(19 ) Ye - Svid l<,r

Shan gh• i 200 1
TwoK night> ' Defen>e [C,;6)
Thi, ga m e bet ween two top-le ve l G M, ill ustrates w hat ha ppen, w he n Black care
lenly ua n ,po >e > m ove>
1. <4e52 .Nfj Nc63.d4exd44.Bc.j Nffi 5.e5d56.Bb5 Ne47.Nxd4 Bq 8. 8"30-0
9 .Nxc6bxc6,o.Bxc5N xeo;11 .Bxc6Rb&'2 .Qxd 5 Q e7 , 3.o-<> Rxb214.Ng

We h • ve re ache d a posit ion that hu ~ e n a n•lyzed and h a, o ccurred in ,o m e

corresponde nce ga me>. Note t hat t h is m eth od fo r Bl• d d id n ot wo r'.: a, we ll
a ga inst 14.N a3, u ,,...., saw in t he t heo ry , ect io n. He re, 16. Nd\ Q c5 17.Ra d1 Ba 6
18 .Rfe 1 Rxc2 19.Ba 4Re 2 20 .Rxe2Bxe 22 1.Qxe 2Rxd,; i,about equ a l
15. Rfc1Rd816.Qf}Q,ce5
The>e po ,iti o n, a re v,,_ry co nc re te, an d the qu e>t io n is • lw•~ whet he r the t im e
>pe nt recapt ur ing th e pa wn fo rce> Bl•c kinto a ny furthe r concenio ns

ln t h etheo ry sectio n, ,,...., recom m e nd ed 14.Na3a,atriclcy • lternative.Object ively,

th e textmovei , • t lea,ta,good, • nd it a l, o re qui resB lac k to d efendp rec ise ly.
14... 8 • 6 ?!
 25.N~ I Ne h
Or25 ... Nxf5 26 .Qe8
26 .Kh1 Rxd,27.Bg6 +! 1-o

Maintaining t he p re n ure . Block', knight i, a ttacked and h i, rook i, in danger of

be ing trapped
18 ... Ne619.Bb3INd4 ?l 20.Re1 h621 .Nd5Qh422 .Rod1c5?
Forgetting that h i, king po,iti o n i, a l, o we ak . Block needed to try to bai l out with
22 ... R>:b3I 23.Ne7+ I Kf8 24 .cxb3 Ne 2+ 25 .Qxe 2 Bxe 2 26 .R:.:d8+ Kxe7 27.Rd 2 Kf6
28.Rexe2Qb4 withabadend ing
C hapl<er4

5... Ne.j

lnthi, chapter,wefocy , onth e move, 5... Ng4a nd 5.. . Ne4. Bothuetotallylegit
imote move, but have been le" popYlu th a n 5... d5 (whic h i, ,hupe r a nd contain,
clea rer,t rategico l the m e,) . Thetwomove,combin edare p l•yedaboutathi,d.,
ofte nu 5... d5 . Here, in t he th eore t ical , ect io n,we,tydythemove ) .. . Ng4, wh ich
hurece ntlybee n the , ubjectof, ome theo reticaldi, cY "iM , in theNewi"d,e«
Ye~rl,ook after• new re comm e ndation in thi, line by Ma rtin Lohnder in h i, reper
toi rebook.lnthe ga me,,ection,we cove r bot hkni ghtmove,
5.•. Ng46.o-0Be7
Bloc kcann otnottakethe pa wn o ne)becaY,eofthepin . Th e a lternotivei ,6 ... d6
wi !hth e pla n ofta kingwiththe b i,hopo nd6(othe,wi.eitjY,tt,ampo,es),andwe
,ee t hot ingame 21
7 .Re1
The re i, al ,o t he move 7.Bf4, which ca n lead to , harpe r po,ition,, but I did not
Oth e rwi« after8 .h 3th ekn igh ! h n nogoodplace togo
Thi, i, the move reco mmended by Lo ka nder. Black c reate, a n i,olated pown fo,
him.e lf,butt hewhite p iece, arenot in o po,ition to exploit itatthemome nt
lmtead,8 ...Qxd69.b30-010.Ba3Qd8 11.Bxe7Nxe7 12.Qxd4 lea d,toad reary,but
te nobleendingforB lackwh ichwed iscY,,ingome20
9. Bg 5I?
Thi,i,myatte m ptto improveonWhite',p lay.
I take t h i,opportYnityto warn again,tjY,tY,ingthecomputer,lir,tlin e in th e
ope ning . lttah,awhi le for the co mputerto ,ee farenoug hthi,early in t he go me,
andthedifferencebe tweeno. 14ando .12 i, tooco m p licatedforhYma n,toYnder
, ta ndin a nyevent. An experi e ncedp l•yercan,om e timeslindamove whichcau ,
e,mo re practicald illicYlties ,evenin ,p iteofan initiol ly lowe ,evo lYation
Them orenotYro l 9.Nxd4o-010 .h 3(afte r 10.NqBh4ll [Lokonder, lin eJ11.g3Bf6
12.Nf3, Black', good pi ece ploce ment fYlly co m penute, fo, t h e irn lated pawn)
10 ...d5 I 11 .Bf1 Nxf2 ll 12.Kxfa Be\ 13 .q Nxd4 14 .cxd4 Qh4+ 15.Kg1 Bxd4+ 16.Be3
Bxb217.Nd2Bxa1 18.Qxa 1 Bf5
 ll.Be 2 Nxf3+ 12.Bxf3 Be613. Nd 20-0 14 .Nb3Qf6 15.Bxc6bxc6 16.Qxd4i,atou ch
be tterforWhite,butnotmuch
n ... o-012 .Nxd4
Threate n ingf4
12 ... Q h413.NfJQf6,4.ll<e2
14.N xe5dxe5 15.q w;th a, lightlybetterpa wn,tructure i,• l, onotbad

lead,to •nintere,ting po, i!i o nwhere Blockha, a mate rialadso ntagebutWh ite
huactisep;ece pl•y. Ch •nce, lookobo utesen
9 ... Nge5
After 9 ... f6 10.Bc1 (now it i, ,o mewhat •wlcwud for Black to ca,tle ) 10 ... Nge5
(10 .. .d5ll .Bb30-012.h3Nge)13 .Nxd4.andwiththeblackpawnonf6 a ndtheweak
e-~lea, a , esult.th e i,oloted p•wn i, a co mple tely d ifferent ,tory) 11.Bd) (1 1.Be2 II)
ll ... Bg,i12.<3

After th e t rode ofthe dark-, quarebi , hop,,th ei,o lated pawni, , lightly le nott roc
fa e to Black. b eca u«hi, rem aining b i,hopconnota cce n t heblockad ing,quare
d4. Th at be ing u id. Black hu c h once, to equ a li ze here

iti,notclear ifB l• ckcancomple teh i,d eselopmentelfectisely.

 14.Qxf6 gxf6 1\.g4, preventin g anything from co ming to f5. a nd wit h th e mu ch bet
te rdevelop ment ondpown ,tru ct ureWh;te i, like ly • lreodywinnin gh ere. Blac k d e
(2o)Fishbein - l i, B.
cided to im m edia te ly g ive u p• pawn with 1,;... Be6 an d the rest wa, ,im p le
n.Bxe7Nx<712.Qxd4Q,cd413.N xd4
TwoKnights" De fen« [C,;6)
1. <4 e5 2.NfJ Nc63 .d4 ~ 4 4 .lk.4 Nffi 5.e5 N114 6.o-<>d67.exd6Qxd6
Th;, move order ha. no indepe ndent ,ignili co nce : it lfan , po>e, to 7 ... Be7 8 .Re 1 d6
9. exd6Qxd6(in,teado f9 ...cxd6 a,d;,rn,.ed inth etheo ry«ction)
8.Re1+ S.,79.b3!

I d id not expect Ben Li, who know , t h eory we ll. togo for th i,rather g loo my po, i
tion. Mayb e it wn con,ide red line fo r Block on t h e bni, of• game by G M lnarkiev
from2004,w hichwerefer to loter.
13... Nfs
1J ... Ng6 i, • lso po 5' ible. but Block >till ha. to wo rk ha rd to equa lize : 14 .Nq
The key move , after whic h Blac k faces a !hankie " , t n.,gg le for equo lity. Black i,
(14 .N b\c6 15.Nd 6 N4e5 16.Bf1 Rd817.Nxc8 Raxc8 18.f4 Ng,i 19.g3withab i,hop
forcedto t rod e hi,queenond bi,h op . What remoin, o n the bo ard afterexchonge,
v, . kn ight in • pos it ion with p awn, on both Ronh i, •l• o ~tte r for Wh ite) 14 ...c6
i, releva nt, rat h er t ha n what leaves t he b oard. Block wi ll have proble m, co o rd i
15 .b4a516.b\N4e517.Be 2 an d Block", p iecesare no t working we ll togethe r.The re
natinghi, knight,
are m onyva,iotion, here where t h e twoblockknigh t,.withn o,upported,q uues
9 ... 0·0I0.803Qdg
get ta ngled u p
A coup le o f week, later. Wesley Wong (a n othe r young mo,ter) tried 10 ... Q f6
ago in,t me (Philadelphia 2016) . Here, after 11.Bxe7 Nxe7. I rea cted correctly with
1\ ... Rac8 16.NqBxc 217.Bd5(17.Nb5?lo618 .Nxe7Ne519.Rxe5Rxq ledto equality
12.h 3INh 6 (12 ...d313.Nbd2,trond,theknightonh6withoutB l• ckgettingtotrode
inKnhta nov· lnofkiev,
quee n,) 13.Qxd4 Nc61 (t h e on ly way to make it o ut of here alive i, 13...Qxd4
St. Pete,.burg 2004;B lockeventuo llywon ) 17 ...b618.Bb7Rcd819 .Rxq i, bet terfor
14.Nxd4Nef\l\.Nf3Nd6 16 .Bd3Bf,; 17.Bxf5Nhxf,; 18 .c 4(0, 18.g4) , ,till w itha dv•n
White. a, t herook o n e] rem oin,moredo nge rou,thonth eb lockrook(o lthoughl
tagetoWhite becou«theblockknigh ts uehoving t roub lelindinggood,quares)
can't giv,e yo u• m o ney-b•d guu•nl ee th at you will win thi, end ing)
White hu retain ed control of the .event h ra nk All the exc h• nge, h•v,en 't freed
Bl•c k,a ,he huno•ctive piece. rem•i ni ng
I did not~ nd 20.b4,wh ichm a inta in,th e bi,hopo nthediagonal. lt i, hard too/fe r
Bl•c kgood advicehere: 20 ... g621 .f3Kg722.Ne4b\ 23.Bb3
20 ... l>521 .Nd6bx422.Nxfscxb323 .axb3Rd824.Kft Kf&25.Re1g626.Nd4
Block ha,,urvivedthein it i•lunult,but eventhi,end ingi, not e u yforhim.The
i, o latedqueen ,idepown , areaperm a nent=akne n
26 ... Rdl27 .Ra1Rq28.K"2Ke829 .Kd2Nb630.4Kd731 .Kqh532.g3Kc833.h4
Kb734.b.jRd735.fJRq36.Ra2Rd737.g.ihxg438.fxs.!Nc839.h 5gxh540.gxh5
Nd641 .Re2?
White ha. p lay,,d well u p to he re, but now fatigue ond time prenure be gin to .et in
After cond u ct ing • heroic defe n.e, Be n goe. th e wrong woy at the la.I mome nt
\\ ... Kd6\6.N ,f5+Ke \ wou ld hovedrown
56.Nxfs a557.bo 5+Kxo558.Kc5Ko659 .Ne3IN h66o.Kd6Nfy+61 .Ke7Ng562.Kffi
(21) Ju ny - Vu l
Tatry(op)2014
TwoKnights' Defen« [C\6)
A d iffe re nt ap prna ch by Black, but t his o ne run> into >pecilic tact ical difficult ies . To and a half, orloone mjnorpieceandapa wnanda half But there are n o ha/f-
, ta rt, Bla ck willlosethe rightto castle piec<1 orhalf-pa wn,. Therecan nevcrbeanemctq u id p,oq u o in 1h j,ca><: t he
coun ler-value m u,ta/way, be biggeror,mallec Youeilher "win" or"/o,e " t he •,,,_
H e ca n sti ll !um bac k with g_ .. Be7 9 .Bg) 0-0 to.Bxe 7 Nxe7 11 .Qxd4 Q>:d4 1J.N xd4 change ."
wi th the nm e posit ion that we h ad in th e p, evi ou , ga m e, exce pt th a t Wh ite'> pawn
Allel , e bei ng equa l, the exch a nge (defi n ed as e ithe r a rnok fora min o rp iece,o,
two piece,for arnok)i , wort h apa wna nda ha lf. But inth e pos ition above,White
9 .Nlxl2Nge51o.Nxe5Nxe511 .Bb3Bg4
huwon !he excha ngefortwopawn,,beca use t hetwopawn , in thi , cue arein>uf-
11 ...Q ha 12.h 3B, h 3 13.Rxe,;Bxe 5 14 .Qf3Bf6 15.gxh 3
licie nt co m pen sat ion for th e excha ng e. If th i, were a n e nd game po,itio n, how~er.
when the rnok i, re latively ,tron ge rversu, t he m inorpiece, ,the nlwo u ld,ayth ot
Black h n wontwopa wn,fo r the exch a nge
12.fJBfs, 3.N4 h6

Thi,hasbee nplayed in seve ral correspo nd e nce gamesa n d i,betterfo, Wh ite : h e

i> d o wn a half-pawn (rnok and two pawn, fo r two minor p iece >), but t he two b i, h
opsare wo rthahalf-pawn a ndth e b adb lack king i, worth a little too
Sotha t m y di,cu»io n o f ha lf-pawn,does no t co nfusethe m odern reader, let m e
Wh ite is d own a pawn , but it i,obviou , h e has hu ge compen, atio n . Bla ck', king
offe r a n ot he r h istorical d e tou r a nd quote Rudolf Spie lman n. The fo llo wing para
grap h fro m" TheArtofSacrili ce inChe» " >um mar ize,th ecla» ico l und e r>ta nd ing
ofthe exc ha n ge, ac, ilicea nd i, , !ill validnow.
The re >tof th i, game i,not verygoodbu t it i,t he on ly impo rtant known ga m e in
ln n orma lcincum ,tanc<>, ali exchange,ofun il>are m adeon1hi, ba,i,.For lhe "ex- th e 7 ... B,d6 variat io n, and it i, a n im port.a nt lin e to kno w, ,o I will , h ow the whol e
chang< " andth,differen« jn,,../uebehwenarookanda mjn orpiece, wehave no gam e fo, th eu keofco m p letene»
ab,o/u1<equivale nt . kthetworoohareequal to lh r« mino, piece,anda minor 17... Rh718 .Bxd6+ Qxd619.Roe1Rd820.Qb5 a6
piec,equal,,h r«goodpawn, , ,h,rook,hou ld b,exactly equa l Wa mjn orpi<«
You can, ee that theblackrooki,,uffe,ingonh7a, a re,ultofthe bngh•ving fo r
fotedthe,i ghttoca,t le. White ha,ab,olute co ntro l ofthe on lyo pen~le
21.Qfs
21 .Qxb7 N•S n .Q•7 i, good for White
21 .. .Qg6 22.Qxg6 fxg623.Re6 Re7 24.Rf6+ Ke8 25.Bf/'+
25.Be6Rd6 26.Rxg6,eem,more tot he point
30 .. . Rxb231.Rxa6c6 wo uldhave d,awn
31 .Rf/'Kd632.b3Ke633 .Rf&h514 .Re8Kd735.R o8Nf536.Bd3Ne337 .Kf>Rc638 .Rx
a6Rxa639 .Bxa6Nxc24o.Bd3Nb.j4,.Bxg6Nxa2 42.Bxh5 Nn43.Bf/'Nd3+44.Kfi
Kd6 45 .g} Nes 46.Bh s Nd] 47 .Bg6 Ne, 48.Bf/' Kes 49.Ke, Nd}+ 50.Ke2 Nb4 51.h1
c552 .Kd2Kf6 53.llc.4Nc654.Bd5Ne555.B<4Ke6 56.f4gxf457.gxf4Nd758.Ke2
Nb659.h4 Nc86o.h5 Nd661. h6Kf662 .Bd3 Nb763.KfJ No 564.~ Nc665.h71<g7
66 .f6+Kh867.Kf4Nd868 .Ke5Nf/'+6g.Kd5470.Kx41-o
Of th e three replies o n move 5. th i, i, the lea,! known (and perhap, the mo,t
underr•ted). ltlook,unna tura l beca u, e theb lackknight ca n be chu ed around,but
iti,perfectlyplayoble . You certa in lyneedtohave ,om e ideoofhowtoreacttoit
6.Qe2Nc57.gl?
lreco mm endthi ,pa wn ,acrifi ce.whichi,pro ba blybe,tdeclined.ln,tead.7.o-0i,
con,ide red the main line. but after 7... Ne6! .B xe6 (8 .q d\ 9. exd6 Bxd610 .cxd4
o-0)8 ...dxe69.Rd1 Be710 .Be3Bd7li,_Bxd4Nxd412.Rxd4c5White ha ,nothingat
7 ... dxg
7 .d38 .Qe3

(22)N • komu ro - Fres, inet

Wijkun Zee(B) 2004
Tw0Knigh ts " Defen,e [C 56J
1.04<52.NfJNc63.d4exd44.llc.4Nf65.e5Ne4
Thi,i,apo, it io n thatneed,tobe te,ted more in p,actice . NowB lackhas,everal
option,
(•)8 ... Ne69.o-0d610 .Re 1 dxe511 .Nxe5Nxe512 .Qxe5Be7
13 .Be3 (13.Nd2II i, a l,o po., ible) 13... Bd6 14.Q e 4 0-0 (lvanov-Semov, corr. 2008)
l\ .Nd2Nc516.Bxc5Bxc\l].Bxd3g618 .Qf3 • ndWh ite hasbette rdevelopm e nta nd
anini! iati ve,a t leastcompen,atingforth etwobi,h op,;
(b) 8 .. . Be79.o-0 {9.b4 Ne6 (the kn ight on e6can beclum ,yin t h e, e po , ition,}
10.o-0d611. exd6Bxd612.Qxd3
White hu ,l ightlym ore,pace •nd a lead in developm e nt,w!iich,however, ca n
p rove temporary) 9 .. .d5 10.exd6 od6 \1 .BxdJ Nxd3 12 .QxdJ 0-0 13.Bf4 with
cha nce.forboth ,ide.;B la ckhasan i,olatedpawnandth e twob;,hop,;
(c) 8 .. .a\ {Fi,hbein-Cold ing, NewYork2016) 9.Ng5 Ne610 .Nxe6fxe6 ll.Bxd3i ,
clea rly better for White
(d) 8 ... Na59 .Bxf7~ Kxf7 10.b4d61l.bxc5dxe512 .Nxe5.._ Kg813 .o-0and Bl•d,til l
need, to re,o!vehi,kingpo,itionong8
8 .Nxg11<e79 .11<e30-o (D)
White ca n p l•y 10.0-0 h ere wit h a no,mal ads• ntage: White has great piece mobi
li za tionforthe pawn and Bl•cki, c,amped . Hik.uu, howev,er, goe.forqueen , ide
castling.Thecomputerdoe.n ot likeit,butldo l
10.o-o-0Ne611 .N<4Qe812.h4d6
Tryingtore lieve t he , lfes,onhi,po,ition The you n g Am e rica n g,andmnter (and U.S. champion for t h e lir,t time late r t h at
13 .~ 6cxd614.Nxd6Bxd6? yea,)hunoneed to hu rry.Thetwobi , hop,will eve ntual!y tellth e >to ry.

Ab lunde rinabadp o,ition

31.Bb5Rd&32 .Rxe7~Kxq33.Rq+ Kf634. Rxb7Rd435.lk11 -o

The twob i,hop,inth i,ope n po ,itiongiveWhitea big advantage

19 ... Nxg2 20 .Bc 1 , t rand, the knight

20.b3 b6 21 .Ng5 h6 22.Nxe6 Bxe6 23.lk4 Rae! 24.fJ (DJ
CHAPTERS

The5.o-o Variation

~-e \ i, not t h e on ly m ove for Wh ite. 5.0-0 i, ~l,o po u ib le. Th eo ry h a. lo ng held

t h atthi , var iatio ni , toot hleu, a nd after I looked ~t it,it a ppearedto m e to be even
le u p romi, in g fo r Wh ite than com mon ly thou ght . I will update you o n th e ,tate of

1. e.i e52.NfJ Nc63 .d4 ~ 4 4 .B4 Nffi5.o -0Nxe.j!
In t h i,va,iation. Black c.. pt u res th e ce nte r pawn and fa ces a te m pora ryincon se
n ien cew it h hi, p inn ed kn igh t. Theblac k d -pawn co mes tothere , cu e. and White
W<ll needto tradeth eb i,hopfo ritand t hen takethekni ghton e 4. White t h u , rnr
re nd e nth ebi,hoppai r b utget>a lea din deselop ment
) ... Bc5 is t he Max La nge Attack, wh ich i, dangerou s fo r Bloc k, as we ,ee in th e ne xt
c ha pter.
6 .Re, d 5 7.Bxd5 Qxd5ll.Ng (D)
Bloc k no w hu th ree m a in mo.e s: S...Qa). 8 ...Qh5, a nd 3 ...Qd7. Unfo rt una tely for
White.•ll of th e, e m osesore , ufficientfo r equ ali ty,and t helut twoare s eryeasy
to learn forB lack . ln t h eselines .Whitehu serylittle to play forandi n fa ct m u>t
p l• y carefully to mainta in eq uality. Th erefore, I ca nn ot recomme nd 5.0-0 as a
we apo n fo r White, un leu you are fac ing a n oppo nent who i> e it her n ot we ll pre
poredo, need ,top lay on ly fora win( becauseofei t h er t he to u rnam e nt si tuat io n o r
• muc h h igher rat in g)
I n eser adsocate p l• yingfo,a drowwit h Whi te, es e n again ,ta ,t ron ger p laye r. In
fa ct, l con,id er thota sin a ga in , tche u . But if yo udochoo se s uc h apath .l ca n a t
least o lferyoua re lioblew•y to eq u a lityhe re fo, Wh ite(a nd m•ybe auaportwoas
wtel l)
ll ... Qd7!
Until rece ntl y.this mos e was p rocti cal ly n eoer , een. but it has no w been recom
mend ed in at leo>t two re pertoi re books (N t irli> a nd Loka nd er) . White has a b,o
lu telyn ot hin ghere;th i,mose elfectis ely p ut,to re, t 5.0-0asa woy tofightfora n
adsontage. We coser the other, m o re common, m os es in t h e ga m e, sect ion of t h i,
chapter.
9 .R>e 4 + Be710 .Nxd4(10 .Nb 5a6 11 .Nbxd40-0 wit h amore comfortab le ga m efor
Black) 10 ...f5l 11 .Rf40-0 12.N.c 6Qxc6 (t hi, i, whytheq u ee n we nt to d7a ndn ot
d8) is cl early betterfo, Bl ack.whohasthetwo b i,hop,
9... Bq 10.Bg5 0-0 11.Bxe7 Qxe7 '2.Nxd4 8<17
The re ore n o pawn wea kneues . a n d White has n ot hing to ploy fo r. Black hu a
bi,h o pforaknight in •n openpo, it ion .wh ich i,a,m all ads ontage. White nee d , to
p lay ca refu lly to•vo idfa lling into a,lightlywor, e middl e gam e o,e nd ing
13.Ng
Nikolov,ki-Stefa nov(Veli k0 To rn ovo2017)went 13.N b5Be 6 14.Qh 5.and n ow after
14...h 6 Wh;te , till has tom akea couple ofp recisemoves toeq u a li ze
13...Qcs
All t hi,h ap pen ed in Ke ller-He lm rei ch (corr.2010). a nd now Black played 15.. . Be6 ,
whic h did give White ,omethi ng to pla y fo r (t he weak pawn on e6), a nd White wu
, lig htly better, although the ga m e wu,oo n d rawn. ln>tead
(23)Espin a - Dadi
Corr.2003
Scotch Ga mb it [C56]
1.e.j e5 2.NfJ Nc63 .d4 ~4 4 .lk.4 Nffi 5.0-0 Nxe.j 6.Re, d5 7.Bxd5 Qxd5 8.NgQh5

13...Qfl
13 ...o-014.Nxd4(Withquee m • ndknight, ,tillonthebo• rd, 14 .cxd4l i, .~tte r
, t ructure for Bl•ck h e hu the blockading , qua re d5, •nd White hu no ,uch
, quore )1 4 ... Nxd415.Qxd4Qxd4 16.cxd4d5i,•nexcepti on a lly bo ringpo,ition.The
texti,o nattem pt byBla ck toploy fo r•nod so nta ge

Al,ooperfectlygoodmove.Bl• ckju,tn eed,to knowon e t rick

14.. .o-0-0i,o l, opou ib le.with a m o reexc itinggam e • hea d .o lthoughafte r15 .Qd2
9 .N1<e.jBe6 , o.Bg5Bd6I
Bd5 16.Nh4Qh1 17. Bg3B lack',king po,it io n lool.:sleu,ernre thonWhite',
10 ... h6l11.Bf6 i, whot Whitei , hopingfor,andwe , holl , eeit in t hen extga m e

White , hou ld hose no trouble d,awing thi, po, it ion but proceed, to p l•y ve ry
Now, \1 .Bf6 Bxh2+l 12 .Nxh2 Qxd 11 3.Rud1 gxf6 i, a pawn up fo r Blo ck
impreci.ely.
n ... c:xd612 .Bf4Qd5,3.g

18.R>:d6Nx!)+19 .gxf3Qxf3 20.Qxl)R>:f321.Rd7i,odea ne rw•y to draw

18 ... NxfJ+19.gxfJKh820.Rxd6
20.R• e1i,better,t• king co ntro l ofth e e·fi le

Pa nic king; there wu n o n eed to gioe u p the f3 pawn . 21.Qd3 guard, the seco nd

21 ... Rxe622 .Q xe6Qxf)

Wh ite has la n ded in aprecario u,po,ition.Th e qu een androo k for m apote ntat Now Black i,foc ing,om e d ifficulties. lwasintrigu edtosee Ru ife ng l i. • n •ggre,
tackin g d u o , ive a ndtli eore t icolly verywell -pre paredplay,e r, go ingfor t hi, line a,Wh ite in t h e
last rn und . He gues, ed correctly, however: hi, opponent d id not know how to
h630 .Rc8+Kh731.Kd2Qxh232.KgQh433.R4Qf6+0-1
n ... Qg612 .Nh4Qh713.g
(24) Li,Ruifeng - Ourubayli
Notth e best m ove. 13.f4fo, ces Block to release the white b i, hop. andafter 13... Be7
lnd ianapoli, (U SOpe n) 20 16
14. Bxe7 Nxe7 15.Qxd4 i, better for Wh ite. Black", queen d id not g et to choo,e •
Scotch Ga m bit [C56]
p lace of resid e n ce
13 ... Bq
9 .N1<e4Be6 , o.Bg5
13 ...d«3 14 .bxqBd6 lwou ld hove a llowedB lack tofree him , elf.
10.Neg5o-0-0 1l.Nxe 6fxe612.Rxe6Bd6threateningRh e g i,goodforBl0c k;th e
quee ni, be tter on h5 in t h i, varia ti o n t ho n o n a5(wliic h i,the po,i!ionwe ,ee in
th e n ext ga me)
 position. Forthi , purpo,e.themostprincipledresponse,byeach,idei,whatyou
, houldfocu,on . Armedwiththeopeningerud i! io nthatyo uthu,develop, yo uwi ll
be abletoreactto,urpri,es.lfyouropeningknowledgei, limitedto m e m o,iution.
andyoudon'tgaina,e nsefo,whati,r ightandwhat is w rong. the nyourreaction
tothenextope n ing,Y rpri,e ml l be ,ub-optima l
Remem ~ r that in v irtYally every gam e. a new m ove , o ne that you have not seen be
fo re,wi ll ~playedatsom e point
You will need gen e ra l u nder,tandin ga nd the ,ki ll,toevo luate po,itio n, to d eal
m th it. If a ny game that I an n otate in thi, book doe, not teach you ,omething
about how to eva lYate po>i !io n,, something that you ca n u>e in othe r games or
varia tion,,thenlh•ve notdon e myjob

Neatlyta kingadvantage ofBlock'syncastledking

Now after 26.Qc4+ Rfy 27.Qxl, 4 White wo u ld h•"" a winning advantage . The game
continued 26.Rxq Qxc:2 27.Rxc:2 wit h good winning chan ces, but the endgame
end edinadrawonmove100.rnwewillnvespa cehere.'h-'h (eve ntYally)

(25)St..nojoski - Rom a
Pri,htina2015
ScotchGa mb it [C56]

ltisworthmentioninginpa»ingthat 5.Ng5i,notagoodmove.themost re li•ble

respo nse being 5... d56.exd5Qe7+_ Having given upthe d -pawn a lready. White is
lti,noteworthytha tthe mo,tpopu larmove forBlack h e re (iti, playedmore than
not developedwe llenoYghtobeginA•nkaction,,ucha,5.Ng5
h•lf t he time) is not th e mo,t reliable . While thi, m•y be t he best way for Black to
Youmayhovenoticedthat l •mnotabigpropone ntof deeply an a lyzi ngvariation,
getalive lypo ,ition, itcomesa t aco , t of,omeweak , qua res inhi, ca mp
that start from bad moves. If the m istake is inmY ctive, I show the whole game to
9.N><e4Be6,o.Neg50-o-0'1 .Nxe6/xe612.Rxe6Bd6
illYstrateit . Butldon"tgointoendle»variotionsthatarenotcritica l totheeva lu
Again, t he mo, t co mm o n. but not t he ~st move. It a llow, White to d i,ploce Bl•ck
ationoftheopening
·, rook fro m d8, c•Y> ing ,o m e discomfort. But I wou ld al ,o ve ry margin• lly prefe r
You study the opening not ju, tto prepare for •lldiffe rentmovesthatyoYro p po
White aftert2 .. .h6 13.Re4Qd5 14.Qe 2 g\15 .b3d3 16.cxd3Qxd3 17 .Qxd3Rxd3, a nd
ne nt ca n play. but. more importantly. to gain intYition about ev• luating the
in t he e nding Block', k; ng,ide pawn minority i> weaker than White'> qu eensid e
minority(o lthoughit,houldbe ad, aw)
Al,opo»ible i> 12 ... Be7 13.N e \N xe \\4 .Rxe7 Rhe8 . lamold -fu h io ned o nd wo u ld
rot h er hoveabi, h opth a n akn ig ht inan open po, ition with nopawnweakne»e>
bu t Wh; te hunothing re alhere eith er.
13 .Bg5
13 ... Rde8
13 .. . Rdf8 14 .Qe2h6 1\.B h4g 5 16. Bg3Bxg317 .hxg3Qd518.Re4Rd8 (Emm, -He bde n
2015) isalitt lebette r fo,W hite
14.. . Rxe615.Qxe6+Kb816.Re1i,ol,o m orep le nantfor White
15.Rxe8 Rxe8 16.Qd1h6 17.Bd2 Q h s 18.h3 Qds 19.• 1
19.q (George-Po p,Hofhe im2017}i,ol,obetter fo rWhite
Th;,po,ition i, deceptive lyunco mfortable fo rBl ac k.Whitehu a,o lidblocbdeof
thed4-pown,and Block',bi,hop isofth e ,a me co lo r as t hed4->quare . Hi, king
, ide pawn,, a, we mention ed alreody, are a potentiol target. I al ,o wouldn't be
com fortab lewith t hot kingond7 , nlonga,thequeen,areon t he board
21 ... Re7 22.Re1 Qds 23.Rxe7+ Bxe7 24.4Qes 25.Bf4 Q e h 26.Kg2 Bffi 27. Be3I
Very t hemotic.B lacknowlose,on e ofth epawn,onthedar'.:,quare>
27 .. .c52&.~ ~ Kd&29 .Bxh6IQe 2
The , est of the gam e i, fl•wed, bu t n o lo nger necesnry for ou, t heme . We ,h ow it
forth e ,a ke ofcompleten e »
30 .Qd5+ immed i•telywu correct
30 ... Qxc.i 31 .Q ~ Qf/' 32.Bd6 Qd7 31.Qds Qdi? 34.Qxc6 bxdi 35 .Bxcs d3 36.KfJ
Th;,game , how,thot Blockcan eu ily getintououble withth e8 ... Qa5 variation,
whic hwascon ,ideredthebestfora lo ngtime . Unfortu nately,th eot her twomove,
(8 ...Q h 5• nd especially 8 ... Qd7)are , ogoodthat wehove toconcl ude t h at\.O-O i>
no t a legitim•te attempt a t anopeningadvantage
CHAPTE116

The Max Lanie Attad:

The Mu Lange Att.ock c,n oppHr throug+, d,fferent mow, ord•~. including )-0-0
(from the p,.,....ou, chopter),whoch we do not recommend, butolso the vonder
Lau V,n,uon (wh,ch we ~ e ,n the nb:I chopter). Hue,-, bnng)'Ou upto dote
on the Mu Lange Attock. Most people are not awore of the modern st•te of theory
ofthi,old line TheMuLa"geAtt.ock,oneoftheshorpe,topeningnn•tion,,i,
•ppropnotely con,lderedtoben,kyforB lack,butldoubtthatthe reHoni,widely
(26) Lan ge - Ehrich
Magdebu rg lS\3
TwoKnights'Defen« [C \6)

The,tarting po>i!io n oftheMa, Lan geAttad . Blac k get>a>tfo ngpawnin the cen
ter, but let> the whi te pawn cli mb a ll the way to 87 . I kn ew abou t t h is variatio n
when lwas abouteighty,,arsold, b ut befo re wr i!ingthi, book, l hadn o idea wh o
Mu La nge actu a lly wu (an d I , till d o n ot know why hi , firs t n a m e i> alway> men
tioned a lon g wit h the last n a m e). Therefore, I a m going to start with a ga m e by t he

Blac kneed,todedine t he,ac, i1i cewit h14 ... KIB

15.Qxg.j+ KfS 16.Bh6+ Ke8 17.Re1 Qd6 18.Bgs Rg8 19.Qh4 Rxgs 20.Q,q:5 Kd7
21 .Qfs+Kc622 .N, C-41-<>

8.Re1+Kf89 .fxll7+
Thi,help,thekinggetwhereitwa nt,to go.9 .Nbd2i,better,aswe ,eeinthenext

9 ... KxgJ 10.N es N,05~1

An illu,uatio n ofthe dangersth ata wa it Black. Hi, kinghu no defender>, and at
Blac ki , doingwellh e re afte,10 .. .Qf6
be >thewilllo,ethebi,hop.Black resignedhe re
n.Rxe5Be7u.R<4c513 .Na3S.,614.Rg4+I?

(27)Ponkratov - Shinkev;ch
Khanty-Mans iysk 20 13
Tw0Knight>' Defense [C 56J

5... Bxd4 isconsid e redli n e fo,Bladagain,tthi s moveorder.

6.e5d57.exffidx4&.ReHKf89 .Nb,bl

Abrillia ntcom binat ion.Thedarksquare,a ro undtheblackki nga rety pica llywe ak

9 ... Qds
Whitedelaysth ecaptureon g7 , becau,e 9 .. .Q<f610.N e 4Qf511.Nxc\Q<e\ 12 .b4I
Nxb413 .Nxd4i,badforB lack: it wi ll takem a nymove, forhi,k ingto reac hsafety.
9 .. . Bf1 i, a lrn prob le m aticalc 10.Ne4Bxe411.fxg7+ Kxg712.Rxe4Re813.Bh6+ IKxh6
he re.Mate is com ing
12 ... Kxh6 13.Qdh KS7 14.Qg5+
Blac k cann otinterposewiththebi,hopbecausethequeenond5i,atta cked. Later
inthi, c h apter, we,ha ll see a notherexamp leofthatqueenbeco mingatarget
Kf815.Qh6+Ke716.Qh~+ Kf817.Qh6+ Ke71&.Nxc5+Be6,9 .Rxe6+1-o
Am o , t e legant lin ish . 19.. .f>:e620.Qg7+Kd621 .Nb7 ismate

10.N<4Bfs?
Ablunder,afte rwhichB lack lo,esqu ickly.Thi,i,n otunheardof intheMaxlange
(2!)M arsh 1II -C1p1blo nca
Th•mO!«:Match,NtwYo,k1910 O.~n1telyukin1fortrouble.The~·pawncanbecomeweakinthueposot,ons.H
TwoKn1gh1s·o.r..nH[C56f Wh""'sn""'mov,,h11hli1hts
,.4 es 2.d4 exd4 3.Nf3 Nc6 4-llc.4 8c5 S.<H> NRi 6.es ds 7."'"6 d><e.4 !.lkH B..6
9.Ngs Qds 10.Nq ~ 11.Nc4 0--0--0

for a lon1 t,me lh,s wu the main lin• of the Mu L,.nge Atlldt
12.N""'6f.<e613.14Qe514.fxs7Rhg!15-Bh6d3 16.q (D)
A typical pc1,t,on ,n th,s variation: White hu a pawn on 17, vefluS Black', pawn on
d3. The po11t1on II undu,, and a nythin1 can happen The line wu con, idu ed
in te rnt1ng enough for Ma ,.h all and Capo bia nco (the fot ure world cha mpion w ..
, till •e')' young) to play a thematic match with the Max Lange Attack (apparen tly 6
1•mn, w,th White winning 3V, -2V,). Ei1ht yuf> loier, Marshall would not be , o
luckyw;il, hos own ,nwnt,on, the Ma .. hall Anack, aga,n1t Capab!onca, who fa
mouslyfoundadeffn•••1•m•litover thebo1rd

2), Nd 2 ~~
2). N1624.Qfye525.Qxd5Rxd526.Re411abettert,yforBlack,buthelosesthec-

NowWh1te11a piece up
25 ... Nd6 26.Qf6 N~ 27 .Re5 Qb7 28. lb<~ u~ 29.Q,c~ Qd5 30.Re5 QfJ 31.Qxf7 R~f7
)2,RXIS Kb7 33.cxb4 Rffi 34.Rb.5+ K.7 H-Rh5 R16~ 36.Kfi Rb8 37.03 Rg8 38.B,:3+ H)

(29)Euwe- VanHoorn
Netherland1(dl)1927
TwoKn11hts"O.fense[C56j
,.4 es1.Nf1Nc63.llc.(Nf6 4.c14 ex,14 s-o-oBc56.es ds7.o:16dxc..fS.fxs7

hdoesnotlookl"Odtoweakenthequttnsidelikethos,but 1!... Ne519.Qf4Ng6

2Q.Qf]Kb!21b3a lsoappearotobebene,forWh1te
We a re still in t he Woyba ck M• chine here, but t his i> the modem t reat ment. White
i, t ryingtocatchth ebl•ckk ing inthecen terbefore itcastle,
8 ... Rg89.Bg5 11<,710.Bxq
10.Rel i>moreprec i, e, as we,h•ll >ee
N ow Black just hu weak pawn> wit h no compe n,atjo n. 13... Kf7 i, necenary, as we
seein t henexlg•me . l!i,be ttertokee pt he d4-pawnth•nthe h7-p awn
14 .Nxd4Qd515 .gJ Rd816.NgQe517.Nxc6+ bx<:6 18.Qfi
18 .Q e 1 Qxe 1+ 19.Rxe1 a lso loo h miserable fo r Block, b ut the fifth wo rld champ ion,
agreattactjcion, kee p,thequ een, o n t h eboardhere

Agoodkingmaneuver - Bl•ckwil l tryto cutlebyhand 18 .. . Kf819.Re1Qf620.Qh3Bg821 .Rf4Be622 .Qg2

22.Ne4Qe 523.Kf1 wouldwin
11 ... Kf6i,bette,,nvingtimeonthe bi,hopmove.NowB lacki,do ingwe ll: 1J.Re4
Kxg713.Nxd4Kh8 - home,weetho mel Ami , take whichBlockd oe,notexplo it

25 ...fxg,i l 26.Qa 3+Qd6 i,adrow

26 .~ QgJ 27.R= 5 Qxe5 28.Rxf/'+ Kg8 29.h4 d4 30.R~ Q<,1+ 31.Kg2 Q<,7 32.Qc6
CJ 33 .h5 Kh8 34. Rf4 Qd6 35.Qfj Qd5 36.Re.\ Qg5 37 .Qf/' Qd5 38.Qffi+ Kg8 39 .fj Qd6
40.Qg5+ Kh84, .h6Rg842 .Re8l1-o

(3o)Zhong - Ruon
Wom e n",World Champion,hi p
Ant;olcya2010
TwoK nigh t> " Defen,e [C\6)
9 .Bg5~10.Re1!

An im porta nt po,itionforthe ev• luationofthi,lin e. Pawnsoreevenfornow, bu t

We are in the 21' t centurynow. and this i, t he best move. Block must interpose White"shoven" t movedyeta ndBlock'soreol l overth epl oce. lf1 7.. .d3.th en18.CJ
wi! hthebi,hop andWhite b lo c kadesthepawnvery comfort• b ly.
10 ... Be6'1 .Bxq Kxe7 17... ReS
11...Qxe7• lsodoesnot,o lvetheproblem,.a,weseeinthenextgame P• ,.ivedefen , e (17 ... Rc8)i,dange rous wh enWhitecan grobth eonly open fi le and
th e blackki n g i,wid e open
lf12 ...d3.th en, imply 13.Nlxh 18.Q xq + Re719.Qf4 Bd52o.Nb,:l2
Whitei,a pawnup . a nd Black"skingi,,till not nfe
16.Q c \ , eem, to be more preci,e . It an tr• Mpo,e withou t al lowi ng t h e , e,ource in 20 ... CJ 2'.b><CJ dxg 22.Nf1 R~ 23 .Qq+ Qe7 24.Qg] +I R&4 25.N e3!

16... Qffi
16 ...C)give,Bl•ck a be tterch•nceto>ufVive: 17 .bxc3dxc318 .Qxc3+ (18 .Q e1 II) 18
Qf6andherbette, developme nt compe nntesforthepawn
Aneat trid:family forl:, ha ppe nwhenyouhoveabadking
The knight ha> captu red eve rything t ho! cou ld hove been captu red. The e nding i,
hope le ss for Block
29 ... Reo;30.N~Rxc231.h4Kg632.Kh2Re 233 .f]Ne534.KgJNq35 .Kh3Ne536. "4
Nd3 37.g4 Ne1 38.h5~ KgJ 39.Ng3 R<5 40.N~~ Kffi 41.Kg3 Re2 42.h61-<>
Ano lmo,tpe rfect ly ployedga mebyWh; te
11 .. . K>:e7 wu t riedinthepreviou,game.•nd l preferthatmove.becau ,e afterthe
text.thepo,ition i, relatively stab leand betterfo, White
White ha>an isolated pawn.but Blodha,doub led pa wns onth e q ueens ide.ond
h i,b i,hop isthe oppo,ite co lo r ofthe sq u areof Wh ite", i,olatedpown.re,ultingin
a strongout po , tfor t hewhite roo k o n e5. In add ition. Blach king,ide i, we a k
Therefore.Whitehuabetter pawn ,tructurea nd a nadv• ntage

(31) Jovonovic - Jovon ic

Tw0Knight>"Defense [C 56J
1.~ es 2 .Nf] Nc6 3.Bc.j Sq 4.0-0 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.e5 d5 7.exffi dxq 8.fiq,;7 Rg8
9 .Reh
Thi,i,arguablythemo,tpreci,emoveorde r becouseitovo id,th e9 ...f6 linewhich
wemention inth enextga me
9 ... Be6 , o.Bg5EJ.e7
Bloc k ha> nothin g better: after 10 ... Qd7 11 .Nlxh R>:s, 12. Ne4 Be7 13 .Bxe7 K>:e7
14.Qd2theda rksquaresbleedaro undhi sking

16.Qf] c6 ,7 .R~ Rg6 18.Roe1 Qd6 ,9.Qe3 K117 20.gJ lklS 21.Res Qffi 22.f4 bs 23.03
 A big m i,to ke whic h lo ,e> immedia te ly. Black toke, h i, qu een o lo ng t h e nm e path
a, in t heMo rsh al l-Ca pob l•n co gom eobove (the o ld m a in line ), but it i,fatolhere
24 .04 1 would ,ofte n u p Block', q uee n, ide: 24 ... b4 2).Ne4 Bxe4 26 .Qxe4 a nd Wh ite Thi,traph o,occu rred inmu lt ipleothe,ga m e, ond,how, ho we a,y it i,fo r Black
con attack t h e c4 pown. In t he ga m e, he p u sh e, p e rha ps • little p,e motu, ely o n th e to go wrong in theM ox l a ngeAttock
kin g,ide Black dou h ave a nimporto nt (alth oughnot verypopu lor)olternahv,e here in9 ...f6
Wh ite', best now , ee m , to be 10.Bh 6 Be6 11 .Re 1 Q e7 12 .Qe2 Bf7 13.Qd2 Be6
Now Block h o,eno ugh counterp lay fo, eq u ol ity. 14.Qf40-0-0 15.Nbd2
29.axb4 axb430.Nxd5c:xd53,.Re7Rc&32.Qfj? IF"ii7'7.i!l:F.aii""""
32.Rb7c,i,.Ree7Rgf834.bxqbxc33).Rbqc2J6 .Re 2 i,equal
32 ... gl3-bxgRxg34.R,e3?
Ablu nd er ina nolreodywor>epo,it ion
34 ... Qx~o-,

(32)Fis hb.ein - Zin ski

Tw0K nights ' Defen , e [C56)

O ne odvontoge ofthi, m ove i,thot it,et>o n o,ty uop

Bloc k'> posit io n look, p rec.uiou, (weoke -~leond Black',d-powni snoton d 3 yet),
9 ... Qd5??
but I connot p,ove a Wh.te advantoge here l>eyond • ,u,cnoble doubt. I wou ld
choo.. Wh itehe,e,butifyouprefertoovo«l~"l'•hupcppo•ite-, id .. castling
,itu•t ion, like !hit, I tuggut the 9 Re1 mo~ order that we nw in the P"'viou,

10.Nql~11.Ne.tltxg?
lfBlocktokuthe'tn,ght,thequeenosp,nned

16.Qd8-Bxd817Re8mate
1~.B><e7 Kxe] 16.Nd6, Kl! , 7.Re8, Qxd 1B.Nxd KxeB 19.Qd• Rt;ll zo.ReH Be6
21.Qxc.4 c6 U .Qb.4 b61J..f• CS 1 •. Qu. HI

1J.Bxe;NxeJ1•.Q•d•i••~n.,mpler
13 ... Qg61 4.N xc6Qxc6
lf thi,gamehadl>een played in the 191hcentu,y,then 1t1VOuldhowfini,hedwith
CHAPTE117

ThevondulosaVoriation

The ,ubJ«tofth" chapter.,whatl ull •thevon de,Luavanatlon."lti,aline

where Wh"• capture, the pawt1 on f7 and Black mutt move the kmg to f!. The li m
kna,wnappuranceofth.,hnewu,n Berl,n,n1S39 {Bologancall,itthe Berlin
Gambit).andvonderLonwuWh,te
Ta Hilo Baron ¥On Heydebrand und du Lau {the name" more complicated to 6
plainthantheopen,n1,oolwoNnotattemptthat)wuaGennanpla)"'randtheo-
ret,cian who pub!,.hedthe ~,st edot>on of the famouo Handbuch, annbuting itto
Bilguu (who d,ed before complet,n1 hos wort). We 1hall ne in th .. chapter that
vonduLonwuaaoodplayuandthatsomeofhosopen,n10deu,urvive to thi,

My recommendatoon to play th,s 1amb,t w;IJ p,obably be the mo" controve,.ial

recommendatoon ,nth" bool<. Th,, var,atoon has been re1a,ded byall a utho,.,
withoutfail,tobeduboou1fo,Wl,,te Wh,te's1corew,th,tin<wu-the -boud gam ..
i, di,mal. Howr,er, someumu ,t taku 1ome curio1t1y and ana\y, i, by an inter
..« d pu,ontob.,ngon open,n1backto l,ff.lhope to1howhuethat it; ,..-;, ble . l
cannot claim an advantogefor Wh,te, but I al,odon't agreewith the ge neral im
pren ion thatthe l,neleads toonadva nt ageforBlack.ln manyline,here,Black h ..
• nar,ow path to •Guo l,ty. The pornions are trid,y fo r both s id ..
 imbalancewhtehw,llpe<l'stforawh, le
1.e.j ~2.NfJ Ndi3.d4 exd4 4.~ lkS Black does have a way oftum,n1 bacl:: 7... Qd7II S.Nxd4 (on S.B,f)- Q,:/j 9 .Qxb7
Kd710.Q .. S8xf311pf3Ne;Blackwillbeabletoengineuad rawbype rpetual)
8... N159.QbSN><C,!lOQ>.<4Ne7withchancufo,bo1h,«le,(Whitel,uthecenter
but Blad hasthetwob<shops, 1lthou1honeofthem might getlladed). Bec.ou,e
the ma,n line has a rep...iat,on of b,e1n1 b.od fo, White, Blad very rarely d,oo,e,
th,s sideline (which allow1 a draw). That may change if the von der Lan varoatlon

Th,, cc<:un about half as often H 4 Nf6 but tS a very p,inc1pled move_ It lud, to
po,ition, that a,equ,te a b,t d,/fe,ent than the ~rst pan of the book

lf.after,tudyingthisandthenex1chapter.)"Ouarenctcon,,;ncedofthecor,ect
nenofthi, move.o,ju,tdon'twanttotalceonthefl1i<sthatitentail,,thenyou
willwanttochooses.c3,1r1nspcs,ngtotheGiucccPiano. The good new, herei,
Thestart1ngpo,ntcfthevonderla11sar,a1'on. lti,cha,acterized bythevulnerable
that I can recomm end a mode,n app•oach tc the Gi ucco PiaM for Whi te. It avoid,
positionofbothking1 . Th'1usuallylud1to•ery,h arpplay,wh ereon e mi>1akeby
lon gandforcedlinu.yetdoesnot1llowusyequality.Chapter9analyze, the5.q
eithersidecanh1veseflou1ccn1e<iuencu .Bothq uee n, canreach checkingd i,
Nf66.e;d;7.Be2v1r,1t ,on.whichw,llbe)"Our1lternati-.tcthevonder la .. vui
tanceoftheenemyk,ng (1ome1>muthi1can l.. dto perpetua l check). The pawn
structure" notyetdevelcped Wh11edoe1hvethetwo bi,hop,fo, now. which
5...d6J can promise an ed1e ,n the endgome However, White hH a prnblem developing
Oefinotelythe best,esponse. bec1u1e 5.. Nf6allow,theMu Langel\ttack, which
hi• kn,1~1. We now present I the<>retocal di1cuuoon of thi, ""f"f co mplicated po>i·
wediuunedinthep,ev.cuschapte•
toon,wflichwethenfollowupwithagood"umb,erofillustratisegame>
6.qBs-4
6 ... dxc3isakey1lternat1ve.andwecover<11nthenutchapter.
Thcmo1th11hlJ'·fOIUde<lmove.butBlo~khumanyotherchoice>:
(aJ9 ... d}llhasnotbee"played,bu1,t1,oneofBlack'sbestmove,;hepr<eparn
Black allows the captufe of the f7-pawn and can no longer cut~. Thi, create, an
N•S and the white kn,ght " harder to d""elop: 10.Be3 (10.Nd2 Ne) n.B"lg Q1)•
12.Kh1 Rxg3 13.Qxb7 Re3 14.Qxc, Qf4 15.Rg1 N,f3 16.NJ<fi Qxf3+ 17.Rg2 Qd1+ canco me out to h4q u ic kly. 10.Bc4Qh411.Qd1I Nf6 12 .Kh1Ne5 13.Be 2a nd,h aving
1S .Rg 1 Qf3+ 19.Rg2 i, a draw by perpe tual tha t,ecur, in a n umbe r of varia t io n , con,olidated, Wh ite ca n n ow de,,., lop th e queen,ide : 13... dJ 14.BxdJ Bxfa 15.Kg2
here; 1o.Bd5I I Ne5 11 .Qd 1 Qh412 .b4Bb6 13.B,b7Re8 i,atype of linetoavoid Bc5 16.b4Bb6 17.• 4 • ) 13.N a3 withcha n ce. forbo t h , ide.;
Wh ite',bi, hop i,ou t ofployandB lack i, theo neattacking) 10 .. .Ne5(10 ... Bxe3
11 .fxe J Qg5+ 12 .Kh1 Q:<e J 13.Qxb7 Rb3 14.Qxc6 Ne7 15.Q04 Kxf7 16.Q4+ Ke3 17
Na3andWh ite hn , u cce,sfu lly comple tedhi,deve lopme nt}11 .Bxg3Rxg312 .Nd2
Q h4 (12 .. .g\ 13.Kh1 Bb6 14.Rg 1 Rg6 15.RgJ) 13.Kh1 Qh3 14 .Rg1 NxfJ 15.Rg2 BxeJ
16.fxe 3Ke7I

(the on ly m ove) 17.N xfJ Qxf3 18.Qxb7 Rac3 19.Qxa7 Qxe4 20.Qd4 Qxd4 21.exda
andBlock h nenou gh re,ource,to m ake ad rowhere;
(b) 9 ... dxq 10.BxgS (10.Nxql Nd4) 10... RxgS 11 .Nxc3 W<II be cove red in Game,
33,34and36;
(c) Th e adva nce of t he g -pawn worh well if Wh ite ha, exc h a nged hi , b i,hop (n
,,...., , ee inGam e 35), b ut h ere, withthebi, h oponf7 , it i,outofp lace:9 .. .g5/ 10.B
h 5I Ne511 .ad4Bxd412.Kh1andWh ite i,th e oneatta cking
(d) 9 ... Qh4 I i, a l,o p rematu re : 10.BxgS Rxg3 11 .Qxb7 Ne ) 12.Qu S+ Ke7 13.QxgS Block', king i,vu lnerable: l ) .. . Q e6 16.Rxd6 Qxb3 17.axb3 wit h an e xt ra pawn , a l
NxfJ+ 14 .Kg2 Qg,\+ 15.Kh1 and Black lack. th e am m u nitio n to deliver ma te : 15 though Blackhn,om e co m pe nntion
N h4 16 .Bg5+ I Qxg517 .Rg 1win,forWhite; 10.lk4
(e) 9 ... Bb6 lli ,a.en, ib lem ove:it ollow,Wh ite tocon ,olida tebuttheB 1ack queen Al,oponible i, 10.Kh1l l(,afe ty lint)10 ... Na\( lf to .. .dxc311 .Bca l ab212 .Bxb2
Na5 13.Qq Nx4 14.Qxc4 Qe7 Wh;te i, • pawn down but co ntro l, t h e lo ng d i•g
o nal a ndtheg-fi le, a nd Black',kin giswo r,e offth a nWhite',:allthi,offe r,White
,u fficie ntcompen , ation)11.Qa4Kxl)12.Qu 5Re8 13.cxd4Bxd4
Theg• mei• •pproxim a te lyequal
10 ... Qd7
Afte r 10 ...Q eS ll .Bb5 (• the m a tic move; White exc h•nge, the kn ight o n c6 , wh ich
ca nbeco me • n •ttackingp; ece, a nd u ndermine, th e pawnond4) 11...Qh512 .Bxc6
bxc613Qd 1 dxc314.Nxq
White ha , d evelopedtheknight,i, looking todevelopth ebi,hop with Bf4orBe3,
andhure.,onablech•n ce, . Bl•ddoe,noth ave e nough a ttac ke r,tocre•te m •t
ingthreatsandhi,king i,,til l o n IB
n .Kg2
Thi, move wa, played in t he on ly g•me wh ere thi, po,ition occurred in my d a ta
b.. e.Th ere•reoth er option,
(•)ldon't like 11 .Be6QeS12.Bh3g5l for White
Thi, w•• an• lyzed by Bologan in hi, book Black W,ap on,. Reading between t he
line, , lcantell th•the recognizedth•tthi,variationisnot a ,easy forB lac ka,
co mmonly • ccepted, if Wh ite does no t make b ig m istake, . H e propo, ed a n ew
move, 12.. .g \, he re, "with exce llent c h• nces." I •gree with the grandma ste r. It is
hord fo rWhite todevelopth e queen , ide,andtheb7 -pawnisu,u • lly poi,o ned,be
cau,e Bl• ck',qu een q uidly co me, to alt• ck White', kin g . For ex•mple: 13Kht Rg3
14.Bf5 (o, 1~.Rg1 Qh5 15.Rg3 Re3 16 .Bf5 RS7 17. Rh3 Qf7) 14 ...Qh5 15.Qe6 {15.Qxb7/
N e5 l 16.Qxo3+ Kg7 17.Qb7 Nxf3 1S .h3 S4 le•d• to mate) l\ .. .Qf7 16.f4 gxf4 17.Bxf4
"''
(c) 11 .Bb5do«notwo,ka , well h e re b eca u,e of11...Q h 312 .Bxc6bxc6 13.Qd1d,q
, 4 _N , qNd7I
12.Ql>5NXC4
12...Qxb 5 13 .B,b5 look. n ice fo r Wh ite , with two bi,hop , a nd a mi, p laced bloc k

13 .Q xu4Re814.Re1
Oth e r move, are pouib le: 14 .Nd 2 b5 15.QdJ dxq 16.Qxq i, abou t equo l, o nd
14 .cxd4 i,adraw by p e rpetuo l t h at we havea lready se en :14.. . Rxe4 15. fxe4Qg4+
14... Qf]

ln t h i,doub le-edged po, i!io n.Wh ite',ce nuol pown,cove r t he kinga n d al,oolfe r
good prn ,pect, in th eend in g (ofte r, for exom pl e 19 ... h 5ll 20 .Qg 5I) . Neit he r king i,
co m p le telyufe(•lway,thecose in t h i, voriat ion )
We now illustrate t he vo n der Lua variatio n with ,o m e game,, not in g. h owever.
practice

Trading t h e q u ee n, i,al , oaboutequa l,but le u inte re,ting

15... Qg6+16 .Kfi
Are latively ,afe p lace fo,t h eking
16... d5,7.ocd4Bd618 .N g8xh219.Q<e3
(lJ)vonde, Lasa - Ma yet
Berlin 1839
Scotch G a m b it [C 44)
1. e.j e5 2.Nfj Ndi 3.d4 =14 4.lk4 Sq ~.O·O d6 6.g dxg 7.Nxg Bg.j 8 .Qb] B><f]

By tra m po, it io n . we have re ach ed the 9 .. .dxq lin e in t he vo n der la,a variatio n
(9 ... d xq 10.Bxg8 Rxg8 11.Nxc3) . Thi, i,, in fact, th e fa,t kn own game with t h;, n ,i

n ... Nd4 12.Qd1 Qf613.f4

Veryintere<tin g i, 13.Nd5 Q f:7 14 .b4 I Nxf3+ (14 ...Q xf3 11.Qxf3+ Nxf3+ 16.Kg2 Bd4
17.Rb1 c6 18 .Ne3 Nh4+ 19 .Kh 3 i, a ,till ,harp a nd approximate ly eq u a l end ing.)
16... Q h 4
15.Kg2 Bd4 16 .Rb1 Nh 4+ 17.Kh1 Q g6 18. Nf4 Qxe4+ 19.f3 Qxb 1 20.N e 6+ Kf7 a nd
16 ...c6 l 17.Q d 3Rd8 i,abo ut eq ua l. The text i,a lo"of ti m e
now I , ee n ot hing be tter t ha n 21 .Q xd4 Kxe6 22 .Qc4+ Kd7 23.Q f7 + Kc6 24. Qc4 +
Kd 7 wit ha d rawby per pe t ual chec k
17.Bg3 Q e7 (17 ...Q h 3 18. Nd 5I) 18.Qc2 i, correct, w;th good c h a nce, fo r Wh ite
17... ReS?
17 ...Q h 3l.threoten in g Bd4a nd .. . Be5, would forceWh itetog iveu pthe exch a n ge
W< t h 18 .Rg1
 29 ... Rh6 30.ffi hxg3 31.Qxg3 Qxb4 µ .fic1!7 Q<,4+ 33.Qg2 Rxhh 34.Kxh2 Qh7~
3S.Kg3Qx11736.Q<e.11-<>
Not •b•dga me,eve nbytoda y',,tandard , I

(34)Pi lgaard - Schandorlf

He l, ingo,2012
Scotch Ga mb it [C44J
Hereis•moremodern (butnotneceuarily be tterplayedl)examp le

9 .Bxg&?
Ab•dmove order,uwes h•ll , eel ater.
9 .. . Rxg810.grl'ldxg?
lnthe n extgame,AdolfAnderue n, ho=u,how ,o .. .g\ l puni,hesWhiteforthe
An excel lent, •nd typic• I. shot. Bl• ck's d6 -p•wn falls
wrong move orde r.
n.NxgNd412 .Qd1Qffi13 .f4
2l.Bxd6 immediate ly i, better: 2L. Bxc, 2J.Qxd4 Bxd6 24.Qxd6 g) 25.f<g3 Qxe4+
26.Kg1andB lack i,a pawnd own

13... Re&
Now we ore back to th e 19th-century po, it ion, and M•~t·, 13 .. .g5 (as pl•~d in t he
lutgam e) i,b etter.Afterthetext, Whiteg et, acl earadvantage

White'sattackcra, h esthrough
We,a wthi ,theme inthe 19th -centurygamea,w,,II
16... Bb617.Nd5 Nc618.Bb2 Ne719.Nxb6 axb6 20.Re1 Q<l7

38.Q u ?
Thi, i,Wh ite"sdream inthevonderLuavar iatio n.Wh it econtro ls thed iagon ol Therei,noreuontotradequeen,.38 .Q e2 Nc539.Re1i, hopel « sforB1ad
and at lea ,t two fil«. and hi, king i, pe rfec tly safe . Thi, po , ition i, winning for 38... Qxo239 .Rxa2 Kf/'40.a5bxa541.Rxo5Re842.Ro7Re743.Rc1Nc544.Rd1N <4

21.Q<l2Nc622. Rg1Rq23 .h'5Nd82.p4Qh325.Rg3Qh626 .ll<l4N e627.Be3Nc5 White canand,hou ldcontinueployingfo,awin here

(lS)Suhle - 1\nderssen
30 .a5I bxa 5 31.b6 Nxb6 32 .Bxb6 cxb6 33.Qxd6 wn t he mat ic a nd immediately win
Co logn e1 S59
n ing (a ga in, ju,t liketh e ln t game,Black',p awnond6 falls) , b utthetextdoes not
ScotchGa mb it [C+4J
,po ila nything
1.<4 e52.Nf}Nc63.d4~44 .1k4Bc55.o-od66.qBS47.Qb3B,dj8.B.S7~Kf8

Aseriou,mi,take; therei,noneedto t rad e t he b i, hopye t

9 .. . Rxg810.grl"Jg5l11 .Kh,QHi
 14.Qxc6 Qgs 15.es dxes , 6 .Bxf4! exf4 17.ocd4? Rdsl 18.QaS+ Ke7 19.Q,cg8Q,cg8
20.dxcsfJo-1

Leipzig 1914
ScotchGa mb it [C44J
1.<4e52.NfJ Nc63.d4exd44 .Bc.j Bc5 5.o-od66.qBg.t7.Qb3 B><f38.Bxf] + KfS
9.gxfjdxq , o.Bxg8
10.Nxc, immed iately i, bad becou,e of 10 ... Nd4, ,o now White mu>t t rade t he
bishop
10 .. . Rxg8n .NxqQd7
N ot ugooda,M •ye t",11 ... Nd4 inthegamefrom 1839
Block h n o d evutati ng attack

Lo,e. im m ed;otely, b ut iti, hud to d efend . Fo, exa mple, o l, o bad i, 12.Qxb7 Qd'}+
13 .Kg1 Ne\l 14.Q,03+ Kg7 15. Q d5 Qg,i+ 16 .Kht c 6 17.Qb3 Qxe4+ 1S .f3 Nxf3, game

12 .. .gxf413.Qxb7Rd8??
13 ...Q g5l 14.Q,0S+ Nd81\ .e )c6 lwin,

="!l'E-~

14 .Kh1?!
14.Bxb6wou ld hoveavoi dedthe t rad e o f queen,
14 ... Qf7,5.Qxf]+ Kxfy16.Bxb6oxb617. Rae1Ra8
17...g\wumoretothe po; nt. ln,tead,B lackgroduollydrift, intoa pa»ive po,itio n
18.a3K~19 .Nf4Rgf820.Nd5+ Kd721.RqRfy22 .Rfc1Kd823.f4Rc8

Th;, wu a casual ga me a nd t here we re , o m e m istakes

Wh ite h a, aclearadvan tage no win, pite of!i i, d o u bledd i, co n ne cted pa wn,. Hi, N ot as gooda,10 ...Qd7, w!iic hwe ,tud iedinthe t!i eory.ection
roob a ndknight • remuc h more active
ll.Bb)lwu the idea of White", lo, ! m ove. Black", kn ight o n c6 i, valuob le, a, it

~32 .Ng7 protect,thed4paw n a n dth reate n, to join t he att.a ckagoin,t theking . Now.afte r
Block h .. ,ome co m pe nu t ionfo, t h epiece, bu t eve n tu al lyWh itep revo il, ll .. .Q h s 12.Bxc6 bxc6 13.Qd 1 dxq 14 .Nxq, White ho , re ..onab le d evelop ment
32... Rx&lJ.axb5c534.Rd,435 .Re3Rg836.Kg1Rf637.N h5Re638.Rf]Ke739.Rdli After t hetext,Blockca n , ta rt aki ng,ideattack wit h aga in ofate m po

ds 40.Rf/'+ Kd6 41.NHi Rd8 42 .Nxds Kcs 43.Nq b6 44.R7~+ Kb4 45.Nd5 + Kb3
46.R5fj+ Ko247.Nb4 + Kxb2¢.R3fl.+ Ko349. Rb1 Rd1+50.Rxd1 Kxb451 .Rb1+Keo; Wehove,ee nth i, t hem e • lready.
52.Rf8R<3 53.Rc8+ Kd454.Rd1+Rd355-Rxd3 + 1-o
Thi, i,u, uolly bad . a, it i,!iere . Th e q ueen i,toofar •way.
(l7) Pa p - Bri<ic
J• h o,i no 20\2
ScotchG a m b it [C 44J
Thi , gam e i, an ot h er enmple of wh at no t to do wit h White
1. <4e52.NfjNc63.d4~44.1k4Bc55.o-od66.qBB4 7.Qb3B,dj8.Bxf7 + Kf8
9 .gxfJ NHi10.Bc.j~
Looka t Wh ite',k in ga ndthenlook at White', q u ee n a nd kn ight N ot t hem o , t active m ove. ltgivesW hite• c ha n ce to co n,olid ate

The ga mei,e ne nt ially over • lread y. Wh ite ha, time for 11 .Kh 1, ~ cau se 11 ... N• \ 12.Qe2 Nx4 13.cxd4 Bxd4 14.Qx4 c5

20 ...Qf5 21.Qxc6 Q xe \+ 22.Kht Bd6 would~ fn ter

21.Qxc4 Be7 22 .Bxe7~ Kxe7 23.Qc5+ Kd8 24 .Nd2 Nf4 25.eli Nxeli 26.Qfs Rfll
27 .Qhs Rxb2 28.NxfJ Kc8 29.Rad1 Qfy 30.Qds Qxfj 3, .Qxeli+ Kb7 32.Rb1 dxq 0 -1
White", king i, • lw•y• a little open in t h i, n , iatio n. Yo u h•ve to kee p t hat in mind

(J8) Da u relle - Kost.en

Cl ermo ntFerra nd2014
Scotch Ga mb it [C 44)
1. e.j es 2.Nfj Nc6 3.d4 =!4 4.Bc.j Bes 5.0-0 d6 6.q Bg.j 7.Qb3 BxfJ 8.BrlJ~ Kf8
9.gxfJNf610.Bc.j a6?I

Hi , king fee l, .afe on h1 while Black', king po,itio n ,ti ll im pedes hi, d eve lopme nt
Thevo n d er l a u vori ation i,o fte no ,uu gg le fo rwh o , e kin gwill be .afer.

Wh ite ,hould probab ly ju ,t take a draw here with 15.Bxd4 Bxd4 16.Qxd4 Q g.j +
(16 ... N&4l17.Kg2 Qxh 2+ 18.Kf3 Q h519.Nd 2 Nh 2+ 20 .Ke3Nxf1+ 21.Rxfl is winning (39) 1\tuan - PN olic
for White: under norm a l circumstan ces Black would hn,e e nough compensati o n Corr.2005
for t he exchange, butwit hhi,kingon IB androol.:snot deve loped,heh a,nohope Sco tch G amb it [C44J
he re)17.Kh1 Qf3+ (a perpe t ualwe have,eenbefore) 1.~e52.NIJ Nc63.d4 exd44 .Bc.j Bc5 5.o-od66.g B&47.Qb3 BxfJ8.Brlj + KfS
9.gxfJNf6

Now Wh ite fa ces a fig ht for equal ity. With the t rad e ofh;, da rk-square b i,hop, the
pawno n f.'\(morepreci,e ly, t he f4-,quare)i>vulnerable An inte rest ing, but n ot quite correct, move. 10.B04i, a nalyzed in t he t h eory sec

16.Bxc5dxeo;17.Qd2Rd818.Qe3Nd419.Ngb520.Bd 5 b.j?
20 ... Nh 5l 2 i.f5g6lcomb;ne,a nattack o n thef4 ->qua rew;1h a n attack on th e king 10 ...d xg

and cause,Whiteb;gprob lem> Be tter i> 10 .. .d3 I (t h reaten ing ... Ne \ ) \1 .Bfa RbSa nd I prefer Blac k: if 12.Rxd3 Q e7
13 .Be6 Nh5 14.Bg3 Qf6 15.Nd2 Nf4 16.Rd\ Ne\ with dom;nation on the dark

M i» ing a chanceto escape with 21.B04bxq22.bxq Nc623.Qxc5 + Ne724.Rad1

w; 1h lotsofp lay fo r t hepiece n .NxqNd4

21 ... bxq22 .bxqN xd523.exd 5 N~24.Qxc5+ Rd6 Blac k'> res pon se wu quite nat ural, but now comes a very inte resting (a lthough

Now,however,Wh ite',king, ide is shattered and h e doe, no t have nearly enough fo rced) exc ho ngeuc rifice

for t he p;ece 12.Rxd4Bxd413.N "2

31.Qe6+Kg 5 32 .R~QxfJ33.h4 + Kh50-1

Blac kwo nthebattlefo, king,afety.
 25.Nxg7Kc826. Ne 6regoin,the exchange withan extra pawn

Blockh ncutledq ueen, ide l

26.Qxq+ Qxq 27 .Rxq+ Kb8 28.R,q,;7

Block'> kin g i> ,o bad, hi, e6-,qua re so weak, a nd hi, rnok> so ou t of play, thot
Whiteh nat len t , uffic ient co m pe M ati onfor the excha nge
13 ... Q,e714.lk.4Bb615.Nf4d516.v:d5
16.Bxd5Nxd517 .Nxd5Qe6 18.Be3 i,obout eq uol

..,,.,.,.,....,.,.,......,..,....,,,,,,
16... Q e1+17.Kg2QicfH18.Kh3K<7 ln the end ing,Whitei,ol,obetter,with two pa»edpawm fo, the exch•nge
28 ... Rd629.Nc5 Nxd530. Rxb7~ Ka831 .Rf/' Rh6 + µ.Kg2 Ne3+ 33.Kfa Rc634.Nd7
N435,g4 h636.Bc:2Nd637.Ba4Ra638.Bb3 Ra539.RffiN e8 40.Ra6 I?
A tempting sacrifice, butbetter wu 40.Rf5 Rxf541.g,:f5Kb742.f6,winning
40 .. . Rl,s
40 ... Rxa64 1. Bd\+ withm ate
4, .f4 Kb742.Re6Nq 43.Re7Rb444.Rf/'Rd845.Ke3 a546 .Nc5+ Kc847.Nd3Re8+
48.Kfj Rb649 .Ne5 Ne6 5<>.K113 Nd45,.B "4 Rd8 52.lkl7 + Kb853.b3Rd654 .Kf2Rg8

59 ... Nxe 660 .Nc6+ Kc861.Ne 7+ ol,o lose,for Black

6o.lkl7R h86, .B"4 Ne662. Nc6+Kc863 .Bb5Nq 6.j.lk.4Rd665.N e7+ Kb766.Nd5
Rc667.fsKb868.Rxq1-<>

Bot hking, ca n enjoy a little walk. However, itwubetter to giveu p som e m oteri ol Acrazy correspo ndence ga m e, butonethat illu mate,,o meidea,of thi, vari ation

(4o ) Schut
19.Ne6BC520.Bf41k1621.Bg3Bxg322. hx113Qb623.QgKd724.Rc1 Rad825.Bb3
Co rr.1 9 96
ScotchGamb it [C 44J
1.e.j • S 2.NfJ Nc6 3.d4 =!4 4.Bc.j Bes 5.0-0 d6 6.q BS4 7.Qb3 B,dj 8.Brlj+ KfS
9.gxf]Ne5

1o.ocd4Bxd4n .Bxg8
11 .Bq NxC4 12.Qxq c\ 13.N•} i> bette r for White
n ... Rxg812 .f4Ng413.h3N><f214 .Rxh

An interesti ngposit io n: es e nwit h arook•ndtwop•wn,forthem inor p ieces in the

e ndg•me, Bl•cki, wor,ebec•usethe rook> h•se noope n liles too perateon, a nd
Wh ite ha>more ,pace.Bl•ck ,hou ldprob•b!y pl•y ... g6 h e re to prevent a nesentua l
f4 -f,;; inth egame,the white kn ightget>agood look a tth e e6 -, qua re
19... Kf/' 20.8"3 a62, .Rh1!Rh822.KfJh623.fs! Rod824.Nd5c625.Nf4Rd726 .Rg1

H i,kingca nhid e beh ind,ome ofit>minorp iecesand t heb lackking co nn ot

14... Qh415 .Qf]Bxf2+16.Qxf2Qxh3
Here,Bl• d h a,be tte rchan ces t h• n in the p res io u, oariation . becauseWh ite',king
ca n n othide • wa yea, i!y.

Wh itehu co n qu e red •l lth elight,qu•res,a nd t hewe•kb l•ckp•wn,ong7•n d d6

C ha pt~r &
Aga inst ou, move o rde,, Black can d eviate from t h e vo n d e, Lon vuiotion wit h 6
dxq, acce pting the gambit, or wit h 6 ... Nf6, transpos ing to a G iuoco Pia no li ne
w!iichis con ,ideredsl;ghtlybette,fo r White.Wecove, t hot lineingom e,45 -,pond
focu,onth e occe ptedga mbit here in t he!h eore t ical sect io nondingames4 1-44
1.e.j e5 2.NfJ Nc63 .d 4 =!4 4 .lk.4 Bc5 5.o-o d 66.g dxg 7.Q b3I
Amazingly, thi, positio n hu only occurred o n ce: in th e game Cobb-Adam , (ga me
4\),wh ere Blockpl •y• 8 ... Na5 . Before looking at th a t, le t us,ev iew oth e rw•y,fo r
Blocktop l•y
(•)8 ... Nf6ignoresWhite',threa t,butm oy beplayoble:9 .e )dxe 510 .Nxe5Qf5I
O n ly•compute ,wouldlindthis:Blackollow,allkind, ofdiscoverie, but i,,aved
byonottackon fa

I preferth i,move to7.Nxq,when Block con play 7 ... Nf6ondcutlequickly. Now,

fort heucrificed pown,yo uhavebette, deve lopment, ondtheenemy kin g is,till in Now after 11.NfJ+ {11.Nd3+ Be7 12.Bxf7+ K/8 13 .Bc4 b 5I 14.Qxb5 Nd4) 11 .. . K/8
the cente,. You ore aiming you, queen and bishop at you, oppone nt'> we a kest 12.Nxq Bx&-;- 13.Kxfa Q c5+ 14.Be3 Ng4..- 15.Kg1 NxeJ 16.No4 Qxc4 17.Qxe3, White
hu full co mpen,ati onforthe pown
(b)8 ...cxb29.Bxb2KIB1o.Nbd2with alotofpl oy.
Wehavereochedapo,itionwhich hu,eenv,,_ry li mitedp,oct ice . Thegamenowre
volve, ornu nd wh ether Black co n castle . Fo, the mome nt, Block nee d, to defe nd
the f7-pown, becou,e other option, ore da ngerou s: 7 ... Bg4 8 .Bxf7+ Ke7 (8 ... K/8
9 .Bxg8 Rxg8 to.N g)i, bod fo r Block) 9 .Nxc3 No\ 10.Q04 Kxf711.Qxo) is a good
ve,,ionofthe vonderl.u ovuiationfo,White,where Block hu hel peddevelopthe
white kn ight. while after 7 ... cxb2 8.Bxf7 + K/8 9 .Bxb2 , Black's king position deafly
give, White plenty of co mpensation fo, o nly one pawn (9 ... N• 5 10.Qc3I)
Oth er w•y• of defe nding the f7-po wn will be cove red in game, 43 a nd 44
White i, down two p•wn, but Blac k i, nowhe re n ear completing h i, developm e nt White i, down two p•wns, but i, abou t to get one of them ba ck. and he ha. more
(c)8 .. . Kf8119.Be3(or9.Qc 2cxb 21 0.Bxb2)9 ... Bxe3 10.Rxe3 cxb21l.Qxb2ag• inwith >pa ce, be tte r d evelopme nt, and the two bi,h o p,.wh ich, to a luge exte nt, prote ct
• lot ofco mpensationforthe twop•wn, h im from bad outcomes. White can look to bu ild up h i, pos iti on for • bre•k in t he
(d) &... c2!?9.N a3I ce nte r or an opportun e lr• d e on f6, breaking up Black", kingsid e. I wou ld ,at he r
9.Qxc2 Nge7 look,eu ie rforB1•d p lay White here, but t his entire variation requires a lo t of testing in pr• cti ce

10 ... Nf6l 11 .Nxc2 Ba) 12 .e)I dxe113 .Nxe5 Qd1+ 14.Nel Qxb3 15 .Nxc6 + Be6 16 .axbJ
Bxe117.Ne )Bb4 1S.Nxf;7Kxf7 19 .Bxe6+i,amuchbetterendingfo,Wh ite,wit h t h e
twobi, hop,andequa l p•wn,
n .Q xa3NHiu.b4 a613.8b20-o
(41)Cobb-Adams
BCF -chT,WutBromwichlOOl
ScotchC•mbit[C"-4]

12.Nbd>Ne513-Nxe5fice5makes1td,flicultforthewh,tequ••n to r.,,.,,n
12 ... 854
Aftor12 .. Ne513.Nxe5fice5148eJBb415.Rc1 (15.Bd2 Bc516.BeJisadrawbyrepe·
tot,on)15. Be616aJBa517f4(17b40-o-018.bx.a5Ne719.Qxd8--Kxd820.Bxa7
shouldbeokayfo,Black)17. e><f4, ,8Rf1rucuesthequeen, a\thoughBladha,
Th• only known gam" from th,s posot,on ,s act"ally • high-l~e l g•m•. Engli,h C M
somecompensat,onfo,thee><ehange
Michael Ada ms was (and st,11 isl) one of the but ployefO in the wo~d. Tho .. po,i
tionsar,enot•uytonav,gateevenfo,playersotthetop.Although theWe l,hmu
Thisistoo1,eedy.Correct,1ndimporton1fo,thee\laluationofB lack', , acrifice,is
te,play•dwelltoacerta,npo,nt,heco"ldnotG"''"hepupw it hh is oppon ent
14g,cf3Bd415.Kh1 I Bu116Rg , o-o-017.Be3Ne7 , 8.Qg7Qxg7 , 9.R>1 7 Ng620 .Rx·
h7 (DJ with an extra pawn {for now) ond • paued h-pawn which ca n I,., awkward to
Th i,exchang• ucnficeludsto inte,ut,naand unclurp lay. Wedi.cuuedothu
poniblemovesinthetheo,yse<:t,on
Blackcanprobab!yholdth,send,ng,butldoubth•wouldeMer ilvo luntarily.
9.QxcJNX410.Qx,g7~11.Qd18 QfJ
14... 0-0-0 15.Nxf3 Ne7 16 .Qxd8+ K>d8 is clearly bette r for Black: t he c- pawn is
abouttofa ll , •nd whenthe rea renoo pe nli lesforrooh,theyareoftenweakerthan
thequeen. lnthegame,Adamsd ecides to kee p t heten sio n
16.e5 may be• bette rch• nce, because Bl•c k c• nn ottakethe pa wn with 16 ...fxe5
17.qo-0-0 18.cxb6ub619.Bg5RIB 20.f4Ne721.Qf6 •nd t he q ueenescapes ,with
amaterio l adv•nlage
16... o-o -o,7.h38<!7
Bloc kh na n adv•ntagenow.Whitemu, t gothrough hoop,to ,ave t h equeen
Thi, lo , esquickly: t he q uee ndoe , notgetout . 21. Re3q22.Bxc3Ne723-Qid6Nd5
24 .Qxg6 hxg6 25.e6 givesWhitechances tonve t hega m e
21 .. . B"'4 l 22.Nf'3Bc6! 23.e7Re&24.Kh1Ba5?
An inaccuracy. 24 ... Bxf325 .gxf'3 Bxf226.Rf1 Qg3 win ,en ily.
25.Red ,I (t h reatenin g Rd8-) still m• kes a light of it after 25 .. . N,07 26.Qxf6, a l
though Black is clearly better, wit h a pawn for t h e exchange, two b ishop , a nd a
, t rongpa,sedc-pawn
The q uee n i, tra ppedn extmove
(42) S"' bo,G - S..bostia n
EU -Cup, Ke m e,2007
Scotch Ga mb it [C44J
1.<4 es 2. NfJ Nc63.d4 =14 4.lk.4 Bc5 5.o-od66 .g dxg 7.Qb3 Qd7 8.Q,cg?I
 Black i, olmo,t do ne with th e u tifici• I cullin g a nd re m a in , a pawn up
14.Re1 b6 15.Ng Bb-] 16.Bg5 Qf/' 17.Qh4 h6 18.Bxffi Qxffi ,g.QgJ Kg8 20.Rod1 Rq
21 .Rd2Rae822.Rde 2Kh723 .Qd1~Qg624 .N<4 R/8
24 ...c5m• intain, t h eadvanta ge . Now Whi tei,ab le tog• in,o m e,pace
25 .fj Rfi,8 26.b4 06 27 .Rc:2 Kh8 28.RKI Bx<4 29.fxe.\ R/830.Rxq Rxq 31.Rxq Qf6

(4J) lvic - Morjanovic,

Silvu l a ke(o p)2016
ScotchGa mb it [C44J
1.04e52.NfjNc63.d4exd44.1k4Bc55.o-od66.gdxg7.Qb3~

Thi , i, not ,hup enough. 8 .Re 1 i, bette,, "' we nw in the Int ga me a nd in th e t h e

ory ,ection . Now, e5 i, not"' ,eriou, a threat a n d Black ca n comforta b ly complete
h i,development
8 ... Nf69.e5
9 .Bg\Qe710 .Bxf6gxf6 i,al,onothingto write hom e obout
9 ... Nxe5
9 ...dxe510 .Bxf7 + (10 .Nxe5Nxe1 11.Qxe\+Qe7) 10... Kxl)11 .QxqRe8i, evenbetter.
10.Nxes dxe5 '1 .Bxf/'+ Kxf/' 12.Q xcs Re813.Qc.1~ K/8

Not u test ingu7 ...Qd7 , butal,o reuonable:Bl• d i, • imi n gtocu tlequee n , ide
8.Bxe66ce69 .Qxe6+Qe.710.Qc4Ji
The quee ni,abit clum , yhe re.10 .Qb30-0-o{it i, ri,ky,but •l•opouibl e toopen
th e d iagon• l andth eb-fi le with 10 ...o b 2 11 .Bxb20-0-0 12.NCJ) 11 .N xqRe812 .Re 1
i,ab•l a ncedpo,ition withoppo , ite-, id e ca,tli n g
With t h e queen on 4, Block ,hou ld accept the pawn with 10 . ..cxb2 11.Bxb2 Nf6 The bl•dking i,,taringi ntod i.coveriesfrom • ll • ng le,
12.Nqo-0-0,and 13.Nd\ldoesnotworkbeaiuseof 13 ... Qxe4 17... Rhe81&.Bxc5 dxc5 ,9.d6~ Kg6 20.Re3 h6 21 .d7!1
n.Ngl 21 .g4 ismuchde• ne r, forcingthe queento, to pwatchingthe e2 -pawn
With the b l• ck king in the cente r, White goes for quid d evelopment • nd •n att..d
rathe r th•n>pend ing t imecapturing t hee2-p• wn
n ... Nf612.Nd5!Nxd5,3.exd5Ne514. N«5 Qx<,51 5.Bf4~?
Block, hou ld taketheplunge: 1).. .Qxb2 16.Q• 4 + b5 withgoodch• nce, to,urvive
Anice ly co ndu ctedatt• d
16.Rae1+Kfy17.Be]I
(«)Arvola - H ougsdal
NOR-chB , Stavange, 2005
ScotchGa mb it [C+4J
1.<4e52.Nf3Nc63.d4 exd44.lk.4Bc55.o-od66.gdxg7.Qb3Qf6
Not the optim •I w•y to defend t he f7-paw n. Th e rem aining quee n move, 7 ...Qe7,
has ~ e n known to~ bad for • lo ng tim e: &.Nxq Nf6 9.Bg\ 0-0 10.Nd) Qd&
ll .Nxf6+ gxf6 12.Bh6 No\ 1).QC) Nxc4 14.Bri8 QdS \\.Qxu\ (Boden -Horwitz, B,i,
tol 186 1)
9 .Nb5 Bb610.Be3 i, al,o inte r« tin g . Howeve r, 9 .Nd5 Nxd5 10.exd5 Ne5 11 .Nxe5
Qxe), olthoughtwice plo~d by Ander'5e n in th e 1850,,can notbe reco m m en ded
9 ... Qgii
10.Nd5
He re, I wo u ld con,id er 10.Ne2 (t ryin g to t rap Black', q ueen ) 10...0-0 ll .Rae l h6
12.Nf4Qh7(th e quee ni , in exile) 13.Bxe7Nxe7 14.e5Qf115.g3d5 16.Bd3Qd7 17.e6
a nd Wh ite , h o u ld be able to re g• in the pawn with ,ome ad vantage. Gene rally, if
youropponent',queen ha,to h ideatap lace likeh 7,goodthing, willha ppen fo r
12.Bb)+ KIB 13.Bd2 lookslikeabetter woy of,«trictingthekin g
12 .. .Q xg5 i, lin e forB lackafte r13 .Nf3Qf614 .Rae1+KIB15.Nd2Bb6
Now,however, Black i, in trouble
l \ ...Q e7 16.Qxe7+ Kxe7 17.fxe5 look, g,im for Black, but noth ing com pared to the
16.Q,cqBh317.RaeHKf81&.RfafJ19.d6Qg620.Qe,+Kg&21.Q<e&+Rxe&22. Rxe&#
(45)Morphy - Boden
Ca,uol Go me, Londo n 1&5&
G iuo coPian o (C\3) variation against o ne of America', st rongest atta cking ployer,, but m•ybe next
Sin ce we are talking a bou t the \8\0> , we a re re qu ired to p resent a game by Pa u l tim e ...).N owa fter 7.b4Bb68.a4 a 59.b5 Ne510.Nxe5dxe1, 11 .803 (l wasve ry anx
Morphy - ondthison e hasbeen o nthologized iou, toput my bi, hoponthatdi ago nol, butn owlprefe r11 .Nd2,asp l•yedinMor
1. e.ie5 2. NfJNc63.d4 ~ 4 4 .lk4Bc55.o -od66.g Nffi phy-Med-ley, blindfo ld , imul, London 1859 . The knight can gotob3,f3o rq de
pe ndingonth eci rcum,tances;Morp hy kneweve nwithout,eeingthe boa rd tode
velop t he knight befo re the bi,hopl) \1 . .. Qf612 .Nd 2 Ne7 13.Qf3I {13 .Bxd3 i, co,
rect) 1J ... Be6 ? (13 ... Ng 6 I immed iote ly give, Blac k t h e adva ntage, bec.-u , e after
14.Qxd3Nf4 Whi te',kingi,in trouble,andif Whitetradesqueen,andrega insth e
pown, he wil l ho"" a lot o f loose pawn, a nd s quares.) 14. Bxe6 Q xe 6 15.Qxd3 RdS
16 .Qe 2 Ng 617 .g3Nf4 l(wit hhi, king in t he ce nte r, B1 ock h a, n ot h ingbette rhere)

This i, a p layable, b utnotvery c holle nging respon,eto Wh ite's play. White can

N ow a d raw was agree d in v iew of 18 .gxf4 Rxd2 19.Qxd2 Qg4+ 20.Kh1 QfJ+
Weretu rntoth eMorphy-Boden ga me
7.ocd4 Bb68.Ngo-o9.d5 N o5?
The wor,t of t he kn ight retreat> . It i, ou t of ploy now. The next two games will fea
turetwom o re , en,iblere ,po n,es
10.lkl3c<j
Otherwi,e11 .b4

6 ...dJ is a noth e rreasonab lewayto avoidfo,ced t heoretic.- l lin e, a ndwasployedi n

Fi , hbein -Sevian, USA 2017 (I w•• looking fo rward to a te, t ofthevon d e r Lil,a 12 ... g5 13.Nxg5hxg\14.Bxg5ReS 15.Bb5Re \ 16.Bh4i, badfo,Block
13.h3 Bh5 14.g.4 Of co ur,e , White ca n w in in many w•y>, bu t Mo rphy", method would h•ve pleased
a ce rtain American who wou ld beco m e world c h•m pio n a century afte r Morphy re
faed. ln fact.thi,g•mefeature,twotypica l ,trategie,ofth e future: locking in the
bi ,hopas inthefamou , Capab l•nca g•m e,andtrad ingth e bi , ho ptodeprive the
king of it,d efe nd e r,uFi, c herlikedtodo
23 ... fxg624.e5 Rc825.Bb1IKf/'26.e6+ Kg727.Qd3fs28.gxfsQffi29.fxg6Q,cb230.fs
Qf6 31.<7 GI 32.QgJ CJ 33.Re6 Qd4+ 34.Q& Q><ds 35.ffi+ Kh8 36.gJ+ Kg8 37.f/'+
ll'."lf738.Qf6#1-o

(46) Gyimesi - Ac5

Budape>t1996
Giuoc0Piano(C53]

White. o n the otherha nd . c• n lockin t heb i, hop

Afte r17 ... Bb8Wh ite,till hutobreak t h rough

18.Nxq Qxq 19.e5 dxe5 20.d6 Qd7 21.N xe) was more effi c ie nt
18 .. .gxffi 19.Nxq Qxq 20.Qg Qd8 21.Nh4 b6 22.f4 KgJ

Now White has a >t• b le. long-term • dv•ntage with m ore >p•ce o n th e queen,ide
9.Nxe5dxe51o.Ngh611 .Q,,2o-o12.8"3Bxe3
Bl ack ,houldm a neuserhi,knighttod6and • llowWh itetotakeonb6

White has the h•lf-o pen c-~le aiming at th e C] ·p•wn. Black hu no compe nsat ion
forth•!• ndn ocounte rplay•t • II
23.Nxg6
17.b3Qd618.Na4Nd719.Rc2Rfc820.Rfc,
 71...R• 372.R•7-.-KIB 73.Kf6Ke874 .Re7.;. Kd&7\ .•7Kc&i,•draw

2&.Qa3fi,.t wouldn ot • llowthefo llowingcounterp l•y. 72 ... Kf!73 .Rb7R • 374.a7,with •brnl uteco ntro l ofthe,eventhrank,w;n,eu ily.

(47)Rombaldoni - GarciaPal<,rmo
White h a, •llowed w•y too much p l•y, • nd now th e g•me i, not a t • II ea,y to win
There,tof t he gamei,notre• llyim portantforourtheme, butifyouareinte re,ted
Giuoc0Piano(C53]
inrook e nd ing,,you can,kiptothefinal diagromand , ee•ni n ,t ructivemi,t• ke by

35.Qc4Rb236.Qxe2Rxe217.Rb1Kf]3&.Rb7Ke839.Nb&Nxb&40.Rxb&+Ke741 .R
b7+Kf!42.d6Rd243.Rb60 544.Rc6 a445.a3Ke&46.RxC'jRd447.Rqg648 .Re7+
KfS 49.Ra7 Ke& 50.d7+ Kd&51 .Ra6g5 52.fj gxh4 53 .gxh4 ~ 54.exfs Rxh4 55.Reli
Kxd756.Rxe5RC-457.Re4Rc558.ffi R~59.Rxa4Rxffi6o.Ro7+Ke&61.a4h462.Rh7
Rf463.a5Ra464.Ro7Ro2+65 .Kh1Ra1+66.Kh2Ra2+67.Kh3Rf.i.68. Ra8+Kf]69.a6
Rxfj+7o .Kxh4KB771.Kg5
 light-,qua reb i,hopi,now"bad ",with it,own pa wn o nd \)
12 ...a6!13.b4N h5 14.N~ ??
Abadmi,take . Wh ite',po, itio ni,,til l perfect ly fi nea fter14. Be3.1t i,importan t to
be palie nt in thi ,varialion
14 ... Bxf515.Q,c h5Qf6l,6 .Qfjlkl4 (D)
White',po,;tio ni, colla ps ing
17.Bb2 Ne5 1&.Q e2 Bxh3 19.gxh] NxG4 20.QxG4 Qxf.i. + 21 .Kh1 QfJ+ 22.Kh2 B<e5~
23.Kg,QgJ+ 24.KfiQxh3+ 25.Ke2Qg2+ 0 -1

Probably the be , t ruction. Black reroute, the knight to g6 and i, ready to wait pa
tientlyfo,White',pl a n
9 .Ngo -o,o. h3Ng611 . Re1RJ!

12.Nd4?!
The kn;ght doe, doe, not need to go here. It i, better p laced where it wa,, o n f3
White , h ould even tually t ry tot,ade bi,hop, wit h Be3, andthenlook to a ttacko n
the c-fi lelikeinthe p revio u,ga m e. The kn ightin ju,t inth e way o nd4.At tli e mo
ment, t he be5t id ea fo r White i, to trade the other bi,h op, with Bb5 (\Vh ite',
C ha p t~,9
 a im, fo r a po,it iono l game with a kin g, id e pawn m ajo rity a nd a ha lf-ope n c-fil e fo r

\ ...dxqi , notgoodhe rebeca u,e of6 .Bx!)+a nd7 .Qd5+,

6.o:d4Bb4+ isthe m oin line ofthe G iuoc0P iano

6 ... Ne47.Bd5Nxfa8 .Kxfadxq+ 9.Kf1 i, a high lydu bio u, pi ece ,acrifice

7 .1J.e2I ?

In th e p,ev io u , two c h• pters , we an• lyzed po,ition, u i,in g from 5.0--0 d6 6 .q

wliic h a re very ,h arp • ndundea,. Tha t t ype ofp layi, not everyo ne', cupof te a. ln
t h e,e lines,Whiteoften ,auilicesap•wnor eve n twopawn, ,a nd hu tofo llowu p
precisely a nd aggren ive ly. Yo uh ave to kno w theo rywell. 1 ne ver recom m e nd , hy-
ingaway fro mline, like t hat - •fter al l, you,oppon e nth a, to kno wittoo, a nd, be
,ides , a n aly,i ngandp layingconue te po, ition, wil l m akeyo ua be tterdie»p layer
H owever, , tylei,•l ,o,o meth ing l n eve rug ueabout, •nd l ca n, ee ades iretoplay
a le»forcing lin e.Al,o,m• yb eyo uwill lindapo, ition inthevonderLua variatio n The starting poin tof theJobavovuiatio n. ln steadof7 .Bb\ (whic h hu been p layed
you wi ll n ot like - the path,a reofte nn a rro w t here .Fin• l\y, iti,goodtobeunpre about te n ti m e, m ore ofte n), Wh ite , imply retre at> to a reasonable squa re, antic i
d ictablefo r yo u,op ponent. Therefo re, I wo u ld like to recom m e nd a nother lin e of pati ng .. . BS4, a nd com p le tesh i,developme nt. Bl• cknowhu twore,ponse, . The
p lay ag• in,t 4 .. . Bc\ (whic h, a, I mentio ned, i, le» co m mon t h•n 4 ... Nf6, but fast i, 7 .. . N e4 (th e most com mon move), which we di,cu» in th e illu ,t rative
p layed, • ndrecom me nd ed , often eno ugh) gam e, sectio n(ga m e, 49 -56),a nd th eseco nd i,
ln t h i, ch apterwe ,tud ywh•tlcalltheJ obavava riatio n . Alt h o ughit wuplaye da ,
lo n ga goa,the 19th centu ry (by Ch arou , ek), I believe it wu grandm aster Baadu r Thi , ha, been p layed mu ch le » ofte n but req u ire, ,o me prec ise kn owledge. We
Jobava wh o m ade thelin e muc hm ore popular, in t hi,decad e. Jobava i,o ne ofthe a n• \yze ith ere,inthe theo ry part, and willol,o illu,trate it in game 4 S
m o,t o riginal p l•~rs of ou, tim e (• n d , re a lly, of al l time) , •nd many of hi, opening
id ea, a re q uite unorthodox, b ut thi, o n e i, aclu• lly rath er , t roightforward. White N ot 8 .Bxd3 Qe7 9 .0--0 Nxe \ • nd Wh ite lo , e, a ce ntral p •wn with in , u fficient
 14.. . Ra eS 15.QdJ Bxe3 16.fxeJ, alth ough Bl•ck definitely hu c hance. to equo lize
Thi, po,itio n , ligh!lyres em b les• line in the Mu l • ngeattackthat we looked at
ea rlier.Block',king i, trying to lo nd,afelyonth eking,ide . Whitewould like tod e Alternatively, 10 .. .Q eS wa , p layed in Bee rd.e n- L. va n Fo ree" (Bundesliga 2017),
velop,ome attackagain" it, forot h erwi,e Bl• ck', two bi,hop, and be tter cente r wliena fter 11 .QxeS-.- K:<e312.fxg7 Rg3, White hu t he better pawn ,tru ct ure forthe
canti p the,ca le.i nhi,favor. ending.•ndB lack i, unlikelytokeep h i, bi,hoppai ra fter 13.Bf6oreven13.o-0
10.Bg5 n .Bh6~ Kg8 12.0 -0 BIX 13.q.,3
I prefer thi, move immediately to 10.b4 Bd6 11.b5 Na) 12.Bg5, wh ich will be .ee n in
gam e 43 . I don't like weake ning t h e q uee n, id e pown, (eve n to kick the knigh t awoy
to • sl
10 ... gxffi
Al,op0Hible i,10 ... Qd 611.o-0 BS4 12.Nbd2 h 613 .fxg7 + Kxg714 .Be3,andWhite
will capture o n e3 with the pawn a nd a im the rook toward f7

White i, a pown down, b ut Bloch ,hattered kinp ide and undeveloped king rook
olfe r mo rethan e noughcompenution.Afterthebi, hoptrod e, Bloch remoining
bishop i,th• um•cclc,u hos centra l pawn en dS1ndth•••for•c1n p,ct•n! ially
become "bad." % ite can somet,mes pyt I kn,1ht effectiv•ly on d~. I p,efu White
in th,. v1ri•1>on. but ,t reqY<rU 1.. tms in pracfa•
(¢ ) Jobava - Timman
H ogeveen 20 14
G iuoc0Piano (C54j

Chan ce, are eq u• I h ere. With t h e white p•wn bac k o n b2 . he could c loim two pawn
i,land,a goin,tthree -- b ut no t here

An atte m ptto keep mo re p; ece>o nthe bo ord . lm tead .

23.Rxe7 Kxe7 24 .Ne 2, lookin gto la nd o n t hen icef4 -,qu a re, i,eq u• I

10.b4
Asd iscu»ed in t he theo retiai l sec t io n.I p refe r 10.Bg5 immed iate ly. However.the

10 ... Bd6'1.h'5No5u.Bg5Qdtl?
12.. .gxf6 13.Bh6+ Kgg 14.o-0Bfl! 1\ .Bxfl! Kxfl! wasp l• yed inKun -Fusthy, H un ga rian
Te a m 2015.Aga in.W hite',queen,idepawnsboth e rm e • littlehe re, ve rsu , t h eline

23 ... c524 .bxc6bxc625.R ob1 Kq26.Nc2Bfs27.Rb2Bd3

With 27 ... Bxc2 2a.Rxc2Rba, Blackco ntro l,bot h ope n ~les .witha n advan toge
,g.N b411<,229. Re1 Roe830.Kg2Kd631 .Nc:2Bd332.N e3Nb7l3.Rb4Nc514 .Rf4 Kq

Ba.du, Job•v• i, on ly pl•ying for a win. 37 .Kf1 BdJ+ (37 ... Nxql l JS.Re l) 38 .Kg2
The more pat ient41 ... Kb7give. Bl• ckabe tter c hanceto e xp lo it hi, obvi ou,adva n
b6-bi,hop m •y h•ve no bette r fu t u re t h• n le•ving th e boa,d for a knigh~ le•ving
White wit h the two b i,hop> . Al, o, White hn th e c-li le a nd ca n deve lop ,omething
re, e mbling •minority • tta ckonthequ een,ide
1o ... Be611 .N"4 f612.Be3I
The lif,t in,tructive po int:White i,n ot inah urry tot•ke o n f6

42.N4 Ng 43.fJ • S 44.Nxa 5 Rb6 45 .fxe.i locb.j 46.e5 d3 47.Rci d2 ¢ .Rxg+ Kb6 12 ... fxe 1 13.Nxe )Nxe5 14.Nxb6 (th a t',w!iywewe ntto a4 wit h !h ekn igh t}1 4 ...axb6
49.Rd3RbH50.Kg:2d,Q51 .Rxd1Rxd152.N4 + Kc<JS}·Ne3Rd2+54.Kh3Re2 '/,-'/, l) .dxe5 i,clearly bette,forWhite:twobi, h o ps andfou,•g• in<ttwoon!h eking
,ide . We, ee t hi,,tr uct ure in the next game
(49) N• iditsc h - Timm a n
Ma gdeb urg20 14
G iuoc0Piano(C54j
Thi,gamebetweentwo,uo ngg,andmute,.i>•goodi llu,tratio n ofWhite ', idea,
inth e m•in lin e ofth eJ ob•vava,i•t ion .whe,e Blac kce ntf•lize,h i, knight

S.. . Bb4- will be cove,ed ingam e 55

9 .0 -00-0 , 0.Ng

Blackhnw• <tedalittletim e, bot h with th e q u ee n and w it h th e bi,h o p, a nd,a, a

re,u lt, Whitean,t.ut a ggre., ive actio n on t hequ een ,ide

Iii, under,ta nd oble t h• t Bl• ck doe,n ot wan t to wait with 15... RadS16.N xb6 o b6.
bu t itwubetternotto o penthepo ,itio n forWhite", bi,h op p a i,.
16.Qb3I Qe7 17.Ncs Bxcs 18.dxc<J Nc6 19.Qxds+ Kh& 20.Rfei Rad&

Whiteha,a<trongpawnone5,bu t Black wil l be•b leto exch•nge it. Th i, wi llleave

h im with • , lightly we•ken ed king po,itio n but •n ope n H ie . White', p•wn on d4
will not be too mu c h of a n i"ue because t here i, • p•w n in front of it. The
 contest. Now. fo,all practi cal purpose,. it i, ove r.
29 .Bxd4I Rxd4 30.Rcd1 IO«b 31 .Qx,e5 Rxdh 32.Bxd1 Rxdh 33.Kh2 Bc6 34.Qxq h6
35.Qbfl+ Kh 7 36.Qxo7 Rd4 37 .Q a3 g5 ]8.f] Rf4 39.Q<e3 Kg6 40.Qe6~ K117 41.Kg, Ra4
42 .Qb3 h5 43.gJ h4 44.Qg+ Kg6 45.Qd3+ Kf6 46.Qd&~ K~ 47.QfX+ Kg6 48.f4 gxf4
49.gxf4 R<4 50.Qg8~1 -o

(so)Jobava - Ma lakhov

Giuoc0Piano(C >4j

9.Ngo -o , o.o-0B~11 .Na4f6u.a3

Anoth er way to m ark tim e in,tead of taking im med iately o n f6
21 .Qb3
Abetter, qua refo,thequeen wa.4.beca u,eWhite i,not goingtot.. keonb7an y
way.and B1ack",q ueenthenainnotgotof6

White hasthetwob i, hop,andapaw nmajo rity o nt he king, id e.but Black",pi ece,

areactive. a ndth epo, ition i,,harp

White ca n p lay m ore cau tio u,lywith 17.Qb3 Kh8 18.Rad 1 da 19.f4.a nd g4 will re

Afte r condu ct ing a good defem e. the fo, m erwo rld #3 co mmit, a blund er. After
17... Bg6 , 8.f4~
2& .. .c6. Blac k i, , till wor, e (Wh ite has the two bi,hop,) but it i, very much a

Ca relen.19.Bf3 wu correct, c ho lle n gin gth e Bl•ck bi, h op andcon ,olida ti ng t he
kin p ide majority. Now • fte r 19 ... Bd'} 20.Qxl) <14 21. R.<1 1 R•\ 22.Qg}, Wliite hu
t h ead santage, with o c learplantopu,h th rough h i,pawn,
l•kingos er th e ini ti•tis e. Wlienyou hose p u , h edpawn , infrontof yo ur king, yo u
needtoh•se ,o m epiece,beh indthem
20.R&Qh321.11<1,
23.B!j
23.Rd2 Nd3 cut, off oll co mmun ication to t he king , 23.Rc1 QxbJ 24 .Bxb3 Nh 3+
2,;. Kf1 Nxf226.Kxfac6 i,a w in n ingend in g,apawn up,and , ofcour,e, 23.Rxf4Qg2
23 ... N<e2+l24.Rxe2B"'325.R&Q,c&4+26 .KfiR!ll27.Re1Qh3+2&.Kg1 Rf40-1
Agre atattacka n<l• nill u,trat io n ofth epriceofon e carelen m ose
(S•)Vovli - 1\ntoli Royo

Giuoc0Piano (C>4j
Qd7,tillw;thads antage t0B l•ck

9.Ngo-0 10.0-0
An e le g• ntco m b in•t;o n basedo n the powerofthe kn ight • n<I b;,hop workingto
geth e r.
 c1nnot def•nd th b6 p.ownand the d7squa refrom thefork

1s... c6wasa>ffect. Th•rook M longsona!,n1nt,c,pot,Of'loft he oponin1ofthea·

file Hero.thech.once,ue.oboutequ1I
16. Re1BxfJ 17.BxfJ Qg6
17. B.ul4188x<l4Qxd419.R,h,s1oodfo,Wh,1e
1l.kzl(hl19.ljN d6 20.Bf> c6 21 .Bd 3Qss22. Ndt6ub6

1o•.• Be611 .N 14f611.e><f6

W• ..,wth1t12Be3looep,the tensiononfornow.butthe 1oxt,snot omi >t.o ko

Blick should probably def..nd the ds-pown with the rook now. He ,n.te.od choose.:

z3. Ru
Wh,to has the twobi,h op, ondc.o n t1k•the p1wnon b6o l,o,bu tG MVovk fi ndso
nice planh ero with .otro n,for cf .odso nto gu
Z) ..,Ng6 :t.4 .Bq6l
lt01saodth1t oneof th•.odn M.ogesof the b,shopp1,.i, th.o titc.o nbeeuy toa·
ch1n1eoneof them for okn,ght. Whote nowoccupttslh••-Me

15. Rae1 26 Rxf327.b3JN.052 8. Qxb6Mnsfo,Wh,to,butthetoxt01notmuch bettor.

The c-file IS always a 100d ,liin g. but l\.Rfe1I +, them11,c here, !,Ying to pl.oy Ne5 z7.dxcsbJ<cs28.Bx<:5 Rfe829.Qxb7 Nd230.Raa~ ,..,

ond ro lu s• the p,n. Now- if 1\ ... c6l 16.N,b6axb617. Ne\Bxe21 8.Rxu. the nBlock
(SZ)K islins ky -Alm asi
Le gn ica 20 13
G iuocoPiano(C 54j

A lo gic• I move . Block im med iately p ut> t h e b;,h op on g4 . It d oe, •llo w White to
unwind t heking, id e bu t iti,undea r w!i obenefit>fromthot
13... B,dj!I
13 ...Qd6 14 .Ne5 Bxe 2 15.Rxe 2 Ra e8 lo o ks a pproxi m atelye qual: Black", bishop i,a
bi t out ofpl• y, b ut ,lfa teg ic•lly, White', pa wn o n d4 can c• u>e problem, in t he
lo n g run w it h Wh ite", dark-square b ishop. White'> kin g, ide pa wn advantage i,
worth , o methi ng a nd Black', k;n g pos itio n i, potent ial ly we a k. In t he ga me, Black
give, u p t he b;,h op p oir im med iotely - • qu est ion obledeci,ion

11. ..f6 i,more prec i>e,beca u , e after t he te xt, Wh ite d o e, no t n eed to (andprobab ly
,h o uld not )t•ke t he pawn
12.exffiN><ffi13.Re1
l p refe r 13.No4N e7 (t3 .. . Bh5ll) 14 .Nxb6 u b6 15.h 3Bh5 16.S4l ,,tartingto pu, h th e
p•wn,, with • b igb• ttle ah e• d
An in,tructi se ina ccu racy:Wh itefa il, to~ndgainfu l em p loyme nt forth e twobi, h 9.o-0B114 1o. Be) o-on .Ngffi12.exf6Rxffi
o p, . 15.Bg5 c6 16 .Bg,i pu t, the m on d ia gon al, away from t he cent ra l pawn>, wh ere
th ey are not b;tingo n gra n ite
15... Nfs16.1J.e5c617.Rc1?
A seriou, mi>take, no t paying a tte ntio n t0B lac hth reat>. 17.g3Nd7 18 .Na4Nxe5

All th e b lac kp ieces are ta rg el ingthe white king

20.Rg
Thi , lo , e, immed iately, bu t 20.Nxb6 Nxf3+ 21. gxf3 ub6 22.Rq Q h4 i> sery dreary

We,a w 1l .. .Nxf6 in the lu t ga m e

13... Qd614.Rc1 Raf&15.Nc5Bxc516.dxc5Qd717.Nd4Bh3?I

Afte r 17 ... Bxe 2 18 .Nxe 2 t h e positi o ni ,abou t equa l. Black in>teadgoesfo, adubi

18.Nxc6bxc619 .lkl3Rg620 .Bx~Bxg2?

Black n eed, todefend inth e en d ingafter 2o ...dxe42 1.Qxd7Bxd7
21 .Bxg6Bfj
2o ... Ba521 .B114Bxg
21...d4 i,moredeci, ioe
22.NxgQb623.Q<e2 Rae824. e6 Nfs25.Nd1 Rffi26.N eJ Nd427.Qd2 Nxe6 28 .Nfs

(S3) Vovk - Ma nca

G iuoc0Piano (C 54j
 GM Gal.I Kam1ky immediately d.,,e lop1 h., b"hop, delaying castling

Whote should no?tal<e tl,is pawn ,fBl1ckh11 notcHtled. Couect ,, 11.Nc30-o

12Ne1w,thaprotectedpanedpawn1ndchancuforanadvantage
n._Q,,(612.Ngo--o--ol

22.Bh5I
Thcblad,:q....,enw;n benomatch for therookandtwob"hop1
22._B,..!12]..Rf>:d1Qh32.4-Be:zltf625-Kh1~26.Rd4 Rg627.b4lk62I.BS4 1-o

(S4) J0Nwa - Kamsky

T1~,n1 full adwantage of\lVhit•"• inaccu,acy. Ofcou,10, CHtling queen,ide" log·

oc1lhere:Bl1dhasgoodattadin1chancuDf1thekin1udeand thebid,oponb6
now10..,.1a1oodpu rpon.coverin1the1',n1 lf \lVh,tehadke pt hi, pawnonej.i!
would have been horderfo,B11 ck tod.,,elop1nyth,ngonthe king1ideaf?ucutlin1
GUeen1ide.andtheknig htc ne~couldh1vebecomevulner1ble insome vuia1ion 1
1fterfa-f3-Hene,how<ever, Blackhuafreegame

The rett of the game between thc,e two great play<,f1 "exceptionally intere,~ng.
1nd1wilolech1pter(ormore)ofabookcouldbed1NOtedtoit.lcannotreallydo,1
JU1toceherebu1w;llpointoutthehymoment1ofthebattle

lj. Rhe!lo,ep,thetension
16.B>n)Rhe8 17.b~INd61l.a5~19.Qc11
Bette,,,19.B,d5N f5 (t9 ... Nxb~ro.Bf3) 20.Bxc6Q,c6
19... N4!
Block,houldta ke t h epaw nw ith19 ... Nxd420.Bxd4Q«!421 .a6Nq
20.Bg5Qxd421.Bxd8Rxd822.a6Nxb423.axb7Kxh724.Rb1c5

N owBlack h o,oclu r adva nta ge.Th eque en canno t do vef)' muc holon e
33.Bg6Rd814.Qxh6Ne5
34 ...d4 immed iate lywa>better.
Apictu re.q uepo , it io n . Blackha>th ree pa wn ,a ndth ree pi ece.in frontof h i,king
andth eyare ol l reody tomorc h fofWard 37 ...dJ 38.h 5d 2 39 .Bg4 Rd440 .Bdt c 4wo uld m a ke it harder for Wh ite, bu t t h i, wa>
25.Rd,Qe526.Re1QHi27.Rb3
27.Qd 1 i, m o re humoniou>
27 ... Kb6l 28.lkh?! Rd629.lk2 h 630.Re8Re6I Wh ite i,ab le tog ive u p t he b i,hopfo,one of t he pawn,,a nd h i, own pa»edpawn
Elimina t ingWh ite",octive rnok o nh 6gioe, h imenough re,ou rce,todraw

31 .RfJ Rx.e8 32.Rxf6~ gxHi 40 ...d1Q ~ 41 .Bxd1 RxdH 42.Kh, Rd7 41·84 NdJ 44.g5 Nde545.Qf4
Afte r45.Qf5q46 .h7Rd247. h8Qc248 .Q hf6Ko \
 Afa nta ,tic ga m eby t he ~ve-timeU .S.cham pio n

(55))obo.vo - Kujakin
Ru.,ia (teamch ) 2013
Giuoc0Piano (C,4j

White hu two queen, aga;n ,t non el But he wi ll have to give u p one of t hem fo,
o nly a pa wn I A dra w i, likely here. In t h e ga me, it ,ee m , t hat White i, p layin g for •

A pla ya b le, b ut le.,popu larmove than S... Bb6. Black i, a ble to g et t h e twobi,h
op, , but it m ea n,uad ingth e kn ighton e4fo, White', dark-,quare bi,h op(leavin g
White wit h t he b;,hop th a t i, n ot impeded by it, o wn pawn,)
9.lkbN1«b10.Nbxd20-011.o -offi12.Re1
12 .a3Ba 1 13.Bb5N e714.Qc2Bf5 15.Bd3Bxd3 16 .Q xd3Ng6 17.g3c5 1S.b4cxb4 19.N
bJ b,ca3 20.N xa\ Qxa 5 wa, equa l in a noth er high -level g a m e, Va llejo Pon,
Pon o m ariov, Spa in (teamch) 201 1;be,tmightl,.,12.Bb5 (wit h outfurth e rado)
12 ... Kh&?l (D)
Prophylaxi,o nthewro n g, ideof t h eboard lCorrect wu 12 ... 06 l a nd if1 3.Nb3,1 3
ReSl wit hgoodcha nce,

13.Nb3IB114
Bu t n owif 13... ReS, 14 .a3BIB1 5.Bb5 l - t h at', t h e ideaof 12...a6 I
 16 ...Qd7 and if17.N c5 (17.h3 Bxh31 8.gxl,3Qxh3 wit h a n atta ck) 17.. . Bxc5 18.Rxq

White'stworoohareenct lywh erethey shouldbe

The e-pawnha, advanced,•nd White i,W<nning

2.2.Ng5N e723 .Bxg6hxg624.N ~
S•crificing that e6 -pawn fo r th e fi le . Thi, wu not the only w•y to win, but it i, in
kee pingw ith Jobav•'• creative,tyle

An excelle nt game by Baadu r )obava. On e inaccu,acy by Karja kin wa , e nough to

give him prnb le m,, • nd then one m o re mi, take wa, enough to lose quic kly.

(56) Jobava - Zeng

Chi n• ·c h(te a m) w13
Giuoc0Pian o (C54j
AnothercreativegamebyJ obavai,agood w•y to do,ethi,chapter.
Iii, not o bviou,atlirst,but in spiteoftheopen ingoftheposition,thetwoblack
bi,hop,cannoto,ga ni,eanything . lnfa ct, u,ingtheh• lf-,o pen c-fi le,Whitewi ll ex
c h•n geoneofthemwit hN c5

The future wo rld champ ion,hip c hallenger m•h, a mistake here. Better wa,
 equa l forBlac kin HouY,fa n-Zh aoJun ,Chi na(c h) 20 13

Anin tue,ti ng ,but like ly q ue>ti onab le, piece ucrifice

9 .Nxd4Nrlz1o.Kx&Qh4+ 11.g3Bxd4+ 12.8"3
Thi,d oe, not look like the be>treaction . 12 .Ke1II Q e41j. Rf1 0-0 14.Nd2Qg615.N
Theking,emains under lire, in fa ct, ese n more ,o, wit h q uee n,olf.Alternatisely,
on15 .Qxd5 Rb8,Bladal,o huactise ploy fort hematerial de1icit
15.Q"4+ c6 16.Qh4 Qg6 17.Rf1 Qfs+ 1&.Qf4 Qh3 , 9.Nd2 Hi 20.K& Qxh2+ 21.Ke,

Thi,loohbetterthanthegamecontinuation. Thekingi ,re lati sely safe.Thi,nee d,

tobete,tedinpractice
12 .. . Bxe3+13.Kx<3Qh6+ 14.KfJ
Thekingwentou tfor a walk Oelinite ly t he wrong way. White i, t he one attacking now. Coffee! was 21 ...0-0
Withthreep1wn,fc r thepie<:e,B l1ckisst,ll,n!heg1me

Thekong1llow,there,tofthe1rmytogofcrw1 rd . Themon1rchc1nde~nd it,e lf.

The~ni,hingcomb,n1toon . Bl1ck ,sre1re111ngth1t,iu,een,idecntlin1 d«:i , ion

29 ...cx"5 3o .llachBc63>.Bg• • Rd7 1z.Qd6
The re.,i,eu y
32... Qd& lJ. ll>«:6~ b>«:6 H ,Q>«:6~ Kb& Js.Bxd7 Q• s• 36.KdJ a6 37.Qd6. Qq
38.ll><ffiRg8 39.g4 h5 . o .g,hs RU•41,ICd4Qxd642.Rx<l6 1Cq43. Rg61 -o
Other Movnfor Blade ofter 1,41.f e5 '1,Nh

Y<>u u• now "'•dy to play the pos,t,on after I 04 •5 1.Nf3 Nc6 fu, Whit•. Other sec
on<lm.,..... fu,Blackocc,.,,muchlestf"'quentlyth1n1 ... Nc6,butyoustillhav,eto
l,op,.,pu•dfurtkem.ltm1i<e11entetoll1ve1hne ,nm,nd•g1,n.,,h•P•troffDe
fon ..,whichot1perfectly1°"ndopen,ng ltotouu,deofthescopoofthosbookto
1n1lyz• n<le•ply,1ndwewollnothave°"r"1u1lthoroughlh=••ocaldiscussion
ho,.._Still,lw1nttog"'eyou1modeml,netopl1y,furtherareoccasoonwnonyou
hv• to fa« 1 .. Nf6 We w.lt 1110 br,e~ dotcuu the Philidor Oof•n••
(57) Anand - Kas imd,hono~

Petrolf De~n••IC-42]
,.~ e5 2. NfJ Nf6 J.N~ d6 4.NfJ Nu4 s.NgH (D)
Thi, linebeomcwr-,popular,nthe2Utcentur-,. Whnewill o , tl.queen, ide • nd

Youc.anorguethatthedoubledpow,i1onthe queenS1dehelpWhite. Fou,pown•

defend the culled lon1 pos,t,on, while at the um• tome Blad doe, not hne •
pownma.ior,tyontheothe,w,n1.
9 ... Ne510.1Cb1c6
Wh,to,.notwomed1bout10 .. N,d)n. r l).op<nongthe 1 -lilefor the attock

Wh,tedoetnct,,..enm,ndtrod,ngthe dork-,qu, ,obi,hopbeca u,etheothe,b,sh

o p i1mo, eutefulfo,1heattock . St, ll,Blocks hou ld p,cb,bty to keit
s ... Nxg6.dxqBe7 7.Be3Nc6 &.Qd10-09 .o -o -o
12 ... ds13 .Bf48d614 .h3!!
 17... f6
The best t ry i, 17 ...Qf6 18.Qh4 Qh6 19.Qxfo Qxg) 20 .Bd3 •ga in with a king,ide a t
tac k looming (a nd with out t he h-p• wn it i,even hord e rtodefe nd) . ln,tead, 17
Nxd \ \8 .Bg6 1 (two p;eces are ob«N ingth e h 7 ,qu•re) Qxg \ 19 .Qxg5i , easy fo,

18.Nfy+I Rxf/' 19.Bg6 Nxd1?

Thi, lo se , immediote ly. O n 19 ...f\ 20.Qx& RfS 21.Rd4 Kg8 22 .Qg3I control, oll the
,quares, p,a ctica lly forcing Black to give up a pawn wit h 22 ... f4 23 .Rxf4 Rxf4
24 .Qd4Qf6
20.Qh4+ Kg8

The wo rld champ io n fi nd, a dee p co mb;n ation , wit h m o ny bri lliant m oves . lnciden
tally, this was go me w ith a ,apid time co ntrol!

Block probably uw some of what wa, com ing but wanted h i, oppon e nt to demon
, t roteit, ratherth on•llowinga nattack withno cou nterpl•y • fter L4.. . Nf615.84

l \ ... Kxh716.hxg4 + Bh617 .g \, ofcourse,lo,esimmed i•tely.

Whitei,downarookandaknight•ndi,abouttoplay aquiet m ove

The o nfymove .Theq u eenneed,tostayon h4 forno w. Checkingonh7fa,twould

care le u fythrow • w• y t hewin, •, we,h • llsee
21 ... Nxg + 22.bxg~23.Rxe6 Qb6+ 24.Kc1 Qg1+25.Re1l 1-<>
Thi,i,whyWh;tecou ldnotcheckonh7firstlAnext,ao,dinarygame

(S8)Korjo kin - Frolya nov

Mo,cow20 13
Pet ro1fDefe nse [C42J
1. e.j •S 2. NfJ Nffi 3.Nxe5 d6 4.NfJ Nxe4 5.Ng Nxg 6.dxg 11<,7 7.8"3 o-o 8.Qd2
Nd79.o·O·ON e510.Kb1c6

Anin te restingstrategy: Black hasproblem,W<thhi,e -pawn

n.Nxe5I?
A ,urp,i,ingcont; nuation . and th e second time Kuj•k in p l•yed it . White allow,
Bl• ck a king, ide pawn m•j o rity. re ckoning th a t the pawn on e \ will just be a weak
ne« in themidd le game
n ... dxe512.Bd3Qa513.Qe2Be614.C4Rad8
14 ... Bc\ 15.Bd2Qb6 16.Bq is •lsobetterfo r White. Later.peoplebeganplaying1~
Rae 8 in order to defend the <\ ·pawn (15.Bd2 Bb4I b eco mes po«ible) . He re too,
White",po, ition looh,lightlybetter.
16... Bd617-114
Se t, u p thi , pawnua targe t in thenear term. 17.Rh e1 maybe bet ter.
Agoodtryforcou nterp lay.
18 .ob)ob) t9.Bxb5Rb820 .Ka 1 Bxs.42 1.Q xg.,iRxb5i,a littlebette rfo r White.bu t
not co m p letely clear.
21.. .f5lwa ,the right way to continue . Instead, Bl ackdelay, ab it, giving White t he
 24 ... Rxfi 25.Rxfi Khll26.Qe.j Bgll27.Bg5g328 .h 6g229.Qxg2 Bxe530.Bxd8Qxd8
31 .Qe.iBHi32.h><s7~ Bx11733-Rh1 h634.Rxh6+! Bxh635.Q<,5+1-o

(59)Cuuana - Ponomanov
Oortmund20 14
Pet ro1fDefen >e [C42J

H itt; n gth etargetone\

2.2 • •• fs
O ne move too late . 22 ...exf4 i> unpl• yab le bec• useof23.Qe4g624.hxg6. 22 .. .c5
23.fxe\ i> t he o n lychan ce,butBl • ck i, apawn down

Thi, i> a much ,afe r w• y fo, Bl• dto pl•y. He intend, tocntle q ueen,ide. Thi,
doescon cedeWh ite• bitofa,paceadvantage,orpo» ib lyth e twobi, h op, .Thi,
vari•lion lead,topo,ition, wh e re Wh ite i, , lightly better,butit i,diflicu lttobreak
through . Fabia no Can.,an •. h owever,• fewwee h before hi , h istor ic Sinq u efi eld
Cupperform ance,, ho w,tha t h e ca n d e livero ,udd e nchedmote even in an • ppar
ently , lo w position•l ga me
10.Kb18Hi'1.h3l? h6
11...0-0-0 can lead to po,it ion> whe re White will h•v,e th e t wo bishop>: 12.Nd4
Bxd4 13.Bxd4(13.cxd4d5n in Kam,ky-Wang Yue, l,ta n bul(o l) 2012, i, al ,o,light
ly betterfo, White) 13 ...f6 (Blackco nnotta ke th e >eco ndtim e bec•useofthe d ou
Aga in. wit h ju>t one defend ing pawn re moved, Bl• ck'> king po,itio n collapse>
bleatta ckby t hequee n) 14 .Be3 (D)
qu ickly.
Thi , h a p pened in Fi, hbe in-Chow, Ch icago 20 17. Wh ite ha, a clea r advanta ge, but
Blackha,no wea kne S>esand Wh it eca n on ly m a ke prngreS>very gradually. lmu , t
n y thatm yund ying love fo r t hetwobi,ho p,got t h ebetter of m eh e re,a, l ove re,
ti m ated m y p o, ition , p layed too im patie nt ly, a nd t he game wa, drawn . Next ti m e, I
mi ghttry 1J.g.,ieveni n response to ll ...o-0-0, whic hwou ld likely tran,po, e toth e
12.b3a613.g40-o-<>14.Bg2g5?!
The pawn n y,it can bej usta,bravea, it,co u nter part , but we' ll , eea bout t hat
O n 14...Kbg, c a rua na , uggest, 15.Ng1II, re pos it io n ing t he kn ightpote nt ially to f4
andope ning u p, paceforth e b i,hopa nd t hef-pawn. Bo t h,idesh ave b i, h o p, o n
adjace ntd iagon a l, a im in gatth e ene m y kin g, bu tthewhiteking i,cove re dmuch
be tte r by its pa wn,
The po, i!io n look, alm o , t completely ,ym m e trica l, bu t an e >:t ra m ove in , ymm e t
rica l po ,iti o n, ca n bees pec iallyim porta nt (wesee t h i,th emei nth e n e>:tgamea,
wel l) . Wh itecan loo ,enu p b lack', kin gs ide
20 .h4 looh m o re n atu ra l
20 ... h42,.Be5
Bot h,ideshavewea kneS> esonth e ki ng, id e, b utWh itesti ll hn m o re,pa ce
21 ... Rdg822 .Qf4Qd823.BfiKb824.Bd3Bc825.Kb2Bxe526 .Rx05Rg727.a 4I
Playingon bot h ,id es oft h e bo ard . Bladnow hn tod ecide whe t he rto allo w a4-a\
or,top tha t adva n ce; it wa,probab ly better ju<tto , ittight
27 ... a528.Ka2 Ka729.Qd2 Kb830.Qf4Ka73,.Rhe1Bxh3
Black wo uld rath er not trade t he h -pawn,, b ut t he two rook, o n th e e-~le were
becoming a problem
32.Rh1Bc8
N ot 32... Qd733. Qf6
n,Rxh4Rxh434.Qxh4b6!1 (DJ
Thi, g ivesWhite th esecond wea kneS> h eha,been t ryingto create . Th ea lternative
was34 ...c6, wit h a worse, butdefen, ib le, po , ition.NowB lackrun, intot ro u b le
35.Q h6Rg836.Qc6I
Withth et im e co ntrn l appro• c h ing, it i, ha,dto re• ct tothi,
(6o)We i Yi - Bu
36 ... S.,6?1
Bl• ck need, to re• lize th at he i> los ing a pawn in any eve n~ a nd t rading q ueen> i,
Pet rolfDefe n.e [C42J
th e be>toptio n . lnfact,he ha,ata ct ic• l re.ou rce after36 ...Qd6l 37 .Qxd6 (37.Qxd5
1.0405 2. Nf3NRi3.N xe5d64.NfJ Nx<4 5.Ng
Qxd538.Rxd5f639 .gxf6RIB4o .Bf5Bb7) 37...cxd638 .Rxd5Rd8a ndtli ewhiternok
If you are a con n oi»eu, of m ove-order subt letie. and ope n ing tran,position>, I
is t rapped . forcing J9 .g6f>:g640.Bxg6, after w hic h it will beha rdto win w it hfou,
ca n recom mend \.dJ Nf66.d4d5, wh ic hi , t he excha nge French where Black, ac
again>tth,eeo no ne,id e. Tn erefore,bette r i, 38 .Bh7I Rd839.Re7+Rd740 .Re2Rq
cord ing to t h eory, h •• no t c ho.e n th e opti m a l way aga inst 4 .Nf3 (4 ... Nc6 a nd
4 1. Rfa, a nd t he d6-p •wn will fal l. I think Wh ite i, wi Mi n g h ere, but it i> no t o ve r
4 ... Bd6 are con, ide red bette r th a n 4 ... Nf6) . Now 7.Bd3 Bd6 8.Qe 2+ Qe79 .Q xe7+
Bxe 7 10.Bf4 is a lin e th a t Mag nus Cad, e n has p l• yed twice in th e PRO le• gue,
aga in>tG M , ra ted inth e 26oo s,and wo n both ga mes
Thi ,a llo w, a b,ill iantco m b inatio n, b ut th epos ition i, lo , t in a ny e vent.Afte r37
Bd738 .Qxd5f>:g639 .Be4Qc840.Re7Rd841.Qf7Kb842 .Qxg6, t h e qu ee n,a re,till
o n th e board, a nd withWhite controllingthelo n gdiago na l, Blackwill notbe oble

38.gxf/'Bxfy (D)
H erecom e.th e co m bi n ation.C•nyo u fi nd it?
J9.Re7IIQxe74o.B06Kxa641.Qo8#1-<>
 Noteth1t1fier6 .. dsweruch I po.,t,onfrom !heexch1ngeFren chwithanextr1
move, Nc3, for Wh,te Of «>urse, White u1u1lly d<><e> not pl1y Nq t!iere 10 early,

Hethent~th,.fine1g1,nttC1ru1n1(K1 l1ruhe2017).u>1ngthe-olfmove
order,andth1t ended,n1drow1fier& Be6(1w,od,ngthequeen111de)
Thereput1t1onofthee,cch1ngefre<1d!u1dr1wi•h•yttemi,1 m)'lh.1nd lh1vte
foundthi,tr1n1po11toontobeu1eful.butlwouldnot re«>mmend~toeveryone
5.•. Nf6
Ar, 1nterutong way to u1e the extr1 tempo. White tr1n1fer1 the knight to I more 1c
tive po11t,on on 13 It dou not look like much, but I 1m impre1>ed by the w1y t!ie
Chineu prod,gy (1ctu1lly,forme, p,odiay, now 171) pl1yedthe opening and mid
dlegame. Move by move, he ,mproves hit po,ition unti l he i, winning (and then
lo,u,nt imetrouble-th,.w111ra pidgame)
10 ...d5 11.N13 BIB IZ ,Rel lb:e, ~ 13.Qxe1 cs 14.g cxd4

lfBlackdoe,notw.,hto1eeWh,tec11tlequeen,ode.heuinpl.,thi,,oli<lmove,
1fterwhichWhotec.1nonlyget11m1llo.dvant11e1tbe•t.5...d5 .. not11ood1lter-
n1tiwbec.1u,eof6.Qu
lthinkth is n ext m ovewi ll su , p riseyou 19... N<4 20.Bxe7Qxq21.Nxe4d>«422 .Bx<4 Rd823 .Qf.i.f524.Bfj Nd525.Nd3b6
26 .Re, Qd6 27.K h1 KS7 28.Qe2 Bf/' 29.Qe5 + Q><es 30.dxe5 Ng 3,.Nb.j •S 32.Nc6
Most people would proba b ly take wit h the kn ight he re, whic h a lso gives White a Re8 l].• ]KIX34.Nd4Rd835.Nc6Re8 36.b4 a4
sm • ll•d v•ntage. Bu t takin gw;!l, t h e pawn is be tte r: White i, pl•yin g • g• in,t the
kn ighto n d7 ("o ne piecestan d ,bad ly - th e whole gam e ,ta nd , bad ly" Tura,c h)
15... Nb616 .Ne5g6?I

A lead in d evelopm e nt i, ofte n ea , ie r exploited in po , itions with ,ymme t ric• I p•wn

, t ruct ure,.wh erethe re isn o co unterpl•y. To ,to pa king, id e at tackwit hf,;, Black
• lreadyhu to u crifice ap awn

37. Na7lim m ed ia te lyi , t hecl ea nest wayto win

4 3.Kh2 sho u ld win . At t his point. White mu , t h ave h•d a lmost no time left, •• he
lo,es con t rol ofthe po ,ition
-43... Kg6 44. h41 (41 4s.RIJ Kf5 46.Kg, Kg.( -47.Kh2I Bdsl 48.RC) lkl 49.Ne7? lb:C)
so.N xd5Rd3 51.Nc, Ru3 s2. Nxbsl!eJO·l

[61) Y.,-8.,
Shen:hen2014

Nxc611.Nxd511bet,.. , fo,White:he1et1theb11hopp,,ir.
7.Bg2Bd7

The~ilidorOefenu11 • ruesu«t intourn•ments Black .. suallyju>tset,apo>i

tionw,thsh1fitly lu11pace.lti,p layable, howe"Or
I wi ll b,ie~y ment ion two other m ov,e , for Black, althou1h they are unambigu o usly
bad In the latvoan C amb i!, after 2 ... f5I 3.Nxe5 Qf6 4.d4 d6 5.Nc.i fxe4 Nimzovich
famousfi, p,ocla,med in My Sy,Um that he prefer,ed the block.oding 6.Ne3 to
6.Nc3- no matte, what the re>t of,he world th,nl<s Both moves wcrl<. 2 ... d5l 3.exd5
e44.QUOJloodfo,Whrte

Tioeyoun1Chine,etop- lew,ICMYangy,Yu 11alway11hupinthetrans,uonfrom

theop,en,nstothe middleg•me, and he,e he detect, a1li5ht inacc .. racyin h'1
6 ... d5 7 es Ng.4 I 812 NxeS 9.Qe2 Nbc6 (g ... Nec6 10 Be JI) 10.N...:6
opponeM"1 1el"P and >tans acuon on the k1n111de Po,~ ions with mo,e >pace
u1u1 lly1 1veyou these types ofop~on,
9 ... B~ , o.exfsR~n.Bf4h612.h3Rb8,3 .g4Nd7
Blocki,tl)' ingtowo,karoundthew!iite pawn,o n the king,ide. buthi, pieces u e
too pa» ive ond heho,too little,pacetomoke u,eofany wh ite weakne» es
14.Nd5Bg515.Bg3Nb616.gNxd517 .Bxd5Bffi18 .Qb3I

White",dork-,quoreb i,ho pnow h a,,omethingtouy.

26 ... 8"7
lf2 6 ... Nxd5. t hen27 .Qxd6+ win,th e e xchonge
27.Bxd6
The qu een a nd b;,ho p are tying Black down to t h e defen, e ofthe f7 -pawn. a n d White i, up two pawn, now.
White",other bi,h op i, coveringWhite",dork,quare,on t heking, ide 27 ... Rd8 28 .Bxq+ ~ 7 29.~7+ Kxq 30.Bb3 Rd2 31.Rn Kd6 32 .B"'7 Nd3 33 .Rc8
18 .. .Qd7 19.Rfe1 Kl! 20.Kg2 Nas 21.Qb4 Nc6 22.Qa 4 b5 23 .Rx~+ Qx~ 24.Qc2 b4} Rxf2+34.Kg]Rd235.lk4Kd736.Rg8Ne517 .Rxg7+ Kd638.b3 0539.04 Rc240.Rh7
Am;,c.- lcu lot ion in awocse positi o n: Block i, lookingforat lea ,t,omep loy. 24 Rg+41 .Kh4Nf]+42 .Kh5 Ke543.h4Kf4 1-o
Ne5 25.Re1 Qd7 26 .f4 Nc4 27.b J Nb6 2S.Bf3 i, not ea, y for Black: Wh ite will push
h i, king, ide pawn,,oon
25.oc b.jlNxb.j26.Qxq
 Cami:lndu (ag\fm'IC-Y,mH99rn
NUMBERS REFER TO GAMES
(JJ)lmr102Y1r-l2xamc
(JlJf,-bbco-Zin,k,
/33)wadcrlau Mnct
(3)S•o21-Schndsr (34JPlumt-Sch1odgrff
(flGursnhV Pployod,n (J<}S11hlc-Aodrruco
l<JSmsn;lgn-SimuJ9l"S : =- Irlfhrnton
@Shkl2YJki-Gol2d
(J}PltchtJh-B.s,;lurtn•

(q)Saycl,,rk2 M1l1rnuk
hoJSltU"l9" Pootrt
~ /12\SuboG-Xbast1to
f1>llonu-N1dllcb (:4J)IYir-Mf'iln2YiCS
~ l:11)Aa2l1-H1uudtl
{U)P,nffig-Andsaun
(is)Svs<hr•kPY ltl'9Yt"kg
~
::: :b:;;Y;:rn~oarr11 P1lruo2

(•§lNtktmur, 9,u,shuk f:491 Nudnrb Iirnrnao

~ (1oJl2hlxt-M1l1khmr
~ l<1)YmdJ:Ao126B2JP
(52\k'.idos!rt - Alrnu,
(g\N1k1mu1 Frnunu
~
(Hlli B1fsn1 Durtrbtvli
(>S\St1np191k Rtmt
~ l<l)Antod-k'.wrndzbiogy
(>7JP2ok'tt2v Shiokfvich (l§)k'.iu1km - Emb102x
(i!!\Mmh,ll Ctetbl1nu
(59)Carn101-P9CPOJlltRY
 Bibliography
A Simpl< Op,ning R,p,rt.oiuforWhiu, Sam Co llin, (Gambit 2016)
Playing u4,5 - aCla»jca/ R,p,r1oiu,N ikol oosNti,lis(Qu • lity Ches,2016)
The Op,n Gam« wjth Bla<k, Martin Lokande, (Eve l)'m•n Ches, 2015)
Bologan',BlackW,apon,inth,Op,nGam«, VictorBologa n (N ewin Ches, 20 14)
The Kaufman Rep,rt.oir, for Black "1 Whju, Lori)' Koufmon (New in Ches, 2012)
Slart.jng Out: Op<n Gam«, G lenn Fleor (Evel)'man Cheu 2010)
fun< h D<f<n>< Advan« \larialion: \lolum< ,, Evgeny Sve,hnikov (Ed it ion O lm,
2008)
Ch<»l<etum,T igra n Pe t ros i•n(Sov ieteditio n, Fizkulturo i Sport1989)
lmprov< Your Ch<» R,rnlt ,, Vl ad im ir Zok (2nd Sov iet edition, Fizku lturo i Sport
1988)
TheArt.ofSa,riji« In Ch<», Rudo lf Sp ielm a nn (Engli.h t ro ns l•tio n, Dovid McK•y
My Sy,um, Aro n Nimzowit.ch (English lfanslotiM, Qu ality Ches, 2007)
The Mod,m Chm /n,tn.«toc, Wilhelm Steinitz (21't ce nt ul)' edition, Russ ell EMer
p,i, e. 2017)
Bri1i<i,Che»Magaz in,
Informant
Ch<»Ba>< M<gaDataba><201J
Ch<»Ba1<Corr«pond<n«Databa1<2015
Mod,m R<p<rl<>ir< Again,t th, /u, /jan Game, Bori, Av,ukh (WWW modr cacb r u com
2016)
E-Boo /a
Ruudl Entupris 6 , lne, i, one of the world', mojor publi, hers of line c heu
booh .Forcomplete d escript iomofall ou,booh,free down load,andHan,Ree ',
m onthly co lumn Dutch Tuai, we invite yo u to vi,it ou, we bsite: ~
The follow ingRu sse ll Ente rp ri sestitl6 oreolso ovailo ble as e-Boolcs( Ki nd le,i Pad,
Nook,etc.) :
1001Winning Ch,»Sa<ri.Jice,andCombjnalion,byffedReinfe ld
1001Bri/ljan1War,1<>Ch«kmaUby ffedf/ei nfe ld
212 Surpri,jngCh«kmaU, byBruce Alb e n ton& FredWi l,on
The3 ... QdEScandinavian: S jmpl,and S1rongby Dan Lowinge r
Al«and<r A!<l<:hin, - Fourt.l, World Ch«, Champ jon by l,aak & Vladim ir Linder
Art.ofBi,gui<rbyArthurBisguie r &N ewto n Berl)'
BackwBa,i<,:fundam,nlai,by Bron islov froncuski
BackwBa,i<,:Op,njng:,by Corsten Hanse n
Back1<>Ba,i<1: StrategybyV0 leriBe im
BackwBa,i<,:Tactjc,byDa n Hei,man
Bobby fj,,,l,,r: Th, Car«r and Com pl«< Gam« of the American World Cl,,,, Cham
pionbyKan te n Mill le r
Bu ll,tCh,» byHikoruNaka muro &Bru ceHorp er
Carl«n-Anand2013byKa rste nMU lle,*
Ch,d:mau:Bobby fi>< h<r',Boy,' l ife Co/umn,byBobbyFi, cher
Ch<»Ana/ytjc,:: T,-,,jnjngwjt/, aGmndma, urby Ef, t ratio ,Grivn
Ch<»Ba><Compl,tebyJ o n Edwa rd,
Ch,» Ca_fePuzzl,Book1by Ka rsten MUlle,
Ch,» Ca_fePuzzl,Book2byKarste nMU ller
Ch,» Ca_fePuzzl,Book3byKar,tenMUl ler &Me rijnvanDe lft
Ch,» Ca_fePuzzl,Book Sampl<rbyKar,te nMil ller (freel)*
Ch,»PuzzleBook4byKorsten Milller&Ale, Ma rl.:grof
Che»juggl<rby Dr. Jam e.Mogne,
Che<1Mau,1by Bru ce Albe n ton Kmmnik-Ka1paroe 20oo by Kar,te nMU ller*
Che<1Mau,2byBruceAlb e nton La,kar',Manua/ofChes,byEmonuel l aske r
Che<1Mwies1byBru ce Pandollini LearnChe111h,Rjgl,tWay:!1ook1 - Mu>1-knowMau,bySu,onPolgu
Che<1Mwies2by Bruce Pondolli n i LearnChe111h,Rjgl,1Way:!1ook2 - WinningMateria/bySu,onPo lga,
Che<1Word,of W.ulombyM ikeH e neb ry Learn Ch,,, ,he Rjgl,t Way: !1ook3 - Ma,Uring DeJ,n.;v, T,chniqu< by Sunn Polgor
Che<1Ba,-Comp/,ubyJ o n Edwa rd, LearnChe111h,Rjgi,1Way:!1ook4 - Souificeto Win! by S unnPolgo ,
Comm on 5<n>< jn Cheu by Eman uel Luke r Leg,ndonth,RoadbyjohnDono ldson
Th,Compl,uCh,11Cour><byFred Rei nfe ld Lel',PlayChe11byBrucePondolfini
Dani,h Dynamju by Konten MUi ie r a nd Mortin Voi ght* Th,Lije<(Gam«ofUlrlo,TorubyGobriel Velo ,co
Th,Doeb,rlCup - Fifl yY,anofAu,tralian Ch<><Hi,toryby Bill Ega n*
Dm ,.,lbyLeonid Ve rkh°",ky LookjngforTroubl,(2nded.)byDonH e is m on
Deorat,ky', Endga m < Manual by Mark Dsoret>lcy Maneuv, ring:Th,ArtofPieceP/aybyM orkDsoretslcy
Element, of Po,jtjonaJ Eealuation: How th, pj,ce, G<t Th,ir Po,.,acby Dan He i, mon M01lering Mau,: Book 1 - One-mov, Mau, by Jo n Edwa rd ,
Emanu.t La,k,r. Sewnd World Che<.1 Champion by Isaa k & Vladimir Li nder M01lering Ma l<<: !look 2 - Two-m ove, Thrae-m oee and Four-mo"' Mau , by Jon Ed
Endgam, Worbhopby BrucePo ndolfini
ThefuhangeSoui.ficebySe rgey Kuparov M01l<r>of1h,Chrnboard by Richo rd Rl'ti
Fo rfri,nd, <( Col/eagu«, Volum,1 - Profe11ionChe<1CoachbyMarkO.oret>lcy Max Euw<: Fift-h World Che« Champio n by Isaa k & Vladimir Linder
Fo rfri,nd, <( Col/eagu«, Volum,2 - Refiectjon,onMyProfe,,jonbyMarkO.o,ets lcy Minjatur<>in1J,,5jcj/janNajdo,fbyCarste nHa nsen*
Fr,nchD,f<nu:Th,5<>/idRubin,ujnVariationbyHann«L,,ngrock Minjatur<>inlheQu«n',lndianbyCa rste n Ha nsen*
Gelfand-Anand 2012: Mauhfor the World Ch,,, Champ jon,h jp by Kar,ten MU iier* Minjatur<>inlheRuylopez - Ma jnLin<> by Carste n Hansen *
The Hagu,- Mo«ow 1948: Match/Tournament for th, World Che>< Champ jon,h jp by TheMod,mChrnlnmucwrbyWilhe lmSte in itz
Mod,m!d,01jnChe,1byRichordRl'!i
A Hi>Wry of Che,,: from Chaluronga to th, Pment Day by Yuri Averb•kh Mod,m Morro Gamb it (2nd. ed .) by Hann« L,,ng rock
HowtoB,aWjnn<ratChrnbyFredRe infeld My B<>tGam<>ofCh<>>,19 08-1937byA lexanderAle khine
Howt0B,atY0u,Kjd,atCh,11byDavidMacEnu lty My B<>tGam<>ofCh<>>,19o5-1954byS0vie llylartakowe r
HowtoPlayCJ,,,.,/ikeaChampionbyFredRe infeld My Che«by Han,Ree
How to Thjnk in Che>< by Jon Przwoz nik & Marek So uyn ,ki My fj,,i !look ofCh«kmat< by David MocEn u lty
TheHypermodernGameofChe11byS•vie llylortokowe r My fj,,i !look ofCh«kmat< Workbook by Da vid MacEn u lty
Jo<£RaU/Capab/anca:Thj,dWorldCh,11Champjonby l,ook& Vl•dimi,Linde r Myffr>1!1ookof Che11Toctic,by D•vidMacEnu lty
TheKGBPlay,Che11byGu lko,Felshtinslcy,Popov&Kortchnoi Najdorfx Najdo,fbyLi li• na N•jdorf
New YMlr 191~ byAlex•nderA lekh,ne
NewYMlr1917byAJe,anderAlekh,ne
NottingMm1936byAJe.,nderAleld,,ne

Paul Mo.,..y: A Mcxkm ?,cffP«l~'O by Valen Be,m

APn>ctKa/Guid.«>RoakE"dP'"••byN,kolayM,nn
Profo,..;,,,,,o,.,.pi.y.,-G,,..,d,no,urolWorl<byVlachmorTulunako-.
Read,inr llr, Top?/: A ~ / Gui<k «> PloJ""I Mo.u,-u ..1 Cl,es, by Peter Kurz

Reir,foldo,rtluEndpm•b,.Fredlte,.,feld
Tlr,RulnofO,.,oby Bf\lce Pandol~n, (fteel) *
Stl'fl<..bu'J1909byEmanuel luker
5"'1Ugi< O~ni,,g R•~""'"' by John Donaldson & Ca.sten Han .. n
Stud~1fa,Pn><lioa/Plov,c11byMarlcDvo<ruky&OlegPer,akOY

Th• S.:o!dr Goml,it; M En•'!"•i< ond As,r,uivo S,,,."mfar w,,;i. by Alrx Fi, h~in
Tlr• Toctician', ~ondboakbyVicto,Chrush,n, Rn,10d& Expanded by Kars,en

Topolo..-l(romnik,006byVesehnTop1lovw,thZhivkoGinchev
Tmgi«>m,dyin1h,E,,,Jgom<byMukDv0retsky

Po/g;,,W")'bySuHnPolgar1ndPau l Truong
WlryYoul.<>uo1Ch,.,byFredlte,nfeld
Wi/h,lmS"init,:Fin1WorldO...o,Cloo,np,'onbylsukandVladim irLinde,
Zuri.:h,953byM,guelNaJdorf
*Availabloonlyuane•Book