TL Chess Match 4 - Page 86

Also, black does not play an early c5 in your lines. He will instead play Ba6, for instance: 14.b4 a5 15.bxa5 Ba6, where white is in an awkward position and black will play c5 when it is most advantageous for him.

14. Nxe4 dxe4 15. Nd2 f5 16. O-O Rd8 17. Rd1 Ke6 18. Nc4 Ba6 19. Na5 Rd5 20. b4 c5 21. Nc6 R[somewhere] 22. Nxe7 Kxe7 23. bxc5

(Note that 23...Rcxc5 fails to 24. Bg5+ K[somewhere] 25. PxR).

These are some possible variation of 14.0-0 that I was able to consider.

14. 0-0, Ba6
15. Re1, Nxd2 (I predict this because at this point he will lose his center so it best to trade knight)
16. Nxd2, Bg5
17. Pb4, ???

From this point we are in great position. No matter what white does here, there really isnt anything for him to do to stop us from doing 18. Nf3 which would let us get our knight back in a nice position again and let out the bishop. We are also able to nullify the rook pressure on the the B file by playing 17. Pb4.

14. 0-0, c5
15. d4xc5, Bxc5
16. Nxe4, Pxe4
17. Ng5, ???

As you see, if we play c5 and he chooses to take with the bishop, we get a favorable exhange because at 17. Ng5 we got a fork for a bishop. Thus I do not expect him to take with the bishop. On the other hand, if he take with the Knight....

14. 0-0, c5
15. d4xc5, Nxc5
16. b4, ???

From here we are able to nullify the rook pressure on the b2 pawn by playing b4 while pressuring the knight and gaining the tempo again. The knight can go back to Ne4 but now that we castled, he will not be able to hold this position for long thus he would probably retreat to Ne6 instead.

These are the only 2 Logical move that I see for black to do if we were to 14. 0-0 imo. There is nothing terrible so far that I can analyze but if I were to go deeper the possibility will open up and it will become harder to analyze.

14. Nxe4: 8 (Soluhwin, Ikari, qrs, chesshaha, Cloud9157, mastergriggy, dtvu, qrs, EnderSword)
14. 0-0: 10 (GenesisX, SheaR619, EvilNalu, shackes, Raysalis, Bill Murray, Mash2, Malinor, jdseemoreglass, Chezus)
14. b4: 1 (Joseki)

...Ba6 means that we delay castling at our own risk here: 14. Nxe4 works because it creates threats that Black must respond to before playing ...Ba6, but most other moves don't work as well. In theory we could think about castling Queenside, but after bxa5 that does not seem like a very safe thing to do.

Good points. I have now gone to the drawing board once again. By activating the king immediately black can pressure white, I think winning back the pawn. However, this is probably more risky for black than the other lines I've mentioned.

14.Nxe4 dxe4 15.Nd2 f5 16.0-0 Ke6

Now 17.f3 looks weak after the familiar 17...e3

I don't think 17.b4 works because of 17...a5 18.bxa5 Rd8.

17.Nc4 runs into 17...Ba6.

17.Rd1 looks like a good try for white, but then the immediate 17...c5 creates problems: 18.dxc5 Bxc5 19.Nc4 Ba6 20.Nd6 Rhd8 and at least one pawn will fall. Of course, white doesn't have to play dxc5, he can try something like 18.Nc4. However, black can then force pretty much the same line with 18...cxd4 19.Rxd4 Bc5 20.Rd1 Ba6

Let me know what you think, I just can't see any good results for white after 16...Ke6 - and if this fails, there are really few other opportunities for white to deviate.

I thought black would just go 18.d5+ Kxd5. None of the discovered checks look good for white:

19.Nc4+ Kxc4

19.Nb3+/Nf1+ Kxe5

19.Nf3+ Ke6

19.Nxe4+ I think Kxe4 works, but even if it doesn't Kxe5 is good for black.

I don't think 18.d5+ is viable.

Ok, I see you posted a line for 18.d5+ Kxd5 19.f4. I don't think 19...exf4 is the best for black though. Can't black simply keep his pawn with something like 19...Ke6, where he has his pawn back, the two bishops, a protected passed e pawn, and white is still in an awkward bind? This looks damn near winning for black to me.

After your 14. Nxe4 dxe4 15. Ng1 Ba6 16. f3, I'm not sure why you don't consider 16...f5 as in the 15. Nd2 lines. Wouldn't this be a strong move in these lines as well? If we exchange pawns, Black still has his pawn stronghold on e4 (which he can reinforce with ...Bd3, we still can't castle, and the open f-file makes Kf2 look rather unattractive. If we take the f-pawn en passant, then as in the other lines, we are dismantling our central pawns and opening up the position, to Black's advantage. If we do nothing, then we are still in a bind.

This looks terribly passive and at least one of your lines is simply losing:

15.Ng1 Ba6 16.f3 e3 17.Bxe3 Rxb2 18.Bd2 Rhb8 and I don't see how white avoids losses:

19.Ne2 R8B3 20.a4 Rd3, etc.

19.Nh3 same

19.Rd1 Bxa3

19.g3 to try to free the bishop 19...Rb1+ 20.Rxb1 Rxb1 21.Kf2 Bxa3 and white looks dead lost.

Black can just play for the long bind with 15...a5 and he will get Ba6 in time to keep us from castling because 15.f3 runs into the lines above after 15...e3

I just don't think there's enough time for white to consolidate. The Ke6 idea is the key again, just as I think it is in the lines after Nd2:

15.Ng1 a5 16.Kd1 Ke6 17.Ne2 c5 and ...Ba6 is coming (black shouldn't rush to play cxd4 because Nxd4 is an adequate response..

Black has to try to prevent d5, and if he does c5 becomes a crusher.

15.Ng1 a5 16.Kd1 Ke6 17.Kc2 c5 18.dxc5 Bxc5 19.f4 looks terribly awkward after 19...Ba6 and it looks like white's king will be embarrassed, leading to heavy losses, for example, 20.Bd2 (finally) Bd3+ 21.Kc1 Rhc8 (ouch) or 20.Nh3 Bd3+ and I see nothing better than for white's king to pathetically slink back to the center, as Kc3 is suicidal.

Also, I think in the 17.Kc2 lines 17...Ba6 is better - it constrains the knight and gets ready to invade immediately. c5 is always there as long as d5 is under control, so no need to rush. For example, 17.Kc2 Ba6 18.Be3 Bd3+ 19.Kc1 Rb3 and doubling on the b file will win: 20.Nh3 Rhb8 21.Ra2 Bxa3, etc. 19.Kc3 fares even worse after 19...a4, with 20...Rb3+ in the air.

I actually think the 15.Ng1 a5 16.Ne2 move order is better for white, but I still think after 16...Ba6 black is doing well - he still has f5 and c5 and Ke6 depending on white's responses, with the lines being very similar to previously analyzed ones.

I now think black should avoid Ke6 while Nf4 is possible. So, how about Ba6 and Bc4 to control d5?

e.g. 15.Ng1 a5 16.Kd1 Ba6 17.Ne2 Bc4 18.Nc3 (to prevent c5 by allowing d5 in response, Nf4 not good because of g5 in this line) and now 18...Kd6! because after 19.Nxe4 Rhd8 the house of cards finally falls apart.