Download PGN of April '13 1 d4 d5 games
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Closed Catalan 4...Bb4+ [E08]
Kramnik - Ivanchuk: Vassily Ivanchuk came up with a relatively rare approach with ...Bd6:
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and despite Vladimir Kramnik's creative play he survived all the dangers with a series of only defensive moves.
Caruana - Gelfand: The very slight edge which White obtains in this line does not seem promising enough as the position is too closed for his pair of bishops:
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However, he is hoping to exploit his opponent's inaccurate play, and in this game he successfully fulfilled this task.
Mainline 4...Be7, 7.Qc2 b5 [E05]
Andersen - Georgiev: Black's tricky approach has recently become popular:
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White has already tried several ways to fight for an advantage but the one which he chose in this game can hardly promise more than a very slight edge.
Ju - Wei: White's pawn sacrifice seems to be the most dangerous way to counter his opponent's set-up:
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White is gaining time by pursuing Black's queen but it is still not easy to convert certain pressure into something substantial...
Meier - Fridman: Georg Meier came up with an interesting approach, which looks like a real problem for Black here, 12.Nbd2:
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White's pressure eventually brought him a full point but it should be possible to improve Black's play...
7.Qa4 [E05]
Krylov - Filipenko: The fairly shocking queen advance seen here is actually rather interesting:
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Later Black obtained a decisive advantage but went astray in the time scramble.
7.Qc2 a6 8.a4 [E05]
Leko - Karjakin: Peter Leko came up with a concrete and interesting approach but Sergey Karjakin was equal to the task. A very exciting and important theoretical game though I suspect that it might be the result of good homework, at least from one of the players.
Wagner - Berger: The line 8.a4 has become popular nowadays:
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Here White managed to maintain a small advantage but then a very unfortunate decision led him to disaster.
Adams - Fridman: Michael Adams pressurized his opponent in his usual style but Black's position always remained solid enough.
7.Ne5 [E05]
Kramnik - Carlsen: Vladimir Kramnik came up with a brilliant new idea in a harmless-looking line 12.Rd1!:
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and obtained a tangible advantage in this game, which might have become decisive for the whole Candidates tournament. Yet he eventually failed to present serious problems to Magnus Carlsen, who defended with his usual precision and not only saved the position a pawn down but possibly the key half point.
Till next month, Ruslan
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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.