Download PGN of November ’16 1 d4 d5 2 c4 games
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Chigorin 3.Nc3 Nf6 [D07]
Our first game comes from the recent European Club Cup, where Rapport showed once again that 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Nf3 e5! is very respectable for Black. In Aronian, L - Rapport, R White failed to achieve any advantage and ended up in the following difficult position:
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Now I’ll accept two good moves for Black, though Rapport’s is definitely the most beautiful, with some even calling it the ‘Move of the Year’! In the analysis I also address the ideas of opening experts Avrukh and Bronznik in their recent works, and while the conclusion that White is better against the Chigorin won’t surprise too many people, White must be a bit creative and bold at certain moments to prove it.
Slow Slav 4...Bg4 5.Nc3 e6 6.h3 Bxf3 7.Qxf3 [D11]
I’ve mentioned before that after 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bg4, Black has been coming under pressure in recent games, and Avrukh in GM Repertoire 1B: The Queen’s Gambit reaches similar conclusions to my earlier updates, so I will focus on the continuation of Eljanov, P - Bareev, E where Black opts for 5.Nc3 e6 6.h3 Bxf3 7.Qxf3 Nbd7 and has looked solid in a few recent games. It seems to me that both Avrukh’s recommended approach of delaying kingside castling and the Bd3/0-0 setup give White a small edge, but he should be accurate. In the game, the following middlegame position arose:
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At this point Black played 11...e5 - how would you assess the consequences of this move? As usual, click the game link for the answer.
Slow Slav 4...Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Be4 7.f3 Bg6 8.Qb3 Qc7 [D12]
Mamedyarov is one of the prominently featured players in this update, and I was inspired by his recent games against the Slow Slav, including Tomashevsky, E - Mamedyarov, S which is the main game for our 4...Bf5 coverage. I still think White is slightly better in this 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Be4 7.f3 Bg6 8.Qb3 Qc7 variation, but he should be well prepared. To give an example, here is a critical position from the game:
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What move do you think White should play here? I analyse this position pretty heavily in the notes, but let’s just say for now that Tomashevsky allowed Black everything he dreams of in this standard Slav structure. Meanwhile, it should be said that Avrukh in GM Repertoire 1B: The Queen’s Gambit covered a really nice approach that hadn’t yet been considered on ChessPub, and analyse a couple of games played since his book was published, though the game’s 9.Bd2 Be7 10.g3 should also give White an edge.
Queen's Gambit Accepted 3.e4 a6 [D20]
Earlier this year, former ChessPub writer GM David Smerdon shared with me an interesting idea in the Queen’s Gambit Accepted, namely to play 3.e4 a6!?, with the idea that after 4.Bxc4 c5, Black is ready to either liquidate the centre or obtain quick queenside counterplay with ...b5:
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Well, what would you do about it? It’s worth noting that two 2600+ GMs were unable to find the routes to an advantage, with Fier, A - Smerdon, D being a particularly memorable game in that it allowed Australia to defeat the higher-seeded Brazil 2.5-1.5 at the Olympiad! The initial analysis of this variation is all Smerdon’s, but I’ve found some improvements for White and unfortunately there seem to be too many variations where White is obtaining a small advantage. But it’s not covered in the Avrukh repertoire book, so 3...a6 will have large shock value for at least one game!
QGA 3.e3 e5 4.Bxc4 exd4 5.exd4 Bd6 6.Nf3 Nf6 7.Qe2 [D20]
I had been promising to cover the 3.e3 e5 variation for a while, but had been sitting on my analysis as it had formed part of the Australian preparation for the 2016 Baku Olympiad. However, in the game Catalino Sadorra, J - Smerdon, D the top board for the Philippines found a hole in my analysis and reached the following pawn up endgame with perfect opening play:
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Anyone who has been watching the Carlsen-Karjakin match will appreciate the value of being able to defend worse endgames, so my question to you is - what should Black play here to hold on to his draw? Unfortunately for those wanting to play this system as Black, I haven’t found a route to equality after 4.Bxc4 exd4 5.exd4 Bd6 6.Nf3 Nf6 7.Qe2+! which means there is no real disadvantage to using the 3.e3 move order to reach the main line QGA, as opposed to 3.Nf3 which allows the Alekhine Variation (3...a6).
QGA 3.e3 e5 4.Bxc4 exd4 5.exd4 Bd6 6.Nf3 Nf6 7.0-0 [D20]
This line is not so significant now because of the previous game, but I’ve covered it separately in Cruz, C - Franco Alonso, A because this type of IQP position can occur from several openings and it’s a very important one to understand. While the diagram position below is not from the game, it shows that Black can also place his pieces aggressively in these IQP positions:
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If you were Black, what would you play in this position? You can find the answer by going down the main line of the note to 10.Re1, and checking White’s 14th move alternative 14.Ba2?!. In the actual game, Black didn’t play the best move order, but White didn’t exploit it and the game was quickly drawn after several exchanges. Once again I should give credit to Smerdon for sharing his initial ideas with me on this 3.e3 e5 system, and my analyses here are an extension of that work.
QGA 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 [D24]
Usually the ‘D24’ game would be an early one in the update, but for the focus on the ‘pure’ Slav and QGA! In any case, it’s been ages since we checked the 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 a6 variation, but it was played in a few high-level games recently, and you’d be surprised what modern computers unearth in these non-trendy variations! In the rapid game Mamedyarov, S - Kasimdzhanov, R the position never really veered from equality, but this point in the game was quite interesting:
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Can you find a way for White to put pressure on Black’s position? The general conclusion with this line is that Black is entirely fine, and even has a few different options, but he should be careful if he plays one of the greedy variations. In the structure above, Black’s grip on the d5 and b4 squares tends to make it hard for White to press much.
Blackburne QGD with 5...0-0 6.e3 Nbd7 7.a3 [D37]
In the past I mainly focused on the lines with 7.c5 as they were very trendy, but lately Mamedyarov (one of Karjakin’s main seconds for the Carlsen-Karjakin World Championship Match) has been quite successful with 4...Be7 5.Bf4 0-0 6.e3 Nbd7 7.a3, with the point that after 7...c5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Nxd5 exd5 10.dxc5 Nxc5 11.Be5 White is not risking anything, while Black must be a little careful not to end up tied down to the IQP. In Mamedyarov, S - Kramnik, V they reached the following position:
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White has tried to mix up the position by pushing g4, and now it’s up to you to find how Black should respond! Theoretically speaking, 7.a3 isn’t a challenging move for Black, but he has to be a bit accurate and Mamedyarov’s 2.5/3 score might inspire others to take up the move. Well, I think 7.Be2 is quite challenging, but that can be a subject for a later update!
Having covered various Slav/QGA variations and continued the discussion of some good points brought up in Avrukh’s GM Repertoire 1B: The Queen’s Gambit (which will undoubtedly be tested in further GM games), next month I will focus on the QGD and Semi-Slav, including some further thoughts on Dreev’s attempts to pose problems for Black in his book Bf4 in the Queen’s Gambit and Exchange Slav. I’ll also offer some predictions as to where I think the main developments in the Queen’s Gambit will take place in 2017. Max
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