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Something that many players fear these days is being caught up in some engine analysis. This is a partial explanation from the migration away from openings such as the Sicilian Defence to something more fire-proof such as 1.e4 e5. Yet even the most solid lines can be vulnerable to wonderful engine moves if the position opens up very quickly.
One opening that comes to mind is the Tarrasch Defence and two lines in particular. Danil Dubov's 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.g3 Nf6 7.Bg2 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bc5 leads to hand to hand fighting at the very early stages and has been shown to be playable at the highest level. There's also the romantic Hennig von Schara Gambit (1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.cxd5 cxd4) in which engines have uncovered new resources.
I decided to devote this update to these lines, especially Dubov's line which has developed a lot. As for the Hennig von Scharra, I found a decent way for White to decline the gambit, which makes sense for practical players who do not want to try to remember intricate lines that they may never get to use.

Download PGN of September ’24 1 d4 d5 2 c4 games

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QGD, Tarrasch Defence, Dubov Variation 6.g3 Nf6 7.Bg2 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bc5 [D33]

When Dubov started playing 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.g3 Nf6 7.Bg2 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bc5, people were surprised that such a bold approach was playable for Black. After 9.Nb3 Bb6 10.0-0 d4 11.Na4 0-0 12.Bg5, Black initially tried 12...Re8:

before 12...h6 was also introduced. Romanov, E - Ghazarian, K was an interesting recent example of 12...Re8, the plan of 13.Nxb6 axb6 14.e3 allowing Black a passed pawn but one which can be effectively blockaded. In the notes I mention a similar idea with 10.Na4 0-0 11.0-0 d4 12.Nxb6 axb6 13.e3, though this has the disadvantage that White's dark square bishop languors on c1.

After 12...h6 instead, White really needs to snatch the d4 pawn with 13.Bxf6 Qxf6 14.Nxb6 axb6 15.Bxc6 bxc6 16.Qxd4:

Black's best move seems to be 16...Rd8 after which 17.Qxf6 gxf6 18.Rfd1 (Li Di - Bai Jinshi) is tantamount to a draw offer whereas 18.Rfc1 might make life quite tricky for Black.

16...Qd8 seems rather worse because of 17.Rfd1 (Xiang Zeyu - Csonka, B), leaving Black with just nebulous compensation for the pawn. Yet it's interesting to note that this becomes far more playable if we insert the moves 12...Re8 and 13.Re1.

A recent attempt by White to use his bishop pair was seen in Rodshtein, M - Greenfeld, A in which he first played 10.Na4 and met 10...0-0 with 11.Nxb6 axb6 12.Nd4:

Black was OK but he had to keep playing accurately.


QGD, Tarrasch Defence, Anti-Dubov 7.a3 [D33]

White's attempts to combat the Dubov Variation have stretched to 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.g3 Nf6 7.a3!?, aiming to meet 7...cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bc5 with 9.Be3:

Had White played 7.g3 instead of 7.a3 this would now be met by 9...Qb6 10.Na4 Qb4+, with 7.a3 instead of 7.Bg2 he can answer 9...Qb6 with 10.Na4 when 10...Qb4+ loses the queen! But can throwing a tempo with 7.a3 really be better than natural development (7.Bg2)?

After 9.Be3 Black's best is 9...Bb6:

when White has a choice. 10.Na4 (D) was chosen in Caruana, F - Dominguez Perez, L:

where White managed to maintain the the tiniest of edges and eventually outplay his opponent.

If instead White plays 10.Bg2 it seems that 10...Ng4 is dubious (Ding Lirin - Bai Jinshi) and that Black should instead play just 10...0-0:

As in Harikrishna, P - Svane, R. I'm not seeing much for White here, and neither did Harikrishna.


Tarrasch Defence, Hennig von Schara Gambit 7.Nf3 [D41]

After 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.cxd5 cxd4 5.Qa4+ Bd7 6.Qxd4 exd5 the standard 'refutation' is supposed to be 7.Qxd5, just taking a pawn and hanging on to it. Yet some recent games have shown that Black gets a lot of play, not through the traditional plan of castling long, but instead castling short and relying on fast development. This entire line seems like a minefield for White, so it's nice to see a good method of politely declining the pawn with 7.Nf3 Nf6 8.e3 Nc6 9.Qd3:

Objectively this line may be equal, but in practice it tends to be easier to play against the isolated pawn, see Salem, A - Abdussatorov, N.


See you next month! Nigel Davies

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