Vishy - So: A trigger!

".....then, you should say what you mean," the March Hare went on.
"I do," Alice hastily replied: "at least....at least I mean what I say." 
- Lewis Carroll




The position that occurred in Vishy - So game yesterday in Bilbao.

14.Nc3

A novelty on the 14th move - unless one chooses to play an obscure setup - in itself is a novelty these days!

In an earlier experiment in this position, L'Ami tried 14.Qf2?! against Volokitin in 2007 which ended in a disaster for White after 14....Nd4! the annoying move which exposes the weak spots in the White camp 15.Nf3 e5! This move underlines the strength of Black's position and it germinates primarily from the the presence of White's Knight on a4 (the take on d4 deprives of the return journey for that Knight!), whilst opening up the line for the c8-Bishop, and threatening the e4 pawn! 16.Nd4 ......Ng4 was threatened! 16.....Ng4; 17.Qf3 ed4; 


18.c5 OO; 19.Rc1 Though White's position is looking untenable, this move lands him in deep trouble as the sequel shows. 19.....Ne3; 20.f5 dc5; 21.Nc5 Qb6! 22.Qe2 Qh6! 23.Qd2 Wherever there is an attack, only this Queen runs from pillar to post; both the light squared Bishop and the h1 Rook are non existent! The game is over now. 23.....b6; 24.Nd3 Re8 Resigned!


Vishy realised early the futility of Knight on a4 and puts it back on c3 - where it belongs!

14.....Nd4! 15.Qd3 Ng4!

The threat is a cute 16.....Nc2; 17.Qc2 Qf2; 18.Kd1 Ne3!!

16.Nd1 e5!

Again that central operation!  And the game ended in a draw in 42 more moves.....

I stop this game here as my purpose was not to analyse the entire game, but....

....just do a bit of groping as did the White Knight and the Queen in the position reached approximately after 14 moves.

Black seems to be taking a lazy stroll on Marina Beach, letting White do all the labour in the position both in Vishy's game and in some other games that I saw in this setup....and therefore wonder, why....why on earth White wants to get into this at all!?

If it is an experiment, then it seems not worth the effort.


Let us move back a bit....



In this set up, Black initiates an attack on White's c-pawn and both sides evolve further play around this theme.

One of the earliest game in this set up was played between Taimanov and Geller in Moscow, 1955. The play continued....

9.....a5!? 10.Be3

So as to have a decent retreat square for that Knight in the event of .....a4

10.....Qc7

In 1977, Miles tried 10.....Qc6 against Karpov and after a Steinitzian 11.f3! fortifying the center, White got a free hand and his Knight on b3 created havoc, destroying Black's defence.

11.Bd2 OO; 12.a3 Bc3; 13.Bc3 b6; 14.f4 Ng6; 15.Bg2 Ba6; 16.Nd2 Rc8; 17.h4!?



Taimanov with his 17.h4 made an interesting positional sacrifice of his c-pawn which Geller accepted handing over a lasting initiative to White.


Going back to the position after 9.Qe2



Another option for Black here is to play.....

9.....d6

....which aims at covering the 'e5' point, more towards allowing him to push e6-e5, rather than to prevent White's e5.

10.f4 Nc6; 11.Be3 Bc3!

Only now!  Black will allow White the option of deploying his Bishop on a3 square, if he had played this swap a move earlier!

12.bc3 Qc7; 13.Bg2 e5!


And Gelfand, playing Black against Radjabov in 2013 Candidates, achieved a fine position taking control of the dark squares in the center.



A very interesting play happened from the above position, where, instead of 13.....e5 Black opted for 13.....OO



14.OO b6!? 15.Nd4 Nd4!

White had probably counted on only the natural response 15....e5 whence White could continue with 16.Nb5! followed by a pawn avalanche on the Kingside, seizing the initiative (Marin quotes a game played between Rotstein and Schlosser in 1998).

16.cd4 Ba6; 17.Rac1 Rac8; 18.e5 Nd5! 

....and White was not feeling comfortable in the game between Carlsen and Volokitin, in Biel 2006.


Well, at least every player knows what he does when he embarks on a certain plan of action. At the highest level, the game of chess is approached, or rather should be approached - as happens in other art forms and other walks of life - with the aim of finding.....or rather grasping the truth....

Is not chess a way to explore ourselves!?



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