Download PGN of January ’25 1 e4 ... games
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Alekhine’s Defence 2.Nc3 d5 3.e5 Ne4 4.Nce2 [B02]
In Fedorov, A - Neelash, S there was a rare line of Alekhine's Defence. Very quickly the game went into a new position after White played 7.f5:
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White took the initiative and Black could not find the right plan. Soon White opened the kingside and won the game in style.
Pirc Defence 4.f3 c6 5.Be3 b5 6.Qd2 Nbd7 7.0-0-0 Nb6 [B07]
Bogdanov, E - Egresi, M was in the Pirc, a line where White goes for long castles.
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Both players were pushing their pawns on the flanks but at some point Black went for a wrong plan involving leaving his king in the centre. White managed to open the game with 13. f5 and won with a nice attack.
Classical Pirc 6...c6 7.a4 Qc7 8.Be3 [B08]
Aronian, L - So, W was in one of the main lines of the Classical Pirc. The pawn structure was symmetric, a quiet position which has been played before, when Black decided to take control of the dark squares with 13...Bf8:
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This turned out to be a big mistake and White instantly took advantage. After 15.f4 White got a big edge and soon won the game.
Caro-Kann Advance 3...c5 4.dxc5 e6 5.Be3 [B12]
Kantans, T - Livaic, L was an Advanced Caro—Kann with 3...c5. White decided to go for a line where he traded his bishop for a knight but Black got a very comfortable game. After Black managed to play 13...Ne3 it turned out that White is in trouble:
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Later Black managed to open the centre with 19...e5 and the white king came under attack in the centre. However, Black then decided to go for some complications and lost his edge but eventually, in the end, White blundered and Black won anyway.
Caro-Kann Advance Variation 4.c4 e6 6.Nc3 Bb4 [B12]
Zemlyanski, I - Cheparinov, I was in the Advance Caro Kann with 4 c4, a line I often play. The game followed one of the popular lines until black tried 10...Be4 which led to unclear position:
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Soon Black started to get an edge but decided to give up material to get a dangerous passed pawn. White could not find the best defence and was slowly outplayed, and Black won the endgame.
Caro-Kann Advance Variation 4.Bd3 Bxd3 5.Qxd3 e6 6.Ne2 [B12]
Sardana, R - Moradiabadi, E was in one of the main lines of the Advanced Caro-Kann. The game was very positional until Black suddenly decided to leave his king in the centre with 16...Kd7:
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White then went for a lot of combinations and gave material to organize a strong attack. The black king was chased around for a long time and eventually white got a Queen for a few pieces. A bit unexpectedly the game then went for a repetition and a draw as White couldn’t find a way to get an edge.
Caro-Kann Advance Variation 4.h4 h5 5.c4 e6 6.Nc3 Ne7 7.Nge2 [B12]
Shirov, A - Iturirzaga, E was another line in the Advanced Caro-Kann. As we can expect in a game of Shirov's there was soon fire on the board as White was playing risky and aggressive chess.
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White managed to get a pawn and some edge after 22.f4 but Black got good compensation and after some positional play the players agreed a draw after the queens were exchanged.
Caro-Kann, Exchange Variation 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Bb5 Bd7 [B13]
Svane, F - Donchenko, A featured the Exchange Variation of the Caro-Kann where White also decided to go for a line where he trades his bishop for a knight but here this is a far more common idea. White got a pawn majority on the queenside with 9.c5 but black managed to create a nice centre.
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It turned out that the centre is vulnerable and White managed to destroy it, win a pawn and soon after the game. A nice positional game.
Till next month, Marian
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