The Latest Developments - January 2003
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Hi everyone, welcome to my first update of 2003, and to commemorate this fact I have added a review to my review page! Please note that you can now go directly to the Flank Openings section of the Forum with the link on the right. TonyK |
To download the January '03 Flank Openings games directly in PGN form click here: 
English Opening
1...e5
[A20]: I decided to take another look at the anti-Reversed Dragon line that I recommended in The Dynamic English in Thiede,L - Graf,A, but the judgement is unchanged; in this position:
            
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White should avoid my recommended 13 e3?!, the best line is given an exclamation mark in the note.
[A22]: The young Hungarian Peter Acs has been making waves in the chess world with his aggressive tactical style, and in Rogers,I - Acs,P he is at it again, although this time his Australian opponent shows that he is no slouch and manages to turn the tables.
[A25]: In Miezis,N - Simonsen,O Black risks playing Fischer's dubious pawn sacrifice, and gets mangled, but if you look in the notes you will see that things were far from clear, which shows just how dangerous this can line be against an unprepared opponent.
[A28]: Sometimes it is difficult to know how to react when your opponent offers to repeat a line you have already played - does he have a novelty prepared?
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So, in Delchev,A - Dabo Peranic,R White decides to avoid the move 7 e4!, which we looked at a few months ago in favour of the old line.
[A28]: Matamoros Franco,C - Korneev,O features another game involving 4 a3 in the Four Knights. White loses a tempo in strange fashion, Black gets carried away, and a few moves later White is completely winning!
1...c5
[A37]: Black plays the solid Botvinnik System in Shchekachev,A - Degraeve,J (which is good), but allows White to play b4 (which is not so good!) This game is a lovely example of how difficult it can be to control White's queenside pressure, which can rapidly spread to the rest of the board!
1...Nf6 & others
[A18]: The old main line of the Mikenas Attack seems to be coming back into fashion again, see Pelletier,Y - Ribli,Z.
Réti
[A11]: The game Matamoros Franco,C - Xu Jun features the 4...dxc4 line:
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Black captures not just in the hope of keeping his extra pawn, but also with the idea of returning it at the right moment to accelerate his development.
Larsen's Opening
[A01]: Harvey Williamson writes: «I was wondering what you thought about 4...e4 instead of ...Bd6 in the line 1.b3 e5 2.Bb3 Nc6 3.e3 d5 4.Bb5 e4 then 5.Ne2 and what next, maybe ...Qg5!?»
Well this whole idea is completely new, and I have a look at it in the notes to Blatny,P - Mueller,K.
e-mails
Please feel free to share any of your thoughts with me, whatever they are, suggestions, criticisms (just the polite ones, please), etc. Drop me a line at tonykosten@chesspublishing.com
Till next month, Tony K