Download PGN of September ’22 1 d4 d5 2 c4 games
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Slow Slav 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.f3 [D10]
In Maghsoodloo, P - Harikrishna, P the Iranian star employed a notable fifth move:
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The idea of threatening g2-g4 with 5.f3 is almost unknown, but a couple of Maghsoodloo games (including this one) have put it on the map. If Black allows g2-g4 then he plays with less space, even if this early advance could conceivably weaken White's kingside in the case that he loses the initiative. Harikrishna preferred to maintain his share of the board by opting for 5...h5 with the consequent danger that this pawn will be out of place. In the game, there was never really an issue with 'kingside weaknesses' and he did seem to achieve a decent game.
Later, Black's problems seemed to arise because of another pawn move 27...c4, when self-inflicted weaknesses did indeed arise!
Slow Slav 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.cxd5 cxd5 6.Qb3 Nc6 [D10]
In Rustemov, A - Matlakov, M a sharp theoretical debate played out with Matlakov again demonstrating the robustness of this Gambit.
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Since the pawn offer 6...Nc6 came on the scene a decade ago there have been around 300 games, but it was rather losing its shine, that is until recently, when 12...Nxf3+ came on the scene. Trading knights avoids the possibility of White playing his steed to d4 (which has proven to be more difficult to deal with). In the game and notes, after the trade of the opponent's main kingside defender Black generates attacking chances and (as far as I can see) enough play to be able to claim full compensation in all lines. Check out the details, but it's noticable that on move sixteen (perhaps the key tabiya), despite a variety of White attempts, Black is holding his own, the game move 16.Qd3 even scoring rather poorly in practice.
Queen's Gambit 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxc4 5.e4 b5 6.a4 [D30]
The fact that anyone is willing to capture on c4 on move four requires a certain mentality. He seeks a sharp struggle and isn't afraid to revert to a Vienna, a form of which would arise after 5.Nc3, but in Andreikin, D - Xiong, J one can investigate another attempt by White. In response to 5.e4 Black can treat himself to the luxury of 5...b5 (there is no knight on c3) to hold onto the c4-pawn, at least for the present. Then 6.a4 c6 reaches the diagram position:
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The diagram position looks like a sort of off-beat Semi-Slav (Botvinnik Variation) and it can indeed transpose, but only to a form that a well-prepared player of the black pieces shouldn't worry about. I also think that Black can be quite happy about his prospects here, White's chances only really come to fruition if the opponent gets confused with the ins and outs of transpositional possibilities and analogous positions. Xiong came under attack in this encounter, but his play on moves eleven and thirteen helped his opponent get things going. I would argue that 11...f5 (instead of 11...c5) even gives an advantage to Black.
Queen's Gambit 4.Bg5 dxc4 5.e4 b5 6.Nc3 [D30]
By playing 6.Nc3, White offers the possibility of transposing to the Botvinnik Variation, but Wesley So had other ideas in Sevian, S - So, W as you can see below:
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The diagram position is reached when Black reacts with 6...a6 7.a4 Bb7 when the bishop has a wonderful open diagonal. In fact, if you compare this position with similar ones i.e. where there is a pawn on c6, this feels like a better version for the second player. Of course, White is going to play e4-e5 at some point and then Black meets this with ...h7-h6, leading to complications, but these feel less dangerous for Black than various analogous lines.
So, in the beginning, 4.Bg5 is trying to engineer a move order which will suit White, for example, at times, the option of Nbd2 can be handy. So reacting with ...dxc4 and ...b5 seems like the principled way of 'punishing' White for having delayed the development of his queen's knight.
Semi-Slav: Meran Defence 8.Bb3 [D47]
An old rather forgotten line, 8.Bb3, played in Koneru, H - Abdumalik, Z worked a treat, as Black was outplayed in the opening phase.
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The bishop can be quite well placed on this diagonal pressing against e6 and f7. Indeed, Koneru was able to make a strong combination involving 14.Bxe6.
So the lesson here is that Black should find a possible downside to the bishop's placement 'somewhat earlier'. In fact, the direct 8...b4 is quite a good try as 9.Na4 Ba6 gives the opponent a headache along the a6-f1 diagonal. The line with 9.Ne2 offers White some action by soon heading to f4, but well-established theory indicates the antidote involving ...Bd6 and a timely ...Bxf4.
Although Abdumalik's 8...Bb7 is not a bad reaction, one shouldn't then follow-up with 9...a6?!, as it's too slow, and there are then no 'negative aspects' concerning the opponent's choice of the b3-square for her bishop retreat.
Semi-Slav: Meran Defence 8.Be2 Bb7 9.0-0 a6 [D47]
In Stocek, J - Sasikiran, K the Indian GM made a controversial choice in the following position:
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The standard move here is 11...exd5 when 12.e5 Ne4 13.Nxd5 Nxe5 has been analyzed out to something rather drawish. So was 11...e5 an attempt by the higher-rated player to keep more chances of obtaining an engaging struggle? The engines often prefer White anyway when there is a protected passed d-pawn, in many openings, but there might be some concrete reasons here, which are revealed when one looks quite closely. In practice, the manoeuvring phase is often sufficiently complex for humans for any theoretical edge to soon go out the window. This was the case in this struggle. Still, Stocek had started on the right track but lost his way (see the possible improvement on move sixteen, the probable one a move later, and his blunder on move eighteen) and found himself a pawn down.
Semi-Slav: Meran Defence 8.Bd3 Bb7 9.0-0 a6 10.a4 [D47]
In Stern, R - Keymar, V White's choice of his tenth move isn't a particular surprise:
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This theme is recommended in some circles (it helps create a possible launching pad on c4) and is arguably less theoretical than the main line that results from 10.e4 c5. Even so, after 10...b4 11.Ne4 c5 there have been many games with Black scoring reasonably well overall. Keymar sought something a little less well-mapped with 11...Be7 only playing with the thematic ...c6-c5 a couple of moves later. This worked quite well and a double-edged middlegame arose where he had made some progress on the queenside, whereas his opponent would have had enough kingside counter-action if he'd played with h2-h4 on move 24.
Catalan Opening 4...dxc4 and 5...c5 [E04]
White threw the game away in Caruana, F - Nepomniachtchi, I with something of a gross blunder in the pseudo-endgame. The opening involved a line that I'd already examined a while back, but here a key idea was tested further. Nepomniachtchi performs a balancing act with his rook (see 11...Rxc5 and 14...Rb5). A little later, in the diagram position, he should simply have sought to complete development:
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The calm 17...Be7, and then if 18.Bc3 simply 18...0-0 was called for, what could be more natural? However, he perhaps became a little ambitious and instead chose complications with 17...Nd5 but these proved to be fraught with danger and he had to give up the exchange to survive. Caruana was making use of his material advantage and had generated serious winning chances, but one slack move and all was lost. The joys of rapidplay chess!
Catalan/Bogo 4...dxc4 5.Bg2 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 a5 [E04]
The opening in the Niemann, H - Caruana, F encounter could also have arisen from the Bogo-Indian, but in practice usually comes about via a Catalan move order.
The whole line involving 9...b5 is clearly very ambitious on Black's part:
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Can one get away with such cheek? I think that he can! There have been more than a couple of hundred games, many of them from the Covid era, with Carlsen playing Black in 2020, which often gives a line a boost. Since then 10.a4 c6 11.b3 cxb3 12.Nxb3 has crystallized as the main line, with Black having some success with both 12...Ba6 and 12...b4, the bishop typically seeking a relatively active future on the a6-f1 diagonal in both cases. Caruana's 12...Na6 however, doesn't impress, and he was worse after that. A rearguard defensive display plus a sprinkling of fortune enabled him to draw.
Catalan 4...dxc4 5.Bg2 Nc6 6.0-0 Rb8 7.Bg5 [E04]
Andreikin, D - Abdusattorov, N featured one of the best reputed lines in the Open Catalan with 5...Nc6 6.0-0 Rb8, where Black prepares to hold onto the c4-pawn. Andreikin's 7.Bg5 is more of a surprise weapon than anything else, with the idea that there will be compensation if one gets developed quickly enough.
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There is a wide choice for the second player, with the game continuation of 7...Be7 8.e3 0-0 9.Qc1 b5 10.b3 Ba6 working well enough. Indeed, White was the first to stray off the straight and narrow and had difficulties. Abdusattorov wasn't precise enough the first time around, and thus let Andreikin back into the game, but the second time he had the advantage the young Uzbek made no mistakes.
Till next month, Glenn Flear
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