Alekhine's Defense Theory - part 3

Submitted by dimitriosg2002 on Thu, 02/12/2009 at 5:28am.

Alekhine's Defense Theory - part 3

1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4
This system is considered to be the strongest. White does not hurry with the
c2-c4 advance but instead completes the development of the kingside obtaining a stable initiative.

3...d6 4.Nf3

[4.Bc4 Nb6 5.Bb3 dxe5 (On 5...Nc6 very strong is 6.e6!; 5...d5 6.Qf3 impeding the development of the black light squared bishop) 6.Qf3]

4...Bg4

[Erroneously is 4...Nc6 due to 5.c4 Nb6 6.e6! fxe6 7.Ng5 (or 7.Bd3 with attack);
4...g6 5.Ng5,
(Also good is 5.Bc4 Nb6 (or 5...c6 6.O-O Bg7 7.exd6 Qxd6 8.Re1 O-O 9.Bg5 Smyslov - Hort 1966)
6.Bb3 Bg7 7.Ng5! (Olafsson - Larsen 1978) 7...d5 8.O-O Nc6 9.c3 Bf5 10.g4! Bxb1 11.Qf3! O-O 12.Rxb1 Qd7 13.Bc2 White obtained better play)
and if 5...f6 6.exf6 exf6 7.Bc4 Qe7+ 8.Kd2!? Bh6 9.Bxd5 Bxg5+ 10.Kc3 with better play)
( 4...Bf5 5.Bd3 exchanging the lightsquared bishops with tempo, Bg6 6.Bxg6? is bad due to hxg6 7.c4 Nb6 8.e6! )
( 4...dxe5 5.Nxe5 risky is 5...Nd7 (Tal - Larsen 1965)
a) Also occurred 5...g6 6.c4 Nb6 7.Nc3 (7.a3 Qxd4!) 7...Bg7 8.Be3 c5 9.dxc5!? White retains opening advantage (Ernst - Bagirov 1992);
b) Interesting new idea: 5...c6!? 6.c4 (firmly is 6.Be2, trying first to complete the development and then to start active play in the center.) 6...Nb4 7.Be3 Bf5 8.Nd3 e5! Black easily equalized play (Timman - Luther 2002);
6.Nxf7! Kxf7 7.Qh5+ Ke6 An intricate position arises, which has been analyzed by many theoreticians. Here we give the main variations: 8.c4 (weaker is 8.g3 b5 9.a4 c6 10.axb5
( 10.Bh3+!? Kd6 11.Qe2 ) g6 11.Qe2+ Kf7 12.bxc6 N7f6 White obtains three pawns for the knight; a complicated struggle is in the offing (Larsen);
8...N5f6 9.d5+ Kd6 10.c5+ Nxc5 (or 10...Kxc5 11.Be3+ Kd6 12.Bf4+ Kc5 13.Qe2!) 11.Bf4+ Kd7 12.Bb5+ c6 13.dxc6+ bxc6 14.Qxc5 cxb5 15.Qxb5+ Ke6 16.Qc6+ Kf7 17.Qxa8 with decisive material advantage]

5.Be2

[Panov's continuation 5.h3 gives no advantage 5...Bxf3 (if 5...Bh5, then 6.e6!) 6.Qxf3 dxe5 7.dxe5 e6 (worse is 7...Nc6 due to 8.Bb5) 8.Bc4 This is the best move though it is not dangerous for Black;
a) It is no benefit for White to play 8.a3 because Black intercepts the initiative by 8...Nd7 9.Qg3 (or 9.c4 Ne7 10.Qxb7 c6!) h5 10.h4 Ne7!;
b) 8.Bd2 Nd7 9.Qg3 Nc5 10.Nc3 Nxc3 11.Bxc3 Ne4 leads to the exchanges 8...Nc6 (8...Nd7 has no benefit for Black 9.Qe2 c6 10.O-O Qc7 11.Re1 followed by Nb1-d2-f3; or 8...Nb4 due to 9.O-O! Nxc2 10.Qxb7 Nd7 11.Bb5!)
9.Qe4 V. Mikenas' maneuver Nde7! equalizes chances 10.Be3 Nf5 11.O-O Qh4! (11...Nxe3 12.fxe3! Bc5 13.Qf4 O-O 14.Nc3 Qd2 15.Rad1 Qxc2 16.Ne4 with White's dangerous initiative);
Alekhine's pawn sacrifice 5.c4 leads to the double-egded struggle 5...Nb6 6.Be2 dxe5 7.Nxe5 (or 7.c5 e4!) Bxe2 8.Qxe2]

5...Nc6

( After 5...dxe5 6.Nxe5 Bxe2 7.Qxe2 Nb6! ( 7...c6 is erroneously due to 8.Qf3 Nf6 9.Qb3 ) 8.O-O! ( now on 8.Qf3 follows Qd5 ) N8d7
(dangerously is 8...Qxd4 9.Rd1 ) 9.Rd1 White obtains advantage) (on 5...Nd7 follows 6.h3 and if Bh5 , then 7.Ng5 Bxe2 8.e6! ) (weak is 5...g6 due to 6.Ng5 Bxe2 7.Qxe2 threatening 8. Qf3 or 8. Nxf7 )
(On Flohr's move 5...c6 the best reply is 6.c4
(Also possible is 6.Ng5 Bxe2 (stronger is 6...Bf5 7.e6 fxe6 8.g4 Bg6 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 g6 11.O-O Bh6 12.Nxe6 Qd7 13.Qe2 Bxc1 14.Rxc1 Na6 with aproximately even play) 7.Qxe2 dxe5 8.dxe5 e6 9.O-O Nd7 (or 9...Be7 10.Ne4 with slight White's advantage) 10.Re1! )
6...Nb6 7.Nbd2! (White has another way to obtain advantage: 7.exd6 exd6 8.b3 Be7 9.O-O O-O 10.Nc3 Re8 11.h3 Bh5 12.Bf4 Dolmatov - Agzamov 1982) and if dxe5, then 8.Nxe5! Bxe2 (usually Black plays 8...Be6 9.Ne4! f6 10.Nc5 Bg8 11.Nf3 White has the upper hand )
( 8...Bf5 9.Ndf3 e6 10.Ng5 Bb4+ 11.Kf1 O-O 12.g4 Bg6 13.c5 Nc8 14.h4! White obtains a serious attack, Kovalev - Dreev 1986 )
9.Qxe2 Qxd4 10.Ndf3 next 11.0-0 and White obtains a strong attack for the pawn) ( 5...e6 6.O-O (Interesting plan 6.h3!? when White declines from short castling Bh5
( 6...Bxf3 7.Bxf3 dxe5 8.dxe5 c6 9.O-O Nb4! ) 7.c4 Nb6 8.exd6 cxd6 9.Nc3 Be7 10.d5! e5 11.g4 Bg6 12.h4 h6
(firmly is 12...h5 but here also White has preferable chances)
13.Bd3 Qc8 14.Bxg6 fxg6 15.Nd2 O-O 16.b3 Rf4 17.g5! White has obviously better chances (Bologan - Agdestein 1996)) ( 6.c4 Nb6 7.exd6 cxd6 )
6...Be7 7.c4 Nb6 This is one of the Alekhine defense's tabias. Here White usually either exchanges on d6, or drives away the black bishop by h2-h3.
8.exd6 ( 8.h3 Bh5 ( 8...Bxf3? 9.Bxf3 Nc6 10.Bxc6+ bxc6 11.Nc3 O-O 12.b3 a5 13.Be3 Nd7 14.Qh5 with White's advantage (Vasiukov - Torre 1974))
9.Nc3 O-O 10.Be3 d5!? Black's play centers on the d5-square.
( 10...Nc6 11.exd6 cxd6 12.d5 exd5 13.Nxd5 Nxd5 14.Qxd5! )
11.c5 Bxf3 12.gxf3!? - the general continuation
(because after 12.Bxf3 Nc4 13.Bf4 b6 14.b3 Na5 15.Rc1 bxc5 16.dxc5 Nac6 17.Re1 Bg5 18.Nxd5 exd5 19.Bxg5 Qxg5 20.Bxd5 Black has equal position (Kavalek - Schmid 1974))
12...Nc8 13.f4 Nc6 14.b4 a6 15.f5 exf5 16.f4 Nb8 A critical position of the system has arisen. Black suffers a lack of space.
17.Bf3 c6 18.Qb3 with the idea of sacrificing a minor piece on d5 (Bagirov)) (In last time occurs 8.Nc3 O-O 9.Be3 d5 10.c5 Bxf3 11.gxf3 Nc8 12.f4 Nc6 13.f5! exf5 14.Bf3 Bg5 15.Nxd5 f4
(or 15...Bxe3 16.fxe3 with advantage) 16.Bxf4 Bxf4 17.Nxf4 Nxd4 ( 17...N8e7!? ) 18.Bxb7 Rb8 19.Bg2 Rxb2 20.Qg4! A vivid tactical skirmish results in a position with an obvious advantage to White, Popovic - Bagirov 1989. Further practical testing must reveal how difficult Black's position is.) 8...cxd6 9.Nc3 O-O 10.Be3 ( 10.h3 Bh5 11.Re1 a6 12.b3 Nc6 13.Be3
d5 14.c5 Bxf3 15.Bxf3 Nc8 16.Rb1 Bf6 17.b4 N8e7 18.Bg4! White obtained advantage (Smyslov - Schmidt, 1980)) 10...Nc6 (stronger is 10...d5 11.c5 Bxf3 12.Bxf3 Nc4 13.Bf4 Nc6 14.b3 N4a5 15.Rc1 b6 16.cxb6 Qxb6 17.Be3 Rac8 18.Na4 Qb8 19.Nc5 Bxc5 20.Rxc5 Nb7 with equal play (Short - Bagirov 1983))
11.d5! Bxf3 12.Bxf3 Ne5 13.dxe6 fxe6 14.Bg4 Nexc4 15.Bxe6+ Kh8 16.Bxb6 Nxb6 17.Qb3 Bf6 White has obvious advantage (Timman - Bagirov 1971.))

6.O-O

( 6.c4 Nb6 7.exd6 exd6 see Smyslov - Spassky )
( 6.h3 Bxf3 7.Bxf3 dxe5 8.dxe5 e6 9.O-O Ndb4! leads to the equality)

6...e6

(Erroneously is 6...g6 due to 7.e6! fxe6 8.Ng5! Bxe2 9.Qxe2 Nxd4 10.Qd3! and White develops a dangerous attack)
(on immediate 6...Nb6 the best is 7.h3! )

7.c4 Nb6

( 7...Nde7 8.exd6 Qxd6 9.Nc3! Bxf3 10.Bxf3 Qxd4 11.Qxd4 Nxd4
12.Bxb7 Rb8 13.Be4 with White's advantage )

8.exd6 cxd6 9.d5!
(On 9.Be3 possible is d5! 10.c5 Bxf3 11.Bxf3 Nc4 with acceptable position for Black )

9...exd5 10.cxd5 Bxf3 11.gxf3

Ne5 12.Bb5+ Ned7 13.Qd4 Qf6 14.Re1+ Be7 15.Qxf6 gxf6 16.Nc3 Kd8
17.f4 White obtains advantage *