What's New - January 2003
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The next update will mostly be dedicated to the just finished Wijk aan Zee super-tournament. Ruslan Scherbakov |
For those who can't use ChessPub.exe, Download PGN of January '03 1 d4 d5 games
Chebanenko System [D10 & D15]
Bareev,E - Georgiev,K: The Chebanenko system is becoming popular. It could seem that White has already tried all the possible continuations but Evgeny Bareev shows it is not wholly true. The line 5 Qc2!? is almost unexplored and there is a large field for investigation. Kiril Georgiev played unsuccessfully but Black can definitely find possibilities to improve his play.
            
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Gelfand,B - Bacrot,E: A very strong idea by Etienne Bacrot. Black's simple and convincing play has cast serious doubts upon the future of the 5 Qc2 idea.
Queen's Gambit Accepted [D20 to D29]
Francois Pascal of Belgium raised an interesting question: "What is the reason chessplayers (at Grandmaster level) don't play 1 d4 d5 2 c4 dxc4 3 e4 b5 ?"
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It seems that there is no clear refutation of this attempt to support the c4-pawn, but have a look at my analysis of Yermolinsky,A - Zaltsman,V.
In the game Gagunashvili,M - Rublevsky,S, which we have already analysed,
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Franck Steenbekkers of Netherlands suggested 26...Rf7!? as a possible improvement, see my new analysis.
Anti-Moscow Gambit [D43]
Yermolinsky,A - Hayward,K: A small innovation has not changed the evaluation of the 9...Nbd7 line as being difficult for Black.
Sakaev,K - Borovikov,V: Famous St. Petersburg experts are consistently trying to disprove the Moscow variation. Here Konstantin Sakaev introduced a very strong novelty in a principled line and conclusively smashed his opponent.
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Ivanov,S - Korobov,A: The idea to give the g4-pawn back and then to use the rook on the opened g-file is recently the most promising way for Black to play this variation. It recently caused a terrible headache for St. Petersburg's theoreticians as they have suffered two painful defeats battling against this approach. Here only one slow move by Sergei Ivanov was enough for him to lose the game.
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Khalifman,A - Acs,P: Here Alexander Khalifman was eliminated by Peter Acs of Hungary in excellent style. An interesting Black novelty led to a very complicated position, in which White underestimated Black's counterplay.
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Despite the fact that he could have played more energetically on move 20, White should maybe look for a more convincing approach to give Black any real problems. Anyway, it is too early for conclusions, let's wait for the future battles.
Meran Defence [D47-49]
Sokolov,I - Stellwagen,D: Ivan Sokolov introduced a very strong idea in the deep variation but the move 16...Bg7 does not seem to be the best Black option.
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Yet, perhaps he also knows something new in the main 16...bxa3 as White did not show anything special during the last 10 years.
Gustafsson,J - Ribli,Z: The deep line, which begins with 15 Nxd4, is supposed to be harmless for Black. A series of theoretical moves led White nowhere, he eventually completed it by a blunder but anyway White should look for an improvement, and I believe it is possible as Ivan Sokolov could hardly play this forced line without keeping something new in mind.
Kruppa,Y - Dreev,A: The set-up with 13...Bf8-d6 and 14...Nd7-f8, which was successfully introduced into tournament practice by none other than Alexei Dreev, was recently under the clouds. Here he shows a fresh idea, which may become a new main line in this principled variation.
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If you have any questions, then please mail me at ruslan@chesspublishing.com.