PAWN RIOT VS The Forum Move 11

Originally posted by !~TONY~!
Robbie, you never covered the line 12. Kb1 Nc4 13. Bc4 Rc4 14. g4 b5 15. b3 b4!, which is in my opinion, a good way to play. Really the only way after 12...Nc4 actually.

12...Nc4



For several years considered the best and enough to neutralize 12.Kb1. However, modern practice has proved that things are not easy for Black and he faces real difficulties in this line.

13.Bxc4 Rxc4 14.g4!

The move 14.h4 is inaccurate. Black should play 14...h5!, transposing to a favourable line 12.h4 h5 13.Kb1 Nc4 14.Bxc4 Rxc4 , see B78 - 12.h4 h5 13.Kb1.

After 14.g4 Black has a lot of ways to continue. The main directions are:

A. 14...Qc7 provokes 15.g5 Nh5 16.Nd5, when the Black queen must retreat to d8. In spite of being played by Dragon experts Tiviakov and Alterman, this looks pretty dubious and in fact their results have been very bad in this variation. After 16...Qd8 17.Ne2 Be6 White's strongest continuation is probably simply to take on a7. Black has failed to prove any compensation in practice, see Bologan,V - Chatalbashev,B 1-0. Also possible is 18.Ng3 Bxd5 19.Qxd5 Qc7 20.Nxh5 gxh5 21.c3, with a slight advantage.

B. 14...Qa5 has little independent value. White must not play 15.Nd5?! Qxd2 16.Nxe7+ Kh8 17.Rxd2 Re8 with advantage for Black, but first 15.g5 Nh5 16.Nd5. Then Black is forced to play 16...Qd8, thus transposing into Variation A. (14...Qc7).
White also has a good additional possibility 15.Nb3. After 15...Qa6 both 16.e5 and 16.Bh6 give White better prospects, see Slobodjan,R - Malakhov,V 0-1 and Kaiumov,D - Solovjov,S 1-0.

C. 14...Qb8 leaves White with a wide choice of continuations, with the advantage in most cases, after 15.b3, 15.g5 or 15.h4. See the key for the games.

D. 14...Re8 15.h4 is reminiscent of the lines starting with 12...Re8 B78 - 12.Kb1 Re8, where the quick ...Nc4 is not the best option for Black.

E. 14...b5 is often a typical reaction after g4. However, here the pawn f3 is not attacked by the knight from e5 and White can take on b5.The immediate 15.Ndxb5 allows Black to bring his king's rook to the queenside quickly with 15...Qb8 16.Nd4 Rfc8, with compensation, see Oim,T - Nesis,G 0-1. White has the much stronger 15.b3! , first met in Topalov,V - Tiviakov,S ½-½. The idea is that Black must retreat the rook back to c8, thus breaking the coordination of pieces on the back rank, since 15...Rc5 16.Ne6! is just losing for Black (see for instance Tiviakov,S - Komljenovic,D 1-0). In spite of a draw in the above-mentioned game Tiviakov-Topalov, Black's position looked highly suspect after 15...Rc8 16.Ndxb5 Qa5 17.a4 a6 18.Nd5 . Soon White players found improvements and it became clear that 14...b5 leads to difficult struggle for a draw. In fact White has more than one way to improve on Topalov-Tiviakov, in all cases with significant advantage, see Timoshenko,G - Rogozenko,D 1-0, Bologan,V - Fedorov,A 1-0, Bakre,T - Singh,S 1-0.
Instead of 16...Qa5, the somewhat strange move 16...a6 brought Black good results in practice. But they had little to do with the opening. After 17.Nd4 Black's compensation is not worth a pawn.

hi tony, is it not similar to variation E

I'm looking forward to 11...Ne5 12.Kb1 a6.

a6 as far as I can gather is just a waiting move to find out what white's plan is

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
hi tony, is it not similar to variation E

Not really no. Sure the moves are somewhat similar, but the character of the position changes completely. After 15. b3 b4!?, White will almost certainly play 16. bxc4 , after which 16...bxc3 Qc3 17. Qc7 leads to a position where Black is down the exchange, but White has serious problems down the b and c-file, and a difficult defense ahead. I'd encourage you to look at the two games I posted in this variation in this thread a few posts ago. Don't dog 12...Nc4 until you consider these positions thoroughly.

So despite good db results for Black, you guys don't rate 11...Na5?

Originally posted by !~TONY~!
Not really no. Sure the moves are somewhat similar, but the character of the position changes completely. After 15. b3 b4!?, White will almost certainly play 16. bxc4 , after which 16...bxc3 Qc3 17. Qc7 leads to a position where Black is down the exchange, but White has serious problems down the b and c-file, and a difficult defense ahead. I'd encourage you ...[text shortened]... this thread a few posts ago. Don't dog 12...Nc4 until you consider these positions thoroughly.

mmm, how encouraging, indeedee! 😀

Originally posted by ResigningSoon
I'm looking forward to 11...Ne5 12.Kb1 a6.

a6 as far as I can gather is just a waiting move to find out what white's plan is

12.Kb1



In the modern theory of the Dragon Sicilian this continuation is one of the most fashionable lines. The quiet Kc1-b1 is generally a good prophylactic move in almost all kind of Open Sicilians when White castles long, because the king is usually better placed on b1 than on c1. Here it is especially effective. The point is that 12.Kb1 is also a waiting move before deciding how to continue action on the kingside and in this concrete situation each of Black's answers have some drawbacks, which can be exploited by White.

Black can consider the following options:

12...b5?!

A radical method involving a pawn sacrifice, which is hardly justified. White takes the pawn, keeping the advantage, Kosintseva,T - Pogonina,N 1-0.

12...h5?!

Another extreme measure. White prepares the attack with 13.h3, since 13...h4? would lose a pawn (14.Qf2 or 14.Bg5 for instance). This makes the advance of h-pawn totally unsound.

12...a6?!

Prepares b7-b5, but is too slow. White has better chances after either 13.h4 or 13.g4.

12...a5

As usual such a pawn advance enables White to blockade the queenside after 13.a4. White keeps a strategical advantage and later can either play for a kingside attack (Pavlovic,M - Ballmann,M 1-0), or play in the centre and use the b5-square for a knight (Lanka,Z - Bindrich,O 1-0)

12...Nc4 (B78 - 12.Kb1 Nc4) is the most logical answer, especially as there are not so many other natural-looking moves. However, in practice Black players have faced big difficulties after it and they have found another interesting possibility to counter 12.Kb1 by 12...Re8 - B78 - 12.Kb1 Re8.

hi Toni Benoni, would value you opinion on this continuation!

12.Kb1 Re8



This modest and somewhat passive-looking move with the rook became Black's main reaction to 12.Kb1. In spite of its passive position, the rook on e8 is not that badly placed. There are advantages which result from having the rook on e8 compared to f8:

1. after White's Bh6 Black can avoid the trade of bishops and answer...Bh8 without sacrificing the exchange;
2. thanks to the fact fact that the square f8 is available for the black king, White's threats on the h-file will be less dangerous;
3. in some variations, when White takes the knight on f6, Black recaptures with the pawn. In that case the rook will be useful on e8;
4. sometimes Black can go for ...e6 and ...d5. Then the rook will be well placed on the open e-file (e.g. Joachim,S - Polzin,R ½½. These are sufficient reasons in favour of 12...Re8. Moreover, Black's other options after 12.Kb1 don't bring him much joy (see B78 - 12.Kb1) and that's why 12...Re8 is for many players a simple necessity.

The increasing number of games starting with 12.Kb1 Re8 practically created a new direction in the theory of the Dragon. After 12...Re8 White often plays h2-h4 and all sorts of (rather confusing) transpositions to other lines are possible. The positions from those lines can arise via a different move order, because the inclusion of moves Kb1 Re8 can happen later as well (for instance 12.h4 h5 13.Bg5 Rc5 14.Kb1 Re8).

In the diagram position White has the following options:

A. 13.g4

White prepares either g5, or h4-h5. Black must exploit the drawback which 13.g4 has for White and quickly play 13...b5. Now 14.Ncxb5 Bxb5 15.Nxb5 Nxf3 is in Black's favour (Gofshtein,L - Cebalo,M 0-1). Better is 14.g5. After 14...Nh5 White can take the pawn on b5, since the black knight is out of play on h5 and because of that he can hardly have enough compensation. Instead, Black should play 14...b4, with big complications. So far Black was very successful in the practice after 14...b4, in spite of the fact that the position is anything but clear. See Djukic,N - Markovic,I 0-1.

B. 13.Bh6

A good continuation, played relatively rarely in practice, though. The inclusion of moves Kb1 Re8 now makes it less attractive for Black to make the exchange sacrifice on c3 13...Bxh6 14.Qxh6 Rxc3 (which is good in case of 12.Bh6 - B78 - 12.Bh6), see Karjakin,S - Zeliakov,N 1-0.

Black usually plays 13...Bh8, using the fact that rook has left the f8-square. After 14.h4 Nc4 15.Bxc4 Rxc4 Black has reasonable chances, Perez,R - Gonzalez,Y 0-1, but stronger looks to be 15.Qd3!, see Strauss,A - Alvir,A 1-0.

Another option is 13...Nc4 14.Bxc4 Rxc4 15.Bxg7 Kxg7 16.h4 h5, which transposes to line 13.h4 h5 14.Bh6 (see B78 - 12.Kb1 Re8 13.h4 h5 14.Bh6).

C. 13.h4

After the inclusion of moves Kb1 and Re8 White continues in the usual manner of main lines. His logic is simple: the move Kc1-b1 is useful in nine cases out of ten and it generally becomes a part of White's plan in the Sicilian Dragon (if White doesn't make it on move twelve, then in many main lines White later plays Kb1 anyway). Things are different for Black, since despite being useful, a move like ...Re8 does not belong to Black's general plan in the Dragon. This means that if White starts with 12.h4 and delays Kc1-b1 for later, then Black can do without ...Re8 (see for instance B78 - 12.h4 h5 13.Bg5 Rc5 14.Kb1). In those lines with a later Kb1, the variations with Black's ...Re8 represented for a long time just sidelines and by using the present move order (12.Kb1 Re8 13.h4) White forces Black to play them.

13...h5 The optimal decision, leading to positions which in practice often arise after 12.h4 h5.

The alternative would be 13...Nc4. Then after 14.Bxc4 Rxc4 White has 15.g4 and (even stronger) 15.h5! Nxh5 16.g4 Nf6, see B78 - 16.Kb1.

After 13...h5 White has three main possibilities.

- 14.g4, see B78 - 12.Kb1 Re8 13.h4 h5 14.g4;

- 14.Bg5, see B78 - 12.Kb1 Re8 13.h4 h5 14.Bg5;

- 14.Bh6, see B78 - 12.Kb1 Re8 13.h4 h5 14.Bh6.

I stated in an earlier post that after 12. Kb1 Re8!? 13. h4 h5 14. Bh6 Nc4 15. Bc4 Rc4 16. Bg7 Kg7 17. Nd5! e5 18. Nf6 Qf6 19. Ne2 or Nb3 I would prefer White. It's hard to come up with an active plan for Black. He might be okay, but he just has to suffer a little bit.

Also, I wouldn't condemn 12...a6!? at all, since that's where all the focus seems to be at the top level recently. I think Black is probably fine here with good play.

Originally posted by !~TONY~!
12. h4 is not a mistake, it's the main move. Actually, in my opinion 12. g4 is a bit dubious. Black can reply with 12...b5! , and White has some problems to solve since he can't the pawn (f3 hangs, which leaves White a mess) White can then play 13. h4 or 13. g5, both are met by 13...b4! Suffice to say that the positions aren't particularly fun for White, since his bishop gets into trouble after an eventual ...a5-a4.

I didn't mean to put h4 on the hot seat. I only meant that you can't give a strict line assuming what he will play, especially Nde2. That is a wasted tempo that puts the knight on a passive square and gives black time for ....Qa5 and ...Rfc8. If white tries the usual messy business black can now play ....Qe5 and ...Qg7 with very good chances now that whites attack has been stymied.

Voting time (if you haven't already).

11. ... Ne5

11. ... Na5

11...Ne5, dig ya'll

12...a6 does not prepare b5. This is a bad misconception. Look at all of Carlsen's dragon games when white plays into this variation. Kb1 is a not only a good prophylactic but also a useful waiting move. But now black has a decent waiting move to, ...a6 is just to see what white wants to do(Some other edit, I'm drunk: I think i remember some GM's commenting that they didn't really understand a6 as anything but a waiting move in this line). I don't think Carlsen played b5 once in any of his dragon games w/ yugoslav attack, so i don't think the point of a6 is to prepare b5.

edit: but your correct about 13.h4; this is the main continuation (13...h5 14.g4 hxg4 15.h5 Nxh5 etc... this is really what i want to play into!), I've also seen 13.g4 i think, at which point b5 is ok to play maybe.

12...Re8 would be my second choice, it is obviously a great move with many points, did you mention how it eliminates some sacs on e6/e7 in some lines?

Ne5

Originally posted by ResigningSoon
12...a6 does not prepare b5. This is a bad misconception. Look at all of Carlsen's dragon games when white plays into this variation. Kb1 is a not only a good prophylactic but also a useful waiting move. But now black has a decent waiting move to, ...a6 is just to see what white wants to do(Some other edit, I'm drunk: I think i remember some GM's c ove with many points, did you mention how it eliminates some sacs on e6/e7 in some lines?

12...a6, if it does not prepare b5, then what are we waiting for, White to crash through and kick our a$$ kingside. i find it amazing that in an opening which seems to be based on speed of execution of ones plans for either side, we should wait and see what happens, although I have not kept up to any of the latest developments and could quite easily be wrong, hopefully you do not have a hangover, if you do, go get a bottle of Barrs Iron Bru, made in Scotland, from real iron girders, excellent for hangover recovery! ask black beetle, he lives on the stuff! 😀