June '00 Update
QGA
RS223 In the line 3 e4 Nc6 White was here aiming to get more than Karpov's small plus against Piket. However his idea looks dubious as it breaks one of the main principles of the openings: do not move the same piece twice. Especially your queen...
RS224 A different move order in the opening is usually not only a matter of taste. In the featured game Black avoids one of the most dangerous variations, but in doing this he gives White the opportunity of a tricky new idea, but Black is ready for it. A little example of modern home preparation.
RS225 A game between two experts in the main line after 3 e4 Nf6. Loek van Wely plays his favourite set-up and achieves a small advantage. In the struggle both opponents make a couple of mistakes, but luck is on Victor Korchnoi's side.
RS226 A new idea from Jeroen Piket in one of the most principled and popular variations after 3 e4 Nf6. Black collapsed very quickly, but it's too early to draw any conclusions except that it's a really interesting line.
RS227 The development of the popular line with 0-0-0 after 3 e4 Nf6 continues. Nowadays Black does not castle kingside very often, preferring to hide his King on the queenside. However in the featured game Andrey Maksimenko for some reason plays Bf8-e7 first. Maybe to keep both options open in view of Piket's 11 Rc1!? In either event the game transposes to the main line where White has not yet managed to prove an advantage.
Anti-Moscow
RS219 In RS136 we considered 10. ..b4!? as a worthy attempt to counter the dangerous 10 h4!? Here Sergey Ivanov casts doubt upon Black's set-up, coming up with a simple solution to the very complicated position.
RS220 In RS135 White was smashed by the interesting 11...Rg8!? Here Igor Glek tried to improve upon White's play but failed to show anything special against one of the main experts in this opening, Alexey Dreev.
RS221 Another principal line is developing quickly. In the 3rd round of the New York Open one of the main White experts in this line Alexander Goldin, was confidently outplayed by Igor Khenkin. However a couple of days later, in the final round of the same tournament, he improved upon his play and no less confidently smashed another expert in this system. Curiously enough, it was another Igor - Igor Novikov.
Anti-Meran
RS218 In a complex middlegame with all the pieces except the Queens on the board White gets a strong pawn centre but it actually proves to be less powerful than it looks. Black's skilful manoeuvres force White to forget his ambitions and instead defend his centre with all his pieces, including his King which does not find a safe shelter till the end of the game.
Mainslav
RS222 The line 7...c5 has never had a good reputation, but has sometimes been played by strong GMs. When Alexey Shirov tried to revive the line by playing it against Kasparov and Gelfand, he avoided liquidation to an ending with an extra pawn but suffered a lack of development. Why? This game is a good answer...
Cambridge Springs
1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Bg5 Nbd7 5 e3 c6 6 Nf3 Qa5
            
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Cambridge Springs was the original venue for the most important early games with this defence. However before this on a couple of occasions US Champion Harry Pillsbury played it, and so it is sometimes referred to as the Pillsbury Attack.
Black intends to attack the Knight on c3 by ...Ne4 followed by …Bb4 (and vice-versa). The Queen is also keeping an eye on the Bishop on g5 so it's not so easy for White to develop his pieces to their most comfortable squares (for example, the Bishop to d3, due to some tactical tricks connected with …Ne4 or …d5xc4).
A peak of its popularity was in the 1920-1930's when the defence was included in the repertoire of many top players. It was thoroughly tested (and passed successfully!) in such World Title matches as Capablanca - Alekhine, Alekhine - Bogoljubow and Alekhine - Euwe. A lot of important ideas on which the modern theory of the system is based were invented at that time.
Later the defence lost much of its popularity not only because a dangerous line for Black was found but also because White quite often opted for the Exchange Variation by capturing on d5. Other reasons such as the growth of popularity in Indian systems should also be taken into account.
A new wave of popularity was registered in the 1980's. The Cambridge Springs is closely linked with the Exchange Variation which was always on the agenda when Black discovered some new and interesting ideas.
In my opinion there is another good motive to include the opening in one's repertoire nowadays: Black's life in the Moscow Variation 5. ..h6 and especially the Botvinnik System 5...dxc4 are not so easy.
Since the Cambridge Springs was in the repertoire of almost every respected player in the 20's and 30's it's just impossible to name all the players whose great efforts constructed theory of the defence but such players as Harry Pillsbury, Alexander Alekhine, Efim Bogoljubow, Jose Raul Capablanca, Rudolf Spielmann, Frank Marshall, Gideon Stahlberg and Paul Keres should be mentioned.
Nowadays for the popularity of the system we have to thank such players as Sergey Smagin, Alexander Panchenko, Lembit Oll, Vassily Ivanchuk, Arthur Yusupov, Jan Timman, Sdrjan Cvetkovic and World Champion Vassily Smyslov who bravely defended the Cambridge Springs in his Candidates Final match. Objectively speaking he was suffering in the opening but there again his opponent was none other than Garry Kasparov who should be also mentioned as one of White's adherents.
White has two main ways to fight for an advantage:
1) He prevents a possible …d5xc4 and gains a pawn majority in center by an early exchange 7 cxd5.
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This continuation often leads to very sharp and interesting play. In turn Black has two main possibilities:
a) ...N7b6 followed by …Nxc3 then …Na4 (...Nd5) attacking the pawn on c3. White cannot defend it so he usually develops his kingside obtaining a long lasting initiative as Black is getting seriously behind in development. This set-up has proved to be dangerous for Black so...
b) nowadays 8...Bb4 9 Rc1 is the main line and its popularity increases. White has still failed to show a tangible advantage.
2) He prevents a possible …Ne4 by means of 7 Nd2.
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This continuation more often leads to a rather quiet play but complications may sometimes occur. Black has two possible plans:
a) to give up the center by 7...dxc4 after which White is forced to part with the Bishop by capturing to f6. This leads to rather boring play where Black has a pair of bishops in return for White's space advantage- the character of play reminds one of some lines of the Moscow variation after 5...h6 6 Bxf6 Qxf6. This set-up is more reliable but rather passive.
b) the classical 7. ..Bb4 intending to solve the problem of the light-squared Bishop by the breaks …c6-c5 or …e6-e5 at some point - this leads to the usual complications.
Generally the Cambridge Springs Defence has a fairly solid reputation. White has still failed to come up with anything really dangerous for Black but it must be said that sometimes the nature of Black's play is not to everyone's taste.
7 cxd5
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RS228 White comes up with a rather unexpected idea - he postpones the capture of the knight on c3 and plays a piece down for the next couple of moves. His opponent seems to be confused and chooses an obviously inferior method of clarifying the situation.
RS229 White introduces a new idea and plays very creatively but Black was equal to the task. Interesting complications lead to a drawn ending where Black plays inaccurately and is very close to losing the game...
RS230 A spectacular and fairly curious variation. Black's queen and knight invade deeply into White's camp trying to slightly disorganise his pieces and thus slow down the development of his initiative. In the featured game Black's dreams come true in a most unbelievable way; the knight not only miraculously survives on e2 being surrounded by lots of enemy pieces but also helps to checkmate White's King in the ending!
RS231 Being worried about a possible improvement I rejected the risky knight invasion to e2 and preferred another option but it did not make Black's life easier. Elmar Magerramov played very energetically and gave me no respite to coordinate my pieces. An excellent and a highly instructive game which shows very well all the dangers Black can experience in this line.
RS232 Trying to change the unfavourable course of the match Black goes for a sharp-looking continuation but an unpleasant surprise awaits him: instead of a double-edged struggle he finds himself in a much worse ending where Kasparov's excellent technique gives him no chances to survive.
RS233 Lots of important ideas were discovered in the '20s and '30's. Here White comes up with an improvement on an old game Alekhine - Bogoljubow, but fails to pose problems for Black who quickly achieves excellent play.
RS234 12 a3!? is a more ambitious approach in fighting for the advantage. It is connected with a pawn sacrifice but White achieves some obvious pluses in return. Black has various ways to accept the gift. Here is one of them, with an inclusion of a pawn exchange in center. At the critical moment White goes completely wrong having missed a hidden tactical refutation...
RS235 Here Alexey Shirov introduces a dangerous pawn sacrifice which happens to be an improvement over the game Bogoljubow - Alekhine, Wch14 GER\NLD 1929 and smashes his opponent in excellent style. A very important game for theory of the line but actually it has posed more questions than it has answered.
RS236 The development of an old idea of Mikhail Botvinnik which is one of the Black's main weapons in the Cambridge Springs nowadays. And it was this game which did much for the rebirth of the line.
7 Nd2
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RS237 In this kind of position White sooner or later realizes that his light-squared Bishop would be better placed on the long diagonal. Here he tries to develop it there from the very start but Black finds an excellent antidote: he comes up with the immediate plan of advancing ...c6-c5 and achieves excellent play despite being forced to castle on the queenside!
RS238 White completely deprives Black of ...c5 by playing a3 and b4 at an early stage but allows Black to swap a pair of knights which makes his task easier than usual. Now if White keeps his only Knight on c4 to prevent a possible ...a5 or ...e5 it becomes more difficult for him to make further progress. A rather typical game for this line.
RS239 The moment of sudden transition from long and quiet manoeuvring to complications is not so easy and may be accompanied with mistakes. This time it was Black who was punished for inaccurate calculations. Nevertheless the game is fairly instructive and may serve as a good example of how to treat this kind of position.
RS240 Here Black comes up with an early ...e5 which is usually played after castling. His idea was probably to avoid certain variations but instead he finds himself in trouble after White's unexpected and strong looking piece sacrifice...
RS241 A rare continuation to counter the Cambridge Springs. Generally it looks too artificial to get an advantage, and here Black solves his problems confidently.
RS242 One of themes of Black's counterplay in the Cambridge Springs system is that White cannot develop his pieces very smoothly as his Bishop on g5 may be under attack. So sometimes White just moves it by playing 9 Bh4. This was a rather popular continuation at the outset of the defence but it seems a waste of tempo allowing Black to achieve acceptable play.
RS243 The exchange in center 10 dxe5 leads to simplifications and does not promise too much for White. Black achieves reasonable counter chances thanks to his good minor pieces and White's weakened kingside pawn structure. Both players show their excellent technique so the game ended up with the most likely result.
RS244 Another one of the critical lines in the Cambridge Springs. A rather complex position arises where White probably has a small advantage thanks to his easier development and the pawn majority in center. Nevertheless Black can be also satisfied with his position as he has no pawn weaknesses and not such bad pieces. This game demonstrates his chances rather nicely...
RS245 The great efforts of Vassily Ivanchuk significantly promoted theory of the Cambridge Springs. Here we'll consider one of his fruitful ideas. In one of the critical positions he comes up with a typical pawn advance ...c5 which was previously played only occasionally. Having introduced a strong novelty he quickly achieves excellent play. In the latter part of the struggle his opponent plays too riskily but nevertheless very creatively and poses certain problems for Vassily who was unable to solve them under time pressure. An interesting and exciting game!
7 Bxf6
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RS246 An early exchange on f6 is the most radical way to avoid possible threats to the Bishop on g5 connected with ...Nf6-e4 but it seems to be too simple to hope for anything concrete. Here Black achieved the better chances easily although he did not manage to convert them to a full point due to the rather precise defence of his opponent.