From: Larry Kaufman WIZARD NET> Date: 29 may 1998 Subject: Gold is better than silver, Part III Gold Is Better Than Silver, Part III by Larry Kaufman White does not need to play so defensively when giving four piece handicap as he does in the classical line. He can instead play to get a pawn in hand and prepare a counterattack. A leading exponent of this way of playing is (former) professional player Hiroyuki Iida. Let's look at his line: 1...G(6)-5b 2 P-2f G-3b 3 P-2e S-2b 4 P-7f P-6d (if white is planning to attack on his right flank, this makes more sense than the standard P-5d, which aims to block the bishop by a later P-4d and/or P-5e) 5 P-2d Px2d 6 Rx2d G-6c 7 R-2h P*2c 8 G-3h (again 8 S-3h is standard), P-7d 9 G-2g S-6b 10 G-3f S-7c 11 P-1f S-8d 12 P-1e K-6b 13 P-1d (Black omits S-4h here since it is his left flank rather than the center that looks like white's target) Px1d 14 G-2e P-7e 15 Px7e Sx7e 16 P*1b P-6e (aiming to block the bishop by the sacrifice ...P-6f. Note that had white climbed the silver to 2e instead, white could consider 16...P-2d 17 Sx2d P*2c since the sacrificial break-ins by 18 P-1a+ or 18 Sx2c are not as convincing as our main line here.) 17 Gx1d P*1c 18 G-1e (With the silver on 1d instead of the gold, 18 Sx2c Sx2c 19 P-1a+ is often played, but since white has exchanged off the 7 pawn he can defend by 19...P*2d 20 +Px2a P-1d. Alternatively, 18 P-1a+ Px1d 19 +Px2a S-1c 20 P*1b is another joseki, but it is rather slow and white should be able to stir up some counterplay on files 6,7, and 8 before black breaks in.) P-6f 19 Px6f N-7c (If white had managed to get a pawn to 8e by now, black would defend by S-7h before attacking) 20 P*2d Px2d 21 Gx2d P*2c 22 P-1a+ Px2d 23 +Px2a S-2c 24 Lx1c+ (threatening +P-2b) S-3d 25+L-2b G-4b 26 R-1h P*6e 27 R-1b+ Px6f 28 P*6h! (eliminates all danger) N-6e 29 S-4h K-7c 30 +L-3b G-5b. This was a game with my son; now 31 +Lx3c wins a piece with victory not far off. (He chose 31 +L-4b and eventually won anyway.) Now let's look at my own pet line for white against the climbing silver, based on bringing the right silver to 3c. 1...S-6b 2 P-2f G-3b 3 P-2e S-2b 4 P-7f P-5d 5 P-2d Px2d 6 Rx2d S-5c 7 R-2h P*2c 8 G-3h K-4b 9 G-2g P-4d 10 G-3f K-4c 11 P-1f P-3d 12 P-1e S-4b (my move) 13 S-4h G-6b 14 P-1d Px1d 15 G-2e S(4b)-3c 16 P*1b G-5c 17 Gx1d (If the positions of black's right gold and silver are reversed, 17...S-2d makes the win a bit difficult for black, but as is the gold could just take the silver) P*1c 18 P-1a+ (18 Gx2c is also good) Px1d 19 +Px2a S-1c 20 N*2e (or 20 P*1b) regaining the sacrificed material with the promoted pawn as profit, and leaving white with no pawns and no counterplay. So my plan of bringing the right silver to 3c has some merit against the climbing silver but very little against the climbing gold. So far I have showed that the climbing gold has some advantages over the climbing silver in various lines, and does not require learning as many variations, but either line should lead to a huge advantage for black if he chooses the correct break-in in the above lines. It is only when we come to the Nada system for white that the advantage of the climbing gold is really critical, as will be shown in the next installment.