Download PGN of June ’19 d-Pawn Specials games
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The Trompowsky: 2...Ne4 3 Bf4 d5 4 e3 e6 5 Bd3 [A45]
After 1 d4 Nf6 2 Bg5 Ne4 3 Bf4 d5 4 e3 e6 5 Bd3 Black usually develops with 5...Bd6 or drops back to f6, but 5...b6!? is also quite reasonable:
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Dutch Trompowsky expert Miguoel Admiraal recently faced this and didn’t obtain too much with 6 Ne2 Bb7 7 0-0 Bd6 8 c4 in Admiraal, M - Harff, M.
The Trompowsky: 2...d5 3 e3 c5 4 Bxf6 gxf6 5 dxc5 [A45]
In Stavanger, Mamedyarov faced both 1 d4 Nf6 2 Bg5 d5 and 2...e6, after which he introduced 3 e4 h6 4 Bxf6 Qxf6 5 c3 d5 6 Qe2!? to win against Caruana. He met the former in more conventional fashion by following in Carlsen’s footsteps with 3 e3 c5 4 Bxf6 gxf6 5 dxc5 Nc6 6 Bb5 e6 7 c4 dxc4 8 Nd2:
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Karjakin simply went 8...Bxc5 in the opening game of the 2016 world championship match and 8...Bd7 should also be OK for Black, as we’ll see in Mamedyarov, S - So, W.
An important alternative in this line is 5...e6 when White has to choose between Adams’s 6 Nf3 Bxc5 7 Be2 and 6 c4. Following the latter and then 6...dxc4 7 Nd2 Bxc5 8 Bxc4 Black is surely OK:
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However, 8...0-0?! is premature and surprisingly went unpunished in Jobava, B - Cramling, P.
The Torre Attack v KID 2...g6 3 Bg5 Bg7 4 Nbd2 0-0 5 c3 d5 [A48]
During this month’s examination of 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 g6 3 Bg5 Bg7 4 Nbd2 we take a look at two recent games by Ivan Sokolov, while our main coverage focusses on 4...0-0 5 c3 d5 6 e3 c5 7 Be2:
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White hopes for 7...Nc6?! 8 dxc5!, but with 7...h6 8 Bh4 cxd4 9 exd4 Nc6 10 0-0 Ne4! Black was able to equalise comfortably in Hera, I - Ragger, M.
The Torre Attack: 2...d5 3 Bg5 Ne4 4 Bh4 c5 [D03]
We continue our Bg5-related theme by briefly touching on why the Veresov is rarely seen these days before looking at some recent developments after 1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 Bg5. After 3...Ne4 4 Bh4 c5 White’s most ambitious choice is 5 dxc5:
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However, Black appears to have a good response in 5...f6, leaving White’s bishop a little sidelined on h4 and it was quickly the first player looking to equalise in Romanov, E - Popov, I.
The Barry Attack: 2...g6 3 Nc3 d5 4 Bf4 Bg7 5 e3 0-0 6 Nb5 [D00]
A few folk are still playing the old, pure Barry move order, i.e. 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 g6 3 Nc3 d5 4 Bf4 and not aiming for a transposition or improved version via 2 Bf4 g6 3 Nc3. The trendy idea in the Barry is 4...Bg7 5 e3 0-0 6 Nb5!? Na6 7 h3:
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White really needs to secure his key bishop so, when 7...c6 is Black’s most reliable move, while 7...c5 was tried in Indjic, A - Puranik, A.
The Colle-Zukertort: 4 Bd3 c5 5 b3 Bd6 6 0-0 0-0 7 Bb2 [D05]
After 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 d5 3 e3 e6 4 Bd3 we look at a couple of lines based around a queenside fianchetto for Black this month. 4...c5 5 b3 Bd6 6 0-0 0-0 7 Bb2 b6 8 Nbd2 is all common enough...
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...but 8...Ba6!? has been pretty rare here. Possibly White should just consent to the exchange of bishops, since 9 c4 Nc6 10 Qe2 cxd4 11 exd4 Bf4! saw Black equalise in Korobov, A - Jakovenko, D.
No doubt the London will return next month!
Until then, Richard
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