What's New - March 2003
|
Here is the March update - recently some fairly interesting and very important theoretical ideas have been discovered... Ruslan Scherbakov |
For those who can't use ChessPub.exe, Download PGN of March '03 1 d4 d5 games
Queen's Gambit Accepted [D20 to D29]
Nielsen,P - Karjakin,S: The line 3. e4 c5 4. d5 Nf6 5. Nc3 b5 always looked suspicious but no clear refutation had been discovered yet... Alexei Shirov made the first step (Shirov - Motylev/FIDE WCh KO, Moscow 2001) but then Black defended. In this game Peter-Heine Nielsen demonstrated a simple and strong approach and crushed Black's position quickly and confidently. Black's task seems fairly difficult now...
Shabalov,A - Miton,K: A rather strange game. Still, I cannot find any explanation why such a strong player as Alexander Shabalov repeated a line which is known to be bad for White and got a lost position in 13 moves from the beginning. Doesn't he read Chess Publishing?! :)
Sasikiran,K - Ganguly,S: A new and strong idea by Krishnan Sasikiran poses certain problems for Black in a principal line.
            
|
Radjabov,T - Kasparov,G: Recently Black faced real problems in the Furman System so all its adherents were probably happy to see a solid approach by Garry Kasparov. It seems that Black can almost solve all the problems if he does not take White's central pawn...
|
|
Anti-Moscow Gambit [D43]
Wu Shaobin - Al Sayed,M: Here Mohamad Al Sayed quickly obtained the better chances after a brave capture of the pawn which Konstantin Sakaev had left "en prise" in the game Sakaev - Borovikov/ECC Halkidiki 2002.
|
|
Yet, Sakaev was probably planning to seize the initiative in a different way...
Botvinnik Variation [D44]
Haba,P - Kopal,J: Since the Ivanchuk queen's sac 21. Qg7 is not supposed to be dangerous for Black anymore, White is looking for other ways to prove his advantage. In the recent Czech Championship a new idea, 21. Be3xc5, was introduced
|
|
but this game shows that Black can be satisfied with his position - rather logical play led to the endgame, in which Black's Q-side superiority turned out to be the most important factor.
Murdzia,P - Mueller,K: Karsten Mueller successfully stands up for the side line 13...Nf6. The point is that if White cannot get the advantage there it means that he should start with 11. g3 instead of 11. ef6. Yet, the main question remains unsolved: What did Black have in mind in the case of the best move, 21. Rfc1?
Meran Defence [D47-49]
Sasikiran,K - Kosteniuk,A: Alexandra Kosteniuk is trying to improve on the biggest Meran expert Alexei Dreev - her novelty on move 20 and the following very creative play allowed Black to get excellent counter chances. Yet, the line is very complicated and a lot of ideas are waiting to be discovered.
Shabalov,A - Al Modiahki,M: Alexander Shabalov has found the truth in this line, which supposed to be harmless for Black since 1997 - his interesting idea certainly poses problems for Black and can also give more popularity to the whole line involving 16. Qe2.
Lima,D - Matsuura,E: Everaldo Matsuura introduces an interesting novelty in a very deep line - it pretends to be a good antidote to the White set-up 18. a5, 19. Ra4, 20. h4 and 21. Rh3. To be fair, White's chances still look preferable but he should obviously find a more convincing way to prove his advantage - in this game Black managed to build a very powerful position in center.
If you have any questions, then please post a message at the 1 d4 d5 Forum, or mail me at ruslan@chesspublishing.com.