We have a few new instructive rapid games to look at. Let's jump right in with the first one, where I'm white against another master.
Paciorkowski, Lev (2448) - Troutman, Charles (2216)
10-Apr-2026 Rapid, St. Louis, MO (Rd. 1)
G/15+3
1.Nf3 c5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Bg2 (D)
While we are here, I think it's useful to lay out exactly what systems black can choose from. There are a lot of transpositions which can make things a bit confusing, but the way I see it we have 8 different main line systems that would account for the vast majority of games from this point:
- Reversed Grunfeld if black plays 3. ... d5 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 e5
- The "e6-d5" system: 3. ... d5 4.d4 e6 (Just for my own convenience I sometimes call this the "Xiong system" because it's what GM Jeffrey Xiong once played against me)
- A Tarrasch, which would happen if black plays e6-d5 only after white has played c2-c4, at which point white can play c4xd5, then after ...e6xd5, to play d2-d4
- A variety of independent systems after 3. ... Nf6, where black plays for an early d7-d5 (in response to c2-c4) to try and get a reversed Maroczy bind structure
- The "e6-Nge7 system", where black develops g6-Bg7-e6-Nge7
- Botvinnik System, involving a e5-g6-Bg7-Nge7 setup
- The mainline Symmetrical English
- Symmetrical English with an early ...d6. There are some independent systems here; in fact, this was GM Bryan Smith's choice against me in Round 6 of the 2018 New York State Championship.
In this game, my opponent chose a mainline Symmetrical English:
3. ... g6 4.c4 Bg7 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.d4 (Starting with 6.0-0 would at least give black the extra option of transposing to some type of early d6 system with 6. ... d6; e.g. 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bd7, which is distinct from the mainline Symmetrical English tabiya we get in the game)
6. ... cxd4
Just for completeness, I want to mention how should white react to 6. ... d5!? (D)
It's a very rare move and doesn't have the best reputation for black. After some digging around, it appears there is not much to know. White should respond with 7.dxc5! now attacking the d5 pawn. Then:
- 7. ... dxc4 8.Qxd8+ Nxd8 9.Ne5 (9.0-0!?) leads to a typical Catalan-type position where white is enjoying a tiny plus in piece activity.
- 7. ... Qa5!? should be met with 8.Nd4! (8.cxd5!? Nxd5! 9.Qxd5 Bxc3+ is black's idea) when black has to come up with 8. ... Nxd4! (8. ... Qxc5? 9.Ndb5+/-) 9.Qxd4 Nh5! and there I think it's enough to know that white should play 10.Qd2! (10.Qd3? d4) 10. ... dxc4 11.c6! Rb8 12.0-0 0-0 13.Qg5! essentially forcing a very pleasant endgame after 13. ... Qxg5 14.Bxg5 bxc6 15.Bxe7 Re8 16.Ba3!+=.
- 7. ... d4? is just bad after 8.Nb5!, because 8. ... Ne4? can be strongly met with 9.Nfxd4!+- when the tactics are all working out for white.
7.Nxd4 0-0 8.0-0 (D)
This is the very well-known tabiya of the mainline Symmetrical English, with thousands of games played here. Since it is such an important position, perhaps it is good to talk a little history. This was a pretty obscure variation entirely until the early-mid 1960s when it started to appear in high-level games, involving such legends as (in no particular order) Averbakh, Polugaevsky, Portisch, Hort, Pirc, Gligoric, Szabo, Larsen, Spassky, Korchnoi, Geller, Reshevsky, Stein, Smyslov and Tal.
What is going on in this position? White is basically saying that we have some pressure on the Nc6 and arguing that makes it difficult for black to finish development, particularly to play ...d6 or ...b6 to get the Bc8 out. Meanwhile, white is thinking long-term about establishing a Maroczy Bind with e2-e4.
Originally, the main line (which I guess is still considered the "main line" in 2026) was 8. ... Nxd4 9.Qxd4 d6. This is the most obvious continuation to relieve the pressure on the Nc6 so that black can start to develop the queenside. A ton of theory developed from that point, with white trying all sorts of moves over the years: Qd3 (what emerged as the most popular), Qd2!? (with the idea b3-Bb2), Qh4, even Bg5!? just to name a few.
It was early on discovered that black could actually just offer a pawn with 8. ... d6, with the idea being that after 9.Nxc6 bxc6 10.Bxc6 Rb8 11.Bg2 Qa5, there appears to be quite a lot of compensation. With the open b/c files plus the a1-h8 diagonal, it isn't clear how white should finish development. As a matter of fact, you can find a game in the database where GM Alex Yermolinsky (a familiar name) played this pawn sac as black in the '80s. Over time, white found good ways to quell black's initiative, and the line is not that popular today, except in faster time controls where white can still quickly get into trouble if you don't know what to do.
Also in the 1980s, the curious-looking 8. ... Ng4!? started to become fashionable, although it never fully surpassed the old main line. The idea is to attack the Nd4 again, and if it retreats, then black could continue ...d6 without losing material. I think eventually the line garnered a suspicious reputation and wasn't fully solving black's problems after 9.e3, so it has fallen out of fashion since then, although you still see it occasionally.
For some reason, the move 8. ... a6?! has always lurked in the background, even being consistently more common than either of 8. ... Ng4!? or 8. ... d6, although almost never used by any strong players. In fact, this move is simply not very good because of 9.c5! which greatly cramps black's position and scores over 85% for white.
A more trendy move in the last decade or so has been 8. ... Qa5. It goes for a typical idea you see in these positions, where black wants to put the queen on h5, then later after ...d7-d6 there will be the option of ...Bh3, ...Ng4 with some kind of pressure on the kingside. This is where a lot of current theoretical discussions are, and strong players like Caruana, Svidler, Wang Hao, Dominguez Perez, Bacrot and Navara have all used this line in serious games.
Last but not least, there is the move my opponent chose in the game, 8. ... Qb6!? (D)
Somehow I never learned anything concrete about this natural move! It is actually the 2nd most common in the database, so better late then never to finally study it.
Of course, black is trying to disturb the knight on d4, but this also seems to be an awkward square for the queen, as she could get hit with Be3 and will not be able to swing over to h5. I didn't know anything about this move, and just quickly played 9.Nb3?! which believe it or not is slightly inaccurate and lets black completely equalize. I found out afterwards that Anand also once played Nb3 in a rapid game, so that's not the worst company to have!
We'll see what happened in my game, but I'll just say before continuing that I think white has much more dangerous options to try which I will know about for next time.
In the game we got 9. ... d6 10.Be3 Qd8 This looks like a very strange way to play for black. After all, can you really waste two full moves like this bringing the queen out and right back again, while white seemingly is close to finishing development? However, the problem is that the Nb3 is really poorly placed (which I understood, but didn't think it was a big deal). Also, the Be3 is constantly vulnerable to ...Ng4 shots. This position is simply equal!
I tried 11.c5 it's as good an attempt as any, and worked out, because it's not super obvious how black should react to this. My opponent played 11. ... Be6?! (Actually 11. ... d5! is the only move that keeps equality, because of 12.Nxd5 Nxd5 13.Qxd5 Qxd5 14.Bxd5 and black can even play 14. ... Bf5!= as there is no way to comfortably defend b2. Not easy to figure out in a rapid game though.) 12.cxd6 exd6+= (D)
So after our mutual imprecisions, we end up reaching an IQP middlegame where I understood white should have a stable (but not too serious) advantage.
13.Nd4 I think this is a good strategic decision, wasting no time in re-improving the poorly placed Nb3. I had to calculate something in case of 13. ... Ng4 (D), which my opponent indeed played.
Without this move I think black would just be really suffering.
14.Nxc6?! I like bishops, but I somehow talked myself out of the stronger 14.Nxe6! on general grounds, not wanting to activate black's rook on f8. I think I even saw during the game that after 14.Nxe6! fxe6 15.Bd2+= Qb6!? 16.e3!+/- there is just nothing impressive for black since I am gaining a tempo on the Ng4, so there is no time to take on b2. (Even without the hanging knight, Rb1-xb7 would still be plenty good for white.) Also not possible would be 15. ... Bd4? 16.e3+-. So black really has no counterplay and white just enjoys two bishops. Not working is 14.Nxe6 Nxe3? 15.Nxd8 Nxd1 16.Nxc6+- when white ends up winning a piece.
14. ... bxc6 The thing is, black now gets an open b-file, so it's not like this doesn't activate one of his rooks too. 15.Bd4 Ne5 (D)
The engine still thinks white is slightly better, but I am not sure how true that is. During the game I wanted to play 16.b3, which initially is also one of the engine's top moves. However, I think I was correct not to like 16. ... c5! 17.Be3 (I don't want 17.Bxe5 Bxe5 18.Bxa8 Qxa8= in my experience these positions are way easier to play for the side with the bishops, even if you can keep the exchange) 17. ... Ng4! again offering the exchange 18.Bd2 d5 and black is the one fighting for an advantage in my opinion.
Maybe 16.Rc1 is a healthier move instead. But I think the real inaccuracy was not taking on e6 earlier. I ended up playing 16.Qa4!? which turned out not to be very impressive. 16. ... Rb8 17.b3 a5! 18.Rad1 Rb4 19.Qa3= This position is just balanced. Black's piece activity compensates for the long-term strategic risk of the hanging pawns. 19. ... Qc7 20.Ne4 Bd5 21.e3 Re8 22.Nd2 Trying to exchange some of black's active pieces. 22. ... Bxg2 23.Kxg2 Qb7 24.Bxe5 Bxe5 25.Nc4 a4 By this point we are both down to under a minute, so it basically becomes a blitz game. It's all still level. 26.Nxe5 dxe5 27.bxa4 Ra8 28.a5 Qb5 29.Rd6 Rxa5 30.Qc3 Rxa2 31.Qxc6 Qxc6+ 32.Rxc6 (D)
Another rook endgame! You would be forgiven for thinking that nothing interesting could possibly happen from this position. However, we both were down to about 15 seconds (still with the +3 second increment), and the funny thing is I think both of us were still playing for a win. Black's rooks are more active, but there isn't a way to really crack white's position, unless I blunder...
32. ... Rbb2 33.Rc3 Kind of with the idea of e3-e4, although I am not sure I really want to play that now because of ...Re2. 33. ... e4!? Either way, my opponent believed me. Now I actually get a target to attack. 34.g4 Trying to discourage black from uniting his pawns with f7-f5. Now we shuffle around a lot. 34. ... Ra4 35.Kg3 Kg7 36.Rfc1 Raa2 37.Rf1 Ra4 38.Rc5 Rd2 39.h3 h6 40.Rfc1 Raa2 41.Rf1 Ra4 42.h4 Rb2 43.Rfc1 Raa2 44.Rf1 Ra6 Black now tries to reposition his rook. 45.Rc4 Re6 46.Rd1!? Rf6! (D)
I have to say I missed that one. We are basically just playing an over-the-board bullet game at this point, with only the 3 second increment each move. In the few seconds I had I didn't notice that black actually has two threats to win a pawn!
47.Rf1?! (47.Rxe4 Rfxf2 48.Rf4 is arguably easier for white to defend) 47. ... Rf3+ 48.Kg2 Rxe3 (D)
Black has stolen a pawn. Here I made a split-second decision to force a rook trade, which I thought would make my defensive task easier. That was a good idea on my part, but I didn't execute it in the best way.
49.Rb4!? I didn't consider the other option of 49.Rb1! which is a much cleaner solution, getting rid of my passive rook. Black even would have a chance to lose there after 49. ... Rbe2?? 50.Kf1!+-.
49. ... Rxb4 50.fxe3 This is still a draw, but now it gets tougher, especially with no time to think. 50. ... Rb3 51.Kf2 f5 52.gxf5 gxf5 53.Rg1+ Kf6 (D)
The best technique here would be to right away get the rook active to hit one of black's weaknesses, the pawn on h6. This can be done with 54.Ra1!, intending 54. ... Kg6 55.Ra6+ Kh5 56.Rf6 Kg4 57.Rg6+!= (only move). I had the right idea, but unfortunately the way I chose to carry it out blunders my e3 pawn.
54.h5? I simply missed or forgot about the possibility now of 54. ... Rb2+! 55.Kg3 Re2 56.Kf4 Rf2+ 57.Kg3 Rf3+ which is winning for black.
54. ... Ke5? (D) Returning the favor.
55.Rg8? The comedy of errors continues. This is a completely ridiculous move, explainable only by the fact that I have 10 seconds on my clock. 55.Rg6 should draw easily, always meeting Rb2+ with Kf1/e1.
55. ... Rb2+ 56.Kg1 I realized now that otherwise black will simply play ...Rh2, picking up the h5 pawn. 56. ... Re2 57.Rg3 (D) Now it is black's turn to make a mistake with under 10 seconds!
Black can win just by marching the king to d3. After 57. ... Kd5! there is literally nothing white can do. 58.Kf1 Rh2-+, and otherwise the best I can do is trade h6 for e3, when the resulting position is winning for black with two connected passers vs. my one passer.
57. ... f4? 58.exf4+ Kxf4 59.Rg6 Now it should be a draw again, but it's still not trivial. 59. ... Re1+ 60.Kf2 Rh1 61.Rxh6 Rh2+ 62.Kg1 Rh4 63.Kg2 Ke3 (D)
White has numerous ways to make a draw. By far the easiest is just to run up with the king to support the h-pawn, preparing to sac the rook for black's e-pawn at the last moment. Somehow I was still entrenched in the pure "defense" mindset and the thought of playing actively with my king didn't occur to me.
64.Kg3 Rh1 65.Kg2!? (65.Kg4 Ke2 66.Kg5 e3 67.Re6 is much simpler) 65. ... Rh4 66.Kg3 Rh1 67.Kg2 Ra1 68.Re6!? Another strange decision. Much easier is 68.Rh8! Kd2 69.h6 when now black even has to be careful. 68. ... Kd3 69.h6 Ra7 70.Kf2 Rf7+ 71.Ke1 (71.Kg3! e3 72.Kg4 e2 73.Kg5) 71. ... Ke3 72.Ra6 Kf3 73.Ra3+ e3 74.Rb3 Rf6 (D)
If you calmly look at the position for a few seconds, it will quickly become clear that white will still draw this trivially after a move like 75.Rb8! Rxh6 76.Rf8+ (the Philidor technique). This is of course something I am familiar with, but somehow my brain didn't recognize that pattern quickly enough in this specific case with the h6-pawn. Both of us had been about to flag for the last 50 or so moves, and here I make the last comical blunder: 75.h7?? Rh6-+ (D)
Whoops! Now it is just game over. 76.Kd1 Rxh7 77.Rb8 e2+ 78.Kd2 Rd7+ 0-1
An very well-played game my opponent. Except for his one opening imprecision with 11. ... Be6?! and our back-and-forth mistakes in the time scramble, I don't think he made a single inaccuracy giving me a chance for an advantage. In the future, I will have a better idea of how to meet 8. ... Qb6.
I think it is also interesting for me to note how my split-second intuition never led me to consider ditching passive defense with my king on moves 65 and 71, and to instead run up the support my own h-pawn. That would have been far easier than what I did in the game.
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