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Petroff Defence: Cozio Attack, 5.Qe2

Cabrera–Ivanchuk, Capablanca Memorial Elite 2019 · Nakamura–Giri, FIDE Grand Prix London 2012 · 8:28 · ECO C42

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In this video

Game 1: Carlos Daniel Albornoz Cabrera (2566) vs Vasyl Ivanchuk (2677)

Capablanca Memorial Elite 2019, 5 May 2019 · Black won (0-1) · 38 moves

Click a move to jump the video to it. Dotted moves are the opening line the video is about.

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Key moments

  1. 5...Qe7The first move after the opening line0:28
  2. 8.Bxe2The queens come off0:35
  3. 37.f3The evaluation moves from −0.51 to −3.13, and Black stays more than two pawns ahead from here2:54
  4. 38...Re2Black wins after 38 moves3:02

Evaluation

Above the line, White is better; below it, Black. Scores are in pawns, capped at five either way.

Game 2: Hikaru Nakamura (2783) vs Anish Giri (2730)

FIDE Grand Prix London 2012, 2 October 2012 · White won (1-0) · 65 moves

Click a move to jump the video to it. Dotted moves are the opening line the video is about.

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Key moments

  1. 5...Qe7The first move after the opening line3:28
  2. 8.Bxe2The queens come off3:36
  3. 35...f6The evaluation moves from +0.64 to +2.325:48
  4. 48.h6The evaluation moves from −0.04 to +1.696:50
  5. 58.Bh4White stays more than two pawns ahead from here7:40
  6. 59...Ke6The evaluation moves from +2.14 to +3.947:48
  7. 65.Bxd4+White wins after 65 moves8:15

Evaluation

Above the line, White is better; below it, Black. Scores are in pawns, capped at five either way.

About these games

After 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4, the move 5.Qe2 pins the knight on e4 against the black king on the e-file. Black answers 5...Qe7, and after 6.d3 the knight retreats to f6, the queens are exchanged, and play reaches a symmetrical queenless position. White hopes to use a small lead in development, which the engine scores at +0.15 after 5.Qe2.

Albornoz Cabrera–Ivanchuk followed 7.Bg5 Qxe2+ 8.Bxe2. White castled queenside with 11.O-O-O and played 12.d4, but the exchanges on d5, e7 and f3 left a rook-and-knight ending close to level, at −0.03 after 15.Nh4. Ivanchuk gained queenside space with ...b5 and ...a4, then pushed the kingside pawns with ...g5, ...f5, ...f4 and ...g4, reaching −1.70 by 30.a3. The turning point was 37.f3, which moved the score from −0.51 to −3.13. After 37...Re3+ 38.Kc2 Re2 the rook pinned the knight on d2 to the king, and Black won.

Nakamura–Giri went 7.Nc3 Qxe2+ 8.Bxe2 with kingside castling for both sides. Unlike Game 1, White expanded on the queenside with 14.b4 and 18.a4, and later on the kingside with h4–h5 and f4. After 35...f6 the score jumped from +0.64 to +2.32. White broke through with 47.g5 and 48.h6, which moved the score from −0.04 to +1.69, then gave up the exchange with 49.Rxe5 to run the f-pawn to f8. The result was White's bishop against Black's pawns. After 57...h3, which moved the score from +0.54 to +1.75, White stayed more than two pawns ahead from 58.Bh4, and White won after 65.Bxd4+.

Chapters

  1. 0:00Introduction and the opening line
  2. 0:10Game 1: Albornoz Cabrera vs Ivanchuk, Capablanca Memorial Elite 2019
  3. 3:10Game 2: Nakamura vs Giri, FIDE Grand Prix London 2012

The opening line

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Qe2

See every video from this position →