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In previous updates I’ve covered the Queen’s Gambit Declined Exchange Variation with White having committed himself to putting his knight on f3, for example via the move order 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 e6 4.cxd5 exd5 and now 5.Nc3 c6 6.Qc2 Be7 7.Bf4 or 7.Bg5. This is a very practical move order for White because 4.cxd5 avoids the numerous responses to 4.Nc3 whilst 2.Nf3 keeps open the possibility of playing lines such as the Torre Attack with 2...e6 3.Bg5 or 2...g6 3.Bg5.

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

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What has surprised me slightly is that this has now become popular at the highest level, and indeed Gukesh Dommaraju used it in the third game of the World Championship match against Ding Liren, scoring an invaluable victory. Gukesh also played something different and met 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 e6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nc3 c6 6.Qc2 g6 with 7.h3. It’s these h2-h3 ideas I want to examine more deeply in this month’s update as they have not been covered on ChessPublishing.com earlier. Essentially there are two different forms, 6...g6 7.h3 Bf5, as played by Ding, and 6...Be7 7.h3 to meet 7...g6 with 8.Bh6 Bf5 9.Qc1.

Queen’s Gambit Declined, Exchange Variation 6.Qc2 g6 7.h3 Bf5 [D35]

I imagine I’m not alone in finding the moves of Gukesh, D - Ding, L really strange, after 6...g6 7.h3 Bf5 there followed 8.Qb3 Qb6 9.g4:











Black has several options here such as 9...Be6 or 9...Be4 and also exchanging queens before playing these moves. Ding chose a fifth option of exchanging queens (9...Qxb3 10.axb3) and then playing 10...Bc2. This had previously been played in another high level game between Vladimir Kramnik and Arjun Erigaisi, with Kramnik having a very good position and missing several wins. Ding improved with 13...Nbd7 but the position still isn’t easy for Black.

I included Javakjishvili, L - Assaubayeva, B to illustrate Black’s 9th move alternatives of 9...Be6 and 9...Be4. Putting the bishop on e4 may be Black’s simplest and most solid approach as I explain in the notes.


Queen’s Gambit Declined, Exchange Variation: 6.Qc2 Be7 7.h3 [D35]

The aim of this move order is clear, White wants to prevent Black from developing his c8 bishop. Black can prepare to do so with 7...g6 but then White can play 8.Bh6 Bf5 9.Qc1:











, temporarily preventing Black from castling kingside. Black has his own advantages here, for example a strong grip over the e4 square. These extra factors tend to make the play more unbalanced than in standard positions with this pawn structure.

Black has tried several different moves in this position of which 9...c5 (Khismatullin, D - Landa, K ) is probably the riskiest, though the situation would not have been so clear had Black played 13...Ne4 instead of 13...Qa5.

9...Na6:











is a more solid option and looked OK for Black in Baumegger, S - Diermair, A.

However, the two main moves are 9...Nbd7:











(Morozevich, A - Roiz, M) and 9...Ne4:











(Rapport, R - Iszak, G). These both seem to be fine for Black, but the positions are far from being routine or normal.

Black has other ways to meet 7.h3, for example 7...Na6:











was played in Riazantsev, A - Khismatullin, D.

I also think that just 7...0-0:











(Sumets, A - Vaibhav, S ) is a decent move as after 8.Bf4 Black can still play 8...g6 and then 9...Bf5. I’d say that the problems for Black are in no way theoretical but rather practical in nature, he has to navigate new and rather unexplored positions in which the standard solutions may no longer be valid.


It remains for me to wish you a Happy New Year! See you next month! Nigel Davies

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