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Fianchetto Variation 5...c5 [E60]
A very topical line is 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 0-0 5.Bg2 c5 6.Nc3 cxd4 7.Nxd4 Qc7 and now in Kramnik - Caruana the former World Champion uncorked 8.Qd3!?:
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A surprising almost-novelty. This worked out well, but Caruana's defence brought him within reach of the half point when disaster sruck.
Panno System 8.Bf4 [E63]
8.Bf4 continues to be fashionable. Of course, at some point sideline theory becomes main line theory... After 8...Rb8 9.Rc1 Bd7 White tries 10.a3!? in Bu Xiangzhi - Ding Liren simply preparing b4.
Sämisch Byrne System ...c6, ...a6 [E81]
In the Sämisch the old system with ...a6 and ...c6 has been gaining some traction lately. It is flexible and there is little forcing theory. Now 7.c5 is one of many lines. After 7...0-0 8.Nge2 b5 9.cxd6 exd6 10.Qd2 we have a typical position:
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and we look at some recent games in Kaufman - Bruzon Batista.
Sämisch Gambit Declined 6...c5 7.Nge2 [E81]
6.Be3 c5 7.Nge2 Nc6 8.d5 Ne5 9.Ng3 h5 10.Be2 h4 11.Nf1 e6 is a very topical line:
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To me it looks more difficult to play for White. After 12.Nd2 Black delays exchanging on d5 and plays the immediate 12...h3!? in Ringoir - Cheparinov, and wins a nice miniature.
Classical - Makagonov 6.h3 e5 [E90]
5.Nf3 0-0 6.h3 e5 7.dxe5 The "Makagonov Exchange" 7...dxe5 8.Qxd8 Rxd8 9.Bg5 Na6! This line works better here than in the Classical Exchange with 6.Be2. See Can - Cheparinov.
In the mainline after 7.d5 a5, instead of 8.Bg5, the setup 8.Be3 Na6 and now the immediate 9.g4!? is becoming more popular:
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See Wang Hao - Sandipan.
Petrosian with 7...a5 8.h3 [E92]
The short Nakamura-Navara match saw two games in the Makagonov/Petrosian. Nakamura scored 1.5/2 but got into some trouble in the second game. The main lines 6.h3 e5 7.d5 a5 8.Bg5 Na6 9.Nd2 Qe8 10.Be2 (now officially a Petrosian Variation) 10...Nd7 11.a3:
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and here both 11...Nb6 and 11...f6 12.Bh4 Nb6 were tested. See Navara - Nakamura.
9.b4 Bayonet Attack Kramnik's 12.Bf3 [E97]
Kramnik's line 9.b4 Nh5 10.g3 f5 11.Ng5 Nf6 12.Bf3 and now 12...Kh8!? was tried in Le Quang Liem - Bacrot. After 13.Bg2 Black went for 13...Rb8!?:
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Bacrot's favourite move. 14.b5 and now rather than 14...Ne8 which looks somewhat questionable, the critical line looks to be the thematic 14...h6.
Until next month, David
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Don't hesitate to share your thoughts and suggestions with me. Any queries or comments to the KID Forum, or to me directly at david@ChessPublishing.com (subscribers only) would be most welcome.