| May-27-09 |
| Amarande: <Fulkrum: I wonder, is 9.Nd2 a questionable move? Shouldn't white push e4 and lock up the center> NO. NEVER.
Okay, maybe that's a bit harsh. However, it's still basically true - in this line (and other variations of the Nimzo that share the same salient qualities, namely White being forced to recapture at c3 with the pawn, and Black refraining from ... d5) it is essentially never to White's advantage to seal the center with e4 and d5, and in fact, it is virtually always to White's disadvantage. This will be appreciated in light of the pawn formation thus produced. At this point Black (if he has not already) WILL play e5, producing this Pawn skeleton: 
click for larger viewLet's consider the strategic objectives on each side in such a pawn structure: * For Black, there are two salient objectives, one on each wing. The primary is to take advantage of White's c4 pawn, which as we can see in the diagram (unguarded and unable to be guarded by a pawn, and even worse, shielded from c-file protection by the pawn at c3) is very, very sick. To this end, b6, Na5, and Ba6 are to be played. White must then devote two pieces to passive defense of the c4 pawn (while Black's Bishop in particular remains quite mobile, and needs only two moves to shift to King's side action). Moreover, a4 is probably necessary (combined with keeping the Rook stuck at a1 for much of the game) as otherwise, Qd7-a4 threatens, after which White's Queen, Knight, and light Bishop are all glued to c4 (while once again, Black's Queen and Bishop can still get back to the K-side in a jiffy, and will always have the initiative in doing so, since White's guardians can only desert the Pawn AFTER Black's attackers do). Meanwhile, on the K-side, Black's plan is also clear - f5, opening the f-file by leverage against White's e4 pawn (in fact, it could be argued that ... e4, as in the game, is something of a weakness, since the Pawn there is much looser after f5-f4 than a Pawn at e5 would ever be. Also, White's 11 f4 is probably a mistake, since it makes it that much easier for Black to open a K-side file.) After this, the Rooks are doubled on the f-file and possibly brought to the g- or h-file via f6, before the rest of Black's pieces join in for a strong attack. If White replies to f5 with f3, Black can play f4, and open instead the g-file for an even stronger attack. * There is precious little that White can do against any of this. His advantages are few - the b-file, the Bishop pair, and a central space advantage. However, none of these is especially exploitable - the Bishop pair is at its poorest in closed positions like this, and in fact, it is debatable if the Bishop pair is even an advantage at all here (mainly based on how much the position revolves around Black's pressure on Pc4, and the fact that White's Bishop is a complete noncombatant in that regard, being on the wrong color squares and not even being able to trade for Black's Knight, since the immured Pc3 blocks this idea hopelessly). The b-file leads to naught, since Black's b6 leaves a White Rook biting on granite. The central space advantage is true, and has some slight defensive value (it at least means Black's Na5 does little offensively but tie up a White piece, since it would take too long for it to assist in K-side action) but there is virtually no advantage to be taken of it with how closed the center remains. Nor is there really any room for White to obtain any new advantages - in a d5/e4 vs. d6/e5 pawn skeleton, f4 is virtually never good for White, as the f-file is outweighed by the additional weak pawn at e4, and moreover, by the hole at e5 (which in this case is even more significant than Pe4, as Black will place a Knight at e5, making White's illness at c4 even more debilitating - f4 is probably fatal for White here). Nor can White hope to soften up things on the b-file with a4-a5, since Black's Knight blocks the latter square. Should White attempt to drive away this Knight, he can do it only with Nb3 (as Pc3 prevents Bxa5 from ever becoming a reality); to achieve this, Qe2/f1 and Bd3/e2 are first necessary. Meanwhile Black will have played f5, and thus White will need to additionally play f3 (else, once White's Knight abandons c4, Black will win that Pawn by playing fxe4, forcing Bxe4), allowing the aforementioned g-file based attack. Worse, the whole maneuver requires so much time that even if White enforces a5 after all, Black will have time to contest the file successfully anyway. In short, the strategic idea of sealing the center in this position is, to put it mildly, an extremely faulty one for White, if not outright fatal. |
f5 was the flaw in an otherwise perfect masterpiece. Against 18.a5 Nimzowitsch had planned 18...
g1 g3, winning. However Larsen gives 19.
xg4 hxg4 20.axb6 gxh3 21.gxh3 
. Now 21...
xh3+ 23.
h8 and ...h5 (Emms).
