starting out: the scotch efelaat=Contents Bibliography Introduction 5 1 Scotch Four Knights (4...Nf6 5 Nc3) 9 2 Mieses Variation: Introduction and Main Line with 8...Nb6 58 3 Mieses Variation: Main Line with 8...Ba6 98 4 4...Bc5 5 Nxc6 130 5 4...Bc5 5 Be3 165 6 4...Bc5 5 Nb3 and Others 193 7 Rare Moves 205 Index of Variations 220 Index of Complete Games 223Bibliography Books An Attacking Repertoire for White, Sam Collins (Batsford 2004) Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings Volume C (Sahovski Informator) Nunn’s Chess Openings, John Nunn, Graham Burgess, John Emms and Joe Gallagher (Everyman 1999) Play the Open Games as Black, John Emms (Gambit 2000) Understanding the Open Games (Except Ruy Lopez), Andy Soltis, Edmar Med- nis, Jack Peters and William Hartston (RHM 1980) The Scotch Game, Peter Wells (Batsford 1998) Periodicals Chess Informants 1-92 New In Chess Yearbooks 18-74 Chesspublishing.com ChessBase Magazine Databases Mega Database 2005 Mega Corr 3 The Week in Chess 1-552Introduction What is the Scotch Game? The Scotch Game arises after the opening moves 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 exd4 4 Nxd4. It’s called the Scotch because it was first brought to light by a group of players from Edinburgh Chess Club, who used it in a correspondence match against London (1824-28). It turned out to be a successful debut, White win- ning the game in 60 moves. Before the 1990s the Scotch Game had always been a reasonably popular 1 e4 e5 opening, without ever really threatening the perennial domination of the Ruy Lopez (1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5). However, in the 1990s it received a ma- jor shot in the arm when Garry Kasparov began playing it with some fre- quency, injecting many new ideas from White's viewpoint and using it with success in world championship matches. World champions, especially Kas- parov, dictate opening fashions, so the inevitable consequence of this was that the Scotch suddenly became much more popular at all levels of chess. Nowa- days, thanks in no small part to Kasparov's contributions, the Scotch is seen as a very important opening weapon for White. Why Play the Scotch Game? First of all, the Scotch is a very well respected opening that you can rely upon — no one’s going to come along and refute it in the next few years. It’s also rela- tively easy to learn and can be played after little study; unlike the Ruy Lopez, Black doesn’t have at his disposal a plethora of tricky sidelines. Despite this, the Scotch does offer a good variety of positions. Those interested in sharp, tactical battles will enjoy the complexities of the Mieses Variation, while less experienced players and those preferring quieter paths can look to the Scotch Four Knights.Starting Out: The Scotch Game Scotch Pawn Structures By playing 3 d4 White forces Black to give up the centre immediately with 3...exd4. This leads to some typical Scotch pawn structures that I'll refer to throughout the book. I think it’s worth briefly mentioning the most important ones here: The Pure Scotch Centre Diagram 1 Diagram 2 The Pure Scotch Centre The Majority Structure The pawn structure in Diagram 1 arises immediately after White plays 4 Nxd4. The ‘Pure Scotch’ structure is inherently good for White. With the un- opposed pawn on e4, White has greater influence in the centre and more space for his pieces (see Chapters 5-6). The Majority Structure The structure in Diagram 2 arises after an early knight exchange on c6, Black recapturing with his d7-pawn. In the long-term, White’s undoubted structural superiority promises a major advantage. Nearly all king and pawn endings are winning due to his ability to create a passed pawn from his kingside pawn ma- jority and Black’s inability to do the same on the other side. This is a good ex- ercise: try playing the position from Diagram 2 - you'll soon realise how diffi- cult it is for Black to avoid defeat. In the short term, however, things look quite rosy for Black. The open lines allow him to develop swiftly; the move ...dxc6, allowing the c8-bishop to move, certainly helps him on this count (see Chapter 4).Introduction The Mieses Pawn Structure Ay, 7 SS x SY ad NS ase Li, Ly “2 6 asi mse b> & PP a) SS, = WS LX \ \ “ Diagram 3 Diagram 4 The Mieses Pawn Structure The Mieses Pawn Structure The pawn structure in Diagram 3 comes about if Black recaptures on c6 with his b-pawn. Capturing towards the centre allows Black the option of challeng- ing White’s e-pawn with ...d7-d5. If this is followed by an exchange on d5 and Black recaptures with the c6-pawn, it’s actually Black who has more central influence, although in a traditional sense White’s pawn structure is less vul- nerable (see Chapter 1). Very often White moves his e-pawn forward to e5 (see Chapter 2-3), leaving us with the pawn structure in Diagram 4. Compared to the previous diagram White has a bit more space, the pawn on e5 acting to cramp Black’s position. Very often Black will try to seek freedom by challenging White’s pawn spearhead with either ...d7-d6 or ...f7-f6. About this book As part of Everyman Chess’s Starting Out guide, this book is primarily aimed at players who have little or no experience in the Scotch Game and who wish to master the fundamentals. In each chapter I’ve begun by focusing on the early moves of the main variations, and it’s here I have tried my best to cover as many eventualities as possible — it’s not much good knowing the latest nov- elty at move twenty only to find that you are stuck when your opponent comes up with something different on move five! In some of the more theoretical and sharp lines I've delved a bit further, but this is by no means meant to be a to- tally comprehensive openings survey. For those wishing to become theoretical wizards in the Scotch I can recommend using this book in conjunction with studying the latest grandmaster games on computer databases (my own data- base has over 27,000 Scotch games!).Starting Out: The Scotch Game I've occasionally flirted with the white side of the Scotch, but the vast majority of my experience comes from playing the black side. In this book I've intended no particular bias for either, and throughout I’ve suggested possible reper- toires for both White and Black. The illustrative games have been selected more for their entertainment and instructional value than their theoretical relevance (you won’t find too many draws or long endgames here!). In going for an informal approach, I've aimed to be light with attributions and game references throughout the text. How- ever, I would like to mention here a few names (of many) that have contrib- uted greatly to recent Scotch theory. Prominent Scotch players include Kas- parov, Morozevich, Rublevsky, Sutovsky, Timman and Nataf, and one also cannot ignore the theoretical contributions from Wells, Gutman, Mikhalevski and Postny. Good luck starting out on the Scotch! John Emms, Kent, July 2005Chapter One Scotch Four Knights (4...Nf6 5 Nc3) Introduction Alternatives to 5 Nc3 5 Nc3 Bb4 5 Nc3 Bc5 and Other Fifth Moves for Black Points to Remember YYStarting Out: The Scotch Game Introduction 1e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 exd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 (Diagram 1) Diagram 4 (B) The Scotch Four Knights With 4...Nf6 Black immediately sets about attacking White’s centre, basing his early counterplay very much on the e4-pawn. 5 Nc3, developing another piece, is perhaps White’s most natural response, and this variation as a whole is known as the Scotch Four Knights. Alternatives to 5 Nc3 1e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 exd4 4 Nxd4 Nfé (Diagram 2) Diagram 2 (W) Diagram 3 (B) Attacking e4 Think of ...Qh4+!Scotch Four Knights (4...Nf6 5 Nc3) I think that this is as good a place as any to run through some of White’s more unusual options at move five, that is anything excluding 5 Nc3 and the even more popular 5 Nxc6, which we'll discuss in Chapters 2-3. These weird and often not-so-wonderful tries by White do not crop up all that often on my data- base — 5 Nc3, the second most common move, occurs 15 times as often as 5 Bg5?!, the third most common move! However, at improver and club levels they are likely to be more widespread, so for those playing Black it’s worth knowing a little something about them. In a roughly ascending order of importance: a) 5 Bd3?? would be a good developing move were it not for the fact that it leaves a piece en prise to 5...Nxd4!. So, already we see the sort of problems Black creates by attacking the centre so quickly! b) 5 e5? would be nice if it worked, but it appears that Black can simply grab the pawn with 5...Nxe5. White can pin the knight with 6 Qe2, but 6...Qe7 is fine for Black as 7 Nf5 can be answered by 7...Qb4+! 8 Nc3 (8 c3 Qe4) 8...d6. c) 5 £3?! defends e4 but at a cost of weakening the king’s position (opening up the e1-h4 and g1-a7 diagonals). Now an immediate strike in the centre with 5...d5 can’t be bad, but Black can also attempt to take advantage of White's play with 5...Bc5!?. If the knight moves away from the attack then White won't be able to castle kingside due to the bishop's control of g1. White could try to support the knight by means of 6 Be3? (Diagram 3) but then Black can ex- pose the weakness of 5 3 with the combination 6...Nxe4! 7 fxe4 Nxd4 8 Bxd4 Qh4+!, and whichever way White gets out of check, Black will win his piece back with interest. WARNING: Be very wary of playing moves like f2-f3 (or ...f7-f6) early on in the opening. Their negative features very often 2S outweigh the positives. Ranie Gan oe lid -— A .- oe <2 ae ne A as a a ewe Diagram 4 (B) Diagram 5 (B) Relying on the pin Black wins the queen 11Starting Out: The Scotch Game Instead 6 Nxc6! bxc6 7 Nc3 with the plan of castling queenside is what White should be looking for, after which Black should get back to the idea of striking in the centre with 7...d5!. d) 5 Bg5?! (Diagram 4) deals with the attack on e4 by pinning the knight. However, the only problem with relying on this pin is that it can easily be bro- ken. Following the straightforward 5...h6! White must either allow Black to break the pin and win the e4-pawn or else exchange on f6, giving up one of his bishops and accelerating Black’s development. Neither is particularly appetis- ing for White: dl) 6 Bh4 g5! looks good for Black, for example 7 Nxc6 bxc6 8 Bg3 Nxe4 9 Qe2 Qe7! 10 Bxc7 Bg7 11 3 d5 when Black’s development is certainly further ad- vanced than White’s. d2) After 6 Bxf6 Qxf6 it’s clear that White already has some problems: the knight on d4 is attacked and if this moves then the b2-pawn is vulnerable. For example, 7 Nbé Bcd! 8 £3 Qxb2! 9 Nxc7+ Kd8 10 Nxa8 Qxal, and now the game S.Wedlock- D.Ledger, London 1995 ended very abruptly after 11 Nd2?? (Diagram 5), allow- ing the neat 11...Bf2+!!, winning the queen due to 12 Ke2 Nd4+!. e) 5 Qd3 keeps both e4 and d4 protected, but it’s not ideal for White that such a powerful piece has to perform these lowly tasks. One question crops up while looking at all these alternatives: Does White even need to keep hold of the e-pawn?’ After all, there are many lines in Open Games (1 e4 e5 openings) where the e-pawn is sacrificed in favour of speedy development. And there is always the risk of grabbing a pawn in front of your own king. So it makes sense to look at a move such as... f) 5 Be4!?, developing the bishop onto a dangerous diagonal and preparing to castle. While it’s true that Black isn’t forced to grab the e-pawn, this seems like the only real way of trying to punish White for his cheek. So 5...Nxe4 (Diagram 6) and now: f1) 6 0-0 d5! (a good move, both defending the knight and gaining time by hit- ting the bishop) 7 Bb5 Bd7 8 Bxc6 bxc6 9 Rel (threatening to win the pinned knight with f2-f3 so Black blocks the e-file) 9...Be7 10 £3 Nd6 11 Qe2 when it’s true that Black is prevented from castling for the moment, but I would still prefer to have Black’s extra pawn. £2) 6 Bxf7+!? can come as a bit of a shock to those unfamiliar with this tactic; White exploits the traditionally vulnerable f7-point and the knight on e4 to win back the sacrificed pawn. However, following 6...Kxf7 7 Qh5+ g6 8 Qd5+ Kg?7 the position is in some ways deceptive. At first sight Black’s king looks quite exposed on g7, but a deeper look into the position sees that it’s actually White who is struggling. 9 Qxe4? can be met by 9...Bb4+! 10 Kd1 Re8, while 9 Nxc6 Qe8! threatens both the knight on c6 and a discovered check on the e-file. White can escape via 10 Qe5+ Qxe5 11 Nxe5 but after, say, 11...Bc5 it’s Black who is more active in the endgame. 12Scotch Four Knights (4...Nf6 5 Nc3) 20 4% me rat Ss om LL, le ‘a en RAY 16 ap Faw Diagram 6 (W) Diagram 7 (B) Grabbing the e4-pawn Don't rule this out! TIP: The traditional ‘weak points’ f2 and f7 are especially vul- nerable in 1 e4 e5 openings. It pays to always watch out for tactics, including sacrifices, on these squares. g) Finally, just when I thought I had everything covered, the idea of 5 Bb5!? (Wiagram 7) suddenly occurred to me. It certainly looks a little odd, but it has a point that after 5...Nxe4 6 0-0 Black faces some problems as ...d7-d5 is ruled out and 6...Be7?! 7 Nfd! is awkward for Black on account of 7...0-0?? 8 Qg4!. So perhaps on this occasion Black should forgo capturing on e4 in favour of 5...Be5!?. After 6 Be3? it’s safe to play 6...Nxe4! as 7 0-0 0-0 leads nowhere for White, while 6 Nf5 can be met by 6...0-0 followed by a quick ...d7-d5. Of course Black is happy after 6 Nxc6 bxc6 as White has to expend a tempo moving the bishop again. That leaves 6 Nb3 when 6...Nxe4!? 7 0-0! still gives White some play, so Black could opt for the safer 6...Bb6. This position reminds me of the one reached after 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 exd4 4 Nxd4 Bcd 5 Nb3 Bb6, except of course that White’s bishop looks a little strange on bd! Looking back at this section on fifth-move alternatives, it’s certainly more sub- stantial than I first expected it to be. On the other hand, Black doesn’t really have much to worry about here, and normally a bit of common sense should see him through. White players who wish to spring an early surprise could give 5 Bb5 a whirl, though this is probably only good for a one-off. 5 Nc3 Bb4 14 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 exd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 Finally we move onto 5 Nc3, sensibly developing the queen’s knight and pro- tecting e4. 13Starting Out: The Scotch Game 5...Bb4! (Diagram 8) Diagram 8 (W) Diagram 9 (B) Pinning the knight Atriple attack What could be more natural? Black develops his bishop, prepares to castle and pins the knight on c3, thus renewing the attack on the e4-pawn. There are one or two alternatives, however, and these will be studied in the next section. 6 Nxcé! With this move White finally gives up on the idea of trying to protect both e4 and dé at the same time, and paves the way for Bd3. Alternatives show how difficult it is for White to maintain the tension in the centre: a) 6 Nf5?! 0-0! exposes White’s extravagant play (three moves by the same piece in his first six). I'll leave the reader to work out why White is already in some trouble after 7 Bg5 d5!. b) 6 Bg5!? is stronger here then it was on the previous move, White's idea be- ing to move the queen and tuck the king into safety on the queenside. How- ever, Black can still force the bishop to make a decision by playing 6...h6!. Now 7 Bxf6 Qxf6 is again quite uncomfortable for White; 8 Ndb5, attacking c7, can be answered by the calm 8...Ba5, when Black will certainly follow up with ..a7-a6, again hitting the poor knight. So White should probably enter the complications of 7 Bh4 g5!? (this is not forced but looks good) 8 Nxc6 bxc6 9 Bg3 Nxe4 when the e4-pawn has once again dropped off. However, that’s not quite the end of the story as White can play 10 Qd4! (Diagram 9) with a triple attack on b4, e4 and h8. Even so, Black can utilise a familiar tactic to solve the problem with 10...Bxc3+ 11 bxc3 0-0! — the crucial point is that after 12 Qxe4 Black can regain his piece with 12...Re8 13 Be5 d5! 14 Qe3 f6. After 11...0-01 prefer Black, who is a pawn ahead, but the position is not entirely clear as both kings could be safer. 14Scotch Four Knights (4...Nf6 5 Nc3) NOTE: Pins and counter-pins on an open e-file are very com- mon in Open Games. c) 6 £3 has similar motives to 6 Bg5 but before developing the queenside White bolsters the e4-pawn. We've already seen how the early movement of this f- pawn offers Black some tactical possibilities based on the temporary weakness of White’s king and again here White must be very careful. Now there’s noth- ing wrong with the straightforward 6...d5, but also interesting is 6...0-0, for example 7 Bg5 h6 8 Bh4 Re8!. Now the natural-looking 9 Qd2? is punished by the neat tactic 9...Nxe4!, winning a pawn after 10 Bxd8 Nxd2+ 11 Kxd2 Rxd8. NOTE: Tactics involving pins can work both ways. In this in- stance Black unleashed a discovered attack on the h4-bishop, the pinning piece. Instead White should carry on with 9 Nxc6 bxc6 10 Qd3. Following 10...d5 11 0-0-0 White has managed to carry through his plan of queenside castling, but Black’s pieces are active and he can be reasonably happy with his position. 6...bxc6! (Diagram 10) TL Uh Wy) Y Y Y De Diagram 10 (W) Diagram 11 (W) Capturing towards the centre Better development for Black Now Black is ready to strike in the centre with ...d7-d5. You may have noticed that in all the variations above Black has played ...bxc6 rather than ...dxc6. As we will see later, this isn’t always the recapture Black uses in the Scotch, and we will look at the pros and cons of ...bxc6 and ...dxc6 throughout the book. It’s suffice to say here that 6...dxc6?! 7 Qxd8+! Kxd8 8 Bd2 does Black few favours. His king is misplaced and he has no real compensation for White’s better pawn structure. Note that 8...Bxc3 9 Bxc3 Nxe4 10 Bxg7 Rg8 11 Bd4 is pleasant for White, who has the bishop pair in an open position and remains with the bet- ter pawn structure. 15Starting Out: The Scotch Game 7 Bas Now there is no longer a d4-knight to worry about, this move, protecting e4 and preparing to castle, very much suggests itself. However, for those playing Black it’s still worth checking out white alternatives: a) 7 Bg5 h6 8 Bh4 g5 transposes to note ‘b’ to White’s 6th move. b) Playing as in the Mieses Variation (see Chapters *-*) with 7 e5?! doesn’t hit the mark here because Black’s bishop has already escaped to b4 and thus fol- lowing 7...Qe7! 8 Qe2 Nd5 (Diagram 11) Black’s development is much more harmonious whilst White still has some problems developing his kingside. c) 7 Bd2?! again attempts queenside castling, but White is a move too slow: 7...0-0! 8 Qf3? (White should still revert back to 8 Bd3) 8...Bxc3 9 Bxc3 Nxe4! 10 Qxe4 Re8 (that pin on the e-file again!) 11 Bed d5 12 Qe3 £6 and Black wins his piece back with some interest, for example 13 f4 fxe5 14 fxe5 Qh4+! 15 g3 Qb4+! and ...Qxb2. d) 7 Qd4!? is a much better attempt at queenside castling as it gains time by hitting the b4-bishop and intends to meet 7...c5 with 8 Qe5+. When the theory was developing on this move the ‘main line’ ran 7...Qe7 8 f3 d5 9 Bg5 c5 10 Bb5+ Kf8 11 Qd3! with quite a good position for White because 11...d4 12 0-0-0! dxc3? fails to 13 Qd8+!, winning the rook in the corner. Instead of 8...d5, Black can try 8...Bc5, while also possible is 8...c5!?. For ex- ample, 9 Qf2 0-0 10 Bd2 d5! 11 0-0-0 d4 12 Nb1 Bxd2+ 13 Nxd2 Nd7 14 f4 Rb8 with a pleasant position for Black, I.Bondarevsky-D.Bronstein, Moscow 1945, Instead of 11 0-0-0, is it possible that White can play 11 a3 here? It’s true that 11...Bxc3 12 Bxc3 dxe4 13 0-0-0 leaves Black a pawn to the good, but White does have a nice bishop pointing at Black’s kingside from c3. If push came to shove, though, I think I'd still take Black. 7...45 (Diagram 12) Diagram 12 (W) Diagram 13 (W) More pressure on e4 Undoubled pawns 16Scotch Four Knights (4...Nf6 5 Nc3) This strike, which Black has been preparing for the past few moves, is by far the most popular choice, but 7...d6!? (Game 1) and 7...0-0 (Game 2) are both reasonable alternatives. 8 exdd With his e4-pawn under pressure from all angles, White decides to liquidate the tension. The other main option is to push with 8 e5 (see Game 3). Against 8 0-0 Black could opt to mirror White with 8...0-0 with a probable transposition into a main line. However, I also can’t see anything wrong with Black ‘cashing his chips’ with 8...Bxc3 9 bxc3 dxed. It’s true that White can use the pin on the e-file to regain his pawn with 10 Qe2 but it seems to be White who’s trying to hold onto equality after, say, 10...0-0 11 Bxe4 Re8! 12 Bg5 BES 13 £3 Qe7. 8...cxd5 (Diagram 13) Undoubling the pawns and creating a central pawn complex with his c- and d- pawns. This is by far the most usual choice for Black, but again there are al- ternatives: a) The disruptive 8...Qe7+ is the subject of Game 4. b) 8...Nxd5 appears at first sight to cause White some problems with the de- fence of c3, but in fact this is an occasion where White can sacrifice for the ini- tiative with 9 0-0!, e.g. xc3 10 bxc3 Bxc3 11 Ba3! and Black, with his king stuck in the centre, has some problems: 11...Bxa1? 12 Qxal f6? 13 Be4! and there’s going to be a very big check on el. 90-0 9 Bb5+ doesn’t achieve much after 9...Bd7 10 Qe2+ Be7 11 0-0 0-0, but 9 Qe2+!? is a serious alternative. Now 9...Be6?! 10 Bb5+ Nd7 11 Bcé! is awkward for Black, while 9...Qe7 transposes to Game 4. If Black wishes to keep the queens on the board he can play 9...Be7 after which White must decide which side to castle: a) A Istratescu-M.Krasenkow, Yerevan Olympiad 1996 continued 10 0-0 0-0 11 Rel Re8 12 Bgd Bg4! 13 Qed c6 14 Qg3 Bhd 15 Qh4 Bg6 and White's brief kingside initiative had been effectively neutralised, leaving a level position. b) 10 Bg5!? 0-0 11 0-0-0 c6 (11...Be6 is also possible) 12 Rhe1 and White has an aggressive set-up. Still, with careful play Black seems to be okay, 12...Bb4 13 Qed Ng4! being one possible line. 9...0-0 10 Bg5! (Diagram 14) Acrucial move and White’s only real try for an advantage. Now that Black has castled, he will be more reluctant to lunge forward to break the pin with ...h7- h6 followed by ...g7-g5 as this would obviously have repercussions against his king. Thus the pin is quite irritating, and one option Black must consider at some point is to expend a move ‘unpinning’ with ...Be7. 10...c6! 17Starting Out: The Scotch Game Sensibly bolstering the d5-pawn. Another way of protecting d5 is with 10...Be6 ~ see Game 5, 10...h6? doesn’t take into account the threat created with 10 Bg5. White con- tinues 11 Bxf6! Qxf6 (or 11...gxf6 12 Nxd5! Qxd5?? 13 Bh7+!) 12 Nxd5 and now Black cannot regain his pawn with 12...Qxb2? as 13 Rb1 wins the bishop on b4. The unpinning 10...Be7!? allows the similar tactic 11 Bxf6 Bxf6 12 Nxd5! when 12...Qxd5?? again loses to 13 Bxh7+!. Black can regain his pawn with 12...Bxb2 although White still has the initiative after 13 Rb1. 1m - wae - cae bvene Diagram 14 (B) Bg5: an annoying pin Y J BOF es Z Le Diagram 15 (B) Pressuring f6 11 Qf3 Diagram 15) The traditional main line: White moves his queen to the kingside where it fur- ther pressures the pinned knight. Alternatives for White include 11 Ne2 (Game 6) and 11 Na4 (Game 7). After 11 Qf3 it’s clear that for the moment White’s pieces look more active than their counterparts. White is slightly ahead in development and his rooks are connected. On the other hand, Black’s position has potential based on the firm grip the d5/c6 pawn complex gives him in the centre and the open lines for his pieces (the rooks can use the b- and e-files). A big question mark remains about the pinned knight on f6. Black must decide whether to allow White the opportunity to inflict doubled pawns with Bxf6 or to do something about the ‘threat’ by playing ...Be7. Here I will look at the two most popular moves: 11...Bd6 (Game 8) and 11...Be7 (Game 9). Black can also consider moves such as 11...Rb8, 11...Re8 and even 11...h6, which are all simi- lar in spirit to 11...Bd6. @ WARNING: The pin on f6 mustn’t be taken lightly. For example, 11...Bg4?? loses material after 12 Bxf6! Bxf3 13 Bxd8 Raxd8 14 ~ gxf3. 18Scotch Four Knights (4...Nf6 5 Nc3) Theoretical? Even though it’s taken us a few pages to reach this position, I believe that’s only because I’ve gone through some of the more unusual possibilities for both sides with quite a fine toothcomb. In practice these first eleven moves are of- ten trotted out by more experienced players without much reflection. You can hardly describe the line as theoretical, and this, together with the fact that both sides have easy piece play, makes this whole variation a good choice for improvers playing White or Black. Statistics Taking the position after 10...c6, I found over 2600 games on my database, with White scoring only 49% (the average score for White is around 54%). This is counterbalanced to some extent by the fact that on average the Black play- ers were slightly higher rated, but theoretically speaking this line isn’t meant to cause Black many problems. Another significant point is the ratio of draws over the whole database is a very high 50% (somewhere in the region of 30% would be normal), and this figure increases further if we only take games be- tween grandmasters. However, the fact that the position is considered as ‘drawish’ at the highest levels, where play often verges on perfect, shouldn’t discourage us lesser mortals from playing this way, and of course the drawing ratio tumbles down once we only examine games between lower-rated players. Black players who would prefer to go down lesser-explored paths might wish to opt for 7...d6. This is certainly less ‘drawish’, although statistically speaking White is doing better against this move, scoring 61%. Game 1 C1 O.Bezman Ml V.Varavin Russian Championship, Perm 1997 1e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Nc3 Nf6é 4 d4 Reaching the Scotch Four Knights with this move order is very common, al- though I should point out that Black also has the option here of playing 4...Bb4!?. 4...exd4 5 Nxd4 Bb4 6 Nxc6 bxc6 7 Bd3 d6!? (Diagram 16) Moving the d-pawn only one square is an appealing and underrated alterna- tive to 7...d5; there is certainly more scope for original play with this move. 8 Bg5 NOTE: It can be argued that the Bg5 pin isn’t so effective when Black hasn’t castled because Black has a greater licence to break it by lunging forward with ...h7-h6 and ...g7-g5. As we see in this game, this doesn’t necessarily expose Black’s king when it hasn’t committed itself to the kingside. 19Starting Out: The Scotch Game 8 0-0 has been more popular, with White being ready to answer 8...0-0 with 9 Bg5!. Instead Black can avoid this scenario with a favourable piece redeploy- ment: 8...Ng4! 9 Be2!? (9 h3 Ne5 10 f4 Nxd3 11 cxd3 is very reasonable for Black, while 9 £3? fails to the neat trick 9...Bc5+ 10 Khi Nxh2!, as capturing on h2 allows ...Qh4 mate!) 9...Qh4! 10 h3 (Jan Pinski, author of the excellent book The Four Knights, gives 10 Bf4 Bxc3 11 Bg3 Qe7 12 bxe3 Nf6, intending to meet 13 £3 with 13...Nh5!) 10...Ne5 11 £4 Ng6! and Black has good counter- play. Notice here that there is the possibility of ...Bxh3, when gxh3, ...Qg3+ results in perpetual check. Note, however, that the immediate 11...Bxh3? (@iagram 17) is incorrect. ae re z a2 ptt ne oie ie Re aa ‘Gwe GF 0 Diagram 16 (W) Diagram 17 (W) Something different Enticing but incorrect With this enticing idea Black hopes for 12 gxh3?? Qg3+ 13 Kh1 Qxh3+ 14 Kg1 BcSt+ 15 Rf2 Qg3+. However, it fails to the very calm 12 Qe1! Bc5+ 13 Khi! when, despite White’s apparently airy king, Black loses a piece for insufficient compensation due to the double attack on h3 and e5. 8...h6 9 Bh4 Be6!? Black is waiting for White to commit his king before lunging with ...g7-g5 and, with Black’s king possibly staying in the centre, it makes sense to provide some sort of barrier on the e-file. I've found three games with this move and on each occasion it was the Russian GM Viktor Varavin playing Black, so you could say it’s his speciality! 9...Qe7 has similar motives to 9...Be6, but note the following: 10 0-0 g5 11 Bg3 Ngd (11...h5 12 e5! sees the problems Black can face on the e-file, 12...dxe5 13 Bxe5 Qxe5? losing to 14 Rel) 12 Bb5!! (Diagram 18). This is a stunning way to exploit the queen on e7 — 12...cxb5 13 Nd5 Qxe4 14 8 Qe4 15 b3 Qc6 16 Nxb4 Qd7 17 Re1+ Kf8 18 h3 Ne5 19 Bxe5 dxe5 20 Qf3 Rb8 21 Qf6 Kg8 22 Ncé6 and, faced with the threats of Ne7+ and Nxb8, Black 20Scotch Four Knights (4...Nf6 5 Nc3) was forced to resign in S.Arkhipov-N.Muhamedzjanov, Nabereznye Chelny 1993. ninen mie a. a 2 « @18an Wh, WY ws Ww" — ne \ eS \ s is LEY RY YEG YEG ee 27 A) Diagram 18 (B) Diagram 19 (W) 12 Bd3-b5I! Charge! 9...0-0 10 0-0! is the kind of thing that White is after, when ...g7-g5 is at best risky because it opens up Black’s own king. 10 0-07! Giving Black the green light to begin an assault on the kingside; 11 f4! is the way to continue. 10...g5! 11 Bg3 h5! (Diagram 19) Of course there is some risk involved in this pawn launch but Black’s actions are quite justified in this instance. With Black’s king still in the centre, open- ing up with 12 e65 looks logical, but 12...Ng4! 13 exd6 h4! 14 dxc7 Qd4 leaves the bishop on g3 without a safe square. 12 f4 Predictably White looks for some action down the f-file, but the flipside to this move is that Black obtains his own action down the g-file. 12...h4 13 Bel gxf4 14 Rxf4 Nd7! This knight is heading towards the juicy outpost on e5, while the way is now clear for Black’s queen to enter the fray. Cj NOTE: An outpost is a square that cannot easily be attacked by enemy pawns. 15 Kh1 Qg5 16 Bd2 Rg8& The first major threat arises: mate on g2. 17 Qe2 Ne5 18 Rafi 2Starting Out: The Scotch Game Here White should probably make use of the discovered attack on Black’s queen with 18 Rxf7!, Following the tactical sequence 18...Qxg2+ 19 Qxg2 Rxg2 20 Kxg2 Bxf7 (Pinski) Black’s pieces are more active in this ending, but White is certainly still in the game. 18...Bg4 19 R4f3?? (Diagram 20) a7 i oe , A ane ae WY ate = "oe Vi, |e ~ a, .s Ae a x eae ve el / Y ae RR ame 5 Q a Wnee “e “a Diagram 20 (B) Diagram 21 (W) An easy way to lose Black plans ...Rb8-b1+ Ye Pan BS ‘This ‘self-pin’ loses without a fight. 19 Qe1?? also loses after 19...Bf3!, when something big is happening on g2. However, White can struggle on with 19 Q£2! Be5 20 Rf6! Qe7 21 Qxh4, as here 21...Bf3 can be met by 22 Qg3!. Instead the discovered attack on g2 with 21...Be2! wins some material, but Black still has some work to do after 22 g3 Bxfl 23 Rxfl. 19...Qg7 20 Be3 h3! The defence of f3 collapses and Black ends up winning two rooks for two minor pieces — a decisive material advantage. 21 g3 Bxf3+ 22 Rxf3 Nxf3 23 Qxf3 Bxc3 24 bxc3 Qxc3 0-1 (Diagram 21) Next up for Black is ...Rb8-b1+. Well down on material, White decides to throw in the towel. It’s true that White gave Black a helping hand in this game, but I can certainly see the attraction of 7...d6. Game 2 C1 D.Reinderman Ml |.Sokolov Dutch Championship, Amsterdam 1995. 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 exd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 Bb4 6 Nxc6 bxc6 7 Bd3 0-0!? (Diagram 22) With this move Black commits his king but keeps his options open on whether to play ...d7-d5 or ...d7-d6. 80-0 22j i | Scotch Four Knights (4...Nf6 5 Nc3) Compared to the previous game, now that Black has made a decision over his king it’s tempting to pin the knight with Bg5!?. Then 8...h6 9 Bh4 Re8 10 0-0 transposes to this game, but Black can also try 8...d5!? and now: Diagram 22 (W) Diagram 23 (W) Keeping options open Rooks like open files! a) 9 e5?! (this looks enticing, but...) 9...Qe8! 10 f4? Ng4 11 Qe2 f6! 12 exf6 gxf6! 13 h3 (or 13 Bh4 Qh5! threatening the bishop and ...Re8) 13...fxg5 14 hxg4 Bxg4 15 Bxh7+ Kg7 and White resigned in J.Candela Perez-O.Korneev, Ponferrada 1997; one possible finish is 16 Qxe8 Raxe8+ 17 Kf2 Rxf4+ 18 Kg1 Bc5t+ 19 Kh2 Rh8 20 Kg3 Bf2+ 21 Kh2 Rxh7 mate. Instead of 10 f4? White does better with 10 Bxf6 gxf6 11 0-0 fxe5 12 Bxh7+. Here capturing on h7 leads to perpetual check with 13 Qh5+, but Black can be more adventurous with 12...Kg7!? when his im- pressive centre compensates for his admittedly exposed king. b) 9 exd5 cxdd 10 0-0 leads to the main line, but Black can also consider the move 9...Qxd5. However, following 10 Bxf6 Black should play 10...Qe6+! fol- lowed by ...Qxf6 because the tempting 10...Qxg2? runs into 11 Bxh7+! Kxh7 12 Qh5+ Kg8 13 0-0-0!, when White has a vicious attack on Black’s king. Note that here 8 e5? is premature, Black using the pin on the e-file to good effect after 8...Re8! 9 f4 d6. 8...Re8!? Black keeps an independent flavour by refusing to commit his d-pawn. 8...d5 9 exd5 cxd5 is an often-seen move order to reach the main line. 9 Bgd! As we have seen before, this pin is more annoying for Black when his king is committed to the kingside. 9...h6 10 Bh4 Rb8 (Diagram 23) Utilising both of the half-open files with his rooks. Alternatively: 23Starting Out: The Scotch Game a) 10...g5? wins a pawn but is asking for trouble as it leaves Black’s king ex- posed: 11 Bg3 Bxc3 (it’s too late for consolidation; 11...d6 12 e5! dxe5 13 Bxed is unpleasant for Black as 13...Rxe5?? loses to the discovered attack 14 Bh7+!) 12 bxe3 Nxe4 13 Qh5 Kg7 14 f4! when White opens the f-file for his rook and leaves Black with a major defensive headache. b) 10...d6 11 f4! Bb7 and here I like the move 12 Ne2!, preparing Ng3 followed by Nh5 or Nf5. Now 12...g5 13 fxg5 Nxe4 was assessed as clearly better for Black in Chess Informant, but someone obviously missed the trick 14 g6! Qxh4 15 gxf7+, when it’s White who is on top. Instead the game V.Georgiev- AShchekachev, Hallsberg 1991 continued 12...c5 13 Ng3! c4!? 14 Bxe4 Be5+ 15 Kh1 Bxe4 16 Nh5 Qd7! (hoping for 17 Bxf6? Qh3!!) 17 Nxf6+! gxf6 18 f5! when Black’s shattered kingside pawns promised White some advantage. 11 Qf3?! This is standard in the main line, but it’s not always necessarily good. Here I prefer the bold 11 f4!, preparing e4-e5. White doesn’t have to worry about 11...Be5+ 12 Kh1 Rxb2?? on account of 13 Na4!, so I don’t really see anything better for Black than 11...d6. Now 12 e5? dxe5 13 fxe5 can be met by 13...Qd4+! (not 13...Rxe5 14 Bh7+! — you should know this trick by now!). However, instead White can follow up with the prophylactic 12 Kh1!, when the threat of e4-e5 be- comes real again. The game J.Dulik-J.Malmstrom, correspondence 1997 contin- ued 12...Bb7 (protecting the queen with the b8-rook) 13 e5! (anyway!) 13...dxe5 14 fxe5 Bxc3 15 bxc3 Rxe5 16 Rb1 Qe8 17 Bxf6 gxf6 18 Qf3 with a very strong position for White due once again to Black’s shattered kingside pawns. NOTE: Prophylaxis is the strategic idea of anticipating or pre- venting an opponent’s threat before it exists. With Kh1 White eliminates the possibility of a later ...Qd4+. 11...g5! (Diagram 24) JBN ae A reir ek » 4 Ee "As ui Diagram 24 (W) Diagram 25 (W) Another ...g7-95 charge! A double attack on e3 and a4 24Scotch Four Knights (4...Nf6 5 Nc3) Here this attack is justified as White doesn’t have time to open up the kingside and thus exploit Black’s weaknesses — the queen on f3 turns out to be awk- wardly placed. 12 Bg3 d6 13 Nad?! White wanted to prevent ...Bc5, which would have threatened to trap the queen with ...Bg4. However, as Korchnoi later suggested, 13 h3 would have been better. 13...c5 14 c3 Bad 15 Rfel? After this move White is suddenly in big trouble. 15 Be2, protecting the knight on a4, is stronger, while White could also consider the pawn sacrifice 15 e5!? dxe5 16 Qe3, when the knight plans to re-enter the game via c5. 15...Bg4! 16 Qe3 Bd7! Targeting the unfortunately placed knight, which is on the edge of the board and lacking squares. 17 Be2 17b3 Bxa4 18 bxa4 Bxc3, forking both rooks, also wins a decisive amount of material. 17...Bxa4 18 Bxa4 Rxe4 (Diagram 25) Simple stuff! The double attack on e3 and a4 forces White to give up his queen for a rook and knight. 19 Qxe4 Nxe4 20 Rxed f5! Planning to trap the bishop with ...f5-f4. 21 Re6 f4! 22 Rael Rxb2 23 Bb3 Or 23 Re8+ Qxe8 24 Rxe8+ Kf7 25 Kf1 (to stop the back rank mate) 25...Rxa2 26 Bb3+ Kxe8 27 Bxa2 fxg3 28 hxg3 Bxc3 and Black’s extra pawns on the queenside will be decisive. 23...Rxb3! 24 axb3 Kf7 0-1 Anice win for Black, but White could have made things more difficult with an early f2-f4. Game 3 OA.Tzermiadianos Ml P.Frendzas Athens 1996 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 exd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nxc6 bxc6 If White plays 5 Nxc6, he usually follows up with 6 e5 (see Chapters 2-3). However, in this game we simply reach the Scotch Four Knights via an un- usual move order. 6 Bd3 db 7 Nc3 Bb4 8 e5!? (Diagram 26) In many ways this is White’s most ambitious move because he keeps some pawn presence in the centre and forces Black’s knight to move away from f6, 25Starting Out: The Scotch Game However... . a te" a At rf oo em Diagram 26 (B) Diagram 27 (W) White shows ambition Attacking down the f-file 8...Ng4! An active square for the knight, from where it hits e5, f2 and h2. 8...Qe7 tries to utilise the pin on the e-file, but following 9 0-0! Qxe5? 10 Rel it’s actually White who’s exploiting the pin! After 10...Ne4 11 Bxe4 Bxc3 12 Bxd5! Qxel+ 13 Qxe1+ Bxel 14 Bxc6+ Ke7 15 Bxa8 White emerges with a good extra pawn. 90-0 After 9 Bf4 it’s tempting for Black to play 9...d4, but 10 Qf3! dxc3 11 0-0-0!, which has happened in quite a few games, gives White a strong attack. In- stead I think Black should play 9...f6! when 10 exf6 0-0! 11 0-0 Qxf6 trans- poses to the game. In the game A.Davie-S.Gligoric, Dundee 1967 White played 10 h3 but following 10...Nxe5 11 Bxe5 fxe5 12 Qh5+ Kf8 13 Qxe5 Bd6 Black was slightly better. Despite having lost the right to castle, Black can tidy up his king’s position with ...Qf6, ...g7-g6 and ...Kg7, while the advantage of the bishop pair is permanent. 9...0-0! 9...Nxe5?? is another example of the power of the pin on the e-file; White wins a piece following 10 Re1 Qe7 11 f4! Bg4 12 Be2 Bxe2 13 Rxe2. After 9...0-0, however, the threat to the e-pawn becomes real. 10 Bf4 Well, not quite real. After 10 h3 Nxe5 White can regain his pawn with 11 Bxh7+! Kxh7 12 Qh5+ Kg8 13 Qxe5, although Black certainly has no problems in this position. On the other hand, defending the e5-pawn with 10 f4?? is a blunder that allows Black to win in an eye-catching fashion: 10...Be5+! 11 Kh1 26Scotch Four Knights (4...Nf6 5 Nc3) Qh4 12 h3 Qg3!! 13 hxg4 Qh4 mate! 10...£6! Opening up the kingside to Black’s advantage. It is crucial to add further pres- sure to e5 as White was threatening to banish the knight back to h6 with h2- h3 and then to shatter Black’s kingside pawns with Bxh6. 11 exf6 Qxf6! (Diagram 27) 12 Bg3 Grabbing the c7-pawn with 12 Bxc7? is rather gluttonous and can be punished by 12...Bc5!. After 13 Bg3 Nxf2! 14 Bxf2 Bxf2+ 15 Kh1 Qh4 Black will continue to attack with ...Bg4 and possibly ...Bg3. 12...Be5 Adding further pressure to f2. Black can also oppose bishops immediately with 12..,Bd6. Here the game Y.Afek-Z.Gyimesi, Kecskemet 1994 continued 13 Be2 Ned 14 Nad Be6 15 Qd2 Ng6! 16 Rael Nf4! 17 Bd Rae8 18 c3 c5 when Black’s more active pieces and pressure along the half-open f-file promised him a slight advantage. 13 Qd2 Rb8 14 Rab1 Bd6 15 Be2 Ned 16 Nd1 The knight wasn’t doing very much on ¢3 so White decides to re-route it to e3. However, Black’s next move prevents this. 16...d4! 17 Kh1?! (Diagram 28) cB as) Diagram 28 (B) Diagram 29 (W) White drifts Planning ...Re3 Za VF The immediate 17 Qxd4?? loses to the discovered attack 17...Nf3+!, so White moves his king in order to threaten the d4-pawn. However, this is all a bit too slow, and I prefer 17 b3!, planning to bring the knight back into the game via b2. Then it can challenge Black’s powerful knight from d3 or c4. 17...c5! 18 b4? This move does White no favours at all — the pawn on b4 cannot capture on c5 27Starting Out: The Scotch Game due to the pin on the b-file. Again 18 b3 followed by Nb2 was the right way forward. 18...Bf5! 19 b5 Qg6! Targeting c2. 20 f4 Ng4 21 Bxg4 Qxug4 22 Nf2 Finally the knight has reached a (slightly) better square, but now the bishop on g3 is suffering... 22...Qg6 23 Rb2 Rbe8! (Diagram 29) Planning ...Re3 followed by a doubling of rooks on the e-file. Black’s advantage is beginning to become serious, but White’s next move doesn’t really help mat- ters. 24 Nd3? c4! 0-1 A sudden end; if the knight moves then ...c4-c3 forks queen and rook, so Black wins a piece. Game 4 CLRadulov ll J.Pinter Pernik 1978 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 d4 exd4 5 Nxd4 Bb4 6 Nxc6 bxc6 7 Bd3 d5 8 exd5 Qe7+!? As far as I can see, this move is a bit of a ‘spoiler’ because White is more or less forced to offer an exchange of queens (see how the alternatives fare below). In practice 8...Qe7+ isn’t seen that often because, firstly, White is probably a tiny bit better in the resulting endings and, secondly, Black hardly needs to run away from the main lines. 9 Qe2! Avoiding an exchange of queens without making some concession proves to be impossible, for example: a) 9 Be2 Nxd5! (the point — now 10 0-0?? loses a piece to 10...Bxe3 11 bxc3 Nxc3) 10 Bd2 Bxc3 11 bxc3 Ba6 12 Kf1 Bxe2+ 13 Qxe2 Qxe2+ 14 Kxe2 0-0-0 and if anything Black is a bit better, S.Movsesian-J.Stocek, Trencianske Teplice 2002. b) 9 Be3 is another move that can be met by 9...Nxd5!. If White now castles then Black simply captures the bishop on e3. 10 Qf3!? is more interesting, with 10...Nxe3? losing to 11 Qxc6+ and 10...Nxe3 11 Qxc6+ also looking good for White. GM Lev Gutman gives the line 10...Bd7 11 0-0 Nxc3, but here 12 Rfel! looks like a good move, 12...0-0 13 bxe3 giving White some advantage on ac- count of 13...Bxc3?? 14 Bd2!. So all in all Black should probably favour 10...0-0 11 0-0 Nxe3 when he should be fine regardless of whether White immediately recaptures on e3 or plays Rel. 9...cxd5 (Diagram 30) 28Scotch Four Knights (4...Nf6 5 Nc3) “ pr \ "of amAnae one ke a ane \ NN ER ae oe Diagram 30 (W) Diagram 31 (B) A trade of queens Offering a bishop trade Black’s other option here is the more active 9...Nxd5, which does however leave him with the doubled isolated c-pawns. Now a few games have continued 10 Qxe7+Kxe7 11 Bd2 Nxc3 12 a3! Ba5 13 b4! with White securing an edge after either 13...Bxb4 14 axb4 — White’s bishop pair and better structure out- weigh Black’s extra pawn — or 13...Bb6 14 Bxc3. 10 Qxe7+ Kxe7 11 Bd2 c6 12 0-0-0 A typical position for the 8...Qe7+ variation. White can claim that Black’s pawns are slightly more vulnerable but on the other hand Black has good piece play and control of the central squares. 12...Rd8 Black will later play ...Nd7 in the fight to control c5 and so it might be more accurate to play 12...Be6!? so that the knight move doesn’t block the bishop on c8, The game S.Rublevsky-M.Magomedov, Russia 1993 continued 13 Rhe1 Rhe8 14 h3 Kf8 15 Na4 Bd6 16 Be3 Nd7 with a level position. 13 Na4! (Diagram 31) White wants to exchange the dark-squared bishops and thus give himself the option of plonking his knight on the c5-outpost. NOTE: The c5-outpost can often be an important positional feature in the Scotch Four Knights. 13...Bd6 14 Be3! i Continuing the battle for the c5-square. 14...Kf8 15 h3 h6 16 Rhel Nd7 17 c4 Bb4 18 Bd2 Bxd2+ 19 Rxd2 Bb7 20 Bf! Logical play by White, who plans Bxd7 followed by Nc5. This old game does 29Starting Out: The Scotch Game demonstrate well how White can try to squeeze as much as possible from this ending. 20...Nb6! 21 Nc5 Bc8 22 Bxc8 Raxc8 23 cxd5 cxd5 24 Rce2 Re8 25 Rxe8+ Kxe8 26 b3 Ke7 27 a4! Kd6 28 Nb7+ Ke5 29 a5! Rxc2+ 30 Kxc2 (Diagram 32) aaa oe Diagram 32 (B) Diagram 33 (B) Dangerous a- and b-pawns The knight's no good At first sight this ending looks pretty level, but what swings it very much in White's favour is that his pawn majority (a- and b- versus a-pawn) is much more dangerous than Black’s passed d-pawn — White has the possibility of cre- ating a decisive outside passed pawn. 30...Nc8 31 Kd3 f5 32 b4! g5 33 b5 h5 34 Nd&! g4 35 hxg4 hxg4 36 g3 Kd6 37 Kd4 Ne7 Or 37...Kd7 38 Nc6 Kd6 39 a6! (Minev) when the sacrifice on a7 will be deci- sive, for example 39...Ke6 40 Nxa7 Nxa7 41 b6 Nc6+ 42 Ke5. 38 Nf7+ Ke6 39 Ke5! d4 The power of White’s pawns is seen in the variation 39...Kxf7 40 b6 axb6+ 41 axb6, when Black cannot prevent White from queening. 40 Ng5+ Kf6 41 Nh7+ Kg7 42 Kxd4! Kxh7 43 Ke5 (Diagram 33) Again threatening b5-b6. NOTE: It’s well known that lone knights are very poor defend- ers against passed pawns, especially ones on the edge of the board. 43...Nc8 44 Kc6 f4 45 Kd7 fxg3 46 fxg3 Nb6+ 47 axb6 1-0 After 47...axb6 48 Kc6 White captures on b6 and promotes his b-pawn. 30Scotch Four Knights (4...Nf6 5 Nc3) Game 5 11 G.Oppici Mf A.Miotto Correspondence 1990 Led e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 d4 exd4 5 Nxd4 Bb4 6 Nxc6 bxc6 7 Bd3 d5 8 exd5 cxd5 9 0-0 0-0 10 Bg5 Be6 Even though most players prefer to protect d5 with 10...c6, there’s also some- thing to be said about this natural move. In some ways it’s actually more am- bitious because Black can aim to get his centre going with an immediate ...c7- 5. 11 Nb5!? (Diagram 34) EET eS i 2 a Wi, Y tt a Jl y Y an ‘e a Oe a wae e -e, A De Dab>\ ee Se foet Diagram 34 (B) Diagram 35 (B) Preparing Nd4 14 Qe1! — an important discovery Exploiting that, without ...c7-c6, the b5-square isn’t covered. Now the knight may jump into 4, while another possibility is to advance on the queenside with a2-a3 and b2-b4. 11...05. Preventing Nd4, although Black can also retreat his b4-bishop into safety be- fore this advance. After 11...Be7 12 Nd4 Qd6 13 Rel c5 14 Nf5 Bxf5 15 Bxfd Rfe8 16 Qf3 White was probably a tiny bit better in R.Kowalezyk-R.Polak, cor- respondence 1962 — the two bishops must count for something. 12 a3 Bad 13 b4!? Seemingly offering a trade of two sets of pawns, but there is more to this move than first meets the eye. 13...exb4 13...Bb6 looks reasonable, but what happens after capturing on b4? 14 Qel! (Diagram 35) 31Starting Out: The Scotch Game This move, which according to my database was introduced by Oppici in an earlier correspondence game, breathed new life into this variation, and it later gained popularity when Russian GM Yuri Yakovich annotated one of his games for Chess Informant. Earlier it had been assumed that White simply plays 14 axb4 Bxb4 15 Nxa7 which is equal after 15...h6 16 Nc6 Qd6 17 Bxf6 Qxc6. 14...Qe7?! The point of White’s previous move is seen in the line 14...bxa3?! 15 Bxf6! gxf6 (forced because 15...Bxe1? 16 Bxd8 leaves White a piece ahead) 16 Qe3, when suddenly White has a nasty-looking attack against Black’s king — Qh6 and Rxa3 followed by a swinger to the kingside are on the horizon. With 14...Qe7?! Black tries to keep control of both b4 and £6, but the queen becomes over- loaded. NOTE: An overloaded piece is one that has too many defen- sive duties — it cannot cope with all of them at the same time. I would be a bit nervous allowing my kingside pawns to be shattered, so I would probably concentrate on defending f6. In V.Malakhov-A.Grischuk, Mos- cow 1996 the rising Russian star played sensibly with 14...h6 15 axb4 Bb6 16 Bh4 Re8 when there’s not much wrong with Black’s position. 15 Nd4! Now there are ideas of both Nc6 and Nf5. 15...Rac8 16 Nf5 Qd7? Black should have swallowed his pride by retreating to d8. With 16...Qd7 Black plans to meet 17 Bxf6 with 17...Bxf5!, but White has something more devastating in mind... 17 Nxg7!! Kxg7 18 Bxf6+ Kxf6 19 f4! (Diagram 36) fy C yy % “yy SSN Diagram 36 (B) Diagram 37 (B) The threats mount Time to resign 32Scotch Four Knights (4...Nf6 5 Nc3) Threatening both Qh4+ and f4-f5. Now 19...Bf5 20 Qe5+! Kg6 21 Rf3! (Oppici) leaves Black in big trouble due to the threat of Rg3+, so Black is forced to re- treat his king. 19...Ke7 20 £5 £6 After 20...Kh8 21 Qh4 Rg8 | like the cheeky queen sacrifice 22 Qxh7+! Kxh7 23 fxe6+ Ke7 24 exd7 Re7 25 Bf5, when the protected passed pawn on d7 gives White excellent winning chances. 21 fxe6 Qe7 22 Qh4 White has regained his sacrificed piece and still maintains a strong attack. Faced with the threat of Qxh7 mate, Black should retreat his king to h8 but chooses an inferior defence. 22...Kg8?! 23 Rf5 Re7 23...Qxe6? loses to 24 Rgt! 24 Rh5 £5 25 Qg3+ Kh8 26 Bxf5 Qf6 27 Rd1 Rg7 28 Qh3 Qe7 29 Rxd5 1-0 (Diagram 37) One possible finish is 29...Bb6+ 30 Kh1 bxa3 31 Rd7! a2 32 Qc3! Qf6 33 Rxh7+ Rxh7 34 Rxh7+ Kg8 35 Qg3+ and it’s mate next move. Game 6 DAllvanov Ml E.Liss European Club Cup, Tyniste 1995 1e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 d4 exd4 5 Nxd4 Bb4 6 Nxc6 bxc6 7 Bd3 d5 8 exd5 cxd5 9 0-0 0-0 10 Bg5 c6 11 Ne2 There is certainly some logic to this move, with White's plan being to activate the knight on the kingside via d4, f4 or g3. This is a typical idea in the Scotch Four Knights, but in this particular position the fact that it fails to present Black with any immediate problems means that he can reorganise his pieces under no real pressure. I was actually sitting on the next board while this game was taking place (Alexei Ivanov and I were playing for the same team) and I must admit that I was impressed by Black’s play here. 11...h6 12 Bh4 Bd6! (Diagram 38) An excellent redeployment of the bishop, which was no longer doing anything on b4. White must be careful as Black already carries a threat. 13 Nd4 Carrying on with the knight manoeuvre, eyeing up the c6-pawn and the f5- square. 13 Ng3?? drops a piece after 13...g5!, while 13 3? allows Black to carry out his threat: 13...Bxh2+! 14 Kxh2 Ng4+ 15 Kg3 g5! and White is in real trouble, for example 16 Rh1 Qd6+! 17 f4 Re8! and ...Re3+ is up next. NOTE: This ...Bxh2+, Kxh2, ...Ng4+ combination crops up quite often in the Scotch Four Knights. 33Starting Out: The Scotch Game 13...05 Now 13...Bxh2+?? 14 Kxh2 Ng4+ loses to 15 Qxg4! Bxg4 16 Bxd8 when White is a piece ahead. Z 4 4929 @ 6 6 an Diagram 38 (W) Diagram 39 (W) An active post for Black's bishop Black plays ...Rb8-b4! 14 NES In view of what happens in the game, it’s worth White players looking at the alternative 14 Nb5 here. At first I thought 14...Be5, hitting b2, was simply good for Black, but it’s not so clear after 15 Re1! Bxb2 16 Rb1 a6 17 Rxb2 axb5 18 Bxb5. Instead of 18...Be5, 18...Be’7 and 18...Bb8!? have been seen in prac- tice, both giving a roughly level position. 14...Bxf5 15 Bxf5 White has finished his knight manoeuvre and has gained the bishop pair. However, it’s all been a bit time consuming, and Black now produces an excel- lent plan to neutralise White’s bishops. 15...Rb8! Hitting b2, but there is more to this move than just that... 16 Rb1?! An obvious reply to Black’s threat, but White is probably worse now. Instead 16 b3?! allowed Black to gain a clear positional advantage in the game C.Lutz- A.Yusupov, Munich 1992: 16...Be5 17 Rb1 Qd6! 18 Bg3 (what else?) 18...Bxg3 19 hxg3 Rfe8 20 Rel Rxe1+ 21 Qxe1 Re8 22 Qd2 Qed 23 Qf4 Qc3!. With White’s dark-squared bishop off the board, he is particularly vulnerable on the dark squares, especially on the queenside. ‘As we see in the main game, this material situation of major pieces and knight versus major pieces and light-squared bishop often seems to favour Black in this line. In view of this, White should probably seek the sanctuary of a posi- 34Scotch Four Knights (4...Nf6 5 Nc3) tion with opposite-coloured bishops after 16 Bxf6 Qxf6 17 Qxd5 Rfd8, although even here, after say 18 Qf3 g6 19 Be4 Qxf3 20 Bxf3 Rxb2, it’s Black who has any advantage that’s going. 16...Rb4! (Diagram 39) Demonstrating another positive feature on ...Rb8. By attacking h4 Black forces White to concede his one advantage in the position — the bishop pair. TIP: The manoeuvre ...Rb8-b4 is a common idea for Black in the main line of the Scotch Four Knights. 17 Bg3 17 g8?? is inadvisable on account of the bishop-trapping 17...g5!, while it’s too late now for 17 Bxf6 Qxf6 18 Qxd5?? due to 18...Rd4!, when the queen cannot stay defending the bishop on f5. 17...Bxg3 18 hxg3 Qb8! Inducing dark-squared weaknesses on the queenside. 19 b3 Qe5 20 Qf3 g6 21 c3 Rb6 22 Be2 Re8 (Diagram 40) \“ a as NS RY 7, ee ‘a Y) ne ws Diagram 40 (W) Diagram 41 (W) Black is in control ..Qh5-h2 is Black’s plan RK Black has a very pleasant position: his pieces are more active and White struggles both to defend his dark-squared weakness and to create a useful role for his remaining bishop. 23 b4? Qg5! Suddenly White also has to worry about ...Ng4 followed by ...Qh5-h2! For ex- ample, 24 bxc5 Rxb1 25 Rxb1 Ng4! 26 Ba4 Re7 and ...Qh5 is coming. 24 Rfd1 Ng4! (Diagram 41) 25 Qxd5? White collapses under pressure, but it was already looking rather grim for him in any case. 25 Rxd5 is more resilient, but after 25...Rbe6! (threatening to 35Starting Out: The Scotch Game mate on the back rank) 26 Rf1 Rel! 27 Rxgd (or 27 Bd3 fo! followed by ...Qh5) 27...Rxfl+ 28 Kxf1 Nh2+ 29 Kg1 Nxf8+ 30 gxf3 hxg5 Black, the exchange for a pawn ahead, should win the ending. 25...Re1+! 0-1 26 Rxe1 Qxd5 is obviously hopeless for White. Black’s direct play in this game certainly looks like an effective antidote to 11 Ne2. Game 7 OM Kobalija ll V.lvanov Moscow 1996 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 d4 exd4 5 Nxd4 Bb4 6 Nxc6 bxc6 7 Bd3 dd 8 exd5 cxd5 9 0-0 0-0 10 Bg5 c6 11 Na4!? Although this move had been played a few times earlier, I believe it was the French GM Joel Lautier who really popularised it in the early 1990s. On this occasion it’s certainly not a case of ‘knight on the rim — grim!’ On a4 it controls the c5-square which, as we saw in Game 4, can be an important point. White may continue with a2-a3 (or c2-c3) and b2-b4 to obtain a grip on the dark squares on the queenside. Another positive for White is that the way is now clear for c2-c4, which nibbles away at Black’s centre. Regardless of whether Black captures on c4 or allows White to capture, he is left with a potential pawn weakness. 11...h6 12 Bh4 Re8& Sensibly Black concentrates on active piece play. Redeploying the bishop with 12...Bd6 is also fine, but in the game J.Lautier-I.Sokolov, Correze 1992 White showed how the Na4 plan can work against inaccurate defence: 12...Be7 13 Rel Be6 14 c3! (now Be2 followed by Qd3 is one idea) 14...Re8 15 Be2 Rb8? (planning to meet Qd3 with ...Ne4, but...) 16 Qd4! a5 17 Re3 Qc7 18 Rael c5 19 Qd3 g5? (19...Kf8 is necessary) 20 Bg3 Bd6 21 Rxe6! and after recapturing on e6 there will be a big check on g6. Black can improve earlier with 15...Nd7 16 Bxe7 Qxe7 but then 17 Qd3! Nfé 18 Qd4! still gives White a little nibble on account of his control of c5. Due to games such as Lautier-Sokolov unsurprisingly there was somewhat of a Scotch Four Knights revival at GM level. 13 c4 (Diagram 42) White opts for a strike on Black’s central pawns. Staking a claim for the dark squares on the queenside is the other main plan: 13 c3 Bd6 14 b4 a5! 15 a3 Bed 16 Ra2 Qc7 with a roughly level position, V. Schneider-V.Inkiov, Lausanne 2004. Mixing Qf3 and Na4 here leads to some embarrassment for White after 13 Qf3? g5! 14 Bg3 Bg4!. In fact White can avoid losing material with the ingen- ious 15 Bc7!, although 15...Bxf3 16 Bxd8 Raxd8 17 gxf3 Nh5 followed by ...Nf4 is hardly what White desires! 36Scotch Four Knights (4...Nf6 5 Nc3) [ene Z Y Diagram 42 (B) Diagram 43 (B) Nibbling at the d5-pawn Who is being tricked? 13...Bd6 Again we see this effective redeployment of Black’s dark-squared bishop, which now points menacingly towards White's king. 14 exd5 Or: a) 14 Qc2? allows a trick that we've seen before: 14...Bxh2+! 15 Kxh2 Ng4+ 16 Kg8 Qd6+ 17 f4 g5! and Black wins after, say, 18 BfS gxh4+ 19 Kxg4 Qg6+!. b) 14 Rel Bf! 15 Rc2 Qd6! (an effective way to break the pin) 16 Bg3 Bxg3 17 hxg3 Bg4 18 Qcl (not 18 £3? Qxg3! 19 fxg4 Nxg4 and White must give up his queen to avoid mate on h2) 18...d4 and Black had no problems in N.Pedersen- M.Hebden, Calvia Olympiad 2004. 14...exd5 15 Rel! Looking for some action down the newly opened c-file. After 15 Ne8 Black can deal with the threat of Nxd5 with 15...Be5. This level position has occurred a few times in practice, but remarkably in P.Svidler-V.Malaniuk, St Petersburg 1993 the soon-to-be super-GM only lasted a couple of further moves. Svidler played the ‘combination’ 16 Nxd5?? Qxd5 17 Bxf6 (Diagram 43), planning to meet 17...Bxf62? with 18 Bh7+. However, following 17...Bb7! he was forced to resign as he was losing a piece! 15...Bfa! Playing the same way as in note ‘b’ to White’s 14th move. 16 Res Instead M.Golubev-M.Marin, Romania 2001 continued 16 Rc6 (threatening to cripple Black's pawns with Bxf6) 16...Re6 17 Rxe6 Bxe6 and here 18 Nc5?! al- lowed Black the trick 18...Bxh2+! as 19 Kxh2 Qd6+ 20 Kg1 Ngd! 21 Bg3 Qxc5 37Starting Out: The Scotch Game leaves Black a pawn ahead. 16...Qd6 17 Bg3 White can grab a pawn with 17 Bxf6 Qxf6 18 Rxd5 but after 18...Bb7 I would be a bit worried about those black bishops pointing at White’s king. 17...Bxg3 18 hxg3 Bd7 19 b4! (Diagram 44) (A. a. wa ® ii i 7 Fo “@ ao xi |e 2 "GO Diagram 44 (B) Diagram 45 (B) Using the c5-outpost Black must be accurate This not only protects the rook (,..Bxa4 was the threat) but also gets White's pawn majority motoring. 19...Bxa4?! Black takes the easy option of simplifying the position to prevent White from ever achieving Nc5, but the resulting position gives White a small but definite advantage. It’s difficult to believe that Black is worse after Pinski’s recom- mendation of 19...Rad8 20 a3 Qed — his pieces are active and well centralised. 20 Qxa4 Qe5 21 bd! An excellent move, advancing on the queenside and snuffing out any counter- play via ...Ng4 and ...Qd4. Now the position simplifies to a double rook ending where White has an edge due to his dangerous queenside pawns. 21...Ne4 22 Bxe4 Qxed 23 Qxe4 dxed 24 Re7 Reb8 25 Rb1! Not allowing Black the chance to trade pawns after 25 a4?! a6!. After 25 Rb1 a6? White can simply push with 26 bé!. 25...Rb6 26 a4 a6 27 Re6! The only way to maintain winning chances. 27...Rxc6 28 bxc6 Rc8 29 Rb6 a5 30 Kf Now both kings rush to the scene. 30...Kf8 31 Ke2 Ke7 32 Ke3 Kd6 33 Rb7 (Diagram 45) 33...R¢e7? 38Scotch Four Knights (4...Nf6 5 Nc3) After 33...Rxe6 34 Rxf7 Re 35 Rxe7 Rxad Black has very good drawing chances in the rook ending. 34 Kxe4 1-0 Perhaps Black lost on time here. The pawn ending after 34...Kxc6? 35 Rxc7+ Kxe7 36 Kd5 Kb6 37 Kd6 is winning for White — Black eventually runs out of pawn moves on the kingside and has to give way with his king, thus losing the pawn on a5. However, Black can keep the game alive with 34...Rxc6 35 Rxf7 Re4+ and ...Rxa4. Game 8 OE.Berg Ml P.Leko Under 16 Olympiad, Canaries 1995 1e4 e5 2 NfB Ne6 3 d4 exd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 Bb4 6 Nxc6 bxc6 7 Bd3 d5 8 exd5 cxd5 9 0-0 0-0 10 Bg5 c6 11 Qf3 Bd6 Offering White the chance to capture on f6, although it makes sense to wait until Black spends a tempo with ...h7-h6 to force the bishop to make a deci- sion 12 h8 Preventing the possibility of ...Bg4. Strictly speaking this is not a worry at the moment (the immediate 12...Bg4?? loses material to 13 Bxfé!) but obviously there are some lines when ...Bg4 works. Even so, 12 h3 is hardly forced, with White having a number of different options. For example, 12 Rfel Rb8 13 Na4 (or 13 Rabl h6 14 Bxf6 Qxf6 15 Qxf6 gxf6 16 Ne2 Bed with an equal position, B.Rogulj-D.Pavasovic, Pula 2001) 13...h6 14 Bxf6 Qxf6 15 Qxf6 gxf6 16 Radi Bg4 17 £3 Be6 (Diagram 46) and a typical Scotch Four Knights ending was reached in J.Nunn-S.Sulskis, Moscow Olympiad 1994. This type of position is generally considered as level, and it’s simply a matter of taste whether one prefers White’s healthier pawn structure or Black's active bishop pair. GY WG wena 2 oe i, "a Z. a "sa lini Sel a AO Diagram 46 (W) Diagram 47 (B) Atypical ending 15 Rfe1!? — offering a pawn 39Starting Out: The Scotch Game 12...Rb8 13 Rab1 h6 14 Bh4!? White keeps the option open of capturing on f6, but doesn’t go ahead with it just yet. 14 Bxf6 Qxf6 15 Qxf6 gxf6 is an equal ending, while accepting the doubled pawns with queens on after 14...gxf6? is asking for trouble — Black’s king is hardly likely to survive. 14 Bf4 is also possible, 14...Re8 15 Ne2 c5 16 c3 Bb7 17 Bxd6 Qxd6 leading to a level position in P.Acs-P.Lukacs, Budapest 1995. 14...Re8 14...Rb4!? forces the bishop to make a decision, after which 15 Bxf6 Qxf6 16 Qxf6 gxf6 gave another typical endgame position in E.Berg-T.Wedberg, Stock- holm 2000. 15 Rfe1!? (Diagram 47) I don’t think this move is entirely sound — White doesn’t seem to get enough for the pawn. However, the Swedish GM Emanuel Berg was confident enough to repeat 15 Rfel after this game, so it has to be taken seriously. Actually, if White doesn’t want to sacrifice a pawn then perhaps he has already made a mistake because finding a good alternative to 15 Rfel is surprisingly difficult. For example: a) 15 b3 g5! 16 Bg3 g4! 17 Qdl (17 hxg4?? Bxgd traps the white queen) 17...gxh3 18 Qd2 Kg7 with an unclear position in W.Mazul-P.Murdzia, Lublin 1999 as both kings are exposed. However, Black does have that extra pawn, so probably he has some advantage. b) 15 Ne2?! g5! (again!) 16 Nd4! (16 Bg3?? g4! 17 hxg4 Bxg4 and once more the queen drops off) 16...Rb6 17 Bg3 g4! 18 Qdi gxh3 and Black is better. WARNING: In Qf3 lines White must be wary of his queen sud- x denly running into trouble with ...Bg4 or ...g7-g5-g4. 15...Rxe1+ 16 Rxel g5!? If Black wants to grab the b2-pawn then this is the best preparation. After the immediate 16...Rxb2? 17 Bxf6! Black is forced to capture with the g-pawn as 17...Qxf6?? loses a piece after 18 Re8+. 17 Bg3 Rxb2 It makes no sense to decline the pawn now that Black has weakened himself with ...g7-g5. 17...Kg7? 18 b3! Qc7 19 Ne2 Bd7 20 Bxd6 Qxd6 21 Ng3 left White an edge due to Black’s weaknesses in E.Berg-P.Petran, Budapest 1999. 18 Ne2 c5?! Keeping the white knight out of d4, but in fact it might be more accurate to play 18...Kg7!?. Then 19 Bxd6 Qxd6 20 Ng3 can be met by 20...Qf4!, while 19 Nd4 doesn’t prove to be dangerous after 19...c5! 20 Nc6 Qc7 21 Bxd6 Qxd6 22 Ne7 (or 22 Nxa7 Bd7) 22...Be6!. 19 Bxd6! Qxd6 20 Ng3 (Diagram 48) 40Scotch Four Knights (4...Nf6 5 Nc3) ling 7 Y e \ at ~» \ \ PX \\ SS SQN. NS WY WS Sicmcl Ys Y ~ Po PP a \Y Diagram 48 (B) Diagram 49 (B) Black to play and lose! 21 Qf3xd5!! 20...Q£4?? This plausible move meets with a brilliant refutation. Probably the first thing I should point out is that White is threatening 21 Qxf6!! Qxf6 22 Re8+ Kg7 23 Nh5 mate, while 20...Kg7?? doesn’t help on account of 21 Qxf6+!!. In my 2000 book Play the Open Games as Black | confidently stated that ‘the simple 20...Bd7 would have been sufficient to give Black a virtually winning position.’ However, on reflection I admit that this declaration may have been a little rash, as Black’s kingside weaknesses are not insignificant, and White can continue to annoy Black with niggling threats. For example, 20...Bd7! 21 Bf5! Bc6!? 22 Qc3 Rb8 23 Re6!? fxe6 24 Qxf6 Rb1+ 25 Kh2 Rel 26 Qg6+ Kf8 27 Qxh6+ Ke8 28 Bg6+ Kd8 29 Qxg5+ Kc8, although by no means forced, does show that there is plenty of life left in White's position — this line looks very unclear. 21 Qxd5!! (Diagram 49) The queen is immune due to 21...Nxd5 22 Re8+ Kg7 23 Nh5 mate, so White wins back his pawn and, more importantly, Black’s position collapses. 21...Be6 22 Qd8+ Kg7 23 Qe7 Kg8 24 Bf5! White crashes through by using the interference theme. After 24...Bxf5 25 Qxf6 everything is hanging. 24...Qd2 25 Rxe6! Rb1+ 26 Kh2 Qd1 Or 26...fxe6 27 Bxe6+ Kh8 28 Qf8+ Kh7 29 Bf5 mate. 27 Nfl! Qxfl 28 Qd8+ 1-0 White mates after 28 Qd8+ Kg7 29 Qxf6+ Kf8 30 Qh8. Although Peter Leko hadn’t quite made it into the world’s elite at this early stage, this was still very much a shock result. 4Starting Out: The Scotch Game Game 9 OC AArdeleanu Mf L.Vajda lasi 1999 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 exd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 Bb4 6 Nxc6 bxc6 7 Bd3 d5 8 exd5 cxd5 9 0-0 0-0 10 Bg5 c6 11 Qf3 Be7 Even though this retreat looks passive, in many ways 11...Be7 is Black’s most ambitious move because he doesn’t give White the option of going into the level (and some would say drawish) endgame with Bxf6, ...Qxf6, Qxf6, ...gxf6. 12 Rael! (Diagram 50) “s = a ne pain y Diagram 50 (B) Diagram 51 (B) Looking for e-file action Hitting e7 and h6 The most aggressive move, grabbing the open e-file and hitting the bishop on e7. 12 Rfel is also possible (as is the slower and preventative 12 h3), but we will see later in the game why it’s worth having a rook on fl rather than al. 12...h6!? Objectively speaking I believe there’s nothing wrong with this move, but now White can force an immediate draw if he wishes and Black must also play ac- curately not to end up with a losing position, so unless Black knows exactly what to do and is happy with a draw this isn’t a good practical choice. There’s something to be said for 12...Rb8, hitting the b-pawn and, as we’ve seen before, introducing the option of ...Rb4. Also very playable is the prophy- lactic 12...Re8!?, defending the bishop and possibly preparing to oppose rooks on the e-file. White now often brings his knight round for some kingside action although he sometimes flicks in h2-h3 first. 13 Bxh6!? This move leads to some fireworks but is certainly not forced. White can keep the tension in the position with 13 Bh4, 13 Bf4 or even 13 Bc1!? (demonstrat- 42Scotch Four Knights (4...Nf6 5 Nc3) ing one reason for having the a-rook on el — the rooks remain connected). 13...gxh6 Otherwise Black has simply lost a crucial defensive pawn, while after 13...d4? 14 Ned gxh6 15 Nxf6+ Bxf6 16 Qed! Black must give up a rook with 16...Re8 to avoid mate on h7. 14 Qe3! (Diagram 51) The point of White's previous play: the double attack on e7 and h6 means that Black loses another vital pawn in front of his king. 14...Re8? After this very plausible move Black is probably already losing. In fact it seems that Black has only one way to achieve a draw. For example: a) 14...Bd6? 15 Qxh6 Bg4 (or 15...Rb8 16 Re3 Rb4 17 Rf3! Ne4 18 Bxe4 dxe4 19 Rf6! threatening Rxd6 and Qg5+ followed by Rh6 mate) 16 Re3! (preparing Rfe1 followed by Re5!) 16...Rb8 (16...d4 17 Ne4! wins) 17 Rfel Rxb2 18 Red! Bxe5 19 Rxe5 (Diagram 52) and Black is helpless, e.g. 19...Ne4 20 Bxe4 5 21 Re6! fxe4 22 Rg6+ Kf7 23 Rg7+ Ke8 24 Qg6+ with mate next move. zs g eee Orn me “a a ea a “fof YW) a + x Hao wae os Oo OES Diagram 52 (B) Diagram 53 (W) Rg5 is coming A typical mating mechanism b) 14...d4! 15 Qxh6 Qdé6!, preventing Re5, has been given as the drawing method by more than one source and I can’t find anything new to disprove this. White has a few options but with best play it always ends up with per- petual check. Play continues 16 Qg5+ Kh8 and now: b1) 17 Qh6+ Kg8 18 Qg5+ Kh8 is a simple draw by perpetual check. b2) 17 Qh4+ Kg7 18 Ne4? (18 Qg5+ still draws) 18...Nxe4 19 Qxe4 Rh8! and White has no time to take on e7 due to the mate threat on h2. b3) 17 Rxe7!? Qxe7 18 Ne4 Ng8! 19 Qh5+ Kg7 20 Nf6 Nxf6 21 Qg5+ Kh8 22 Qh6+ is another perpetual, although if Black is feeling brave (foolish?) he 43Starting Out: The Scotch Game could try 20...Kxf6!? 21 Qh4+ Ke6 22 Re1+ Kd7 23 Rxe7+ Nxe7 24 Qxd4+ Ke8. b4) 17 Red Ng! is better for Black after either 18 Qxe7 Qxe7 19 Rxe7 dxc3 or 18 Qh5+ Qh6 19 Qxh6+ Nxh6 20 Rxe7 dxc3 — in either case White doesn’t have enough for the piece. b5) After 17 f4 Ng8 18 Rxe7 dxc3 19 Re3 Pinski gives some long lines of analy- sis that do appear to be good for White, the main line running 19...Qf6 20 Qc5 Bg4 21 h3 Bd7 22 Red cxb2 23 Rh5+ Nh6 24 g4! Kg8 25 g5 Qd8 26 Qc3 f6 27 Rxh6 Qb6+ 28 Kh2 b1Q 29 Rg6+ Kh8 30 Rxf6!. However, after the greedy but obvious-looking 17...dxc3! I can’t find anything for White other than perpetual check with Qh6-g5-h6 because 18 Re3? Ng8! is good for Black, while after 18 Rxe7 Qxe7 White still has to make do with the perpetual check. 15 Qxh6 Now Re5, threatening Rg5+, would be a killer, so Black is forced to prevent this. However, simply moving the e7-bishop doesn’t work, for example 15...Bb4 16 Rxe8+ and Black must capture with the queen, allowing White to play the decisive Qxf6, as 16...Nxe8 (Diagram 53) allows a typical checkmating mechanism: 17 Bh7+! Kh8 18 Bg6+! Kg8 19 Qh7+ Kf8 20 Qxf7 mate. 15...Qd6 16 Qg5+ The immediate 16 Re3! is the way to continue the attack, but White decides to repeat moves first. 16...Kf8 17 Qh6+ Kg8 18 Re3! (Diagram 54) Ley aay o a me t'Y Ve, mt 2 _ i oa “e RAR BAW ae Diagram 54 (B) Diagram 55 (B) Threatening Rg3+ The coupe de grace Now the threat is 19 Rg3+ Bg4 20 Rxg4+! Nxg4 21 Qh7+ Kf8 22 Qh8 mate. 18...Bg4 19 Qg5+ Again White repeats the position before proceeding with the winning line. 19...Kf8 20 Qh6+ Kg8 21 Rg3! 44Scotch Four Knights (4...Nf6 5 Nc3) The threat is Rxg4+ and Black is running out of defensive moves. 21...Qe6 Or: a) 21...Qb4 22 h3 Bd6 23 Bh7+! Nxh7 24 Rxg4+, winning the queen. b) 21...Qe5 22 Ndl! (threatening Ne3) 22...Qh5 (22...d4 is met by 23 [3!, while 22...Be5 23 Ne3! Bxe3 24 fxe3 is another line that justifies White’s keeping a rook on f1) 23 Qxh5 Nxh5 24 Rxg4+ (Mikhalevski) sees Black surviving to the endgame, but White’s two-pawn advantage should see him winning easily. 22 h3 Bd6 22...Bf8 forces White to work a bit harder, but 23 Qh4 Bd6 24 Re3 Bed 25 Rfel! Nd7 26 hxg4 d4 27 Qh7+ Kf8 28 Rxe5! Nxe5 29 Qh8+ Ke7 30 Qxe5 (Mikhalevski) is winning for White as 30...dxc3 runs into 31 Qc7+. 23 Bh7+! (Diagram 55) Forcing Black to give up his queen — 23...Kh8 allows 24 Bf5+. 23...Nxh7 24 Rxg4+ Qxg4 Otherwise it’s mate with Qg7. 25 hxg4 Re6 26 Qd2 Rb8 27 b3 1-0 White has a material advantage of queen and two pawns for rook and bishop — this will be decisive in the long run. 5 Nc3 Bcd and Other Fifth Moves for Black led e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 exd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Ne3 Bc5!? (Diagram 56) Diagram 56 (W) Diagram 57 (W) Black plays 5...Bc5 An impetuous lunge After attacking the e4-pawn with 4...Nf6, Black now switches his attentions to 45Starting Out: The Scotch Game d4. While 4...Bc5 has always been popular, the same cannot be said for 4...Nf6 5 Nc3 Bcd. Perhaps this is because Black no longer has the option of ...Qf6, but in my opinion this line is underrated and is a good way for Black to avoid the- ory. The solid but passive 5...d6 is studied in Game 10, and the ‘unbelievable’ 5...Nxe4!? can be seen in Game 11. Before proceeding with 5...Bc5, let’s take a brief look at less challenging options for Black: a) 5...Be7? moves the bishop and prepares to castle but does nothing to contest White’s centre. Even if White develops peacefully, his central superiority will promise him an advantage, but direct play with 6 Nxc6 bxc6 7 e5! leaves Black in some trouble. b) 5...d5? is an aggressive but premature challenge on White's centre, refuted by 6 Bb5! Bd7 (or 6...dxe4 7 Nxc6 and White wins material) 7 exd5 Nxd4 8 Bxd7+ Qxd7 9 Qxd4 when White has a clear extra pawn. c) 5...Nxd4?! is a common mistake based on the misconception that White’s queen will be vulnerable in the centre of the board and Black can gain time by attacking it. The truth is that after 6 Qxd4 White’s development has acceler- ated and the monarch is actually quite well placed on this occasion (note there is no ...Nb8-c6 available for Black!). Black should probably accept his disad- vantage and develop quietly with ...d7-d6, ...Be7 and ...0-0, but it’s worth pointing out another frequent error which I’ve seen many times in games in- volving inexperienced players. With 6...c5?! (Diagram 57) Black apparently gains time by hitting White’s queen, but the positives of ...c7-c5 (gaining a tempo and controlling d4) are outweighed by the negatives (weakening the d5- and d6-squares and creating a backward d-pawn). Let’s look at the straightforward continuation: 7 Qe3 (blocking the c1-bishop for the moment, but the queen plans to move to g3) 7...d6 8 Bb5+ Bd7 9 Bxd7+ Qxd7 10 0-0 Be7 11 Qg3 0-0 12 Bh6! Nh5 13 Qf3 Nf6 14 Bf4 and White will continue with Rad1, adding pressure to the vulnerable d6-pawn — a direct con- sequence of Black’s 6th move. 6 Be3 The most logical way forward ~ White protects d4 and incidentally creates a threat of Nxc6 followed by Bxc5, winning a piece. An important alternative is 6 Nxc6 (58%), which is discussed in Game 12, while White can also play: a) 6 Nf5!? makes more sense against 6...Bc5 than against 6...Bb4 as Black has more difficulties organising an effective ...d7-d5 break. Even so, following 6...0-0 7 Bg5 even here Black can attempt to exploit the vulnerability of the f5- knight with 7...d5!?, for example 8 Nxd5 Bxf5 9 Bxf6 Qe8! 10 f3 Bxe4! 11 fxe4 Qxe4t 12 Be2 Bd4!. b) After 6 Nb3!? Black can reach lines from Chapter 6 with the retreat 6...Bb6, but here it looks more logical to pin the knight with 6...Bb4. Then 7 Bd3 d58. exd5 Nxd5 looks at first sight more than okay for Black due to the pressure on 46Scotch Four Knights (4...Nf6 5 Nc3) 3, but appearances are a bit deceptive as White can continue with a surpris- ingly dangerous pawn sacrifice in 9 0-0! Nxe3 10 bxc3 Bxc3 11 Ba3! (Diagram 58). ae Uh, x NY Leb Diagram 58 (B) Diagram 59 (W) Stuck in the middle 6...Bb6 For example, 11...Be6 (the materialistic 11...Bxal 12 Qxal is obviously ex- tremely risky) 12 Rb1 Bb4 (Y.Afek-J.Votava, Rishon Le Zion 1992) and here White is probably slightly better after 13 Bxb4!? Nxb4 14 Nc5 Nxd3 15 cxd3 Bd5 16 Nxb7 Qg5 17 Qe2+ Kf8 18 £4 or 15...0-0 16 Nxe6 fxe6 17 Rxb7. If Black wishes to avoid grabbing the pawn, he could play more conservatively with 7...0-0 8 0-0 Re8 ete, but it’s clear to me that 6 Nb3!? is more dangerous than it first appears. 6...Bb6 (Diagram 59) Dealing with the threat of Nxc6 followed by Bxc5 (the blunder 6...0-0?? oc- curred an amazing 35 times on my database, although perhaps even more surprisingly White punished Black with 7 Nxc6! on only 24 of those occa- sions!). Other moves that have been tried include: a) 6...d6? 7 Nxc6! bxc6 8 Bxc5 dxc5 saddles Black with the so-called ‘Irish pawn centre’ — tripled isolated pawns. Generally these are pretty bad for your health! b) 6...Nxd4 7 Bxd4 Qe7!? (7...b6 8 Bxc5 bxc5 9 e5! Ng8 10 Qf3 is clearly un- pleasant for Black, and 7...Bxd4 8 Qxd4 d6 9 0-0-0 gives White a typical edge) 8 Be2! Bxd4 (or 8...0-0 9 ¢5! and once more the knight is forced to retreat) 9 Qxd4 d6 10 0-0-0 gives White the characteristic advantage associated with possessing the ‘pure Scotch’ structure (the small centre). The old game B.Milic- Z.Kyrzisnik, Belgrade 1952 continued 10...0-0 11 £4! Re8 12 Bf3 Bg4 13 h3 Bxf3 14 exf3 Red8 15 Rhgl c6 16 Red and White had promising attacking chances down the half-open g-file. ATStarting Out: The Scotch Game c) 6...Bb4!? (Diagram 60) appears illogical because Black has effectively lost a tempo over the 5...Bb4 line. LGet tA t Yh, 7 A Y Diagram 60 (W) Diagram 64 (B) Giving White a tempo The ‘English Attack’? However, it’s not clear how useful White’s extra move (Bcl-e3) is — in some cases the bishop may even prefer to be on cl as on e3 it may get hit by ...Ng4 or (after ...d5 and exd5) ...Nxd5. For example, 7 Nxc6 bxc6 8 Bd3 dé 9 £3 (9 0-0 Ngé4!? is Black’s idea) 9...d5! 10 exd5 Nxd5! 11 Bd2 0-0 12 0-0 Rb8 13 Nxd5 exd5 and Black had equalised in J.Votava-M.Hebden, Rishon Le Zion 1992. It strikes me that one possible way for White to utilise the extra Be3 is with 8 Qd4!?, planning a quick 0-0-0. 7Nxc6 Alternatively: a) 7 Be2 is to me too pedestrian, and following 7...0-0 8 0-0 Re8! Black, with pressure in the centre, already has a comfortable position. Now 9 Bf3 can be answered by 9...Ne5! and 9 f3 runs into 9...d5. So in R.Vedder-H.Klip, Belgian League 2000 the game continued 9 Nxc6 bxc6 10 Bxb6 axb6 11 Bf3 Rad! (a bit of lateral thinking) 12 Qd2 Raed 13 g3 d5 and if anything Black was slightly better. b) 7 g3 allows White to defend e4 with the light-squared bishop and is thus stronger than 7 Be2. After 7...0-0 8 Bg2 d6 9 h3 Re8 10 0-0 Bd7 11 Rel h6 (G.Lane-M.Hebden, London 1994) White can claim to have the traditional structural advantage, but Black probably has just enough pressure on the cen- tre to maintain equality. = c) Unlike the previous two possibilities, 7 Qd2!? (Diagram 61) is a very seri- ous try for an advantage. White prepares to castle queenside before proceeding with f2-f3 and g2-g4-g5 with an ‘English Attack-style’ offensive on the kingside. 48Scotch Four Knights (4...Nf6 5 Nc3) NOTE: The English Attack is a system of development in open Sicilians which was devised by some English grandmasters in the 1980s. White plays Be3, Qd2, 0-0-0, f2-f3 followed by a kingside pawn offensive with g2-g4-g5 and possibly h2-h4-h5. In B.Reefat-M.Hebden, Dhaka 1995 the Leicester GM played too passively, and following 7...0-0 8 0-0-0 Re8 9 f3 d6?! 10 g4! Nxd4 11 Bxd4 Be6 12 Rg1 Bxd4 13 Qxd4 c5 14 Qd2 Qad 15 a3 a6 16 gd Nd7 17 f4 bd 18 f5! it was becom- ing increasingly obvious that Black was in real trouble. Instead of 9...d6, Black can challenge White's centre with the sharp 9...d5!? when 10 Nxc6 bxc6 11 Bxb6 axb6 was fine for Black in P.Hrvacic-F.Berebora, Split 1998. Pinning the knight with 10 Bbd! looks more critical, after which 10...Bd7!? 11 exd5 Nxd4 12 Bxd4 Bxb5 13 Nxb5 Qxd5 14 Bxb6 Qxb5 15 Be3 is perhaps a bit better for White due to his bishop-for-knight advantage, while the same could be said about 10...dxe4 11 Nxc6 Qxd2+ 12 Bxd2 a6!? 13 Ba4 Bd7 14 Nb4 Bxa4 15 Nxa4 a5 16 Nxb6 cxb6 17 a3 axb4 18 Bxb4. 7..bxc6 8 e5 The only real try for something out of the opening. 8 Bxb6 axb6 9 Bd3 0-0 10 0-0 Re8 followed by ...d7-d5 shows that Black has no difficulties if White plays it quietly. 8...Bxe3 Going backwards is not an option: 8...Ng8?! 9 Qg4 and Black has to make some concessions due to the attack on g7. treat ...Nf6-g8 early on in the game it usually means that some- @ WARNING: In 1 e4 e5 openings, if you are forced to play the re- ~ thing has gone wrong. 9 fxe3! (Diagram 62) Diagram 62 (B) Diagram 63 (W) .Nd5 or ...Ng8? Real compensation 49Starting Out: The Scotch Game White can prevent Black from castling with 9 exf6?! Bh6 10 Qe2+ Kf8 but fol- lowing 11 fxg7+ Bxg7 12 Qd2 Rb8 13 0-0-0 d5 Black’s centre and raking bishop pair more than made up for this in P.Muningis-P.Bobras, Zagan 1995. 9...Nd5! Black is more or less obliged to sacrifice a pawn. Again 9...Ng8?! is met by 10 Qe4!. 10 Nxd5 cxd5 11 Qxd5 It’s true that White is not forced to accept the pawn offer. Jan Pinski suggests 11 Qd4!? (preventing ...Qh4+) 11...0-0 12 0-0-0 when White isn’t a pawn ahead, but at least he has managed to move his king into relative safety — chances are roughly equal. 11...Qh4+! 12 Kd1 White is forced to move his king, as 12 g3?! Qb4+ 13 Qd2 Qxb2 was favourable for Black in H.Faust-J.Rauber, Pizol 1997. 12...Rb8 13 Be4 0-0 (Diagram 63) White has an extra pawn, but it is doubled and isolated on the e-file and White's king is far from safe. All in all, Black has enough compensation, for example: a) 14 Qd4 Qg85! (but not 14...Qxd4+? 15 exd4 Rxb2?? 16 Bb3! followed by Kel, winning material) 15 g3 d6! (logically trying to open files in the centre) 16 exd6 cxd6 17 Kd2 Qa5+ 18 Qc3 Qh5 19 h4 Be6! 20 g4! (20 Bxe6? fxe6 with ideas of ...Rf2+ and ...Rfc8) 20...Bxg4 21 Rag] d5 22 Bd3 with an unbalanced but roughly level position, M.Andres Mendez-S.Slipak, Buenos Aires 1995. b) 14 b3!? (White plans to safeguard his king with Ke1-d2) 14...Qg5 (14...Rb6 15 Kel Qe7 16 Rf1 d6 17 Kb2! dxe5 18 Radi Rd6 19 Qc5 saw White success- fully returning the pawn to coordinate his pieces in J.Rohl Montes-V.Ramon, Santa Clara 1998) 15 Qd4 c5 16 Qf4 Qxg2 17 Rfl Bb7 18 Kel Bd5 19 Kb2 Bxc4 20 Rgl Qc6 21 Qxc4 Rb4 again with approximately level chances, N.Rozkov- V.Petukhov Bor 2000. Theoretical? Hardly — I can only find seven games reaching the position after 12...Rb8. Straying from the well-trodden paths would be the main reason for choosing this variation for Black, although objectively speaking White is probably a bit better in the lines with 6 Nxc6 or 6 Be3 Bb6 7 Qd2!?. Statistics Overall 5...Bc5 has scored only 40% in around 600 games. White has scored 58% with 6 Nxc6 and 62% with 6 Be3, but significantly Black’s score increases to 50% if he chooses 6 Be3 Bbé!. 50Scotch Four Knights (4...Nf6 5 Nc3) Game 10 OA Krutko ll S.Dzhambulatov Dagomys 2004 1e4 e5 2 Nf Nc6 3 d4 exd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 d6 Solid, safe, but uninspiring. Black stabilises his position by ruling out e4-e5 for the foreseeable future but puts absolutely no pressure on White’s position and thus allows him to enjoy the benefits of the ‘pure Scotch’ centre without any real hassle. 6 Bed Be7 7 0-0 0-0 8 h3 Preventing both ...Bg4 and ...Ng4, but there’s also nothing wrong with the straightforward 8 Rel. 8...Nxd4 Black understandably seeks to relieve some of the pressure via exchanges, but this strategy only works to some extent. Black can also use the ‘fork trick’ 8...Nxe4 9 Nxe4 d5 to simplify the position, but following 10 Nxc6! bxc6 11 Bd3 dxe4 12 Bxe4 Black’s obvious pawn weak- nesses on the queenside promise White a lasting advantage. More ambitious is 8...Ned!?, against which White should play 9 Be2, intending at some point to kick the knight away with f2-f4. Instead 9 Bb3! allows Black to create coun- terplay on the queenside with 9...c5!, for example 10 Nf3 c4! 11 Nxe5 (11 Bad? a6! and the threat of ...b7-b5 is virtually impossible to meet) 11...cxb3 12 Nf bxc2 13 Qxc2 Be6 and Black has the bishop pair and some activity with ...Rc8. 9 Qxd4 Be6 10 Be3! White is in no hurry to change the favourable pawn structure with 10 Bxe6 fxe6. The game A.Gonzalez Pruneda-F.San Claudio Gonzalez, Norena 2001 continued 11 e5 Nd7! 12 exd6 cxd6 13 Qg4 RES 14 Rel Ne5 15 Qe2 Bhd 16 Be3 Qd7 when Black suddenly had quite active piece play. 10...Qd7 11 Rad1 Bxc4 12 Qxe4 Qc6 13 Qd3! (Diagram 64) White has allowed two sets of minor pieces to be traded, but stops short of ex- changing queens, which would have certainly eased Black’s problems. Now White will simply increase the pressure with Bd4 and Rfel. 13...Rae8 14 Bd4 Bd8 15 Rfe1 Black has made the most of his limited space and with 15...Re6 and ...Rfe8 he could keep his disadvantage to a minimum. Instead he opts for an ill-timed strike at White’s e4-pawn. 15...Nd7?! 16 Nd5! £5? (Diagram 65) This loses a pawn due to tactical reasons. 17 Qb3! Kh8 18 exfS Rxel+ 19 Rxel Nf6 After 19...Rxf5 White wins with 20 Re8+ Rf8 21 Qg3! Bf6 22 Bxf6 gxf6 23 Nxf6! Rxe8 24 Nxe8 when Black cannot prevent Qg7 mate. Thus Black re- 51