What's New - February 2003
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In this update we will see what the Wijk aan Zee super-tournament had in store for 1 d4 d5. Ruslan Scherbakov |
For those who can't use ChessPub.exe, Download PGN of February '03 1 d4 d5 games
Chebanenko System [D10 & D15]
Kraenkow,M - Bareev,E: The rare but rather interesting 5. Qc2!? can put some problems before Black. In this game Evgeny Bareev introduced a rather sophisticated defensive approach and it seems that he could have solved all his problems if he suddenly had not tried to fish in troubled waters.
Queen's Gambit Accepted [D20 to D29]
Karpov,A - Shirov,A: The quiet approach that White chose in this game is known to be harmless for Black and Anatoly Karpov was unable to prove the opposite.
Krasenkow,M - Shirov,A: Michal Krasenkow likes to play the Furman system very much - you may remember his excellent attack against Utut Adianto (Krasenkow - Adianto/Koszalin 1998) so Shirov's opening choice was maybe not quite so well thought-out. This system promises the better chances for White without much risk while Black has to play very precisely to hold balance.
            
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Besides, such play is not completely in Shirov's style but in this system Black's active possibilities are rather limited and the attempts to be active at any cost might be severely punished, as was once again shown in this game..
Ivanchuk,V - Ponomariov,R: Ruslan Ponomariov tried to improve Shirov's play from Krasenkow - Shirov/Wijk aan Zee 2003. Generally his approach looks better and it can really promise acceptable play for Black but his awkward knight's manoeuvre, which led to disaster, can hardly be accepted.
Botvinnik Variation [D44]
San Segundo,P - Vera,R: The variation 9...Nd5 always looked suspicious but Cuban players were somehow able to hold the position.
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A powerful novelty on move 20 (in the diagram position) by GM Pablo San Segundo looks like the final blow, which closes down the whole Black set-up!
Estremera Panos,S - Cifuentes Parada,R: Another side line, which seemed to be playable for Black, is called into question after an excellent queen sac by Sergio Estremera Panos. Another headache for Botvinnik adherents...
Ponomariov,R - Shirov,A: The fantastic queen sacrifice 21.Qg7!?, which shook the chess World in the game Ivanchuk - Shirov/Wijk aan Zee 1996 is already supposed to be harmless for Black.
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Ivanchuk's compatriot, the FIDE World Champion Ruslan Ponomariov, repeated it against the same opponent but his small innovation did not look too harmful for Black, although Alexei Shirov had to find some very strong manoeuvres to prove his superiority. Besides, I would like to pay your attention to an old but unknown idea of the Ukrainian player P.Golovenchenko, which seems to be more promising for White.
Rogers,I - Stellwagen,D: The spectacular invention of Wolfgang Uhlmann, 16.Rb1, remains one of the most promising continuations. Here Black outplayed his opponent in complications but objectively he has not proved that he was completely okay.
Meran Defence [D47-49]
Radjabov,T - Shirov,A: Alexei Shirov once again faced a curious piece sacrifice in a rare line.
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We suppose that it can hardly pose problems for Black but Teimour Radjabov introduced a good novelty and put Shirov under pressure. Yet, it is hard to believe that White could win the endgame which arose by force and so the whole line still seems to be drawish.
If you have any questions, then please mail me at ruslan@chesspublishing.com.