Quoting the user
Tolotos who was the first to bring this bombshell to my attention in a thread, and it never got any discussion.
Quote:
Maybe it´s a better move order for black to play d6,Be6 first (attacking the c4-pawn to force d3)
1.c4 c5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Bg2 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.Nf3 e5 6.0-0 d6 7.a3 a5 8.Ne1 Be6 9.d3 Nge7
Last Saturday I faced an interesting new move in the Botvinnik:
1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 e5 4.g3 g6 5.Bg2 d6 6.0-0 Bg7 7.a3 a5 8.Ne1 Be6 9.d3 Nge7 10.Nc2 d5 11.cxd5 Nxd5 12.Ne3 and now my opponent played 12...Nb6!? (instead of Nde7) 13.Bxc6 bxc6 14.Ne4 c4 15.dxc4 0-0 16.c5 Nd7 17.Qd6 Re8 18.Qxc6 Rc8 19.Db5 Rb8 20.Qa6 Ra8 21.Qb5 Rb8 22.Qa6 Ra8 draw agreed
I'd like to focus people to this area, because it represents a critical position for the whole 3...e5 4.g3 complex of the Symmetrical English.
Black has employed the very precise 6...d6 move order, meeting a3 with ...a5 only after White castles. Doing so, he keeps open the critical ...Be6 gaining a tempo off the c-pawn when White plays Ne1 while also avoiding b4 shenanigans.
After: 1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nc3 e5 4.g3 g6 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.a3 d6 7.0-0 a5 (only now) 8.Ne1 (8.d3 Nge7 is likely to head to the same place after 9.Ne1 Be6 10.Nc2, etc., unless White wants to play around with 9.Bg5 or 9.Bd2, neither of which are particularly troublesome) Be6 9.d3 Nge7 10.Nc2 d5 11.cxd5 Nxd5 12.Ne3, supposedly best for both sides these days, here comes 12...Nb6!
12...Nb6 is a very big deal, because White had been making real progress against the routine 12...Nde7 such as in Murin-Kukla, E-Mail 2011. 13.Bxc6 (13.Na4 Nxa4 14.Bxc6 bxc6 15.Qxa4 was Howell-Negi and Black soon drew effortlessly, while 13.Ne4 Qe7 14.Qc2 c4! resulted in a draw after a long engine-inspired sequence in Sapunjiev-Pirs, E-Mail 2009, that was basically impossible for either side to deviate from) has been played in most of the games to reach the position, but with depressing results for White. After 13...bxc6 14.Ne4 c4 15.dxc4 (15.Nxc4 Nxc4 16.dxc4 0-0 17.Nd6 was something I investigated, but the engine points out the very precise 17...c5! 18.Qd3 Qb6 19.Nb5 a4! and Black will eventually regain his pawn by taking on c4 followed by ...Qxb5 after a further ...Rfb8) 0-0! Black has found a pair of paths to equality against both 16.b3/Qxd8 and achieved the lone decisive result after 16.c5 in Seifert-Kogoj, E-Mail 2009, when White's overreliance on the engine did him in.
Backtracking a bit, should White try 13.Bd2, then 13...Nd4! gives Black great activity at the cost of his b-pawn after 14.Bxb7 Rb8 and making use of the hole on b3 and gaining space with ...f5. White's Ne3 is truly awkward and the Nb6 does a great job policing c4.
13.Rb1 would be standard, but then another point of Black's previous is revealed - 13...a5! and now 14.Bxc6!? bxc6 15.Ne4 Bb3 16.Qe1 c4 is a bit messy, but probably no worse for Black.
Anyone want to contribute?
Pages: 
Wedberg System; 12...Nb6! (Read 19212 times)
