Analyzing using Chess Engines - Giuoco Piano/Steinitz Variation

Question

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1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Nc3 Nxe4 8. O-O  Bxc3 9. bxc3 d5 10. Ba3 dxc4 11. Re1 Be6 12. Rxe4 Qd5 13. Re3 O-O-O 14. Ne5 Nxe5 15. Rxe5 Qxe5 16. dxe5 Rxd1 17. Rxd1 Bf5 

Black's position is better.

a) From move 1 to 12 are Theoretical Variations which I have understood clearly and played in the club level match.

b) I played 13. Re3 with the logic of protecting the f3 Knight by the pin of ...Bg4. Then my Queen can move freely to other squares not fearing the pin. Also it helps in doubling the Rooks or Rook & Queen on e file. When Analyzing the game with the engine Deep Fritz 12 the move 13. Re3 played by me matched with the Engine's move. 13... 0-0-0 played by my opponent is also matched with the Engine's move.

c) I played 14. Ne5 with the idea that if 14...Nxe5, then White will play 15. Rxe5 attacking the Queen. But I did not see the move 15... Qxe5 which gives Black some advantage with exchange of pieces since he is already a Pawn up.

d) Hence the recommended move by Deep Fritz 12 is 14. Qa4 instead of 14. Ne5.

Questions.

1) Can I agree with the Recommended Line of Deep Fritz 12?

2) Since there are many Engines now like Deep Fritz 12, Fritz 8, Fritz 16, Online Fritz, Chess Master Grand Master Edition etc. and still higher versions coming to market, which engine I can believe? How we can analyze our game using which best engine? The different engines may give different Recommendations of moves. In such cases, how a Club Player who regularly analyses and studies his game after the match can study the variation? He gets CONFUSED. How can he get the best variation out of many variations suggested by different engines? On Which Engine he can have faith? Is there a No. 1 Best Universal Engine (whom we can believe throughout our life irrespective of new higher versions of Engines coming to market) for it's Recommended moves and we can employ these moves in our further games in our tournaments? Requesting experts to please answer me and guide so that I can follow it throughout my life.

3) By the way, what may be the logic behind 14. Qa4?

Chess Stack Exchange has helped me a lot. Thanks to all experts from this best website in the world.

Answer 1

1) Can I agree with the Recommended Line of Deep Fritz 12?

Re3 is a perfectly reasonable move, and Stockfish 9 also agree's with it. This isn't to say that there aren't other moves to consider such as Qe2 or even the more passive Re1. Also bare in mind that some engine recommendations don't really follow our human style and as such are sometimes hard to grasp and follow through.

2) Since there are many Engines now like Deep Fritz 12, Fritz 8, Fritz 16, Online Fritz, Chess Master Grand Master Edition etc. and still higher versions coming to market, which engine I can believe?

In truth all of them are similar, and to a club level player it really doesn't matter which engine you chose among the ones you mentioned. If those engines are giving you different moves for the same position its because all the moves are equally strong. Note that engines have versions because they are always being updated and as such it's import to have them updated as much as possible.

Personally i feel Stockfish is one of the best options out there because not only is it one of the highest rated engines, but it is also open source.

Now you shouldn't follow a move recommendation if you don't understand the logic behind a move, otherwise you just memorizing moves and not really improving. This is also why it is important to know the core chess concepts, such as piece development, center control, pawn structure, etc...

3) By the way, what may be the logic behind 14. Qa4?

There are many ideias behind Qa4:

• Avoid trading - It is the exact opposite of what you did with Ne5 allowing Nxe5 and the consecutive simplification to rook and bishop endgame being a pawn down. Its important to say that if the rooks are traded off then it will mostly result in a draw despite being a pawn down because its a opposite colored bishop endgame.

• Connecting/Doubling rooks - Moving the queen off the first rank allows both rooks to connect later on with Ree1 or even doubling on the E file with Rae1

• Queenside attack - By playing Qa4 you now pressure a7 tying down the knight to its defense. If unanswered then Ne5 will be a threat that removes the defender of a7 and allows you penetrate further with Qxa7. In this case even though you trade a knight down it gives you a lot of attacking options and more importantly the queens aren't traded. Also the B file is now open to a possible Rb1 that pressures the enemy king.

All these points make Qa4 better than Ne5 because they give you a lot more counter-play and fighting chances.

Answer 2

Maybe 13.Re3 is fine but your thought process concerns me: " I played 13. Re3 with the logic of protecting the f3 Knight by the pin of ...Bg4."

You are down a pawn. You are still a bit ahead in development. It is not the time to think defensively. You should be looking for a move that gives you the best chance to keep some kind of initiative.

Try going down different lines with the computer and see how the assessment changes. In the old days people didn't have the help of a computer -- how do you think they figured out the best moves! Don't blindly trust the computer, go down the lines to see why.

To me 13.Qe2 is very tempting and then 13...0-0-0 you can play your 14.Ne5, probably with compensation for the pawn. On the other hand it is nice to have the queen visit the queenside where Black's King is going to try and live -- thus 13.Re3 and Qa4; presumably with enough pressure after 14...Qa5 15.Qxa5 Nxa5 16.Ng5.