Download PGN of January ’24 d-Pawn Specials games
The Trompowsky: 2...e6 3 e4 h6 4 Bxf6 Qxf6 5 Nc3 [A45]
It proved impossible to resist beginning this update with 1 d4 Nf6 2 Bg5 when after 2...e6 3 e4 h6 4 Bxf6 Qxf6 in recent years White has tended to play 5 c3, but Mamedyarov and Nakamura have preferred the older 5 Nc3 of late, and if 5...Bb4 6 Qd3:
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This old favourite of mine remains a decent try and after 6...d5 7 e5 Black should like go to d8, since 7...Qe7 8 a3 Bxc3+ 9 Qxc3 was just a pleasant edge for White in Nakamura, H - Vlassov, N.
The Trompowsky: 2...e6 3 Nd2 h6 4 Bh4 c5 5 e4 [A45]
Having done plenty of work of late on 1 d4 Nf6 2 Bg5 e6 3 Nd2 I was keen to include a game with it and step forward GothamChess, aka Levy Rozman! He was recently fortunate enough to be able to gambit with 3...h6 4 Bh4 c5 5 e4!, which remains in good health:
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After 5...cxd4 6 e5 g5 7 Bg3 Nd5 8 h4 I’m not even sure that Black can equalise and White has scored pretty well, as we’ll see in Rozman, L - Smirnov, M.
The Trompowsky: 2...d5 3 e3 c5 4 Bxf6 gxf6 5 dxc5 Nc6 [D00]
For the second month in a row we find ourselves having to examine 1 d4 Nf6 2 Bg5 d5 3 e3 c5 4 Bxf6 gxf6 5 dxc5 Nc6 and then the trendy 6 a3!?:
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Here Black can push the e-pawn to e5 or prefer the arguably more sensible 6...e6, after which 7 b4 a5 8 Nd2 axb4 9 axb4 Rxa1 10 Qxa1 Nxb4 11 Qa4+ Nc6 12 Bb5 is the key line. White has a bit of pressure, but Black should be OK from what I can see, as we’ll explore further in Van Foreest, J - Wei Yi.
The Jobava-Prié Attack: 3...Bf5 4 e3 [D00]
There were some interesting opening choices at Wijk aan Zee, not least 1 d4 d5 2 Nc3 Nf6 3 Bf4 Bf5 4 e3 in Praggnanandhaa, R - Giri, A. You might have thought that this wasn’t such a good choice against such a solid elite player, but Praggnanandhaa had previously faced it as Black and clearly done his homework. Play proceeded 4...e6 5 Bd3 Bxd3 6 cxd3! Bd6 7 Qb3 b6 8 Bxd6 Qxd6 9 Nf3:
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Due to the slight weakness of c6, White can claim at least a nominal pull here and Black quickly found himself under unpleasant pressure.
The London: 3...e6 4 e3 c5 5 c3 Nc6 6 Nbd2 Bd6 7 Bg3 0-0 8 Bd3 b6 [D02]
The pawn sacrifice 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 d5 3 c3 e6 4 Bf4 Bd6 5 e3 0-0 6 Nbd2 c5 7 Bd3 Nc6 8 Bg3 b6 9 e4!? Be7 10 e5 Nh5 11 Ng5! Bxg5 12 hxg5 g6 13 Qe2 cxd4 14 h4! remains a rather important as well as theoretical line of the London.
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To my eye, it offers promising compensation and while perhaps Black will find a route to equality, the defensive task is not an easy one, as we’ll get to see further in a key battle from Hastings, Gupta, A - Waldhausen Gordon, F.
The Colle Zukertort: 3...e6 4 Bd3 b6 5 0-0 Bb7 6 b3 [D05]
Meeting 1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 e6 3 e3 Nf6 4 Bd3 with 4...b6 5 0-0 Bb7 sees Black combining flexibility with solidity. After 6 b3 Nbd7 7 Bb2 Bd6 8 Nbd2 he has a few options:
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Of these, 8...Qe7 9 Ne5! 0-0 is probably not the best, since 10 f4 gives White his ideal Colle-Zukertort set-up and the 14th world champion went on to produce a crushing attacking performance in Kramnik, V - Atansasov, A.
The Colle: 3...e6 4 Bd3 c5 5 c3 Nbd7 6 Nbd2 Bd6 7 0-0 0-0 8 Re1 [DO5]
The final round at Wijk lived up to its billing, although I suspect that few expected we’d get to see 1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 e3 c5 4 c3. After 4...e6 5 Bd3 Nbd7 6 Nbd2 Bd6 7 0-0 0-0 8 Re1 the good, old main line of the original Colle had arisen in Wei Yi - Vidit, SG.
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It was notable after the game, when interviewed by Fiona Steil-Antoni, that Wei Yi described 8...Qc7 as “maybe a mistake”, seeing how it has been Black’s most popular move. Certainly though 9 e4! cxd4 10 cxd4 dxe4 11 Nxe4 gives White a good version of an IQP position and Wei went on to win a fine game.
Will we have more elite games with the Colle to consider again next month?
Until then, Richard
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