Download PGN of March ’25 1 e4 e5 games
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Petroff: 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nd3!? [C42]
After 4...Nxe4, the the first of them saw a sharp line with 5.Qe2 Qe7 6.Nf4 Nc6 7.Nd5 Nd4 8.Nxe7 Nxe2 9.Nd5 Nd4 10.d3!?:
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This seems like a tricky idea for Black to face and he failed to find the correct reaction in this position in Dardha, D - Chasin, N. The game was only decided by one slip later on, however.
In the final round, White then varied with 5.Nf4 d5 6.d4 Nf6 7.Bd3 in Dardha, D - Meng, Y:
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This is of course less dangerous leading to a positional struggle, but even after the trade of queens down the e-file Black never quite equalised completely, and Daniel came out on top here too.
Giuoco Piano 5.d4 exd4 6.e5 d5 7.Bb5 Ne4 8.cxd4 Bb6 9.Nc3 0-0 10.Be3 Bg4 [C54]
It’s been a while since I looked at this line, as Black seemed to be equalising comfortably everywhere. Of course that is still true, but 11.h3 Bh5 12.Rc1!? seemed interesting to me:
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A very complex position was reached after 12...Ne7 13.g4 Bg6 14.h4 f5 in Ohanyan, E - Cina, V where some inventive play from the Armenian GM combining a kingside attack with walking his king by hand to b1 was eventually rewarded with the full point.
Two Knights, Ulvestad Variation 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 b5 6.Bf1 Nd4 [C57]
I’m not sure if the theoretical status has changed much here recently, but it was interesting to see a fairly high-level game in this line. 6...Nxd5 may be the best direction for Black to look, since after 7.c3 Nxd5 8.cxd4 Qg5 9.Bxb5+ Kd8:
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The most accurate move order here is 10.0-0 Bb7 11.Qf3, which the game Siddharth, J - Concio, M reached by transposition. Then after 11...Rb8 12.dxe5 Black erred with 12...Nf4? after which he never managed to get back into the game. I show Black’s best path after the correct 12...Ne3 which will probably involve holding a pawn-down rook and opposite-coloured bishop ending.
Two Knights 8.Bd3 Nd5 9.Nf3 Bd6 10.0-0 0-0 11.Re1 f5 [C58]
Now there is a postscript to a game I analysed in the January edition, in a very rare line. Following 12.Nxe5 Qf6 13.Nf3 g5 14.c4 Nf4 15.Bf1 g4, we checked 16.c5!? to which everyone previously had responded 16...Bc7. However Poetsch, H - Eren, A continued 16...gxf3 which I had mentioned in my previous analysis:
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There followed 17.cxd6 fxg2 18.Bxg2 Nd3 19.Re3 Ba6 20.Nc3 f4 21.Qg4+ Kh8 22.Re7 Rg8 23.Ne4 and only now deviating with 23...Qh6? when I had given 23...Qxe7 previously. White was only winning for a couple of moves however, as the position proved very difficult for both sides to play and Black also missed his fair share of chances in an eventual well-fought draw.
Berlin 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.Re1 Nd6 6.Nxe5 Be7 7.Bf1 Nxe5 8.Rxe5 0-0 9.d4 Bf6 [C77]
A slightly more positional approach from White compared to the violent attempts at breaking down the Berlin we have been looking at recently. Following the slightly rarer choice 10.Re1 Nf5!? 11.c3 d5, White gained space on the queenside with 12.a4:
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This was previously used by Wang Hao in his World Cup clash with David Howell among others, and gives Black an immediate decision of how to react on the queenside. Black chose 12...c6 but was later allowed to block anyway after 13.Na3!? Bg5 14.Nc2 Bxc1 15.Qxc1 a5 which should be pretty comfortable. However, in Willow, J - O’Gorman, T there later proved an interesting manoeuvre of the c2-knight to g4 which is definitely a repeatable idea worth noting, although Black managed to save the half-point here in the time scramble.
Spanish 5.0-0 d6 6.Re1 Bd7 7.Bxc6!? [C79]
Another slight variation on an idea I looked at recently in this trendy 5...d6 system. In Deshmukh, D - Kourkoulos-Arditis, S, Black already erred a little with 7...bxc6?! Thereafter White built up a strong initiative with 8.d4 exd4 9.Qxd4 c5 10.Qd3 Be7 11.e5!:
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The situation was already very dangerous for Black and required giving up a pawn to try and prove compensation, but instead his kingside went down in flames in an impressive game by one of India’s top female talents.
Open Spanish, 9.c3 Bc5 10.Qe2!? [C82]
Finishing back at the World Junior Championships with an interesting approach by White to avoid the Dilworth Variation. There followed 10...0-0 11.Be3 Qe7 (11...f6 may be Black’s most precise) 12. Nbd2:
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Black has many options but nothing obviously appealing, and he eventually reached a slightly unpleasant ending in Tsaruk, M - Nagarkatte, V. After briefly surviving a lost position he showed good technique to hold with rook against rook, f-and h-pawns however.
Until next month, Harry
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