Download PGN of June ’16 1 e4 ... games
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Scandinavian 3...Qd6 Variation: 5...a6 6.g3 Bg4 [B01]
Zhou, Y - Grafl, F features a new move for this site, 8.Bf4!?, immediately posing a difficult question to the queen:
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Later Zhou utilised his strong centre pawns and the poor positioning of the black queen to great effect. The attack includes a crowd-pleasing queen sacrifice followed by a pawn march.
Alekhine's Defence 4.Bc4 Nb6 [B03]
Kiewra, K - Zhou, J is a rarely played sideline featuring 4.Bc4 instead of the usual c4 and Nf3. I think it is a good sideline to consider if one is looking to throw the opponent onto unfamiliar ground early on.
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In the game White ran into difficulties defending his a4-pawn and soon found himself in a worse position. I suggest 9.Nc3 as a better option to the move he played in the game.
Pirc Defence: 4.Be3 a6 5.a4 [B07]
Harikrishna, P - Mamedyarov, S included a move not yet examined on this site, 5.a4:
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Black's 7th move is not so common and White's plan to swap light squared bishops and control the d-file soon gave a very comfortable advantage.
Caro-Kann: Two Knights Variation 3...Bg4 4.h3 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 [B11]
There were three games in the Two Knights this column with White trying different ideas.
Bartel, M - Ruck, R features an idea which has been gaining popularity: 6.Qg3
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I quite like this idea of disrupting Black's natural development. In the game White chose a plan involving 9.Qh3 but didn't get any advantage. I believe White can still find improvements here if he is to play like this again.
Maze, S - Andreikin, D examines a very solid option for Black. White's 7.Qe3 still doesn't give him any hopes of an advantage:
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By placing the queen on the active d5-square and marching his h-pawn, Black was able to provoke a queen swap and equalise comfortably.
Dominguez Perez, L - Grischuk, A features a Black piece setup which is not so common but easy to play.
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After smoothly developing his pieces, Grischuk was able to fully equalise with the pawn break ...e5. White could consider an improvement such as Qd3 on move 11 instead.
Caro-Kann Advance 3...c5 4.dxc5 Nc6 5.a3!? [B12]
Sethuraman, S - Fossan, A shows the idea of 5.a3!?, which is common enough after 4...e6 but can also be played after 4...Nc6:
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Unable to prove that the pawn on e5 can be taken safely, most Black players opt to transpose back to lines with ...e6.
Caro-Kann Classical 7...Nf6 8.Ne5 [B19]
Kuzubov, Y - Mamedyarov, S shows another game where Mamedyarov has been able to comfortably hold in this variation.
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In the game White allowed Black to castle long and didn't achieve any advantage. Instead, I believe 13.e6 is the most critical option.
Till next time, Moulthun
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