Download PGN of August ’24 1 e4 e5 games
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Philidor Defence 3.Bc4 [C41]
Black achieved a dream opening in our first game Rathbone Jones, I - Pein, J. Following 3...Nf6 4.Ng5?! d5 5.exd5 h6 6.Nf3 e4:
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This is already exactly what Black can hope for in this line, with the lost tempo on ...d6-d5 meaning that the knight is not attacked on c6 as in the 4.Ng5 Italian lines. Matters became even worse for White after 7.Qe2?, but he seemingly managed to keep the fight going long enough to eventually cause Black to lose on time in a still winning position.
Giuoco Piano 5.Nc3 [C50]
The game that secured Shreyas Royal the GM title finished with fireworks, but the first half of the game was a model demonstration by White in the Italian. After 5...h6 6.0-0 a6 7.Be3:
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Already 7...Bxe3 here was a risky decision leaving Black lagging behind in development, but he found some tricky resources at the end of the game to secure the crucial half-point in Adams, M - Royal, S.
Giuoco Piano: 5 d4 exd4 6 e5 d5 7 Bb5 Ne4 8 cxd4 Bb6 9 Nc3 0-0 10 Be3 Bg4 11 h3 Bh5 12 Qc2 [C54]
A more theoretical line occurred in an earlier crucial game for the tournament, Howell, D - Royal, S. The theory continued with 12...Bg6 13.Qb3 Ne7 14.0-0 c6 15.Bd3 Nf5 16.Qc2 Nxe3 17.fxe3 Ng3 18.Bxg6 hxg6 19.Rf2:
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Here Black’s choice of 19...Re8?! was new but far from the best, but he later opted for a speculative piece sacrifice which proved to set too many practical problems for David to deal with.
Giuoco Piano: 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 0-0 6.0-0 d5 [C54]
Moving to London to a game played in the Mindsports International Open. The theoretical debate continued with 7.exd5 Nxd5 8.Re1 Bg4 9.h3 Bh5 10.Nbd2 Nb6 11.Bb3:
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Here in Fernandez, D - Urkedal, F, Black opted for the flexible 11...Kh8 instead of a more well-trodden path with 11...Qxd3 but his decision was justified as he shortly reached a dream version of this structure for Black with ...f5 and scored an important win.
Two Knights 8.Bd3 Nd5 9.h4!? [C58]
This trendy line seems to actually pose a lot more problems for Black than I originally thought. In the game Henriquez Villagra, C - Stefansson, H:.
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Black opted for 9...h6 (Perhaps 9...Qc7 seems like the safest alternative) and briefly had a very strong position after White opted for the wrong retreat with his queen, but after mutual mistakes the game ended in a complicated draw.
Spanish 5.d3 b5 6.Bb3 Be7 [C77]
Via a rare move order with 7.Nc3 Bb7!? 8.a3 0-0 9.0-0 d6 10.Nd5 we reached a fairly well-trodden line of the 6.d3 Spanish in Roebers, E - Rohith, K:
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This knight is normally traded off on d5 in short order, but here White built up a crushing attack with Ne3 and Nh4-f5 before sadly going wrong in the complications and losing the full point.
Yurtaev Variation: 7.a4 Rb8 8.c3 d6 9.d4 Bb6 10.a5 Ba7 11.h3 0-0 12.Be3 [C78]
A fascinating game from the Portuguese Team Championships saw Black continue with the slightly unusual pawn grab 12...Nxe4!? 13.Bd5 exd4 in Ter-Sahakyan, S - Roshka, Y:
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White has many tempting options but nothing that refutes Black’s play, and he actually ended up in trouble after grabbing an exchange which gave Black a beautiful pair of bishops in return. But the rating difference told in the end as the strong Armenian GM came out on top in the ending.
Yurtaev Variation: 6.c3 b5 7.Bc2 d5 8.a4 dxe4 9.axb5 Bg4 [C78]
An extension of a game I analysed in this line in the March update, which continued in the same manner with 10.bxc6 exf3 11.gxf3 Bh3 12.Re1 0-0 13.Ra5 Qd6 14.b4 Bxf2+ 15.Kxf2 e4 16.Kg1:
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Here Black mixed up his lines and chose the wrong rook with 16...Rfe8? and never got back into the game in Jarocka, L - Schmider, N. But analysing the differences between the two lines to understand why this choice is wrong proves very instructive.
See you next month, Harry
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