Summation of Threads---4.Ng5 Two Knights' Defense

Theory and practical results are embedded is several disjointed threads. An attempt is going to be made here to summarize the key ideas in each thread so that the post members will have a single consistent source to assess the basic question, "Does White have an advantage in all forced variations of the 4.Ng5 Two Knights' Defense?" The first choice is the tricky 4.Ng5 Nxe4!?

The Wilkes-Barre/Traxler has been studied and played exhaustively by the Wilkes Barre Chess Club but is known in Europe as the Traxler Defense. A number of authors have tried to resolve the opening. Ken Williams in, "The Real American Wilkes Barre" focused only on the sharp 5.Nxf7 variations and almost ignored the key 5.Bxf7ch variations. The former World Correspondence Chess Champion Yakov Estrin also wrote a monograph on this opening but missed the critical variations mentioned here.

 The WBT has evolved from being one of the sharpest openings in all of chess to being one where White can keep the tactics under control and emerge with a clear plus, one that is almost winning in many variations. Indeed my critics agree that White is better only that White can win faster in other variations.

A key new concept here is the following novelty: 5.Bxf7ch Ke7 6.Bd5! Rf8 (Qe8 7.Bxc6! +/-) 7.Bxc6 dxc6 (bxc6 makes no sense as Black is going to have to waste a tempo on d6 which allows the first player to consolidate with the simple d3/Be3/Nbd2 should Black try Bg4---also Black cannot try the interpolation 7...Bxf2ch 8.Kxf2 Nxe4ch 9.Ke1 dxc6 10.Nf3+-). 8.Nf3! N

The first variation just hangs a piece for inadequate compensation: 8.Nf3 Nxe4 9.Qe2 Bxf2ch? 10.Kf1 Bb6 11.Qxe4 Qd4 12.Qxd4 Bxd4 13.d3 Bg4 14.Nd2+-; there are other variations but Black is never close to equality.

The second variation is presented below: 8.Nf3 Nxe4 9.Qe2 Nxf2 10.Rf1 Rf5 11.d3 Kf8 12.Rxf2 Bxf2ch 13.Kxf2 Qd4ch 14.Qe3 Kg8 15.Nc3 +/-

The third variation is one of a large family of variations where Black is just down two minor pieces for Rook and pawn when the Queenside pawn majority is clearly compromised:

4.Ng5 Bc5 5.Bxf7ch Ke7 6.Bd5 Rf8 7.Bxc6 dxc6 8.Nf3 Nxe4 9.Qe2 Nxf2 10.Rf1 Qd6 11.d3 Bg4 12.Bg5ch Kf7 13.Nbd2 Bxf3 14.Nxf3 Kg8 15.Rxf2 Bxf2ch 16.Qxf2 e4 17.dxe4 Qb4ch 18.c3 Qxe4ch 19.Kf1 +/-

8..Nxe4 is not very good in your Traxler line. I believe that White's advantage exists from this point but I think it's quite minimal, something like +/= and I believe I still could draw or even win against you as Black here (without 8..Ne4). But 5.Bxf7 is indeed the right direction, and 6.Bb3 has been proved to be strong, and even 6.Bc4 might be strong enough to get a true advantage as White, while 6.Bd5 is respectable but seems weaker to me.

The next variation of the WBT is an alternate try in a variation mentioned above. 8.Nf3 Nxe4 9.Qe2 Bxf2ch 10.Kf1 Bg4 11.d3 Rxf3 12.Qxe4 Rf7 13.Qxg4 Qd4 14.Qxd4 Bxd4ch 15.Ke1 Rf2 16.c3 Bb6 17.g3 +-

Yes, the Traxler Analysis has looked at the analysis of the New in Chess articles and it is some of the most recent additions to our theory, although there have been improvements made on their analysis that change the verdict of several variations.

In my opinion, the worst line black could face is

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ Ke7 6.Bb3 Rf8 7.Nc3 and black really has no anwsers.  I agree with ArKhaiN_ with your line Sloughter.  While the line is good, the above variation is just horrible to play for black.  Yours is at least playable for black if black is careful.

Here is the next try to equalize:

8.Nf3 Nxe4 9.Qe2 Nxf2 10.Rf1 Qd6 11.d3 Ng4 12.Nc3 Bb4 13.Bd2 Re8 14.Ne4 +-

From above post: 5.Bxf7ch Ke7 6.Bb3 & play is no better (and, in my opinion, worse for White) for White than the 6.Bd5 variation. Here are some of the complications (unforced---but illustrating the practical difficulties for White): 6.Bb3 Rf8 7.d3 Nd4 8.c3 Nxb3 9.Qxb3 h6 10.Nf3 d6 11.d4 Bb6 12.dxe5 dxe5 13.O-O Be6 14.Qc2 Kf7 15.Nxe5ch Kg8 16.Ng6 Rf7 17.Nd2 Ng4 18.Nf3 Bc4 19.Nge5 Bxf1 20.Nxf7 Bd3! 21.Qb3 Bxf2ch 22.Kh1 Bc4 23.Nxd8 Bxb3 24.Nxb7 Bc2 25.Nd4 Bxe4 26.Nc5 Re8 27.h3 Nf6 28.Bf4 Bd5 29.a3 c6.

Fritz 8 claims it is +/- after 6.Bb3; twenty moves later it evaluates the position as +/= despite no gross errors by White and far more complicated middle game play than the 6.Bd5 variation.

Long variations are bad variations...

True, but my point is that White, with perfectly reasonable moves, seems to provoke incredibly complicated variations that are less clear than those in the 6.Bd5 variations, all of which can be demonstrated are +/- at a minimum.

Here is another variation: 8.Nf3 Nxe4 9.Qe2 Nxf2 10.Rf1 Qd6 11.d3 Ng4? 12.Nc3 Bb4 13.Bd2 Re8 14.Ne4 +/- to +-.

This is one of the more resilient attempts by Black:

8.Nf3 Nxe4 9.Qe2 Nxf2 10.Rf1 Qd6 11.Nc3 Bg4 12.Rxf2 Bxf2 13.Qxf2 Bxf3 14.gxf3 Qf6 15.b3 Kd7 16.Ba3 Rf7 17.O-O-O White has a safe King and an increasing advantage, probably closer to +/- than +/=.

A better attempt at a cook of the 6.Bb3/7.Nc3 idea was posted on the Wilkes Barre thread; I just forgot it!

5.Bxf7ch Ke7 6.Bb3 Rf8 7.Nc3 h6 8.Nf3 d6 9.d3 Bg4 10.h3 Bh5 11.Na4 Nd4 12.Nxc5 dxc5 13.Be3 Bxf3 14.gxf3 Nh5 & I would rather play Black.

You shoud read what others people say sometimes, sloughterchess, you seems to only analyse 8.Nf3 Nxe4?! which it has already been said to be clearly better for White, and I just repeated it again. But against a move like 8..Kf7 for example, while I agree Black may not equalize, the play is quite reasonable and I am sure I could draw or even with as Black here against you. You are really stuborn into your wrong opinions, you have a closed mind and you can't accept that you could be wrong and other may give the truth. I don't know if you need a chess lesson or a psychological therapy to improve your chess.

For the record, here is the game where I, as a 1600 correspondence player won against a 2700 level computer, not in the endgame, but in a sharp, complex middlegame and you state, "I am sure I could draw or even with (win?) with Black here against you."

Yes slougtherchess, despite that game, I think I may draw or even beat you after 8..Kf7, not because my position is better or already equal, but because I play stronger chess and corr chess than you!

(Why did you resign the second game just after your assumed pawn sacrifice?)

Still ok to play 3 others games?

I'd be delighted to play a third game with you---check my post on the 8.Qf3 thread. According to Fritz 8 after 2 hours of computation the correct way to meet 8.Qf3 Be7 9.Be2 O-O is 10.O-O! Castle early and often! Fritz 8 evaluates the position as +/=. Your move.

The Wilkes Barre/Traxler appears to be dead; all we are arguing about is how to dispose of the corpse. For those who are counting, that is two major ideas for Black that have been cooked in the 4.Ng5 variation i.e. 4.Nxe4 and 4.Bc5. Now it is time to address the 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5? variations. The Re-Fried Liver, according to Jon Edwards, may give White a small endgame plus, but why win a long endgame battle when you can win in the middlegame?

Here is the first variation: 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.d4 Be6 7.O-O (Edwards doesn't cover this in his article in Chess Life.) Now Black has nothing better than Nxd4 because 7...exd4 permits 8.O-O +/- 8.Nxe6 (Winning the minor exchange) fxe6 9.c3 Nf5 10.Nd2 Nf4 11.Qb3 Nd6 12.Nf3 Qf6 13.Bxf4 Qxf4 14.Bd3 e4 15.Qxe6ch Be7 16.Rfe1 Qf6 17.Qxf6 Bxf6 18.Kf1 O-O-O 19.Bxe4 +/-

Here is another winning line for White: 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.d4 Be7 7.Nxf7 Kxf7 8.Qf3ch Ke6 9.Nc3 Nb4 10.Qe4 c6 11.a3 Na6 12.Nxd5 cxd5 13.Qxe5ch Kf7 14.Bxd5ch Kf8 15.Qh5 Qe8 16.Qf3ch Bf6ch 17.Be3 Qb5 18.c4 Qxb2 19.O-O Nc7 20.Rfb1 Qc2 21.Bxb7 Rb8 22.Bf4 Qxc4 23.Bxc8 Rxc8 24.Rc1 Qxd4 25.Rab1+-

We now enter the Pinkus variations:

5.exd5 Nxd5 6.d4 Bb4ch 7.c3 Be7 8.Nxf7 Kxf7 9.Qf3ch Ke6 10.O-O!

1) 10...Na5 11.Bd3 Bf6 12.Re1 Nc6 13.Be4 Nce7 14.c4 Nb4 15.a3 Nbc6 16.d5ch Kf7 17.dxc6 +/-

2)10...b5 11.Bxb5 Bb7 12.Bxc6 Bxc6 13.c4 Rf8 14.cxd5ch Bxd5 15.Qe2 +-

3) 10...g6 11.Qe4 Rf8 12.f4 Rb8 13.Bb3 a5 14.gxe5 Rf5 15.Rxf5 gxf5 16.Qf3 Bf8 17.g4 Nce7 18.Bg5 +-

There a whole family of variations where the White advantage ranges from +/- to +-

The only independent line of the Ulvestad of any significance is 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 b5 6.dxc6! bxc4 7.Qe2 Qd5 8.f4 e4 9.Nc3 Qxc6 10.Ngxe4 Nxe4 11.Nxe4 Be7 12.O-O Bf5 13.d3 cxd3 14.cxd3 Qd7 15.Be3 O-O 16.Rac1 Rfe8 17.Rc4 +/=

The first Fritz variation is now presented:

4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nd4 6.c3 Nf5 7.Qe2! Nxd5 8.d4 Be7 9.Qxe5 c6 10.Qe2 O-O 11.Nf3 Re8 12.O-O +/= There are no hits on the Queen that matter; she just goes to c2.

There are two excellent ways to secure a plus against the main line of the Fritz. Here is the first one:

4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nd4 6.c3 b5 7.Bf1 Nxd5 8.cxd4!

1) Freeing the c3 square for the Knight) Qxg5 9.Bxb5ch Kd8 10.Qf3 Bb7 11.O-O exd4 12.d3 Qe5 13.Nd2 Bd6 14.g3 Rb8 15.Nc4 Nc3 16.Nxe5 Bxf3 17.Nxf7ch Ke7 18.bxc3 Kxf7 19.Bc4ch Kg6 20.cxd4 Rhe8 21.Be3 +/-

2) 8...Qxg5 9.Bxb5ch Kd8 10.Qf3 Bb7 11.O-O Rb8 12.dxe5! Ne3 (Nf4 13.Qg3 +/-) 13.Qh3 (Threatening mate) Qxg2ch 14.Kxg2 Nxg2 15.d4! f6 (Nh4 to threaten a draw by repetition, 16.Bg5ch) 16.f4 Nh4 17.Be2 Nf5 18.Rd1 Bb4 19.Nc3 Re8 20.Kf2 +/-