Download PGN of November ’24 1 e4 e5 games
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Petroff: 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Bd6 [C42]
Let’s begin with Black coming out on top in a Petroff encounter at the European Club Cup in Vrnjacka Banja. Following the absolute main line 7.0-0 0-0 8.c4 c6 9.Nc3 Nxc3 10.bxc3 dxc4 11.Bxc4 Bf5, White tried the rare 12.Ng5!?:
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This simplifies after 12...h6 13.Qf3 Bg6 14.Ne4 Bxh2+! 15.Kxh2 Qh4+ when White should be able get some small pressure in the ending, but he pushed too hard to avoid opposite-coloured bishop positions in Abasov, N - Samunenkov, I and it cost him the full point.
Scotch: 4...Nf6 5.Nxc6 bxc6 6.e5 Qe7 7.Qe2 Nd5 8.c4 Ba6 9.g3 [C45]
White tried to revive an interesting line of the Scotch in an IM norm event adjacent to where I was playing. After 9...g6 10.b3 Bg7 11.Bb2:
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Black has a choice of which side to castle, but either way leads to an unbalanced ending after 11...0-0 12.Bg2 Rae8 13.0-0 Bxe5 14.Qxe5 Qxe5 15.Bxe5 Rxe5 16.cxd5 Bxf1 17.Kxf1 cxd5. Black is fine objectively speaking, but White still managed to put a lot of pressure on his higher-rated opponent in the eventual draw Krzywda, A - Domalchuk-Jonasson, A.
Spanish, Schliemann: 4.Nc3 fxe4 5.Nxe4 d5 [C63]
The current World #4 tends to play ambitiously with both colours, and the legendary status of his opponent did not change matters in the encounter Ivanchuk, V - Erigaisi, A. In this sharp line, play continued 6.Nxe5 dxe4 7.Nxc6 Qg5 8.Qe2 Nf6:
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Here I would recommend 9.Nxa7+!, whereas after 9.f4 Qxf4 10.d4 Qd6 Black stabilises somewhat, although he was unable to get any real winning chances and the players shook hands on move 31.
Spanish, Berlin Ending: 9.h3 Ke8 10.Nc3 h5 [C67]
More than a year after my analysis of Grandelius-Sadhwani from the previous European Club Cup, I reached the same position on the board during a GM norm event in Mallorca. The line continues 11.Ne2 b6 12.Rd1 Bb7 13.Ned4 Nxd4 14.Nxd4 Be7 15.Bf4 Rd8 16.Nf5 Bc8?!:
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I was able to demonstrate the improvement with 17.e6! and eventually won in Grieve, H - Szwed, J although my follow-up can be improved significantly.
Berlin 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.Re1 Nd6 6.Nxe5 Be7 7.Bf1 Nxe5 8.Rxe5 0-0 9.d4 Bf6 [C67]
Another long line which we have seen previously in this column was seen in the high-level clash Yu, Y - Tabatabaei, M. Following 10.Re1 Re8 11.Nc3 Rxe1+ 12.Qxe1 Bxd4 13.Bf4 Ne8 14. Nd5 d6 15.Bf5 f6, White tried 16.Be3!?:
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I think we have only seen 16.Bh4 before and clearly Tabatabaei was unfamiliar as well, as he immediately went wrong with 16...Bxe3? Instead best is 16...Be5 17.f4 and only now 17...Bxb2! when Black should have no problems if he is well-prepared.
Open Spanish 9.Nbd2 Nc5 10.c3 0-0 11.Bc2 d4 12.Nb3 d3 13.Bb1 Nxb3 14.axb3 Bf5 [C83]
This absolute main line of the Open Spanish still provides plenty of opportunity for innovation from both sides. Following 15.h3 0-0 16.b4:
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Black ultimately wants the ...a5 break but it was executed prematurely with 16...a5?! in the last-round encounter in Annemasse, Venkataraman, K - Rithvik, R. Instead Black should complete development first with 16...Qd7 and only work towards this break a little later.
Closed Spanish 6.d3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.a3 [C84]
This setup with a3/Nc3 seems to be among the most trendy approaches for White in the Closed Spanish, but Black demonstrated a fresh idea in response in Willow, J - Kobo, O. The Israeli GM opted for 8...a5!?:
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There would have been nothing wrong with continuing White’s usual play after 9.Nc3 a4 10.Ba2, but instead 9.c3 a4 10.Bc2 gave the position a more Italian-style flavour. The English IM played a bit too traditionally with the manoeuvre of the b1-knight to g3, when Black’s queenside space proved very important. Instead 11.d4 and a Be3/Nbd2 setup would have better justified White’s play.
Spanish, Zaitsev: 10.d4 Re8 11.a3!? [C92]
Finally we see Leya Garifullina’s story with the Zaitsev from Vrnjacka Banja. In this sideline, after 11...Bf6 12.Ba2:
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White aims to support d4-d5 with an immediate b3/c4 to maintain the pawn chain. Black’s choice of 12...Na5 therefore makes sense, but 13.Nbd2 c5 14.b4! sets Black serious practical problems and she never really came close to equalising in Garifullina, L - Khadem, S.
Four rounds later, Olga Badelka demonstrated the improvement with the most principled 12...exd4 13.cxd4 Nxe4 which can lead to crazy lines. The game ended in an almost-repetition but was scored a rare 0-0 result after the players agreed a draw before the move 30 requirement. A tough ending! Anyway, I include detailed analysis of this variation including a previous MVL-Firouzja clash, as Black should really look in this direction against 12.Ba2.
Until next month, Harry
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