Download PGN of August '11 1 d4 d5 games
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The Slow Slav 6.Nh4 Bg6 [D12]
Kovalyov - Delgado Ramos: Volume one of Boris Avrukh's landmark 'Grandmaster Repertoire: 1.d4' series (published November 2008!) is still influencing fashion. In the Slow Slav line 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Bg6 7.Be2 Nbd7 8.0-0 Ne4!? 9.Nxg6 hxg6 10.cxd5 exd5 11.Nxe4 dxe4, Avrukh proposed the novel continuation 12.d5! Bd6 13.g3:
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However, he neglected to consider 13...c5, which Malakhov used to score a quick victory against Hillarp Persson shortly after GM 1 was released (see Ruslan's notes in the PGN Archive). Since then White players have opted for the less critical 13.h3, but here we see an attempt by Kovalyov to resurrect Avrukh's main line. Like Hillarp Persson, he erred with 14.Qa4 Qe7 15.Bb5? handing Black the initiative with 15...0-0-0!, but I suggest possible improvements for White.
6.Nh4 Be4 [D12]
Grachev - Romanov: Another fashionable Slow Slav line runs 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Be4 7.f3 Bg6 8.Qb3 Qb6 9.Nxg6 hxg6. In the first round of the FIDE World Cup Grachev opted for the flexible 10.Kf2, where White often plays g3 and Kg2 before making any major decisions. After 10...Nbd7 11.Bd2 Be7 12.g3 Rd8 13.Kg2 0-0:
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Grachev correctly transformed the pawn structure with 14.Qxb6! axb6 15.cxd5!. Black probably could have equalized immediately had he followed another recommendation of Avrukh's: 12...g5!
Moscow Variation 6.Bh4 [D43]
Rychagov - Berczes: David Berczes shows off some incredible preparation in the principled variation 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 c6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 9.Be2 Bb7 10.0-0 Nbd7 11.Ne5 h5 12.Nxd7 Qxd7 13.Be5 Rh6 14.Qc1 Ng4 15.Bxg4 hxg4 16.Qxg5 Rg6 17.Qe3. Now 17...f6 is the most common, but 17...c5! gives Black excellent play in all lines:
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Rychagov employs a no-nonsense novelty with 18.Rad1, but Berczes has all the answers after 18...cxd4 19.Bxd4 b4!
Vitiugov - Korobov: Anand used the relatively unexplored move 10.Qc2!? against Shirov in June and Kramnik in 2008:
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After 10...Nbd7 11.Rd1 Nh5 12.d5! Nxg3 13.hxg3 Shirov went astray and lost without a fight, as did Korobov here. Black's margin for error is small - he must play 13...exd5 14.exd5 cxd5 15.Nxd5 Bg7. Alternatives to 11...Nh5 are also analyzed.
Meran 8...Bb7 [D48]
Sadler - Smeets: The eminent Semi-Slav expert Matthew Sadler understands that White's c3 knight has more limited prospects than the f3 knight in the variation 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 Bb7 9.0-0 a6 10.e4 c5 11.d5 Qc7 12.dxe6 fxe6 13.Bc2 c4. Thus, with 14.Ne2!? he endeavors to find new horizons for the problem piece:
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The "dual knight" strategy is wildly successfully!
Catalan Opening 4...Be7, 7.Qc2 b5 [E05]
In our final two games we discuss the trendy line 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 dxc4 7.Qc2 b5 8.a4 b4:
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Van Wely - Gurevich: Rather than delve into the complications of 9.Ne5 Qxd4 10.Bxa8 Qxe5 where Black can claim excellent compensation (see the game Shankland - Shabalov, ch-USA 2011), here I examine a straightforward positional solution with 9.Qxc4:
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Now Gustafsson's 9...Ba6 is interesting, while Gurevich's 9...Bb7 should offer White good chances for an advantage with 10.Ne5!?. Instead, Van Wely played 10.Bf4 Nd5 11.Rc1?, allowing Black to seize the initiative with 11...Nxf4 12.gxf4 Nd7!.
Grigoryan - Olszewski: Instead it is quite attractive for White to gambit a pawn with 9.Nfd2!?:
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Forcing a gung-ho 8...b5 opponent on the defensive can be psychologically very useful, and the gambit itself seems sound. After 9...c6 10.Nxc4 Qxd4, Grigoryan tries to improve on a Gelfand - Ponomariov game from earlier this year with 11.Be3, though Gelfand's 11.Rd1 may be stronger.
Until next time, John
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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.