CHESS
Anglophilia
Raymond Keene
EARLIER this year in this column I expressed surprise that grandmaster Daniel King was apparently writing a book on the English Defence for both Everyman and Batsford. This conundrum has now been resolved: chess publisher Batsford as we knew and loved it has gone into liquidation and been purchased by Chrysalis, which has left the field clear for Everyman to publish King's book.
The English Defence is one of those rare birds in chess theory, a line where the right paths have not yet been established and there is plenty of scope for individual invention and creativity. The key is Black's attempt to blast White's huge pawn centre to smithereens. This week's game, a typical example, shows this strategy in action. The notes are from King's book.
Gelfand–Short: Novgorod 1997; English Defence
1 d4 e6 2 c4 b6 3 e4 Bb7 4 11(13 Nc6 5 Ne2 NM 6 Nbc3 Not the most accurate continuation as it gives Black the chance to pin the knight on c3 if he wishes to with 6 ...Nxd3+ 7 Qxd3 Bb4. To avoid that possibility White could simply castle kingside straightaway. 6... Nxd3 4- 7 Qxd3 d6 80- 0 Ne7 9 d5 9 Qh3 was tried in Bareev-Kengis, Pula 1997, but the queen manoeuvre can be immediately countered by 9 ... INT (the queen is good on a light square when White has no bishop to challenge it) 10 Be3 g6 11 d5 Ba6 12 dxe6 Qxe6 13 Qh4 Bg7 14 b3 0-0 15 Bd4 f6 16 Rad1 Rae8 17 Rfel c5 18 Be3 f5 19 Bh6 Bxh6 20 Qxh6 bce.4 21 Ng3 Nf5 22 Nxf5 Qxf5 23 0e3, when a draw was agreed as 23 ...Re6 24 Nxe4 Bb7 25 13 Bxe4 26 fice4 leads to an equal position. 9 Qd7I Black retains flexibility. He still might castle on the kingside, but he is also prepared to go queenside; and the queen covers the sensitive e6-square. Black could close the centre with 9 ...e5, but there would be a concern about a direct assault with 10 14. 10 f4! Although White's strategy rebounds in the end, if he is to get anything from this variation he must play aggressively. 10 ...g6 11 Nd4 11 Qd4 Rg8 is satisfactory for Black, but in his annotations in Informator 70 Short suggests that the continuation 11 Be3 Bg7 12 Bd4 would have slightly favoured White. 11 ..0-0.0 Advisable. It might be preferable to delay castling for a move with 11 ...Bg7, but then White can stir up enough trouble with 12 15! gxf5 13 exf5, and now after either 13 ...Bxd4+ 14 Qxd4 0-0-0 (14 ...c5 15 Q12) 15 Ese6 fice6 16 Bg5 or 13 _MI5 14 Nxf5 eid5 15 Bg5 White has taken control. 12 b4 After 12 dxe6 6ce6 13 0h3 Bg7!? (after 13 ...e5 14 Ne6 Re8 15 Nd5 White has an attack) 14 Nxe6 Bxc3 15 bxc3 (not 15 Nxd8?? Bd4+ 16 Khl Qich3 and wins) 15 ...Rde8 Black has excellent com- pensation for the pawn — the pawns on e4 and c4 are extremely weak. However, the move which causes concern here is 12 a4. White's attack is potentially lethal. For instance 12 ...a5 13 134 aitb4 14 Ncb5 followed by a4-a5 and a big explo- sion on the queehside. Black is so cramped that it is extremely difficult to bring his pieces across to defend the king. 12 ...Bg7 13 b5? All very fine if White could land the knight on c6, but 13 ...Bxd4+! stops that idea, and then it just looks like pushing the b-pawn has wasted two moves. 14 Qxd4 f5
Once again the f-pawn saves the day, undermin- ing White's centre and letting Black's bishop breathe again. Without this move Black has no play. IS Rel If 15 eirf5 then 15 ... exd5 16 cxd5 Qicf5 17 Rdl Rhe8 18 a4 Ng8I 19 a5 Nf6 20 axb6 axb6 21 Ra7 Ne4 with good counterplay. 15 ...Rhe8 Black has to build up first before dis- solving the centre. For instance, 15 ... exd5 16 exd5 and the bishop on b7 is permanently locked in, while 15 ... fxe4 16 Qxe4 loses the pawn on e6. 16 Bb2 16 Qg7 fice4 17 Nxe4 Ng8I covers everything. 16 ...hte4 17 Nxe4 NO 18 Nc3 Q17 19 Re3 There is still a concern about White going for an attack on the qucenside with 19 a4, though in this case Black has enough counter- play after 19 ... Nf6! 19 ... exd5 20 Nxd5 Black has good counterplay whatever White decides to capture, e.g. 20 cxd5 Rxe3 21 Qxe3 Bxd5, win- ning a pawn, or 20 Rxe8 Rxe8 and now 21 Nxd5 Ne7 (21 ...Re21?) 22 Nxe7+ Rxe7. White has a couple of vulnerable points in his position (g2 and c4) whereas Black has no real weaknesses. The opposite-coloured bishops make life diffi- cult for White as he will be unable to dampen the attack with exchanges. 20 ...Rxe3 21 Qxe3 Understandably, Gelfand decides to ditch a pawn rather than lose the initiative. If 21 Nxe3 then 21 ...Re8 and the balance is shifting in Black's favour. 21 ...Bxd5 22 cxd5 Qxd5 23 a4 108 24 a5? This offer of a second pawn is just too much. Black would still have had some work to do to conVert his extra pawn if White had played 24 Rcl, reminding Black that c7 is vul- nerable. Everything would be fine for Black if the knight could just find a decent square, but it is not easy to re-deploy it. 24 ...Qxb5 25 arcb6 axb6 26 Bd4 Qc6 27 Rd l Qb7 Now Black is win- ning. 28 f5 gicf5 29 QgS Re8 30 Qh5 Or 30 Qxf5 Qe4 and wins. 30 ...Qe4 31 Bf2 N16 32 QI7 Qe7 33 Qa2 Ng4 34 Rod 34 Bd4? Qe1+! 35 Rxel Rxel is mate. 34 ...Qe4 35 Qa7+ Ka 36 Eel Qb7 37 Qa4 Re7 38 Qb3 White resigns White gave up here. There's not much hope, e.g. 38 Nx12 39 0g8+ Kd7 40 Kin Qc4. An excellent game by Short.
The English Defence by Daniel King is avail- able from Everyman Chess, price £14.99 (vww.everyman.uk.com).
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