What's New (May 2004 update)
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Hi Everyone! This month we take a look at games in the Nimzo Indian, Modern Benoni and Queen's Indian from tournaments that have taken place in the past month.Remember, if you have any opinions, ideas or questions, please either make yourself heard at the Forum (the link above on the right) or subscribers can email me at JohnEmms@ChessPublishing.com.
To download the May '04 Nimzo and Benoni games directly in PGN form, click here: 
Nimzo Indian Classical Variation (4 Qc2)
We'll begin this month with a look at the theoretically important game Atalik - Short, Sarajevo 2004, which begins 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 Qc2 d5 5 cxd5 exd5 6 Bg5 h6 7 Bh4 c5 8 dxc5 g5 9 Bg3 Ne4 10 e3 Qa5 11 Nge2 Bf5 12 Be5 0-0 13 Nd4
            
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This is one of the sharpest positions in the Nimzo. So far on this website we've looked at the critical move 13...Nxc3!? (see S.Ivanov-T.Hansen, Stockholm 2004 in ChessPub - ECO code E35), while 13...Bg6? was Short's choice in his 1993 match with Kasparov, but after 14 Nb3 Nxc3 15 Bxc3! Bxc2 16 Nxa5 Bxc3+ 17 bxc3 Kasparov was just a clear pawn up in the endgame. Here Short plays the very interesting move 13...Re8!?. Actually, this is not totally new, but still very fresh. In fact I believe Kasparov mentioned this move as a possibility back in 1993, but it's only now, eleven years later, that it's coming into the limelight.
Next up we delve into another very sharp line. Popov - Romanov, St Petersburg 2004 begins 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 Qc2 d5 5 a3 Bxc3+ 6 Qxc3 Ne4 7 Qc2 c5 8 dxc5 Nc6 9 cxd5 exd5 10 Nf3 11 b4 0-0 12 Qb2 d4
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Here White played 13 g3?, which was the beginning of his problems. At first sight this seems like the natural way to complete development on the kingside, but White simply does not have enough time for this luxury.
13 b5!? is absolutely critical - see Belov - Lautier, Moscow 2004 in ChessPub (ECO code e37).
Finally in the Classical Nimzo we have the game Huang Qian-Kosintseva, Women's World Championship, Elista 2004: 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 Qc2 0-0 5 Bg5 b6 6 a3 Bxc3+ 7 Qxc3 Ba6 (Rozentalis' move) 8 Qc2 d6 9 e3 Nbd7 10 Bd3 h6 11 Bh4 c5 12 Ne2 cxd4 13 exd4 Rc8
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Pressuring the c4-pawn. Now Black plans ... d6-d5, ...b6-b5 or even ...Bxc4! followed by ...b6-b5 or ...d6-d5. White played 14 Qa4, a good move, but falls for a rather basic tactic two moves later.
Nimzo Indian Rubinstein Variation (4 e3)
Next up it's the continually popular line 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 e3 0-0 5 Bd3 d5 6 Nf3 c5 7 0-0 dxc4 8 Bxc4 cxd4 9 exd4. Now Lugovoi - Dreev, Russian Championship, Sochi 2004, continued 9...a6!? (more ambitious than the popular 9...b6) 10 a3!? Bxc3 11 bxc3 b5 (for 11...Qc7!? see the game Speelman-Bauer, Leon 2001 in ChessPub - ECO code E54) 12 Bd3!
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(in this position the bishop is better placed on d3 than b3 as it helps to put pressure on Black's b5-pawn after the inevitable a3-a4) and now Dreev played a new move in 12...Nc6!? (previously the natural-looking 12...Bb7 has been the main move here). I suspect that White should somehow be a bit better in this line, but Dreev plays accurately and just about equalises.
Modern Benoni: Old Main Line
Bayram - Mastrovasilis, European Championship, Antalya 2004 began with the moves 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 c5 4 d5 d6 5 Nc3 exd5 6 cxd5 g6 7 Bf4 a6 8 a4 Bg7 9 e4 Bg4 10 Be2 Bxf3 11 Bxf3 0-0 12 0-0 Qe7
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We've reached a fairly normal Benoni position that has appeared quite a few times over the years. The general consensus is that this is one of Black's happier variations in the Benoni and the statistics back this up (according to The Week in Chess database, Black has scored a very healthy 60% from this position). By exchanging his problem c8-bishop for a knight, he now has more space in which to move his remaining pieces. Objectively the position may well still be a little better for White, but importantly Black's position seems quite easy to play, something that is very apparent in this game.
Baburin - Palliser, Four Nations Chess League 2003/4 goes 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 c5 3 d5 e6 4 c4 d6 5 Nc3 exd5 6 cxd5 g6 7 Nd2 (the Knight's Tour Variation) 7...Bg7 8 Nc4 0-0 9 g3!?
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This is a fairly rare move (the main moves for White here are the consistent 9 Bf4 and also 9 Bg5), but it cannot be taken lightly. The main idea of 9 g3 is to try and transpose to a favourable version of the Fianchetto Variation, without allowing Black the option of opposing knights with ... Nd7-e5/b6.
Queen's Indian 4 g3
Finally this month we have Van Wely-Babula, Bundesliga 2003/04, a very powerfully played game by the Dutch GM. The game begins 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 b6 4 g3 Ba6 5 b3 Bb4+ 6 Bd2 Be7 7 Nc3 c6 (7...0-0 is the main alternative) 8 e4 d5 9 e5 Ne4 10 Bd3 Nxc3 11 Bxc3 c5 12 dxc5 Bxc5 (perhaps 12...bxc5 is stronger) 13 0-0 Bb7 14 Qe2 when in my opinion White already has a very pleasant position.
Until next time,
John Emms