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Back in the mid-Nineties, I played in a blitz
tournament in Germany. At some point I had to
play Black against future FIDE World Champion
Alexander Khalifman. El Khalif had not gotten
his act together yet, but he was still pretty
strong. After he beat me, he had a chuckle at
my Black Knight's Tango. “You tried to
confuse me with this opening,” he said.
I failed.
This month I will examine the main response
to the Black Knight's Tango, 3.Nf3 (Khalifman's
choice, BTW). After 3…e6 the ball is back
in White's court. He has two mainstream moves
(4.Nc3 and 4.g3) and a few independent moves,
most notably 3.a3. The last move was Kasparov's
choice when faced with the Tango, and that should
mean something. Let's take a look at that game:
Garry Kasparov - Alex Yermolinsky [A50]
Yerevan (ol), 1996
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nf3 e6 4.a3 d5 5.Nc3
a6 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Bg5 Be7 8.e3 h6 9.Bh4 0-0
10.Bd3 Be6?! 11.0-0 Nd7 12.Bg3 Bd6 13.Rc1 Bxg3
14.hxg3 Ne7 15.Na4 c6 16.Qc2 a5 17.b4 b5 18.Nc5
Nb6 19.bxa5 Nc4 20.a6 Bc8 21.a4 Bxa6 22.Ra1
Qd6 23.axb5 Bxb5 24.Qc3 Qc7 25.Rfb1 Nd6 26.Bc2
Nb7 27.Nxb7 Qxb7 28.Qc5 Rfb8 29.Ne5 Rxa1 30.Rxa1
Nc8 31.g4 Nb6 32.Bf5 Rd8 33.Rb1 Na4 34.Qc2
Nb6 35.Bh7+ Kh8 36.Bd3 Bxd3 37.Qxd3 f6 38.Ng6+
Kg8 39.Qf5 Re8 40.Nf4 Qc7 41.Qg6 Re7 42.Nh5
Nd7 43.Rc1 Nf8 44.Qc2 Re6 45.Nf4 Rd6 46.Ra1
Qc8 47.Qc5 Rd8 48.Qb6 Rd6 49.Ra7 Qxg4 50.Qb8
Rd7 51.f3, 1-0.
In his annotations Kasparov suggested Black
could hold to a minimal disadvantage with 10…Ne4.
Still, the whole variation looks a bit static,
if vaguely solid. Subsequently, Tango mavens
switched to an interesting move suggested by
Georgy Orlov, 4…d6!?
The idea is to switch to a King's Indian Defense
with each side possessing an extra move, a2-a3
for White and e7-e6 for Black. The White move
might possibly prepare b2-b4 but it is not generally
useful. In some cases the b3-square may be accessible
to the Black pieces. Black's e7-e6 at first
sight seems completely useless because Black's
plan is to attack the center with …e5.
However, this appearance is deceiving. The
pawn on e6 contributes should White consider
advancing d4-d5. Meanwhile, Black will wait to
push …e5 at an advantageous moment. Let's
consider the most obvious continuation from this
position: 5.Nc3 g6 6.e4 Bg7 7.Be2 0-0
8.0-0 Re8
After the routine 9.Be3 Black's strategy is
fulfilled 9…e5 10.d5 (10.dxe5 may be stronger,
but 10…dxe5 11.Qxd8 Nxd8 12.Nb5 Ne6 is
a theoretical position with an inconsequential
a2-a3 thrown in) 10…Nd4! with a comfortable
position for Black. So 9.d5 is the most challenging
move. 9…exd5 10.exd5 Ne7 11.Nd4
Nf5 12.Nxf5 Bxf5 was comfortable for Black in
Zugic-Rozentalis, Montreal 2001, but 10.cxd5
looks more dangerous. Probably 9…Nb8 is
best, e.g. 10.Re1 exd5 11.exd5 Bg4 12.h3 Bxf3
13.Bxf3 Rxe1+ 14.Qxe1 Nbd7 15.Be3 a6 16.Qd2 Qe7
17.Qc2, 1/2-1/2, Morovic –Yermolinsky,
Keres Memorial 1998. 10.Qc2 looks more to the
point. In Serper-Yermolinsky
New York 1998, the game ended suddenly after
10…Nbd7 11.Be3 a6 12.Rac1 Qe7 13.b4 c6
14.dxc6, 1/2-1/2, but perhaps White has a slight
edge.
Moldovan GM Viktor Bologan has become the flagbearer
for the Black Knights' Tango. In particular
he has led the way from this position. [Unfortunately,
with his win in Dortmund, Bologan may be poised
to join the chess elite and seems to be going
more mainstream in his defenses.] Here's an example
of his Tango prowess:
Matthew Sadler-Viktor Bologan [E10]
Enghien-les-Bains 1999
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nf3 e6 4.a3 d6
5.Nc3 g6 6.e4 Bg7 7.h3 0-0 8.Be3 Re8 9.Bd3
Nd7 10.Be2 e5 11.d5 Nd4!?
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