Download PGN of February ’24 1 d4 d5 2 c4 games

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Semi-Tarrasch 5.cxd5 cxd4 6.Qxd4 exd5 7.e4 dxe4 [D41]

Keres originally prepared this line for the Zurich 1953 Candidates tournament, scoring 2.5/3 as Black, yet it never really caught on until recently. Perhaps part of the reason is that Keres met 6.Qxd4 exd5 7.e4 with the natural 7...Nc6, after which 8.Bb5 dxe4 9.Qxd8+ Kxd8 10.Ng5 Be6 11.Nxe6+ fxe6 12.Bxc6 bxc6, giving Black a joyless endgame with multiple weak pawns:

Fast forward some 70 years and the move 7...dxe4! is routinely played, reaching endgames which look close to equal after 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8:

Black can still get pawn weaknesses on the kingside, but his weaknesses are restricted to just one side of the board.

As you might expect, Magnus Carlsen seems happy to enter the endgame anyway, testing Fabiano Caruana with the rare 9.Ne5 (Carlsen - Caruana ) and then switching to 9.Ng5 Be6 10.Bd2!? against Wesley So (Carlsen - So )

Both these choices look pragmatic in nature, Black can surely defend but can he find the right moves in these unusual sub-variations? The answer was 'no' in both cases.

Vincent Keymer faced a more mainstream approach in Martirosyan - Keymer, but he looked well prepared with his 14...h5:

instead of 14...f5, following up by sacrificing his h-pawn for the initiative. The position reached looked far from easy for White to play, he couldn't use his extra pawn and Black's pieces were very active.

Semi-Tarrasch 5.cxd5 cxd4 6.Qxd4 exd5 7.Bg5 [D41]

If White wants to keep the queens on he can try 7.Bg5 instead of 7.e4.

Ian Nepomniachtchi faced this twice in Wijk aan Zee last month, with results he might have hoped would be better. In Giri - Nepomniachtchi he tried 10...Bb4:

varying from his earlier game against Dommuraju Gukesh (Gukesh - Nepomniachtchi) in which he chose 10...Bd7:

As with the Carlsen games I'm unconvinced that he thought he was improving his play, I think it's more a case of presenting a moving target for any engine preparation.

Gukesh himself varied from one of his December games (Gukesh - Eljanov ) with 9.Bb5 rather than the equally plausible 9.Be2, and it took me some time to understand his later 11.Rd1 rather than 11.0-0. With so many options and finesses, you can see why this line has attracted such interest.

Semi-Tarrasch Mainline 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 cxd4 8.cxd4 Bb4+ [D41]

I did eventually find some interesting Semi-Tarrasch (5...Nxd5) games in lines that have not previously been covered on ChessPublishing. After 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 cxd4 8.cxd4 Bb4+ 9.Bd2 Bxd2+ 10.Qxd2 0-0:

White has tried 11.Bd3 and 11.h4. These moves have a very different character, 11.Bd3 often leading to an endgame after 11...Nc6 12.Bc2 (or 12.Qc3) as in Carlsen - Xiong, and now 12...Qa5:

whilst 11.h4 , as in Gukesh - Esipenko, generally has violent intent:

What the two moves have in common is an attempt to develop the king's bishop more efficiently than on c4, from where it usually has to move following a Black ...Rc8 in the main line (11.Bc4 Nd7 12.0-0 b6 13.Rad1 Bb7 14.Rfe1 Rc8).

It might be argued that 11.Bd3 Nc6 12.Bc2 (or 12.Qc3) also amounts to a loss of time, but Black has committed his knight to c6 rather than d7, which can leave Black's kingside vulnerable.

See you next month! Nigel

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