Jan '00 Update
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The new millennium dawns with a delayed update. Sorry. The site is beginning to get reviews, and we got a nice one from guru John Watson at TWIC. Though this particular section got an overall vote of confidence, the verdict was mixed. I have to say that I agree that there are plenty of things that can be improved around here, and hope that with the rare and magic ingredient of time, DD can inspire as much confidence as a motley crew of weird openings possibly can.
This month's selection offers a few heavyweight games and many that raise pertinent theoretical questions. I have opted to spend a little extra time looking at the best of them.
English Defence (JT)
The English Defence continues to be popular, and there are always some big names wheeling it out. Perversely, I have not annotated the games featuring the biggest guns. Sokolov - Speelman looked very much like a normal kind of Queen's/Nimzo Indian, and never really strayed into the kind of territory that usually sets the opening apart from its more respectable relations.
Zviagintsev tried a kind of double fianchetto approach in DD250, but this turned into a rather ugly relation of the King's Indian, with a familiar type of positional pawn sacrifice by black that didn't look terribly confidence inspiring.
The centrepiece of this month's English adventures is the long awaited idea by black in the ultra-sharp line popularised in Beliavsky-Short. The activity in this variation in recent months has shown a reluctance by white to touch this line, even though it has tended to win material and games. To be honest, I can hardly be sure that Shabalov's concept in DD243 is what had scared white player's off, as I doubt that very many Earthlings could anticipate Shabba's idea. And if they did, they would probably shake their heads in pain and forget about it. In any case, if you want to keep yourself entertained for a few weeks trying to puzzle out what is going on in a random position, sit yourself down next to the record of the damage wrought by Hurricane Shabba and see if you can figure out what was going on.
Wang
Lei-Breier deserves a serious look as White unleashes a very determined
attempt to retire a variation that has been surprising popular of late. Rogozenko - Bunzmann
is another warning poster for prospective Black advocates of this variation.
Personally, I am not too impressed by the Bunzmann variation, and there are
safer alternatives.
Moskalenko - Rahal
revives a rare line for white. Though it does not look fearsome, white has achieved
some interesting positions with it, and it deserves a look from shoppers who
might consider signing up on either side of the position.
There are also an assortment of what I like to call footnote games, the ones that tend to get tucked away in the corners of opening books under the category of "What if" and "Inferior is"- leaky ideas that get the kind of treatment they deserve, and then get filed away:
Benko (JT)
Turning to the respectable side of our collection, in regard to the Benko Gambit, all I have to say is: The crystal ball works! Either that, or there are people who read this site before going out to do battle. Not only did the critical games reflect the continuing emphasis here on the g3 and early Rb1 line I have raved about with monotonous regularity, the weird sideline I offered as a testing ground got a real work-out.
Dutchman van der Weide put the relatively untested 11…Bc8!? to the test (see DD247), and unlike the stem game examined last time where White handed Black immediate compensation, v.d.W. was forced to show some concepts. This occurred in the first of the pair, where Breier played the critical 12.Nh4. Black's idea of creating tactical pressure on the centre pawns while having some kingside storming options on the side led to a tense duel that was eventually drawn.
Kasimdzhanov came armed with an improvement for the second showing (see DD253), and did a good job of making Black's somewhat artificial idea look … very artificial. Unless Black can justify his weird kingside configuration somehow, perhaps by finding a way to play …f5 fast, the whole thing looks a little implausible.
Black's more conventional ideas against this line did not make a big impression.
Regular Benko defender Salmensuu preferred the old line with …Bb7 (see
DD255),
which has the advantage of forcing the knight to h4 as well. Though this is
an inconvenience for White, Black has yet to find a lot to do with himself in
the meantime. Getting out the crystal ball once again, I think we may see a
return to more well-ploughed theoretical lines, with Black looking for an improvement
very late in one of those games.
In other lines, Mr. Salmensuu showed that he is well prepared by an extremely
efficient defusing of a relatively old-fashioned line. In DD244
Gyimesi tried out a new 20th move that was rumoured to offer some chances for
an advantage but was professionally disarmed.
On the subject of Salmensuu, perhaps attention should be shifting to the way Nenashev took him apart in DD254. Nenashev opted for an obscure line, came up with a very natural improvement, and Salmensuu had not a word of explanation as to what he thought he was getting for the pawn he donated on move three.
Other Games:
Budapest (JT)
The Budapest had a full-blooded heavyweight encounter, with Lautier and Illescas trading punches in a fascinating game. Though white came out on top, I advise you to look past the result. While exciting and finally successful, White's provocative idea of king shelter in this game will probably not be winning a lot of converts, but as a specimen of fighting chess, it is a game to savour.
The other proper Budapests were interesting, especially the manic DD257, where an incredibly brutal attempt to blow Black off the board met with an inspired bit of active table-turning - a very entertaining game.
What is amazing to me is the successful use of the Fajarowicz (3…Ne4). This may be Daring Defences, but I'm afraid I draw the line between daring and Russian Roulette somewhere this side of the Fajarowicz. But surprise has its rewards, and the strong Turkish theoretician Atalik wanders into a dangerous line and is pleased to sign a peace treaty, see DD248. In the references to this game you will find a more typical example from recent weeks, where white uses the extra pawn to nail his opponent's coffin shut.
Zapata seems to be playing this thing regularly as black, so perhaps I am being harsh, but if that game is what happens to the world's currently leading practitioner, I will need some convincing.
Other Games:
Blumenfeld (JT)
The Blumenfeld continues to appear only sporadically, and while this month's outing doesn't inspire confidence, it does feature an unusual plan for white, and one which I felt was terribly underrated in my days as a gambiteer. In order not to scare off a clearly dwindling number of possible devotees of this "defence", in DD261 I have given a bit of extra attention to the nuances of the opening, and even revealed something which I used to consider a bit of a trade secret while playing this opening. No guarantees that it will float, but I think that the suggestions give black something to aim for.
Old Indian (JT)
The Old Indian has sunk in the popularity stakes, and in its classical form I could only spot one thematic game. Since in Lomineishvili - Aronian the much higher rated defender was happy to repeat the position, the earlier verdict that this counter-punching system has most to offer the lower-rated player, or the patient specialist, looks to be holding true.