Download PGN of March '07 1 d4 d5 games
Main Slav [D16-19]
Werle - Bu Xiangzhi: Black chose a line which was popular some years ago, 11...f6:
             |
but his opponent wasn't taken by surprise and came up with a very interesting piece sacrifice.
Zhang Zhong - Megaranto: Black's accurate defensive set-up has gained some popularity after the match Kramnik - Topalov, WCh Elista 2006. White is able to apply certain pressure but it does not seem so easy for him to get anything more substantial. In this game, however, his new arrangement made Black's simplifying strategy more difficult although the endgame still looks quite defendable.Queen's Gambit Accepted [D20-29]
Volkov - Zhou Jianchao: Black came up with an interesting novelty here, 11...Bg4:
|
|
and this gave him chances to outplay his opponent in a line where he was always fighting for equality before.
Slow Slav [D11-12]
Alekseev - Najer: It becomes more popular to protect the c4-pawn with the queen as White avoids the deep theoretical lines and he is ready for transpositions into various Slav variations with an early queen sortie:
|
|
In this game Black played a popular set-up and then came up with a principled piece sacrifice. It was really interesting and gave him good play but some inaccuracies afterwards allowed White to convert his material advantage.
Aronian - Anand: Vishy Anand did not completely solve the problems in this game and was gradually outplayed in the endgame by Levon Aronian, who failed to repeat his previous year's success but at least beat the winner of the event in the best game of the tournament.
Vienna Variation [D39]
Pedersen - Nielsen: Black's attempt to refute White's exotic pawn sacrifice here was dubious - his greediness caused a lack of development and he would certainly have been punished for that had White been more precise...
Meran Variation [D48]
Akopian - Ippolito: Akopian's novelty here gave Black serious problems in a line which had seemed risky but playable. Well, perhaps it's just risky... !
Catalan [E05-09]
Aronian - Carlsen: In this complex line of the Catalan Carlsen came up with a novelty, 10...0-0:
|
|
but Aronian maintained his initiative with energetic play. The game was very exciting - two brave pawn counter strikes by Magnus deserve high praise while Levon was distracted by a beautiful but not quite sufficient piece sacrifice which could bring him more problems than he probably expected.
Leko - Anand: Anand's novelty here wasn't too impressive - Peter Leko reacted well and was gradually increasing his advantage with energetic play until he played two "half moves" at the critical moment of the game.
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.