Yeah, I'm going to guess that at that level the main line is 6. Re1.

I agree - as someone starting to play the Open Spanish, this was a really nice overview.

Zatara wrote on 10/15/09 at 03:49:54:


In general even without an up-to-date book, you can learn a lot from searching on an up-to-date database.  If you scrounge around and watch both the stats and the recency of games, and keep your eye as well on the strength of the players, you can learn a great deal about the current status of theory.

There is a very standard recipe for 9.Qe2 invented by Korchnoi.  I don't recall the line well enough to quote it here, but it must be in Flear, since it isn't new.  The basic idea is 9...Be7 followed soon by ...Bc5.  As for 9.Nbd2, do you have access to the 1...e5 updates here?  They have been fairly informative, over the past few years.  The Ng5 piece sac is now know to lead to an equal game, but you have to know the theory pretty deep.  You don't mention 9.Be3, but that is nowadays considered an important challenge.

After 9.c3 I personally would have both 9...Be7 and 9...Bc5 in my repertoire.  9...Bc5 is more tactical in fun; 9...Be7 is motivated by the desire to get ...c7-c5 in.  I would not shun the Dilworth, since the ending is reasonable for Black and an unprepared White will often permit Black's king attack; I just would not rely on it all the time.  Instead of the Dilworth, ...Bf5 is viable.

There is nothing very difficult about the Open, but there are various motifs to keep in mind.  The opposing pawn majorities dictate that White will often be interested in kingside attack, Black often in shoving his d- and c-pawns, backed up by heavy pieces.  A big deal is getting the c-pawn to c5, which good Whites won't ususually let you do, not safely anyway.  Another is d5-d4 and sometimes d4-d3, but this can be dangerous because it often donates e4 to White.  Another is a possible Black kingside attack with pieces, often facilitated by ...Nxf7.  A prelude to that is often ...f5; another is ...f6.  Sometimes after ...f5 Black has to worry about a passed white pawn on e5, protected by a pawn on d4 (Black has a pawn on d5).  The right piece to stuff on e6 is, of course, a knight, but sometimes you have to settle for less.

Black often has to decide whether to play ...Ne4xd2.  This is  dangerous, because the b1-a7 diagonal is then available to the Spanish bishop, and White can usually force ...g6, after which he will switch play to the dark squares of your kingside.  Truly in my experience, being subjected to attack on the kingside is one of the major risks for Black when he plays the Open.  The other thing, of course, is the weak queenside pawns.  For example, White would like to get a knight to d4 supported by a pawn on c3.  Then if you exchange, you have to worry about your backward c-pawn.  But even then you may be able to stir up trouble with your pieces.  Consider ...c5 even if it loses a pawn, since you can then push your d-pawn.

There's a lot of tactics in the Open, and positional ideas are often dominated by tactical considerations.

I recommend you try to get ahold of Krasenkow's book as well as Flear's, since it has some good explanations.

[Why does my spell checker not like 'recency?'  It's a perfectly valid word.]