[Event "JoaBN's Study: 1.b4"] [Site "https://lichess.org/study/0iVkxKw7/2VmStM4i"] [Result "*"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "A00"] [Opening "Polish Opening"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/JoaBN"] [UTCDate "2021.06.06"] [UTCTime "14:40:40"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/0iVkxKw7/2VmStM4i"] [Orientation "white"] 1. b4 e5 (1... e6 2. Bb2 Bxb4 3. Bxg7 { [%cal Rg7h8] }) (1... Nf6 2. Bb2 d5 3. e3 e6 4. b5 c5 { The Schiffler-Sokolsky Variation. Black avoids the exchange of pawns that occurs in the mainline and forces white to react to an early threat to his exposed b-pawn. After white defends this pawn by advancing it, black grabs central space by pushing the c-pawn. } 5. Nf3 Bd6 6. c4 { With a complex game to follow. }) (1... d5 2. Bb2 Qd6!? { The German Defense. It’s rarely correct to develop your queen before moving any other piece, but black’s move has a certain logic to it. First, the queen threatens the b-pawn. White often deals with such threats in the polish by advancing this pawn forward, but here it does not work: 3. b5? Qb4! And white loses material due to this unusual double-attack! } 3. b5? (3. a3 e5 { [%csl Ge5,Gd5] } (3... a5 4. b5) 4. e3 Be6 5. Nf3 Nd7 6. Be2 (6. d4 e4 7. Nfd2 c6 8. c4 Ngf6 9. Nc3 Be7 10. Be2 O-O 11. O-O Bd8 { [%cal Gd8c7] }) 6... Be7 7. d3 Ngf6 8. Nbd2 O-O 9. c4 c6 10. O-O h6 11. Qc2 $10) 3... Qb4 { [%cal Rb4b5,Rb4b2] }) 2. Bb2 Bxb4 (2... Nc6 3. b5 { The pawn on e5 falls when the knight moves. } { [%csl Re5][%cal Rb5c6] }) (2... d6) 3. Bxe5 Nf6 4. Nf3 (4. c4 O-O 5. Nf3 d5 6. e3 c5 7. a3 Ba5 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Qc2 Nc6 10. Bb2 Qe7 11. Be2 g6 (11... Bg4 12. O-O Rad8 13. h3 Bh5 14. Nc3 Bxc3 15. Bxc3 b6 16. Rac1 Nxc3 17. Qxc3 Rd6 18. Rfe1 Bxf3 19. Bxf3 Ne5 { [%csl Rd2] }) 12. O-O) (4. e3 O-O 5. Nf3 d5 (5... Re8 6. Be2 d5 7. O-O Nbd7 8. Bb2 Nb6 9. d3 Bd7 10. Qc1 Na4 11. Ba3 Ba5 12. Nd4 Bb6 13. Bf3 c5 14. Ne2 Bc7 15. Nbc3) 6. c4 c5 7. a3) 4... O-O 5. e3 d5 6. Be2 c5 7. O-O Nc6 8. Bb2 Re8 { Black has a large center and active pieces, but white shouldn’t have much trouble finishing development. } *