Download PGN of September ’23 d-Pawn Specials games
The Trompowsky: 2...Nc6 [A45]
There was really only one place to start this month, 1 d4 Nf6 2 Bg5 Nc6!?, which proved such a good surprise weapon for Fabiano Caruana in his third-place play-off match with Nijat Abasov at the World Cup.
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We begin by considering the aforementioned Abasov, N - Caruana, F, and its 3 e3 e5, which was already a novelty. Caruana has since repeated 2...Nc6 twice, as we’ll see in the notes on 3 Nc3 and 3 Nf3.
We then move on to Djordjevic, V - Shimanov, A, where 3 Bxf6 gxf6 4 c4 d5 reached a position which might also come about via a 2...d5 3 Bxf6 gxf6 4 c4 d5 move order, with both 3 d5 and 3 c4 also considered in the notes.
I suspect that 2...Nc6!? may well be here to stay. Trompowsky aficionados would do well to analyse both 3 d5 and 3 Nc3, as well as the thematic exchange on f6.
The Trompowsky: 2...c5 3 d5 d6 [A45]
After 1 d4 Nf6 2 Bg5 c5 3 d5 a fairly respectable sideline is 3...d6 4 Nc3 h6 when 5 Bxf6 exf6 6 e4 a6 7 a4 g6 8 Bd3 Bg7 is a fairly critical continuation:
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Here 9 Nge2 might be explored if you don’t like the standard 9 Nf3, but 9 h3 didn’t turn out particularly well in Povah, N - Koehler, G.
Jobava-Prié Attack: 3...Nh5 [D00]
1 d4 d5 2 Bf4 Nf6 3 Nc3 would not be especially popular if 3...Nh5?! was any good, but it isn’t. One decent line for White is 4 Bg5, and if 4...h6 5 Bh4 g5 6 e3!, another 4 Be5!? f6 5 e4!:
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Black may be able to minimise the damage here, but he wasn’t up to the task and was swiftly blown away in Fletcher, J - Kralevski, A.
Jobava-Prié Attack: 3...c5 4 e4 [D00]
After 1 d4 d5 2 Nc3 Nf6 3 Bf4 c5 the trendy choice is still 4 e4, but after 4...Nxe4 going 5 Nb5!? has been pretty rare, intending 5...Na6 6 f3:
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The engines aren’t overly taken by White’s concept, but it certainly led to a superb, hard-fought and topsy-turvy struggle in Nakamura, H - Carlsen, M.
The London: 2...c5 3 e3 Nc6 4 c3 Nf6 5 Nd2 Bf5 [D00]
Against the modern London move order, 1 d4 d5 2 Bf4 c5 3 e3 Nc6 4 c3 Nf6 5 Nd2 Black’s main move is still 5...Bf5 when we have various recent developments to catch up on, including in the important line 6 Qb3 Qd7 7 Ngf3 c4 8 Qd1 e6 9 Nh4 Bd6 10 Bxd6 Qxd6:
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This is all quite critical, as was 11 b3!? and the subsequent 10 or so moves before Black took over in Sielecki, T - Flear, G.
The London: 2...Nf6 3 Nf3 c5 4 e3 e6 5 Nbd2 Qb6 [D02]
1 Nf3 d5 2 d4 Nf6 3 Bf4 c5 4 e3 e6 5 Nbd2 Qb6 isn’t quite as sharp as in the related position with ...Nc6 played instead of ...e6, but is still a pretty important line. It’s also been fairly topical of late, with Abdusattorov happy to keep meeting 6 Rb1 with 6...Bd7. Instead, 6...Bd6 7 Bg3 Nbd7 8 c4!? takes the fight to Black.
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In Sevian, S - Xiong, J, we’ll see not for the first time that opening the h-file with an exchange of bishops on g3 can be quite a risky policy for Black.
Will we have as many fine attacks and great fights to enjoy next month? Let’s hope so!
Until then, Richard
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