[quote]Thanks for citing this game elsewhere, Markovich -- I [i]guess[/i] you may be referring here to the game Black won after 12 ...0-0!? (N?). Obviously White went wrong near the end in that game, but what about the opening? The game Donner—Keene went 10 …Bd7 (iso 10 …a6), and continued 11 a3 a6 12 Ng5!? Rb8 13 Qe2 Qc7 14 Kf1 Nh7 15 Nh7 Rh7 16 Kg2 with some White edge. So I’m wondering if White should play 11 Ng5 by analogy and follow the same plan (which might include Nd1/Ne3/Nf5?). Of course Black doesn’t have to go …Nh7, but has he better (in either position/comparable positions)?[/quote]
I launched into a fairly extensive analysis of the h3 Czech Benoni lines a year and a half or two years ago, under the influence of my chess hero Larsen. The Ng5 plan comes up a lot, and [b]11.Ng5![/b] indeed seems strongest, and to the point. To me, White looks better after [b]11...0-0 12.0-0 Bd7 13.a4[/b], as I can't find a reasonable plan for Black. Preparing to open the b-file looks logical, but something like [b]13...Rb8 14.a5 b6 15.axb6 Rxb6 [/b]allows White to play Bc2 and b3, followed by working up some kingside play, e.g. [b]16.Qe2 Qc7 17.Nd1 Rfb8 18.Bd2 Qc8 19.Bc2! Ng4 20.b3![/b], when the plan of playing Ne3-f5, followed shortly by g4, looks to bring White a large advantage. Anyway, 9...h5 when White's already played g3 seems dubious to me - I don't get it.
[quote]A second plan for Black (after 6 Bd3 Nbd7 7 Nf3 Nf8 8 h3 Ng6 9 g3) is to play 9 …0-0!? (iso 9 ..h5), as played by Finegold. Then Stohl gives 10 Bd2 Bd7 11 Qe2 a6 12 h4 as slightly better for White (as mentioned above), but this doesn’t look too terrible(?). How I wonder should Black react on 10 Kf1 (iso 10 Bd2), plan Kg2, Qe2 and evt Nd1/Ne3/Nf5? [/quote]
Back then, [b]10.h4![/b] bothered me quite a bit. Stopping h5 with [b]10...Bg4[/b] is dubious on account of [b]11.Be2![/b], when Ng5 is on the cards, offering a favorable minor piece exchange, e.g. [b]11...a6 12.Ng5! Bxe2 13.Qxe2 h6 14.Nf3 Re8[/b] [i](14...h5 15.Ng5 followed by Nd1-e3-f5 seems bad for Black as well)[/i] [b]15.h5 Nf8 16.Nh4![/b] with an edge. Perhaps more logical is [b]10...Re8[/b], though even then [b]11.h5 Nf8 12.h6 g6 13.Kf1!? [/b]seems definitely better for the first player.
[quote]The Modern [i]main line[/i], of course, is to castle on move seven, iso …Nf8. One big challenge to this came in Albrecht-Neikirch, which went 9 Qe2!? Nh5 10 g3 g6 11 Bh6 Ng7 12 g4 Nf6 13 Nd2 Kh8 14 Nf1. Not sure I’d feel happy as Black here but am I too pessimistic? One possible drawback of this main line is that Black has to have a good response to White’s plan of 6 Nf3 Nbd7 7 h3 0-0 8 g4!?, delaying Bd3 (if he doesn’t want to play the transpositional 7 …Nf8). [/quote]
To me, this position seems clearly better for White. I agree! >:(
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