Page 1 of 1

Game Commentary : Beware This Trap !

Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2006 5:13 pm
by abiodun
ImageGreetings All ! Having played this opening a gazillion times as both white and black, I'm amazed that many of my opponents still fall into this trap(oversight) as Black. I believe the move order classifies this as the Exchange Variation in the Queen's Gambit Semi-Slav Defense. And as we know from studying Firmian's MCO(#14, pg.456) ".... in the Slav Exchange Variation black must play accurately as a lack of caution lands him in serious trouble."

Here's the pgn for the game and I've included a "View Board" link for anyone who may wish to view the final board position. This simple trap seems easy enough to avoid and I believe I know how Black manages to overlook it. He gets so 'unglued' and uptight over Whites' powerfully positioned Queen, that he allows her presence to cloud his perception. The question is ...... How would YOU avoid this trap... ? ? ?

[Event "m1133886548"]
[Site "net-chess.com"]
[White "abiodun"]
[Black "mic"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Reason "Checkmate"]
[Game "g1104691250"]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.Nb1c3 Nb8c6 5.e4 dxe4 6.d5 Nc6e5

7.Qd1a4 Bc8d7 8.Qa4xe4 Ne5g6 9.Nc3b5 Ng8f6 10.Nb5d6#

The Moral of This Story ...???... Players seeking to win with Black at all costs(perhaps for a team's final tournament score) should avoid this variation and use the move order 2...e6 with a later ...c6 to arrive at the Semi-Slav variations.

ImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImage
ImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImage
ImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImage
ImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImage
ImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImage
ImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImage
ImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImage
ImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImage
View Board

Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2006 12:29 pm
by podonnell
9... e7e5

Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2006 8:42 pm
by gmiller
or 9... Qa5+ 10.Nc3 Nf6
Which eliminates white's aggression and takes the initiative.

Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2006 12:54 am
by abiodun
gmiller wrote:or 9... Qa5+ 10.Nc3 Nf6
Which eliminates white's aggression and takes the initiative.
Hi There Greg and podonnell !

As much as I admire your thinking, that is, to find attacking moves that will take the sting out of White's aggressive attack and reclaim the initiative for Black, your solution could open up another can of worms (so to speak). :shock:

Maybe you overlooked how White might possibly respond to your 9...Qa5+ with 10.Bd2 :shock: , at which time Her Majesty would need to find protection at either b6 or revert back to square one at d8. Let's suppose Black's Queen chose 10...Qb6 , then White could keep the pressure on by 11.Be3 and then we could get into some exchange moves if Black answered with 11...Nf6. This plan thus far may not be in Black's best interest since after the dust has cleared from the Queen exchanges, White's Knight on b5 is still poised and ready to settle onto c7+, winning the a8 Rook.
??????????????????????????????

Maybe podonnell's answer (9...e5) was less risky and also set the stage to involve more of Black's army in defense of White's aggression. I'd also like to think that someone considered 9...Qb8 as yet another alternative defense.

Personally , I have vowed to no longer play this particular move order defense as Black ; not because I believe it's somehow inferior, but I don't wish to have to committ to memory all of the theoretical knowledge necessary(from what I'm reading) that would enable me to equalize (at best) Black's position. Just one man's opinion ....

By the way .... I'm thrilled :D that someone responded to this post. There ARE some real chess enthusiasts here at Net-Chess ! Cheers !!!

Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2006 1:15 pm
by wulebgr
I don't like 4...Nc6, although I realize it has been played by players far better than I'll ever hope to become. 4...Nf6 or 4...e6 both look more promising to me as the black player.

5...dxe4 also looks bad to me. while 5...e6 seems playable.

By the time we get to move 9, 9...e6 appears just about the only remaining option, but after 10.d6 Nf6 11.Qc4 Qb8 12.Nc7+, black's king gets stuck in the center, and white wins material. +-

Black must look for alternatives much sooner than move 9.

Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 1:17 pm
by rdarmi
:wink:
what about 6) .... Kb8 7) Kxe4 Kf6 8) Kxf6+ exf6
should get a better equal position
or not_
:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 3:48 pm
by abiodun
rdarmi wrote::wink:
what about 6) .... Kb8 7) Kxe4 Kf6 8) Kxf6+ exf6
should get a better equal position
or not_
:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:
ImageHello Rdarmi ...... Yes , I suppose what you have suggested would be one way for Black to try and avoid the trap .... that is, provided White cooperated and went about his plan as you have outlined here. Personally I'm not too sure as White that I would capture Black's e pawn at move # 7 as you state. Having Black on the run and backing up like he is, I just might call out White's Bishop to intensify the attack ; but I'll give you lots of credit for at least coming up with a plan. I've often felt that having at least a bad plan is better than not having any plan at all.

You had me scratching my head when I first read your post here ..... until I figured out you were meaning Knight when you wrote K. In the future you should use N for the Knight and only use K for the King.

Thanks Buddy for your input !

Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 4:17 pm
by abiodun
wulebgr wrote:I don't like 4...Nc6, although I realize it has been played by players far better than I'll ever hope to become. 4...Nf6 or 4...e6 both look more promising to me as the black player.

5...dxe4 also looks bad to me. while 5...e6 seems playable.

By the time we get to move 9, 9...e6 appears just about the only remaining option, but after 10.d6 Nf6 11.Qc4 Qb8 12.Nc7+, black's king gets stuck in the center, and white wins material. +-

Black must look for alternatives much sooner than move 9.
ImageWulebgr .... I tend to agree with all of your assessment here, especially your last sentence ! Yes ... I didn't particularly like 4...Nc6 either and 5...e6 seemed like a more aggressive(defensive) alternative to me. For all of the reasons you mention here and others, is the reason why I don't use this variation of the Semi-Slav in my repertoire. Perhaps I'll change my mind sometime in the future, but for now my game is not good enough to allow me to appreciate the nuances of this Semi-Slav ...... :shock:

Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 5:49 pm
by wulebgr
abiodun wrote: but for now my game is not good enough to allow me to appreciate the nuances of this Semi-Slav ...... :shock:
Even so, from our experience elsewhere, I'd say your game is a good deal better than mine. :wink:

Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 7:29 pm
by rdarmi
abiodun wrote:
rdarmi wrote::wink:
what about 6) .... Kb8 7) Kxe4 Kf6 8) Kxf6+ exf6
should get a better equal position
or not_
:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:
Hello Rdarmi ...... Yes , I suppose what you have suggested would be one way for Black to try and avoid the trap .... that is, provided White cooperated and went about his plan as you have outlined here. Personally I'm not too sure as White that I would capture Black's e pawn at move # 7 as you state. Having Black on the run and backing up like he is, I just might call out White's Bishop to intensify the attack
Sorry about that, sometime i confuse myself when posting in english.
(btw call me Bob).
now lets see so 7 Bb5+ Bd7, 8 Bc4 Nf6, 9 Nge2 g6 and the set is ready 4 both 2 castle. :D :D :D
personally I dont believe i the B exchange as the fewer pices on the board the better 4 black....

I will be away on hols till the end of the month, will be happy to continue this discussion on my return...
:lol: :lol: :lol: