[Event "WCH1/A3 SEMI"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1997.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Trani, Francesco"]
[Black "Quigley, D.J.."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[Annotator "Quigley, D.J."]
[BlackElo "2115"]
[ECO "B04"]
[EventDate "1997.??.??"]
[PlyCount "25"]
[WhiteElo "1920"]

1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 { This is called the Modern Variation. } 4... dxe5 { 4...Bg4, 4...g6, and 4...Nc6 are all more coomonly chosen, but this lane
leads to an interesting sacrifice of White's material I wished to examine.
This move was introduced into GM play by Larsen against Tal in the Candidates'
Semi-final, 4th game, 1965. } 5. Nxe5 Nd7 { Larsen chose 5...e6 for the
sixth match game because after the fourth, he was of the opinion that Black
should not allow White the following sacrifice. Another common option is 5...
g6. } 6. Nxf7 { Many American GM's, including Joel Benjamin and Patrick Wolff,
have examined this line in quite some detail. } 6... Kxf7 7. Qh5+ Ke6 8. g3 { ECO considers 8 c4 to be the stronger main line. I think they are mistaken and
was hoping to get the opportunity to show why. } ( 8. c4 $145 N5f6 9. d5+ Kd6 10. Qf7 ( 10. c5+ Nxc5 11. Bf4+ Kd7 12. Bb5+ c6 13. dxc6+ bxc6 14. Qxc5 Qb6 15. Qxb6 axb6 16. Bc4 Nd5 ( 16... e6 17. O-O Bd6 18. Bxd6 Kxd6 19. Re1 Bd7 20. Nc3 Rhf8 { - Plomp-Etmans/cr ch-NL 1992 } ) 17. Be5 e6 18. O-O Rg8 19. Nc3 Bd6 20. Rfe1 Bxe5 21. Rxe5 Kd6 22. Rh5 h6 23. Ne4+ Kc7 24. Rh3 Rf8 25. Rg3 { - Maliangkay-Etmans/cr ch-NL 1991 } ) 10... Ne5 11. Bf4 c5 12. Nc3 ( 12. Nd2 g5 13. Bg3 g4 14. O-O-O Bh6 15. Re1 Rf8 16. Bxe5+ Kd7 17. Qe6+ Ke8 18. Qd6 exd6 19. Bxf6+ Kd7 20. Bxd8 Kxd8 21. Bd3 Rxf2 22. Re2 Rxe2 23. Bxe2 Bd7 24. Bd3 { - Kallai,G-Horvath,C/Budapest Noviki-A 1990 } ) 12... a6 13. O-O-O ( 13. b4 Qb6 14. bxc5+ Qxc5 15. Rd1 Qa3 16. Rd3 Qc1+ 17. Bxc1 Nxf7 18. c5+ Kc7 19. Bf4+ Kd8 20. Na4 Bf5 21. Rd4 Ke8 22. Bc4 Rd8 23. O-O Bc2 24. Nb6 e5 25. d6 Bxd6 { 0-1 Wydrowski,L-Krzyzanowski,A/4th Poznan Open CC Championship 1993 } ) 13... g6 14. Bxe5+ Kxe5 15. d6 Bh6+ 16. Kc2 Qe8 17. Rd5+ Nxd5 18. Qxd5+ Kf6 19. Ne4+ ( 19. Bd3 exd6 20. Qxd6+ Kf7 21. Ne4 Qc6 22. Qe5 Rd8 { 0-1 Rozentalis,E-Sokolov,A/Bern op 1992 } ) 19... Kg7 20. Qe5+ Kf7 21. Bd3 Bf5 ( 21... Bg7 22. Qf4+ Kg8 23. Re1 Qf8 24. Qg5 exd6 25. Qd5+ Qf7 26. Nxd6 Qxd5 27. Re8+ Bf8 28. cxd5 c4 29. Bxc4 b5 30. Bb3 Kg7 31. Nxc8 Bc5 32. Re7+ Kh6 { 0-1 Rublevsky,S-Hauchard,A/Oakham 1992 } ) 22. g4 Bxe4 23. Bxe4 e6 24. Re1 Qa4+ 25. Kd3 Rhe8 26. h4 { 0-1 De Firmian,N-Rohde,M/USA-ch 1989 } ) ( 8. Qg4+ $145 Kf7 9. Qh5+ Ke6 { - Golubev,M-Savchenko,S/Nikolaev zt 1993 } ) 8... b5 { With the same idea Kasparov attempted in his famous debacle against Deep Blue,
making an escape hatch for Black's King. Other moves gives White an advantage. } ( 8... g6 9. Bh3+ Kd6 10. Qe2 e5 11. c4 $14 ) ( 8... N7f6 9. Bh3+ Kd6 10. Qe5+ Kc6 11. Bg2 b5 ( 11... e6 $145 12. c4 Bd6 13. Qe2 Re8 $1 14. Nc3 Kd7 15. cxd5 exd5 16. Be3 c6 17. O-O Ke7 $1 $11 ) 12. a4 b4 13. c4 bxc3 14. bxc3 $14 ) 9. a4 b4 { N A new move as far as I know. Todorovic-Bodiroga Palic Junior
1988 continued 9...c6 when White oplayed 10 Bh3+ and Black was okay, but White
could have played 10 axb5 which is evaluated unclear, but the opening of the
position looks very dangerous for Black im my opinion. I selected 9...b4 to
try to keep the lines closed around my King's upcoming home on the Queenside. } ( 9... c6 $145 10. Bh3+ ( 10. axb5 g6 11. Qe2+ Kf7 12. bxc6 N7b6 13. Bg2 ( 13. c4 $14 ) 13... Nf6 14. c3 Bg7 15. Nd2 Re8 16. Nf3 Kg8 17. O-O Bg4 18. h3 Bxf3 19. Qxf3 e6 20. Bg5 Qd5 21. Qf4 Qf5 22. Qxf5 gxf5 23. c7 Nfd5 24. Bd8 a5 25. Rfe1 Rc8 26. Rxa5 Nxc7 27. Bxc7 Rxc7 28. Rxf5 exf5 29. Rxe8+ Kf7 30. Rb8 Nc8 31. Kf1 Nd6 32. Bd5+ Ke7 33. Ke2 Ra7 34. Ra8 Rxa8 35. Bxa8 Nc4 36. b3 Nb6 37. Bb7 Kd6 38. Kd3 Kc7 39. Bf3 Nd7 40. b4 Nf8 41. Bd5 Ng6 42. Bg8 h6 43. Bf7 Ne7 44. b5 Nc8 45. c4 Nd6 46. Bd5 f4 47. g4 Bf6 48. b6+ Kxb6 49. c5+ Kc7 50. cxd6+ Kxd6 51. Ke4 Bd8 52. Bb3 Bb6 53. f3 Ke7 54. d5 Kf6 55. d6 Kg5 56. h4+ Kxh4 57. Kxf4 Bd8 58. d7 h5 59. Kf5 hxg4 60. fxg4 Be7 { 1-0 Ernst,T-Komarov,D/Dortmund op-A 1992 } ) 10... Kd6 11. axb5 cxb5 12. b3 ( 12. Nd2 N7f6 13. Qe5+ Kc6 14. Bg2 e6 15. O-O Bd6 16. Qe2 a6 17. c4 $5 bxc4 18. Nxc4 Kd7 19. Ne5+ Bxe5 ( 19... Ke8 $1 ) 20. dxe5 Ne8 21. Qg4 $44 { Todorovic-Bodiroga, Yugoslavia 1988 } ) 12... b4 13. Nd2 e6 14. Nc4+ Ke7 15. Bg5+ N7f6 16. Ne5 Qe8 17. Qf3 Kd8 18. O-O Be7 19. Ra5 h6 20. Bxf6 gxf6 21. c4 bxc3 22. Rxd5+ exd5 23. Qxd5+ Kc7 24. Qxa8 Bxh3 25. Qxa7+ Kd6 26. Qb6+ Kd5 27. Re1 Bc8 28. Qa5+ { 1-0 Polee-Etmans/cr ch-NL 1992 } ) 10. Nd2 $1 { A nasty surprise.
White alertly notices that c4 is now available for this Knight. } 10... N7f6 { Forced. Any other move loses the Knight on d5 for nothing, or worse. For
example, 10 Ncf6 allows White mate in three. } 11. Bh3+ Kd6 12. Nc4+ Kc6 13. Na5+ { Clearly, Black has no choice but to repeat moves. It's in White's best
interest to take the perpetual check as well because Black is very close to
finding safe haven for his King, after which he should be able to consolidate
his piece up. Conclusion: if White intends to play for a win with the Modern
Variation, 4 Nf3, this game poses an important challange. White must then
continue with 8 c4 instead, when I believe Black can triumph. 8 g3 in turn
poses a challange for Black to avoid a draw if he wishes to. Then, Black must
play the dangerus looking 9...c6 since 9...b4 results in a draw. } 1/2-1/2