Author: Vine Smith
Date: 05:13:46 05/12/02
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On May 12, 2002 at 02:03:00, mike schoonover wrote: >1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bc4? >this is refered to now as the crafty line to the roy lopez.earlier crafty's >played this with out a book,or a very short book,no book after a6. >its not connsidered bad.i guess the point being black >has used a pawn move on the extrem flank,and whites bishop plops itself >on a good square in the center.though seen rarly if at all im gm >play,there is some interest and use at the i.m.,f.i.d.e.,master level. >there have been previous posts in the past concerning this. >regards >mike Well, I looked this up in the databases (because the books I have don't cover it, and that includes NCO, MCO, SECO, Russian Encyclopaedia series), and this might not be quite so outrageous as I first thought. Many Black players cautiously elect transposing back into the Lopez with ...Be7 and ...b5. However, note that Crafty no longer seems to play this (since 1996, the last example I could find). After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bc4 Nf6, White is playing against the Two Knights Defense where Black has mysteriously gained the move ...a6. So some variations White normally has available are gone -- Ng5 no longer seems playable, nor is the line 5. (move 4 in a normal Two Knights) d4 exd4 6.e5 worthwhile without Bb5 as a followup. White can play 5.d3, but ...a6 is useful to Black there, so it appears to me that only quick O-O lines worth trying, when I don't see any value to Black having ...a6 in after 5.O-O Nxe4, while I'm not familiar with the Max Lange, which could arise after 5.d4 exd4 6.O-O Bc5, so I don't know if the tempo is of value (or could even hurt) there -- Black does not have to enter the Max Lange though, he could still play 6.Nxe4. The situation after 4...Bc5 is probably similar, but I don't play this, so don't have much knowledge of the applicable lines. It looks to me like a trick line which even strong players might toss out on a whim, but cannot really be recommended. White can be forced to play Two Knights lines that are not particularly promising (I think the 4.d4 exd4 5.e5 line is most highly regarded theoretically) instead of the Lopez, which gives more hope of an advantage. So maybe Hiarcs should follow Crafty's theoretical evolution and abandon 4.Bc4 as well (unless, as suggested by Fernando, it were to have a separate tournament book and one for entertainment value). Regards, Vine
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