Download PGN of January '05 1 d4 d5 games

Vienna Variation [D39]

The Vienna Variation is known to be one of the sharpest variations in the entire body of opening theory. However, in many cases after a well-known series of moves the position becomes rather quiet and White can maintain some slight pressure.

Chatalbashev, B - Gustafsson, J: Nowadays the line 7. Bxc4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Bxc3 9. bxc3 Qa5 10. Bb5+ is one of White's main attempts to gain the advantage:

Here Black has a choice - by playing 10...Nbd7 Black can get an extra pawn but White's initiative can become rather dangerous. 10... Bd7 is known to be safer but Black's chances to outplay White are not so high in this line. In this game, after 11.Bxf6 gxf6 White did not choose the most popular option but his 12. Bxd7!? Nxd7 13. 0-0 is still interesting. However, later he missed a chance to maintain the initiative and let Black take control over the position, which did not bring him the full point since in mutual time trouble he was driven away by spectacular but drawish complications.

Cramling, P - Brunner, L: The knight sacrifice White tried in this game was dangerous for Black some 15-20 years ago but now it is known to be drawish:

The main reason: Black simply ignores the gift and continues his development - a rather surprising but efficient approach!

Burgess, G - Law, A: The type of position which arises after 12...a6 13. Be2 Nc6 14. 0-0 Qc7 has been under test for many years:

Black's K-side pawn structure is damaged and his pressure on the c-file plus the good possibility to arrange his pieces in front of White's c-pawn are still not completely sufficient to equalise the chances. White can usually maintain a small advantage by trying to disturb Black's king - he can shift his queen to the K-side or to the center, while showing the intention to prepare some break... It is actually not such an easy task to create real problems but Black's play is not so easy either since he is always under tension. In this game Black preferred not to take White's c3-pawn at the critical moment and so White maintained his initiative in a typical and rather instructive way although he later failed to limit Black's creative counterplay. A very interesting and useful game for the better understanding of this type of position.

Shulman, Y - Yakovich, Y: This important game casts doubts upon White's idea to place his rook on the b-file first. Black has bravely taken the c3-pawn and after his opponent's piece sacrifice proved that he has sufficient defensive resources and that White's initiative can just help him to maintain the balance and that is only in the case of precise play! Instead of such a straightforward assault White should prefer another 18th move after which he can probably achieve the better endgame, possibly the rook endgame 4 vs 3 on the K-side, which is most likely to be drawish.

Bocharov, D - Ovod, E: One drawback of the line with Ra1-b1 is that in most cases Black can simplify into worse endgames, which do not seem to be winning for White. Thus the combination of the moves Qb3-a3 and Rf1-d1 seems to be the more promising. Black can never capture the White c-pawn so White can probably maintain a typical small advantage, as can be seen in this game.

Malakhatko, V - Schenk, A: Since 12...a6 13. Be2 Nc6 does not fully equalise Black has been looking for a more convincing approach and so the line 12...0-0 13. 0-0 Bxb5 14. Nxb5 Nc6 has recently gained some popularity:

At first sight it looks quite risky for Black, whose king's shield is seriously damaged, but he is going to do everything possible to prevent the appearance of his rival's army around his monarch. On the other hand, White is dreaming of shifting his pieces to the K-side and he has to choose whether to bring the rook or the queen first. However, the immediate 15. Rad1 or 15. Rae1 does not promise much - Black can quickly bring his rook to the d-file and his active major pieces can successfully prevent White's attempts to increase the concentration of his forces against Black's king.

Krasenkow, M - Olafsson, H: As we have seen in the game Malakhatko - Schenk/Deizisau 2004, the idea to bring the rook to the K-side in case of Black's castling does not promise anything substantial. Thus White usually prefers to shift his queen towards opponent's monarch first of all by playing c3-c4 and Qa3-g3. In this game he also tried to secure a strong position on d6 for his knight but it does not look promising - the knight was soon exchanged and the c-pawn advance turned out to be a waste of time. Later Black lost control over the situation but it does not change the assessment of White's idea as harmless for Black.

Mamedyarov, S - Bluvshtein, M: It is rather logical to get the queen closer to the Black king so at the moment c3-c4 and Qa3-g3-h4 is the most popular White approach:

He is playing with a draw in his pocket but his queen needs support and so White is usually trying to send his rook there via the 3rd rank. Black must parry such ideas but the common 18...Rd3 was shown to be dubious by White's energetic play here.

Mamedyarov, S - Nielsen, PH: Shakriyar Mamedyarov was certainly happy with the course of the game Mamedyarov - Bluvstein/Calvia de Mallorca (ol) 2004 so he was just repeating the moves. However, Peter-Heine Nielsen came up with new and well-prepared novelty 18...Qd2!, after which White did not have much to show. Of course, he tried to somehow to get his rook to the g-file but never had even the slightest chance. The perpetual check Qg5-f6-g5 eventually stopped the game, which might deal a heavy blow to all of White's attempts to put real problems before Black in the whole 10. Bb5+ approach.

Till next time!

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.