"Mainstream" Daring Defences
Grünfeld & Dutch
Mainstream Daring Defences August '02 UpdateWelcome to the August [!] Daring Defences. Yes, it's been a busy season.... |
This will be my final DDs Update as from October GM Glenn Flear will be taking over from myself and Jon Tisdall. I was impressed with Glenn's deep knowledge of theory when we were both involved in coaching the English junior team a week ago in Spain. So the site will be in more than capable hands. My thanks to all the Subscribers who wrote to me: I think there is only one email I haven't replied to and I will pass it on to Glenn. I hope you all got something positive out of my work and Jon's on the site.
It's certainly been a fascinating experience for me. One of the strangest aspects of doing the Mainstream DDs is that I never discovered a single international player who adopted both the Dutch and the Grunfeld. The young Topalov and Kramnik were fans of the Dutch, but they moved onto the Slav rather than the Grunfeld.
Anyhow, here is the Update. As you will see, there is still an abundance of new ideas in both openings.
All this month's new games are easily downloaded in PGN format using ChessPub.exe, but you can also download the August '02 Mainstream Daring games directly in PGN form here: 
Grünfeld
Exchange Variation 7.Be3 [D85]
Leko complained recently that he was unfortunate his only defence to 1.d4 was the Grunfeld, as if White wished he could virtually force a drawn endgame! The Hungarian GM certainly has a point in the Exchange Variation with 7.Be3, as popularised by Kramnik. A well prepared player of 2600 strength could make it almost impossible for him to win by playing down the mainline, unless Black resorted to a tricky, but inferior, sideline- a risky step against one of the World elite.
But I doubt that is any problem for the rest of us. After all, how often do you play 2600 players as Black who aren't trying to beat you? That has never been a problem for me!
It is a problem for the Dutch GM Van Wely in this month's game. He is up against the Greek GM Banikas, who has a useful 2521 rating but then Van Wely is 2646 and always plays to win. In avoiding the draw he oversteps the boundaries of safety. Or did he just make a positional oversight? Have a look at the following endgame position:
         
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At first glance Black looks to be doing well with his bishop against a knight and queenside pawn majority. In fact after 30.Nc5! he couldn't hold the endgame. You can see how things unfolded by looking up Banikas-Van Wely.
In the notes to this game you can also see a short and sharp win by Black to cheer you up.
The Seville Variation [D89]
Although the theory goes very deep in the Grunfeld, remember that most of the time your opponents will chicken out of the mainlines. However, if they do challenge you to a memory exercise you have to be well prepared.
Here is a game that shows why you need to keep up to date using ChessPub! It was played in the recent European Club Championships. David Sands, a strong English player rated 2246, follows the latest theory as given in books. This goes on for 25 moves, until Sands, seeing the disaster about to happen, makes a half-hearted novelty. He loses a rook, knight and queen on successive moves, and then resigns! Now that isn't at all fun, is it? Of course, if he had subscribed to ChessPub he would have read in the previous Grunfeld update about the pitfalls of this line...
Have a look at Kharlov-Sands then check out the other games referred to on ChessPub.
It may be that you want to avoid the Seville Mainline altogether. This can be done by copying Svidler and others and playing 10...Bd7 [D87] rather than 10...Bg4. You can find an in-depth analysis of this sideline in the illustrative game. This game is an excellent win by Svidler which shows the Grunfeld at its best- all the white pieces find themselves on wrong squares. It's a pleasure to end my tenure in the Mainstream hotseat by offering you Onischuk-Svidler to play through.
The Russian Variation 7...a6 [D97]
Peter Svidler wins two excellent games as Black in this month's update. In a recent interview the Russian Super GM said that he thought his best quality was a feel for the initiative. Certainly in these games once he has won the opening battle he is relentless in piling on the pressure. In the first game he wipes out Radjabov in what had been regarded as a rather 'boring' line. All Grunfeld fans- and not just Leko!- will be pleased that the endgame turns out to be winning in Radjabov-Svidler. The second Svidler game is the final Grunfeld game of the Update.
The Russian Variation 7...Na6. [D97]
Emil Sutovsky has championed another offbeat line in the Grunfeld. I don't know how the Israeli GM manages to find so many fresh ideas lying unnoticed in familiar settings. It's no wonder that Shirov chose him to be one of his trainers in his match with Kramnik. The question is: was Bareev bluffed? You can judge for yourself by taking a look at Bareev-Sutovsky.
Dutch
Leningrad Mainline 7.Nc3 Nc6 8.d5 Ne5 [A89]
I have always had a fondness for this line as it frequently confounds the 'rule' that the stronger player should win. In the first game, Black adopts an unusual move played by Euwe way back in 1925, but only seen in two other games since that time! As Black wins all three games in this line on my database, it is officially Black's most successful defence ever in the Dutch. I've no idea why it has been forgotten, as Black uses it to win easily against a player rated 100 points above him. Check out Erdogan-Varley.
It is back to reality for Black in the second game. White goes straight down the 10.c5! mainline and, with an imaginative piece sacrifice, leaves Black with his back firmly pressed to the wall. Once again the lower-rated player triumphs, though this time it is with White. Have a look at Pelletier-Vallejo Pons. We need a new idea for Black here.
Leningrad: Mainline with Nh3 [A86]
Next up is a nasty trap which hides behind a cloak of positional respectability. In fact, according to my database on reaching the position 19 out of 142 Dutch players allowed it to happen, though only a couple of White players actually saw it. And this includes some big name games... have a look at Kliewe-Papenbrock and you might not lose in 13 moves.
2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bg5 [A80]
The moral of the next game is that counterplay is more important than avoiding weaknesses. Of course, anyone who plays a loosening move like 1...f5 should be well aware of this, but we are often reluctant to see our pawn structure further undermined. In an earlier game in this variation I claimed that Black stood badly in the diagram position because he had no good waiting move.
        
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Here the Greek GM Grivas shows that he does have a waiting move- it had escaped my attention because it was weakening! Have a look at Nikolaidis-Grivas.
2.Nc3 d5 3.Bf4 [A80]
One of Black's problems in the Dutch is how to make it interesting after 2.Nc3 d5: his centre is rather rigid and White has the clear plan of exploiting the hole on e5. So where does his counterplay come from?
The answer can be found by checking up the games of two of England's wildest players, Stuart Conquest and Simon Williams. You can also see ChessPub's Gary Lane in action in Ulibin-Williams.
2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bg5 [A80]
As Black has committed his knight to f6 White plays Bg5; as you may have seen from Gary Lane's game in Ulibin-Williams above Bg5 is less effective when Black can leave the knight on g8. Here we investigate a way for Black to strengthen his kingside and at the same time solve the problem of what to do with his light squared bishop, which can become trapped behind its own wall of pawns. See what you think of Bagirov-Dzhumaev.
Well that's it for the Update. As you can see there has been a lot of tremendous fighting chess in the true spirit of the Daring Defences.
Goodbye and good luck to all DDs fans!
Best Regards,
Neil
Jon Tisdall is back with the Maverick DD's soon