Download PGN of July '12 1 e4 ... games
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Scandinavian 3.Nf3 [B01]
After 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nf3 Bg4 4.Be2 Nc6 5.Nc3 most players choose to retreat the Queen back to d7. In Fedorchuk - Bauer Black tries 5...Qa5 instead but after 8.a3 we can already see that the Queen is a target on a5:
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and Black had to concede the bishop pair to stay in the game.
Alekhine's Defence - 5...Nd7 6.Nxf7 [B04]
The line 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 dxe5 5.Nxe5 Nd7?! feels very suspicious to us after 6.Nxf7:
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as White can either force an immediate draw or else get very dangerous attacking prospects. However many GMs have been happy to defend the Black side. Manca - Sulskis was only an online game but the experienced GM only managed 16 moves! Theoretically this looks like a very important game.
Modern Defence - 4 Be3 a6 [B06]
The setups with an early h4 are dangerous for Black to deal with. A couple of months ago we featured a game in which Black reacted with ...h5 but in Nanu - Nevednichy he tried ...h6, which is more flexible. The game was very finely balanced until move 20:
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when he erred with 20...Bxc3?
The Philidor [B07]
To be honest we're not clear if this really belongs in our section but as it's ECO code is B07 we'll claim it. Jobava - Shanava saw White try 4.dxe5 dxe5 5.Qxd8+ Kxd8 6.Bg5. It seems Shanava's choice shouldn't equalise anyway,
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but here, instead of 9.Nb5 which looks to give White the better chances, he tried 9.Bb5!? when Shanava blundered immediately with 9...Kf8?
Caro-Kann - Panov-Botvinnik Attack 6.Bg5 Be6 [B13]
5...Nc6 6.Bg5 Be6 is very topical at the moment. In Durarbayli - Pantsulaia White tried the tricky 7.Be2!? The game followed the archives until Black deviated with 10...Nd5?!:
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and was rather lucky to survive the opening.
Classical Variation 4...Bf5, 7.Nf4 [B18]
In our next two games we see the line 4...Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.N1e2 Nf6 7.Nf4 which has a reputation as rather drawish. In Collutiis - Khenkin Black avoids the mainline with 7...Nbd7 and after a few strange moves such as 10.h4?! he is soon doing well:
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Jobava - Arutinian sees the more standard 'equalising shot' 7...e5 but having faced this line a couple of times on the Black side Jobava shows there is still some venom in the position, as he introduces 11.h4!? to theory:
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Classical 4...Bf5 Mainline [B19]
Guseinov - Jobava features a mainline classical with a slight nuance in the tricky 15.Qd3. Black tries to play it safe by avoiding an early ...0-0 but after 17.Qg3 Jobava was under some pressure:
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Although the game ends quite early in a draw it's still well worth checking out.
As my (Gawain) schedule is getting busier and busier I'm afraid I have to step down from my ChessPublishing updates for the time being. It's been great fun (and hard work!) looking over games for the site and I hope you've enjoyed reading through my analysis. I'm sure I'll be back from time to time to annotate a couple of games but in the meantime I'll leave you in Tom's very capable hands.
Gawain and Tom.
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