21 Feb '07 13:46>
Originally posted by Northern LadNL - Just wondering what is the positional advantage that white gets? Is it the misplaced queen, perhaps a bit more space and slower development (for black?). If this is the case, it doesn't sound too miserable compared to other openings where black usually is also trying to equalise...
I am not so sure this line is so clearly favourable for white. Equally, the other 'fun' line 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5 3.Bc4 fxe4 4.Nxe5 d5!? is pretty unclear. I personally gave up playing the Latvian simply because I could see no way to prevent white gaining a fairly unpleasant positional advantage through 3.Nxe5 Qf6 4.d4 (4.Nc4 fxe4 4.d3 is also good) d6 5.Nc ...[text shortened]... just about survive with extremely accurate play, but that's hardly an attractive proposition.
BTW, not disputing anything anybody has said here, its just for my own future knowledge as I don't know anything about the Latvian and have never faced it (hopefully never will!) as black/white. cheers 🙂