Chessville - UCO Opening Theory - From's Gambit Declined Part 3 - by ICCF-IM Keith Hayward

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From's Gambit Declined - Part 3
Tartakower Attack, 5..Misc [C30]

The Road Not Taken
ICCF-IM Keith Hayward

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

See also: Part 1 Tartakower Attack, 5...Nc6 lines. Part 3 will have miscellaneous options.
Part 2 looks at Black's 5...Bg4 response to the Tartakower Attack.

1.f4 e5 2.fxe5 d6 3.Nf3 dxe5 4.e4 Bc5 5.c3

Tartakower Attack. In Part 3 we look at remaining options for Black.

5...Qe7

To discourage d4. Alternatives:

5...Bb6 seems slightly artificial to me. 6.Na3 Bg4 7.Nc4 Nc6 8.d3 Nge7 9.a4 Chess engines often do not appreciate White's potential in the Tartakower Attack. This line is a good example, with no major mistake from Black, White's position improves with each move. 9...Ng6 10.a5 Bc5 11.b4 Bd6 12.Be2 0-0 13.Be3 f5 14.b5 Nce7 15.0-0 fxe4 16.dxe4 Bxf3 17.Bxf3 a6 18.bxa6 bxa6 19.Rb1 Rb8 20.Rxb8 Qxb8 21.Nxd6 1-0 Percze - Joergensen, IECG email 2002. Maybe Black withdrew from the tournament? Regardless, White has a clear plus with the two bishops and the open position. After 21...cxd6 22 Be2! we begin to see Black's a-pawn is in trouble.

5...Nd7 6.d4 exd4 7.cxd4 Bb6 8.b4 A strange move. (More natural is 8.Nc3 c5 9.d5 Ngf6 10.e5 Ng4 11.Bg5 f6 12.exf6 Ndxf6 13.Bb5+ Bd7 14.Qe2+ Kf7 15.Bxf6 gxf6 16.0-0 Black's king is rather exposed.) 8...Qe7 9.Nc3 Qxb4 10.Qd3 Ne7 11.Rb1 Qd6 12.Nb5 Ba5+ 13.Bd2 Qb6 14.Bxa5 Qxa5+ 15.Qd2 Qxd2+ 16.Nxd2 (16.Kxd2 gives White compensation for the pawn.) 16...Kd8 17.Rc1 c6 18.Nd6 Rf8 19.Be2 f5 B.Plath - C.Schulze, corr 1990. The game is even, but White went on to lose.

5...Nf6 allows White to build a nice center. 6.Nxe5 0-0 7.d4 Bd6 8.Nf3 Nxe4 9.Bd3 Re8 10.0-0

Analysis Diagram: after 10.0-0

Any King's Gambit player would be delighted to have White here. Tartakower takes this small advantage and soon unleashes a flurry of tactics (and sacrifices). Poor Schlechter never knew what hit him! 10...h6 11.Nbd2 Nf6 12.Nc4 c5 13.Nfe5 cxd4 14.Nxf7! Kxf7 15.Qh5+ Kg8 16.Rxf6! Re1+ 17.Rf1 Rxf1+ 18.Bxf1 Bf8 19.Bxh6! Qf6 20.Bg5 Qf5 21.Nd6 Bxd6 22.Bc4+ Be6 23.Rf1 Qxf1+ 24.Bxf1 Nd7 25.Bd3 Nf8 26.cxd4 Bf7 27.Qf3 Ne6 28.Be3 Rb8 29.g4 g5 30.Qf6 Bf8 31.Bh7+ Kxh7 32.Qxf7+ 1-0 S.Tartakower - C.Schlechter, Petersburg 1909. A great advertisement for this line by the man himself!

6.d4!

White gets to play d4 after all. In the one game I found with 6.b4 White did not do well, but I do think the move has some potential to be explored more. 6...Bb6 7.a4 (There are many possible moves here attempting to transpose to lines mentioned in parts 1 and 2, but here is one unique example: 7.Na3 Nf6 8.Qc2 a5 9.b5 0-0 10.Nc4 Nbd7 11.Nxb6 cxb6 12.Be2 White can look toward the future with the two bishops and open f-file.) 7...a5 8.Ba3 Nf6 9.b5 Bc5 10.Qc2 Nbd7 11.Be2 0-0 12.Bxc5 Nxc5 13.d4 exd4 14.e5 d3! Black is winning a pawn, and soon takes over the game. 15.Bxd3 Nxd3+ 16.Qxd3 Ng4 17.Qe2 Re8 18.0-0 Nxe5 19.Nd4 Bg4 20.Qe4 Qg5 21.Ra2 Nc6 22.Nf3 Qc5+ 23.Nd4 Rxe4 24.bxc6 bxc6 25.Raf2 f6 26.h3 Bd7 27.Kh1 Rae8 28.Nb3 Qg5 29.Nd4 Re1 30.Nf3 Rxf1+ 0-1 V.Medunova - M.Svobodova, Pardubice 1991.

6...exd4 7.cxd4 Bb6

7...Qxe4+ looks principled, but Black loses a lot of time. 8.Kf2 Be7 9.Nc3 Qe6 10.Bb5+ c6 11.Re1 Qd6 12.Ne4 Qc7 13.Bc4 b5 14.Bb3 Bf5 15.Ne5 Bxe4 16.Bxf7+ Kd8 17.Bxg8 Bg6 18.Bb3 Nd7 B.Sinz - R.Schlindwein, Altensteig 1993. I do not like how White conducted the game from this point forward. White has an edge here. 19.Kg1 getting the king to safety, while Black's king remain stuck in the center, seems wise.;

7...Bb4+ 8.Nc3 Nf6 9.e5 Nd5 10.Bd2 Be6 11.Bd3 Nd7 12.0-0 h6 13.a3 Nxc3 14.bxc3 Ba5 15.c4 Bxd2 16.Qxd2 c6 17.a4 0-0 18.a5 Rfd8 19.a6 b6 20.Qe3 Rac8 21.Rac1 +- Grott - Martini, DESC email 2000.

8.Nc3 Nc6

8...Bg4 9.Qa4+ Nd7 10.Bg5 f6 11.Bf4 Nh6 12.0-0-0 Nf7 13.Nd5 Qd8 14.Qa3 c6 15.Ne3 Be6 16.Nf5 Rg8 17.Bd3 Nf8 18.Rhe1 Bc7 19.Bxc7 Qxc7 20.e5 +- Lutikov - Lanka, Jurmala 1978.

9.Bb5 Bd7 10.0-0 0-0-0 11.Kh1

A wise move. Black loses tactical options.

11...Nh6 12.Bg5 f6 13.Bxh6 gxh6 14.Nd5!

Typical Tartakower play!

14...Qxe4 15.Nxf6 Qg6?

15...Qe7 would have saved the exchange.

16.Nxd7 Rxd7 17.Bxc6 Qxc6 18.Ne5 Qe6 19.Nxd7 Qxd7 20.Qd2 Qg7 21.Rad1 Rd8 22.d5 c6 23.Qc2 Kb8 24.dxc6 Rxd1 25.Rxd1 bxc6 26.Qxc6 Qxb2 27.Rc1 Qh8 28.a4 Qf8 29.Re1 1-0 S.Tartakower - J.Berger, Vienna 1908.

Another nice game from Tartakower and a fitting place to end our analysis of his variation.

# # #

Please provide me feedback on this article, and / or ideas for future opening article subjects. Remember, none of that main line theory! <smile>

Good Chess!! Keith Hayward

The Road Not Taken

Unorthodox Chess Openings

Opening Resources