Dancing with knights
What's the right escape route for the king? 56...Ke5 or 56...Kf7?
Solution
1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 Bc5 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.a3 a6 6.e3 0-0 7.Nge2 Ba7 8.b4 d6 9.d3 Ne7 10.0-0 c6 11.Bb2 Be6 12.Rc1 Ng6 13.Ne4 Nxe4 14.dxe4 Rc8 15.Qd2 b5 16.cxb5 axb5 17.Rfd1 Bb3 18.Re1 Qd7 19.Nc3 Rfd8 20.Qe2 Rb8 21.Nb1 d5 22.Nd2 Ba4 23.Qh5 f6 24.exd5 cxd5 25.Bh3 Qb7 26.Qe2 Re8 27.Qd3 e4 28.Qb1 Rbd8 29.Bd4 Bxd4 30.exd4 Qf7 31.Qb2 f5 32.f4 Nf8 33.Nf1 Ne6 34.Ne3 g6 35.Re2 Rc8 36.Rd2 Rxc1+ 37.Qxc1 Qd7 38.Qb2 Rc8 39.Kf2 Qc6 40.Bf1 Kf8 41.Be2 Qc3 42.Qxc3 Rxc3 43.Nxd5 Rxa3 44.Ne3 Ke7 45.d5 Ng7 46.d6+ Kd7 47.g4 g5 48.Rd5 gxf4 49.Nxf5 Ra2 50.Nxg7 f3 51.Nh5 Rxe2+ 52.Kf1 e3 53.Nf6+ Ke6 54.d7 Rf2+ 55.Ke1 Rg2 56.Rd6+ Kf7! 56...Ke5?! 57.Rd5+ Kf4?? 57...Ke6 58.d8N+ 58.Rd6+ Kf7-+ 58...Kxf6 59.Rf5+ Ke7 60.Rxf3 Kxd8 61.Rxe3 Rxg4-+ 58.Rf5# 57.d8N+ 57.d8Q?! Rg1# 57...Kf8 57...Kg7 58.Rd7+ 58.Ne6+ Kxf6 59.Nd4+ Ke5 60.Nxf3+ Kxd6-+ 58...Kg6-+ 58.Nxh7+ 58.Ne6+ Ke7-+ 58...Kg8! 58...Kg7? 59.Rd7+ Kh8 60.Nf7+ Kxh7 61.Ne5+ Kg8 62.Nxf3 Rxg4 63.Nd4= 59.Nf6+ Kh8! 60.Nf7+ Kg7 61.Nh5+ Kf8 61...Kf8 62.Rd8+ 62.Kf1 Ra2-+ 62...Kxf7 63.Rd7+ Ke6-+ 0–1
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| Petrov,N | 2435 | Hammer,J | 2651 | 0–1 |
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Opening surveys
Sagar Shah: English Opening A20
1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 h6
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White does without Nc3, so as to avoid ...Bb4. According to Sagar Shah in 3...h6 Black has a sort of useful waiting move, ...Nc6 is delayed. After 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Nd5 Nxd5 6.cxd5 we can see a difference – Black does not need to move his Nc6.
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Souleidis: Double Fianchetto A50
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 b6 5.Bg2 Bb7 6.0-0 0-0
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According to Georgios Souleidis this setup is becoming more and more popular for Black. Above all after 7.Nc3 – the usual move - 7...Ne4 one can safely count on equality. After the stronger 7.d5 Black even has two promising continuations with 7...Ne4 and 7...Na6.
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Sumets: Old Indian Defence A54
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 Nbd7 4.Nf3 e5 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3
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A setup with e3 is not so aggressive, but in return it also offers fewer targets for the opponent to attack. For example, White does not have to protect a pawn on e4. As Andrey Sumets demonstrates, Black does not find it easy to equalise after 6...0-0 7.Be2.
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Ris: Sicilian Defence B35
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 0-0 8.Bb3 d5
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This comes as a surprise. After all the d5-pawn is simply hanging. But as Robert Ris demonstrates in his article, 9.exd5 Na5 may be obvious, but after it the way to an advantage for White may be possible but, however, it is not easy to find over the board. |
Szabo: Sicilian Defence B90
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.f3 Be7 9.Qd2 0-0 10.0-0-0 Nbd7 11.g4 b5 12.Rg1
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With 12.Rg1 White deviates from the main variation (12.g5). One of the ideas can be seen after 12...b4 13.Nd5 – now Black cannot take on d5 with the knight, because the Be6 does not have access to the f5-square. As Krisztian Szabo shows, however, that is not the only idea behind 12.Rg1.
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Havasi: French Defence C06
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Bd3 c5 6.c3 Nc6 7.Ne2 cxd4 8.cxd4 f6 9.exf6 Nxf6 10.0-0 Bd6 11.Nf3 0-0 12.Bf4 Bxf4 13.Nxf4 Ne4
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In this principled variation – there is little occasion to deviate – White may have a slight initiative after 14.Qc1, but according to Gergo Havasi Black can maintain the equilibrium with accurate play.
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Marin: French Defence C08
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.exd5 exd5 5.Bb5+ Nc6 6.Qe2+ Be7 7.dxc5 Nf6 8.Nb3 0-0
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With the two checks on moves 5 and 6, White is trying to impose on the play a forcing character. But as Mihail Marin’s analyses prove, Black can stand up to the pressure quite well.
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Kuzmin: Slav D11
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bg4 5.h3 Bh5 6.g4 Bg6 7.Ne5
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The actual idea behind the clear opening plan presented by Alexey Kuzmin has not yet been executed in the diagram: White wants to play Nd2 and then, without having to worry about the c4-pawn, be able to develop his bishop to g2.
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Postny: Queen's Gambit D38
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.e3 0-0 8.Rc1 dxc4 9.Bxc4 c5 10.0-0 cxd4
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The position in the diagram has been seen in several recent games and Evgeny Postny examines the latest trends. His conclusion: the white initiative is only temporary, Black can have high hopes of equalising.
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Stohl: Semi-Slav/Catalan E04
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c6 4.Nc3 e6 5.g3
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It starts with the Semi-Slav and transposes to the Catalan. For Igor Stohl it is clear that Black should take the c4-pawn, but after that there are still some open questions.
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Krasenkow: Bogo Indian Defence E11
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Nbd2 b6 5.a3 Bxd2+ 6.Bxd2 Bb7 7.Bg5 d6 8.e3 Nbd7
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Michal Krasenkow presents his own repertoire against the Bogo-Indian. In the second part he deals with the main variation of this system. It is not easy for Black to achieve complete equality.
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