Non human 960 openings III

Welcome to the third chapter of research of the most amazing moves and variations of chess. This will be the last blog, by now, dedicated to the lateral weakness. You can find links to chapters I and II below.

Trasposition of words can change the meaning of a sentence. Similarly, a point or a comma also have this power, putting any of them ahead or behind a word transmits one message or another. This may happen with voice tone when a word is said. Well, this last thing is difficult to reflect on paper without writing over a score. So is trasposition in chess, if I am planning two moves depending on which I do first this can be from decisive to innocuous.

Position 600

rbqnbkrn/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RBQNBKRN w KQkq - 0 1

start board

Again a side weakness and a bishop pointing to it.
The natural move 1.c4 is chosen by 22% of human players and in a 88% of games by your humble narrator.
After 1...Ng6 an interesting idea for white is 2.e3 with the idea to play 2...c5 4.f4. As in the two positions examined in former chapters of this blog 2.c5 is possible, but now this move does not seem to be dangerous for black.

However this is not what I wanted to present in this blog. Our holistic friend suggests as interesting answer to symmetric defense, the next move.
Ladies and gentlemen, after 2.f4 and 2.g4 comes...

1.c4 c5 2.h4

Position after 2.h4

Board after 2.h4

Not in the first position, but among the most interesting moves, and surely the most original, which is the topic of the blog. What to play with black while keeping a cool head? There is no player that had this position on board before.

Important note about trasposition. In starting position the first or second move (very small difference) suggested by our short-circuit maker is no other than 1.h4. You may think with all your reason that I am joking. No, I am not actually. Or maybe there is some malfunction in software or hardware. It really has its twisted logic. After the natural 1...c5 playing 2.c4 we have the position that we are examining and 1...Ng6 does not seem convenient.
Of course nobody has played 1.h4 in this position. On the contrary, as I said before 1.c4 is chosen by a perceptible 22%. Common sense still works.

''What's it going to be then, eh?''

Not a bad move is the symmetric answer, 2...h5

An amusing variation is 2...0-0 3.Qc2 f5 4.g4 Nc6 5,gf5 d5 6.cd5 Nd4 7.Qc3? Rf5 with -1,64. I am not able to find a satisfactory move for white. All moves I saw had gotten a nasty answer.

Position after 7...Rf5

Board after 7...Rf5
A mind twist.

Of course white has ways to improve it. 7.Qe4 is better, but in any case this position is diabolic.

Let us come back to 2...h5

The most wild move is 3.g4, although it weakens h side where white king dwells is playable . for example, 3...Ng6 4.Bg6 (4.gh5 Nh4 with a nasty d5 as threat) 4...fg6 5.f3 0-0 6.Nhf2 Nc6 7.d3, black is little better, but white pawns configuration after white squares bishop change is really interesting, c4,d3,e2,f3,g4 forms a great V in white squares,

Position after 7.d3

Board after 7.d3
Our chip dweller evaluates this position with a -0,53 after 7...Bf4. I am sceptic and a little blind. What happens if...? 8.Bd2 Be5 9.Bc3. Evaluation falls down to -0,19. Maybe the easier way for black is an elegant draw proposition with 9...Bf4,

This V structure makes me recall an old story with GM Arturo Pomar in a spanish team championship. He was forced to win but it was almost impossible. In some moment, smiling, he told to the team captain,
- I have put my pieces in a shape of regular hexagon,
- Is it useful in any way? - asked the captain
- No, but it is nice.
Some years later the captain told me himself this, it was long time ago.

Jokes apart, maybe white position is a little worse, but not lack of interest.

What does recommend our tireless analyst after 2....h5 ?

The ugly (imho) move 3.Ng3 Bg3 4.fg3 0-0

Position after 4...0-0

Board after 4...0-0
With such inelastic pawn structure is very difficult for me to guess the best disposition of white pieces. I have the same feeling than in previous variation. Again software's evaluation preferes two bishops despite rigid (very ugly) pawn structure. Again, I do not agree. I find that white position is clumsy.

Another move that Is not in first place but it deserves a chance is 3.0-0 instead of the, I repeat it, ugly move 3.Ng3. If 3...Ng6 4.Bg6 is the same variation but swaping colors and with an extra time.

Following symmetry 3...0-0 4.f4 f5 5.Ng3 and, now again, two good answers 5...e6 and 5...Ng6.
If 5...Ng6 6.Nh5 Nc6 ( no more symmetry, by now ) 7.e3 Qd8 8.Nc3 e6 9.Qd1 Nh4 (recovering the symmetry !). Although copying white moves is comfortable for black, as it happens out of the board, comfortable life is always bad for health, here it is. 10.g3.

Position after 10.g3

Board after 10.g3
10...Ng6 11.g4 is good for white
10...g6 11.gh5 gh4 12.Rh2 is scaring, but a question appears, how many moves can be kept a symmetric position?

The other variation
5...e6, instead 5...Ng6

Position after 5...e6

It seems that we are going to get a symmetric position again
6.e3 Nc6 , what a surprise I had after seeing the most normal move on the world, 7.Nc3, the evaluation changed and jumped from 0,18 with 7.a3 to -0,21. Why was that? 7...Nf7! , here it is.
I noticed a discrepancy between my PC running SF 18 and our beloved site with SF 16, it was not a big deal, about 20 or 30 centipawns.

I remember when I was little more than a beginner, I was watching at my club a blitz played with black pieces by an old Catalonia champion Máximo Borrell, the white player I cannot recall who was. They started the game with a French defense, exchange variation 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.ed5 ed5. He thought that advantage was for black, because he had the freedom to break the symmetry whenever he wanted and play the best defense. He was not speaking completely serious but I understood his reasoning. It is what is happening in the last board position.

Now black have given h5 pawn, white knight is in bad position and square g4 will be for black knight. After 8.Ng3 Qd8 9.Bd3,
For example 9... Ng4 ?! 10.Nh1, Of course 9...Qh4? Nf5
Our stronger alter ego recommends 9...d5, with a -0.08 evaluation, which means compensation for black in exchange of pawn down.

Position after 9...d5

Position after 9...d5
Black has compensation. The naive trick 10.cd5 ed5 11 Nd5? Bf7 -+

I hope you enjoyed it.
My former blogs
Non human 960 openings
Non human 960 openings II

To be continued