Tuesday, August 18, 2020

The Exchange Gruenfeld with Nf3

I am familiar with the exchange Gruenfeld with Ne2, but not so much with Nf3.  Well, today I got a good lesson in why Nf3 is playable.  The game began 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc5 d5 4 cd Nxd5 5 e4 NxN 6 bc Bg7 7 Nf3 0-0 8 Rb1 c5 9 Be2 Nc6 10 d5 Bxc3+  This is not the best move.  It allows white to trade dark-squared bishops, thereby weakening black's king-side defenses.  10...Ne5 is most usual, although 10...Na5 scores the best in practice.

11 Bd2 BxB+ 12 QxB Nb8?  12...Na5 is most usual and scores the best, by far.

13 h4 h5 14 Qh6  I now realized that whit has an overwhelming attack.

14...Qa5+ 15 Kf1 Qc3 16 e5 Bg4  And now white has a force mate.  The game concluded 17 Ng5 BxB+ 18 Kg1 Qxe5 19 Qh7#  1-0

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