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Chessville
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The Essential Centre-Counter I am very pleased this month to be able to present some
extracts from my forthcoming book on the Centre-Counter. There is no
opening quite like it and my researches show that 2....Qxd5 is perfectly
playable at any level. It is in fact, a very good weapon for the
average player to achieve good results with and it's relatively easy to
master. Start reading and learning with Part One
of The Essential Center-Counter. and continue with
Part Two. Carlier,B (2355) - Prie,E (2475) [B01]
[Click here to
follow along on an interactive JavaScript board] 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 c6 5.Bc4 Bf5 6.Nf3 Nf6 7.Bd2 e6 8.Qe2 Bb4 9.a3
Well, here we are at what I think the most common moves will be club level. Either 9 a3 or 9 0-0 are going to be the ones that crop up most. Players just won't want to get involved in the melee after queenside castling. So its important that Black gets a good feeling for play in this line. For starters, Black doesn't have to move the Bishop yet. He may wait a move. 9...Nbd7! 10.0-0 10.0-0-0 Bxc3 11.Bxc3 Qc7 12.Ne5 Nd5 13.Bd2 Nxe5 14.dxe5 0-0-0 15.g4 Bg6 16.f4 is a transposition to Psakhis-Wahls. 10...Bxc3 11.Bxc3 Qc7 In my opinion, this position is less critical for Black than it would be if White had castled long. The usual plan of campaign is to push the queenside pawns forward and establish a base for a Knight on d5. 12.a4 So Carlier tries to stop the pawn advance. 12...0-0 13.a5 Rfe8 13...Nd5 14.Bxd5 cxd5 (14...exd5 15.Rfe1=) 15.Bb4 Rfe8 16.c3= 14.b3 Rad8 15.Bb2 Bg4 16.h3 Bh5
Sensible moves by Black have resulted in an equal position. Whilst the pawn on a5 is slightly restricting, it has also to be looked after. 17.g4 I toured many European tournaments with Carlier and we had some great times. I remember we decided that it was important to take Ginseng before a big game - gave you energy and a good mood for the fight. I haven't seen him for a while now which is a pity but it looks like he carried on dosing himself up. What would the FIDE drug barons have to say about that? 17...Bg6 18.Ne5 b5 19.axb6 axb6 20.Nxg6? 20.f4 b5 21.Bd3 Nxe5 22.fxe5 Bxd3 23.Qxd3 Nd5 isn't too clear; both sides have weaknesses. 20...hxg6 21.f4 Nd5 22.Qf3 b5 23.Bd3 b4!
Stifling the two Bishops and just look at that Knight on d5! 24.Bc4 N7f6 25.Bc1 Nc3!? 26.Be3 Nfd5 28...Qxf4?? 29.Bxd5+- 29.Bd3 29.c3 Nxc4 30.bxc4 Qxf4 31.Qxf4 Nxf4 32.Be3 Ne2+ 33.Kf2 Nxc3 34.Rxc6 b3 35.Rb6 Rb8 36.Rxb8 Rxb8-+ 29...Qxf4
30.Qxf4 Nxf4 31.Rxc6 Nxh3+ 32.Kh2 Nxf2 33.Rxf2 Rxd4
I remember that both Carlier and Prie liked time-trouble too. The only way Black can botch this now is to forget about his clock. 34.Rc7 f5?? Zeitnot. After the simple 34...Rf8 White has nothing left: 35.Kg3 Nb1 (35...f5 36.Rf4) 36.Rf4 Rxf4 37.Kxf4 Nc3-+ 35.gxf5 exf5 35...gxf5 36.Rg2 Rh4+ 37.Kg1 Rh7 38.Rb7 36.Rg2 Kh7 36...Re6 37.Bxf5!! gxf5 38.Rgxg7+ Kf8 39.Rcf7+ Ke8 40.Rb7 Re2+ (40...Rh6+ 41.Kg3 Rh8 (41...Rg4+ 42.Rxg4 fxg4 43.Rxb4=) 42.Rbe7+ Kd8 43.Ra7 f4+ 44.Kf3 Ke8 45.Rge7+ Kd8 46.Rg7=; 41.Kg3 f4+ 42.Kf3 Re3+ 43.Kf2 Rd2+ 44.Kf1 Rg3 45.Rh7 Rg8 46.Rb8+ Rd8 47.Rxb4= 37.Rc6 Rh4+ 38.Kg1 Rh6 39.Rb6
Black's pieces are curiously sprayed out all over the board. 39...Nb1 40.Rxb4 Nc3 41.Rd4 Re1+ 42.Kf2 Re5 43.Rg1 Ne2 44.Bxe2 Rh2+ 45.Kf3! Rhxe2 45...Rexe2 46.Rh4+ Rxh4 47.Kxe2 Kh6 48.Rb1 and the b pawn is ready to go. 46.Rc4 R5e3+ 47.Kf4 Rh3 48.Rg3! Rh4+ 49.Kg5 Rh5+ 50.Kf4 Rhh2?! Apparently both
players were down to the last 5 minutes of the game each. Instead
50...Rf2+! gives White less chance to pose any problems: 51.Ke3 (51.Rf3 g5+
52.Kg3 Rxf3+ 53.Kxf3 Rh3+ 54.Kg2 g4 55.b4 g5 56.b5 f4 57.b6 f3+ 58.Kg1 g3
59.b7 f2+ 60.Kg2 Rh1-+) 51...Rhh2 52.Rh3+! (52.Rh4+ Rxh4 53.Kxf2 Rh2+ 54.Rg2
Rxg2+ 55.Kxg2 Kg8-+) 52...Rxh3+ 53.Kxf2 g5 54.b4 Rh1 51.Rc6 Ref2+ 52.Ke5 f4 53.Rg1 Rh5+ 54.Ke4 g5 55.b4 Rh6 56.Rc5 Re6+ 57.Kf5 Rf6+ 58.Kg4 f3 59.Rc3!
Carlier defends with courage and precision given the chronic shortage of time. 59...Kg6 59...Rg2+ 60.Rxg2 fxg2 61.Rg3 60.Kg3 Re2 61.Rxf3 Rxc2 62.Rb3 Rfc6 63.Rgb1 ½-½ One thing I did find out about Ginseng - it's a slow
releasing herb which becomes more potent as the game goes on. The Essential Centre-Counter will be published by Thinkers Press in August 2004
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27.Ra6 Nb5 28.Bf2
Na3
