Download PGN of March '13 d-Pawn Specials games
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The Trompowsky 2...c5 3 Bxf6 [A45]
Last year at Wijk Van Wely employed 1 d4 Nf6 2 Bg5 to surprise and defeat Anish Giri, and he was back at it this year with another countryman, Erwin L'Ami, this time his opponent. Like Giri, L'Ami opted for 2...c5 3 Bxf6 gxf6 4 d5 Qb6 5 Qc1 f5, but here Van Wely deviated and opted for a move which continues to grow in popularity, namely 6 c4:
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The younger, lower-rated of the two Dutch GMs followed an earlier game of his, but in Van Wely-L'Ami White had come well prepared and soon enjoyed a pleasant early advantage.
2...d5 3 e3 c6 [D03]
A more solid option for Black is 2...d5 when 3 e3 keeps White's options open. I still very much believe that 3...c5 is the critical response, but, as well as 3...e6 and a likely transposition to Torre waters, both 3...c6 and 3...Nbd7 are possible as we'll see in another recent brutal Trompowsky encounter, namely Laznicka - Bobras.
The Colle/QID [E14]
Black's most popular counter to 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 e6 3 e3 at international level is 3...b6 4 Bd3 Bb7 5 0-0 c5, playing along Queen's Indian lines:
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Now 6 c4 actually takes play directly into Queen's Indian waters and remains critical in my view, with Danielian - Miezis White's most recent crushing victory in the line.
Colle-Zukertort without ...d5 [A47]
It's also possible to play along Colle-Zukertort lines with 6 b3 Be7 7 Bb2, after which a Hedgehog structure often arises. It's well known that Black's defences are hard to crack there, but the defensive idea he employs to score something of an upset in Kosic - Draskovic is not so well known.
Colle-Zukertort [D05]
Black is by no means forced into a Hedgehog-type approach, however, and in Ehlvest - Wojtaszek 6...d5 7 Bb2 Bd6 8 c4 (a pure Zukertort player would prefer to leave this pawn at home and place his knights on d2 and e5) 8...cxd4 9 exd4 Nc6 10 Nbd2 0-0 reaches a position which can come about via a number of move orders:
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White will often be saddled with hanging pawns and this rapid encounter is not a good advertisement for his chances, although his fortunes improve when Black carelessly activates the key dark-squared guy on b2.
The Torre Attack ...e6, ...b6 [A47]
The position after 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 e6 3 Bg5 b6 4 e3 Bb7 5 Bd3 c5 6 c3 Be7 7 Nbd2 0-0 actually arose from a Trompowsky move order in Ivanchuk - Aronian:
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White usually castles here, but Ivanchuk dared to try 8 Bxf6!? Bxf6 9 h4?! and was soon in trouble after the calm 9...Nc6!. Not one to repeat in your own games.
Torre ...g6 [A48]
Finally we take a look at the other main type of Torre, 2...g6 3 Bg5 Bg7 and then 4 Nbd2 0-0 5 c3 d5 6 e3 c5 7 Bd3 b6:
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Here too White usually goes 8 0-0, but 8 Qe2!? Bb7 9 h4!? wasn't completely crazy in Vachier Lagrave-Ju Wenjun and White's brutal victory should obtain more imitators than Ivanchuk's play.
That's all for this month, Richard
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