Download PGN of May ’23 1 e4 ... games
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Scandinavian Defence with 3...Qd6 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 Nc6 [B01]
Kicking things off in fairly high gear is the experimental idea favoured by Daniil Dubov, 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd6 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 Nc6!?:
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I quite like this idea, even if our current game evaded some of the most critical lines. After 6.Nb5 Qd8 7.c4 the critical move is 7...Bg4, which I analyse in the notes, while the game Tomczak, J - Ivanisevic, I saw the initially more compliant 7...e6 8.a3 a6 9.Nc3 (a stable plus for White) before nevertheless erupting into irrational complications.
Alekhine’s Defence, Four Pawns Attack Mainline [B03]
The game Pranav, V - Xu, X saw a tremendous memory contest in the opening, particularly when White unleashed the slightly surprising 15.a3!?, a move with great practical value and limited capacity for forced draws. There followed the nearly-mandatory 15...Bh4+ 16.g3 Bxh1 17.axb4 Bf6 18.Qg4:
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Here Black went wrong, which is both understandable given the sharpness of the position, and rather sad for the state of modern chess that such a natural move as 18...Nd5 should be practically losing.
Pirc Defence, Classical Variation [B08]
I was quite impressed with the game Caruana, F - Aronian, L. Via a different sequence of moves ending in 8.Be2, the two elite players reached the same position as in a recent game of mine:
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Here, while I got stressed about White’s idea of pushing a5 to cramp the queenside, Aronian just rolled with it and went for the instructive sequence 8...e6 9.0-0 Ne7 10.a5 b5!, effectively equalising. A very useful reminder that just because White has ‘fixed’ the queenside, Black is not obliged to read from the same script. White nevertheless obtained the upper hand around move 20, before letting things slip in a very sharp position.
Pirc, Austrian Attack 5...c5 6.Bb5+ Bd7 7.e5 Ng4 8.h3 [B09]
One of the sidelines that I (at least) have a tendency to forget about is 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 c5 6.Bb5+ Bd7 7.e5 Ng4 8.h3!?, played during the Hungarian derby Gaal, Zs - Papp, G at the Reykjavik Open. While Black can probably equalise with 8...cxd4 (and some memory work), I was relatively happy to see them opt in the game for the more combative 8...Bxb5 9.Nxb5 dxe5 10.hxg4 Qa5+:
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One way or another Black wins back the piece. With the natural 11.c3 as played in the game, it seems that White can get great complications but nothing else (with forcing sequences Black can guarantee an unlosable position), while the rather odd-looking 11.Qd2 might give an advantage. Food for thought.
Caro-Kann Defence, Endgame Variation with 5...Nf6 6.Nbd2 [B10]
Back to one of the recurring topical lines and we see Black going for the prescribed 6...g6 7.Ne5 Bh6 8.f3 Be6 9.Bc4:
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Rather than place one or other knight on d7 (...Nfd7 being preferable, and analysed in some detail), Black now traded with 9...Bxc4, after which there might still be equality but more because White’s plans aren’t constructive enough, rather than because of anything forcing. A very strong effort from White with only one inaccuracy; see Abasov, N - Bluebaum, M.
Caro-Kann, Panov-Botvinnik Attack/Semi-Tarrasch 10.Bc2 [B10/D42]
Okay, maybe a little bit territorial of me because this position can also arise from the QGD, English or even Alapin, but I am fascinated by the strategically rich position after 1.e4 c6 2.c4 d5 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.exd5 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nxd5 6.Nf3 e6 7.d4 Be7 8.Bd3 0-0 9.0-0 Nc6:
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In Bosiocic, M - Bartel, M White opted for the slightly rare 10.Bc2, which is not without its ideas (10.Re1 being the main move.) A representative collection of IQP ideas occurs in the notes that follow, with Black’s first decision being which minor pieces to (attempt to) control the d5-square with.
Caro-Kann, Advance Variation 3...c5 4.Nf3 cxd4 5.Qxd4 Nc6 6.Qf4 [B12]
English IM Ameet Ghasi continues his trend of playing theoretically interesting games in the Caro, with Korneev, O - Ghasi, A being an important draw en route to his maiden GM norm. Theoretically, I want to highlight the position after 10...Ne7 as being critical:
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It turns out that the knee-jerk reaction of 11.h4 (whenever you see an enemy knight heading for g6 in such a structure!) may make more sense than the slower game continuation of 11.Ne2. Then a pawn sacrifice would be a likely result, with White having compensation and Black most likely ceding their castling rights in the process.
Caro-Kann, Korchnoi Variation 8.Qc2 Re8+ 9.Ne2 h5 [B15]
In this month’s game Dragnev, V - Hausrath, D White went for the classic setup with kingside castling, culminating in the position after 13.Rae1:
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Both sides have effectively completed development (certainly after the game’s 13...Bd7 you could say that) and, as quite often in modern chess, it is starting to transpire that it makes sense to continue writing theory even beyond this point.
White’s plan of sticking a knight on h5 and playing for mate was successful in at least a couple of prior games, and Black faces an interesting choice between playing boring chess (trading off as many minor pieces as possible along the e-file, accepting a token structural disadvantage) versus memorising a series of concrete moves to perhaps maintain winning chances. I would especially note the possibility of 16...Nh7!? in the notes, keeping play in the position. As things panned out, Black tried to defend against the mating attack with a knight on g6, ultimately succumbing to a rather predictable thrust of White’s f-pawn.
All the best, Daniel
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