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Very Hot Topic (More than 25 Replies) Is the Albin Any Good (Read 76631 times)
Mike Thomas
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Re: Is the Albin Any Good
Reply #36 - 12/28/04 at 23:43:52
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1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 d4 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Nbd2! Bg4 6.a3 Qe7 7.h3 Bxf3 (I cannot believe, that giving up the pair of bishops is the solution) 8.Nxf3 o-o-o 9.Bg5! as in Marshall-Showalter, USAch m 1909, is also pretty good for White.


OK, but how about the 7...Bh5 line that I quoted above?
  
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MNb
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Re: Is the Albin Any Good
Reply #35 - 12/28/04 at 22:49:50
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1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 d4 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Nbd2! Bg4 6.a3 Qe7 7.h3 Bxf3 (I cannot believe, that giving up the pair of bishops is the solution) 8.Nxf3 o-o-o 9.Bg5! as in Marshall-Showalter, USAch m 1909, is also pretty good for White.
What is the idea of 6...Nh6 ? The first continuations for White to look at, are 7.g3 and 7.h3.
  

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Re: Is the Albin Any Good
Reply #34 - 12/27/04 at 00:34:56
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<5.Nbd2 f6 6.exf6 Nxf6 7.a3 Bg4 8.h3 Bh5 9.g4 Bg6 10.Bg2 Be7 11.O-O O-O 12.b4 Ne4! planning ...Bf6>

In this position White has 13.Nxe4 Bxe4 14.b5 Na5 15.Qxd4 as Bf6 16.Qxe4 Bxa1 fails to 17.Ng5!
Also 11.b4 Ne4 12.Bb2 Bf6 13.Nxd4 promises an advantage:
a)13...Nxf2 14.Nxc6 Nxd1 15.Nxd8 Nxb2 16.Ne6.
b)13...Nxd4 14.Nxe4 Nf3+ 15.Bxf3 Bxb2 16.Qxd8+.
Moreover White has 9.b4 Be7 10.Bb2 o-o 11.b5.
As stated before: 5.Nbd2 is so strong because it is flexible.


I can find no fault with this analysis...yet Wink
  
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Re: Is the Albin Any Good
Reply #33 - 12/27/04 at 00:29:25
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But, what is the problem with :
1)d4 d5 2)c4 e5 3)dxe5 d4 4)Nf3 Nc6 5)Nbd2 Bg4! 6)a3 Qe7! (6)...Nh6!? is an other idea !?)
I didn't find any big problem for black with this plan !?
For example :
7) h3 BxNf3 8)NxBf3 OOO 9)Qd3 Nxe5 10)Qf5+ Nd7 11)Nxd4 g6 12) Qa5 Ne5!? (12)...a6!?) or 12)... Nb6!? are interesting as well ) and white has to be very carefull !
Any comment ?


This is interesting, though if you read my previous post I am suspicious of ...O-O-O lines.  Here the congress of Nbd2, a3, and h3 could be considered wasted moves (though Nbd2 and h3 are time making threats), so your plan may be well founded.  My concern in O-O-O lines for Black is opposite side castling by White coupled with a Q-side attack which is almost always faster than Black's K-side attack.  I would test the line not with the defensive 9.Qd3 but 9.g3 giving back the pawn for an attack: 9...Nxe5 10.Bg2 with the idea O-O, Bf4, Qa4 in some order, with a raging attack and no K-side counterplay that I see.  What do you think?
  
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Bubu13
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Re: Is the Albin Any Good
Reply #32 - 12/26/04 at 17:20:35
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But, what is the problem with :
1)d4 d5 2)c4 e5 3)dxe5 d4 4)Nf3 Nc6 5)Nbd2 Bg4! 6)a3 Qe7! (6)...Nh6!? is an other idea !?)
I didn't find any big problem for black with this plan !?
For example :
7) h3 BxNf3 8)NxBf3 OOO 9)Qd3 Nxe5 10)Qf5+ Nd7 11)Nxd4 g6 12) Qa5 Ne5!? (12)...a6!?) or 12)... Nb6!? are interesting as well ) and white has to be very carefull !
Any comment ?
  
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MNb
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Re: Is the Albin Any Good
Reply #31 - 10/24/04 at 21:40:52
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<5.Nbd2 f6 6.exf6 Nxf6 7.a3 Bg4 8.h3 Bh5 9.g4 Bg6 10.Bg2 Be7 11.O-O O-O 12.b4 Ne4! planning ...Bf6>

In this position White has 13.Nxe4 Bxe4 14.b5 Na5 15.Qxd4 as Bf6 16.Qxe4 Bxa1 fails to 17.Ng5!
Also 11.b4 Ne4 12.Bb2 Bf6 13.Nxd4 promises an advantage:
a)13...Nxf2 14.Nxc6 Nxd1 15.Nxd8 Nxb2 16.Ne6.
b)13...Nxd4 14.Nxe4 Nf3+ 15.Bxf3 Bxb2 16.Qxd8+.
Moreover White has 9.b4 Be7 10.Bb2 o-o 11.b5.
As stated before: 5.Nbd2 is so strong because it is flexible.
  

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Re: Is the Albin Any Good
Reply #30 - 10/23/04 at 22:54:00
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First I want to state, that I will be glad if the Albin's is playable - I have played it several years.
5.Nbd2 f6 6.exf6 Nxf6 7.a3 Bg4 8.h3 Bh5 9.g4 Bg6 10.Bg2 Qe7 11.o-o o-o-o (Raetsky/Tsjetverik) and now 12.b4 gives White the better chances.
Is the White king really that unsafe?

I think the Albin is  playable as 5.Nbd2 is the only critical line I have discovered (how many people know that) and Pruch'a plan is the only viable way to play the Albin (ans virtually no one including Raetsky et. al. know that)   By "playable, I mean no slightly disavantaged endgames by force and good tactical chances over the board.  Objectively, White is better in these main lines of course, but this is subjective, "who has studied their combinations the most" chess.

Raetsky's 11...O-O-O is a common blunder.  You can only castle Q-side in the Albin when White has made a series of unnecessary defensive moves which clearly hasn't occurred in this line.  Instead we must (pro Prucha) castle K-side so: 10...Be7 11.O-O O-O 12.b4 Ne4! planning ...Bf6 and the position is getting Albiny.
  
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Re: Is the Albin Any Good
Reply #29 - 10/23/04 at 19:10:41
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First I want to state, that I will be glad if the Albin's is playable - I have played it several years.
5.Nbd2 f6 6.exf6 Nxf6 7.a3 Bg4 8.h3 Bh5 9.g4 Bg6 10.Bg2 Qe7 11.o-o o-o-o (Raetsky/Tsjetverik) and now 12.b4 gives White the better chances.
Is the White king really that unsafe?
  

The book had the effect good books usually have: it made the stupids more stupid, the intelligent more intelligent and the other thousands of readers remained unchanged.
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Re: Is the Albin Any Good
Reply #28 - 10/22/04 at 12:32:21
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My opinion is that Black has problems after 5.Nbd2 f6 6.exf6 Nxf6 (already played by Tartakower) 7.a3 a5 8.Nb3 and Prucha's plan is prevented. See Sämisch-Becker,1927.
Theory prefers 7...Bf5 8.Nb3 (8.b4 Qd7 9.Bb2 looks strong to me) Qe7 but 9.g3 o-o-o 10.Bg2 proves the Black queen on the wrong square.
So thumbs down for 5...f6.


In your line after 7.a3 Bg5 is a standard Albin move which thwarts 8.Nb3 which would win Black's d-pawn contra Prucha (I have no idea why "theory" prefers 7...Bf5 once 7.a3 has made ...Nb4 impossible and ...O-O-O in that same line is contra Prucha).  So 7...Bg5 is necessary if one hopes to stick to the Prucha plan.  The most direct counter to this idea appears to be 8.h3 when 8...Bh5! lets White decide if he enjoys not having a safe place for his King for the pawn after 9.g4 Bg6 or fall further behind in development after 9.b4 Bd6!  I don't see how White can avoid coming under an attack in either case which is just what the Albin orders.
  
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Re: Is the Albin Any Good
Reply #27 - 10/20/04 at 19:19:32
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My opinion is that Black has problems after 5.Nbd2 f6 6.exf6 Nxf6 (already played by Tartakower) 7.a3 a5 8.Nb3 and Prucha's plan is prevented. See Sämisch-Becker,1927.
Theory prefers 7...Bf5 8.Nb3 (8.b4 Qd7 9.Bb2 looks strong to me) Qe7 but 9.g3 o-o-o 10.Bg2 proves the Black queen on the wrong square.
So thumbs down for 5...f6.
  

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Re: Is the Albin Any Good
Reply #26 - 10/18/04 at 16:45:07
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Czech Master Karel Prucha offered the following principles for the Albin player:

The Albin is playable only as a pure gambit, i.e., superior piece activity vs. material.  Therefore no ...Nge7-g6 to win the e-pawn but instead ...f6 and:

1) after ...f6, Black must castle K-side(!);
2) keep the d-pawn at any cost, so ...Qd7 to add a defender to d4 with ...Rd8 as well allow ...Bh6 to thwart white's Q-side fianchetto;
3) dark squared B to c5 which means that if White plays a3 then ...a5 is necessary to stop b2-b4.

If Prucha is right, this suggests that in the critical line 5.Nbd2, 5...f6 is the proper move.  Black cannot allow Nb3xd4 on positional grounds (e.g, even if he wins the e-pawn black will stand worse after the d-pawn is exchanged).  After 6.exf6 Nxf6 black castles K-side with a potential attack there as well as potential pressure on white's backward e-pawn.  What y'all think?
  
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Mike Thomas
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Re: Is the Albin Any Good
Reply #25 - 03/27/04 at 01:53:36
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Here's another ray of sunshine that I picked up off of another BB - Morozevich has beaten Gelfand with the Albin's at Melody Amber!

[Event "Amber Blindfold"]
[Site "Monte Carlo MNC"]
[Date "2004.03.25"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Gelfand,B"]
[Black "Morozevich,A"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2709"]
[BlackElo "2732"]
[EventDate "2004.03.20"]
[ECO "D09"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 d4 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. g3 Nge7 6. Bg2 Ng6 7. Bg5 Qd7 8. O-O h6 9. Bf4 Nxf4 10. gxf4 g5 11. Nbd2 gxf4 12. Ne4 Be7 13. Qd2 Qg4 14. Kh1 Bf5 15. Nxd4 Rd8 16. Nxf5 Rxd2 17. Nxe7 Kxe7 18. Nxd2 Qxe2 19. Nf3 Rg8 20. b3 Nb4 21. Nd4 Qg4 22. Be4 Rg5 23. Rg1 Qd7 24. Nf3 Rxg1+ 25. Rxg1 Nd3 26. Rg2 c6 27. Bh7 a5 28. Nh4 Nxe5 0-1
  
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Mike Thomas
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Re: Is the Albin Any Good
Reply #24 - 03/27/04 at 01:14:07
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Perhaps this will provide the ray of sunshine that can chase one's gloom away  Wink  As Alumbrado pointed out early in this thread, Angus Dunnington recommended 5.Nbd2 in "Attacking with 1.d4". He uses as his main line the game Goldin-Mengarini, New York 1991, which continued

5...Bg4 6.a3 Qe7 7.h3 Bh5 8.Qa4 0-0-0 9.b4 Kb8 10.g4 Bg6 11.Bb2 Nxe5 12.Nxe5 Qxe5 13.Nf3 Qe4 14.Bxd4 c5 15.Be5+ Ka8 16.Bg2 Nf6 17.0-0 Qxc4 18.Rfc1 Qe6 19.bxc5 Nd7 20.Bd4 Qe4 21.Ne5 Nxc5 22.Rxc5 Bxc5 23.Bxe4 Rxd4 24.Bxb7+ Kxb7 25.Qc6+ Kb8 26.Qxc5 1-0

While that game seems pretty convincing, Raetsky & Chetverik, in their 1998 book "Albins Gegengambit", suggest 11...f6 as a possible improvement. Their main line runs 12.exf6 Nxf6 13.b5 and now, rather than their 13...Ne5, I think that Black should play 13...Nd7 with the idea of 14. bxc6 Nc5 15.Qb5 a6 or 14.Bg2 Nc5 15.Qd1 Nd3+ or 14.Qd1 Nce5 15.Nxe5 Nxe5 16.Bg2 Nd3+.
« Last Edit: 03/27/04 at 22:41:56 by Mike Thomas »  
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Re: Is the Albin Any Good
Reply #23 - 03/26/04 at 19:00:17
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White can always change plans in this variation, that is why it is so nasty.
5.Nbd2 Bf5 6.a3 Qe7 7.b4! Nxe5 8.Nxe5 Qxe5 9.Nf3! and Black loses the d4-pawn.
  

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Re: Is the Albin Any Good
Reply #22 - 03/26/04 at 08:34:41
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Another thought, how about 5.Nbd2 Bf5 6.a3 Qe7? It might be worth a go... now 7.g3 doesn't seem so good for white, and the pressure on the e-pawn seems enough to give black a playable game...
  

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