Download PGN of February ’25 1 e4 e5 games
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Petroff: 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Bf4 [C42]
We begin with a sharp Petroff game from the recent Bundesliga weekend. The high-level game Wei, Y - Ivic, V continued with the logical 7...0-0 8.Qd2 Nd7 9.0-0-0 Re8:
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In the spirit of the opposite-side castling line, the continuation 10.h4 h6 11.g4!? was chosen, although it appears to be over-the-board inspiration rather than home-cooked preparation. Nevertheless, the game was a good illustration of both sides’ chances, although the higher-rated Chinese GM came out on top.
Halloween Gambit 4.Nxe5? [C47]
Now jumping to the ridiculous, a pretty high-level game in a recent Open I was playing saw this romantic early gambit. Black should know as far as 4...Nxe5 5.d4 Ng6 6.e5 Ng8, then after 7.Bc4:
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7...c6 may be the most precise although the 7...d5!? of the game is certainly sensible too. Black kept great control for the majority of the game but the final stages had it all, with White having just a bishop and three pawns for two rooks and briefly equalising before going astray. Black took the full point in Kaczmarek, A - Vignesh, N, but definitely a game worth playing through!
Berlin 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.Re1 Nd6 6.Nxe5 Be7 7.Bf1 Nxe5 8.Rxe5 0-0 [C67]
I have looked at several games recently in the main line 9.d4 Bf6 10.Re1, so let’s see some different tries for White along the way. First we have two crushing wins for White in the exchange sacrifice line 9.d4 Bf6 10.Bd3!?:
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Here the answer for Black is probably to be well-prepared and grab the exchange, as without that he can quickly land in trouble. Firstly in Madularea, D - Duijker, R, 10...g6 11.Nc3 Bg7? was too slow, and 12.Nd5! would have been strongest to exploit the possible square on e7.
Black tried to stay in Berlin-style with 10...Ne8 in Roebers, E - Fernandez Ramos, I, then after 11.Nc3 d6 12.Re1 he should prefer 12...c6, where White has more of an edge than in the main line Berlins but this is still a reasonable lower-theory option for Black. Instead 12...d5? simply hangs a pawn after 13.Qh5, a trap which several strong GMs have also fallen for in blitz games.
A slightly safer sideline for White is 9.Nc3, often aiming to pick up the bishop pair with a quick Nd5-e7xc8. We then saw 9...Bf6 10.Re1 b6 in Zilka, S - Kamsky, G::
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I would recommend 10...Re8 instead and only meeting Nd5 with ...b6 setups, since here White switched powerfully with 11.d4! when Black’s setup is not ideal, and the strong American GM lost after really just one more mistake on move 13. In all these games Black landed in significant trouble out of the opening in classical games, so there is definitely decent practical value to these lines.
Spanish 3...a6 4.Ba4 Bc5 5.c3 Nge7 [C70]
This is a very trendy system for Black, so I wanted to give an overview of the different options White has against it. After 6.d4 exd4 7.cxd4 Bb4+ 8.Nc3!? d5 9.exd5:
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Here both recaptures for Black look pretty decent, so I might be tempted to focus on 8.Bd2 as a more promising direction. Nevertheless, White quickly got a great position after 9...Nxd5 10.0-0 Bxc3? 11.bxc3 0-0 12.Bc2 in Degenbaev, A - Le, T and the blitz expert playing Black only wriggled out and took control after White played a bit slowly in the early middlegame.
Spanish 5.Nc3 b5 6.Bb3 Be7 [C77]
One of my own games here, which went disastrously wrong in the endgame. 7.a4!? is an interesting way to keep the game independent from 6.d3 Spanish lines, which worked well as after 7...b4 8.Nd5:
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Black has many options here but nothing obviously appealing, and after 8...d6 9.d4 Bg4 10.dxe5 dxe5?! 11.Nxf6+ Bxf6 12.Qd5 I had a dream position in Grieve, H - Luch, M only to later throw away a half-point in the final moments.
Yurtaev Variation 7.a4 Rb8 8.Nxe5 Nxe5 9.d4 Bxd4 10.Qxd4 d6 11.f4 [C78]
Onto something more theoretical to finish the update, with this sharp line in the Yurtaev. The theory continues with 11...Nc6 12.Qc3 Ne7 13.axb5 axb5 14.Ra7 c5 15.e5 Nfd5 16.Bxd5 Nxd5 17.Qf3 Qb6:
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Here it is known that 18.Rxf7! is best, then after 18...Kxf7 19.Qxd5+ Be6 20.Qd1 Bf5 White has a choice between a repetition or various ways to continue the initiative leading to unclear positions. In Stijve, T - Vijayakumar, R, White proceeded well for a while before overextending and running out of momentum in the attack. He was pretty fortunate to be offered a draw in a completely lost ending on move 38.
Till next time, Harry
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