What's New- December '03
|
Hello everyone! I hope 2004 finds everyone well. I'm late again... this time I'm blaming it on the holiday season! |
|
Let's get going on the chess:
To download the December '03 Open Sicilian games directly in PGN form, just click here: 
Sveshnikov/Kalashnikov Variation [B32-B33]
We'll begin with no less than 3 Sveshnikovs:
The first one, Crespin - Sveshnikov is a one time clarification thing. There's no reason for us to see 6 Nb3?! again.
            
|
6 Ndb5 is the only move. Just in case, let's look at some inferior 6th move alternatives White can play and Black's best responses. White's best chances to get a playable positions and what not.
Game 2 Gets us back to 7 Nd5 which we see regularly nowadays. In Naumann - Babula we see White win without working up a sweat. Black's play should be looked at and never be repeated. The cause of the misery can be traced back to 13...Bg5?!, anything is better. After that White's game played itself. More food for thought... After 8...Ne7 instead of 9 c3, both 9 a4 and 9 Be3 deserve serious consideration.
Game 3 is Zapata - Ramirez which sees the positional line. White's 15 Bb5 might be the best way to squeeze the slightest of advantages:
|
|
Black's 17...Bh3!? led to a very unbalanced and sharp draw. I don't think Black has anything to fear though.
Feliks Kwiatkowski has sent me an interesting game against fellow ChessPublishing writer Neil where he plays a strong innovation but it gets ignored because the game never appeared in the tournament report! Click on Guest Game to see his story!
Paulsen/Taimanov [B40 to B49]
Next up is Shabalov - Fedorowicz in the B48 Taimanov section. I figured this maniac brutalized me in so many variations, that as I once drew in the Taimanov I'd give it another shot. This game could be very important for theory. The serious attention is from move 14 to 16. If 14...de4!? works then Black is in very good shape. As it was I chickened out and almost got killed, nevertheless I'm willing to try it again.
In the other line the Topalov-Anand game looks very promising and solid (see the notes).
Richter-Rauzer [B60 to B69]
Our lone Rauser for this update is Ibarra Jerez-Daskovics in the 8...h6 Rauser (B66). I'm attempting to keep an eye on all the developments and not lose sight of certain variations. Of course the f3 stuff is still giving Black headaches.
I'm going to keep a close watch on 9 Nxc6 bxc6 10 Bf4:
|
|
which looks promising for White.
Scheveningen [B80 to B89]
Our last game in the B86 Scheveningen/Sozin section is something!
White players should check it out because of the plan in Kudrin - Sarkar which sees White take an aggressive approach and get a huge advantage, but Black has good alternatives.
My email at feddy@mindspring.com was down for awhile so if I missed some questions please re-email me.
See everyone in a few weeks. Good Luck! Happy New Year!
GM John Fedorowicz
P.S. Feel free to contact me at the Forum (above) or send stuff to my email at feddy@mindspring.com (subscribers only). I'll try to answer your questions as soon as possible. I've had problems replying when contacted through Chess Publishing at thefed@chesspublishing.com. Thanks! Fed.