What's New - November 2002
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Finally I have finished the November update but it turns out that the next update will also be about the Olympiad as I couldn't squeeze all the games into this one! Ruslan Scherbakov |
For those who can't use ChessPub.exe, Download PGN of November '02 1 d4 d5 games
Slav, Chebanenko system [D10-11 & D15]
This update is completely dedicated to the Chebanenko system of the Slav Defence, which has suddenly become one of the most popular openings of the Olympiad (of course, I mean only my site :)). In fact, this is maybe not as big a surprise as it seems to be - recently this tricky system has become the main weapon of no one else than Garry Kasparov while Alexander Morozevich, Sergei Movsesian and Etienne Bacrot are also on the black side!
The main hero of this system, Sergei Volkov, should be proud that such great players joined his company!
Maybe the idea not to block the c8-bishop by the move ...e7-e6 is not so bad after all...
Radjabov,T - Braga,F: An attempt to solve the problems without any concessions was strongly met by the very energetic play of Teimour Radjabov. Black's idea was similar to the game Chekhov - Volkov/Moscow 1996 and, curiously enough, he was punished in a way which reminds us the same game - White sacrificed a pawn and detained the opponent's king in the center...
Kozul,Z - Movsesian,S: Instead of defending the pawn on c4 by b2-b3 White increases his lead in development by taking c4xd5.
            
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This approach is rather popular as White can pressurise without much risk. Yet, Black's position looks solid enough to slow down White's initiative but he should play carefully.
Aleksandrov,A - Amonatov,F: The simple approach, connected with c4xd5, is actually rather poisonous. The lead in development gives White the initiative and careless defence will be promptly punished, as we can see in this instructive game.
Bu Xiangzhi - Morozevich,A: If White begins with Ng1-f3 then he might postpone the development of the other knight or develop it to a different place. Compared to the c3-square the knight on d2 cannot be pushed by ...b5-b4 and White does not have any problems protecting the c4-pawn as well. On the other hand, this approach is not so active and if the play is getting sharp then White may find a lack of resources in action, as was shown in this exciting game.
Van Wely,L - Bacrot,E: A rather sophisticated line. White allows Black to damage his K-side pawn structure by ...Bg4xf3, hoping that the pair of bishops and the open g-file will outweigh such a drawback. Perhaps White could really maintain a small advantage but instead he played a few careless moves and Black won the game, having found some extraordinary ideas.
Ljubojevic,L - Bacrot,E: Sometimes White develops his bishop to g5 only after the preliminary exchange on d5.
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The line looks similar to the Slav Exchange but after the immediate ... Nf6-e4 the play is getting concrete. The interesting complications led to a sharp endgame, in which White outplayed his opponent but then allowed him to simplify into a drawish position.
Bacrot,E - Georgiev,K: Here Etienne Bacrot played the line he faced himself with Black a couple of days before! Perhaps he was attracted by the idea of Ljubomir Ljubojevic but Kiril Georgiev preferred a different and very solid approach, which let him equalise quickly and confidently.
Svetushkin,D - Bacrot,E: In the line with 5. c5 Black often has a lack of space and sometimes also a lack of counterplay. This time he was not too worried about it as he managed to exchange some pieces while White had no real target to attack.
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Banikas,H - Zagrebelny,S: After the exchange of his dark-squared bishop it is not so easy for White to keep total control over the position. The typical break ...b7-b6 gives Black reasonable counter chances while White's idea to invade with the queen on c6 was put under a cloud by Black's interesting novelty.
Sasikiran,K - Kasparov,G: Krisnan Sasikiran played a tricky line but Garry Kasparov was very well prepared for it. At some point White did not want to exchange an awkwardly placed Black knight on h5 but later he may have found to his regret that the knight is making a great career: ...Nh5-g7
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-e6-d4-e2-c1 (!), after which White could only resign.
San Segundo Carrillo,P - Luther,T: This game is a good advertisement for the line 5. ..dc4!?. A strong novelty on move 7 (7...b5!)
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allowed Black to achieve good play but the position was still roughly equal when White suddenly committed suicide. The popularity of the ambitious 5. Bg5 is going down?!
If you have any questions, then please mail me at ruslan@chesspublishing.com, as to the questions of Franck Steenbekkers, I think there would be more point to answering them in the next update, which I hope to complete soon.