Taylor Defense
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The Taylor defense after 7. 0–0 Ng8 – f6
The Taylor Defense is a variant of the Morra Gambit , an opening to the game of chess .
It arises after the trains
1. e2 – e4 c7 – c5
2. d2 – d4 c5xd4
3. c2 – c3 dxc3 Accepted Morra gambit
4. Nb1xc3 Nb8 – c6
5. Ng1 – f3 d7 – d6
6. Bf1 – c4 a7 – a6
7. 0– 0 Ng8-f6
The opening was played back in 1972 against Ken Smith (with white), one of the namesake of the Smith-Morra-Gambit. IM Timothy Taylor later published his book "The Taylor Defense," claiming that his defense was a refutation of the Morra Gambit. Immediate 6.… Ng8 – f6 (instead of… a7 – a6) loses because of 7. e4 – e5! Black's plan includes… Bc8 – g4 followed by… Bg4xf3, as well as… Nc6 – e5 and… Ne5xc4. 7.… Bc8 – g4? but fails on 8. Bc4xf7 +! The most important white answers are 7. Bc1 – e3?!, Which is easy to play without any theoretical knowledge, the aggressive victim 7. b2 – b4 and the theoretically demanding 7. Bc1 – f4.
The opening moves
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If Black skips the move 6.… a7 – a6 comes 6.… Ng8 – f6? 7. e4 – e5!
If Black skips 6.… a7 – a6 and immediately 6.… Ng8 – f6? plays, White gets attack: 7. e4 – e5!
- 7.… Nc6xe5 ?? fails on 8. Nf3xe5 dxe5 9. Bc4xf7 +! Ke8xf7 10. Qd1xd8 Queen win
- 7.… dxe5 8. Qd1xd8
- 8.… Nc6xd8 9. Nc3 – b5 (To prevent this move, Black plays in the main line a7 – a6.)
- 9.… Nd8 – e6? 10. Bc4xe6 Bc8xe6 11. Nb5-c7 +
- 9.… Ra8 – b8 10. Nf3xe5 e7 – e6 opens the e7-square to the king in order to avoid mate. 11. Nb5 – c7 + with White advantage.
- After 8.… Ke8xd8 the knight fork threatens the kingside 9. Nf3 – g5! with the threat of Ng5xf7 +
- 8.… Nc6xd8 9. Nc3 – b5 (To prevent this move, Black plays in the main line a7 – a6.)
After 6.… a7 – a6! 7. 0–0 Black cannot yet exchange the knight f3 7.… Bc8 – g4 (should tie the knight to the queen. However, the peg is false .) 8. Bc4xf7 +! Ke8xf7 9. Nf3 – g5 + Kf7 – e8 10. Qd1xg4
variants
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After 8. Bc1 – e3 !? Bc8 – g4 9. Qd1 – b3! White wins back the sacrificed pawn.
After waiting moves without threat like 8. h2 – h3? (should prevent Bc8 – g4) Black answers with 8.… e7 – e6 and moves on to a Scheveningen-like position, in which, however, he has a tempo more than the main line.
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8. Bc1 – e3 !? Answers to the flexible, black strategy with its own waiting train.
- 8.… Bc8 – g4 9. Qd1 – b3! with an attack on the b5 and f7 pawns. 9.… e7 – e6 defends f7. 10. Qb3xb7 Nc6 – a5! Attacks the queen and the c4 bishop. 11. Qb7 – b4 Sa5xc4 12. Qb4xc4 Bg4xf3 13. gxf3 Black now has to quickly develop his kingside before the deficit gets too big. 13.… Bf8 – e7 14. Qc4 – c6 + Nf6 – d7 15. Rf1 – d1 Qd8 – c8 16. Qc6xc8 Ra8xc8 17. Ra1 – c1 White has retained a small advantage. The pawn formation on the kingside is weak ( double pawns on the f-file and Isolani on the h-file), but he can form a passed pawn on the queenside and his rooks are conveniently positioned on open and half-open lines.
- 8.… e7 – e6! leads into the Scheveningen variant of the Morra Gambit, with roughly the same chances. The bishop on c4 is not doing very well because he is aiming at the defended e6 pawn.
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Position after 8. b2 – b4 !? Bc8 – g4 9. b4 – b5 axb5 10. Nxb5!
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8. b2 – b4 !? threatens e4 – e5 with an attack on the c6 knight. Against well-prepared opponents White should expect nothing more than a draw, since he has unnecessarily weakened his queenside and has not developed a piece. Black can't take the pawn because of 8.… Nc6xb4? 9. Bc4xf7 +! Ke8xf7 10. Qd1 – b3 +! or 9. e4 – e5! dxe5 ?? 10. Bc4xf7 +!
- 8.… Bc8 – g4 9. b4 – b5 axb5 (9.… Bg4xf3 10. gxf3!) 10. Nxb5!
- 8.… e7 – e6 with roughly equal chances
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8. Bc1 – f4! covers e5 and d6. Karsten Müller , Hannes Langrock and Marc Esserman all agree that this move is the best. White cannot win back his pawn like after 8. Bc1 – e3, but prevents the possible exchange of the c4 bishop after… Nc6 – e5.
- 8.… e7 – e6 9. Qd1 – e2
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8.… Bc8 – g4 9. h2 – h3! (9. Qd1 – b3 ?! e7 – e6 White cannot conquer the b7 pawn as in the Be3 variant: 10. Qb3xb7? Nc6 – a5 11. Qb7 – b4 e6 – e5! 12. Bf4 – g5 d6 – d5 13. Qb4 – a4 + Bg4 – d7!)
- 9.… Bg4xf3 10. Qd1xf3
- 9.… Bg4 – h5 10. g2 – g4 !? or 10. Qd1 – b3 !? both with attack
literature
- Marc Esserman : Mayhem in the Morra , Quality Chess, 2012, ISBN 978-1-907982-20-0 .