IIn previous blog entries, we discovered that Stuart’s 16.Nd4
Game: 16.Nd4
– while obviously a perfect practical choice in his crucial 8th round game at the British Championships – gave Black a number of opportunities to flatten out the play and drain the attacking life from White’s position by capturing on d4 at various moments.
We should therefore start examining alternatives at move 16:
Game: after 15…Ne4
However, it’s pretty hard to see very much attractive in this position for White! If you’re not stopping Black from playing …f6, then you can’t claim to be having much fun in the position! 16.Qh3is one attempt to do so, but simply 16…Nf5 followed by …f6 is going to be very safe for Black. The engines’ preference is 16.Qe2 which allowsthe knight to retreat to the comfortablesquare f3 with only a slight disadvantage. However, although they are too polite to say it, this does not have the strong and consistent feel of a master strategy!
In fact, if you look through the engine lines after move 13…
Game: after 13…Bxc5
It’s all about entrenching yourself on the queenside dark squares in compensation for the weakness of your light squares. Take a look at the engines’ preference on move 14:
14.Rfe1
Line: after 14.Rfe1
That wasn’t the spot I dreamed of for that rook! I wanted that rook to be heading over to h3 via f3 or lording it over the f-file after an exchange on e5!
14…Nf5 15.b4 Bb6 16.Bxf5 exf5 17.Nb3
Line: 17.Nb3
With the idea of sacrificing the pawn on c2
17…Rxc2
in order to achieve a central dark-squared blockade with 18.Bd4
Line: 18.Bd4
I got quite interested in 14.g4
Line: 14,g4
We stop …Nf5, threaten Qh3 and g5, what’s not to like? Well the engines threw a cold shower over that one (and many similar ideas) with the strong 14…Ne4!
Line: 14…Ne4
The point is 15.Nxe4 dxe4 16.Bxe4 Bxe4 17.Qxe4 Qd5!
Line: 17…Qd5
It’s very hard for White to hold the e3- and c2-pawns! The engine games all continued
18.Qf3 Qd2 19.Rae1 Qxc2 20.b4 Bxe3+ 21.Qxe3 Qxb2
Line: 21…Qxb2
White’s open king causes him many problems (for example, 22.Qxa7 Rc2) although the wins are easier for an engine to find than a human 😉
So nothing really hits the spot as White. If you’re preparing this line for White, you are now facing a typical scenario when analysing with modern engines. You have chosen this line with the goal of achieving a good attacking position; after all you’re pointing both your bishops at the black king for a reason! However, as you analyse, the engine just shakes its head and tells you “Not going to happen” offering instead a way to approximately hold the balance.
You have 2 options:
- You can ignore the engine to persist in this line. Instead of searching for objectively good lines, you start to search instead for lines that might plausibly cause problem for human opponents. You should keep in mind though that you are likely worsening your position objectively in order to do so.
- You can reverse and go back to an earlier point to see whether you can identify a better way of pointing the game in the direction you want.
When you look through the line, the thing that strikes you forcibly is that the queen on f3 seems to be misplaced. Placing it there allowed Black’s 12…b5 (exploiting the now-undefended c2-pawn) while it significantly increases the power of …f6 by cutting off a good retreat square for the knight on e5. It’s a very natural move in this line and in this structure but maybe it’s worth looking for something else.
It’s only then that I paid attention to the engine top move 12.Ng4
Line: 12.Ng4
My first thought when I looked at it again was “How am I ever going to explain the logic of this move after spending pages extolling the strength of the knight on e5?” And it’s a toughie no doubt about it!
The best way to think about it is to cast your mind back to what happened to the knight on f6 in the game:
Game: Conquest-Royal After 15…Ne4
It found a marvellous post on e4, blocking the light-squared bishop’s attack along the b1-h7 diagonal, eyeing the c3 and d2 squares and preparing …f6 chasing away the knight on e5.
12.Ng4 challenges the knight on f6 before it is fully ready to find a strong post: White suddenly changes the pace, attacking Black before he is ready to react in the optimal fashion. 12.Ng4 also exploiting a drawback to Black’s previous move 11…Ne7: the knight on f6 is no longer defended by the queen so Nxf6+ doubling Black’s kingside pawns is a threat, adding to the urgency of Black’s reaction.
We’ll start to examine this interesting engine move 12.Ng4 in detail in the next blog entries!