Download PGN of February '08 1 d4 d5 games
Chebanenko System [D15]
Aronian - Van Wely: Levon Aronian scored two wins in the same position in the same tournament, playing it for both sides!
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At first he smashed Boris Gelfand with Black and then introduced a small innovation and beat Loek van Wely with White! However, Black seems to be able to get sufficient counter chances with more precise play...
Marshall Gambit [D31]
Braun - Van der Werf: After two impressive wins by Dusko Pavasovich, in the European Championship 2007, Black's life in this deep line seemed sunny:
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But it seems White is recovering, in this game he just smashed his opponent, who came unprepared, but things may not be so clear in case of more precise play from Black.
Cheparinov - Krasenkow: Ivan Cheparinov confidently outplayed his experienced rival in a line which is supposed to be acceptable for Black. Some good home work needs to be done...
Moscow Variation [D43]
Inarkiev - Dreev: Alexey Dreev came up with an almost forgotten continuation, but it was his opponent, Ernesto Inarkiev, who actually played a novelty and successfully exploited Black's inaccurate play to gain a huge advantage. However, he was a bit too hasty to gather in the harvest and allowed Dreev to get a strong attack on the K-side, which was probably beyond his wildest dreams...
Grischuk - Karjakin: Alexander Grischuk introduced a small innovation in a rare line here and achieved the better chances. However, the rapid time control played its role and after mutual mistakes the game ended in Black's favour.
Cheparinov - Nepomniashchy: The Anti-Moscow Gambit has become very popular these days and some interesting battles were played in Wijk aan Zee. Here Ivan Cheparinov smashed his opponent, who was too greedy in the opening. However, it's still not so clear how real White's initiative would have been if Black took the chance to swap his important bishop.
L'Ami - Cheparinov: Another of Black's disasters in Wijk aan Zee, but here it was Cheparinov himself who was the victim. Erwin L'Ami came up with a novelty, which worked very well, but Black should be able to get sufficient counter chances with more precise play.
Radjabov - Anand: Teimour Radjabov followed Ernesto Inarkiev's foot-steps in this recently fashionable line, by playing 14 Re1:
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Vishy Anand, who always plays the Moscow variation with Black these days, introduced a novelty, but the follow-up was a bit inaccurate. White reacted very well and a series of energetic moves gave him a clear advantage, although the whole variation still seems acceptable for Black.
Radjabov - Van Wely: Loek van Wely showed excellent preparation here and refuted Radjabov's novelty in style. White got an extra pawn in the ending but, in fact it was he who had to fight for equality. After some inaccuracies White made his task much more difficult, and only Black's slightly sophisticated play allowed Teimour to escape.
Kramnik - Aronian: Vladimir Kramnik improved upon the game Radjabov - Anand/Mainz rapid 2006, which White lost. His strong novelty on the 25th move, 25 Nc3, helped him to put certain pressure on his opponent:
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However, Levon Aronian defended very well and, despite being two pawns down, achieved a drawish rook ending - only a very unexpected mistake at the end stopped him from scoring half a point.
Topalov - Kramnik: A rather surprising opening choice by Kramnik - he decided to go for a big fight with the black pieces! The positions which usually arise in this extremely complicated line seem to be more suited to Topalov's style but, on the other hand, you may remember that in the past Vladimir liked complicated lines such as the Botvinnik and Meran very much - just recall Black's brilliant win in the game Kasparov - Kramnik/Dos Hermanas 1996. However, this time it was Veselin's day - he introduced a stunning piece sacrifice at the beginning of a well analysed line and crushed his main rival in style:
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Yet it is still too early to make any conclusions. Black had a better defence, which requires special analysis, although White's idea is very interesting anyway...
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.