The Paleface Pirc - Both Ends Burning.

I got the title from an old Roxy Music song, but actually, the title should be "Both Sides Burning" as both players hurried to attack the king. Who will be first ? And can the slowest still keep up ?

Yesterday I played in the Belgian teamcompetiotion, and my opponent didn't dare to move into a Blackmar Diemer. Instead he moved into a Pirc, but the positions didn't get any simpler, with both players attacking on opposite sides.

Guido De Bouver - Kristian Pade Frederiksen

1.d4 Nf6 2.f3 g6 3.e4 d6 4.Be3 Bg7 5.Qd2

As in the game Anand - Gurevich, that is covered in an earlier blog

5...00 6.Nc3 c6 7.000 b5 8.g4 b4 (diagram)

Black attacks on the queenside, and white will throw everything on the kingside. But who will be first ? It seems black is ahead, as he is chasing the knight already, but that not really the case. Anyway, where should the white knight go ? It is really a crucial decision for the remainder of the game. I played 9.Nb1, but would 9.Na4 not be better ? ( see short analysis below ).

9.Nb1 a5

9...Qa5 10.a3 seems better for black.

10.h4 h5 (diagram)

Stopping the lightning is not easy, as my favourite Blackmar Diemer author used to say in his Keybook.

11.e5 dxe5 12.dxe5 Qxd2 13.Bxd2 Nd5 14.gxh5 Bxe5 (diagram)

A terribly complicated postition occured in the game, with white having two rooks at the enemy kings. Unfortunately, I blundered away a rook in a winning position and had to content with a draw.

But after 8...b4 (diagram above), what should white play ? 9.Nb1, 9.Ne2 or 9.Na4 ? Today, let's briefly look at the lines after 9.Na4 (diagram)

The most challenging reply is clearly 9...Qa5. Let's look briefly at the other lines.

a/ 9..a5 10.g5
...a1/ 10...Nh5 11.Bc4 (=)
...a2/ 10...Nfd7 11.h4 (+=)
...a3/ 10...Ne8 11.h4 (+=)

b/ 9...c5 10.dxc5
...b1/ 10...Nc6 11.cxd6 (+=)
...b2/ 10...Qa5 11.b3 (+=)

c/ 9...Na6 10.b3

...c1/ 10...Qa5 (transposing to xxx)

...c2/ 10...Qc7 11.h4 h5 12.Bh6 (=)

...c3/ 10...h5 11.gxh5 Nxh5 12.Ne2 (+=)

d/ 9...Nbd7 10.Qxb4 Rb8 11.Qd2 (+=)

So refraining from 9...Qa5 does not bring any advantage for black. let's look now at the main line (diagram)

e/ 9...Qa5 10.b3

...e1/ 10...Bd7 11.a3
......e1a/ 11...c5 12.axb4
.........e1a1/ 12...cxb4 13.Kb2 (=)
.........e1a2/ 12...Qxb4 13.Qxb4 cxb4 14.Nb2 (=)

......e1b/ 11...Na6 12.g5

.........e1b1/ 12...Nh5 13.Qe2 (=)

.........e1b2/ 12...Ne8 13.h4 (=)
...e2/ 10...Nfd7 11.h4
......e2a/ 11...Nb6 12.h5 Nxa4 13.bxa4 (=)
......e2b/ 11...c5 12.h5 cxd4 13.Bh6 (+=)

......e2c/ 11...Ba6 12.h5 (+=)

......e2d/ 11...h5 12.Bg5 (+=)

......e2e/ 11...Rd8 12.h5 (+=)

...e3/ 10...Nbd7 11.g5

......e3a/ 11...Nh5 12.Kb1 (=)
......e3b/ 11...Ne8 12.h4 (=)

...e4/ 10...Na6 11.h4 (=)

So it seems white is just able to hold after the critical 9.Na4 Qa5 10.b3, white might even be able to get an attack himself in some lines, but black surely has the attack.

So let's put 9.Na4 to bed quickly. In next post, I will look into 9.Nce2 in more detail. Stay tuned !