Download PGN of October '11 1 d4 d5 games
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Queen's Gambit Accepted [D29]
Gareev - Van Wely: This game is a good illustration why the modest bishop's advance to e7 has never been popular in one of the old main lines of the QGD:
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Black was severely punished for ignoring his opponent's plans.
Queen's Gambit Declined 5.Bf4 [D37]
Edouard - Van der Wiel: A modest a-pawn advance recently gains some popularity:
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Here a new idea brought Romain Edouard a quick success but Black's play could certainly be improved...
Vienna Variation [D39]
Halkias - Morozevich: An early pawn sacrifice in the Vienna Variation looks interesting but here Alexander Morozevich convincingly solved all the problems and scored the full point. At the moment it is unclear if White can get more than just sufficient compensation for the pawn.
Aronian - Anand: Vishy Anand preferred a less common way to oppose White's initiative, 7...Nf6, which is playable but where Black does not completely equalise:
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Aronian played ambitiously, although this could have made Black's defence easier - however, Anand was not at his best that day and collapsed quickly and very unexpectedly.
Ivanchuk - Grischuk: Here Alexander Grischuk confidently solved all the problems in a harmless but sometimes poisonous deep line. Later one inaccurate move caused him a real headache but a clever queen sacrifice helped Black to hold on.
Ponomariov - Ivanchuk: It's hard to believe that Ruslan Ponomariov was unaware of Black's approach here - perhaps he just mixed some lines at the end of a very tough tournament. As a result he quickly found himself in a rather unpleasant ending, which he failed to defend. This win became decisive in the fight for the last place in the next series of Candidates matches.
Moscow Variation 9.Ne5!? [D43]
Kotanjian - Debashish Logical play in a promising looking position suddenly led White nowhere, and after he missed a critical moment to revise his ambitions Black's kingside initiative quickly decided the game. It seems that White should pay more attention to his first moves - perhaps the inclusion of 10 a3!? would prove an advantage...
QGD 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Bxf6 [D55]
Aronian - Carlsen Levon Aronian continues to challenge various solid Queen's Gambit approaches with early kingside assaults! This time 9.h4!?:
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However, this time it was less effective. Magnus Carlsen reacted very energetically and after a few more ambitious moves White found himself in a worse ending, which he easily held due to one inaccurate black pawn advance.
QGD Lasker's Defence Mainline 9.Rc1 [D56]
Gareev - Akobian Varuzhan Akobian came up with a small innovation on the Aronian - Harikrishna game form the July update, but a subsequent inaccuracy allowed White to secure and eventually convert the advantage.
See you next month, Ruslan
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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.