29-03-2012, 01:59 PM
[pgn]1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Be7 7. Re1 O-O 8. h3
d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. Rxe5 Nb6[/pgn]
Spoiler here>> 11...Nb6 is the only move I can find in the position. Bb7 is met with Qf3 - this is a lovely move for white, pinning my Knight to the bishop. As far as I have considered I would have to play c6. c6 is an alternative to Nb6 and is indeed played in the Marshall. However, with the pawn on h3 we want the bishop on the a8-h1 diagonal and c6 doesn't allow this.
OK, onto Calum's next move. I said before that this move is critical and I still think it is.
If white goes for an immediate 12. d4 then black responds with 12...c5 and material becomes equal - and black has a lead in development. I know that he will not go for this option.
My hunch is that he will go for 12. d3. Of course his decision is what setup to play to stop c5-c4 and trapping his bishop. d3, Nc3 is possible however it means I acquire the bishop pair after exchanging on a4 - this is something which I don't think he will want. If 12. d3 c5 I think his best play is to go 13. c3. This is the sole reason I chose not to play this at Hastings. I really struggle to see where my play comes from. Might be time to have another look at it, but for now I just hope he doesn't go for this setup.
After 12. d3 c5 he can also go 13. Nc3 (as said before) which leads to 13...Bd6 14. Re2! (he won't find that, surely he will just go Re1?) or he can even go 13. Be3. Be3 is the move I really hopes he goes for. It's quite a MacQueen move... trying to be clever. After 13. Be3 Nd7! black wins the exchange for two pawns. Winning chances for both sides so that's what I hope for.
<<Spoiler here
d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. Rxe5 Nb6[/pgn]
Spoiler here>> 11...Nb6 is the only move I can find in the position. Bb7 is met with Qf3 - this is a lovely move for white, pinning my Knight to the bishop. As far as I have considered I would have to play c6. c6 is an alternative to Nb6 and is indeed played in the Marshall. However, with the pawn on h3 we want the bishop on the a8-h1 diagonal and c6 doesn't allow this.
OK, onto Calum's next move. I said before that this move is critical and I still think it is.
If white goes for an immediate 12. d4 then black responds with 12...c5 and material becomes equal - and black has a lead in development. I know that he will not go for this option.
My hunch is that he will go for 12. d3. Of course his decision is what setup to play to stop c5-c4 and trapping his bishop. d3, Nc3 is possible however it means I acquire the bishop pair after exchanging on a4 - this is something which I don't think he will want. If 12. d3 c5 I think his best play is to go 13. c3. This is the sole reason I chose not to play this at Hastings. I really struggle to see where my play comes from. Might be time to have another look at it, but for now I just hope he doesn't go for this setup.
After 12. d3 c5 he can also go 13. Nc3 (as said before) which leads to 13...Bd6 14. Re2! (he won't find that, surely he will just go Re1?) or he can even go 13. Be3. Be3 is the move I really hopes he goes for. It's quite a MacQueen move... trying to be clever. After 13. Be3 Nd7! black wins the exchange for two pawns. Winning chances for both sides so that's what I hope for.
<<Spoiler here