How do you handle this?

After 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4, you reach the following position:



What do you when your opponent playes 5...Bd7 in hopes of holding on to the pawn? I tried 6. e3 b5 7. b3, but it failed to 7...b4. Can someone help me out?

is this game in progress, if so cant comment

Originally posted by Knight Time
is this game in progress, if so cant comment

Oh sorry. No, this game has finished. Game 2164945

Originally posted by EnigmaticCam
After 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4, you reach the following position:

[fen]rnbqkb1r/pp2pppp/2p2n2/8/P1pP4/2N2N2/1P2PPPP/R1BQKB1R w KQkq[/fen]

What do you when your opponent playes 5...Bd7 in hopes of holding on to the pawn? I tried 6. e3 b5 7. b3, but it failed to 7...b4. Can someone help me out?

Mm, maybe the cheeky 6. a5 is good enough to regain the pawn, as ...b5 can be met by axb6, although ...Bb4 later on might pick up the a5 pawn instead. I would play 6. e4 though; after 6. ... b5 7. ab cb 8. e5 you should get some powerful play through central domination.

Originally posted by EnigmaticCam

What do you when your opponent playes 5...Bd7 in hopes of holding on to the pawn? I tried 6. e3 b5 7. b3, but it failed to 7...b4. Can someone help me out?

There is this old postal game in my database.



Franki,J - Kulesza,W [D16]
Dyckhoff Memorial 74/I corr, 1954

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.a4 Bd7? 6.e3 b5 7.axb5 cxb5 8.Ne5 a6 9.Qf3 Ra7 10.b3 Rc7 11.bxc4 bxc4 12.Nd5 Ra7 13.Bxc4 g6 14.Nxf6+ 1-0

Hmmm, interesting. So I have either e3 with the hopes of a strong attack with Ne5 and Qf3, or e4 with a strong attack after e5?

This is just from my H10 database. Seems white is winning the position a hell of a lot of the time

[Event "Reykjavik"]
[Site "Reykjavik"]
[Date "1968.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Szabo, Laszlo"]
[Black "Benedictsson, Benony"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D16"]
[PlyCount "68"]
[EventDate "1968.06.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "15"]
[EventCountry "ISL"]
[Source "ChessBase"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Be6 6. e4 Na6 7. Ne5 Nb4 8. Be3
Ng4 9. Nxc4 g6 10. a5 Bg7 11. Qb3 b5 12. axb6 Qxb6 13. Na4 Qb8 14. Nc5 O-O 15.
Be2 Nxe3 16. fxe3 Bc8 17. Na5 Qb6 18. Ra4 Na6 19. Bxa6 Bxa6 20. Nxc6 Qxc6 21.
Rxa6 Qc7 22. O-O e5 23. Qc4 exd4 24. exd4 Rab8 25. b4 Rb6 26. e5 Rd8 27. Ra4
Qe7 28. Ra3 Rc6 29. d5 Rcc8 30. d6 Qxe5 31. Qxf7+ Kh8 32. d7 Rc6 33. Rd3 Rf8
34. Rf6 Bxf6 1-0

[Event "Hessen-ch"]
[Site "Hessen"]
[Date "1990.??.??"]
[Round "11"]
[White "Bewersdorff, Oliver"]
[Black "Falk, Thomas"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D16"]
[WhiteElo "2325"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[EventDate "1990.??.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[Source "ChessBase"]

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Be6 6. e4 h6 7. Ne5 Nbd7 8. Nxc4
Bxc4 9. Bxc4 e5 10. Qb3 Qe7 11. Qxb7 Rb8 12. Qxc6 exd4 13. Nd5 Qxe4+ 14. Kd1
Nxd5 15. Re1 Qxe1+ 16. Kxe1 N5b6 17. Qe4+ Be7 18. Bd3 Nc5 19. Bb5+ Kf8 20. Qf5
a6 21. a5 axb5 22. axb6 Nb3 23. b7 Nxa1 24. Qc8+ 1-0

[Event "ISL-ch"]
[Site "Arborg"]
[Date "1998.10.28"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Einarsson, Bergsteinn"]
[Black "Gunnarsson, Jon Viktor"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D16"]
[WhiteElo "2210"]
[BlackElo "2445"]
[PlyCount "84"]
[EventDate "1998.10.27"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "ISL"]
[EventCategory "4"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1999.01.01"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 dxc4 5. a4 Be6 6. e4 Bg4 7. Bxc4 Bxf3 8.
gxf3 e6 9. Bf4 Nbd7 10. O-O Be7 11. Kh1 O-O 12. Qd2 a6 13. Rg1 g6 14. e5 Nd5
15. Bh6 Re8 16. Ne4 b5 17. Bxd5 cxd5 18. Ng5 Bf8 19. Qf4 Qe7 20. Nxh7 Kxh7 21.
Bg5 f6 22. exf6 Qf7 23. Rg3 Kg8 24. Rh3 Nxf6 25. Qxf6 Bg7 26. Qxf7+ Kxf7 27.
Be3 bxa4 28. Rxa4 Reb8 29. b4 Rb6 30. Rg3 Rc8 31. Rg1 Rc4 32. Rga1 Bxd4 33.
Bxd4 Rxd4 34. Rxa6 Rxa6 35. Rxa6 Rxb4 36. Kg2 Kf6 37. Rd6 Ke5 38. Rd8 d4 39.
Kf1 Rb6 40. Ke2 Rd6 41. Rg8 d3+ 42. Kd2 Kf4 1/2-1/2

[Event "ISL-ch"]
[Site "Arborg"]
[Date "1998.11.04"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Thorfinnsson, Bragi"]
[Black "Gunnarsson, Jon Viktor"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D16"]
[WhiteElo "2235"]
[BlackElo "2445"]
[PlyCount "28"]
[EventDate "1998.10.27"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "ISL"]
[EventCategory "4"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1999.01.01"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 dxc4 5. a4 Be6 6. e4 Bg4 7. Bxc4 Bxf3 8.
gxf3 e6 9. O-O Nbd7 10. Bf4 Be7 11. Kh1 O-O 12. Rg1 Kh8 13. Qe2 a6 14. Rad1 b5
1/2-1/2

[Event "ISL-ch"]
[Site "Arborg"]
[Date "1998.11.07"]
[Round "11"]
[White "Stefansson, Hannes"]
[Black "Gunnarsson, Jon Viktor"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D16"]
[WhiteElo "2535"]
[BlackElo "2445"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[EventDate "1998.10.27"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "ISL"]
[EventCategory "4"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1999.01.01"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Be6 6. e4 Bg4 7. Bxc4 Bxf3 8.
gxf3 e6 9. O-O Nbd7 10. f4 Bb4 11. Qf3 O-O 12. Kh1 Nb6 13. Bd3 Qxd4 14. a5 Nbd7
15. Rg1 Nc5 16. Bc2 Bxc3 17. bxc3 Qc4 18. Be3 Nfxe4 19. Bxc5 Nxc5 20. Bxh7+ Kh8
21. Qh3 Qxf4 22. Rg4 Qh6 23. Rh4 Kxh7 24. Rg1 Rad8 25. Qg4 Rg8 26. Qf4 1-0

[Event "Torshavn op 3rd"]
[Site "Torshavn"]
[Date "2000.10.10"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Savchenko, Stanislav"]
[Black "Gunnarsson, Jon Viktor"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D16"]
[WhiteElo "2579"]
[BlackElo "2368"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2000.10.06"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "FAI"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2000.11.10"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c6 3. d4 d5 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Be6 6. a5 g6 7. e4 Bg7 8. Ng5
Bg4 9. f3 Bc8 10. Bxc4 O-O 11. Qb3 e6 12. e5 Nd5 13. O-O f6 14. exf6 Bxf6 15.
Nge4 Bxd4+ 16. Kh1 Be5 17. Bg5 Qc7 18. Rfe1 Nd7 19. Bxd5 cxd5 20. Nxd5 exd5 21.
Qxd5+ Kg7 22. Rac1 Qb8 23. Be7 Rf5 24. g4 Bf6 25. gxf5 Bxe7 26. fxg6 hxg6 27.
Ng5 Bxg5 28. Qxg5 Qd6 29. Rcd1 Qc6 30. Re7+ Kg8 31. Re8+ Nf8 32. Rdd8 Qxf3+ 33.
Qg2 1-0

[Event "ISL-chT 0001"]
[Site "Reykjavik"]
[Date "2000.11.18"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Jonsson, Bjorn"]
[Black "Gunnarsson, Arnar"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D16"]
[BlackElo "2253"]
[PlyCount "99"]
[EventDate "2000.11.17"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "ISL"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2001.01.11"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 dxc4 5. a4 Be6 6. Ng5 Bf5 7. e3 h6 8. Nf3
e6 9. Bxc4 Nbd7 10. O-O Be7 11. a5 O-O 12. Qb3 Qc7 13. Re1 Rfe8 14. e4 Bh7 15.
Bd2 Rad8 16. Rac1 b5 17. Nxb5 cxb5 18. Bxe6 Qb8 19. Bxf7+ Kh8 20. Bxe8 Rxe8 21.
e5 Ne4 22. Be3 Bd8 23. Qd5 Nf8 24. a6 Re7 25. e6 Bc7 26. Ne5 Rxe6 27. Bf4 Nd6
28. Nc6 Rxe1+ 29. Rxe1 Bg8 30. Qxg8+ Kxg8 31. Nxb8 Bxb8 32. Bxd6 Bxd6 33. Re8
Bc7 34. Re7 Bb6 35. d5 Ng6 36. Rb7 Bd4 37. Rxb5 Kf8 38. Rb7 Ke8 39. b4 Nf8 40.
Rb8+ Kf7 41. Kf1 Nd7 42. Rc8 Ke7 43. Rc6 Nf6 44. Rc7+ Nd7 45. Ke2 Kd6 46. Rb7
g5 47. h3 Nf6 48. Rb8 Nxd5 49. Rd8+ Kc6 50. g3 1/2-1/2

[Event "EUCup 17th"]
[Site "Panormo"]
[Date "2001.09.23"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Babula, Vlastimil"]
[Black "Gunnarsson, Jon Viktor"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D16"]
[WhiteElo "2566"]
[BlackElo "2404"]
[PlyCount "84"]
[EventDate "2001.09.22"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "GRE"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2001.10.26"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Be6 6. a5 g6 7. e4 Bg7 8. Ng5
Bg4 9. f3 Bc8 10. Bxc4 O-O 11. Qb3 e6 12. Be3 Qe7 13. O-O Nbd7 14. Na4 Rb8 15.
e5 Nd5 16. Ne4 Nxe3 17. Qxe3 b5 18. axb6 axb6 19. Nac3 c5 20. f4 cxd4 21. Qxd4
Nc5 22. Qd6 Qxd6 23. Nxd6 Rd8 24. Ra7 Rd7 25. Rfa1 Rxa7 26. Rxa7 Bf8 27. Nxf7
Nb7 28. Nd6 Nxd6 29. exd6 Bxd6 30. Ne4 Bxf4 31. Nf6+ Kf8 32. Nxh7+ Ke8 33. Bb5+
Kd8 34. Nf8 g5 35. g3 Bd6 36. Nh7 Bc5+ 37. Kg2 g4 38. Bc6 b5 39. Rg7 Rb6 40.
Be4 Rd6 41. h4 gxh3+ 42. Kxh3 Rd2 1/2-1/2

[Event "Wch U16 Girls"]
[Site "Heraklio"]
[Date "2002.11.21"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Batsiashvili, Nino"]
[Black "Kovanova, Baira"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D16"]
[WhiteElo "2236"]
[BlackElo "2136"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2002.11.15"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "GRE"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2003.01.09"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 dxc4 4. a4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Be6 6. Ng5 Bg4 7. f3 Bc8 8. e3
Qa5 9. Nge4 Nxe4 10. fxe4 Qg5 11. Qf3 Qh4+ 12. g3 Qg4 13. Qf2 e6 14. Bxc4 Bb4
15. O-O O-O 16. Qg2 Nd7 17. e5 Qg6 18. Bd2 Nb6 19. Ba2 Bd7 20. Bb1 Qg5 21. Ne4
Qe7 22. Bxb4 Qxb4 23. Qh3 h6 24. Nf6+ Kh8 25. Qg4 gxf6 26. Qh4 f5 27. Qxh6+ Kg8
28. Qg5+ Kh8 29. Rf4 Qe1+ 30. Kg2 Qe2+ 31. Kh3 Qg4+ 32. Rxg4 fxg4+ 33. Kg2 1-0

[Event "GER-chT U20"]
[Site "Greifswald"]
[Date "2002.12.29"]
[Round "5.5"]
[White "Morgenstern, Petra"]
[Black "Karmann, Alexander"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D11"]
[WhiteElo "1737"]
[BlackElo "1870"]
[PlyCount "50"]
[EventDate "2002.12.??"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2003.03.07"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 c6 4. a4 Be6 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. e4 g6 7. Ne5 Nbd7 8. Nxc4
Bg7 9. Be2 O-O 10. O-O Bxc4 11. Bxc4 e5 12. dxe5 Nxe5 13. Be2 Qxd1 14. Rxd1
Rad8 15. Bg5 h6 16. Bh4 g5 17. Bg3 Ng6 18. Bc7 Rc8 19. Bg3 Rfd8 20. f3 Nh5 21.
Bf2 Nhf4 22. Bf1 b6 23. g3 Ne6 24. Bh3 Ne5 25. Kg2 Nc4 1/2-1/2

[Event "NOR-ch op"]
[Site "Oslo"]
[Date "2004.04.10"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Kristiansen, Willy"]
[Black "Taksrud, Vidar"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D16"]
[BlackElo "1904"]
[PlyCount "50"]
[EventDate "2004.04.03"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "NOR"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2004.05.04"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 c6 3. c4 dxc4 4. a4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Be6 6. e4 Na6 7. Be2 h6 8. O-O
g5 9. Ne5 Bg7 10. Be3 Nd7 11. Nxc4 Nc7 12. f4 gxf4 13. Bxf4 Nf8 14. Be5 Rg8 15.
Bh5 Bxc4 16. Rxf7 Bxf7 17. Bxf7+ Kxf7 18. Qh5+ Ng6 19. Rf1+ Bf6 20. Bxc7 Qxd4+
21. Kh1 Kg7 22. Rd1 Qe3 23. g3 Bxc3 24. bxc3 Qxe4+ 25. Kg1 Raf8 0-1

[Event "Berlin-ch"]
[Site "Berlin"]
[Date "2004.04.15"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Hansen, Kay"]
[Black "Vandre, Wolfgang"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D16"]
[WhiteElo "2242"]
[BlackElo "2208"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2004.04.09"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2004.05.04"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 dxc4 4. Nc3 c6 5. a4 Be6 6. e4 h6 7. a5 g6 8. Ne5 Bg7
9. Bxc4 Bxc4 10. Nxc4 Nbd7 11. O-O O-O 12. e5 Nd5 13. e6 fxe6 14. Qg4 Kh7 15.
Ra3 Rf5 16. Ne2 N7f6 17. Qh3 Nc7 18. g4 Rb5 19. Ne5 Ng8 20. Rf3 Qe8 21. Nf7
Rxa5 22. g5 Rf5 23. Nxh6 Nxh6 24. gxh6 Bf6 25. Kh1 Qd7 26. Rg1 Qd5 27. Rgg3
Rxf3 28. Rxf3 Qe4 29. Be3 Nd5 30. Nc3 Nxc3 31. bxc3 a5 32. Kg1 a4 33. c4 a3 34.
Rf4 Qxf4 35. Bxf4 a2 36. Qxe6 a1=Q+ 37. Kg2 Qxd4 38. Be3 Qe5 39. Qf7+ Kh8 40.
h7 Qe4+ 0-1

[Event "Pan American-ch U18"]
[Site "Balneario Camboriu"]
[Date "2005.06.13"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Garcia, Jhon"]
[Black "Hurtado Bahamonde, Rodrigo"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D16"]
[WhiteElo "2221"]
[BlackElo "2108"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2005.06.11"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "BRA"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2005.07.11"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 c6 4. a4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Be6 6. e4 h6 7. Ne5 Nbd7 8. Nxc4
Bxc4 9. Bxc4 e6 10. O-O Bb4 11. e5 Nd5 12. Qg4 Qe7 13. Qxg7 O-O-O 14. Qg3 Rdg8
15. Qh3 h5 16. Nxd5 cxd5 17. Be2 Ba5 18. Be3 Kb8 19. Rfc1 Qb4 20. Qf3 Rg7 21.
Rc2 Qb3 22. Rac1 Qxa4 23. Qxh5 Rhg8 24. g3 a6 25. Qh4 Ka7 26. Qe7 Bb4 27. b3
Bxe7 28. bxa4 Bd8 29. Rb1 Ba5 30. h4 f6 31. exf6 Nxf6 32. Bf3 Nd7 33. h5 Nb6
34. h6 Re7 35. Be2 Nxa4 36. Bd3 Nc3 37. Ra1 b6 38. Rxa5 1-0



Hope they help.

Whoa, dang. Thanks Bedlam, I have a lot of reading/analyzing here to do 🙂 It seems though the overall theme is e4 with Ne5, regaining the pawn while at the same time creating threats all over the place. I see where I went wrong. Thanks everyong for their input! 🙂

Originally posted by Bedlam
[b]This is just from my H10 database. Seems white is winning the position a hell of a lot of the time

[Event "Reykjavik"]
[Site "Reykjavik"]
[Date "1968.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Szabo, Laszlo"]
[Black "Benedictsson, Benony"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D16"]
[PlyCount "68"]
[EventDate "1968.06.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "15"]
[EventCountry ...[text shortened]...

H10 Database?

Hiarcs 10. Its only 1 million games. Most online databases contain more. Although searching for games in the F9 GUI is a lot quicker and user friendly.

Originally posted by EnigmaticCam
Hmmm, interesting. So I have either e3 with the hopes of a strong attack with Ne5 and Qf3, or e4 with a strong attack after e5?

I think if you're super-worried about the material, 6. a5 is the simplest. The other two variations are distinctly sharper.

Btw, the immediate point of the e3/Ne5/Qf3 game that Mister Meaner posted is not so much a strong attack, but more a piece-trapping tactic: in this case the rook on a8, which has no squares to go to when the f3-a8 diaganol is open. The simplest version of this idea occurs in the QGA, viz 1. d5 d5 2. c4 dc 3. e3 b5? 4. a4 c6? 5. ab cb?? 6. Qf3 +-.

Anyway, to stop getting his rook trapped black returned the pawn in that game but got into also sorts of trouble in different ways. I had a quick look at the alternative 8. ... Nc6 9. Nxb5? Nxe5 10. dxe5 Bxb5 11. Qxd8+ Rxd8 12. exf6 exf6 when black is better, however, white can simply avoid this with 9. Nxd7 and only then 10. Nxb5, when he's clearly better and may possibly pick up c4 too. I think for black to justify ...Bd7 this leaves 8. ... Qb6, to meet 9. Qf3 with 9. ... Bc6. It looks quite messy to me, although I'm not familiar with this kind of position so maybe I am missing the obvious resources for white?

I think e4 is probably pretty strong. For example:

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 dxc4 5. a4 Bd7 6. e4 b5 7. axb5 cxb5 8. e5 Ng8 9. Ng5!

9. Ng5 is a pretty funny move. Obviously threateing Qf3, and Black doesn't really have a satisfactory response. He might be better off allowing White to regain his pawn back with 7. Bxc4.

Tony gives a good line.. and you should "always" play e4 on dxc4, that is the threat after all..

If not 8.. Ng4 then 9. Ng5 (threatens 11. Qxg5 after 10. e6) ..Nh6 and then white can play 11. Qf3. or 11. e6 (11..fxe6 12. Nxh7 with shattered black king side, ..Nf7)

In general though, I wouldn't worry too much about dxc4. The white centre is usually enough for the pawn (the semi-slav is of course something special, but "playable" :o) ). And, if you can ever re-gain the pawn (which you usually can), you usually end up standing much better.