So we’ve seen the wildest the engines have to offer us! But how could / would / should a human player approach such a position? Well I’ve mentioned a couple of times that in after these now well-known opening moves

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 a6 8. Ne2 Be7 9. c3 a5 10. dxc5 a4 11. Qc2 O-O 12. O-O-O b6 13. cxb6 Nc5 14. h4 Qxb6 15. Bxc5

Black could ensure a quieter game with not 15…Bxc5 but 15…Qxc5

Game: 15…Qxc5

The difference is that Black keeps the dark-squared on e7 guarding the g5-square against Ng5. It’s going to be easier to get rid of a dangerous White knight on g5 after 15…Qxc5 than after 15…Bxc5 (where you had to make extraordinary efforts with …Be3+, …Nxe5 and …Bxf4!)

What is Black hoping for from 15…Qxc5? Black reasons that the general contours of the situation offer him decent long-term prospects. Black has the 2 bishops, the white king is on the queenside and Black has the b- and c-files on which to pressure the king’s position with the bonus of the …a4-a3 lever to weaken White’s queenside dark squares. Such a position as White is not easy for a human player to play, irrespective of what the engine tells you about the evaluation! I’d certainly feel happier with Black than with White. The key question is whether White has something concrete in this position to realise additional gains before the general shape of the position takes hold. And actually that isn’t easy!

16. Ng5 g6 17. Nd4

Game: 17.Nd4

is the engine suggestion.17.Nd4 puts some pressure on the e6-square which might come in useful in the event of a combined attack against Black’s kingside light squares with Bd3 and h5. However, Black seems to have a variety of ways of playing, all of which lead to positions of a similar type that the engines consider only slightly better for White. Reckless attack with 17. h5 by the way is smoothly met by 17…Bxg5 18. fxg5 Nxe5  and the next steps in White’s attack are not easy to discern – that’s the value of keeping the bishop on e7!

17… Bd7  would be my first reaction, keeping all manner of possibilities like …a3, …Nxd4 and …Na5 open. The engine main line however is

17… Nxd4 giving White a difficult choice.

Game: 17…Nxd4

18. Rxd4

feels most attacking – that rook might swing over to the h-file later – but after

18… a3 19. b4

The engine favourite.

19…Qc7 20. Kd2 Bd7 21. Nf3 Ba4 22. Qc1 Rfc8

Game: 22…Rfc8

The position is very murky and at least White’s king looks in as much danger as Black’s!

After 18.cxd4

Game: 18.cxd4

Even  18…Qxc2+ 19. Kxc2 f6 20. Nf3 fxe5 21. fxe5 Bd7  is fairly decent for Black with reasonable play (2 bishops and open files) for the pawn but I would of course prefer something like

18… Qb6 19. h5 Bd7

Threatening …Rfc8 winning the white queen.

20. Kb1 Rfc8 21. Qf2 a3

Game: 21.a3

when once again the white king should be as scared as Black’s! One nice perpetual line is

22. hxg6 fxg6 23. b3

23. Rxh7 axb2 threatening both …Rc1+ and …Bxg5 24. Rh8+ Kg7 (24… Kxh8 25. Qh4+ mates) 25. Rh7+ Kg8 is very neat and we will see this in another line too!

23… Rc3 24. Rxh7 Rxb3+ 25. Ka1

Game: 25.Ka1

25. axb3 Qxb3+ is winning for Black

25… Rb2 26. Rh8+ Kg7 27. Rh7+ Kg8 with the same perpetual!

Game: 27…Kg8

So I think we are agreed: at move 15, Black has 2 choices. There is a crazy engine line with 15…Bxc5 which human players would struggle to grasp but there’s also a much more sensible human line with 15…Qxc5 that offers Black pretty reasonable chances. That’s true… but there’s a problem. It suddenly struck me that White can change his move order and play

14. Bxc5 first when after 14…Bxc5 15. Ng5 g6 16. h4

Game: 16.g4

the engines only consider 16…Qxb6 which transposes back into the crazy 15…Bxc5 line without Black having had the chance to avoid it with 15…Qxc5! It’s a very good example of how engines can trick you with their abilities. Because they aren’t scared of 15…Bxc5 and they have no need for 15…Qxc5, they aren’t going to warn you about how the position after move 16 can be reached! But for you, that’s a matter of life or death! The key to making this line work therefore is whether you have a good alternative here to 16…Qxb6.

16…f6 is hit very nastily – and also very aesthetically – with 17. b7 but 16… Be7 was my idea of genius and the engines don’t dislike it: it’s the second-best move in the position, 0.62 for Torch and just 0.39 for Stockfish!

Game: 16…Be7

The idea is once again to inhibit h5 due to …Bxg5 while preparing to recapture on b6 with the queen and bring the black rooks to the b- and c-files!

17. Nd4 Nxd4 18. Rxd4 Qxb6 19. Be2

was White’s best but after#

19…a3 20. b3 Bd7

it’s very similar to the positions after 15…Qxc5. White is undoubtedly a little better, but the position is complex to handle for both sides. At least it seems to me that this is a challenge I could take on as a human player… which I certainly don’t feel about the positions after 15…Bxc5!

Game: 20…Bd7

So I’d like to conclude this examination of this game at this point! We’ve seen how engines can play such lines, and we’ve also seen how humans should play them too! Hope this has proved useful and fun!