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What's New - December 2003

Hi, I am going back home to Russia soon, from India (where I am training), hoping to get home in time to celebrate New Year's Eve with my family. It seems to be a real problem - a lot of flights are delayed in Delhi because of the fog this time of the year! :(

The December update is completely concerned with the latest discoveries in the Queen's Gambit Accepted. I created two new roadmaps and reconstructed some of the others...

Ruslan Scherbakov


Download PGN of December '03 1 d4 d5 games


QGA [D20-29]











Mamedyarov,S - Mannion,S: The idea to seal Black's K-side by a typical stopping pawn sacrifice e5-e6 is not new but perhaps it was a little bit underestimated. I played it myself after 6. Bb3 Bf5 but with a disastrous result - it just came to me over the board so then I couldn't handle the complicated position properly. In this game it was played after 6...Nc6 7. Be3 Bf5:










and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov quickly achieved a superior position with energetic and enterprising play. In some cases both lines may lead to the same positions so the pawn advance e5-e6!? seems to be a real headache for Black in the principal line.

Bareev,E - Mikhalchishin,A: Evgeny Bareev came up with a fresh and very interesting idea and gave Black serious problems in the 6. Bd3 line. He found a good opportunity to stop Black's development by another typical e5-e6 sacrifice, followed here










by an astonishing bishop exchange - very instructive, masterful play.

Mamedyarov,S - Mikhalchishin,A: A short battle between the two experts of this line. We have just seen how, a few rounds earlier in the same tournament, Mamedyarov comfortably beat Mannion while Mikhalchishin lost to Bareev. Here these two experts of the QGA met each other and Black was able to solve the opening problems in this rare line. Curiously enough, Mamedyarov tried the idea which was successfully introduced by Bareev but Mikhalchishin came up with an interesting improvement.

X3D FRITZ - Kasparov,G: Black conclusively solved all the problems here with precise play, but it would not be a big surprise if the final position had already been on the board during Garry Kasparov's home preparation! It seems that White cannot hope for an advantage in this line.

San Segundo Carrillo,P - Stevic,H: Recently Black seemed to be under some pressure in the principal line since the manoeuvre Qd2-f4-h4 put a lot of pressure on his K-side. However, his defensive resources were probably a bit underestimated, as we may conclude after this fairly important theoretical game.

Harikrishna,P - Murali Krishnan,B: The variation with Qd1-e2 is not very popular recently and so its development slowed down during the last few years. Yet it seems that White's chances have been slightly underestimated. A piece sacrifice in the game Kramnik - Anand/Mainz rapid 2001 was harmless for Black but it seems that a simple developing move here:










, which brought Harikrishna a quick success in this game, still keeps White's hopes for an advantage alive.

Krasenkow,M - Tomczak,R: Since Black faced some new problems in the Qd1-e2 system he began to pay more attention to the other options, which were not very popular recently. Here Black successfully solved the problems in the line 13. ..Qa5 14. e4 Be7:










but perhaps White has not chosen the most promising pawn advance at this moment...

Gareev,T - Sorokin,M: A very deep and well-analysed line was tested in this game. White introduced a novelty on the 25th move and was able to put a certain pressure on the Black position. It seems that Black should either improve his defence or look for a more precise order of moves to get a desirable position.

 

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.