Download PGN of September '13 1 d4 d5 games
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Marshall Gambit 8 Be2 Na6 9 Ba5 b6 [D31]
Adhiban - Fier: Black's response to White's familiar 9 Ba5 b6 10 Qd6 approach, 10...bxa5!?, is known to be suspicious - it would be just too good if it could solve all of Black's problems:
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White should be able to prove his advantage and in this game he came very close.
8 Be2 Na6 9 Bd6 [D31]
Goudriaan - Sengupta: White's choice of 12 Ne2 followed by 13 Bxe5 might only be dangerous for those who are unaware:
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Here Black took a good opportunity to avoid the main path and comfortably solved all of his problems.
Semi-Tarrasch 5 e4 Nxc3 6 bc3 c5 7 Rb1 [D41]
Nepomniachtchi - Bacrot: Etienne Bacrot repeated the variation in which he recently suffered a defeat against Peter Svidler, but it was Ian Nepomniachtchi who deviated first and obtained some edge:
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White's position looked promising but after a serious inaccuracy he had to fight for a draw.
Semi-Tarrasch Mainline 11 Bc4 Nd7 [D41]
Morozevich - Sambuev: The Semi-Tarrasch has already become rather popular these days. Black gets a passive but solid position and it's not so easy for White to obtain a tangible advantage. As a rule White is trying to benefit from his powerful pawn center but here Alexander Morozevich came up with a different approach. At first he put pressure on Black's Q-side starting with 14 a4:
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and only when his opponent had no chance to organize counterplay he shifted to the center and comfortably got a full point.
Semi-Tarrasch 5 cxd5 cxd4!? [D41]
L'Ami-Svane: Erwin L'Ami improved upon his previous game (L'Ami - I.Sokolov/Wijk aan Zee 2013) with 13 Ke2!?:
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and conclusively outplayed his opponent in an ending which should be defendable. Black should certainly be more precise...
Holt - Vitiugov: Nikita Vitiugov came up with a very rare but interesting approach. By delaying his knight development to c6 Black avoided damage to his Q-side pawn structure. Then he skilfully parried all White's attempts to seize the initiative and eventually benefited from his opponent's mistakes.
Cambridge Springs 7 cd5 Nxd5 8 Qd2 with ...c6-c5 [D52]
Hammer - Navara: Jon Ludvig Hammer got a decisive advantage against the solid Cambridge Springs surprisingly easily. It would seem that he just followed in the footsteps of Eduardo Iturrizaga by repeating the first 22 moves, after which White's win was already just a matter of technique - however, their roads to the win were a bit different. In a critical position of the whole line Hammer came up with a modest, very rare but fairly interesting bishop move, 11 Be2:
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this might secure the better chances for White in this principle variation - a task which had always been rather difficult...
Till next month, Ruslan
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