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Blackmar-Diemer - Hübsch Gambit 5 Bf4 [D00]
1 d4 d5 2 Nc3 Nf6 3 e4 Nxe4 4 Nxe4 dxe4 is actually known as the Hübsch Gambit:
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With a pair of minors off the board, it's very hard to believe that Black has anything to fear. I'm indebted to the English IM Richard Pert for his detailed notes to Simons - Pert (I've only added a couple of minor comments - marked RJDP), which show that Black is doing rather well and present a repertoire for the second player.
BDG Lemberger Defence - Rasmussen Attack 4...Bb4 [D00]
In the BDG proper with 2 e4 dxe4 3 Nc3 I've been meaning to point out for a few months that a BDG author himself chose the Lemberger Counter-Gambit at this point, with 3...e5!?. After 4 Nge2 Bb4 (4...Nc6 is likely more critical, as shown by BDG authority Christoph Scheerer in the Archive) 5 Be3 exd4 (again, 5...Nc6 was indicated) 6 Qxd4 Qxd4 7 Bxd4 Nf6 8 0-0-0 White's lead in development fully compensated for the pawn in Stead - Lane:
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Black got out of the opening OK, but I'm not so sure I'd like to play this way and after 8...Nbd7, 9 Ng3!? Bxc3 10 Bxc3 0-0 11 Be2 was possible, relying on the bishop-pair and not rushing to regain the pawn. Our former columnist eventually triumphed, but only after several adventures.
Neo-London System - The Morris Gambit 4/5...g6 [D00]
Talking of gambits, 1 d4 d5 2 Bf4 c5 3 e4!?, the Morris Gambit, has fallen from being pretty topical not so long ago to scarcely being seen. To my astonishment I could only find one 2014 game with it, but that was sufficiently entertaining that we'll cover it. After 3...dxe4 4 d5 Nf6 5 Nc3 there's a good reason why Black normally plays 5...a6, rather than 5...g6?!:
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One would have expected an experienced Russian Grandmaster to know all about or at least find 6 Nb5, but 6 Qe2?! was preferred in Kharlov - Ofitserian, where Black was rewarded for his bold play and scored a huge upset after some rather non-grandmasterly play from his opponent.
Neo-London 3 e3, 5...cxd4, 6...Bf5 [D00]
With Ringoir - Palac we enter more mainstream waters (finally, do I hear you say?), and 3 e3 is preferred. Black wins a model game in the Karlsbad structure (holding the kingside whilst promoting his minority attack with ...b5-b4), and a few other Olympiad games in the notes also make for slightly sorry reading for London players. The moral: the London may be chiefly about understanding, but remembering your early move orders can still be rather important.
Jobava-Prié Attack 3...c5 [D00]
1 d4 Nf6 2 Nc3 d5 3 Bf4 remains quite popular, especially at GM level, where Jobava and Rapport remain the main adherents. However, I did notice that the rather correct Indian Grandmasters Harikrishna and Ganguly have begun to use the opening too. A critical test is 3...c5 4 e3 cxd4 5 exd4 a6 and then 6 Nf3 Bg4 7 h3 Bxf3 8 Qxf3 Nc6 9 0-0-0 e6 10 g4:
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Rapport has twice reached this important tabiya of late. Sutovsky went active with 10...Bb4 11 Ne2 Qa5, but never quite obtained enough queenside play and collapsed to a blow on the other flank in Rapport - Sutovsky. Predrag Nikolic improved with Eric's 10...Bd6! and although the result was the same, the Bosnian GM should have obtained enough counterplay.
Jobava-Prié Attack 3...g6 [D00]
Instead, 3...g6 strikes one as a rather provocative choice, especially against Jobava. After 4 Qd2 Black already got cold feet, side-stepping 4...g6 5 Bh6 with 4...c6 in Jobava - Winants, but the opening turned out well for White after 5 f3.
Colle-Zukertort [D05]
Finally, it's just not true that 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 e6 3 e3 c5 4 Bd3 d5 5 b3 is a sequence only seen at club level and in GM vs. NN games. It was actually the choice of a rising grandmaster in Anton Guijarro-Kotsur where 5...Bd6 6 0-0 0-0 7 Bb2 b6 8 Nbd2 Bb7 9 Ne5 Nbd7 was seen:
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This is quite an important line and club players should stick with 10 f4. The Spanish star tried to be clever with 10 Qe2, but failed to obtain any advantage.
Until next month, Richard
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