“If you want to play for a draw, don’t leave anything to chance. Just force either a completely drawn ending or a perpetual.”
Magnus Carlsen
A quick historical recap should include the Meran variation being played for the first time in 1906 in the game Schlechter–Perlis. It got its name after the town of Merano (ITA) when it was used during the 1924 tournament. This variation is identified by the following moves:
One interesting variation includes 8.. Bd6. The idea for Black is to castle fast and play active in the center and on the queen side. It is one that I have also used often with good results. The resulting positions offer chances for both sides, while the game is quite active. There is a lot of theory here and a lot of options for both sides. While looking at it I was surprised to find a lesser known line played about 20+ years ago:
The following games could give you a nice side by side comparison into how the game could continue. It is possible in the second game Black knew about the other game; still the deviation did not bring more chances. In the end the game was decided by a blunder deep into the endgame. Hope you find the games useful as a starting point in the study of this line.
Eugen Demian
