By Karel van der Weide

Do bad openings exist? As Layos Portisch used to say: "There are no bad openings, only badly played ones." After hearing this, former Dutch champion Rini Kuijf replied: "Then I will introduce him to the Schara-von Hennig Gambit." Now seriously, we truly can make a difference in the quality of openings. There are reasons the top dogs frequently use the Grünfeld less often the Kings-Indian and have almost abolished the Volga-Gambit. On our modest tourist-level we can play anything, as the game gets decided in another stage.

These big guys have quite a good feeling when it comes to which opening provides them with sufficient counterplay. They hate standing with their backs against the wall, facing one way traffic, knowing the "other side" has the technique and ability to punish them for their choice.Therefore (and here I go quoting myself again like a parrot), 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 a result, I consider some openings to be unsuitable, especially the Volga-Gambit, my childhood love.

Readers of NEW IN CHESS YEARBOOKS will think I am just continuing the crusade against Benkö's brainchild. Well, my dear readers, it is in your best interest, as my parents used to say. I am only trying to warn you against playing unpromising positions, as I have (too often!) done myself! Against 1.e4 I used to play the Accelerated Dragon, an opening with zero winning chances as well, can you believe it?! Maybe an interesting subject for another article.

Anyway, in Yearbook 66 I wrote about the Volga main line, in my opinion the biggest gap in the entire system.

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 g6 6.Nc3 Bxa6 7.e4 Bxf1 8.Kxf1 d6 9.Nf3 Bg7 10.g3 0-0 11.Kg2 Nbd7 12.Re1!

A HUGE THREAT TO THE WHOLE BENKO GAMBIT

The title of this article was "The Good, the Bad and the Obvious." It corresponded nicely with the black options: 12...Qa5 was undoubtedly best, 12...Ra6 had a bad reputation (as I managed to prove!), 12...Ng4 was logical because White did not play 12.h3 to prevent this Knight sortie. For the sake of completeness, 12...Qb6, 12...Ra7 and 12...Nb6 were tried as well and proved to be insufficient. I even have some personal experience with the latter!

This is how my game with the German master Niklasch went in 2004:

12...Nb6 13.h3 Qd7

Black's primitive idea is revealed. He wants to push ...e6.

14.Qc2

14.e5? dxe5 15.Nxe5 Qb7 16.Nc6 Nfxd5 is okay for Black.

14...e6 15.dxe6 fxe6 16.e5 Nfd5

WHITE STANDS BETTER

Here White has more than one way to acquire a good position. He can chose the sharp 17.Nxd5 exd5 18.e6 Qc6 19.e7 Rfe8 (19...Rf5 20.g4) 20.Qe2 or the more modest 17.exd6 Nxc3 18.bxc3 Qxd6 19.Bf4 Qd5 20.Rad1 Qxa2 21.Qxa2 Rxa2 22.Rxe6 Na4 23.c4. The unfortunate Niklasch however managed to produce 17.Ne4? and had to suffer after 17...c4 18.Nxd6 Nb4 19.Qe4 Nd3. It turned out Black had excellent compensation for two pawns.

Now for the "Good":

12...Qa5

"It is the fastest way to mobilize the black forces and there is immediate pressure against the Knight on c3. However problems arise after the direct hit 13.e5!." This line continues

13.e5! Ng4 14.exd6 exd6 15.Bf4

15.Re4 turns out to be a shot in the dark. After 15...Nge5 16.Nxe5 Nxe5 17.Bg5 Rfb8! 18.Ra4 Qb6 19.Rxa8 Rxa8 20.Qe2 Qa6 21.Nb5 Rb8 22.a4 c4! I was on top against lightning specialist Manuel Bosboom.

15...Rfb8 16.Qe2 Qa6

16...Nge5 does not give equality either.

17.Rc1 Nge5 18.Nxe5 Nxe5 19.Bxe5 Bxe5 

BLACK WILL SUFFER AND HOPE TO SOMEHOW DRAW

In my NIC article I paused at this moment. In an earlier article, by the excellent analyst Tibor Fogarasi, a statement was made that Black had equality. To be frank, it was backed up by thorough analyses. However, I did not agree and invited the reader just to look at the position and think it over. Here I go quoting myself again, it is easy money doing so: "Equality? Black is a pawn down and has some minor compensation because his bishop is better than the white knight and the heavy artillery is a bit more active. You might draw the odd game, but under normal circumstances players like Anatoly Karpov and Mikhail Gurevich will wrap you up. I remember drawing this line once against Gyimesi, but only after making some 20 only moves and eliminating all the material. Zoltan took it like a man, we had a pleasant post-mortem, but there was no doubt in his mind that he would beat the next guy who would repeat this line (as he in fact did against Sermek). This kind of position has an additional drawback. How on Earth are you ever going to win against a weaker opponent? Well, you won t."

How about "The Bad" 12...Ra6?

Most probably, Black will get some counterplay if White continues in slow motion (13.h3), but Gyimesi showed the world how to play.

13.Qc2! Qa8 14.a4

JUST BAD FOR BLACK

Here Adam Sziebert sacked another pawn against Peter Horvath with 14...e6, but I think the White advantage is large after 15.Nb5 Qb7 16.Bf4 exd5 17.exd5 Nxd5 18.Bxd6 Rc8 19.Rad1 Nb4 20.Qb3 Nc6 21.Re3 Rb6 22.Qd5 Nf6 23.Qc5 Ng4 24.Re4!

But the solution in my game with Gyimesi was not much better:

14...Rb8 15.b3 Ne8 16.Bg5 Rab6 17.Rab1

17.Nd2? c4!

17...c4 18.bxc4 Bxc3 19.Rxb6 Nxb6 20.Qxc3 Nxa4 21.Qa1 Nb2 22.Qxa8 Rxa8 23.Bxe7 Nxc4 24.e5 dxe5 25.Nxe5 Nxe5 26.Rxe5 Kg7 27.Bb4 Nf6 28.d6 Ra6 29.g4 h6 30.h4 Ra4 31.Rb5, 1-0. Depressing!

This means "The obvious 12...Ng4" is our last chance to keep the Volga main line alive:

12...Ng4 13.Qe2

Not to mention 13.Nd2, where I have some doubts as well. For the moment Black seems to hang in there after 13...Nge5 14.Qe2 Nb6 15.f4 Ned7 16.a4 Ra5!

I should also mention that Karpov claimed an advantage against Salov after the quiet 13.Bf4.

13...Qa5

Relying on an idea by the controversial (as a person, not as a chess player) Erik Knoppert.

14.Nd2 Bxc3 15.Nc4 Qa6 16.bxc3 Nge5 17.Nxe5 Nxe5

NOT WHAT BLACK DREAMS OF

Here Knoppert's opponent exchanged Queens and Black won without a whisper. The strong Austrian master Georg Danner however uncorked

18.Bh6!

This gave White a version of the ending with two extra moves. Immediately I understood Black was in trouble.

18...Rfb8

The alternatives will not provide equality either:
18...Qxe2 19.Rxe2 Rfb8 20.f4 followed by e5 (the famous Volga-wave!).
18...Rfc8 19.Qxa6 Rxa6 20.f4 Ng4 21.Bg5 f6 22.h3.

19.Qxa6 Rxa6 20.Reb1 Rab6?!

My last chance was to grovel in a double rook ending with a pawn down: 20...Rba8 21.Rb7 Ng4 22.Bf4 Kf8 23.Rb2 Ra3 24.Rc2 Ne5 25.Bxe5 dxe5 26.Kf3 R8a4 27.Ke3.

21.Rxb6 Rxb6 22.a4 f6 23.Bc1! Ra6 24.a5 g5 25.f4 gxf4 26.gxf4 Nd3 27.Bd2 Nb2 28.c4 Nxc4 29.Bc3 Ne3+ 30. Kf3 Nc2 31.Ra4 f5 32.exf5 Kf7 33.Ke4 Ke8 34.Kd3 Nd4 35.Bxd4 cxd4 36.Kxd4 Kd7 37.Ke4, 1-0.

The Volga labyrinth, it reminds me of Dante's words when he descended into hell: "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here."