Opening Lanes
by Gary Lane

An Opening in Disguise

Have you heard the one about the man who played the English
but ended up with the Sicilian? If not then it is worth sharing
the concern felt by Phil Dixon (USA) "As just a Class A [U.S.
Elo 1800-1999] player, I still feel that the opening is the place
to derive an advantage. Tactics, tactics and tactics are great!
But what if you are entering an inferior position? I would like
to see you address the question of transpositions in the
openings. I have read that transposing is mostly insignificant
but that in some instances it can be fatal. Can you cite any
examples? If transpositions lead to the same position, I don't
see how there can be a difference If there is an extra move
added somewhere, then the position is not the same."

The subject of transpositions arises quite often and usually
leads to confusion. Therefore, even though it is a big subject I
will attempt to simplify some matters. A direct transposition
into another opening can be harmless but only if you know it! A
classic example is the Maroczy Bind in the Sicilian. For
example after 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 g6 5 c4
Nf6 6 Nc3 d6 the game is just getting interesting with Black
ready to carefully manoeuvre his pieces in an attempt to lessen
the impact of White's space advantage. Now most of all you
might say "so what" if you play the French or Caro-Kann. Now
look at this popular line of the English opening: 1 c4 Nf6 2 Nc3
c5 3 Nf3 Nc6 4 d4 cxd4 5 Nxd4 g6 6 e4 d6.(See Diagram) The
position is exactly the same from a completely different first
move. White has disguised his choice of opening so that if
Black is not alert, he is likely to be soon manoeuvring the
pieces back into the box.

A familiar theme is that one player is trying to transpose into a
variation he knows but the opponent has other ideas. A perfect
example is when someone plays the Accelerated Dragon in the
Sicilian. The problem for White is that it is easy to spend ages
learning the Yugoslav Attack - so naturally one wishes to play
it at every opportunity. The question is whether the fact that
Black has delayed playing d7-d6 is a significant factor or will
there be a transposition to the Yugoslav Attack sooner or later.

Leriche-Hrivnak  Montreal 1995 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4
cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 g6 6 Be3 Bg7 7 Bc4 0-0 8 f3?! (See
Diagram) 8...Qb6 The transposition with 8...d6 is rejected in
favour of  this is the star move that immediately gives White
problems.  9 Qd2 

Others:
a) 9 Qd2  (9 Nce2? Qb4+ wins) 9...Nxe4 10 Nxc6 Nxd2 11
Nxe7+ Kh8 12 Bxb6 Nxc4 0-1 K.Osterberg-A.Holst,
Copenhagen 1998.
b) 9 Qd3 Ne5 10 Qe2 Qxb2 11 Kd2 Qb4 12 Bb5 d5 13 Rab1
Qa5 14 Nb3 Nxf3+ 15 gxf3 Nxe4+ 16 fxe4 Bxc3+ 17 Kd1
Qxa2 18 Rc1 dxe4 0-1 A.Almeida-J.Garcia, Mesa 1992.
c) 9 Ncb5 a6 10 Nf5 Qa5+ 11 Bd2 Qd8 12 Nxg7 axb5-+.
d) 9 Bb3 Nxe4 10 Nd5 Qa5+ 11 c3 Nc5 12 Nxc6 dxc6 13
Nxe7+ Kh8 14 Nxc8 Raxc8 (14...Re8!? is the winning attempt)
15 0-0 Rcd8 16 Qc2 Qb5 17 Bxc5 Qxc5+ 18 Qf2 Qxf2+ - 
V.Trichkov-L. Seres, Balatonbereny  1995. 

9...Nxe4! 10 fxe4 Bxd4 11 Bxd4 Qxd4 12 Bd3 After 12 Qxd4
Black has a pleasant ending with an extra pawn upon 12...Nxd4
13 0-0-0 Nc6 12...a6 13 h4 h5 14 g4 Ne5 0-1

Can a transposition be fatal? Well, there are quite a few
examples to choose from but one that immediately springs to
mind is the game Ye Rongguang-Van Wely, Antwerp 1997
1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 g6 3 Bg5 Bg7 4 Nbd2 0-0 5 e3 d6 6 Bc4 c5 7
c3 b6?? (See Diagram)
In this position the Chinese grandmaster went after the win of a
whole piece. 8 Bxf6 Bxf6 9 Bd5

There are various things one can do when faced with a
catastrophe on the chessboard. Loek chose a common option of 
burying his head in his hands and looking miserable. This is a
better option then smashing the pieces off the board which I
have witnessed a few times. It merely attracts attention and
encourages the winner to demonstrate the mistake to anyone
who is interested. A top tip comes from a friend who in the
final round of a weekend tournament blundered his queen
away. He took the loss in a mature fashion by calming shaking 
hands, set all the pieces up and then told everybody he had
drawn quickly in order to catch the early train. 9...Ba6 10 Bxa8
d5 11 c4 dxc4 12 0-0 cxd4 13 exd4 Bxd4 14 Nxc4 1-0

How could such a world-class player make such a simple
mistake? It probably becomes clearer when compared to a game
played by his compatriot. Smyslov-Timman  Malmo 1997
1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 g6 3 Bg5 Bg7 4 Nbd2 0-0 5 e3 d6 6 Bc4 b6
(See Diagram) This is the position to which Van Wely was
trying to transpose during his game. The obvious difference is
that 7 Bxf6 can be met by 7...Bxf6 8 Bd5 c6 and White wins
nothing. 7 0-0 Bb7 8 c3 c5 9 b4 Nbd7 10 a4 Rc8 11 bxc5 bxc5
12 a5 d5 13 Bb5 Bc6 14 Qa4 -
It just goes to show that anybody can make a mistake in the
opening.

Jack Tidball (USA) wants to know what to do when someone
refuses to go along with the accepted move in a standard
opening. "After 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4, my opponents refuse
to take with 3...exd4 instead they play 3...d6. I advance the d-
pawn attempting to slow my opponent's development.
However, I don't seem to get a strong advantage. Is there a
better response?" 

I believe 4 d5 is perfectly reasonable but it leads to a blocked
game which is not to everyone's taste. I think that the best
practical choice is  4 dxe5. The reasoning is that your opponent
is deliberately avoiding main line theory and needs to be put
under instant pressure. The resulting ending gives Black some
obvious technical problems because he has given up the right to
castle and it is not easy to harmonise the pieces. White has a
small but lasting advantage.

Lower-Stenzel Dearborn 1992 1 e4 e5  2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 d6 4
dxe5 Nxe5 5 Nxe5 dxe5 6 Qxd8+ Kxd8 (See Diagram) The
black king is stuck in the centre and time must be found to
provide it a safe haven. 7 Bc4 f6 

A look in the history books revealed an old game E.Delmar-A.
Cohnfeld, New York 1880, where Black tried the inferior
7...Ke8 and went astray: 8 Nc3 Bd6 9 Be3 a6 10 0-0 Ne7 11 f4
exf4 12 Bxf4 Bxf4 13 Rxf4 f6 14 e5 Ng6 15 exf6! gxf6 16
Rxf6 c6 17 Re1+ Kd8 18 Rf7 Re8 19 Rd1+ and White won. 8
Be3 c6  In the game V.Hari-M.Kozjan, Slovak ChT 1996,
Black failed to secure the safety of his king and was soon in
difficulties: 8... Bd6 9 Nc3 c6 (A key idea in this line which
reach reveals a safe square for the king.) 10 0-0-0 Kc7 11 Rd2
(11 Rd3 saves a tempo) 11...Bb4 12 Rd3 Ne7 13 Rhd1 Re8 14
a3 Bxc3 15 Rxc3 Bd7 16 Bc5! Ng6 17 Bd6+ Kb6 18 Rb3+ Ka5
19 Rxb7 Be6 20 Bb4+ 1-0

9 Nc3 Bb4 10 0-0-0+ Kc7 11 Rd3 (See Diagram) White is the
favourite because he has a lead in development, a space
advantage and an initiative. 11...Ne7 12 Rhd1 Ng6 13 Ne2 b5
14 Bb3 Be7 15 f3 Rd8 16 Rxd8 Bxd8 17 Ng3 Be7 18 Nh5
Bf8 19 Bg8 h6 20 Bf7 Nh4 21 Rd2 f5 22 Rf2 fxe4 23 fxe4
Bg4 Stenzel has finally been able to activate his dormant
bishop. However, White can encourage it to be exchanged in
unfavourable circumstances. 24 h3 Bxh5 25 Bxh5 g6 26 Be2
g5 27 Bh5 Bb4 28 g3 There is a saying that 'a knight on the
rim is dim', referring to the limited amount of squares available
to it compared to the centre of the board. This is particularly
true in in this kind of position because the knight has no escape
squares. 28...Be1 29 Rf7+ Kd6 30 gxh4 Bxh4 31 Bg4 c5 32
Rf6+ 1-0

There will be times when Black might respond with 4...dxe5 in
order to enter an ending with the queen's knight on the board;
In fact, this can make life more difficult for Black, as the plan
of ...c6 and ...Kc7 to shield the king is no longer available. A
typical example is L.Filbry-S.Hellmuth Bad Neustadt 1990: 5
Qxd8+ Kxd8 6 Bc4 Be6 6...Nf6 looks tricky but after 7 Bxf7
Nxe4 then 8 Bd5! Nf6 9 bxc6 bxc6 10 Nxe5 is good for White.
If 6...f6 White should proceed with  7 Be3 in a similar style to
the Lower-Stenzel game except it is more difficult for Black to
co-ordinate the rooks with the king firmly on the back-rank. 7
Bxe6 fxe6 8 0-0 Nf6 9 Bg5 Be7 10 Nc3 a5 11 Rad1+ Kc8 (See
Diagram) 12 Rd2 I prefer 12 a3 in order to maintain the
tension. The point is that Black tends to play ...Bb4 to
undermine the defence of the e4 pawn. 12... h6 13 Bxf6 (13
Bh4!?) 13...gxf6 14 Rfd1 White has adopted a straightforward, 
if modest set-up  14...Bb4 15 Rd3 Bxc3 16 Rxc3 Rd8 17 Rcd3
f5? (17...Rxd3 is an improvement) 18 Rxd8+ Nxd8 19 exf5
exf5 20 Nxe5 when the extra pawn gave White a won game. If
you have any doubts that 3...d6 is nothing special then try to
convince someone who plays the Philidor Defence to try the
transposition 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 followed by 3...Nc6 and
keep a straight face.

"I really liked the interesting discussion on a line in the From
Gambit in the last article. Can you please give a more thorough
discussion on some of Black's best choices after 3...Bxd6."
asks Roman Brusovankin (USA).

I would like to present some fabulous games which proves that
Black is virtually winning in every line. However, the truth is
that White has been doing pretty well recently by hanging on to
the extra pawn and fending off the attack.

Reinderman-Erwich  Hoogeveen 1998 1 f4 e5 2 fxe5 d6 3
exd6 Bxd6 4 Nf3 g5 5 g3 g4 6 Nh4 Be7?!  (See Diagram)
Black forces the knight to retreat which is merely the White
plan anyway. 7 Ng2 h5 8 d4 h4 9 Bf4 hxg3 10 Bxg3 White has
emerged from the opening with an extra pawn and better
development. Black's compensation in the form of the semi-
open h-file will evaporate if White can castle queenside.
10...Nf6  11 Nf4 Nc6 12 c3 Ne4 13 Bg2 Nxg3 14 hxg3 Rxh1+
15 Bxh1 Qd6 16 Qd3 Qh6 17 Bg2 Bg5 18 e3 Ne7 19 Nd2 c6
20 0-0-0 Reinderman has managed to deter Black from
achieving a breakthrough and can now concentrate on
consolidating the position. 20...Bxf4 21 exf4 Be6 22 Rh1 Qg7
23 Ne4 0-0-0 24 Nc5 Rh8 25 Re1 Rh2 26 Re2 Qh6 27 Kd2
Nf5 28 b3 Nd6 29 Ne4 Nf5 30 Nc5 Nd6 31 c4 Kc7 32 d5 Bf5
33 Qe3 Qf6 34 Qe5 Qxe5 35 fxe5 Nc8 36 d6+ Kb6 1-0

P.Kovacic-S.Marjanovic Nova Gorica 1999 1 f4 e5 2 fxe5 d6
3 exd6 Bxd6 4 Nf3 g5 5 g3 g4 6 Nh4 Ne7 7 d4  (See Diagram)
White can also try 7 Nc3 which deserves further investigation.
Agdestein-Cifuentes, Tilburg 1993, continued 7 Nc3 Ng6 8
Nxg6 hxg6 9 Ne4 Be5 10 e3 f5 11 Nf2 Qd5?! 12 e4 fxe4 13
Bg2 Bf5 14 d3 Qa5+ 15 Bd2 Qb6 16 dxe4 Be6 (16...Qxb2? 17
exf5 Qxa1 18 Qxa1 Bxa1 19 Bxb7+-) 17 Qe2 Nc6 18 Be3
Qxb2 19 0-0 with a good game for White. 7...Ng6 8 Ng2 h5 9
e4 c6 10 e5 Bc7 11 Nf4 Bf5 12 Bd3 Qd7 13 Bxf5 Qxf5 14
Qd3 The ending is attractive for White thanks to the extra
pawn. 14...Qxd3 15 Nxd3 Nd7 16 Nf4 c5 17 Nxg6 fxg6 18 e6
Nf6 19 0-0 Nd5 20 Nc3 0-0-0 21 Bg5 Rd6 22 dxc5 1-0

Finally, Thomas Karlsson (Sweden) managed to share the
same opening experience as a Canadian correspondent.
Confused? All is clear after this topical question for trivia fans
from Gilbert Cabana (Canada). He writes: "With reference to
your previous column, as an occasional 1 f4 player, but a long-
time fan of King's Gambits, I can understand the shock of
someone who replies 1...e5 only to be met by 2 e4. The tables
can be turned a few times as in one of my games: 1 f4 e5 From
Gambit 2 f4 King's Gambit 2...d5 Falkbeer Counter Gambit  3
exd5 c6 Nimzowitsch's Gambit and Black can still gambit a
pawn. So four gambits in three moves...a record?" Can anyone
do better then that?