A mildly dubious move is a gamble to tempt an opponent out of his comfort zone. The gamble often pays off.
Arturo Pomar White
Bent Larsen Black
Barcelona 1975
Dutch Defense A80
1 d4 f5 2 ♘c3 d5 3 f3 c5 4 e4!
Now 4...dxe4 5 ♗b5+ makes White’s lead in development significant, e.g. 5...♘c6 6 d5 or 5...♗d7 6 dxc5 with a slight edge.
4...e5!?!
This works in some ways (5 exd5? cxd4! favors Black).
Or 5 dxe5! d4 6 ♘d5 fxe4 7 fxe4? ♕h4+.
But if White looks calmly at this, he’d find that 7 ♗b5+! is good – 7...♗d7 8 ♗xd7+ ♘xd7 and 9 fxe4 ♕h4+ 10 ♔f1. And 9 ♕e2! is better.
5 ♗b5+?! ♗d7 6 ♗xd7+ ♘xd7
White would still be better after 7 dxe5 d4 8 ♘d5 ♘xe5 9 ♕e2. But his discomfort with the many center choices showed:
7 ♘xd5? cxd4 8 ♘e2 fxe4 9 fxe4 ♘gf6
Black is at least equal and would be better after 10 ♘xf6+ ♕xf6 or 10 ♕d3? ♘xd5 11 exd5 ♕a5+.
10 ♗g5? ♕a5+ 11 ♗d2 ♕c5 12 ♘xf6+ ♘xf6 13 ♘g3 h5!
Black edge would grow after 14 h4 ♕b5.
14 ♕f3?! h4 15 ♘e2 ♕xc2 16 ♕f5 ♕xe4
The endgame is lost so White throws the dice.
17 ♕e6+ ♗e7 18 ♗b4 ♘d5 19 ♗xe7 ♘f4! 20 ♕c4 ♔xe7 White resigns.
Question 406: Did Black have an even better 20th move?
Bandyopadhyay Roktim White
Gert Van Rij Black
Vlissingen 2006
1 d4 f5 2 ♘c3 d5 3 e4 dxe4 4 f3 ♘f6 5 fxe4 fxe4 6 ♗c4 ♘c6 7 ♘ge2 e5 8 ♗g5 ♗f5? 9 ♘g3 ♕xd4 10 ♘xf5 ♕xc4 11 ♗xf6 gxf6 12 ♕h5+ ♔d7? 13 0-0-0+ ♗d6 14 ♕g4 ♕e6 15 ♘xe4 ♘d4 16 ♖xd4! exd4 17 ♕g7+ ♕e7 18 ♘xf6+ and wins.