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Budapest Gambit 3...Ng4 4.Bf4 g5 5.Bg3 Bg7 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Nc3 Ngxe5 8.Nxe5 Nxe5 9.h4 [A52]
In Babula, V - Zwardon, V White maintained the advantage throughout the struggle which poses the question about the soundness of Black's opening approach.
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Although playing 4...g5 is the 'fun way' to conduct the Budapest after 4.Bf4, I just wonder if it's such a good idea after all, despite its popularity. Babula makes it look rather suspicious after 9.h4, a move which looks more challenging than the main line with 9.e3. An examination of the notes also indicates that there doesn't seem to be a route to equality from the diagram position.
Budapest Gambit 3...Ng4 4.Nf3 mainline 6.Nc3 Ngxe5 7.Nxe5 Nxe5 8.f4 [A52]
The following position occurred in Zubritskiy, A - Sviridov, V after Zubritskiy opted for 8.f4:
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The general strategy of playing f2-f4 involves White pushing back the centralized knight and seeking to take control of the centre and thus angle to dominate the struggle. The consequent weakness of the e3-pawn doesn't seem to play a big role in what follows and White scores highly. The engines seem to think that there is an objective edge after this, but it may not be evident for him to break through against the best defensive set-ups, for example after Sviridov's 11...f5!?.
In order to avoid the game continuation, a case could be made for playing 6...0-0 instead of 6...Ngxe5, and then even 7...Re8 before recuperating the pawn, but this seems to come down to a question of taste, as the possibility of f2-f4 persists even then.
Albin Counter Gambit, 5.a3 Morozevich's 5...Nge7, 6.b4 Ng6 7.Bb2 [D08]
The game Babula, V - Plat, V was of theoretical significance.
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In the past, 16...Rc8 hasn't fared well, and analysis suggests that improving the queen with 16...Qd7 or 16...Qc6 is simpler. However, not everyone employs the Albin with the idea of trading queens to equalize! Plat's play was more in the spirit of a gambit and he revived an old move (i.e. meeting 17.Qg3 with 17...h5!?), which seems well founded, especially as Black's subsequent resources seem to have been previously underestimated. In the game, just pushing the h-pawn in the direction of White's king generated adequate play.
Neo-Grünfeld 5...c6 6.cxd5 cxd5 7.Nc3 0-0 8.Ne5 Bf5 [D73]
The opening in Sutovsky, E - Motylev, A almost certainly caught Black by surprise:
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Here Sutovsky shows his desire for fighting chess with his choice of 9.h4, which happens to be a novelty in the diagram position, one that has already been reached 200 times or more. Objectively, this h-pawn thrust is no better than more restrained alternatives, but the psychological effect shouldn't be underestimated. Anyway, later the complications turned in White's favour despite the engine being unimpressed. Maybe it's one of those examples where you should turn the engine off and try to play the position out unassisted at home. Only then do you get to understand the 'practical' problem of facing novel problems.
Neo-Grünfeld 6...dxc4 7.Na3 c5 8.dxc5 c3 [D77]
The end of Grischuk, A - Nihal, S was marred by a lack of time, but that's going to happen from time-to-time in rapid play.
Early on, Grischuk employed a noteworthy novelty:
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This pawn advance was surprisingly absent from the database (the alternative 10.Nxc3 has been played 66 times). Nihal did well to navigate the resulting complications, as there were several key decisions to make, but White eventually gained a big advantage before the tables got turned late on. So this novelty has merit and could easily surprise some unsuspecting players (i.e. those who don't read this column!).
Neo-Grünfeld 6...dxc4 7.Na3 Nc6 8.Nxc4 Be6 [D77]
The game Firat, B - Pultinevicius, P illustrates a number of typical ideas for both sides.
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Here 12.Qc1 was new, making room for the rook without placing the queen on a particularly exposed square. Later, it was noticeable how Black generated counterplay on the queenside with a dynamic rook manoeuvre, but meantime White had regrouped in the centre and created some tricky threats. I don't have any strong opinions on the middlegame in this game except to say that it offered chances for both sides.
Neo-Grünfeld 6.0-0 c6 7.a4 [D78]
In Wagner, D - Donchenko, A White was able to squeeze out an endgame win.
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A notable move in the opening phase was 9.a5! gaining space and influence on the queenside, with the cramping effect of this pawn being felt throughout the encounter. A little later, the attempted 'break-out' with 10...c5 was only partially successful as White retained pressure, so perhaps 10...Qd6 followed by ...Qb4 would have been better.
If White hopes for extra space with 7.a4, then the most evident reaction would be 7...a5 which I think is OK, albeit quite cautious. Of course, it's tempting to capture on c4, as in the game, and at various other moments in the opening phase. This is quite an ambitious approach, but arguably White's seventh move (which restrains any ...b7-b5 ideas), then becomes rather useful.
Neo-Grünfeld 6.0-0 c6 7.Qa4 [D78]
A well played win for Black in Gelfand, B - Aronian, L involved Gelfand rather over-optimistically giving away his d-pawn.
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Here the most sensible would be 12.b3 just 'keeping the ball in the court'. Instead, 12.Qc2 allowed Black to grab the pawn and run away to safety. Despite Black then being somewhat cramped, he had no weaknesses that were exploitable so he gradually neutralized White's play and then set about exploiting his extra pawn.
The ever active Levon Aronian has of course played many things over the years, but I wonder if he remembered that he had a few problems against Carlsen more than a decade ago in this line. Anyway 8...Nbd7 seems to be a clear improvement on his earlier attempt 8...Be6.
Neo-Grünfeld 6.0-0 c6 7.Nc3 [D78]
Gajewski, G - Piorun, K was a tough fight where Black missed a win towards the end. In the latter part of the opening the following position arose:
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Here the pawn grab 13.Bxe7 was quite daring, but despite White sharpening the struggle in this manner, it seems that Black had adequate play in return.
In an earlier encounter, White opted for 13.Rfe1 and managed to keep a small edge, but in the notes you'll see that Black was probably fully OK. So, one conclusion from this game would be that meeting 7.Nc3 with 7...Ne4 8.Qb3 dxc4 9.Qxc4 Bf5 seems adequate, and perhaps could be considered as a less risky alternative to the pawn-grabbing 7...dxc4.
Neo-Grünfeld 6.0-0 c6 7.Qb3 [D78]
There was recently a match (between Abdusattorov and Vachier-Lagrave) in which three of their encounters reached the diagram position i.e. following the sequence 7.Qb3 a5 8.Rd1 a4 9.Qb4:
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MVL tried three different approaches with Black: 9...b5, 9...Re8 and, in the featured game, 9...Nbd7. The former is the most dynamic, but perhaps the least trustworthy if playing against a well-prepared opponent. Otherwise, MVL achieved a satisfactory game each time, but sadly went astray and lost all three encounters. Anyway, in the notes to Abdusattorov, N - Vachier-Lagrave, M you can see the details and some other tries, but I don't see any real problems. The fact that the a-pawn has advanced as far as a4 enables Black to make use of the a5-square, so I would be happy to recommend the main game continuation to readers (noting 11...Qa5).
Till next month, Glenn Flear
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