Download PGN of December '04 1 d4 d5 games
Slav Defence - Various [D10]
Kasparov, G - Svidler, P: Peter Svidler refrained from his pet Grunfeld and played a rare early ... d5xc4, getting a position similar to the QGA. However, this surprise only had a small effect on Garry Kasparov, who preferred his usual approach, achieved a small but stable advantage, and eventually converted it into a full point.
Chebanenko System [D10 & D15]
Mrva, M - Schwarz, D: White's modern set-up with 6. c5 still brings him excellent results. In this game Black refrained from the development of his light-squared bishop but the attempt to keep the Q-side closed by the rather artificial 7...Rb8 does not look too impressive:
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Gershon - Svetushkin: Finally, some good news for Black in a line where he recently suffered very much! Dmitry Svetushkin found a good way to keep the Q-side closed so it seems that White can forget about his simple plan of penetration on the a-file. In this game Alik Gershon tried to disprove Black's idea by drastic measures but soon found himself under pressure...
Onischuk, A - Zatonskih, A: In the just considered game Gershon - Svetushkin/Athens 2004 Black introduced the strong 7...a5!, preventing Alexei Dreev's pet plan of penetration on a-file. Curiously enough, this game was played just the next day but I guess even if Dreev did not see Svetushkin's idea he certainly considered this logical attempt to keep the Q-side closed in his home preparation. So he quickly came up with a new idea, which helped White to keep the Q-side opened!:
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His approach worked well after all, but it seems that Black's play could certainly be improved - I am sure we'll not wait long for the next dispute in this rapidly developing line...
Onischuk, A - Zatonskih, A: The attempt to break White's pawn chain by immediate Q-side play looks interesting but it has one serious drawback - Black is getting behind in development and Alexander Onischuk found the way to exploit the advantages of his position by very energetic and precise play.
Main line Slav [D16-D19]
Cebalo, M - Atalik, S: The rare approach 7...Nb6 brought a good result for Black:
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Miso Cebalo did not achieve much and then overestimated his position and was punished by Suat Atalik in style. The game shows what White should be careful when he tries to keep Black's bishop on g6 locked by the pawn chain f3-e4.
Johannessen, L - Shirov, A: You may remember Alexei Shirov found himself coming under a very strong attack in the game P.H.Nielsen - Shirov/GER-chT 2004. The same already well-developed line was tested here and, most probably, Shirov was ready to improve but he wasn't given a chance as, in the diagram position:
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Leif Erlend Johannessen came up with a wonderful knight sacrifice, which caused Shirov a serious headache again!
QGA [D20-29]
Shulman, Y - Kaidanov, G: Gregory Kaidanov introduced a very strong idea to extinguish White's initiative in Yuri Shulman's favourite line with 7. e4. It seems that the maximum White can hope for is a very slight edge in the obviously drawish endgame so at the moment this rare line is under the clouds.
Cebalo, M - Stevic, H: Miso Cebalo came up with a very interesting novelty here in a principal line:
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and achieved a clear advantage.
Moscow Gambit [D43]
Kasparov, G - Dreev, A: At the crucial moment of the Russian Championship Garry Kasparov showed a part of his huge opening preparation - instead of the common way, he preferred an approach which was known to be rather unclear and too double-edged for White. Alexei Dreev, who is one of the main experts in this line, played very creatively and stubbornly but was still eliminated slowly but confidently. As to theory, it is still too early to make any conclusions. Black certainly faced some new problems but his play could be improved - more thorough analysis and practical tests are required...
Till next time!
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.