Soltis Andrew Black To Play and Win With 1g6 A Complete Defe

BLACK TO PLAY
AND WIN
WITH 1 g6 . . .
A COMPI.ETE
DEFENSIVE SYSTEM
ANDREW SOLTIS
I"'TER ..AliO"At GRA "O�IASTtR
BLACK TO PLAY
AND WIN
WITH 1 96 • • •
ANDREW SOLTIS :
INTERNATIONAL GRANDMASTER
Chess Digest, Inc.

Table o f Contents 3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Paae
INTROD UCTION 5
SECTION I 8
White Is A King-Pawn Player
1 e4, g6 2 d4, Bg7
Variation A 3 N c3, c6! 11

Variation A1 4 N f3 11
(a) 4 g3?! 1l
(b) 4 Be3 13
(c) 4 h4 14
(d) Bc4 14
Variation A2 4 f4 34
Variation B 3 N f3, c6! 4l
Variation C 3 c3 47
Three "Other White Moves" 22
(a) 3 h4 47
(b) 3 e5 47
(c) 3 Bc4 47
SECTION I I 52
White Is A Queen-Pawn Player
1 d4, g6 2 "delayed c4"
1 d4, g6 2 c4, Bg7 3 Nc3, d6 4 e4, Nc6
Variation A 5 d5 61
Variation B 5 Nge2 69
V ariatlon C 5 Be3 76
4 Table o r Contents
SECTION I l l 86
Other Opening Moves By White
A Wh ite plays dl-d4 but does not 87

follow with c:l-c4
8 Wh ite plays the English, that 97

is d·c4 but not dl-d4
c Wh ite pl ays a Reti-Iike system or 101

K i ng's Indian Attack with 1 NC3 or 1 &3
D White fianchettoes his Queen Bishop 1 19

on his first two moves.
E White plays a Bi rd's Open ing 1 C4 103

Introduction 5
I NTRODUCTION
There are very few moves available to Black on his

fi rst turn that can be played against anything Wh ite does.
C h i e f among them is the dynamic, double-edged 1 g6. But ...
i t took a long time for 1 a6!? to be recogn ized as a

•••
playable move, let alone the key to an entire system.
Chess theory has tradi tionally been d istrust ful of

the move. It fi rst appeared in the games of 19th ce n t u ry
players who are known toda y only as "N.N." or Amateu r".
•
Usually, N.N. got swept o f f the board by h is m aster oppo

nent, an Anderssen or a Blackburne, and the spectators
nodded i n knowing a f fi rm ation. It j ust w asn't right to
start a chess game by a d v ancing a K n igh t Pawn.
O f cou rse, the real reason N.N. lost was because he

played like a nobod y and because his opponent played like
a grandmaster. N.N. usually followed 1 16 and 2 . Bg7
••• . .
with 3 ... e6 and 4 d6 and maybe 5 b6 as well. O ften Black

•.• •••
got m assacred on the K i ngsi de because he e xchanged o f f

t h e Bishop that serves a s its best d e fensive piece. Or, b e
made e xcessi v e pawn weaknesses such a s putting his pawns
at d5 , e6, and 16. Or, he was overwhelmed i n the center
when White's superior K n ights---on "correct" squa res such
as f3 and c3--- and Bishops, proved to be too strong for
Black's fianchettoed Bishop and m isplaced K nights on e7
or b6 or a6. In any e vent, Black ultimately lost because he
had no cou n terplay.
The d ubious repu tation of 1 16---regard less of

••.
White's open ing move---lasted well into this cen t u ry. Wh en

a game at the great New York Tou rnament o f 1924 began
1 e4, 16, Alexander Alekhine sneered in the tou rnament
book that this was a "joke opening". Even though playe rs
above the amateur rank began to adopt and score well
with fianchetto d e fenses, there w as a prevailing suspi cion
that it was due to luck, tactics---or black m agic.
6 Black To Play and Win With l .. g6 .
The enormous success o f the King's Indian De fense

against 1 d4 began to change m atters a fter World War II.
But it was believed that you couldn't play you r g-pawn up
a squ are until a fter l... N f6 h ad prevented Wh i te from
playi ng 2 e4! Even against 1 c4, the idea of l.. g6 as a flex
.
ible method o f initiating play was slow i n · w i n n i n g ap

proval.
Fin ally in the 1960's, the l ... g6 de fenses began to

appear---and in serious games by top flight players. More
over the v i rtues o f this particular first move, not l d6, ...
not l . . N f6, began to appear. In the games of Y u ri A ve r

.
bakh and Alexander K otov i t was shown that by delaying

•••N f6, Black could use the u nobstructed bishop on g7 to at
tack d4 in coord ination with Black's other knight at d.
And in the games o f Vitaly Tsesb kovsky -and B u k h ta Gur
gendize, i t w as demonstrated that i n 1 e4 games Black can
e f fecti vely delay N f6 by attacking the center with c7·
••• •.•
c:6 and ••• d7·d5. Furthermore, against 1 c:4, it was

discovered that l .. g6 enabled Black to develop fle xibly,
.
w i thout commi tting h is K ing K night or Queen K n ight

be fore be knows what Whi te is u p to.
You can use the move l .. g6 in a v ariety of w ays.

.
For e x ample, against 1 e4 the move l g6 can be a prelude

...
to the Tsesh kovsky-Gu rgendize strategy analyzed in Sec

tion I. Or it can j ust be a way of getting in to a Pirc De
fense, with Black following up qui ckly with d7-d6 and •••
N f6. Or, l. .g6 can be a w ay o f tempting Wh ite out o f a

•.. .
K i ng-Pawn position i nto a Queen-Pawn one, by playing 2

d4, 817 3 c:4.
Similarly, against 1 d4 the move l.. g6 allows Black

.
to shi ft i nto the A verbakh plan o f attacking d4 with

...N c:6, ... d7·d6, ...81J4 and .e7-e5. Or i t can j ust be a w ay
..
o f getting into a King's Indian De fense while a voiding

o f fshoots such as 1 d4, N f6 2 Bg5!? Or, a fter 1 d4, g6 it
may be a means o f d rawing Whi te into a lively l e4, Bg7 3
Introduction 7
Nc:J, d6 Pirc D e fense posi tion rather than a posi tional

Queen-Pawn game.
The presu m ptuous title, Black To Play and Win

With l g6, is not used to mislead you. Black is playi ng
...
l g6 to u nbalance the posi tion---to strive for a fighting

...
de fense where the stronger playe r can prevail---or the

weaker player, if he k nows what he is about, can have
winning chances from the Black side.
I n the pages that follow, we analyze the various

characte rs o f l g6 in this order:
...
Section I: White is a Ki ng-Pawn player ( 1 e4)

Section II: White is a Queen-Pawn player (1 d4)
Section III: Other opening moves by Whi te
8 Black To Play and Win With l. g6 ..
SECTION I
White Is a King-Pawn Player
1 e4 g6
Our defensi ve system will featu re an attack on the

center with •••c:7·c:6 and d7-d5. Usually the Modern De
•••
fense, and its h al f-brother the Pirc, resembles the K i ng's

Indian De fense o f 1 d4, because Black attacks the dark
squares with d7-d6 and e7-e5, or c:7-c:5. Howe ver, our
.•• ••• •••
Modern will be closer to the Caro-K an n i n which i t is e4,

not d4, that is the target.
2 d4
By far the most logical, natural and popular re

sponse. Some players will try to avoid Pi rc/Modern posi
tions when they have White, and will tempt Black into a
closed Sicilian De fense by playing 2 N c:J, 2 f4 or 2 N f3.
U n less you are com fortable enough with those positions,
you shou ld a voi d transposition to the Sicilian (2 ... c5).
Qne method of u psetting Whi te's move order is c7·•..
c6 a move earlier than normal, e.g. 2 f4, c6 3 N f3 , d5 and

if 4 e5, then 4 b5 as i n the Gurgenidze System o f Varia
•••
tion A2. Then White can retain strength on his central

light squ a res e4 and c4 with 5 d3. But a fter 5 N b6 6 Be3,
.••
8 14 7 Nbd2, Na6 8 b3, Nf5! 9 B f2, B d3 10 N d3, b4

Sedlon 1: White Is a King- Pawn Player 9
(Vellmlrovlc- Bulat, Yugoslav Championship 1984) Black has

the usual solid position he achieves i n the G u rgenidze and
doesn't have to "undevelop" his Bishop with 8 18 as he
•••
does i n A2.
Black can delay or e ven avoid moving his c-pawn,

since l 14, dS 3 n: dS, Q:xdS is a kind o f Cente r Counter
De fense in which Black's extra move (...g6) is much more
use ful than Wh ite's e xtra move ( f4). And on 3 eS, bS 4 d4,
Nh6 Black h as play similar to that o f al, e.g. 5 c3, c6 6
N a3, Qb6 7 N cl, Bg4 8 Qdl, e6 9 a4, aS 10 Ne3, NIS 11
Qfl, Be7 1l N dS, B dS 13 N f3, Nd7 14 Bel, cS as in Heb·
den- Lobron, New York 198 1.
On the other hand, the bold bayone t o f l h4!?

should be met by l ... hS when both players h a ve weakened
their ki ngside. This could be d angerous to Black i f h e al
lows White a d i rect attack on f7 by w ay of B c4 and N f3 ·
1S, since ... h7·h6 h as been t a k e n a w ay.
However, Black can de fend by building t he c6/d5

pawn center that is the hallmark of our system. For exam
ple, l h 4 , hS 3 d 4 , Bg7 4 N c3, c 6 S N f3, d S 6 Bel, Bg4! 7
Qdl, B :x f3 8 g:x f3, e6 9 0·0·0, N d7 10 14?!, d:xe4 1 1 N : u4,
Qe7 (Shlrazi·Soltls, Lone Pine 1979).
On 3 Bc4 White threatens to seize the d iagonal lead-

i ng to 17 be fore Black can contest i t (3...Bg7 4 N c3, c6 5
Q f3). B u t on 3 B c4 Black should play 3 ...N f6! 4 N c3, c6
threatening 5 ... d5, e.g. 5 e5, d5! 6 ed6, d :x c4 7 he7,
Q:xe7ch 8 Ngel, Bg7 9 dl, c:xdl 10 Q:xdJ, DIS with advan
tage to Black, or 7 Qel (Rigo·J, Kristiansen, Magy arorszag
1985) Nd7 8 Qxc4, N :x f6.
l ... Bg7
There is no reason to tip o f f Black's strategy by

ad vancing a center pawn when Black can complete the fi
an chetto setup with this u navoidable move. On l ... c6 White
can play 3 c4! with two poin ts: Black cannot attack the
10 Black To Play and Win Wltb 1 16•••
center with Nc6 and White's two pawns will restrict

...
Black's possibilities for d7-d5.

...
A fter 2 Ba7 we have a broad choi ce, to be ana

...
lyzed in the following v ari ations:
(A) 3 Nc3 retains options such as attack ing i n the

center with f2- f4, or on the K i ngside with f2- f3, Be3 and
Qd2. I t also hints at Queenside castli ng. This is the most
popular t h i rd move.
(B) 3 N rJ begins K i ngside mobilization (e.g. Bc4

next move) and allows Whi te to bolster his center with c2-
c3. Less sharp than 3 Nc3, but quite solid.
(C) 3 c3 retains aggressi ve intentions in the center

without committing him to N f3 or f2- f4. Other t h i rd
moves such as 3 h4, 3 e5, 3 Bc4, 3 c4, 3 Be3, 3 f4 will also
be covered
Section 1: White Is a Kina-Pawn Player 11
Variation A
( 1 e4, g6 2 d4, Bg7)
3 N c3 c6!
This signals the beginning o f Black's central strat

egy: to post h is d-pawn on the fou rth ran k and the reby
mount an indirect attack on Whi te's d-pawn (with ...Bg4
and ...d xe4). I f Whi te closes the cen te r by e4-e5, Black will
try to con t rol the weakened light-squ a res such as e4, or
undermine the enemy pawn chain with f7.f6. •••
We now look at two m ai n v a ri ations: A 1 4 N f3 and

A2 4 f4. Other fou rth moves for Whi te such as 4 g3, 4 Be3,
4 h4 and 4 Bc4 are covered i n A1 notes below.
Variation A1
(1 e4, g6 2 d4, Ba7 3 N c3, c6)
4 N f3
U Black To Play and Win With 1 g6 •••
Since 4 ... d5 is an obvious possibility, White gener

ally declares a central strategy o f his own with his fou rth
move.
Wi th 4 f4 for example, he announces that he will

meet 4...d5 with 5 e5, a solid rein forced pawn chain. This
is considered i n the next chapter, Variaiton ·A2.
Or White can try to stop 4... d5 with 4 B c4, which

we'll examine i n a fe w paragraphs. Otherwise, Black will
play 4... d5 and develop along n at u ral lines. For example:
(a) 4 g3?!,
has been tried by Boris Spassky, but the K i ngside

fianchetto is somewhat i n appropriate against Black's cen
t ral strategy, 4...d5. A fter 5 e5, f6!, his chain is u n d e r fire
(6 N f3, Bg4 or 6 f4, Nh6 7 Bg2, 0-0 8 N f3, Bg4 9 0-0, Qd7
and ... Na6-c7). I f White liquidates his chain with 5 eS, f6 6
u f6, Black gets a fine game from 6...e : d6 and . . N h6 - f7 or
.
simply 6...N d6 7 Bgl, 0-0 8 N f3, Bg4 with advan t age to

Black (Svesb nikov-Tsesb kovsky, Lvov 1 9 78) or 8 N gel, eS 9
dxe5, Ng4 10 f4, Qb6. The Bishop on gl bi tes on dS gran
i te.
Of cou rse i f White plays 5 Bgl instead of 5 eS, his

d-pawn comes under immediate fi re a fter 5...du4! And 5
u : dS, cxdS 6 Bgl, N f6 is the k i n d o f game Black loves: his
opponent's Queen K night is not only m isplaced i n terms o f
Section 1: White Is a King- Pawn Player 13
its own possibilities, b u t it also blocks the best de fense of

the d-pawn, cl ·c3.
(b) With 4 Be3,
dS S Qdl White m akes provision for the de fense o f

h i s d-pawn a n d also h i n t s at Queenside castling. Black then
h as the n atu ral developing plan of S ... du4 6 N xe4, Nd7
and 1 . N1f6. Black shou ld be care ful since this may give
. .
White too free a hand: 7 0-0-0, N1f6 8 f3, N x e4? 9 he4,

N f6 10 eS, Nd5 11 B b6! as i n Kuprelcblk-Grl1orov, Lvov
1986.
Black may pre fer to ignore the center temporarily

with moves such as S ...N a6!?, e.g. 6 0-0-0, Nc7 7 f3, bS 8
b4, b 6 9 N b3, B x b3! 10 Rx b3, aS 1 1 Bd3, e6--Essegern
B aum, East Germany 197S.
But p robably best for Black is S ... N f6!?, leaving

Whi te's ON misplaced. A fter 6 eS, N g4 7 B f4 Black is
ready to hit back with 7 ... 16!, e.g. 8 b3, fxeS 9 b:l:g4, e x f4
1 0 Qx f4, Qd6! or 8 ex f6, N x f6 9 0-0·0, 0-0 10 f3, N bd7 11
b4, N bS U B bl, e5! (Teufei-Czernlak, Blel 1975 which
con tin ued 13 g4, exd4! 14 N xdS, NeS!). No better is U Bb6,
Ng3. Notice how Black can sec u rely recap t u re on f6 in
some of these positions even though he gets a temporarily
back ward e-pawn as a resul t.
White can also rein force his e4 square with 4 Be3,

dS S f3, dxe4 6 fxe4, b u t t h is h as more loosening e f fect
14 Black To Play and Win Wltb 1 16
•••
than strengthening: 6 N f6 7 Bel, 0·0 8 b3 (to avoid

...
... Ng4), Qa5 9 Qd.Z, c:5! 10 d5, e6 1 1 B f3, exd5 l.z ud5,
N bd7 13 B f4, Re8cb 14 N1e.Z, b5 15 d6, b4! 16 Bza8, bsc3
17 Qsc3, Qu3 18 hc3, Ba6 and Black had a v i cious at
tack in Mukbln-Tseltlln, Tash kent 1977.
Note that 4 Be3, d5 5 e5 will end u p, a fter 5 ... b5 6
Qd.Z, N b 6 with play similar to our m ai n liJle below except
that Wh ite has not advanced his f-pawn (7 h3, N d 7 8 N f3,
N f8 9 Bd3, B f5--Ciocaltea- Kurz, France 1975).
(c) Unlike U-b4 at the second or t h i rd move, 4 b4
can be safely ignored here: 4 ... d5 5 e5, b5! a fter which

.. 8 14 or N b 6 · f5 can be played b y Black. On 5 e x d5 , c:xdS
. ...
6 b 5 the improved situ ation for Black in the cen ter ma kes
the wing demonstration somewhat meaningless---6 .. N c6 7 .
Be3, N b 6! 8 Bb5, N f5 9 Qd.Z, N x e3 10 Qu3, Bg4 as i n

Kluaer· Vo1t, Dublin 197.Z.
That leaves (d) 4 Bc4:

Section 1: White Is a Kln1· Pawn Player 15
Then Black should play 4 ... d6 a fter w h ich 5 Qe.Z or 5 N rJ

leads into "book " lines that have never shown m uch for
Whi te. For example, 5 N f3, N f6 6 e5, du5 7 N x e5, 0·0 8 0·
0, Nbd7 9 BB5, Nb6 10 Bb3, N fd5 ll N:td5, ndS U Bh4,
Be6---Nicevskl· Undovclc, Zaareb 1970 or 6 Bb3 (else
6... d5!), 0·0 7 0·0, B a4! 8 h3, 8:113 9 QdJ, Nbd7 10 Be3, e6
with a solid game.
More dangerous-looking, and what at one time was

considered the "bust" of 3 ...c:6, is 4 Bc:4, d6 5 Q fJ!?, w h i ch
attacks 17 and forces 5 ... e6. I n several games i n the 1960's
and 70's, Black played an early d6·d5 and ended up with
...
a bad QB and little center acti vi ty.
The right way o f playing the posi tion, however, is

to sa fegu ard 17 and then advance the e-pawn, not the d
pawn. For e x am ple, a fter 5 Q f3, e6 6 N1el Black can con
tinue 6... Qe7 7 Bel, Nd7 and . e7·e5! when Whi te's Queen
. .
and K i ng K night t u rn out to be m isplaced and Black's loss

of a tempo doesn't m atter much, e.g. 8 0·0·0, N a f6 9 h4, eS
or 9 Qa3, b5.
Better for Wh ite may be 6 B f4!?, o f fe ring the d

pawn in order to castle quickly and e x ploit the d- file. The
sim ple reply is 6...Qe7 and an early . e7-e5. More ambi
..
tious is 6 b5 7 Bb3, a5, which may d iscou rage Wh i te from

.••
placing h is K ing on the Queenside (8 a4, b4 9 N ce2, Qc7

10 0-0-0, Nd7 11 h4, h6 12 Bh2, N g f6 13 N f4, Nb6--not
13 ...e5 14 d xe5, d xe5 15 B x f7ch!--14 Nd3, N fd 7 15 Ne2, Ba6
16 Qg3, e5 with chances for both sides, Glek- Kantsler,
Frunze 1987).
Back to our main line 4 N fJ.
With 4 N f3 Whi te believes that sim ple d e velopmen t

will b e su f ficient. t h e K night i s p repared to go t o e S in
some i nstances a fter that square h as been slightly weak
ened by . d7-d5.
..
(See d iagram on following page)

16 Black To Play and Win With l. g6 ..
4... d5
As advertised. Black takes i n d i rect aim at d4 and

d i rectly at e4.
5 h3
This is designed to stop B a4, which otherwise

•••
could pose p roblems for Whi te i n his de fense of d4, e.a. 5

Be2,
Bg4! 6 0-0?, dxe4 7 Nu4, B x f3 8 B : d3, Q x d4 when Wh ite

has scan t com pensation for h is lost pawn (9 Qe2, Nd7 10
R d 1, Qe5 1 1 Bd2!, Qc7 1 2 N d6ch, K f8 13 B f4, e5 14 Be3,
Ngf6--and Black consolidates with ... Kg8 and ... R d8, Trey·
bai- Prlbyl, Stary Smokovetz, 1976).
Better is 6 Be3 with plen t y of play for the pawn a f

ter 6 ... N b 6 7 b3, B d3 8 B : d3, du4 9 B :u4!, N f5 10 B d5 ,
g x f5 1 1 Q f3, B x d4? 12 0·0·0! (Kurajlca- Bulat, Yugoslav
Section 1: White Is a KIDB·Pawn Player 17
Championship 1984). However, Black gets a fine game this

time with 6 dxe4 7 N xe4, N d7 and
••• 8 N1f6 because
•••
Wh ite's Bishops are somewhat passi ve. There is also a

prom ising waiting strategy o f 6 e6 and 7
••• Ne7.
•••
Once Black's Queen Bishop is o f f the last ran k, he

should not fea r ...e7-e6. Another version is 5 B d3 ,
8 14! 6 e 5 w h e n Black h as n o p roblems i f he con ti nues

6 ...e6! and then ...c6·c5 (7 h3, B x f3 8 Qx f3, Nd7 9 0-0, Ne7
10 Ne2, c5-- de Flrmlaa-Dzhladzhlkashvlll, U.S. Champion·
hlp 1984).
Note however, that a trap lies in the i nnocent-look

ing move 5 B f4.
A fter 5 ... 8 14, Black m a y find himsel f in hot water: 6 ex d S ,

nd5 7 NbS, N a6 8 h3, B d3 9 Qx f3 and not only is there
no attack on d4---there is no easy way for Black to de velop
f u rther his Queenside pieces. One counte r-trap is S B f4,
18 Black To Play and Win '_Vlth 1 ... 16
\
I
du4 6 Nu4, Qa5ch and then 7 c3??, Qr5! On: 7 N c3, BB41
or 7 Qdl, Q:xdlch or 7 Bdl, Qd5 8 B d3, BB4 Black h as
good chances.
Next question: What happens i f Wh ite, i nstead o f

wasting time on proh ylactic moves like 5 h3, decides t o re
solve the center tension? Suppose he a vpids losing the d
pawn simply by moving his e-pawn at move five? The an
swer is that neither 5 e :x d5 nor 5 e5 promises much.
The former is particularly pleasant for Black. A fter

5 e:xd5, c:x d5,
Black gets a square for the developmen t o f his QN, and

following 6 Bb5ch, N c6 7 0·0, BB4! 8 h3, B d3 9 Qx f3, e6
White's d-pawn is the only target in the position. Despite
what you' ve heard about not mixing ···17·16 with e7-e6, .••
Black is well-protected on the dark-sq u a res.
Typical play would then be 1 0 Rel, Ne7 1 1 Bg5, 0-0

12 B x c6, b x c6 and in Zak.hariev- Donchev, Bulgarian
Ch ampionship 1984, Black won the endgame a fter 13 B f6,
B d6 14 Qx f6, N f5 15 Qx d8, R h d8 1 6 Rad1, Rab8 17 b3,
Rb4 18 Ne.Z, ReS 19 c3, Rb6 20 b4, aS! The superiority o f
Black's O N over Whi te's was e vident.
Another version o f this is 5 B d3, Bg4 6 n d5, c:xd5 7

h3, B x f3 8 Qx f3, e6 9 Ne.Z, N c:6 10 c:3, Nge7 1 1 0-0, 0·0 and
now Klovan- Rytov, Leningrad 1974 saw Black playing ag
gressively in the center with 12 B 1S, f6!? 18 B d.Z, e5 1 4
Section 1: White Is a Kln1· Pawn Player
d:xe5, l:xe5 15 Ql4, N 15 with a sligh t edge, although he

could also have done well with the q u ieter Minori ty At
tack o f . Rb8 and b7·b5·b4.
.. ••.
And what o f 5 e5?
That also surrenders control of some key light-squares and

also sets u p a target for undermining. U n l i ke the position
created by 4 14, d5 5 eS (discussed in V ariation A2), White
is not threatening a space-gaining K i ngside a d v ance here.
Nor is be easily able to rein force e5 with his f-pawn.
There fore, 5 e5 should be met b y 5 N h 6! and 6 16,
••• •.•
e.g. 5 N h6 6 Bel, 16 7 8 14, N l7 8 Qdl, 0·0 9 b3, IuS 10

•••
NuS, Nd7 11 N x l7, Rd7 1l Be3, e5! (Bellln- Gipslls,

Sukbumi·T fllls 1977). This is an excellent i llustration o f
t h e undermining strategy---Black attacks then destroys the
eS-based center, then adv ances his own pawn to eS.
Similarly, 6 b3, 0·0 7 8 14, 16 8 Qdl, N r7 9 0·0·0

and now not 9 b5? 10 Ret, aS 11 Bd3, a4 U a3 when
•••
Black's Queenside play is stopped (Czerniak-Hernando,

Blel 1975) but simply 9 N a6 and••• N c7-e6, or 9 heS 10
•.• •..
N:xe5, Nd7, with equalizing pressure in the center.

Usually, White will liquidate in the center when e5
is ch allenged. But the open e- file that results, w i th a Black
Pawn on 16, is h ardly dangerous for the second player.
Back to the main line a fter 5 b3.
(See diagram on following page)

20 Black To Play and Win With 1 g6 •.•
5 ••• N 16
This is superior to 5 ... dxe4 6 N x e4, N l6 which

leaves Black's pieces a bit m isplaced b y 7 N d6ch, B d6 8
B h6!. Black doesn't get enough counterplay from 8 ... c5 9
c3, cxd4 10 N K d4, N c6 1 1 Nu6, Qxd1ch 12 R x d 1, b x c6 13
Bel, Bd7 14 Rdl, 0-0-0 15 Bc4---Tseltlio- Podgayets,
U.S.S.R. Championship 1972.
In comparable positions that we considered earlier,

5 ... dxe4 6 N x e4, N d7, which allows Black to recapture on
f6 with a Kn ight, worked well. Here however, it creates
p roblems for Black a fter 7 Bc4!, Ngf6 8 N x f6ch, N x f6 9 0-
0, 0-0 10 Re1. Wh ite's ability to attack along the e- file and
use e5 as an outpost gi ves him an edge, e.g.:
(a) 10 ...N d5 11 c3, aS 12 a4, b6 13 Qe2, B fS 14 BgS,

Ra7 1S NeS, Rc7 16 Q f3, Be6 17 Bh4, Qa8 18 Bb3 and
White p repares for the decisive advance of his c- and d
pawns while Black lacks counterplay (Browoe- Kovacevlc,
Rovioj-Z agreb 1970).
(b) 10 ... b5 1 1 Bb3, aS 12 a4, e6 13 NeS, Qb6 14 BgS,

NdS 1S Bxd5!, e xd5 16 Be71, ReS 17 Bc5, Qc7 18 R aJ!, f6
19 N xg6! with a winning attack (Gorshkov-Timofeyev,
Krasoodar 1978).
It is not so much the pawn structure that m akes a

d i f fe rence here, but rather the slight d i f fe rence i n piece
Section 1: White Is a Kln1· Pawn Player ll
placement (Bishop on c4, Knight on f6), and this should be

kept in mind.
6 e5
This is the most aggressi ve and most d angerous re

ply. It's i m portant to com p a re 6 B d3, d:xe4 7 N xe4, N xe4 8
B u4, Nd7 9 0-0, 0-0 with the line i n the p re v ious note.
Whi te's Bishop is m isplaced on e4 while Black's K night

may actually be more use ful on d7 (where it supports ... c6-
cS and keeps the White K night o f f eS) than i t would on f6.
Black will play c:7-c5, leav ing White with a choice

•••
between isolating his d-pawn (... cxd4/c3xd4) or an

e xchange o f pawns that will leave Whi te with d4 for his
pieces, b u t will grant c:5 to Black's. Chances should be
roughly equal. To illustrate, consider t hese possibilities:
(a) 10 c3, c5 1 1 Bc2, c xd4 12 N xd4, eS?! 13 NbS, a6

14 Nd6 (Bronsteln-Tseshkovsky, U.S.S.R. Championship
1 975) looks good for White, but 12... a6! would be one im
p rovement and 10 ...Qc7 11 BgS, e6 and 1 2...b6, 13...Bb7, as
recommended in S h a k m atn y Bulletin, is another.
Similar to this is 10 c3, Qc7 11 R e1, cS 12 BgS, cxd4

13 N x d4, N cS 14 Bc2, eS?I 1S NbS!, Qb6 16 a4, a6 17 Qd6!
as in Estrin-Tsesh kovsk y, Omsk 1973. Better would have
been 14... Ne6 or 14 ... Re8 and ... a7-a6.
22 Black To Play aod Wio With � g6 ...
Black should time the ... cxd4 captu re accu rately. A f

ter 10 c3, cS 1 1 BgS, h6 12 B f4, the movement is at hand
since 12...cxd4 13 N xd4?, eS! wins a piece and 13 cxd4, N f6
14 Bc2, Be61 1S Qd2, BdS allows Black easy equality, Ku·
drln-Dzh lodzhi kashvlll, U.S. Champlooshlp 1984 (16 NeS,
ReS 17 R fe 1, NbS 18 Bh2, e6 19 R a d 1, QgS!). Notice that
Black's Knight goes to f6 when i t is no longe r needed to
support c5.
(b) A fter 10 Re1 Black h as se veral ideas. Chief

among them is 10 ...Qc7 fi rst, anticipating B f4, and 10... Re8
followed b y ll.. eS. But if Black is playing for an advan
.
tage, then 10 ... c51 is his move.
Then 11 c3, cxd4 12 cxd4 (12 N xd4, a6 and 13...eS

or 12... NcS 13 Bc2, eS 14 NbS, Bd7; 14 Nb3, Qc7), N f6 is
typical sequence. A fter 13 Bc2, b6 14 B f4, Bb7, Black is
e q u al (but not 13...Be6? because o f a sacri fice com mon to
these positions-- 14 R xe6!, fxe6 1S NgS, Qd6 16 Qe2--Mari·
ottl·Tsesh kovsky, Maolla 1976).
I f White recaptu res on d4 with a p iece rathe r t h an

a pawn, Black suddenly h as a K ingside m aj ority that
coun ts: 11 ...Qc7 12 Bc2, cxd4 13 N xd4, NcS 14 Q f3, a6 1 S
BgS, eS! 16 Nb3, N e 6 17 B f6, N f4 with advantage to Black.
(L.D. Evaos·Soltls, New York 1977).
(c) 10 BeJ and now 10 ...e5 equalizes accord ing to

Larry Ch ristiansen. For that reason 10 B f4 is more att rac
tive. Then Black can shi ft his K night to dS with gain o f
tempo, b u t 10 B f4, c 5 (threatening 1 l...cxd4 12 N xd4, e5) is
more thematic. A fter 11 dS?, N f6 Black is better and on 1 1
d xcS, N xcS 12 BdS, Black might grab t h e b-pawn or simply
develop with 12...Be6.
(d) 10 BaS is better than the other Bishop moves

because it sets up a trap: 10...c5?! 11 d x c51, N x c51, N x c5? 12
Qxd8 and 13 Bxe7. However Black h as a few superior
methods o f cont i n uation. One is 1 0... Re8 11 c3, Qb6, e.g. 12
Qd2, N fS 13 R ad 1, Be6 14 b3, Bd5 (de Flrmlan-Selrawan,

Wljk aan ,zee 1986).
A tricky alte rnati ve is 10 ... h6 and i f 1 1 Bh4, then

11 ...g5 12 Bg3, f5 13 Bd3, f4. I f instead White retreats the
Bishop to e3, then ll ..e5, as i n (c) will lose Black's h-pawn
.
a fter e xch anges on e5. But 11 Be3 allows approxi mate

equality from ... c6-c5. For example, 1 1 Be3, c5 12 d xc5,
Qc7 13 Qe2 (13 Qd5, N f6), N xc5 14 Qc4, Ne6 or 13 ... Rb8!?
14 Qb5, N f6 15 Bd3, e5 16 Bc4, Bd7 17 Qb3, Bc6 C han --
dler-Chrlstlansen, Thessalonlkl 1984. This appears bette r

than ll . Qc7 which i n v i tes 12 Qc11, Kh7 13 B f4, Qa5 14
..
c3, N f6 15 Bc2, B f5 16 R e 1 with a slight pull (Barlov

Ozhlndzhlkashvill, New York 1987).
Back to the main line a fter 6 e5.
6 ••• Ne4
7 Bd3
In the early days of this v a n at1on, 1970-75, White

tried to punish Black with 7 Nu4, du4 8 Ng5. It is im pos
sible for Black to hold the ad vanced e-pawn. He can, how
ever, drum up more than adequ ate cou nterplay by attack
ing the enemy center.
For e xample, 8 c5 and now:

...
(See d i agram on following page)

14 Black To Play and Win With 1 ...a6
(a) 9 BbScb, Bd7! 10 Bxd7cb, Qxd7 11 c3, Nc6 12

Be3, 0-0-01 and Whi te's center is crumbling. I f Whi te liqui
dates that center with 11 d x cS, Black should have enough
play with 11 ...Qc6 1 2 Qe2, B xeS.
(b) 9 B c4, 0·0 10 c3 also gains time to support the

center. But Black h as a terri fic initiative a fter 10 ... cxd4 1 1
cxd4, Nc6 1 2 Be3, QaSch 1 3 Qd2, Qxd2cb 1 4 K xd2, h6! 1 5
N x e4, Rd8 16 K c3, B fSI and s o on. A game Mallee-Pytel,
Dortmund 1975 we.nt 17 Ng3, R ac8 18 N x fS, g x fS 19 R ac1,
bS 20 BxbS, Nd4ch 2 1 K b4, R b81 22 B xd4, R xd4ch 23 K cS,
BxeS 24 Rc2, R eSch 25 Bc6, Rd6 26 K bS, B xb2 and wins
(see I n formant #20).
Wh ite can play 10 e6 since Black cannot a f ford an

e xch ange o f pawns. B u t the forcing 10... f6 1 1 N xe4, bS! o f
fe rs Black another sharp initiative and be h as a terri fic
game (12 BxbS, QaSch). In a game that gained conside rable
attention for this openi ng, Spassky· Tsesbkovsky, U.S.S.R.
Cup 1974, Black won a fter 12 Be2, cxd4 13 B f3, N c6 14 0-
0, Qb6 15 Re1, Bb7 16 B f4, R fd8 17 a3, aS 18 Qd3, a4! 19
h4, b4 (or 19 Rab1, b4 20 b3, Ba6 21 Qd2, d3!).
(c) 9 e6 is a better version of t he last idea since

9... f6 would now lose the Exch ange to 10 N f7. Black m ust
play 9...B xe6 10 N xe6, fxe6 a fter w hi ch 11 d xcS o f fe rs
Black, despite appearances, excellent chances i n the
endgame: 11 ...Qxd 1ch 12 K xd 1, 0-0 13 Ke2, N a6 14 Be3,
R ac8 15 c3, N xcS 16 g3, N a4 17 Bg2, N xb2 18 B x e4, N a4
19 Bd2, Bxc3 as in Tlmoshcheoko-Machulsky, C hely ablosk

1974.
(d) The other method of early liquid ation, 9 dxc5,

is probably best met by 9...Qc7! {10 N xe4, QxeS). Yet most
games have contin ued 9 ...Qa5ch 10 Bd2, QxcS 1 1 Bc3 with
a little trap being set { 1 1 ...Bxe5? 1 2 B xeS, QxeS 13 Qd8ch!
and 14 N x f7ch). Also 1 1 ... Nd7 12 Bd4, QdS { 12...Qa5ch!)
allows 13 e6! with advan tage. White may do even better
with 1 1 ... Nd7 12 Nxe4, Qc6 13 Qe2, B xeS 14 0-0-0!
Nevertheless, Black seems to be o k a y H he avoids
all t raps with 1 1...Nc6 12 N xe4, Qb6 13 Bc4, 0-0!
(Dvoretsky- Zllberstelo, Ttrlls 1973) since 14 Qe2 allows
14... Nd4 and 14 f4 permits a check on e3.
See Illustrative game at end of this chapter
(Vari ation A1).
(e) Finally there is 9 c3 without a preparatory

_
move. With 9...cxd4 1 0 Qxd41 (or 10 cxd4, f6 11 e x f6, e x f6

12 N xe4, Qe7 13 Qe2, 0-0 with good compensation) Nc6 1 1
Qxd8, N xd8 1 2 BbSch, N c6 1 3 B f4, B d 7 1 4 e6, fxe6 15
Bxc6, bxc6 16 N xe4 with a sligh t edge accord ing to New In
Chess.
Black may improve in this last line with 9 ... 0-0, and
i f 10 N xe4, then 10 ... cxd4 1 1 Qxd4, Qc7 or 11 ... Nc6. Black
can also a void all of the analysis in volving 8...c5 and play
instead 8... f6!?, as suggested in N e w In Chess No. 6. The
N.I.C. analysis runs 9 e x f6, e x f6 10 N xe4, Qe7 1 1 Qe2, 0-0
12 c3, ReS 13 N cS, Qd8 14 Be3, fS or 12 N cS, Qd6 13 Be3
(13 Qc4ch, Kh8 14 Be2, b6!) fS etc.
Back to main line a fter 7 Bdl.
7 ••• N x c:J
Un fortunately 7 f5 8 ed6 e.p., N d6 is posi tionally

...
bad for Black (back ward e-pawn) and 8 N x c3?? 9 hg7 is

...
tactically much worse.

26 Black To Play and Wla Wltb 1 g6 ••.
8 b x c3 cS
••.�.�-� .
�� -
' � � � ��
�
� f� ... �
�.&�
�
� -
� �
� �.00 � ��
� �l�.� �� ft
ft� ft� � ft�
g �NtW � �
Tbe position now vaguely resembles a Win awer
Variation o f the F rench because o f the pawn struct u re.
Black's Queen Bishop is not locked i a b y an e6-pawa as i n
. t h e Winawer, a n d his K ing Bishop is still o n the board.
Also unlike the Winawe r, Black can easi l y castle K ingside.
And he can attack the front o f the pawn chain with ... f7·
f6.
On the debit side, Black's QB lacks a good squ a re

and White can make good use o f the b- file and a3-e7 d iag
onal.
9 dx c5!?
At some point Whi te probably will exch ange pa wns,

i f only to open Bishop lines, e.g. 9 0·0, Nc6 10 Ret, Qa5 1 1
a4, Bd7? U dx c5!, Qxc5 13 Rbl, b 6 1 4 Rb5 or 1 3 ... Nd8 14
Bb5! (Sznaplk· Prlbyl, Warsaw 1980).
The exchange removes some central tension and v a

cates d4 at the cost o f pawn secu rity. It also a voids the
constriction that can occur a fter ...c5-c4!?.
For example, on 9 B f4 Black gets good play from

9 ... Qa5 10 Qdl, N d7 11 0-0, c4! (12 Be2, Nb6 13 R fb 1 , Na4
14 Rb4, b5--Fedorowlcz- Soltls, U.S. C bamploasblp 1977).
Black can m i x the .. c5·c4 plan with ... f7· f6, e.g. 9
.
0-0, 0-0 10 Ret, Qa5 1 1 Bdl, c4 1l B rt, N c6 (12 ...Qa4!?) 13

a4, f6 14 ex f6, ex f6, Campora· Soltls, New York Open 1987)
Section 1: White Is a Klns·Pawo Player 1.7
Or he can m i x i t with Queeoside play and Queenside

castling: 9 0·0, N c:6 10 Re1, Qa5 1 1 Bdl, c:4 11. B fl, Qa4 13
N h4, Bd7 as in Epstelo·Semyeoova, Fruoze 1 986.
'··· 0·0
Black can try to recoup i mmediately w i th 9 Qa5 10

.•.
0·0, Q:�c:5 11 Be3, Qc:7 but U Bb5c:h wins a pawn for

Whi te. In Brooks·Lelo, Lone Pine 198 1, Black obtained
good compensation U Bd7 13 Q:�d5, d 14 Qb3, 0·0 15
•••
Rad1, b6 16 Bd4 ( 16 a4!), B:�b5 17 Q:�b5, N c:6 because o f

the crippled c-pawns. He ended u p getting the better game
a fter 18 Qel, R rd8 19 R ret, Rac8 lO Qe4, N:�d4 l1 c::xd4,
Qul and e ventually won.
More accurate, i f Black wants to recaptu re on c5

with his Queen, is 9 N c:6. And i f 10 0·0, 0·0 1 1 B r4, then
•••
11 Qa5 is okay (e.g. 12 Qd2, Q:�c5 13 R ab l--draw agreed

•••
in J aosa· Splrldooov, Broo 1976).
But, there is no particular u rgency to recaptu ring

on c:5. And i n fact, Black is better o f f retaking there with
a Knigh t.
1 0 Be3
With this move Wh ite aims at positioning the

Bishop, rather than a K night, on d4. More flexible is 10 0·
0, b u t 10 Nd7 appears to equalize: 1 1 Rel, N uS 1l BeJ,
•••
b6 13 B rt, Bb7 and Rc:8, Ne4. Pressure along the c-file

••• •••
28 Black To Play and Win Wit h 1 g6 •••
is not eliminated here by c3·c:4, e.g. 11 B f4, NscS U c4,

N �: d3 and 13 du4, 14 Be6.
••• •••
10... Nd7
Now on 1 1 0-0 Black should play 1 1 Qc7!. This is•••
more accu rate than 1 1 QaS because then U c4 really does

•••
favor White: U d�:c4 13 Bx c4, N uS? 14 N uS, BuS 15

•••
Rb1, Bg7 16 Q rJ, Qc7 17 Rb3! with m u rderous play along

the b- file (G heorgblu-Cardoso, Torremollnos 1 974).
But on 11 0·0, Qc7 U c4, d :�e4 13 B u4, N x cS

chances appear i n balance: 14 Rb1, b6 or 14 QdS, Be6! 15
QuS, QuS 16 BuS, Bu4 17 R ld1, R lc8 18 B u7, Bel.
1 1 Bd4 Qc7
Black now regains mate rial equality and the game

becomes a con flict between his supe rior pawn structure
and Whi te's (temporary?) e dge i n piece act i v i t y. A fter U
Qel, N:a:cS for example, Black h as no complaints, e.g. 13 0·
0, b6 followed by Bb7 and Ne6 or Ne4.
••• ••• •••
And in C b andler- Gufeld, H astings 1986-87, Black

stood very well a fter U 0-0?, N:a:eS 13 N :a:eS, B:a:eS 14 Qel,
B hlc:h 15 Kh1, eS. Whi te held the position following 16
Be3, e4? 17 BbS, Be5 18 Rad1, a6 19 B a4, Be6 20 Bb3,
Rad8 l1 13, Qc6, but 16 8 14! would h a v e tested h i m f u r
•••
ther.
Section 1: White is a Kina- P aw n Player 29
The entire variation is double-edged and dynamic--

and so little e xplored that the best lines a re not widely
known. This m akes i t a good weapon for weekend tou rna
ments.
I LL U ST R A T I V E G AM E
Igor Novlkov B . Kantsler
•
Soviet Schoolboy Championship 197.Z
1 e4 g6
.z d4 Ba7
3 N l3 c6
Because Whi te can now a void N c3 and play i nstead

the more flexible Nbd.Z, some people who like Black's
overall opening system, w ill use a d i f fe rent order to reach
it: 1 e4, c6 .Z d4, d5 3 Nc3, g6 and then 4 N l3 , Bg7 .
O f course Black then bas to be read y for other

Caro- Kann De fense v a ri a tons, such as 3 exd5 or 3 e5 or .Z
d3.
4 N c3 d5
5 h3 N l6
6 e5 Ne4
7 N :xe4
A rare attempt to re fute Black's opening. Nowadays

most expe rienced players will develop their Bishop on dJ
at move si x or seven.
7... d:u4
8 Ng5 c5
9 dJ:C5
This sim pli fication leads to some pit falls for Black,
as noted i n the earlier analysis. But there are some
surprises for Whi te too, as we discover i n t h ree moves.
30 Black. To Play and Wla Wit h 1 16 •••
9 ••• QaSch
O r 9 Qc7r? which avoids the forcing line of play

•••
that follows.
10 B dl Q:rcS
1 1 Bel Nd7
A voiding the cute U BuS? U B uS, QxeS 13

...
Qd8chr and 14 N d7ch. Black's Knight move---to d7 rather

than c6---allows the Queen to ret reat ·to a good square
a fter U N:u4, Qc6, when play becomes very sharp.
U N d7?
Very strong (12 ... K x f7 13 e5chl, K xe6 14 B xg7) on

the face of it ...
12 ••• 0-0!
'
B u t playe rs o ften forget that this optical illusion is
playable. The K night can't retreat (13 Ng5???, Qx f2 mate)
and can't be protected. Now 13 e6 is no longer check (bu t
13 ...B x c3 would be).
13 Qdl R d7
14 e6 R x fl!
Whi te's position is in shambles a fter this clever

sacri fice. the rook must be taken since 15 n d 7 i s met by
lS R x dl, preventing the d-pawn from queening.
•••
Note that i f Black h ad played U R f8? i nste ad o f

•.•
1 2 0-0, White could insert n d7 with check here.

•••
15 Qdl B x c3ch
16 b x c3 Q x c3cb
17 Kel
H e clearly doesn't want t o give u p the rook with

check (17 Qd2??).
17 ... Qulc:b
18 Ke l Qc:3c:b
19 Kel Ne5!
This stops lO Q f7c:h, t h reatens the Rook and

prepares to bring out the rest o f the t roops (...B xe6, ... Rd8
or ...R f8).
lO Qe1 Qblc:b
A fter this, the win becomes elusive. He should play

lO Qd3c:b 21 Krl, Qd4c:b and then ll ... B u6 when the
•••
preponderance o f Black attacking pieces should w i n .
2 1 Qd2! Qb6
Whi te's Queen suddenly gets back into the game

now and forces a t rade into the endgame. Black cannot
re fuse (21...Qxal? 22 Qd8ch and 23 Qxe7ch).
22 Qe3 Q:u6
23 Qb3! Kg7
24 Qxe6 B xe6
25 Ke3! Rdl
26 R c: l B :u2
27 Ral Bc:4
Now on 28 R x a7 Black penetrates to the eighth

ran k with his Rook (28... R d l!).
l8 Kxe4 Bxrt
29 Rbdl N c:4
With three good pawns for the Exchange, Black has

some winning chances. But his K night begins to dri ft
a w k wardly here. With 29 ...N c:6 he centralizes better and
can even a f ford to trade a p a i r of rooks.
31 Black To Play and Win With 1 g6 ••.
30 R fc l Nd1ch
3 1 Ke3 N b3
31 R d 1 R:a:d 1
When you're down the Exch ange, you generally

want to keep one pair of rooks on the boa rd, since
otherwise the enemy rook "has no opponent" and can roam
the board. Here Black might have tried 31 Ra8 and then •••
33 N c5 and 34 b6. But he feels his K i ng h as better

.•• •••
chances o f penetrating with rooks o f f.
33 R:a:d 1 KC6
34 Rd5!
This ties down the enemy K ing and K night and

watches the passed a- and b-pawns. With best play, neither
side can do much.
34... a6
35 Rd7 Na5
36 Rc7 Ke6
37 Ke4 Kd6
38 ReS N c6
39 Rh8
This wins a pawn at the cost of freeing the a-pawn

genie from its bottle. White can still hold---providing he
keeps the Rook acti ve.
39... aS
40 R:a:h7 a4
41 Kd3 b5
41 Rg7?
A common error in j u n ior chess. White wants to

make sure he has his own passe r and so eliminates the
opposition to his h-pawn. He sees he h as a K i ng i n place to
stop the enemy Queenside pawns. But the momentary loss
o f the Rook's se rvices allows Black's K i n g to t a k e the h igh
ground.
42 ••• Kd5!
43 Kc2 b4
44 Rxg6 Nd4cb
.•
45 Kb2 a3cb
46 Ka2 c5
47 b4
Again, t h i n k ing too m uch about the h-pawn when

activating the Rook (47 Rh8!) was essen tial, so that White
can check along the files. Whi te i s now lost.
47... e4
48 Rl3 Ne2?
But he does not lose. The c:orrec:t idea w as 48 N c2!

...
and the advance of the e-pawn. On 49 Kb3, a2! 50 Kxa2,

e3 Black's win is a matter o f arithmetic (5 1 R xe3, N xe3 52
Kb3, K c5 53 g3, Kb5 54 h5, Ng4, etc;)
And i f Wh i te tries to make a race o f i t with 49 h5,

Kc4 50 b6, e3 51 Rxe3 (51 h7, b3ch), N x e3 52 b 7 Black
calmly Queens with 52 N c2!
•••
49 Re3! Nclcb
50 Kbl Kd4
51 b5! Kxe3
52 b6 Draw agreed
In contrast to the last note, Black gets nothing more

than a perpetual check here: 52 Kd2 53 h7, a2 cb 54 Kb2!,
•••
al (Q)cb! 55 Kxal, Kc2! 56 b8(Q), Nb3cb 57 Ka2, N c lcb 58

Kat, Nb3cb and so on and so on.
Black should have won. See notes to game above.

34 Black. To Play aad Win With 1 :16 ..
Variation A2
( 1 e4, g6 2 d4, Bg7 3 N c3, c6)
4 f4
More aggressive than 4 N f3, this line is o ften se

lected by tactical players when they bold the Wh ite pieces
··and this is one reason the posi tional subleties of Black's
closed-center strategy o ften eludes them. I f you' re not
familiar with this variation, o ften named a fter B u kbtar
Gu rgenidze of Soviet Georgia, the correct moves m a y seem
very strange indeed.
4 ... d5
Black can i f he wants, bail out with 4 d6, reaching

•..
a Modern De fense position that usually comes about v i a

3 d 6 4 f4, c6.
•••
5 e5 b5
A move that never fails to su rprise the occasion al

spectator. The locking o f the center gives Black time for
such e xtravagance, which is d i rected against Wh i te's e x
p ansion o n t h e K ingside w i t h gl ·g4. I f White tries to h u rry
the e x p ansion with bZ· b3, he will be p u n ished b y b5·b4!
•••
In general, Black shou ld try to cripple the K i ngsi de

whenever possible, with that bit of pawn-play. Howe ver,
Section 1: White Is a Kln1· Pawn Player 35
even i f Wh ite achie ves the Ki ngside e xpansion he see ks,

the game remains d i f ficu lt: 6 Bel, Nb6 7 N f3, Ba4 8 Be2,
e6 9 Qd2, N f5 10 Bl2, Nd7 1 1 g3, B f8 12 b3, B x f3 13 Bxf3,
Bb4!? 14 a3, Qa5 15 g4, hxl4 16 bxg4, Rx b 1c:b 17 B x b 1,
Ne7.
It would appear that Black is in retreat. But he bas

a d angerous source o f counterplay ( ... Nb6-c4!) coming in
well ahead o f the Whi te initiative (the desi red Rh1 and f4-
f5 are far away). In Pasman-Ciocaltea, Beer Sbeva 1982,
Black soon h ad the upper hand: 18 Bb4, Nb6 19 R b 1 , B xc:3
20 Qxc:J, Qxc:Jc:b 2 1 b x c:J, Rb8 22 B f3, N c:4 23 a4, aS! 24
Ke2, b5 25 B f6, Kd7 26 Kd1, N cB and he eventually won.
Note that Black can also play 5 ... Nb6 instead of

5 b5 and t ranspose into one o f the lines below a fter 6
•••
Nf3, Bg4 7 Be2, e6 8 Bel, N f5 9 B f2, b5, e.g. Chernin·

Ivanov, New York Open 1988: 10 Qd3, Qa5 1 1 0·0, Bb6 12
g3, Nd7 13 Kg2, 0·0·0 1 4 N d 1, b4! 15 Nll:b4, N x b4c:b 16
gxb4, B f5 17 Qe3, B x c2 18 Bg4, B fl.
Perhaps more natural for Whi te is to meet 5 N h 6.••
with 6 N f3, Bg4 7 h3 sin ce 7 B d3 8 Qx f3, Qb6 9 Ne2, f6

•••
leaves him with an edge i n space that may cou n t following

1 0 g4, fxe5 1 1 dxe5!, N a 6 12 Ba2, 0-0-0 13 Bel, d 4 14 Bl2
(Sveshnlkov- Orlov, Plnsk 1986).
6 N f3
l6 Black To Play and Win With 1 ...g6
�
This aod 6 Bel are the most common moves aod
they usually transpose i n to ooe another, e.g. 6 N fl, Bg4 7
Bel, Nh6 versus 6 Bel, N h6 7 N fl, Bg4.
Note that 6 Bel, J.'!Wh6 7 Qdl is a method o f avoid

ing the maio li ne, but it contains the risk that a fter 7 Ng4 .•.
the exch ange o f Wh ite's bad Bishop will ultim ately h u rt

him when the dark squares are loosened u p. For e x ample, 8
N fl, N x el 9 Q:xel, Bg4 10 0·0·0, e6 1 1 gl, Nd7 12 hl, B x fl
1l Q:x fl aod now 1l ... Qb6! 14 g4, 0·0·0 IS f5, c:5 16 NbS,
Kb8 17 fxe6, fxe6 18 Qf7, B h6c:h 19 Kb1, Bel! and Black
was doing well i n Savon- Gurgenldze, Gorl 1971.
6 ... Bg4
6 ... b5 bas also been tried, but it j ust creates more

targets for Wh i te: 7 Bel, B f5 8 Qdl, Nd7 9 g3, Nb6 10 b3,
a5 11 a4!, bxa4 ll N x a4, N x a4 13 Rxa4--Semyenova·
Khugashvill, Soviet Women's Zonal, Leningrad 1981.
Note that a fter 6 ... Bg4 White can force matters with
7 hl, B x fl 8 Qx f3 and be t h re atens 9 f5!, libe rating h is
Bishops and severly weakening Black's pawn structu re.
Once Black b as com mi tted himse l f to a blockade strategy
with his fourth and fi ftb moves, be cannot a f ford such a
situation to develop. There fore 8 ... e6! is correct.
The posi tion then bas not been tested m uch since
the early 1970s when Fischer tried 9 gl and got a bad
game agai nst Petrosi an at the first U.S.S.R. vs. Rest-o f·
the-World Match, 1970: 9 ... Qb6! 10 Qfl, Ne7 1 1 B dl, N d 7
ll N el, 0·0·0 1l c:3, f 6 14 b 3 , N f5 15 Rg1, c:5 16 Bx f5,
ex f5.
But i f Black doesn't like these positions, be can

avoid them with 6... Nh6. And i f 7 Bel, then 7 ... Bg4. Lubos
K a v ale k bas tried a d i f ferent wrinkle: 6 ... N h6 7 Bel, Qb6!?
and then 8 Na4, Qa5c:h 9 c:3, Bg4 10 Nc:S, N d7 1 1 N bl, Qc:7
ll hl, N f5 1l B fl, B x f3 14 Qx f3, h4 15 Bd3, e6 (Peters·
Kavalek, U.S. Championship 1984).
7 Bel
7 BeZ, e6 8 Be3 will transpose i n to tl:te main line. I f

"
Wh ite avoids Bel, then where will h e put tb e Bishop?
And 7 Bel, e6 8 0-0, Nh6 9 Bel, N f5 10 B fZ, which

can t ranspose in to lines below a fter 10 B f8 or 10 ... N d7,
•••
also o f fe rs Black an opportunity here to attack the un pro

tected f-pawn: 10 ... B h6!? 1 1 QdZ, Nd7 U b4?, Nb6! 1l Nd1,
Bd3 1 4 B :l f3, N c:4 15 Qc:l, g5! (Liu Wen Che-Cioc:altea,
Buenos A ires 1978).
7 ••• Nh6
8 Bel
More aggressive is 8 bl with the idea o f posi tioning

the Bishop on d3 and saving eZ for a K n ight maneu ver,
e.g. 8 bl, B d3 9 Q: d3, b4 10 Bd3, e6 1 1 0-0, B f8 U N e2!,
N d7 13 bl, N f5 14 BIZ, Qa5? 15 al, b5 16 c4! and Wh ite
stands well (Sokolov-Seret, Tbessalonlk 1984).
Better is 13 ... Be7 or e v e n 13 ... N f5 14 B fZ, Ba3

(Sagarln- Lyublmov, Bryansk 1985) w hich denies White c1
for his rooks.
Notice how these positions can be reached th rough

di f fe rent move orders. For instance, Lanka- Gipslis, Yur
mala 1983 went 8 Bdl, N f5 (Black never fears an exch ange
38 B lack T o Play a n d Win With 1 g6 .••
on this square) 9 B rl, e6 10 h3, B x f3 1 1 Qx f3, h4 U 0-0,

N d7 13 Nel, B f8.
Black then adopted an i nstructive w ai t-an d-see

strategy: 14 a4, Be7 IS aS, Kf8! 16 b3, a6 17 c4!, ReB 18
R fc l , Kg7 19 Khl, N f8 10 Bel, Rc7. I t paid off when
Wh i te opened the position--11 u: d51 Q x d5 ll Be4, Qd8 13
B c3, Nd7 14 Bbl, NbS 15 Qc3, Rd7 16 Ra1, N h 6 17 Rafl,
Qg8 l8 Qcl, Kf8 19 Rd1, N f5 30 B x f5, g x f5 31 Ba3, B x a3
31 Qxa3 ch, Ke8 33 Rd3, Qf8 34 b4, Rd8 35 g4, h x g3ch 36
Rdxg3, Kd7 37 d5, cxd5 38 Qa4ch, Nc6 39 b5, a x bS 40
Qxb5, ReB 41 Qxb7ch, Rc7 41 Qb6, Qb4, etc.
8 .•. N d7
Black b as seve ral appealing moves here: 8 ... e6 and

8 N f5 among them. Play tends to be the same in both or
••
ders, e.g. 8 ...e6 9 B fl, N f5 10 g3, B f8 1 1 Qd3, N d7 U h3,

B x f3 U B x f3, c5 is one typical sequence.
The Black p ressure on d4 is beginning to eme rge: 1 4

Nel, Qb6 15 b3, N x d4 16 N x d4, cx d4 1 7 c3, ReB 18 B x d4,
B c5 19 0-0, NbS! 10 R fl, !lbd4 l 1 cx d4, N c6 and Black
took over on the Queenside i n Aseyev-Titov, Kostroma
1985. U Rd1, Kd7! 13 Kgl, Ne7 14 g4, hxg4 15 h xg4, Rd
16 Qe3, Qb4 17 Qdl, Qb6 18 Qel, a6 19 R fd1, Qb4 30 Qfl,
Rc3 31 Rcl, R x cl 31 Qxcl, ReS 33 Qd1, Q x dl 34 Rx dl,
Rc3! 35 Krl, Kc6 36 Bel, Kb6 3 7 Rd3, Rcl 38 a3, Ral 39
b4, Kc7 40 Ke3, Kd7 41 Rc3, N c6 41 b5? (but 42 B f3, Na7
was also bad), N x d4 and Whi te resigned. A thematic game.
Note that 8 e6 9 0-0, B f8 10 h3!? leads to an inter

•••
esting situation in which White relinquishes, temporarily at

least, his hopes for Kingside e xpansion. Then 10 B :x f3 1 1
•••
B :x f3, N f5 U B fl, h4 13 Nel! allows him to reorgan i ze his

pieces with Khl, Ng1, Bel and N f3, thereby taking aim at
the h4 pawn and also aiming at cl-c4. A good counter
plan, suggested b y Vladi m i r Savon, is N a6-c7 and, a fter
...
Kf8, the shi ft of the K night to h5 via e8 and g7. See also
...
the next note.

9 Qdl
Here again the forcing 9 h3 is suspect because o f

9.; .B: d3 10 B : d3, h4!, crippling the Kingside.
Typical play would then be 11 0·0, N f5 1l B fl, e6

13 Ne2, B f8 14 Kh2!, Be7 15 Nat, K f8! 16 Be2. White has
reorganized his minor pieces so that he can a d v ance in the
cente r (c2-c4) while keeping the Kingside in limbo. But
Black should have adequate counterchances on the Queen
side and center, e.g. 16 c:5 17 c:4, dxc:4 18 d5!, e x d5 19
•••
Qx d5, Nb6 20 Qx b7, Qd5! 21 Qx d5, N x d5 2l B xc:4, N x f4 23

Rad l, Ka7 l4 Rd7, Rhd8 (Kiovan·Podaayets, Vllna 1974).
Because of this positional idea, it was once thought

that 9 a3 was the most accu rate move so that on 9 e6 10 •••
b3, B : d3 1 1 B d3, N f5 1l B fl White will soon be re ady to

play g3- a4. However, Black can stop that plan with 9 N f5 •••
10 B fl, b 4! (and 1 1 h3?, hxg3). A fter 1 1 Rat, B f8 u NaS,

Bxel 13 N x el, b:a:a3 14 bxa3 Black gets his usual Queen
side play from 14 c:5.
•••
9••• e6
10 a3
Designed to anticipate . h5- h4. In a similar posi tion

..
(Black K night on e7) Gligoric has tried 10 0-0-0, but this

appea rs a tad too ambi tious, although a fre r lO ... QaS 1 1
Kb1, N f5 1 l B fl, B f8 1 3 Ne4!, Bb4 14 c:J, Be7 15 Neg5
tu rned out all right for him---vs. C ardoso, Manila 1973.
10 ... B f8!
11 b3
At an earlier poin t, B fl m ight m a k e some sense be

cause it would anticipate b3/ ... B x f3 / B d3 / ... N f5 and . . h5·
.
b4. Here, however, White has alread y taken the appropriate

Kingside precautions. On 1 1 B fl Whi te loses time which,
even in a closed position such as this, m a y hurt: ll .. Bb4! .
40 B lack To Play and Win With 1 g6 •••
and then U a3, Qa5! or U h3, B : d3 13 B : d3, N b6 with

advan tage to Black, e.g. 14 b3, Na4! and 1S...Qa5 or 14 0-0,
N c4 15 Qcl, Bu3 16 b x c3 (Gipslls- U bllava, T l flis 1974)
Qa5.
1 1... B : d3
U B x l3 Nf5
13 B fl
13... h4!?
Well timed. I f Black waits, White will achieve g3-g4

with a fluid K ingside m ass of pawns, e.g. 13 ... a5? 14 Krt,
a4 15 Kg2, Qa5 16 g4! Notice that White's alternative plan
in such positions is to attack on the light squares in the
center that have been weakened by ...B x l3, e.g. 1S...N b6 16
b3!, Bb4 17 Qd3, Kd7 18 Nel, a x b3 19 a x b3, R x a 1 20 R x a 1,
Qc7 2 1 c:4!, Ra8? 22 R x a8, N x a8 23 cxd5, e x d5 24 B x h5!
and wi ns, Marj anovlc-Cloc:latea, Istanbul 1980.
It makes some sense for Black to complete his de

velopment and castle Queenside, such as with 13 ... Qa5. For
e xam ple, 14 g4, bxg4 15 bxg4, R x b 1 cb 16 B x b 1, Nb6 17
B f3, Nb6 and i f White stops ...N c4 with 18 b3, he allows
18...B b4. A better plan for White is 14 Ne2 a fter which
Black may do best to a void the endgame, e.g. 14... Bb4 15
c3, Be7 16 Kll, 0-0-0 17 K12, Rda8 (preparing 18 . . g5) 18
.
14, N h6! as in Gobet-Szmetan, Blel 1982.

Section 1: White Is a Klna·Pawn Player 41
The major alte rnati ve for Black to o u r 1 3 ... h4!? is

the cou n terplay o f fered in the center from a q u ick .. . c6·c5.
For e xample, 13 ... Be7 14 N d 1, Qb6 15 c3, c5 16 Ne3, cxd4
17 N dS, a x rs 1S B :.: d4, BcS and D O W 19 0·0·0!, B :.: d4 20
ud4, ReSch 21 Kb1, Rc4 22 Rha1, NbS! 23 g4! remains
sharp--- (Mestei -Wedbera, European Junior Championship
1974).
The chie f advantage of 13 ... h4!? is that i t's forci ng

nature enables Black to meet 14 g4 with 14 ... N g3! 15 Rg1,
Qb6 when Black's prospects on the dark squares should
offset the loss o f a pawn d ue to the paratrooper K n ight on
J3 .
I n Arnason·Chrlstiansesn, ReykJavik 1 9S6, White

did not take the o f fe red pawn i mmediately---a fter all the
Knig h t is trapped on &3-·-but played 16 0·0·0, Qa6 and
then saw ...b7·bS·b4, ... N b6·c4 coming. He continued 17
Qd3, but Black h ad a sa fe endgame following 1 7 ... Q:.:d3 18
RJ:d3, cS! 19 NbS, c4 20 Rdd1, ReS! 21 Bxa3, h:.:g3 22 R :.: a3,
a6 23 N c3, bS 24 R h 1 , Rh4 25 Nel, Nb6 26 aS, c3! 27 b3
(27 Nxc3, R x f4; 27 b xc3, N a4) aS.
Black actually ended up winning a fte r 2S Ba4, Bb4

29 Ng1, a4 30 Rh2, Ke7 31 Kd1, RaS 32 N rJ, RhhS 33 Nel,
Nd7 34 N d3, axb3 3S ub3, BaS 36 Ncl, NbS 37 a3, Bb6 38
Ra2, ReS 39 Rd3, Nc6 40 Rc3, Bd4 41 Rd3, Bb6 42 b4,
N:�b4 43 u a-4, Rxc1ch 44 Kxc1, Ra2.
42 Black To P lay and Win With l g6 •••
Variation B
(1 e4, &6 2 d4, 8&7)
3 N f3
This is a much more conservative move than i ts

chie f ri val, 3 N c3. When White brings out his O N on the
t h i rd move, he may be thinking o f Queenside castling and
aggressive mating attack with Qd2 and B h6. O r he can en
vision sharp central action with f2- f4. Or he may have gl·
g3 and Bgl i n mind. But with 3 N f3, White is somewhat
limited to conservative plans in volving k ingside castling
and simple piece de velopment (Bc4 o r Be2, Rel, Qe2, etc.)
There is some reason (further i n to the variation)

for Black to change from his earlier strategy, since Wh ite's
center can now be rei n forced with c2-c3 and since an ex
change o f pawns on d5 will not leave him w i t h a mis
placed QN. Nevertheless, we will adopt a consistent cen t ral
policy.
4 N bdl
A m aJonty of that m i nority of players who use 3

N f3, do it with the idea o f 3 d6 4 B c4. Here howe ver,
•••
they discover that 4 B c4? is clearly w rong---4 d5! 5 exd5,

•••
Section 1: White Is a Kln1·Pawn Player 43
nd5 or 5 Bd3, dxe4 6 B xe4, N f6 and Black is better o f f

than i n similar positions from Variation A.
But 4 B d3 is a d istinct possibility because 4...d5 5

exd5, n:d5 6 h3 or 6 0·0 leads to a position usually arising
out of the Caro- K a n n (1 e4, c6 2 d4, d 5 3 exd5, cxd5 4
Bd3, etc.) A fter 6 h3, Nc6 7 c3, N h6 8 0·0, 0·0 9 Re1, B f5
Black completes development smoothly.
Note however that with N rJ already played, it is

hard for White to advance his e-pawn and maintain i t on
the fi fth rank. A fter 4 B d3, d5 5 eS Black gets plenty o f
counterplay from attacking the front o f t h e pawn chain
with . Bg4 and N h6, or . . f7· f6. (Bu t attack i n g the base
. . ... .
of the chain with 5 ... c5 m a y prove less success ful: 6 c3, Bg4
7 Nbd2, Nc6 8 h31, Bd7?! 9 0-0, e6 10 Rel, Nge7? 11 d x c5!-
·Geller·Sveshnikov, Soviet Championship 1973).
Typical of the attack on the fron t of the chain was

Liberzon- Hebert, Malta 1980: 4 b3, d5 5 e5, 16 6 B f4, Nh6
7 Bd3, 0·0 8 Qd.Z, N f7 9 0·0, c5! 10 c3, N c6 1 1 ed6, Bx f6
and Black was completely equal (12 d x c5?, e5 and Black
wins m aterial). Similarly, 5 ...Nb6 6 c3, 0·0 7 B d3, f6 8 0·0,
fxe5 9 N xe5, Nd7 10 N: ld7, Qzd7!? 11 B z b6, B z b6 1l N d.Z,
Qd6 13 N f3, Q f4 (Shamkovicb·Soltls, New York 1979).
And from yet another move order: 4 Be.Z, d5 5 e5,

Bg4 (perh aps better than 5 ... Nh6 which can be answered by
6 c3, f6 7 h4 with d angers on the h- file) 6 N bd.Z, e6 7 h3,
Bd3 8 Nd3, cS! with the better game for Black according
to Ghizdavu (9 d xc5, Nc6 10 0-0, Nge7 11 B f4, QaS 1 2 c3,
Qxc5 13 Qd2, 0-0 14 Bh6, R ad8 1 5 Bxg7, K xg7 16 Q f4, d4!
as in Wolf· G b lzdavu, Rumanian Championship 1972).
Whi te can do better with 9 c3, maintaining the

pawn center, but then d4 comes under attack: 9... cx d4 1 0
cx d4, N c 6 1 1 0·0, Nge7 1l Bd3, Qb6 1 3 b 3 , 0 · 0 14 Be3, Nb4
15 Bb1, Rac8 16 a3, N bc6 1 7 B d3, N a5 (Sbamkovlcb- Soltis,
New York 1979).
44 Blac:k To Play and Win With 1 a6 •••
Finally, 4 B f4, d5 is also OK for Black. But he m a y

sh i ft from a d7·d5 strategy to an e7·e5 one: 4 B f4, d 6 5
••• •••
Nbdl, N f6 6 b3, 0-0 7 Bd3, Nbd7 8 0-0, N b5! 9 Be3, e5 10

c:J, N f4··· Spassky-Zllberman, Spartaklade 1 975.
4 ••• d5
5 b3
As in V. ariation A l, White stops 5 Ba4. This may

••.
not be entirely necessary since a fter 5 c:J, B a4 6 Bd3, Nd7

7 b3, B : d3 White can recaptu re with a use ful K night,
rather than a Queen. Nevertheless, the position a fter 8
N : d3, d:xe4 9 B:xe4, N1f6 resembles previous positions
we' ve examined that are good for Black when he castled
and plays c:5x d4.
•••
And on 5 c:J, BB4 6 exd5 Black can a void 6 c:xd5 7

•••
Qb3 problems by retaking with h is Queen.
Another reasonable move by Wh ite is 5 Bel when

5 d:xe4? 6 Nxe4, BB4 7 c:J, N d7 8 N fB5! leads to tacti cal
••.
problems (8 ... Bxe2 9 Qxe2 and Nd6ch or N x f7!? are com ing
up). Black should continue 5 BI4 and if 6 c:J, then 6... Nd7
•••
or 6 e6.
•••
But note that 5 Bel, N f6 will reach a position sim

ilar but not quite the same as one considered i n V ariation
Al a fter 6 e5, Ne4 7 N x e4!, dxe4 8 NB5, c:S 9 e6!, B xe6 10
N x e6, he6 11 dx c:5, N d7 1l 0-0, N x c:5 13 Be3, Qc:7 14 c:J,
0-0 15 Qcl with a slight edge (Andersson-Mariotti, Rome

1986).
Note also the move 5 Bd3 when 5 du4 6 N: u4,

•••
B:�d4 is a questionable case of pawn -grabbing because o f 7

N:� d4, Q:�d4 8 B dl and 9 Bel! Black can play 5 Bg4 or •••
5... Nd7 instead.
5 ••• N d7
Remember that 5 ... du4?! 6 Nu4, Nd7 will allow

Wh ite to post his Bishop more e f fectively at c4, and leave
Black with a K night slightly m isplaced on f6, as men
tioned in V ariation A I.
6 Bd3
With 6 u d5 (or the earlier 5 e xd5) we get a k i n d of

Caro- K ann, the Old Exchange V ariation but without an
early B f4 by White. A fter 6 ud5, u d5 7 Bd3, Ngf6 8 0-0,
0·0 9 Rei, b6 10 N fl, Bb7 1 1 N g3 White h as an annoying
kind o f pressure. Black m a y do better with 7 N b 6!? fol
•••
lowed b y f7. f6/ N f7 and e7-e5.

••• ••• •••
At this late date Whi te can still play 6 e5, but he

cannot maintain that point a fter 6 f6. Then the exchange
•••
of e-pawns leads to a position somewhat better for Whi te

than i n A I when he had a Kn ight on c3, blocking his c
pawn. Typical play a fter 6 e5, f6 7 ed6, u f6 8 Bd3, N b6
9 0·0, 0-0 would be 10 c4.
In Lukln· Zalcblk, Beltlzly 1977 Black kept the c

file closed with 10 Nb6 11 c5, Nd7 and a fter U b4, a6 13
•••
Nb3, Re8 14 Bdl, N f7 15 N a5, f5! 1 6 a4, N f6 17 b5, ub5

18 ub5, Qc7 19 b6, Qd7 lO B f4, Ne4 both sides had ample
chances.
6... d:w:e4
7 N u4 N g f6
46 Black To Play and Win Wlt b 1 16•..
Now 8 0·0, Nu4 9 B xe4, 0-0 and c6-c5 or 8

...
Nd6cb!, Nxl6 9 0·0, 0-0 10 Rei, Qc7 (or 1 0 b6 1 1 B f4,

...
Bb7) 1 1 Qel, Be6 1l Ng5, Bd7 13 Bc4 (Savood- Tse·

sb kovsky, Vlloa 1975) e6! lead to positions similar to those
considered in the note to White's sixth move in V a ri ation
Al. Black's chances are good i n either situation.
Variation C
( 1 e4, g6 .Z d4, Bg7)
3 c3
This, someti mes called the Three Pawns Attack, has

faded from popularity. It retains the option of r.z- r4 w ith
Kingside aggression i n m i n d , or j ust N f3 with a sim ple
scheme of de velopment i n volving N f3, B d3 or Bel, and
Nbd.Z. And it stops c7-c5 at move three o r later because
•••
a fter dxc5 Black lacks the normal resources ( ... QaSch for
example) of regaining h is pawn.
Among other t h i rd moves there a re:
(a) On 3 b4 Black can simply stop 4 hS with 3 ... h5,

a fter which we get positions mentioned i n the note regard
ing 2 h4 in the I n t roductory Section.
(b) 3 eS?! is crude and almost never played, but it is

not easily re futed. A fter 3...d6 4 e xd6, cxd6 Black bas easy
development (5 c4, Nc6; S N f3, Bg4) and i f Wh ite tries to
maintain the pawn at eS, he concedes positional liabilities
(4 f4, Nh6 or e ven 4 ... f6!?).
(c) 3 Bc4 should be handled by 3 ... c6 a fter whi ch

4... d5 will equalize u nless White stops that adv ance with 4
Nc3 (transposing i n to Variation A l , note to Whi te's fou rth
48 Black To Play and Win With l g6 ...
move) or 4 Q f3, when 4 ... d5!? 5 exd5, N f6 6 d xc6, N x c6 is a

gambit worthy o f e x pe rimentation.
(d) 3 c4 con ve rts the opening to a Q ueen Pawn,

rather than King Pawn one. Black can continue w i t h 3 .. d6,
a fter which 4 Nc3 reaches Section II, the Modern De fense
against Queen-Pawn players. However, Black can try to
take ad van tage o f Wh i te's suspicious move order by play
ing 3... N c61? By attacking the d-pawn Black retains some
clever options, since 4 d5, Nd4 5 Be3--which is similar to a
line considered in Section 11--can h ere be answered b y
5 ... c5! 6 d x c6, dxc6, a fter which the K night's outpost o n d 4
i s maintained.
(e) De veloping moves such as 3 Be3, 3 Bg5, 3 Be2

are p remature since they comm i t White pieces to squares
that may be excellent i f Black plays ... d7-d6, but not i f he
answers 3...c6 and 4...d5. Either these moves will lead to po
sitions consi dered earlier, or they wit: prove to be inde
pendent---and innocuous. For e x am ple, 3 Be3, c6 4 Qd2, d5
5 Nc3 transposes to a note to White's fou rth move i n A l ,
while 5 e5, h5 followed b y ... Nh6 is similar t o positions
from A2.
( f) A close relative o f 3 c3 is 3 f4, also a " T h ree

Pawns Attack", which may transpose i n to ou r main line
below. By advancing his f-pawn fi rst, Whi te retains the op
tion of using c3 for a pawn or a K n ight--or delaying any
decision abou t that square, e.g. 3 f4, d6 4 N f3, N f6 5 Bd3,
0-0 6 0-0, Nbd7?! 7 e5! and Qel-h4 with a d v a n t age to
Whi te.
The simplest and most consistent antidote to 3 f4

for our pu rposes is 3 ... d5. This immediate a d v a n ce of the
d-pawn is prevented by 3 Nc3 and is dubious a fter 3 N f3
(3 ... d5 4 exd5, Qxd5 5 Nc3 with a good version o f the Cen
ter Counter De fense). B u t against 3 f4 it is q u i te playable
since 3 ... d5 4 e xd5?!, Qxd5 5 N f3, Bg4 poin ts u p the fact
that Wh i te's third move is both time-losing and weakening.
Section 1: Wblte Is a Klna· Pawn Player 49
Wh ite should meet 3 ... d5 with 4 e5, then Black plays

4.. B f5 followed by ...e7-e6, ...Ne7 and the attack in the
.
cente r with ...c7-c5 and ...Nc6. The only sign i ficant game in
this line appears to be Cblstyakovsky- Krementsky, Match
U.S.S.R. 1968 which went 5 Ne2, e6 6 Ng3, Ne7 7 Be2, c5 8
dxcS, QaSch 9 c3, QxcS 10 Nd2, Nbc6 1 1 N b3, Qb6 12
Nx fS, N dS 13 Qd3, hS with both K i ngs headed towards
Queenside re fuges. Pe rhaps better for Black is 12...gx f5!?
R e t u rning to 3 c3 •••
3 .•• d5!
Since c3 is occupied, Black does not t remble at the

prospect of 4 ex d5, Qx d5. Black h as a good alternative in
3 d6, but the text is m ore force ful and restri cts White's
•••
options more. Note that he doesn't need to prepare h is last

move with c7-c6. •••
4 e x d5
Here 4 e5, c5! puts the White center under some

pressure. A fter 5 Nf3, cxd4 6 cxd4, Nc6 7 Bb5, Ba4 and
e7-e6, N1e1 Black stands well. Whi te will likely pre fer
••• •••
5 14, cx d4 6 cx d4, b u t again 6 Nc6 7 Nc3, b5! and

••• Bg4 •..
offers good chances (8 BbS, Bg4 9 Nge2, e6 10 Be:3, Ne7 11

Qd2, a6 as in Suetln-Splrldonov, Tillis 1970).
And i f Whi te de fends e4 with 4 Ndl, Black can

play 4 dxe4 5 Nxe4, Nd7 6 Bc4, N d f6, reachi n g a position
•••
50 Black To Play aDd WID With 1 ...16
similar to oDe considered in the note to Black's fi fth move

i n Variation A2--except that Black h as not wasted a tempo
with his c-pawn. The little expe rience so far w i t h this line
has indicated Black stands well: 7 NaS, Nd5 8 N UJ, h6 9
Ne4, Nal6 10 N x f6ch, ed6!? 1 1 0-0, 0-0 as i n Tal- Guleld,
U.S.S.R. Cup 1970.
4 ••• Qxd5
Black 1s ready to a ttack the enemy center f u rther

with s ... c:S.
5 Bel
This suggestion of Pal Ben ko's is based on S Qxgl•••
6 B rJ, trapping the Queen, and the fact that n e x t move 6

B IJ will gain time and also a n i ce diagonal for Whi te.
The natu ral moves such as 5 N IJ can be met by
s ...c:S, e.g. 6 Be3, cxd4 7 cxd4, N c6 8 N c:J, Qd8 9 Bb5
(Suetio-AroaudoN, Albania 1970), e6! 10 0-0, Nae7 1 1 d5,
n d5 or 6 dxc:S, Qx d 1 c h (or j ust 6 Qxc5) 7 Kxd1, N f6 8
...
Be3, 0·0 9 Nbdl, Ng4 (NIIssoo-Gapriodashvlli, Goteborg

1968).
5
•••
Alte rnatives include 5 ... 8 15 (6 B f3, Be4) and 5 ... N f6.
6 B f3 Qe6ch
7 Ne2 cxd4
8 cxd4 N f6
Section 1: White Is a Kina- Pawn Player 51
Black's Queen i s a b i t misplaced, but he has re

solved his principle problem in the center and can begin
an attack on the d-pawn. He will play •••Rd8, and Nc6
•••
with reason able chances.
For example, 9 NcJ, 0·0 10 0·0, Rd8 1 1 d5, Qd7! oc

cured in Antonov- Splrldlnov, Pernik 1981 when White
played U Nf4 to de fend his d-pawn and U a5! led to
...
sharp play. The game was e ventu ally d rawn a fter 13 Nh5,
Nxh5 1 4 Bx b5, &4 15 13, Bu3 16 b:rc3, Qxd5 1 7 Qxd5,
RidS 18 fxa4, Be6.
Perh aps 11 Be3 improves for Whi te, although

ll Nc6 U d5, Q f5 is unclear.
...
Sl Black To Play and Win With l. ..g6
SECTION I I
White Is a Queen -Pawn Player
1 d4 g6
l c4
In this section we consi der positions in which White

h as played his c-pawn up two squares. This a d v an ce tends
to discou rage the d7-d5 plan we considere d i n Section I.
•••
But b y deny ing himsel f the move c4-c3 (pawns don't move
backwards!), Wh i te h as slightly u n dermined his d4 strong
point. Black, in our system, will try to exploit that with a
frontal assault on d4. Ideally, he will occupy d4 w i th his
Queen K n ight.
O f cou rse Wh i te can delay cl-c4 for a w h i le: l N f3,
Bg7 3 c4, for instance, will transpose into one of the notes
to Wh i te's third or fourth moves below. But consi der l
N f3, Bg7 3 e4, c6 (as per Section I, Variation B) and now 4
c4!? Black aou ld then play the posi tion two d i f ferent ways
in the cen ter. Wi th 4 d6 S Nc3, Ba4 he seeks to u n dermine
•••
the dark squares, speci fically d4.

However, with the alte rn ative 4 d5!? Black con
••.
fronts the enemy on the light-colored squ ares. So a fter 1

d4, 16 l Nf3, Ba7 3 e4, c6 4 c4!?, dS:
(a) S exdS, cxd5 6 c5

(See diagram on following p.a ge)
Section I I: Wblte Is a Queen-Pawn Player 53
establishes a b ridgehead that may be h a rd to m aintain be

cause of the attack on d4---6 ... Nc6 and 7 Bg4, e.g. 6 ... N c6 7
.•.
BbS, Bg4 8 Be3, e6 followed b y ... Nge7- f5.
Perhaps better is 6 Nc3, N f6 7 Qb3 seeking a book

position from the Caro-Kann. However, h e re White has
played an extra N f3 in comparison with the Caro- K ann
line and Black should at least · equalize a fter 7...d xc4 8
Bxc4, 0-0 9 0·0, N c6 t h reatening both the d-pawo and
._NaS.
(b) 5 n d5, cxdS 6 eS
denies Black's Bishop its scope, but again the attack on d4

should e q u alize--6...N c6 7 Nc3, Nh6 8 Be2, Bg4 o r 8 Bb5, 0-
0 9 h3, f6.
(c:) 5 N c:3

54 B lack To Play and Win Wit h 1 g6 •••
d xe4 6 N xe4, Nd7 (or 6...Bg4) and 7... N g f6 yields play sim
ilar to Seci ton I, Vari ation Al, except that the use fu l
squ are c 4 i s occupied by a White p a w n and t h a t same
pawn can no longer be used to d e fend d4.
(d) s eS
m a y be the most d ange rous line since Black does not have
the ... Nc6 coun terplay he had i n line (b) above. Still, a fter
S ...Bg4 6 N c3 and now 6 ...Bx f3 7 O x f3, e6 8 Be3, a6 9 a4,
Nd7 10 Bd3, Ne7 was a solid, i f less than aggressi ve posi
tion for Black (Ornsteln-Nicevskl, Soria 1976). Perh aps
6 ... e6 is more accurate since 7 Bd3 is a doubt ful pawn sac
ri fice (7...B x f3/8 ...d xc4/9...Qxd4) and 7 Be3, Ne7 8 h 3, B x f3
9 Qx f3, N fS o f fe rs double-edged chances.
Back to the main line a fter 1 d4, g6 l c4.
l... Bg7
(See diagram on following p age)
Sedion I I: White Is a Queen-Pawn Player 55
3 N c3
On 3 e4, a move o ften played, Black can transpose

into our main line below with 3 d6 4 Nc3, N c6. However
•••
Black has another option: 3 Nc6!?, taking a d v a ntage o f the

•••
fact that his d-pawn has not moved yet.

This is sign i ficant i f White plays 4 d5, Nd4 5 Nel
or 5 Bel because Black can answer 5 c5! 6 dxc6 e.p.,
•••
dx c6!, a recapture i mpossible in Variation A below. I f

instead Wh ite plays 4 N f3, Black continues the attack on
d4 with 4 d6 (5 Nc3, Bg 41). And 4 Bel, d6 5 N c3
•••
transposes i n to V a riation C below.
A n important alternative here is 3 N f3 followed by

4 g3, 5 Bgl and 6 0-0. This move order o ften leads i nto a
K i ng's Indian De fense (3 ... N f6) and is popular because
there are some K .I.D. li nes i n which i t is better for Whi te
to delay the development of his Queen K night until Black
has declared his developmental i n ten tions.
We will avoid the K .I.D. positions a fte r 3 N f3, d6 4

g3 by recommending 4 e5. Then 5 dxe5, d:uS 6 Qxd8ch,
•••
K x d8 yields a typical endgame that amate u rs o ften believe

to favor White (because o f Black's loss of castli ng) when,
i n fact, ch ances a re i n virtual balance because o f the
White weaknesses on the Queenside. A fter 7 N c3, f6 8 Be3 ,
c6 followed b y Be6 and Kc7 Black h as little to worry
••• •••
about.
56 Black To Play and Win Wit h 1 ...g6
Moreove r, if Wh ite avoids the endgame w i t h 5 Nc3 (

i nstead o f 5 d xe5) Black, with 5 Bg4 ove rloads the d4
•••
square. The position a fter 6 d5, Ne7 7 Bg2, 0-0 8 0-0, a5 is

similar to those anal yzed in Vari ations A, B and C below,
but a bit quieter. Black has not lost time with his Queen
K n ight and retains a v ariety o f Kingside and Queenside
plans. Spassov-Kr. Georgiev, Bulgarian Championship 1982
was an instructive e x am ple of Black's play: 9 h3, Bd7 10
e4, Na6 1 1 Rb1, Qb8! 12 Be3, c6 and now 13 Na4, Nc8 14
dx c6, bxc6 15 c:5, d5 would have favored Black, but so did
the game con tinu ation, 13 b3?!, n d5 14 Nx d5, N x d5 15
cxd5, Bb5 16 Ret, Nb4 1 7 B rt, Bd1 l8 Rx fl, N x a2.
Finally, some mention m ust be made o f this move

orde r: 3 Nf3, d6 4 e4. This gains a tempo on our main line
b y a voiding Nc3 and, in cidentally, allowing Whi te to meet
•••Bg4 in some cases with Nbd2. Neve rtheless, the situ ation
a fter the thematic a ttack on d4, 4 Bg4 5 Be2, Nc6 is a b i t
•••
passive for Whi te.
On 6 d5 for e x ample, Black equalizes swi ftly with

6 B x f3 7 B x f3, Nd4, e.g. 8 0·0, c5 9 Na3, N f6 10 Nc2,
•.•
Nd7!? (10 ... N x f3ch or 10 ... N xc2 a re also reason able) 1 1

N x d4, c:xd4 1 2 b3, 0-0 13 Bb2, Qb6--Najdorf- Ljubojevic:,
Wijk aan Zee 1972-3.
And since 6 Ng1 can be met b y 6 Bd7!, making

•••
Whi te's last move look silly (7 Be3, e5 8 d5, N d4), the only
ways for White to test Black are 6 Nbd2 and 6 Be3.· The
latter demonstrates li ttle for White a fter 6 Be3, e5 7 d5,
B x f3! 8 B x f3, Nd4 because of 9 Bg4, N f6 10 B x d4, e x d4 1 1
Ndl, 0·0 and •••c:7-c:5, with simple equality (and not 1 1
Q xd4, 0-0 when both 1 2... N xg4 and 1 2 ... N xe4! a re threat
ened). Even worse is 7 dxeS?, d:u5 when Black v i rtually
forces a passed pawn at d4: 8 Qb3, Nd4 9 B x d4, e x d4 10
Nbdl, Nf6 1 1 Qxb7 and Mlshushkov- Foigel, U.S.S.R. 1979
went 11 d3! 12 B x d3, 0-0 13 Qb3, Rb8 14 Qc:2, NbS with
••.
... Nf4 con ferring a clea r edge on Black.

Section I I: White Is a Queea- Pawa P layer 57
That leaves White's best t ry---6 Nbdl---a fte r which

6...e5 7 d5, N ce7 is h ighly complex a fter 8 Qb3, Bc 8 or
even 8...b6. The latter a llows 9 N : u5, B nl 10 Qa4ch, bS!
11 Qxb5ch, K f8 with great complications ( 1 2 Nd7ch, Ke8
13 N x b6ch?, c61--revealing the poin t o f Black's lOth move-
-or 13 N f6ch, K f8 14 Nxg8, N f5! 15 e x f5, R b8 16 Qxb8?,
Qxb8 17 K xe2, R xg8 and Black won in Vadasz·Adorjan,
Huo1ary 1978).
IN GENERAL: I f Black remembers how to attack

d4 with ...N c6 and ... Ba4 or ...e7-e5, he should have good
chances in these v ariations.
Back to our m a i n line a fter 1 d4, 16 l c4, Bg7 3 Nc3.
3 ... d6
4 e4
This is by far the most aggressive plan, enabling

Whi te to play well-known lines o f the K ing's Indian De
fense such as the Saemisch (5 f3) or Four P awn's A ttack (5
f4) should Black now play 4 ...N f6. B u t our i ntention is to
avoid K .I.D. positions and try something u n usual.
There a re o f cou rse, alternati ves to 4 e4. These are

chie fly 4 N f3 and 4 a3. On 4 N f3 , the d y n a m i c answer is
once again 4 ... 814, undermining d4. This line is d i f ferent
from those with 4 e4, i nasmuch as White can rein force his
cente r here w i th 5 e3. However, Canada's D un can Suttles
58 B lack To Play and Win Wlt b 1 16 •••
bas shown that 5 e3, Nc6 6 Bel, e5 7 d5 (or 7 N xeS, dxeS 8

Bxg4, exd4), N ce7 is not at all bad fo r Black.
A fter 8 e4, B x f3 9 B x f3, the move 9 b5!? gains i m
•••
portant K ingside space a n d retains t h e possibility o f

•.•B b6, trading o f f the "bad" Bishop. For e x ample, 1 0 0·0,
Nf6 11 Bg5, Nb7 1l Bdl, Ng81 and in Robatscb- Suttles,
Nice 1970 Black bad the u pper band a fter 13 Qb3?, b6 14
Qb5cb, K f8! 15 b4, Bb6 16 Bx b6cb, Nx b6 17 c5, Ng4 18
cx d6, cx d6 19 Racl, Kg7 lO Qel, Ng5. Note bow quickly
the Black K i ng-attack developed (and would continue
a fter 2 1 Bxg4, b xg4 22 Qxg4, R b S 23 Qg3, Q f6 and
24... R ah8).
I f White keeps the center situ ation fluid with 7 0·0,
Black can continue 7 es:d4 8 exd4, Nge7 and a subsequent
.••
Nf5, conquering d4, e.g. 9 Rel, 0-0 10 Bel, Nf5 o r 10 d5,

•••
B x f3! 1 1 B x f3, Ne5 1l Bel, N f5 13 Ne4, b6 14 Bdl, Qb4!

and Black stands excellently (Podgayets·C b l kovanl,
U.S.S.R. 1979 went 15 f4, Nd7 16 g3, Qe7 17 Bd3, Bxb2!).
Note that Whi te's 5 e3 a voids the doubled pawns re
sulting from say 5 13, B : d3 6 n: f3 . That is not a serious
pawn weakness, but Black still bas an easy game with
6 c 6 7 Bel, Nf6 8 f4, 0 · 0 9 B1l, e6! followed b y d6-d5,
.•. ..•
when the absence o f his light-squ ared Bishop will not be

m issed. A fter 10 0·0, Nbd7 11 d5, e x d5 1l cx d5, c5 Black
bas good cou nterplay and 11 Rb1, d5!? 1l c5, b5 13 b4, NeB
14 a4, a6 (Baglrov-Arapovlc, Team Match 1985) should
eq ualize once Black gets e6-e5 in e.g. 15 Qd3, N c7 16
•••
Rb3, Qc8 17 Ral, Qb7 18 Rba3, f6!.
Back to the main line a fter: 1 d4, 16 l c4, Bg7 3 N c3, d6 4

e4.
Section II: White Is a Queen:- Pawn Player , 59
4 ••• N c6
This is the key move to our system, popularized b y

former Soviet Champion Y u ri A ve rbakh. N o w t h a t no
White Pawn can p rotect d4, Black wants to overwhelm that
key point in the center. Either White will concede d4 to
Black pieces or he will allow Black a favorable foothold in
the center with e7-e5.
•••
The absence o f N f6 bene fits Black in two ways.

•••
His long diagonal is not blocked, as i t is for m ost o f the

opening moves of a K .I.D .. Also his King Knight is free to
go to more use fu l squares than f6, such as e7, where it
supports an advance o f the f-pawn or h6, w here i t can also
retreat to the strategic enclave at f7.
With his last move Black immedi ately forces White

into a decision. No longer can White temporize with moves
such as 5 N f3 because 5 Ba4! forces m atte rs: 6 Bel, e5 7
•••
d:u5 (7 d5, Nd4), du5 8 Bel, B : d3! 9 B : d3 , Nd4 and

10 c6 with a slight edge for Black. Wh y? Because he h as
•••
an outpost in the center and Whi te doesn't.
White may do better with 6 d5, N d4 7 Bel, but then

7 e5! is fine for the second player: 8 dxe6, N x f3ch! 9 g x f3,
..•
B:u6 or 8 B x d4, e x d4 9 Nb5, c5 when White can't a f ford to

grab the pawn with 10 d :� c6, b x c6 1 1 N b x d4 because o f
l l Qb6.
...
This theme of B: d3 in order to establish the

•••
Knight on d4 is common to the A ve rbakh system. Black

should not fea r the Bishops-o f opposite color that arise a f
ter White uses his Queen Bishop to captu re the K n ight on
d4. Black's rem aining Bishop is likely to be better than
Whi te's.
H aving said all th is, we can conclude that a fter

4-Nt,, White m ust decide bcn reea:
(See diagram on folJowing page)

60 Black To Play and Win Wit h l g6
... ·
(A) 5 d5, forcing m atters

(B) 5 Ngel, holding the fort
(C) 5 Be3, keepi ng his options open
Section II: White Is a. Queen- Pawn Player 61
Variation A
(1 d4, g6 2 c4, Bg7 3 N c3, d6 4 e4, N c6)
5 d5
I f this bold advan ce succeeds, Black's opening strat

egy is an instant flop. White will now try to force Black
into establishing an u ntenable fortress on d4 which he w i ll
later h a ve to liqu id ate at great positional e xpense.
5 ... N d4
Y es, 5 Nb8 is legal. That is i t's solitary v i rtue.

•••
However 5 Ne5, t rying to provoke a series of

•••
weakening (or strengthening?) pawn advances, has also

been tried. Pergerlcht· Van der Wlel, Brussels 1 985 went 6
b3, c6 7 Be3, N f6 8 f4, Ned7 9 N f3?, N h 5 10 K fl, N x f4! 11
Bd4, Qb6ch! and Black was already winning.
6 Be3
This shortens Black's options to two pawn moves.

There is also 6 N gel (not 6 N f3?, Bg4!) which transposes
into our m ai n line a fter 6 cS 7 Be3. However, this is
•••
slightly ris k y for Black because White can play 7 N :x d4 in

stead o f 7 Be3 and obtain either a small edge (a fter
7... Bxd4 8 Be2, Bg7 9 0-0, N f6 1 0 Be3, 0-0 11 f4) or a big
62 Black To Play and Win Wit h 1 16
•••
one (a fter 7...cxd4?! 8 N bS, Qb6 9 cS!, dxcS 10 B f4!, K f8 1 1

Bc7 o r 9 . QxcS 1 0 Bd2, Qb6 1 1 Qa4!, Bd7 1 2 BaS).
. .
What can Black do then about 6 Ngel? He can sim

ply e xchange pieces and play the position like a K ing's In
dian De fense in which Black has a bit more breathing
space. A fter 6 ... N x e2 7 B : n2 S b akbmatny Bulletin ci tes a
1962 1ame, Donner- Kottnauer, that went 7 ... N r6 8 0-0, 0·0
9 Bel, Nd7 10 Qd2, N c5 1 1 fl, a5 U R fd 1 a fter which
U ... b6 and . e7-e5 would have equalized.
..
Another way o f playing is to allow c4-cS b y White

and coun ter it with the traditional K i ng's Indian plan o f
e7·e5 and ... f7· f5: 7 ...e 5 8 Bel, N r6 9 c5, 0·0 10 R e i , Ne8
...
11 0-0, f5 U e:a: f5, ad5 1l f4, e:l f4r 14 Bd4, Be5 w i th at

least equality (Cebalo - N i kollc, Yu1oslav C bamploasblp
1986).
The pos1t1ons that arise in Variations A, B, aad C

i n w h ich Black plays N (d4) :nl a re d i f ficult to assess. In
...
some cases they favor Whi te. I n other i nstances they a re

fairly e ven. Generally, though, Black is doing well when
he h as a pawn foothold i n the center, p re ferably ... c7-c5,
when he exchanges K n i gh ts.
6 •••
Now 7 ds:c6 e.p., N x c6 is a Sicilian D e fense of the

Maroczy Bind v ariety, but oae that is usually seen with
the two K ingside K nights exch anged o f f. The d i f ference
appears to help Black: 8 N f3, N r6 (8...Bxc3ch!? 9 bxc3, QaS
and 10...N f6 is a distinct alternati ve) 9 Bel, 0·0 10 0·0,
N d7 11 Rei, N c5 with good play.
7 N 1el Qb6!
Wi th 7 ...N x el 8 B : ul, N f6 Black is playing quietly

for equality. The Queen move seeks com plications and ad
vantage. Note that 7...BI4 h as li ttle point because o f 8 fl,
Section II: Wb lte Is a Queen- Pawn Player 63
e.i. S N x el 9 B:�d, Bd7 10 0·0 with f3 · f4 and e4-e5 1n

...
view.
This natural de fense to the attack on the b-pawn

may not be best. The chie f alternati ves a re:
(a) 8 N :� d4, cxd4 9 N a4 an d now 9 ..Qa5ch is the

.
onl y way for Black to protect his Queen and Queen's

Pawn. A fter 10 Bd2, Qc7
we have a cu rious position i n the center i n w h ich the d

pawn's p resence seems to take away the best squares for
White's ON and QB, at the same time that i t p resents Whi te
with a plan---the advance o f the c-pawn.
A fter 11 Rc1, N f6 1 2 Bd3, b6 1 3 b4, Ba6 Black is

resisting the advance. And 1 1 Bd3, N f6 12 b4 allows one
of the common themes in such positions, the ... Ng4-e5 m a -
64 Black To Play and Win With 1 g6 •••
neuver that gi ves Black cen ter and K ingside cou nterplay:
12... Ng4! 13 Rc1, 0-0 14 0-0, NeS 1S N b2, aS 16 Bb1, a x b4
17 Bxb4, b6 and Black has no se rious p roblems (Korchnoi
Speelman, Beer S beva 1987).
More optim istic is the i mmediate 1 1 cS a fter which

it is risky to try to captu re and keep the pawn on cS, and
he does better with l l...N f61 12 cxd6, Qxd6 13 Bd3, 0-0 and
... Ng4, or 12 BbSch, Bd7 13 c6, bxc6 14 dxc6, Be6 lS Qc2,
0-0 16 0-0, d5!, Danallov-Bra kov, Bulgaria 1984.
I f Whi te is more peace ful, he can play the cowa rdly

10 b4 a fter which 10 ... Qxb4ch 11 Bd2, Qa3 1 2 Bel, Qb4ch
is an im mediate draw by repeti tion o f moves. True, Black
.c ould a void this b y meeting 9 Na4 with 9... dxe3!? 1 0 N xb6,
ex f2ch 11 K x f2, axb6. B u t, the sound ness o f this Queen
sacri fice has been open to question for the last few years.
(b) 8 N a4
is a tricky version o f the line above. Si nce 8 . Qb4ch loses

..
immedi ately (9 Bd2, Qxc4 10 Nec3, Qb4 1 1 NbS!) we con

centrate on the other check. And following 8 . Qa5ch 9 . .
Bd2, Black discovers that 9. .Qc7 now allows the annoying

.
pin 10 Bc3!, ensu ring an advantage. There fore 9 .. Qa6 is .
forced. Then 10 Bc3, Bd7! is h a rmless and 10 Nec3, Bd7 1 1

Bd3, N f6 1 2 0-0, 0-0 1 3 a3?, Ng4! 1 4 f4, f5 can lead to
good complications for Black (Keene-B llek, 1972).
Section II: White Is a Queen- Pawn Player 65
Better, a fter 9 ... Qa6, is 10 N xd4, Bxd4 (not ,

10 ... c xd4? 1 1 cS!) and now:
Here White h as a choice. On 1 1 N c3 Black has to be

care ful since 1 1...Qb6? 12 NbS!, B xb2 13 R b 1, Bg7 14 Qa4
and BaS renders a d angerous in itiative to Wh ite
(Poluaayevsky- Ljubojevlc:, Rey kjavik 1987). But l l . Bd7 is
..
an obvious improvement: 12 Bd3, N.f6 13 0-0, 0-0 14 h3!,

Qb6 1S Rb1, Ne8 16 Ne2, Bg7 17 b4 and White h as a slight
edge (Tisdaii-J, Johansson, Malmo Open 1986·7). Black
may do better with the simpler 1 2...Bg7 and 13 ... N f6.
Similar is 1 1 Bd3 when ll .Bg7! 12 0-0, Bd7 13 Nc3,

..
Qb6 14 Rb1, N f6 15 b4 can be answered b y 15 ... cxb4 16 a3,

b3! stifling the Queenside i ni tiative (17 R xb3, Qc7 18 N bS,
BxbS 19 R x b5, Nd7 20 Be3, 0-0 2 1 a4, b6 and ...R fc8---Ree·
Bischoff, Plovdiv 1983).
Getting back to 8 Qdl ... our main line:

66 Black To P lay and Win With 1 16 •••
8 •.• N f6
This is based on the fact that White can not s a fely

capture on d4: 9 N x d4, cxd4 10 BK d4?, Nu4! 11 B K b6,
N:ll: d l U Nb5, B f5! 13 Nc7ch, Kd7 14 N x a8, N d1 15 Rx f1,
R K a8 and 1 6 ... Bxbl or 15 Ba5, B K bl and Black may emerge
with a material advantage.
Beller for White is 10 QK d4, but I'IO ... Qxbl ends

Wh ite's best Queenside chances for i nitiati v't ( 1 1 R b 1, Qa3
12 Qd2, Qa5 13 f3, 0-0 14 N b5, Qxd2ch 15 K xd2, b6! and a
draw was agreed soon in Donner-Ree, WIJk aan Zee 1 971).
9 f3
White sometimes uses the h-pawn to stop . . NB4, but

.
a fter 9 h3 Black can simply castle with a reason able game.

On 9 h3, 0·0 10 Rd1 Black appears to get adequ ate cou n
terplay from either 10...N ul or 10...e5!? 11 du6 e.p., Nu6
(12 g3, Bd 7 13 Bg2, Bc6 as in Bohn· Van der Wiel, Dutch
Championship 1981).
And on 10 0-0·0, rather than 10 Rd1, Black gets a

K i ng-target: 10 ... Nulch 1 1 Bul, Qa5 1l B h6, B x h6! 13
Q K h6, b5 14 nbS, a6 with a stronger attack for Black
(Smlth-Her1ott, Kltchener 1985).
9 ••• Nd7
Now however, 9 ...0·0 is more questionable because

White can go into the line in the last paragraph (10 0-0-0,
Nxe2ch 1 1 Bxe2, Qa5 12 Bh6, b5 13 cxb5, a6 and use the
d i f fe rence in ninth moves to speed his own attack: 14 b6,
Rb8 15 h4!, Qxb6 16 B xg7, K xg7 17 h5! as in Kaka1eldiev·
Dorfman, U.S.S.R. 1979).
10 N a4
Just as Black should not rush into castling, neither

should White. A fter 10 0·0·0 Black can initiate a K ing-at-
Section I I: White Is a Queen- Pawn Player 67
tack with 10 ... Nulcb · 1 1 Bxel, QaS followed by ... a7-a6

and b7-b5. �nd i f Wh ite plays 1 0 Rd1, comm iting himsel f
...
t o K i ngside castling, Black c a n p l a y 1 0 ...0 - 0 s a fely since 11

N x d4, cxd4 1.2 Bxd4 allows 1.2 B x d4 13 Qx d4, Qxbl with
...
typically adequ ate cou n terchances.
The exch ange of d ark-squared Bishops is generally

OK for Black if Wh ite is left with some dark-square holes,
such as d4, c:5 and bl in this last line.
10... Qa6
This move, attacking the K night, is v i rtu ally

forced, but not all bad as the following sequen ce shows.
1 1 N x d4 Qxa4
1.2 Nb5 0·0
And now Black appears to stan d all right beca use

of his ability to generate Queenside play with ... a7-a6 and
.. Qb4. For instance, the attacking plan o f 13 B b6, Bx h6!
.
14 Q x b 6 can be met by 14...a6 15 N c:3, Qb4 16 Qdl (or 16

Rb l?, Ne51), fS! 17 ex fS, Rx rS 18 Bel, Ne5 19 b3, bS! as in
Donner- Timman, Wlj k aan Zee 1974.
Nor does Wh ite get anything out o f the endgame of

13 Bel, a6 14 b3, Qb4 15 Qxb4, c:xb4. A thematic example
o f this was Savon - N i kolayevsky, U krainian Spart a kl a de
1979:
68 Black To Play aod Wio Wit h l. .. g6
16 Nd4, Nc:S 17 Kd2, Bd7 18 R b b l , aS 19 B d l , Rfb8

20 a3, bxa3 H Rx a3, bS! 22 c:xbS, B xbS 23 Rbal, Be8 (Now
24 R xa5, R xa5 25 R x a5, Bxd4 26 Bxd4, N xb3ch is a dead
draw) 24 R ( l ) a2, Ra6 2S Bc:l , bS 26 Ne2, Rba8 27 N c:l, BbS
28 f4, Rc:8 29 Ne2, a4! 30 Bxc: S , Rxc:S 3 1 bxa4, Bc:4 32 Bd3,
B x d3 33 Kxd3, fS! 34 aS, fxe4c:b 3S Kxe4, Rc:4c:b and Black
was not worse. He e ventually won a-fter 36 Kf3 , Rc:S 3 7
Ke4, Rc:4c:b 38 K f3, Rc:S 39 Rd3?1, Raxa5.
Section II: White Is a Queen-Pawn Player · 69
Variation B
( 1 d4, g6 l c:4, Bg7 3 N c:3, d6 4 e4, N c6)
5 Ngel
This u n assuming move is seen relatively rarely

nowad ays because it tends to prem atu rely commit White to
particular K i ngsi de plus, when compared to V a riation C.
5 ... c5
6 d5
Eventually White m ust make this ad v ance or allow
a liberating e x change on d4. A fter 6 Be3 Black can keep
his options open and the center closed with 6 N b 6 (7 f3,
•••
f5 8 d5, Ne7 9 Qd2, N f7). However, a simpler road to

equality p robably l ies in 6 e:xd4 7 N :Kd4, Nge7 wi£h
•••
promising play based on an early f7- f5 or NeS. For ex

••• •••
ample:
(a) 8 g3
70 Black To Play and Win With 1 g6 ...
0-0 9 Bg2, Ne5 10 b3, Bg4 1 1 f3, c5! 12 fxg4 (12 Nc2,
N x f3cb!), N xg4! 13 Bg1, cxd4 14 Bxd4, Ne3! 15 Bxe3,
Bxc3ch 16 K f2, f5 and Black was going great i n Guselnov
Kantsler, Frunze 1987.
(b) 8 Qd2
f5 9 e x f5, N x f5 10 N x f5, B x f5 11 Be2, 0-0 12 B f3, Ne5 13

Be2, Qd7 (Bragln-Zbmurov, Soviet Spartakiade 1982). No
tice that i f White plays the similar 8 Be2, 0-0 9 0-0, f5 10
e x f5 Black can vary from 10... N x f5 with 10 ... Bx d4!? 1 1
Bxd4, N x f5 when 1 2 Be3, N xe3 1 3 f xe3, R x f lch h as been
shown to be e ven i n se ve ral games.
(c) 8 Bel
0-0 and now 9 Qd2, f5 10 N x c6, b xc6 1 1 0-0-0 allows Black

counterplay from ll ... fxe4 1 2 g4, c5 13 h4, Rb8 14 h5, Be6
1 5 Bh6, Be51, sacri ficing the Exchange (Kalatozlsbbill·
Section I I: White Is a Queen-Pawn Player 71
Chlkovanl, U.S.S.R. 1979). Similarl y, 10 ex f5, Bxd4! with

rapid equality--- 1 1 Bxd4, N x fS 12 Be3, N xe3 13 Qxe3 and
Dluay-Selrawan, U.S. Championship 1987 w as d rawn he re).
Better is the rou tine 9 0-0 a fter which 9 ... f5 10

Nxc6, b xc6 is fairly even. The e xch ange of d ark-squared
Bishops can, in fact, favor Black, e.g. 11 Bd4, B xd4! 12
Qx d4, c5 13 Qd2, Bb7 14 B f3, f4. And 11 Qd2, Rb8 (12
ex f5, N x f5 13 Bx a7, Rb7 14 Be3, N xe3) or j ust 11 ... f xe4 12
N xe4, N f5 isn't much for White.
And i f White t ries 9 g4 with the idea o f rest raining
Black's f-pawn, he sets up some holes on f4 and h4. A fte r
9 ... Be6 10 Rg1 (10 h41?), N xd41 1 1 Bxd4, Nc6 1 2 B xg7, K xg7
the K ingside d ark-squ a re h oles are e x p loitable. And in
Gurevlc:h - Selrawan, U.S. C h ampionship 1987, they were
d u l y e xploited: 13 Qd2, Qh41 14 Rg3?, Q x h 2 15 b3, Ne5 16
Qd4, Qh1ch 17 B fl, f6 18 0-0-0, B xg4 19 Bg2, Qh6ch 20
Rd2, c6 and Black e ventu ally won.
We should also mention that here as in similar posi
tions, the entrance into an endgame---or rath e r a Queen less
mid dlegame---with 6 d n5 (instead of 6 d5) d:u5 7 Qx d8c:h
is without energy. The loss of castling is more than made
up by Black's winning of the d4 square for his K n ight
(and his ability to keep a White K n i ght o f f of d5 b y play
ing ...c7-c6). At least i n the K i ng's Indian and Old Indian
de fenses, when this early exchange o f Queens is played,
Black o ften has to delay N d4. Here h e can do it fairly
•••
early in the game.
Back to the main line a fter 6 d5:

71 Black To Play and Win With 1 .g6
..
6 ••• N ce7
This, and the comparable position with Be3 instead

of Ngel played by Wh ite, is a central poi nt o f con troversy
i n the A ve rbakh System begu n by 4 N c6. Is Whi te's advan
•••
tage in space more valu able than Black's counterplay along

the f- file? Wi ll Black's ability to exch ange o f f his "bad
bishop" with Bh6 turn out to be posi tionally advan ta
...
geous---or j ust a weakening of his King posi tion? These

questions have not been resolved i n more than 20 years o f
Grandmaster e x pe rimentation.
Note that 6 ... Nd4? 7 N �: d4, nd4 8 Nb5, a6! 9 N x d4,
Qh4! gi ves Black some compensation for h is missing pawn.
But 7 Be3! would force Black to exchange K nights in un
favorable circumstances (since 7...c5? 8 dxc6, N xc6 leaves
him with a backward d-pawn and 8 N xe2 9 cxb7 or 9 c7
...
is excellent for Wh ite). The k night exchange w as not un

pleasant in Variation A, w hen Black bad played c7-c5 in
...
stead o f . e7-e5 and there fore had much bette r Queenside

..
play and opportunities to acti vate his remaining K night.
7 Ng3
Unlike the comparable posataon in V a riation C,

White cannot restrain his opponen t here with 7 g4 because
the Pawn would simply be h anging there. He does h a ve a
choice:
(a) 7 r3,
Section II: White Ia a Queen-Pawn Player 73
the natu ral idea seems to gi ve Black a free hand a fte r

7 ... (5 8 Be3, Bh61 9 B xh6, Nxh6 10 Qd2, N f7. The ability o f
t h e K nigh t t o retreat t o t h e e xcellent f 7 squ a re, where it
protects the base of the pawn chain a t d6 and avoids in
vading Ng5-e6 K nights, insures equality.
A fter 11 g3, 0-0 12 Bg2, c6 13 0-0, cxd5 14 c xd5,
Qb6ch 15 K h 1, Bd7 16 R ae 1, Kg7 17 f4, R ae8 18 Ncl we
are following Botvlnnlk·Suttles, Belarade 1970 which fa
vored White a fter 18...e x f4? 1 9 gx f4, fxe4 20 N xe4 but
should p robably favor Black a bit a fter 18... h:e4!.
(b) 1 aJ,
f5 8 Bg2 looks OK, but a fter 8 ... N f6! there is too m u c h

pressu re o n e4. I f White h as t o p l a y 9 (3, t h e n he h as noth
i n g (9 ..0-0 10 0-0, c61 1 1 K h 1, cxd5 12 c xd5, Qb6 a s in
.
Donner- lvkov, Platlaorsky Cup 1 966).
(c) The bid for m ate with 7 h4

74 Black To Play and Win With l g6 ...
may t u rn out well i f Black plays 7 ... h5 and m a kes d i f ficult

for himse l f the later possibilities o f ... f7- f5. This would
transpose i n to our main line a fter 8 Ng3.
But the immediate 7... f5!? might be substituted, e.g.

8 e x f5, gx f5 9 Ng3, N f6 10 Bg5, Bd7 1 1 Qd2, a6 12 0-0-0,
0-0 13 h5, b5 as in Kupper- H uebner 1978.
Back to the main l � ne a fter 7 Na3:
7... h5
Now 7 r5 may be a bit question able a fter 8 ex f5,

•••
N x f5 9 Bd3 because of Black's light-squ a re weaknesses.

The text, which threatens 8 b4, is simpler.
•••
8 b4 c5
Section II: White Is a Queen- Pawn Player 75
. This last move is a common one in the Averbakh. It

prepares for Queenside action ( ... a7-a6, ...Bd7, ... Rb8) and
also denies White the attack on the base of the pawn chain
with c4-c5. However, it gi ves Wh ite another fron t to attack
with bl -b4.
9 Bel Bd7
There is not suf ficient reason to ruth into a trade

of the bad Bishop with B b6. This exchange, while gener
...
ally use ful, can and should be delayed u n til a fte r Wh iLe
h as spent a tempo on Bel. Also, there is a danger that an
e xchange o f Bishops will allow White to open the center,
say a fter 9.. Bb6 10 Bx h6, N x b6 1 1 Qdl, B d7 U f4!
.
10 a 3 N c8
And now 11 Bel allows l l Bh6 with equality (or

...
1 1 BgS, f6! 12 Bd2, Bh6 as in Forlntos- Lim, Vu kovar 1976

which continued 13 b4, b6 14 bS?, Qe7 15 a4, Rb8 16 Qc2,
K d8! 17 0-0-0, aS 18 K b2, K c7 and Black stood sligh tly
bette r).
Pe rhaps 1 1 N f l is better because it allows the repo

sitioni ng of the K night at e3, or a fter bl·b4, at b3. And i t
also meets Black's immediate th reat, w h ich was 1 1 ... 8 16
and U .. Bx b4. Black however, can j ust continue his posi
.
tional plans with l l .. Bb6 or 11 a6 and U . Rb8. The posi

. ... ..
tions arising then are both tactically and strategically di f.

ficult--- for both players.
76 Blac:k To Play a a d Wla With 1 ...g6
Variation C
(1 d4, g6 l c:4, Bg7 3 N c:3, d6 4 e4, N c:6)
5 Be3
e� .a �tat�a �
�· ��
a �.a.�l!!r
. -.�
� ... � � · �� ...
�· & �� - & � &
�·� � i�
�' � � �
� ft � ft� �
�
%% "
� � �
-
�
6 �
A rf�
� ii4i�
� � �A 6�
�
,
� �itW-'1.� �
This has recently become the most popular anti dote
to the Averbakh System in master chess. This Bishop will
watch c:S, a squ are that looms large a fter e7-e5 / d4-d5.
•••
And it allows the bayonet strategy revealed in ou r m a i n

l i n e below ( 5 ...e5 6 d 5 , N c e 7 7 g41?) because t h e g · p a w n i s
p rotected, i n t h e absence o f N gel.
5 ... e5
Again, our strategy is to con front Wh ite at this

square. Now 6 Ngel, ud4 7 N x d4, Nge7 will transpose i nto
the note to White's si xth move in Variation B above.
I f Black is having second thoughts, he can back out

o f A verbakh positions b y playing 5 N f6, a fter which 6 f3
•••
reaches a book line i n the S aem isch V ariation o f the

K i ng's Indian.
6 d5 N ce7
And again 6 Nd4 allows 7 Ngel when Wh ite forces

•••
a favorable e x change of K nigh ts.
7 g4!?
Section I I: White Is a Queen- Pawn P l ay e r 77
Clearly designed to restrain Black from advancing

his f-pawn, this is a kind o f posi tional "I d are you". Let's
consider the alternati ves:
(a) 7 Bdl
is quiet and i n o f fensi ve, and really doesn't add ress the
p roblem of what to do about the coming attack on e4. A f
ter 7 f5 White either h as to exchange pawns (8 e x fS, g x fS
•••
when 9 f4, Ng6 10 fxeS, d xeS or 9 f3, Bh6 a re pleasant for

Black) or allow the traditional K i n gside a d v ance o f 8 f3,
f4 9 B f2, N f6 and ...g6-gS-g4, e.g. 10 Nge2, 0-0 11 c5, R f7
12 b4, gS 13 b5, Ng6 14 c6, b6 1 5 a4, aS 1 6 b xa6, B xa6 17
aS, bxaS 18 R xaS, Bxd3 1 9 R xa8, Qxa8 20 O x d3, g4 with
adequate play for Black, as i n a Polish women's game from
the 1970's.
Similarly 8 fl
78 Black. To Play and Win With l. .. g6
N f6 9 Nge2, 0-0 10 0-0 and now, with White's K i ng com

mi tted to the ta rget zone, 10 ... f4 h as more im pact: 1 1 B f2, 1
g5 1 2 c5, Ng6 13 cxd6, cxd6 14 R c 1 , R f7 15 Qb3, g4 16
NbS, g x f3 17 gx f3, Bh3 18 · R fe 1, a6 19 Nc3, N d7! 20 K h 1,
Qg5 and Black won the Exchange and the game in
Geldlmamedov· Kakageldlev, Ash khabad 1981.
(b) 7 14
-�.�.--�4)
�� -��
� � � ��
� � ft � �
� ft� ft � �
�
� " � �- �
�
ft � � � ft � .
g �itW.Q. � �
weakens Wh ite too . much on the dark squares: 7 ... e x f4 8
Bx f4, h61 and i f 9 h4 then 9;.. g5! a n y w ay (10 h xg5, Ng6 1 1
B-moves, h xg5 and Black h as won the k e y e 5 squ are for
his m i nor pieces).
(c) 7 Qdl
f5 8 f3 pre pares for Queenside castling. A fter 8 ... N f6 9 0-

0-0 Black has a tactical trick: 9 ... fxe4 10 N xe4 (10 fxe4,
Ng4!), N f5 and i f White tries to save his good Bishop with
11 B f2??, he allows 11 ... N xe4 and 1 2...Bb6. And if be does
Se-.:tlon I I: White Is a Queen- Pawn Player 79
1 1 Bg5, he will be surprised b y ll.. . N xe4! 12 B xd8, Nxd2 or

12 fxe4, Q xg5! 13 Qxg5, Bh6 when Black is slightly better
becauS& o f the bad Wh ite Bishop (14 h4, B xg5 1 5 h xg5, Ng3
16 R h4, h5 17 gx h6, g5---analysis by C h i kovani).
Better there fore is 8 ... N f6 9 Bd3, 0-0. Now Black

gets Queenside coun terplay from ...c7-c5, e.g. 10 0-0-0, c5
1 1 d x c6, bxc6 12 Bc2, fxe4 13 B xe4, d51 and 14 cxd5, cxd5
15 Nx d5, Nexd5 16 Bxd5cb, N xd5 17 Qxd5ch, Qxd5 18
Rxd5, e4! with dangerous play for a p a wn--T IIIer- K arlsson,
Randers 1982.
Perh aps better is 10 Nge2 when 10 ... c5 11 a3 would

allow White to start a Q ueenside i nitiative aimed at b2-b4.
But a fter 1 1 ... f4 12 B f2, a6 13 b4, b6 14 R b 1 , g5 chances
are balanced. E.C.O. gi ves 15 bxcS, bxc5 16 h3 as best, not·
ing a game in which 16 Qb2, g4 17 Qb6, Qd7! tu rned out
badly for White.
(d) 7 c5
the immed iate assault on the base of the pawn chain,

which is best met by the mi rror-im age 7 ... f5. Wh ite usually
exchanges pawns here, 8 cxd6, c xd6, a n d gives the disrup
tive 9 Bb5 check. It is generally assumed that an ex change
o f Bishops favors White, although this wasn't born out in a
1981 Petroslan- hkov game that went 9. ..Bd7 10 Bx d7ch,
Qxd7 1 1 f3, N f6 12 N h3, h6 and 13...0-0.
80 B la c k To Play and Win Wit� l J6
...
Nevertheless, 9 ... K f8 is the most interesting coi:lfin

u ation, keeping the f7 square free for a K night a fter 10
f3, Bh6 11 Bxh6ch, N x h6 12 Qd2, N f7. Now 13 f4 might be
d angerous, but 13 Nge2 and other quiet moves are rela
tively u nambi tious--- 1 3... f4 14 h4, h 6 15 g3, g5 16 h xg5,
h xg5 17 0-0-0, R x h 1 as in an I v ko v analysis. These lines
need a lot more testing.
(e) 7 b4
seeks a quick mate, but h as the disadvantage that a fter the

thematic 7 ... f5 8 h5, f4!, White's Bishop is attacked and
Black h as time for 9 Bd2, g5.
True, his dark-squ ared Bishop is severly restricted
a fter moves such as 10 g4. But i n a blocked position, he
can reorganize h is pieces at his leisure, e.g. 10 g4, Nh6 1 1
f3, c5 1 2 Nh3, N f7 1 3 N f2, Ng8! 1 4 a3, N f6 1 5 b4, b6 16
Nd3, 0-0 17 Be2, Bd7 (Cvltan· lvkov, Yuaoslav C b ampl·
onsbip 1982).
Back to 7 g4---our main line:

Section II: White Is a Queen-Pawn Player 81
7 ••• rs
There is something to be said for 7 N f6, so that

•••
once the Pawn is p rotected with 8 Bel, Black can castle

sa fely (8.. 0-0 9 h4, Ne81 10 h5, gxh5 1 1 R xh5, Ng6 and
.
12. N f4 according to Uhlmann). And on 8 tJ Black plays

..
8 Nd7 9 b4, rs 10 g: d5, g: d5 when White's eighth move

•••
bas denied him the access to the K ingside v i a d 1 · h5.
Petursson· Speelman, H astings 1986·7 v a ried slightly

with 10 bS, h6 1 1 adS, g: d5 but Black again stood well
a fter U Qdl, N f6 13 0-0·0, f4 14 B fl, b6 15 Bh4, Nb7 16
B h3, B f6! 17 B: d6, N : d6 18 Be6, N b7.
7 N f6, Black's plan a fter 8 g5! is not clear.

•••
A stri king posltaon for "book". Black wants to use

his spatial advantage on the K ingside. Wh ite either hopes
for a mate or, more realistically, the chance to e xploit the
ligh t-colored squares.
8 gd5
This is the most testing con tinu ation. A fte r 8 f3

White is content to keep the K ingsi de in a kind of li mbo,
w ith h is Pawn f ront staking out a claim for at least equal
share o f the f. and g- files. He no longe r has to worry
abou t r5- f4 and the ...g6·g5·g4 roll. And if Black t ries to
•••
e xploit the aerated K ingside with he4, he may end up

...
handing e4 to Wh ite pieces rather than paw ns, e.g. 8 f3 ,

82 Bl iu: k To Play aad Wla With 1 ...g6
N r6 9 hJ, 0·0 10 BdJ, c5 11 Ngel, Bd7 U aJ, he4? 13

N x e4!, Nxe4 14 Bxe4 and h4-h5 won i n G hltescu·Sikora,
Warsaw 1979.
But Black can force matters on the K i ngside in a

d i f ferent way: A fter 8 ... N f6 9 hJ, h5! Whi te m ust try to
block ade with 10 g5, Nd7 1 1 h4, but then Black can sa fely
castle K ingside and await Queenside events, e.g. 11 ... a5 U
Qdl, Nc:5 13 0·0·0, b6 1 4 Bel, 0·0 15 N h3, Bd7 16 Qcl, a4
17 N fl, Qb8 and . . c7·c6 as i n Mlles- Kob lweyer, Dortmund
.
1986.
8 ••• gx f5
9 Qh5cb
It makes some posi tional sense to play 9 Bh3 and

exchange the light-squ ared Bishops. But a fter 9 ... N f6 10
ex f5, Nd5 Black's pieces are too active and following 10
fJ, 0·0 11 Qd3, Qe8! (Lukov-Stolkov, U.S.S.R. 1979) Black
has the easier game· to play.
Nor is it attractive for White to play q uietly here

with 9 f3. The opening o f the g- file with fl. f3 is a
worthwhile strategy in m a n y K ing's Indian v ariations, but
with . Ng6-f4 coming in for both attack and de fense,
..
Black should have no d i f ficu lties. A fter 9 fJ, N f6 10 Qdl

Black can play 10 ... he4 1 1 he4, Ng4 with excellent play.
9 ••• Ng6!
Section II: White Is a Queeo·Pawo Player 83
This does not lose, a piece (10 e x f5, Qh4) and ap
·
pears st ronge r than the ol d er 9 K rs idea. A fter 9 Kf8 the
••• ..•
displacement of the K i ng is a m inor con cern, as demon

strated by a recent e xample:
Partos· Selrawao, Blel 1985 went 9 ... Kf8 10 e x f5,
N f6 1 1 Qd1, N x f5 1 2 BbJ, Rg8 13 QdJ, N ul 14 Q x eJ ,
B h8! 15 Nge2, Ng4 16 B x g4, Rxg4 17 Qb6ch, Kg8 18 b J ,
Bg7 and i t was h ard to tell that Black had not castled. He
won a fter his Bishops took con trol of the K i ngside--- 1 9
QeJ, B f5 20 N gJ, Bg6 2 1 0·0, Q b 4 22 fJ, R x glcb 23 b x g3 ,
QxgJ 2 4 Kh 1, R f8 25 R f2 , Bb5 26 Raft, R f4, etc.
No, the real p roblem with 9... K f8 is 10 B b3!, Nf6 1 1
Qf3 when l l . .. f4 leaves Black with a bad game posi tionally
(12 Bd2, a6 13 Bxc8, Q xc8 14 Qd3, Rg8 15 N f3 and 16 0-0-
0 as io Llberzoo-Czerolak, N etaoy a 1975 or 12 ... c6 13 Nge2,
B x h 3 14 Qxh3, Qd7 15 Qxd7, N xd7 16 Nc1 and N b3). And
i f Black doesn' t play ll... f4, Whi te will exchange favorabl y
o n f5--- 1 1...a6 1 2 e x f5, Qe8 13 Nge2, Qh5 14 Q xh5, N x h5
15 Bg5, N x f5 16 Ng3 as i n · a 1958 game in w h ich
A verbakh, originator of this de fense, generaled the Wh ite
pieces.
10 ex f5
The natu ral continuation. Wi th Black playing his

K n ights to power ful positions on the K i ngside, White can
not dilly-dally, e.g. 10 B hJ, N f6 1 1 Q fJ, N b 4!
84 Black To Play and Win With 1 g6 .•.
11 Qxh4
This i s the most popular, but not necessa rily pro

d uctive line. In the endgame, Black will make e xcellen t use
o f the ki ngside holes.
Perhaps more promising is 1 1 Qf3, N 6e7 U Bd3

with the idea o f meeting 12 Nh6 with 13 f6!, B x f6 14
•••
Ne4, N h f5 15 Qh5ch! as in BeDjamlo-McCarthy, U.S. Open

1986 (1S . Kd8 16 � x f6 and Bg S) . Black can i mprove with
..
13 R f8! however, and then 14 Ne4, Bd6 is q uite reason

•••
able for Black.
Also worth a try is U Nb5, rather than U Bd3.

Then U Kd8 is req u i red and 13 B h3, N f6 14 N c3, bS!? 15
...
c:xb5, Bd7 is very double-edged. The same plan can be used

against 13 Bd3.
Finally, 1 1 Q rJ, N f4!? is a gambit that h as never

been given much o f ' test.
11 ••• N :x h 4
U NbS
This bid for the a-pawn is the only dange rous idea
at Wh ite's disposal. Following 12 Bd3, N x f5 or U a6, •••
Black's m inor pieces will be at least as good as Whi te's.
12••• Kd8
13 N x a7
On 13 B x a7, B x f5 14 Be3 we transpose i n to the

main line below. And 14 rJ? worked out very badly in
Dlesen-Koshaosky, Ocljek 1978 because of the simple
14 b6, trapping the Bishop. A fter 15 a4, Ne7 16 aS, Kd7
•.•
17 axb6, cxb6 18 RaJ, Nc8 19 B h3, Rei Whi te's pred ica
ment was obvious and he lost quickly: 2 0 B : d5cb, N x fS 2 1
NeZ, Re7 2 2 Nec3, Nd4 23 KU, e4 2 4 Ra4, e3ch lS Kg3,
BeSch 26 Kh4, Rg7! White resigns.
Section I I: White Is a Queen-Pawn Player 85
And 13 BgScb, B f6 14 B K h4, B x b4 15 N f3, B f6 16

B d3, Ne7 promises nothing either.
13... B x f5
14 Nb5 Be4
Other ideas here a re 14 B b 6 (recommended by
•••
H aag) and 14 N f6 (recommended by Chi kovani). A recent

•••
e x ample o f the former went 14 B b 6 15 Nc3, Bxe3 16 he3,

•••
N f6 1 7 B b3, Be41 18 N u4, N x e4 19 Ba4? Ra8 20 b3, b51

Wh ite resigns (Sorosl·Arapovlc, Bern 1987) i n view o f 2 1
B f3, Rxalcb o r U B 1 U , Na3 or 2 1 B d 1, Na2cb 22 KU,
Nxe3cb 23 Ke l, N K d 1.
15 f3 Bx f3!
This improvement over 1S N d3cb 16 N x f3, B d3

•••
17 R1l, B f6 18 Bel! (Boleslavsky) makes the e n ti re 5 Be3,

e5 v a riation pleasant for Black.
The endgame a fter 15 B d3! h olds n o terrors any
•••
more: 16 N x f3, Nd3cb and now 17 KU, e4 18 Nc3, B x c3!

19 b K c3, Ne7 favors Black's pawn structure. Better is 17
Kd1, but then 17 Ne7 18 B d3, Kd7 19 Kel, Nd4cb 20
•••
N x d4, n d4 is quite equal (Tsamryuk-Kakaleldlev, U.S.S.R.

1981).
To repeat. I f Black can establish su f ficient press u re
on d4 early in the game, he should be able to generate
middlegame opportun ities on one o f the two wings. Posi
tional themes, such as exch anging o f f a bad Bishop with
...Bb6 followed by ...e7·eS / d4·d5, merge with tactics, and
Black m ust be w illing to take some risks.
86 Black. To Play and Win Wltb l g6 ...
SECTION Ill
White Plays Various Openings ·
So far we've concerned ou rselves w i th orthodox

opening st rategies by Wh ite: He advances one of his two
center pawns and he occupies as many cen t ral squares as
allowed. In this section, we'll examine alte rnative schemes
o f development and p riorities for the fi rst player. They
include:
(A) White plays d2-d4 but does not follow w i t h c2-c4.

(B) Wh ite plays the English, that is c2-c4 but not d2-d4.
(C) Wh i te plays a Reti-like system · w i th 1 N f3 or 1 g3.
(D) Whi te fianchettoes his Queen Bishop on his first two
moves.
(E) Wh i te plays a Bi rd's opening, 1 f4.
In a sense, since we've decided to build our opening

repertoire a round 1 g6, t hese altern ative systems b y Whi te
...
should not be frigh teni ng. A fter all, i f Black w i t h his first
fe w moves is goi ng to allow Wh i te to seize the center,
Wh i te's re fusal to do so is a t least a partial acknow ledge
ment o f the sou ndness of Black's openi ng.
Ne vetheless, each of these other systems packs a

punch---and also denies Black one. By not putting pawns
on squares where they can be attacked, Wh ite h as p re
vented Black from h is most natural sou rce o f cou n terplay.
O ften in the pages that follow, Black finds hi msel f trying
to choose bet ween se veral good policies, usually p red icated
on which cent ral pawn to push. But unlike Section I and
II, at least here he has a choice.
Section I l l: White Plays Various Openlnas 87
Variation A
White plays dl ·d4, but not cl ·c4.
1 d4 g6
Now l N c3, Bg7 3 e4 is a king-pawn posltwn con

sidered in Section I. With l e3, Bg7 3 Bd3 we are heading
into note (a) below. And l f4 is a Stone wall ve rsion o f
Bi rd's Openi ng, Vari ation E.
And here 3 e4 will transpose into Section I, Vari a

tion C. However Wh ite has t ried a variety o f other sim ple
developing plans in the diagram, based on putting pawns
on c3 and e3. He will develop one Bishop on d3 and l h e
other on f4, g 5 or leave i t at c l , put the Queen at e .Z or c.Z
and Rooks at d l and el. Depending on w h at Black has
done, a timely ad vance o f the Wh i te e- o r c-pawn can
w reak ha voc in the cen ter. These i n nocent-looking
alternati ve systems h ave borne the n ames of Carlos Torre
and Edgar Colle, among others, and have worked well for
m a n y other fine players.
3 Bg5
Attacking the "ghost" o f a K n ight on f6. T h i s ap

pears to be more use ful than the m aj or altern atives:
(a) 3 e3
88 Black To Play and Win With l. ..g6
begins the Colle System, which scored many successes in

maste r events o f the 1920's. Those brilli an cies stemmed
largely from the rapid attack Wh ite de veloped along the
c2-h7 diagonal---a line that is cu rtailed b y Black's fi rst
two moves.
Since there is not going to be much of an attack on

d4 now, Black answers 3 e3 with 3 ... N f6 and de velops nor
mally: 4 Bd3, d5! 5 0-0, 0-0 6 Nbd2 and now 6... Nbd7 would
lead, a fter 7 e4, dxe4 8 N x e4, N xe4 9 B xe4, cS, to a posi
tion from Section I, Va ri ation A l with Black being two
tempi ahead (!). This is because Wh ite has taken two moves
to advance his e-pawn instead o f one, and Black h as taken
one move to advance his c-pawn, instead o f two. We need
not worry much about such a position for Black.
Suppose a fter 4...d5 White decides to revert to more

normal cen t ral play with 5 c4. Then Black h as a choice be
tween playing 5... c5, ,!lS in an i nnocuous White system
against the Gruen feld De fense (6 Nc3, cxd4 7 e x d 4, 0-0 8
0-0, Bg4) or a related version o f the Queen's Gambit Ac
cepted with 5...dxc4 6 Bxc4, 0-0 and perhaps ...Bg4, ... Nc6,
...e7-e5. In either case, Black gets a free ride i n the open
ing.
(b) 3 B f4
(See diagram o n following page)

Section I l l: White Plays Various Openlnas 89
is sometimes called the London System--- a fter the 1922

tournament in which it gained atten tion. The ideas behind
the London System are much the same as the Colle, but
with the important d i f fe rence that i f Black plays ... d7-d5
now, White obtains a terri fie diagonal for his Bishop at
h2-b8.
But there is an important d i f fe rence between the

London S ystem a fter l...g6, 2 ...Bg7 a n d the same opening
against l ... N f6, 2 ...g6. In the former move order, Black con
t rols the eS square immediately. This allows him to kick
back at the Bishop: 3 B f4, d6 4 e3, Nd7! and S ...eS, e.g. S
h3, eS 6 Bh2, Qe7 7 Be2, N g f6 8 0-0, 0-0 9 c4, Ne4! 10
d xeS, d xeS 11 N fd2, N xd2 1 2 N xd2, fS 13 Qb3, aS 14
R fd 1 , a4 and Black held a slight edge in
(Dzhlndzlkashvlll- Soltls, Heraldlca, New York 1979). Also
see Illustrative Game a t end o f V a ri ation A.
Also S c4, eS 6 Bg3, Nh6 and ... f7- f5, b u r y i ng the

Bishop, or 6 d x e5, d xeS 7 BgS, f6 8 Bh4, N h 6! e.g. 9 N c3,
N fS 10 Bg3, c6 1 1 e4, Nxg3 12 b xg3, Qe7 13 Be2, Nc5 1 4
Qd2, a S 15 b3, Be6 w i t h advantage --- T ere b e si · H ar di csa y,
Hunaary 1978.
(c) 3 N bdl

90' " Black To Play and Win With l . g6. .
is among several quiet moves (3 c3, 3 N c3) which fail to

threaten Black's composure. Now that B f4 has been de
layed, Black should feel com fortable answering the K night
moves with 3...dS! Then 4 e3 would be passi ve and very
s.imilar to (a), while 4 g3, N f6 S Bg2 lacks enough in flu
ence on the center to hope for advantage, e.g. S .. 0-0 6 0-0,
.
c6 7 c4, B fS 8 b3, Ne4 9 Bb2, QaS· 10 a3, Nd7 11 b4, Qd8

12 Rc1, bS (Tsesbk.ovsk.y- Dvoretsky, U.S.S.R. Championship
1974).
(d) There is greater poin t to the waiting-move 3 c3,
since 3 ... dS 4 B f4 gets Wh i te into his London System with a

clean di agonal for the Bishop. There is nothing particu
larly w rong w i th that. But more in keeping with Black's
"Indian" strategy is 3...N f6 and, i f 4 B f4, then 4...d6 S e3,
NbS 6 BgS, h6 7 Bh4, gS. I f Wh i te wants to p rese rve his
Bishop with S h3, then S ..0-0 6 e3, Nc6! p repares Black for
.
the Bishop-restricting push o f the e-pawn e.g. 7 dS?, eS!; or

7 Bd3, NbS 8 Bh2, eS or 7 BbS, a6 8 Ba4, bS 9 Bc2, Nd7
Section I l l: White Plays 'V'arious Ope n i n gs 91
and 10 . .e5 or 9 Bb3, N a5 10 ' B•c2, Nc4 · (B isquier-Giigoric;

.
Stockholm 1961).
Back . to the main line a fter 3 Bg5:
3 ... N f6
The game now t u rns toward a some what rare ver

sion o f the K i ng's Indian De fense. Wh i te's Bishop may turn
out to be a use ful pinning piece on the h4-d8 di agonal, or
i t may end u p being k icked a round b y Black p a w ns.
4 N bd2 d51?
This cuts down White's options a bit, compared with

4 d6 5 e4 or 5 e3. Once White's Queen Knight is de veloped
•.•
at d2, he can't get much of an i n i tiative by attacking dS

with cl -c4.
5 e3 0-0
6 c3 Nbd7
The K n ight goes to this square because Black may

want to keep the c6 clear in case he fianchettoes his Queen
Bishop, and also because he m a y want to su pport c7-c5. ..•
That support was not essential earlier since 6 Bd3, cS 7

dxcS cou ld have been met by 7 Qa5, but a fter 6 c3 Wh i te
•••
h as bl-b4 to con nect his pawns.

92 Black To Play and Win With 1 g6 •.•
On 6 Bd3, cS Wh ite would likely con tinue 7 c3 a fter

which 7 Qb6 8 Rb1, Nbd7 and 9...eS! should equ alize, e.g.
•••
9 0-0, eS! 10 NuS, N x eS 11 d xeS, Ng4 12 N r3, NxeS 13

NxeS, Bxe5 14 f4, B f61 or 9 Qa4, e5! 10 N xe5, Nxe5 1 1
dxeS, Ng4 12 Be7, N xe5 (Malanyuk- Georgadze, Lvov 1986
which went 13 Bel, Bd7 14 Qa3, R fc8 since 13 B x f8,
N x d3cb 14 Kel, B :l f8 1S KxdJ, B fSc:b would h a ve been
even worse).
A common theme for Whi te in this vari ation 1s an

early b2-b4 to stop c7-c5, or to force an opening o f
•••
Queenside lines. B u t in t h e above line, 6 BdJ, c 5 7 c3, Qb6

8 Rb1, Nbd7 the idea of 9 b4, c:x b4 10 cxb4 m a kes 10 e5! •.•
even stronge r than norm al: 11 N xe5, N x eS 12 dxe5, Ng4 or

11 dxeS, Ng4 12 Nd4, NgxeS 13 Bel, N c:6! with the idea o f
1 4 N2 f3, N f6 and 1S ... Ne4 o r 1 4 N xc:6, b x c6 1S 0-0, N f6 16
Bd3, aS! as in 0. Rodriguez-Georgadze, Pontevedra 1986.
7 Bel
On dJ the Bishop temporarily p revents Black from

occupying e4. But Black will play for e7-eS and the
•••
threat o f a fork on e4 is annoying, e.g. 7 Bd3, c6 8 0-0,

Qe8 as in the main line below. On 8 e4, o f cou rse, 8 dxe4 •••
9 Nu4, N x e4 10 Bxe4 is a position from Section I, Va ria

tion A1 w i th Black h a v i ng an e xtra tempo.
7 ••• c6
This appears to be the easiest method of equalizing,

but the immedi ate 7 ... Qe8, threatening 8 •••eS, h as its points
(7 ... Qe8 8 0-0, e5 9 d xe5, N xe5 10 B f4, N x f3ch 1 1 B x f3,
Qe7 with equality according to Zapata).
To stop 8 ... e5 Wh ite can try Ne5 or 8 B f4. On 8 NeS,

NxeS 9 dxeS, Nd7 White's center is loosened (10 f4, f6!; 10
N f3, c6). But on 8 B f4 Black m ust take time to p rotect the
c-pawn, and a fter 8 c:6 Black's threat o f NbS can be an
••• ••.
swered b y 9 NeS! with a slight edge.

Section I I I: Wh ite Plays Various Openings 93
8 0·0 Qe 8
9 Re1
It's d i f ficult to stop Black from pushing the e-pawn

now. On 9 B f4, N bS 10 Bc7 we have 10 ... f5!, which favors
Black's Stonewall form ation ( ... N f6-e4). The point o f 9 Re1
is to meet 9 e5 10 d:uS, N x e5 w i th 1 1 B f4, N :x f3cb 1l
••.
B x f3 with a slight pull.
9••• b6!
10 Bb4
Again 10 B r4 is met by 10 ... N b5 11 Bc7, fS!
10 ... Ne4
And Black, with 11 . rs coming u p, h as equal play .

..
Clfuentes-Zapata, Dleren 1 987 went 1 1 N xe4, dxe4 1l N d2,

rs 13 f3 (else 13 e5! favors Black), ex f3 14 gx rJ and now
...
14 ... e5 15 f4!, g5 was OK for Black, b u t 14 ...g5 and 15 ... e5

would have been more e xact.
Note that in this last line Black as better a fter 14

N d3, e5! or 14 B d3, g5 15 Ba3, e5.
94 Black To Play and Win Wltb 1 ... g6
I L L USTRATIVE G AME
Mortazavi-Colla MeN ab
H astings Challengers, 1986-87
1 d4 d6 .
This vague move is winning con verts because it al

lows Black to meet 2 c4 with 2 e5!?, an allege d l y superior
•••
form o f the Old Indian De fense, and 2 N r3 with 2 Bg4.•••
The d rawback to 1 d6 from our point of view is

•••
that that 2 e4 leads to a Pirc or Mode rn De fense in which

Black has denied hi msel f the central-block i n g c7- c6 and
•••
•••d7-d5 that we analyzed earlier. B u t a fter 2 N r3, g6 we

t ranspose into a p re v ious ch apter;
2 N r3 g6
3 B r4 Bg7
4 e3 N d7!
Correctly appreciating the d i f ference between this

orde r o f moves and that o f the K ing's Indian De fense
(4 N f6?!). Black now achieves a tempo-gai n i ng punch i n
...
t h e center.
5 b3 e5
6 Bb2 Ne7
At one time, m asters tu rned u p thei r noses when

they saw a player post his Kn ights on the secon d rank, in
front o f K i ng and Queen. Now some regard i t as the
height o f sophistication. Black p repares castling and eyes
rs for h is K night.
7 B c4? 0-0
8 0-0 d5!
Section I l l: White Plays V arious Openings 95
Wh y not? I f Wh ite is going to take so little interest

in the pawn-action of the center, he deserves what happens
to him. Notice that i f Black's pawns were posted at dS and
e6, or the Wh i te pawns at e4 and d3, the posi tion would be
much less clear.
9 Bb3 e4
10 N fd2 c:5
Black enjoys a v i rtual free hand in the center and

now concerns himsel f with fine lines for his R ooks. Either
of his Bishop-Pawns can be adv anced and, i n fact, he
pushes both. True, Wh ite's Bishop at bl now has an e x cel
lent si x-square line of fi re. But w atch what h appens to this
diagon al.
1 1 c3 Kb8
12 Bel r5
13 d x c:S
T h i s clears away d4 f o r a K night, b u t t h i s ha rdly

m akes u p for five or si x other lousy pieces. But if Wh i te
doesn't do something quickly, he will be opened u p by
. g6·gS and . fS· f4 / ...N fS without a sh red of cou nte rplay.
.. ..
13 ... N x c:S
14 Nb3 Ne6
1S Nd4 gS
16 f3 Qb6!
The Queen takes aim at the weakened e3 square as

well as b2.
17 Bb3 f4
That does it for that fine Bishop on b2. Now 18

ex f4, N xd4 19 c:xd4 loses m aterial, however Black captures
on d4.
18 fxe4 N x d4
96 Black To Play and Win With l ... g6
19 c:xd4 dxe4
29 Nc3 N rs
2 1 NdS Qd8
Now the e3 / d4 battle front cannot be held and Black

will push the enemy back with . Be6 and . . Ne3 .
.. .
..
I
22 e: d4 Be6
23 N c7?
A poor move i n a poor position, based on 23 ... Q x c7

24 Bxe6 when White's posi tion is merely bad.
23 ... B x b3!
White resigns. He loses a full piece (24 Qc l , R eB).

Section I l l: White Plays V arious Openings , 97
Variation B
White plays the Enallsh Openlna
1 c4 &6
2 Nc3
Here 2 e4 is sometimes played, so as to a void trans

position to the Gruen feld De fense (2 d4, N f6 3 Nc3, d5).
B u t since we have no interest in the Gruen feld, we'd an
swer 2 e4 with 2 Ba7 and then 3 d6.
••• •••
2 ... Ba7
The Engl ish can be comp a red to Section II in this

way: Black attacks the d4 square early on and o ften wins
at least temporary cont rol of i t. However in the English,
White's d-pawn is held back a t d2 or d3, w h e reas in the
Section II positions it has been coaxed to dS.
Wi th 3 e3 (3 ... d6 4 d4) White sli ps i nto a version of

Section II in which he keeps some cont rol of d4. But this is
somewhat passive and Black should h i t back with 4 N c6 ...
and 5 ...e5.
The fianchetto begun by 3 &3 is a natural English

Opening p roced u re. More fle xible is 3 N f3, which post
pones for at least a move the d isclosure of Wh ite's plans.
98 Black. To Play and Win With l . g6..
Black h as a good waiting move in 3 d6 and then 4 d4, Bg4

•••
leads in to Section II, note to 4 e4. I f instead Wh ite plays 4

d3 , then 4 N c6 or 4 ... e5 should transpose i nto the main
•••
line below. And 4 g3, N c6 should do the same.
3... e5
4 Bgl d6
Black makes no K night commi tments and thereby

lea ves h imsel f the option of either . . c7-c6 or .. N c6 and
. .
also of N f6 or Ne7. He also stops d.Z-d4 b y Whi te, an ad

...
vance that makes the opening a K i ng's I ndian De fense--

something pe r fectly sound, but out o f our repertoi re.
I f Whi te insists on pushing his d-pawn two squares

with 5 e3 as preparation, then 5...f5 6 d4, N f6 is p e r fectly
sound. The 7 dxe5 endgame is as- usual, equal, and the 7
Ngel, 0·0 8 b4 middlegame reveals White to have plenty o f
weak squares a fter 8 . e4! 9 Qb3, Be6 1 0 0-0, B f7 1 1 f3, dS
. .
(Korcbnoi-Timman, Match 1976) when Black h as the pleas

ant choice of putting a Pawn or K n ight on c6. In either
case, Black h as a nice game.
Note that the delay in the decision over c6 also

helps Black in variations such as 5 e3, f5 6 Nge.Z, N f6 7 0-
0, 0·0 8 d3, c6! when Black h as chances to push his d-pawn
advantageously (9 b3, Na6 10 Ba3, Nc7 11 Qd2, ReS 1 2 e4?,
dS! as in G arcla / Palermo-J anosevlc, Lone Pine 1978 or 9
b4, Be6 10 bS, dS 1 1 bxc6, Nxc61 and 1 1 cxd5, N x d5!).
Section I I I: Wlalte Plays Various Openings 99
5 N f3
Some English-Opening players always like to meet

... f7· f5 with e2·e4 and there fore whould try 5 d3, rs 6 e4.
Black should delay and p robably a void ... h:e4, which gi ves
up considerable i n fluence on the e4 square as well as the
option of ... fS· f4. Instead, he would pre fer 6 ... c6 7 Nge2,
N f6 which retains the option of retaking on f5 with
Bishop or g-pawn, e.g. 8 0·0, 0·0 9 edS, 1dS!? which ap
pears bette r than 9 ... Bd5 10 d4.
As Mikhail Bot v i n n i k used to say, "Every R ussi an

schoolboy knows you m ust captu re with the g-pa wn in
such positions", and here 9 gd5 10 BgS, h6! 1 1 B d6,
•.•
Qd6 or 10 f4?!, Qb6c:b 11 Kb1, N 14 is fine for the second

player.
5... rs
6 0·0 N f6
Now 7 d4 can be met b y 7 ... e4 when 8 Ne1, 0·0 9

f3---the only way for Whi te to b reak i nto the center---leads
a fter 9 ...e x f3 to a fairly even position, e.g. 10 B : d3, N c6 1 1
Nc:2, Ne7 1 2 dS, N d7 1 3 Nd4, N e S o r 12 Qd3?, c:6 1 3 B f4 ,
dS 14 BeS, Be6 15 c:S, Qd7 16 b4, gS! followed by ... Ng6
(S tolyar· Su e tl n, Olomouc: 1975).
7 d3 0·0
By delaying the e n t rance o f his Queen Knight,

Black has taken some o f the sting out o f b2-b4-bS, the
natural sou rce of White's mi ddlegame play. I f he decides at
this late date to play 8 e4, Black may decide to e x ploit d4
with 8 ...N c:6, or go i n for 8 . . f4!? 9 K x f4, e : d4 10 B x f4,
.
Nxe4.
8 Rb1 aS
9 a3 NbS

100 Black To Play and WiD Wit b l. g6 ..
- �.�.�
,. , .� ��-�
� �
� t p�
� - �
� ., �� t
� � �· t�
�
p
.- � �
� P.- t �
&\
� --
� ft� � �
� � .a. � r."\ �
Pd% � a ��
� �6�"�
�� .a ��.-.�
R �.M,� R�
� t=l - W � t=l
�
ffi
. .
Black begi ns his K ingside coun ter-action, which

will i nclude the advance o f h is f-pawn and Bg4/ Qd7. ••• .••
Now that Black's long-d iagonal is open, he can meet 10 b4?

with 10 e4! when both K nights a re bangi ng. I f Whi te p re
•••
pares for b2·b4 with 10 N dl, then 10 N c:6! 11 b4, axb4 U

•••
axb4, N d4 13 cS, f4 o f fe rs equal chances (Fedorowlcz· Ka·

gaD, H astings 1977·8).
10 Qcl f4
11 b4 axb4
u axb4 Ba4
Now Nc6 and B d3 followed by

••• ••• N d4 is in the
•.•
air, and the retreat of 13 N d2 m akes 13 N c6 even

•••
stronger.
13 bS
Here 13 Nd7 shows the wisdom of Black's delay i n

•••
bringing this K n ight into play. I t will l a n d o n c S w he re i t

watches k e y squares such a s b3, e4 a n d a4.
Section I l l: White Plays Various Openings 101
Following 13 N d7 14 Bbl, N c5 play m ight con tinue

•••
15 Ra1, R x a 1 16 Rxa1, Qd7 and the loss o f the a- file is

o f fset b y Black's threats against the K i ngside squares, such
as fl. For ex am ple, 17 Na5, B h 6 18 N ae4, N n4 19 Nxe4,
Qf7! and Black bas a growing intiati ve.
In Isaksen- Kristiansen, Esbjerg 1977 be gained · m o

mentum a fter 10 Bel, N f6 l 1 N c3, B el! 12 Ra8, g5 l3 N d5,
Ng4 and won soon a fter 2 4 N :lf4?, a:lf4 25 R u8, fx g3! (26
Bd5, gx f2cb 27 K fl, N x b2ch).
101 Black. To Play and Wlo With 1 g6 •••
Variation C
White plays a Retl·llke System
1 N f3 g6
·
There is little i n dependent v alue to 1 N f3 i f Whi te
plays dl ·d4 or cl· c4 early on. For i nstance l c4, Bg7 3
N c3, d6 4 d4, Bg4 is. a position from Section II and 4 d3, eS
should reach one from Section Ill, V ariation B. Perhaps 4
g3 is the tri ck iest si nce 4 e5 allows Wh ite to a void trans
•••
position (5 Bg2, f5) with 5 d4. Then Black can go in to a

K i ng's Indian De fense with S N f6 or, i f he has a more en
•••
terprising attitude, adopt one o f the less-tra veled policies

such as 5 e5 and 6 N c6.
••• •••
We should also note 1 g3 may or m a y not transpose

into our main line below, a fter 1 g6 l Bgl, e5. I f Whi te
...
does not play 3 d4, Black will end u p either in V a riation B

(say with 3 c4) or the main line below (with 3 N f3, for
exam ple). On 3 d4, e x d4 4 Qxd4 Black plays 4 N f6 and •••
5 Nc6 or 5 Bg7 with a use ful gain o f time, e.g. 4 N f6 5

••• ••• ••.
c4, N c6 6 Qd3, Bg7 7 N c3, d6 8 N f3, 0·0 9 0-0, Nd7 and

10 Nc5 possibly followed b y r7- r5.
••• •••
2 g3
There is no poin t to 2 b3?! i f White h as to meet

2 ••• Ba7 with 3 c3, 3 N c3 or 3 d4. Also, with 2 c3, Ba7 3 d4
we reach note (c) to V ariation A of this section.
Section I l l: White Plays Various Openings 103
2... Bg7
3 B g2 e5
This advance fits i n well in some lines in which

Whi te's Knight appears prematurely developed on f3 and
he can not hit back in the center with e2-e3 / N ge2 / d2-d4 or
f2 - f4.
Now 4 c4, f5 o r 4 0-0, f5 should reach pos1t1ons

from Vari ation B. Relatively u n e xplored is 4 d4, but 4 e4 •..
and 5 r5 seems to e� u alize fai rly easily.

•••
4 e4!?
With th is, Wh ite hopes to obtain a favorable K i ng's

I n d i a n Reversed position, w i th d2-d3, Nbd2, N b4 and fl .
f4. He also may be t h i n k i ng o f 5 il4, now that 5 e4 is not
•••
a playable response.
4 ••• c5
Playing in to a Sicilian De fense stops Wh i te from

ad vancing i n the center. The fact that Whi te's K i ng
K n ight is de veloped on f3 means that the only way he can
change the Pawn structure i n the cen t e r i s with f2 - f4, a f
ter moving the K n ight.
5 0-0 Nc6
6 d3
White doesn't have enough firepower to make d2-d4

work: 6 c3, Nge7 7 N a3, 0·0 8 Nd could be met by 8 d5 ..•
with a nice game in the center for Black (9 e xd5, N xd5 10

d4?!, exd4 11 cx d4, c4). Black can also wait for Wh ite to do
the Paw n-pushing, e.g. 8 d6 and i f 9 d4, then 9 ud4 1 0
••• •••
n d4, Bg4.
6... N ge7
104 Black To Play and Win With l.. g6 .
7 Nbd.Z
Now that the d5 square is a m ajor hole, White can

consider 7 Nd when we h a ve an orthodox Closed Varia
tion o f the Sicilian in which Whi te's other Knight is m is
placed because it blocks the r.z- t4-5 ad vance. I f Wh i te tries
to attack the enemy K ing with 7 N cl, d6 8 Bel, 0-0 9 Qd.Z
and B b6, Black equalizes quickly w i t h 9 N d4! And the f
•••
pawn advance with 8 N b4, 0-0 9 f4 can be h a n d led b y

9 ed4 1 0 a x t4, f5 Tollowed b y .. Be6, Qd7 a n d R ae8.
••. . ...
A more position al-minded plan is the occupation o f

the d 5 hole with 7 N d , d 6 8 N d.Z!?, 0·0 9 N c4, B e6 10 Nel.
Then Black m ust choose between e xpanding on the Queen
side with ... b7-b5-b4 and on the K ingside with ... f7- f5 · f4.
For example, 10 Rb8 1 1 a4, a6 U Ncd5, b5 1l axb5, axb5
...
followed b y 14 ...b4 and . N d4 is double-edged. More ambi-

..
tious is 10 f5 when 11 ... f4 is a nasty i dea. Then 11 f4,

...
e : d4 U g x f4, Qd7 is balanced and 1 1 e: d5, g x f5 U f4, d5!

is getting Black an u pper h and.
The ad vance o f the f-pawn comes u pon Wh i te

quickly in these li nes. In Blylasas- Dzbdlodz b l kasbvlll,
Lone Pine 1980, Whi te tried (by t ransposition) 7 d , d6 8
Bel, 0-0 and decided that h is bid for an open center was
d i f ficult to achieve since 9 d4 allows 9 .. e:x d4! 10 u d4, Ba4
.
w ith st rong p ressure on d4. I nstead, he shi fted gears with 9

N fd.Z, Be6 10 c4? and foun d hi msel f on the de feasi ve fol
lowing 10 . rs 1 1 fl, Qd7 U N d , f4! 1l B r.z, b5 14 N d5, g5
..
15 N b 1 , N g6 16 Nbcl, R f7.
Section I l l : White Playi V·a rious Openings 105
True, Whi te had i ron con trol of d5. But be had lit
tle to say about the dozen o r so sign i ficant ki ngside
squares: 17 K b 1, Ral8 18 Ne2, g4! 19 N g 1 , lxg3 20 h:xg3, h4
l1 Khl, Nd4 22 B �: d4, h �: g3 ch 23 K�:g3, Qd S! 24 Kfl, exd4
and Whi te resigned a fter 25 Kel , B �: d5! 26 c:x d5, Qh4ch 27
Kd2, N l4.
7 ••• d6
8 a4 0·0
9 N c4
Black can p repare now with 9 h6 followed by

•••
Qd7. Or he can play 9 15 directly, not fearing the open

••. •••
ing of the b3·g8 diagonal. If allowed, he will push to f4

(9 ... f5 10 Nh4, f4!). I f White e x changes on 15, then Black
suddenly has fou r pawns i n the cen ter.
To counte r this, White may p re fe r 9 N b 4 (instead o f

9 Nc4) and then 9 15 1 0 14 when 1 0 ed4 1 1 gd4, Be6,
••• •••
with thoughts of U d5, is a t y pical complex posi tion o f

•••
modern chess. Black h as ample counterplay.

106 Black To Play and Win With 1 g6 .••
Variation D
White Fianchettoes H is Queen Bishop
The Queenside fianchetto with 1 b3, and i ts lesser

known cousin, 1 b4, gained some notoriety in the early
1970s and then faded out of fashion·-- for no particular
reason. It poses a problem for us because i t is the only way
o f absolutely stopping 2 Bg7. ( 1 b3, g6 2 Bb2, Bg7?? 3
...
B xg7). This is one reason never to start a correspondence

game with the "i f-moves" 1 ... g6 and 2 Bg7! ...
1 b3
We'll consi der 1 b4 posataons in the same main line.

D i f fe rences will be noted below.
1... g6
2 Bbl N f6
A supe r ficial look at 3 Bx f6, ex f6 ind icates Wh i te is

doing well. But Whi te has weakened hi msel f on the long
diagonal and a fter Bg7 and
... f6· f5, be may h a ve p rob
...
lems in the v icinity of c:3 and d4. The extra f-pawn helps
Black dominate the e- file. For e x am ple, 4 d4, f5 S N f3, Bg7
6 e3, 0·0 7 c:4, d6 8 N c:3, N d7 9 Bel, N f6 10 0-0, ReB and
Ne4.
•••
A stunning altern ative is 3 g4!?, based on the long

di agon al pin and the idea of 3 Bg7 4 g5, N b S 5 Bx g7, .
.•.
Section I l l: Wh it e Plays Various Openlogs 107
N xg7 6 Qc:l! and 7 Qb2 with play along the wea kened b2-
b7 line. But 3 ... h6! stops the g-pawn in its tracks: 4 h4, Bg7
5 Bg2, d6 6 gS, b x gS 7 h xgS, R:� h 1 8 B x h l , N b S 9 Bxg7,
N x a7 10 c:4, eS and Black has better chances of e xploiting
the K i ngside than Wh i te.
3 N f3
Besides this and the force ful 3 Bx f6 and 3 g4, there

are abundant choi ces a fter 1 b3, 16 2 Bb2, N f6:
(a) 3 e4 also takes advantage o f the long-diagonal

pin (3... N xe4?? 4 Bxh8) and leads to 3 ... d6 4 g3, Bg7 5 Bg2,
e5 positions that are similar to our m a i n line e xcept that
Whi te h as his e-pawn, rather than c- o r d-pawn on the
fou rth rank. That e-pawn can become a p roblem a fter 6
Ne2, 0-0 7 d4, exd4! 8 N xd4, Re8 or 6 d4, exd4 7 Bxd4,
Nc6 8 Bb2, 0-0. Better is the quiet 6 Ne2, 0-0 7 0-0 a fter
which 7... Re8 stops 8 d4 and 8 f4 (8 f4, e x f4 9 N x f4, Nxe4
or 9 R x f4, NbS 10 B xg7, N : d4) .
Wh i te is le ft then with passive options in the cen ter,

such as 8 c4, Nc6 9 Nbc3, Nd7! and ... Nc5-e6-d4, or 8 R e 1 ,
c5!? 9 a 4 , Nc6 10 N a3, Be6 1 1 N c4?, N xe4! 1 2 f4, Bg4 13
Bxe4, d5 with advantage - - - B e lloo - Poluaay e vsky , Palma de
Mallorc:a 1972.
(b) 3 c:4 should transpose into the m a i n line below

once Wh ite advances his d-pawn twice. I f he does nol,
Black is su re to have a free hand in the center, e.g. 3 ... Bg7
4 Nc3, 0-0 5 g3 (5 e4?, N xe4) d5! or 4 g3, 0-0 5 Bg2, d6 6
f4?!, Nc6 7 N f3, e5 8 fxe5, Ng4.
(c:) 3 f4 is a Bi rd's Opening in w h i ch Wh i te has got

ten the fianchetto that he doesn't achieve in the 1 f4, g6
move order.
Reasonable is the v ari ation 4 N f3 and 5 e3, a ft e r 1

b3, g6 2 Bb2, N f6 3 f4, Bg7 4 N f3, 0-0 5 e3, d6 (5 ... d6 p re-
108 Bl a ck To Play and Win With 1 g6 ...
pares for the ...eSI? punch that can be j usti fied tactically).
For example:
6 d4, Nbd7 7 c4, eS! 8 d xeS, d xe5 9 N xeS, Ng4! 1 0
N xd7, B x b 2 or 8 fxeS, d xe5 9 d S , R e S 10 N c 3 , Ng4 1 1 Qd2,
e4 1 2 h3?, N xe31-- Linder- Bondarenko, U.S.S.R. 1960.
White does better to keep lines modestly closed with
6 c4, eS 7 g31? when complex, balanced · play a rises a fter
7 ...ex f4 8 gx f4, dS.
O r he can play 6 N a3 with the idea of meeting

6 ...e5 7 fxeS, Ng4 with 8 N c4! (8...N xe5 9 Ncxe5. d xe5 10
B xeS!, Bxe5 11 N xeS, Qh4ch 1 2 g3 and White is clearly bet
ter). I f White h as played 1 b4 rather than 1 b3, then i n t he
last variation Black can partially j usti f y his play with
1 2 Q xb4. But even then 13 Bg2 and White holds the supe
•..
rior con trol of lines.

There fore, Black m a y do better at move si x to build
u p q uietl y with 6 ...b6. For instance, with Whi te's pawn on
b4, the sequence 6 N a6, b6 7 Be2, c5! t u rns out well for
Black if the b-file is opened: 8 b x c5, bxc5 9 0-0, N c6 10
Qe 1?!, R b8! 11 Rb1, Be6 1 2 Nc4, Rb4 with a slight edge,
e.g. 13 Bx f6, B x f6 14 R xb4, N xb4 1 5 c3, Nc6 1 6 h4, N a5.
Back to the main line a fter 1 b3, g6 .Z Bb.Z, N 16 3 N r3.
3 ••• Bg7
S�etlon I l l: Wh ite Plays Various Openlogs 109
On 4 e3, 0·0 5 Bel Whi te adopts a subtle setup

sometimes favored by Nimzovich. Since 5 d6 (then 6 e5!)
••• ...
th reatens to deny Whi te a n y serious chance for central ad

van tage, Wh ite should play 6 d4 a fter which 6 ... Nbd7 7 0·0,
e5! leads to play as in our main line (8 d xe5, Ng4) but
without Whi te's dom ination o f the gl·b7 di agonal. On B e4,
ReB 9 Qel, e6 10 0·0, Qe7 11 R fd l, e4! 12 N fdl, N fB we
have typical play of certain K ing's I n d i a n De fense and
K ing's Indian Reversed positions, with Black having a
K i n gside attack brewing with b7·b5 a n d ... N fB· b7·g5.
...
I n these positions Wh i te's play comes f rom the ad

vance o f his Queenside pawns, and for that reason 1 b4
may be better than 1 b3 A fter 1 b4, 16
.
2 Bbl, N f6 3 N f3, Bg7 4 e3, 0·0 5 e4, d6 6 d4, Black can

continue 6 ... Nbd7 and 7 ..e5, or delay a decision about his
.
Queen Knight i n favor of 6 . .e6, 7 .. Qe7 aod B . .eS. For ex

. . .
ample, 6...e6 7 Ne3, Qe7 8 Bel, e5 9 0·0, e4! 10 Ndl, ReB 1 1

b5, b5
1 10 Black To Play and Win With 1 g6 ' .
•••
and both sides have staked out thei r terrain---Whi te on the

Queenside, Black on the K i n gside. Each player wants open
lines, but Black will be less interested in files for his
R ooks than i n shi fting m inor pieces and his Q ueen to his
le ft.
Typical play would then be 12 a4, B f5 13 a5, Nbd7

14 a6! b6! 15 R c 1 , R ac8 16 Ba3, N f8 17 Na2, Ne6 1 8 Nb4.
Whi te h as won cont rol of c6 and he will advance his c
pawn, thereby assu ring at least one open file. Howe ver, the
Kings are on the other side of the board and Black is not
worse a fter 18 ...Qd7 19 Qb3, Ng5 20 Nc6, Bg4 21 f3, e x f3
22 N x f3, Bh6 23 R c3, Nge4 24 Rc2, B f5 25 B e l , R a8 26
Bd3, g5!---Saoder-Korchool, Blel 1985.
A somew hat slower system for Wh i te -is revealed in

this move order: 1 b4, g6 2 Bb2, N (6 3 N (3, Bg7 4 e3, d6 S
d4, 0-0 6 Nbd21?, Nbd7 7 c4, eS 8 Nb3, ReS 9 Be2.
The idea is recapture on d4 with a piece, but 9...e4 10 Nd2,

N f8 11 Qc2, B f5 is good for Black-· · 1 2 h3, h5 13 a4, Qd7
14 a5, b6 or 14 Nb1, c6 15 Nc3, b6 16 Ba3, Ne6 17 b5, c5
18 0-0-0, cxd4 (Chepukaitls· Yermollosky, U.S.S.R. 1980).
Back to the main line a fter 4 &3 (1 b3, g6 2 Bb2, N f6 3

N (3, Bg7 4 g3)
4 ••• 0-0
Sectloa I l l: White Plays Various Opealags 111
I f Wh ite inserts c:l-c4 a round here, he actually re

stricts his chances. See the note to Whi te's seventh move
below.
5 •.• d6
6 d4
This is necessary at some poin t, or Black's .e7-e5

..
will leave h i m unch allenged i n the cen ter. The bad point
about Whi te's 1 bl is that i t slows u p some o f the Queen
side strategies that work well against e7-e5, but which
•••
req u i re a quick Rbl and bZ·b4·b5.
6 ••• Nbd7
This looks to be the most accu rate. On 6 .. N fd7 for

.
e x ample, Black gets a fine game from 7 N cl!, e5 8 Qd2!

followed by Queenside castling (8 ... Re8 9 d xe5, N xe5 10
N xe5, Bxe5 1 1 0-0-0---0iafssoo·Kavalek, Wlj k aan Zee
1969). Then h is delay in moving h i s c-pawn works ou t
well.
More signi ficantl y, White's move orde r also allows

h i m to meet 6 ... e5 with 7 d:u5, N g4 8 bl!, leading to a n ex
change of pieces that is favorable when Whi te h as avoided
moving his c-pawn, e.g. 8 ... N :u5 9 N u S , dxe5 1 0 Qx d8,
R :x d8 1 1 Ndl and 1 l 0·0·0 or 9 ... Bu5 10 Nc:l!, c6 1 1 Qdl
with Queenside castling ( l l ... d5 1 2 0-0-0, Qe7 13 h4!, aS 14
f4, Bg7 15 h5---Keeoe- Pares, Torremolloos 1 9 75) .
I ll Black To Play and Win With 1 ... g6
Be fore leaving the subj ect, we should mention that

in d i f ferent orde rs, Black can have an easier time. S u ppose
Wh ite delays Bbl? This occu rs in, say, 1 d4 N r6 l N l3, g6
3 g3, Bg7 4 Bgl, d6 5 0·0, 0·0 6 b3---then 6 ... Nbd7 and
7 e5 will transpose i n to the above posi tions.
•••
But more accurate is 6 e5! which p u n ishes Wh ite's

•••
sloppy order (7 Bb2, e4! or 7 d xe5, Ng4). Black can even

meet 7 du5 with 7 ... du5 and 8 ...e4 because 8 N x e5 is met
by 8...Ng4. If a fter 7 ... du5 Whi te tries 8 B a3, Black can
play 8 ... Q x d 1 9 Rid1, ReS and then 10 Nc3, e4 and 11 ...e3,
whereas 8 Bbl allows 8...e4 with a fine game (9 Qxd8,
R xd8 10 Ng5, B f5 11 N a3, b6 1 2 R a d 1, Nbd7 13 Nb3, c6
14 Nc4, Nd5 as in Dreyer·G l lgorlc, Dublin 1957) .
7 0·0
Here 7 c4 b as been played. Or i t cou ld h a ve been

played earlier--at aD'y poin t from move th ree on--and the
result wbould have been the same. The pawn move is not
that use ful here, since the c4 square may be needed for a
K night later on. A fter 7 c4, e5 8 du5, N g4 9 0-0, du5
Black is preparing a push of the e-pawn (10 Nbd2, e4! 1 1
N xe4, Bxb2; o r 1 1 B xg7, e x f3 1 2 e x f3, N xh 2). Gu feld says
10 N ldl would favor Whi te, but this i s u nclear: 10 ... c6 1 1
b3, N b 6 1l cS!?, Nd7 1 3 b4, 15 1 4 N c4, N l7.
Instead o f simpli fying in the center, White can play

8 e3 with the idea o f 8 ... ud4 9 B x d4!, taking a d v a n t age of
Black's in ability now to play ... N c6. B u t Black stands
fairly well a fter 8 ... Re8 9 0·0, e4, e.g. 10 N ldl, N l8 1 1
N c3, 8 15 1.2 13, ed3 13 Qd3, c 6 1 4 e4, Ba4 (Nikolaevsky·
Kasparov, U.S.S.R. 1978).
7 ••• ReS
Extra sa fe. With 7...e5 8 dxe5, N g4 9 b3, Black m a y

face some slight problems. For an e xample o f 7 ...e 5 , see Il
lustrative Game at end o f V a ri ation D.
Section I l l: Wblte Plays Various Openlnas 1 13
8 N b d2
This eyes c4 for a K n ight. With 8 c4, we transpose

i n to the note to Wh i te's seventh move.
8 ... e5
9 d:u5
Wi th 9 e4 White stops the e-pawn f rom gathering

space. But then 9 e:xd4 1 0 N x d4, N c5 i s a better position
•••
for Black than he usually gets from the K i ng's Indian

D e fense ( 1 1 f3, dS; or 11 Re1, Bg4 1 2 f3, Bd7).
9... dxe5
10 e4 b6
The White e-pawn is as m uch o f a ta rget as Black's

a fter this. The m u tual e x change o f pa wns-- 1 1 N c 4, Bb7 12
N cx e5, NuS 13 N xe5, B xe4--is fine for Black. Better is 1 1
Re l when l l ... Bb7 U a4, aS i s balanced. Pomar- Brow oe,
Orense 1 977 shows how quickly Black can get the upper
hand: 13 b3, Qc8 14 Q c l?, B b6! 15 Qb1 (or 15 Qd1 , R d8!),
N c5 16 Q a2, Nue4.
1 14 Black To P lay and Win Wltb 1. 16 ••
I L L U STRATI VE G AME
W. H artston-M. Najdorf
H ast1n1s 1971-72
1 N f3 N f6
I f you want to stay in one of the systems recom

mended earlier in these pages, Black's secon d move i s not
for you. True, i t stops .Z e4 and would transpose into
K ing's Indian De fense positions a fter .Z d4, 16, or the l i k e
a fte r .Z bJ, .Z b4, et cete ra. But .Z c 4 would likely l e a d to
positions we've not consi de red. This game illustrates o u r
recommendations for B l a c k against t h e double fianche tto.
There are very few true H y permodero ists le ft in

the chess world---people who believe in 1 N fJ wi th se mi
religious fervor. There a re however, quite a fe w people
who h ave sensibly adopted the K n ight move as a bac k u p
system for opening a game w h e n t h e y a re uncertain abo u t
thei.r u sual 1 e4 or 1 d4 •
.z... 16
3 b3 B 11
4 Bb.Z 0·0
S B 1.Z d6
6 d4
Note Wh i te's avoidance of c.Z - c4, the hallmark of

most K ing's I n dian-like posi tions. Since Wh i te's Queen h as
no d i rect access to the Queenside because b3 is occupied,
an d since neither player has pro fessed intent ions o f occu
pying dS with a pawn, the cl- c4 ad vance i s o ften dis
pensed w i th. It can always be inserted later, as Whi te does
in this game.
6 ••• Nbd7
Section I l l: Wblte Plays Various Openings 115
Two days be fore t h is game was played, Miguel Naj

d o r f held the Whi te pieces ( vs. V. Ciocaltea) an d obtained
a small edge a fter 6 e5 7 duS, Ng4 8 Nbd2, N c:6 9 0-0,
•••
ReS 10 Rb1 because Black recaptu red on eS w i t h a K n ight:

10 ... Ngxe5?! 11 N xeS, dxeS 12 el, B fS 13 Ne4, Qxd1 14
Rbxd1. Black's cramped position seems to work best, ironi
cally, with an extra pair of K n ights on the board, as in
this game.
7 0-0 e5
Black plays t h is th rust i nstead of our covered

7 ... Re 8.
The alternative of breaking i n the center, ... c:7-c:S,

fits i n badly here, pa rticularly w i th Black's K n igh t on d7.
White cou ld meet 7 ... c:S with 8 c:4, c:xd4 9 N x d4 and build a
Maroczy Bind center (e2-e4!). O r he could push h is d-pawn
at some poi n t to the fi fth ran k, a fter w h i ch Black's natu
ral ...e7-e6 break is h a rd to achieve and his K n ight sits in
con venie n t l y on d7, now t h a t . Na6-c7 is denied.
..
8 dxeS Ng4
9 c:4 ReB
There's no rush to recapture on eS as long as the

White pawn is pinned. Black w a n ts to make sure he can re
take with a pawn, establishi n g the more mobi le center.
10 hl N h6
1 1 Qc:2 dxeS
Time to e v a l uate: the mi d dlegame starts here. There

is one open file and White w i ll su rely be the first to oc
cupy it. Because Black cannot allow an enem y K n ight u n
restricted access to d S (or e v e n b5) we can e x pect ... c7 - c6.
That grants Wh ite a hole at d6. Wh i te will complete his de
v e lopme n t shortly, b u t i t is not a t all clear where Black's
Queen Bishop will end u p.
116 Black T o Play a n d Win Wlt b 1 ...1 6
Sou nd one-sided s o far? There's more to it. White

can occupy that one square, d6, but h e can do it only with
d i f ficulty (a fter ...Qe7 and ... N f7) and then only with a
Rook or Bishop---not the piece that would really hu rt, a
K night. And the occupation of d6 is the only n a t u ral plan
for Wh ite.
He does not h a v e a quick method of favorably

opening up the Queensid e and there is little to be gained
i n the cen te r. He can stabilize m atte rs there with 12 e4,
but a fter 12 ... r6 followed by ... Qe7, ... N f7 and pe rhaps
...Rei, ... N r8 and ...Bishop-somewhere, Black should stand
well.
Moreover, we can't ignore the p resen ce i n the center

o f one crucial middlegame player, the Black e-pa w n . I f he
is joined by his brother f-pa w n on the fourth rank, and
advances to the fi fth, then Wh i te will have lost a major
share of the center. He m a y have access to d4 and, a fter
the inevi table exchange o f the d a r k-squ a re d Bish ops, he
will have the theoretical a d v antage o f " th e better Bishop"
in the rem aining stage of play. B u t Black will h a v e the
space.
12 Rd 1?! f5!
13 Nbdl e4!
The player who believes in 1 16 will o ften have to

•••
part with his Bishop i n this k i n d of e x c h ange. It generally

leaves his K i ngside a bit weaker. But it also leaves White's
Q ueenside more vu lnerable, i.e. cl, al, b4. And Black will
cover many o f the key sq u ares w ith ... Qr6. Here the ex
change and central advance give Black an early edge.
14 Bs11 Kx11
15 N d4 c6
This last move by Black was i n e vi table ( 1 S ...Q f6 1 6

NbS). White bas an ucelle n t K night outpost at d4, but i t
will b e e asi ly balanced b y t h e Black K n ight t h a t will
Sectloa I l l: White Plays Various Opealaas 1 17
reach e5. �hanks to the ·pa wn structu re, Black can expand
on the K i ngside with h5- b4, o r N r7 -a5, or even a well
••• •••
timed f5. f4. White cannot compete on even terms on that

••.
wing and must try to e x ploit Black's l ast move with b3-b4·
b5, coupled perhaps w i t h c4-c5. The immediate 16 b4 is
called for.
16 N fl? Qf6
1 7 b4 Ne5
18 Rab1 N b f7
Now 19 c5 would be a p reparatory move for lO b5,

but a fter 19 Be6, Black w i ll h a v e sol ved his only remain
•••
ing middlegame proble m---his Bishop.
19 N dl a5
I t's always appealing to c h alleage moves like 17 b4

wit h a later a7-a5 when it means opening the a- file that
•••
your oppone nt's Queen Rook has abandoned. This is e f fec

ti ve h e re, since White i s not ready for 10 b5 because of
10 c5! and 11 b6, closing down the Queenside.
••• •••
10 a3 axb4
U nb4 b5!
Black's plan is simple: He will weaken g l and bl

with b5-b4xgJ, followed b y
••• NaS. Even w i th a Kn ight
•••
at f1 and his Bishop at 11, Wh ite's K i ng position is d i f fi

cult to d e fend, and 11 b4, e3 13 bel, N&4 would be aw ful.
His next move indi cates the e x te nt of his con cern abou t
his K i ng.
11 f4 ex f3 e.p.
13 e x f3 NJ4!
The th reats a re 14 Qxd4cb and 14 Ne3. A fter the

••• •••
coming exchange, Black w i ll be t h reatening to overwhelm

the K i n gside by pushing h is f-pawn. (Bu t not the immedi
ate 23... f4? because o f 24 N e41).
1 18 Black To Play and �In Wit h 1 16 •••
24 N i l Ne3
25 N u3 Rs:e3
26 Qd2 f4!
Now was the time. One Bishop is buried, the other

gi ven li fe. Naj dorf points out the terrible t ra p l ying in
26 ... Q85? which w a l ks i n to 2 7 f4!, Q:xg3 28 N e2!, when
White wins.
• •
27 1 :1 f4 Raa3
And not 27 ... Q:x f4? 28 Nd. Note how the Black
Rooks now dom i n ate.
28 N cl Rad3
29 N :x e3
Desperation comes early this year. On 2 9 Q fl Black

exploits the weakened Queenside with 29 ... R :x d 1 c b and
30... Rc3 31 c5, Q: d4 32 Qd4cb, Q:xd4 33 N:x d4, Rc4.
2 t ... R z d2
30 R :x dl Qd 4
3 1 Rb3 NB5
Ordinarily, two Rooks a re superior to the Queen,

but Black's superior K i ngside play is not ordinary. The h
pawn is lost and with i t the rest o f the King protection.
32 Rbd3 B :x b3
33 N il Q :x c4
34 Rd4 N :x f3cb!
A li ttle finishing touch.
35 B :x rJ Qz llcb
36 Kb.Z Q: d3
Wh i te resigns.
There's not m uch le ft a fter 3 7 R (4)d3, Qll since 38

R:x b3 loses a rook to 3 8...Qf4cb.
Section I l l: White Plays Various Openings 1 19
Variation E
White Plays Blrd's Openlna
1 f4
The favorite ope n i n g move o f Henry Bird, 1 f4,

e va des the central con t roversies of Sections I and II. It al
lows Black to play c:7-d or
••• •••d7- d5 - -or both if he
-
wishes.
l N f3
I t's alre ad y too late to smoothly fianchetto the

Queen Bishop (2 b3, Bg71). Alte rn ative schemes o f de vel
opment, begu n by l g3 or l e3, w il l transpose i n to one o f
t h e notes t o move th ree below. T h e most d i stinct road to
in dependent posi tions i s l g3, Bg7 3 B gl a n d 4 N b3!? fol
lowed by N fl--the so-called P a ris Attack. A good antidote
is a rapid ad vance of Black's two center pawns, e.g. 3 d5 4
...
N b3, N f6 5 N fl, Nbd7 6 0-0, e5 or 6 d 4 , c5 a n d b7-b6 .

•••
.z •••

llO Black To Play and Win With l g6 ...
3 e3
This flexible system, leaving the option of a one- or

t wo-square ad vance o f t h e d-pawn, works better for Wh i te
when Black bas played some other w a y w i t h h i s fi rst t w o
moves. I f Black b a s played, say, 1 f4, c 5 2 N f3, d 5 3 e3,
Nc6?! Wh ite could find an e x cellent squ a re for his King
Bishop on b5. O r, if Black bad played an early e7·e6,
•••
then Wh ite might post t h a t Bishop e f fectively at d3, e.g. 1

f4, N f6 2 N f3, e6 3 e3, b6 4 B d3!?
White also bas these options:
(a) 3 e4 suddenly tu rns u s back into the K i ng-Pawn

terri tory o f Section I. A fter 3 ... d5 4 e5, b5 Black begins his
now familiar strategy o f occupying the ligh t-colored
squares (...Bg4/ ... Nb6-f5, etc.).
(b) 3 c4 is a h ybrid of English and Bi rd, a st range

but not particularly ugly anim al. Black can then play to
push his d- or e-pawn, or both. One method of developing
smoothly is 3...N f6 4 e3, 0-0 5 N c3, d5 followed, if permit
ted, by ... c7-c5 and perhaps ... d5-d4.
A fter 6 b3, c5! 7 d 4 (else the d-pawn ad van ces)

White is j ust too loosely bung together: 7 ... N e4! 8 Bb2, Qa5
9 R c 1, Bg4! 10 Be2, cxd4 1 1 N x d4, Bxe2 12 Q xe2, Nc6 13
cxd5, Nxd4 14 e x d4, N x c3 15 B x c3, Qxd5 and Black bas a
clear ad v an tage (Seldman·Resbevsky, N e w York 1939).
Sec:tloo I l l: White Plays Various Opealaas Il l
I f Whi te is going to play d 2-d4, he might as well do

it at move six: 6 d4, c:5 7 d xc5, Qa5 8 cxd5, Nxd5 9 Qxd5,
B x c3ch 10 Bd2, Bx d2ch 11 Q x d 2, Q x c5 w ith a position
rem i nsiceot of the Grueo feld---but with f2-f4 oddly in
serted. In Plrc-Aiatortsev, Moscow 1935 Black missed se v
eral chances and only d re w following 12 R c 1, Qb6 13 Bc4,
Be61 14 Bxe6, Q xe6 15 0-0, Nc6 16 a3, Rad8 17 Qc3, Rd7.
He may also do better at move eight with 8...Rd8, intend
i ng 9 ... Ne4.
(c) 3 a3 is the B i rd Indian, a reve rse d form of the

D u tch Indian. Our recommended antidote to this is 3... d5
followed by 4... Nd7 and a quick a d vance of the e-pawn.
For example 3...d5 4 Bg2, Nd7 and now 5 0-0, e5 6

fxe5, N xe5 7 N xe5, Bxe5 8 d3, Ne7 9 c3, 0-0 10 Bh6, Bg7
1 1 Bxg7, K xg7 leaves Black with a bit m ore o f the cen ter
than Wh i te. In Zw ala· Faraao, H astings U76·77 Wh ite did
nothing more t h an equalize with 12 Qa4, c6 13 Qd4ch, f6
14 Q f2, Qb6 15 e 4, d xe4 16 B xe4, B f5 1 7 Re1, Bxe4 18
R xe4, Nd5. Black can play for more, e a rly on, with
10 ... Re8.
A more acti ve plan for Whi te is 8 c4 (rather than 8

d3), b u t the liqui dation o f the Black center gi ves him good
open li nes: 8 ... d x c4 9 Na3, Ne7 1 0 K h 1 , 0-0 1 1 N xc4, Bg7
12 d3, c6 and now 13 Bg5, h6 14 B f4, N d51 favored Black
i n Levltlna-Kusbolr, Match 1977 (which ended with 15
-
Bd2, Bg4 1 6 Ne3, N xe 3 17 B xe3, Qd7 18 Qd2, R fe8 19
R f2??, R xe31 20 Q xe3, Bd4 2 1 Q f4, g51 Whi te resigns.
3 ••• d5
There are a n u m ber o f reason able pawn structures

at Black's d isposal, including d7-d6/ e7·e5 and
••• ••• c7 -
..•
c5 / d7-d6. This te xt has the merit o f simplicity. Now 4 c4

•••
will transpose i n to note (b) of Whi te's thi rd move.
(See d iagram on following page)

122 Blac:k To Play aod Wlo With l g6
•••
4 Be2
Delaying further a decision about the d-pawn, and

thereby denying h imsel f the opport u n it y to play his Bishop
to d3. In the m i d - 1 980s Black, in the Dutch De fense, began
to challenge the long stan d i n g con tention that i f Black
adopts a S tone wall pawn struct u re with d7- d5,
••• e7-e6
•••
and r7-e5, he should post his Bishop at e7 rather than at

•••
d6. The reason ing aga � nst Bd6 is t h at Whi te could then
•••
weaken the enemy's cen te r with B r4!?
A fter 4 d4,
N f6 5 Bd3, most attention has focused on 5 ...0-0 6 0-0, cS 1

c3, b6, w h i ch p repares the e xchange of Bishops w i t h ... Ba6
and also protects Black's c-pawn. Routine attacking proce
d u res for Wh i te can then give h i m a poor game position
ally. For example, on 8 Bd2, with the idea o f reaching h4
v i a e l , Black plays 9 ...Ba6 with a good game: 9 B x a6, Nx a6
10 Qe2, Qc8 1 1 Bel, Nc7 12 Nbd2, Qb7 13 Ne5, Nce8! and
Section I l l: White Plays V arious Openlnss U3
... Nd6 seems fine for h i m (Dreyer·van Scheltlaga, Dublin

1957).
I f White stops the e x ch ange of Bishops with 8 Qe2,

then 8...B f5 appears i ndicated. The weakening of the K i ng
position from 9 B x f5, gx f5 can be m i n i m ized i f Black• de
fends accu rately, e.g. 10 Ne5, e6 11 K h 1, Nbd7 1 2 Nd2,
K h 8 13 Rg1, N xe5 14 fxe5, Ng4 15 N f3, !6.
Relatively u n e xplored are the posi tions arising after

8 Nbd2, Ba6 9 B x a6, N x a6 10 Ne5 when both sides re
i n force the occupation sq uare "e5"--White with Nd 2- f3 and
Black with ... Nc7-e8-d6.
Back to 4 Bel:
4 ••• N r6
There are good a rguments in favor o f de veloping

the K night on h6 or for playing 4 c5, but the simple, di
•••
rect 4 N r6 is easiest to h an dle.

•••
5 0·0 0·0
6 d3
There are two major alte rnati ves here. One is 6 d4,
another form o f the Stonewall. Black should p roceed wit h
a swap o f light-squared Bishops as he did i n the note to
Wh i te's fou rth move above: 6 c5 7 c3, b6 8 Qe l (note that
•••
124 Black To Play and Win Wltb 1 g6 •••
8 Qe2 is not possible here), e6 9 Nbdl, B a6. A recent e x

ample, Brlem-A. Arnasoo, Reykjavik, 1982 favored Black
soon a fter 10 Ne5, Bxel 1 1 Qxel, N fd7 U b3, f6 13 N x d7,
N x d7 14 c4, f5 15 Bbl, a5.
The other idea here is 6 Ne5, a re versed form of an

idea o f Alexander Ale k h i ne's from the D utch De fense. Be
fore White can coordinate his m inor pieces with B f3, Qel
and dl -d4, Black can play 6 Nbd7 7 B f3 , N x e5! 8 be5,
•••
Ne4 w ith adequ ate play: 9 d3, Ng5 or 9 c4, B x e5 10 cx d5,

N g5 11 d4, Bg7 U N c3, N : d3cb 13 Qx f3, Bd7-- Gusev·
Geller, U.S.S.R. 1970.
6 ••• c5
7 Qe l
This is the basic attacking plan of the Bi rd's and o f

it's Dutch De fense relati ve. Whi te h as a p roblem with his
Q ueenside pieces since the natural 7 N c3 allows 7 d4!, •••
gaining valuable sp a ce. The K n ight can go to dl, b ut the

i m medi ate 7 Nbdl is discouraged b y 7 N g4 when e3 is
•••
h a rd to cover. There fote, Whi te p repares Qb4 first.
7 ••• b6
Most books recomme nd 7 N c6, but the Black Queen

•.•
K n ight may be more use ful on d7. By not block in g the a8·
b1 diagon al, Black hinders e3-e4-e5.
8 a4
Section I I I: White Plays V arious Openings US
Wi th this, White serves notice t h a t he will be watch

ing both w i ngs and h as plans to de velop his ON on a3. He
may e ven e xpand on the Queenside w i t h N a3, d · c:3, Rb1
and bl·b4!
On the d i rect B Qb4 Black can d e fen.d with B Bb7

...
9 Nbdl, e6 and perhaps N fd7, e.g. 10 g4!?, ReB 1 1 g5,

•••
N fd7 U d4, N c6! (heading for f5) 13 c:3, Ne7 14 Qfl, a6 15

b4, N f5 16 b5, Rac:B as in Pellkan·Maderna, Mar del Plata
1956.
Anoth e r strategy for Wh ite is B Nbdl, Bb7 9 Bd 1!?

with the i dea of forcing 10 e4. Black can play 9 ... Qc:7 since
10 e4 will lea v e the f-pawn hanging. And on 10 Ne5 the
retreat 10 NeB! favors Black (Zita·Pac:bman, Czechoslo·
•••
vakla 1954).
8 ••• Bb7
9 c3
Another p roph ylactic move. Again 9 Q b 4 can be

h and led by 9 e6 and a later N d7. And 9 Nbdl misplaces
••• •••
the K night, e.g. 9 Nc:6 10 Qb4, e6 1 1 R fl, Nb4! 12 N e t ,

•••
N e B 13 Qb3, N d6 14 g4, f 5 a s i n Larsen-van Scbeltinga,

Beverwljk 1964. Wi th White's Queen on the K i ngside the
possibility of N c:6-b4 indica tes that 9 c3 m a kes sense.
•••
126 Black To Play and Win With 1. 16 ••
A fter the m a i o line move 9 c3, the move 9 Qc7, ••.
despite N a3-b5, h as been popul a r. I n Pelikan- Eiiskases, Ar

lentina 1955, Black soon had the advantage in the center
because o f 9 Qc7 10 Qh4, e6 1 1 N bdl, Nbd7.
•.•
Whi te seem s to do better with the Queenside option:

9 Qc7 10 N a3, a6 11 Rb1 and then 11 Nbd7. 1l b4, Ne8 13
.•• .•.
B dl, Nd6 14 Qh4, Rae8 15 d4, c4 16 b5, aS was Hulsl·

N lcolalczuk, West German Championship 1978. Both sides
have ample play.
Q
Copyright 1988 A ndrew Soltis
All rights reserved under Pan American and Inter

national Cop y right con ventions.
ISBN: 0-87568-177-8
No part o f this publication may be reprodu ced, stored in

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means: electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tapes, mechanical
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior and
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Author: Andre w Soltis

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Publisher: Chess Digest� Inc. , 1 1836 Judd Cou rt, #338-E,

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BLACK TO PLAY

Chess Digest, Inc.

Variation A 3 N c3, c6! 11

Variation B 3 N f3, c6! 4l

A Wh ite plays dl-d4 but does not 87

8 Wh ite plays the English, that 97

c Wh ite pl ays a Reti-Iike system or 101

D White fianchettoes his Queen Bishop 1 19

E White plays a Bi rd's Open ing 1 C4 103

There are very few moves available to Black on his

i t took a long time for 1 a6!? to be recogn ized as a

playable move, let alone the key to an entire system.

Chess theory has tradi tionally been d istrust ful of

Usually, N.N. got swept o f f the board by h is m aster oppo­

O f cou rse, the real reason N.N. lost was because he

with 3 ... e6 and 4 d6 and maybe 5 b6 as well. O ften Black

got m assacred on the K i ngsi de because he e xchanged o f f

The d ubious repu tation of 1 16---regard less of

White's open ing move---lasted well into this cen t u ry. Wh en

The enormous success o f the King's Indian De fense

ible method o f initiating play was slow i n · w i n n i n g ap­

Fin ally in the 1960's, the l ... g6 de fenses began to

not l . . N f6, began to appear. In the games of Y u ri A ve r­

bakh and Alexander K otov i t was shown that by delaying

c:6 and ••• d7·d5. Furthermore, against 1 c:4, it was

w i thout commi tting h is K ing K night or Queen K n ight

You can use the move l .. g6 in a v ariety of w ays.

For e x ample, against 1 e4 the move l g6 can be a prelude

to the Tsesh kovsky-Gu rgendize strategy analyzed in Sec­

N f6. Or, l. .g6 can be a w ay o f tempting Wh ite out o f a

K i ng-Pawn position i nto a Queen-Pawn one, by playing 2

Similarly, against 1 d4 the move l.. g6 allows Black

to shi ft i nto the A verbakh plan o f attacking d4 with

o f getting into a King's Indian De fense while a voiding

Nc:J, d6 Pirc D e fense posi tion rather than a posi tional

The presu m ptuous title, Black To Play and Win

l g6 to u nbalance the posi tion---to strive for a fighting

de fense where the stronger playe r can prevail---or the

I n the pages that follow, we analyze the various

Section I: White is a Ki ng-Pawn player ( 1 e4)

White Is a King-Pawn Player

Our defensi ve system will featu re an attack on the

fense, and its h al f-brother the Pirc, resembles the K i ng's

Modern will be closer to the Caro-K an n i n which i t is e4,

By far the most logical, natural and popular re­

Qne method of u psetting Whi te's move order is c7·•..

c6 a move earlier than normal, e.g. 2 f4, c6 3 N f3 , d5 and

tion A2. Then White can retain strength on his central

8 14 7 Nbd2, Na6 8 b3, Nf5! 9 B f2, B d3 10 N d3, b4

(Vellmlrovlc- Bulat, Yugoslav Championship 1984) Black has

Black can delay or e ven avoid moving his c-pawn,

On the other hand, the bold bayone t o f l h4!?

However, Black can de fend by building t he c6/d5

On 3 Bc4 White threatens to seize the d iagonal lead-

There is no reason to tip o f f Black's strategy by

center with Nc6 and White's two pawns will restrict

Black's possibilities for d7-d5.

A fter 2 Ba7 we have a broad choi ce, to be ana­

Usually, N.N. got swept o f f the board by h is m aster oppo

ible method o f initiating play was slow i n · w i n n i n g ap

not l . . N f6, began to appear. In the games of Y u ri A ve r

to the Tsesh kovsky-Gu rgendize strategy analyzed in Sec

By far the most logical, natural and popular re

A fter 2 Ba7 we have a broad choi ce, to be ana

This signals the beginning o f Black's central strat

Since 4 ... d5 is an obvious possibility, White gener

Better for Wh ite may be 6 B f4!?, o f fe ring the d

Better is 6 Be3 with plen t y of play for the pawn a f

Note however, that a trap lies in the i nnocent-look

This is the most aggressi ve and most d angerous re