Viktor Moskalenko

2 months

An Attacking Repertoire for White with 1.d4

This is an extract from the book An Attacking Repertoire for White with 1.d4 by Viktor Moskalenko, published by New In Chess.

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An Attacking Repertoire for White with 1.d4 presents a selection of opening variations.

These opening choices I have made are an important factor in my personal approach to chess.

In this article, we review the Modern Benoni Defence.

Modern Benoni Defence

The Taimanov Attack in the past and future

1.d4 ♘f6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.♘c3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.f4 ♗g7 8.♗b5+

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"Nautilus is the future, gentlemen!" – Captain Nemo.

8.♗b5 is a powerful check!

For many years, this strong resource has remained the chief weapon of numerous players against the Modern Benoni.

Among other advantages, White’s idea is simply to gain one tempo.

Mark Taimanov

Mark Taimanov.

In this chapter I would like to present some original ideas in the aggressive Taimanov or Four Pawns Attack that, in my opinion, have not yet been well-developed or sufficiently analysed by modern theory.

My opinion on 8.♗b5+ ♘bd7

8...♘fd7 is Black’s main defence against 8.♗b5 in the Taimanov Variation.

No good is 8...♗d7? because of 9.e5!, with a large advantage for White.

The move 8...♘bd7, however, is more natural, although it gives White the possibility of a frontal attack with 9.e5! (White has to start his tactics immediately, since without this move Black can develop comfortably) 9...dxe5 10.fxe5 ♘h5.

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Now 11.e6! is the main and principled line: 11...♕h4+ 12.g3 ♘xg3 13.hxg3 ♕xh1 14.♗e3.

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As recent games (and analyses) show, Black’s position is completely hopeless.

See Game 10: Peralta-Lacasa Diaz, Catalonia tt 2014.

A bit of history

In the year 1988 (!) I received an invitation to play in an interesting closed tournament for promising young players in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia.

During my preparation, I realized that against 1.d4 almost all participants (including myself) had in their repertoire the Modern Benoni Defence, which was very popular at the time.

This forced me to dedicate some time to the study of this creative opening and to prepare an interesting and effective idea...

Three alternatives

The position after 8...♘fd7 was the focus of my studies before I started in the tournament in Armenia.

The black pieces do not look very active at the moment, because White has spent more time on his development.

But the bishop does not do anything either on b5 and will soon be attacked there.

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Now we have many options.

How to continue?

A) There is GM Lutikov’s advance 9.a4, preventing Black’s counterplay with ...a7-a6 and a quick ...b7-b5.

I did not like this very much, because the b4-square is weakened and a black knight can be comfortably placed there.

9...0-0 10.♘f3 ♘a6 11.0-0 ♘b4 12.h3 (or 12.♖e1 a6 13.♗f1 ♖e8 14.h3 f5!?) 12... a6 13.♗c4 f5!

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"An important novelty in a well-known position. This is one of the main ideas solving the central problems in the Benoni. I think this move will have a bright future" – A.Kapengut, 2002.

But anyway this retort has always been fashionable, thanks to the fact that it was used by Garry Kasparov in several games;

B) Worthy of attention is 9.♘f3 a6 10.♗e2 b5, with an unclear position (recently analysed in various books);

C) Taimanov’s move is 9.♗d3, for example: 9...0-0 10.♘f3 ♘a6 11.0-0 ♘c7 12.♘d2 ♘f6 13.h3 ♖e8 14.♕f3 ♖b8 15.a4 ♘a6 16.♘c4 ♘b4 17.♗b1 a6 18.a5 ♗f8 19.f5 ♗e7 20.fxg6 fxg6 21.e5 dxe5 22.d6 ♗xd6 23.♘xd6 ♕xd6 24.♘e4 1-0 Taimanov-Trifunovic, Leningrad 1957.

Whatever the case may be, I can assure you that each of these plans has its advantages and weak points.

The idea behind 9.♗e2!?

After analysing the well-known practical examples (please note that in 1988 there were no personal computers yet and until 1995 I studied at the board, using books and magazines – and my own head!) I soon realized that the secret of this position is based on the fact that in general, Black’s counterplay is very dynamic, depending on what White plays next.

There are enough resources for both sides.

But what I liked was the suggestion of 9.♗e2!?.

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This continuation seems very flexible and corresponds to my approach to openings: look for paths that are studied little and used rarely and that contain original hidden plans.

Typical black plans

By putting his queen’s knight on a6 Black starts a common plan in the Benoni.

One is to try the advance ...b7-b5: ...♘c7, ...♖b8, ...a7-a6, ...b7-b5.

If now (or also earlier) 10...♘f6?!, White gains a clear tempo compared to the theoretical positions (see examples in Game 11 and Game 14)!

One of the insoluble problems for Black in the Taimanov Variation is where to put these crazy knights (see also the comment to 15...♘a6 in Game 14)!

The CapNemo plan

After 9.♗e2 0-0 10.♘f3 ♘a6 11.0-0 ♘c7 we reach another key moment.

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12.♘d2 used to be a popular continuation, but I believe that 12...f5 is an important resource for Black here.

12.♔h1!? is also played, with the idea to prepare the advance f4-f5.

But when I analysed this position more deeply, I found that White has another interesting plan: 12.♗d2!?.

This might be called the ‘CapNemo Plan’, after several Internet wins with it by myself under that handle.

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The queen’s bishop will be manoeuvred to the h4-square, or to g3, from where it can support the typical break e4-e5.

In Game 11, Moskalenko-Minasian, my rival found it was difficult to solve all the problems that arose in the opening, and in the short middlegame struggle White dominated from the start, displaying good knowledge of the strategic plans and tactical resources.

In Game 12, Moskalenko-Makarevich, we will investigate the 12.♗d2!? plan more deeply.

Here we observe other ways to go wrong for Black, due to errors at critical moments.

Perhaps his best chance was ...f5!? on move 16 or 18, with a complicated game, although we should not forget that in the 1980s and ’90s all resources of these positions were not known yet.

More recent games are found in Game 13, Moskalenko-Sanz Alonso.

As for 12.a4!?, this move often only transposes to known positions.

It is an alternative to 12.♗d2!?, but the plans are very similar.

It is possible that this advance is more reasonable here than on move 9, since Black now needs more time to take the knight to the b4-square: ...♘b8-a6-c7-a6-b4.

In Game 14, Moskalenko-Magerramov, we find more illustrative examples, along with other attempts and plans.

After resigning this game, my opponent commented to me:

"It seemed as if I was lost from the beginning; 8.♗b5 and what you played immediately afterwards is a deadly plan."

I still agree with this evaluation.

Keep in mind

Due to the fact that there are quite typical moves in the opening, some games can transpose one to the other (Games 11-14).

Other plans for Black

Another plan for Black is 9/10...♕h4+.

The main idea of this check is to weaken White’s kingside structure.

However, Black is wasting important time.

With this option we transpose to a game by a student of mine.

During the same tournament in Yerevan, I taught the idea of 9.♗e2 and ♗d2 to my student, IM Stanislav Savchenko, who soon used it successfully in his games.

See S.Savchenko-Pigusov (Game 15).

Recent games of my own with 9...♕h4+ are Moskalenko-Fernandez Vicente (Game 16) and Moskalenko-Almeida Quintana (twice in Game 17).

In Game 18 we will examine an interesting option for Black: 9...0-0 10.♘f3 f5!?.

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A blow to the white centre!

This move (in similar positions) was used by World Champion Tigran Petrosian and later by his colleague Veselin Topalov.

It is a push rich in resources, well-known in the Modern Benoni and in similar structures.

In this case, Black takes advantage of the position of his knight on d7 to advance the f-pawn.

Strangely enough, after 11.exf5 gxf5, practice has seen only one game with this position: Ezat-Ghaem Maghami (Game 18).

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Get the book An Attacking Repertoire for White with 1.d4 on the New In Chess store.

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