[Event "Opening Theory #12"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Petroff"] [Black "?"] [Result "*"] [Annotator "KS"] [PlyCount "84"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.10.31"] {[%evp 0,21,19,38,25,7,53,50,63,-6,-6,-4,39,27,32,6,74,50,55,37,37,40,61,71]} { A simple repertoire, which I tested in high-level corr games, and you can start playing today! The Petroff is the opening with the worst winning percentage of White's wins in the Lichess database. As you can see from the below games, it leads to positions where Black enjoys the better structure. On top of that, there are no Italian or Scotch to worry about! Less theory!} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. d4 $5 (3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 $1 (4. Nd3 $5 {a Carlsen favorite} Nxe4 5. Qe2 Qe7 6. Nf4 {[#] Black needs to be a bit careful here} Nc6 $1 { the antidote} 7. Nd5 Nd4 8. Nxe7 Nxe2 9. Nd5 Nd4 10. Na3 Ne6 11. f3 N4c5 12. d4 Nd7 $1 13. c3 c6 $11 14. Nf4 Nb6 15. Bd3 d5 16. Nc2 Bd6 17. Nxe6 Bxe6 18. Kf2 h5 19. h4 Nc8 20. Ne3 Ne7 21. g3 c5 22. Bc2 O-O 23. Rd1 Rfd8 24. Ng2 cxd4 25. cxd4 Rac8 26. Bb3 Nc6 27. Bf4 Na5 28. Rdc1 Bb4 29. Bd1 Nc4 30. b3 Na3 31. Rxc8 Rxc8 32. Rc1 Nb5 33. Rxc8+ Bxc8 34. Ne3 Nc3 35. Bc2 Ba3 36. Bb8 a6 37. f4 Bd7 38. f5 Bc6 39. Bd1 Bb2 40. Bxh5 Ne4+ 41. Kg2 Bxd4 42. Bf4 Bc5 43. Bf3 Nd2 44. Bxd5 Bxe3 45. Bxc6 Bxf4 46. Bxb7 Bd6 47. Bxa6 Ne4 48. g4 Ba3 49. Bc4 Kf8 50. g5 Nc3 51. b4 Bxb4 52. Kf3 Na4 53. Bb5 Nc5 54. a4 f6 55. Kg4 Ne4 56. Kh5 Be1 57. Bd3 Nd6 58. a5 Bxa5 59. gxf6 gxf6 60. Kg6 Bd8 61. Kh7 Nf7 62. Bc4 Ne5 63. Bd5 Ba5 64. h5 Bd2 65. Ba2 Nf3 66. Bd5 Nd4 67. Kg6 Bg5 68. Bc4 Nf3 69. Kh7 Ne5 70. Bb3 Ng4 71. Bc4 Ne3 72. Bd3 Ng4 73. Bc4 Nh6 74. Kg6 Ke7 75. Bb3 Kd6 76. Bc2 Ke5 77. Bd3 Kf4 78. Bc2 Ng4 79. Bb3 Ne3 80. h6 Bxh6 {1/2-1/2 (80) Carlsen,M (2835) -Caruana,F (2832) London 2018}) 4... Nxe4 5. Nc3 {is an important line, but I found a practical and sound way to meet this in my corr games:} (5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Be7 $1 {the absolute main line} (6... Nc6 $6 7. O-O Be7 {White has the annoying} 8. Nbd2 $1) 7. O-O Bf5 8. Nbd2 (8. Re1 O-O 9. c4 Nc6 10. cxd5 Qxd5 11. Nc3 Nxc3 12. bxc3 Bxd3 13. Qxd3 Rae8 $1 {[#]} 14. Rb1 Bd6 15. Be3 b6 16. c4 Qe4 $11 17. Qb3 Bf4 18. Rbc1 Bxe3 19. Qxe3 Qxe3 20. fxe3 f6 21. Rc3 h5 22. Kf2 g5 23. d5 Ne5 24. Nd4 Rf7 {1/2-1/2 (24) Pheby,I (2418)-Ntirlis,N (2381) ICCF 2021}) 8... O-O 9. Re1 Nd6 $11) 5... Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 Nd7 $1 8. Qd2 Ne5 $1 9. O-O-O Nxf3 10. gxf3 Be6 $1 {[#]} 11. Qd4 (11. Rg1 g6 12. Qd4 Kd7 $1 13. Bc4 Kc8 $1 14. Bd5 Bf6 15. Qb4 Bxd5 16. Rxd5 b6 17. a4 Re8 18. Rgd1 Kb7 19. a5 Re6 20. Qc4 c6 21. a6+ Kc7 22. b4 Rc8 23. R5d3 Qe7 24. Kb1 b5 25. Qb3 Kb8 26. Bf4 Rd8 27. c4 Be5 28. Bg3 bxc4 29. Qxc4 Bxg3 30. fxg3 Qc7 31. Kb2 h5 32. R1d2 Rd7 33. Rb3 d5 34. Qc5 Qb6 35. Ra3 Rd8 36. Rdd3 Kc7 37. Rab3 d4 38. Qg5 Kc8 39. g4 Qxa6 40. gxh5 Qb5 41. Qf4 gxh5 42. Qxf7 Re2 43. h3 Rd7 44. Qf4 Qc4 45. Rd2 Rxd2 46. Qxd2 d3 47. Rxd3 Rxd3 48. cxd3 Qh4 49. Qc3 Qf2+ 50. Ka3 Qxf3 51. h4 Kd7 52. Qd4+ Ke6 53. Ka4 Qd5 54. Qe3+ Kd6 55. Qf4+ Qe5 56. Qh6+ Kd7 57. Qh7+ Kd6 58. Qg6+ Kc7 59. Qf7+ Kd6 60. Qf8+ Kd7 61. Kb3 Qe6+ 62. Kb2 Qe2+ 63. Kc3 Qe1+ 64. Kb3 {1/2-1/2 (64) Merzliakov,A (2093)-Pundak,M (2315) ICCF 2021}) 11... Bf6 12. Qb4 b6 13. Rg1 O-O 14. h4 c5 15. Qe4 d5 16. Qf4 Qe7 17. h5 Rad8 18. Bd3 Kh8 19. h6 g6 20. Kb1 Bc8 {[#] White risks becoming worse in these line due to their bad structure} 21. Rge1 Qd6 22. Qg3 Qxg3 23. fxg3 Kg8 24. Bb5 Bd7 25. a4 Bxb5 26. axb5 Rfe8 27. Bc1 Rxe1 28. Rxe1 Kf8 29. f4 {1/2-1/2 (29) Castro,F (2400)-Ntirlis,N (2381) ICCF 2021}) 3... Nxe4 4. Bd3 d5 5. Nxe5 Bd6 { As good as the Main Line and more interesting} ({the main line has always been } 5... Nd7) 6. O-O O-O 7. c4 c5 $1 {the main idea} 8. Nc3 Nxc3 9. bxc3 cxd4 10. cxd4 Bxe5 11. Qh5 (11. dxe5 dxc4 12. Bxc4 Qxd1 13. Rxd1 Nc6 $11 14. Ba3 Rd8 15. Bd6 Be6 16. Bd3 Rac8 17. h3 h6 18. Rab1 Na5 19. a3 Bb3 20. Rdc1 Ba2 21. Rxc8 Rxc8 22. Re1 Nc4 23. Bxc4 Bxc4 24. f4 Bb5 25. e6 fxe6 26. Rxe6 Rc6 27. Re5 Rxd6 28. Rxb5 Rd1+ 29. Kf2 {1/2-1/2 (29) Dunlop,G (2496)-Klügel,J (2526) ICCF 2021}) 11... g6 12. Qxe5 Nc6 13. Qxd5 Nb4 14. Qxd8 Rxd8 15. Be2 Nc2 16. Bg5 Re8 17. Bf3 Nxd4 18. Bd5 Be6 $11 19. h4 Bxd5 20. cxd5 Re5 21. d6 h6 22. Bxh6 Rd5 23. Rfb1 b5 24. Rb2 Rxd6 25. Bf4 Rdd8 26. a3 a5 27. g3 Rac8 28. Kf1 Rc2 29. Rxc2 Nxc2 30. Ra2 Rc8 31. Bd2 b4 32. axb4 axb4 33. Ra7 Rb8 34. Bf4 Rb6 35. Ra8+ Kh7 36. Bc1 f6 37. g4 Nd4 38. Be3 Rd6 39. Kg2 Nc2 40. Rb8 Nxe3+ 41. fxe3 Rd3 42. Kf3 b3 {1/2-1/2 (42) Bakulin,Y (2411)-Ntirlis,N (2381) ICCF 2021} *