Thursday 12 March 2020

Refuted or not refuted?

I've seen a small revival in the Greco and Moller Attacks recently. A couple of Canberra juniors are using them as their main systems as White, even if current theory regards them a not so good anymore.
To be fair, the refutation is quite deep into the opening, and even then, engine assessments give the position as equal or only slightly better for Black. At the level they are being used, I would regard these lines as basically sound, especially as Black needs to know all the moves, otherwise White's attack is quite strong.
Having said that, it is still possible for White to play for a win, even at the top level. The following game was played back in 2007, when there was a small revival in the main line. After 16 ... f6 the position was considered good for Black, but White did have an idea of trying to invade down the h file. However Black went wrong almost straight away with 17 ... g6, and after that, White was able to make enough threats to keep Black on the defensive for the rest of the game.


Kurenkov,Nikolai (2438) - Turov,Maxim (2562) [C54]
Moscow op 03rd Moscow (8), 03.02.2007


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