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Sorry for the delay, I resumed playing chess and enjoyed it a lot. In Aeroflot A2 I allowed a checkmate to my king in one move when there were only two pieces on the board ... but then I could even have become the sole winner if I managed to convert an extra pawn in the 98 move last round battle...! :)

Suddenly I realised that February is a bit shorter than I expected so I'll a bit late with the next update, too. Meanwhile, the January update shows some interesting ideas. It seems that Black is just fine in the 5. Bg5 Chebanenko after the exchange sacrifice (enjoy powerful play by Veselin Topalov and an interesting contribution by Jonathan O'Connor), there was an interesting discussion in the Slav Defence (Boris Gelfand and Levon Aronian pushed forward theory of a deep line), a promising novelty in a seemingly harmless line of the QGA for Black by Jan Werle and new developments in the Anti-Moscow Gambit and Botvinnik. Ruslan


Download PGN of January '06 1 d4 d5 games


Chebanenko System [D15]

Van Wely - Topalov: Here the 5. a4 line soon transposed into the 5. Bg5 line, which recently lost its popularity due to the energetic exchange sacrifice played here. Loek van Wely tried to increase White's chances by a strange-looking king advance:

but Veselin Topalov was just unstoppable.

Borwell - O'Connor: Some time ago I received a message from Mr. Jonathan O'Connor. In 2003 he won a very interesting correspondence game in the same line Veselin Topalov used to crush Loek van Wely. Besides, his game corrects my conclusion that Black should agree to a repetition of moves - as you'll see, he can get more! Thus I couldn't resist the temptation to share Jonathan's interesting comments with you.



Main line Slav [D16-D19]

Bacrot - Gelfand: Boris Gelfand introduces a very interesting approach in this game and achieved good play in a line which was supposed to be difficult for Black.

Aronian - Sokolov: Here Levon Aronian successfully proved White's superiority in the line Boris Gelfand successfully defended just a week before in the same tournament:

White's very strong passed pawn on b7 supported by the bishop on g2 made possible some beautiful sacrifices, which cleared the path for its promotion.



Queen's Gambit Accepted [D20-29]

Kamsky - Anand: Vishy Anand chose a rare approach, trying to confuse his opponent, who was playing unsuccessfully in the tournament:

However, it just created weaknesses in his camp and, despite his efforts, Black failed to solve the problems - Gata Kamsky showed excellent technique and scored his first win in the event.

Werle - Jonkman: Jan Werle found a very interesting pawn sacrifice in a line which was supposed to be harmless for Black and quickly developed a rather annoying initiative.



Moscow Variation [D43]

Izoria - Erenburg: Sergei Erenburg successfully defended the line which recently brought his opponent a beautiful win:

However, the real value of Black's novelty on the next move is still to be tested.


Botvinnik Variation [D44]

Pelletier - Mueller: Since the game Aseev - S.Ivanov/St.Petersburg (ch) 1997 nobody proved White's advantage in the endgame with two extra rooks. Here Yannick Pelletier preferred a routine approach on move 20 and Black's typical reaction turned out to be a decisive mistake. However, White's idea still needs more analysis and practical tests to be proved successful.



Ruslan

 

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.