Following the moves 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6, White has just played 6.Be3. Black has a few popular options here that will lead to very different positions.Goal = Openings
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Systems involving 6.Be3 have gained great popularity in the 1990s. Typically Black’s response on move 6 and White’s 7th move will determine which of the many different variations is chosen. Play is usually very complex with good chances for both sides to get winning chances. White will often castle on the queenside, while Black typically castles kingside, though sometimes only after some delay and feeling out White’s intentions first.
6…g6?! prepares to develop the dormant f8-bishop to g7. This is playable and would lead to a Dragon-like position. But we wonder if playing …a7-a6 so early is not going to be a waste of time if you want to play the Dragon.
6…Nbd7 gets the knight to a fine square, but this is a bit premature here. It is not clear yet where the knight should be developed. White may try to attack with 7.g4 right away, when 7…Nc5 8.f3 h6 leads to an English Attack with the knight already committed to c5.
6…e5 pushes the d4-knight off the central square with gain of time. On strictly positional terms, however, this move looks a bit suspect, since the d5- square is now permanently in White’s hands. But Black has achieved satisfactory results in practice with 6…e5. The two main alternatives are 6…e6, which often leads to an English Attack after 7.f3 (we will examine this system in another challenge), and 6…Ng4 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Bg3 Bg7 with a complicated game.
7.Nb3 has become more popular than the older move 7.Nf3, though there is nothing wrong with it. After 7.Nf3 play typically continues with 7…Be7 8.Bc4 0-0 9.0-0 Be6 and a more positional battle than in our line.
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Now White will typically play for a mixture of plans: trying to utilize the d5-square for a positional edge and attacking Black’s king on the kingside by engineering a pawn storm on that side of the board.
7…Be6 develops the bishop to its best square. From e6 it eyes the key d5-square and White’s queenside. The main alternative is 7…Be7, though play often transposes soon after.
8.f3 protects the e4-pawn, takes the g4-square away from Black’s pieces and often prepares the pawn advance g2-g4. Sometimes White tries 8.f4 instead, when Black is advised to take on f4 with 8…exf4. Since the bishop has already moved to e3, 9.Bxf4 would not be with gain of time. Black should then continue swift development with 9…Nc6 10.Qd2 d5 11.0-0-0 Bb4, as in Kaminsky-Baburin (1996).
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Both sides will now try to get all pieces ready for a sharp middle game battle.
8…Be7 develops the other bishop as well. Now Black is ready to castle kingside whenever that is desirable. The main alternative is 8…Nbd7, when Black follows another plan that calls for seeking active play on the queenside before castling kingside.
9.Qd2 prepares queenside castling. Equally popular is 9.g4, though play usually transposes very soon afterwards.
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Every move in the opening should be used for making some progress.
9…0-0 castles right away. Other options include 9…Nbd7 and 9…h5, which aims to stop White’s pawn storm on the kingside.
10.0-0-0 places White’s king on the opposite side of the board. Now both sides can attack each other’s king with their pawns without exposing their own monarch. If 10.g4, play will usually transpose soon after.
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Now the hunt for each other’s king is off. The player who wastes precious time will fall behind in the race.
10…Nbd7 gets the knight to a good square and was played by Fischer against Byrne in 1971. But this move is somewhat inferior to our solution move since after 11.g4, Black no longer has time to reach the desired setup. The f6- knight would either have to go to h5 or Black would need to vacate the d7-square with 11…Nb6, thus blocking the b-pawn. Good, now look for the most active move.
10…Nc6 looks like a reasonable move. But you will find soon that this knight would have been better placed on d7. The main reason for this is that when White plays a knight to d5, you will likely have to take it. Then White’s e4-pawn would recapture and attack your knight on c6 from d5. The knight would then be without any good retreat squares. Now try again.
While it is often fine to put the queen on c7 in a Najdorf, there is no need to do so yet. We need to generate more active play on the queenside now before we commit our queen.
10…b5 immediately starts the counter play on the queenside. Note that this pawn advance was not desirable before White castled queenside, since he always had the option of responding with a2-a4 then. This is no longer a good option for White.
With 11.g4, White launches his own pawn avalanche on the kingside.
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Note that Black tries to disturb White’s knight on c3 while Black’s f6-knight is also a target. Both of these knights eye the key d5-square.
11…Nfd7 anticipates the advance of the g-pawn to g5, but forgets about the battle for the d5-square and your own active play. White would have an edge after 12.Nd5 Bxd5 13.exd5 (13.Qxd5 Nb6 is ok for Black). There is no need to move this knight yet.
11…b4 is the most logical move here and prompts White to make a decision where to put the attacked knight. Black will base his future course of play on White’s response.
12.Nd5 occupies the nice d5-square and is the most popular move. Against the main alternative 12.Na4, Black has had some trouble following 12…a5 and 12…d5 and should instead continue with 12…Nc6 or 12…Nbd7. Both intend to meet 13.g5 with 13…Nh5.
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White now threatens to win the d6-pawn by taking the e7-bishop off the board.
12…Nxd5 looks like a reasonable move. But after 13.exd5, your bishop on e6 is attacked and doesn’t have a good retreat square. In this situation keeping the bishop pair is not as important as saving precious time and keeping your pieces on good squares. Try again.
12…Bxd5 exchanges White’s best minor piece and changes the pawn structure of the game. White will now have the bishop pair, but since the position is mostly closed with attacks on opposite sides of the board, having the bishop pair is not that crucial. If 12…Nxd5?, 13.exd5 attacks the bishop on e6, gains precious time for White and leaves Black’s bishop without good squares.
13.exd5 naturally recaptures the piece.
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Now that the center is closed, both sides can fully concentrate on the attacks on both wings.
13…a5 protects the b4-pawn and plans to attack the b3-knight soon. There are no good alternatives available.
14.Kb1 is the most popular move. In general the king is safer on b1 than on c1. Now the b3-knight could also retreat to c1 and doesn’t have to hide in the corner (a1) if it got attacked next. White has also tried 14.g5 and 14.Nc5 here. Against 14.g5, Black should play …Nfd7, though …Nh5 is also interesting. 14.Nc5 is an interesting move that is based on the idea that White obtains the better endgame after 14…dxc5? 15.d6. With the center opening up, White’s bishop pair would reign. Therefore Black should play 14…Nbd7 15.Na4 Qb8 or 15…Qc7, both with an unclear position.
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Now both sides will need to formulate plans that will lead deeply into the middle game.
14…Na6 tries to get the knight into play. This is a fine idea, but the timing is off. After 15.Bb5, White stops …a5-a4 for now and Black suddenly faces some positional pressure on the queenside. You should prepare this knight move by first getting some other pieces closer to the scene of action.
14…Qd8c7 is the beginning of a distinct plan of action. Black will now try to move as many pieces as possible towards the queenside and White’s king. The main alternative 14…a4 15.Nc1 Qa5 16.g5 Nfd7 also leads to a double edged position.
15.g5 attacks the knight and is a natural component of White’s kingside pawn storm.
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There are not too many good choices.
15…Nfd7 moves the attacked knight closer to the queenside and is by far the best move. Both sides will now try to open up lines leading to the opponent’s king. In general, White will try to play h4, h5 and g6, while Black will prepare a timely a4 and b3 breakthrough. Both of these pawn breaks should be prepared by getting supportive pieces onto the right squares first.
Two examples from strong players follow. In the game Anka-Gallagher (1996), play continued with 16.Qd3 Rc8 17.Bh3 a4 18.Nd2 Na6 19.Ne4 b3!, and Black had plenty of activity due to …Na6-b4 coming soon. White tried a different plan starting with 16.h4 in Sziebert-Gallagher (1996). After 16…Na6 17.h5 a4 18.Nc1 Ndc5 19.Bh3 f5 20.g6 f4, Black was also fine. In the latter example, we noticed how Black played …f7-f5 in order to stop White’s strong plan of Bf5 and g5-g6. In general, sharp middle game positions such as in this variation give the stronger player all chances for victory.
