The April '04 '1 d4 d5' games can be downloaded directly in PGN form here:

Chebanenko System [D10 & D15]

Iskusnykh,S - Neelotpal,D: The idea to develop the bishop to f5 is not very popular in the Chebanenko system and probably not without reason.

In this game White proved his superiority with very energetic play but a more precise analysis may still find a few points of possible improvement for Black's play. By the way, I would also like to draw your attention to a wonderful idea of Ketevan Kakhiani's, whose game is given in brackets.

Zvjaginsev,V - Lautier,J: If White wants to advance his c-pawn to c5 then he usually does it when the Black pawn is on b7. On the other hand, if Black plays ...b7-b5 then White chooses between c4xd5 and b2-b3, the latter being more popular. In the actual game, however, White played c4-c5 after Black's ...b7-b5 - there wasn't much fighting but some questions remained unanswered.... Perhaps this approach deserves more attention - in many cases it was the choice of the main hero of the Chebanenko System, Sergey Volkov when he faced it with white pieces - you can find some of his games in the comments.

Wells,P - Epishin,V: The development of the bishop to e7 instead of d6 is a bit passive so Black's defensive strategy must be very well thought-out. In this game he continued in the same passive style and was severely punished for that.

Epishin,V - Charbonneau,P: In the above game White played Nf3-e5 before Bc1-b2 and crushed his opponent in style. However, Black has an interesting option to cast doubt upon White's order of moves and here Vladimir Epishin, this time playing for the White side, failed to prove any advantage.

Onischuk,A - Malakhov,V: As often happens in this well-developed line, White can only get a very slight edge thanks to his control over the c-file. To increase this advantage is a real problem as the position is very closed and White just cannot bring any other pieces into the Black camp. However, in this game Black's inaccurate play gave White an excellent chance to set his king in motion and collect Black's Q-side pawns with ease.

Lautier,J - Malakhov,V: For some strange reason the bishop retreat 7. Bd2!? is not very popular though it was always unclear exactly how Black can equalise.

In this game an important line has been tested. Frankly speaking White always looks better but perhaps Black can achieve half a point with precise play - in any case more analysis and practical tests are required.

Topalov,V - Kasparov,G: The provocative move 7. Bg5 is rarely played but, strangely enough, Garry Kasparov has already faced it for the second time. He won the previous encounter Sasikiran - Kasparov/Bled (ol) 2002 but, in my opinion, had not solved Black's problems completely. However, Veselin Topalov was not given a chance to prove White's superiority after 7...h6 8. Bd2 Qc7 as Black prevented the forthcoming e2-e4 by 8...Nhf6!?:

Soon the players went into unexplored grounds - Topalov's plan put Kasparov under pressure but the latter found some concrete and strong defensive manoeuvres, after which White already had to stay cool-headed not to get the worse position.

Gyimesi,Z - Saiboulatov,D: A fresh idea in the 7. e3 g6 line - the rather surprising 8. h4!? - recently caused a real headache for Black:

Frankly speaking, the h-pawn advance does not look so harmful for Black but his results are just disastrous! In this game Danial's attempts to get counter chances looked quite logical but he resigned on the 24th move - certainly some good home work should be done...

In the next month I will be returning home from India so I am thinking about a big update on the Queen's Gambit Accepted - a lot of interesting ideas have been tried recently.

Ruslan

If you have any questions, then please post a message at the 1 d4 d5 Forum, or subscribers can email me at ruslan@chesspublishing.com.