English attack
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The English attack (in English: "English attack") under the chess openings is understood in the narrower sense as the playing of the Najdorf variant of the Sicilian defense , in which White develops the queen's bishop on move six from the original square c1 to e3. The English attack is classified under the ECO code B90 . It is considered to be one of the positionally most sustainable systems against the Najdorf variant, but can also lead to very complicated open positions.
Turn order
The basic position arises after 1. e2 – e4 c7 – c5 2. Ng1 – f3 d7 – d6 3. d2 – d4 c5xd4 4. Nf3xd4 Ng8 – f6 5. Nb1 – c3 a7 – a6 6. Bc1 – e3 .
White's bishop on e3 covers the knight on d4 and sweeps across the b6 square in Black's camp, which Black had just weakened a little earlier in the fifth move by choosing the Najdorf variant a7-a6. White often strives for the pawn advance g2 – g4 – g5 in order to drive out the knight f6 and thus fight for control of the d5-square, or to attack the position of the black king with another g5-g6. Because the kingside is opened in this way, White then usually chooses long castling towards the queenside.
The move 6. Bc1 – e3 has been played in tournament chess since the late 1930s. Grandmaster Robert Byrne, on the other hand, introduced the attack system connected to the following g2 – g4 – g5 in world-class chess in three games at the Alekhine Memorial in Moscow in 1971. The English attack bears its current name because it was launched in the 1980s by English grandmasters like John Nunn , Nigel Short and Murray Chandler has been studied and used with success. The English attack has emerged as a kind of main variant of chess, insofar as the introductory 11 half-moves are each the most frequently played in modern game databases.
White can also try to initiate the English attack with 6. f2 – f3 . After 6.… b7 – b5 7. Bc1 – e3 b5 – b4 8. Nc3 – d5 Nf6xd5 9. e4xd5 happened 9.… Bc8 – b7 in Peter Leko - Peter Swidler 2003 and 9.… g7 – g6 in Viswanathan Anand - Wesselin Topalow in 1999 with roughly the same positions.
variants
Black is faced with the fundamental decision between the king's pawn moves 6.… e7 – e5 and 6.… e7 – e6 and the immediate attack on the bishop e3 with 6.… Nf6 – g4.
- 6.… Nf6 – g4 . Garry Kasparov added this direct disruption of white intentions to his repertoire in 1996 as the main weapon against the British attack. The modern main line continues with 7. Be3 – g5 h7 – h6 8. Bg5 – h4 g7 – g5 9. Bh4 – g3 Bf8 – g7 10. h2 – h3 , and now 10.… Ng4 – f6 or 10.… Ng4– e5.
- The main line on 6.… e7 – e5 starts with 7. Nd4 – b3 Bc8 – e6 8. f2 – f3 and now 8.… Bf8 – e7 or 8.… Nb8 – d7 .
- The flexible move 6.… e7 – e6 leads over to position pictures of the Scheveningen variant . The main choices for white are:
- 7. f2-f3 . In the position after 7.… b7 – b5 8. g2 – g4 h7 – h6 9. Qd1 – d2 b5 – b4 10. Nc3 – e2 Nb8 – d7 it is dangerous for White to capture the b4 pawn with the queen because After 11. Qd2xb4 d6 – d5 Black attacks it with a gain in tempo.
- 7. Bf1 – e2 plans to support the advance g2 – g4 with the bishop and follow up with the direct pawn advance f2 – f4.
- 7. g2 – g4 , a delayed Keres attack with the invitation to hair-raising entanglements after the piece sacrifice 7.… e6 – e5 8. Nd4 – f5 g7 – g6 9. g4 – g5 g6xf5 10. e4xf5 d6 – d5 11. Qd1– f3 d5-d4 12. 0-0-0 . This variant is called the Perenyi Gambit or Hungarian Attack.
literature
- Tapani Sammalvuo: The English Attack. Sharpest way to attack the Najdorf , Gambit 2004, ISBN 1-901983-57-9 (English).