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THE ADVENTURES OF THE SCOTCH-SCRAPER
By Karel van der Weide
At this moment, it seems like I ran out of ideas in one of the main lines of the Scotch:
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Be3
Of course, 5.Nxc6 is the major alternative here and can be investigated.
5...Qf6 6.c3 Nge7 7.Bc4
It seems to me that 7.g3 leads to complete equality.
7...Ne5 8.Be2 Qg6 9.0-0 d6 10.f3
Again, the only reasonable continuation, as 10.Kh1 Qxe4 11.Nd2 Qg6 12.Nb5 0-0 13.Nxc7 Rb8 grants Black too much activity as compensation for his mutilated structure.
10...0-0 11.Nd2 d5 12.Kh1 dxe4 13.fxe4 Bg4
DOES WHITE HAVE ANYTHING HERE?
So, there we are. Black is fully developed and controls the e5-square. Your first impression might be that Black is even better. Therefore, White has to come up with something good. As Yasser Seirawan explained to me, there is a big difference between positions with isolated d-pawns and ones with isolated e-pawns. Here, the White stronghold f5 is closer to the Black King. Imagine what a White Knight can do on this square. Hence, it is easy to point out a plan for White: eliminate the defenders of the f5-square, put a Knight there and win! Unfortunately it is not so easy. Usually White goes 14.Bf4 here, but its leads to massive exchanges. Nedev's 14.Rf4 has to be investigated, but for some time my good friend and colleague IM Eelke Wiersma and I thought that 14.Bf3!? was the appropriate move.
Let's take a look at the common 14.Bf4 first. Play continues 14...Bxe2 15.Qxe2 Bd6 16.Nb5
In my opinion the only real attempt. Rublevsky's 16.Rad1 led to three quick draws.
16...N7c6 17.Nxd6 Qxd6
In fact, 17...cxd6 is interesting too.
18.Nc4
WHERE SHOULD BLACK PUT HIS QUEEN?
18...Qc5
Aleksandrov surprised me by playing 18...Qe7. However, this allows White to gain a tempo with the Knight maneuver 19.Ne3 (19.Nxe5 Nxe5 20.Qb5 c5 21.Bxe5 Qxe5 22.Qxb7 Rab8 23.Qd5 is drawn.) 19...f6. Here, I proved exceptional misunderstanding by going 20.Nf5?! Of course, the d-file had to be blocked, although after 20.Nd5 Qf7 21.Bg3 one can argue if White really has a substantial advantage. In the game with Aleksandrov, White lost without a real fight. Check it in your database, I'm still sick of it.
Well, if the dubious continuation 18...Qe7 already leads to drawish positions, what can be said about the "correct" 18...Qc5? My game with the Dutch vamp Arlette van Weersel went
19.Ne3 Rfe8
This turned out to be a novelty. I had prepared 19...Ne7 20.Nd5 Nxd5 21.Bxe5 Ne7 22.Bd4 Qc6 23.Rf3 with hopefully some kind of attack. Later, the strong Dutch IM Maarten Solleveld pointed out that Black can go for a solid defense with 19...f6 20.Nd5 Rf7. But the game isn't bad for Black either.
20.Nd5 Rac8
20...Ng6 21.Be3! Rxe4 22.Qd3 Qc4 23.Qxc4 Rxc4 24.Nxc7 Rd8 25.Rad1 grants White a slight edge due to his possession of a bishop in an asymmetric structure. For the record: 21.Bxc7 Qxd5 22.exd5 Rxe2 23.dxc6 Rxb2 24.cxb7 Rxb7 is a dead draw.
21.Rae1 Qd6 22.Bg3
The alternative was burning all bridges with something like 22.Qb5 b6 23.Re3 f6 (23...Ne7? 24.Nxc7!) 24.Rg3 Kh8 25.Qe2 Ne7 26.Qh5 Nxd5 27.Rh3. Who knows?
22...Ne7 23.Qf2
23.Bxe5 Qxe5 24.Qf2 f6 transposes to the game.
23...f6
Definitely not 23...N7c6 24.Bxe5 Nxe5 25.Qxa7 Nd3 26.Rd1 and White is a solid pawn up.
24.Nxe7+ Qxe7 25.Bxe5
Not allowing a double attack after 25.Qxa7? Nd3 26.Re2 Nc5.
25...Qxe5 26.Qxa7 Qb5
Black has huge activity for her pawn.
27.Qf2 Re5 28.Qe2
The emergency break, as things go astray after 28.Re3 Rce8 29.Rfe1 Qb6 30.Qe2 f5 31.Qc4+ Kh8 32.Qf7 Qxb2 33.Qxc7 R5e7 etc.
BLACK'S OKAY
28...Qxe2?!
Arlette would have come very close to a certain draw if she had opted for 28...Rce8 29.Qxb5 Rxb5 30.Rf2 f5. Exchanging Queens herself just gives me valuable time
29.Rxe2 Rce8 30.Rfe1 f5 31.Kg1 fxe4 32.Kf2 Kf7 33.Ke3 Ke6
Actually, there is no reason to show the dear readers this slightly better rook ending -- but at least it gives us a break from these enduring opening problems. By the way, it looks wise for Black to exchange one rook now. After 33...Rd8 34.Rd2 Rxd2 35.Kxd2 Ke6 36.Ke3 Rb5 37.Re2 Ke5 38.b3 Rb6 Black can play actively and attack the White pawns from the sixth rank. In the game, the remaining Black rook is passive.
34.Rd1 Re7 35.Rf2 Rf5 36.Rxf5 Kxf5 37.Rf1+ Ke5 38.Rf4 Kd5 39.b3 b5 40.Rf5+ Kc6 41.c4 bxc4 42.bxc4 Rd7 43.a4 Rd3+
Something like 43...Rd1 44.Kxe4 Re1+ might be Black's last resort.
44.Kxe4 Rd2 45.Rg5 g6 46.a5 Kb7 47.h4 Ka6 48.g3 Re2+ 49.Kd4 Ra2 50.Rc5
Be careful, the pawn ending does not win: 50.Kc5 Rxa5+ 51.Kc6 Rxg5 52.hxg5 Ka5 53.Kxc7 Kb4 54.Kd6 Kxc4 55.Ke5 Kd3 56.Kf6 Ke4 57.Kg7 Kf5 58.Kh6 Kg4.
50...Rxa5 51.Rxc7 Ra3 52.Rxh7 Rxg3 53.Kc5 Rh3 54.Kc6 Rc3
A nice line indicated by Maarten Solleveld was 54...Rf3 55.Rh6! (and not 55.c5? Rf6+ 56.Kd5 Rf5+ with a perpetual.) 55...Ka7 56.c5 Rh3 57.Rh7+ Kb8 58.Rh8+ Ka7 59.Kd7 g5 60.c6 Rd3+ 61.Kc8.
55.c5 Rc4 56.Kd5 Rc1 57.c6 Rd1+ 58.Kc5 Rc1+ 59.Kd6 Rd1+ 60.Kc7 Rc1 61.Rh8 Rc4 62.Ra8+ Kb5 63.Rb8+ Kc5 64.Rb1 Rxh4 65.Kb7 Rh7+ 66.c7 Kd6 67.Rb6+, 1-0.
I've tickled my ego long enough. The idea of the novelty 14.Bf3 was to force Black to take on f3 and start hostilities along the g-file. Initially this idea worked fine: van der Weide-Feller, Bethune 2005 went 14.Bf3 Rae8 15.Qe2 Bxf3 16.gxf3 Qd6
17.Rg1
Good enough, but Yasser advised me to play 17.f4! N5g6 18.Nc4 Qa6 19.f5 in the future.
17...f5 and here I should have provoked ...h6 by means of 18.Rg5 h6 19.Rg2 and the doubling of rooks will be very unpleasant for Black.
So far, so good. The first real test came against former vice World Champion Nigel Short (Liverpool, 2006). By postponing the exchange on f3 he showed excellent understanding in this kind of position.
14.Bf3 Rfe8 15.Qe2 Rad8 16.Rae1?!
It's quite embarrassing. Yasser and I had analyzed this position, but I had completely forgotten about it. White grabs the initiative after 16.Nc4 Nxc4 17.Qxc4 Bxf3 (17...Bb6? 18.Bxg4) 18.gxf3 Bb6 19.Rg1 Qf6 20.Rg3. Now Nigel equalizes.
16...Bd6 17.Nb5 N7c6 18.Nxd6
HERE COMES A SMALL SURPRISE
18...cxd6!
Original play. Black weakens his structure for a firm control over e5.
19.b4 a6 20.a4 Qe6 21.b5 axb5 22.axb5 Ne7 23.Bd4 N7g6 24.Bxg4 Nxg4 25.Nf3 Qe7
Avoiding 25...N4e5? 26.Ng5 Qe7 27.Qh5 h6 28.Nxf7+-
TIME FOR ME TO GO BERSERK
Here I caught up with the right idea, but I executed it wrongly. Of course, I should try to bring my Knight to f5. Therefore I have to move the bishop. I examined lines like 26.Bb6 Rc8 27.Nd4, but thought my bishop was a bit out of play. So why not put it on g1?
26.Bg1? Nf6!
That's the reason! White loses his central pawn.
27.Qc2 Nxe4 28.c4 d5 29.cxd5 Rxd5 30.Qc4 Qe6 31.Ba7 h6 32.Kg1 Nf4, 0-1.
OK, no panic, the system lives. Just remember your analyses next time and everything will be fine. Well...
van der Weide-Nyback, Dresden 2007: 14.Bf3 Rad8 15.Qe2 N7c6!
BEATING WHITE TO THE PUNCH
To be honest, I thought the guy from Finland would transpose to my game with Short by playing 15...Rfe8. In that case I would have uncorked 16.Nc4 without hesitation. With hindsight I can say Nyback modified the Short-approach.
16.Nc4
The alternatives are pretty close to equality too:
16.Nxc6 Qxc6 17.Bxc5 Qxc5 18.Nb3 Bxf3, etc.
16.N2b3 Bxd4 17.Nxd4 (17.cxd4? Nxf3 18.gxf3 Qxe4!) 17...Nxd4 18.Bxd4 Bxf3 19.gxf3 Rfe8
16...Bxd4 17.Bxd4
Disappointing. The logical 17.cxd4 fails to 17...Nxf3 18.gxf3 Qxe4! 19.Qg2 Qd5 20.Qxg4 f5.
17...Nxc4 18.Qxc4 Rd7 The black position is rock solid. White on the other hand has to watch his isolated pawn. In my opinion the rest of the game is completely irrelevant. It would only spoil the reader's high opinion of Grandmasters. I blundered the pawn quite quickly, but Mr.Nyback mistreated the won rook ending. Therefore, a draw.
Hopefully your Scotch-scraper will come to new adventures.
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