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As has already happened this year, the young Chinese star Ding Liren is once again the main hero of the month, while the master class from Vladimir Kramnik and the surprising and somewhat shocking idea from Andrey Zhigalko should not be missed either...

Download PGN of December '12 1 d4 d5 games

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Exchange Slav 5...Qb6 [D10]

Shomoev - Dreev: Alexey Dreev came back with a risky approach, which was considered doubtful 20 years ago:

However, it seems that Black's position didn't become any safer in that time...



Chebanenko System 5.g3 [D15]

Kramnik - McShane: Vladimir Kramnik gave a master class in his favourite Catalan type of position:

though it was reached via the Chebanenko.



Vienna Variation - Anti-Vienna Gambit [D24/D39]

Ding - Meier: Ding Liren conclusively outplayed his opponent here. White's centralisation gave him excellent compensation for the pawn and then he cleverly exploited the advantages of his position:

Black could have defended better but it seems that he is under some pressure anyway.



Main Slav 5...e6 [D16/D31]

Ding - Balogh: One more victory from the rising young Chinese star. Black came up with a slight innovation here:

but it seems that it cannot fully extinguish White's initiative...



Marshall Gambit 8.Be2 Na6 9.Ba5 Bd7 [D31]

Zhigalko - Pakhomov: A surprising and very interesting idea in a well-known position of the Marshall Gambit! White never previously had any doubt about the most logical king retreat here:

but it was Andrey Zhigalko who has found that another option, which looks like a waste of tempo, might actually be favourable for White! His discovery quickly brought him a well-deserved victory and it seems that Black is really under pressure in the ending. Actually this is exactly the conclusion I made in the "Triangle" book but I must admit that White's clever idea completely skipped my attention.



Moscow Variation early 9.Ne5 [D43]

Ding - Le Quang: White came up with a new idea in this complicated line:

and it seems that he had some even more promising options in the middlegame to obtain somewhat the better chances.



Botvinnik Variation 5.a4 [D44]

Le Quang-Balogh: Csaba Balogh demonstrated an interesting approach. Black's delaying castling made all White's manoeuvres rather futile as he could not target Black's king. However, the position remained very complex and White eventually managed to exploit his opponent's mistakes...



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.