Carlsen-Dolmatov, Moscow 2004

Hi, Jim:

Many thanks for your blog. I am a relatively new but keen reader. Your PCG articles have got me interested and I have your later book on order. By the way, is it a newer edition of the earlier work or do they complement each other ?

The reason for this e-mail is that your sparking my interest in the PCG coincides with my starting to take up the Dutch. I have the Starting Out: Dutch Defence book by Neil McDonald and the Leningrad System by Stefan Kindermann. In this second tome, Kindermann suggests that 1.Nf3 f5 2.d3 is a big problem. The lines it gets into remind me of the PCG or Latvian. Do you have any experience of anything similar ? By the way, what do you play against 1.d4 ? Possibly the Dutch is of interest and an article on this line might be a good idea.

The main line Kindermann gives is 1.Nf3 f5 2.d3 d6 3.e4 e5 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.exf5 Bxf5 6.d4 Nxd4 7.Nxd4 exd4 8.Qxd4 Nf6 9.Bc4, quoting a game between Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Dolmatov, Moscow 2004. I realise it is nothing to worry too much about at my level (1920 WCU) but it's a puzzle none the less !

All the very best,
Adam

Adam John May,
86, Ferry Road,
Kidwelly,
Carmarthenshire
SA17 5EQ
Wales

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The answers to some of your questions, Adam, can be found in my previous blog entries. Macon Shibut has reviewed both the first edition and the second edition of my book on the Philidor Counter Gambit.

Against 1.d4, I have played mainly the Dutch Defense in recent years. Prior to that, I answered 1.d4 with the King's Indian Defense which I still try occasionally.

In my opinion, Dolmatov's mistake was in playing 4...Nc6 instead of the natural move 4...Nf6. By my count, I have reached the position after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Nc3 f5 4.d3 in ten games as Black. And in every one of them, I opted for 4...Nf6.

It is not clear whether Black's queen knight belongs on c6 or d7. Philidor himself would have frowned on a move like 4...Nc6 which obstructs the pawn on c7. Probably Black's c-pawn belongs on c6 rather than the queen knight.

My experience has shown that, in general, Black should play ...Nc6 only when White has already played Bc4. There are two reasons for this: (1) if Black plays ...Nc6 before White has committed his king bishop to c4, then White has the option of playing Bb5 without wasting a tempo; (2) with the white bishop on c4, Black often follows ...Nc6 with a timely ...Na5, which usually chases the bishop from the a2-g8 diagonal or exchanges favorably the black knight for the white bishop.

Hopefully, my advice will be of assistance to you.