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Of course, one can't really depend on the Black Knights' Tango as a "forever" kind of opening (it's something you occasionally trot out for surprise value). Thus, after much soul-searching I took John Donaldson's advice and began playing the SLAV DEFENSE. This fine system is both sound and dynamic, and it fit in beautifully with my present style of play.

W Browne-Silman
American Open, 1998.
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.e3 (Browne has always preferred this classic treatment, though 6.Ne5 has turned into the modern main line.) 6...e6 7.Bxc4 Bb4 8.0-0 0-0 (I used to favor 8...Nbd7, but too many people grabbed the draw with 9.Qb3 a5 10.Na2 Be7 11.Qxb7 Rb8 12.Qxc6 Rc8.

The main problem with 8...Nbd7, however, was 9.Qe2 Bg6 10.e4 Bxc3 11.bxc3 Nxe4. White's initiative is indeed quite bothersome after 12.Ba3, but a pawn is a pawn is a pawn. Overcome by pawn-lust, I decided to be the poster boy for the "Larry Evans school of chess" [i.e., pure greed as god] and I went into this risky line whenever possible. One somewhat successful example: 8...Nbd7 9.Qe2 Bg6 10.e4 Bxc3 11.bxc3 Nxe4 12.Ba3 Qc7 13.Qb2 [A Karpov recommendation that I refute over the board.] 13...c5 14.dxc5 a6! 15.c6 Qxc6 16.Qb4 Nec5 17.Nd4 Qxa4 18.Bb2 Qxb4 19.cxb4 Nd3 20.Bxd3 Bxd3, Fedorowicz - Silman, New York Open, 1991. Somehow the Fed swindled me and made a draw.

Here is the game that made me give up on this line: 8...Nbd7 9.Qe2 Bg6 10.e4 Bxc3 11.bxc3 Nxe4 12.Ba3 Qc7 13.Nd2 Nd6 [Returning the pawn in cowardly fashion, but 13.Nd2 was fairly new at that time and I didn't have anything prepared. This kind of thing is common when you first take up an opening. All you can do is dust yourself off, look at the defeat as a learning experience, fix the cracks in your opening, and try to do better next time.] 14.Bxe6 0-0 15.Bb3 Rfe8 16.Qf3 c5 17.Rfe1 b6 18.h4 Nf6 19.Re5 with an edge for White, W Browne - Silman, Los Angeles, 1991. Walter, who has a huge plus score against me [this trend only ended when we were both very old and making use of walkers], ground me down and handed me a very rare Slav defeat.) 9.Qe2 (The main alternative is 9.Nh4 with the idea of answering 9...Bg6 with 10.Nxg6 hxg6 11.Qc2 with some advantage for White. However, Black does better with 9...Nbd7 when 10.Nxf5 exf5 has proved a tough nut for White to crack.) 9...Bg6 (Now White's e3-e4 advance has been stopped cold.) 10.Ne5 Nbd7 11.Rd1 (More common is 11.Nxg6, as seen in "round two." [see the next game]) 11...Nxe5 12.dxe5 Nd7 13.f4 Qc7 (A very interesting position. White has some dynamic potential on the kingside but Black stands better structurally.) 14.Na2 (White also achieved nothing in L Piasetski-Silman, San Francisco 1995 after 14.Bd2 a5 15.Be1 Be7 16.e4 Rfd8 17.g4 h6 18.Bg3 Bh7 19.Kg2 Nc5 20.f5 Rxd1 21.Rxd1 Rd8.) 14...Be7 15.e4 (Worse is 15.b4 Rfd8 16.Bb2 Nb6 17.Bb3 Nd5 when Black stands better.) 15...Nc5 (The immediate 15...Rfd8 is also good.) 16.Nc3 Rfd8 (An important move. The f8-square must be cleared for Black's dark-squared Bishop.) 17.Rf1 (The trouble with White's game is that all the energy in his position is dedicated to the f4-f5 advance. Unfortunately, that will leave the e5-pawn very weak. One reason that White's attack can't succeed is the poor placement of the pieces on c4 and c3--both these guys are cut off from the kingside.) 17...Qd7 (This stops f4-f5 and prepares to meet 18.b4 with 18...Qd4+.) 18.g4 (Perhaps White should consider the safer 18.Rd1 Qc7 19.Rd1, =. Note that 18.a5 runs into 18...Bh5!.) 18...h6 (Black wants no part in 18...f6? 19.exf6 Bxf6 20.e5 Be7 21.f5.) 19.f5 Bh7 (My light-squared Bishop is entombed, but White's pawns on e4 and e5 are targets.) 20.Be3 Qc7! (A key move. The e5-pawn is targeted.) 21.f6 (21.Bf4 Bg5 is nice for Black, as is 21.b4 Qxe5.) 21...Bf8 22.fxg7 Kxg7 (White is doomed structurally, but Black's King is weak.) 23.g5? (This doesn't turn out very well. My main focus was placed on 23.Qf2 when Black can try: A--23...Nd3!? 24.Bxd3 Rxd3 25.Qf6+ (not 25.Bxa7?? Rxa7! 26.Qxa7 Qxe5) 25...Kg8 26.Bxh6 Bxh6 27.Qxh6 and now not 27...Qxe5?? 28.Rxf7, but 27...Bg6 28.Qg5 Qb6+ 29.Rf2 Rad8 30.a5 Qe3; B--23...Qxe5?! when 24.Qxf7+ Kh8 isn't clear. However, 24.Nd5! is strong for White, though the Black position remains hard to crack after 24...Nxe4 25.Bd4 [Not 25.Qxf7+ Kh8 with advantage for Black.] 25...Qxd4 26.Qxd4+ f6 27.b4 cxd5 28.Bd3 e5; C--23...Nxe4! [Not very imaginative, but it seems to do the job.] 24.Nxe4 Bxe4 and I don't see anything for White. Since 23.Qf2 fails to do much, White might consider 23.Qf3, though here too Black does very well after 23...Bg6 24.Qf4 Kg8 25.h4 Nd3 26.Bxd3 Rxd3 27.h5 Bh7.) 23...Bg6!

(Played instantly; Browne hoped for 23...hxg5 24.Qh5 Nxe4 25.Nxe4 Bxe4 26.Qxg5+. All of a sudden Black's weak points are solidly defended and White's position begins to creak and whine.) 24.gxh6+ (24.b4 is still answered by 24...Qxe5.) 24...Kh7 (I felt very confident here, but both of us now had only three minutes to make 16 moves!) 25.Bf4 Be7 (A pity. I loved the position of my Bishop on f8, but White's h2-h4-h5 plan began to nag me and, having no time for a deep look, I decided to kill it. The critical move was 25...Rd4. I passed on 25...Nd7 due to 26.h4.) 26.Rf2 Rd4 (Going after the e5-pawn by 26...Nd7!? was also tempting, but that clock was ticking and a decision had to be made!) 27.Rg2 Rg8 28.Be3 Qxe5 (I had been dying to sacrifice the Exchange all through this game, and now I jumped at the chance. However, this was not the best moment to do so, and the safer 28...Rd7 would have led to a safe draw after 29.Bf4 Rd4, =.) 29.Bxd4 Qxd4+ 30.Kh1, draw agreed. I had thought that I stood better here, but a closer look showed that things are actually far from clear: 30...Nxe4 31.Bd3 Nxc3 32.Bxg6+ Rxg6 33.bxc3 Qxc3 34.Rf1 Bf6 35.Rxg6 Kxg6. With no time left, neither side wanted to touch this position!

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