Download PGN of October ’25 1 e4 e5 games
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Petroff Defence 4.Nc4!? [C42]
We begin with one idea for White and one for Black in the Petroff. 4.Nc4 definitely has some value, and after 4...Nxe4 5.Qe2 Qe7 6.Ne3 played in Subelj, J - Olsen, F:
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Black seemed unfamiliar with the position as after 6...Nf6 7.Nc3 c6?! 8.d4 he really needed the ...Nc6 option, and White was able to castle queenside and win a dominant game. Black has many alternatives though, including the fun-looking 5...d5!?
Petroff Defence 3.d4 Nxe4 4.dxe5 d5 5.Nbd2 [C43]
Here almost all the high-level games continue with 5...Qd7, but Black had a different idea with 5...Be7!? 6.Nxe4 dxe4 7.Qxd8+ Bxd8 in Navara, D - Mamedov, R:
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This ending is the reason for the strange-looking ...Qd7, to improve the circumstances of the queen trade for Black. Having said that, White’s edge is very small in any case but David eventually won after a very inventive exchange sacrifice on move 12.
Two Knights 6.Bb5+ Bd7 7.Qe2 Be7 8.Nf3 [C58]
6...Bd7 has always seemed like a sensible repertoire choice for Black to me, with still many possible directions after that. Can, E - McShane, L continued with 8...Nxd5 9.Bxd7+ Qxd7 10.Nxe5:
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Here I liked Luke’s choice of 10...Qf5 instead of the more common 10...Qe6 and after a couple of inaccuracies, Can was suffering for the rest of the game and eventually lost.
Two Knights 8.Bd3 Ng4!? [C58]
Another sensible alternative to the main paths was seen in Xu, Y - Liu, Y. There is a forcing sequence with 9.Ne4 f5 10.Be2 h5 11.h3 fxe4 12.hxg4 Bc5:
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Here White has a serious choice, and whilst I prefer 13.Nc3 to the main line 13.b4 of the game, both lead to unbalanced endings where White should be able to press. Here Black showed exemplary preparation and technique to hold the draw, however.
Two Knights 8.Bd3 Nd5 9.Nf3 Bd6 10.Nc3!? [C58]
Finally a trendy option for White here, which proceeded down a long and critical line with 10...f5 11.Nxd5 cxd5 12.b4 Nc6 13.Bb5 Bd7 14.Bb2 0-0 15.Bxc6 Bxc6 16.Nxe5 Re8 17.d4 Bxb4+ 18.c3 Bd6 19.0-0 Bxe5 20.dxe5 Rxe5 21.Bc1:
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Black has held this position a couple of times but it always seemed promising for White to me, and he scored a convincing win in Xiao, T - Chen, Q. 10...0-0 seems like a much more sensible direction for Black to me.
Spanish 3...a6 4.Ba4 Bc5 5.0-0 Nge7 6.Nxe5!? [C70]
An interesting and sharp variation was played here in De Winter, A - Martin, J. The line continues 6...Nxe5 7.d4 b5 8.Bb3 Bxd4 9.Qxd4 d6 10.f4 c5:
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Here White has three sensible squares for the queen, of which I like 11.Qd2 the most. 11.Qc3 led to a wild game where Black eventually came out on top.
Spanish, Open 6...Be7 [C84]
Another interesting idea from the Chinese League which was also played by Aronian at the Grand Swiss the previous month. Following 7.Re1 b5 8.Rxe4 d5 9.Nxe5 Nxe5, White grabs the pawn with 10.Bxb5+!?:
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Somehow I had never considered this before, and Black definitely needs to play actively and precisely to prove compensation. It resulted in wins for both Aronian and White in Yan, T - Zhang, X.
Closed Spanish 6.d3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.Bd2 [C84]
Finally a tough loss for the English legend in Fressinet, L - Adams, M, but brilliant preparation from White. Following 8...0-0 9.h3 h6 10.a3 Re8 11.Nc3:
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Fressinet followed up with Nd5 and a very nice c4 idea which requires a lot of precision from Black to hold the balance. I cover 9...a5 as a possible alternative to Mickey’s play.
Until next month, Harry
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