ETARN Chess Strategies

Austrian Attack e

The central push seems logical, but Black should be happy because he can chip away at White's center (l.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 O-O):

6.e5 Ne8

Black is forced to retreat, but in so doing opens the way for his g7-Bishop. Black's central focus will be the e5-pawn, and he'll use ...c7-c5 to undermine White's central support.

7.Be3

White develops and tries to restrain the ...c7-c5 break. White has tried 7.Bc4, 7.Bd3, and 7.h4, but in each case 7.. .c5 gives Black good counterplay.

Chapter Nine

Diagram 225.

12.Bc5 Bxc3+ 13.bxc3 Ne4 14.Bxf8 Qb6

8.dxc5

White accepts Black's pawn sacrifice. Otherwise ...c5xd4 causes White's center to collapse.

9.Be2 Bg4

This is Black's key resource. He is trying to unlock the potential of his g7-Bishop.

10.cxd6 exd6 11 .exd6 Nxd6 The center has been blown up and White has won a pawn. The position shown in Diagram 225 offers Black excellent compensation.

After Black's fourteenth move, he has gained a dangerous attack. A likely continuation is 15.Rfl Nxc3 16.Qd2 Nxe2 17.Qxe2 Rxf8, when Black has sacrificed an exchange for good play against White's King.

Diagram 226.

Austrian Attack (6.Bd3)

This line and the next one are White's preferred choices in the Austrian Attack, as White plays for development (l.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 O-O):

6.Bd3 Nab

A surprising move away from the center leads us to Diagram 226. Black supports his freeing break ...c7-c5, and once again invites e4-e5 by White. 7.0-0

A Solution to the King Pawn Opening

White brings his King into safety before pressing in the center White has tried playing for central control with 7.e5 Ne8 8.Be3. Black should persevere and prepare his central break ...c7-c5 by 8...b6. Black is not playing to fianchetto his Bishop; rather, he intends to smash White's center with ...c7-c5. Although White has a position that would make a classical player happy, Black's central counter will give him good play.

Black goes for his standard break in the Austrian Attack. Grandmaster practice has shown that White's best chance for the advantage is to push his d-pawn.

8.d5 Rb8

The position is now similar to a Benoni, with Black playing for the .. .b7-b5 push.

9.Kh1

This move is considered best as White sidesteps a number of tricks based upon ...b7-b5 and ...c5-c4. The immediate attacking plan, 9.Qel Nb4, gives Black the chance to win the two Bishops.

11.a5 b5 12.axb6 Rxb6

As shown in Diagram 227, White has an advantage in the center, while Black's pressure is on the Queen-side. He will play for ...Nc7-b5 and, in most cases, ...e7-e6, continuing to chip away at the center. The position is a highly charged one, typical of Benoni and Pirc Defenses. The chances are about even.

Diagram 227.

Chapter Nine

Austrian Attack (6.Be3)

As in the previous lines of the Austrian Attack, White develops while retaining his central options (l.e4 d6 2.d4 Nffi 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 O-O):

6.Be3

The advantage of this move is that it makes it much more difficult for Black to make his freeing .. .c7-c5 break. 6...b6

Black spends an extra tempo preparing his ...c7-c5 break.

7.e5 Ng4

Usually the Knight parks itself on the e8-square. Black decides on the text to pick up a tempo.

Black suffers the consequences of venturing forward. The Knight is forced into a retreat, but White spends a lot of time trying to corral the Knight.

It would be a mistake to play lO.dxcS? bxc5 ll.Qd5? (trying to spear the Rook) because ll...Qb6! is excellent for Black. White tries to keep his center intact.

Provocative as ever, Black tries to lure White's center forward to its death. 11 .Qe2

White protects the e5-pawn. After 11.e6? fxe6 12.dxe6 Nf6 13.Bc4 Nh5, Black wins the f4-pawn.

Diagram 228 shows the current position.

Diagram 228.

A Solution to the King Pawn Opening

In a beautifully timed break, Black attempts to kick away the only defender of the d-pawn. 12.0-0-0

The game is about to become violent as both Kings now face fierce attacks. 12.Nxb5 (12.Qxb5? Rb8 advantageously regains the b-pawn) 12...Qa5+ 13.Qd2 (13.c3 Ba6 and 13.Nc3 Rb8 both offer Black good compensation for the sacrificed pawn) 13...Qxd2+ 14.Kxd2 dxe5 results in approximate equality.

14.g4 Bb7

The position shown in Diagram 229 is a barn burner, with both players having their trumps.

Pirc Defense (4.f3 or 4.Be3)

Building a house is a well-respected defensive strategy in grandmaster circles. For this reason, many players immediately try to storm the foundations by trading off the fianchettoed Bishop. After (l.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6), Black has committed himself to the fianchetto. The favored move for White to trade the f8-Bishop is: 4.Be3

White wants to play Qdl-d2, Be3-h6, and probably h2-h4-h5, with a King-side initiative. In the past, theorists suggested that White should preface the move with 4.f3, thereby preventing a timely ...Nf6-g4. Indeed, f2-f3 forms an important nucleus of White's plans, but this move should be delayed. White's point is that

sends Black on a wild goose chase.

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		Chapter Nine He has weakened his Kingside without trading Knight for Bishop. The rule of thumb is that this kind of chase should be encouraged only if Black is able to nab the Bishop. Diagram 230 shows the current position, in which Black must become a little crafty himself. 4...c6 Black makes an exception to the traditional "automatic" play to complete his house, 4...Bg7. The reason for the text is that Black anticipates that White will castle Queenside. He wants to save the tempo ...Bf8-g7 and accelerate a Queenside pawn storm. 5.Qd2 b5 Black reveals his point. He now threatens ...b5-b4, thereby chasing away the c3-Knight, the only defender of the e4-pawn. 6.f3 White reinforces his center. Although the moves 4.Be3 and 4.f3 are interchangeable, both players should be precise with their move order. Under the present order of moves, Black has forced White to include the tempo f2-f3. Without this order of moves, White might have foregone f2-f3 altogether. One of the benefits of f2-f3 is that White can now plan g2-g4-g5, removing an important defender with tempo. Again, Black should resist the temptation to automatically fianchetto his Bishop. 6...Nbd7 7.0-0-0 White has also tried to delay this committed move by 7.Nh3, 7.h4, 7.Bh6, and 7.g4, amongst others. 7.g4 aims for g4-g5; after 7...Nb6, Black has made room on the d7-square for his f6-Knight to retreat. That's why Black's opening move order deserves careful scrutiny. Diagram 230. A Solution to the King Pawn Opening Diagram 231 shows the position. Both players will zealously attempt to maul one another's King. A sample line might run: 8.g4 b4 10.H4 h5 12.Bd3 Bg7 9.Nb1 a5 11.g5 Nh7 This leaves a wild game in view, featuring a typical Pirc middle game. Modern System The lines described in the previous Diagram 231. section gave a number of grandmasters some clever ideas, including (l.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6): 4.Bg5 White reasons that he wants to play as before, using Qdl-d2 and Be3-h6 with a nice twist. He can also play for the Austrian Attack with the Bishop on a much more aggressive square. 4...h6 Black puts the question to the Bishop immediately. White would have an advantage after 4...Bg7 5.f4!, when the move e4-e5 will come with added punch because the g5-Bishop does so much more than in the previous Austrian Attack variations. 5.Be3 The position shown in Diagram 232 is nearly the same as the one shown in Diagram 230, with an important Diagram 232. Chapter Nine nuance: White has induced the move ...h7-h6. The great debate is, which side benefits? It is clear that after the battery Qdl-d2, the h6-pawn is a target and Black's King is stuck in the center. Furthermore, White will be able to play g2-g4, h2-h4 and with g4-g5 insure himself of prying open the Kingside. On the other hand, White has robbed himself of the Be3-h6 trading Bishops option. 7.Qd2 Nbd7 After these moves, the game is similar to the previous variation with the h6-pawn sticking out. Black's King shouldn't be too uncomfortable in the center because White isn't threatening to crash through any time soon. A rather cunning line is (l.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6): 4.Be2 White has not revealed his point. He might easily transpose into the main line, which I describe later in this chapter.

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