This is the first look into the game I listed in the article An Interesting Defeat in the Dutch Defence - that is, the first of several looks into this game at various stages. I’m very unimpressed with my play in this game – indeed, it’s one of those games where I look at some of my moves and just can’t understand why I ever thought they were a good idea! In this article I want to look at how I handled the black side of the opening. In particular, while white played the traditional setup – that is, fianchettoing the light squared bishop – he then went into a system that, while it is known, is quite unusual; this system is characterised by the early b2-b4, and it appears to be quite promising for white. After the moves: 1.d4 f5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 d6 4.g3 g6 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.b4 0-0 7.Bb2 Qe8 8.0-0 c6 9.Nbd2 Na6 10.a3 We reach this position:
There followed 10… Bd7 11.Qc2 Nh5 – the idea of 11… Nh5 being to prevent white playing e2-e4, because after 12.e4 fxe4 13.Nxe4 Bf5 black threatens 14… d5 winning the knight. However, note that this plan just doesn’t work at all, and black’s idea of putting the knight on h5 is just rubbish, the reason being that white can answer 13… Bf5 with 14.Nh5 and black isn’t threatening anything! The impression is that white’s last move (10.a3) is slow, so there has to be something better than this.
Having said that, what can black play? 10… b5 looks like a reasonable break, but analysis assisted by Fritz does not make it look like a promising way to go:
10…b5 11.cxb5 cxb5 12.Ne5 Be6 (12…Rb8 13.Nc6 Rb6 14.Rc1 Bb7 15.d5 e5 16.a4 Nc7 17.axb5) 13.Bxa8 Qxa8 14.Nd3 f4 15.Nxf4 g5 16.Nd3 Bh3 17.Qb3+ Kh8 18.d5 Bxf1 19.Kxf1 Qc8 20.Rc1 Qh3+ 21.Kg1 Ng4 22.Nf3 (22.Bxg7+ Kxg7 23.Qc3+ Kg8 24.Nf3 Rxf3 25.exf3 Qxh2+ 26.Kf1) 22…Rxf3 23.Rc8+ Rf8 24.Rxf8#
10…h6 is worth a look - …h6 is often useful in the Leningrad, to keep the white knight out of g5 (giving the black queen access to f7) and facilitating expansion on the king’s side. However, variations such as this one (for example):
10…h6 11.Qc2 Nc7 12.a4 Qf7 13.a5 g5 14.Qd3 Qg6 15.b5 cxb5 16.cxb5 Ne4 17.Nxe4 fxe4 18.Qc4+ Ne6 19.Nd2 Bd7 20.Nxe4 Rac8 21.Qb3 Kh8 22.Rad1 Rf5 23.d5
Do not leave me confident that black should allow the position in the diagram to happen at all.
In either the next post, or one in the near future, I’ll back track and (consulting the theory books) try to find the right way for black.
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