Download PGN of September '09 1 d4 d5 games
Slow Slav [D12]
Malakhov - Hector: Vladimir Malakhov scored two victories in a row in the same variation with both colours. Here is his first win - White met his opponent's ambitious pawn push with a typical suffocating reply, 9.c5!?:
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and then took advantage of the first chance to break into Black's camp.
Hillarp Persson - Malakhov: Vladimir Malakhov used an interesting idea which posed problems for him when he was playing the opposite side. Here Black also achieved comfortable play and soon developed a decisive attack, but a series of mutual blunders could have provided a different result.
Main Slav [D17]
Avrukh - Hector: Jonny Hector came up with a rare and nice idea, in the diagram position he castled long:
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He went on to clearly outplay his strong but unaware rival. However, it seems that White should be able to find some way to challenge Black's idea.
QGD 5 Bf4 [D44]
Avrukh - Hammer: Black successfully solved Black's problems in this line, which is considered favourable for White, but eventually went astray. However, it remains unclear how he would have played if White followed the known path...
Botvinnik Variation [D44]
Derbenev - Slugin: This game, although played by two not very well-known players, forced me to check a line which was supposed to be unsatisfactory for Black. The result was a bit shocking - I failed to see how White can prove his superiority. In fact, some important finesses have already been discovered in correspondence and computer games but this encounter seems to be the first OTB game during the last few years. White was probably taken by surprise so he had to begin fighting for a draw very soon. Nevertheless, analysis shows that even the strongest continuation in this position, which was supposed to be problematic for Black, can be parried with precise defence:
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Perhaps it would be more promising for White just to shift to 19.Qg4!?, which is known to be dangerous for Black as well ...
Hebden - Arun Prasad: Here White refrained from the queen sac but his rare idea did not have the desired effect. The ensuing attempt to get to his opponent's king just increased the power of Black's Q-side pawns and only a series of Black mistakes helped White to escape by a miracle.
Hebden - Howell: It seems that this time Mark Hebden was ready to sacrifice his queen but his opponent chose a different line. Nevertheless, it was White who came up with a novelty. It was not too dangerous for Black, but to play such messy positions over the board and analyse them with a powerful computer are two different things... Black was unable to find the right path and soon found himself terribly lost. However, then it was White's turn to blunder, after which Black got winning chances, which he converted into a full point only after some more mistakes from his opponent.
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.