Download PGN of January ’20 d-Pawn Specials games
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The Colle-Zukertort: 1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 e3 c5 4 b3 Nc6 5 Bb2 a6 [A06]
Yes, 1 Nf3 d5 2 b3 c5 3 e3 a6 4 Bb2 Nc6 5 d4 is not our normal move order nor even a position officially classified as a Colle-Zukertort. Following 5...Nf6 6 Nbd2 cxd4 7 exd4 g6 8 a3 Bg7 9 Bd3 White had, though, certainly set up very much in Colle-Zukertort fashion.
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Black must be fine here with her king quite safe, but impressively the board still quickly caught fire in Ju Wenjun - Goryachkina, A.
The Colle-Zukertort: 1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 e3 e6 4 Bd3 c5 5 b3 Nc6 6 0-0 [D05]
The tabiya which arises after 1 d4 e6 2 Nf3 c5 3 e3 Nf6 4 Bd3 d5 5 b3 Nc6 6 0-0 b6 7 Bb2 Bb7 8 Nbd2 Bd6 9 Ne5 0-0 10 a3 Rc8 is definitely a Colle-Zukertort, both in spirit and ECO code:
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Unfortunately for White, 11 f4 Ne7! continues to hold up quite well for Black, as we’ll see in Bukal, V - Shariyazdanov, A.
The Trompowsky: 2...Ne4 3 Bf4 d5 4 f3 [A45]
For a long time White preferred to meet the solid 1 d4 Nf6 2 Bg5 Ne4 3 Bf4 d5 with 4 e3, but recently, in part thanks to the rise of the Jobava-Prié, he has gone back to 4 f3 Nf6 5 Nc3:
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Here 5...Bf5?! 6 g4 simply left Baadur Jobava a tempo up on his old favourite and Black was quickly butchered in Jobava, B - Minhazuddin, A.
The Trompowsky: 2...e6 3 e4 h6 4 Bxf6 Qxf6 5 c3 d6 [A45]
Another tabiya arises after 1 d4 Nf6 2 Bg5 e6 3 e4 h6 4 Bxf6 Qxf6 5 c3 d6 6 Bd3 e5 7 Ne2 g6 8 0-0 Bg7 9 f4 Qe7:
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This remains pretty solid for Black even if White tries 10 f5!? and 10 Nd2 0-0 11 Nf3 Nd7 12 Qc2!? was a new if not overly impressive try in Piorun, K - Tregubov, V.
The Trompowsky: 2...d5 3 e3 g6 [D00]
The less said about the recent PRO League match between the UK Lions and the New York Marshalls, the better, but I should really have given us a full point early on. 1 d4 Nf6 2 Bg5 d5 3 e3 g6 4 Bxf6 exf6 5 c4 dxc4 6 Bxc4 is normally met by 6...Bd6, which should be fine for Black. 6...Bg7 doesn’t look as good, but is still playable, and if 7 Nc3 0-0 8 h4 h5 9 Nge2 Bh6!:
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The resulting middlegame battle between White’s knights and Black’s bishops was at least quite instructive, even if I’d prefer you to skip the numerous howlers near the end of Palliser, R - Fedoseev, V.
The Jobava-Prié: 3...c5 4 e3 cxd4 5 exd4 a6 [D00]
1 d4 Nf6 2 Bf4 d5 3 Nc3 c5 4 e3 cxd4 5 exd4 a6 is Exchange Caro-like, pretty solid for Black and has been faced twice in recent weeks by Lawrence Trent. Both games proceeded 6 Nf3 Nc6 7 Ne5 Bd7 8 Qd3 e6 9 Be2 Qb6 10 Nxc6 Qxc6 11 0-0 Rc8:
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Lawrence’s first try was 12 Rfc1, his second the more dangerous 12 Qg3!?, gambitting the d-pawn after 12...Qb6 13 Rab1 for early pressure in Trent, L - Abergel, T.
The Jobava-Prié: 3...e6 4 Nb5 [D00]
It was the Réti which featured back in 1987 when Garry Kasparov needed to win the final game in Seville, it was 1 d4 d5 2 Nc3 which featured in 2020 when Aleksandra Goryachkina also found herself in a must-win situation. A surprised Ju Wenjun opted for 2...Nf6 3 Bf4 e6 4 Nb5 Na6 5 e3 Bb4+ 6 c3 Be7, which doesn’t make a huge amount of sense:
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Black can check, but should do so the move before, then come round to a5. As played, Goryachkina enjoyed a pleasant edge, squandered it, and then outplayed Ju all over again to force a play-off in Goryachkina, A - Ju Wenjun.
Will we have more such gripping struggles to enjoy next month?
Until then, Richard
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