Download PGN of January ’26 Flank Openings games
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Réti, Nimzovich-Larsen Attack: 1.Nf3 d5 2.b3 Bg4 [A06]
In Vu Dinh, A - Brunner, N, a very interesting line, still in the early stages of development. was played, 1.Nf3 d5 2.b3 Bg4 3.Bb2 Nd7 4.d3!? Bxf3 5.exf3 e5 6.Qe2! Bd6 7.f4! Qe7 8.fxe5 Bxe5 9.d4!:
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Both sides followed the principled, critical line, known from only one high-level game so far, and likely to gain more following. White prevailed, but my annotations point out the potential improvements for the Black side.
Nimzovich-Larsen Attack: 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.b3 d5 3.Bb2 Bf5 4.Nh4 [A06]
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.b3 d5 3.Bb2 Bf5 4.Nh4!? Bd7 5.g3 Nc6 6.d4 a5!?:
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In a topical line, Max Warmerdam showed either amazing creative improvization, or, more likely, cunning preparation. White fell straight for Black’s main idea: 7.c4? e5! 8.dxe5 Bb4+ 9.Bc3 Nxe5.
Black took over the initiative and won a rather convincing game in Smirnov, M - Warmerdam, M.
Réti, Capablanca System 1...d5 2.g3 Bg4 3.Bg2 [A07]
1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Bg4 3.Bg2 c6 4.0-0 e6 5.h3 Bh5 6.c4 Nf6 7.d4 Be7 8.Nc3 0-0 9.Ne5 Nbd7 10.f4:
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White played sharply to trap Black’s bishop, resulting in a theoretically important game in Bai, J - Siddharth, J.
King’s Indian Attack: 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 e6 4.0-0 c5 5.d3 c5 6.a4 Be7 7.e4 [A07]
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 e6 4.0-0 c5 5.d3 c5 6.a4 Be7 7.e4!?:
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Diego Flores played an almost totally new interpretation of the e2-e4 gambit idea, with the a4 move included, resulting in an interesting game after Black took up the gauntlet in Flores, D - Slipak, S.
King’s Indian Attack: 1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 e6 4.0-0 Be7 5.d3 c5 6.e4 [A07]
The game Keymer, V - So, W, saw the same gambit idea in the more popular version 1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 e6 4.0-0 Be7 5.d3 c5 6.e4!?. Black declined the sacrifice this time, and we had a very strategically complex game, where White used a certain nuance for his advantage: 6...Nc6 7.Qe2 0-0 8.Bf4 b5 9.Re1 Bb7 10.a4 b4 11.e5 Nd7 12.h4 a5?! 13.c4!:
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After 13...bxc3 14.bxc3 White was slightly for choice thanks to the weakened b5-outpost available for his knight.
Mikenas Attack 3.e4 c5 [A19]
After 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.e4 c5 4.e5 Ng8 5.d4 cxd4 6.Qxd4 Nc6 7.Qf4 d6 8.Nf3 Nh6 9.Be2 Nf5 10.0-0 dxe5 11.Nxe5 Black refrained from the critical 11...Qc7 with 11...Bd6 in Erdogmus, Y - Lu, S, but the game showed why this is a rather promising subvariation for White:
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12.Rd1 0-0 13.Qe4 Nxe5 14.c5 Nc6 15.cxd6 Nxd6 16.Qf3 with a serious initiative for the pawn, which was converted into a full point by White. I show the exact improvement needed to neutralize the compensation and equalize for Black, but going into the whole variation with Black still wouldn’t be to my taste.
Symmetrical English: 1.c4 g6 2.g3 Bg7 3.Bg2 c5 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.Nf3 a6 [A37]
1.c4 g6 2.g3 Bg7 3.Bg2 c5 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.Nf3 a6!? 6.0-0 Rb8 7.d3 b5?!:
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In Gukesh, D - Firouzja, A, Black tried an interesting opening idea, but didn't seem to have ideal knowledge of when to push ...b5. White failed to exploit it, playing 8.axb5 axb5 9.Be3?!, instead of the very instructive 9.a4!, a clear path to an advantage discussed in my annotations. The game was nevertheless interesting from the standpoint of the Symmetrical English ideas and structures.
Pure Symmetrical: 5.Nf3 e6 6.d4 [A37]
Vakhidov, J - Nurgaliyev, S, saw a well known sharp line of the Symmetrical English: 1.c4 c5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Bg2 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.Nf3 e6 6.d4! Nxd4 7.Nxd4 cxd4 8.Ne4 d5 9.Qa4+ Kf8 10.Qa3+ Qe7 11.Nd6 Be5 12.c5 h5 13.0-0 when Black played a natural novelty: 13...Kg7:
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White followed logically with 14.Re1, intending e2-e4, but Black was not up to the task of neutralizing White’s initative, making the game an interesting affair to study for anyone having the line in their repertoire with either colour.
Until next month, Lukasz.
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