1.b4 d5 2.Bb2 Qd6
An interesting move if you like a big center. White
must stop to save his b-pawn which allows Black time to play ...e5. If
you believe Fritz, Black is already slightly better. Chessbase's
online database supports Fritz's appraisal with White only scoring 47%
against this move (131 wins, 153 losses, and 80 draws).
3.b5
Thematic. White can also consider
3.a3 e5 4.e3 (4.Nf3 e4 5.Nd4 c6)
4...Nf6 (4...c6 5.Nf3 e4 6.Nd4 Qg6 7.d3 Nf6
8.Nd2 Bd6 {8...exd3 9.cxd3 Bd6 =+} 9.c4 dxc4 10.Nxc4 Bc7 11.Qc2 exd3 12.Qxd3
0-0 13.Qxg6 hxg6 14.g3 Nbd7 15.Bg2 Nb6 16.Nxb6 Bxb6 ½-½ Skalazubov-Bhat,
Oropesa del Mar 2000) 5.d3 Nbd7 6.Nf3 c6 7.Be2 a5
(Another interesting method for Black is 7...g6 8.c4 Bg7 9.cxd5 cxd5 10.0-0
0-0 11.Nc3 a6 12.Rc1 b6 13.Qc2 Bb7 14.h3 d4 15.Nd1 Rac8 16.Qb1 Nd5 17.Re1
dxe3 18.fxe3 b5 19.Bf1 N7b6 20.Nd2 Na4 21.Qa1 f5 22.Nb3 Rfe8 23.Na5 Ba8
24.Nc3 Nxb2 25.Qxb2 e4 26.d4 Nxe3 27.Ne2 f4 28.Rxc8 Rxc8 29.Rc1 Rf8 0-1
Lalic-Uhlmann, Sarajevo 1980.) 8.bxa5 Be7 9.Nbd2 Rxa5
10.0-0 0-0
This is exactly what Black hopes to achieve in this opening.
Black was clearly better in Saradjen-Kozul, Ljubljana 1993.
3...Qb4 4.Be5
White has no other move that does not lose a pawn:
A) Very passive is 4.Qc1 Qxb5 5.e4 Qd7 6.exd5
Qxd5 7.Nc3 Qa5 8.Bc4 Nf6 9.Nge2 c6 10.0-0 b5 11.Bb3 e6 12.d3 Be7 13.Ng3 0-0
14.a4 b4 and White did not have compensation for the pawn in Mueller-Berg,
EU-ch GT189 corr 1981;
B) 4.Bc3 Qxb5 5.e4 Qd7 6.exd5 Qxd5 7.Nf3 Nf6
8.Be2 e6 9.Be5 Qd8 10.0-0 Bd6 11.d4 0-0 Again, White is not have
compensation for the pawn. Schmid-Feist, FRG-chT qual corr 1991.
4...Qxb5 5.Bxc7 Qc5
A slight improvement over 5...Qc6:
A) 5...Qc6 6.Be5 Nd7 7.Nf3 Nxe5 8.Nxe5 Qc7 9.Nf3
e5 10.e4 dxe4 11.Bb5+ Bd7 12.Bxd7+ Qxd7 13.Ng5 Nf6 and Black was clearly
better in Vasii-Vladila, Calimanesti 2000;
B) 5...Nd7 Not as good as the main line, but
still affective. 6.Nc3 Qc5 7.Bg3 e5 Black has a beautiful center.
8.e3 a6 9.Be2 Ngf6 10.Nf3 Bd6 11.Na4 Qa3 12.Nc3 b5 Black was clearly better
in Tidemalm-Bergljung, SVE-chS corr 1987.
6.Be5 Nc6
This move is the key difference over 5...Qc6 and 5...Nd7.
Black gets to develop his queen knight to a more active square.
7.Bb2 Bf5 8.Na3
White prefers not to play 8.d3 White still hopes play in
thematic Sokolsky fashion with e3 followed by d4 and eventually c4.
8...e5
Black has his big center! Black is already clearly
better.
9.e3 Nf6 10.Nf3 Qa5!
White's knight on a3 is embarrassed.
11.Qc1
A sad move for White to make. 11.Nb5 a6! 12.Nc3 Bd6
13.Be2 0-0 14.0-0 b5 looks dominating for Black.
11...Rc8
With an x-ray attack on the queen. White is in deep trouble.
12.Nb5 Nb4! 13.Bc3 Rxc3
Obvious, but pretty nonetheless.
14.Nxc3 Nxc2+ 15.Kd1 Ba3!
White's queen is trapped!
16.Bb5+
16.Qb1 Nxe3+!
16...Ke7 17.Qxc2 Bxc2+ 18.Kxc2 Rc8 19.Kd1 Rxc3 0-1
