PART 1 | PART 2

A good friend of mine, Val Zemitis, recently decided to give the EVANS GAMBIT a try in a postal game. The initial moves were: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 6.d4 exd4 7.0-0 Nge7 8.Ng5 d5 9.exd5 Ne5 10.Qxd4 N7g6. Val didn't know the theory, but his opponent's 10.N7g6 was a recommendation from NCO, which claimed a slight edge for Black.

NCO CLAIMS A SLIGHT EDGE FOR BLACK

Sometimes being unaware of opening theory's latest nuances is a good thing, and Zemitis (figuring that 10.N7g6 was most likely a mistake) simply shrugged his shoulders, played the obvious 11.Re1, and won easily. Here's the whole game:

V Zemitis - D Marshall [C52]

Correspondence, 2003

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 6.d4 exd4 7.0-0 Nge7 8.Ng5 d5

8...Ne5 9.Nxf7 Nxf7 10.Bxf7+ Kxf7 11.Qh5+ g6 12.Qxa5 is considered to be slightly better for White in NUNN'S CHESS OPENINGS (NCO).

9.exd5 Ne5

9...f6!? is an old recommendation by Levenfish.

10.Qxd4

Since 10.Qxd4 had a bad reputation, some players decided to give 10.Bb3 a test, though the results haven't been too heartening from White's point of view:

IS 10.Bb3 HEADING FOR THE SCRAP HEAP?

10.0-0 (10...dxc3!? 11.Qe2 f6 12.Ba3 Bg4 13.f3 Bf5 14.Ne4 Bxe4 15.Qxe4 Qd7 16.f4 N5g6 17.d6 cxd6 18.Ba4 b5 19.Qxa8+ Kf7 20.Qf3 bxa4 21.Nxc3 Rc8 22.Ne4 Kg8 23.Rad1 d5 24.Ng3 Rc2 25.Bxe7 Nxe7 26.a3 h6 27.Kh1 Bb6 28.Rc1 Rb2 29.Rb1 Ra2 30.Qd3 Qd6 31.Rb4 Qc6 32.h3 d4 33.Rg1 Nd5 34.Rc4 Qd7 35.Nf5 Kh8 36.Rcc1 Nxf4 37.Rc8+ Kh7 38.Qc4 Qd5 39.Qxd5 Nxd5 40.Rd1 Ne3 41.Nxe3 dxe3 42.Re8 Rxa3, 0-1, R Ovetchkin - A Lastin, Krasnoyarsk 2003) 11.Nxh7 (11.cxd4 Ng4 12.Qf3 Nf6 13.Ba3 h6 14.Ne4 Nxe4 15.Qxe4 Re8 16.Bb2 Nf5 17.Qf4 Bb4 18.Na3 Bd6 19.Qd2 Qh4 20.g3 Qh3 21.Nc4 b5 22.Ne5 Bb7 23.Rae1 a5 24.a3 b4 25.axb4 Bxb4 26.Bc3 Bxc3 27.Qxc3 Nh4, 0-1, Morozevich - Adams, Wijk aan Zee 2001) 11...Kxh7 12.Qh5+ Kg8 13.Qxe5 Nf5 14.Bd2 c5 15.dxc6 bxc6 16.Re1 Bc7 17.Qe4 Qf6 18.Bf4, ½-½, Short - Adams, Sarajevo 2000.

10...N7g6  

NCO says that Black is better, but Mr. Marshall wasn't able to deal with White's most natural reply.

11.Re1 0-0? 12.Rxe5 Nxe5 13.Qxe5 Re8 14.Qf4 Re1+ 15.Bf1 Qxd5 16.Bd2 Rd1 17.Qa4 Rxf1+ 18.Kxf1 Bf5 19.Qd4 Bd3+ 20.Kg1 Qf5 21.Na3 Bb6 22.Qf4 Qc5 23.Qxf7+, 1-0.

The key position is clearly the one that occurs after 11.Re1.

WHAT'S GOING ON?

If one takes the game as gospel, we would be led to believe that Black is on his last legs after 11.Re1, but that surely can't be the case. Curious, I enlisted the aid of John Nunn and Jeremy Silman. Here's the final consensus.

11.Re1 f6! is Black's most testing move, and now White has two interesting lines:

First, he can try for a knockout by 12.d6!?.

GOING FOR A KNOCKOUT

After 12.d6 the main line seems to be:

12.Bb6 13.Qd5 Qd7

And not 13.Qxd6? 14.Qf7+ Kd8 15.Qxg7.

14.Ba3

Though bringing the other Knight into play by 14.Nd2 seems like a good idea, it doesn't turn out well after 14.c6 15.Qe4 Qf5 16.d7+ Bxd7 17.Qxf5 Bxf5 18.Nf7 Kd7 19.Nxh8 Rxh8 when Black has too much for the Exchange - Silman.

Also harmless is 14.Ne4 c6 - Nunn.

14.c6! 15.Qf7+

15.Qe6+ Qxe6 16.Nxe6 Bxe6 17.Bxe6 Nd3 18.Rf1 Ngf4 19.d7+ Kd8 20.Bc4 Ne5 is just good for Black.

After 15.Qf7+ we get the following position.

STRANGE STUFF!

Since 15...Qxf7? 16.Nxf7 Rf8 17.d7+ Bxd7 18.Nd6+ Kd8 19.Nxb7+ Kc7 20.Ba6 is obviously very strong for White, Silman believes that the whole line starting with 12.d6 rests on the evaluation of 15.Kd8!.

A COMPLETE MESS

I'll let the reader work this one out!

PART 1 | PART 2