Canal variant (Italian section)

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The basic position of the Canal variant after 6. Bc1 – g5

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The Canal variant is an opening variant of the Italian game of chess , in which White ties the black king knight with the queen's bishop on move six.

Turn order

The Canal variant starts with the trains:

1. e2 – e4 e7 – e5
2. Ng1 – f3 Nb8 – c6
3. Bf1 – c4 Bf8 – c5 (Italian game)
4. Nb1 – c3 (Giuoco pianissimo) 4.…
Ng8 – f6 5. d2 – d3 d7– d6
6. Bc1-g5

The Canal variant is also known in the chess literature as the "Italian Four Knights". The reason for this is the similarity with positions that can result from the four knights game .

history

Its name is derived from a game played between Esteban Canal and Hans Johner at the Karlovy Vary tournament in 1929 : 1. e2 – e4 e7 – e5 2. Ng1 – f3 Nb8 – c6 3. Nb1 – c3 Ng8 – f6 4. Bf1 – c4 Bf8 – c5 5. d2 – d3 d7 – d6 6. Bc1 – g5 h7 – h6 7. Bg5xf6 Dd8xf6 8. Sc3 – d5 Qf6 – d8 9. c2 – c3 Sc6 – e7 10. d3 – d4 e5xd4 11. Nf3xd4 Ne7xd5 12. Bc4xd5 0–0 13. Qd1 – d3 Qd8 – f6 14. Bd5 – b3 Rf8 – e8 15. 0–0 Bc8 – e6 16. Bb3 – c2 g7 – g6 17. Kg1 – h1 Ta8 – d8 18. f2 – f4 Be6 – d7 19. f4 – f5 g6 – g5 20. Nd4 – e6! f7xe6 (a little better was 20.… Bd7xe6) 21. f5xe6 Qf6 – g6 22. e6xd7 Rd8xd7 23. Rf1 – f5 Rd7 – e7 24. Ra1 – f1 Kg8 – g7 25. e4 – e5 Re8 – h8 26. e5 – e6 Qg6xe6 27. Rf5 – f6 Black gives up (after 27.… Qe6xf6 28. Rf1xf6 Kg7xf6 White would checkmate with 29. Qd3 – g6 + Kf6 – e5 30. Qg6 – f5 #).

Canal played the variant in three other games in Karlsbad and achieved a win against Albert Becker and draws against the tournament runners-up José Raúl Capablanca and Karel Treybal .

Even before the "regular game" in 1929, the move 6. Bc1 – g5 appeared several times in master games, for example in Géza Maróczy - Dawid Janowski , Vienna 1898 (½: ½), Carl Schlechter - Emanuel Lasker , Paris 1900 (0: 1), Rudolf Spielmann - Julius Perlis , St. Petersburg 1909 (1: 0) or Aaron Nimzowitsch - José Raúl Capablanca , Riga 1914 (0: 1).

variants

Black can counter the threat of 7. Nc3 – d5 and 8. Nd5xf6 g7xf6 with a double pawn with 6.… h7 – h6 . With 7. Bg5xf6 Qd8xf6 8. Nc3 – d5 Qf6 – d8 9. c2 – c3 Nc6 – e7 (or 9.… a7 – a6) 10. d3 – d4 White catches up with his center formation. According to Savielly Tartakower , the Canal Variation in conjunction with the following four moves Bg5xf6, Nc3 – d5, c2 – c3 and d3 – d4 offers White practical opportunities.

On 9th… a7 – a6 10. d3 – d4 Bc5 – a7 11. d4xe5 must happen 11.… d6xe5.

An alternative is 6.… Nc6 – a5 , because the e5-pawn is now covered by the d6-pawn. 6.… Nc6 – a5 was already tried out by Hugo Süchting against Siegbert Tarrasch at the 9th DSB Congress in 1894. However, Black lost this game. More recently, as a black man, David Bronstein managed to win with 6.… Nc6 – a5 at the championships of the USSR in 1952 against Viktor Korchnoi and in Mar del Plata in 1960 against Erich Eliskases .

The variant is also occasionally used nowadays in grandmaster games, either to aim for a sure draw with White or to try to prove a slight advantage without the risk of losing too much.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Notes on the Canal-Johner game in: Savielly Tartakower, Jules du Mont: 500 Master Games. Courier Dover Publications, 1975, ISBN 0-486-23208-5 , p. 23 (English).

literature

Web links