TL Chess Match 4 - Page 47

The discussion later in the thread has convinced me to change my vote, cxd4 simplifies the game, which we don't want.

take over the middle with no real threat, puts pressure on bishop while protecting pawn.

I think we can keep up the pressure (this move should force him to do something relative to the bishop), but I really like the thought of castling soon...still this moves keeps us with the initiative

Cxd4 leads me here:

7. cxd4 Bb4+ 8. Bd2 Bxd2+ 9. Nbxd2



It's nice to recover the pawn, but the long term issues exist with the position namely a weak d4 which could be exploited with the queenside pawn majority. I forsee us eventually losing our hold over the center.

The bb4+ seems inevitable to me, other option for him would be bb6 and eyeing f2 for the future but that doesn't make sense. He would be surrendering any initiative for nothing.


8. Nbd2 seems to lead to the exact same thing if he takes it. If not then we have managed to pin a knight trapping the black bishop and blocking the queen from d4. Not sure what we can hope to achieve from there? 8... g5 is possible for him which starts to pressure the knight that is holding our center together and things get worse as far as I can tell.


Now onto Qe2, seems like a pretty slick move to me. It seems the only option for black is 7...d5. f5 is a disaster and he has nowhere else to put the knight except a doomed kamikaze attack.



This opens a lot of interesting possibilites for us. Correct me if I'm wrong, but all of sudden cxd4 is more even more possible then last move because Bb4+ can be dealt with while retaining the bishop pair.

7. Qe2 d5 8. cxd4 Bb4+ 9. Nbd2 Nxd2 10. Nxd2 Bxd2+ 11. Bxd2



Not that I want to go this way.

8. exd6 Looks really juicy. Both knights are pinned and our brave pawn is still being a nuisance. He will have a lot on his plate and trouble protecting both the knight and d4




I had more but I that's it for now since I'm writing this twice....

the cxd4, d4-e5 center pawn chain is ephemeral. We have a backwards d pawn that will be easy for black to focus. I don't foresee the center advantage being anything but temporary and potentially being our demise if we invest too much in to protecting it. I feel that the positions after 7. Qe2 are more stable and solid than what 7. cxd4 has to offer.

All it achieves is simplifying the board and leaving us a temporary control of the center. Not losing the game in any way, but certainly taking it in a direction I (we) don't want to go. There is no need to play for a draw at this time. Finally, it seems likely we can play cxd4 at a later and get more out of it.

My reasoning for chosing 7. cxd4 is that we have those two strong center pawns. Now I would consider changing my vote to 7.Qe2 if someone could point out to me why d4 might turn into such a problem, because I fail to see it.



We obviously have no pawn on the c-line anymore which is probably the biggest problem. But black has no bishop on the black fields anymore. If d4 is attacked directly anytime soon, b3 seems like a perfectly fine and easy accesible field for one of our knights, at least temporarily, and we will soon have a lot of space to move our rocks around. If d4 gets attacked directly by a c-pawn we probably can simply exchange it, since we still have the possibility of f4 to protect the e5 pawn after castling sometime in the future. Black cannot really throw anything at us which we couldn't respond to with the same investment of materiel. Maybe that makes the position more drawish than we would like?

This is all pretty theoretical, but I am in no way a good enough player to foresee all the possible lines which would be emerging from the above position.

Some of the mainline positions that arise end up with a pawn on d5 for black, these were the positions I was reffereing to , this leads to a permanent weakness on d4 ,The base of the pawn chain that defense our e5 pawn,and black will play for a future c5 pawn break and possibly even a well timed f6 , . It is one of blacks main strategic reasons for even being able to play this line and get counterplay , For instance something like this cxd bb4 nd2 a6 bd3(bb5 also possible) d5 0-0 and now we have the very pawn chain on d4 I have been discussing ,Since these lines have been provided several times I thought you would be familiar. , ."Pawns are the soul of chess"Philiodor (the original French GM himself )And this is a very real consequence of this type of pawn formation , (black pawn on d5 ) I am in no means saying white is worse here, For me it is an argument based in entropy . But imo other lines offer black more difficulty, with less of the drawbacks. That is my point . The reason being we get initiative and space with none of the drawbacks that this positions seems to offer in several of the mainlines previous posters provided . In a longterm strategic sense that is, a very long-term sense I would like to make clear . But I would like to clarify cxd is playable as it is a mainline . Just a little more tame imo, and a probable d4 weakness in a few of the mainlines, that is the price we pay for the e5 space gainer in some mainlines resulting.
I am sure he would be really comfortable in these lines . The endings can be drawish and we get tied down to the d4 weakness or e5 can get weak if he makes c5 soon enough , and get our center broken , then we will be forced to advance the e pawn or try to hold it . In some lines I imagine, we sac the d4 pawn weakness for a lead in development and possible attack , this is a reoccurring theme in these types of pawn formations. You see the pawn structure often decides the middlegame strategies in equal positions , nontactical ones especially .

7. O-O has a distinct advantage over 7. cxd4

Black has essentially two options in this position. He can play 7. ... d5, or 7. ... dxc3



Let's look at d5 first. If we play 8. cxd4, we are in a position very similar to the one in the original 7. cxd4 lines. The principle difference between 7. O-O and 7. cxd4 is that we prevent black from having the option of simplifying material. As a general principle, you want to avoid trading off pieces when you have a spatial advantage or an attack going. This reduces the pressure on your opponent and makes equalizing easier.

If we played 7. cxd4 Bc4+, black can either trade off our knight, or our bishop, or both. Of course, we shouldn't be too reluctant to trade our "bad" dark squared bishop for blacks dangerous centralized knight, so playing Bd2 isn't much of a problem.

After 7. ... d5 8. exd6ep Nxd6 9. Bxc6 bxc6 10. Qa4, black can't defend the pawn and the threat of Re1+.



10. ... O-O 11. Qxc6, threatening the rook and the bishop. Black must play:

11. ... Nb7 12. cxd4 Bb6 13. Nc3 Rb8 14. Be3, and we are safely a pawn up.




Playing castle instead allows us to retain all of the pieces on the board, unless black goes for the dangerous variation: 7. O-O dxc3.

This is the primary difference that can arise from playing castling BEFORE cxd4. The rest of the plans by black will reach similar positions with simply an inversion of moves. So let's take a closer look at this possibility.

7. O-O dxc3 8. Qc2



Black's best plan here is to secure a material advantage and try to survive white's coming attack. He should play:

8. ... Nxf2 9. Rxf2 Bxf2+ 10. Qxf2 cxb2 11. Bxb2 O-O



Black is up material, but he is behind in development, and all of white's pieces are lining up for a dangerous king-side attack. To clarify the position, let's look at three follow-ups:

12. Nc3.
+ Show Spoiler +

12. Nd2.
+ Show Spoiler +

12. Qb3.
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I think white is favored in these lines. I also think they are more exciting and interesting to play. We can shift our attack to instigate new weaknesses and concessions from black.

You have convinced me it deserves serious attention (0-0 that is )Wasn't sure if database searching was against the rules or not , if it is allowable then I will start sifting through some games myself . edit: I did some searching and I cannot seem to find this move as a mainline, I cannot seem to fine a good response to dxc3 which is a vast improvement over the immediate d5 you have black playing. I still prefer qe2 after looking at it ,for example here a very interesting forced line 0-0 ?! dxc3 qc2 nxf2 rxn cxb2 bxb2 bxf2(or qe7)qxf2 0-0 nc3 and d6
(or even d5) and black is actually up a point with 3 pawns and a rook for 2 minors and a pawn 8 points netted 7 points spent. The white king being so naked makes a king side attack a little unrealistic . I would evaluate this position as imbalanced yet equal more or less. but with all thoise pawns I feel black has the more realistic winning chances in the long-run were white may eventually use the extra minor piece toward a kingside attack(seems unrealistic to me )This line is more or less forcing , white doesn't have to play qc2, qd5 could be tried, but qc2 seems best as it allows white to retake on f2 with the queen instead of the king.



(normally i would not trade 2 minors for a rook but here b;lack gets quite a few pawns and the imblance leaves black with a position he can't lose very easily but has some winning chances imo)














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jdseemoreglass convinced me with his analysis on this move. I don't like the position we're in at the moment, so I'd like to get our king out of the center.

Castling is still premature as there will be no immediate threat to our king for some time. Why not take this time to make a move that can help our position. Castling is passive.

I will repost thise line after 0-0 , are you sure this is the most played? because I cannot find any recent games played in this line. and after analysis I found this.this line is completely forcing btw 0-0 dxc3 qc2(ifnxc3 then black goes nxn bxc3 0-0 and black stands slightly better) nxf2!? rxn cxb2 bxb2 bxr qxb 0-0 nc3 and now black has a flexible and solid position black can play d5 directly or d6 or even the slower b6 ?! . And black has yielded 8 points with a rook and 3 pawns to our 7 with two minors and a pawn . I would rate it as equal yet imbalanced . But black has alot of pawns and imo has the better longterm chances for squeezing a win out of this imbalanced position . I generally do no like trading two minors for a rook . but in this case it seems very strong and an instant freeing line . I would prefer cxd even to this line after serious thought and some research,