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I like my doubled pawns, but want to avoid the "fried liver attack."
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I played 3. ... d6, hoping I could get my bishop to e6 BEFORE the knight goes to g5. I'm ok with doubled pawns, since I get an extra pawn to fight in the center and get the f file for my rook (and later g file in this game).
But what about 4. Ng5? How should I respond to that?
Well, I thought I was in the bishops opening. Turns out it was the Petrof defense. I could have played Nxe4, since my e5 pawn is hard to defend anyway. Stockfish says Nc6 was the next best move, and d6 gives white a half pawn advantage right off.
4. 0-0, d3 and Nc3 are all about equal for white according to Stockfish. What does it say about 4. Ng4....
The top 3 responses by black are the only ones my intuition considered: Be6, d5, and Qe7. I correctly ruled out Qe7 as not really guarding f7, and Be6 as dropping the pawn. I did not realize that d5 actually is strong and survives well:
4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 h6 6. Nf3 ...
Black is down a pawn, but Stockfish says the black position is better. It does not look that way to me.
Well, the lesson here is that this is the Petrof, not the Bishop's opening, and I got luckly Ng5 was not played. I should play the mainline instead.
The attack I put up in the game was grand, though.
I now see I was not out of it. White did open with the Bishops opening and then transposed into the Petrofs. However, after Nxe4 and d5, Black gets a tempo on the bishop and does well. That is what I should have played.
However, since I did play d6, and since White did not play Ng5, and since White did accept my trade offers to double my pawns and open up the king side, I was apple to control the center with extra pawns, attack on the g file, and castle queen side. A bad move against one opponent can be a good move against another.
JamesColeman wrote:
To be honest I wouldn't put too much weight on evaluations so early on, particularly if it's the inbuilt web browser version of Stockfish, which isn't that strong compared to the real thing.
True. I also play against the chess.com computer. On my laptop, level 5 is about as strong as me, and level 6 is much stronger than me. On my cell phone with the chess.com app, even level 7 is easy for me to beat. I just have to be careful it does not score and upset, which it likes to do when I get ahead. Still, the analysis catches many blunders I miss.
Though strong players may be comfortable here, I'm not: 4. Nc3 (3 against one. 4. ... Nd6 guards f7 and gains tempo on the bishop but blocks both white bishops.) 4. ... Nxc3 5. dxc3 (Now d5 is controlled by White, preventing the safe play of 5. ... d5. Should Black instead give back the pawn with 4. ... d5 5. Nxd5 Be6. ?) After 5. dxc3, both Nxe5 and Ng5 are threatened, and we know not to play 5. ... f6. 5. ... h6 and 5. ... Nc3 look like inadequate candidates. I suspect a pawn must be given back but wonder what the safest way is to do so.
It seems d5 does not lead to a better position for Black, unless I'm missing something.
Nc3 takes care of the e4 knight, opening up the queen's bishop and guarding the d5 square. If d5 is played before Nxc3, then Bxd5 is guarded by the c3 knight, and guarded still after dxc3. Black then must defend d8 or else havoc ensues on f7.
There certainly are plenty of variations in here, but as Black or White I think I could do at least equal now. Thanks.
White can attack f7 with Ng5, and I'm not sure how to defend it. Playing h6 does not develop a piece. Putting my bishop on e6 prevents the attack, but loses the pawn on e6. I don't mind doubling my pawns.