Oct '99 Update
In the meantime, a fairly rare but very natural line has been causing black some problems of late. Some is a bit of an understatement, this line has been causing black severe harm. Definitely the in spot to concentrate your attention. For white, it is a lively and straightforward alternative, and for black, it is a headache to be solved. And there isn't much theory!
The Stonewall
The Stonewall has attracted the attention of … wait for it … the Armenians. And why not. Minasian gives a good solid example of how to play a dynamic centre and enliven the light-squared bishop, topics we have covered before in the main section of the site. He had a fine position before playing the extremely double-edged 15…g5, though one has to admit that it was tempting, see DD137.
Mikhail Ulybin has become a real aficionado, and he turns in a very thematic
rendition of another way of singing my-light-squared-bishop-isn't-bad, see DD138.
Finally, Norway, one of the cradles of the modern Stonewall movement, supplies
a very fine effort from the national championship play-off. This was a quick-play
game, but it is none the less impressive for that. It is one of the finest Stonewalls
I have seen in ages, see DD139.
Black exploits the early b3 by checking on b4 and dropping back to e7, which
frustrates the stock plan of exchanging dark-squared bishops for white. After
this Black gains space, posts all of his pieces actively, and after turning
the tension dial up to full, finishes off in fine tactical style.
Others
The less orthodox Others vs. The Dutch has not been a hotbed of notable activity. I have chosen the game Suvrajit-Mohota because it features one of the well known anti-Dutch plans of gambitting with g4 and h3. Black follows the oft prescribed recipe of declining with …g3, but here White simply develops very smoothly and always keeps the better chances. An interesting example of a standard defensive idea not quite holding up in this specific case.
Grunfeld
This is the real salt mine of the section, and to be honest, it will take
a while before I am fully satisfied that the Grünfeld section finds the
proper balance between theoretical advances and a less professional, more general,
coverage of the opening's nuances.
To start, a heavyweight contest between two of the best players in the world.
I don't know what level of theoretical preparation these guys reserve for quick-play
games - it is even harder to guess when you remember how well they are paid
for what used to be considered off-hand games.
I do know that Kasparov varied from the most topical paths (see DD142),
which Grünfeld convert Alexei Shirov has blazed. Kasparov's reluctance
to put his queen on d7 is probably motivated by several later opportunities
for white to flick in e6 at an uncomfortable moment in the Shirov games.
A familiar scenario of black surrendering the exchange to neutralise the white
d-pawn unfolded, and with a lack of queenside pawns, white was content to draw.
Khalifman-Mikhalevski
and it's companion piece Van Wely-Van der Werf, cast a rather large and black
cloud of doubt over a system that I recommended in my opinion
pages. The line with …Bc7 was a relatively non-theoretical way to face
an increasingly booked Exchange Variation, and the system seemed to be doing
well without attracting a lot of attention. Recently though, the line started
getting noticed, and got too much attention too quickly. Mikhalevski knows just
about what there is to know here, and it is a bad sign seeing him getting creased
in a critical line. There is still one way to keep hiding in this particular
backwater, and that is with the rare plan 15…Rb8 (even 16…Rb8 deserves
attention).
A lot of this depends on how determined one is to devoting aeons of time learning and honing theoretical lines. If you play the Grünfeld, you are really signing up for this kind of work. But if you like the opening more than work, then the idea must be to stake out some kind of middle ground. It can be more rewarding hoeing a quiet little patch, than trying to drive a tractor through city traffic, to put it oddly.
Sergienko-Babiy demonstrates the advantages of a non-theoretical White approach. I tagged this system as a possibly interesting trend, and it seems to have maintained a respectable level of use and results. In many respects this game is of no special interest whatsoever. I chose it because, despite this, I think it is rather typical. It is very much the way many practical games not played between supermen develop from such positions. And the lower rated player won, so factor that into the equation.