Non-Random Chess960 Trial Game 9: SP864 after 4)...e6

Here is the continuation of a series of trial openings we are playing through for very difficult SPs that black must face. The PGN database for these trials including comments is here.

In this post we are going to take a look at SP864 in more detail considering that black really struggled in our initial Non-Random Trial game 9.

The move history up to this point was:
1. Ng3 Nf6 2. Nf5 Rg8 3. Nf3 Ng6 4. O-O e6

As can be seen, white has already castled and successfully prevented black from doing the same. Black's difficulties will be king safety and how to activate the rooks.

Mark has suggested that 4)...e6 might be a good way to solve many of black's problems. Not only does it push back the knight, it also potentially aids black's development and even possibly enables a square for black's king to temporarily sit. The problem is that the f6 square is weakened when it will come under fire from white's automatically fianchettoed bishop. The theory is that this will undermine black's king safety.

Most of the analysis we will do of this situation will be discussed in the comments to this post.

Initial position SP864: 4) ...e6

Non-Random Chess960 Trial Game 9: SP864

Here is the next in a series of trial openings we are playing through for very difficult SPs that black must face. The PGN database for these trials including comments is here.

Well for me personally, this SP number 864 was the toughest SP I have ever had to face playing the black side. I feel uncertain as to black's chances in this SP to draw and there would need to be more work done to convince me that black can find a draw (only my opinion please prove me wrong!)

The good news is that in practical play, black's opening moves are all principled and thus easy to commit to memory and white has to play very precisely otherwise all the initiative dissolves away. In any case even if black is in trouble in this SP, the game will play well beyond 25 moves. Therefore there is a lot of really interesting, creative and fun chess to be played in any case!

Not only is black's right to castle almost completely destroyed within only a few moves, but in this SP white's dark bishop sits in the corner readily deployed on the long diagonal firing at the kingside. Unlike our previous trial where the queen-side sequence was QBB, this time the queen sits on c1 in the classic "barbecue" BBQ arrangement (Weeks, 2012) and thus she has more freedom to move and exploit weaknesses from her c1 home.

Since we had already trialed the QBB version of this SP in trial 8, Mark found a very important improvement with 4.O-O. We both shared a kind of a laugh about our interpretations of this move! I thought of this early castling move as "super-solid" where I actually meant "aggressive". Mark thought I was implying that the early castling move was defensive. However please that it is not! After the castling move, white is free to gradually build up a very intimidating low risk attack on black.

The trial of this difficult SP concluded after 18 moves in some disagreement as to the likely outcome of the game. Mark chess expertise is significant. He gives black only a 10% chance of drawing after 18.d4. I think that this conclusion is harsh but it depends on a specific continuation starting with 18...Nd5 that produces a fascinating defense by black that we never got to play through unfortunately. So I present the hypothetical continuation after the 18th move just for fun.

SP864: How can black improve on this opening?

For me, I did not like this move I played:

SP864: Why 8...Nf4?!

Just from a question of logic, why threaten a pawn that requires white to respond in such a way that white's position is improved? Perhaps better was the immediate move 8...Qxc5. Black is actually trying to exchange off queens to take pressure of his king-side so that the king can lift to the seventh rank and finally connect the two rooks in a hybrid castling arrangement.

Since I feel uncertain about this opening by black 1.Ng3...Nf6, here is what I think might be a better opening:

SP864: An alternative opening idea

Black's idea is to give up another tempo to retain a king-side castling option and use the two military knights in the corner in a very challenging defensive setup that can protect the king. As we know, knights can be fantastic defenders if they are used well!

Chess960: Opening Puzzle No. 10

Whoa, more than a year since I posted the last Chess960 puzzle! Well to celebrate the tenth chess960 puzzle, here is a real beauty. This puzzle has some important theoretical significance once you understand it:

SP486: What is the most important reason why

 1.d4 is not a very good opening move by white?

The answer is surprisingly simple!

Enjoy the solution given below

The answer is (drumroll)...:

1. Because the long diagonal a8-h1 is weak!

If you thought the answer was:

2. Because the king is exposed along a5/e1, 
white can easily defend against that and 
continue development with moves like Bd2/Nc3.

Explanation:

1. d4   ... b6!(b5)

2. Nf3  ... Bb7 

And now white's f1 bishop is thematically trapped, 

since moving either e or g pawn results in:

3. g3?  ... Bxf3 followed by ...Qxf3

if instead:

2. e3?! ... Ba6!

3. Ne2  ... Bxe2

and 4.Kxe2 is essential because if:

4. Bxe2 ... Qxg2 -/+

Non-Random Chess960 Trial Game 8: SP868

The PGN database for these trials is here.

Our journey through the opening of SP868 has concluded. Incredibly on the second run through this opening black has found an absolutely perfect defensive setup despite all odds, and I as white was unable to crack it. Towards the end of the trial the position I was seeing on the board looked so powerful for white, but actually in the cold hard light of objectivity the position was equal. Here is the trial variation as we concluded. Check the database out for greater detail and comments.

Clearly white's moves were suboptimal. The most serious question marks are:

• 7. O-O?! white decides to try the same thematic castling idea that worked so well on our first trial run (see database)
• 9. Ba3?! a wasted tempo since black can match it with ...Bd6. White thought that ...Bxf5 where black drops the bishop pair would have to be good for white. However black didn't need both bishops to equalize.

SP868: Black's perfect defensive technique

An important heuristic in this fiendishly difficult SP:
Mark has come up with an excellent way of looking at this fiendishly difficult start, SP868. The idea is that black's apparent inability to castle is almost equivalent of being a pawn down. So black's strategy is to sacrifice a pawn and retain the ability to castle thus connecting the rooks and allowing more active play.

Sounds good! From what I am seeing of this SP, there is a serious game of cat and mouse at work. First strategy to rule out all together in my view, is for black to castle queenside, or to slide the king over to the queenside. Once white sees this strategy, they simply castle kingside and hit the queenside hard. Really hard. It might possibly work under special conditions as idea no.2 shows.

To me the strategy is for black to wait until white commits to the kingside, and then slide or castle the king to the kingside very carefully themselves. The combined QBB combination now tends to equalise, because both white and black's king will be the subject of their crossfire, with black's king a little less secure than white's.

Now that we are studying this SP in greater detail, here are a collection of ideas:

SP868 idea no.1: 1)...e6!?

The idea here is that the e7 square will become a temporary safe haven for black's king. It's worthy of some serious consideration!

SP868 idea no.2: ...2.Nh5!?

One of the fascinating things in the above variation is how the black king transfers over to the queen-side using the bishops and queen as protection rather than the traditional pawn shelter. (Note that 23.b5?! is met with  23...Nxe4!)

SP868 idea no.3: The Amazing Military Knight defenders!

One of the fascinating things about the above variation is how black manages to get the time to reorganise the Military Knights and how well they do as a cooperative unit. White still has an edge but black has a lot of play and the slightest slip from white and a lot of the advantage is gone.

Non-Random Chess960 Trial Game 7: SP749

The PGN database for these trials is here.

In this run through of SP749, the engines and CCRL database are indicating that white has a significant start advantage. Playing as white, I tried an early development of the queen. The idea did not work out all that well. Yes the queen can come out early in this SP because there are many squares that cannot be attacked. However, she is not all that effective unless well supported by other pieces. Here is a key moment:

SP749 trial: key moment

This is a key moment because white has pushed back black's knight to the back row, and I assumed that yet another move where black does not advance forward and develop, would have to be crippling. However, black's move 7....Qe8 simultaneously defending d7, attacking e5 and indirectly controlling the e-file was amazingly effective. White's queen is now without a target and she blocks the g1 bishop. White could play Nf3 but that would block the d1 bishop.

In this trial, I never solved the problem about what to do with the d1 bishop. Bg4 is obvious, but more difficult to achieve than I thought, since black has counter-play; the very thing I was trying to stop by the hyper rushed queen attack. Note that black's equivalent bishop on d8 can get to g5 but in black's case, there is no knight that impedes it's path there.

Good luck to the future generations of Chess960 players playing this SP as white or black. Is there a forced win for white? I think black could well be OK in this SP for at least a draw, but it is going to require memorization of the basic concepts, otherwise in practical play black will run out of time on the clock.

Non-Random Chess960 Trial Game 6: SP408

The PGN database for these trials is here.

This time we are going to work through the first ten moves of some of the SP's Mark found in this post to be possibly dangerous for black. First up is SP408 = RBQNBNKR.

This SP is really "diabolical" to quote Mark. White's first move 1.d4 has so many good things about it including:

1. Develops two pieces at once
2. Claims territory in the center
3. Threatens d5 which closes down black development options
4. Although undefended, black cannot attack it with without a compromised development
5. The pawn does not hinder any of white's other pieces in the slightest

Black on the other hand has no such luxury. As Mark put it:
"First, the minor pieces don't coordinate well. The Knights are competing for the same square on the e-file and the Bishops have no obvious optimal deployment. Second, the weak e-Pawn, which is not easily defended, is easily attacked by the Knights. Third, the castling option is limited; the King has to stay on the h-side."

The question is what can black do about 1.d4? At first we followed the CCRL database (see "cool links" top right). One possibility is for black to build a dynamic safety net around his king thus:

SP408 "The Diabolical SP" Hypothetical: 1.d4...c5!?

The variation above is now scored at almost 0.00 by Houdini-2c. This is where it get's interesting. Mark has decided to forget about the CCRL database altogether and play by gut feel! So we have the situation 1.d4 d5!? a symmetrical opening and not one engine in the CCRL database even considers this move. Houdini2c scores white's lead at almost half a pawn.

After the almost automatically good move for white 2.c4 Mark finds what I think is the needle in the haystack 2....Ned6!? that saves blacks position at least for longer. Studying the continuations after this move, I found this surprising line that actually does produce the possibility of long side castling for both colours!

SP408 Hypothetical: Long side casting both colours is possible!

Now at move 7 in the real game, clearly white has all the initiative (see below). I played 6.e3 which is strictly not a developing move but it sure is a positional move. This actually has given black a free tempo and here at move 7 Mark actually uses it!

SP408: 7...b6, what does it achieve?

The move is sure got me both interested and a bit stumped for now. 7...b6 seems not to aid development and the c5 pawn doesn't need protecting yet. Also, a tempo is lost if later ...b5 is necessary. Perhaps it's a case of black not having a better move? Here is Mark's thoughts on it:

...A useful move that prepares various a-side deployments, strengthens the c-Pawn, and leaves Black's options open.

After this move I played 8.Qc2 a very simple developing move that also waits to see what black does. White doesn't want to castle yet in case the h-file opens and doesn't want to move the e1 bishop until the c3 square is cleared. Notice the important feature that white has, a free clearance square or intermediate square on e4 to park a knight so that the c3 square is cleared. This is typical Chess960 stuff where we need a free square so that our position can be improved.

So now we have:
7....b6 8.Qc2 Nd6

Again another interesting move by black. I think if black would have played 8....Nxg3 the opening of the h-file would have been a fairly serious problem for black since white is just continuing development and pressuring the king side.

However now after 8...Nd6 I'm studying the crazy possibility black has of playing ...h5/h4/h3!? and potentially developing the rook to h5 as well as disturbing white's kingside! Take note that the edge pawn rush is a very common feature of Chess960 when a knight sits on Nb3/Nb6/Ng3/Ng6 and get biffed by the edge pawn. The pawn then marches on to undermine b2/b7/g2/g7 in concert with a bishop or queen on the long diagonal! But that is not the reality in this SP.

Here is a special milestone reached in this trial game, black has played ...f5!?, a really interesting move to say the least. How can such a move work with black's b8 bishop blocked in while all white's minor pieces are aiming at the king.

SP408 black continues to play actively!

Here is one way that ...f5!? proceeds:

SP408 white insists on attacking g7

After 12...f5 I castled g-side. Mark's immediate comment was "...I was surprised to see White castle. I expected h2-h4 at some time, using the h-pawn to disrupt the h-side". I then tried the idea of a4/b3/Bb2 to keep long term pressure on the long diagonal.

So here is the final position reached in this trial:

SP408 End of trial at move 16

My own thoughts are that black has defended amazingly well. It is remarkable that both black's rooks have had to transpose to the 7th rank so early in the game. I think the difficulty is that although black's piece position is compromised, white has only created one weakness when two are needed. Mark's comment at the end of the trial were:
"...The Bc3 is certainly a better piece, but the difference between the two positions is probably nothing more than the difference between these two bishops"

Lastly, please see the comments to this blog for the details of what we were thinking move by move in this trial run at the very difficult SP408 where white calls all the shots and black is very much in the hot-seat.

Non-Random Chess960 Trial Game 5: SP468

The PGN database for these trials is here.

This SP is part of 108 SP's that feature the combination of a rook, a king and a queen in the corner, leaving most of the opposite side of the board to the minor pieces and a lone rook. Learning the overarching concepts of these SP's will mean that at least 1 in 10 games of Chess960 are covered!

There are so many possibilities in this SP I can only start by analyzing what Mark and I chose for our trial. Please see the comments to this post for a detailed discussion of the reasons we played what we played, as well as some of the interesting variations at the bottom of this post.

To keep it short, Mark played a fantastic defensive move at move 3 which surprised me because the knight blocks the dark bishop. The move left my plan to attack the d-file long term, in tatters:

SP468 move 3: black plays a fantastic defensive move:

White now starts to get confused about long term objectives. Had Mark not played the move above, I would have exchanged pawns, attacked the rook on a8 and put my own rook on the d-file to attack a future backward pawn on d7, a long term weakness.

My attention as white now swung over to try and develop the queen ASAP. In order to escape black's dark bishop attacking the queen across the long diagonal, I decided to develop the queen along the h-file. Mark on the other hand, chose to develop the queen in it's most efficient way, simply playing ...g6.

SP468 move 8: two different approaches to developing the queen!

 

The problem here is that black's queen has more scope even if white's position is more flexible generally. Black now finds a second spectacular defensive move temporarily entombing my queen, which once again left me speechless because I was not expecting it:

SP468 move 9: black's next fantastic defensive idea

Mark's play as black deserves a lot of study, particularly the moves I have shown above. He deliberately leaves his g6 pawn backwards and this could be an important theoretical point who knows!  The rest of the game we played up to move 20. I found a fantastic double pawn sacrifice to activate my rooks, where I tried to lever my more active rooks up onto the 7th rank and in some lines to attack the backward g6 pawn, but I could find nothing solid that really compensated for the material loss of the pawns. Here is the game up to where we concluded it:

SP468: The opening as we played it

Just to finish up, here are some bizarre lines I found while we were playing this SP!

SP468 hypothetical no.1 - The horses bolt the paddock!?

And another..

SP468 hypothetical no.2 - A hyper accelerated center attack!?

And another..

SP468 hypothetical no.3 - The bishop fianchetto to f3!

And another...

SP468 hypothetical no.4 - The Bishop and Queen play cat and mouse!

And another!

SP468 hypothetical no.5 - The g-pawn goes for a long walk!

And another!

SP468 hypothetical no.6 - the great g-side implosion!

And another!

SP468 hypothetical no.7 - is the g4 attack Mark is talking about?