By Karel van der Weide

Some years ago, the Volga Gambit was abolished from my repertoire. The main line in particular bothered me, and I will come to speak of this in one of my other contributions. I even went so far as to write a farewell letter to the entire opening in NEW IN CHESS YEARBOOK 68. However, if I noticed in my preparation that opponents would play the financhetto line, I was tempted to try the old cow again. I was cured from this disease in the winter of 2006, after two draws against two talented young girls.

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 g6 6.Nc3 Bxa6 7.Nf3 d6 8.g3 Bg7 9.Bg2 Nbd7 10.Rb1

This is the most topical way to play the Volga financhetto variation and White scores very well with it. To me that is no surprise, as 99% of the Black players continue in slow motion. They castle, put their rooks on the a- and b-file ... and find themselves in a worse middle game after some 15 moves! I wrote about this line in NIC Yearbook 67 and added a -- in my opinion -- promising continuation for Black.

10...Nb6 11.b3 Bc8!?

With this active move, Black will try to prove that the rook is bad on b1.

12.Nh4

12.Qd3 was Neverov-van der Weide, Cappelle la Grande 2001, which I won in coffeehouse style, see my best games.

12...h6 13.Qc2 Qd7!?

In an artificial way, Black wins the fight over the f5-square.

14.Bb2

Analyses of 14.Bd2, which occurred in my games with Aleksandrov and Chemali, can be found in the aforementioned Yearbook 67. Lately, 14.f4 came into fashion. Until now, the Black resistance was poor. In my opinion he has to go for 14...Bb7 15.Bb2 Ng4! with total chaos.

14...g5 15.Nf3 Qf5 16.e4 Qg6 17.0-0 0-0

Now, ...Nxd5 is a threat. Here 17...Nbxd5 was not possible due to 18.Nxd5 Nxd5 19.Bxg7 Qxg7 20.exd5, +-.

After 17...0-0 a very original position has appeared on the board. As compensation for the pawn, Black has the open files on the queenside. Furthermore, there is constant pressure against e4. Even ...f7-f5 can be an idea. Usually my opponents went their own way here:

* 18.Rfd1 was Andreas Breier's move. 18...Ng4 looks appropriate. 19.a4 f5 20.h3 Ne5 21.Nxe5 Bxe5 22.Nb5 Bxb2 23.Rxb2 f4 with control over some vital black squares is a possible continuation.

* 18.Qd2 was former FIDE World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov's choice. Here, I erred with 18...Qh5, but in the analysis, Rustam told me that he considered the position after 18...Ng4! 19.h3 Ne5 20.Nxe5 Bxe5 21.f4 gxf4 22.gxf4 Bd4+ 23.Kh2 perfectly playable for Black. Further details of this game can also be found in NIC Yearbook 67.

The young ladies, Marlies Bensdorp and Sabine Foisor, came up with something else. They decided to go for...

18.Rbc1

And my obvious reply was...

18...Ng4

First my game with Marlies:

19.a4 Ba6?!

Intending to keep it nice and tidy, but stirring things up with 19...f5 20.exf5 Bxf5 21.Qd2 c4 was much more appropriate.

20.Rfd1 Nd7 21.Nb5 Bxb5 22.Bxg7 Qxg7 23.axb5 Ra5 24.Qe2! Nge5

24...Rb8 25.Nd4! cxd4 26.Qxg4 is almost winning for White.

25.Nxe5 Qxe5 26.f4

There you have it, the famous Volga-wave, the indication things have gone completely wrong.

26 Qg7

26...gxf4?? 27.Qg4+ picks up Black's Knight.

27.e5 Rb8

Unfortunately, the fantasy-variation does not work: 27...Rfa8 28.exd6 Ra2 29.Qxa2! Rxa2 30.dxe7 Re2 31.d6! (White could go astray playing 31.Re1 Qd4+ 32.Kh1 Qe3.) 31...gxf4 32.Rc2 with a win in the long run.

28.exd6 exd6 29.Qe7 Nf8

Again, Black is not able to launch a quick attack against the enemy King: 29...Ra2 30.Qxd7 Qb2 31.Qh3 Re8 32.Kh1 Re2 33.Rg1, +-.

30.Qxd6 Raxb5 31.f5?

Black was a solid pawn down, but this anti-positional move secures him sufficient counterplay for a draw.

31...Rxb3 32.Rxc5 Rb1 33.Rcc1 Rxc1 34.Rxc1 Qd4+ 35.Kh1 Rb6 36.Qe7 Kg7 37.Qe4 Qxe4 38.Bxe4 Rb4 39.Re1 Nd7 40.Bf3 Kf6 41.h3 Ne5 42.Be4 h5 43.Re2 g4 44.hxg4 hxg4 45.Kg2 Nc4 46.Bc2 Nd6 and a draw was agreed on move 64.

This should have been a warning to never play a financhetto Volga again. However, obstinacy has always been one of my worst features and I trotted out the line against Sabine Foisor:

WHAT WAS I THINKING?

19.h3

Sabine kicks the Knight immediately.

19...Ne5 20.Nxe5 Bxe5 21.Na4!?

It did not take me long to realize this leads to a drawn position by force.

21...Nxa4

The alternatives favor White:
a. 21...Bxb2 22.Nxb6 Bxc1 23.Nxa8 Ba3 24.Nb6.
b. 21...Ba6 22.Nxb6 Bxf1 23.Bxf1 Rxa2 24.Nc4.

22.Bxe5 dxe5 23.bxa4 Ba6 24.Rfe1 Rfc8 25.Rb1

Very modestly played, although Black seems to survive after both 25.Qc3 Qd6 26.f4 gxf4 27.gxf4 exf4 28.e5 Qg6 and 25.Re3 Rab8 26.Rc3 c4 27.Bf1 Rb4.

25...Qd6 26.Re3 Rab8 27.Rc1 Rb4 28.Bf1 c4

28...Bxf1 29.Rxf1 Qa6 30.Ra3 only helps White.

29.Qd1 Qb6?!

Much safer was 29...Kg7.

30.h4 Kg7 31.Qg4 Qg6 32.Qd7 Qd6 33.Qg4 Qg6 34.Qd7 Qd6 35.Qg4 Qg6, 1/2-1/2. To be honest, I was not unhappy with the repetition of moves.

So, what's the moral? I expressed it in several articles in NEW IN CHESS YEARBOOKS concerning the Volga; it is always nice to quote yourself: "When choosing an opening repertoire for Black, I believe you have to search for a line in which you have good drawing chances against a strong opponent and winning chances against a weaker opponent." As you can see, the Volga-Gambit fails this test: you only have drawing chances against a weaker opponent!