Download PGN of June '15 1 e4 e5 games
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Spanish - Anti-Marshall with 8.a4 [C88]
In the game Svidler, P - Tomashevsky, E FIDE GP Khanty Mansiysk 2015, the players followed the game Caruana, F - Tomashevsky, E Baku 2014, and reached the diagram position below:
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Here Peter played 14.Nf5, instead of Caruana's 14.Nh4, but this game showed that 14.Nh4 should be preferred.
Marshall with 12.d3 [C89]
The game Anand, V - Carlsen, M Vugar Gashimov memorial 2015, featured an important line of the Marshall.
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Here the World Champion decided to surprise his predecessor with the interesting novelty 14...Bg6, instead of the main line 14...Qh4. Anand reacted well and then we saw a highly unusual 'novelty' from Carlsen, 19...Qd7?, which drops a pawn for nothing. Instead Black had to play 19...Qxd3 with good chances to equalise. So the line requires more practical tests.
Open Spanish with 9.c3 Bc5 - Dilworth Variation [C82]
One of my favourite variations took place in the game Illingworth, M - Short, N 15th Bangkok Open 2015. After a long theoretical line the players reached the following position:
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Here Short was the first to deviate from the main theory, 21...Kf7, with 21...g6. After pretty logical play from both sides the players agreed to a draw in an equal endgame - a good result for our 1 d4 d5 specialist. This game confirmed the assessment of the line as equal.
Berlin Wall with 9.h3 [C67]
The game Wey Yi-Ding Liren, ch-CHI Xinghua 2015, saw a very popular line of the Berlin with 9.h3.
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Here Ding Liren tried to improve Black's play from the game Caruana, F - Grischuk, A/Warsaw 2013 with 16...b6, instead of 16...Re8, and achieved an equal position, but his mistake 31...Rd2? ruined a well-played game. A very interesting fighting game, in which one mistake decided its outcome. From the theoretical point of view the line which occurred in the game looks equal, but playable.
Anti-Berlin with 7.b4 [C65]
In the game Yu Yangyi-Ding Liren ch-CHI Xinghua 2015, also from the Chinese championship, White tested the slightly uncommon 7.b4 line of the Anti-Berlin with 5.d3, which eventually transposed into the Italian with an extra tempo for White:
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Here White introduced a new idea, 12.Nbd2 instead of 12.Ba3. Black was up to the task and then White was the first to err with 18.Be7? After a few mutual mistakes Black converted his advantage. A short, but very interesting game. The line with 7.b4 is not without venom and so more practical tests are required.
Giuoco Piano with 7.Nbd2, Pomtow Attack [C54]
The game Nakamura, H - Giri, A FIDE GP Khanty Mansiysk 2015, featured the extremely rare line with 7.Nbd2, the Pomtow Attack, which was the subject of a Kaissiber Competition and extensive analysis on the ChessPub Forum.
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Now White introduced a new move, 16.Qxd6, but it couldn't change the assessment of the position as equal. Virtually flawless play lead the game to a well-deserved draw, thus confirming that 7.Nbd2 doesn't promise any opening advantage.
The Evans Gambit Accepted with 5...Be7 [C51]
The sharp Evans Gambit occurred in the game Esserman, M - Avrukh, B Chicago Open 2015.
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Here White introduced the novelty 13.Bf4, but was later was the first to err (17.Bf3, 19.e5?!), came under pressure and eventually lost. The line which occurred in the game leads to roughly equal chances, so 11...Nd7 is a good alternative to 11...c5.
Four Knights with 4...Bb4, 7.Ne2 [C49]
The game Anand, V - Mamedyarov, S saw the ex-champ playing the line with 7.Ne2, which is gaining popularity.
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Here Black played 9...Ng6, came under some pressure and eventually his position collapsed. In my opinion, 9...c6 was more accurate. I believe the line with 7.Ne2 will gain even more popularity.
See you next month, Victor.
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