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Réti Opening 1 Nf3 d5 2 e3 c5 3 b3 a6 [A06]
After 3 draws the fourth Moussard, J - Bacrot, E game, in the quarter finals of the French Championships (Rapid 2nd tie break), proved decisive. Following 4 c4 d4 White played the interesting move 5 Ba3!?:
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This is just like a 4 a3 Queen's Indian line that continues 4...c5 5 d5 Ba6 but with colours reversed and an extra tempo for White. Does this make any difference?
White grabbed the d pawn, but in the wrong way, and was soon completely lost. The following position after Black's 16th move looks quite hopeless:
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White's queen and rook have been forked, and his queen is even trapped on e3 and has no retreat squares. However, he has an amazing resource and managed to exchange into a drawn endgame. Unfortunately, Jules then made a terrible blunder and lost anyway.
Réti Opening 2 b3 d5 3 Bb2 e6 4 g3 Bd6 5 Bg2 [A07/A13]
The Bluebaum System can be played against a number of move orders, and Weill, R - Kosten, A got to the main line in a very roundabout manner, via a Réti/Larsen and a double fianchetto. The game continued 5...0-0 6 0-0 Nc6 7 c4 d4! which I've analysed quite a lot recently, and now 8 Na3:
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This is rare, but obviously thematic in such Benoni positions, and a little later we reached the following position where my opponent has just played a good novelty:
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Both b3-b4 and e2-e3 are on the cards and I was worried that my centre might start creaking. Stockfish proposes the odd 'undevelopment' 12...Nb8 13 b4 c5 to bolster it, but if this is best then maybe I should have played ...c5 before developing my queen's knight in the opening?!
Anyway, I took a different, more human route, and at move 15 I had a long, 25 minute, think. I wanted to play 15...Bf5 16 d4 Rad8 but was a bit worried about 17 Qc1, unpinning:
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However, now Black has a fantastic forced win, can you see it? If you can analyse this to the end without the help of your computer then well done! I actually chose a different, possibly stronger, 15th move as I remember Larsen saying 'long variation, wrong variation!' That was before Stockfish, of course!
Réti Opening 1 c4 e6 2 g3 d5 3 Bg2 a6 [A13]
I reached this position against GM Legky in the Seniors tournament, and wanted to play 4 b3, but without preparation I was concerned about 4...dxc4 5 bxc4 Qd4 forking the a1 rook and c4 pawn:
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Later I noticed the game Kanov, N - Macias Pino, D where White now played a very strong innovation that was actually mentioned by David Cummings 7 years ago!
Anyway, as Legky was my biggest rival in the tournament, and I was half-a-point ahead, I didn't need to take any risks, so played the limp 4 cxd5 and drew quickly.
Incidentally, had I preferred 3 Nf3 to 3 Bg2 this situation wouldn't have arisen.
Réti Opening, Reversed Benoni 4 Bg2 Nc6 5 0-0 Nh6 [A13]
Following 6 e3 Nf5 Black is ready to recapture with a piece on d4 and also advance his h pawn to h4:
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I remember seeing Legky play this way against Jonathan Mestel on the next board to me last year in Krakow, so did a bit of preparation and saw that David Cummings had recommended 7 e4! and 8 e5! Indeed, have a look at my analysis of Muradli, M - Aswath, S, played a few months ago, to see my take on this.
Réti Opening, Double Fianchetto vs. QGD setup [A14]
We've examined the position that arises after 6 b3 b6 7 cxd5 Nxd5 8 Bb2 Bb7 9 d4 Nd7 10 Re1 N5f6 11 Nc3 several times in the past, but not the move 11...Ne4 occupying the key e4 square:
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In Yakubboev, N - Tiglon, B Black plays a sensible novelty, but then White's sharp, thematic play is very impressive, and worth examining as these sort of tactics involving e2-e4 and then d4-d5-d6 often occur in similar lines.
King’s English, Four Knights 4 g3 Nd4 5 Bg2 Nxf3+ 6 Bxf3 Bb4 7 g4 [A29]
The sharp move 7 g4 is still relatively rare, only the 8th most popular in this position, but scores well and may well be the strongest move, objectively. We've looked at 7...h6 8 h4 a couple of times in the recent past, but I noticed that the new move 7...Bxc3 was played twice in August, both games continuing 8 dxc3 d6 9 g5 Nd7 10 Be3:
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The game Yakubboev, N - Wojtaszek, R was the 2nd of these and was very sharp, with Black's king seemingly under the cosh, but this time Yakubboev's strong opponent found a string of only moves to force a clever draw.
Symmetrical English, Four Knights 6 g3 Qb6 7 Nbd5 Ne5 8 Bf4 Nfg4 [A33]
Again, we've looked at this position many times in the past, but in Caruana, F - Dominguez Perez, L White uncorked a totally new move, 9 Qb3:
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Yes, White's f2 pawn is en prise with check, but no, he doesn't take it. White won quickly, but this is probably down to the surprise effect, as objectively it seems to me that White has no more than a draw with correct play.
Symmetrical English, Rubinstein Variation 7 a3 [A34]
These early a2-a3 moves score well against the Rubinstein Variation, possibly because it is tricky for Black to both develop and defend against White's queenside initiative. After 7...g6 8 h4 David had previously examined 8...Bg4, but this is the first time we have covered the most popular reply 8...h6:
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In Mendonca, L - Aryan,C White replied with the slightly unusual, albeit 2nd most popular move, 9 Na4, putting immediate pressure on the c5 pawn, and Black played a decent novelty. The rest of the game featured Black trying to resist White's virulent queenside attack, and when he missed a chance to head for a drawish opposite-coloured bishop ending White finished with a mating attack on the other flank.
Until next month, Tony.
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