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Very Hot Topic (More than 25 Replies) Alekheine's Defense 2. Nc3!? (Read 27103 times)
Markovich
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Re: Alekheine's Defense 2. Nc3!?
Reply #46 - 10/18/04 at 07:15:07
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Yes, I think that ...Bc5, both here and after 1. e4 e5  2. Nf3 Nc6  3. Bb5 Nf6  4. O-O, is a reasonable defense.  And I agree with you that with White's knight committed to c3, it may perhaps be Black's most dynamic try.  Indeed, play becomes somewhat Alekhine-like after 4. Bb5 Bc5  5. O-O! O-O  6. Nxe5! Nxe5  7. d4 Bd6  8. f4!  So there, I brought it back to the thread topic.

  

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MNb
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Re: Alekheine's Defense 2. Nc3!?
Reply #45 - 10/17/04 at 20:36:41
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I always found 1.e4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Bb5 Bc5!? an excellent winning try. And Markovich, did not you pay attention to this move in Hard Chess?
But I am not going to discuss this in detail - some people might accuse me of insult by going to far off initial topic.
  

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Markovich
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Re: Alekheine's Defense 2. Nc3!?
Reply #44 - 10/17/04 at 20:17:47
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Well, if you think that 1. e4 e5  2. Nc3 is a strong winning try, your search for a White system is over! Smiley  Personally I think that after 2...Nf6, neither the immediate 3.g3 nor Glek's 4. Nf3 Nc6  5. g3 is terribly impressive.  And 3. f4 is one move too late.  My opinion.

The term "Spanish Four Knights" is irksome; what is the non-Spanish Four Knights, praytell?  Anyway, 4. Nf3 Nc6  5. Bb5 is annoying only because it is not so easy for Black to win.  The same is true of the Exchange French, of course, notwithstanding the rhetoric in "Play the French"  about how supposedly dynamic that variation is.
  

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Tzanidakis_Michael
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Re: Alekheine's Defense 2. Nc3!?
Reply #43 - 10/13/04 at 18:10:21
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Well if you are a KID player you 'll love the 1.e4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.g3 and then Bg2, Nge2, d3, O-O etc otherwise u could play 3.f4 or 3.Nf3 going for double spanish by 4.Bb5 or the modern 4.g3
  
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Re: Alekheine's Defense 2. Nc3!?
Reply #42 - 10/13/04 at 17:38:38
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I've definitely found 2...e5 to be most testing in blitz games simply because while most Alekheine players seem to play 2...d5 instinctively, they don't usually know the the lines too well. Though I've only had 2...e5 played 2 or 3 times in maybe 15 or 20 blitz games, I have a much worse record against 2...e5 than any other move (maybe because those who played 2...e5 tended to have higher ratings). Sticking with the idea of being offbeat, I've continued to play 3. g3 and have looked at a lot of Paul Motwani's old updates where he covered this line (which he played with white via 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. g3 and, according to him, he has scored 90% with it). I'm going to e-mail Nigel Davies and see if he can give some new info on this lines as Motwani's annotated games date back to 2000 and before.

After 2...d5, I've had great results with 3. e5 d4 4. exf6 dxc3 5. fxg7 6. cxd2+ Qxd2 and found that the endgame is not very easy for black to defend.  Against 3...Nfd7, I've mostly played 4. d4 and play has almost always transposed to a Steinitz French.
  
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MNb
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Re: Alekheine's Defense 2. Nc3!?
Reply #41 - 10/12/04 at 19:10:21
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When I used to play the Aljechin, I did not mind the transposition 1.e4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 either. Just like Markovich, I already had experience with the Open Games as Black.
In quite a few games 2...e5 came as a surprise - players who only knew 2.Nf3 had suddenly to play a Vienna.
  

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Markovich
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Re: Alekheine's Defense 2. Nc3!?
Reply #40 - 10/12/04 at 14:40:53
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Well, in reply to 1. e4 I've played basically nothing but 1...e5.  I am looking at 1...Nf6 because it seems like an interesting way to fight for the whole point, but I would have no trouble transposing back with 2...e5! after 2. Nc3.

Black sacrifices no winning opportunities by doing that.  He has excellent chances against the Vienna, and even after 3. Nf3 Nc6  4. Bb5, 4...Bc5 is a good try for "dyanamic counterplay," and so is 4...Nd4 (though there White can make a draw more easily).
  

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Michael Ayton
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Re: Alekheine's Defense 2. Nc3!?
Reply #39 - 10/12/04 at 07:37:19
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I see what you mean Tracke, but I guess soundness and dynamic counter-chances are for me equal desiderata in Black openings. Maybe I'm just greedy!
  
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Re: Alekheine's Defense 2. Nc3!?
Reply #38 - 10/12/04 at 07:30:10
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[quote author=Michael Ayton  link=1079279038/20#37 date=1097564825] this Alekhine player is firmly in the Vienna camp.[/quote]

I would surely admit that in most of my suggested lines white may keep a very small advantage (too small for "+="!) but these variations may suit to an alekhine player. If soundness is your first aim you can play 1...e5 ?!
  
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Michael Ayton
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Re: Alekheine's Defense 2. Nc3!?
Reply #37 - 10/12/04 at 07:07:05
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I've no idea whether Black can equalise after 1 e4 Nf6 2 Nc3 e6 3 e5 Nd5 4 Nd5 ed 5 Qf3!?, but whether he can or not, I've found this line seriously joyless to play against! For this reason, and because of the doubts expressed about Niermann--Bagirov and all the other tries, this Alekhine player is firmly in the Vienna camp.
  
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tracke
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Re: Alekheine's Defense 2. Nc3!?
Reply #36 - 10/12/04 at 01:35:28
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I would agree that 1.e4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.e5 Nd5 is an easy sideline to play and may offer some practical chances for a prepared white player after 4.Nxd5 exd5 5.Qf3! (5.Nf3 d6 6.d4 Nc6 7.Bf4 is harmless) c6 6.d4 d6 7.Qg3 for example. Objectivly Black should not be much worse.
After 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.Nc3 maybe 3...Nxc3 is the most principle move for an alekhine player but 3...e6 is also sound. Krizsany/Videki call 3...e6 even the most natural move.
  
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Re: Alekheine's Defense 2. Nc3!?
Reply #35 - 10/11/04 at 21:48:22
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I have not studied this in detail lately, but probably variation a. Variation b and c look too much like a French Steinitz to me, as d4 is a very normal move.
1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.Nc3 e6 is according to Siebenhaar, Delnef and Ottstadt inferior to 3...Nxc3.
  

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Re: Alekheine's Defense 2. Nc3!?
Reply #34 - 10/11/04 at 13:44:20
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@MNb
I don´t believe in the Spielmann Attack if Black defends accurately but that´s not my point now. If you´re white and want to avoid transpositions to french Steinitz, what do you play after 1.e4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 ?:
(a) 3.e5 Nd5
(b) 3.f4 d5 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Nf3 (with g3,0-0 to follow)
(c) 3.f4 d5 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Qg4!?
(d) something else
  
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MNb
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Re: Alekheine's Defense 2. Nc3!?
Reply #33 - 06/01/04 at 15:50:22
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1.e4 Nf6 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.d4 d5 4.e5 Nfd7 5.e6 must be good for White, as this is an improved Spielmann Gambit!
  

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Re: Alekheine's Defense 2. Nc3!?
Reply #32 - 05/31/04 at 21:49:23
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After 1.e4 Nf6 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.d4 d5 4.e5 Nd7 5.e6 fxe6 6.Bd3 (I found one game that continued with 6.Nf3 in H.Myers 1993 Nimzovich Defense book.) 6...Nf6 7.g4 e5 8.g5 e4, I think Ben Hague is correct about his continuation giving White a strong attack.  Instead, 8...exd4 9.gxf6 dxc3 10.Bh6 is another try for White which my computer thinks is best answered by 10...Be5 with many complications.

feb brings up the alternate defence of 6...g6 which may be the better try.  After 7.h4, I think 7...e5 should be looked at too (seems I may be addicted to this pawn push in this variation, I guess it's easy to make risky suggestions rather than actually playing them in a real game).
  
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