The May '04 '1 d4 d5' games can be downloaded directly in PGN form here:

Queen's Gambit Accepted [D20 - D29]

YACE 0.99.83 - GANDALF 6.0: There are still a lot of unanswered questions in the tricky line 5...Nc6 6. 0-0 Be6:

However, one thing is more or less clear - the move 7. Bb5 hardly promises any chances for White. In this computer game White's initiative helped him to restore the material balance but it also gave Black the time to seize a strong initiative by very energetic and precise play.

Vitiugov,N - Sorokin,M: In the line 5...Nc6 6. 0-0 Be6 Black gets a very active position but his pawn structure gets seriously damaged so he has to maintain counterplay at any cost. In this game Maxim Sorokin preferred a move which is supposed to be risky but White's choice was not the best - Black came up with a heavy blow and obtained the better chances although he eventually failed to convert an extra pawn in the endgame.

Van Wely,L - Sasikiran,K: The development of Black's bishop to d6 seems more reliable. Here Loek van Wely tried a rare option but Krishnan Sasikiran came up with an interesting idea - he sacrificed a couple of pawns after which White had to give up an exchange in order to find an escape route for his queen. In the struggle both players were equal to the task so a draw was always the most likely result.

Khenkin,I - Rublevsky,S: You may remember the game Sakaev - Rublevsky/RUS-ch St.Petersburg 1998, which was awarded the best game prize in that Russian Championship - in the line with 4. Qa4+,

White sacrificed his queen for just two minor pieces and scored a brilliant victory. This time Sergei Rublevsky took his revenge! In the same line he quickly achieved comfortable play - nevertheless White was still trying to prove that he had the better chances and even managed to win a pawn. However, Black's pair of bishops guaranteed him half a point - he skilfully increased the pressure on White's position and exploited his opponent's inaccuracies with surgical precision. This last round technical victory brought Sergei Rublevsky first place in the Aeroflot Open and a pass into the forthcoming Dortmund super-tournament!

Najer,E - Batsanin,D: The line with ...c7-c5 is known to be suspicious for Black but White had still failed to show a convincing way to gain a big advantage here in the past. Yet a strong novelty here, and the whole approach of Evgeny Najer, looks quite promising - perhaps this is what White is looking for...

Sasikiran,K - Markowski,T: In case of White's typical advance a2-a4 Black usually has a choice - to take on a4 or to advance his pawn to b4:

The latter is supposed to be risky - in this very complicated battle Black creatively tried to get counter chances and almost succeeded... but it seems that White still has a some more trumps up his sleeve in this line.

Avrukh,B - Rublevsky,S: In this game Black met a2-a4 with b5xa4 but a strong novelty by Boris Avrukh in the following position presented certain problems:

The biggest QGA expert Sergei Rublevsky was smashed in style in a line supposed for many years to be rather harmless for Black - it's time to do some good homework!

Bologan,V - Rublevsky,S: Sergei Rublevsky successfully stands his ground in this recently popular line:

This time he had a few problems in order to parry an attempt to improve White's play in the line we considered in the game Lautier - Rublevsky/ Poikovsky 2003.

Inarkiev,E - Karjakin: A tough battle between two rising stars. Sergei Karjakin has already plenty of experience (and some convincing victories!) in this very complicated and principled line - this game brought him another triumph and it is very unclear whether White could achieve more than just an unclear position.

Ivanov,T - Sorokin,M: In this game Maxim Sorokin tried to take use of White's early Rf1-e1 move and delayed the development of his bishop on b7 - this set-up looks risky and White could have achieved good prospects if he treated the position more energetically. It looks like the approved way of Sergei Karjakin is more reliable...

Till 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.