Download PGN of October ’25 Daring Defences games
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The English Defence: 3 e4 Bb7 4 Bd3 f5 5 exf5 Bxg2 [A40]
The World Cup has, as ever, been full of excitement and has had many dramatic mini-matches, including Wojtasek-Fedoseev. I somehow doubt I was the only one who was surprised by the Slovenian no.1’s choice of gamble in a must-win encounter: 1 d4 e6 2 c4 b6 3 e4 Bb7 4 Bd3 f5? 5 exf5 Bxg2?. Those question marks are warranted from an objective perspective, but Fedoseev’s main point only became clear after 6 Qh5+ g6 7 fxg6 Bg7 8 gxh7+ Kf8 9 Bg5 Nf6 10 Qh4 Bxh1 11 Ne2! Nc6!:
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What should White do here? Full marks if you said 12 Nd2!; nothing for anything else, including the 12 Nc3? of Wojtaszek, R - Fedoseev, V, when White was no longer better, then worse and then won in 20 moves!
The English Defence: 3 e4 Bb7 4 Bd3 Bb4+ [A40]
Simon quite likes to meet 1 d4 e6 2 c4 b6 3 e4 Bb7 4 Bd3 with 4...Nc6. Another decent option for Black is 4...Bb4+ 5 Bd2 (5 Kf1!? may be more critical) 5...Bxd2+ 6 Qxd2 f5!:
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After the calm 7 Nc3 White may retain an edge, but Black should be active enough and even went on to triumph in the hard-fought struggle that was Yuffa, D - Sanal, V.
The Budapest: 4 e3 Nxe5 5 f4 [A52]
A modern line after 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e5 3 dxe5 Ng4 is 4 e3 Nxe5 5 f4!? when 5...Nec6 6 Nf3 d6 7 Nc3 g6 feels like the right set-up for Black:
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Perhaps he’s not quite equal after 8 e4!?, but it’s a perfectly playable position and a Spanish GM went on to win in just 16 moves after 8 Bd2 Bg7 9 Qc2?! 0-0 in Lechowski, W - Alonso Rosell, A.
The Budapest: 4 Bf4 g5 5 Bg3 Bg7 6 Nf3 Nc6 7 h4 [A52]
While I can see the practical appeal of 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e5 3 dxe5 Ng4 4 Bf4 g5?!, the line just isn’t sound if you ask me. One definite problem is 5 Bg3 Bg7 6 Nf3 Nc6 7 h4! Ngxe5 8 Nxe5 Nxe5 when 9 Nc3 may be best and just quite good for White, unlike 9 Nd2?! Qe7:
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This threatens a classic Budapest mate. Black went on to be outplayed then get rather lucky in Agibileg, U - Silvestre, C.
The Budapest: 4 Bf4 Nc6 5 Nf3 Bb4+ 6 Nbd2 [A52]
Returning to 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e5 3 dxe5 Ng4 and two older but still rather important lines are considered in Danhazi, A - Plat, V. Firstly, 4 Nf3 Bc5 5 e3 Nc6 6 Be2 0-0 7 0-0 Re8 8 Nc3 Ngxe5 9 Nxe5 Nxe5 10 b3 a5 11 Bb2 Ra6, which was the standard Budapest rook lift and quickly left Alonso Rosell in trouble as White against Sam Sevian, before he would switch sides. Secondly, 4...Nc6 5 Nf3 Bb4+ 6 Nbd2 Qe7 7 e3 Ngxe5 8 Nxe5 Nxe5 9 Be2 0-0 10 0-0, which reached another important tabiya in the feature game:
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Here the engines don’t mind the solid 10...d6, but the more creative 10...Ng6!? 11 Bg3 Bd6 was preferred by Czech GM Vojtech Plat.
The Grünfeld: 4 Bf4 Bg7 5 e3 c5 6 dxc5 Qa5 7 Rc1 0-0 [D82]
A suddenly fashionable way of countering 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 d5 4 Bf4 has been 4...Bg7 5 e3 c5 (or 5...0-0 6 Rc1 c5 7 dxc5 Qa5!?, with a transposition) 6 dxc5 Qa5 7 Rc1 0-0!? when 8 cxd5 Nbd7! is an important new idea for ChessPub:
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This dynamic defence is engine-endorsed and 9 f3 Nxc5 10 e4 b5! gave Black sufficient counterplay and compensation in Wojtaszek, R - Lagarde, M, which soon ended in an unusual form of perpetual check.
The Exchange Grünfeld: 7 Bc4 c5 8 Ne2 0-0 9 0-0 Nc6 10 Be3 b6 [D87]
A very important main line after 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 d5 is 4 cxd5 Nxd5 5 e4 Nxc3 6 bxc3 Bg7 7 Bc4 c5 8 Ne2 0-0 9 0-0 Nc6 10 Be3 b6 when 11 Rc1 Bb7 12 Qd2 e6 is a key variation. Here 13 Rfd1 Rc8 14 Bb5!? was a new move for the site in Bluebaum, M - Donchenko, A:
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The resulting positions appear easier for White to play, but a well-prepared player and good calculator should be fine as Black. We’re very much in ‘0.00’ territory and, indeed, this all-German encounter eventually burnt out to a draw.
No doubt there will be more bold early ideas and also key theory to consider again next month!
Richard
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