g2-g4 wrote on 09/16/10 at 18:54:21:
AMM wrote on 09/12/10 at 11:43:58:
Only 11..Bc7 is the correct one.
Is it?
12.Re1+ Kd8 - forced
12...Be6?? or 12...Ne7?? is met with 13.Nxc7+
12....Ne7 13.b3 Nf6 14.Ba3+ Kg8 15.Re7 Bxh2+ (but what else?) 16.Kh1 Qf8 17.Rxb7 +-
13.Bg5+ Nf6 - forced
13...Kd7? 14.Qg4+ with soon mate
14.Be4 (14.Bc4 also looks promising, but it disables c2-c4 option)
Re8 again looks forced
14...Be6 15.c4 crushes Black's center
15.Bxd5 Rxe1+ forced
16.Qxe1 Bxh2+ - probably forced
16...Qd7? 17.Rd1 +-
16...Qxd5!? 17.Rd1 Qxd1 18.Qxd1+ Bd7 19.Qd5 Kc8 20.Bxf6 gf 21.Qg8+ Bd8 22.Nd6+ Kc7 23.Nxb7 Nc6 24.Nxd8 Rxd8 25.Qxh7 may be a better choice, but doubtfully Black can survive in this endgame.
17.Kf1 Qe8 17...Qxd5 is worse than a move ago 18.Rd1
17...Qe7 18.Qa5+ Bc7 19.Qd2 Nbd7 20.Nxc7 Kxc7 21.Qa5+ Nb6 22.Rd1 with very strong attack
18.Qxe8+ Kxe8 29.Bxf6 gf 20.g3 As you can see, Black can't deviate and after 11...Bc7 he is forced to reach this position:
Can he hold this position? Obviously, further analysis is needed, but first impression is that he can't due to much less active pieces and weakness of his kingside pawns.
Summarizing the debate, the sources of classical Main line in the Latvian is
3.Nxe5 Qf6 4.Nc4 fxe4 5.Nc3 Qf7 ( by far, this variation is the most played at present at least in CC, ... but as we will see, perhaps we should back to the more classic 5..Qg6 )
6.Ne3 c6 (
6..d5!? has been discussed extensively at the beggining of this debate too )
7.d3 exd3 8.Bxd3 d5 9.0-0 reaching to the critical position. Black has proved most of the legal movements - up to 9 ! - but finally only 9..Bc5?! and 9..Bd6 was considered:
1)
9..Bc5?! has always been the first line that was tested, but from five years ago is known
10.b4! ( Stuart James ) refutes whole System ( see
http://www.jeremysilman.com//chess_opng_anlys/040223_more_splat_the_lat.html and
http://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1194567910/30 in this last one, note of Russian I.Terenin, "g2-g4", with
14.Rb1! ). A recent game with Terenin's reccomendation was:
10..Bd6 ( 10..Bxb4 11.Nexd5 cxd5 12.Nb5 etc. of
Rosenstielke-Melchor, cr e-mail, V LG World Ch., Final, 2005/06, 1-0, 25, see Jeremy Silman's link )
11.Re1 Ne7 12.Nexd5! cxd5 13.Nb5 Bxb4 ( 13..0-0 14.Nxd6 Qxf2+ 15.Kh1 Bg4 16.Qd2 Qf6 -16..Qxd2 17.Bxd2; 16..Qh4 17.Bb2 - 17.Qg5! and paradoxically we have trasposed to a known line with 9..Bd6 favourable as White )
14.Rb1! 0-0 15.Rxb4 Qxf2+ 16.Kh1 Nbc6 17.Be3 Qf6 18.Rf4 +- Qxf4 ( 18..Bf5 19.Bxf5 Nxf5 20.Bc5 )
19.Bxf4 Rxf4 20.Nc7 Bg4 21.Bxh7+! Kh8 ( 21..Kxh7 22.Qd3+ Bf5 23.Qg3 )
22.Qc1 Raf8 23.Bd3 R4f6 24.Kg1 Bf5 25.Bxf5 Rxf5 26.Qa3 Ng6 27.Nxd5 (
Melchor-Paiva Moreira, cr e-mail, LADAC thema Final, 2010/11, 1-0, 39 )
2)
9..Bd6 Black has achieved some strategic advantages in long-term. So soon, has strengthened a central extra pawn and the position of his Queen will be quite useful when castling since it will pressure along ‘f’ column. Moreover, quickly will show he did achieve a showy game if complete the development of his pieces ..Ne7 and ..0-0, the King will be safe while the White knights are poorly placed. The central Black pawns prevent the Knights moving forward and e3 one also blocks the Bishop of ‘c1’. The only problem for the Black is in most of the lines must be careful to the sacrifices Nexd5 ( again ... ) for the purpose of which is not another that obstruct the castling.
Now "Main" line 10. Re1 Ne7 11.Nexd5!? cxd5 12.Nb5 etc. has been analyzed deeply at
http://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1262014233/90 ( including the relative best
15..Qf6! where another Russian player got an easy draw against me ! ), and thus
I. Terenin ( again ! ) have suggested the other known dangerous move-manoeuvre
10.Nexd5! cxd5 11.Nb5 directly where
11..Bc7 is the unique move. According
diagram - and
analysis - above, after
12.Re1+ Kd8 ( I add 12..Kf8?! 13.b3 with attack )
13. Bg5+ Nf6 14.Be4! ( 14.Bc4 looks promising, but after 14..Be6 15.Bxd5 Bxd5 16.c4 Kc8 - or 16..Nbd7!? - 17.Bxf6 Bf3! etc.
Melchor-Sakai, cr e-mail, V LG Wotld Ch., sf. A, 2004/05, 1/2-1/2, 36 or 15.Rxe6!? Qxe6 16.Bxd5 Qe5 17.Bxb7+ Nbd7 etc. with a very complicated game for both players - you can continue analyzing this great line ! - )
14..Re8 ( 14..Be6 15.c4 )
15.Bxd5 Rxe1+ 16.Qxe1 Bxh2+ 17.Kf1 Qe8 18.Qxe8+ Kxe8 19.Bxf6 gxf6 20.g3 Terenin ask if Black can hold this position.
Well, according my own experience it is not easy to increase the adventage and even if second player plays accurately, he has get a reasonable draw possibilities: So,
20..Bxg3 21.fxg3 Kd8 22.Rd1 Nd7 23.Kf2 ( 23.Kg2 )
23..a5 24.c4 h6 25.Rd4 f5 26.Nd6 Kc7 27.Be6 Nb6 28.Bxc8 Nxc8 29.Nxf5 Ra6 30.Kf3 Rf6 31.Kf4 and now instead of 31..Ne7?! 32.g4 Ng6+ 33.Kg3 Ne5 34.Re4 etc. with a difficult ending in
Melchor-Borrmann, cr e-mail, LADAC thema Final, 2010/11 better looks
31..a4 32.g4 Ne7 33.Re4 Ng6+ 34.Kg3 Nf8 35.b4 axb3 36.axb3 Rb6 37.Re3 Nd7 or
30..a4 31.b4 azb3 32.axb3 Rb6 33.Rd3 Rf6 34.Kg4 Rg6+ 35.Kf4 h5 36.Rd1 Rg4+ 37.Kf3 Rg5 38.Nd4 Kd6 39.Nb5+ Ke7 40.Rd3 Rf5+
MAYBE LATVIAN IS STILL ALIVE !? ...