Alexis Suarez Quesada vs Frederick Rhine (2024)

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Alexis Suarez Quesada vs Frederick Rhine
CL//C5 (2024) (correspondence), ICCF, Feb-25
Sicilian Defense: Four Knights. Exchange Variation (B45) · 1/2-1/2

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

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Feb-29-24		FSR: White is a pawn up, albeit with opposite colored bishops, and could play on. But Stockfish 16 shows that White's advantage is only around +0.15, and my opponent knew that with computer assistance I'd defend perfectly. So he offered a draw.

Feb-29-24		FSR: Stockfish 16 says that 19...h6! (first played in three correspondence games in 2021, all drawn) is much stronger than 19...Nf5 20.Qf4 Qd4 as in Topalov vs Leko, 2002 (1-0, 64), which is terrible for Black (around +0.8).

Feb-29-24		FSR: 6.Nxc6! bxc6 7.e5 Nd5 8.Ne4 is the best line against the Four Knights Sicilian. White gets a significant advantage, albeit not enough to win if both sides play perfectly. Opening Explorer shows that 6.Ndb5 is almost thrice as common. In that event, Black chooses between 6...Bb4 7.a3 (7.Bf4!? Nxe4! leads to mayhem, which Black is hoping for) Bxc3+ 8.Nxc3 d5, the standard Four Knights approach, and 6...d6 7.Bf4 e5 8.Bg5, transposing to the Sveshnikov. I probably would have played the latter. Note that I would thereby have avoided the 7.Nd5 line that is possible against the usual Sveshnikov move order. Opening Explorer.

Feb-29-24		FSR: 13...c4 is the standard move, played in many correspondence and OTB games. Opening Explorer. Kamil Plichta in his Chessable course on the Four Knights Sicilian recommends 13...Qb6 instead. https://www.chessable.com/four-hors... As he notes, most of the correspondence games with 13...c4 end in draws. (So do ~98% of high-level ICCF games these days.) Stockfish 16 likes 13...c4 better than 13...Qb6, so I went with 13...c4. I should have given more attention to the rare 13...e5!? (intending 14.c4 Nf4). At depth 43/63, SF gives 13...e5 +0.28, 13...c4 +0.30, and 13...Qb6 +0.50.

Mar-01-24		FSR: I left Stockfish 16 on. It got very excited about 16...e5. At depth 57/92 (that means analyzing 57 ply deep, and some key line(s) 92 ply deep) it gives 16...e5 +0.16, 16...c4 +0.25, and 16...Qb6 +0.48. (All numbers are from White's perspective.) All of those numbers are holdable for Black; the first two are quite modest advantages. The main lines for each move as given by Stockfish: 13...e5 14.c4 Nf4 15.Bxf4 exf4 16.Qd2 O-O 17.Qxf4 Rae8 18.Bd3 Re6 19.Rad1 g6 20.Bc2 Qa6 21.a3 Rfe8 22.h4 Qb6 23.Ba4 Bc6 24.Bxc6 Qxc6 25.Rd5 Re2 26.Kh2 Rxb2 27.h5 Ree2 +0.16; 13...c4 14.Qd4 O-O 15.Bxc4 Qxd6 16.b3 Rfc8 17.Rf2 Qb6 18.Qh4 Ne3 19.Bd3 h6 20.Bb2 Nxc2 21.Qg3! e5 22.Rb1 Nb4 23.Bf5 Nc6 24.Bxd7 Rc7 25.Bxc6 Rxc6 (thus far as in this game) 26.Bxe5 f6 +0.25; 13...Qb6 14.Rf2 O-O 15.a3 c4 16.Bxc4 Rfc8 17.b3 Qxd6 18.Bb2 Qb6 19.Bd4 Qc7 20.Qe1 a5 21.Rd2 a4 22.Bxd5 exd5 23.Qh4 Qd6 24.Qg4 f6 25.Re1 Ba6 26.Bf2 axb3 27.cxb3 Qxa3 28.Rxd5 Kh8 +0.48.

May-11-24		FSR: GM Jan Gustafsson in his Chessable course on 1.e4 e5 gave the following "list of good black openings against 1. e4": <The Berlin The Marshall The Petroff The Sveshnikov The Najdorf The Open Spanish>. I take that to mean "engine-approved responses to 1.e4," since Jan, who has been a second to Carlsen, is a well-known theoretician and knows his way around engines. Inspired by his list, I have played all of these openings except Jan's beloved Marshall in correspondence games: V V Popov vs F Rhine, 2024 (Berlin) https://www.chessgames.com/perl/che... (Petroff, although I'm sure 3.Nxe5 Nxe4 isn't what Jan had in mind) O Olivo vs F Rhine, 2023 (Sveshnikov) M Buss vs F Rhine, 2020 (Najdorf) G R Arnold vs F Rhine, 2024 (Open Spanish). In this game, I played 2...e6 for maybe the first time in my life, trying to reach the Sveshnikov via the other move order (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bf4 e5 8.Bg5 a6). This avoids 3.Bb5!, for which see NN vs F Rhine, 2023. But maybe I just have to suck it up and allow the Rossolimo. As Carlsen and others have demonstrated, it is certainly playable for Black. Repertoire Explorer: Magnus Carlsen (black). Suarez Quesada didn't let me have my Sveshnikov, correctly preferring 6.Nxc6! bxc6 7.e5 Nd5 8.Ne4, White's strongest and best-scoring line. Of course I had looked at this too and decided it was still all right for Black.

May-11-24		FM David H. Levin: <FSR: [...snip...] This avoids 3.Bb5!, for which see NN vs F Rhine, 2023. But maybe I just have to suck it up and allow the Rossolimo. As Carlsen and others have demonstrated, it is certainly playable for Black.> I used to answer 3.Bb5 by 3...g6, being that I was concerned about 3...e6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.e5. But recently I saw that after 5.e5, 5...f6 has been yielding good results for Black. It does seem logical to liquidate White's e-pawn in order to liberate Black's center. P. S.--Doing a detailed analysis of 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.f4 g5 6.Nc3 gxf4 7.Bxf4 Bf5 (which was mentioned in a different thread where you'd cited GM Gustafsson's list) is still in my plans.

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