Download PGN of June ’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.h3 [D36]

Although not as popular as either 11.0-0 or 11.f3, this move has been gaining some followers of late. White keeps the option of his standard plans (a central expansion with f2-f3 and e3-e4, or a minority attack with b2-b4), whilst introducing the possibility of castling long and going for g2-g4. A further idea is that after 11...Ne4:

he can play 12.Bxe7 Qxe7 13.Bxe4 dxe4 and now 14.g4!? as in Istratescu, A - Sava, R. This looks unconvincing for White, as do his alternatives such as 14.0-0 and 14.Ng3. So, let’s assume that 11...Ne4 is a decent answer.

Another move, 11...a5:

was chosen in Xiu, D - Xu, M. This looks rather more intricate because Black is also keeping his options open. I quite liked White’s 12.Bg3, but then 12...b5 surprised me because this is normally only played after a White f2-f3. Even so it seemed quite playable.

Finally it seems that 11...Nf8:

as chosen in Bu, X - Ma, Q, is also OK and leads to the kind of heavy positional struggle that typifies this line. White should have played 17.Nb6 instead of 17.f4, keeping a slight edge.

QGD Exchange 5.Bg5 c6 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 Be7 8.Bd3 Nbd7 9.Qc2 O-O 10.Nge2 Re8 11.a4 [D36]

Caruana kept things simple by meeting 11.a4 with 11...Ne4:

in Dudin, G - Caruana, F, with Black being just fine after 12.Bxe7 Qxe7 13.Bxe4 dxe4.

I think that 13.Nxe4 dxe4 14.Bc4 is a more testing approach, as in Zhou, J - Heberle, B. Black has to play with some precision in order to hold the balance, and in the game he could and should have lost.

After 11.a4 a5 the move orders can get messy because 12.0-0 can lead to the same position as 11.0-0 a5 12.a4:

In De Jong, J - Zwirs, N, Black then routed his knight towards the b4 square with 12...Nb8, though 12...Nh5 seems fine for him too. This seems like an easier approach for Black than 11...Ne4, White is struggling to find an effective plan.

QGD Exchange 5.Bg5 c6 6.e3 Be7 7.Bd3 Nbd7 8.Nge2 O-O 9.0-0 Re8 10.a4 [D36]

The discovery of this a2-a4 idea got me searching for it in other lines. Sure enough, it had been played in a game Abdusattorov, N - Chaulagain, P in the 2022 Chennai Olympiad. Black answered White’s 10.a4 with 10...a5:

but here things seem more awkward for Black because the h7 pawn comes under fire sometimes. Abdusattorov opened things up with 15.e4 and won quickly when his opponent made some errors.

Two years later, Luca Moroni used a different plan with 15.h3 (Moroni, L - Buksa, N) and had some pressure throughout, though things went wrong towards the end. There certainly seems to be some mileage in 10.a4, I’m less convinced in the version with ...h7-h6 and Bg5-h4 included.

See you next month! Nigel

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