The Very Latest Developments
The June 2002 UpdateWelcome to the June update - it has been baking hot in France these last few weeks and I have found it quite difficult to stay at home and work on this month's effort, rather than find something more interesting to do outside! In fact, even when I have been at home there has often been a World Cup match to distract me on TV! I have taken the liberty of including a few rapid games from Moscow, especially as two of them featured the World No 1, and his games are almost as perfect when he plays quickly as slowly! TonyK |
All this month's new games are easily downloaded in PGN format using ChessPub.exe, open ChessPub.exe, put the date on, say, 25th June 2002, and then click on 'Flank Openings', over on the right. All these games should appear (and the ChessPub Guides, too!)
To download the June '02 Flank Openings games directly in PGN form click here: 
English Opening
1...e5
A25: America's answer to Mikhail Tal blows Black way in Christiansen,L - Charbonneau,P, and makes you wonder just how 'Dynamic' the English can get!
A27: After 1 c4 e5 2 Nc3 Nc6 3 Nf3 g6 White can obtain a positional edge by 4 d4 exd4 5 Nxd4 Bg7 6 Nxc6 bxc6 because of Black's compromised queenside structure:
                   
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The game Bruzon,L - Quezada,Y is a good example of this, but also of Black's tactical counterchances.
A29: In the Four Knight's line of Lautier,J - Kasparov,G the champ first shows his excellent preparation, and then good technique.
1...c5
A34: White tries a wild novelty in Rubinstein's Variation, netting an exchange and pawn, but the loss of his light-squared bishop costs him a lot of light squares! See Lputian,S - Perunovic,M .
A36: In Hulak,K - Filipovic,B White mixes the 5 e3 and 5 a3 Pure Symmetrical lines, but obtains no advantage, over presses, and loses.
A37: By popular request I take another look at the Botvinnik system for Black, in Smirin,I - Karjakin,S, where White is completely outplayed, and then finds a lucky perpetual!
Réti
A11: After 1 c4 Nf6 2 g3 c6, is 3 b3!? any way to play against the Ogre from Baku?
 
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Ehlvest,J - Kasparov,G provides the answer.
A14: In Gurevich,M - Yagupov,I, Misha once again plays his pet 'Anti-Slav' system, where he refuses to advance his d-pawn. However, this time, instead of playing g4 and attacking on the kingside, he captures on d5 and plays along the c-file. White wins speedily, but Black could certainly improve.
A14: Fellow ChessPublishing contributor Ruslan plays a solid mainline Réti in Sherbakov,R - Aleksandrov,A , and then suddenly unleashes his pieces with an exchange sac.
e-mails
Don't forget to pop over to my June E-mailbag!
Please feel free to share any of your thoughts with me, whatever they are, suggestions, criticisms (just the polite ones, please), etc. Drop me a line at tonykosten@chesspublishing.com
Till next month, Tony K