As threatened in the Chess BBV thread: In my recent tournament I played two games that I think were a bit interesting and I am going to post them here. I do this more or less for my own pleasure but if someone has useful comments (and even not useful ones...) please do so.

The first game here is rather short, the interesting phase lasts only some moves. The odd thing was that my ecaluation and Houdini's evaluation differ by much. Black is rated 2123 Fide Elo.

Ajezz - AM

1. e4 c5 2. c3 Nf6 3. e5 Nd5 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. cxd4 e6 7. a3 d6 8. Bd3 dxe5 9. dxe5 Qc7



I played this line with 7. a3 for the first time and was a bit fuzzy on theory (that means "out of book" ). It was obvious to me that I had to play 0-0 but I was not sure at all if the pawn sacrifice is sound. However, Houdini gives me +0.3 here and doesn't even take the pawn. I looked it up after the game and my book simply states "10...Nxe5 is much too dangerous for Black". Also, White scores brilliantly here in Megabase.

I guess my problem is that I have difficulties in understanding the value of initiative. Instinctively I thought Black to be okay because I am so underdeveloped on the queenside.

10. O-O Nxe5 11. Nxe5 Qxe5 12. Bb5+ Ke7

I thought that 12...Bd7 was better as it exchanges an attacker. I would have played 13. Bxd7+ Kxd7 14. Qa4+ Kd8 und then I wasn't sure yet but probably Nc3 and with his open king I might have enough for the pawn.

13. Re1 Qd6 14. Bc4 Nb6 15. Bd2



I had played Bc4 to dislodge the knight from the strong d5-square. Now I thought that Black had to play 15...a5 and after 16. Ba2 is doing reasonably. However, Houdini assesses the position after Ba2 with +2.5 (depth 20) which came as a huge surprise to me. I am still not really developed and don't have any direct threats. Even in the analysis we decided that Black was totally fine here. Sometimes I don't have a clue about chess... Houdini wants him to play 15...Ke8 and Black hangs on.

Anhow, the game ended rather abruptly because he missed my one-move-threat. He took about three seconds to play Nxc4.

15...Nxc4 16. Bb4 Qxb4 17. axb4 Ke8 18. Qd4 Nd6 19. Nc3 b6 20. Nd5 Nb5 21. Qc4 Bd7 22. Nxb6 1-0

Second game to follow later.

Now the second game, in which I refute the London system... Well, obviously not really, but I am a bit proud of this game, it is one of my better games for sure. Black is rated 2028 Fide Elo.

Also, I don't get why so many White players want to play this London stuff. Surely there must be some better ways to play with White...

SS - Ajezz

1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 c5 3. c3 Nc6 4. e3 Qb6 5. Qb3 c4 6. Qc2 Bf5

Previously, I had always just improvised against the London system, but recently NoirDesir has shown me this line which is probably a very precise move order. The point is to postpone Nf6 if White hasn't gone Nf3 because after e.g. 1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 Nf6 3. e3 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nd2 Qb6 6. Qb3 Black can't play as I did in the game.



Of course, White can now play 7. Qxf5 and the game becomes very sharp, e. g. 7...Qxb2 8. Qxd5 Qxa1 9. Qb5 and now 9...0-0-0 or even 9...a6 10. Qxb7 Nd8.

7. Qc1 Nf6 8. Be2 e6 9. Nf3 Nh5 10. Bg5 h6 11. Bh4 g5 12. Nfd2



I don't know why he allowed me to push my pawns with tempo, imo just 10. Bg3 would have been better.

I was suprised by Nfd2, I only expected Bg3. I am not thrilled by this move. The idea is to play e4 and stuff but the knight just stands in the way of his other pieces, especially his colleague on b1. Now there is the interesting move 12...Nf4 and then e. g. 13. exf4 gxh4. I thought this might also be good for me with the open g-file but the resulting pawn structure seemed somehow too weird to me.

I decided to play Bg6 and win the bishop pair and then to continue with the advance of the g- and h-pawns, if possible. That's why I played Be7 (not Bg7) and castled queenside in the next few moves. I failed to see another plan. White has the levers b3 and e4 but in the game he started with e4. b3 first would have been much better and I expected this. The problem with e4 first is that after the eventual b3 he can never follow up with c4 because d4 hangs now.

12...Bg6 13. Bg3 Nxg3 14. hxg3 Be7 15. e4 O-O-O 16. e5 h5 17. b3 cxb3 18. axb3 g4 19. b4 h4 20. b5



I was only expecting 20. gxh4 Bxh4 21. g3 when I wanted to play Bg5 and thought that I was better there. I then wanted to play the obviously forced move Na5 but fortunately had a second look. It turns out 20. b5 was just a blunder and I am close to winning.

20...Nxe5 21. dxe5 hxg3 22. Rf1 gxf2+ 23. Kd1 g3

I was looking for ways to sacrifice the g4-pawn (Bg5, Rh2) but then I decided that there was absolutely no need for rushing anything.

24. Nf3 Bc5 25. Nbd2 Kb8 26. Nb3

Kb8 was necessary in order to threaten d4. I probably should have played it a move earlier because I don't really need the threat Bc5-e3.



26...d4

Playing this move was so nice... The point is that he can't take on d4 because then I sacrifice the rook: 27. cxd4 (27. Nxc5 Qxc5 doesn't help either) Bxd4 28. Nbxd4 Rxd4+ 29. Nxd4 Qxd4+ 30. Qd2 and a1 hangs. Also 27. c4 is bad because of 27...d3.

27. Bc4 dxc3+ 28. Ke2 c2 29. Qf4

I was looking for the mate and decided I had to take out the Bc4. I decided to transfer the h-rook to g4. Additionally, Rhg8 also covers the g3-pawn just in case.

29...Rhg8 30. Rh1 Bf5 31. Rhf1 Rg4 0-1



I haven't had such a dominating position in a chess game for a long time.

Anyhow, I don't know if this is enough to be in an own thread, but we've had so few "content" threads recently I figured it's okay. If anybody has thoughts, please share.

Great games, very entertaining. Congratulations on the fantastic tournament results as well. Your second game is a real treat to play over. As a former London player myself, the line I liked seeing least is exactly what you played. Well done. I'm surprised black played 20. b5? (maybe ??) instead of 20. gxh4. Not only does 20. b5? pretty much lose the game, but 20. gxh4 seems much more natural. The only thing I can think of is white must have overlooked the strength of the knight sac on e5.

great games and thanks for the credit

I agree that 15. b3 is a much better plan than e4. Another idea for him might be to plan 15. g4 to try and clamp down on your K-side advance. Later on he could play Nf1-g3 to reinforce his grip on the K-side light squares. Not sure if he has time for that though.

Sometimes it's an idea for black to play an early Qd8!? to answer b3 with b5 and then a4 with a6. With both kingsides at home this could go wild though.

In game one, i'll loke up the recommendation in Experts vs the Anti-sicilians. Pretty sure he doesn't take the pawn and plays g6 Bg7 and 0-0, after which you have to use two pieces to defend e5 anyways. If i remember correctly, he made a pretty convincing case that the dxe Qc7 g6 Bg7 plan refutes the a3/Bd3 setup, but maybe not in the exact move order of your game.

Nfd2 is a stock move in the London, he probably didn't notice you have Bg6. A very good job in both games.

http://www.newinchess.com/SOS/Default.aspx?PageID=513

The analysis of the game Grachev-Gelfand that you can download on the linked page seems to suggest that Black is in bad shape in the 7. Qxf5 line. I'll have to look at that at home before i try that move order myself.

a save alternative is 4. ...Nf6 and if White insists with 5. Nd2, we play cxd4 with either a harmless variation of the slav exchange (lol) after 6. cxd4 or of an exchange Caro after 6. exd4. In both cases 6. ...Bf5 is equal.

I have analyzed this line quite a bit (already before I played the above game) and it is indeed bothersome for Black. I haven't found a clear-cut plan yet.

I would not want to face this against a well-prepared White player. Fortunately, the guys that usually play the London system 1) neither are well-prepared 2) nor the kind of players that play moves like 3.e4 or 7.Qxf5.

I have had many of Bosch's lines and ideas (e. g. e5 and Bb4) on the board (including the 11.Qe4 novelty in the 9...a6 line) but I have several other ideas/suggestions that might be interesting.

In the line 9..a6 10. Qxb7 Nd8 11. Qe4 I think there are two moves that might be better than Bosch's uncommented 11...Nf6:

a) 11.. Qb2 The threat is 12...Nf6 of course. Then 12. Bxc4 Nf6 13. Qd3 Qc1+ 14. Qd1 Qxd1+ 15. Kxd1 and the endgame might be okay for Black. He can exchange the Bf4 via Nh5.
b) 11... g5 This looks wild. The idea is 12. Be5 Bg7. Then it might continue 13. Bxc4 (13. Bxg7 Rb8 =) Bxe5 14. dxe5 Rb8 15. Bb3 Qb2 16. Ne2 Ne6 which looks better for White. And just 12. Bg3 also seems very good. Probably 11..g5 doesn't hold up.

Another idea that Bosch doesn't mention is the novelty 9...Rd8 instead of 9...0-0-0 or 9...a6. The idea is (e. g. after Qxb7) just Rd7 and then (maybe after Nd8) Rb7. The point of the king on e8 rather than c8 is that in the main line 10. Bxc4 e5 11. Ne2 a6 12. Qb6 now it is possible to play 12.. Na5 which would have been bad before because of the mate threat after 13. Bxe5. The whole line depends on the evaluation of the endgame after 12. Qb6 Na5 13. Bd3 Qxa2 14. Bxe5 Nc4 15. Bxc4 Qxc4 which unfortunately looks good for White too; but it is a game.

Summary: There are a lot of pitfalls for both players, and preparation is important. Objectively I think Black can only reach a worse endgame, but against a White player who just stumbles into the position the game is very much for three results. I also think this position is not too probable to come up because entering these complications is against the mind set of a typical London player. I discussed these position with several London players at my recent tournament and when I mentioned the possibility of 7. Qxf5 they all looked like they had touched a hot oven.

dunno, as i said i played the line once and Qxf5 came like a shot. Villain was pretty good though, something like 2100 FICS which is probably FM strength OTB.

Didn't know you had the line worked out to this kind of detail