Download PGN of August '13 d-Pawn Specials games
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The Trompowsky 2...d5 [D00]
1 d4 Nf6 2 Bg5 has received a few outings so far in Tromso, not least in some of the rapid play-off games. Black has tended to respond with the solid 2...d5, after which we consider 3 Nd2 in Fier - Wojtaszek, where 3...c6 4 e3 Qb6 suggested that Anand's second wasn't as well prepared as he might have been. As well as taking on f6, White also has 3 e3 c5 4 Bxf6 when 4...gxf6 5 Nc3 is actually a transposition to a Veresov. Instead, 4...exf6 is a less critical reaction:
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Here I quite like Smyslov's idea of 5 Nc3 Nc6 6 Nge2 Be6 7 g3, beginning to take aim at d5, but 5 c3 was preferred in Trent - Green, in which the World Cup commentator won an instructive game.
The Torre Attack v KID [A48]
After 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 g6 3 Bg5 Bg7 4 Nbd2 0-0 5 c3 d6 the site has devoted a fair amount of coverage to 6 e4, but not to the solid 6 e3. However, this is not entirely without bite. After 6...Nbd7 7 Bd3 e5 8 0-0 Qe7 9 e4 Black is a tempo up on a position which can also arise via a 6 e4 move order:
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However, even with the extra tempo this almost reversed KIA-like position isn't so easy for the second player to handle as we'll see in Papaioannou - Sirigos.
Torre ...e6 & ...d5 [D03]
Switching to the 2...e6 3 Bg5 version of the Torre brings us to our game of the month, Andreikin - Karjakin. There 3...d5 4 Nbd2 h6 5 Bh4 c5 6 e3 Nc6 was a little more solid and classical from Black than one might expect before 7 c3 Qb6 just looked like another slightly misguided early queen deployment:
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Karjakin made matters worse with 8 Rb1 Be7 9 Bd3 Nh5?!, which did simplify but also enabled White to increase his hold over the position, and Andreikin went on to win with a model kingside attack.
The Veresov 3...Nbd7 4 Nf3 [D01]
We've already seen some coverage of 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nc3 d5 3 Bg5 and then 3...c5 via a Trompowsky move order, but the main line of the Veresov remains 3...Nbd7. Here Jonny Hector has recently tried 4 Nf3 in place of his usual 4 Qd3. The knight manoeuvre was also chosen in a rare appearance by Lev Alburt, with both GMs continuing 4...h6 5 Bf4:
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Here Black should go 5...e6, not fearing 6 Nb5, whereas 5...c6 6 e3 g5 7 Bg3 Nh5 8 Be5 Nxe5 9 Nxe5 Nf6 10 h4! didn't see Black equalising in Alburt - Kosteniuk.
The Colle-Zukertort [D05]
This site has seen plenty of coverage of 1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 e3 e6 4 Bd3 c5 5 b3 Nc6 6 0-0 Bd6 7 Bb2 0-0 and then 8 Nbd2, but what about 8 Ne5?
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I'd always assumed this was premature on account of 8...Qc7 9 f4 cxd4 10 exd4 Nb4, but the young Canadian IM Richard Wang makes a decent case for this and then 11 Nc3! in Wang - Vera Gonzalez.
The Barry Attack 5 Qd2 [D00]
Finally, we come to Mark Hebden's favourite opening and one in which he was frequently taken on in the recent British Championship. After 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 g6 3 Nc3 d5 4 Bf4 Bg7 5 Qd2 Hebden's opponents tended to opt for the solid 5...0-0 6 Bh6 Ne4 (Yang-Fan Zhou, though, made a decent case for 6....Bxh6 7 Qxh6 c5, as we'll see too) 7 Qe3 (Hebden's recent choice) 7...Qd6 8 Bxg7 Kxg7 9 0-0-0 Nxc3 10 Qxc3:
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I really can't believe that White can be better here, but Hebden has undoubtedly studied the position deeply and is more than capable of outplaying a slightly lower-rated opponent from here. We'll take a look in Hebden - Gordon.
Until next month, Richard
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