What's New (February 2004 update)
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Hi Everyone! This month we take a look at games in the Nimzo Indian, Modern Benoni, Queen's Indian and 'weird' Benoni from tournaments that took place last month. |
Remember, if you have any opinions, ideas or questions, please either make yourself heard at the Forum (the link above on the right) or subscribers can email me at JohnEmms@ChessPublishing.com.
To download the February '04 Nimzo and Benoni games directly in PGN form, click here: 
Nimzo Indian Classical Variation (4 Qc2)
We begin this month with a look at a critical sacrificial line in the 4 Qc2 Nimzo: 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 Qc2 d5 5 a3 Bxc3+ 6 Qxc3 Ne4 7 Qc2 c5 8 dxc5 Nc6 9 cxd5 exd5 10 Nf3 Bf5 11 b4
            
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The main move here is 11...0-0 (check out the entertaining game Rogers-Ward, England 1997 in ChessPub - ECO code E37). However, in the game Belov - Lautier, Moscow 2004 the French GM instead played 11...d4!?, an idea that has been tried a couple of times by Vishy Anand.
Next up is the game Carlsen - Shaposhnikov, Moscow 2004, which begins 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 Qc2 c5 5 dxc5 Bxc5 6 Nf3 Qb6 (forcing e2-e3; Black knows that both his queen and bishop will have to move again soon, but sees this as a fair trade for keeping White's bishop within its own pawn structure) 7 e3 a6 8 b3 Qc7 9 Bb2 b6 10 Be2 Bb7
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and here the Norwegian youngster, who has been making the headlines recently after a string of very impressive performances, played in a typically aggressive fashion with 11 g4!?. This lunge on the kingside has been seen before in similar positions, but this is the first time it has appeared here in a high-level game. White's idea is simply to attack on the kingside (his king will probably end up on the other wing). Before we have looked at 11 Rd1 (see Kiriakov-Tiviakov, Port Erin 1999 in ChessPub - ECO code E38).
Our final game in the Nimzo Indian Classical is Dobrov - Kengis, Nova Gorica, which begins 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 b6 4 Nc3 Bb4 5 Qc2 Bb7 6 a3 Bxc3+ 7 Qxc3 Ne4 8 Qc2 0-0 (a possible Nimzo move order would have been 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 Qc2 0-0 5 a3 Bxc3+ 6 Qxc3 b6 7 Nf3 Ne4 8 Qc2 Bb7) 9 e3 f5 10 b4 a5!
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In this position White erred with 11 Bb2?! (11 b5 is usual). It's understandable that White wishes to keep as much control over c5 as possible (c4-c5 may be desirable at some stage), but in the game Black simply obtains too much immediate counterplay on the queenside.
Nimzo Indian Rubinstein Variation (4 e3)
In the game Speelman - Al Sayed, Gibraltar Masters 2004, we revisit the very popular line 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 e3 0-0 5 Bd3 d5 6 Nf3 c5 7 0-0 dxc4 8 Bxc4 cxd4 9 exd4 b6 (the move popularised by Karpov; we've also dealt with 9...a6, preparing ...b7-b5) 10 Bg5 Bb7 11 Rc1 Nbd7 12 Qe2
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In this typical position Black normally either captures on c3 or plays 12...Rc8. In this game. however, Black chooses the crafty move 12...Re8!?, which conceals a clever idea which promises Black a very playable position.
Modern Benoni: Modern Classical Variation
The game Graf - Ghaem Maghami, Moscow 2004 really emphasises how much you need to know your theory when following the ultra-sharp lines of the Modern Benoni. The game begins 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 c5 3 d5 e6 4 Nc3 exd5 5 cxd5 d6 6 e4 g6 7 Nf3 Bg7 8 h3 0-0 9 Bd3 b5!? (the most aggressive way of meeting the Modern Classical) 10 Nxb5 (more ambitious than 10 Bxb5) 10...Re8 11 Nd2!? Nxe4! 12 Bxe4 Ba6 13 a4
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and now, for better or for worse, Black must go 'all in' with 13...Qa5 (threatening both ...Bxb5 and ...Rxe4) 14 Nxd6 Nd7!, as seen in Van Wely-Topalov , Wijk aan Zee 1998 (see ChessPub - ECO code A70). Instead Black improvised with 13...f5?, but White soon gained a large advantage.
Queen's Indian 4 e3
The game Bue - Nielsen, Copenhagen 2004 has some interesting transpositional features. It begins with White avoiding confronting the Modern Benoni after 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 c5 4 e3. Now Black tried (successfully) to steer the game into a Queen's Indian with 4...b6!? and following 5 Bd3 Bb7 we were indeed back into the 4 e3 Queen's Indian. However, White can try to confuse Black with the tricky 5 Nc3!? (see the notes to White's fifth move in the game). The game itself isn't particularly theoretical but does include a good old-fashioned piece sacrifice followed a king chase round the board.
Weird Benoni
Finally this month, some food for thought. In the game Harstad - Tissir, Gibraltar Masters 2004 Black reaches a Modern Benoni structure with some subtle differences: 1 d4 e6 2 c4 (obviously Black must be prepared to play the French Defence after 2 d4) 2...c5! 3 d5 exd5 4 cxd5 d6 5 Nc3 Be7!?
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Black develops the bishop to f6 and the knight to g6 (via e7). As the game shows, there are certain advantages in playing this way.
Till next time,
John Emms