What's New- November '01
Greetings to all my chess friends around the globe!
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Najdorf
Welcome to the October 2001 Najdorf update.
For this month's B90 to 99 Najdorf update I've prepared a little bit of a history lesson. In many openings there are hidden underrated variations. One that fits into that category is the Gothenburg. It's really gotten the theoretical bum rap.
Let's start off in the present. In Kruschiov-Paramonov, NOV01/01, Black tries the extremely ambitious 17...Qf6!?.White didn't react properly and was lucky Black didn't try to win. On the 17th move Black can basically force White to draw and probably should. The knock on this variation is that it's just a draw, but is that a bad thing?
The line got off to a horrid start at the Gothenburg 1953 interzonal with the following 3 games which I've included unannotated. Spassky-Pilnik, NOV01/02, and Keres-Najdorf, NOV01/04, followed the same path to Black's demise while Geller-Panno, NOV01/03, was the most brutal of all.
In my opinion the Gothenburg is worth serious consideration.
English Attack
The English attack continues to be most popular when facing the Najdorf variation. The line with 6...Ng4 continues to suffer.
We have 2 examples. First in Cheparinov-Ibarra Jerez, NOV01/13, we see what might be Black's best chance in the 10...Ne5 line. Black can't afford to dawdle as White's bishop pair and superior pawn structure give good long term prospects.
Our second game is Spasov-Kempinski, NOV01/14, where Black successfully defended an inferior position.
I don't know about you guys, but as a sometimes Najdorf player I want action. Given the choice I'd opt for 6...e6. I really liked Black's handling of the position in Nedvev-Vera, NOV01/15. The Cuban GM achieved a winning position with some nice piece play then drifted into a draw.
See everyone next month!
Richter-Rauzer
This month's Rauser update starts off with our favorite player Bosnian GM Zdenko Kozul defeating Kotronias in his pet line, NOV01/07 .The position was hovering around equal till 20 a3? made Black's life easy.
Anand blasts Bacrot off in NOV01/06 as the f3 line triumphs again. I never understood Black's idea especially 10...Rb8?!. After 14 Qg2 White's initiative was out of control.
Gunnarsson-Damaso, NOV01/08 sees Black bite the dust again. This time the culprit was 9...Rb8. What's the plan? Where is the counterplay? Two games with ...Rb8, both brutal losses.
Stefansson-Damljanovic, NOV01/09, is heading in the right direction. One thought is Black should play without ...b5 just sticking to piece play. At any rate the f3 line continues to give Black headaches.
We end with Adams-Garcia IIundain, NOV01/05, where 7...h6!? gives Black a solid position. The drawback is Black's lack of activity.
Good Luck!
Paulsen/ Taimanov
Hope this month's update finds all my Taimanov/Kan friends well!
Let's cut to hunt with Kasparov making some minced meat out of Movsesian, NOV01/10. Mixing systems wasn't a good idea vs Garry, then 9...Bd6?! made a bad situation worse.
The ...Nge7 line in the Taimanov hasn't fared too well. Palac-Beliavsky, NOV01/11 is a good illustration of Black's difficulties. Black's Q became misplaced and the Qside was very loose. My recommendation is to stick to the regular lines in the Taimanov as it remains a solid Sicilian.
Classical Sozin/ Two Knights
Welcome to the November B54-59 mostly Benko system Sozin update. I'm leaning towards 7 Nxc6 at this point as being White's best chance for an advantage. From my experience with both colors 7 Nb3 might be the worst choice at this time.
In Zapata-Mendoza, NOV01/12, Black comes up with a lemon of a plan and pays the price. His ...Rd8 and ...d5 lead to a 'counterplayless', hopelessly passive, position. The normal set-ups give Black a very playable position.