Download PGN of June '10 1 d4 d5 games
Main Slav Variation [D17]
Cmilyte - Molchanova: Black's ambitious bishop retreat in reply to White's 6. Nh4, 6...Bd7, is recently coming under pressure:
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White's energetic play here, coupled with a pawn sacrifice, gives White a rather unpleasant initiative, as was once again proved in the featured game.
Cmilyte - Sedina: Victoria Cmilyte proved once again that it's not so easy for Black to neutralise White's pressure after 6. Nh4 by moving the bishop back. Black's tricky check at an early stage did not bring the desired effect and White gradually converted her advantage.
Giri - Harikrishna: Anish Giri employed a rare and almost forgotten approach, 8.Nxc4!?, with great success:
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After White's strong novelty Black was already objectively lost as early as move 13 and his tough efforts couldn't change the inevitable.
Giri - Vallejo Pons: Anish once again tried to give Black problems in the same rare line but this time his opponent was well-prepared. In fact White could be satisfied with a draw as Vallejo Pons played very energetically and even obtained the better chances. Yet White had a better option, which would have led to an extremely complicated and unbalanced position - the discussion in this rare and interesting line will certainly be continued...
Fridman - Ragger: Markus Ragger had no problems with black in a sharp Morozevich line. In fact he could have even tried to get more than a draw, but anyway it is White who has to find something more fruitful when Black refrains from his typical knight sortie to c5.
The Queen's Gambit Accepted [D20]
Edouard - Sumets: An interesting new idea helped Romain Edouard to quickly destroy his opponent's solid looking position.
Miton - Rublevsky: Sergei Rublevsky employed a somewhat unusual approach and successfully defended a complicated line. Kamil Miton tried to play creatively but eventually paid a heavy prize for his inaccurate play.
Pashikian - Ris: Arman Pashikian gave Black problems in a line which was supposed to be pretty harmless for Black. White is not in a hurry to regain his sacrificed pawn in the ending, enjoying his powerful position:
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The main expert of this line, Sergey Rublevsky, survived against him with serious difficulties while Robert Ris failed to solve the task. In any case, White's approach looks quite impressive, though objectively Black should be able to hold such an ending.
Svidler - Dominguez Perez: Another problem for Black in Rublevsky's line. White's clever novelty gave him a small but stable advantage - however, Peter Svidler himself might have been surprised at just how quickly this became decisive.
See you next month, 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.