Download PGN of March ’26 d-Pawn Specials games
The London: 2...c5 3 e3 Nd5 [A45]
After 1 d4 Nf6 2 Bf4 c5 the natural London response is, of course, 3 e3 when 3...Nd5!? is an unexpected counter:
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After 4 Bg3 White should not be unhappy though: 4...Qb6 5 c4! still seems quite decent and after 4...cxd4 simply 5 exd4 cannot be bad. 5 Qxd4!? was somewhat more ambitious in Degtariev, E - Teclaf, P, where Black was surely OK before allowing White to emerge with an early clear advantage.
The London: 2...c5 3 e3 Qb6 [A45]
The critical move after 1 d4 Nf6 2 Bf4 c5 3 e3 is, of course, 3...Qb6 when 4 Na3 Qxb2 5 Nb5 may lead to a common early repetition - or it may not! In any case, the London player needs to know how to counter 5...cxd4? 6 exd4 when the most dangerous move is 6...e5!?:
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Would you know to go 7 Bd2! and so claim a big advantage as White? We’ll examine things and also see what to avoid in Fajdetic, H - Graif, W.
The London: 2...c5 3 d5 b5 [A45]
White often, of course, meets 1 d4 Nf6 2 Bf4 c5 with 3 dxc5 or 3 d5. The latter can quickly lead to quite an unbalanced and intriguing position after 3...b5!? 4 e4!? Nxe4 5 Qf3:
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The critical move here is 5...Qa5+ when White should go 6 c3, not 6 Nd2?, despite the fact that it led to something of a massacre in Carrizo, L - Hutt, A.
The London: 2...e6 3 Nf3 c5 4 e3 Qb6 5 Nc3 [A46]
After 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 e6 3 Bf4 c5 4 e3 Qb6 White has a couple of especially tempting options, 5 Na3 and 5 Nc3. The latter was seen in Mishra, A - Raja, H, which was a relatively short draw, if one full of intrigue, beginning with 5...Nh5?:
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What should White play here? Mishra took on b8, but 6 Be5! was the route to a clear advantage, intending Nd2-c4, as well as Nb5.
The London: 2...g6 3 Bf4 Bg7 4 e3 d6 5 h3 0-0 6 c3 Nfd7 [A48]
Meeting 1 d4 Nf6 2 Bf4 g6 3 e3 Bg7 4 Nf3 d6 with 5 c3 feels a little committal to me, but, of course, it cannot be bad and 5...0-0 6 h3 Nfd7 7 Be2 e5 8 Bh2 Nc6 9 0-0 remains something of a tabiya:
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We’ll touch on four options for Black, including 9...Kh8 10 b4 a6 11 a4 f5 when 12 Nbd2?! e4 already left White on the back foot in Savchenko, B - Khubukshanov, E, which became quite the slugfest and also featured more than one somewhat unexpected move.
The London: 2...Nf6 3 Nf3 c5 4 e3 Nc6 5 Nbd2 Qb6 [D02]
1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 Bf4 c5 4 e3 Nc6 5 Nbd2 Qb6 remains a fairly critical line, as does the subsequent 6 dxc5 Qxb2 7 Rb1 Qc3 8 Bb5 e6 (8...g6!? is an important alternative) 9 0-0:
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Here Black really needs to remember 9...Be7! to avoid being worse. Instead, 9...Bd7?! 10 Bd3 saw White quickly taking control, control which he retained throughout an instructive, if fairly one-sided victory in Cornette, M - Bombek, P.
The London: 2...Nf6 3 Nf3 e6 4 e3 Bd6 [D02]
After 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 e6 3 Bf4 d5 4 e3 Bd6 provoking an exchange on f4 with 5 Bd3!? is a policy likely to only become more popular after Keymer-Van Foreest from Wijk, as we considered last month. Black doesn’t have to exchange and 5...0-0 is an important alternative when I recently tried 6 0-0 against Mr TWIC, Mark Crowther. I wasn’t so keen on 6 Nbd2 due only now to 6...Bxf4 7 exf4 b6:
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Here 8 Qe2 c5 9 c3 a5! forced through the exchange of bishops and saw Black equalize in Gupta, A - Tamas, C.A., which quickly became quite a complex manoeuvring battle.
Will we have more Londons or any games from the Candidates to enjoy next time? Until then, Richard
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