The Kibitzer by Tim Harding

Who Dunst It?

As more and more openings become overgrown with fashionable theory,
the attractions of the opening move 1 Nc3 become apparent. 

On the one hand, the knight move appeals to the player who is not
particularly concerned to achieve an opening advantage with White, but
just wants original positions to get opponents out of the book. On the
other hand, 1 Nc3 can be employed as a sophisticated transpositional
weapon by players who know a fair bit about a lot of openings, and can
use the move to avoid lines they don't like or to get other players into
lines that those opponents would have avoided from normal move
orders.

As with any other "irregular" opening, 1 Nc3 has accumulated theory of
its own but there are still plenty of little-trodden paths and the books
tend to stop a lot earlier than with openings like the Ruy Lopez and
Queen's Gambit.

Some very strong correspondence players use it regularly, if not
invariably. The Danish CC-grandmaster Ove Ekebjaerg has just
completed all his games with White in the 14th CC World
Championship reaching a score of 6/7 with 1 Nc3, and he is now certain
of at least runner-up spot in the tournament. A strike rate of 85.71%,
largely against other grandmasters, is not bad with any opening! Some
of Ekebjaerg's games with 1 Nc3 transpose to other openings but many
follow original paths and his wins tend to be long and strategically-
based.

In America, following Modern Chess Openings, 1 Nc3 is known as the
Dunst Opening after a player called Ted Dunst who employed it a lot.
Here is one of the miniatures he won with it.

Ted Dunst - Gisela Gresser, USA 1950

1 Nc3 e5

This move offers White an immediate transposition into the Vienna or
delayed transposition into a lot of other open games, but there is no need
for White to play 2 e4. After all the queen's knight prevents the e5-pawn
advancing so the other knight can come out and attack it! Let's see what
Black does before we commit our central pawns.

2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 exd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6

4...Bb4 5 Qd3 followed by an early 0-0-0 has been seen in several
games. At the end of this article there is a game with 4...Bc5.

 5 Bg5 d5?

This is typical of the overoptimistic reactions that can get Black into
trouble early on in this opening. Instead 5...Bb4 6 Nxc6 bxc6 7 Qd4 Be7
8 e4 gives a sort of Scotch Game. After 8...0-0 9 Bd3 h6 10 Bf4 d5 11 0-
0 dxe4 Black had neutralised the pressure and a draw soon resulted in
Ekebjaerg-Oim, 14th CC World Ch. 

6 e4 Be7 7 Bb5 Bd7 8 exd5 Nxd5 9 Nxd5 Bxg5 10 Qe2+ Ne7?

This loses at once and the others elf-pin by 10...Be7 is also very
awkward after 11 0-0-0 so she should have played 10...Kf8, although the
loss of castling rights means that Black automatically stands worse.

11 Qe5 Bxb5 12 Nxc7+ Kf8 13 Nde6+ 1-0

Dunst was by no means the originator of the opening, which was even
known in the 19th century, but as yet no generally agreed name has
settled on it. In the Netherlands it is sometimes called the Van Geet
Opening after correspondence grandmaster Dick D. van Geet; in 1990
New In Chess published a booklet by him with that title. Here is one of
Van Geet's more recent games with it.

D.D. van Geet - P. Beuger, Haarlem open, The Netherlands 1992

1 Nc3 d5 2 e4 

Here too White has other choices, including 2 d4 (heading for a Veresov
or Blackmar-Diemer Gambit), 2 Nf3 (perfectly available) or 2 f4!? as
advocated in the strangely named book "1 Nc3 Sleipner-Eroffnung" by
Norwegian postal player Anker Aasum (published in German in 1988 by
Manfred Maedler). Apparently Sleipner was the eight-legged horse of
the Norse God Odin (Wotan in German) and of course a well-placed
knight in chess can have eight possible moves.

With 2 e4, the move most usually played, we reach an important
position that can also arise from the Scandinavian (Center-Counter)
Opening after 1 e4 d5 2 Nc3!? Black can go for a Caro-Kann (2...c6),
but remember that White does not have to play 3 d4. Similarly, a French
Defence (2...e6) or kind of Alekhine's (2...Nf6) can arise but the two
main possibilities are the pawn advance and the capture on e4.

2...d4 

We'll look at 2...dxe4 later on.

3 Nce2 

Van Geet once played 3 Nb1!? against Spassky (with an early draw) - a
move approved by the late Max Euwe, who observed that the black d-
pawn is not better placed on d4 than d7. However, the principal idea that
White has in this line is to provoke the d-pawn's advance, potentially
creating weaknesses,  transfer the knight to g3 and (if allowed) the king's
bishop to c4 with strong attacking chances.

3...c5 (See Diagram)

4 Ng3 Nf6

A game Dunst-Osher, New York 1956, went 4...g6 5 Bc4 Nc6 6 d3 Bg7
7 f4 Nf6 8 Nf3 a6 9 a4 Na5 10 Ba2 0-0 11 0-0 Nc6 with a position
somewhat like a Grand Prix Attack in the Sicilian. Black defended badly
and lost in 25 moves.

5 Bc4 e6 6 d3 Nc6 7 f4 a6 8 a4 h5 9 h3 h4 10 Nf1 Qc7 11 Bd2 b6 12
Qf3 Bb7 13 Qf2 Be7 14 Nf3 0-0-0 

Although Black has castled on the opposite wing, White's attack is very
powerful.

15 Ng5 Rdf8 16 Nxf7!

The black king will be driven on to the dangerous h2-b8 diagonal.

16...Rh5 17 Bxe6+ Kb8 18 f5 Bd6 19 Nxd6 Qxd6 20 Bf4 Ne5 21 g4!
The point. Whether or not Black captures en passant, White gets the
queen behind the bishop.

21...Rhh8 22 Qh2 1-0

The line with 2...d4 is so important that we shall look at another
example, in which Black plays a more solid defence that is broken down
in spectacular fashion.

Harald Keilhack - Olaf Funke corr 1996

1 Nc3  d5 2 e4 d4 3 Nce2 e5 4 Ng3 Be6! This formation, preventing
Bc4, is the most logical follow-up to 2...d4.

5 Nf3! f6?!

Not 5...Nc6? 6 Bb5! - a motif that often occurs in this opening. Black
can avoid the pin by 5...Nd7 6 c3 c5 7 Bb5 Bd6. Here Ekebjaerg played
8 b4 against English GM Simon Webb in Corerspondence World
Championship XIV and ground him down to win in over 70 moves.

6 c3!?

Ekebjaerg played 6 Be2 here in two well-known games from the 1960s.
I don't know if he would prefer some other move nowadays.

6...d3

I think 6...c5 7 Bb5+ Nd7 is the most solid plan, when a game Miehlke-
Assum went  8 Bxd7+?, giving light-squared bishop free rein. 8 Qe2 is
an improvement.

7 Nxe5!? fxe5 8 Qh5+ Bf7 9 Qxe5+ (See Diagram)

White will obtain three pawns for the piece and it is quite hard for Black
to organise a defence. It reminds me of the Cochrane Attack against the
Petroff Defence (1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 Nxe5 d6 4 Nxf7 etc.) but here
White has  a third pawn.

The Keilhack game is analysed in detail in the German periodical
"Randspringer". The continuation was 9...Ne7 10 Qb5+ Nbc6 11 Qxd3
Ng6 12 Qxd8+ Rxd8 13 d4 Be7 14 Be2 0-0 15 0-0 Rfe8 16 f3! Bh4! 17
Nf5 Bf6 18 Be3 Nce7 19 Nxe7+ Rxe7 20 Rfd1 c6 21 Rd2 Red7 22 Bd1!
b5 23 f4 c5 24 d5 c4?! 25 g3 a6 26 Bf3 b4 27 Bd4 bxc3 28 bxc3 Bxd4+
29 Rxd4 Rc7 30 e5 Nf8 31 e6 Bxe6 32 dxe6 Nxe6 33 Bd5 Rxd5 34
Rxd5 and Black soon resigned.

If Black captures on e4 instead at move two, the character of the game is
totally different. The position is very fluid with the emphasis on rapid
development and therefore although this maybe one of Black's best
lines, it does not suit everybody.

Ove Ekebjaerg  - Luba Kristol 14th CC World Ch Final 1994-97

1 Nc3 d5 2 e4 dxe4 3 Nxe4 e5

Many other moves have also been tried here.

4 Bc4 Nc6 5 d3 Bf5 

A more solid line for Black is 5...Be7 6 Nf3 Bg4 7 h3 Bh5 8 Ng3 Bg6 9
0-0 Bd6! (Keast-Franzen, Australia-Slovakia corr 1993-97). 

6 c3 Qd7 7 Nf3 Nf6 8 Qe2 Bd6 9 b4 Nxe4 10 dxe4 Be6 11 0-0 Bxc4 12
Qxc4 0-0 13 Rd1 Rfe8 14 Be3 Qe6 15 Nd2 Nd8 16 Qxe6 Rxe6 17 Nc4
f6 18 f3 Kf8 19 Nxd6 cxd6 20 a4 Nf7 21 c4 Ke8 22 Kf2 Re7 23 Ke2
Rc7 24 Kd3 Kd7 25 Rac1 b6 26 Kc3 Nd8 27 Kb3 Ke6 28 Rd5 Nb7 29
g4 h5 30 gxh5 Rh8 (See Diagram)

31 h6!

Now White will invade down the g-file.

31...gxh6 32 Rdd1 f5 33 Rg1 fxe4 34 fxe4 Rf7 35 Rg6+ Kd7 36 c5 bxc5
37 bxc5 Rc8 

Black. the Women's CC World Champion, has to give up a pawn in the
hope of counterplay.

38 Kc4 Rf3 39 Kd5 Rxc5+ 

The endgame is rather trappy. Black could try 39...Rxe3 40 Rg7+ Kd8
41 Rxb7Rxc5+ 42 Rxc5 Rd3+ (42 ..dxc5? 43 Kxe5)  hoping for 43 Ke6?
dxc5 44 Rxa7 c4 45 Ra8+ Kc7 46 Ra5 Rd6+ 47 Kxe5 c3 when the black
c-pawn runs, but after 43 Kc6 dxc5 44 Kxc5 White should win.

40 Rxc5 

Not 40 Bxc5? Rd3+ 41 Kc4 Nxc5 with counterplay. 40...dxc5 41 Rg7+
Kc8 42 Rg3 Rf6 43 Rh3 Ra6 44 Rxh6 Rxa4 45 Kxe5 Ra1 46 Kf5 c4 47
e5 Nd8 48 Rh4 Rf1+ 49 Rf4 Rxf4+ 50 Bxf4 Kd7 51 Kf6 1-0

In practice, if you play 1 Nc3 you will frequently meet the reply 1...c5,
mostly from players of the Sicilian Defence. Another Dutch CC-GM
who plays 1 Nc3 a lot these days is Ger van Perlo and here is how he
handles it.

G.C. van Perlo - Mario Silas Biava Lewkowitz Memorial "B" corr,
1994-7

1 Nc3 c5 

1...Nf6 is another sound move with many transpositional possibilities.
White can play 2 e4 with an Alekhine's Defence, 2 Nf3, 2 d4, 2 g3 or
even 2 f4!?.

2 Nf3 

This is also the move given for White in Van Geet's booklet. Of course 2
e4 is a Sicilian immediately. Ekebjaerg has played 2 f4!? on several
occasions, transposing to a Grand Prix Attack Sicilian after 2...Nc6 3
Nf3 g6 4 e4. Black's option 2...d5, with a reversed Dutch, is surprisingly
rarely seen.

2...Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 

If 3...d5, White is playing a reversed Chigorin Defence to the Queen's
Gambit with a move in hand. 

4 Nxd4 Nf6 

Again Black has a wide choice here and if he is careless he can fall into
a trap4...g6? 5 Nd5! a6 (5...Bg7 6 Nb5) 6 Bg5 f6 (6...Qxg5 7 Nxc7+) 7
Bh4 Bg7 8 e4 Nh6 9 Bc4 Na5?! 10 e5! and White won in Van Geet-
Sokolov, Wijk aan Zee 1970. Van Geet observes that Black lost because
he did not realise "the difference between a developing move (Nc3) and
a move that is only a precondition for development (e4)." (See Diagram)

5 g3

An important decision point for White. 5 Bg5 is often played here and
tends to lead to Sicilian-like positions, whereas now we have a reversed
English Opening.

5...e5 6 Ndb5 d6 7 Bg2 Be6 8 Bg5 a6 9 Na3 Be7 10 0-0 Qb6 11 Bxf6
gxf6 12 Nd5 Bxd5 13 Qxd5 Qxb2 14 Nc4 Qd4 15 Rab1 Qxd5 16 Bxd5 

Black has the weaknesses of  a Sveshnikov Sicilian without the
counterplay, since White's king and e-pawn are secure and his bishop is
very active. 

16...Nd8 17 Bxb7 Ra7 18 Bd5 0-0 19 Rfd1 Ne6 20 Rb6 Rc8 21 c3 a5 22
Nxd6 Bxd6 23 Bxe6 fxe6 24 Rdxd6 Rxc3 25 Rxe6 Ra3 26 Rb2 and
White eventually won the rook ending. 

Of course an article of this length can only scratch the surface of this
fascinating opening. You can download a file ("dunstcb.zip") of over
1,000 games with 1 Nc3 from the well-known Pittsburgh FTP chess
archive and take it from there.

To conclude, the opening 1 Nc3 is not only for use in correspondence
play. It has also long been a favourite of the FIDE International Master
from Sarajevo, Zvonko Mestrovic. I recently learned that he survived the
civil war in Bosnia and  now lives in Slovenia where he still plays 1
Nc3. Here is a game he won there.

 Mestrovic- Truta Ljubljana open, 1994

1 Nc3 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 exd4 4 Nxd4 Bc5 5 Be3 Nxd4 

If Black thought that trading pieces would bring easy equality, he soon
got a nasty shock.

6 Bxd4 Bxd4 7 Qxd4 Nf6 8 e4 d6 9 0-0-0 0-0 10 e5 Ne8 11 exd6 Qxd6
12 Qxd6 Nxd6 13 Nd5 

Very embarrassing.

13...Ne8 14 Ne7+ Kh8 15 Rd8 g6 The game is over really, but Black
hopes that White will capture on c8 with his knight (creating a self-pin)
or with the rook, and get his knight trapped. The next move is much
better than either capture. 16 Be2! Bg4 17 Rxa8 Bxe2 18 Re1 Bb5 19
Rd1 Kg7 20 Rdd8 Kf6 21 Nd5+ Ke6 22 Rxa7 Bc6 23 c4 f6 24 Raa8 b5
25 Rxe8+ 1-0