By Karel van der Weide

In searching for a appropriate weapon against the Taimanov Sicilian, I struggled a long time. In the end I decided to go for a move which I initially thought to be the refutation of the entire system. Let's be reasonable, what on earth is Black doing? Putting pawns on a6 and e6, only to make sure the bishop on c8 will never see the daylight in its life. Therefore I thought it was necessary to handle the Taimanov with velocity: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.Be3 Nf6 8.Qe2!?

The main line, of course, is 8.0-0. But because Black is slow in development, I considered it better to go for castling queenside. At first, I could not believe my eyes when I saw the most important Black response. This appeared to be the anti-positional 8...Bd6. We will talk about that move later. First a glance at some alternatives:

A. The total swap 8...Nxd4 9.Bxd4 Bc5 10.Bxc5 Qxc5 is bad now, due to 11.e5. This is not possible when White plays 8.0-0.

B. 8...b5?! looks suspicious to me. 9.Nxc6 dxc6 10.a4 Bb7 11.0-0 b4 12.Nb1 h5 13.h3 Bd6 14.f4 e5 15.f5 Qe7 16.Nd2 Bc5 17.Nb3 Bxe3+ 18.Qxe3 gave White a nice plus in Van der Weide-Middelburg.

C. 8...Bb4 is not as bad as I initially thought. After 9.0-0 Bxc3 10.bxc3 d6 11.f4 Bd7 12.Rae1 0-0 13.Kh1 Rac8 14.Bd2 d5 15.e5 Ne4 16.Rf3 f5 (Van der Weide-Jackson) it's hard even to claim a tiny advantage, as also would have been the case if the guy had gone for 16...Nxd4 17.cxd4 Nxd2 18.Qxd2 Bb5.

By the way, there is a nice line after (8...Bb4 9.0-0) 9...Ne5: 10.f4 Neg4 11.e5 Nxe3 12.exf6 Bxc3 13.Qxe3 Bxb2 14.fxg7 Rg8 15.Rab1 Bc3 16.Rb3 Rxg7 17.Rxc3 Qxc3 18.Nxe6!

Apparently, White can ignore 18...Rxg2 by moving the King aside. Before playing this, check it with your computer, because the author is too lazy to do so!

So, now we come to the main move for Black, the surprising 8...Bd6. White continues his development policy by playing 9.0-0-0. In my opinion, 9...Be5 is best now, as the alternatives leave White on top:

A. 9...0-0 happened in Van der Weide-Stellwagen. I went for the Black King immediately: 10.g4 Be5 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.g5 Bxc3 (12...Ne8 13.Qd2 Qa5 14.f4 Bxc3 15.Qxc3 looks slightly better for White) 13.bxc3 Ne8 14.Rhg1 e5 (14...Qa5 15.Kd2 d5 16.e5 c5 17.Rg3 c4 18.Bxh7+ Kxh7 19.Qh5+ Kg8 20.Rh3) and now I should have played in Velimirovic-style: 15.Rg4 d6 16.Rh4 g6 17.Rh6 with an attack.

B. 9...Bf4 10.Nxc6 dxc6 11.Bxf4 Qxf4+ 12.Kb1 e5 13.g3 Qh6 14.Na4 0-0 15.Nb6 Rb8 16.Bc4 certainly is better for White. Instead of castling, Black can cover his weak black squares by 14...Nd7, but also then, the White position is to be favoured: 15.Rdf1 b5 16.Nc3 Nc5 17.f4.

My game with Alosias Kveinys, a great character in the European opens, went 9...Be5. Now I chose to continue in original style with 10.Nb3 because earlier games proved Black was doing fine due to his magnificent center: 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.Na4 Rb8 12.b3 d5 13.Bc5 Bd6 etc. In the game, Alosias did not hesitate to weaken my queenside. I thought the possession of a black coloured bishop always gave me play, but this turns out to be a wrongful assumption: 10...Bxc3 11.bxc3 d6 12.g4 b6 13.g5 Nd7 14.f4 Bb7 15.h4 Nc5 16.h5 Na4 17.Bd2 Na5 (White manages to flee from the attack after 17...d5 18.exd5 Qe7 19.Rdf1 Qa3+ 20.Kd1) 18.Rh3 (It was much more prudent to play 18.Nxa5 bxa5 19.Qe3) 18...b5 19.f5 Nc4 20.g6 hxg6 21.fxg6 fxg6 22.Qg4

22...0-0-0! That was always the problem; Black just sacks e6 for positional domination. (22...Ne5 on the other hand would have given me counterplay: 23.Qxe6+ Qe7 24.Nd4 gxh5 25.Rg1) 23.Bg5 (Taking the pawn would lead to a quick collapse: 23.Qxe6+ Kb8 24.Qxg6 Nxd2) 23...Ne5 (White somehow hangs in after 23...Rde8 24.hxg6 Rxh3 25.Qxh3 Nxc3 26.Bxc4 Nxa2+ 27.Kb2 bxc4 28.Nd4) 24.Qxe6+ Kb8 25.hxg6 Qxc3 (Another option was 25...Rhe8 26.Bxd8 Qxd8 27.Qf5 Bc8 28.Qf1 Bxh3 29.Qxh3 Nxc3 putting White with his back against the wall.) 26.Rxh8 Qb2+ (Alosias starts the hunt for the White King. There turned out to be a simple win: 26...Rxh8 27.Qxd6+ Ka8 28.Qd4 Nf3-+.) 27.Kd2 Rxh8 28.Qxd6+ Ka8 29.Rf1 Rh2+! (Black could gave gone astray here:
29...Rc8 30.Rf8 Qxc2+ [30...Nc4+ 31.Bxc4 Qc3+ 32.Kd1 does not work either.] 31.Bxc2 Nc4+ 32.Ke1 Nxd6 33.Rxc8+ while 29...Qc3+ 30.Ke2 Rh2+ 31.Rf2 is also insufficient.)
30.Ke3 (30.Ke1 Nxd3+ 31.Qxd3 Qb1+ 32.Bc1 Rxc2 -+) 30...Rh3+ 31.Ke2 (31.Kf4 Nxd3+ 32.cxd3 Qh2+ wins the white Queen.) 31...Rxd3? (This gives me the opportunity to force a perpetual. Alosias could have concluded matters by: 31...Nc3+ 32.Kf2 Nxd3+ 33.Kg2 Qxc2+ 34.Kxh3 Nxe4 35.Rf8+ Bc8+) 32.Rf8+ Ka7 33.Qb8+ Kb6 34.Bd8+ Rxd8 35.Qxd8+ Ka7 36.Qb8+ Kb6 37.Qd8+, 1/2-1/2.

So, I just managed to save my skin. The White King was immediately the object of a ferocious Black attack. It is fair to say that the "development first method" is not the refutation of the Taimanov. Back to the drawing board!