Download PGN of October '12 1 d4 d5 games
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The Slow Slav 3.e3 [D10]
Dubov - Potkin: Rising Russian star Daniil Dubov beat a strong and very experienced opponent surprisingly easily here:
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In a seemingly harmless variation Black suddenly found himself in a very unpleasant position...
Main Slav 5...Bf5, 11...g5 [D17]
Kovalenko - Romanov: Igor Kovalenko came up with a small innovation which gave him good winning chances straight from the opening, 14.a5!?:
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Black can play better, but perhaps White can still count on some advantage anyway.
Classical approach 5...Bf5 6.e3 [D19]
Matlakov - Popov: White's pressure on his opponent's K-side eventually told, but it seems that Black has sufficient resources in this popular line.
Queen's Gambit Accepted 3.e4 e5 [D20]
Aagaard - Hansen: Black's clever novelty brought him a quick success but it still seems that White can maintain the better chances in this line.
Khismatullin - Mastrovasilis: Some 15 or so years ago this line was considered to be harmless for Black but recently he often faces problems:
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In this game Denis Khismatullin came up with a simple but very effective plan and quickly scored a full point.
Anti-Meran 8...dc4 9.Bxc4 b5 10.Be2 [D46]
Dubessay - Ribli: Zoltan Ribli demonstrated a rather convincing way to solve Black's problems here:
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and then he quickly exploited his opponent's mistakes.
Meran Defence 8.Be2 [D47]
Shimanov - Matlakov: This complex line with four queens is a rare guest in tournament practice:
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When I was young it seemed favourable for White as Black's king would never be totally safe, and perhaps this assessment is still not far from the truth. Yet Black certainly has more reliable approaches in the early stages...
Queen's Gambit Declined 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Bxf6 [D55]
Gupta - Wang: Black's solid reply to his opponent's K-side assault gave him good play. White's risky attempts to lunch an attack on the g-file did not have the desired effect as his centralised king required protection. The position remained unclear until White suddenly went astray...
Till 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.