From: Larry Kaufman WIZARD NET> Date: 2 jun 1998 Subject: Gold is better than silver, part VI Gold is better than silver, part VI by Larry Kaufman Up until now the climbing gold has worked beautifully against every line white has adopted, but there remains one line that necessitates a change in strategy. That is the defense of the edge by ...G-2b instead of ...S-2b. The reason is obvious: black's whole plan was based on dangling a pawn on 1b, which ...G-2b prevents. Just as black's attack is easier using gold instead of silver, white's defense is tougher using gold instead of silver. So why is the gold defense so rarely adopted by pros, if it invalidates the most popular plan for black, the climbing silver? I think there are several reasons for this. First of all, the move ...S-2b is a developing move, while the move ...G-2b (from 3b) is an undeveloping move, away from the center. This means that if black adopts some strategy not involving an attack on white's left edge, as many players do, white will have made a substantially inferior move. Black can simply play a normal two piece strategy and will already have collected a "reward" for his extra two lance handicap, in that white's shape with gold on 2b is worse than the usual shape with silver on 2b. Another idea for black is to switch to attacking white's right edge. This is usually a bit difficult to do because black's bishop and rook initially point to white's left side, but the time needed to correct this is offset by the two white moves ...G-3b-2b, which are worse than wasted if black attacks the other side. So a pro would not want to play ...G-2b until there was a concrete threat on the edge, but deferring moving either general to 2b also has its problems. After 1...S-6b 2 P-2f G-3b 3 P-2e white cannot move any pawn without losing it to 4 P-2d. He can play the useful moves ...K-5b and perhaps ...G-7b, but after that he must choose between ...G-2b or ...S-2b before he can move any pawn (unless he wants to give away that pawn). So he really can't play a waiting game. Despite all the above, I think the gold defense would be seen more often except for a third factor. Black does have a rather simple way to break in to white's position at four piece handicap against either the gold or the silver defense, if he is willing to sacrifice his bishop for a general. This way of playing is not in the books, though the great Oyama, 15th Lifetime Meijin, told me that he thought it was a reasonable alternative to the climbing silver. In this line, black is much better off against the gold defense than against the silver defense, because he gets a more valuable piece for his bishop and because there is a specific tactical reason that a gold in hand serves him better than a silver. Let's look at the line. Note that since black retreats his bishop in this line, he must postpone P-7f until white commits his silver to 2b, as P-7f is a wasted, loosening move if the bishop leaves the long diagonal. 1...S-6b 2 P-2f G-3b 3 P-2e K-5b 4 P-1f (black waits for a commitment on 2b before choosing between P-7f and P-5f) G-2b (4...S-2b 5 P-7f will transpose back to other lines) 5 P-5f (preparing to bring the bishop to bear on 1c. Note that in this line the rook's pawn is not exchanged but merely used to prevent the defense...P-2d.) P-5d 6 S-7h S-5c 7 B-7i S(3a)-4b 8 P-1e P-6d 9 S-4h (guards against a later drop on 5g) P-7d 10 L-1g (aiming simply to double and break in) G-6b 11 R-1h K-6c 12 P-1d Px1d 13 Lx1d P*1c 14 Lx1c+ Nx1c 15 Bx1c+ Gx1c (15...L*1a? 16 P*1b just loses the lance needlessly) 16 Rx1c+. At this point, if white had adopted the silver defense, black would now hold a silver instead of a gold, and white could drop his bishop on 8h to gobble another lance and give black some problems. As it is, though, 16...B*8h?? would lose instantly to 17 G*9h!. This is the main reason why I think the retreating bishop is best against the gold defense, but not against the normal silver defense. At this point, white has won bishop and lance for gold, knight, and pawn, a modest profit, but black has promoted his rook and broken thru, while white has no pawns in hand and no good piece drops. Black should be able to win by making a promoted pawn and then exchanging it off for a white general. For example, 16...N-7c 17 P-2d Px2d 18 P*2c, intending P-2b+ and +P-3b. Note that if white had a gold on 4b instead of the silver, this attack would be a move or two slower, again showing why this attack works much better against an edge gold than against an edge silver. Other tries on move 16 include ...L*5g(?) check, met simply by 17 K-6h (not 17 Sx5g? B*3e) or 16...B*2g? met by 17 N*3f trapping the bishop or 16...L*2f met by 17 N-1g or by ignoring the threat and playing 17 P-2d Px2d 18 P*2c. White can try to block the quick rook's promotion by aiming at an early ...P-3e, for example: 1...S-6b 2 P-2f G-3b 3 P-2e G-2b 4 P-5f P-5d 5 S-7h S-5c 6 B-7i S-4d 7 S-4h S-4b 8 P-1f P-3d 9 P-3f! (Black must not allow his bishop to be shut out with ...P-3e) S(4b)-3c (9...S-4e 10 N-3g! Sx3f 11 R-2f wins material, while 10...Sx5f, although it wins a pawn, leaves white's silver in a precarious position without stopping black's attack) 10 P-1e K-6b 11 L-1g G-5b 12 R-1h P-3e 13 Px3e P-2d (else 14 R-3h and P-3d) 14 R-2h Px2e 15 Rx2e P*2d 16 R-2h with a pawn profit and threats like R-3h and P-3d or S-3g-3f and P*2e. White has no counterplay and little to hope for. I hope that the reader has enjoyed this series, and I am confident that any player in the low kyus who studies it diligently will be able to beat professional players at four piece handicap. Although there are many variations, there are only two basic plans for black and just a few tricks to learn. Even if you don't play four piece, a thorough study should be rewarding.