Black's basic ACTIVE set-up:
Evans, The Chess Opening for You
Kasparov/Keene, Batsford Chess Openings 2
Walker, Chess Openings for Juniors
Varnusz, Play Anti-Indian Systems
Wall, 500 English Miniatures
Soltis, The London System
Botvinnik, 100 Selected Games
Schiller, The Cambridge Springs Defence
Polugaevsky, Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defence
Various magazines and other books
So, you must plan where your counterplay is coming from:
Of course you can combine these plans.
play ...e5 to get your Bc8 out
play ...Bd6 and ...Qc7
play ...Bb4 and ...Qa5
...dxc4 and; ...b5: keep the P/ hit a Bc4
Of course you can combine these ideas.
play ...Qe8 and ...Qh4
play ...Kh8, ...Rg8 and ...g5
play ...Ne4 and ...Ndf6
re-organise bishops ...Bd6 / ...Bd7-e8-h4
Under the Section A, Queen Pawn Openings you can see both these
lines at work. You can see straight away that it may be possible to head
towards one, then choose the other.
I'll also show you how to play against some of the more off-beat approaches to playing White in sections B-F.
In the e4 openings, you can often easily play ...d5, but in the 1. d4 openings, ...e5 takes a lot longer to arrange. You may prefer to give up on the idea for a while, and concentrate on active development.
There are several systems below which combine solidity and winning chances in varying proportions:
A1. Playing solidly against 1. d4
I assume that White will follow 1...d5 with 2. c4. Sometimes White will play
2. Nf3 and later 3. c4, but basically White usually needs the c2-c4 move to put
Black's centre under pressure, or Black will be able to use the c7 and e7 pawns
to hit out at the d4 pawn. There are a few White systems that don't involve
c2-c4:
1. d4 d5 2. e3 Nf6 3. Bd3
4. c3 Nc6 5. f4
5... e6
blocks the Bc8; probably not best.
[5... Bg4 6. Nf3 e6 7. Nbd2 Bd6 8. h3 Bh5 9. b3 cxd4 10. cxd4 Rc8
Black is comfortable]
The dangers in this line can be seen in this line, given by Fine:
6. Nf3 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8. Ne5 Qc7
9. Nd2 Re8 10. g4
with a crushing attack.
Pribyl - Penrose (Nice) 1974
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 c5 4. c3 e6 5. e3 Be7 6. Nbd2 O-O 7. Bd3 b6 8.
Ne5
8... Bb7 9. Qf3 Nc6 10. Qh3 g6 11. Bh6 Re8 12. f4 Nd7
13. O-O f5 14. Ndf3 Ncxe5 15. fxe5 Bf8 16. Ng5 Bxh6 17. Qxh6 Nf8
18. Rf3 Re7 19. g4 Rg7 20. Raf1 Qd7 21. Kh1 Qe7 22. h4 Bc8 23. Rg3 a5
24. Rfg1 Ra7
Black fiddles while the King's side burns... White won an endgame in about 40
moves.
Let's try again from the top:
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 c5 4. c3 e6 5. e3 Be7 6. Nbd2
Now 6... Nc6
Black should be prepared to snap off a Knight coming to e5, and can also think
about ...Nh5 to exchange the Bishop.
7. h3
7... O-O 8. Bd3 b6 9. O-O Bb7 10. Ne5 Nxe5 11. Bxe5 c4 12. Bc2 b5 13.
a3 Nd7
= Remon - Agzamov, 1984
The only other system which may cause concern is the COLLE System; early
development of the Bc8 to f5 or g4 is the antidote (see booklet).
White has other non-standard plans eg...
....but these should not cause you sleepless nights.
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5
4... Nbd7
Can White win a pawn here?
5. e3 c6 6. Nf3 Qa5
This is the CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS DEFENCE, a counter-attacking line where Black
aims to put the White Queen-side under pressure. White has ways of heading
off to other variations on moves 4, 5 and 6 and we will look at those later.
First, let us look at an example game:
Marshall, F - Tarrasch, S, Nuremberg, 1895
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Nbd7 5. e3 c6 6. Qc2 Qa5
7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Nf3? 8... Bb4 9. Kd2
Black's attack on c3 has given White a real headache.
9... c5 10. a3 Bxc3+ 11. bxc3 cxd4 12. exd4 N7b6
13. Bd3 Bd7 14. Rhc1 Rc8 15. Qb3 O-O
16. Ke2
16... Rxc3 17. Rxc3 Qxc3 18. Qb1 h6 19. Bd2 Qc7
20. Kf1 Nc4 21. Bc1 Ba4 22. Qa2 Rc8 23. Qe2 Nc3
24. Qe1 Na5 25. Bxh6 Nb3 26. Bd2 Nxa1 27. Qxa1
27... Bb5 28. Bxb5 Nxb5 29. g3 Qc6 30. Kg2
30... Rd8 31. Be3 Qe4 32. Qb2 Rd5 33. a4 Nd6
34. Bf4 Nf5 35. Be3 Nxe3+ 36. fxe3 Qxe3 37. g4 f5
38. g5 Qe4 39. Qc3 f4 40. Qc8+ Kh7 41. Qc3
41... e5 42. h4 Rxd4 43. g6+ Kh6 44. Kh2 Qe2+ 0-1
Quite a long haul, but not difficult to understand. I predict you will win a few games like this to White players who do not really see the attack coming. All the theory below is designed to give you enough ideas to see you through games where your opponents do know what they are doing.
From the main line position:
White has several different moves here, but the same ideas are present in each
line: White hopes to safeguard the bishop on g5 and/or to minimise the attack
on c3. We will look at:
The first and last of these are the most important and most common amongst masters.
A1.1a. CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS with 7. Nd2
Black has got two ways to try and equalise here I recommend 7. Nd2 Bb4 but
Black has also tried
e.g.
8. Bxf6 Nxf6 9. Nxc4 Qc7 10. Rc1
7. Nd2 Bb4
8. Qc2 O-O
[8... e5 also equalises according to Polugaevsky]
9. Be2
White has also tried:
[9. Bh4 e5
10... Ne4 11. Ndxe4 dxe4 12. e6 Ne5 13. exf7+
13... Rxf7 14. O-O-O Bf5 15. a3 Nd3+
16... exd3 17. Qd2 c5 18. axb4 ? 18... cxb4 19. Nb1 Rc8 20. b3 b5 with a strong attack for the piece]
9... e5
10. O-O
Again White has tried other moves:
14. Qxe4 Ng6 15. Bf4 Nxf4 16. Qxf4 Qxc3
[10. Bxf6 Nxf6 11. dxe5 Ne4 12. Ndxe4
12... dxe4 13. O-O Bxc3 14. Qxc3 Qxc3
15. bxc3 Re8 16. Rad1 Kf8]
10... Bd6
11. Nb3
11... Qc7 =
A1.1b.
CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS with 7. Bxf6
7...Nxf6 8. Bd3 Bb4 9. Qc2
9... c5
Black has a simple equalising plan: exchange centre pawns, castle, then develop
your Bc8.
10. Nd2
10... cxd4 11. exd4 Bxc3 12. Qxc3 Qxc3
13. bxc3 dxc4 14. Nxc4 Ke7 15. Kd2 Bd7
= Kmoch - Vajda, Kecsemet, 1927
A1.1c. CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS with 7. Bd3
This is a feeble move, although it looks natural.
7... Ne4 8. Nd2
8... Nxd2 9. Qxd2 dxc4
And Black has won a piece.
A1.1d. Main line CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS with 7. cxd5
7...Nxd5
Now White usually plays Qd2 but first we will need to examine an alternative in 8. Qb3.
A1.1d(a).
White deviates from main line: 8. Qb3
8. Qb3 Bb4
Others can be confidently tried:
9. Rc1 e5
!? Tartakower.
10. Bc4 !
Best. Alternatives include:
...with Black comfortable in each case.
10... N7b6
11. Bxd5 Nxd5 12. Nxe5 Be6 13. Nc4
13... Nxc3 14. Nxa5 Nxa2+ 15. Qxb4 Nxb4 16. Kd2 f6
=/=+ As in a consultation game Euwe and Weenink - Alekhine and Van Den
Bosch, Amsterdam, 1931
A1.1d(b).
Back to the MAIN line with 8. Qd2
8. Qd2
Black now has the SHARP
and the SOLID
A1.1d-1. Main line with 8... N7b6
Now White has a choice:
Only the last of these is dangerous.
d-1(1). MAIN line with 8...N7b6 9. Bd3
9. Bd3 (?)
This move anticipates transposing to the Rc1 system after
but Black can dodge with
9... Na4 !
with no problems after
10. Nxd5
10... Qxd2+ 11. Kxd2 exd5 drawn: Adorjan - Ivkov, 1980
This is worth knowing about, because it is not in all the books.
d-1(2). MAIN line with 8...N7b6 9. Nxd5
An attempt to avoid any theoretical novelties, but abandoning any pretence at
keeping the White advantage.
9... Qxd2+ 10. Nxd2 exd5 11. Bd3 a5
= Karpov - Kasparov, 1984/85 #47
d-1(3). MAIN line with 8...N7b6 9. a3
9... Nxc3
the pawn grab with ...Bb4 is rather risky
10. Qxc3
10... Qxc3+ 11. bxc3 f6 12. Bh4 c5
= Euwe
d-1(4). MAIN line with 8...N7b6 9. Rc1
9... Nxc3 10. bxc3 Nd5 11. Bc4
11... Nxc3
12. O-O b5
13. d5
This is the only threatening continuation
13... exd5 14. Bxd5 cxd5 15. Rxc3 Bb4 16. Qxd5 O-O 17. Qxa8 Bg4
Black's chances are no worse.
A1.1d-2.
MAIN line with 8... Bb4
This more straight-forward move leads to QUIETER play.
9. Rc1 O-O
10. e4
10... Nxc3 11. bxc3 Bd6
[11... Ba3 12. Rb1 e5
A1.1e.
White Avoids the CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS
A1.1e-1.
White Avoids the CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS after 5. Nf3
5... c6
White has tried:
e-1(1).
6. Qc2
Now the usual attack can be easily met by
An active try is:
6... dxc4
7. e4 b5 8. e5 h6 9. Bh4 g5 10. Nxg5 hxg5 11. Bxg5 Bb7
Compared to the normal ANTI-MERAN system (see below), White has played the
inferior move Qc2 not g3. Black will get a good game with ...Qb6 and ...O-O-O.
See the section on the SEMI-SLAV below.
e-1(2).
6. Qb3
Clearly the usual attack is not possible.
6...Be7 7. e3 O-O 8. Be2 b6 9. O-O Bb7 10. Rad1 h6 11. Bh4
Samikhovsky - Kasparian, 1931.
Now 11... Ne4
with good play for Black
e-1(3).
6. e4
Black cannot allow this pawn to remain.
6...dxe4 7. Nxe4 h6 8. Nxf6+
8... Nxf6 9. Bd2 c5 10. Bc3 Ne4
= Subarev - Ryumin, 1931
A1.1e-2
White Avoids the CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS after 5. e3
5. e3
Again you play
5... c6
Now:
e-2(1).
6. Bd3
6...Qa5
is still OK here but see note after move 7
7. Bh4 dxc4
8. Bxc4 b5 9. Bd3
9... b4 10. Nce2 c5 11. Nf3 Bb7 12. O-O Rc8
= Ornstein - Sveshnikov, 1977]
e-2(2).
6. a3
Plain enough!
6...Be7 7. Nf3 Ne4 8. Bxe7 Qxe7 9. Qc2
9... Nxc3 10. Qxc3 O-O 11. Be2 dxc4 12. Bxc4 b6 13. O-O Bb7 14. Rfd1 c5 15.
dxc5 Nxc5
= Pirc - Rabar, 1946]
An important idea as played at the highest level, but Black can equalise.
6...Qa5 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. e4 Nxc3 9. Bd2 Qa4 ! 10. Qxc3 a5 11. Nf3 Bb4 12. Qc1
~= Capablanca - Alekhine, 1927
12... O-O
13. a3 Bxd2+ 14. Qxd2 e5 15. Rc1 exd4 16. Rc4 Qb5 17. Rxd4 Qc5
=
A1.1e-3. White Avoids the whole QGD by playing the CATALAN
The what? The CATALAN is an opening which involves c2-c4 but not e2-e3. White holds back the e-pawn and instead plays the light-squared Bishop out to the long diagonal on g2. So how can White capture the c-pawn if Black takes it? Quite!
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Nf3 b5!?
This is a sneaky way of grabbing a pawn. White can play 5. Qa4+, but otherwise play is like the ABRAHAMS' Variation game Seirawan - Korchnoi on page 43. Both Korchnoi and Karpov have tried this line, which is probably not totally sound but White will have to walk a tightrope to find the way to advantage.
If you don't fancy this line then uncoiling slowly with usual SLAV-style moves will probably equalise. The game is too unforcing to give much detailed analysis.
I'll show you a game by Korchnoi and one by Karpov, and look at the latest theory.
6. a4
6... c6
The latest theory goes:
7. Ne5 Nd5 8. O-O
10. O-O Bxc3 11. e4
11... Bxb2 12. exd5
18. dxc8=Q Rxc8
12... Bxa1 13. Ba3 a5 unclear (!) BCO2 14. Qg4 Qf6 15. Rxa1 Ra6 16. Bc5 Nd7 17. Nxd7 Bxd7 18. Qe4
After 7. Ne5 Nd5 8. O-O:
8... Bb7 9. b3 cxb3 10. axb5 cxb5 11. Qxb3 a6 12. e4 Nf6 13. d5 Bc5 !
but still += BCO2
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Nbd7 5. Nf3 c6 6. e3 Qa5 7. a3
8... Nxg5 9. Nxg5 dxc4
10. Bxc4 ??
10... Qxg5 11. O-O Be7 12. Rae1 O-O 13. f4 Qh6 14. Rf3 f5
15. e4 b5 16. Bb3 Kh8 17. exf5 Bf6 18. fxe6 Bxd4+ 19. Kh1 Nf6 20.
Ne2 Ng4 21. h3 Bf2 22. Rd1 c5 23. e7 Re8 24. Qd2 c4 25. Qd8 Bb7 26. Rc3
Ne3
27. Qb6 Qxh3# 0-1
Buthali, D - Figueroa, C (Novi-14) 1990 [D52]
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 d5 3. c4 e6 4. Bg5 Nbd7 5. e3 c6 6. Nc3 Bb4 7. Bd3 Qa5 8.
Qc2 Ne4 9. Bxe4 dxe4 10. Nd2 Qxg5 11. O-O f5 12. Ne2 Bd6 13. Rad1 Nf6 14.
c5
Cambridge Springs: Loose Bg5
Things go from bad to worse!
14... Bxh2+ 15. Kxh2 Qh4+ 16. Kg1 Ng4 17. Rfe1 Qxf2+ 18. Kh1 Nxe3 0-1.
Borovikov, V - Shabanov, Y, (Podolsk) 1990 [D52]
CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS: Black grabs Material
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e3 Qa5 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8.
Qd2 N7b6 9. Bd3 Nxc3 10. bxc3 Na4 11. O-O Qxc3
12. Qe2 Qb2 13. Bc2 h6 14. Bh4 Nc3 15. Qd3 Nd5 16. Ne5 g5 17. Nxf7 Kxf7 18.
Qg6+ Ke7 19. Bg3 Rg8 20. Qxg8 Qxc2 21. Rae1 Bd7 22. f4 Nf6 23. Qh8 Qh7
24. Qxh7+ Nxh7 25. fxg5 Nxg5 26. h4 Nf7 27. Rb1 b6 28. Be1 Rc8 29. Bb4+ Ke8
30. Bxf8 Kxf8 31. Rf6 Ke7 32. Rbf1 Be8 33. h5 c5 34. g4
34... c4 35. Rg6 c3 36. Kf2 Bc6 37. Ke1 Bb5 38. Rh1 Bd3 39. Kd1 Rc4 40. a3
Ra4 0-1
Duemer, K - Meyer, Frh (2.BLSW) 1989 [D52]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bg5 c6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Nf3 Qa5 7. Nd2 Bb4 8.
Qc2 dxc4 9. Bxf6 Nxf6 10. Nxc4 Qc7 11. a3 Be7 12. Be2 O-O 13. O-O Bd7 14. b4
Rfd8 15. g3 Be8 16. Rfd1 b6 17. Bf3 a5
CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS: Q-side Attack
18. bxa5 b5 19. Nb2 Rxa5 20. a4 Qa7 21. Rdc1 Nd5 22. Bd1 Ra8 23. Ne4 Nb6 24.
Nc3 c5
25. dxc5 Nxa4 26. Ncxa4 bxa4 27. Nd3 Rc8 28. Ra3 Bd7 29. e4 Bc6 30. e5 Rb8
31. Qd2 h6 32. Bc2 Bxc5 33. Nxc5 Rxc5
34. Qd3 g6 35. Rca1 Ra8 36. Qd2 Kg7 37. Qd1 Ra5 38. Qd2 Qd7 39. Qf4 Qd5 40.
Qf6+ Kg8
41. f3 Qc5+ 0-1
El. Mezwaghi, H - Mubarak, A, (Novi-12) 1990 [D52]
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Nbd7 5. e3 c6 6. Nf3 Qa5 7. Qa4
CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS: Queen-side Majority
7... Qxa4 8. Nxa4 dxc4 9. Nc3 b5 10. Be2 Bb4 11. O-O Bxc3 12. bxc3 Ne4 13.
Rfc1 Nb6 14. Rc2 Nd5 15. Rac1 f6 16. Bh4 g5 17. Bg3 h5 18. Nd2 Nxg3 19. hxg3
Ke7 20. Rb2 Bd7 21. Ne4 h4 22. g4 Nb6 23. Nc5 a5
24. a4 Rhb8 25. axb5 cxb5 26. Nxd7 Nxd7 27. Rcb1 a4 28. Rb4 a3 29. Ra1 Ra5
30. Kf1 Nb6 31. e4 Rba8 32. Ke1 e5 33. Kd2 Nd7 34. Ra2 exd4 35. cxd4 Nb8 36.
Rb1 Nc6 37. Ke3 Rb8 38. f3 Rd8 39. d5 Ne5 40. f4 gxf4+ 41. Kxf4 Kd6 42. Kf5
Rb8
43. Rba1 b4 44. Bd1 Ra7 45. Kf4 Rba8 46. Rb1 Rb7 47. Rba1 Rba7 48. Rb1 Nd3+
49. Kf5 Nb2 50. Be2 c3 51. Kxf6 c2 52. e5+ Kxd5 53. Rc1 Rf8+ 54. Kg5 b3 55.
Raa1 Nc4 56. e6 b2 0-1
Michaelsen, N - Hort, V (FRG-ch) 1989 [D52]
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 Nbd7 5. Bg5 c6 6. e3 Qa5 7. Nd2 dxc4 8.
Bxf6 Nxf6 9. Nxc4 Qc7 10. Rc1 Nd5 11. a3 Be7 12. Be2 a5 13. O-O O-O 14. Bf3 Rd8
15. Qc2 Bd7 16. Ne4 Be8 17. Rfd1 b6 18. g3 Rac8 19. h4 h6
CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS: break on Q-side
20. Kg2 Bf8 21. Qb1 a4 22. Qc2 Qb8 23. Qb1 g6 24. Nc3 Nxc3 25. Rxc3 c5
26. dxc5 Rxc5 27. Rxd8 Qxd8 28. Qe4 Bc6 29. Qg4 h5 30. Qf4 Bxf3+ 31. Qxf3
Bg7 32. Rc2 Qc7
33. Qf4
33... b5 0-1
Perez, A - Perera, M, 1989 [D52]
1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. Bg5 Nbd7 5. e3 c6 6. Nf3 Qa5 7. Qa4
CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS: chances with NN
7... Qxa4 8. Nxa4 Bb4+ 9. Nc3 Ne4 10. Rc1 Nb6 11. a3 Bxc3+ 12. bxc3 Na4 13.
cxd5 exd5 14. c4 Be6 15. Bh4 O-O 16. Bd3 Nec3 17. Ng5 h6 18. Nxe6 fxe6 19. cxd5
cxd5
an interesting BB vs. NN ending has arisen
20. O-O Rac8 21. Rc2 Rc7 22. Rfc1 Rfc8
23. f3
23... Ne2+ 24. Rxe2 Rxc1+
25. Kf2 R8c3 26. Bb5 Nb6 27. Be7 a6 28. Be8 Nc4 29. Bd7 Kf7 30. Bb4 R3c2 31.
e4 a5 32. Be1 Rxe2+ 33. Kxe2 b6 34. exd5 exd5 35. Bf2 Ra1 36. a4 Nb2 37. Bc6
Ke6 38. Bg3 Nxa4 39. Be5 g6 40. Be8 Nb2 41. Bxg6 Nc4 42. Bg7 Ra2+ 43. Kf1 Ne3+
44. Ke1 Nxg2+ 45. Kd1 Ne3+ 0-1
MORE Playing Black Pieces against Queen-side Openings
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