Download PGN of January '11 1 d4 d5 games
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The Slow Slav [D11]
Vachier Lagrave - Wang Hao: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave came up with an interesting approach in a topic line. 19.Bc2!?, and completely confused his opponent:
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Black allowed a rather unfavourable transformation of his K-side pawn structure, after which his king faced serious problems. White carried out his plan with surgical precision until one unforced error suddenly granted Black half a point.
Main Slav [D16-19]
Tkachiev - Spoelman: Vladislav Tkachiev played a wonderful strategical game. Every single move came just in time and the modest movements of his queen, which was taking control of key squares from the first rank, are especially impressive!
Le Quang - Spoelman: Le Quang Liem came up with a rare but rather interesting pawn sacrifice, 7.Bxc4!?:
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His energetic play gave him a very strong initiative, which soon brought him a crushing attack. However, he somehow managed to miss a number of winning options and eventually found himself on the losing side.
Moscow Variation [D43]
Anand - Giri Anish Giri spoiled a wonderful game against Vishy Anand. He introduced an interesting novelty in a well-known position, 12...c5!?:
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and then completely outplayed his formidable rival with the black pieces. However, his first mistake of the game, on move 49 (!), allowed the World Champion to escape.
Botvinnik Variation [D44]
Nakamura - Smeets: Hikaru Nakamura found a hole in his opponent's preparation and quickly achieved a big advantage in a deep line of the Botvinnik variation. However, Black seems to be able to maintain a somewhat worse but acceptable position with a more precise defence.
Anti-Meran Variation [D46]
Hammer - Spoelman: Jon Hammer came up with an interesting approach, 13.Ne4!?:
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He provoked Black's pawn advance and then surrounded it with his pieces and simply collected. Black's play could certainly be improved but White's plan still deserves attention.
Cambridge Springs [D52]
Anand - Shirov: Two days in a row Alexei Shirov faced White's rare approach in a topical line of the Cambridge Springs. He eventually lost both games and it seems that Black has to work out a more precise defensive plan.
See you next month, Ruslan
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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.