Moller Attack



From D.Regis@exeter.ac.uk  Mon Dec  2 13:33:20 1996
Subject: Re: Guioco Piano notes
To: lorda@boat.bt.com (Andrew Lord)
Date: Mon, 2 Dec 1996 13:33:18 +0000 (GMT)


Hi Andrew


> I've just got addicted to chess 

Sympathy: there is no cure...


> I'm stuck on a problem with a Guiuco Piano line. I got as far 
> as:
> 
> 1. e4 e5
> 2. Nf3 Nc6
> 3. Bc4 Bc5
> 4. c3 Nf6
> 5. d4 exd4
> 6. cxd4 Bb4+
> 7. Nc3 Nxe4
> 8. 0-0 BxN
> 9. d5
> 
> Then you say some black options don't work, including 9...Ne5
> You cite a progression:
> 
> 9. ... Ne5
> 10. bxc3 NxB
> 11. Qd4
> 
> You then have black playing 11. ... f5 to protect one of the 
> attacked Knights, allowing the white Queen to take the other 
> one. Instead why can't black simply play 11. ... Ncd6? I can't 
> see a way after this for white to win the piece back. 


Interesting - the verdict on 11...f5 I think has stood for 100 years,
until now! - but the best move probably isn't 11...Ncd6, or 11...f5,
but 11...0-0. 

Let's see: after 

9...Ne5 10.bxc3 Nxc4 11.Qd4

 Black can play instead of 11...f5:

 [A] 11...Ncd6(?) 

  White doesn't get the piece back but seems to get a strong attack through

  12.Qxg7 Qf6 13.Qxf6 Nxf6 14.Re1+ Kf8 15.Bh6+ Kg8 16.Re5 Nfe4
  17.Re7 as in Durao-Ferrera, 1994;

 [B] 11...0-0(!) 

  12.Qxc4

 (12.Qxe4 b5 13.a4 c6 14.axb5 cxb5 15.Qd4 Nb6 16.Be3 d6
  and White has nothing, as in a Dzindzhikashvili-Karpov rapid game)

  12...Nd6 

  And maybe White's best try is now 13.Qd3,
  according to Gufeld and Stesko.

  I'll make a note on the page.

Thanks for your prompt: if nothing else, I've discovered that these
old lines are far from played out! 


May your pieces harmonise with your Pawn structure and
your sacrifices be sound in all variations

D  _       
 / "()/~   Dave Regis  &8^D*  WWW: http://www.ex.ac.uk/~dreg../chess.html
|| \_/|    = DrDave on BICS 
~\   /                        "...what else exists in the world but chess?"
 _|||__SHEU: ~/sheu.html                                          -- NABOKOV

Chess Quotes

"The most important feature of the chess position is the activity of the pieces. This is absolutely fundamental in all phases of the game (opening, middlegame and especially endgame). The primary constraint on a piece's activity is the Pawn structure."
— Michael STEAN, in Simple Chess.