Any opening is good enough, if it's reputation is bad enough. -- Alekhine
Is the Portuguese Gambit playable?
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OK there is a specific 'anti-Portuguese' line recommended by Silman that we need to have a look at:
1. e4 d5
2 exd5 Nf6
3 Nf3
His plan is that after ...Bg4 white plays 4.Bb5+ Nbd7 5. a3 and as White has the Bishop under attack (and can cover the d5 pawn with his Queen if the Bishop takes the Knight) and has the annoying pin against the Black Knight on d7, it's hard for Black to either retake the pawn or get good compensation for it.
OK so Black has a lot of options. Let's see if any of them are any good.
First - there is nothing forcing him to play 3..Bg4.
He can just enter the main line Scandy (with the White knight already committed to f3) - taking d5 either with the Queen or Knight.
Or he can keep offering the gambit pawn and play ..Bf5, almost certainly provoking Bb5+, when the realistic replies are ..c6 (a true gambit) and Nbd7 (hoping perhaps to win the pawn back).
Or he can enter into the Silman line.
Pulling the bishop back to d7 to block the Bb5 check just ends up with Black a pawn down for no compensation, so putting the Knight in the way in move 4 is more or less forced by the way.
After 5.h3 Black's only realistic choice is 5..a6.
5..Bf5 or 5..Bh4 or 5..BxN just give up the pawn.
So the critical position in the Silman line is this:
Choices for white are BxNd7+, h3xBg4, Be2 and Ba4.
All are worth looking at in some detail.
Feb 10, 2014
0
#27
A full lecture on the variation by GM David Smerdon is viewable here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7l5EVd3d4Wk
Feb 10, 2014
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#28
Re-reading this thread, 14 months ago, PFren agreed the line was playable but not good.
Then, 8 months ago, he categorically stated it is unplayable.
So, what changed in that 6 month period?
Feb 10, 2014
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#29
I transpose to the main ...Nf6 Center Counter by playing 3. Bb5+ first. Then play usually runs Bd7 4. Be2 Nxd5 and it's back to the main line with d4 & Nf3.
Even though this thread is old...
When I played the Portuguese, my problem with it is that white can often play f3 even hollowed by stuff like g4. this is patzer stuff, that 1200s would play, but it's not actually horrible, in the portuguese position some this stuff works, which annoyed me.
I don't have powerful comp/engine but would like to know how Black wins ?
Have left the position on infinite analysis on an iPad 4 with Stockfish app running for over 120 minutes and it thinks Black is worse! Re1 is the suggested move with +1.8 and has gone to Depth 30 with over 4500,000,000 nodes.
RubiksRevenge wrote:
Have left the position on infinite analysis on an iPad 4 with Stockfish app running for over 120 minutes and it thinks Black is worse! Re1 is the suggested move with +1.8 and has gone to Depth 30 with over 4500,000,000 nodes.
See i do not like these apps!
Why? As it does not list the reasons for the move. Mindless moves is the biggest reason for mistakes. According to your info White should win as a pawn in many cases is enough to win a game.
They need to include the #tactics that favor the player using it. Also have it show a stat:
#Advantages for White to exploit vs #Advantages for Black to exploit.
Nov 30, 2014
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#34
Kinda like my German Opening system...
Nov 30, 2014
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#36
Jion_Wansu wrote:
Kinda like my German Opening system...
...only not totally bogus bullshit.
Chivas610 wrote:
Does anyone have any news on this Smerdon book?
He's still working on it. I'm curious about his analysis of the decline lines, more than anything.
Dec 11, 2014
0
#39
JamesColeman wrote:
It also depends what you mean by "playable". The move that scores best for white is 4.Bb5+, White's stats here at GM level are much better than in "normal" openings so the opening would probably not hold up as a regular defense in say, a World Championship contest.
At ordinary GM level and below, it's no doubt OK.
At 1600 level, more or less anything is playable, even openings considered theoretically "dubious".
It's a two result position in any event, hardly an accomplishment for Black
Yes - it basically forces the Portuguese player back into the sort of cramped Scandy position that is found in the main line. Not usually a lot of fun to play.
But Black's position does look very solid to me and not irredeemably passsive.