The Checkhover Variation

Who plays the Chekhover Variation as white? Do you have some favorite games you'd like to show?

never heard of it

Okay....that's not the Checkhover, but thanks for sharing

I have a game of the Checkhover variation post in the forum titled d6vs. Nc6 in the sicilian. It's a game between Polgar and Shirov.

haha

For future reference, this is the Chekhover

Yes, that's it. What is your opinion of it?

IMO, the Chekhover Variation is relatively weak for white compared to the main line 4. Nxd4. However, it is good for avoiding the sharp, theory-packed lines of the Najdorf, Dragon, and Scheveningen. It has been played scarcely in GM play due to the fact that it just gives black too much time. White does not want to have his queen driven all over the board by the minor pieces of black. Nor does he/she want to retreat to d1, giving black two free tempi and the upper hand. Just my thoughts.

I play that, I never knew it was called that though. I've always wanted to avoid memorizing all the main-line Sicilian and I liked the similarities this has to the Moroczi (is that how to spell it?) Bind. The d5 square is great for a Knight and if traded exd5 leaves e7 very very weak. I think it's sound, though I'm not going to claim it's better than Nxd4.

 I do not doubt the soundness of the Chekhover either. I just think it gives too many advantages to black. After 4. ...Nc6 5. Bb5-Bd7 6. Bxc6-Bxc6, black now has the bishop pair and is poised to be strong in an open game like the Chekhover.

 It is spelled Maroczy Bind after the famous world class chess player Geza Maroczy.

this is a position of one of my games. in the actual game I played 1.h6 in the view of g6 2.Qg5 and 3.Qf6 but he just replied 1...Ng6! and my attacks ends.. How should i proceed in this position ? tnx for your comments..

just found out the name...

I find the chekhover really good.
didnt even think it was unsound or anything!!

i just find it not too theory loaded and easy to play.

 This is not true, black is unable to drive away whites queen. It is simply incorrect for you to say that black wins time, as white gets to castle much more quickly in ALL variaitions, My question fors you is, :how can black possible attack white's queen ? please give me a move, because i don't see how black (already behind in development) can gain any meaningful development from white's early queen development as blacks c8 N has been romoved by the Bishop

Black can win time in the main line with e5, however this leaves two gigantic holes in his position, that make perfect outpost for the Knights, and furthormore, it's almost never a good idea to put the queen back on d1, as it is much better on d3 because it has the ability to swing over to the King-Side via the open third rank, while still being a powerful centralized and active piece

If white wants to avoid losing time, he/she must play along the lines of 4. ...Nc6 5. Bb5-Bd7 6. Bxc6-Bxc6 when he/she now has a centralized queen, but at a cost. Black now has the bishop pair and promises to have a good endgame. The Chekhover is NOT bad for white, but IMO Nxd4 is slightly better in that it keeps better endgame potential for white, while still giving white good attacking chances.

I tried that variation out a few times as white and did ok with it, I have also had it played against me a few times because I play the sicilian with both colours. Anyways, I think it can actually be a pretty strong system if black doesn't know how to respond to it, and alot of players probably don't because it is so rare. It is true that black gets the bishop pair in the mainline (if you can call it a mainline) but white gets rapid development and good central control with his knights. I have run into problems against it more than once so after Qxd4 I usually just play Bd7 preparing Nc6 and it seems to work out fine. I haven't really taken the time to study it yet but there are some good videos on youtube I think that cover the basics.

 That is the only line acceptable for white and it is proven by many tops GM's such as Polgar, Karpov, and Tal , that the easy and natural development more than compensates for the loss of the Bishop's pair, and often black doesn't make it to an endgame!

It can be a useful Opening in club chess since most players have absolutely zero preparation for it. As previously mentioned, if black does not know what he/she is doing, he/she could easily end up with a cramped position and fall victim to an early kingside attack.

Yes I know the IM that wrote the video on the Chekhover variation, he plays on FICS (freechess.org) like I do, where his handle is 'opinel'       And i also agree, black doesn't usually know how to respond and doesn't anlyze the position to see that ...e5 is a positional mistake, and to see that white's development is very strong, and his attack usually comes first