I quite like 7.Be2 iso 7.Qd2 as ...d5 then simply is bad. White will usually play 8.Qd2 making Black guess a bit longer at which side White will castle. Of course 6.g3 is what all strong players recommend, but I prefer for subjective reasons straightforward development as in 6.Bf4, 7.Be2 and 8.Qd2.

Hi Schroeder,

thanks for your reply. Good to know that somebody shares my opinion in this position. Your lines are indeed better for black, but don´t change the general evaluation of the position.

A few weeks ago I thought I could get a test of these lines, but my opponent surprised me with:

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 exd 5.Nxd4 Be7 6.Bf4 00 7.Qd2 d5 8.Ndb5 c6!? 9.Nc7 d4!? reaching this position:



After 10.000 Nh5 11.Nxa8 Nxf4 12.Qxd4 we had a complicated game, which I eventually won. Does anybody have any sources on these lines and theoretical recommendations / evaluations?

Thanks for all your comments.
Looking for a white opening edge I analysed the position after 12....Qe7 for a while:

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Be7 6. Bf4 O-O 7. Qd2 d5 8.Ndb5 Bb4 9. O-O-O c6 10. Nc7 Nxe4 11. Qd4 Bxc3 12. bxc3 Qe7

First I tried to make 13.Kb2 g5 14.Bg3 work, following Stopa-Benjamin. The queen check mentioned above seems to be too good for black. Btw not only Benjamin got a quick revenge as he told in the interview linked above, Kotronias lost one as well after 14. Nxg3 15.hxg Qxc7 16.Qf6 Qb6+ 17.Ka1 c5.

Then I had a look at other alternatives for white on move 14., but couldn´t find anything of value.

So I switched to 13.Rd3 following Nijboer - Haslinger. I don´t have the yearbook, but couldn´t work out anything good for white either after 13.Rd3.

Right now I guess the best try for a white edge might be 13.c4!? N, which hasn´t been mentioned so far.



13. c4!?
This looks strange at first sight, because it seems to weaken the already damaged pawn shield of the king, and it´s by no means the first recommendation of my engine.
But the pawn move might make sense, because
- after Qa3+ the white queen can protect the king by Qb2 in some lines,
- there is no check on the 6th rank for black,
- white immediately threatens cxd5
- after the probably best move 13...c5 white can force an exchange of queens, thus limiting blacks counterplay and maintaining an development advantage
- last but not least it´s much simpler and less risky than the unclear positions after 13.Rd3 or 13.Kb2

13...g5
a) 13... c5 (seems to be the best option) 14. Nxd5 cxd4 (14... Qe6 15. Qe3 Na6 16. Bd3 +/-) 15. Nxe7+ Kh8
16. Rxd4 (16.Nxc8!? should give white a slight edge as well) Nxf2 17. Rg1 Nc6
18. Nxc6 bxc6 19. Be2 Bg4 20. Bxg4 Nxg4 21. Rd6 Rac8 22. Re1 Nf6 23. Re7 +/- all this may not be forced, but after the exchange of queens white keeps the initiative and should have an edge due to his more active rooks, in the final position the bishop should be better than the knight too.

b) 13... Na6 14. Nxa8 Qa3+ 15. Qb2 Qxb2+ 16. Kxb2 Nxf2 17. Be2 Nxh1 18. Rxh1
Bf5 19. Nc7 +/-

c) 13... Qa3+ 14. Qb2 Qxb2+ 15. Kxb2 Na6 16. Nxa8 Nxf2 transposes to b).

d)13...Be6 14.Nxa8 Qa3+ 15.Qb2 Qxb2+ 16.Kxb2 Nxf2 17.Be2 Nxh1 18.Rxh1 exf 19.Nc7 +/-

14. Bg3! and finally this move seems to work because black hasn´t got a check to transfer his queen to the kingside in time.

14... Bg4 (14... Nxg3? 15. hxg3 Qxc7 16. Qf6 Qd8 17. Qh6 Bf5 18. Bd3 Qd7 19. Qxg5+ Bg6 20. Rxh7+- as in Stopa - Benjamin.)

15. Re1! (15.c3? Qa3+ 16.Qb2 (16.Kb1 Nc3+ -+) Qe3+ 17.Kb1 Nc3+ -+) 15... Qa3+ 16. Qb2 Qxb2+
17. Kxb2 Nd7 18. Nxa8 Rxa8 19. f3+/-

Thanks for bringing the attention to this nice little win over Benjamin. Just a few comments.

[Event "Netherlands tt 2007/08 YB-88"]
[Site "Philadelphia USA"]
[Date "2008.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Van Haastert, Edwin"]
[Black "Broekmeulen, Jasper"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C41"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Be7 6. Bf4 O-O 7. Qd2 d5 8. Ndb5 Bb4 9. O-O-O c6 10. Nc7 Nxe4 11. Qd4 Bxc3 12. bxc3 g5 13. Bg3 Nxg3 14. hxg3 Qxc7 15. Rxh7 Kxh7 16. Qf6 Rh8 17. Re1 Be6 18. Qxg5 Bf5 19. Bd3 Bg6 20.
Qf6 1-0

This short game was given in YB-88, with annotations, saying that 15.Qf6! was also winning on the spot. It shows essentially the same motif that was later used in Stopa-Benjamin. Maybe Stopa didn't have to find a single new move in the whole game.

However, there is one oddity in Stopa-Benjamin. Because of the strong move 12... Qe7(!) and 13. Kb2 being included, there is an additional defense for Black in 16... Qb6(!) 17. Ka1 c5 (intending ...Qg6). I think this favours Black. Thus, Stopa was quite lucky that Benjamin overlooked this defense or miscalculated his chances after 16... Qd8 (??) 17. Qh6 Bf5.

Lou_Cyber wrote on 03/24/09 at 11:39:21:

If I get it right, then Karolyi proposed this move 11.Qd4 in YB/61-125 which must have appeared around the year 2002. And yet there were no players to put trust in this move for the next years.

First test for this move was the game Van Haastert - Broekmeulen, Netherlands tt 2007/08. A series of dubious black moves led to quick defeat after 11. Qd4 Bxc3 12. bxc3 g5 13. Bg3 Nxg3 14. hxg3 Qxc7 15. Rxh7! etc.  This game appeared in YB 88 (in 2008). There are some lines given that claim white advantage after the safer move 12... Qe7 as well starting with 13.Rd3.

Next test for 11.Qd4 was Nijboer - Haslinger, Essent open 2008. Black deviated form the YB88 analysis and soon reached the draw after 11. Qd4 Bxc3 12. bxc3 Qe7 13. Rd3 Be6 14. Nxa8 c5 15. Qe3 c4 16. Rd4 Qa3+ 17. Kd1 Nxc3+ 18. Kd2 Nb1+ 19. Kd1 Nc3+ 20. Kd2 Nb1+ 21. Kd1 Nc3+ 1/2-1/2

There is an additional recommendation 11. Qd4 Bxc3 12. bxc3 Qe7 13.Kb2! (Karolyi, YB 88 gives more moves) but it's far from clear to me that this really means "plus minus vertical" or some similar advantage for White.

And guessing about Volokitin: He might as well have known this move but maybe he just didn't like it particularly for white.

smoothtactics wrote on 03/11/09 at 19:58:25:


15. c4 is a feeble move. Much better might be 15. Bxa6! bxa6 16. Ka1! with a somewhat better game. The possible line would be: 16...Be6 17. Bc7 Qa4 18. c4 Rxa8 19. Qb3 Qb4 20. Rd3 Qe7 21. Qxa3 Qxc7 22. cxd5 cxd5 23. Qc3 Qd6 24. Qd4 Rc8 25. Rc3 +/=

So it is time to update my database & bookshelf   - thanks for the hint! However, as far as I can see (without knowing Yearbook 88), 15.Qg3 Bf5 16.Nc7 Nc5 (iso Qb6+) is good for Black, and 15.Bxa6 bxa6 16.c4 dxc4 17.Be5 can lead to a draw: 17...Re8 18.Bc3 (Black threatened f6) 18...Qb5+ 19.Ka1 Rxe3 20.Rd8+ Bf8 21.fxe3 Qb7.