April 2004 Intro

To download the April '04 1 e4 ... games directly in PGN form, click here:

For your delectation:

Alekhine's Defence

'Stuart Conquest plays chess'. This might seem like a very obvious statement, but by that I mean he has a wide opening repertoire and one can never forecast exactly what he is going to do.

Against Skripchenko in Game one he wheels out the Miles Variation, 4...dxe5 and 5...c6,gets his usual slightly worse but extremely messy position e.g. 13...Bb7

and an exciting game is the result.

Pirc/Modern Defence

'Focus, determination and concentration' - the sporting mantra that eludes Kizov in Game Two. Check out his howler 18 Qc3??:

Dvoirys - Tkachiev isn't shaping up to be a classic but then the weird 13...Nf6-g8? adds a new dimension . Instead both 13...Qe7 or 13...Nh5 would have been OK for Black.

The Advance Caro gets a couple of outings in this update, both White players choosing to launch the attack with an early g2-g4.

Black wins twice.

In Wegerle - Yevseev, Black demonstrates that 6...f6! is a good practical choice:

, meanwhile Erwin L'Ami produces a very nice game where 3 e5 Bf5 4 g4?! Be4!:

is effective, see Game 5.

Sveshnikov - Dreev is our next Caro with Dreev suffering a rare defeat in the unusual variation 3 exd5 cxd5 4 Nf3 Nc6 5 Bf4!?:

White's first point is that 5...Qb6?! is answered by 6 Nc3! intending Nb5 but there's more to it than that. Check this game out.

There are two further defeats for Black in the Smyslov variation 3 Nc3 dxe4 4 Nxe4 Nd7. This line is under a bit of a cloud, but I will try to show that Black has chances.

For instance in Webb - Wells, Black only loses because he's too ambitious. The position after 19 Qxg4:

would have been perfectly good if 19...Rad8! had been played, and I show why in the notes.

Likewise in Vescovi - Miton, Black deviates from Ganguly-Speelman (featured in the last update) with 13...c5!?:

and I show later that 17...Bxf5! in place of Miton's 17...Ne6 is a clear improvement.

To close the set Jakovenko - Khenkin is a win for Black in the tough 4...Bf5 variation. Black's seventeenth move is a crucial Rook placement. In the diagram position:

take your choice from 17...Rhd8! as played, or 17....Rhc8!

I show that both are good.