Download PGN of June '15 1 d4 d5 2 c4 games
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Chebanenko Slav with 5.a4 e6 6.Bf4 [D15]
Our first game is a pivotal one from the FIDE Candidates, Caruana - Tomashevsky, where White came up with the novelty 8.g4! in a well-known position:
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Black may be able to hold off White's attack with perfect play, but it's clearly a lot easier for White to play - check out the notes for my suggested equaliser earlier for Black!
QGA with 3.e4 Nf6, 8.Be3!? [D20]
With the next game I provide a repertoire for White against 3.e4 Nf6 in the QGA, based on the system with 7.Ne2 Bg4 8.Be3. It was already covered on ChessPublishing but I've gone into it in more detail in Nguyen - Dao, where the following position arose after Black took on d4:
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What would you play as White in this position? See the game for the right continuation!
Blackburne QGD 5 Bf4 with 6...b6 [D37]
Recently I had a subscriber ask about the less trendy move 6...b6, wondering how White should obtain an advantage against it. My recommendation would be to answer with 7.Bd3!:
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In Cyborowski - Kriebel, we examine 7.cxd5 and White's other alternatives where I haven't found a way for White to pose any problems.
Returning to the critical 7.Bd3, in the game Ding Liren-Carlsen I think Carlsen's ...Ba6 approach is the way to go, but after 9.Qe2 I would prefer to take on c4 and play c5:
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Check out the details in the notes; there's more to explore here but it seems that objectively Black can hold his own, even if White is better everywhere else in my opinion.
5.Qa4+ Ragozin [D38]
Admittedly my Ragozin coverage isn't as detailed as I'd originally envisaged, but Jakovenko - Giri is definitely a game worth studying as White went for a fresh approach with the bishop pair and central space advantage:
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This very pleasant, advantageous position arose in the game, but you should check my notes for how Black should equalise against Jakovenko's 6.Ne5 try, which is not without sting.
Semi-Slav, Anti-Moscow Gambit with 10.e5 [D43]
We've seen the 10.e5 approach in the Anti-Moscow Gambit before on ChessPublishing, but in Grischuk - Karjakin we turn to the main move 11.0-0, which led to the following position in the game:
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Grischuk tried a new move in 14.Qb1 here, but it doesn't change the fact that Black is fine here if he is well prepared. Still, the game is theoretically important in determining which lines need to be avoided by Black and you should revise my notes before venturing into this over-the-board.
6.Be2 Semi-Slav [D45]
For our next game we have another Grischuk effort, Grischuk - Giri, with 6.Be2 being completely new to ChessPublishing. It's quite a decent surprise weapon, especially if played with 8.a4:
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Obviously Black shouldn't be worse, but Grischuk created some chances in the game and there are some strategic traps Black needs to avoid. Just study my annotations and you'll be fine :)
8.a4 Open Catalan [E05]
I've used our final game for this update to address a line covered in the new Grandmaster Repertoire 1A - The Catalan by Boris Avrukh. I haven't studied it in enough detail to give a full review, but as one would expect it is very thorough, with plenty of new ideas. One of the main pluses of the book is that in many cases the recommendations are different to the first GM Repertoire book; for instance, in Bu - Onischuk we see Avrukh's new recommendation of 8.a4 (instead of 8.Qxc4) in the Open Catalan given a practical test:
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This is the position after Avrukh's 11.Qc1 suggestion, and while most repertoire books tend to be a little biased in their evaluations, I found the book to be fairly objective in saying that if Black plays correctly, White won't have more than a symbolic edge (but Black does need to be accurate).
Anyway, if you study my notes you'll have something solid against those following the book, though something else is called for if you're playing for a win (check out some of my other updates for such ideas!).
Next month I'll be back with some games from the Norway Chess super-tournament among other things! Until next time, Max
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