1.f4 e5 2.fxe5 d6 3.Nf3 dxe5 4.e4 Bc5 5.c3
Tartakower Attack.
5...Bg4
This might be Black's most principled response to the
Tartakower Attack, by pinning the knight Black gains additional
control of d4.
6.Qa4+
Making affective use of 5 c3. I would like to
bring the reader's attention to all the famous names who have played
White in the games that follow.
6...Bd7
6...Qd7 A rather lame move which Reti punishes.
7.Bb5! c6 8.Nxe5! cxb5 9.Nxd7 Bf2+ 10.Kxf2 bxa4 11.Nxb8 Rxb8 12.d4
Analysis Diagram: after 12.d4
Black is already lost. 12...Nf6 13.Re1 0-0 14.h3
Bh5 15.Bg5 Nd7 16.Nd2 f6 17.Bf4 Rbc8 18.Bd6 Rfe8 19.d5 b5 20.Re3 Bg6
21.Rae1 a5 22.g4 Nb6 23.Kf3 Red8 24.Bh2 b4 25.a3 Nc4 26.Nxc4 Rxc4
27.d6 Be8 28.Bf4 Rdc8 29.e5 Bc6+ 30.Kg3 g5 31.Bxg5 fxg5 32.e6 bxc3
33.d7 Rb8 34.Rxc3 Rxc3+ 35.bxc3 Kg7 36.Rd1 Rb2 37.h4 1-0 R.Reti -
H.Hansen, Kristiania 1920;
6...Nd7 A risky gambit. 7.Nxe5 Ngf6 (No one
has played 7...Qg5! but it is Black's best hope to save this line.
White's simplest approach seems to be 8.Nxg4 Qxg4 9.Qc2 0-0-0 10.d4
Bd6 11.Bd3 Bxh2 12.Qe2 Bg3+ 13.Kf1 while White's king looks exposed,
it is not clear how Black can take advantage of that. Otherwise
White's control of the center and two bishops gives him better play.)
8.Nxg4 Nxg4 9.d4 0-0 10.Be2 Re8 11.0-0 Nxh2 A clever sacrifice.
12.Rf4! A cold blooded refutation. (The point of Black's
piece sacrifice is 12.Kxh2 Bd6+ 13.e5 Qh4+ 14.Kg1 Bxe5 and White
cannot take the bishop since the queen would hang. 15.Qxd7 Qh2+
16.Kf2 Qg3+ 17.Kg1 Qh2+ is drawn.) 12...Bd6 13.e5 Nxe5 14.dxe5
Rxe5 15.Re4 Qe8 16.Qxe8+ Raxe8 17.Rxe5 Rxe5 18.Kf2 Bc5+ 19.Ke1 J.Yoos
- B.Rasmussen, Winnipeg 1993. Black's initiative is broken and
he has no compensation for the sacrificed piece.
7.Qc2
A typical desired position in this line. In this
case, White has gotten his queen to c2, while Black's bishop on d7
looks misplaced.
7.Qb3 seems shallow, but played by the great
Capablanca: 7...Nc6! 8.Bc4 (8.Qxb7 Nf6 and Black has more than
enough compensation for the pawn.) 8...Qe7 9.Qc2 Validating
that 7.Qc2 is the correct approach. Strong players are willing to
admit they made a mistake which helps him to take corrective action.
9...Nf6 10.d3 h6 11.b4 Bb6 12.a4 a5 13.b5 Nd8 14.Ba3 Bc5 15.Bxc5 Qxc5
16.Qf2 Qxf2+ 17.Kxf2 Ng4+ 18.Ke2 White has a pleasant edge here, and
it is no surprise that Capablanca outplays his opponents from here,
but I have included the remaining moves due to the exceptionally
pretty final move. 18...Ne6 19.Bxe6 Bxe6 20.h3 Nf6 21.Nxe5 Nh5
22.Ke3 g5 23.Nd2 0-0-0 24.d4 Rhe8 25.g4 Nf4 26.Nd3 Ng2+ 27.Kf2 Nh4
28.Nf3 Ng6 29.d5 Bd7 30.Rae1 f6 31.c4 Rh8 32.Nd4 h5 33.c5 Be8 34.c6 b6
35.Ne6 Rd6 36.Ng7 h4 37.Ke3 Ne7 38.Rhf1 Bg6 39.Nb2 Ng8 40.Nc4 Rh7
41.Nxd6+ cxd6 42.Ne6 Re7
Analysis Diagram: after 42...Re7
43.e5! 1-0 J.Capablanca - Villegas & Carranza,
Consultation Game, Buenos Aires 1911.
7...Nc6
7...Qe7
Analysis Diagram: after 7...Qe7
An important alternative since it discourages d4.
8.d4 exd4 (8...Bd6 Black keeps the game closed. Reti is famous for
his Reti Opening, but before that opening he played many beautiful
King's Gambits in positional style. This game features a good knight
over a bad bishop. 9.Bg5 Nf6 10.Nbd2 Nc6 11.Bc4 0-0-0 12.0-0 h6
13.Bxf6 gxf6 14.d5 Nb8 15.b4 Rdg8 16.Nh4 Rg4 17.Nf5 Bxf5 18.Rxf5 Nd7
19.Raf1 Rhg8 20.g3 Qf8 21.Bb5 Qg7 22.Bxd7+ Kxd7 23.R1f3 Ke7 24.Nf1 Rf4
25.Ne3 Rxf3 26.Rxf3 Kd8 27.Qf2 Be7 28.Nf5 Qg5 29.Qxa7 Re8 30.Qe3 Bf8
31.a4 Kd7 32.a5 Ra8 33.Qxg5 fxg5 34.g4 c6 35.dxc6+ bxc6 36.Rd3+ Ke6
37.Rd1 c5 38.b5 c4 39.a6 f6 40.Rd5 Ba3 41.Kg2 Ra7 42.Ne3 Bb2 43.b6
Rxa6 44.Rb5 Ba3 45.Nxc4 1-0 R.Reti - Z.Barasz, Temesvar 1912.)
9.cxd4 Bb4+ 10.Nc3 Bc6 11.Bd3 Bxc3+ 12.bxc3 Bxe4 13.Bxe4 f5 14.0-0
fxe4 15.Qb3!
Analysis Diagram: after 15.Qb3!
A brilliant attacking move! 15...c5 16.Ba3 Nf6 17.Bxc5
Qf7 18.c4 b6 19.Ng5 Qd7 20.Rxf6 gxf6 21.Nxe4 Qe6 22.Re1 bxc5 23.Nxf6+
Kf7 24.Qb7+ 1-0 M.Euwe - G.Maroczy, Bad Aussee match 1921.
8.b4 Bd6
Amazingly, my databases have no one playing the
natural looking 8...Bb6 The thematic solution: 9.Na3 Nf6 10.Nc4 looks
promising for White.
9.Be2
A modest move saving the c4-square for the queen
knight.
9.Bc4 A extremely
tempting alternative. Look at the four White players referenced
in this note: 9...Nf6 (9...Qe7
10.d3 0-0-0 11.0-0 Rf8 12.Be3 g6 13.Na3 a6 14.Kh1 f5 15.b5 Bxa3
16.bxc6 Bxc6 17.Nxe5 Be8 18.d4 Bd6 19.exf5 c5 20.Rae1 Qh4 21.Bf4 +-
W.Browne - P.Brandts, Aspen 1968.) 10.0-0
(10.d3 Ne7 (10...Qe7 11.0-0 0-0-0 12.a4 a5 13.b5
Nb8 14.Nbd2 Bg4 15.Nb3 b6 16.Be3 Nbd7 17.Rae1 Be6 18.Bxe6 Qxe6 19.Kh1
Qe7 20.Nbd2 Ng4 21.Bg1 h5 22.Nc4 g5 23.Nxd6+ cxd6 24.Nd2 f6 25.Nc4 Kb7
26.Bxb6 Nxb6 27.Nxa5+ Kc7 28.Nc6 Qe8 29.a5 Nd7 30.b6+ Kb7 31.a6+ Kxb6
32.Rb1+ Kc7 33.Rb7+ Kc8 34.Na7# 1-0 D.Bronstein - P.Panov, Moscow
1947.) 11.0-0 Ng6 12.Be3 (12.a4 += Hayward) 12...b5
13.Bb3 a5 14.a3 axb4 15.cxb4 0-0 16.Nc3 c6 17.h3 Qe7 18.Ne2 Bb8 19.Kh2
Ba7 20.Bg5 h6 21.Bxf6 Qxf6 22.Nfd4 Qd6 23.Nf5 Bxf5 24.Rxf5 Nf4 25.Rf1
g6 26.R1xf4 exf4 27.e5 Qe7 28.Rf6 Kg7 29.d4 Bxd4 30.Bxf7 Bxe5 31.Qxg6+
1-0 R.Spielmann - S.Tarrasch, Carlsbad 1923.;
10...0-0 11.d3 b5 12.Bb3 a5 13.bxa5 Nxa5 14.Bg5 Nxb3 15.Qxb3 Rb8 16.d4
Be7 17.Nxe5 b4 18.Nd2 Bb5 19.Rf2 bxc3 20.Qxc3 Nxe4 21.Nxe4 Bxg5
22.Nxf7 Rxf7 23.Rxf7 Kxf7 24.Nxg5+ Kf6 25.h4 h6 26.Qf3+ 1-0 F.Marshall
- E.Cohn, Karlsbad 1907.
9...Nf6
9...a6 This move seems to be Black's best chance
for equality. 10.0-0 Nf6 11.a4 0-0 12.Na3 Bg4 13.Bb2.
Alternatives include:
13.Nc4 Bxf3 14.Bxf3 Bxb4!
15.d4 Be7 is overtly complex, but White can keep some pressure up with
16.Qb1 then 16...exd4 17.Qxb7 Qd7 18.e5 Nd5 19.Nb6!?
