TL Chess Match 4 - Page 63

move that C file pawn over. So not only would it ruin our plan for double pawns, but it would also eliminate one of our central pawns without accomplishing any real goal.

In this position, I think one of our strengths is our half-open c-file in combination with our bishop's tension on the knight. Ng5 will likely play d5 at some point, and from that point on we will be able to capture the knight at any time, doubling black's c-pawns and granting us a weakness to attack. We can do this by placing our queen on c2, and our rook on c1, for example.



Our immediate goals should be to castle and to keep our bishop on the a4-e8 diagonal.

If black plays 8. ... O-O, we should castle as well, 9. O-O, protecting our king and removing the pin on our knight.

If black plays 8. ... a6, we should simply retreat the bishop to a4, 9. Ba4. The move Bd3 also looks good, but I don't think it is as strong. Bd3 is also more committing, because we won't be able to maneuver back to the a4-e8 diagonal, while if we play the Ba4 retreat, we can play Bc2 at any time to reach the same diagonal as Bd3.

If black plays 8. ... d5, I think we should immediately take our chance to weaken his pawn structure by capturing the knight. If we castle first, he may be able to unpin his knight with Bd7, making our bishop placement almost irrelevant.

If black plays d5 at some point, I'm not a fan of playing en passant here... It leaves us with an isolated queen's pawn and very little compensation or room for attack in exchange for it. For example, if the game were to continue:

8. Nbd2 O-O 9. O-O d5 10. exd6ep, here black can recapture the pawn with his bishop, by first exchanging knights. 10. ... Nxd2 11. Bxd2 Bxd6, and it's difficult to make progress.



As I stated above, I think a good general plan would be to double his c-pawns, isolate his a-pawn, and then focus on those weaknesses in queen-side play, utilizing our half-open c-file. However, I think we need to control the c5 square before we can execute this plan, because we don't want black playing c5 and undermining our pawn center. We will have to drive away the bishop at some point with a3 and reevaluate from there depending on his response.

9. O-O is certainly a solid move. The question here is, do we have better? I think we might....


9. Bxc6 bxc6 10. Qa4. I didn't see this move in my last analysis, but it looks strong. Here we are forking the c6 pawn, and the bishop at b4. Let's look at black's options...



10. ...Rb8 defending the bishop. (10. ... a5 would lose the rook or the d-pawn after Qxc6+.) Here, we have the option of taking a free pawn. 11. Qxc6+. Black can't interpose the bishop, because he would then lose his d-pawn. So 11. ... Qd7 12. Qxd7 Bxd7 13. a3, and we are safely up a pawn with queens off the board.



-OR-

10. ... Bxd2. Here we retake with the knight in order to attack the black knight on e4. Black shouldn't allow us to capture his knight next move, and he doesn't have a good escape square. 11. Nxd2 Nxd2 12. Bxd2, and here, there isn't much black can do to prevent us from dominating the dark squares, and making his doubled c-pawns a liability. For example, placing the queen on c2 or the bishop of the a3-f8 diagonal, and his doubled pawns will be stuck in place, and his a-pawn is weak and isolated.

Allowing black to castle significantly changes the tactics involved.

1) After Qa4, the c-pawn is no longer pinned. Black can play c5, defending his bishop, removing his pawn from attack, and undermining our pawn center. We can perhaps still win a pawn here after dxc5, but the position does not seem as favorable as playing Bxc6+ first.

9. O-O O-O 10. Bxc6 bxc6 11. Qa4 c5




2) Because we won't be capturing the c-pawn with check, black now doesn't have to exchange queens. He can play for example:

9. O-O O-O 10. Bxc6 bxc6 11. Qa4 Rb8 12. Qxc6 Rb6 13. Qc2 Bf5




3) Part of the strength of the Bxd2 line above is that we can threaten to occupy the a3- f8 diagonal, preventing black from castling. Black's c-pawn is hanging and he can't meet both threats at the same time:




Perhaps there are alternate moves for either side that are better. In either case, the position is less clear and less forcing, and seems to offer black better chances imo.