Download PGN of August '07 1 d4 d5 games
Chebanenko System [D15]
Eljanov - Karjakin: A very closed and slightly boring position suddenly become sharp and complicated. Pavel Eljanov tried to counter Black's central pawn push in the most principled way but the interesting subsequent piece sacrifice, in the following diagram position, gave Sergey Karjakin reasonable compensation:
             |
Black played the novelty 12...Nxf2!?. White's chances seemed preferable but slightly slow play let Black gain full control of the position...
Queen's Gambit Accepted [D20-29]
Onischuk - Dominguez: The deep line which has been played here is supposed to be drawish but White's novelty on move 18 (18 Ne3!?) helped him maintain a small edge:|
|
In the endgame both sides played logically and the most likely result was always a draw, which did eventually happen, but only after White dropped a couple of pawns as Black failed to take advantage of this.
The Slow Slav [D23]
Alekseev - Leko: Black recently faced some problems in this line, you may remember the game Aronian - Anand/Morelia Linares 2007. However, Peter Leko equalised here rather easily and it seems difficult for White to get something more than a somewhat better but drawish endgame.
Vienna Variation [D39]
Ivanchuk - Nisipeanu: Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu came up with a surprising queen sacrifice for Black in a well-known position in the Vienna:
|
|
Capturing on e4 here was never considered seriously before, but in fact White's task wasn't so easy as Black builds a kind of fortress and only Vassily Ivanchuk's very precise play brought him the full point.
Onischuk - Jakovenko: This deep line in the Vienna is supposed to be harmless for black but he still has to be accurate. Here White introduced a novelty which did not change much, White was able to maintain not more than a very slight edge and the game reached a logical outcome.
Botvinnik Variation [D44]
Krush - Shabalov: Alexander Shabalov chose a side line and then came up with a novelty but failed to solve the problems. Then he underestimated the danger and a series of careless moves led to disaster - Irina Krush proved the superiority of her position by very simple means.
Anti-Meran - Latvian Bayonet [D45]
Svidler - Karjakin: A rather complicated line of the Latvian Bayonet led to a complex position:
|
|
White sacrificed a pawn and got sufficient compensation, the somewhat creative play of both sides wasn't free from mistakes and after a series of exchanges the game simplified into a drawish ending.
Ruslan
If you have any questions, then please post a message at the 1 d4 d5 Forum, or subscribers can email me at ruslan@chesspublishing.com.