Download PGN of August ’22 Flank Openings games
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Réti Opening, Capablanca’s System 6 c4 [A07]
In the Réti opening, following 1 Nf3 d5 2 g3 Bg4 3 Bg2 e6 4 h3 Bh5 5 0-0 Nf6, we looked last month at the sharp idea 6 d4 Nbd7 7 c4 c6 8 cxd5 exd5 9 Ne5 in Nepomniachtchi-Duda. In this month’s game Eljanov, P - Bluebaum, M, White instead went for queenside play with 6 c4 c6 7 Qb3, forcing Black to decide how to defend the b7-pawn:
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After 7...Qb6 8 d3 Be7 9 Be3 Qxb3 10 axb3 Bxf3 11 Bxf3, White aimed for a positional squeeze, hoping to exploit the bishop pair in the long term. Out of the opening, Black was rather passively placed, but trying to open the position only helped White’s bishops. Eljanov went on to win the resulting endgame.
Réti Opening, Capablanca’s System 4 Ne5 Bf5 [A11]
Jobava, B - Bachmann, A was another Réti, which reached the diagram position after 1 Nf3 d5 2 c4 c6 3 g3 Bg4 4 Ne5 Bf5 (Black's other main move is 4...Be6) 5 cxd5 Qxd5:
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Here White’s h1-rook is attacked, and earlier games had continued with the natural 6 Nf3 or 6 Qb3 (counter-attacking via the b7-square). Instead Jobava came up with the inspired novelty 6 d4! spotting the danger for Black in grabbing the h1-rook, either immediately or after trading minor pieces with 6...Bxb1. In response, Black played it safe with 6...e6 7 Qb3 Qxb3 8 axb3, but was then tempted to go after the hanging b3-pawn with 8...Bc2. The evaluation wasn’t entirely clear, but White gradually outplayed his opponent and generated active chances which he converted into a full point.
Réti Opening, Anti-Slav Gambit 8 Ne5 [A11]
A key tabiya in the anti-Slav gambit occurs after 1 c4 c6 2 Nf3 d5 3 g3 Nf6 4 Bg2 dxc4 5 0-0 Nbd7 6 Qc2 Nb6 7 Na3 Be6, when White has two major directions, one being 8 Ng5, and the other being 8 Ne5 which was featured in Aronian, L - Mchedlishvili, M. Now Black played the fashionable 8...h5, and the following position was reached after 9 Naxc4 Nxc4 10 Nxc4 h4 11 Ne5 hxg3 12 hxg3:
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In a Ding Liren-Dubov game from a couple of years ago, Black went for the direct attack with 12...Qc8 13 Rd1 Bh3 (see the June 2020 Update), but this should objectively favour White. Instead 12...Qd4 appears to Black's soundest choice, and after 13 Qc3 Rd8 14 Qxd4 Rxd4 15 d3 Black is close to equality. Nevertheless, the position proved a little easier to play for White and in the game Black started to come under some pressure.
Réti Opening 1 Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 b3 d5 4 Bb2 c5 [A13]
After the opening moves 1 Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 b3 d5 4 Bb2, the move 4...c5 is the most principled reply to White's queenside fianchetto. Following 5 e3 Nc6 6 cxd5 exd5 White would like to play 7 d4, but then 7...cxd4 8 Nxd4 Bb4+ would disrupt White's coordination. In Keymer, V - Niemann, H, White therefore chose 7 Be2:
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Here Black continued with the critical move 7...d4!, seizing central space and asking White to justify his cramped configuration. After 8 exd4 Nxd4 9 0-0 Be7 10 Nxd4 cxd4 11 Na3 0-0 chances were roughly balanced. Black's d-pawn is potentially exposed, but Black's space advantage and smooth development means that he should not face major problems. Indeed White later drifted into an inferior endgame and had to fight for the draw.
King’s English, 1 c4 e5 2 Nf3 e4 [A20]
The line 1 c4 e5 2 Nf3 was popularized by GM Rakhmanov, and has now been picked up by several other top players, as illustrated by Mamedyarov, S - Quesada Perez, Y.
Following 2...e4 3 Nd4 Nc6 4 e3 Nf6 5 Nc3, we looked at 5...Ne5 in the January 2022 Update, while this month’s game featured 5...Bb4 6 Qb3:
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Here Black chose the slightly uncommon 6...Bc5 and the game continued 7 Nde2 0-0 8 Ng3 Re8 9 d3 exd3 10 Bxd3. Now if White can complete development without allowing any major simplifications, he will enjoy a slightly better pawn structure, so Black needs to react with active measures. Here 10...Ne5 appears to fit the bill, while after 10...Ng4 11 Be2 d6 12 Bd2 Bb6 13 Nd5, White picked up the bishop pair and maintained a space advantage, gradually increasing his edge from there.
King’s English, 1 c4 e5 2 Nc3 d6 3 d4 [A21]
Le, Q - Naiditsch, A opened with 1 c4 e5 2 Nc3 d6 3 d4 exd4 4 Qxd4 Nc6 5 Qd2 Nf6, and here White chose 6 Nf3 a5 7 e3, which looks modest but worked out well in this game.
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From the diagram position, 8...a4 was a new move, offering a pawn to try and blow the position open. Following 9 Nxa4 d5 10 c5 Ne4 11 Qb2 Rg8, Black insisted that the f8-bishop will occupy the long diagonal! A complex game ensued, but Black’s setup proved to be harder to maintain, and White prevailed.
King’s English, 1 c4 e5 2 Nc3 d6 3 Nf3 f5 [A21]
In Boruchovsky, A - Caruana, F, White varied from the previous game on move 3, with 1 c4 e5 2 Nc3 d6 3 Nf3. Black responded with 3...f5, going for a kind of reversed Grand Prix Attack setup.
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From the diagram, instead of the conventional 5 Bg2, White uncorked the new, and unusual idea 5 Bh3. Caruana came up with a good response for Black, however, since 5...c5 prevented White from striking with d2-d4. Later on, following 9...f4, the light-squared bishops were traded. but this helped Black much more than White. After castling short, White's king came under a strong attack.
Symmetrical English, Reversed KID vs. Botvinnik setup [A37]
In Lagarde, M - L’Ami, E, Black adopted the popular Botvinnik setup with 1 c4 c5 2 Nc3 Nc6 3 Nf3 e5 4 g3 g6 5 Bg2 Bg7. After 6 a3, the move 6...a5 is commonly played to clamp down on the b2-b4 break, but in this game, Black chose 6....Nge7 after which White continued in Benko gambit style with 7 b4:
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Accepting the gambit with 7...cxb4 8 axb4 Nxb4 9 Ba3 gives White a good game, and so more effective is 7...d5!, going for central counterplay. Now 8 b5 was a new move, and both players had a number of dynamic resources in the resulting position. Black should be fine with accurate play, but in the game White won a pawn in the ensuing complications.
I hope you enjoy this Update!
Until next month, David.
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