Chess 28/05/2011

I suspect that only chess players could solve my riddle "What Scandinavian is bold, black, and fiercely attacks?" by giving the answer 1 e4 d5.

Calling that the Scandinavian Defence should be considered a misnomer, as it's actually an ultra-fast counterattack against White's most popular opening move. A growing number of ardent fans are not afraid to dabble in 2 exd5 Qxd5, since there's no immediate danger after 3 Nc3 Qa5, and Black's minor pieces can hardly be stopped from soon developing to active positions.

GM Karsten Muller, one of the authors of The Modern Scandinavian, a beautiful, freshly published book from www.newinchess.com, quickly found himself in all sorts of trouble as White at Hamburg 1992 in the following game. It must surely have increased his interest in discovering more about the merits of 1 e4 d5!

White: K.Muller; Black: T.Cording. Opening: Scandinavian.

1 e4 d5 2 exd5 Qxd5 3 Nc3 Qa5 4 d4 Nf6 5 Nf3 c6 Effectively fixing White's d-pawn on d4 while also giving the black queen the possibility of sliding back to c7 or d8 if so desired. 6 Bc4 Bf5 7 Ne5 e6 8 Qe2 Bb4 9 Bd2 Nbd7 Wisely avoiding 9...Bxc2?? 10 Nxf7 Kxf7 11 Qxe6+ Kg6 12 Qf7+ Kf5 13 Be6 mate! 10 Nxd7 Nxd7 10...Kxd7!? 11 a3 0-0 12 0-0-0?! The authors point out that White, instead of castling into an attack, should quickly start his own offensive with 12 g4! Bg6 13 h4. 12...b5! 13 axb4 Qa1+ 14 Nb1 bxc4 15 g4 Bg6 16 h4 Nf6? "In such a sharp position, a single mistake is usually one too many. After the text move, White can develop his attack with tempo, by simply attacking the opposing minor pieces. The riposte suggested by Alexey Shirov is much stronger, 16...a5! and in all lines Black gets an extremely dangerous attack," say authors IM Hannes Langrock and GM Matthias Wahls, together with Muller. They go on to give several supporting variations, including 17 h5 axb4 18 Bxb4 Ra2 19 Bc3 Rb8 with decisive threats for Black. 17 f3 h5 ...a5 is still worth considering, as Black must create counter-threats, explain the authors. 18 Qxc4 hxg4 19 h5! "White opens lines with tempo and Black has lost control completely," say the authors. 19...Nxh5 20 fxg4 Ng3 21 Rh3 Qa2 Hoping for 22 Qxa2?? Ne2 mate or 22 b3?? Ne2+! 23 Qxe2 Qxc2 mate, but... 22 Rdh1! Qxc4 23 Rh8 mate (1-0).