What's New- December 2001
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GM John Emms rounds up the latest in these Nimzo and Benoni Systems. |
Hi everyone!
If you want to see if there is anything new in one of your favourite lines, then go to ChessPub.exe, put the date on, say, 15th December 2001, and then click on 'Nimzo and Benoni', over on the right. All these games should appear!
Nimzo Indian: Leningrad Variation
Doug Schwetke, of Arlington, Texas writes:
I play the Leningrad as White, basically because I continue to get good positions against better players. I am interested in the positions where White sacs the d5 pawn. Could you discuss the methods of play in these variations?
The main d5-pawn-grab line in the Leningrad runs 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 Bg5 c5 5 d5 d6 6 e3 exd5 7 cxd5 Nbd7 8 Bd3 Qa5 9 Nge2 Nxd5 10 0-0!
            
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A crucial position has arisen. White has given up one pawn and another is on offer. In return, White is ahead in development, Black has yet to castle and White has the bishop pair in an open position. No real evaluation has been made of this position and there hasn't been too much practical experience at the highest level. My hunch is that most GMs would rather not play this position as Black. If White avoids the early silly tricks on his bishops then he has good chances to mount a serious initiative. See the summary I've given of this line.
Nimzo-Indian Sämisch Variation
An interesting new development in the absolute main line of the Sämisch. The game Milov-Polgar, FIDE World Ch., Moscow 2001, DEC01/03, starts 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 e3 0-0 5 a3 Bxc3+ 6 bxc3 c5 7 Bd3 Nc6 8 Ne2 b6 9 e4 Ne8 10 0-0 Ba6 11 f4 f5
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and here Milov chooses 12 d5!?. This is a relatively fresh idea. White offers a pawn and plans to close the position as well! At first this doesn't look like a good deal, but in fact it transpires that Black will be struggling for space.
Nimzo-Indian/Queen's Indian Hybrid
This line continues to produce extremely sharp chess. In the game Disconzi da Silva-Leitao, Sao Paolo 2001, DEC01/02, Black grabs a hot pawn with 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 b6 4 Nc3 Bb4 5 Qb3 c5 6 a3 Ba5 7 Bg5 h6 8 Bh4 g5 9 Bg3 g4. The d4-pawn hangs and White is forced to enter massive complications.
Queen's Indian 4 Bf4
In Nikolic-Lautier, FIDE World Ch., Moscow 2001, DEC01/04, White chooses a rare line once favoured by the late Tony Miles. The game starts 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 e6 3 c4 b6 4 Bf4 Bb7 5 e3 Be7 6 h3 c5
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and now Nikolic tries the dubious pawn sacrifice 7 d5?, which is convincingly refuted by Lautier.
Queen's Indian 4 a3
One of the main lines of the 4 a3 Queen's Indian runs 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 b6 4 a3 Bb7 5 Nc3 d5 6 Bg5 Be7 7 Qa4+ Qd7 8 Qxd7+ Nbxd7 9 Nb5
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Until now Black has been relying on either 9...Kd8 or the pawn offer 9...0-0. In Bacrot-Gelfand, Leon 2001, DEC01/07, the Israeli GM plays 9...Bd8, which looks like a perfectly reasonable continuation.
Modern Benoni: Modern Classical Variation
Akobian-Langer, Los Angeles 2001, DEC01/05, witnessed another battle in the line 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 c5 3 d5 e6 4 Nc3 exd5 5 cxd5 d6 6 e4 g6 7 h3 Bg7 8 Nf3 0-0 9 Bd3 Nh5!?
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(as recommended by John Watson in his book "The Gambit Guide to the Modern Benoni"). However, White's play in this game looks very convincing and the ball may well be back in Black's court here.
Weird Benonis
In the game Bocharov-Grachev, Novosibirsk 2001, DEC01/06, we pay another visit to the trendy line 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 c5 3 d5 b5 4 Bg5 Ne4 5 Bh4 Bb7 6 Qd3 f5, where a new idea at move thirteen causes Black a few headaches.
Remember, if you have any questions or remarks on the Benoni, Weird Benonis, Nimzo Indian, Queen's Indian or Bogo-Indian, I'd be glad to hear from you.
Please e-mail John at