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Welcome to the French August 2002 Update

Winawer

Tarrasch

Advance Variation

King's Indian Attack

Classical


Welcome to August's update. Sorry that it's so outrageously overdue, but as a consolation it is far more detailed than it would have been if posted in more hectic times. Anyhow I hope you enjoy it- there have been a lot of interesting developments.

All this month's new games, and the Roadmaps, are easily downloaded in PGN format using ChessPub.exe, but to download the August '02 French games directly in PGN form, click here: Download Games


Winawer 7.Qg4 0-0 [C18]

There have been some more developments in what I have termed the 'Rustemov System'- 8.Bd3 Qa5.










It is worrying when Black is a GM 224 rating points above his opponent but gets crushed in this month's illustrative game. However, in a critical position he failed to find the move recommended and played by Chesspublishing subscriber J.Evans and given on this site! Which means that at the moment we are ahead of chess theory.

You can find this game, plus an interesting win by Timman in the same variation by looking up Bluvshtein-Shulman.

Winawer 7.Qg4 Qc7 [C18]

The winner of the game above is a strong young player from Canada who, judging from a conversation I had with him last year, spends more time playing blitz on the Internet than doing his homework. Even stronger and younger is Sergei Karjakin from the Ukraine, who at 12 years old is the World's youngest GM and rated 2523. I imagine 'homework' for him means trying to bust the latest theory in Informator. Nevertheless, in this month's game his opponent succeeds in finding a line with which he is unfamiliar. GM Firman adopts a system versus 13.Qxc3 that has had a bad press, mainly because French aficionados Agdestein and Farago played it against Karpov in the days when he was virtually irresistible with the white pieces. You can find the Karpov games given in the notes to the main game- they are extremely instructive.

Firman is pressing for the advantage, but Karjakin finds an excellent way to generate counterplay. Here we can see the first signs of what might become a world famous attacking style in the future. Have a look at Karjakin-Firman

Winawer 7.Nf3 [C19]

The closed positions that occur after 7...b6 8. Bb5+ Bd7 9.Bd3 Ba4 and then ...c5-c4 are very difficult to handle properly as a lot of long-range thinking is required. In the game given here Psakhis, a great French expert, comes up with a subtlety in move order that prevents White carrying out one of his strongest manoeuvres. Deprived of this plan, White plays over passively and Black wins in smooth positional style by adopting a famous king and queen manoeuvre. This is definitely worth checking out as the improvement comes right at the beginning of the mainline- see Khruschiov-Psakhis.

Winawer

Tarrasch

Advance Variation

King's Indian Attack

Classical

Tarrasch 3...Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.c3 c5 6.Bd3 [C06]

If in the mainline Black plays a quick ...Qc7 to prevent Bf4, exchanging bishops, then a long and very complex variation often results. There is still no final verdict, but Black appears to be at least equal in the melee. Have a look at the game Potkin-Iljushin.

Tarrasch 3...c5 4.exd5 Qxd5 and 4.Ngf3 cxd4 5.exd5 Qxd5 [C07]

After the first move-order, it is rather upsetting for an ambitious player of Black if his opponent forces off the queens with 5.Ngf3 cxd4 6.Bc4 Qd6 7.0-0 Nf6 8.Nb3 Nc6 9.Nbxd4 Nxd4 10.Qxd4. The best that Harikrishna, the 16 year old Indian GM rated 2568, has come up with is to accept a slight inferiority. However, I was surprised to see Black win in this line in 22 moves in the Icelandic Championship. His improvement on theory doesn't look spectacular but it does the trick- have a look at Thorarinsson-Kristjansson.

In the second move-order, there was some excitement last year when Kasparov [who else?] offered a speculative piece against Gelfand to liven up the well-worn mainline. Of course, it was no surprise that Gelfand ducked the challenge, but as they say the proof of the pudding is in the eating and in a recent game Black-rated 2570- accepted the piece offer. He ended up with indigestion after his opponent ignored the response suggested by the analysts and instead settled for a line regarded as bad! Check out Hracek-Borovikov.

Winawer

Tarrasch

Advance Variation

King's Indian Attack

Classical

Advance Variation [C02]

Things have gone from bad to worse for White in the Milner-Barry. As you will know from the Advance ebook, I regard 10...a6!










as close to a refutation of the Gambit. Now Naumkin has shown that White can be prevented from even establishing an attacking set-up with a bold knight move. Have a look at Niccoli-Naumkin.

I'm rather sad about the demise of the Gambit as its inventor, the late Sir Stuart Milner-Barry, used to play for my club and county team. Once, when I faced the Gambit in a match against another club, Sir Stuart came over to the board and stood shaking his head and smiling wryly at the way my opponent had mishandled the position!

Winawer

Tarrasch

Advance Variation

King's Indian Attack

Classical

King's Indian Attack [A08]

The games of Morozevich and others give the impression that after 2.d3 d5 it is inaccurate to play 3.Nd2- more precise is 3.Qe2, as the move Na3 can prove useful in the future. Here is more evidence to support this opinion. Black has absolutely no problems in the opening after 3.Nd2 c5, and White commits hara-kiri in trying to find a constructive plan. Check out Klenburg-Bykhovsky.

Assuming White does play 3.Qe2 [or 2.Qe2 d5 3.d3] I can offer you a way to avoid the pitfalls of the mainline. Vaganian wins in excellent positional style with his offbeat line, though it has to be admitted that White put up little resistance. See what you think of Kandic-Vaganian.

Winawer

Tarrasch

Advance Variation

King's Indian Attack

Classical

Classical 4.Bg5 dxe4, 6...gxf6 [C11]

In the game selected, Christian Bauer, rated 2550, suffers a crushing defeat as Black when he tries to improve on a sharp variation. Paradoxically this is good news for Bauer's chess career [though not for the variation!] as it shows he does independent research on chess. It is better to investigate new ideas and occasionally have a drastic reversal than just to follow in the wake of theory. See if you can fail as spectacularly as Black in Degraeve-Bauer!

Well that's all until next time. Good luck with your chess!

Best Wishes,

Neil

Winawer

Tarrasch

Advance Variation

King's Indian Attack

Classical