Download PGN of August '11 1 e4 e5 games
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Marshall Gambit [C89]
In Hou Yifan-Muzychuk,A, Rostov 2011, Black deviated from Leko's win over Ivanchuk from the July update (with 17...f5) and after 20...Rxe8 an important position appeared on the board:
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Here Hou Yifan played the interesting novelty 21.Nf1. Later Black's 23...Qg6 was inaccurate and allowed White to seize the initiative. It seems that Black experiences some problems in the 17.Nd2 line, as even after Leko's 17...f5 White can transpose to the game with 18.f3.
Central Attack 9.d4 [C91]
In Sutovsky, E - Kamsky, G 8th World Teams 2011, this position ensued after 15...Rc8:
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Here Sutovsky introduced a novelty, 16.Rc1 instead of 16.g4, and obtained a slight edge thanks to Kamsky's inaccurate 16...Re8. White's novelty 16.Rc1 is a possible way to avoid the known theory, but hardly a way to set serious problems. Nevertheless, Black has to be accurate, and 16...Nc6 would have been critical.
Closed Spanish 6.d3 [C84]
Kamsky, G - Ivanchuk, V 8th World Teams 2011.
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In the diagram position given above Kamsky introduced a good novelty, 12.a4 instead of the 12.h3 which has been known since Smyslov, V - Botvinnik, M Leningrad/Moscow 1941. Ivanchuk reacted pretty well and after some inaccuracies from Kamsky obtained an advantage. 15.Ne3 looks like a possible improvement upon White's play.
Berlin with 4.d3 [C65]
In Gashimov, V - Grischuk, A, 8th World Teams 2011, the players reached one of the critical positions in the Berlin with 4.d3:
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As I correctly predicted 15.cxd5 will see no followers after Karjakin, S - Jakovenko, D/Odessa UKR 2010 (see my notes in the PGN Archive). Instead Gashimov played 15.Nxe5, which Grischuk met with the novelty 15...Nxe5 - earlier Black had played 15...Nxe4, which is a reasonable alternative. The ensuing endgame was slightly better for White, and Grischuk defended pretty well for a while, but his mistake 25...Bxa2? reduced his efforts to naught and soon White celebrated a win. The entire line with ...d5 seems to lead to a slight edge for White, but I believe Black shouldn't have too many problems finding a path to a draw. Some such ideas can be found in my analysis.
Schliemann-Jaenish Gambit [C63]
Karjakin.S-Radjabov,T, 8th World Teams 2011.
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In the diagram position White introduced an obvious novelty: 17.Qxc4+ instead of 17.Nxc4. Radjabov defended well and equalised. A pretty good game, in which both players showed good theoretical preparation and accuracy in further play. In my opinion, 9.Nxa7+ is the critical line in order to set Black opening problems.
Scotch 4...Bc5 [C45]
Radjabov, T - Kamsky, G, 8th World Teams 2011.
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In the diagram position given above, which occurred after 5.Nb3 Bb6 6.Nc3, Black played the rare 6...Nge7 and then tried to improve upon the game Rublevsky,S (2686)-Anand,V (2782)/Dortmund 2004 with 8...f6. However 12...Bxf2+ was wrong and allowed Radjabov to seize an advantage. An interesting fight, despite mutual mistakes in time trouble.
6...Nge7 looks like a reasonable alternative to the main lines, when 12...c6 is an obvious improvement upon 12...Bxf2?!
Carlsen, M - Caruana, F, Biel GM 2011.
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In this already pretty uncommon position Black introduced the novelty 7...Ne7 instead of 7...Nf6. After the natural, but probably premature 10...d5 White took the initiative with the help of a beautiful exchange sacrifice. Although the position remained roughly equal it was much easier to play with White, and so eventually Black erred, first with 24...a6?! and then with 25...Re6, which turned out to be a decisive mistake. A good game from Carlsen despite some inaccuracies towards the end. Nevertheless 5...bxc6 and 7...Ne7 deserve further practical tests.
Italian Game [C54]
This position, which occurred after 11.Ba2 in Movsesian,S-Wang Yue, 8th World Teams 2011, has seen very few practical tests:
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Wang Yue played the solid 11...c6 and then slowly outplayed his opponent - only a few inaccuracies towards the end allowed White to escape with a draw. The line chosen by White in this game doesn't seem to promise any advantage as both 11...c6 and 11...Bg4 lead to good play for Black.
Enjoy.
See you next month, Victor.
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