What's New - April 2003
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I am in India at the moment, as I have just played in the Commonwealth Championships in Mumbai. I was hoping to complete the update earlier but in the middle of the tournament I completely broke one of my front teeth (hard to believe - because of a piece of chocolate!) and so got a terrible smile in addition to all the other problems! So I made it shorter than usual, the next will be a large one, including some of my QGA games which I played in Mumbai. Ruslan Scherbakov |
Download PGN of April '03 1 d4 d5 games
Chebanenko System [D10 & D15]
Sakaev,K - Izoria,Z [D45]: It looks like a slow approach with e2-e3 and Qd1-c2 does not promise too much against the Chebanenko system. Despite the waste of tempo, the quick c-pawn advance seems to be a good antidote. In this game Black quickly achieved a comfortable position but then missed a trick which cost him a pawn and the game.
Krasenkow,M - Gustafsson,J: Michal Krasenkow still tries to prove that the slow set-up e2-e3 and Qd1-c2 can promise better chances for White. He radically prevents the forthcoming ...c6-c5 by simply playing c4-c5 himself!
            
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In view of White's intended f2-f4 Black is more or less forced to advance his e-pawn so the play is quickly becoming sharp. It looks like in the game White missed a good chance to prove his advantage but anyway it is too early for any conclusions - the whole approach is new and more tests are obviously required.
Sokolov,I - Kristjansson,S: The kind of position which we considered in the game Avrukh - Dautov/Istanbul (ol) 2000 was supposed to be quite acceptable for Black.
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However, recently White has explored a new path - he has found a way to advance his e-pawn to e5, obtaining a space advantage and so securing the better chances thanks to the typical K-side actions.
The Slow Slav 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 [D12]
Korchnoi,V - Gretarsson,H: Here Black's attempt to start Q-side actions did not seem to be well grounded and he was severely punished by Victor Korchnoi.
Main line Slav [D16-D19]
Beliavsky,A - Cornette,M: The line Black played in this game is probably dubious but White has to know what to do very well. The position becomes extremely sharp, and so complicated that even such a strong player as Alexander Beliavsky failed to find the most reliable way over the board. Instead he tried to be very creative but after some sacrifices he found himself without sufficient resources to continue the attack. Fortunately, his opponent, probably being under severe time pressure, invited White's king for a walk but it eventually turned out to be a very important piece in the action!
Hilwani,T - Turpanov,M: The line with 7.f3 and 9.g3!? is one of the most promising continuations against the 5...Bg4 system. This approach is fairly ambitious and it should pose real problems for Black but, on the other hand, the position is getting very complicated and Black, who has many active pieces, can find real counter chances, too. In this game Black was quickly punished for his attempt to secure the pawn - as a rule, in this type of position he must play for activity so it is not so difficult to find an improvement.
Korobov,A - Najer,E: An attempt to improve Black's play from the game Kasparov - Morozevich/Astana 2001 looked very risky and White's enterprising play let him achieve a tangible advantage. It looks like Black is under pressure in this Morozevich line with 7...Nd5!?
Cambridge Springs [D52]
Ruck,R - Grabarczyk,M: Robert Ruck tried to prove White's advantage in a deep line which was first played in the game Rogozenko - M.Gurevich/FIDE WCh KO Moscow 2001. Eventually his attempt failed but his idea looks quite interesting since he probably missed some chances to create more problems for Black.
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If you have any questions, then please post a message at the 1 d4 d5 Forum, or email me at ruslan@chesspublishing.com.