Download PGN of April ’25 1 d4 d5 2 c4 games
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QGD, Exchange 5.Bg5 c6 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 Be7 8.Bd3 Nbd7 9.Qc2 O-O 10.Nge2 Re8 11.f3 [D36]
The second game sparked some research by me, it went 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 c6 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 Be7 8.Bd3 Nbd7 9.Qc2 O-O 10.Nge2 Re8 and now 11.f3:
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Black replied with 11...b5, which has become standard. I knew about this plan by Black but not in much detail, and it turned out that this entire line has not been covered here before. Glenn's 13.Rac1 was a theoretical novelty, see Flear, G - Boensch, U.
The usual move is 13.Rad1, and I cover this second move in the game Zukhova, N - Ling, E.
Black seems OK in these lines, but 11.f3 is quite forcing. If White plays just 11.0-0, Black has quite a wide choice.
QGD, Exchange 5.Bg5 c6 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 Be7 8.Bd3 Nbd7 9.Qc2 O-O 10.Nge2 Re8 11.0-0 [D36]
If 11...b5 is a good answer to 11.f3, why doesn't White just play 11.0-0 instead?
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The answer is that he often does, but Black has a range of possible replies. 11...Ne4 is the traditional response:
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when after 12.Bxe7 Qxe7 White has several ways to treat the position.
Trying f2-f3 and e3-e4 is usually associated with this type of position, but Black seems to have very adequate resources (see Batsuren, D - Hardaway, B).
The plan of 13.Bxe4 dxe4 14.Ng3 and later f2-f3 proved successful in Predke, A - Kuzubov, Y, but it seems to be rather speculative.
I think it makes more sense to play on the queenside starting with 14.Rfd1, as in Khismatullin, D - Rychagov, A. Black is under some pressure here.
This explains with 11...Nh5 has been gaining traction:
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and after 12.Bxe7 Qxe7 White has a choice between attempting a minority attack with 13.Rab1 (Nguyen, T - Sargissian, G) and playing for f2-f3 and e3-e4. The usual means of implementing this plan has been 13.Rae1, but I think it also makes sense to play 13.Rad1, as in Abdusattorov, N - Salem, A. White certainly didn't win this game because of his opening, but the placement of his rooks sparks some interesting questions.
Finally, there is 11...a5:
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which Ding Lirin played in a rapid play game against Giri and then used it in his World Championship match against Nepomniachtchi. I quite like Niemann's 12.Bg3, which led to a rich and complex middle game in Niemann, H - L'Ami, E. I think that White is on the positive side of such positions but it's hard to prove anything.
My next update will follow shortly! Nigel
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