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Hello everyone,
The highlights of this last month were the Sinquefield Cup in Saint Louis and the last leg of the Grand Prix, so in the current update we will consider some interesting opening ideas and games from these two tournaments. Curiously, though, most of the Grand Prix rounds will be presented within just one game.
Tony Kosten has just made a Two Knights repertoire game, which is also included below.

Download PGN of October '13 1 e4 e5 games

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Spanish - Open Spanish Old Mainline [C83]

In the game Dominguez, L - Nakamura, H, FIDE GP Paris 2013, the players followed a correspondence game for the first 23 moves before reaching the following diagram position:

Here a draw was agreed in the game Kastner,P (2391)-Lyne,C (2208)/ICCF 2005. Instead Dominguez continued with 24.Ne5, but Black easily equalised. The line chosen in this game promises Black easy equality, although some accuracy is required at the stage where he is finishing his development. Meanwhile, the ball remains in White's court.


Anti-Marshall 8.a4 b4 [C88]

The game Caruana, F - Fressinet, L, FIDE GP Paris 2013, saw the 8.a4 Anti-Marshall system, which is popular these days.

Black has chosen the 10...Nxe5 line, and he then introduced a novelty in the diagram position with 13...Qe7. Nevertheless, White obtained a slight edge from the opening and converted it into a full point. A well-played game by Caruana, who outplayed his opponent in good positional style. Right now 10...dxe5 looks like a safer alternative, unless Black finds an improvement in this 10...Nxe5 line.


Spanish with 5.d3 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 [C78]

A rare transposition occurred in the game Dominguez, L - Giri, A, FIDE GP Paris 2013. It all started as the Archangel Variation, then White played the rare 7.Nc3 and eventually a line from the 5.d3 Spanish appeared on the board.

Here Black introduced an interesting novelty, 12...Nxd5 instead of the 12...Nxe4 which I offered in my book on the Open Spanish. However, later he went astray with 21...Nb6 and eventually lost - a great technical win from the top Cuban player! Black's 12...Nxd5 deserves attention and further practical tests.


Spanish 5.d3 d6 [C77]

Another 5.d3 system occurred in the game Ivanchuk, V - Nakamura, H, FIDE GP Paris 2013.

In the diagram position Nakamura introduced the novelty 13...c5, but was under some pressure throughout the game. Despite Hikaru's win I would recommend Black deviating beforehand with 12...b4.


Exchange Spanish 5...f6 6.d4 Bg4 [C69]

The game Kamsky, G - Carlsen, M, Sinquefield Cup 2013, featured a solid line of the Exhange Spanish.

In the diagram position Carlsen played the important move 14...Ng4!, which was earlier seen in the game Comp Fritz 4-Beliavsky,A (2620) Bled 1996. Two moves later the world number one introduced the logical novelty 16...Rae8! and seized the initiative. An important game for the theory of this line, and I doubt White is going to repeat it. Maybe he should look for an advantage in the 9.Nbd2 line.


Berlin Wall 9...Ke8 [C67]

Dominguez, L - Bacrot, E, FIDE GP Paris 2013, saw the topical 9...Ke8 line of the Berlin Wall. The players followed the recent games Caruana, F - Karjakin, S and Karjakin, S - Grischuk, A for the first 17 moves before they reached the diagram position below:

Here Dominguez introduced the novelty 18.Re3, but already his next move, 19.Rg3, was wrong as White's novelty only makes sense if it's combined with 19.g5. Overall a typical Berlin endgame, where one inaccuracy may place the advantage into your opponent's hands. The line requires further practical tests.


Berlin 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 [C65]

In Nakamura, H - Fressinet, L, FIDE GP Paris 2013, the top American player decided to try to outplay his opponent in the slow line of the Berlin with 4.d3.

Here the Frenchman introduced a logical novelty, 8...f6, and held the position without any visible problems. The entire line wih 5.Bxc6 leads to slightly more pleasant positions for White due to the better pawn structure, but Black has a big margin of safety, as the current game confirmed.



Scotch with 4...Nf6, Mieses Variation [C45]

In the game Caruana, F - Bacrot, E, FIDE GP Paris 2013, the players fought in one of the most important lines of the 4...Nf6 Scotch with 14.Qf3.

This position after Black's 16...Rad8 occured in an old game, Ljubojevic,L (2590)-Spassky,B (2640) Montreal 1979, which was soon drawn. Here Caruana introduced the new move 17.Rac1, but Black was up to the task and held the draw. An important game for the theory, but the dividing line between equality and White's edge is very thin and so we'll definitely see more practical tests of this complicated line.



Two Knights 4.Ng5, Mainline with 10.Ne5 Bc5 [C59]

Tony Kosten writes: "I saw a post on the Forum about the Two Knights Mainline after 10.Ne5 Bc5 and decided I would have an in-depth look at from the Black viewpoint:

I think it is pretty good for Black, see Two Knights Mainline 10 Ne5 - Black repertoire with 10...Bc5.


Enjoy!

See you next month, Victor.

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Please post your Kingpawn Opening queries on the 1 e4 e5 Forum, or subscribers can write to Victor@ChessPublishing.com if you have any questions.