micawber wrote on 04/09/08 at 00:15:27:
@Mnb:
I agree with your judgement on the line
10.0-0 Bb7 11.Qf3 Rb8 12.dxe5 Ne3 13.Qh3 Qxg2+ 14.Qxg2 Nxg3 15.d4
I probably misjudged this position. Black should be able to keep white's advantage to a minimum with 15...Be7 followed by a quick f6.
In the line
10.Qf3 exd4
11.Bc6
Black has an interesting possibility in 11...Nf4!? (iso Nb4)
11.Bc6, Nf4 11.0-0,Rb8 and black is OK
12.Bxa8,Bg4 Does white have anything better than Bxa8? (12.g3,Qc5! unclear; Frejdle-Boschetti, Schweiz 1993)
And now the following branches:
I. [13.Qe4,Bd6 14.Bc6 Barros-Valderama, Cali, South American Ch. 2007
and now 14...f5! would have given black a huge advantage.
note
Other 14th moves dont solve whites problems:
14.0-0,Re8! 15.Qc6,Nh3 16.Kh1,Nxf2 etc.
14.g3, Re8 (or even 14....Qb5 threatening Ng2 15.gxf,Re8)
II. 13.Qc6,Nd3+ 14.Kf1,Bc5 15.h4,Qf4
and I dont see anything better for white than a perpetual.
@Topnotch: I am curious about your discoveries.
I will probably not be able to do that post before the weekend, however it was going to include 11...Nf4 that you mentioned above, which I think is even more effective and shocking than the often played 11...Nb4.
The endgame after 15...Be7 or 15...f6 maybe tenable but extremely unpleasant if White plays accurately and I cannot imagine anyone with black knowingly heading for this line. I will just add that for the moment White should avoid f4 ideas in favor of f3 as g5 features prominently in Black's plans should f4 be played prematurely.
The problem as I see it with your
10.0-0 Rb8 suggestion can be traced to two important games featuring the same player as White:
IM Pirrot, D vs GM Karpatchev, A 2006 result 0-1
IM Pirrot, D vs Daeubler, H 2008 result 1-0
Pirrot improved on his earlier game with
13.Na3! instead of
13.Qf3 and I think it gives White the advantage.
I think that the rarely played
10.0-0 Nf4!? deserves much closer scrutiny and it is here that I am currently focussing my rehabilitative efforts.
Wish me luck.
TN