What's New- June '01
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Scheveningen
Greetings to everyone! Welcome to B80 to 89, June 2001.
Nowadays the pure Scheveningen move order is rarely seen. There are numerous transpositional possibilities from the Taimanov or Najdorf move orders.
We'll start off with Aseev-Arlandi, JUN01/01, one of the best lines vs the Scheveningen order is the Keres Attack. Black's choice looks very dubious. There are signs that things aren't going well. Like ....Nh7.
The g3 lines for White are solid, but not very ambitious. White gets a spatial edge but little else. Qin Kaying-Ioseliani, JUN01/02 sees Black get satisfactory play.
One thing to note. PLEASE play ...Bd7 in order to recapture with the B on c6. I've included A Ivanov-Fedorowicz, JUN01/03 where I learned a very hard lesson!
Najdorf
The June 2001 Najdorf update sees 6 Bg5 trying to make a comeback of sorts. With the English attack growing in popularity we still have a few brave souls who haven't hopped on the 6 Be3 or 6 f3 bandwagon.
Hungarian super GM Peter Leko has been trying to revive 6 Bg5 so far with little to show for it. Anand's 12...g5!? gave Black a very pleasant game, JUN01/04.
Rajlich-Peng Zhaoqin, JUN01/06 saw White try an old line with no success. 13...Bg5!? is Black's best in my opinion. If my memory serves me 13...Nc5?! 14 f6 was great for White.
We finish with Bologan-Svidler, JUN01/05. I like White's aggressive approach, but here he overextended and went down in a blaze of glory. White's K was out in the open.
All the best!
English Attack
Hello to all my friends around the globe!
In our June update The English attack continues to be the popular choice vs the Najdorf/Scheveningen complex. The system is called an "attack" so I'm not in favor of a4 ideas as seen in Firman-Genov, JUN01/07. White's K lacks a proper home so Black will always get his money's worth.
Motylev-Polgar, JUN01/08 sees a very interesting attempt, 11 Bg5!?. I like the feel of it. White's logical play is to go after the e6 point.
...Nc6 ideas seem very slow for Black in this line and Lastin-A Sokolov, JUN01/10 shows one reason why.
We wrap up this variation with 2 games with ...e5. G Shahade did a number on Judasin, JUN01/09 and Popovic-Tadic, JUN01/11 was another rout. It looks like White is figuring out how to play these lines.
Best wishes to all!
Richter-Rauzer
Welcome to the June 2001 Richter-Rauzer update.
Lets start off with Spraggett-Chandler, JUN01/13. Finally some semblance of order vs an f3 line. Black's blockade looked tough to crack . I'm coming around to thinking ...Bxc6 looks better than ...Rxc6, after all, this time!
GM Zdenko Kozul continues to work miracles (don't try this at home!) this time vs Acs, JUN01/12. The guy seems to get dark-squared chances no matter what the material situation. Objectively speaking Black's position has to be terrible. 13...Bh6 looked very strange.
Sutovsky sacrificed a pawn vs Blehm, JUN01/14 to discombobulate Black's forces but Black received good counter chances. Black's ...e4 looked like the loser.
Good Luck to all!!
Sveshnikov/ Kalashnikov
Our Sveshnikov/Kalishnikov June 2001 update sees a double dip from the Indian GM Harikrishna. He's played many good games as Black in the Svesh, but here he's out of form.
Aronian takes advantage of the lapse 16...Ne7??? which runs into a combo, JUN01/15.
In his game with Konguvel, JUN01/16, Black comes out of the opening phase none too worse for wear then slowly drifts away.
I'd like to send my best wishes to you all! See you in July!
Paulsen/ Taimanov
Our June 2001 Taimanov/Paulsen/ Kan update sees Black struggle in Herrera- R Mateo, JUN01/18. Most of the Kan's are looking way too passive. White's Maroczy Bind controls Black's ...d5 or b5 breaks while giving a nice space advantage. This is a typical example vs the fianchetto, Black's d6-point needs defending and gives hardly any active chances. Once again I get annoyed by the move ...Ba7. I'm not clear on what it does other than weaken d6 and the K side.
In Ponomariov-Neverov, JUN01/17 White's opening looked very good. One possible improvement is 18 Nd2!?.
Good Luck!
Classical Sozin/ Two Knights
Our June 2001 update sees the usual suspects.
Volokitin-Kozul, JUN01/20 sees Black stick to his stubborn guns. GM Kozul once again tries his long winded redeployment ...Nb8 to d7. White obtained the B pair and won routinely. It looks like he might be searching for something better vs the Boleslavsky.
Next up 2 Benko systems. Klimov-Korotylev, JUN01/19 transposes into a sharp type of Scheveningen. Black's position is compact with good chances to break out.
Kuczynski-Kozul, JUN01/21 was what we can call a solid professional chess game. White was a little better, but Black remained solid.
All the best! GM Fed