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W E D N E S D A Y , M A Y 0 7 , 2 0 0 8
Anti-Moscow Gambit: 9th Moves
The Anti-Moscow tabiya is the position where games and theory
really begin:

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 7.
e4 g5 8. Bg3 b5



Black has an extra pawn. But White is better developed, controls
the center, and Black's advanced wing pawns may prove to be over-
extended. In this sort of position you either win or lose... rarely do
games fizzle out to a draw.

9.Be2 - This is intuitive and the mainline. Before White initiates
hostilities, he ensure that his king is able to castle at the first sign
of danger.

9.a4? or 9.b3? - An a4 advance is strong in the Slav, but both a4
and b3 are losing in the Semi-Slav. After 9...Bb4!, White must spend
time defusing the pin and protecting his a- and e-pawns, which
gives Black time to develop.
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Page 1 of 5 The Endgame Tactician: Anti-Moscow Gambit: 9th Moves
3/3/2010 http://likesforests.blogspot.com/2008/05/anti-moscow-gambit-9th-move.html

9.h4 or 9.Qc2 - These transpose to the Be2 mainlines after 9.h4 g4
10.Ne5 h5 11.Be2 Bb7 or 9.Qc2 Bb7 10.Be2 .

9.Ne5!? 10.h4 - Black can no longer answer 10.h4 with 10...g4
without losing a pawn. Black has a couple answers:

Black's simplest answer is the direct 9...h5. In Aronian-Anand,
Mexico City 2007 the game went 9...h5 10.h4 g4 11.Be2 Bb7,
transposing to the mainline.

Sharper is 9...Bb7!?. Sasikiran-Stefanova, Zafra 2007 went 9...Bb7
10.h4 g4 11.Nxg4 Nxg4 12.Qxg4 Qxd4. See annotated game below
for details:

[White "Sasikiran, Krishnan"]
[Black "Stefanova, Antoaneta"]
[Site "Zafra"]
[Date "2007.03.22"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 {Semi-Slav}
5. Bg5 h6 {Semi-Slav / Moscow} 6. Bh4 {Semi-Slav /
Moscow / Anti-Moscow Gambit} dxc4 7. e4 $8
{Threatening e4-e5.} g5 8. Bg3 $8 b5 {This is the
Anti-Moscow tabiya. Black is up a pawn, but his
flank pawns may prove overextended. Whitei s better
developed and enjoys better central control.} 9.
Ne5 $5 {A sharp move! In the mainline, Black
answers h4 with g4, but now that the knight covers
g4, that would hang the g-pawn.} (9. Be2 Bb7 10. h4
g4 11. Ne5 h5 {The mainline.}) 9... Bb7 $5 {Black's
reply is also sharp. Antoaneta ignores the threat
and goes about her developing her pieces to their
usual squares as if Ne5 hadn't been
played.} (9... h5 10. h4 g4 11. Be2 Bb7
{Transposing to the mainline.}) 10. h4 g4 11. Nxg4
Nxg4 12. Qxg4 Qxd4 {After this recapture, Black's
still up a pawn.} 13. Rd1 {White forces Black to
spend a tempo moving her queen.} Qg7 { Black forces
White to spend a tempo moving her queen.} 14. Qf4
Na6 $1 { A critical move, preventing Qc7.} 15. a4
$2 Bb4 $1 {The typical way to punish an a-pawn
advance. At this point, Black has a clear
advantage.} 16. Be2 { An admission that White
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Page 2 of 5 The Endgame Tactician: Anti-Moscow Gambit: 9th Moves
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should have castled early with 9.Be2. This position
is not as benign as it looks. Do you see atactic?}
O-O $1 (16... Bxc3+ $2 17. bxc3 Qxc3+ {While this
tactical sequence may seem to win a pawn, it's
really a clever trick that allows the dangerous
penetrations Qd6 or Qxh6.}) 17. O-O Nc5 18. Qe3 Nb3
(18... Bxc3 $1 19. Qxc5 Bxb2) 19. axb5 Bc5 20. Qf4
cxb5 21. Nxb5
Nd4 22. Nxd4 Bxd4 23. Bxc4 e5 24. Qf3 {Sasikiran's
played some tremendous moves, going from an opening
disadvantage to an advantage in the space of a few
moves. The rest of this game is very exciting but
probably not so important from an opening theory
perspective.} Kh8 25. Rxd4 exd4 26. Qf4 Rae8 27. f3
Bc8 28. Rd1 Be6 29. Bf1 Rc8 30. h5 Qg5 31. Qxg5
hxg5 32. Bd6 Rg8 33. b4 g4 34. f4 g3 35. Bc5 Rg4
36. f5 Bb3 37. Rxd4 a5 38. Rd3 a4 39. Re3 Rd8 40.
Be2 Rgg8 41. Kf1 Rd2 42. Rc3 Kh7 43. Ke1 Rc2 44.
Rxc2 Bxc2 45. Bc4 Bb3 46. Bxb3 axb3 47. Kd2 Re8 48.
Kc3 Rxe4 49. Kxb3 Re2 50. b5 Rxg2 51. b6 Re2 52. b7
Re8 53. Ba7 g2 54. Kc4 f6 55. Kd5 Kh6 56. Kd6 Kxh5
57. Kd7 Rg8 58. Ke6 Kg4 $4 59. Kxf6 Rb8 60. Kg6
Rxb7 61. Bd4 Rd7 62. Bf2 Rd2 63. Ba7 Rd7 64. Be3
Kf3 65. Bc5 Rd5 66. Ba7 Ra5 67. Bg1 Ra1 68. Bc5
g1=Q+ 69. Bxg1 Rxg1+ 70. Kh7 Kg4 71. f6 Rf1 72. Kg7
1/2-1/2

9.e5!? - Forcing 9...Nd5, and now it's White who must be careful. In
Utkin-Potyavin, St. Petersburg 2004 after 10.Be2? Bb4 11.Rc1 Qa5
12.O-O Nxc3 13.bxc3 Bxc3 Black had a winning advantage. 10.Nd2!
is accurate.

[White "Lajthajm, Borko"]
[Black "Aleksandrov, Aleksej"]
[Site "Budva"]
[Date "2003.??.??"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 {Semi-Slav}
5. Bg5 h6 { Semi-Slav / Moscow} 6. Bh4 {Semi-Slav /
Moscow / Anti-Moscow Gambit} dxc4 7. e4 g5 8. Bg3
b5 9. e5 $5 Nd5 10. Nd2 Bb7 11. Be2 Nd7 12. O-O Qb6
{ Typical development.} 13. Nde4 c5 $1 {This is a
really opportune time for this pawn break. Black
can't continue to develop with Bg7 due to Nd6+, and
Page 3 of 5 The Endgame Tactician: Anti-Moscow Gambit: 9th Moves
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he has no need to castle immediately with O-O-O.}
14. dxc5 Bxc5 15. a4 Nxc3 16. Nxc3 a6 17. axb5 axb5
18. Rxa8+ Bxa8 { All these liquidations should
benefit Black, who is still up a pawn.} 19. Bf3 Bc6
$1 {A brilliant call. Bxf3 Qxf3 may liquidate even
further, but it also cedes the a8-h1 diagonal to
the enemy queen, leaving Black on the defensive for
the near future. The rest of this game is probably
not theoretically important.} 20. Qe2 Ke7 21. h4
Bd4 22. Bxc6 Qxc6 23. hxg5 hxg5 24. Rd1 Bxc3 25.
bxc3 Nc5 26. Qe3 Rh5 27. Qe2 Rh8 28. Qg4 Ne4 29.
Rd4 Qa8 $1 (29... Nxc3 30. Qxg5+ Kf8 31. Rd8+ $18)
30. Qf3 f5 (30... b4 $1 31. cxb4 c3 32. Rd1 c2 33.
Re1 Rc8) 31. exf6+ Nxf6 32. Bd6+ Kf7 33. Qe2 Rh4
34. Rd1 Qh8 35. f3 Rh1+ 36. Kf2 Rxd1 37. Qxd1 Nd5
38. Bb4 Qh4+ 39. Kg1 Qf4 0-1

An early 9.Be2 is the most flexible move, but 9.e5!? and 9.Ne5!?
are also interesting options White could use as a surprise.
POSTED BY LI KESFORESTS AT 10: 45 AM
4 C O M M E N T S :
Chessaholic said...
whoa! good stuff man. I really need to get RSS feeds set
up so I can be sure to see good posts like this right away.

I've been studying the semi-slav as well (for a relatively
short time). I really love the Botvinnik variation but
unfortunately I don't get to it very often because my
opponents will deviate. I haven't studied the Moscow
variation much even though I realize it's hot right now. So
you stay up to date with NIC and Informant?
5/08/2008 12:32 PM
Chessaholic said...
I just realize I need to digest your previous two posts as
well, preferably with a board in front of me. That'll be
what I'm doing tonight :)
5/08/2008 12:35 PM
likesforests said...
Thanks... just plugging away trying to understand the key
positions! Certain themes are becoming clearer. After I
study a couple more model games I should be ready to
generate a repertoire. Then I just need to learn the
mainline Moscow. And some of those sideline openings.
Page 4 of 5 The Endgame Tactician: Anti-Moscow Gambit: 9th Moves
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And then I'll be ready for field testing. ;)
5/08/2008 6:00 PM
Anonymous said...
Interesting, but difficult to read the green on black...
5/10/2008 1:11 AM
Page 5 of 5 The Endgame Tactician: Anti-Moscow Gambit: 9th Moves
3/3/2010 http://likesforests.blogspot.com/2008/05/anti-moscow-gambit-9th-move.html