Not yet. We can't move on before we understood a few things more about this position (using proper chess terminology, I shall say tabiya, a word originated from Arabic that indicates a standard opening position).
We started with 9.Nxc6 wondering whether and why capturing in c6 with either the pawn or the bishop makes a difference (Tarrasch - Steinitiz 1898; Tarrasch - Lasker 1908).
We proved that Black cannot maintain the tension in the centre with 7...0-0 (Tarrasch - Marco 1892).
We have explored the potential of 9.Bxc6 (Schlecther - Steinitiz 1898).
We investigated the same idea, but with 7.Bg5 instead of 7.Re1 (Réti - Sterk 1910; Schlecther - Havasi 1918).
Soon, we will see what happens if Black exchanges the knight in d4 (8...Nxd4) before the castle. But before that, we should discuss a totally different and also surprising approach for White. Let's take our tabiya 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 4.d4 Bd7 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.0-0 Be7 7.Re1 exd4 8.Nxd4 0-0 (diagram).
It seems that whatever it does (9.Nxc6, 9.Bxc6), White has always a slight advantage due to the extra space. However, we also know that if Black is careful, he might be able to equalise in all these lines with precise play. Essentially, the position is more pleasant for White, but it is absolutely not hopeless for Black. In my opinion, the most enjoyable aspect of all this, is the fact that White has several valid alternatives that he can change from time to time making difficult for the opponent to be well prepared.
If White has a space advantage, would it be logical to avoid piece exchanges to leave Black in a position with many pieces and not enough good squares for all of them?
This is probably what Janowski thought when he came up with 9.Nde2!?. It is curious that this move has been basically abandoned at top level. Partially, the reason may be that in the 8th round of this match, Lasker tried 9...a6 and managed to draw easily.
The first time he encountered it, he answered 9...Ne5 forcing the exchange of the bishops.
10. Ng3 Bxb5 11.Nxb5 Re8.
This is another one of those positions that I think is easier to play when you think about what your opponent wants to do rather than what you should do. Virtually, Black has no weaknesses, and White has several sensible ways to keep developing (12.b3, 12.Bd2, 12.Bg5, 12.f4, 12.a4, etc.), none of which is clearly superior to the others.
However, if you think about Black's next moves, you might find a reasonable solution. As Black, there are possibly two things you may want to achieve. One is dismantling the centre with d5, opening the position and equalising. At the moment, this is not possible. The alternative is to reorganise the pieces with Bf8/g6/Bg7/Ned7/Nc5 to target e4, for instance.
This is one of the possible explanations why White has chosen 12.b3. Moreover, if White could play Bxe5 dxe5, Qxd8 Raxd8, Nxc7 it would win a pawn. So there are also threat associated with this positional moves (or there are also positional reasons associated with this attacking idea!?). What I like of the next moves is that they look fairly natural.
12...Bf8 13.Bb2 g6 14.f4 Ned715.Qf3 a6 16.Nd4 Bg7 17.Rad1 Qe7 (diagram).
Yet, the arising position is clearly better for White (surprised?) because all his pieces are in their ideal squares, he has more spaces, and there are tactical patterns to be exploited.
Think for 5-10 minutes, White moves and wins.
18.Ndf5 gxf5 19.Nxf5 Qe6. OK, the beginning of this combination was easy. What you really need to see now is 20.Nxg7 Kxg7 21.e5! (diagram). The bishop b2 is a monster together with the two rooks, and Black's knights are both targets. Now 21...Ng8 loses for 22.exd6+ and the queen is lost. Instead, 21...dxe5 22.fxe5 Ng8 loses for 23.Rxd7 and the queen cannot capture back because e6+ discovery check wins the queen.
Black's attempt was 21...Kf8 22.dxf6 Qxe1+ 23.Rxe1 Rxe1+ 24.Kf2 Rae8, giving the queen for the rooks. However, Black has too many weaknesses and White went to win without troubles 25.Qxb7 R1e2+ 26.Kf3 Rxc2 27.Bd4 a5 28.Qb5 Nc5 29.Qxa5 Nd3 30.Be3 d5 31.Bd2 c5 32.Kg3 Nc1 33.Bxc1 1-0 (diagram).
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