Download PGN of October ’23 Nimzo and Benoni games
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Nimzo-Indian: 4 f3 Ba5 [E20]
4 f3 Ba5!?:
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What’s this madness? Well, the story is Black’s is waiting to meet e4 with ...d5. Believe it or not, ...Ba5 is the best waiting move on offer!
5 e4 d5 6 cxd5 exd5 7 e5 Nfd7 8 f4 c5:
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In effect, we’ve got the 4...0-0 5 e4 d5 line above, where Black has played ...Ba5 without being provoked by a2-a3. The question is whether White can use the tempo effectively elsewhere. See the notes to Keymer, V - Grischuk,A.
Nimzo-Indian, Saemisch [E28]
4 e3 0-0 5 a3 Bxc3+ 6 bxc3 c5 7 Ne2:
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The idea of developing the knight before the bishop has become popular of late, and we’ve already seen it against 6...d6 (for example, the world championship game Ding Liren-Nepomniachtchi,I/Astana 2023, where Ding played 9 Ra2!?). 7 Ne2 is equally viable against 6...c5, and Caruana tried it in a recent game. Black may transpose to 6...d6 lines with 7...d6, but Caruana’s opponent instead chose the rare 7...Qa5!?, a logical move with the idea of disrupting White’s development. See Caruana, F - Rodshtein, M for analysis.
Nimzo-Indian: 4 Qc2 d5 5 a3 Bxc3+ 6 Qxc3 0-0 7 Nf3 [E32]
4 Qc2 d5 5 a3 Bxc3+ 6 Qxc3 0-0 7 Nf3:
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7...dxc4 8 Qxc4 b6 is by far the most popular choice here, and it’s a key main line. In a recent game, however, Caruana demonstrated another way for Black to play: 7...b6 8 Bg5 Nbd7!?
Black could still transpose to the main line with 8...dxc4 9 Qxc4 but Caruana prefers to keep the tension. 9 cxd5 exd5 10 e3 c5! seems quite playable for Black - see the notes to Abdusattorov, N - Caruana, F.
Nimzo-Indian: 4 e3 c5 5 Nge2 [E42]
4 e3 c5 5 Nge2 d5 6 a3 Ba5!?:
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5...Ba5 has traditionally been Black’s least popular response to 6 a3, but it’s also the best scoring and it’s attracted some interest at high levels. 7 dxc5 dxc4 8 Bd2 0-0 9 Ng3 b6! worked out okay for Black in a recent game - see the notes to Grischuk, A - Nepomniachtchi, I.
Queen’s Indian: 4 g3 Bb7 5 Bg2 Bb4+ [E16]
4 g3 Bb7 5 Bg2 Bb4+ 6 Bd2 Bxd2+ 7 Qxd2 0-0 8 Nc3:
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Nakamura has played the 6...Bb4+ variation quite a few times recently. From the diagrammed position, the critical line is 8...Ne4 9 Qd3 Nxc3 10 Ng5!, but Nakamura clearly believes that this is playable for Black after 10...Ne4!, and has a nice win against Carlsen to show for it. See Carlsen, M - Nakamura, H for an update of this line.
Queen’s Indian: 4 g3 Ba6 5 Nbd2 [E15]
4 g3 Ba6 5 Nbd2 Be7 6 Bg2 d5 7 cxd5 exd5 8 0-0 0-0 9 Ne5:
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Black’s set-up with ...d5 against g3 isn’t everyone’s favourite, but this particular version is one of the more favourable that Black can achieve. The key point is that White’s knight on d2 is passively placed to meet Black’s eventual plan of ...c5, and so Black is usually pretty happy to accept the ...c5/...d5 hanging pawns safe in the knowledge that White won’t be able to apply as much pressure to them as usual.
9...Bb7 is a solid option here, whereas 9...c5, keeping the bishop on a6 and playing the key pawn break, looks like Black’s most aggressive option. Black looks okay here, although in the recent game Andreikin, D - Kovalenko, I, Black was forced to resign just 12 moves later!
Bogo-Indian: 4 Bd2 Qe7 [E11]
4 Bd2 Qe7 5 g3 Bxd2+ 6 Qxd2 Nc6 7 Nc3 d5 8 Bg2 dxc4!:
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Playing in this Catalan Accepted style is one of Black’s best options in the 4 Bd2 Bogo-Indian, and it’s noticeable that Pragg has recently played this a few times. After 9 0-0 0-0, the main line is 9 Ne5. Pragg’s opponents have preferred 10 e3 and 10 e4, but Pragg was successful on both occasions - see Radjabov, T - Praggnanandhaa, R for details.
Till next time, John
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