Download PGN of February ’26 1 e4 e5 games
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Vienna Game 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.a3!? [C25]
This very creative idea in Maurizzi, M - Yip, C during the recent Tata Steel Challengers was perhaps inspired by Aronian’s similar innovation in the World Cup. 3...Nf6 4.d3!? d5 5.Bg5 seems like a critical line:
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Here naturally 5...d4 is the most testing move, whilst the rating difference eventually told in the symmetrical position arising after 5...dxe4.
Petroff: 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Be3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nd7 9.0-0-0 Ne5 [C42]
Our next three games are all from the Bob Wade Memorial in New Zealand, where two English GMs took the top spots. Here in Adams, M - Gong, D, play continued with the main 10.Nxe5 dxe5 11.Bd3 Be6 12.Qe2:
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Here Black has three options and whilst Mickey didn’t seem familiar with 12...Qe8 he eventually managed to grind out the full point in a hard-fought game.
Three Knights 3...Bb4 [C46]
Next up is Daniel Fernandez showing us how to play for a win against the dreaded 3.Nc3. The first one involves a lot of risk after 4.Nd5 Ba5?!:
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Objectively this is very dangerous after the logical sequence 5.c3 d6 6.b4 Bb6 7.a4 a5 8.Nxb6 cxb6 9.a5, but after surviving into an endgame Black’s experience told as he picked up the full point in Gong, D - Fernandez, D.
Scotch Four Knights 5...Bc5!? [C47]
This option I can support a lot more, and the game followed a popular sequence with 6.Be3 Bb6 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.e5 Bxe3 9.fxe3 Nd5:
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I include a nice note on 7.Qd2! which seems unpleasant for Black to play for a win against, whilst in the game already taking the pawn with 10.Nxd5 cxd5 11.Qxd5 is a double-edged decision. Black ground out another nice endgame win in Renjith, S - Fernandez, D.
Four Knights 4.h3 [C47]
Our next two games concern the position after 4...Bb4 5.Bd3!? 0-0 6.0-0:
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Firstly, in Erdogmus, Y - Van Foreest, J, Black changed the structure with 6...Bxc3 7.dxc3 and now 7...a5!?. White then went for a slightly premature f2-f4 but found a beautiful breakthrough later in the game to win and continue his meteoric rise.
Our second game, Griffith, K - Tanenbaum, Z continued 6...d6 7.Ne2. Now there is a nice idea behind 7...Re8 but the most popular response, moving the d-pawn again with 7...d5 turns out to give White pretty nice chances in all lines.
Giuoco Piano 4.d3 Nf6 5.0-0 h6 6.c3 [C54]
The not-so-quiet 4NCL game I referred to began with the rare 6...d6 7.Re1 a5 8.d4!? Bb6 9.h3:
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White normally does something with his b1-knight before the d4-push, and here the combination of White having castled short with h2-h3 tempted his opponent into 9...g5!? in Rakotomaharo, F - O’Gorman, T. This led to a fascinating game where Black had the better chances but the game eventually ended in a repetition.
Spanish, Zaitsev 9...Re8 10.d4 Bf8 [C92]
We finish with the only Ruy Lopez of the update, which transposed to a normal Zaitsev after 11.Nbd2 Bb7. Here White chose 12.Bc2!?:
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This builds a nice centre after 12...h6 13.d5 Nb8 14.b3 c6 15.c4, and seems quite difficult to handle for Black. The higher-rated player took big risks with Black in Khaled, W - Iniyan, P but after surviving early danger around his king, took the win in an endgame.
Until next month! Harry
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