[Event "Opening Theory #13"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "The Berlin CAN be challenged!"] [Black "?"] [Result "*"] [Annotator "KS"] [PlyCount "35"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.11.16"] {[%evp 0,5,19,38,25,7,30,29] I won't lie. This isn't the refutation of the Berlin. But it is a line which greatly annoyed me when I was studying the Berlin as Black. White is safe and plays with a sound long-term plan. Isn't that enough for most OTB players out there?} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 (6... Nxb5 $4 7. Nxc6+ $18 {[%csl Rd8][%CAl Re1e8,Rc6d8,Rc6e7]}) (6... Nxe5 7. Rxe5+ Be7 {will transpose to the main line}) 7. Bf1 {More popular is} Nxe5 (7... Nf5 {more ambitious" as Black keeps an extra pair of knights on the board} 8. Nf3 $1 O-O 9. d4 d5 10. c3 Bd6 11. b3 $5 {[%CAl Gb1a3,Ga3b5] [#]} Re8 12. Na3 {[%csl Rd6][%CAl Ga3b5,Gb5d6]} a6 13. Nc2 {[%csl Ra6][%CAl Gc3c4] White plays c4 next and the a6-pawn is actually a weakness (a hook) which makes White's queenside play stronger.} Rxe1 14. Qxe1 Nce7 15. c4 b6 16. Qc3 Ng6 17. Bg5 Be7 18. Bxe7 Nfxe7 19. Ne3 dxc4 20. bxc4 Bb7 21. d5 Qd7 22. Rd1 Re8 23. g3 Bc8 24. h4 Qd6 25. Re1 Nf8 26. Ng5 Qf6 27. Qxf6 gxf6 28. Ne4 Kg7 29. d6 cxd6 30. Nxd6 Rd8 31. Rd1 Ne6 32. Ndf5+ Nxf5 33. Nxf5+ Kf8 34. Rb1 Nc5 35. Ne3 Rd6 36. Nd5 b5 37. Ne3 Bd7 38. cxb5 axb5 39. Bxb5 Be6 40. a4 Rd2 41. Ra1 Nb3 42. Rd1 Ra2 43. Rd3 Nc5 44. Rd4 Ke7 45. Rf4 h6 46. Kg2 Ra3 47. Ng4 Bd5+ 48. Kf1 Ne4 49. Ne3 Ra1+ 50. Ke2 Ra2+ 51. Kd3 Nc5+ 52. Kd4 Ne6+ 53. Kxd5 Nxf4+ 54. gxf4 Rxf2 55. a5 Kd8 56. Ke4 Kc7 57. Nf5 h5 58. Bc4 Rb2 59. Bxf7 Rb4+ 60. Kf3 Rb5 61. Ne3 Rxa5 62. f5 Kd6 63. Bxh5 Ra3 64. Kf2 Ra2+ 65. Be2 Ke5 66. h5 Kf4 67. h6 Ra8 68. Nd5+ Kg5 69. Nc7 Rh8 70. Bd3 Rxh6 71. Ne6+ Kg4 72. Ke3 Rh3+ 73. Ke4 Rxd3 74. Kxd3 Kxf5 {½-½ (74) Nepomniachtchi,I (2773)-So,W (2754) Abidjan 2019}) 8. Rxe5 O-O 9. Nc3 {[%csl Re7][%CAl Gc3d5,Gd5e7] [#] This move has a very simple idea in mind: win the bishop pair! This is not the only idea though. A related idea is to play with a strong Bg2 vs a Black knight.} (9. d4 {Sadler has talked about his in his youtube channel}) 9... Ne8 {The only way to avoid giving up the bishop pair so easily} 10. Nd5 Bd6 11. Re1 c6 12. Ne3 {[#]} Bc7 $5 {This is the old main line, for example, given in Cox's Berlin book} (12... Be7 13. Nf5 Bg5 14. d3 d5 (14... Bxc1 15. Qxc1 d5 16. Ne7+ Kh8 17. Nxc8 Rxc8 18. c4 $1 {[#]} (18. Qe3 Qb6 19. c4 Qxb2 20. Qxa7 dxc4 21. Rab1 Qf6 22. dxc4 Nd6 23. c5 Ra8 24. Qb6 Nf5 25. Qxb7 Rxa2 26. Qb8 Ra8 27. Qe5 Nd4 28. Qxf6 gxf6 29. Re7 Ra5 30. Bc4 Kg7 31. Rd7 Nf5 32. g3 Rxc5 33. Bd3 h5 {½-½ (33) Lie,K (2521)-Holm,K (2467) Norway NOR 2020})) 15. Bxg5 Qxg5 16. Ne7+ Kh8 17. Nxc8 Rxc8 18. c4 $1 {Again the same concept. A good thing is that we don't need to remember the details, but the idea.} Nf6 19. Qb3 Qf4 20. g3 Qc7 21. Qa3 c5 22. cxd5 Nxd5 23. Rac1 Qb6 24. Re5 Nb4 25. d4 Nc6 26. Rexc5 Rcd8 27. d5 Ne5 28. Qc3 Rfe8 29. h3 Qd6 30. Bg2 h5 31. Rc7 Rb8 32. Qa3 Qb6 33. d6 Qd4 34. Qc5 Qxb2 35. f4 Ng6 36. Qxh5+ Kg8 37. Bd5 Rf8 38. Kh1 Qf6 39. d7 Qd6 40. Be4 Rbd8 41. Qf5 Qa3 42. Kh2 Qxa2+ 43. R1c2 Qa4 44. h4 {1-0 (44) Praggnanandhaa,R (2661)-Firouzja,A (2778) Miami USA 2022}) 13. Nf5 d5 14. Ne7+ Kh8 15. Nxc8 Rxc8 16. d3 f5 17. Qf3 Nf6 {[%csl Gc1,Gf1][%CAl Gg2g3] [#]} 18. Bf4 $5 {[%csl Yf1,Yf6][%CAl Gc2c4] Here's the idea I mentioned! White gives up the bishop pair, but will play with a strong bishop on g2, against the black knight. The engines might say it is close to 0,00, but White has the better long term practical chances. The plan is to play c4 and open the position.} (18. g3 $5) *