I'll use the top of this post to put a position on this page:

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bc5 9.Qd2 0-0 10.0-0-0 a6 11.Nb3 Bb4 12.Bd3 b5




BadPritt wrote on 07/31/06 at 14:53:48:

Thanks BadPritt!

Yes, MNb and Spielmann continue to impress...

12...f6 concerned me at first, but the more I looked at it the more I felt that White should have no problems maintaining some kind of an edge.  However, I think it’s still an important alternative to 12…b5.

After 12…f6, I like 14.Rhf1 but there were some other lines I also thought promising.  I give a brief description of one of these below:

12...f6 13.exf6 Qxf6

[13...Nxf6 is possible, but it doesn't take advantage of ...Bb4 so it seems less logical.]

14.g4 I didn’t like this move at first, but this was based on a different follow up.

[14.Rhf1 is the move suggested by MNb, Spielmann, and Khalifman]
[14.Rhe1 I also liked]

14...Bxc3 15.bxc3 b5 and now, instead of 16.g5, I like the look of

16.Rhf1 (a move, obviously inspired by the 14.Rhf1 line suggested earlier)

[16.g5 is a move that I'm not very impressed by.]

16...Bb7 There were a few other moves I considered, but I’ll use this one to illustrate the line.

[16...Qe7 and 16...Qf7 both merit consideration.  I may post some lines for these moves later if there is continued discussion of 12...f6.]

17.f5 e5 (I haven't yet considered Black's other options here)

18.Be2 Qd6

[18...Qe7 19.Qxd5+ should be fine for White, but I haven’t looked further than this]
[There are other moves (e.g., 18...Qf7, 18...Kh8) that I still need to look at.]

19.Qxd5+ Qxd5 20.Rxd5 looks good for White.  The extra pawn is doubled, but he also posesses a bishop pair.

Hi Ostap,

It does not matter too much anymore, now that 12)...b5 has been chosen, but on 12)...f6 Khalifman gives 13) exf6 Qxf6 14) Rhf1 Bxc3 15) Qxc3 Qxc3 16) bxc3 b5 17) Nd4 Nd8 18) Rde1 Bb7 19) Bg1 Nc5 20) Nb3 Ne4 21) Nc5 +=. Bonuspoints for Spielmann and MNB!

HgMan wrote on 07/30/06 at 16:54:29:

Thanks for your input, HgMan!

14.Bc5 is a logical move to consider, but Black seems to doing OK after 14...Bxc5 15.Nxc5 Nc4 16.Qf2 Qb6.  I tried to find a good continuation for White from here, but couldn't come up with anything that looked promising. (I'm open to suggestions)

I haven't looked at your ideas in the 13.g4 line yet.  The knight sacrifice should be interesting to analyze.

Let me throw out a possible novelty in the 13 Rhf1 line: 13 ... Nb6 (13 ... Bb7 might be worth a look) 14 Bc5!?  I don't see anything wrong with 14 Qf2 or 14 a3, but it seems to me that this forces a trade of White's weaker bishop for Black's better one, and puts a knight on c5, which puts pressure on e6, presumably keeping the bishop on c8 or preventing Black from pushing the f-pawn.  I don't think it's necessarily an improvement for White, but I suspect it would cause Black some long term problems and it would get us out of book.

I don't know what to make of 13 g4 Bb7 14 Rhg1 Rc8 15 Rg3 Qh4, but maybe White still holds sway after 16 Qg2 Ncxe5!?/?1 17 fxe5 Nxe5 18 Rh3 Nxd3+ 19 Rxd3 Qe7.  Black has two pawns for the piece, the bishop pair, and has obliterated White's center pawns, while leaving the g-pawn intact (preventing the worst of the attacks down the open kingside), but I think White should be able to roll over Black all the same.

After 13 g4 Bb7 14 Rhg1 Qc7 might be the more useful move.  15 Rg3 Rac8 [15 ... Rfc8 has been played] 16 Rh3 g6 and I don't know how best to deal with the White position.  Presumably 17 Qf2/e1 and 17 a3 are well met by 17 ... Be7, while 17 Kb1 is useful, but lets Black try to develop some counterplay.  Nc6-a5 is coming...

Ostap, et al (Hi al!)

I have to make my move now and Ostap will have a week to get some feedback.  I almost agree with HgMan that 12...f6 equalizes.  HgMan's line fits well with some of my own analysis, but I'm not quite willing to let things lie there.  I will review 12...f6 for another time.  I would need at least a week to convince myself that 12...f6 is the best Black can do here.  Yeah, I'm aiming for something with more dynamic chances to lose.  Ummm... win.  That's it.  Win.

[In a bad Austin Powers accent.  Then again, there isn't a good Austin Powers Accent.]

Yeah baby! Win.



Right now, I'm interested in trying to follow the big boys to the deep end of this puddle.

So, my move is 12...b5.

Cheers!



Have a fun, productive week, Ostap!

As one of my previous posts hinted, I'm not too concerned about White's g4.  This is a good thing because there's very little I can do to stop it.

I'm worried about how the q-side will get resolved, how to get my light-squared bishop into the game, and how to negate an active Rook on either f1 or g1.   

As White, 
I would look for a possible improvement over Anand's game as early as his novelty, a3!? as Shipov mentioned. White does have to be careful not to overplay his kingside attack, because Black does have some serious threats even if the practical results favor White far more that John Watson suggests.

I will have to make my move before I leave in less than 24 hours, so any suggestions and analysis of the above lines will be greatly appreciated.  Right now I am leaning toward ...b5 with an early ...f6 as soon as I've solidified the c-file.  Bareev, Gurevich and Morozevich are usually right about the key moves in a position, and since they all agree on ...b5 I'd better have something better than just a feeling that ...f6 is an improvement.

Again, thanks in advance for your help!

Cheers! 

Ostap,

You may want to take a glance at my last post.  I think I posted it while you were writing yours.

BTW:  Shipov, in his notes to Anand-Morozevich, reminds us that the center is the first priority.  He also makes the comment (which I've heard before about this variation) that we are playing the french with a Sicilian accent.  I don't know if you read Russian or if there's an English language version of his notes.  Just thought I'd toss it out.

Someone asked if I thought White has improvements in the Anand-Moro game.  Yes, I'm sure of it.  17.Bd4, as Shipov pointed out, could possibly be improved by 17.f5!?  There may even be improvements before move 17!

MNb, 

You're right, I simply missed the obvious win of a pawn.  Here's a more serious set of lines based on the Nijboer-Glek game:



Nijboer,F (2553) - Glek,I (2576) [C11]
FRA-chT France (2.1), 01.02.2003

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bc5 9.Qd2 0-0 10.0-0-0 a6 11.Nb3 Bb4 12.Bd3 (12...f6) has been played before, and always with ...Qxf6.  It's probably better than I originally thought, but I suspect there's a hole in it somewhere since Nijboer has allowed it in several games and his well-prepared opponents haven't played it.  Scary.

b5 13.g4 Bb7 

Here, 13...f6 is premature because White can attack both c6 and f6 with his Queen. For instance:

[13...f6 14.a3 Bxc3 15.Qxc3 Bb7 16.exf6 Qxf6 17.Qxf6 Nxf6 18.Rhg1 e5]

And White is very happy.

14.Rhg1 Rc8 [14...f6]
This might work though.  

Black could improve on his play later in the game, but I think White retains a plus from move 15 on.
15.Rg3 Re8 16.Rh3 g6 17.Qf2 Bf8 18.g5 Nb4 19.Kb1 Nxd3 20.cxd3 Bc6 21.Ne2 b4 22.Nbd4 Ba4 23.b3 Bb5 24.Nxb5 axb5 25.Nd4 Qa5 26.Qh4 h5 27.gxh6 Rc3 28.h7+ Kh8 29.Qf2 Ra8 30.Qb2 Nc5 31.Bf2 Rc8 32.Bh4 Nd7 33.Be1 Qb6 34.Nf3 Be7 35.d4 1-0


Note, if any of this makes it to GM practice, I want credit this time!