Welcome to the June 2004 French Update.
|
Neil McDonald |
Here you will find everything from top class theory to low level hackery. We'll start with a game which shows that even the greatest players can play like the rest of us on occasion!I have decided to answer a couple of your emails on the June Emailbag.
To download the June '04 French games directly in PGN form, click here: 
French Advance
Number 13 proves less lucky for Svidler than Kasparov.
3.e5 c5 4.c3 Qb6 5.Nf3 Bd7 6.Be2 Bb5:
            
|
It isn't often that a player rated over 2700 loses in 13 moves, especially with the white pieces. To be fair to Svidler it happened in a play off game at the end of a gruelling knockout tournament- and any of us would be more than delighted to reach such a final, even if we then lost in five moves!
At first I thought that Svidler had simply chosen a bad opening line, but things are by no means so straightforward. Besides being a curiosity this is in fact an important theoretical game: check out Svidler - Shirov.
Tarrasch Defence
3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Ngf3
White's new formula against the Tarrasch
The idea of playing Ngf3 against everything in the Tarrasch has gained a huge following in the last five years. Black is facing basic problems of a kind that were solved for him in the 'normal' lines of the Tarrasch 15 or more years ago- such as how to get out of the opening with an intact position. In this month's game he fails the test in Filipovic - Stojanovic.
Rubinstein Defence
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Nxf6+ Nxf6 7.c3:
|
|
How to win in effortless style
The lesson we learn from the games of Michael Adams is that if you want to win quickly you should be prepared for a long game. In this month's game he plays in an unobtrusive, patient style but still manages to crush an elite opponent. Of course theory always plays a part in such matters and Adams' technique is well supported by his knowledge in Adams - Akopian.
The most aggressive response to the Rubinstein
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Bd3
In contrast to the solid Adams treatment above, with 5.Bd3 White signals that he intends to leave the knight on g1 for a couple of moves and instead develop his queenside quickly and castle long. This strategy has proved fairly successful, but Black responds in excellent style in Baramidze - Mufic.
Classical Variation
3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Ne4
A knight leap too far?
A serious case was made on ChessPub for 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Ne4 5.Nxe4 dxe4 -see the game Estrada - Lima. It would therefore be nice if Black could play the same way against 3.Nc3. Alas, White has an important extra resource which seems to put Black in trouble. Check out Prelevic - Trkulja.
3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Be7 6.Bxf6 Bxf6 7.Nf3 0-0 8.Bd3
Sutovsky strikes again!
The Israeli GM Emil Sutovsky is rapidly approaching 2700 rating- and no wonder when he has so many creative ideas in the opening. In this month's game he demolishes his opponent in a rare variation that he had fine tuned after an earlier encounter with Ivanchuk. Check out Sutovsky - Kovacevic.
3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bc5 9.Qd2 0-0 10.0-0-0 a6 11.Qf2
|
|
At last an answer to Black's problems?
The line with 11.Qf2! has become something of a bugbear for Black since Kramnik introduced it against Radjabov last year at Linares. Long term subscribers may recall that Kramnik's fine performance in that game won the Game of the Month poll on Chesspublishing, despite the fact that Radjabov's blundersome win versus Kasparov had been pronounced to be the best game at Linares by a self appointed team of experts who seemed more interested in hype than quality. After more than a year of suffering, Black seems at last to have neutralised the variation: though ironically Radjabov blows his chance for revenge in the endgame and White once again chalks up the point in the endgame in Shirov - Radjabov.
'Winawer Declined.'
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Ba5
|
|
A fitting tribute to Tigran Petrosian.
The popularity of the French Defence in Armenia must be due to the influence of their World Champion, Tigran Petrosian, who often used it to outplay his opponents in blocked positions.
Lputian, Vaganian and Akopian are all devotees, and it was therefore no surprise that it featured in some interesting encounters at the recent Armenia-Rest of the World match held in Moscow. Akopian wasn't very successful in the game above against Adams, but Vaganian used the Winawer 5...Ba5 to hold three elite opponents to a draw with Black.
In the first game given here, he plays a new move in a very well known position, which is normally a great creative achievement. On the other hand when I checked the position with Fritz 7 it immediately flashed up as the computer's second favourite move! So does Vaganian deserve to be praised for finding an interesting move, or did he discover it by simply switching on his computer?
See what you think by clicking on Vallejo Pons-Vaganian.
In the second game Vaganian makes a pawn sacrifice for light square play in true Petrosian style. Enjoy Bacrot - Vaganian.
Well that's all for now.
Neil