I haven’t played much Fischer Random1 at slow time controls, and when I have it hasn’t been pretty. Chess players everywhere are trained to memorize openings rather than understand them, so the idea of having to invent an opening on the spot is truly terrifying. As a substitute for finding good moves in the opening, I employ analogical reasoning: I try to find a real chess opening or structure that can be achieved by reorganizing the random scattering of pieces on the back rank, and run to it as fast as I can.
This kind of thinking only works with careful attention to how the position on the board is different from the memories that guide us. In one Fischer Random game with bishops starting on h1/h8, I aimed for a Closed Sicilian setup by playing g6 and castling short. The problem was that I never moved my bishop from h8 or my rook from f8, and when my opponent hit me with Ne7+ I had to put my king in front of the bishop, Kg7, and lost in short order.
I’ve planned my openings in this tournament with Fischer Random in mind. I want to be out of book as soon as possible, with a wide variety of options to choose from. With the black pieces, this means the Modern Defense, the ultimate chameleon opening with which to practice analogical reasoning.
Christopher Powers (1852) - Andy Lee (2328), Tuesday Night Marathon (2), 7/16/24
Another day, another game where I’m out of book on move three: 1 e4 g6 2 d4 d6 3 f4. Generally it’s preferable to hide one’s true intentions for as long as possible; therefore white frequently plays Nc3 on move three, leaving open the option of 4 f4 (the Austrian Attack), 4 Be3 (the 150 attack2), or 4 Nf3 and 5 Be2 (the Classical). So why play f4 one move ahead of schedule? First, because the lack of pressure on e4 means that white can hope to play a super-charged version of the Austrian Attack with Nf3, Bd3, and c3 (black’s typical counterplay with c5 doesn’t hit as hard). Second, to force black back into the very sharp main lines of the Pirc Austrian Attack after 3 … Nf6 4 Nc3 Bg7 5 Nf3 (given that black played the Modern move order, this probably isn’t what he has in mind3).
So what is black to do? Against the normal stuff, 1 e4 g6 2 d4 d6 3 Nc3 c6 4 f4, I was going to play 4 … d5, diverting us from theory and tactics to maneuvering and drudgery. One option is to assume that the position is basically analogous even though white has omitted Nc3 and play c6 and d5 anyway. The alternative, trying to take advantage of the lack of Nc3 is to play 3 … d5, entering a position analogous to the Scandinavian if white plays 4 exd5, only a tempo down, with f4 and g6 thrown in. I decided that the Scandinavian can get pretty hairy without being down a tempo and decided to play the safer option, 3 … c6 4 Nf3 d5. I expected 5 e5, when two variations show the virtues of the omission of Nc3: 5 … h5 6 c4!? and 5 … Bg4 6 h3 Bxf3 7 Qxf3 e6 8 Nd2! h5 9 Nb3:
Now the analogy is to some lines in the Advance Variation of the Caro-Kann Defense, where white’s knight often serves a greater purpose on b3, restricting black’s counterplay. This would have been uncomfortable and suggests that I might have been better off going a different direction on move three.
Back to the game, where my opponent had another kind of positional analogy in mind: the Exchange Caro-Kann: 5 exd5!? cxd5 6 Bd3. Let’s take stock. White is again up a tempo with f4 and g6 thrown in. This suggests that he should make use of the outpost on e5 and try to drum up a quick attack. I was concerned, and sometimes concern makes me overthink and develop away from the center: 6 … Nh6!? Not terrible, but not necessary, as the computer assures me that 6 … Nf6 7 00 Bg7 8 Ne5 Nc6 9 c3 Bf5 is completely fine:
One more analogy: I didn’t appreciate that this position is basically the same as what you could get from a Stonewall Attack: 1 d4 d5 2 e3 Nf6 3 f4 c5 4 c3 g6 5 Nf3 Bg7 6 Ne5 cxd4 7 exd4 Nc6 8 Bd3 Bf5. In the diagram above white’s up an additional tempo that he used to castle (it took black two moves to get the pawn to d5, not one), but it’s not particularly meaningful. The key to the position is that black is ready to establish a forever knight on e4 while having the option of evicting white’s Ne5 at a future date. It’s hard to think in terms of Stonewall structures in a game that started 1 e4, but noticing the similarity could have saved me some energy and worry.
You might wonder what the problem is; after all, Nh6 and Bf5 is a good plan against the Stonewall as well. I was worried that white can rapidly sharpen the play after 7 Ne5 Bf5 8 g4!? or try to create problems on the a4-e8 diagonal with 8 Bb5+. Again, not the end of the world, but I was looking to avoid early complications rather than invite them. My opponent played naturally but less sharply: 7 00 Bf5 8 Nc3 Bg7 9 Ne2 (beginning a maneuver to a worse square) 00 10 Ng3:
I had a sudden flash of inspiration: rather than trade the bishops, I should remove the Nf3 so that white can’t make use of the e5 square. The computer is happier to trade on d3 and play e6, knowing that white’s remaining bishop is quite bad, and for a specific tactical reason that I’ll address in the following note. 10 … Bg4!? 11 c3 e6 12 h3 Bxf3:
White’s recapture was so unexpected that I thought there had been a technical glitch when I saw it pop up on the electronic display board: 13 gxf3? It took me a while to understand the rationale behind this anti-positional move. It stems from the belief white will get ground down if he doesn’t do something desperate—in this case, controlling e4 with a pawn and opening the g-file. The problem is that white’s position isn’t desperate after 13 Qxf3, just potentially unpleasant if he doesn’t take quick action.
I felt that black’s position was quite safe, so imagine my surprise when confronted with the following computer plan, the very sort of creative and sharp idea that I was looking for in some of my own games as I prepared for this event (see On Preparation, Part Two for more). The idea is that after 13 … Nc6 14 f5! Nxf5 15 Nxf5 exf5 16 g4! fxg4 17 hxg4 white has good compensation:
For just a pawn (and some residual king safety), white has the superior set of minor pieces and the hard to defend slow buildup on the h-file: Kg2, Rh1, Qh3.
By comparison, white’s position in the game is joyless. He probably still needs to play f5 at some point, but his shattered structure reduces any attacking chances he might get for the pawn: 13 … Nc6 14 Kh2 Rb8 (rather than gang up on the f4-pawn immediately I decided to create some weaknesses on the queenside to poke at) 15 Rg1 b5 16 Be3 (perhaps a last chance to try 16 f5, but white has nothing concrete) Qd6 17 Qd2:
I missed this move when playing playing Qd6; in general I felt like I was drifting aimlessly over the past few moves, and I was upset that I had made the f5 break dangerous by lining up my queen and rook on the h2-b8 diagonal. Ironically, this forced me to play a good move that I had been avoiding: 17 … Nf5! 18 Nxf5 exf5. White’s pieces are locked out of play and the f4-pawn is doomed. The game is strategically over as long as black doesn’t blunder into some tactics on the kingside: 19 Rg2 Kh8 20 Rag1 Bh6 21 Qf2 Rfe8 22 Bd2 Bxf4+ 23 Kh1 b4 24 Qh4 Bxd2 25 Rxd2 bxc3 26 bxc3 Re3:
I was calculating very casually at this point, not a great way to operate when the clocks are still ticking. My analysis of 27 Bxf5 basically ran, “If I can take it, I will, if I can’t I’ll just pick up pawns on the third rank.” Someone paying closer attention might have quickly noticed that 27… gxf5? loses to 28 Qg5. The game concluded with 27 f4 Qe7 28 Qxe7 Nxe7 29 Re2? (this hastens the end; after 29 c4 black still has to work a little) 29 … Rxh3+ 30 Kg2 Rxd3 31 Rxe7 Rb2+ 32 Kf1 Rxc3 33 White Resigns.
On the surface this looks like a smooth positional victory, achieved thanks to white’s self-inflicted wounds. I felt uncomfortable as I was playing it, not as sure I would have liked about which kinds of analogous positions were worth aiming for and which were dangerous. It was a good reminder for me that playing the Modern is about embracing a wide world of possible structures rather than knowing a couple key positions and move orders.
I guess this is one of my “it’ll always be Burma to me” moments — seems like we’re calling it Chess 960 these days.
So named because players rated 150 ECF (which translates to about 1900 USCF) are capable of developing a dangerous attack by using this line against titled players.
If you read the post about opening preparation, this is a bucket #1 opening: you’ve got to know your stuff. I’m no expert and was happy to dodge it.