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After nearly ten years in charge of this section David Cummings has decided to take a break. We'd all like to thank him for his excellent and insightful work over the years, and hope that he will soon return.
On a personal level I was actually quite happy to come back again as I need to start preparing for the World Senior Team Championships, in Prague in February, and there is nothing like having to write this column to make you concentrate on chess openings!
So, these first two months are likely to concern variations that dovetail with my own repertoire in one way or another, and this month, in particular, I have had a good look at some Reversed Benoni positions that bothered me - if White can't put his extra one or two moves to good use then he might quickly find himself positionally worse.

Download PGN of January ’25 Flank Openings games

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Réti Neo-Catalan, 4...dxc4 5 Qa4+ Bd7 [A13]

5...Bd7 6 Qxc4 c5 7 Ne5 Qc8 is a solid line and I've been toying with the idea of using it myself as Black in certain situations. Black gives up the bishop pair, but in return gets a little more space and simple development. The following diagram shows the key position:

Here, in Gelfand, B - Lu Shanglei Black played the unusual 14...Nd4!? and went on to win rather easily, but Boris clearly had an off-day. Still, this idea is definitely worth repeating.


Reversed Benoni 4 Nf3 d4 5 0-0 Nc6 6 d3 Bc5 [A13]

There is something appealing about the line 7 Nbd2 0-0 8 Nb3 Be7 9 e3 dxe3 10 Bxe3 as White liquidates the strong d4 pawn immediately and can then play d3-d4 himself, gaining control of the centre.

In the critical diagram position above White played the novelty 13 Ne1!? in Sonis, F - Giri, A, winning an exchange for two pawns. It wasn't that clear but after a slight error from his strong opponent he managed to win comfortably.


Reversed Benoni 4...Be7 5 0-0 0-0 6 b3 d4 7 e3 c5 [A14]

The next two games also feature the Reversed Benoni, but this time the position after 4...Be7 5 0-0 0-0 6 b3 d4 7 e3 c5:

In Lou, Y - Vokhidov, S White plays the old mainline 8 exd4 cxd4 9 Re1 and then tried an interesting idea involving lots of moves with his king's knight to lure Black forward and weaken his centre. In fact, this worked a treat as White was soon winning easily. However, this being a blitz game, all sorts of very strange things happened at the end!

I like this line for White, it is difficult for Black to stop White from getting lots of queenside activity by b3-b4-b5, and the typical plan involving ...Nc5-a4 to plant a knight on c3 doesn't really work at all here, see the notes.

Instead, Yuffa, D - Shirov, A involves the recently trendy 8 Ne5, followed by 8...Qc7 9 f4 Nbd7 10 Nd3 e5 a sort of modern tabia:

In this position White tried a surprising new idea, but Black defended well and was probably even a little better due to the extra space conferred by having an advanced pawn on d4. However, a later miscalculation left him worse and then he failed to grab his very last chance involving the correct way of pushing his two dangerous passed pawns, and this cost him the game.



King’s English, Keres System 2 g3 c6 3 d4 Bb4+ 4 Bd2 Bxd2+ 5 Qxd2 d6 [A20]

I used to score very well with this line as White, but recently switched to 3 Nf3 because I found the way I handled the lines with d2-d4 (involving Bg2 and e3) a bit too drawish. In Keymer, V - Nepomniachtchi, I White refrained from developing his kingside and instead went 6 Nc3 Nf6 7 0-0-0:

White puts immediate pressure on e5 and d6. David already analysed this rare but dangerous move in 2023 but here in reply Nepo played the Stockfish-approved novelty 7...e4. Keymer replied by hitting the advanced pawn head-on straightaway by 8 f3 and soon gained a big advantage which he converted impeccably.


King’s English, Four Knights 4 e3 Bb4 5 Qc2 Bxc3 6 Qxc3 Qe7 7 a3 [A28]

Ian Nepomniachtchi used 4 e3 several times recently, including once to beat Magnus Carlsen in the World Blitz final. and a couple of these games caught my attention.

Firstly, in Nepomniachtchi, I - Caruana, F Black played 7...0-0 which may only be the 3rd most common move here, but is not bad by any means. The game continued 8 b4 d5 9 cxd5 Nxd5:

Now White played the odd-looking 10 Qc4. Why this and not the more common 10 Qb3 I wondered? The answer is a subtle one, see the notes for my explanation.

The second game featured the mainline 7...d5, and after 8 d4 exd4 9 Nxd4 Nxd4 10 Qxd4 c5 11 11 Qh4 0-0 12 cxd5 Nxd5 13 Qxe7 Nxe7 reached an endgame where White has the bishop pair while Black has a slight lead in development and a useful queenside majority. This is objectively fairly equal, but strong players generally enjoy playing with the long-term advantage of a bishop pair.

White's next move was the interesting innovation 14 h4!?, starting a process of gaining space on the kingside which eventually led to Black resigning when faced with the loss of his g and h pawns. See the instructive Nepomniachtchi, I - Sevian, S.



Pure Symmetrical English 4...Nf6 5 Nh3 [A36]

I have tried many lines as White in the Pure Symmetrical, 5 a3, 5 e3, 5 e4, etc. and recently played 5 Nf3 e6 6 h4!?, but I'm always on the lookout for other ideas. So, I was intrigued by the game Carlsen, M - Vachier Lagrave, M, where, after 4...Nf6, the World Number one tried 5 Nh3:

The idea, obviously, is to play Nh3-f4 and control d5 which restricts Black's play in the centre and leads to a closed manoeuvring game. In reply MVL found a good plan and was doing well. Later in the middlegame the players reached the following position:

White would like to play 30 Qe4 (threatening Nd5+) but Black would simply reply 30...Qe5, driving him back. So, instead, Carlsen played the amazing 30 Rd5!? preparing Qe4 as the rook can't be captured, and this soon led to a winning position, although objectively speaking it is still equal.



Until next month, Tony.

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