What's New - January 2004
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During the last few months I was going to cover the new developments in one of my favourite openings, the Marshall Gambit, which is recently gaining in popularity - and finally this idea came true! The statistics look catastrophic for Black but I still believe that he can successfully stand his ground with precise defence. Yet in practice, especially with the 1,5 hour time control adopted in many tournaments, it is often easier to develop an initiative, even at the cost of some material, than to keep defending. Any inaccurate move in defence, based on the underestimation of the attacking resources, a wrong assessment or just a miscalculation may instantly lead to trouble - that's what exactly happened in most of the featured games! Ruslan Scherbakov |
I have also completely rebuilt the Marshall Gambit roadmaps - it was not enough to have just two of them... :)
Download PGN of January '04 1 d4 d5 games
Marshall Gambit [D31]
            
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Lautier,J - Zvjagintsev,V: The line with 4...Bb4 reminds me of the French Defence but, of course, the addition of pawns on c4 and c6 makes things different:
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In this game a position similar to the Winawer Variation of the French occurred but the exchange of c-pawns was clearly in favour of White, who then doesn't get doubled pawns on the c-file...
Najer,E - Timofeev,A: Some years ago, when the line with 4...Bb4 came as a surprise, White faced problems to gain a real advantage but recently this task seems to be quite solvable. There are several ways that are supposed to be promising for White - in this game Evgeny Najer chose a rare continuation and still obtained a superior position...
Drozdovsky,Y - Tishin,D: The 8...c5 line is much less popular than 8. ..Na6 but White still hasn't demonstrated a clear way to get a tangible advantage. The quick Black disaster in this game should not mislead - just one move before resignation his position was quite good if only he hadn't blundered in a way Black already did 50 years ago!
Jobava,B - Portisch,L: Baadur Jobava preferred to retreat his bishop on move 11 and gave Black real problems - even such a strong and experienced player as Lajos Portisch had no chances to survive. However there are a few points at which Black's play might be improved so the story of the 8...c5 line is certainly not over yet...
Vaisser,A - Apicella,M: The line with 9.Bc3 is not very popular recently but the approach Black has chosen here looks rather risky. However, the following play left more questions than answers - the principled piece sacrifice and further complications have destroyed the Black king's shield, but in the position which GM Yuri Yakovich some years ago assessed as clearly better for White, the expert on this Gambit, Anatoly Vaisser, has found nothing more than perpetual check...
Williams,S - Van der Werf,M: A new development in the 9.Bd6 line - Mark Van der Werf introduced an interesting novelty in a position which is well-known for the last 50 years!
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Despite the disastrous result Black's position was quite good but White could also look for an improvement. The story seems to continue...
Volkov,S - Goloshchapov,A: The 9.Ba5!? variation is recently the most popular attempt to give Black problems. In this game between two experts on the Gambit Black preferred the less popular approach and was eliminated in fashionable style, but it seems that his play could be improved...
Mamedyarov,S - Schneider,D: The "provocative" variation 9.Ba5!? f6!? is recently under the microscope. White gets a very tempting possibility to attack by bringing his queen very close to the opponent's king by 10. Qd8-check!
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However, Black gets a lot of defensive resources although he has to be extremely careful - in this game he clearly underestimated White's attacking ideas and was quickly punished for that.
If you have any questions, then please post a message at the 1 d4 d5 Forum, or subscribers can email me at ruslan@chesspublishing.com.