09-03-2012, 03:58 PM
[pgn]1.c4 e5
2.g3 Nc6
3.Nc3 g6
4.Bg2 Bg7
5.d3 d6
6.e4 h5
7.h4 Nd4
8.Nce2 Ne6
9.Nf3 Nf6[/pgn]
Spoiler here>> Now it's time to stop and think properly! 9. My first thoughts are that I'm sure I've faced this move before, and I'm also trying to recall a game between Jonathan Grant and Colin McNab from the Scottish many years ago.
John Shaw annotated it for Scottish Chess magazine, and I spent a fair bit of time looking at John's suggested improvement for white (who lost) and felt black was doing fine regardless. It was in a line something like 9...Ne7 10. 0-0 0-0 11. d4 cxd4 12. Nfxd4 c5 but I get the feeling that can't be quite right - John's improvement was a Rc1 move and I can't quite see where it would occur?!!?
Anyway, I will have to depend on myself rather than my memory now, so I have a choice between 9...Ne7 and 9...Nf6. I'm favouring the latter of these as it puts pressure on e4 (should white try to break in the centre with d4) and it also aims at the g4 square (hitting any bishop on e3, and eyeing up the dark squares in general after ...c6 and possibly ...Qb6 if the right situation arises).
My first analysis of 10. d4 (or 10.0-0 0-0 11.d4) in reply leads me to believe I can play 10/11...Nxe4 safely, so I think I will stick with that rather than get distracted by half-remembered analysis from years ago! <<Spoiler here
2.g3 Nc6
3.Nc3 g6
4.Bg2 Bg7
5.d3 d6
6.e4 h5
7.h4 Nd4
8.Nce2 Ne6
9.Nf3 Nf6[/pgn]
Spoiler here>> Now it's time to stop and think properly! 9. My first thoughts are that I'm sure I've faced this move before, and I'm also trying to recall a game between Jonathan Grant and Colin McNab from the Scottish many years ago.
John Shaw annotated it for Scottish Chess magazine, and I spent a fair bit of time looking at John's suggested improvement for white (who lost) and felt black was doing fine regardless. It was in a line something like 9...Ne7 10. 0-0 0-0 11. d4 cxd4 12. Nfxd4 c5 but I get the feeling that can't be quite right - John's improvement was a Rc1 move and I can't quite see where it would occur?!!?
Anyway, I will have to depend on myself rather than my memory now, so I have a choice between 9...Ne7 and 9...Nf6. I'm favouring the latter of these as it puts pressure on e4 (should white try to break in the centre with d4) and it also aims at the g4 square (hitting any bishop on e3, and eyeing up the dark squares in general after ...c6 and possibly ...Qb6 if the right situation arises).
My first analysis of 10. d4 (or 10.0-0 0-0 11.d4) in reply leads me to believe I can play 10/11...Nxe4 safely, so I think I will stick with that rather than get distracted by half-remembered analysis from years ago! <<Spoiler here