Opening Lanes 
by Gary Lane

Meatloaf

If you have been wondering what on earth the Bo Gambit,
Omega Gambit and the Hanke Gambit have in common you
will be relieved to find the answer at the end of the column.
The need to get your preparation on the board at the earliest
opportunity is the inspiration for this month's look at lines in
the Sicilian. An interesting idea against the c3 Sicilian is
examined where Black introduces a gambit after just three
moves. Are you bored of playing main lines against the Sicilian
and wish to ignore the rule about never moving your queen in
the opening? Look no further than a letter that was apparently
inspired by the singer Meatloaf.

Rocky Balducci (USA) has found a way to combat a popular
opening with an opening that can be on the board after just
three moves. He writes, "I think I have invented a new opening
line, although I doubt it. One day when I got bored playing
against the 2 c3 (Alapin) Sicilian, I decided to try something
different. 1 e4 c5 2 c3 d5 3 exd5 Nf6! Now on 4 c4 Black can
play e6 and play an Icelandic gambit with an extra move. This
exerts even more pressure on d4. On 4 d4 Black can play
4...cxd4 5 cxd4 Nxd5 with a centrally posted knight. Do you
know if this has been played previously? What are your
thoughts on this? If it hasn't been played before I would like to
call it 'The Italian Stallion' variation." 

The sad news is that the chess world is unlikely to be
discussing the historic origins of 'The Italian Stallion' but you
have stumbled upon a rare gambit. In recent years the
popularity of the c3 Sicilian has meant more and more analysis
on the main lines which has prompted many to seek early exits.
One branch occasionally played is 3...Nf6 whose supporters
include Plachetka, Plaskett and Van der Wiel. In the following
game we see the very best of the possibilities presented by the
gambit.

H.Tsebekov-S.Petrov Orel 1996 1 e4 c5 2 c3 d5 3 exd5 Nf6?!
(See Diagram) 

This development of the knight is likely to be something of a
shock to most opponents. Black ignores the main line with
3...Qxd5 and prepares to take the d5 pawn with the knight. 4 c4
A large number of players are likely to think Black has simply
blundered and take steps to hang on to the extra pawn. This is
exactly what Black wants and can lead to sharp, entertaining
games. 4 d4 can be met by 4...Qxd5 transposing back into
normal line. One can also try 4...cxd4 to maintain the tension.
For example: 5 Bb5+ Nbd7 6 Qxd4 a6 7 Be2 Nb6 8 Nf3 Nbxd5
9 0-0 e6 10 c4 Nb4 11 Qxd8+ Kxd8 12 Rd1+ Nd7 13 Nc3 gave
White the better chances due to Black's awkwardly placed king
in L.Schandorff-B.Kristensen, Ringsted 1995. 4...e6 This is the
key to Black's opening strategy. A pawn is offered in return for
active positional play based on White's backward d-pawn and
sluggish development. 5 dxe6 Bxe6 6 Nf3 Nc6 7 Be2 Qd7 In
G.Machado-C.Viana, Brasilia 1999, Black tried 7...Be7
followed by the basic plan of rapid development and then a
lightening attack. The game continued 8 Nc3 0-0 9 0-0 Qd7 10
Qa4 Bg4 11 Ne1 Bd6 12 Bxg4 Nxg4 13 g3 Qf5 14 Qc2 Qh5 15
h4 f5 16 Qd3 Rad8 17 Qf3 g5 18 Qh1 f4 19 Qd5+ Kh8 20
Qxg5 Qxg5 21 hxg5 fxg3 22 f3 Nh2 with the white rook
trapped, Black was on top. 8 0-0 Be7 9 d3 0-0 This is the basic
position that Black is aiming for in the 3...Nf6 variation. The
pieces have been developed in a smooth fashion and the
primary idea of ...Rd8 followed by ...Bf5 is difficult to resist.
10 Nbd2 Rfd8 11 Nb3 White has spotted the plan of plan of
11...Bf5 and prepares to meet it with 12 Be3! b6 13 d4 which
preserves the d-pawn. 11...Qc7 12 Bd2 a5 13 Qc2 a4 14 Nc1
White is certainly passive but nobody could predict the
startling finish. 13... Ng4 15 h3? Whoops. 15... Nd4! (See
Diagram) 0-1

Is this the end of the c3 Sicilian, as we know it? Well, not quite
as White can understandably improve on the previous
catastrophe. A key element is that White tends to suffer a
passive position when his bishop is locked in behind the pawn
on c4. This 'big pawn', as the bishop is sometimes known, is
more evident after the usual d2-d3 when it is rather confined.
The solution is straightforward once you know the ideas behind
the opening.

S.Smagin-E.Sveshnikov Amantea 1995 1 e4 c5 2 c3 d5 3 exd5
Nf6?! 4 Bb5+ (See Diagram) 

4...Nbd7 If 4...Bd7 then White is better after 5 Bxd7+ Qxd7 6
c4 e6 7 Qe2! Bd6 8 Nf3 0-0 9 dxe6 fxe6 10 0-0. 5 c4 a6 6
Bxd7+!? The direct approach is best. I tried 6 Ba4 against
J.Koch in Geneva 1988, after 6...b5! the position gave Black
chances to complicate: 7 cxb5 Nxd5 8 Nf3 Qa5 9 b6 N5xb6 10
Bc2 e6 11 0-0 Bb7 12 d4 cxd4 13 Nxd4 Be7 14 Nc3 0-0 15
Qg4 Nf6 16 Qg3=. 6...Bxd7 7 Nf3 e6! 8 Qe2 An important
difference on the 4 c4 lines is that this manoeuvre is not
available. The idea by White is to get rid of his backward d-
pawn by playing Rd1 and d4. 8...Be7 9 dxe6 Bxe6 10 0-0 Bf5
Although 10...0-0 looks logical White can respond well with 11
Rd1 followed by d4. 11 Re1! (See Diagram) 

Smagin is prepared to put up with an opposing bishop on d3 as
long as in return he can disrupt Black's development. Less
convincing is 11 Ne1 when after 11...0-0 12 d3 Bd6 Black has
some compensation for the pawn. 11...Bd3 12 Qe5 Kf8 The
trade of pawns by 12...Bxc4 13 Qxc5 is better for White and
after 13...Rc8? 14 Rxe7+! it is terrible for Black) 13 Nc3 Bd6
14 Qe3! White is happy to give the pawn back now that Black
has compromised his position by giving up the right to castle.
14...Bxc4 Sveshnikov can try the trick 14...Ng4?! but White is
content to accept the consequences of 15 Qxd3! Bxh2+ 16
Nxh2 Qxd3 17 Nxg4 when the 3 pieces for the queen leaves
Black struggling. 15 d4 Qb6 16 Ne5! Bb5 An amusing finish is
possible upon 16...Re8? which pins the knight only to be
crunched by 17 Nd7+! winning instantly. 17 Qf3! Bxe5
Smagin presents some brilliant analysis to dismiss 17...Bc6
with the incredible sacrifice 18 Qxf6!! gxf6 19 Bh6+ Kg8
(19...Ke8 20 Nc4+ Kd8 21 Nxb6+-) 20 Ng4 Qd8 21 Nd5! Bxd5
22 Re8+! Bf8 23 Rxf8+! Qxf8 24 Nxf6 mate. 18 dxe5 Bc6 19
Qf5! Re8 There is no reasonable alternative for Black as
19...Nd5 fails to 20 e6 Nf6 21 Bg5+-. 20 Bf4 Nd5 21 e6! Nf6
22 Bh6! (See Diagram) 

The culmination of a non-stop attack gives White a clear
advantage. 22...Qd8 23 Qxc5+ Qe7 24 Bxg7+! Kxg7 25 Qg5+
Kf8 26 Qh6+ Kg8 27 Re5 Ne4 28 Nxe4 Bxe4 29 Rxe4 1-0

The next game is another example of 4 Bb5+ that attempts to
improve on the previous game.

D. Zifroni I.Manor Tel Aviv 1997 1 e4 c5 2 c3 d5 3 exd5
Nf6?! 4 Bb5+ Nbd7 5 c4 a6 6 Bxd7+ Bxd7 7 d4 (See
Diagram) 

A suggestion by Smagin but there are few practical examples.
The reasoning is simple enough, White has doubled d-pawns so
the race is on to simplify and be a pawn up. 7...Rc8 8 Nf3
Zifroni resists the temptation to unravel his pawns with 8 dxc5
which allows Black to grab the initiative after 8...Qa5+! 9 Bd2
Qxc5 10 b3 b5 11 Be3 Qd6 12 Nd2 bxc4 13 bxc4 e6 with a
genuinely unclear position. 8...b5! The right way to deal with
White's pawn centre is to immediately undermine it. 9 Ne5 If 9
b3 Black should keep faith with the theme in the illustrative
game and play 9...bxc4 10 bxc4 cxd4 11 Qxd4 e6 and Black
has compensation for the pawn. 9...cxd4 10 Qxd4 e6 Upon
10...bxc4 White should concentrate on activating his pieces.
For example: 11 Nc3 e6 12 Bg5+=. 11Bg5 h6 12 Qh4 Bd6 13
Ng4 The pin on the knight certainly looks dangerous. 13
Nxd7?! is hardly an improvement because 13...Qxd7 14 Bxf6 is
rebuffed by 14...Rxc4 when Black has at least equality.
13...Rxc4 14 Bxf6 gxf6 15 0-0 There are many cases where
players blindly follow their database games never knowing
when to try and improve. At this point I can recommend 15
Nd2! which seems to do the business for White. Play might
proceed: 15...Rf4 (15...Rd4? 16 Nxf6+ with a discovered attack
on the rook) 16 g3 Rf5 17 Ne4 Bb4+ 18 Ke2 and White has the
advantage thanks to the threat of Nxf6+. 15...f5 16 Nf6+ Ke7??
(See Diagram) 

Yes, it even happens to grandmasters. 16...Kf8 keeps the game
going with good chances of Black defending the position. 17
Ne4+ 1-0

Stephen Bird (England) asks for an opinion on the variation 1
e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Qxd4. 

Indeed, it has been played numerous times but can still catch
people out who are expecting something more mainline. One
interesting aspect of Mr. Bird's letter was the way he ended it
with a quotation. Normally, I have seen lines such as 'Chess is
life in miniature. Chess is struggle, chess is battles' according
to Garry Kasparov or 'Chess is an art appearing in the form of a
game' which appeared in a Soviet Encyclopaedia. However, he
gets straight to the point about what life is all about by quoting
the singer Meatloaf from his song "Everything louder than
everything else" Here are the wise words: "Who am I? Why am
I here? Forget the questions someone gimmme another beer"
Somehow I can't see this line catching on amongst the chess
elite. Back to the opening in question. It has an excellent
pedigree and just to give a quick example of the sort of game
possible I present the following stylish example.

S.Movsesian-A.Muir Eu-Ch Pula 1997 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4
cxd4 4 Qxd4 (See Diagram) 

The queen captures the pawn immediately ruling out the need
to contend with a variety of openings such as the Dragon.
4...Nc6 The knight will be immediately pinned otherwise White
will lose time moving his queen. This has prompted a trend for
4...a6 but after 5 c4 White can opt for a position similar to the
Maroczy Bind. For instance: 5...Nc6 6 Qd2 g6 7 Nc3 Bg7 8
Be2 Nf6 9 0-0 0-0 10 Rb1 Bg4 11 b3 +=. 5 Bb5 Bd7 The
bishop breaks the pin. In the game S.Starr-J.Currie, Winnipeg
1994, Black tried 5...e5 to dislodge the queen. White won a
miniature after 6 Qd3 Be7 7 0-0 Nf6 8 c4 Bd7 9 Bxc6 Bxc6 10
Nc3 0-0 11 Rd1 Nxe4? 12 Nxe4 f5 13 Neg5 e4 14 Qb3 Qd7
(14...exf3 15 c5+ d5 16 Ne6 wins) 15 c5+ Kh8 16 Ne5 Qe8 1-0
6 Bxc6 Bxc6 7 Nc3 Nf6 This is how the position is usually
reached. However, for ease of explanation I have taken some
liberties with the actual move-order which was as follows: 1 e4
c5 2 Nc3 Nc6 3 Nf3 d6 4 Bb5 Bd7 5 Bxc6 Bxc6 6 d4 cxd4 7
Qxd4 Nf6. 8 Bg5 e6 9 0-0-0 Be7 10 Qd3 0-0 11 Nd4 a6?! In a
situation where the players have castled on the opposite sides
of the board a quick attack is essential. This means the text is
not that accurate and consideration should be given to 11...Qa5
or 11...Qc7. 12 h4 Qc7 13 f4! White has started a stampede
towards the black king. 13...Rfd8 14 Kb1 b5 15 e5 dxe5 16
fxe5 (See Diagram)

 16...Bc5 The only move otherwise Black has to shed a lot of
material. If 16...Nd5? then 17 Nxc6 Qxc6 18 Bxe7 Nxe7 19
Qxd8+ wins. 17 Nce2 Be4 18 Qg3 Bg6 19 h5 Nxh5 20 Bxd8
Rxd8 21 Qc3 Qb6 Muir can try to struggle on after 21...Rd5
but 21...Qxe5? is shot to pieces by 22 Nc6 winning instantly.
22 Nb3 Bf2 23 Rxd8+ Qxd8 24 g4 b4 25 Qf3 Qc8 26 Rc1 1-0

Finally, in recent months there has been a great deal of debate
in this column of the naming of an opening which arises after 1
d4 Nf6 2 e4 Nxe4 3 Nc3 Nxc3 4 bxc3. It seems that in Brazil it
is known as the B Gambit and Luciano Amaral kindly sent
some background information. Bo Gustawson Detow was born
in Denmark and moved to Brazil in the late 40s. A keen
amateur he often qualified for the national championships and
played his gambit on a number of occasions. The power of
publicity should not be overlooked which is why in the USA
the opening is known as the Omega Gambit. The name coined
by Mr. Nakamura was given credibility by prolific chess author
Eric Schiller, who mentioned it in a few books. It seems that
the best way to have an opening named after you is to play it
consistently and just as importantly get it mentioned in print.
However, Timothy Hanke (USA) makes a good point in
entertaining style, concerning the tenuous links between the
moves and the naming of some openings.

"If we are going to name this gambit after the first person who
admits that he played it in a serious game, then I must claim
pride of place over the other players you mention. In 1975 or
so, I played this line myself in an inter-club match. At the time
I was rated about 1800 USCF. My club had put me on board 1,
so naturally I faced the other club's best player. I opened with
my usual 1e4 and he countered with 1...Nf6. I have never liked
facing Alekhine's Defence and so spent some time pondering
my second move. I rejected the standard 2 e5 because I didn't
know the theory (still don't). I rejected 2 Nc3 because of a
previous game in that line that had gone wrong, while 2 d3
looked like an admission of failure. Suddenly I noticed a very
promising move that I had completely overlooked. After
considering this new option for all of two seconds I banged out
2 d4!!?? with confidence, and sat complacently admiring my
strong centre. Until my puzzled opponent banged out 2...Nxe4
which opened my eyes to the tactical drawback of my new
move. Making the best of things I continued 3 Nc3 Nxc3 4
bxc3 and after 40 moves or so Black resigned. On the strength
of my deposition I expect that future opening works will call
this opening the "Hanke Gambit."

I have to admit the purists might not like it but I think it is time
'Opening Lanes' attempted to give the ordinary player a chance
for glory. It seems that the best way to have an opening named
after you is to play it consistently and just as importantly get it
mentioned in print. Of course, titled players are bound to
contribute more to theory and this is reflected in
acknowledgments regarding their innovations in books.
However, there are still openings where masters fear to tread.
Therefore, I would welcome contributions from readers who
have tried interesting moves in openings such as the Blackmar-
Diemer Gambit, Latvian Gambit and even new ideas in
established lines. If you have used it to beat a titled player in a
tournament or simultaneous display even better. Perhaps, using
the power of the Internet an opening could end up being named
after you!