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7...a5!?! - instant counterplay!
In every opening there are some lines that bother you. For instance, if you are a 1.e4 e5 player, what do you do against the Scotch? After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 I have always liked 4...Bc5, but then 5.Nb3 Bb6 6.Nc3 became popular. White's rather primitive idea is to go Qe2, develop the dark-squared bishop - maybe to g5 if we have played Nf6 - and then castle long. In practice it was often unpleasant to face for Black, but in this survey I will present an interesting option where we seek active counterplay immediately: After 6...d6 7.Qe2 we go 7...a5!?.
The idea is of course to continue ...a4 and harass the white knight. Already White is at a crossroads: should they allow ...a4 or prevent it by playing 8.a4 themself? Alternatively, it is tempting to keep fighting for the initiative and play 8.Nd5 which threatens Nxb6. Or maybe just develop fast with 8.Be3. Let's check!
A) 8.a4
This weakens the b4-square which we immediately exploit with 8... Nb4!. Now 9.Nd5 Nxd5 10.exd5+ Ne7 is already pleasant for Black, so White should probably go for 9.Bf4 when 9...Qf6! gives Black good counterplay.
Giri has played 10.Bg3, but then 10...Be6! 11.0-0-0 0-0-0 is good for Black, see Papadiamandis,E - Murphy,C 0-1. 10.Qd2 is better, but Black should be fine after ...Ne7 and ...Be6 (or vice versa!), see Sethuraman,S - Melkumyan,H ½-½.
B) 8.Nd5
8...a4!. Black ignores the threat to take on b6. Of course 8...Ba7 was possible, but then 9.a4 would give White an improved version of variation A). After 8...a4! the play is rather forced: 9.Nxb6 cxb6 10.Nd2 Nf6
This is a critical position. Black has a pretty bad pawn structure, but it is nicely balanced by an easy development and good chances to get the initiative. White has tried three different queen moves: 11.Qd1 (see Gabuzyan,H - Hovhannisyan,R ½-½),11.Qe3 (see Petrisor,A - Dudin,G 0-1) and 11.Qd3 (see Gumularz,S - Oparin,G ½-½). In all three lines Black is more than fine.
C) 8.Be3
This is the safest approach from White. Again the play is pretty forced: 8...a4 9.Bxb6 axb3 10.Be3 bxa2 11.Rxa2 Rxa2 12.Nxa2 Nge7
Another critical position. White has the bishop pair and can hope for a long-term advantage, so Black must seek quick counterplay. The queen on e2 is unfortunate and has to move again to develop the light-squared bishop which costs time. In the meantime Black will castle and continue ...f5 with interesting play. After 13.Qd2 Black can switch plans and play 13...d5 14.exd5 Qxd5 which seems to equalise on the spot, see Kudr,R - Rook,D ½-½. Best is 13.Nc3 0-0 14.Qd2 f5
Black gets counterplay just in time and is ok after 15.Bd3 (see Gabuzyan,H - Burke,J ½-½) or 15.Bc4+ (see Corrales Jimenez,F - Artemiev,V ½-½).
Conclusion: The fresh approach with a quick ...a5 is an easy to learn antidote to the popular Scotch line 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Nb3 Bb6 6.Nc3 d6 7.Qe2. Although there are a limited number of games with 7...a5!? I don´t see any problems for Black. On the contrary, it seems the line is reliable and forces White to look for new ideas in the alternative variations with 5.Nxc6 or 5.Be3.
You can find the complete article with alll games and analyses in ChessBase Magazine #212.
Roven Vogel: Reti Opening 1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 b6
Alexey Kuzmin: English 1...e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 e4 4.Ng5 c6
Andrey Sumets: Caro-Kann Exchange 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6
Petra Papp: Najdorf 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 h6 8.Bh4 Qb6 9.a3
Yago Santiago: French 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 a6!?
Lars Schandorff: Scotch with 4...Bc5 and 7...a5!?
Robert Ris: Italian Ulvestad Variation 5...b5!?
Tanmay Srinath: Open Ruy Lopez Part II
Evgeny Postny: Nimzo-Indian 4.Nf3 0-0 5.Bg5 c5 6.Rc1
Sergey Grigoriants: Catalan 6...dxc4 7.Qc2 b5 8.a4
Krisztian Szabo: King's Indian 5.Be2 0-0 6.Be3 e5 7.d5
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Highlights of ChessBase Magazine #212
These are the editors' recommendations – from first-class analyses from the Tata Steel Masters and Challengers 2023 to the endgame series "Fundamental Endgame Knowledge" by Dr Karsten Mueller:
Tata Steel 2023: Anish Giri comments on three of his games, plus analyses by Praggnanandhaa, Jorden van Foreest, Peter Heine Nielsen, the winner of the Challenger, Alexander Donchenko and many others. Dorian Rogozenco presents two games in the video that were decisive for the outcome of the Masters!
Rapid Highlights: Anish Giri, Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Peter Heine Nielsen analyse selected games from the Rapid Chess World Championship and the Meltwater Champions Chess Final 2022.
CBM authors analyse their favourite game of the Englishman (1955-2001). Exclusive collection of 21 annotated games from the years 1978 to 2001.
When should you accept a draw offer and when not? Which emotional aspects can influence our decision, and how can we block them out as best we can? Don’t miss part 5 of the training series “Practical Tips for the Tournament Player” with GM Jan Markos. Video + small collection of exercises.
Robert Ris shows Magnus Carlsen's fantastic game against Nodirbek Abdusattorov from the 2022 Rapid World Championship. Can you find the moves of the triple world champion?
Spyridon Kapnisis presents the Scotch Gambit: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.Ng5!? After 5...Nh6 6.Nxf7 Nxf7 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Qh5+ White wins back the piece on c5 and has in any case already achieved a partial success.
All three opening videos pick up current ideas from the top tournament in Wijk aan Zee! Rustam Kasimdzhanov examines the Ruy Lopez with 8.a4 b4 9.a5, which came on the board twice at the "Masters". Nico Zwirs examines Magnus Carlsen's idea of 7...Bg4 in the Exchange Variation of the Queen's Gambit. And Mihail Marin puts the Evans Gambit from Beerdsen-Pechac from the "Challengers" to the test.
Rustam Kasimdzhanov: Ruy Lopez
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.a4 b4 9.a5
Mihail Marin: Evans Gambit
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 6.d4 d6 7.Qb3 Qd7 8.0-0 Bb6 9.Nbd2
Nico Zwirs: Queen’s Gambit Exchange Variation
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 Bg4
From the Reti Opening to the King's Indian - ChessBase Magazine #212 offers 11 opening articles with new ideas for your repertoire!
Vogel: Reti Opening 1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 b6
Kuzmin: English 1...e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 e4 4.Ng5 c6
Sumets: Caro-Kann Exchange 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6
Papp: Najdorf 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 h6 8.Bh4 Qb6 9.a3
Santiago: French 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 a6!?
Schandorff: Scotch with 4...Bc5 and 7...a5!?
Ris: Italian Ulvestad Variation 5...b5!?
Srinath: Open Ruy Lopez Part II
Postny: Nimzo-Indian 4.Nf3 0-0 5.Bg5 c5 6.Rc1
Grigoriants: Catalan 6...dxc4 7.Qc2 b5 8.a4
Szabo: King's Indian 5.Be2 0-0 6.Be3 e5 7.d5
“From the English Opening to the Queen’s Gambit” – Rainer Knaak takes a close look at eight traps from current tournament practice (incl. three FritzTrainer videos)
Mihail Marin presents the legend from England, Anthony Miles, as a universal player and explains how strategy and tactics worked together harmoniously in his best games. Including a detailed video introduction and – for the first time in CBM – two interactive training videos!
Dorian Rogozenco shows one of the most spectacular games from the match "Soviet Union vs. the Rest of the World" in 1970: Bent Larsen came to blows on the first board of the world selection in only 17 moves. against world champion Boris Spassky! Part 3 of the new video series.
Sometimes it is simply necessary to part with one's queen. Oliver Reeh's article contains 32 games, peppered with plenty of training exercises. Plus three interactive videos with our author’s favourite combinations.
The endgame expert Dr Karsten Mueller continues his training series with the topic "Rook + Pawn vs. Rook". Also: Endgame highlights of Anthony Miles.
Order now in the ChessBase Shop !
Try out ChessBase Magazine now! Order the ChessBase Magazine taster package!
Read ChessBase Magazine for 6 months (= 3 issues) for the special price of only 39.90 € (instead of 59,85 € for buying them individually). As a thank you, you will also receive 3 months ChessBase Premium Membership free of charge.
*Bonus for new subscribers only, i.e. there was no CBM subscription for 12 months!
Save twice with ChessBase Magazine: For the annual subscription to ChessBase Magazine you’ll pay only €99.70 per year (compared to €119.70 for the 6 individual issues).
* Bonus only for new subscribers, i.e. there was no CBM subscription for 12 months! As a new subscriber you will receive the original ChessBase USB stick with 128 GB
