After 20 moves we have reached a simplified position with black's King side castle opened. Considering there aren't too many pieces left on the board, white must do something to take advantage of it or the game could end in a simple draw. Your tasks:
a) Name the QGD line chosen by black
b) Propose the best attacking plan for white complete with moves and explanations
Total available points for this puzzle is 20. The answers will be published next time together with puzzle #303.
Puzzle #301 solution:
Game Shabalov - Amanov, North American Open 2010. The best answers are by Coco:
a) The Queen Gambit Declined line chosen by black is the Tarkatover Variation
b) Black was planning to develop Bc8-b7 after 6. ... b6, the signature move of the Tarkatover Variation, which prepares a future c7-c5 attack on the center and offers support. At move 10, the black knight ran away from the attacking pawn in hopes of opening up the center for better chance of attack (and to bring more pieces out for defense)
c) Yes, white is ready to attack. Most of white's pieces are in aggressive stance, helping with the prepared attack, and white's king, though not castled, is not under attack (white's king is only near a lone black knight)
d) White's attack succeeded because white was prepared and had many attackers, (succeeding the number of defenders) including the g1 rook, the g5 pawn, the h4 bishop, the supporting knight on f3, and possibly the white queen if the f3 knight moves. Black's kingside pawns have moved and shattered the protective defense, and black's pieces were quite cramped in the beginning, resulting in this not-well-defended position afterwards. White will use the semi-open g-file on the latter moves to its positional advantage
Correct solutions:
Coco, Bradley - 20 points
Deryk, Jalen - 16 points
Yakov - 4 points
Annotated QGD game:
Yakov, Jalen, Benjamin, Cody, Coco - 5 points
Standings
Coco - 25 points
Jalen - 21 points
Bradley - 20 points
Deryk - 16 points
Yakov - 9 points
Benjamin, Cody - 5 points
QGD