March 2001

GM Nigel Davies takes over!

Caro - Kann Defence

Alexander Volzhin's coverage of the 3.e5 last month was certainly topical. Linares featured a number of key games in which Karpov fared especially badly. As Black against Kasparov he lived to regret going into the mega-sharp 3...Bf5 4.Nc3 e6 5.g4 line (Kasparov - Karpov, MAR01/02) and in a later round against Grischuk (Grischuk - Karpov, MAR01/01) decided to bow out of any theoretical discussion with 4...Qb6. Everything was going according to the 'old maestro vs. young whippersnapper' cue until the 'old maestro' ran short of time and blundered in time-trouble. I know how it feels, Tolya.

Black has been having a rough time of it against 3.e5 and a lot of Caro players have been playing 3.e5 c5!?. This is actually a gambit line, not really the kind of thing Karpov likes to do. On the other hand it seems that taking that pawn isn't really Nunn's cup of tea - when faced with this line he gives back the pawn with his patented 5.Qg4 (Nunn-Breder, MAR01/03). It's a good move if you fantasise about shredding peoples' kings.

Karpov's Linares Caro battles were not restricted to the 3.e5 line, he defended the honour of his favourite 4...Nd7 on no less than three occasions (see Leko - Karpov, . MAR01/05). His results were actually rather good - three draws with Black and he should certainly have won the Shirov game. This whole line looks rock solid - and that despite the best efforts of the World's elite to refute it. It's little wonder that many Whites are choosing to do something a bit different.

I quite like to see old lines making a comeback and in Nevednichy - Iordachescu, MAR01/04 we see White trying to rehabilitate an old gambit line. But it seems to me that White should replace the wimpy 9.c3 with 9.Be3!?, thereafter crying havoc and letting slip the dogs of war. White wanted to keep his investment down to a single pawn but he might have regretted his decision after 11...Nc5.

In the Panov-Botvinnik Attack Prakash suffered two painful losses in the recent Calcutta Open (see Kharlov - Prakash, MAR01/07) and will probably have to improve his treatment of 9.Be2 and find an antidote to Kunte's 18.a4.

Another interesting Panov was Rahman - Abdullah Al Rakib, MAR01/06. White transposed into the 2.c4 line with 1.c4 c6 2.e4, a trick that many English Opening players use to cheat their opponents out of a Slav. Black lent the game an original turn with 2...e5 but on the evidence of this game he will probably avoid this in future. Rahman's 5.Na4! is a nice idea which gave him a clear edge.

Alekhine Defence

It's not often that an Alekhine player get a Four Pawns Attack, but Shulman tends to play the sharpest lines of everything (Shulman - Baburin, MAR01/08). This game confirmed the durability of 6...c5, the players heading right down the main line and agreeing a draw whilst still in the book. I can only surmise that Shulman just wanted to test his opponent's preparation and when he saw 18...Bb5(!) he opted for the handshake. Maybe he's found something against the older 18...Nc4.

I've been wanting to try the Alekhine for a while and gave it the first road test as Black against Toothill (see Toothill - Davies, MAR01/09). Toothill has made a speciality out of Keres' old 3.Nc3, which would probably be played more if the Alekhine's reputation wasn't so (undeservedly) bad in the 4 Nf3 variation. Most Whites probably see this sideline as a missed opportunity.

Pribyl Defence

In Rausis - Davies, MAR01/10 my opponent avoided the Pirc with 3.Bd3 but and varied from an unpleasant game he had against Khalifman with 7.Bb1!?. His whole treatment looks quite interesting but we may see Rausis bin this line fairly soon. "I've lost my last four games with it," is what he told me after the game. Sometimes you get the feeling that certain openings are jinxed; and if such a thought occurs to you it's better to leave them alone.

Caro-Kann

Alekhine Defence

Pribyl Defence