We continue with our review of open games (with the help of Mr. Tarrasch).
This game is going to be short but it is a very important one, as it reminds us the importance of studying the classic.
The starting position is again originated from the Ruy Lopez 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 4.d4 Bd7 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.0-0 Be7 7.Re1. In the previous two posts, we saw two interesting games continuing with 7...exd4. But is really Black forced to abandon the centre so early?
Could not he maintain the tension with the flexible 7...0-0? (diagram).
The answer is no, he cannot, and we should thank Tarrasch to having showed us why. White starts a series of exchanges that are practically forced 8.Bxc6 Bxc6 9.dxe5 dxe5 10.Qxad8 Raxd8 11.Nxe5 Bxe4 12.Nxe4 Nxe4, and Black recovered the pawn and the position would be equal if not for the powerful 13.Nd3! (diagram).
13...f5 is basically forced 14.f3 Bc5+ 15.Nxc5 Nxc5 16.Bg5! (diagram).
In my database, I found 21 games with this position, 9 of which were played by 2200+ ELO rated players. White won in 20/21 of these (the remaining was a draw).
Black is already forced losing material. In the game, Marco tried 16...Rd5 17.Be7 Re8 18.c4! (diagram), the exchange is lost and White gets a winning endgame 1-0
Losing the same game over and over is incredibly frustrating. I hope that you won't enlarge the list of games in my database (unless you play White, in which case that's good!) and that I convinced you that studying the classics is important.
Comentários